Private 'Neath A Golden Crown

[Colette]

Golden trees and a subtle breeze. It hadn't been Colette's intention to bring those words she had since obsessed over to life, and yet here they were. Autumn was always a special time of the year. It was the beginning of rebirth, the death of the past. Her eyes fixated on the golden-red crowns of the trees that arched above the duo.

"Seems we missed the rain by a few days." Colette noted and looked back down at her partner for the day. This was a setting that Colette felt more comfortable in and it showed. She wasn't smiling, but the ease was still there.

So was that kernel of awkward overthinking too, but far from as present as it was last time that she had met with Adelle. It had sprouted but hadn't yet pierced the earth. Mostly because it had taken some reassurance from the Mandalorian that it was in fact okay to head out and hunt when meeting someone for the first time and that, if anything, it was a pretty standard Mandalorian thing to do.

Colette shuffled the rifle on her shoulder and let in another deep breath.

"So, we never really got to know one another that well at the ball," She said and glanced over at her new… Friend? Acquaintance? Prospect? What was the word for this? That awkward little seedling grew an inch taller.

"I mean, I know that you can dance and that you're Mandalorian." She paused a moment before she tilted her head in recognition. "I also know that you seem to know people in high places on both Naboo and among the clans."

"So, I mean, I gotta say I feel at least a little out of place on the list of people you seem to know."

Adelle Bastiel

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

“I know four people in high places,” Adelle said quietly, following after Colette and trying to stay mindful they were on a hunt. Trees towered over them in brilliant reds and ambers, golds and greens. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen such a beautiful autumn. Not that she expected to. A lot had been taken from her when she’d been given amnesia. “And I know of a fifth." Whills fething woman flirting while married. "Truth be told, I have no idea why. I am literally no one important. Although I wouldn't count the Mandalorians of rank on that list. It's . . . different in our culture.”

Colette, for her part, seemed far more relaxed here than she had at the ball. Once again, reminding her of Na’an. Adelle kept getting flickers of nervousness but after she’d explained that hunts were common for Mandalorians, most of it died away. Most of it.

She paused, adjusting the strap to her Firepuncher while Phantom clung to the other shoulder. Adelle had tried to leave the spukami behind on her ship, but there were times that nothing Adelle did or said through their bond worked. She’d been pleasantly surprised when Phantom hadn’t fought her on staying behind the night of the gala. Although that surprise was short-lived when Phantom explained, as best she could through impressions, that she didn’t want her tail stepped on or to get kicked.

“I’m going to apologize in advance,” Adelle said. “I haven’t gone on hunts a whole lot, and not since before Life Day. Things have been . . . busy.”

An understatement. Between her work in the hospital trying to fight the Wildfire spice epidemic now plaguing Mandalorian space, the preparations for their strike against the Diarchy, along with the attack itself, and playing advisor to the Mand’alor during the treaty talks with the High Republic, Adelle could count on one hand the amount of days she’d gotten to herself.

The quiet rustle of leaves in a forest still drying out felt like a much needed peace.

“What are we hunting?” she asked. “I can’t remember if you mentioned that.”

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

Four people were still sort of a lot in Colette's eyes. Most people knew maybe one at best.

Her eyes fell for what must have been the hundredth time already upon the feline companion Adelle had brought with her. Her brown eyes locked with its orange orbs and her heart melted all over again. She had to look away but the desire was just not there.

At least not until Adelle snapped her out of it.

"Huh?" Colette cleared her throat. "Right, uh, nothing too serious. One of the villages reported that a particularly big herd of about two or three dozen forest gallaze will migrate through the area and asked for help, so… I signed us up."

A distant gunshot could be heard in the distance almost as if on cue. By Colette's estimate it must have been at least a few kilometers to the north-northwest of where they were.

"That's one of ten taken then." She nodded and looked back at Adelle.

A small check in on the comms confirmed that much.

"And don't worry about the actual hunt. If we bag something, we bag something. If not, that's fine too." Her shoulders rose and sank. "Sometimes it's also just nice to enjoy the other parts of a hunt. The sun, the wind, the smells…"

And just like that she was back to looking at Phantom again.

"Is your friend going to be okay if we start shooting? Thinking about their hearing."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

An amused smile crept across her face as Adelle watched Colette tear her eyes and attention back from wear Phantom sat. It was kind of adorable to see how taken by Phantom Colette was. Adelle listened as they walked and the young Jedi explained. Gallaze, a herd of two to three dozen, migrating near a settlement. The report of a slugthrower echoed, followed by a crackle of voices on Colette’s commlink that confirmed a kill. One of ten.

