If there was one thing Draca was never prepared for, it was surprises. Anders becoming Vice-Chancellor, the blizzard of Port Kasiya and Draca’s subsequent fight with Plagueis’ Proconsul and the whole situation with Bril and Co. Who knew if they’d even said anything to Melissa. Then, of course, there was his relationship with Melissa.
He’d had to fight the urge to pick up his datapad and call, message… send an emoji. Anything after all the blizzard. Ruka was in less than ideal physical condition. They’d done their best. They all had. Ruka would live, but the man probably wasn’t going to be the same ever again. He was Melissa’s adopted father. He didn’t want to interrupt in private family matters even if Cora had told him he was always welcome to message.
Anders wasn’t, but that was more Ruka’s ruling than anything.
“Draca, if you stare at that datapad any harder, the damn thing will burst into flames,” Meshita chuckled at her own joke. When she didn’t get a reaction, she sighed and shook her head. “Seriously, kid. When was the last time you got a decent night’s sleep? We gotta break you out of that funk!”
Draca pondered that for a moment. “Before the last war in the Ethereal Realm?”
“Draca is, as you can tell Meshita, plagued by his concerns,” Anders commented with his arms crossed across his chest.
BUDD-E, perched on the Chiss’ shoulder beeped lowly in Draca’s direction..
“I’m fine, Buddy. Thank you,” The young man smiled weakly.
“And that is a complete lie,” Anders retorted. “Which is why we are heading to our destination.”
“Are you finally going to tell me where we are going?” Draca asked hopefully, but as soon as the question left his lips, a distinct planet came into view. His hearts almost skipped a beat. “Wait isn’t that…”
“Selen? Yep!” Meshita proclaimed.
“Yes,” Anders confirmed with a nod. “I have some business to attend to. Alone. Perhaps you could pay Miss Luxor a visit? Meshita, land the ship outside the Arcona Citadel.”
Unbeknownst to Draca, Anders had sent a message of his own. As they broke through the Selen atmosphere, he reached into the Force, sending a telepathic message to Melissa. Informing her of their impending arrival.
The last few months had, in dichotomy, been quiet for Melissa. In the aftermath of the war, she’d remained close to home. The Halloween Festival had been the first time she’d truly gone out as she had before the ethereal realm was a known to her. Cora convinced her to go on a spa day and.. the Blizzard.
In the chaos of it all, she hadn’t messaged Draca. Nor had he messaged her. Was he even alive?
The flickers of the Force told her yes, that they’d see each other again. It had been enough that Melissa had been able to focus on Ruka, practicing and pushing her healing powers alongside Cora to help her adoptive father along. His vision had mostly returned but it was damaged.
She was sat in her room, when the call came. Anders’ voice of all things. They were all landing outside the city.
The Echani was on her feet in a moment.
The city was a no fly zone so there was only one place they could land. So, that was where she’d have to go. Cora was in the kitchen as she rushed past and she hurriedly called-
“Draca’s here I’ll be back for dinner! I’ll call!”
Melissa waited for confirmation of response, and in her rush missed Cora’s added on, “Shoes, Mela!”
The door clicked closed as he spoke and, upon finishing the dishes Cora came to the door. Melissa’s sandals were indeed still there.
“Oh dear.”
Melissa had broken into a run on hitting the street. It wasn’t the fastest run but with the aid of transports out of the mountainous city down to the port, it was a damn sight faster than it could have been. Now just to track down Meshita’s ship… which one was it again?
“Crap.” Melissa muttered to herself, a glint of silver among the rumbling ruckus that was Selen’s port.
The Astral Drake touched down outside the Citadel, the black sheen of the ship seemingly absorbing the sunlight around it like it was a black hole. For an Inquisitor, Anders’ ship had a flare for the dramatic.
Speaking of Anders, he descended the ramp, hands clamped behind his back, droid on his shoulder, and a nervous Jedi trailing behind him.
