Private Nice Day For Fishin', Ain't It?

[Reina Daival]

Tag: Aiden Porte
Location: Commenor

When was the last time she just got to go fishing? Life had been pretty chaotic from her. Moving from one thing to the next. Pushing herself harder and harder to make herself known on the Galactic Stage. But there was a part of her wondering if it was worth it in the end? What was the odds that she'd just been discarded and thrown off to the side like she always had been? People she had trusted and needed had nearly always abandoned her. There was only a small selection, perhaps one or two people who hadn't. There was a part of Reina, a large part that was growing more and more every day, that believed everyone would abandon her. Her life would always be a lonely one. That was her belief. Someone like her didn't deserve happiness.

Even if it might not be the actual truth, it was the truth for Reina as she sat out at the ocean, whipping her fishing line off ahead of herself. She couldn't help but wonder if she was like the fish that she was trying to catch. Had she been baited and caught on a hook? Was she being reeled in by the Sith? The dagger at her hip felt oddly heavy at that thought, as it made her more keenly aware of the darkness flowing through her. Strength. Power. All that she tried to deny. She didn't want to be some kind of Dark Knight. But was she truly even a Knight? Or was she just some foolish girl playing dress up? Cosplaying as a Knight, serving a Queen that may have been taking advantage of her? She was far too used to that. People trying to take advantage of her. Especially those of the Sith.

It was why she had sent a rather simple holo message to Aiden Porte . Reina needed to talk to someone. About what had been going on with her life. None of the people she interacted with closely right now were suitable. Quinn didn't want to talk about Brosi, and Reina wasn't ready to talk to Quinn fully about her fears. Of course the Echani perhaps knew some of them from when Reina had talked about Serina in the past...Yet there was also Darth Carnifex. And there was no chance Reina would open up to her Dark Master, just yet. She didn't know how to feel around him. With Valery and Everest also nowhere to be found, there was only person Reina trusted enough not to judge her. And so she continued to fish, just waiting for Aiden's arrival.

​

 

[Aiden Porte]

Reina Daival​

Aiden's ship had touched down several minutes earlier, and by the time he reached the shoreline, he had everything he needed in hand. A simple fishing kit, a small tackle case, and a cooler slung comfortably at his side. He was dressed far from his usual Jedi appearance, wearing casual outerwear better suited for the sea breeze and salt air than temple halls or battlefields.

From a distance, he spotted Reina near the water's edge, her line already cast, her silhouette quiet against the ocean. Aiden smiled the moment he saw her. It was genuinely good to hear from her, and more than that, he was glad she had chosen to reach out. He had always felt close to Reina in his own way. There was a protectiveness there, something almost like an older brother looking out for a younger sister.

As he drew near, he called out to her in a warm, familiar tone.

"Hey you."

He set his gear down a few feet from where she sat, careful to leave enough distance so their lines would not tangle. He did not press her with questions right away. He did not force the moment. Instead, he moved with calm ease, opening his tackle case, hooking bait onto the line, and casting it out into the water with a smooth flick of his wrist.

Only then did he glance over at her, the corner of his mouth lifting into a soft smile.

"It is good to see you, Reina."

His tone was light and simple, but the warmth in it carried more than the words alone. He settled in beside his gear, one hand resting loosely on the rod as the waves rolled in and out.

For a moment, he just sat with her in the quiet, letting the ocean speak first.

Aiden had not come to drag answers out of her, nor to corner her with questions she was not ready to face. He had come because she asked him to, and that alone meant enough. If she wanted silence for a while, he would sit in silence. If she wanted to fish and talk about nothing at all, he could do that too. And if she wanted his advice, truly wanted it, then he would give it without hesitation.

He glanced over at her with a small, reassuring smile, then looked back out toward the water.

For a while, he simply focused on the line and the sea breeze, giving her the comfort of his presence without demanding anything in return. There was a steadiness to him in that moment, the kind that said she did not need to perform, explain, or pretend.

Aiden was just there, beside her, as a good friend.

 

[Reina Daival]

Tag: Aiden Porte
Location: Commenor

"Hey, me."

Reina muttered, keeping her gaze focused out on the water. It wasn't as if she was trying to be cold. It was more now that Aiden was actually here, Reina wasn't entirely sure what to say. It was hard to figure out what to say. Where to start with it all, as she continued to focus on the fishing. Was it really good to see her? There was a part of her that thought she looked like some kind of twisted corrupted monster, because there was a deep part of her that felt like that was who she was. What she was.