A quota or limit. Intentional, designed to keep overpopulation from being a problem. Overpopulation brought far more problems than just the herd itself. Even still, she’d heard people in the Core ignorantly talk about hunters as if they were murderers.

Colette suddenly asked about Phantom and her hearing.

“Hm? Oh she’ll be fine,” Adelle said. “She’s heard worse and I usually protect her ears when needed.”

It took some doing with Art of the Small but Adelle had figured out a balance between hearing protection and the pressure that came with manipulating the air around Phantom’s head. But hearing the slugshot did bring up another question.

“My rifle’s not a slugthrower,” she said. “The bolt will burn if it hits. That okay? I don’t have to be a shooter if it’s not.”

Phantom’s head snapped in the direction of a bird flying through the branches of the trees, chittering, her tail lashing. Adelle looked off in the direction Phantom’s attention had pointed, appreciating the woods. It was almost like being back on Dantooine.

Almost.

“I’m not familiar with gallaze,” Adelle said. “So I don’t know where they’d be headed or what their tracks look like. Mind taking point?”

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

Colette had noticed that about Adelle's weapon but decided not to bring it up yet.

"Then let's keep that one in case something bigger finds us." She said and brought forth the rifle on her shoulder. "I've used this one since I joined the Order."

It didn't look like it. The gun was meticulously maintained to the point where its age showed more in the small cuts and scrapes in the wood than anything else. There were even a few personal modifications thrown in there. It was an extension of Colette and it showed.

And yet, she still held it out for Adelle to grab if she so wished.

"The gallaze are herbivores. Usually found in the swamps of Trinta. Brought into other eco systems by illegal trade. Not invasive, but they still tend to feed on crops if their herds get a bit too big." It was as if an info sheet could talk. Colette took hunting very seriously and she hoped it showed. "Look for small creatures with horns."

A moment passed, the winds soothed the mind, she looked at the cat again and a chuckle parted Colette's lips.

"I have a little cat back home too." She said and gave the creature a warm smile. "His name is Nibbles. Always gives these gentle bites when he wants your attention. Loves to lazy around on the warm rocks and look out at all the passing Jedi at the enclave."

"I can only imagine how annoyed he'd be if I brought him to something like this."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

Plasma would be a problem. Adelle should have perhaps asked for more information on the hunt before arriving. She could have borrowed a slugthrower rifle from a clanmate. Not that she didn't have a slugthrower---her father had left behind an antique Mark 5 ‘Sand Panther’ when he passed. She just hadn’t gone over it to make sure it wouldn’t misfire and explode in her face the first time she fired it.

Colette offered her rifle but Adelle waved her hand and shook her head. It had been well-maintained and looked very nearly new but for the customizations. The type of weapon that spoke to the soul of a person. The sort of thing Adelle didn't want to mishandle.

The wealth of information Colette gave on the gallaze brought a small smile to her face. Between that and the slugthrower, and the graceful ease the young Jedi carried herself with, gave Adelle a more complete picture of who the woman was. Little wonder that Colette had seemed so anxious at the gala, if this was true to who she was.

Adelle followed along, keeping her senses trained on their surroundings for the small creatures they hunted.

“It did take Phantom some getting used to,” Adelle said. She made sure to keep her voice hushed so she didn't spook the wildlife around them. “She didn't like me going outside without her, so she adjusted. It's why she rides my shoulders.”

A comfortable silence lapsed between them before Adelle gave a sidelong glance and a smirk. “So… Nibbles, huh? How’d he adopt you?”

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

Adelle didn't accept the rifle, which was just fine. Colette slung it back over her shoulder again and shrugged. The offer still stood, but she wouldn't voice that just yet.

"Same way any cat does, I guess." A warm smile spread on Colette as she reminisced about the day. "My adoptive family were traveling when we stumbled upon a woman selling a litter of cats. Originally we were just curious, but when he sunk his teeth into us — literally — it would have taken an army to keep me from adopting him."

"Very calm, curious, and loyal." A wistful breath blew from her nose. "Great listener too."

"Doesn't try to make the world more complicated than it is, you know? Just watches you, clueless to what you're even saying, and then rubs his head against your neck to make you shut up when it all becomes too much."

Wait, that last part was…

"What about, uh…" Colette cleared her throat. "How about you and Phantom? How did you two meet?"

