Work Text:
If she stared at the datapad any longer, she would start seeing double.
Preferring to avoid that--and the headache that would come with it--Endrali tapped a key to mark her place and let the datapad thunk on her desk. She rubbed her eyes with the heel of one hand and stretched. A glance across the room showed both loth-kitten and gizka sleeping on her bed.
Endrali smiled at the sight of them. When she'd aquired Opila from the farm, she'd worried Kyber would object. That concern was clearly unfounded, as the gizka was snoozing away with his head nestled atop his new furry sister. Happy as she was to see them this content together, a nap was not what she needed. She needed some fresh air and a change of scenery.
And she knew exactly where she could find both.
---
An absolutely delicious breeze teased her hair as she stepped out onto her personal landing area. A little gardening to relax and enjoy the day, maybe see if Arcann would help her practice more single-blade, then she would get back to the datawork.
She keyed the code to open the crate with her gardening tools and surveyed the flower beds. Best to check on the saffron first; they were newest and the sunny space attracted weeds more than the shaded beds of snow orchids.
She wasn't sure how long she'd been lost in the task, humming to herself as she uprotted weeds and watered flowers, when she sensed an approach. One that had her smiling and turning toward the door before it opened.
Arcann's focus was elsewhere, his thoughts preoccupied, but both snapped to her with impressive speed. "...Hello."
"Surprised to find me here?" Endrali teased with a giggle as she pushed to her feet with a giggle and approached.
"Surprised to find you," Arcann said dryly. "Your presence has been... sparse the past day or so."
"Yeah, sorry." She wrinkled her nose apologetically. "Lana and Theron had another batch of intel in trying to ferret out the traitor, I wanted to help wade through it while it was fresh. You caught me while taking a break."
"Admirable," he said, reaching to brush a smudge of dirt off her cheek with his thumb. "I'm sure they appreciate the help."
"I dunno, sometimes I think Theron likes having an excuse to be a workaholic," Endrali said glibly. She raked frizzled tendrils of hair back from her face. Her cheek still felt warm where he touched it. "What about you, what have you been up to while deprived of my company?" she teased, leaning against the open gardening crate.
Arcann smiled and shook his head at her playful needling. "Senya... picked up on something out on the wilderness. It was faint, but she felt it bore investigating and did not wish to do so alone, especially considering your... experience."
Endrali shuddered at the reminder of Valkorion's manipulations, that damned cave.... She wondered how he knew about it; if Senya had told him or he'd read a report or... it wasn't really important. "Did you find anything?"
He hesitated a moment, rubbing his jaw. "...Yes and no. There was... an echo. As if at one point there had been a nexus or stronger concentration of Force energy, but it had dissipated before we located it."
"Interesting," she mused, biting her lower lip in thought. "Any sense if it was more dark or light energy?"
He shook his head. "Neutral."
"Hm. Well, if it was faded by the time you found it, I suppose it doesn't matter so much, but it is curious." She cracked her knuckles. "Be interesting to see if there are others..." And if they seem to lean one way or the other... she added silently, oppressive shadows of the cave in her mind. She shook it off, looked up at Arcann. "So if you didn't come out here looking for me, what were you doing?"
He cocked his head toward the meditation circle. "Clearing my thoughts." Something in his eyes softened. "It seems to work better out here."
Endrali's face warmed. "I'm glad it helps. I have a bit more gardening I wanted to do, when we're both done do you want to spar? We haven't had time for a while, and I could use-"
"More single-hilt practice?" Arcann finished with a faint smile.
She nodded. "You're the best one to help with that."
"I appreciate the confidence." He ran his hand over his scalp. "And would enjoy the chance for some time together."
"Excellent," Endrali said, smiliing bright. "No sense wasting time, then." It just increased the chances of something interrupting them.
Arcann just smiled as he headed for the meditation circle, but she could sense his anticipation as well. It bouyed her as she returned to the flower beds. An hour passed, but a very contented one, before she was finished. Endrali's comm chirped as she was putting away the garden tools. She glanced at it and growled softly.
