Chapter 8: Varying Foundations

After debriefing with the Jedi Council and the Senate regarding the status of Darth Malgus and his new Empire, the next several months consisted of a much more lowkey schedule. Nadia kept working on getting some sort of vacation planned for Kayora, but they never had enough downtime before getting called to help out somewhere in the galaxy. Just because there weren’t any galaxy changing conflicts they had to quash didn’t mean that they weren’t busy all the same.

It did allow for a lot more practical training applications, which Nadia was grateful for. She was able to flex her strength and practice her abilities against less threatening opponents, which helped increase her confidence in spades. And even though minor bandit clans or local crime syndicates weren’t the biggest targets, taking care of them still helped a lot of people who weren’t able to defend themselves. That was one of the reasons Nadia admired Kayora so much; she wasn’t strong for the sake of it, or for the glory; she was strong so that she could help those who were not. That was why Nadia worked at honing her skills as diligently as she could, so that she could follow in her master’s footsteps.

Of course, the smaller, quicker missions meant there was plenty of time for Jedi training, which also meant there was plenty of time to see Kayora in a lesser state of dress. Whether a testament to Kayora’s training, or simply a necessity learned for her own survival, Nadia became much better at compartmentalizing her attraction during their sparring sessions; she rarely got so distracted by the Twi’lek’s taut muscles that she was unable to keep up with the combat, though she did occasionally have to fall back to a defensive posture during particularly heated moments. There was the one time where Kayora’s robe had slipped off of one shoulder during an impressively long duel. It hadn’t exposed anything, but Nadia had nearly bitten the tip of her tongue off tamping down her reaction.

She also had managed to sneak the occasional stress release session, though she wasn’t sure whether they were helping or hurting. Her attraction obviously wasn’t lessened, and her desire was only satiated for a short period, much shorter than she would have hoped. It also didn’t help that Nadia kept coming up with new fantasies, causing even more mundane actions or locations to become tied with a sexual energy that was all her own doing. 

Opposite of the stress release sessions, Nadia had also gone over Vette’s warning many times. Well, warning was perhaps a little too strong of a word. Either way, she realized that Vette was right in cautioning her to think about the fact that there would be times where they would be on missions separate from each other. As much as Nadia worried about Kayora now, she knew it would only increase if they became something more. However, she had finally decided that her trust in Kayora was enough to overcome the worry. As Vette said, it would always be there, but it would be a small price to pay for being with Kayora.

Brushing a rogue strand of hair out of her eyes, Nadia set down the data pad she’d been reading. Although the customs of the Trandoshan people were interesting, and helped her understand Qyzen better, she had been sitting too long and was getting antsy. Striding out of her room, she saw Kayora exiting the common area, fingers rubbing her temples.

“Who needs our help this time?” Nadia asked with a knowing grin, falling into step alongside her master as they headed to the cockpit.

“Apparently the Hutt Cartel has invaded the planet Makeb, and according to one of the geologists there, whatever the cartel is doing is making the planet massively unstable. And it is not a stable planet to begin with.”

Nadia had read about Makeb during her studies, and struggled to recall what she could. Makeb was a rather luscious planet, with abundant flora and fauna, but it had a very strange gravitational field, which caused the planet to consist of massive stone pillars that stretched above the clouds, as well as a plethora of cave systems that wove through the terrain. “Do they have any idea what the cartel actually is doing?”

Kayora shook her head. “But it’s related to money. Because everything the Hutts do is related to money. They’ve even brought in a mercenary group to help them control the population.”

“Looks like it’s time for us to help tip the scales, master.” Nadia crossed her arms defiantly as Kayora set Makeb as their destination, and watched the stars streak across the viewport as they entered hyperspace.

—

Upon their arrival, they were greeted by a massive earthquake, as well as Lemda Avesta, the geologist who had been recording the quakes. She was rather petite for a geologist that apparently was constantly out in nature, with a slim frame and dark brown hair framing a delicate face. A quick debrief and the pair of them had headed off into the strange sky islands of Makeb’s landscape, fighting through mercenaries in an attempt to determine what the cartel was doing. When they finally did find it, it was worse than they had expected.

Apparently, the strange gravitational fields of the planet were caused by a rare element found only in the planet’s core, dubbed isotope-5. The Hutt Cartel had discovered this mineral and were aggressively mining it, intending to use it to increase their galactic power. Unfortunately, as this mineral was what kept the planet relatively balanced, extracting it at such dramatic rates was contributing to a massive destabilization of the planet’s gravitational fields. It was only a matter of time before the planet started collapsing in on itself.

After relaying their information to the local resistance on Makeb, Nadia and Kayora learned about a massive ship that was being built by one of the Hutts on the planet, big enough that they could evacuate the population from their doomed world. Before they made their assault on the ship’s hangar, they met back up with Lemda and her uncle Shalim, who was currently serving Makeb’s de facto Chief of State. The room that they met in was cramped and in a mild state of disarray, with books and other unsecured objects constantly being thrown around by the quakes.