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

The little anecdote told her a bit more about Colette than perhaps the woman intended. An adoptive family that travelled, indulging in a purchase that made Colette happy. Moments of venting to a silent listener, feelings of being overwhelmed. Colette was an orphan but her adopted family cared for her. She had moments of anxiety or strong feelings that required a moment’s peace and softness. Small wonder, for a young Jedi in this day and age.

A flash of uncertainty flared in Colette’s emotions just before she turned the question on Adelle. Ah feth. Her jaw clenched and she swallowed before smoothing her emotions back into something neutral. She honestly should have expected it.

“A, uh, a service animal clinic,” Adelle said. “I needed help with my symptoms and Phantom… Phantom helped.”

Well, the only one that tolerated her and offered to help, but Adelle wasn’t about to try to explain her bad luck with animals or the strange Force bond she had with Phantom. Although if anyone would understand, it would be the Jedi.

“PTSD,” she added, quietly. Most people asked, since she wasn’t obviously disabled or visibly injured. “I have severe PTSD.”

Among other things but Colette didn’t need to know all that.

Adelle took a steadying breath. “You sound like you hunt a lot. What do you like about it?”

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

Understanding, not so much because of being a Jedi but Colette would understand trauma to some extent. Not to Adelle's degree, she assumed, but she still was no stranger to anxiety and stress. It was hard to live this particular life and not have it.

She gave no response, just a nod.

"It reminds me of how simple life can be." She said and continued the conversation, no judgment. "Back before the Order, I was part of a clan. We wandered the deserts and the drylands spreading seeds and looking after the world."

"When we were hungry, we foraged. And when there wasn't enough forage, we hunted. We only took what we needed but made sure to use whatever we took. Skins for leather. Meat for food and kibble… There was no yesterday or tomorrow, there was only now. Sometimes we spent so long on the road you'd forget others even existed, which made it all the more exciting when you met someone new."

She exhaled, lost in the rock strata of her mind. She missed her home dearly, but she could never return. Not after how much she'd changed since then.

"So I try my best to find joy in the small things out here." Colette swallowed her words hard. "A nice moment with a friend or… I don't know. Getting to know someone new."

"The- uh, the… The people in the Order called it a culture shock. I think."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

Colette thankfully left the reason for Phantom’s existence in Adelle’s life alone. The knot of tension in Adelle’s chest eased as the Jedi talked about hunting, no longer braced for the push that usually came.

The way Colette talked reminded her a bit of the short life she’d had on Dantooine. Karre Noba’s farming compound had been a far simpler life than the one she’d led with her old Order, bouncing back and forth between Jedi duties and CorSec requests. On Dantooine, she was just Doc, and her routine had been simple. Home had been a small hut shared with Na’an and Leigh, a hammock in a corner. Runs were through fields and forests, and the hum of starship engines few and far between.

Adelle’s attention drifted back when emotions swirled thick around the Jedi and her words faltered for a moment.

“Culture shock sounds right,” Adelle said. “You get used to how a place is and then everything you thought you knew changes.”

The report of another slugthrower echoed through the forest, closer this time. Two out of ten, if they hit. The noise would be driving the herd in a different direction. Adelle bit back the impulse to bring it up: Colette hadn’t seemed to care if they shot something or not, and looked like she rather enjoyed just the walk through the woods. So she only adjusted her pace to stay a step behind Colette’s lead.

“You ever think about visiting?” she asked instead. “Your family?”

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

Did she ever think about it? The slowing of her pace and the gentle bow of her head would say enough. She opened her mouth to speak but little more than a huff of air came out.

"No." She felt so small. "The elder cast me out, for my own sake. Then they disbanded when she died."

It was something she didn't like to think about. It was easier to let it be and focus on where she was now. To focus on what she lost felt disrespectful to those she had in her life now and even so she knew that she had been brought into the greater galaxy for a good cause.

"Valery and her family are my family now." Colette said. "I- I can't call her moth-..." Her lips thinned. "I can't call her my moth—brrrr…"

"Caregiver." Colette spat out with hiss. "I can't let go of the hate I feel for the word 'mother' and it bothers me. Same with Fath-br-eeerrr.. "

"Sorry, I... I don't talk about this a lot."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

Colette slowed and seemed to shrink into herself. Hurt. Reliving old wounds.

Way to fething go, Adelle. How many times did that make now? At least twice, bringing up someone’s family as conversation when it was a loaded subject. Her one consolation was that in both cases, she had no idea it was a problematic question.

Adelle didn’t know how to comfort the Jedi and she was afraid to make another misstep.

Colette tripped over the word mother until she spat out caregiver like venom and stumbled over father as well.

