Private Remember me?

[Valery Noble]

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit | Jedi robes over them
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

For a long time, Valery had been a difficult woman to find.

After the fall of the Galactic Alliance, she had withdrawn from the core. There had been no grand departure or final words to those who had fought beside her. There was simply a war to be fought, and she had done what she always did when people needed someone to stand between them and the darkness.

She had gathered many friends and allies from her time in the New Jedi Order. Small groups at first, containing scattered soldiers, Jedi, civilians, and anyone else willing to risk their lives against the powers that had moved in after the Alliance collapsed. They struck where they could, disappeared before retaliation came, and kept the fight going.

But it had not been enough to win.

Eventually, during the height of the Hidden Path's attempt to gain a foothold, Valery had vanished. No one seemed to know where she had gone, or why she had left. Some assumed she had died. Others thought she had finally left the galaxy behind.

Now, much later and with new insight and mysteries, she sat alone aboard a small ship far from the Core. Inside the cockpit, Valery sat before the comm terminal with her hands resting loosely in her lap.

She had stared at Ala Quin 's name for several minutes. There were many people she could have contacted. Some she had fought beside, some she had taught, some she simply cared about. But Ala was different.

Ala had been there at the very beginning.

She had been the one to pull Valery from stasis on Onderon, before Valery even understood what had happened to her or how much of her life had been left behind. She had helped a stranger who should have been little more than a forgotten relic, then stayed long enough to help her find her footing in a galaxy that no longer resembled the one she remembered.

Valery would never forget that.

So, after a deep breath, her finger hovered over the controls before she finally opened a secure channel on an old frequency she hoped would still work. She didn't know if Ala would answer but she had to try it.

"Ala? This is Valery, can you hear me? I need to see you."

Ala Quin ​

 

[Ala Quin]

The sterile scent of bacta lingered. It was a lesson Ala had learned the hard way over the last few days — the fluid didn't just coat the skin, it trapped itself in the hair, clung to the fabric of her clothes, and settled somewhere deep behind her nose where no amount of scrubbing could entirely reach. Though she was now days removed from Thyfera, the sharp, medicinal tang still haunted her quarters. She sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by data pads containing reports she had already read three times, yet absorbed not at all.

Lorn was dead.

The thought remained strangely unfinished in her mind. She had watched him fall. She had held what remained of him in his final moments, and yet, in the quiet of her room, Ala still found herself circling the exact same impossible questions. Why? What had happened to him that she had failed to see? What had she missed that could have carried him so far into the dark?

It was only when she reached across the console to grab another report that a small, pulsing light caught her eye.

A message had arrived. It was old enough that she frowned at the timestamp, a brief flash of confusion crossing her face before she finally tapped the screen to open it.

"Ala? This is Valery, can you hear me? I need to see you."

For several long seconds, Ala simply stared at the console, the voice echoing in the quiet room. Then, she let out a slow, heavy exhale.

Some time later, a small vessel slipped smoothly out of hyperspace and began its planetary approach. Beyond the viewport, the distorted lines of starlight snapped back into place, settling into their familiar, fixed positions. Ala sat forward in the pilot's chair, one hand resting gingerly against her ribs — which still loudly objected to any sudden movement.

She keyed the comms, her fingers steady despite her aching body.

"Val, this is Ala. I have you on sensors. See you soon."

| Valery Noble |​

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit | Jedi robes over them
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

Valery had been watching the stars, somewhat nervous even though she knew her oldest friend would never forget about her. That's when the response finally came through. For a moment, she just stared at the comm display. The voice was just a little older than the one she remembered, and it carried a weariness that had not been there all those years ago. But it was still her Ala. Her dear friend and the only reason she found happiness in life. Hearing her voice brought great relief to Valery in a way she had not expected.

She reached forward and adjusted the transmission, keeping the channel open as she guided her ship toward the coordinates. There was no need for further words. Instead, Valery sent out a constant signal for Ala to follow. The beacon would remain active until they were both safely on the ground.