“I have a personal matter to attend too,” The Chiss declared, taking in all the surroundings of Selen. He’d seldom visited Arcona’s homeworld during the daytime when there wasnt some festivity to be concerned with, and was no doubt picking apart every intricacy he could find.
“Where are we going and what do we need to do?” Draca asked, as dutiful as ever.
This was the moment Anders turned to face him, a small, yet significantly sly grin etched onto his face. “We? We are not doing anything. I am going to deal with the matter personally. You are going to try and get some rest, perhaps with the approaching silver blur about to crash into you.”
“Wait, what?” Draca had been so preoccupied with his emotional state he hadn’t bothered to use the Force to sense his surroundings.
Melissa, however, had been. Unfortuanetly to an extent that she had not paid much attention to the ground nor the shifting of the crowds.
The young woman rushed forward, tripping over a passers by’s foot and stumbling. In some twist of fate she managed to keep up about long enough to make it to Draca. Alas, that was about the point where her wavering balance gave in and she tipped forward. With something of a yelp and a laugh, Melissa impacted face first into Draca’s side with enough force to potentially bounce backwards and land ass first onto the duracrete.
Would our intrepid hero catch her in time?!
He would, in fact, catch her in time. Barely. By some miracle of the Force. The angle he caught her in was less than ideal and staggered him back, causing him to lose balance and fall onto his rear with Melissa in his arms.
Right into the sight of a highly mischievous Mandalorian.
“Aww,” Meshita cooed then pointed behind her. “You know, if you missed him that much, his room is just down here in the ship just on the right.”
Melissa was a pile of giggles, struggling to right herself for a moment before managing to do so while still in something of a hug. If you could call it that.
She’d been about to say something, though what would have been anyones guess. Probably are you okay. Probably. Instead Meshita commented and it rather confused her, following the gesture toward the ship.
“But he’s right here?”
The meaning behind the comment completely went over her head.
Instead of being caught off-guard, Meshita instead formed a circle with her index and middle finger on one hand and straightened her index finger on the other. “Right, so basically the way it works is when a boy and a girl really like each other…”
“M-Meshita!” Draca’s voice couldn’t have cracked any higher if he tried.
“Meshita, please refrain from the obscenities. I would rather you not plant any ideas for unscrupulous activities aboard my ship,” Anders folded his arms across his chest and gave a very peculiar stare to Draca.
A non verbal warning.
“Oh. We hadn’t talked about doing that.” Melissa said plainly, smiling at little on seeing the growing flush in Draca’s cheeks. And then realised they were very close together.
A flush forming in her own cheeks, Melissa retreated somewhat and got up onto her feet, offering Draca her hand to help him up.
It was at that point she noticed the rather odd look Anders was giving Draca. Oh. OH!
“Oh we- uhm- Wait where else-” Melissa turned a rather bright shade of red and covered her face, a small squeak audible though muffled behind her palms. Oh dear.
“Yes, indeed,” Anders couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped his lips. “Meshita will be watching the ship whilst I am busy to ensure nothing… unwarranted occurs.”
“It won’t!” Draca grasped Melissa’s hand and centred himself. He took a deep breath. Patience. “I’m more responsible than that. We are more responsible than that. Right, Melissa?”
“Right.” Melissa agreed with a quick nod, squeezing Draca’s hand in return. “We are. So, no plans! Or- Well I didn’t have time for plans anyway never mind plans like that-”
She cut off, paused, and then laughed nervously. “Anyway. Uhm. What’s with the visit, is everything okay? There aren’t any festivals on.”
“I have a personal matter to attend to at the courtyard. Young Draca here is having problems relaxing and I assumed you might be able to assist in this endeavour,” Anders placed his hands behind his back.
“I don’t need help relax-OW, what was that for!”
Meshita jabbed Draca in his arm. “He’s offering you time alone with your girlfriend. I suggest you take it, hotshot.”
“Do you have any issues with this arrangement, Melissa?” Anders asked.
