Private Time Makes Strangers of Kin

[Caelan Valoren]

Years. That was how long it had been since he'd seen the girl that had rescued him from certain doom in the depths of Coruscant. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually seen her himself. Was it Tython? Or was it some time after that? He hadn't seen her at his Knighting ceremony. She hadn't been on Lazerian when the alliance had helped him to free it from the grips of a dark cult. She hadn't been at his inauguration or at any other event that he could remember going to in the last few years. It was almost like she'd pulled the same disappearing act that his twin sister had.

As it was, he wasn't even sure she was alive. When was the last time he'd seen Roman? Not for a while. The guy hadn't been around for many missions or anything. Seemed like he was flying under the radar as well. Maybe he was off doing missions elsewhere, or he and Annie had run off together and decided to leave the Jedi life behind. It was a possibility, and there was a small part of him that wouldn't blame them if that was what they decided to do. It wasn't an easy life.

"Caelan?" a voice asked, causing him to look up from the work on his desk.

"Oh, hi, Anavi."

"I have to head over to do some testing at the academy. Can you watch Kastiel for a while?"

"Sure. I could use the break anyway."

He stood and walked over to take the baby boy out of her arms. Said baby promptly reached up and started tugging at the beard that adorned his chin, but Caelan could only chuckle at the pain. He'd gotten used to it by now.

"Good luck on your tests."

"Thank you."

With Anavi heading off to the academy to begin her tests, it left him alone with their son. Not that he was going to complain about that. Quality time was hard to come by given that he split his time between being a father, King and a Jedi Knight. There was hardly a spare moment for him to just have time alone with his family. If he wanted to actually get that alone time, he knew he was going to have to get out of the house pretty quick, or someone would be forcing him to pawn Kastiel off on a caretaker to come deal with some minor issue that an administrator really should handle rather than him. In that case, he snuck quickly out of the manse and headed for the nearby park.

It was a beautiful park, lots of talk trees and winding walking paths. A good place for him and his son to just meander and he could tell the young boy all about everything that was going on, even though Kastiel would never remember it. Might as well start early!

---

ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anneliese Kaohal ​

 

[Anneliese Kaohal]

Items: Lightsaber I Engagement Ring I Outfit X X II Equipment X X X I Theme Song I Bloodline Tattoo

Caelan Valoren
​

The morning sun bathed the park in warm gold, its light catching in the dew-kissed petals of unfamiliar blossoms that lined the stone paths. Anneliese stood still beneath the boughs of a tall, swaying tree — arms folded lightly across her middle, eyes drawn upward as if in prayer. She had wandered into this space by instinct more than intent, guided by memory and the soft hush of wind that always made the world make sense again.

Tython's memory lingered in her bones — the war-torn fields, the broken silence after Master Iston fell, the blood on Caelan's face when he lost his hand. Her mind drifted there more than she liked to admit. She had stood over his unconscious form, shielding him with the last of her strength as chaos closed in. But they'd never spoken after that. No closure. No chance to ask him how he truly felt. No chance to say goodbye — or that she was proud of him.

Now here she was… years later. Unannounced. Uninvited. Out of place.

And yet something had brought her here — maybe foolish hope, maybe a need to try and rebuild one of the many bridges she'd let burn behind her. The air was cool, scented with flowers and distant laughter, and for a moment she let herself just breathe. The rhythm of life here was so different. Softer. Gentler. She couldn't tell if that comforted her or made her feel all the more like a ghost.

Her boots crunched quietly over the gravel as she turned down a winding path, head bowed in thought — until the sound of laughter pierced through.

A child's laugh.

Her head lifted slowly, and time seemed to still. There, not far ahead, was Caelan.

Older. Broader in the shoulders. His once-boyish face carved with the gravity of kingship. Holding a child in his arms — presumably his child — who tugged happily at the dark beard that now framed his jaw. The sight hit her like a crashing wave: awe, pride… and guilt.

Her breath caught in her throat, her feet halting mid-step.

