Private Love Comes with a Price

[Kain Aldore]

Kain had been back a few weeks now. The Slate Runner was back in working condition, and it took the young man less than a full rotation.

Strange though.

With as much time had passed, still there were things that remained the same. Valery Noble was one of them. Grandmaster. A person as real as they came. A friend.

He'd also seen several people he knew and they'd welcomed the blonde with open arms. Yes, the galaxy itself hasn't changed that much. But how was he supposed to just walk on like that shift didn't happen at all?

Kain had been asking himself that question for days while exploring his options going forward. The Sith had become a bigger threat that he remembered. So while he was wasting some time on coruscant, Kain did something out of character. He looked ahead.

Back to his shop on Questal? Back to freight lanes and wrench work? Sure he could do that. it was easy. Familiar. But would he be content knowing there were people out there who were suffering? No. Kain knew that wasn't viable. He'd be in his head the whole time.

So what were his options?

Join the defense force. and become a ranger, or try his hand with SIA. He'd been leaning more towards the Ranger path. Though there was a third option. Go back to the Jedi. They were different now. Or maybe he was. He'd recalled why he left the order.

His master had died on a mission soon after his knighting. The council didn't blame him, but grief twisted the words. He felt like they blamed him, because he blamed himself Stasis gave him clarity. In his head, Kain had let her down. He was a powerhouse and he couldn't save her. Then when he came back to the temple. A few of the council members at the time wondered if they'd let him take the trails too soon. Barely 20 and already a Jedi knight in title, yet still a kid at heat. If he hadn't have been knighted, another would have gone with him and his master. That one person would have made a difference. Even Kain knew that. He was just upset with himself.

However his internal contemplation was overridden. Val had asked to see him. It was strange, her tone that is. He figured it would have been something to do with leaving her apartment. He had no idea about the day ahead, maybe neither did Valery.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

The sun had dipped low by the time she reached the landing pad. Coruscant's towers stood tall and the Slate Runner stood in the center of it all, just as familiar as the man who'd disappeared into it. Valery didn't call out. She just stood there at the base of the ramp, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

She knew he'd felt her coming.

When the ramp finally lowered, she looked up to meet him with a smile, her expression calm. She took a few steps forward, her gaze flicking past him briefly before returning.

"There you are," she said. "There's something I need to talk to you about. I've found something that I believe you need to see." There was more behind the words, but she didn't offer it yet. Not until he let her in.

Kain Aldore ​

 

[Kain Aldore]

Kain stood atop the ramp. His hands were tucket in the pockets of his jacket. His eyes focused on the golden hue being cast upon Valery. Yes he had felt her near his ship. It was unmistakable. She'd been different from most of the jedi he remembered. Maybe that's why he could always pick her out of a crowd. She never demanded. Never judged. She was just... there.

He didn't say anything at first, just looked at her sideways as the corners of his mouth lost the smirk they'd been trying to form. It was about now that he realized this wasn't an eviction notice.

"There you are," she said.

"Figured you'd know where to look. Was having trouble sitting still." He looked past her for a second. Not avoiding. Just grounding himself. Kain took a few steps down the ramp, his boots hit the metal with weight before he stopped.

"Need to see?" His eyes searched hers he was on the verge of saying something dumb again, letting his instincts kick in. Yet as he looked her saw how deadly serious she was being. "... Should. Should I be worried?" That wasn't sarcasm. Not really, more of a tether he threw out, a way to see where he stood with her in the moment.

He twisted slightly on the ball of his heel and walked back up the ramp. One hand left his jacket and beckoned her. He had a feeling that he would want to be sitting down for this. Regardless of the tone of her news.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery stepped onto the ramp as he turned and motioned her in. She followed, her boots soft against the metal floor as the sounds of the city faded behind her. It wasn't until they were both inside, the hum of the ship's systems surrounding them, that she finally spoke again.

"You don't need to be worried," she said, her voice even. "But it is important."

She looked over at him, then reached into her satchel and carefully pulled out a small cloth-wrapped bundle. She held it in both hands, then walked over to where he had settled near the seating area of the main cabin. Valery knelt to place it gently on the table between them, and only once she was sure he was watching did she pull the fabric away.

Beneath it sat a holocron.

It was old, the metal edges dulled with age, but the center crystal pulsed faintly as if aware of their presence.

"One of the archivists found this in the archives during the move from Coruscant to Tython. The name sounded familiar to them, so they reached out to me."

She looked back up at him, a faint smile tugging at her lips.

"It belonged to your father."

Kain Aldore ​

 

[Kain Aldore]

He glanced back at Valery as he quickly ascended the rungs of the ladder that led from the cargo bay into the cabin. Then he found a seat, and turned off the holodisplay for his music. Letting them have a clear table.