Melissa shook her head, smiling still “I just have to be home in time for dinner, this is a bit last minute.”
She looked up at Draca, “If you don’t need any help relaxing then you won’t have any probelms hanging out for a day with me then!”
Draca had absolutely no problems with that at all. The young Zabrak Jedi wore his heart on his sleeves as he always did, and could never hide the smile that stretched across his face.
“Then I do believe that is settled. You two behave now. Draca, I expect to see you back at the ship by sundown,” Anders began to walk away as BUDD-E waved one mechanical leg in their direction.
“Well, I guess I better watch his majesty’s ship like the good little sentry I am. Have fun, you two! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t!”
Draca, usually, might have flushed with embarrassment at Meshita’s comment. Yet, once the Mandalorian had dissapeared back into The Astral Drake, there was only one thing he wanted to do.
He grabbed Missa by her waist and spun around with her in his arms. He stopped, letting her tiptoes touch the ground as he lightly pressed his forehead to hers.
“I missed you,” he said, hearts thundering like drums in his chest with each, heartfelt word.
Until sundown. It wasn’t enough time but she didn’t have the time to linger on that thought before Draca was moving.
And then she was moving.
Melissa wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning in as he spun her, laughing. She angled her head up, the tip of her nose brushing against his.
“I missed you too.” She had to stretch a little further to press a soft kiss, short but sweet, to his lips. But a little stretch was more than okay.
“I’m just glad you’re here. I heard about the blizzard…”
“So did I. I was there.”
…
…
OK, that light attempt at humor was absolutely terrible, even he had to concede that.
“Sorry, bad joke. How are you? How is Ruka doing?”
Melissa shook her head, a light smile crossing her face but the worry creasing her eyes.
“Ruka is better. He’s not woken up yet but… Well it could be worse. So.. we focus on that for his sake.” She hesistated before shrugging, “I’m alright. Nothings happened really, I’ve been trying to just focus on learning the galaxy properly with Cora. Learning things I should have been taught apparently as a young one, like numbers and stuff. So, I’ve spent as much time worrying about you and everyone else as.. anything else.”
“You don’t need to worry about me. I’m here, aren’t I?” Draca smiled, but even Melissa could see the hints of struggle behind his eyes as he gently planted a kiss on her forehead. “I’m glad Ruka is doing OK. Maybe I’ll see him before I have to leave. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Selen in the daylight before.”
“We should head down out of the city then. The forest is dangerous but the beaches are beautiful.” Melissa leaned up slightly, catching his lips and pecking them before returning to the flats of her feet.
She looked into his eyes for a long moment. There was strain there. A lot of people seemed to have it, a pain that they hid.
“You don’t have to hide from me, you know?”
Hide. That was something Draca lacked the luxury of doing. Somehow, someway, he tended to be caught in the crossfire of whatever situation was occurring around him whether he liked it or not.
It didn’t help matters that the Force practically fed off of his emotional state. It was as much a blessing and a curse. He was lucky he hadn’t snapped at anyone yet. He’d certainly been close. Especially in the blizzard.
He grabbed Melissa and dug his head into her shoulder. Just taking her in. Her sight and her smell. She smelt, oddly enough, like really fancy shampoo. The kind that actually might manage to tame his own hair if he used it.
Oh yeah, the spa day.
He removed his head from her shoulder. “Well, no point staying here near a ship. I showed you my place at the time back at the farmer’s market. Your turn,” he bowed slightly, gesturing for Melissa to proceed. Anders always said to treat women with the respect they deserved. No reason he couldn'thave a bit of cheeky fun with it too. “M'lady.”
He didn’t answer but.. that was okay. They could talk later.
“Well, I think your place is a bit different again now, but fairs fair. Come on!” She held out her hand for him, waiting until Draca took it before leading the way out of the underground dock. Her cheeks were still flushed from being called a lady, it didn’t feel very fitting when she’d managed to forget her shoes. Again.
