Private There's Something I've Been Meaning to Ask You

[Thirdas Heavenshield]

Sunspot Prison Barge
Undisclosed Location​

Months of writing petitions had finally borne fruit. Ever since that day he'd watched her get taken into custody and away from him, pretty much all of his spare time was put into finding a way to be allowed to visit her in prison. Again and again he was denied, as her location was being kept a secret for security reasons. It was frustrating being told 'no' over and over again.

There was no other way than to go through the proper channels, filling out forms and petition the courts that he should be allowed to see her. It was he who had brought her back in the first place only for them to send her away all over again. She wasn't a danger to anyone, he knew this. They hadn't seen her in that fragile state as she recovered from Korriban, the remorse in her eyes and regret in her voice.

They'd frisked him once before getting on the shuttle, then another time as he stepped off by the prison guards. Security was incredibly tight, and he could tell visitors were rarely ever accepted. Still, just knowing she was close made his heart skip a beat. He was nervous.

"Alright, sir. Your papers and goods check out. Please follow me to the visitor's waiting room," the officer on duty directed him.

He'd brought only two items. A bouquet of flowers held together by a red bow, as well as another, smaller item contained in his pocket for now. He must've looked real hardcore, walking around a high-security prison with a bunch of flowers when everyone else not a prisoner was holding a rifle.

"I was promised we'd have a room to ourselves," he felt the need to point out. "Not some 'behind-the-glass' bullshit."

"I can read well enough, lieutenant," came the officer's reply. "We don't get alot of visitors, as you've likely guessed by now. Vast majority of inmates come here because they are considered too dangerous to be kept on some prison world. Not exactly the kind that anyone in their right mind would want to visit."

Coming to a stop, the door opened to reveal a square room containing little else but a table and a couple chairs in the middle. All along the walls there were one-way mirrors, so that the guards could always keep an eye on the interaction.

"Here we are. Please take a seat inside, the prisoner will be joining you shortly."

"Thank you, officer."

Entering the small room, the security door was slammed shut behind him. On the table there stood a container of water and two empty cups. He took a seat, hand in his pocket fiddling with the small item within as he poured himself some water and downed it all in one go. He was still nervous.

He filled the cup once more, only this time he did so for the sake of the flowers he'd brought.

Nida Perl ​

 

[Nida Perl]

The last few months had been…difficult, that was an understatement.

Mom had visited her once. And not for lack of trying—security was incredibly strict, and visits from family were rarely allowed. Nida had suspected that her mother pulled on a network of strings to secure that meeting.

She’d managed to talk to Yula on an illegally smuggled holocomm, how the elder Zeltron had managed to slice her way into that was not something Nida wanted to think about. No news from Kyra.

“Visitor.”

Nida sat up in her bed, startled by the gruff voice of the guard. Standing in front of her cell, he oozed impatience. Her hand clenched at the mattress, picking at the disintegrating filling. “What?” Her voice was small from disuse, having spent the entire day alone.

“You have a visitor.” With punctuated words, the guard unlocked her cell and swung the door open. “Out.”

Nida scrambled to her feet in a hurry, incensed by the guard’s irritation. Obedient and quiet, Nida never made much trouble and was fortunate to never have caught a wayward spark of their ire. The guard shackled her, led her down a hall and to the visitation room.

The shock of the surprise visit had Nida’s nerves on edge from excitement—it had been a while since she’d seen anyone from the outside, and her mind was whirling with guesses as to who it could be. When the door slid open, her heart tried to leap its way out of her throat.

“Th-Thirdas!” She exclaimed, tearing up instantly. She hadn’t seen him since her trial. The guard grunted, an indication for her to keep the noise to a minimum, and Nida instinctively quieted herself. The tears still brimmed at her eyes, and the smile she wore couldn’t be dimmed. The door behind them slid shut, and the guard removed her shackles. He looked to Nida, then to Thirdas.

“Thirty minutes.” He grumbled, then disappeared through a door on the opposite side of the room—no doubt, the one that lead to the one-way glass.

