True Hero

[Jairdain]

It had been quite a long time since Jairdain had last spoken to Lady Kay and she felt it was time for a reunion. There were quite a few things she needed to talk to her queen about. Some good and some bad, but the good would hopefully outweigh the bad. Things had certainly changed for all the parties involved. Her probably most of all.

No longer was she the simple, young Jedi consular and adviser she had been hired as. Now fully an adult, she carried herself with far more confidence and maybe even a little pride. Not to any great extreme though and not enough to make her come across as egotistical or stuck up.

Time had not entirely been friendly to Jairdain and she still bore certain marks from her recent past. She had lost some weight and looked rather unhealthy, but it was clear she was recovering.

They had initially met in one of the rooms of the Palace and she hoped she would still be welcome here. Requesting to speak to Lady Kay, she now waited in that same room they had met in those years ago.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

The Royal Palace had taken in quite a bit of damage during the fight for freedom that had seen the removal of the Occupying forces. There were parts of Chasin City under reconstruction, just as the Palace was now under it too. The Twin Canyons would never be the same, not after the CSA Resolute had crashed into it.

Recovery was going to be long, but it would be done. And true to the Commenori motto of 'Commenor Survives', they had indeed done that. They had survived. There were some losses of course, but with the help of numerous allies, the majority of the population had survived. How long the ensuing peace would last, she didn't know. Hopefully for a long time to come.

Kay was in a make-shift office when the message came to her to inform her that [member="Jairdain"] had arrived to see her. The visit was unexpected, but not unwelcomed. Maybe it meant that [member="Bradshaw Ku"] would be near as well. She got to her feet and walked over to the meeting room, flanked by armoured guards. At least this time her guards were her own and she could both move and speak freely within these halls once again.

As she opened the door and walked in to meet her, she smiled, though her smile was seen more than it was felt. There was plenty of shame and regret in Kay right now. But Kay had to continue to remind herself that she did what she could, and what was best for her people. Still though, there were some that hated her for it. There were some that would have made different choices. Whether or not Jairdain was one of those people, she was about to find out.

"Welcome back...Could I offer you some tea?"

 

[Jairdain]

The last few months had been very tough on Jairdain. Not as hard as it had been on Kay, but still very traumatic on her. So she had run and only recently recovered. That had been because of a chance run in with a friend of Kay's and now she returned to Commenor. A place she felt she could call home. It wouldn't be in quite the same way though.

With the disappearance of Brad, she had gone in search of him as best she could. However, something stopped her and she knew now that when he returned, he would be different. Based off the haunting she had of him on the day they met. Since the Prince was not around to advise, Jairdain had decided on this meeting and to let Kay know herself.

Standing up when Kay entered, she gave her a nod and smile.

"Yes please. How is recovery going?"

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

As always when a meeting was scheduled, there was supplies for tea. Kay headed right to the side table and began to prepare a couple of cups of the famous Sapir tea.

"Recovery will take some time. There's a lot of work ahead of us. And there are many decisions to be made. But one step at a time."

At least she was free again. Though out of habit, she still watched over what words she would say, only to have to remind herself that she didn't need to do that at all. There was a lot to get used to.

Kay poured the water into the cups and gave the leaves a stir so that they'd dissolve in the hot liquid.

"How's Brad doing?
Have you heard from him?" It hadn't been since before the seige that she had seen her oldest.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

Having spent a great amount of time in the Palace in the past, Jairdain knew what the traditions were. It had been a while since any chance was given to do this though and she looked forward to it. She also hoped Kay would enjoy the short time they had together and could relax.

Nodding when she heard of the recovery efforts, she wished there was more she could do. Sadly there wasn't much the advisor could do. In fact she couldn't really think of anything she could offer and that was one of the reasons she had been absent for much of the time recently. The thought brought her back to why she had asked to see Lady Kay.

The questions posed were troubling to answer and she shook her head for a moment.

"He went missing again. Luckily, I think, it was before the sith attack. Unfortunately, I have no heard from him at all."