"Okaaayyy..." He didn't know what to make of that, Kain was a chronic worry wart. He hated anticipation, good or bad. He'd rather have someone just rip the bacta patch off and be done with it. As she sat down and placed the cloth on the table, Kain was taken aback. A holocron? He was stressing because of a holocron? Yeah typical. The thing was probably older than he was... well, with the stasis, a lot of things were older than he was.

Familiar name? Was it his Masters? Or maybe his mentor Maddox had left it before he left the order? No both of those would have brought a smile to his face too. Instead. She said it was his fathers. Kain was never the person to by struck by grief or anger, but as she said it, he was brought back to their outing on Onderon. His parents remains, left there like they'd been forgotten.

What came next was a bit of a surprise even to him. Anything loose around them began to float a bit, minus the holocron. His hands tightened on his pants. He took a deep breath that was undercut by his own hitched stops. Then, it was like everything was normal.

"You're sure?" It was ironic that he'd never found it, though he wasn't really preoccupied with looking while he was training for the trials. "I mean. This is insane, years of trying to find something, anything about either of my parents, and it was right under my pillow?"

He was nervous. This would either be one of two things. 'Sorry kiddo, you were an accident' or 'you're never going to believe this'

He looked up from the Holocron to Val, and then again back down to the device that seemed almost like it belonged there. "You do it." His hand came up as he pressed his balled fist against his mouth, foot now tapping on the ground.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery stayed quiet while he processed it, her eyes never leaving his face. She saw the way his body tensed, the subtle rise of objects around them, the emotions bubbling just beneath the surface. When his voice finally broke the silence again, her expression softened, and she stepped closer.

Without saying a word at first, she reached out and placed a steadying hand on his shoulder. A gentle squeeze followed.

"It's alright," she said, her voice calm and sincere. "You don't have to brace for anything bad. Just sit down." She guided him with a small motion, waiting until he was settled. Then she took a seat next to him, her hands resting in her lap for a beat before she turned to face the holocron again.

Valery extended her hand, fingers spreading slightly as she reached for the Force. It moved easily through her, steady and familiar, as it wrapped around the holocron like a slow breath. A pulse of energy followed, subtle at first, then brighter as the crystal responded.

A soft glow filled the room as the holocron came to life, the crystal at its center humming with energy. Valery didn't say anything yet. She only glanced at Kain, offering him the smallest smile.

"Let's see what your father wanted you to know."

Kain Aldore ​

 

[Kain Aldore]

Kain watched as blue light bathed the room in its cool hues. A low, and calm hum began as an image flickered to life.

A man in his early thirties or so sat at a table. Stark black hair, but besides that his brow line looked exactly like the man sitting next to Valery. He brushed the large beard on his face in a downward stroke, trying to find his words. There was a woman behind him with a small bundle being cradled. And while she was barely in the frame, it was apparent that her hair looked exactly like his. Light blonde, with distinctly orange eyes.

"Hello, son." He had a deep voice, with a low tone. "He sounds nothing like me. Force, this is a trip. " Kain let out a sigh as the video continued. "I'm leaving this behind because. As of late. Your mother and I keep running into trouble." The man glanced backwards and gave a disarming grin, one that was easily recognizable, because Kain had seen it in the mirror before. "That over there, is you Kaelan, and your mother Lysa." His head swung back to the device. "I am Master Thalen Rho formerly." The elder paused.

Kain blinked once. Kaelan? Not Kain? The last name was a given, but his adoptive father had said Kain had always been his name. The young man looked over to Valery with confusion, eyebrows scrunched inward, mouth slightly ajar. The resemblance was canny enough that there was no question about it, these were his parents. But in the span of a few words Kain had been left with even more questions.

"I guess I should start at the beginning, we met on a backwater planet. She wasn’t what I expected for a Sith. She was just working. Focused. Carving open a column of obsidian like a surgeon. Cold. Beautiful, in the way a star collapsing is beautiful. Dangerous and inevitable."

He paused a moment. Eyes deviating from the recording device to the reflection of what it saw. He was looking at his wife and Kain. "So, I engaged her. Of course I did. We fought for a while, but as it went on I think we both quickly realized we weren't what one another expected. She didn't try and manipulate me. She just loved knowledge, her magic, and tragically... her experiments."

Kain stuck his hand out touching the holocron with the force, and as it paused his mind raced. This was insane. He looked towards Valery Noble and simply echoed his own burning thoughts. "This is insane right? I mean we both gathered that she was a Sith and he a Jedi when we found them. But a Master and a Witch? Kain scoffed and looked at the image of a father he'd never seen before, taking in the blue eyes and facial features that looked so familiar. "Were they insane?"