Ashla help me…

He hadn't seen her yet. Her heart pounded. She didn't know what to do — whether to step forward or retreat before he could. Did she even have the right to be here? He had grown — lived, fought, loved, become something greater. And she? She had disappeared, buried herself in the past, in war and selfish pursuits, only now to emerge, seeing that the galaxy had moved on without her.


What if he didn't want to see her?
What if she'd already missed her chance?


Anneliese stood frozen in place, the soft breeze catching in her hair, setting it ablaze amid the sunlight, her freckled skin pale under the weight of memory. The branded mark on her back seemed to sting anew.

She whispered under her breath, so quiet even the wind could barely carry it.

"…Caelan?"

​

 

[Caelan Valoren]

It was a quiet walk aside from his chatter with his son and the giggling and babbling of a baby. Not something that bothered him at all. A small number of people walked past them, bowing their heads in deferment, and he dipped his head to them in return, but it was quite empty that morning. Perhaps it was the warmth, or perhaps it was the time of day, he didn't know. They were also quite deep within the park because that was where the Manse was nestled, so it did make sense that they would see fewer people.

But as they walked, he began to feel as though something was amiss. Not in a bad way, but more that there was a presence within the park that he hadn't felt in a long time. He tried to ignore it, thinking it a trick of his mind, but it kept growing stronger and stronger as he walked further away from his home, and he gradually became aware that it wasn't a trick, but she was, in fact, there.

So even when she spoke so quietly that not but the wind could hear him, he knew she was there without even looking at her. He'd always know if she was close.

"Hello, Annie," he said turning his gaze toward her.

She seemed... young, but also different. Things had troubled over her in the time they had been apart and it was easy to see it in the way she was almost cowering from him. He could feel that she had wondered whether she should have even spoken his name, or if she should have just disappeared when she saw him. Likely she didn't want to trouble him given the fact that he was walking around carrying a baby and looked substantially different from the young boy that she had least seen. In fact, he should still have seemed young, closer to her appearance, so it was probably disconcerting seeing him in this manner.

"It's been a long time."

He continued closer to her and moved to embrace her in a one-armed hug, having to keep at least one free to hold Kastiel.

"I'm glad to see you, though I can tell you've been troubled all this time we've been apart. Care to sit somewhere with Kastiel and I and talk?"

---

ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anneliese Kaohal ​

 

[Anneliese Kaohal]

Items: Lightsaber I Engagement Ring I Outfit X X II Equipment X X X I Theme Song I Bloodline Tattoo

Caelan Valoren

​

As soon as his eyes met hers, Anneliese felt herself shrink inward. Not from shame — though there was plenty of that — but from fear. Fear that he might look at her like a stranger. Or worse… not look at all. That he might tell her to leave, to spare them both the weight of what had been left unsaid for far too long. He had every right to turn her away. She had vanished. Let time stretch between them like a wound, never stitched, never spoken of. She hadn't known what to expect — but the quiet grace of his welcome unraveled something inside her she didn't realize she'd been holding so tightly.

When he said her name — soft, familiar, grounding — it stole the air from her lungs. And then his arm came around her, warm and steady in the way Caelan had always been, even when the galaxy wasn't. She stiffened at first, instinctively, before leaning in just slightly, just enough to feel the reality of him beside her. The embrace wasn't long, but it was enough. Enough to tell her she wasn't unwelcome.

"Yeah," she murmured, barely managing to speak past the knot in her throat. "It's been a while…"

But then she saw the child — the baby cradled securely in his other arm — and all the words she thought she might have said dissolved in an instant. The breath she had just taken caught again, sharp and quiet. A small, perfect boy. His son. He looked like hope.

Tears welled and spilled before she could stop them, silent but relentless. She laughed through the first one, a soft, broken sound.

"Caelan -- by Ashla, he's beautiful," she whispered, brushing the back of her wrist quickly across her cheek. "Force… he's got your nose."

