notallofus | (no subject)

Breathe.

Just breathe.

Once, this was a meditation room. There was one Master Billaba had preferred, after her months in a coma. A creek bed was built into its floor, winding a path through the room, dark water trickling over the smooth stones set beneath. The windows were tinted, hiding the city lights of Coruscant beyond, and a constant garden of lycandis, zeka grass, and honeyblossoms was cultivated to blanket the floor. Entering was like walking into a forest glen on a warm night, and it was easy to find peace there. Or to drift to sleep in the sweet-smelling grass. It was hard to think of the blasterfire raining down on other planets, or even the explosions that had rocked the Jedi Temple around them.

Something that makes you feel safe –

It was ashes now. He could only imagine that. The creek was dry, the stones cracked, honeyblossoms dust. Maybe the Empire had transformed it into something else entirely. He could only imagine – Kanan doubted he would ever see that place again. Maybe he even knew he would never see it. Like Master Billaba. That place could no longer protect him. He couldn't feel safe there.

a person, a place, a situation

This room is small, simple, bare. Not entirely unlike his quarters as an apprentice in the Jedi Temple, but he didn't think on that. There was a door along the far wall, just a few meters from him. Low benches lined the walls on either side of him, and two bunks were built into the back. He's sitting on the thin bedding of the lower bunk, his fingers curled gently along the edge. No windows, stale recycled oxygen with the tinny scent of steel. Beneath his boots, the floor vibrated faintly.

focus on that image

There's a flicker of movement to his right. A shadow on the floor, along the wall.

I'll . . . try to get in -

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She presses her fingers, hard, into his hand.

"Must've been a long time ago then. Before the kids."

There's a moment where the snap-hiss of a lightsaber echoes above the sound of Hera's voice, but it fades, turning into the low crackle of electric current, and then dying away altogether.

"Maybe when we were kids. Feels like that, today."

"When were we kids?"

Her voice is quieter. And beneath it, there's the soft trickle of water over smooth stones.

"What if I'd met you when you were a kid?"

"Never, see? 's the whole point."

When in doubt, joke. And while Kanan is trying seriously hard not to be in doubt right now --

"Uh. Are we both on the same planet in this hypothetical? Because I vote we pick Rion. Or maybe Alderaan. Def'nitely not Pamarthe. Or Coruscant."

The sound of water on stone is louder, less a trickle and more a distant waterfall.

"Alderaan's beautiful."

The air grows cooler. Where there had been rain, it's now soft, dappled sunlight, and the rushing of the distant waterfall is joined by a low hum of bird song.

"Maybe I went there when I was a teenager. When I was running transport jobs."

"Not a lot of downtime, on that kind of run. But you made it count. I tried, when it was me."

He shifts on the bunk, fingers clenching and releasing the scratchy blanket, imagining the feel of grass --

No. This is still the Ghost, everything's still fine --

"Maybe after Rion. And breakfast."

"Kanan."

She lifts her still lowered hand, pressing it to his face again. The forest sounds have dissipated back to the quiet clicks and vibrations of the ship. The air is warm, recycled oxygen.

Her hand is cool on his face. "Stay here."

Edited 2018-06-03 05:47 (UTC)

Kanan nods, though it's more like a shudder that runs through him, his forehead still pressed against her jaw, her skin still cool on his again. The light in the cabin is too bright, it stings in his eyes even as he keeps them lowered.

It's only a matter of time -

"I don't -"

He breaks off, breathing again, forcing his his breaths to stay slow, and even. "I don't regret anything, but I - I wish -"

Her hand comes up to gently press her fingertips to his mouth, stopping the words up.

"There's still time for that. For all of it. You just have to stay. You can do this. I know you can."

He swallows, then nods, shaking off her fingers.

"t's not the time -"

It wouldn't mean anything here.

"Not for us," she agrees, smile still clear in her voice.

Her hand falls away, cool fingers tangling with his.

"But if it will help, I'll listen."

Again, he goes quiet, as he focuses on his breathing.

"It's - it's what I'd really have to say to you."

And he can't do that now.

"I'll wait."

Her voice is quiet now, and she leans forward to whisper it in his ear.

"Until neither of us can anymore. It's the only promise we have, now."

He wants to reach out to her, wants to hold onto her again. But his hands are at his sides on the -

"I think -"

- on the bunk. He can't move them. The room's grown so much brighter. And beneath it, sliding across the floor -

"- I think I need to -"

- a shadow approaches them.

Hera reaches out to rest her hand against the center of his chest.

"Wake up."

Then she shoves him, hard, straight off the bunk and onto the hard, cold, metal --