Waking From a Nightmare

[Tallia Farn]

Tallia was fairly quiet on their walk into the temple. There was so much happening around her, she merely wished to observe. She listened to Grandmaster Kitra and Josh, of course, but also watched the beings they passed in the spacious hall. Though each wore the brown robes she now associated with the Jedi, each person was entirely distinct. There were male, female, and even many non-human beings moving about their business. Most were so preoccupied in their tasks that they paid Tallia's gawking no mind. She recognized many of the alien species she saw on their walk, though she was unable to remember any of the names, to her disappointment. It was deeply fascinating to see so many drastically different people all brought together by the Jedi Order. It seemed there was a place for everyone, no matter their background. Though she didn't want to, she remembered back to what Josh had said, about the dark-side having a hold on her. She hoped there was still room among the Jedi for her.

She was used to simply observing the Jedi who walked past, so she was a bit startled when a short, grey-green, reptilian being acknowledged her. The way his head darted quickly in her direction was what caused her to jump. She'd thought he looked intimidating at first, but his eyes were kind as he gave her a nod and a toothy grin on his way past.

"Noghri!" The word for his species popped into her head at the encounter. It was a rather trivial recollection, but she gave herself a mental pat on the back all the same.

"I think you'll like it here, Tallia." She perked up when Valae said her name. Tallia didn't doubt that she would. Everything was amazing so far, she couldn't wait to see more of Kashyyyk. As soon as she was able, she would want to visit one of those treetop cities R4 had mentioned so that she could meet a Wookie in person.

But all her thoughts on exploration faded when the mouth-watering smell wafting from the cafeteria hit her nose. She could think of little else than food as her hunger rose one-hundred fold. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten. It felt like it had been a lifetime ago.

"It all looks amazing." She answered Valae with a smile before hurrying over to the line and heaping a plate to the brim with food. Once her plate had been covered in dumplings, gravy, and a mountain of biscuits, and she'd filled a bowl to the top with bubbling Nerf-cube stew, she waited as patiently as she could for Valae and Josh to get their food as well.

"I don't know how you could ever want to leave the temple!" She said to Josh excitedly as she took a deep breath over her steaming bowl of soup.

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"] [member="Valae Kitra"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh hadn't been able to hide his exhaustion, neither physically nor emotionally very well from Valae, and her concern was clear, he could sense it. He felt terrible about worrying the Grandmaster. Regardless, he would simply nod to Valae's question. "Aye" He responded. "Jason is getting to that age where he's starting to realize I'm gone. I need to get home, I don't want him getting too restless" Josh would admit, scratching his head. The weariness was clear in his eyes and the fact he was clearly walking far slower, with less of a confident stride than he usually had when he wandered through the temple's walls. He was completely taxed, physically, mentally and emotionally and he wanted to go home and rest. But more importantly, he wanted to get home to Jason.

He would remain quiet then as they wandered through the temple, allowing himself to slowly regain some stamina as Valae and Tallia would talk. Josh was unusually quiet considering he was in small company. Normally, if he was around people he was comfortable with, such as Valae or Tallia, he would never shut up. But here, he was just... Quiet, docile. Something had happened on that mission. Potentially something he wasn't telling Valae.

Regardless, he would take a breath as the smell of food would overwhelm his senses for the moment. It wasn't long after Tallia had gotten her food that the Jedi had stacked his plate as well, and stacked he did. He normally didn't eat too much at the temple, but he was ravenously hungry, even if he tried to downplay it when speaking to Valae. He hadn't spoken a word since his short conversation with Valae, until Tallia would make her remark about not leaving.

"I used to never leave unless I was on mission" He would admit. "But..."

He took a breath, as he realized Tallia didn't know. And had never known.

"Right, I forgot you didn't know. I have a son waiting for me at home. He's two."

[member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Tallia Farn"]

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

The Grandmaster had nodded when Josh mentioned his son. Though she had no little ones of her own yet, she could certainly understand. Just seeing some of the younglings around the Temple made her imagine run a bit wild – she couldn’t exactly imagine what it would be like to be a parent. However, she could surely see the concern in Josh’s eyes. Needless to say, she wouldn’t keep him here longer than was needed.

Valae watched with a pleased grin as Tallia wasted no time in grabbing up a plate and piling it sky-high with food. Next, Josh went along quietly after her, his own plate in hand. It was quite odd to see her fellow Jedi Master so quiet, Valae reflected silently. However, she had a feeling that a bit of food would do wonders for him, and for Tallia, too.

There was just something comforting about a warm meal that eased the troubles of the mind, even temporarily.