The words were small, but honest. She tucked her hair behind her ear in a nervous, familiar habit, fingers trembling slightly. Everything in her had imagined this moment — rehearsed it, dreaded it — but now that she was here, all she could do was feel. His presence, the weight of time, the ache of what she'd missed.

"I… I don't know how to say any of it," she admitted, the words shaky, uneven. "I've played this moment in my head a thousand times, and now that I'm standing here, it's like none of those versions ever mattered. I just—"

She hesitated, voice catching. Her chest ached from how tightly she'd been holding everything in.

"I missed so much. And I never meant to. I didn't come here expecting anything. I'm not here to justify what I should have done — I just needed to see you. To know you're okay. That you're happy."

Her gaze dropped once more to the boy, her voice softening to almost nothing.

"And it looks like… you are."

​

 

[Caelan Valoren]

He let her speak but reached to take her hand all the same. This was more of a private reunion, and he didn't want anyone and everyone coming along to see it. They wouldn't understand the relationship between them, but also, he just wanted some privacy. There were plenty of small grassy spots within the parks denser wooded areas if you knew where to look for them. Having grown up running through the woods surrounding the manse, he knew where almost everything in them was, so it was easy for him to lead them to one such spot. Little light filtered through, but enough they could see, and the grass was soft enough that he was able to set Kastiel down on his stomach for some tummy time.

Sitting down beside his son, he made sure he was in a position to help him if he needed to. The grass would be good for him to experience. He got outside often, of course, but rarely did he get tummy time outside. Probably because his mother was just a little bit too protective of him for that. Caelan recognized the benefits of being in the outdoors, playing in dirt, getting dirty. It would help build his immune system, if nothing else.

"Things are going well here," he assured her, since it seemed she'd been worried about him. "Since we freed the planet from the Obsidian Syndicate and I was coronated as King, everything has settled into normalcy. There's still work to be done, but there always is."

Kastiel was starting to push himself up onto his hands and knees. Precursor to crawling. The kid was growing quickly. Caelan smiled and then looked over at the woman he valued as a sister. Much had changed with him since they had last seen each other and, given her words, she seemed ashamed to have missed it all, to not have been there for him. Honestly, there was a part of him that did hurt for the fact that she wasn't there when he needed her, but that part of him was so small it was easy to ignore.

All that really mattered was that she was there now.

"You missed a lot, Annie, but don't fret over it. Our lives are separate, and we cannot always be there for each other even though we want to be. The lives we lead won't allow that for us. I'm a Jedi Knight, a King and a father. I don't have a lot of time to spare. I barely have enough for my son. You're a Jedi and you've a fiance as well. I don't expect you to always be around."

Kastiel rolled over on his back and was grabbing at the sky was his hands. Probably trying to catch the clouds.

"I'm doing fine, but I'd like to know how you are and where you've been. It's been a long time since I've heard from you and I was worried, but I assumed you were away with Master Noble or busy with Roman. Is everything alright with you?"

---

ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anneliese Kaohal ​

 

[Anneliese Kaohal]

Items: Lightsaber I Engagement Ring I Outfit X X II Equipment X X X I Theme Song I Bloodline Tattoo | Sigil Bead Necklace ( Gift )

Tags: Caelan Valoren​

Anneliese followed him in silence, letting the hush of the woods wrap around them like a familiar cloak. She didn't need to ask where they were going — she trusted his steps the way one trusted old paths, worn into the earth by memory. The density of the trees reminded her of Kashyyyk, back when Silver Rest was still home. When she was just a girl who slipped into the underbrush to escape the stares and hushed voices — the rumors about what she was, what she might become.

The wild had cradled her then. It understood her in a way the walls never did.

Here, too, there was that same quiet understanding. This forest didn't ask for anything. It just… let them be.

She knelt in the grass beside Kastiel, her knees folding beneath the sweep of her robes, fingertips pressing gently to the earth. She didn't speak. Just watched the boy lift his head, stretch his fingers, explore the world one blade of grass at a time.

