Private Lost and Found

[Kaila Irons]

Location: Echnos, biodome
Wearing: This
Tag: Kirie

Kaila had changed of late.

The biodome was complete, her personal garden was expanding.

Every direction she looked in this sector was red with the flora of Dathomir and other exotic plants which had finally bloomed under her care after so much work. Even the artificial sun here felt warm against her freckled skin.

But none of it made her happy.

Not since the princess left, and not since Kirie-

Kaila tried not to think of that anymore. She wiped the sweat from her brow on burgundy sleeves, a simplistic shirt which should have been the first layer of more complex raiments from her homeworld. Instead she was here, tearing up the ground with her tools and carefully moving dirt over seedlings. The people of Echnos left her to her own devices as always, not because they had no access to the biodome but because her guards stood at the doorway to this particular section when she wished to be alone.

Until one day, someone approached.

"My lord, there's someone here to see you." said the armored figure.

"Why have they not been sent to the office?"

Her voice was smaller than usual, disinterested.

But when she tossed her gloves aside and turned to see who had come, everything changed.

​

 

[Kirie]

The dome was one of many new additions to Echnos, a planet whose main city had changed drastically since she had last visited, in the immediate aftermath of a Sith power struggle, the air still oozing with the residue of the fear machine that had nearly obliterated its population. That miasma was more faded now, but Kirie knew how to feel it more than she had then. The way it made her already fraught nerves even more jumpy, the way it deepened the valleys of her uncertainty, her hesitation. What would it be like to live in the presence of such a feeling, fading though it was, day-in-day-out? How did Kaila manage it? It hardly seemed worth the effort. Though, Kirie supposed one rarely had their pick of the litter when it came to ruling planets, and Echnos was a hard-won notch in Darth Anathnenous' belt.

Anathemous. Kaila. Just the thought of their imminent reunion made her feel sick with nerves. Part of her was afraid Kaila would blame her somehow, that she'd find her inconsolable, or worse, apathetic. All those realities were unbearable, and yet realistic. That gave Kirie pause, but she knew she had to be brave.

She arrived at the square outside the Governor's building. Fear, war, death. Was it memory or an imprint? Kirie could almost taste the Sangnir's blood on her lips. She ignored the disturbing sensation and took in the scene around her. New towers under construction, fortifications and defences, the concrete palace with its brutal authority and...

A garden.

Instantly, instinctively, Kirie knew that was where she would find her.

In the heated air of the dome, Kirie trudged along the fertile beds, a sheen of sweat breaking out along her forehead. She dutifully followed the solemn instructions of the workers, leading her to a secluded section teeming with unfamiliar red plants, each clearly lovingly tended to by their caretaker. Kaila's refuge, a quiet place for her. And here she was stepping into it uninvited. That felt wrong, but what else could she do? At this point it felt crueller to wait.

The guards barred her entry. At her insistence, one reluctantly went to fetch the Governor. Kirie caught a glimpse of her. Strong and lithe, clad in the simplest clothes Kirie had ever seen her in, bent over in the dirt working. She could see the appeal that might have for someone like Kaila, for whom the rest of the Galaxy was serious, and daunting, and life or death. There was comfort in the mundane, in creating a slice of home. When Kaila rose and brushed herself off, Kirie was so glad to see her, but still all the muscles in her legs tensed, a knot forming in her stomach. She forced a shy smile, slowly raised her hand in greeting.

From behind her shoulder, the small droid rose into the air, splitting the distance between the pair of them. When she signed, it repeated her meaning in a close approximation of her voice built on hours and hours of security footage of Kirie speaking in the Varanin home. It was uncannily close, but someone like Kaila would hear the difference easily.

'Hey Kaila.' Kirie signed. 'Long time no see.'

Kaila Irons ​

 

[Kaila Irons]

Location: Echnos, biodome
Wearing: This
Tag: Kirie

Kaila froze in her tracks, for just a beat.

But so many thoughts passed behind those wide eyes.

How long had it been since Kirie was taken? How long had Kaila mourned in secret? Was this even real? She didn't care if it was. Kaila ran to her, kicking up precious soil behind her. The guard had to step aside so as not to be trampled by his lord, whom he'd never seen so emotional.

Nor shed a tear, until now.

By the time Kirie finished signing and the words could process, Kaila had her arms around the handmaiden, held tight.

"I thought you were dead." she sniffled.

