Ascending Legend
Aurora Station had always held too many memories for Iandre Athlea to see it as merely another destination. It had been the place where she learned that nine centuries had passed without her, where strangers had kept her alive while her body recovered from a sleep that should have killed her, and eventually one of the places that had become familiar enough to resemble home. Returning should have felt ordinary by now, yet as she made her way through the station, familiarity settled around her alongside the quiet awareness of how different the woman returning was from the one who had last walked these corridors.
The last time Iandre had seen Aknoby had been before the fall of the Diarchy, when Rellik's absence was still an open wound rather than something she had finally learned to carry. She had been grieving so fiercely then that remaining among the pieces of the life they'd built had become unbearable. Leaving had felt less like a decision than an instinct, a need to put distance between herself and everything that reminded her of the life that was collapsing around her. Inevitably, she'd put distance between herself and people she cared about too, and Aknoby had been one of them.
She regretted it, even if she understood the woman she'd been well enough not to condemn her for it. Aknoby was her brother. Not by blood, but blood had very little to do with it when Laphisto had adopted both of them into the same unusual family. Somewhere along the way, Aknoby had simply become her kid brother, and the years apart hadn't changed that. If anything, returning now made Iandre realize how much she'd missed him and how much of his life she still hadn't heard about.
The realization came with something else. Aurora was filled with life, countless presences touching the Force around her as people went about their lives throughout the station, but one familiar presence emerged from that background strongly enough to slow Iandre's steps. Recognition came easily. She didn't need to reach any further or search for thoughts to know who she had sensed. Aknoby was here.
A smile spread across Iandre's face before she could hold it back. So much had changed since her brother last saw her. The Diarchy was gone, and Rellik was still gone, but grief no longer governed every part of her life. She had become a Knight, taken a Padawan, settled on Veradune, and slowly discovered that losing one future hadn't meant there was nothing left to want from another. Aknoby would have changed too, and for once Iandre found herself looking forward to discovering all the things she'd missed rather than dwelling upon the time between them.
She adjusted her course through the station, following that familiar presence without trying to learn anything more from it. Whatever stories Aknoby had to tell belonged to him, and Iandre wanted to hear them from her brother, not the Force. There would be plenty to catch up on once she found him, but beneath it all was something considerably simpler.
Iandre was looking forward to seeing her little brother again.
Aknoby
The last time Iandre had seen Aknoby had been before the fall of the Diarchy, when Rellik's absence was still an open wound rather than something she had finally learned to carry. She had been grieving so fiercely then that remaining among the pieces of the life they'd built had become unbearable. Leaving had felt less like a decision than an instinct, a need to put distance between herself and everything that reminded her of the life that was collapsing around her. Inevitably, she'd put distance between herself and people she cared about too, and Aknoby had been one of them.
She regretted it, even if she understood the woman she'd been well enough not to condemn her for it. Aknoby was her brother. Not by blood, but blood had very little to do with it when Laphisto had adopted both of them into the same unusual family. Somewhere along the way, Aknoby had simply become her kid brother, and the years apart hadn't changed that. If anything, returning now made Iandre realize how much she'd missed him and how much of his life she still hadn't heard about.
The realization came with something else. Aurora was filled with life, countless presences touching the Force around her as people went about their lives throughout the station, but one familiar presence emerged from that background strongly enough to slow Iandre's steps. Recognition came easily. She didn't need to reach any further or search for thoughts to know who she had sensed. Aknoby was here.
A smile spread across Iandre's face before she could hold it back. So much had changed since her brother last saw her. The Diarchy was gone, and Rellik was still gone, but grief no longer governed every part of her life. She had become a Knight, taken a Padawan, settled on Veradune, and slowly discovered that losing one future hadn't meant there was nothing left to want from another. Aknoby would have changed too, and for once Iandre found herself looking forward to discovering all the things she'd missed rather than dwelling upon the time between them.
She adjusted her course through the station, following that familiar presence without trying to learn anything more from it. Whatever stories Aknoby had to tell belonged to him, and Iandre wanted to hear them from her brother, not the Force. There would be plenty to catch up on once she found him, but beneath it all was something considerably simpler.
Iandre was looking forward to seeing her little brother again.
Aknoby