“Are you certain you’ll be able to get to the ship in time?” Shalim asked worriedly. The man’s thin mustache twitched as he spoke, and the circles around his eyes betrayed the stress he was feeling having been called upon to manage such a situation. “According to Lemda’s calculations, we don’t have long before the planet begins to collapse.”

“We won’t fail you, sir,” assured Kayora. “Start making preparations to get the citizens of Makeb to the launch facility. We’ll send the all clear as soon as we have control of the ship, and then you can get everybody on board.”

Shaking Kayora’s hand and then Nadia’s, Shalim thanked them profusely. “Even just the fact that you have helped us this much is greatly appreciated. I’ll begin organizing the evacuation.” As Shalim left the room, Lemda sauntered over to Kayora, her green eyes sparkling.

“I’ve really enjoyed watching you work,” Lemda said, smiling coyly. “Is there anything I can do before you go and save the day?”

Kayora coughed awkwardly, surprising Nadia. Her master seemed unusually on edge, but she couldn’t figure out why.

“No, we should be all set,” Kayora responded, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

“Here, how about a kiss for luck then?” Before Nadia could register what had been said, Lemda leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Kayora’s cheek, lingering briefly before retreating. “I know you Jedi trust in the force, but a little luck couldn’t hurt either.”

Kayora’s cheeks were flushed, and all she did was nod sharply as she hurriedly exited the room, not even glancing back before she left. Nadia rushed after her, narrowing her eyes at Lemda as she passed, though Lemda wasn’t looking at her, instead gazing after her master. Catching up with Kayora outside of the building, Nadia put a hand on her arm, causing the Twi’lek to slow down.

“Master, is everything alright?” Nadia asked. The blush on Kayora’s cheeks had faded, though she still looked on edge. With Nadia’s question, she turned and smiled at her padawan.

“Yes, Nadia, thank you.” The look on her face did not match her words, but Nadia knew that this was not the time to get into it. 

“Shall we get going then?” With that, they headed toward one of the small landing pads to hitch a ride to their destination.

—

All things considered, it wasn’t very difficult to commandeer the ship. Most of the mercenaries had already evacuated, and the crew of the ship didn’t like the Hutts anyway. The population of Makeb had successfully been evacuated, though the planet didn’t begin collapsing as Lemda had predicted. They found out a little while later that the Imperials had triggered some strategic mining lasers to stabilize the quakes. It wasn’t out of any magnanimity, of course: they were hoping to find some isotope-5 that the cartel hadn’t already used.

Either way, it was no longer their concern. They had set the Star of Ryloth on course back to Coruscant for the time being, and Kayora had excused herself to her chambers. As Nadia sat in the cockpit with Felix, she was trying to work up the courage to go talk to Kayora. Something about the interaction with Lemda had made her uncomfortable, and Nadia needed to know what it was, even if it might be something that made Kayora even more off limits than she already was.

“So are you going to go talk to her, or are you going to keep clenching your fists until you hurt yourself?” Felix’s voice broke her out of her thoughts, and she looked at her hands. Sure enough, her nails were leaving deep indentations in her palms. None were bleeding yet, but a couple looked close. Nadia opened her mouth to ask how Felix knew what she was thinking about, but deigned to keep silent when he gave her a look. Instead, she stood with purpose and strode out of the cockpit.

Moments later, she found herself in front of Kayora’s door, the bravado from seconds before evaporated into the ether. She took two more deep breaths, then rapped on the door. She heard movement on the other side, then the door slid open, revealing Kayora devoid of her armor. Her purple eyes had a hint of red around them, and her smile was a little fainter than usual.

“Can we talk?” Nadia asked quietly, afraid of either answer. Kayora hesitated, then stepped aside, letting Nadia enter. The door slid shut quietly behind her, and Kayora sat down on the edge of her bed, her gaze focused on the floor. Nadia fidgeted and paced a few steps, before she finally blurted out her biggest fear.

“Was it because Lemda was a woman?”

Her sudden outburst caused Kayora’s eyes to snap to Nadia, before she vehemently shook her head. “No, that had nothing to do with it. Well, it had something to do with it, but not in the sense that I didn’t like it because she was a woman, it was because of who it was, and what it was.” Kayora attempted to clarify her statement, but just ended up babbling. The low lighting in the room made it hard for Nadia to get a read on her master’s face. Finally she stopped talking, took a breath, and started again.

“It affected me so much because of the feelings it caused to surface, feelings that I have been keeping at bay for … some time now,” Kayora explained slowly, as if worried that the wrong word would cause some sort of damage.

Nadia waited for Kayora to continue on her own, and when she didn’t, Nadia urged her on. “What feelings?” She sat down on the bed, leaving a small gap between them, but still close enough she could feel Kayora’s body heat radiating off of her. “What feelings, Kayora?”