Having already had a rather large breakfast earlier that day, Valae settled for a smaller helping. However, once she reached the desserts, she was already running out of space on her plate. Last on the menu for her was a steaming cup of tea. Carrying her tray of food over to where the others stood waiting, she nodded towards an empty booth. The lunch hour had already come and gone, so the cafeteria was not as busy now, but there were still a few enjoying meals.

“My, my…” She glanced down at their array of food. “You two’ll do me proud, that’s for sure.”

Valae grinned wide. By now, most people here knew that she was a fan of a good meal.

She fell quiet as Josh explained that he had a son to Tallia. Lifting her mug of tea, she basked in the comforting warmth for a moment before taking a small sip.

“No doubt you’re eager to get back to him and Shmi.” She nodded, adding a small smile.

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"], [member="Tallia Farn"]

 

[Tallia Farn]

Tallia took the lead in the walk to an empty table from the food line, eager to dig into her meal. She was surprised to hear that Josh had a son. No wonder he was so eager to leave, he had a family to return to at home!

She'd originally thought that perhaps it was because of her presence that he wanted to leave. He'd said that it was painful for him to see her like this, without her memory. It seemed clear, at least to her, that her memory loss was the cause of his somber demeanor. It made her sad to think that even being in such an amazing place like the Jedi Temple still didn't raise his spirits. Maybe time to rest with his family would be the best thing for Josh after the apparently dark events leading up to her mind wipe. She shivered when she thought of what Josh had said about the encounter, but she quickly brushed it off again.

"A family? That's wonderful!.. Did I know before?" She said as she set her tray on a table and seated herself in one of the chairs. She knew it was entirely possible that she had. Tallia had no clear concept how much time had passed since.. well anything. She didn't even know how old she was.

Tallia tried a spoonful of her stew as she added another memory loss irritation to her growing mental list. She was going to have a lot of homework to do after she spent some time to rest.

"What about you Master Kitra? Do you have any family?" Tallia wondered if she herself had any family out there waiting for her across the galaxy. Josh had said she was a princess of somewhere? There had to be someone out there right? Another entry for her list.

[member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Despite all that had happened, Tallia was not the reason for his rush to leave. He could admit, he needed time. He needed time to heal after what had happened. But if he could have, he'd have instead tried to heal by spending every bit of time he could with Tallia instead of going on missions. But he had a family he had to get to, and he was eager to get back. When Tallia would ask about his family, he shook his head.

"You didn't" He would admit, as he would promptly finish the last of his food. "We hadn't spoken in some time before we met up again. I feel like I mentioned that we hadn't seen each other in awhile prior to what I explained, but I can fill you in on any missed details later" Josh would add with a shrug. "Anyway" He spoke as Tallia would move onto questioning Valae. "As much as I'd love to find out about Valae's family, I really gotta head out. Talli, here" He added as he would write something down before handing her it. "The first number you've gotten from a guy in awhile by what you told me, bit of a surprise" He joked lightly with a small smile. "Keep in touch, I might be awhile."

He looked toward Valae then, and the look in his eyes said what he was about to say before he even said it. "I might... Yeah. Be with my family for awhile" He would admit softly. He'd probably be gone a few weeks.

[member="Tallia Farn"] [member="Valae Kitra"]

 

[Tallia Farn]

Tallia took the slip of paper and enclosed it tightly in her palm. He didn't fully explain it, and she kind of missed his joke, but it seemed like she would need the digits to get in contact with him while he was away. She hadn't at all expected him to leave this soon, her first contact with the world outside that dark void she'd woken to, and yet she knew that he needed time to recover just as she would.

Valae seemed like she would still be good company, though as the Grandmaster of the Jedi, Tallia had a feeling she would be off taking care of her own business soon enough. It would be alright though, Tallia told herself. She was among the Jedi now, and that took a lot of stress off of this parting.

"I hope everything it well at home." She smiled at him. "Thank you for getting me here Josh. I don't know what I would have done without you guiding me." She'd been weary to trust him at first, but she now saw that behind his veil of negative emotion, he had a good heart. She wished she had been less guarded around him. He had called her his friend after all, but there would be time for that trust to build anew. In the meantime, she would do everything in her power to excel where her past self had failed. She decided in that moment that when she was ready, she would become a Jedi once again. Tallia would do all she could to live up to the memory Josh had of her.

When he had gone, she continued to enjoy the meal in the company of the Grandmaster, where in between mouthfuls she began to ask question after question about the ways of the Jedi, eager to learn about where her path would lead. They chatted on for a long time in the cafe before it became clear that Tallia was close to nodding off face first into her empty soup bowl, in which case Valae helped her to the Rehibilitation Center to check Tallia into a room for some much-needed rest.

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]