Strong in the Real Way

[Feena]

Feena was coming home. At long last, she was going to sit down with her family, talk to her daughters over tea, and sleep in the same bed as her husband. It felt so... awkward now. Like she was someone else. Someone entirely different than the woman who once upon a time had wanted nothing more than these simple things.

"Percy, are we almost there?"

The Queen felt queasy, both from the space travel and from the medications she'd been taking. It was brutal. She took fifteen different pills every day. It was what was keeping her alive now. Not than many people knew that. She hoped to keep it that way until the end of her term.

"Not much longer, Majesty. We'll be landing very soon."

"Good," she replied, "Have a message sent to my husband then. Let him know."

The ship they flew was large. Large enough that a full crew needed to be on board to handle it. And in this ships hangar was a ship Keter would most certainly have been missing this whole time. It was time to return it to him. Felicity had dropped it off shortly after the strange event known as the 'rapture'. Said she'd 'borrowed it'. Ha! Her own little girl. A master pilot! Feena had certainly underestimated her...

"Message sent, Majesty!"

"Good," she replied, "Percy?"

"We're just above the planet now, Majesty."

"Perfect. I'll be in the shuttle then. Stay in orbit. I will tell you when I will be returning."

That could be anywhere between three hours, to three weeks. She was allowed to take a whole month off if she wanted, but Feena had a lot to do still. She only had a few months left, after all...

[member="Keter"]

 

[Keter]

A message beeped, startling the blond from his dark thoughts. Sat in front of his desk, brooding, the blond had been spending more and more of his time locked up in his tower. A brooding dark lord of the sith indeed. It was so story book it was almost ideal. He reached out and opened the message, letting his eyes scan it. Oh, the Queen was coming home. About time. A part of him had wondered if she even saw this as her home. THe simple truth was that she had neglected her family for her work. It was a cruel truth. One he intended to confront her with.

Standing up, the blond checked himself. He was dressed casually...totally unsuitable for greeting his wife home. He had a few minutes before she arrived. Keter quickly headed for his closet to find something more formal for his first meeting with his wife this year.

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

He would be angry when she arrived. Probably. Most likely. He seemed irritated when she spoke to him from her office.
Well. He had a right to be. The more her health declined, the more she started to understand. She'd neglected him. Neglected her children. And she needed to find a way to make up for it before it was too late.

The trip down to the planets surface was rough. It was always rough. Winds made it difficult to navigate. By the time they'd landed in the hanger, feena was sick to her stomach. She practically stumbled out.

[member="Keter"]

 

[Keter]

As the shuttle entered the hangar, Keter stood tall and proud, his hands clasped behind his back. Elliot was there too of course, and K-36215. The closest they could get to a royal welcome. After all, he wasn't sure whether this little visit was for business or not. Sometimes Keter wondered if she even considered DIs her home.

And yet the moment she stumbled out, he was crossing the stone floor to help her. He may not have seen her in a while, but he would always care. The woman that he saw now...was old. Older than she should have been. Tired. Used up, his mind suggested. THe blond felt his jaw clench before he mastered his emotions again, adopting a softer expression. "Welcome home Queen," he said to his wife.

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

She was caught before she could fall. Him. It was always him. Nauseous as she felt, She still smiled and went to pull him into a tight embrace.
Sweet force, She'd missed this. Him. This place. Them. She even missed the winds.

"It's good to be home."

She was tired. So tired. But she felt younger now than she had in years.

"I missed you."

[member="Keter"]

 

[Keter]

The smile came easy, as it always did around her. She was...weak. He could -see- it. His smile became tainted with worry, but he kept his voice light. "I've missed you too," he said, embracing his wife. "come, le's get you settled in," the blond offered, indicating the door. They had some time, and there was a lot of catching up to do.

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

She was more than willing to let her husband assist her inside. She was weak. Physically, emotionally. Just weak all around.

"Thank you, my love," she sighed, "It's been a long flight."

Several hours. The Royal Naboo Cruiser was comfortable, but that didn't mean Feena enjoyed it.

[member="Keter"]

 

[Keter]

He held her, much like he sued to, though she had never felt this frail in his arms before. They walked through the familiar halls and doors, past old rooms and corridors. Feena had done the decorating for Dis around the same time they had set about baby-proofing it. So long ago now. So much time...so much lost. He kept the smile on his face, unable to suppress the sheer joy at having her here again. He knew she wasn't overly fond of his home. He'd built it far from anywhere civilised. It was quiet. Personal. A place to escape. But she had endured it anyway, for him. Before returning to Naboo. The mere thought of the planet threatened to spoil his mood, so he pushed it aside.

"What brings you home?" he asked to fill the silence.

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

Home. She hadn't been fond of this place when she'd first moved in. Of course, her first visit here ended with a shattered shoulder and an injured pride. But it had grown on her. Once she decorated, it had turned into a real home for her and the girls. Safe. If there was anything this place was, at the very least it was safe.