When Caelan settled in beside him — protective, instinctive — her heart caught in her chest. He'd grown so much. Not just in stature or presence, but in the way he moved now. Like someone who carried others. Who loved quietly but deeply.

Not just a king.

A father.

A good one.

The silence between them was warm, not awkward. It gave her space. Gave her time.

She exhaled, slow and steady. "Well… you know how Val is," she said softly, breaking the quiet with a touch of dry humor. "She keeps me moving."

A smile ghosted across her lips, but didn't quite settle.

"Missions. Campaigns. Peace conferences. I've been halfway across the galaxy and back twice over. I think at this point I can give a better tour of the Core Worlds than most senators."

There was a beat. Her gaze lingered on Kastiel again, but her thoughts were drifting elsewhere now — someplace heavier.

"But not every trip was logged. There were times even Val didn't know where I'd gone. Times Roman didn't."

She shifted where she sat, hands slipping to her lap as she pulled at the fastenings of her robe. She didn't rush. There was no ceremony in the gesture, only quiet necessity. When she peeled it away, the filtered light caught bronzed skin honed by years of relentless training. Her figure was different now — leaner, scarred, coiled like a wire. A warrior's frame, shaped not by vanity but survival.

There was no pride in it. Only truth.

Her hand moved to the back of her tunic. She lifted the fabric, just enough to show him.

A brand, charred and unnatural, twisted deep into her flesh near the base of her spine. It pulsed faintly with something that did not belong. The Nameless left no subtle marks — only warnings, etched in pain.

"This," she said quietly, "was the price of going home."

She let the cloth fall again, covering it, but the air around them had shifted — like the forest itself was holding its breath.

"I stepped onto my homeworld for the first time. Stood on soil that should've been mine. And it felt… foreign. Familiar in shape, but not in soul. Like a memory twisted just enough to hurt. My family — what was left of them — was buried there. But so was something else. Something older."

Her voice was low now, nearly lost beneath the rustling leaves.

"They call it the Nameless. A force that unravels. It doesn't hunt like a predator — it waits. And when I found it, when I stood in its shadow, I understood. My family was gone, yes. But it had never left. It had only been sleeping."

She glanced down at her hands, flexed them once.

"I came back marked. Touched by something I don't fully understand. And after that… I shut everything else out."

Her tone turned distant, reflective.

"I poured over old texts, clan journals, rites carved into the bones of fallen stones. I trained until I couldn't feel my limbs. I followed rumors into half-buried temples and lost worlds, chasing anything that might help me understand what I'm meant to do. Why me."

She went quiet for a moment, as if weighing what came next.

"And in doing that… I missed everything else."

Her eyes lifted, meeting Caelan's at last.

"I wasn't there when Azurine was taken. When Everest was injured. I missed the things that mattered, Cael. I fell behind in my knighthood. Not because I wasn't ready — but because I forgot the lesson we were always meant to carry."

She swallowed.

"That it's not all about me. My pain. My legacy. That none of it means anything if it doesn't reach others."

She looked down at Kastiel again, her voice barely a whisper.

"I forgot to live in the present."

A pause stretched out between them, not tense — just real.

"But I'm not running anymore," she said softly. "Not from what I carry. And not from the people who matter."

 

[Caelan Valoren]

Caelan was silent as she began to speak. Every so often he would look over at Kastiel to make sure he was alright, but as he wasn't crying or making any noises other than happy ones at the moment, there wasn't much need of his attention. Though when Annie started somewhat undressing, he looked around just to make sure nobody was spying on them because it would be awkward for him, a married man, to be seen with a woman who was not a blood relative that was removing articles of clothing, even if not in their entirety.

Though when she showed him what was branded onto her his eyes narrowed. A hand reached over and lightly touched the markings and as he did, he could feel the dark emanating from them. Almost immediately, his hand moved from her back to the faint scar upon his cheek. That feeling of darkness that emanated from her brand was similar to what he had known before.