Raising her hand to head though and then lowering it, she would look in the direction of where her queen was sitting.

"I am sure he is still alive though. In our time together, we formed a bond in a way. If he was dead, I feel I would know it."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before she carried the tea over to [member="Jairdain"] , offering her one of the cups. [member="Bradshaw Ku"] was certainly living up to his old habits. "Brad....does that a lot. He always has. It's like he's always searching for something.
Maybe he went to look for his sister again. I'm not sure..."

She headed over to a chair once Jairdain took her cup and then sipped from her own. "It's probably better that way, given what's happened here. Caedyn was in the thick of it, even though I longed for him to get away to safety.
Lori faired better. I don't want my children to suffer in war, but that's just a silly wish. Commenor's chamged, our politics have changed, and there's no going back now." Neutrality was lost. And although it had opened up some doors, it had closed some others as well.

"What brings you back here? Surely it just isn't to tell me about Brad. Can we help you with anything?"

 

[Marcus Ismet-Ku]

A Palace bathroom door slid open quietly somewhere down the hall from where [member="Lady Kay"] and his mother were talking grown up stuffs. It vomited out a little boy, with blond hair and blue eyes, who ran with the minutest pitter-patter of tiny feet, connected to tiny legs, and an equally tiny torso, with matching tiny arms, hands, fingers, and head. Everything about him was miniature and tiny, and cute.

But he never thought so. For little Marcus, like his mother, was blind behind those stunning blue eyes. So, along with the normal troubles of having existed for just three short years, he didn’t have a great idea about the size of himself in respect to most things. Besides, he didn’t feel short, anyways.

Following him with nervous whistles and boops was the astromech that Marcus’ father, whom he’d never met, once loved to have tag along by his side, Shorty. The little droid, originally designed by the Head of Engineering of Commenor to be a slicer and pilot, now found himself anxiously attempting to keep the blind toddler from getting lost or, running into walls.

Speaking of which –

Shorty reached out a utility arm from his chassis and, with surprising dexterity, delicately nudged the little runner away from colliding directly into a doorjamb, and instead, the youngling careened safely into the room occupied by his mother and, the grandmother he’d never met. He couldn’t see, but he could feel his mother’s presence through the force just enough to point him in the right direction. Well most of the time, at least.

“Mommy, mommy, I made a poodle in da poddy by my selfff –“

“oof” went the boy, as his undeveloped and blind body made a mistaken calculation and he flopped to the floor in front of his mother, just the way toddlers have done from the start of time.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

Lady Kay was not one to take her time in getting to the point. Something Jairdain could respect about her. Her only sight of Kay was through the Force and when she mentioned maybe Brad had returned to his old ways, she wanted to shake her head and deny it. Her focus shifted off her queen and to the tea in her hands.

"I don't think it was his sister that he is searching for."

Pausing and not entirely sure how to say what she was thinking on about the fate of Brad, her attention snapped to the door. She heard the familiar sounds of Shorty bringing Marcus to the room. Luckily the droid remember the route through the Palace and could guide their son to his mother. The boy she had kept secret from the father for a reason.

On the day they had met, Jairdain had the Force speak to her and tell her he had a very good chance at taking a dark turn in life. It was something she had kept to herself, but she feared that is exactly what had happened.

Setting her tea down, she bent over and picked Marcus up and set him on her lap. Looking between Kay and her son, there was a very soft look to her. Even though he was still young, one could tell they were related. They were both blind and the slant of his eyes were the same. There the similarity ended. Bone structure and shape of his face belonged to the father.

"This Marcus Ismet-Ku. Lady Kay, he is the son of Brad and he does not know his father."

[member="Marcus Ismet-Ku"] [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay recognized Shorty. How could she not? He was one of her favourite little astromech droids. But [member="Marcus Ismet-Ku"] was new to her. The boy didn't appear to be able to see. That was unfortunate for him, but hopefully in time he'd be able to hone in on his other senses like so many have.