"You should arrest me."

It was a simple statement. Out of the blue. But Aiden was a Jedi. He was meant to do the right thing. Detain Reina. Kill her. Just stop her in some way. Reina wasn't sure if she'd get worse. If she'd be better. Was she destined to continue to fall down the well, further into darkness? Or did she have enough self awareness to keep herself in control. She wasn't arrogant enough to believe she could handle the darkness herself. It would play her like a fiddle. Everyone and everything played with her like she was some kind of instrument.

"I've...been working with the Sith. Defending their territory. Fighting against the Imperials. I..."

What else was she meant to say? There was so much on her mind but it was near enough impossible to get it out. So instead she just left it at that. Keeping her gaze directly focused on the ocean in front of her. There was a part of her that just wanted to crawl into the ocean, never to be seen again. To live beneath the waves with the fish, away from the corruptive nature of humanity. Of feelings. But she wasn't brave enough to do that. No. At the end of the day, Reina was a coward.

​

 

[Aiden Porte]

Reina Daival​

Aiden showed a small smile, faint but full of warmth, the kind that came from care rather than comfort spoken for its own sake. He did not judge her. He never had, and he was not about to begin now. That was not his way.

He listened to the few words she managed, and even in their broken shape, he could feel the truth in them. The emotion behind them was impossible to miss. It poured out of her in heavy, uneven waves through the Force, grief and fear and shame all tangled together. It struck him like water against stone, again and again, not to break him, but to wear at him with the ache of what she had been carrying alone.

Aiden let himself feel it.

He did not recoil from it. He did not shut her out. Instead, he breathed in slowly, steady and grounded, and extended his own presence toward her through the Force. Gentle, open and calm, not pushing into her mind, not trying to control what she felt, only offering stillness where he could. Like a quiet shoreline meeting rough surf.

His voice, when he finally spoke, was low and warm.

"Reina."

He said her name with care, turning slightly toward her while keeping his posture easy, unthreatening. One hand rested loosely on his knee, the other near the fishing rod, as if this were still just two people by the water, because in many ways it was.

"You do not need to brace yourself with me."

Aiden's eyes stayed on her, soft with concern and something deeper, something protective and almost brotherly.

"I can feel how much this is costing you to say." He gave the smallest shake of his head. "And I need you to hear me. I am not here to condemn you."

The wind moved across the shoreline, tugging lightly at his jacket, and his aura remained steady around her in the Force, a warm current beneath the surface of the storm.

"What you are feeling right now does not make you weak." His expression softened further. "It means your heart is still fighting. It means there is still hope in you, even if all you can see at the moment is the dark pressing in."

He glanced out at the water for a second, then back to her, letting the rhythm of the waves carry some of the silence between his words.

"You have been carrying too much by yourself for too long." Aiden's tone stayed gentle, but there was quiet conviction in it. "You do not have to untangle it all at once. You do not have to explain every choice today. Just tell me what hurts most, and we will start there."

His small smile returned, tender and sincere.

"I am not going anywhere."

What mattered to him, wasn't the Sith and her defending their territory, it wasn't her fighting the Imperials.

What mattered was Reina, and that wasn't going to change.

 

[Reina Daival]

Tag: Aiden Porte
Location: Commenor

"Someone needs to condemn me. I'm killing. Causing pain. But no-one seems to care. I'm being...supported to hurt more people. And even if I think they deserve it, do they truly deserve it? Why? Because I think I'm better than them? My morals are better? My beliefs are better?"

Even as Aiden's presence comforted her, the Ersansyr's hand was gripping around the handle of her fishing rod tighter, a few small cracks and crunches echoing through the air. It was ironic in a way. All she wanted was to be told that she was wrong. She didn't want to believe in what she was doing. That she was right. Because she had never been right in her life. She was so used to being wrong again, and again. Being told what was right, what she should be doing. So to not have that...she was worried what path she was going down now.

"My new Master, he's...supporting me to get what I want. That if I can do something, that means I have the right to do it. I should take what I want. And I want to. But it feels wrong. It's everything Colette threw at me. She accused me of taking advantage of those weaker than me. I don't want to do that. I don't want to be that kind of person. Even if it might make things easier."