“If,” Adelle started out slowly, her brain rapidly trying to come up with the right words, “If that’s something you want to try—talking about it—we are alone. There’s no one around to hear. And I don’t know your new family so there’s no threat there.”

Adelle stepped closer, like she was approaching a wounded animal, and gently placed a hand on Colette’s shoulder. “Let me be clear. There is no obligation one way or another. Whatever you decide is fine.”

Phantom took the opportunity to leap off of Adelle’s shoulders and land primly on Colette’s, butting her head against the other woman’s ear. And Adelle could hear the purring from where she stood.

<<I help.>>

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

Her shoulders sunk with an exhausted huff.

"Thank you, I… I want to but I don't really know what I can say at this point." Colette leaned into Phantom's supportive purr. "I have people around me that care. A lot."

Bang, bang. One bagged, one miss. Colette looked over in the direction of the shots and frowned. She had invited Adelle to hunt but by now it seemed more like it was just to talk. Colette let in a deep breath and a long exhale.

In truth, it felt nicer to just talk.

"I have Corazona, I have Valery, and to some extent I have Lily." She smiled. "It's so easy to get swamped in the past sometimes. My birth parents didn't love me and my clan tolerated me. But out here I am slowly surrounding myself with people who do care. People that I care for and who care for me too."

"And right now, I…" She chuckled, letting her nerves ease the conversation for once as she went on. "I'm thinking you belong on that list too, whether you want to or not."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

“I promise I don’t usually put my foot in my mouth,” Adelle said, an apologetic twist to her smile as she let her hand fall and took a step back. Colette’s words rattled in her head, but her last, nervous statement dug claws into her brain. “But I’m glad I’ve earned such trust in so short a time.”

She watched the way Colette leaned into Phantom, watched some of the tension melt away as Phantom worked her magic. The spukami sniffed near the young woman’s ear, still purring. Adelle knew from experience the purring would be deafening from that.

“You say you get swamped in the past sometimes. There’s no harm in grieving what was, what you lost,” she said quietly. “It’s better if you do, actually. The life you lost, the dreams you had, expectations… It’s okay to grieve them. They affected you profoundly.”

Colette had mentioned names: Corazona, Valery, Lily. Adelle wondered if it was Corazona von Ascania she knew, or someone else with the same name. Nah, the galaxy wasn’t that small. Had to be a different Corazona.

“The Mandalorians have a few relevant sayings,” she said. “Aliit ori’shya taldin is one. ‘Family is more than blood.’ Adoption and foundlings are how many of our clans survived.”

Adelle gave an encouraging half-smile. “Sounds like you’re finding yours.”

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

Better to love freely and die a fool than live in fear and die alone. Or so she had been told from a young age at least. And sure, the past was worth grieving but not if it meant you forgot about the present. Colette had mourned her abandonment as a child growing up with other children that knew a love she'd never known. Her scars on Woostri were still painful but not as bad as they once had been.

They just never healed very well given how often they were torn up by those around her and their closeness to the one who nearly got her killed, though she felt no need to bring that up with Adelle.

"You know," She exhaled and came to a stop. Her gaze fell to the floor with shame for a moment before she looked back up. "I used to be so, so, so against the mere concept of the Mandalorian culture."

"It was… Weird to me. To have this whole thing that, from the outside, was built on strife and hate and anger and war when I had never even known those things." She exhaled. "But the more I learn, the more I think I understand the, uh…" Colette closed her hand, her lips pursed. The word she looked for was eluding her. "The ideas behind it."

"These days, I think I can see how it came to exist and why it continues to exist." She said. "The words you said just then, the, uh… Aleet… Ori chia? … Paladin?"


"That's wisdom. And in many cases the truth." She exhaled an uncertain laughter, hoping she hadn't just offended. "Even if I don't really know if I want to have my own children, I would lay down my life in a heartbeat for my friends' children."

"You know?" Another quick exhale, she had ranted for a while now. Or so it felt like. "In some ways Valery's children are my sisters. Cora's child is my niece, and…"

One more chuckle parted her lips, except this one was genuine, happy.

"Sorry, I'm ranting. But if you'd only known the circumstances of that one, you'd be laughing too."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

Colette stopped and looked away when she admitted to disliking Mandalorian culture at the least. The guilt or shame she felt confused Adelle. Plenty of people actively hated Mandalorians: and they historically hadn’t done anything to endear themselves to the wider galactic community. Adelle herself had mistrusted them at best, to the point of trying to avoid them until she couldn’t anymore.