She went on to explain that her acquiring of that brand was related to a venture to her home world. She, like he, had no parents. Also like he, they were killed by a dark entity seeking to destroy them. It was something she had learned about in person, now marked by it, haunted by it. He sighed, knowing what that was like. Instead of continuing to look at her as she spoke, he turned his attention to the happy baby boy that was playing in the grass and allowed his mind to settle on the happy knowledge that said little boy did not have to deal with the things that he did. At least, as long as Caelan remained vigilant that the entity that sought control of Lazerian was out there.

Annie mentioned missing out on the events surrounding Azurine's capture at Woostri and he nodded, involuntarily flexing his prosthetic arm.

"Lost my left arm at Woostri," he said without thinking about it.

She continued, mentioning that Everest had been injured and he frowned. That was news to him. Last time he'd seen her was on Tython when they were fighting the plant-creatures that the dark forces of the Empire had left behind on the world and she'd seemed fine at the time. Something must have happened since then.

He'd known the Echani girl since they'd been assigned to work together to resolve a housing issue in Coruscant's lower levels when Caelan was still a Padawan. Hearing that she was injured, or worse, was upsetting to him. However, there was more to everything that she said than acknowledgement of injury to someone who was clearly a mutual friend. In her case, a mutual padawan of Master Noble's. But the more important situation was the one that she was laying out in regard to what she'd been through, and what it had taken her away from.

"Legacy is important. I'm not upset with you. You wanted to understand what was happening to you and your family. I understand that because I've been in that position myself. I didn't understand what was happening here and I still don't fully understand it all. There are things I learned after we reclaimed the Kingdom from the people who killed my parents that still make no sense to me, but I know I will figure them out in time, especially with the help of my friends and family.

"That's what you need to rely on now. Not books or ancient texts, but friends and family. We can't all do things on our own. Most of us can't. Even the strongest of us need others for help at times, just ask your Master. Just ask me."

He lowered his voice a little, just in case.

"I'm a clone, Annie. I'm not the real Caelan, the one my mother gave birth to. He was taken by some dark entity and trained, and I was put in his place. They wanted to kill me along with my parents so that the real one could take over but when they failed, they had to wait. I found their lab when I returned, hidden underneath the manse and they attacked me and stuck me into a device which aged me four years. They figured if I was older, they could kill me, dump my body, and nobody would realize it was me because the age was wrong. Then the real Caelan could take over and rule and use his dark abilities to bring ruin.

"But I had gotten too strong for them and I killed the real Caelan. The person behind it all was always hooded and only a hologram so I don't know who they were. I have some people trying to help me find it out, but it's still a longshot to discovery at this point."

Probably a lot to drop on her, but as she was his sister, she needed to know.

"But as I said, if you need help, you need to ask so I, and others, can help you. I WANT to help you. You're my sister, after all, and I love you. I'd do anything for you."

---

ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anneliese Kaohal ​

 

[Anneliese Kaohal]

Items: Lightsaber I Engagement Ring I Outfit X X II Equipment X X X I Theme Song I Bloodline Tattoo | Sigil Bead Necklace ( Gift )

Tags: Caelan Valoren
​

She listened — fully, deeply — as Caelan laid bare the truth of his past. No flinching, no judgment, only the quiet steadiness of someone who understood what it meant to carry shadows not of your choosing. Her breath was calm, but the storm behind her eyes was gentle now, softened by something deeper than grief.

When he finished, she didn't look at him right away. Instead, her gaze shifted — to the child beside them.

Kastiel was still curled happily in the grass, chasing light and dust motes with the ease of someone whose world was still uncomplicated. And somehow, that was the most sacred part of all.

A slow smile broke across her face, soft but genuine.

"So," she said lightly, the warmth creeping into her tone like sunrise at the edge of a long night, "I guess that makes this little handsome fellow my nephew."

The word tasted new. Beautiful. Like a truth she'd never let herself imagine.

She shifted closer, one hand brushing gently through Kastiel's soft curls, fingers lingering at the crown of his head in a reverent stroke. The boy blinked up at her with wide eyes — curious, unafraid — and reached out in return, tiny fingers curling instinctively around hers.