She watched as [member="Jairdain"] picked him up. It was evident that he was her son. So did that mean.....?

No, it couldn't be....

But Jairdain had already confirmed it. Kay's jaw fell open as she wasn't quite sure of what to say. For a minute she just stared in near disbelief. How many children did [member="Bradshaw Ku"] have that he wasn't aware of? Probably a dozen or more, given his playboy ways. Yet this was entirely different. It seemed as though there was more to it than just Brad having not met his son because he was away. A lot more. She just wasn't privy to it yet.

"I'm a gr--.....and you were pr--......with Brad's ch--.......I-I-I don't know what to say...." She didn't know what to say or do. In fact her tea cup just hung in the air in her hand as though it was completely forgotten. Just wait till [member="Veiere Arenais"] got a load of this....

 

[Marcus Ismet-Ku]

Marcus’ features contorted into the telltale signs of a child about to erupt with tears from his clumsy tumble at mother’s feet. But she was too good to let that happen. He felt her gentle hands lift him, and was suddenly much better as she rested him on her lap. For reasons he couldn’t yet discern through conscious thought, his flop on the floor didn’t seem so traumatic an event as it had just a moment ago.

Features brightening, he stuck the tiny fingers of his right hand into his mouth and groped around with his left for something interesting to play with that his mother might be wearing. His epic search accompanied by the sounds of slobbery nibbling. Of course, he didn’t know what the grown’ed ups were talking about, nor care.

But Shorty did. The little astromech turned babysitter, spied Kay’s shocked reaction and the precariously held cup of tea through the photoreceptor not still keeping an eye on Marcus. Chirping a nervous warning to the Queen, he reached out a utility arm and with metallic digits, gripped the cup securely so that if [member="Lady Kay"] let go, it wouldn’t come crashing to the floor.

The youngling, ever distracted by new sensations offered to him in the world, changed his mind about the feeling expedition he’d been on after hearing Shorty’s chirps. Now, he had a new idea.

“Gogy! Gogy! Want...” he called out, nearly flopping backward and reaching out with both slender arms toward the sound of the astromech.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

Though the situation around the meeting was something serious, Jairdain couldn't help but smile and almost laugh at her queen's reaction. It would certainly be a large surprise since less than a handful knew of Marcus. She had made sure to keep it that way and was very glad for it.

For the first time since meeting Lady Kay, she found the woman wordless. Attempting to put herself into the emotional state, Jairdain empathized with her and nodded. Her squiggly son kept moving around in her lap, but she gave him some freedom of movement. To hold him close all the time wouldn't be good for either of them, but she would attempt to keep him out of harm's way.

When he flopped over to reach out for Shorty, she caught him before he could fall and sat him back up. After a moment, she put him on the floor and facing his grandmother.

"It didn't happen right away and certainly wasn't planned. After I had trained him as much as I could, we separated and soon after is when I learned I was pregnant. I probably should have told him, but something has held me back all this time."

Provided Marcus had moved off, she would take a sip of her tea and set the cup back down.

"I am afraid when he returns, he will too far changed to be thought of as a father or even the Brad we knew. I feel it here."

Raising a hand to cover her heart, the tone she used indicated there was no doubt in her mind about the path Brad had taken.

[member="Marcus Ismet-Ku"] [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay looked down to Shorty as he chirped and then took hold of her tea cup. She held her gaze on the little astromech as her brain processed this information.

After a moment she looked to [member="Jairdain"] as the woman did her best to try to hold an adult conversation with little [member="Marcus Ismet-Ku"] doing his very best to get all of her attention.

The words that she had expressed in regards to Brad made her heart sink. "He's fallen again...Hasn't he?..." This wasn't the first time. He had shown hi ts of it in his youth, something that Shaw worked so hard to get him to control. But then after Shaw's murder, the anger took over. While Kay was recovering in hospital, Brad had left. It wasn't until years later that he had found her. He broke into her office and proceeded to blame her for Shaw's murder, breaking dishes and whatever else he could get his hands on.