Oh well.
The pair travelled up and up, into the mountain city of Estle. Coming from the ship docks left them near the transports out of the city, almost blinding sunlight bearing down in the slightly thinner atmosphere. Some of the ships went to the other continents like the frozen north of Zainab or even under the ocean to Celeste, Selen’s cultural hub.
Melissa walked them past those to the more local transports however, primarily smaller shuttles and even speeders which was the ones she focussed on.
“We have a lot of different types of beaches. Sandy or rocky? The rocky ones have cool corals and stuff but you can’t really sit down anywhere, the sandy ones are more where people seem to go to relax.”
Oh, he had a choice?
He silently contemplated his options. The coral sounded nice, perhaps even pretty, but he doubted anything matched the silver, glistening sheen of the woman whose hand was locked in his. Out of the corner of his eyes, he did notice her lack of shoes.
He knew Melissa had gone barefoot for years and was probably used to such ventures, but that didn’t mean she had to go through all that with him here. No, he’d look after her, even if she didn’t realise he was doing it. She was more important.
“How about sandy?”
It would probably be better on her toes too.
“Sandy sounds good. We want the uh..” Melissa trailed off, looking at the various speeders before seeing one that advertised a beach she recognised.
“Here!”
The Echani moved in a sudden surge toward it, one hand dragging Draca loosely along after her while the other drew her credit chit from her pocket. That much she’d remembered at least!
“Aquilla Reef please. The western beach of it.”
“20 credits each then, you two out on a date?” The pilot smiled, a eyebrow raised but pulling out his own chit to do the transaction.
Draca listened absentmindedly to Melissa organising their travel. He was more focused on his surroundings, and some of the looks Melissa, as shoeless as she was, was getting.
Draca matched their stares with some of his own, and that seemed to back down anyone who didn’t seem to understand the common courtesy of keeping their opinions to themselves. Anders was right. People could be so rude.
The young Zabrak was broken from his musings when he felt a tug on his arm, a smile coming straight to his lips. Their speeder was ready.
“Hold on tight!” The pilot had the good conscious to give him a fair warning.
A warning… wh-
The speeder suddenly shot at breakneck speed through the air. It caught Draca completely by surprise. On instinct, he wrapped his arm around Melissa’s waist and pulled her close to him.
Melissa laughed, leaning back and against his side.
She looked to the side, seeing the shocked look on Draca’s face and bursting out into more laughter. He had been warned!
“You okay?” She raised her voice slightly, not entirely necessary but the wind was loud.
The speeder came to an abrupt stop by the sand, the nearby sea blowing a gentle breeze through Draca’s, quite frankly, amazing head of hair. The young man panted, his hearts pounding in his chest.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m OK…”
He gingerly stepped out of the vehicle and lifted Melissa out. Chivalry was important, after all.
He was glad for his choice of location. The sand looked unbelievable. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen sand the texture of silk.
Naboo, maybe? But that was such a long time ago now.
“Thank you, have a good day!”
The speeder shot off into the distance, leaving them by the start of the beach.
The young Jedi took a deep inhale of air. “It’s beautiful…”
He mumbled the words and then looked to the silver sheen of a woman stood beside him. He locked his hand with hers.
“You’re beautiful…”
Melissa squeezed his hand before turning and pulling Draca into a hug.
“So are you. I’m glad you’re here Draca. It’s been a… Well. I’m glad.” She pulled back, both hands holding his and smiling up at him.
“It’s OK. You can talk to me.”
Draca’s eyes went wide. He looked down at his own feet that were slowly being covered by the sand. He let go of Melissa for a few moments and untied his boots. He eventually pulled them of along with his socks, letting his toes wiggle in the warmth of the beach.
“There. Now we both don’t have shoes,” he said with a smile.
She giggled ever so softly, letting it fade off.