The moment she was free, Nida all but threw herself at Thirdas. Her small arms wrapped around him, squeezing as tightly as they could manage. When she finally found a moment to pull away, she stared at him incredulously. “Thirdas, how—I was—you—” Exhaling slowly, she beamed up at him. “I’m so happy to see you. I've missed you more than I can say.”

In the time that they’d been apart, Nida’s hair had been cut to a bob, framing the force suppressing collar looped around her neck. She’d become a bit thinner too, from the spartan meals, but her softer form had gained a little more sinew. Peeking out from beneath her sleeve was a new mark—a small, crudely draw, lopsided tear on the inside of her wrist.

Thirdas Heavenshield

 

[Thirdas Heavenshield]

As soon as he laid eyes on her, he pushed off the table and knocked the chair to the ground as he stood. As soon as her escort exited the room they were in each other's arms, holding one another as if there was no tomorrow. He cupped her pink cheeks and smiled through the tears of joy, completely smitten by her eyes he'd only been able to see clearly in his dreams.

"I'm here, Nida. There is nothing in this world or the next that could keep us from each other."

His black eyes darted between her eyes and her lips, before finally he closed the short distance and placed his lips on hers. As they kissed he put his arms around her waist and lifted her off the floor, gently spinning in place a full rotation before setting her down on the edge of the table, next to the "pot" of flowers intended for her.

"I swear, if we weren't being watched right now..."

He could've easily gone all the way right there and then.

Instead he picked up the chair he'd knocked over to sit with her, just staring up at her while holding her hands. All those nerves about seeing her again, evaporated. It was as if they were transported back home, to their crappy apartment watching crappy horror vids late into the night. Leaning down he kissed her hands, caressing them.

"I don't even know where to start. How-- How are you holding up? They treating you alright, anything you need?"

Nida Perl ​

 

[Nida Perl]

If it had been up to Nida, their embrace would never end. Thirdas felt like home, plain and simple. Even if she felt like she still didn’t deserve comfort, the part of Nida that had been deprived of physical and emotional affection easily won out, and she melted into his arms.

Nida thought she had been coping well until now. Seeing Thirdas brought forth a surge of emotions she had suppressed— longing, fear, and desire— to name a few. But Thirdas, he was just so happy right now, and she made a decision right there not to ruin this for him.

Even when the inevitable question of how she was doing came up.

Bad. I’m in prison.

Instead, she gave him a tired smile. “It hasn’t been easy, but I am managing. The guards are fine.”

Some of the prisoners had a vendetta against Jedi, and she’d learned that the hard way. She rubbed the pad of her thumb across the top of his hand soothingly.

“But you- how are you Thirdas?” Her tired eyes lined with genuine concern.

Thirdas Heavenshield

 

[Thirdas Heavenshield]

It didn't take a genius to figure out she was struggling; it was a maximum security correctional facility after all. But Nida was brave — far more brave than she gave herself credit for. She gave herself up willingly to atone for her crimes, and to take whatever steps to ensure she was no longer a threat to her family and friends. Imprisonment was but the first step of her atonement.

"I'm okay," he admitted. Neither great nor terrible.

"I'm doing what I can to keep myself busy. Put together my own team after I returned to active duty, we've been operating for a while now. They've been good to me. So yeah, I'm doing okay I guess."

Gently he pulled Nida off the table to instead place her in his lap, wrapping his arms around her and burying his bearded face into her neck, breathing in that scent he'd missed each time he'd wake up in an empty bed.

"I'm worried about Kyra," he felt compelled to bring up. "I haven't seen her since the trial, and yet something tells me... that something's wrong. I thought that, after all we'd been through to rescue you, we'd finally learned to trust each other. The way soldiers do after going into hell and back. If she's hurting, I want to be there for her. But she won't let me in."

He understood that Kyra needed time to come to grips with all that's happened lately. It didn't make him feel any less shut out, or even a little betrayed. In his culture, friendship does not come easy. But when it is finally earned, for someone to then break that trust is one of the worst offenses imaginable.

"Gods, I've missed you," he uttered softly.

Nida Perl ​