A short moment passed before she pulled back enough that Kirie may see the corners of her quivering lip twitch into something like a smile, at least until the realization hit her.

She looked at the droid, then her guard.

"Leave us. All of you."

They responded quickly to her stern voice as a little of Kaila's old self came out.

And only once they were out of earshot did her attention snap to her old friend, accompanied by a concerned frown.

"What's with the droid?"

"Are you alright...? what happened?"

​

 

[Kirie]

'Hey. Hey. Kaila, it's okay. I'm okay.' Kirie signed as she pulled away. Kaila needn't have said anything, the tighntness of her embrace and the unspoken worry rolling off her was enough to understand how she was feeling, but the words 'I thought you were dead' ripped a hole in her that would probably take years to patch over.

Guilt churned in Kirie's gut. Guilt over how she had allowed herself to rest, allowed the doctors to pump her full of sedatives while the bruises and the cuts faded, allowed herself to watch, and wait, and understand what was happening before she ventured out, all without seeing Kaila. All without talking to Kaila.

That potent emotion swirled and combined with the relief and gladness of seeing Kaila, and tears sprang into her eyes that she quickly blinked away. She sniffled to match Kaila, then composed herself.

'A long story.' Briefly, Kirie outlined the kidnapping as she remembered it, the way her brain was still fuzzy, how the memories were jumbled and frayed and dim. She told Kaila of the lab, the experiments, the injury to her neck and throat, the details of which she had trouble focusing on. 'Lirka Ka saved me, if you can believe it.' Kirie added. 'I guess some Kainites do have a heart.'

'Anyway, the vocal injury isn't responding to treatment, despite the cocktail of stuff they have me on.' Kirie gestured to her arm, where a little black box was strapped, tubes disappearing into her skin. 'So I've dusted off the ORSL I learned as a girl, and the droid helps make the communication seamless. I can teach you some signs sometime, though. If you like.'

Kirie glanced up, immediately convincing herself on seeing Kaila's expression that like everyone else in her life, Kaila was looking at her like she was made of glass, cracked and liable to shatter at any moment. Kirie wasn't that, and even if she was, she'd just piece herself back together again, same as always.

'Seriously, Kaila, I'm fine. Glad to be out of trouble, mostly. The the Kainites won't be able to touch me again, not for a while anyway.'

Again, Kaila's expression tripped her up, seemed to be concealing more than just concern.

'You seem unhappy.' signed Kirie, her mouth pulling into a tight line, and a frown knit her brow. 'I'm sorry.'

Kaila Irons ​

 

[Kaila Irons]

Location: Echnos, biodome
Wearing: This
Tag: Kirie

It took her a moment to realize what was happening.

That Kirie was signing, that she could not speak on her own.

But she tried for her sake to remain calm, to be a good friend who stood aside and listened. Even so her face would repeatedly shift somewhere between relief and horror and anger all at once throughout the story being told. Kaila looked as though she may cry again, hearing that she'd been tormented by the Kainites, because that was one thing no person should ever relate to.

Yet it was not her place to cry now, this wasn't about her.

So instead she focused on how morbidly proud she was, knowing exactly the sorts of things she'd endured.

Kirie gestured to her arm, where a little black box was strapped, tubes disappearing into her skin. 'So I've dusted off the ORSL I learned as a girl, and the droid helps make the communication seamless. I can teach you some signs sometime, though. If you like.'

"Yes." she managed with a nod, barely more than a whisper.

'Seriously, Kaila, I'm fine. Glad to be out of trouble, mostly. The the Kainites won't be able to touch me again, not for a while anyway.'

"I know... I know... It's just a lot."

Kaila tried to smile, fighting so hard to give the girl space to sign away, and because she no longer knew where their boundaries lay. Everything had changed, and though she was ecstatic to see her, it brought so many emotions crashing down when she could no longer run from them as she had been.

'You seem unhappy.' signed Kirie, her mouth pulling into a tight line, and a frown knit her brow. 'I'm sorry.'

"It's fine, you've got bigger things to worry about." she choked, assuming that Kirie already knew.

Another tear rolled from her eye, one she wiped clean with fingers that were blackened almost to the knuckle.

And distinctly ringless.

"It's just uhm... Does Quinn know you're back...? how is she taking this?"

"I understand if you need to get back to her soon, I do not wish to intrude more than I have."

"But can I offer you some tea before you go?"

​