"Is everything alright?" Arcann asked, joining her.
"Yes, I just forgot I have a meeting." Endrali scrubbed her forehead with the heel of one hand. "With Lana and Theron, to talk about leads. Compare notes, so to speak. I'll do that and then meet you in the practice room to spar? Sorry for the delay..."
"It's alright." He smoothed wisps of hair back from her face. "I will await you."
"Thank you for being so understanding." She squeezed his hand. Part of her wanted to kiss him, but she always wanted to kiss him, now. Was that too much for something simple like this? She didn't want to come on too strong, either. Stars, she didn't know how any of this worked.
"Of course." Arcann hesitated, something unsaid burning bright in her sense of him, then gave a small shake of his head. "I'll see you shortly."
Endrali nodded, squeezed his hand again, and headed for the staging area. Theron had taken to working down there; something about being able to more easily access more sources of data. If it made his job easier, she didn't mind where he worked, honestly.
She almost laughed at the deja vu when Lana strolled smugly into the meeting with a time sensitive lead. I have to stop making plans with Arcann around these briefings; it makes them turn into missions, she grumbled to herself as she commed him to apologize about the ten-hours-each-way trip to Umbara. "I hate that this keeps happening."
"It comes with your role. I understand," Arcann assured her. "We can spar on your return."
"Sounds good." She clicked off the comm and found Lana staring at her with one brow arched.
"You spar with Arcann?" Lana asked, tone striving for neutral and falling miserably short.
"You mean you didn't know?" Endrali muttered. The sniping comment was, perhaps, not Good Jedi Behavior, but she was feeling petty and peevish about her plans being interrupted. "He's been helping me get more comfortable wielding a standard single blade lightsaber, in case a situation arises where my dualblade is... unavailable."
"I see." She wondered how hard Lana was working not to voice the Is that wise? burning in her psyche. "Hopefully this won't be too long a delay on your plans, Commander."
"Hopefully," Endrali agreed, strapping in as Theron finished preflgiht for the shuttle and they got underway.
---
Arcann found himself at loose ends with the plans they'd made... disarranged. He wasn't even sure why; sparring would hardly have taken the rest of the day. He would have done other things once they finished, anyway. He flexed his hands as he paced the corridors. Perhaps it was shifting into the mindset for a fight that was then denied. Perhaps it was agitation that he hadn't gone with her, or at least wished her luck, told her to be careful. Not that she needed either of those, but he still thought of Iokath. How close they--he--had come to losing her.
Maybe he needed to hit something.
No, that wouldn't help and he knew it. Better to find some other method of distraction until they returned. With both Lana and Theron assisting her, surely his anxiety was unfounded.
Didn't make it any easier to shake.
"Wow, you seem tense."
Arcann flinched and pivoted jerkily toward the casual comment.
"Jumpy, too," Vette teased, cocking her head.. "You up to somethin'? Can I get in on it?"
"No." He snorted and clasped his hands behind him. "Therein lies my problem, actually."
"Do tell," Vette said, grinning as she pushed off the wall. "I'll walk with you."
He resumed his course to nowhere in particular as he explained the developments that interrupted his and Endrali's plans.
"Bummer," Vette deadpanned, twirling some trinket or other in her hands. He didn't catch what it was before she pocketed it. "That would be quite a fight to watch. You two want a referee?"
Arcann chuckled. "They haven't gotten out of hand before, so I think we'll be alright. But I'll keep the offer in mind."
"So is that why you're all" --she flapped a hand in his general direction--"like this? Not gettin' a fight you expected?"
A rueful smile as he nodded. "That is my theory, yes."
Vette shrugged and made a sympathetic noise. "If I was any good with a vibroblade, I'd offer to stand in. 'Fraid I'm more of a blasters girl, though."
"Thank you for your willingness," Arcann said dryly. "I-I'd just as soon wait for Endrali, anyway," he confessed. He wasn't even sure why, but it felt wrong to consider sharing that activity with anyone else.