“I can’t …” Kayora trailed off, keeping her gaze trained on the far wall. She bit her lip, and squeezed her eyes shut.

Deciding to listen to Vette’s advice, Nadia threw caution to the wind and took the plunge. “Are they feelings about me?”

Snapping her eyes open, Kayora turned to Nadia, fear swimming in her eyes. Nadia gave her an understanding smile, hoping that her own face exuded the calm that was not currently present in her mind.

“I’m sorry,” Kayora whispered, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Immediately, Nadia was afraid she’d made the wrong assumption, if Kayora was apologizing. “What? What are you sorry for?”

“You wanted me to teach you the ways of the Jedi, and that’s what I wanted to do, and I’d been able to keep my attraction at bay, but now it’s out and I’m sure you’ll want to find another master, and I just wish-” Nadia placed a finger to Kayora’s lips, stopping her mid-ramble.

“Before you go any further, I want you to know that I’ve been fighting my attraction to you since the day I met you.” Kayora’s eyes widened at Nadia’s admission, but Nadia didn’t stop. “So don’t worry about me going anywhere. You’re everything I could hope for in a master, and I plan to keep learning from you for a long time. But now that this is out in the open, we’re going to have to do something about this mutual attraction.” She grinned broadly, overjoyed at the fact that Kayora felt the same about her. “And before you say it wouldn’t be appropriate because you’re my master, I would like the record to show that I asked you, not the other way around.”

Kayora let out a watery laugh. “I … haven’t exactly allocated a lot of time toward romantic relationships.”

“I haven’t had anything really serious either. It was hard when I was constantly on the move with my father.”

Purple eyes looked at Nadia, glassy with unshed tears. “I mean, I have been focused on other aspects …” Kayora let out a noise of frustration as Nadia tilted her head. “I have no experience in romance, or sex, at all.”

Nadia smirked, her happiness infusing her with a newfound flirty confidence. “That just means I can teach you something for a change.” Kayora laughed again, and Nadia thought about how much she loved that sound. It was something she’d try to make happen more often, that’s for sure. “So what do you say, will you go on a date with me, master?” She wiggled her eyebrows on the word master, causing Kayora to give her a light slap on the arm.

“Yes, padawan, I would like that.” Kayora sniffed as she rubbed her eyes, but had a smile on her lips. Nadia leaned in, bumping their shoulders together.

“Now I can tell you about all the times I was distracted just by being around you,” Nadia whispered conspiratorially. “According to several people, I was not subtle about it, so I’m surprised that you didn’t notice.”

“To be honest, I was so busy stamping down my own feelings that I assumed I was just projecting,” Kayora said guiltily. “But I foresee a lot of past situations that we’ll get to laugh at.”

Nadia hummed in agreement. She stood from the bed and meandered toward the door. “As much as I’d like to stay with you, I’ll let you get some rest, at least to come to terms with some of the emotions I can tell are swirling around inside of you.” She hesitated at the door, then turned back to Kayora. “But, would it be too much to ask for a kiss before I go?”

A lovely blush crept onto Kayora’s green cheeks as she rose and took a few steps toward Nadia. “As I’ve warned you I have no experience with any of this.” She stopped just short of Nadia and cocked her head, a lopsided smile on her face. “Should we be worried that this will give you more reason to be distracted during our trainings?”

“Please, with the attraction I’ve been keeping bottled up, I highly doubt that a kiss is going to make it worse.” Kayora bit her lip for a second, then leaned in slightly, looking nervous. Taking a little bit of the initiative to try and help Kayora’s nerves, Nadia wrapped a hand around Kayora’s waist and closed the gap between them.

The moment their lips slotted together was everything Nadia could have wanted and more. Kayora’s lips were soft and slightly chapped, but felt heavenly. Trying to restrain herself somewhat, Nadia was taken aback when Kayora pressed in harder, her hands coming up to tangle in Nadia’s hair. Tilting her head slightly, Nadia reciprocated the desire, adding her other hand to Kayora’s waist and pulling her close. The soft moan that Kayora let out almost caused Nadia’s knees to buckle. Afraid of going too far too soon, Nadia withdrew, pulling back just far enough to break the connection of the lips before she rested her forehead against Kayora’s. For a few heated moments, all they did was breathe, taking in the aura of each other.

“I was wrong,” Nadia finally said. “That kiss definitely made it worse.” Kayora let out a huff of laughter, before stepping back out of Nadia’s grasp, letting her hands slide down Nadia’s arms until their hands were together.

“I hope you don’t mind if we take it slow,” Kayora murmured, her pupils slightly dilated.

“Of course not.” Nadia gave Kayora’s hands a squeeze, then dropped them and shuffled to the door, tapping the panel to open it. She gave Kayora a bright grin. “I’ll start planning our date.”

Kayora’s radiant smile followed her out of the room. “I’m looking forward to it.”