“We can talk to each other. Though.. Well. I’m more worried about you.” She spoke more pointedly this time, silvery eyes staring up into his,
“Me?” Draca would have pointed at himself if his spare hand wasn’t occupied with footwear. “I…”
What should he do? Lie to her? He never wanted to, but he also didn’t want to worry her.
No. If he had been in her shoes, his own tryst in people would have been selective at best. Lying would make things worse.
“I don’t know. Lately, I’ve been thinking I’m not good enough. I try and I try and I try, but it feels the only thing I’m good at is fighting. I can’t help people when I need too. The blizzard was… an eye opener.”
Draca lightly laughed at himself. “Anders always says I have great potential. We broke a barrier recently. We’re more powerful than we’ve ever been, but great potential for what? Fighting? Death? What’s the point if…” Draca shook his head, taking a deep breath of the sea air. “Sorry, I don’t mean to drop all this on you.”
“This is what partners do, though, isn’t it? Listen.” Melissa spoke softly, glancing out toward the ocean. It swept out across the horizon, the edge of Ussun.
“What happened during the Blizzard? All I’ve ever seen you do is fight to protect people. To keep them safe.” The image of him, battered and bruised and Anders just barely arriving in time to complete the plan was strong her mind.
Oh kriffing Ashla and Bogan. What didn’t happen during the blizzard?
“The blizzard struck out of nowhere. All power went out and every resource was put into ensuring everyone’s safety. I fought against two Sith, one of whom is now a Magistrate for the Taldryan Republic. I’m fairly sure Bril hates me now, by the way, I don’t know if he’s already told you…”
Draca kicked a little bit of sand with his foot. “It just felt like anything I tried to do just made everything worse. Then there’s Ruka. By the Force, Melissa, you should have seen him. He was incredible. One man, holding back a raging storm… I couldn’t help. I was no use to him, or anyone for that matter…”
“You helped heal Ruka.” Melissa pointed out, confused at the notion of Bril hating Draca but leaving that one for now. “Sivall mentioned it when they all got home. It’s only thanks to all of you that he was even able to come home alive.”
Melissa took his hand and started walking down the beach with him.
“Why did you end up fighting two sith?”
Draca decided to stay in his own head for a moment, wiping Mellisa’s reassurance under the rug of self-worth that lived within his soul.
“That’s actually why Bril doesn’t like me right now. He got into a fight with a Sith in the middle of a street and I intervened. The thing is… how do I describe this…”
Draca’s mouth tensed for a moment. “Zabrak culture is weird. If a fight breaks out, then by our code of honour, no-one is to interrupt. It brings shame and disgrace on the active fighters and… well… I did. Has he not said anything?”
“We haven’t spoken much recently.” Melissa rubbed the back of her neck. It didn’t seem that weird to her, for some reason. The culture thing. “Then.. why did you? You’re a Zabrak yourself? I know you weren’t raised within it entirely but you must’ve had a reason?”
“My reason was because it was cold, people were dying, and there were bigger priorities,” Draca sighed. “I’m a Zabrak, I know the rules. Iridonia was my home too, but I’m more a Kedi than anything. I needed to stop them before they killed each other or worse, killed someone else. I thought I did the right thing, but apparently not.”
“Did anyone get hurt? Cause if that was your goal then… yeah it kinda sucks. And in an ideal situation you wouldn’t have done it. But if you stopped people from getting hurt in the crossfire of two Force users combatting… Well. Bril might be angry but that doesn’t mean you didn’t help anyone.”
“I haven’t told you everything yet,” Draca unknowingly tensed. His hand tightening slightly around Melissa’s.
“That Sith came and found me much later. There was another I was dealing with that was threatening a group of people in a house. I ended up fighting that Sith and beating her much later, but… I still feel like I could have done better. I compromised when maybe I shouldn’t have. Someone lost their life because I didn’t act fast enough.”
“So.. you saved a whole house of people.” Melissa gently stated, squeezing his hand in return.
“You’re only one person Draca. Someone else could have been there. They could have helped do it too but they either didn’t or couldn’t. You tried and you did save people.”