The teaching Carnifex was giving Reina was helping her, ever so slightly. It was giving her more confidence. But at the same time, she was worried as to where the confidence was coming from. Was it a place of corruption? Of darkness? Or was it just her finally seeing her own value? Knowing what she deserved and not accepting anything less? She deserved to be someone. Not a nobody.

"And...there's someone I care about. Immensely. They make me feel alive. But I'm scared. Scared she'll replace me. That I'll be thrown to the side. It's happened before. I don't want it to happen again. I want to be someone she wants. That she desires. But I don't know how. Everything I say. Everything I do to try and make myself better for her...It feels like I'm digging myself into a hole."

Those were the two main issues on Reina's mind. Who she'd be if she took Carnifex's teaching to heart...and who she had to became to keep Quinn happy. She had far too much experience with being thrown away when she wasn't needed. When she made people unhappy. Yes, she could have spoken to the Echani about this...but like she said, she felt as if all she did was dig herself a hole.
​

 

[Aiden Porte]

Reina Daival​

Aiden listened without interrupting.

He did not rush to fill the silence, and he did not soften the truth into something easy just to make the moment hurt less. He let her speak, let the fear and anger and confusion come out as it needed to, and when the small cracks sounded from the fishing rod in her grip, his eyes flicked to her hand for only a moment before returning to her face. He could feel how close to the edge she was, not of violence or collapse. Of finally saying out loud what had been tearing at her.

Aiden drew a slow breath, his calm presence in the Force still extended toward her, steady as the tide.

When he spoke, his voice was warm, but firmer now.

"No, Reina. You do not need someone to condemn you. Do you think condemning you is the right path. Do you think if I place you under arrest for your crimes, that is the right path. Of locking you up, until your lesson has been learned. And the truth has been etched into your brain." Aiden did not speak harshly, he just simple spoke in a calm manner.

He turned a little more toward her, expression gentle and unflinching at once. "You need someone to tell you the truth, the real truth. And if you still continue on the path you are on. Then, that is on you. I cannot force you on a better path, you have to look deep into yourself and find it."

Aiden's gaze dropped briefly to the splintering rod in her hand, then back to her.

"And the truth is this. The fact that you are asking these questions means your conscience is alive. It means you are not numb to what you are doing. That does not erase the harm. It does not make every choice acceptable. But it matters. It matters a great deal."

His jaw tightened slightly, not in anger at her, but at the shape of what she was describing.

"What your master is teaching you is a very old lie. If you can take something, then you have the right to it. If you are strong enough, then you are justified. That is not confidence. That is appetite dressed up as philosophy." His voice stayed level. "It creates people who confuse power with worth, and control with safety."

Aiden shook his head once.

"You are right to feel that something is wrong in it."

The words were simple and direct. He gave them to her without hesitation.

"You asked if those people truly deserve what is being done to them. That is the right question. A hard and necessary one. Because once we stop asking it, once we start deciding that strength alone makes us righteous, we can justify anything. Cruelty, domination, revenge, we stop protecting people and start using them."

He let that settle, then his tone softened again.

"And I know that is exactly what you do not want to become."

The waves rolled in and receded. Aiden rested his forearms on his knees, posture still easy, but his attention fully on her. He could sense it, he coulde sense everything at this moment. His brow furrowed, hating that his friend was in pain like this. "Colette spoke harshly, she had a personal stake in this I feel. The fear underneath your words tells me she struck something true that you are trying to face, not deny. Because now you get to choose differently." He gave her a small, reassuring look.

"You are not a monster for wanting more. You are not selfish for wanting a life, a place, a future. You deserve more than what you have become right now." His voice carried quiet conviction. "What kind of person will you become while claiming that truth?"

At the mention of someone shes cares for, his expression softened further, and something almost sad touched his eyes. "And the second part of this," he said quietly, "Is not really about power at all. It is about fear." He glanced out at the ocean, then back to her.

"You care for someone deeply, and you are afraid they will leave. So part of you is trying to solve that fear by becoming whatever you think they will keep. More useful. More desirable. Less burdensome. Less replaceable." He gave a faint shake of his head. "That road will break your heart, Reina. Even if she stays."

Aiden's tone remained gentle, but there was no hesitation in it. "You cannot build......love on performance. You cannot hold someone by making yourself smaller, sharper, prettier, stronger, more agreeable, or more dangerous, depending on what you think they want that day. That is not love...." His Force presence remained calm around her, not smothering, just steady.