Kay had hoped that he would have moved past his anger. But clearly, he hadn't. "What set him off this time?"

 

[Marcus Ismet-Ku]

His mother gave him just enough freedom to squiggle and wiggle around on her lap for a while, but as she caught him from tipping overboard onto the floor from the ‘high’ perch on which he sat, she soon set him back down on the floor. Of course, what he didn’t realize, was that she had set him on the floor facing his grandmother, not ‘gogy’, his slicer/astromech droid nanny, who was the one in which he was actually interested. Not whoever this granny lady was supposed to be.

So naturally, being blind, when he started his clumsy walk away from his mother toward ‘gogy’, he unwittingly walked straight into [member="Lady Kay"]’s legs with a soft thump, a gurgle, and plop as his butt hit the floor from the unexpected collision. This time, though, he didn’t appear to mind. He just crawled back up onto his two tiny feet and with tiny hands grabbed hold of his grandmother.

Odd… gogy feels different… oh well…

“Gogy! Mine!” he squealed gleefully, “Gogy mine! Up! Up!” He bounced up and down while he waited for his pet/ nanny to lift him into the air the way he would do now and again with thin, but strong metallic arms. When he did, Marcus felt like he was flying and free.

Probably just a characteristic of any young child. Or maybe, it was a small part of his father passed down to his son. A love for flying because it represented true freedom.

Only time would tell.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

Not one to be able to clearly hide what she felt, there was sorrow on her face and would hopefully be enough confirmation for Kay. She needed to answer the last question though and she didn't have one to offer.

"I do not know. Truly. We made our announcement that one night, life passed a little more and then he was gone. No hints, clues or anything. Just gone. Lady Kay, I have done everything I know of to try and find him."

Having the feeling she would know if Brad was dead, Jairdain had not attempted to find him in the Netherworld. That would be the last place she wanted to go again. She had been there twice now for different reasons. One good and one bad for she had failed to bring a friend back. Lady Kay was most likely unaware of her travels, but Jairdain rarely explained her actions to anybody.

Her son wandered in the direction she had put him and ran right into Lady Kay, which was exactly what she had expected and hoped for. In a way, she was surpsied he couldn't tell right away it wasn't Shorty he had run into. Maybe he did, but it did not fully register and he still asked her to pick him up.

[member="Marcus Ismet-Ku"] [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay frowned a little as [member="Jairdain"] explained about Brad's disappearance. It'd be worse if this was unusual behaviour, but it was something that she knew all too well with him. It was hoped that he was a changed man, but that just wasn't the case. "I'm sorry to say this, but he won't be found until he wants to be. That's just...how he is." It was never anything that she had taught him.

She looked down to [member="Marcus Ismet-Ku"] as he bumped straight into her. At least Shorty had hold of her tea cup. That gave her the freedom of using both hands. Kay picked up her...grandson...and set him down on her lap so that he was facing her, yet was still on his feet. She then took hold of his hands and placed them on her cheeks. "Hello there little one. You're quite the little explorer, aren't you? Did you want a biscuit?" One hand was held protectively around hus back while the other traced his face with her finger, almost as though she was encouraging him to do the same.

 

[Marcus Ismet-Ku]

As [member="Lady Kay"] moved to pick up his rambunctious charge, Shorty moved the cup of tea he held securely to the nearest table. Just in case he needed to catch Marcus, or chase him, or redirect him, or stop him from swallowing an errant piece of anything… come to think of it, there was a finite, yet, extremely large number of combinations and permutations of dangerous events that could take place when it came to this little one. His many CPUs were too slow to compute all the possible events, but experience told him everything he needed to know. Be ready for anything.

For a moment, Marcus thought Shorty was lifting him up just as he requested. That didn’t last long once tiny feet landed on unstable, squishy, ground. A hand? Pressed against his back. This wasn’t Shorty! and for a split second, he thought it might be his mother. Until his tiny hands were placed on a new face. This wasn’t his mother either… so who was it? Should he be afraid?