"I wanted to see you again," she answered, "and to tell you something in person."

The Queen took a deep breath, as much as she could. Breathing had become something she sometimes had to work at.

"At the end of my term, Keter, in two months time, I will be coming home. For good. I will not be running for a second term."

[member="Keter"]

 

[Keter]

"I...see," Keter replied, nodding. That was good news. Somewhat. Feena at home would be welcome, but the woman would go mad within a month unless they found her something to do. And Feena loved politics - she would never just retire..."What brought this on?" he asked her gently, looking at her with worry clear on his face. Something was wrong. Sure she was weak, but this wasn't overwork. This was something...more.

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

As they walked, arm in arm, the Queen looked around. She'd had pictures hung on the walls, paintings of her childhood home on Naboo, Theed, beautiful fields... actually, they were almost all of Naboo. She'd always loved that planet. For her to leave it... he was right to be suspicious. Something was wrong.

"Do you need to ask?" she asked softly, stopping to look him right in the eye.

[member="Keter"]

 

[Keter]

"Yes," he answered. He had to hear it from her. Nothing else would do.

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

"I'm not doing well."

The words felt heavy. Almost six years ago, she'd been given a death sentence. Told she had maybe six months to live. She'd outlived her sentence, but she could slowly feel her time coming. Every day was a miracle to her now. Every breath carried a weight with it. The knowledge that soon, much sooner than she'd hoped, she'd take her last. She'd cease to be. Forever. And all that she'd done, all that she could do, would be over.

"I'm dying."

[member="Keter"]

 

[Keter]

Keter came to a stop and just stared at her in silence. He...had suspected. But to have it confirmed...something died inside him. His good mood fled him, and his face fell. "What will you do?" he asked simply, feeling lost.

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

She shrugged. It felt like a very odd thing to do, but it was all she could think. She could almost feel his mood darkening. As if she thought it might stop the flood of darkness from him, she placed her hands on either side of his face.

"I will stay here. With you. With the girls. Until the end."

After all those years on Naboo, it was the least she could do.

[member="Keter"]

 

[Keter]

"No regrets? Nothing you didn't get around to doing?" he asked her, focusing on the woman in front of him, reaching up to hold her hand, almost nuzzling it. It had been too long since he had felt it's warmth - even if it was meagre now. It couldn't offer the comoft it once did. "Will you..be making a holocron for Celeste? Or become a guardian spirit?" the blond asked, wondering if she would still be around even if she did pass on.

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

In response, Feena pulled a necklace from around her neck. Dangling from a long silver chain, was a rough white stone.

"When I'm... gone, take this to the music box in Felicitys old room. The one with all her baby stuff still in it. It's a key. You'll find my holocron."

She'd been working on it for six years now. She'd finally succeeded last year, just before her previous visit. She'd hidden it away, kept it secret. Until the time was right.

"There is always more I wanted to do. I wanted to spend the rest of my days teaching healing. I wanted to help people all across the Galaxy. I had plans to..."

She felt the words die in her throat. She wanted to scream. But she took a deep breath and a warm wave of serenity washed over her.

"I don't know what will happen when I'm gone, Keter. But I know what will happen now and that, for me at least, is enough."

[member="Keter"]

 

[Keter]

He smiled at her, nodding. He had known all of this. Still, it hurt to know that in her heart, she had never settled down. Never really accepted being a mother. There was always something else, something more. The galaxy needed people like that, but it tended to demand a heavy price. One Feena had all too readily paid. The lond continued to lead them through their castle, heaidng for the stairs that would leap upto their room in their tower. Feena had never liked it, he remembered with a grin. Her fear of heights always made her nervous there. But it gave him an excuse to comfort her, so she never ordered him to relocate...

"You always were brave..."

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

"So were you."

She let him lead her up the many stairs to their bed room. So high. The tower. Where it all began. All of this. Them. She put the necklace back on, slipping the stone down the front of her bodice again, out of sight.

"Brave, kind, strong. That is why I'm not worried for you when I'm gone. I know you will continue to be a good father to the girls."

Every step could be her last. Every breath could be the final one. She kept her eyes ahead. Dying was not what scared her. It was the thought of what she would leave behind that made her blood run cold.

[member="Keter"]

 

[Keter]

They entered the room where they had spent so much of their time together. Alone. It was theirs. The girls had never been up here. It had always been off-limits due to the dangers of the tower, but in truth it was more becuase they both needed somewhere away from the children now and again. "I have been a father to them. What they need, have always wanted, was their mother," he replied ruefully with a bitter smile. Everything Felicity did was for Feena. Celeste was rapidly becoming the same way. Why impress daddy? He wasn't the one who was missing, who was avoiding them...

He coughed as he led her ot hte bed, to let her rest. "Take it easy for now my dear. How...how do you want to let the girls know?"

[member="Feena Mason"]