"Sure, sure," Vette smirked, eyes gleaming with mischief. She lapsed into squirmy silence as they passed through a more populated area of the base. Once they were back in a deserted hallway, she looked up at him with exaggeratedly feigned casualness. "You two kissed yet?"
Arcann almost choked on his surprise. "Pardon?" It wasn't a denial or deflection; as far as he knew they weren't hiding the recent shift to their relationship, just... not being obnoxious about it.
Vette grinned at catching him so off-guard and skippped a step or two as they turned onto an observational deck. "Oh, your whole mutual pining thing is really cute to watch. 'Specially since I think Endrali thinks she's better at hiding it than she actually is--"
From everyone except me, apparently, Arcann thought dryly.
"An' I know it's complicated with you conquering the galaxy an' tryin' to kill her and all, but you're both my friends, so I gotta wonder if anything happened with it yet, y'know?" She leaned against a rail and waggled her brows at him. "C'mon, you owe me for Denova."
He huffed a surprised laugh at that, even as his gaze flicked to the plasma burn scars curling up her right arm. "You want gossip in exchange for saving my life?"
"Well, yeah," Vette shrugged. "It's more fun than hoping we're in a spot where you'll have to save mine again, right?"
"A good point," he conceded, weighing out his courses. It wasn't merely his 'gossip', after all. But he doubted Endrali would mind Vette knowing. "And yes."
"Ha, I knew it!" Vette crowed, clapping her hands together. "Happy for you, wish you the best, obviously. When was it? When you gave her the armor? That's a big deal kind of present."
"How did you..." On second thought, he wasn't sure he wanted to know how she knew about the armor.
"Please, I'm a snoop, you know that." Vette waved a hand. "Also, who else would give her Zakuulan armor, you know?"
Arcann shrugged in wordless admission of the logic. "I want..." he sighed and stared out over the swaying forests that surrounded the base. "I want to keep her safe. I know she doesn't need it, and that for some time I was the largest threat to her, but now..." he shook his head. "I worry, even when I know I don't need to."
"That's what happens when you're in love," Vette said, as if it was patently obvious or he knew how love worked, "Toss in that you used to be enemies and it makes all kinds of sense that you'd... overcompensate worrying about her."
"Quite wise of you," Arcann chuckled.
"I am pretty wisdomous, aren't I?" She sidled over to elbow him in the ribs for the skeptical look. "Shut up, it's a word."
"I had no intention of arguing otherwise," Arcann said, biting back a smile. Not when you're being such an undeservedly good friend.
"Good. And for the record, I think Endrali would find it sweet you worry about her even when you don't need to."
"I hope you're right," he said ruefully, "I don't see it as a habit I'll break anytime soon." He cut a glance toward the twi'lek. "Though I must admit, coonversing with you has helped make this occasion not so bad."
"That's me, distraction queen," Vette chirped with a triumphant head wiggle. "Lemme think of another topic and I'll keep it up 'til they get back..."
---
Endrali stared at her hands, absently tracing a bruise on the back of one, struggling to wrap her head around what today meant. What it would mean, going forward. She was too blindsided to sort through it, let alone talk about it. Lana was quiet in the cockpit, radiating fury and hurt and probably composing her third contingency plan in her head.
Endrali wanted to linger on the 'hurt' stage a little longer before she tried being pragmatic about it.
Lana docked the shuttle, took a deep breath. "Commander, we need to decide what to do about Theron--"
Endrali held up a hand as she freed herself from the seat restraints with the other. "Lana, I need a few minutes before I can strategize about this."
"I understand the difficulty, but I don't know how much time--"
"I won't be able to react to it until I process it," Endrali cut her off, rubbing her forehead. She hadn't been able to do more than doze on the return flight and the lack of sleep wasn't helping. "I don't want to make a bad call."
Lana opened her mouth, then closed it and nodded. "Very well. I will work on ways to get ahead of this."
"I'll try not to be too long," Endrali said. "This is just... a lot."
Endrali raked one hand through her hair as she left the room. She should go meditate. Even just a little time centering herself would do wonders. But that wasn't where she was headed. She reached out, found a familiar presence, and headed for the training rooms.