Her heart ached in the best possible way.

"Hi there," she murmured, voice just above a whisper. "You don't know me yet, little one. But I'm your Auntie Anneliese.”

She chuckled, quiet and rough around the edges, as though the sound had been locked behind her ribs for years.

"Which means," she added, brushing her thumb gently over the back of his hand, "you're stuck with me now."

The boy gurgled in reply — delighted, oblivious, perfectly whole. And in that moment, she felt something begin to heal. Something old and buried, called back by the simplest of things: family.

She glanced at Caelan again, the smile lingering.

"You didn't have to tell me any of what you did. But I'm glad you did. I see you, Cael. Not a copy. Not a mistake. Just… you. And I'm proud of the man you became, despite everything."

Her expression sobered just a touch, tone returning to something quieter, steadier.

"I thought I had to earn the right to belong. That if I didn't carry the name right, I'd shame the ones who came before. But maybe the real legacy isn't about bloodlines at all."

Her gaze drifted back to Kastiel.

"Maybe it's about what we pass forward."

She let the words hang there, sacred and unforced, before she drew in a long breath — then exhaled.

This time, her eyes didn't look away.

"I love you, Cael. I'm here. And I'm staying."

A pause.

Then she leaned forward, resting her brow briefly against his shoulder — not long, just enough for the moment to land. Just enough to say: We survived. We're still here.

When she pulled back, she gave Kastiel's little hand a parting touch.

"And as for you," she added softly, lips twitching in a teasing smile, "I plan on being your favorite."

 

[Caelan Valoren]

She listened to what he said, and then she took the time to dabble with Kastiel. That was a good sign. She wasn't rejecting him over the revelation of what he was and what he had done. Not that he had thought she would. They were often forced to do things that were difficult, that they didn't really want to do. She understood that. And in the meantime, she drew the attention of her nephew, who was now busy playing with her fingers and giggling at her, as babies did in such situations, especially happy babies like him.

Somehow, he'd been holding his breath, and he let it out slowly as she spoke further. Everything was going to be alright and she was proud of him. He hadn't heard many people say they were proud of him lately. Not since his parents were gone and he hadn't seen his grandparents in, well, not since before his parents were killed. The only people who could be proud of him were his master, who seemed to have abandoned him a while ago, and Grandmaster Noble.

"Thank you," he said, dipping his head in response.

She mentioned about her family, about bloodlines, and then about maybe it was more important that they focus on the future than the past and he nodded in agreement. A moment later she leaned over and rested her forehead against his shoulder. He lifted a hand and rubbed her back gently until she pulled away.

"Bloodlines aren't as much about the past as people think they are. The past exists only for the present and future. If we focus on the now, we do what we must. The now becomes the past. The now changes the future. That's why I don't focus on my parents death so much as focusing on finding the person responsible because I know they're a threat to Kastiel and Anavi. It's them I want to protect. And you need to protect yourself and let others, especially Roman, help."

Kastiel seemed a little disappointed when she pulled her hand away. Not surprising. He liked attention and it was suddenly being taken from him. So, naturally, he made some grumpy sounds and started getting mad, to which Caelan could only smirk.

"You better pick him up and hold him before he gets mad at you or you wont be his favorite."

---

ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anneliese Kaohal ​

 

[Anneliese Kaohal]

Items: Lightsaber I Engagement Ring I Outfit X X II Equipment X X X I Theme Song I Bloodline Tattoo | Sigil Bead Necklace ( Gift )

Tags: Caelan Valoren
​

She listened.

Listened to the quiet steadiness in Caelan's voice, to the way it shook only slightly when he mentioned those who were gone. To the grief that shaped his words — not like something fragile, but like something worn smooth with time and carried close to the heart. There was a wisdom in him far beyond his years. And a hurt she recognized like an old companion.