She did give a good attempt at Mando’a though, even if she didn’t get it fully correct. Her nerves came out in her laughter, as she started talking about her found family. There was a lightness there, something untouched by the violence gripping the galaxy. Adelle smiled a little, along with Colette. The name Cora still tugged on that suspicion, that it might be the same one. Still, Cora could be a fairly common name on some planets.

“You’re young yet,” Adelle said. “I wouldn’t worry about kids until you’re maybe my age. But what’s this about a funny story?”

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

Young, that she was.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, really." Colette chuckled again and shook her head. "So, Cora is a… Let's say an important person. She has responsibilities, and is a public figure whether she wants to be or not because of her blood."

"She and her partner had been tense a while back before they finally decided to become something real together, something that she chose instead of the people around her. It went well! They start living a pretty good life together, and they still do, but—" Colette cut her rambling off by clearing her throat. "Not the point. Point is, she was on some kind of dignitary assignment or similar when her, uh… Water broke."

"... In an elevator."

Finger raised to stop Adelle from speaking. She wasn't done yet. She leaned back, index finger to the sky before she leaned in for emphasis,

"... With the King of Naboo." Colette laughed, "And- and- and I just swear that had it been anyone other than Corazona I wouldn't have believed this in the slightest. But, this fool who has NO IDEA what to do calls a friend up, has them tell him what to do and…"

Colette laughed again. A small whine rose from her throat as she held back the rest of her laughter.

"Oh god, I don't even know what to say." The kid said and grinned at the tree crowns above. "I hope Cora gets to meet that person some day."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

About the time Colette mentioned her Cora’s water breaking in a turbolift, Adelle stopped, incredulous.

There was no fething way.

Then Colette mentioned Aurelian by title and laughed. In hindsight, the situation was absurd. It had been seared into her brain as something other than hilarious, however, thanks to her memnii. Every time she remembered that memnis, she relived it as it happened. The irritation at being woken up in the middle of the night, the adrenaline and alarm when Aurelian told her what was happening, the frustration and utter helplessness of having to coach someone panicking through helping someone give birth.

She had been prepared to try and help via the Force that night, consequences be damned.

The young Jedi looked up at the canopy, dappled sunlight playing on her tan face. “I hope Cora gets to meet that person someday.”

Adelle took measured steps to catch back up to Colette, Phantom twisting to look back at her with a curious flick of her tail. She sent reassurance through their bond to the tiny spukami as she finally caught up.

“She did,” Adelle said simply. “About two and a half days later. That's how long it takes to get from Contruum to Ukatis at lightspeed.”

She waited for Colette’s reaction. The galaxy could sometimes be very small indeed.

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

She did, about two and a half days later.

Yeahhh, Colette thought as she lowered her glance from the crowns above with that very same grin on her lips. Except the smile slowly faded as the words actually registered for her. Contruum to Ukatis at lightspeed. She had never mentioned Ukatis.

"That was you?" She asked with an incredulous whisper, her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes began to burn, she tried her best to hold it back but what was the use?

Colette's beloved rifle landed on the floor with a thwack. Leaves shuffled beneath her feet as she approached Adelle properly. Although her eyes remained seemingly emotionless, save for the tears, the storm beneath her skin betrayed the gratitude flowing through every fiber of her being as she reached out to place a hand on Adelle's shoulder.

"Can I please hug you?" She whimpered.

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

For a moment, her words seemed to completely bypass Colette as the young woman smiled and looked ahead. Then realization slowly dawned, the smile turning into something awe-filled and disbelieving at the same time. Adelle couldn’t help herself and smiled when Colette whispered her question.

“Yes.” The word hung in the silence for a moment until Colette dropped her rifle. Alarm flashed through her veins and Adelle gestured, using the Force to make sure the barrel pointed away from them when it fell. It thumped against the damp leaf litter but mercifully didn’t go off.

The young Jedi staggered to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. As composed as her face looked, Adelle could feel Colette’s emotions openly roiling: not just gratitude, but joy, disbelief, shock, and a deep-rooted relief tied to an equally deep concern.

Colette’s voice quivered as she asked. "Can I please hug you?"

"Tactile contact is fundamental to a healthy human psychological state," Leigh responded. "It is often the last remaining mode of expression to your species, when you are overwhelmed or lack other mediums of communication. If someone like her...hugs... someone, it is because she feels that she both can, and that she needs to. Beyond that, I cannot say."

The memory came unbidden. Adelle smiled up at her, a touch of nostalgia turning the corners down.

“Yes, you can,” she said quietly.

She held her arms slightly out to the side. Phantom took the opportunity of their proximity to return to Adelle’s shoulders.