"Tell me you didn't wait down here the whole time," she said with wry amusement despite herself.
Arcann started slightly as he turned, then shook his head. "I found other things to occupy myself. I was just... restless, and figured you would want to sleep upon your return."
She gave a humorless laugh. "Small chance of that."
He tensed at her tone. "Did something happen?"
Lana and Hylo had kept a tight lid on developments if even people on Odessen didn't know yet.
Her shoulders slumped, breath rushing out in a sigh. "Arcann, I... Theron.... Theron's the traitor."
Arcann's disbelief rippled through the Force. She couldn't blame him; it didn't sound any less nonsensical to her now than when first confronted by the news. He studied her silently, then, "What can I do?"
Endrali wilted at the gentle offer, the concern she sensed from him, and then pulled herself back together. "Spar with me? It might make me a bad Jedi, but I think that will help me more than meditation."
Protest rose in his eyes--she was tired, she wasn't thinking straight, neither was good for this--but Arcann nodded. "As you wish."
She fixed her hair back as he retrieved a pair of single hilt blades. She was grateful he hadn't fought her about it. "Thank you." She took the practice blade and swung it in a paired loop as he stepped back. "Arcann?" Waited for eye contact. "Don't hold back."
His blue eyes flickered; he'd been intending precisely that. But thus called out, he gave a nod of understanding. "Your start, Endrali."
You want this, you begin.
She was more comfortable on offense, anyway.
Endrali lunged forward, feinting left and striking right.
Arcan knew her too well to fall for it, and parried almost effortlessly. "What happened, if I may ask?"
Another humorless laugh spilled out as she deflected his retaliation. "Nothing that makes- sense-" she grunted around her next set of attacks.
He blocked the first, but the second caught his ribs, and she picked up the approval at her landing a hit even in her exhausted and agitated state. Improvement.
She elaborated the event of Umbara as they struck and dodged and danced around the training room. The train, the crystals, the betrayal. 'If this is the price of peace, so be it.'
Arcann frowned as they circled each other, blades held low but ready. "That... doesn't sound like Theron."
"Tell me about it," Endrali panted. She palmed away a trickle of sweat from her temple, noted the dampening at the collar of Arcann's tank top. They were both committed, which was exactly what she wanted. She flourished her blade and closed in again. Made three quick strikes. "He helped found this Alliance, was always the strongest proponent for minimizing losses--"
Arcann blocked her strikes, rolled the last into a hit against her elbow and she yelped.
"--Being alright with however much death it takes to destroy us?" She shook her head, backing off to circle again. "I can't... It doesn't make sense."
"It does seem... out of character," Arcann agreed. He studied her a moment before closing in for attacks of his own. "Though, admittedly, I don't know him nearly as well."
She blocked his strikes, but bruises protested and she cringed backwards, giving ground. Arcann pulled away immediately, studying her with concern furrowing his brow.
"Endrali?" His blade hung at his side. "Are you alright?"
She nodded and took a deep breath. The twinge eased. "Just bruises this time," she promised. Well, bruises and the cut at the back of her neck from leaping through a broken transparisteel viewport. But that was small and under her hair, he didn't need to worry, this wasn't like Iokath--
Which had probably also been Theron.
All of it.
She let her blade hang loosely at her side. "Arcann, how did I miss this? He's my friend, I'm good at... reading people, how did I not pick up anything?!"
"I don't know," Arcann gestured helplessly, bringing his blade back up, "he must have hidden it well."
"No kidding," Endrali muttered, repositioning her own practice saber to be ready. I need to work on defense. "Really well if no one clued in along the way shifting from risking his life defending this place from Vaylin to crashing a train with me on it!"
Arcann froze mid-strike. "He-"
"Remember, just bruises." She tapped her blade to his. "No holding back. You don't need to worry."
