Private Mt. Grace

[Colette]

Aiden Porte

This place reminded her of the Eshan enclave in all the wrong ways. Big, luxurious, and remote. It had its beauty, but it also reeked of separation. It told Colette that this place wasn't for the common man but rather the few who knew the force made them special. If that was what they wanted then they had more than succeeded.

Colette pressed a hand against her shoulder and gave it a roll. A crisp dawn breeze swept over the area and goosebumps formed along her exposed arms and she shivered for a moment. To these people the day was just beginning. In her eyes it was slowly coming to an end. The nip in the air was just a little too keen compared to what she was expecting. As if it was a child waiting impatiently to kick a ball.

Even after all this time, she swore her internal clock was still tuned to her home no matter where she went. Colette let the bitter nostalgia out with a breath as droids swarmed the shuttle, neat and tireless.

Valiant and dutiful as ever, she thought. She wasn't an unexpected visitor here, but she also hadn't been expected for at least another hour or two.

She didn't question what the pilot had said when he explained that he had shaved off about half the trip. In the end she was standing on Naboo soil and that was good enough for her.

An unknown Jedi she had seen during the flight passed her by and gave her a wave. She waved back and then their time together was over, just like that. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight back and forth between her heels and her footpads for a moment before pulling out her datapad. She wouldn't expect Aiden to be here this early and calling him felt rude.

There were other things she could do while she was waiting, like noting her thoughts down in a journal. Perhaps she would start with the one about the oggdo, or maybe how cold this place was. She wasn't lacking for options lately.

 

[Aiden Porte]

Colette
​

The morning air was still carrying the night's chill when Aiden stepped out onto the terrace. The mist clung low over the lake, turning the marble balustrades into pale silhouettes. Naboo's dawns had a way of softening everything edges, thoughts, even the weight of duty but not enough to quiet the subtle awareness stirring in the back of his mind.

He felt her before he saw her.

A familiar thread in the current of the Force steady, cool, touched by that restless hum she never quite shed, even after long flights or long nights. Colette. It had been months since he'd last seen her in person, though her reports, like her tone, were always punctual and restrained. He smiled faintly at that. Punctuality had its own kind of devotion.

His boots clicked softly across the stone as he made his way down the steps that led from the Sanctuary's east hall toward the landing pad. A small flock of droids drifted by with mechanical grace, carrying provisions and datapads for the day's training cycles. They parted around him without a word, like ripples around a stone. Beyond them, the silhouette of her shuttle gleamed under the rising sunk, sleek, silver, foreign against the muted palette of Naboo's dawn.

He slowed as he approached, not wanting to startle her. The wind carried the faint scent of the gardens the dew, the blossoms just beginning to open. "You're early." he said finally, voice carrying warmth and a teased ton. "Either your pilot's a miracle worker, or the hyperlanes took pity on you."

"The air has a bite to it this time of year. Though I suppose that's what keeps us from getting too comfortable."

He let a pause settle, his gaze softening slightly as the Force between them steadied into something familiar. "It's good to see you again, Colette."

 

[Colette]

Aiden Porte

The voice tore her from her pad. Colette looked up to see who it was and found Aiden himself. She crammed the pad into her pack and straightened. He spoke and she followed along fine until the 'again' caught her off-guard. Rather than five the confusion away she nodded politely as her mind raced to place where they'd met before.

"Thank you," she said and steadied herself. "Good to see you too, Porte."

"Yeah, the pilot was good at their job." Colette said and slung her pack over her shoulder. "Still feel like I'm on Rodia, almost."

They began to walk back towards the temple. "How have you been?"

 

[Aiden Porte]

Shiraya's Sanctuary
Colette
​

Aiden's pace matched hers without effort, measured and unhurried as the two fell into step along the stone path. The Sanctuary rose ahead of them, gallantry softened by mist, morning light catching the edges like a slow awakening. He glanced sidelong at her, just to catch her expression. She seemed tired in his eyes.

"I've been doing well. Life is as busy as it ever could be."

Aiden clasped his hands loosely behind his back, his gaze flicking toward the gardens that bordered the path. The soft chirr of early birds carried between the trees, mingling with the hum of Sanctuary machinery coming to life. "And you?" he asked after a moment. "What brings you out here to Naboo?"

 

[Colette]

Aiden Porte

Right, life as a Jedi was ever busy. Lots of little fires and big ones between the meditation. The further into the garden they got, the more its beauty seemed to insist upon itself. It still felt wrong for some reason. The unease simmered in her bones as she glanced back at Aiden.

"I travel a lot." She said and stopped by a tree near the heart of the garden to take a seat on the stone fence that encircled it.

"When traveling I started hearing strange rumors about Naboo," she continued. "That an organization that once called itself the Order of Shiraya is now more commonly referred to as THE Jedi Order by some."

A slight lift of her brow let Aiden know that she was actively gauging his response. She wanted anything at all to tell whether he liked the idea or not. It was wrong to judge, but if there was arrogance at play here she needed to dispel it fast.

"It's a bold claim," she said. "I wanted to hear how the people here felt about it."