"If this woman truly cares for you, then she needs you, not a version of you built out of fear. And if she does not choose you unless you twist yourself into someone else, then no amount of twisting will ever be enough. There will always be one more thing to change."

Aiden kept his gaze on her for a moment. "Reina..." Aiden whispered softly. "Look at me, please. Hope has not abandoned you, I can feel it."

 

[Reina Daival]

Tag: Aiden Porte
Location: Commenor

"But I don't want it to be a lie. I want to be able to take what I want. I want strength. I want power. I want to be royalty. To have people admire in awe...and fear."

That was why she felt as if she needed to be condemned. Her beliefs. Her dreams. She still wanted to be a Knight, that was for sure. Yet she also wanted to be a Princess. A Queen. There was part of her that wanted to be pampered. Wanted to have an easy life, that she had never had before. To have people at her beck and call. Yet she knew that was wrong. To see herself better as anyone was an insult. An insult that...she found herself not caring anymore.

"There are moments where I don't listen to my conscience. Not anymore. I squeezed a man to death. I drowned another. And I enjoyed it. The power I felt. The strength I had. That even as I bled, even as I felt pain, they felt far more than I ever did. That as life and power swelled within me, the life in them was extinguished. I enjoyed it."

That was what scared her the most. The enjoyment she had taken from it all. How good she felt in the moment whilst knowing it was wrong. There were other choices she could have made. Incapitate them. Cripple them. Yet instead she had chosen to extinguish their flame of life. To take it for her own. Every kill she went through only further made her grow. Made her skills feel more potent. A lesson that could only be learned in blood, pain and death. Her own blood. Her own pain. Their death.

"I don't know who I'll become. Or what I become. At the heart of it all...I want to be loved. I want what Everest has. What Valery has. I want someone to want me. But I don't. And I fear I never will. I am...broken. Who wants someone broken? Who would choose a broken necklace over a whole one? A shattered mirror over a new one? No-one."

More and more, the fishing rod cracked and splintered. Tears starting to slowly stream down Reina's face as she tried her hardest to hold the emotions in. As gentle as Aiden's voice was, Reina was not. Her emotions were fluctatuing. Her tone going up and down in frustration, fear, loneliness. The ocean responding in kind as the waves continued to push and pull. Crashing down over both Reina and Aiden's legs, as the Ersansyr's rod snapped in her hands, finally, with splinters flying off in various directions.

"I'm afraid Aiden. Of her not wanting me anymore. I feel like I can't do anything right for her. I don't think she needs me. She has a countless amount of people to comfort her. To take my place. She is a Queen, and what am I? I am nothing compared to that."

She crumpled, down to her knees, crouching down amidst the waves, as she wrapped her arms around her knees, holding them tightly to herself. The Ersansyr couldn't bring herself to look up at Aiden. Because she knew what he was saying was right, but she didn't want to believe in them. Emotions weren't something she ever dealt with easily. These were the kind of emotions she could punch something to feel better over. The only way to feel better was to confront them. To talk about them...but she couldn't.

"I'm scared. Scared that I do love her. It makes it hurt so much more. The idea that she wouldn't feel the same way. I loved Everest. And the day I told her...I found out that she was engaged. I don't...I don't want that to happen again. Never."​

 

[Aiden Porte]

Reina Daival​

Aiden watched the fishing pole snap in her hands, the sharp crack of it swallowed almost immediately by the roar of the surf. He saw the way she folded in on herself after, crumpling down into the wet sand with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, as if she could hold herself together by force alone.

His expression softened with quiet ache.

Without a word, Aiden set his own pole down beside him, careful and unhurried, and moved closer through the shallow water. He did not hesitate this time. He reached for her gently, one arm coming around her shoulders and the other settling around her folded arms, holding her with a steady, protective warmth. It was not restraint. It was shelter.

Through the Force, he extended what calm he could, not trying to smother what she felt, not trying to command it away, but offering something steadier beneath it. A quiet presence and a grounded warmth. Like a hand held out in the dark.

He bowed his head slightly near hers, his voice low and warm over the sound of the waves.

"Reina, listen to me."

Aiden held her carefully, giving her room even as he kept her close.

"You are not nothing." His tone was firm, full of truth. "You are not broken beyond repair. You are hurting, and you are afraid, and you have made choices that frightened you. But that is not the same thing as being lost forever."

He let the words settle, his hand shifting gently against her shoulder in a small, reassuring motion.