The ship descended into the atmosphere soon after, settling into the traffic lanes of the nearest spaceport. Valery brought it down and guided the vessel into an available landing bay, then shut down the engines. She remained seated for a few seconds after the systems powered down, hands resting against the controls. She had spent years wondering how she would feel when she finally saw someone from her old life again.

She was nervous.

A small smile crossed her face before she finally stepped out of the ship and sealed the ramp behind her. She wore little more than what she had carried with her for the journey, though her lightsaber remained secured at her side. Valery finally stopped near the edge of the landing area and lifted her gaze toward the sky. She could sense in the Force that Ala was coming.

And couldn't wait to embrace her old friend again.

Ala Quin ​

 

[Ala Quin]

The landing was anything but graceful. Ala blamed her ribs.

When the little vessel settled onto its struts, the slight, metallic thump sent an immediate spike of pain through her side. She winced, killing the engines, and sat motionless for precisely three seconds to gather what remained of her dignity. Then, she felt her.

Whatever dignity Ala had managed to salvage was instantly abandoned.

The boarding ramp had barely touched the dirt before she was at its summit. She paused there, one hand white-knuckled against the frame, her eyes sweeping the landing area until they locked onto the familiar silhouette waiting just beyond the dust.

For a long moment, she simply stared. Blinking.

So much had changed. Time had dissolved into memory. Governments had risen and fallen like tides. Friends had vanished, died, or returned looking like strangers. Ala herself had somehow transformed from an awkward young Jedi Knight stumbling through the galaxy into someone carrying the crushing weight of an entire Order upon her shoulders.

But that was Valery. "Val." The name slipped past her lips as barely more than breath.

Ala was already moving. It wasn't fast, exactly - her battered ribs made certain of that - but it was far quicker than any medical droid would have advised. She covered the remaining distance in a desperate, increasingly ridiculous half-jog, half-limp, before throwing both arms around her friend.

A sharp sound caught in her throat, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. She squeezed. She immediately regretted the pressure. She squeezed harder anyway.

"You disappear for so long," Ala murmured into Valery's shoulder, her voice cracking around a breathless laugh, "and your opening line is 'I need to see you'?"

She pulled back just far enough to look at her, the tears already blurring her vision.

"You absolute womprat."

A brilliant smile broke through the grime and the exhaustion.

"I missed you."

| Tag: Valery Noble |​

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit | Jedi robes over them
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

Valery noticed the little stumble in Ala's movements, and the way she seemed to try so hard to ignore it. She barely had time to worry about it before Ala was in her arms. Valery stepped forward to meet her, wrapping both arms tightly around her old friend and pulling her into a warm embrace. The weight of the moment hit her harder than she expected. Her eyes stung, and she had to swallow before she could manage a breath that didn't tremble with the hurt of not having seen her for so long.

Then Ala's words reached her, and a small snicker escaped through the powerful emotions. Valery pulled her in a little tighter, her eyes already teary as she shook her head against her shoulder. "Yeah, well..." She managed, her voice cracking slightly in the process, "I've always been terrible at opening lines."

She held onto her for another few seconds before finally easing back, though her hands remained on Ala's arms. Valery looked at her properly, taking in the familiar face, the exhaustion, and all the things that had changed without making her any less recognizable. It brought a fond smile to her lips.

"I wanted to leave the meaningful stuff for this moment," she admitted, giving Ala a sheepish smile. "Seemed better than trying to fit everything into a comm transmission."

Her smile wavered as she looked at her friend again, and this time she didn't bother hiding how much the reunion meant to her. "I missed you too. More than I ever really knew how to put into words." She squeezed Ala's arms gently before finally letting her go, but she remained close.

There was a lot sitting between them. Years of stories, losses, victories, mistakes, and everything that had happened while they were apart. Valery glanced briefly toward Ala's ship, then back to her with a warmer smile.

"We've got a lot to catch up on."

Ala Quin ​