“Hello there little one. You’re quite the little explorer, aren’t you? Did you want a biscuit?”

Well, that settled that.

No need to be afraid, after all, she was offering bisbuts… and if that was anything like cookies, he was all in. With his tiny hands, he explored this stranger’s face just as he felt his own face being explored.

“Bisbut? What is a bisbut? Is it a cookie?"

“I want a cookie!” He squealed gleefully while bouncing up and down excitedly on his legs.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

Nodding at the truthful, but very painful words Kay told her, Jairdain sat back in her seat and quietly sipped her tea. It had been several years now since Lady Kay had taken her on as Brad's advisor, maybe she hadn't known her charge as well as she thought.

"When he does decide to be found, I will let you know."

Her voice was quiet and thoughtful, but the words were just as true as the ones Kay had told her.

She followed the movement of Marcus up into Kay's lap and felt the mixed emotions of her along with those of her son. He listened to what she had to say and offer, but did not know what a biscuit was. Kay supported him firmly and he was comfortable on her lap. Smiling, she nodded to Kay to give him a biscuit to see if he liked it or not.

[member="Marcus Ismet-Ku"] [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay glanced over to [member="Jairdain"] as the younger woman spoke. Brad would be found. One day. And for whatever reason that made him disappear this time, she hoped that there wasn't too much anger in his heart when he returned.

Her attention turned back to [member="Marcus Ismet-Ku"] as he bounced up and down on her lap. "A biscuit is like a cookie, yes. Just a little bit more crummy. Now hold still while I get you one." She shifted the boy over so that he sat down beside her. Then she reached over to the coffee table and picked one up from the plate. It wasn't a big biscuit, but flat and cylindrical in shape with sugar on top. Kay placed it into his awaiting hand. "Here you are..."

Grandmothers are supposed to spoil, aren't they? She had never known her grandparents at all to know if that fact was true. But it was a well known rumour and saying, anyways.

 

[Marcus Ismet-Ku]

Marcus felt the bisbut placed into his little, outstretched hand. This was very exciting, especially if bisbuts really were like cookies, as the strange lady said. He grabbed it with his other hand and ran his fingers over it in order to “see” the granulated sugar on top, and the dry, crumbling base underneath.

Then, giving it a little sniff, to confirm the most important thing of all, that it smelled sweet, his chubby cheeks broke out into a happy smile right before he the crammed as much of the bisbut as was humanly possible into his mouth. Which, granted, was only a little more than half the sweet treat, but that seemed like an awful lot to him.

Munching down on the treat, crumbs and bits of sugar falling out of his mouth and getting everywhere -- crunching, chewing, and indistinguishable sounds of happiness emanating from his little mouth -- Marcus decided in this moment that he very much liked bisbuts. He also decided he liked whoever this strange lady was. She seemed nice and gave him sweets.

Only halfway done chewing and swallowing what he’d shoved into his mouth, he twisted his little head in the direction of his mother and was just barely able to get out, “Mommy, who is she?” He asked, a little finger from the hand not holding the bisbut pointing at [member="Lady Kay"]. He turned back around to face the strange lady. “I like you, you can be my fwend. My name is Marcus. What’s yours?”

Then, in went the remaining half of the bisbut. It never stood a chance.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

For the moment, Jairdain almost felt like an outsider again. The exchange between Marcus and Kay excluded her slightly, but she understood why. This was their first meeting and hopefully not the last. There had been a reason Marcus had been kept secret and Jairdain did not regret making that choice. He might have been without a father, but she knew he was going to have a future. Lady Kay would see to that as well as herself.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth, Marcus. It isn't polite and people can see the food you've already chewed. Lady Kay is your grandmother. Your father's mother."

For just a moment, she was sad. Her own parents were dead and gone for many years now. He would never get the chance to meet them. All she could do would be to tell stories of them to him.

It was heartening to know Marcus already liked Kay though and made Jairdain feel like he had a good place here.

[member="Marcus Ismet-Ku"] [member="Lady Kay"]