When he spoke of the now becoming the past, of doing what must be done to protect the ones still here, her throat ached. It was so simple. So true. And so much of what she needed to hear, even if she wasn't ready to admit it.

She closed her eyes for a moment, letting his words settle inside her like water soaking into dry earth.

Then she breathed out, slow and steady, and nodded.

"You're right," she said softly. "I don't always let people help. Maybe I never have. But… I will try. For myself. And for him."

Her eyes flicked to Kastiel — and she smiled.

The sound of his little grumbling protest caught her off guard, and it tugged a small laugh from her chest. Not a bitter one. Not tired. A real, startled laugh that made her eyes sting with something unexpected.

She reached out — cautious at first — and picked him up.

He fit against her like something meant to be there, warm and small and wriggling. Her arms folded instinctively around his tiny frame. She held him close to her chest, felt the flutter of his breath, the weight of his trust, and something inside her cracked open like light through a door she didn't realize had been locked.

Her lips parted, trembling. Her breath caught.

And then — she began to cry.

Soft at first. Then harder.

Tears slipped down her cheeks in silence, not from pain, but from something deeper. Something sacred.

"He's so beautiful," she whispered, pressing her cheek gently to his dark curls. "He's so… perfect. So unspoiled."

Her arms tightened protectively around him as Kastiel gurgled, eyes wide and blinking up at her like she was the entire galaxy.

"I've never held a baby before," she admitted, breath hitching. "Not really. I didn't know it would feel like this."

She looked at Caelan then, eyes shining, voice thick.

"I'm so proud of you," she said, the words breaking on a sob. "Not just for surviving — but for who you've become. For giving this little boy the world he deserves."

Her fingers stroked the baby's back in slow, reverent circles, like she was cradling something more than life — like she was holding hope itself.

"I don't know what I am in his story," she said through the tears, "but if you'll let me… I'd like to be part of it."

 

[Caelan Valoren]

"Of course I'm right," he said, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "I'm the King."

No, he wasn't saying that because he was full of himself or arrogant. He was just applying some levity to the situation. Their conversation was entirely too serious for too long, especially with Kastiel there. Not that it wasn't important. She had been through a lot and so had he and they had to settle it between them in order to move forward. But now they had, and there was no reason to dwell upon it. This was how he was able to function in such a controlled manner: he didn't allow things to control his emotions. Even the worst of things.

He watched as she reached towards Kastiel and picked him up. Her hands were gentle, cradling him against her body as though he were the most fragile thing she'd ever seen. The way she held him made him smile. This was his first time being held by a family member that wasn't his mother or father, so it was good for him. Some day, if he ever found his twin sister, maybe she would hold him, but he wouldn't dwell on that. She was out there. He'd find her if the Force wanted.

But soon, Annie began to cry, and Caelan couldn't help but shake his head because he understood. Everything changed when you held a child. Not just any child, but one that was family. He was her nephew and that was special. Overwhelming for someone who hadn't had family in a long time. Kastiel didn't understand her tears, but he still reached up and patted at them on her cheeks as if trying to calm her, though in reality he was just curious.

"Don't be too proud of me. I've done things that still bother me; killed, for example. A Jedi should strive to avoid killing when at all possible and I have failed in several circumstances, something which I am ashamed of."

He shifted uncomfortably but then shrugged.

"But, I did agree to the marriage with Kastiel's mother in an effort to protect her from being used in a marriage to someone who would harm her. I grew up around Anavi. Her family and mine were friends and we spent a lot of time together even though she was older than me. I loved her, though she didn't love me in the same way, and still doesn't. But I keep her safe, and love her all the same, and she gave me Kastiel, and not long after he turns a year old, she'll be giving me his sibling."

Yeah, he let that little bit slip out.

"And you will be their aunt. You were always meant to be. The Manse is open to you. If you want to stay here, please do. You can help me and I can help you. There's an old Jedi outpost on the continent of Doxeti that I want to fix, but I need to unify the planet under one government first. I could use help with that if you're interested."

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ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anneliese Kaohal ​