"I cannot help it," Arcann retorted, completing the aborted strike. It caught her shoulder; she was getting sloppy. "I only wish to be your shield" --she blocked the swipe at her midriff--"and you are in danger so often." Two blows center mass, quick succession. She blocked but gave ground to do it, and he pressed in. "Even from your friends, it seems. So such worry hardly seems ill-founded."
"That's--" She ducked low under another swing, swept at his ankles, rolled to her feet when he dodged.
"He must know how you operate." Arcann spun a kick and she ducked again. "Why did he not talk to you before resorting to such extremes?"
"That's what I asked!" she laughed bitterly, turning a parried blow into a strike at his ribs. She pulled back and they circled again. "He said I would've... stopped him...."
A thought niggled, and she barely snapped out of it in time to block Arcann's next attack, but a spark connected in her tired brain as their blades clashed. 'I knew you'd try to talk me down.'
A theory built rapidly as she dodged and struck, founded on nothing much beyond hope and phrasing.
'I wanted to tell you, but....' Those were not the words of a man hell bent on destruction, or her death. for that matter.
What if... "What if he wasn't?" she thought aloud.
"Wasn't what?" Arcann grunted, stepping back a pace as he blocked her attack.
"Trying to kill me." Her strikes came in rapid succession as she added pieces. Shot out the window. Warned us what was coming. The delay of the explosion.
"Then what was- he- doing-?" Arcann countered her words as he did her blows, though he gave ground for each.
"I don't know," Endrali admitted. "Yet. But flying solo to do something reckless for a good cause seems much more like Theron than being comfortable with triggering scores of deaths." That would also explain not sensing anything wrong. Arcann retreated another step and she pressed in. She almost had him to the wall now, maybe she could finish this--
Arcann parried and pivoted at the last second, reversing their positions to pin her against the wall, his cybernetic arm trapping her blade to the durasteel. "That is... very little evidence for taking such a big risk."
"I've worked with less," Endrali panted, leaning into the wall's support and holding his gaze, ruby locked with blue. She rested one hand on his chest, his heartbeat pound under her touch. "I was right about you," she said softly, "trust that I'm right about him."
"A fair point," Arcann murmured. Several emotions flashed through him, and he gently tucked a sweat-damp tendril of blue hair behind her ear, touch lingering on her cheek, over the scar he'd given her. "I don't want anything to happen to you..."
"Trust me, neither do I," she said glibly. "That's why I trust the Force, and my instincts, and my people. And work on rounding out my skills." She wiggled the trapped blade. "This, by the way, wouldn't work with a real lightsaber."
Arcann smirk slightly and flexed the cybernetic fingers. "Cortosis plating. It would work long enough."
Something about the confidence of the words made her bite her lip. "I stand corrected. And defeated," she added wryly, not at all inclined to get out of this position. "I did need this, thank you."
He nodded. "Of course."
When he started to disengage, she darted a hand up to the back of his neck to pull him back in, pushing up on her toes to meet him for a kiss. Her training saber joined Arcann's on the floor with a clatter as he wrapped his arm around her waist. Both of hers circled his neck, equally eager for closeness.
"I am... glad you're alright," Arcann mumbled, breathing hard, when they parted.
Endrali nodded, trying to catch her breath. He always kissed like he was afraid it would be the last time, and this had been no exception. She couldn't say she minded. Truth be told, she'd rather stay here, safely sheltered between him and the wall from the mess waitinng to blow up, and the wild theory she had to run by-
"I told Lana I wouldn't be long," she sighed. Can't avoid responsibility forever.
Arcann nodded and stepped back. "Go. I'm sure I'll see you later."
"Count on it," Endrali promised. she let her hand linger on his arm as she stepped away. "After I sleep."
He chuckled. "Of course. I'll clean up here."
"Thanks for that, too."
Endrali drew and exhaled a long breath as she headed out of the training room. She definitely felt more centered now. She needed to clean up, make sure Kyber and Opila were still getting along, then....
Lana was going to be an even harder sell than Arcann. Not without evidence beyond, essentially, a gut feeling. But that's alright. I don't need her to agree with me. Just to trust me.
And if there was one thing she could do, it was inspire trust.