Let the Light Shine Down (D6 EE)

[Arali Zian]

Arali returns to the enclave early, and tends a few quick chores before fetching her tea set for the meeting with a Jedi master.

She quietly boils a pot of water, and sets down next to the meditation pool, setting up for tea as she waits.

[Nekoinu]

Master Mersl approached the twi'lek woman with the same upright and serene posture as always. However, her face was not entirely pleased. "Greetings, Arali. How are you?"

[Arali Zian]

"Good evening, Master Mersl," Arali greets with a seated bow. "I am faring as well as can be asked. I pray you are in good health; would you care for some tea?"

[Nekoinu]

"I would enjoy it," she said with a faint smile. She took a seat and 'gazed' upon Arali. "My feelings tell me you wish to speak about the luncheon."

[Arali Zian]

Arali nods, not entirely sure if the master's vision gives her enough sight to pick up the minor gesture. "I would. Preferably with a little less... 'vigor' than the earlier group discussion."

The earlier bickering was quite the embarrassment.

She selects a personal blend of tea powder, and as soon as water hits powder, a powerful, floral scent fills the room. It's not a combination of flavors normally considered by humans, as they don't consider flowers to be food most of the time for some reason, but with the vast mélange of species that comprise the Jedi order, you learn to appreciate some rather foreign flavors.

Unless you're Garrick Lorne.

She sets a cup before Master Mersl, and before herself, ready to help guide the master's hand if need be, but she strongly doubts it will be necessary.

[Nekoinu]

The Miraluka took the cup with a smile. "Thank you, Arali. I was told that you are an expert in picking ingredients from the garden." She took a sip from the tea and then sighed. "How shall we begin?"

[Arali Zian]

"'Expert' is a strong word," the twi'lek deflects the praise. "But I do enjoy making interesting blends."

She sips her own tea, and considers the question.

"I would like to start by asking what, exactly, that blend was," she admits, "Though that question is probably the least useful."

"So I suppose the most useful place to start would be my vision." She briefly recounts what she saw. The clash between warriors light and dark; the light, victorious, lends a hand to the dark, and embraces it as an equal. The zelkar, and the choice to walk away. The land, which provides...

"...and it all ends with Master Lorne. It always seems to end with Master Lorne. I tried to help him every way I could. I always have; even on the war path, I spent less time fighting, more time putting him back together. Too often tending wounds he took because of me. But no matter what I tried, the end was inevitable. His end was inevitable. Is inevitable. I've been preparing myself for a long time, but... I don't know if I'm ready. I don't know if I can be ready."

[Nekoinu]

The Jedi Master nodded and pulled out the recipe for Arali to see. "I trust you will not misuse it," she remarked with a faint smile. She then listened to the twi'lek's recounting of the journey, nodding along.

"Master Lorne's path will come to an end sooner than most. After all, it is in his nature to fight. But that does not mean he will be gone. That which comprises him will be in the living Force around us alongside our memories of him."

[Arali Zian]

It doesn't take Arali long to commit the recipe to memory; she'll put it in her datapad later, in case she ever has use of it.

"That is not, however, where it ends." She'd come to terms with her master's fate long ago. "Master Lorne fell, but so did his opponent. And then, the fighting stopped. And the figures he and I had gathered to the cause... they looked to me." Genuine confusion creeps into her voice at the last.

"I've been a part of this war my entire life. Only part of it on the front lines, but still... this is all coming to a close. Neither side has the resources left to win, whatever that means, and both infrastructures are nearly in collapse. What then? Rebuild, I suppose, but how do we keep that from meaning rearm for the next quarter-century-long war?"

[Nekoinu]

Master Mersl waited and then nodded. "Ah. You have seen a future where his responsibilities become yours. His defeat may not be literal in that sense. It could be that he represents the war from the Republic's side in your mind.

"They look to you because you are an advocate of peace, though I am believe you already knew that. To maintain it is a trying task, however, one that I cannot answer myself at this moment." She smiled faintly. "One step at a time."

[Arali Zian]

That just seems even more confusing. "The Jedi seldom recognize washouts as leaders," she points out.

She flexes the muscles of her back, feeling the new blade against it, knowing full well its purpose. "...and, to be honest, I'm worried about what that means."

[Nekoinu]

"Perhaps you will become a Jedi Knight instead," the Miraluka commented. She took another sip from her tea and then smiled.

[Arali Zian]

"Thought of that," she admits. "That would mean the mountain would have to move. I'm going to need a bigger lever."