 

[Aiden Porte]

Colette
​

Aiden slowed when she stopped, the gravel path crunching softly under his boots. The light through the canopy above dappled the stone and her shoulders in fragments of gold, a painter's illusion of calm that didn't quite reach the air between them. Her words, however, did. They landed with quiet precision measured, probing, deliberate in a way that made him straighten slightly, not defensive, but attentive.

"The Order of Shiraya," he repeated. "We used to be called that, now we are the Jedi Order. We are just like the others, just our beliefs can vary in different ways. There is truly, no true Jedi Order not anymore, not like the days during the Clone Wars and such. That was thousands of lifetimes ago."

"You're right to question it. The moment we stop asking where the line is between reverence and arrogance…" He exhaled quietly. "That's when we lose it."

He glanced back to her, meeting her gaze now with a small, sincere nod. "Thank you for asking, Colette. Not everyone does."

"We are not perfect, but do as best as we can for Naboo, the High Republic, and its people." Aiden said with a small smile as they finally entered the meditation summit, to let her take a look. The name essentially spoke for itself, but it overlook magnificent clearing which was incredibly beautiful this early in the morning.

 

[Colette]

Aiden Porte

The Clone Wars was an era Colette knew in broad strokes, but she recognized arrogance when she read about it. The Jedi were complacent then and allowed great evil to flourish. These days great evil endured, and neither side seemed able to quell the other. It wasn't for Colette to tell others how the Force worked, but that seemed like a sort of balance to her.

Regardless, her questioning was born from skepticism. She still believed in the tenets of the Jedi, but something in her upbringing kept her from embracing them fully. It was hard to believe you were truly right when there was enough proof to show that you might not be. There had to be a third way to find peace.

As they continued their walk through the temple she came to a stop at the meditation summit. The signs of life were old here. Worn stone mixed with the new. She could envision the young and the old in long hours of meditation here.

This was her favorite place from the tour so far.

"You're kind to say that, but skepticism is a double-edged thing." Colette turned towards the valleys beyond the pillared domes and waterfalls. "What you're describing is…" Her head began to tilt from side to side; lips pursed, nose scrunched. "My problem, I guess."

She admired the way parts of the water scattered to the wind. The rainbowed shimmer of the light guided her thoughts for a moment as she considered her words carefully.

"The High Republic and its people," her hesitation made her pause. "The Alliance and its people."

"Outside of these borders we're just people. To them we're just seers with nice swords. Yes, people have heard of Jedi but not a lot of them actually believe in it."

Now she turned to face Aiden fully, her lips twitching as the hesitation got the better of her.

"I guess losing 'home' leaves enough of a wound to make you question what you know." Colette muttered. "I just hoped something call the Jedi Order was working towards something more than just the High Republic."

 

[Aiden Porte]

Colette
​

Aiden couldn't help the quiet laugh that escaped him, soft but genuine, the kind that eased the gravity of her words without dismissing them. He shook his head slightly, eyes glinting with something between amusement and admiration.

"The High Republic and its people." he repeated, letting the phrase roll on his tongue before turning his gaze out toward the valley. "You make it sound like a club with a membership fee."

He pushed gently away from the stone railing, the folds of his robe catching the breeze. "Every week, I hold meetings at the palace conference rooms open to anyone. Farmers, artisans, soldiers, healers. They come forward and speak. About their fears, their losses, their doubts. Sometimes they speak to me, sometimes to each other. I listen. I share mine too." His voice softened then, quieter, honest. "All of them. Every failure, every loss I've carried from the wars."

Aiden's eyes followed the curve of the waterfalls spilling down into the mist. "It's so much more than the High Republic and its people." he continued. "This… what we're trying to build—it isn't about banners or systems or the old Council's legacy. It's about being together in the face of everything that would tear us apart."

He looked back at her then, expression open and calm but alive with conviction. "Ask the people of Naboo. They'll tell you. Not because anyone's telling them what to believe, not because they're being forced or fooled. They choose to believe. Because they've seen that the Force moves just as much through their kindness as through a Jedi's hand."

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "That's what gives me faith in all this. Not the Order's name, not the High Republic's promise. Them."

 

[Colette]

Aiden Porte

There was a membership fee, and meetings were all fine and dandy but nothing that happened in a conference room meant anything unless it was backed up by action. With a blessing such as the Force they owed it to the people to be there no matter what. It was all well and good to say you were out there for them, but were you out there with them? The facade of the temple said one thing but the words said something else. Colette kept from frowning and listened as Aiden continued.

"Right," she exhaled. "But why are we speaking about them on a mountaintop and not somewhere just outside of town?"

Her gaze lifted towards the clouds above for a moment. Her eyes closed and it was all gone. A deep breath let her shoulders rise and fall for a moment before she glanced back down again.

"Sorry, it's a sore spot for me." She rubbed her hand against the back of her neck and frowned. "I know we can't put out all of the galaxy's fires, but it also feels wrong that we live in luxurious enclaves when so many out there struggle just to get food."

"I wish I could quiet that part of my conscience, but it's the one that's screaming the loudest."