Like herself. Ruka was there. She could have been there too but her and Cora went for a spa day. It was lovely but now… The one time her farsight didn’t pick up on something was…
Move on. The Force knows what its doing.
“You’re only looking at what you didn’t do. But it sounds like you did quite a lot too.”
Draca smiled at Melissa. “What did I do to deserve you? You feel like a miracle, do you know that?”
Draca decided to change the subject. “And what about you? How are you holding up?”
She looked like she’d slept as little as he had.
Melissa just laughed lightly, “I’m just telling you what is. Anyone can see it.”
But then he switched and the smile dimmed ever so slightly. Saddened.
“I’m okay. Just tired. I’ve been helping make sure that when Ruka wakes up he’s not alone so I’ve been sitting with him a lot overnight.”
In the moments her vision blurred and the Force brought her glimpses of what was to come, faded but still purple eyes smiled down at her.
It made the long nights worth it, even if she didn’t know when.
“I can only imagine how everyone is taking it. How are Mr. Cora and the kids doing?” Draca asked.
He decided to take the urge himself. After all, she had been concerned about him. It was only right.
“You look like you haven’t been sleeping well. Is there anything you want to talk about?”
His words were soft.
“It’s OK, I won’t judge. Never. I promise.”
“Cora is.. struggling. So are Noga and Leda. They had to go back to school and I’ve never seen them glare like that at Cor before.” She sighed softly, “It’s not his fault. They know it I think but they’re hurting too much to see it.”
Draca focussed in again and she shrugged, “I’m just tired, really. I can see it’ll be okay. Ruka will open his eyes again. He’d never forgive himself if he didn’t.” Melissa smiled ever so softly but it faded after a few moments.
Her gaze shifted to the horizon. THough Melissa’s gaze didn’t shift in the way it usually did when her visions forced their way into her focus, there was something distant about it.
“There’s fire coming, Draca. Anger and fire and death. I don’t know who, or why or… any details honestly. It’s coming soon and it’s wild enough that it has no direct paths set in the Force.”
Silvery eyes closed for a moment, even as they continued walking.
“You’re the first I’ve told.”
Life had its way of throwing curveball. The young could scarcely understand what that truly meant in its most extreme forms. Of course, neither Draca nor Melissa were raised in normal circumstances. They’d each fared their share of conflict and pain.
The Ethereal Realm sprung to mind almost immediately.
Draca knew Melissa well enough by this point, though. It would not do to press her for information or questions her. He wasn’t Anders, and the last thing he wanted was to add to her stress. He at least thought he knew what she needed now in the midst of family troubles and visions from the Force.
The young Jedi tightened his grip on her hand. Not to hurt her, but just to let her know;
‘I’m here. I’m not letting go. It’s OK.’
He smiled at her. “Thank you for telling me. I’m glad you trust me. I trust you too, you know…”
He stopped and turned to face her, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. She was so soft and gene, and her silver, bloodshot eyes shone with the story of her predicament.
.
She squeezed his hand back, looking up into Draca’s eyes.
“I do.” Melissa raised her own hand, placing atop Draca’s on her cheek and running her thumb along his knuckles. “You’re stronger than you know. Better. But.. until you believe that I can believe enough for both of us.”
Draca didn’t have to say a word, he just gazed into the silver orbs that were Melissa’s eyes like they were the most beautiful crystals on the universe.
There is no emotion, there is peace.
Whoever wrote the Jedi code clearly hadn’t felt affection for another person. It was a line that Draca decidedly had chosen to ignore. They were people. Emotions were a part of life.
Like his emotions for her.
He lifted Melissa’s chin with his hand and leaned his face in closer…
Melissa smiled ever so slightly, letting her eyes close and closing the gap between them.
They both came from terrible situations. Both had faced adversity, so much of it for such short lives but they were there.
And they were together.
Melissa wrapped her arm around Draca, content for her world to be just him for today.