"I am not going to lie to you. Some of what you told me is serious. It matters. People were harmed. Lives were taken." His voice stayed calm, never harsh. "That truth is real. But so is this one. You are here. You are telling me. You are grieving what you are becoming instead of celebrating it."

Aiden closed his eyes for a brief moment, steadying his own breath so she could feel it in the Force.

"That means there is still a path back. It may be hard. It may be painful. But it is there."

The ocean surged around them, cold water washing against his legs, and he did not move.

"You wanting strength does not make you evil," he said softly. "Wanting to matter does not make you evil. Wanting to be loved does not make you evil." His jaw tightened just slightly. "What matters is what you do with that hunger. Whether you let it turn you cruel, or whether you shape it into something worthy."

His hold remained gentle, steady.

"And you can still choose that, Reina. Right now, even here, if you want." Aiden leaned back just enough to look at her, though his voice stayed tender and close. "You do not have to become feared to be worthy. You do not have to become hard to be chosen. The people who only value you when you are useful or dangerous are not giving you love. They are using your pain."

He shook his head, a quiet conviction in every word. "I care about you far too much to let you believe that is all you are meant for."

For a moment, he just held her, letting the surf and his presence carry the silence.

"I'm not asking you to come back and join the Jedi Order, I'm just asking you to see, past the darkness into a new dawn."

 

[Reina Daival]

Tag: Aiden Porte
Location: Commenor

Reina flinched as Aiden came in close. Affection was still something that she wasn't used to. Something that the woman thought she didn't deserve. She didn't deserve the affection from Quinn. From Aiden. Even from Carnifex. She deserved none of it in her eyes. It had been tainted for her. Every time someone came close to her, there was that voice in the back of her mind that insisted they wanted to manipulate her in some way. In a way however, the Sith had made Reina feel far more comfortable with herself. It was why she was acting the way she was. Now that she finally felt like she was doing something right, she felt as if there had to be something wrong.

"That's just it. I don't care about the people who were harmed. I don't regret killing the Imperials. I don't regret working for the Sith. Lives were taken, but why should I care? They weren't part of my life. They would never be part of my life."

Even as the ocean continued to surge and swell, Reina just retreated into herself. Holding herself as tightly as she could whilst trying to listen to what Aiden was saying. But some of it was nonsense to her. There wasn't a path back for her. Not anymore. She couldn't turn to the Jedi. To the High Republic. No. She had been told time and time again, her aggression was too much for the Jedi. Real Jedi could put their issues behind themselves. They didn't resent people. Reina could never be like that.

"I'll never join the Jedi again. They tried to make me someone I wasn't. Tried to make me blind to who I was, blinding me with the Light. Then when I needed them the most, they abandoned me. They scattered out to the wind. I can't go to the High Republic, and see all of the Jedi who fled. Who left."

If the Hidden Path had still been around, then maybe Reina would have stayed. They were people who were willing to fight. Who wouldn't be bogged down by rules. By politicians. But the Jedi Order that she had heard of now was too closely engrossed with politics in her eyes. And so that was once again the Jedi cut off to her. Not that she was counting Aiden amongst them. He was a friend, not a Jedi to her.

"I'm not sure...if I'll ever see the new dawn again."

​

 

[Aiden Porte]

Reina Daival​

"I wasn't asking you to join the Jedi." Aiden said with a small sigh. "I'm not going to force you to do something you don't want."

The Jedi Knight pulled back from her, as he just knelt right next to her.

"I just need to know what you want, what do you truly want. If you truly want the help, or you don't Reina." Aiden took a deep breath. "I'll be here regardless. I just need the truth from you."

Aiden had given her as much advice as he could. It was up to her now to decide what to do with it.

 

[Reina Daival]

Tag: Aiden Porte
Location: Commenor

"I don't know what I want Aiden. Alright?! I want to be loved. I want to feel good enough for once in my life. I wasn't good enough for Everest. I wasn't even good enough in the eyes of Serina. Instead she had to twist me altogether. Try to change who I was, and why? Because she thought it was what was best for me. And I don't know if I'll ever be good enough for Quinn. I love her Aiden. But I know I'll never be the one for her. I'm no-one. She's a Queen. There's...too much expected of her. And nothing expected out of me."

Reina just sat there, wrapping her arms around her knees, desperately wishing the ocean would jut wash her away. What was there in the future for her? What was the new dawn that could await her? It wasn't something that Reina could see. Everything she had wanted was too far out of her reach anymore.

​