Chapter 21: Painful Outcome

The shuttle ride back to the basecamp was fraught with tension, the air heavy with the possible implications of what they had learned from the Imperial Guard. Before the boarding ramp had even touched the ground, Kayora and Mishka were exiting the craft, striding purposefully to the area where the other leaders were gathered. Nadia and Ashara nodded their farewells as they both peeled off to do their own thing, whatever would help settle their minds while a plan was put together. Although she wasn’t certain how the other groups had fared in their own tasks, Nadia assumed that the next step would have to be confronting Revan. Given the immense consequences, she couldn’t see any reason for them to delay. Swallowing a lump of discomfort in her throat, she also was fairly certain that she would not be part of the team to confront Revan. They needed the strongest, most powerful warriors in that fight, and though she was extremely capable in her own right, given the present company Nadia did not fall under that category.

She knew, however, that Kayora did.

Again, she felt the acute pain that Vette had gently warned her about, at the notion that however ludicrous it may seem, she wouldn’t be there to protect her master, her partner, during the battle. Taking a deep breath, Nadia allowed the fear to fill her lungs, then dissipate with the exhale. She would not be afraid of the outcome. She trusted Kayora, she trusted many of the others she assumed would be part of the incursion, and she trusted that the Force would guide them. Letting out another shuddering breath, Nadia also embraced the fact that death was inevitable for all of them, and it was a natural part of life, not something to fear or hate.

As movement from across the compound pulled her focus to the present, there was no real indicator of how long she had been meditating. It could have been an hour, or only a few minutes, but whatever the duration, it appeared that a plan of action had been decided upon, if the number high ranking individuals milling about was any indication. Nadia caught sight of Kayora heading toward her, and if the look on the Twi’lek’s face was any indication, Nadia was glad she’d spent that time meditating.

“You’re heading out to confront Revan, aren’t you?” Nadia asked as Kayora reached her, cutting right to the heart of the matter. Her master nodded, her expression grim, far more grim than Nadia had ever seen her. The younger woman reached out, grabbing the other’s hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “It’s what you have to do. I understand.” Nadia could see the relief wash over her master, and could only imagine what had been going through her head as she tried to figure out what to say.

“And here I was preparing a whole speech justifying why I had to go,” Kayora joked, her voice light but still underscored with the severity of the upcoming fight.

Nadia scoffed. “Of course you have to go, somebody has to save the galaxy.” She grinned, before leaning forward and pressing their foreheads together. “I’ll miss you.”

“And I you.” Kayora’s voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. The Twi’lek encircled her arms around Nadia’s waist, pulling her close. Their lips found each other with barely any prompting, but it was a soft kiss, a kiss full of love and adoration and promise. Nadia focused on committing the feel of Kayora’s lips to memory, the softness, the way they would stretch when Nadia pulled them between her teeth, the small scar near the edge of her mouth. After what felt like no time at all, they broke apart, still holding each other in their arms.

“I love you, Nadia.” Nadia pulled her master into an embrace, arms tightly wound around the taller woman’s neck. Pressing her nose into Kayora’s neck and breathing in her welcome scent, Nadia willed the tears not to fall. Kayora would be back. She believed that fully. She had to.

“I love you too. Always.”

--

The shuttle that had whisked the strike team away had been gone for close to an hour. Nadia was having trouble focusing on anything for longer than a few minutes, which is why she had decided to scour the camp, searching out any familiar face who might need help with something, or just be available to talk. She had seen both Juri and Syn board the shuttle with Kayora, which presumably meant Vette and Kira were around somewhere. Her attempts to find Felix and Qyzen had been fruitless; the two were undoubtedly still out in the jungle somewhere, striking at the Revanites wherever they could.

Kira was the one Nadia ended up finding. The other padawan was hunched over a workbench, with what looked like the components of her lightsaber strewn across the flat surface. “Hey Kira, mind if I hang out over here?” Looking up and blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face, Kira gave Nadia a knowing grimace.

“Can’t keep your mind quiet while they’re gone either, can you?” Kira turned back to the table, grabbing a pair of metal rings and threading them onto the central shaft of the lightsaber core.

“Figured I’d use the time to make a couple tweaks to my lightsaber. Was starting to feel a little unbalanced.” Nadia watched Kira’s fingers deftly dance across the workspace, affixing different components with droid-like precision. It was rather mesmerizing, and also made Nadia realize how little she knew about the inner workings of her own saber. She made a mental note to take some more time to learn about that, especially now that she realized if something happened to her lightsaber she’d be at a loss on how to fix it.

“Where did you learn this?” Nadia asked. “Is this something that all Jedi learn to do?”

Letting out a brief chuckle, Kira delicately aligned one of the kyber crystals before she responded. “I had forgotten your rather late entrance to the Jedi Order,” she said, holding the hilt up directly in front of her face and closing one eye to confirm the alignment. “Yeah, most Jedi,” she hesitated, “and Sith, for that matter, learn how to build a lightsaber as part of their training.”  

They lapsed into silence as Kira finished her meticulous assembly. Stepping back, she activated her weapon, a brief hiss followed by the ubiquitous hum of the illuminated blades, flashing green and blurring into white as Kira twirled the double-bladed weapon in her hand. Apparently satisfied with her modification, she deactivated the saber and clipped it to her belt before turning and leaning back against the workbench, arms crossed in front of her.

“I told Syn I’d kick her ass if she died,” Kira said, unprompted. Her lips were turned down in a slight frown, and her fingers were drumming nervously on her bicep. “She didn’t have any smart comeback. She just smiled and kissed me, then got on that shuttle with the others.” The drumming got faster, then stilled as Nadia covered the fingers with her own hand. Kira hesitated, as if unsure what to do with the physical contact, before a smile flickered across her face and uncrossed her arms, causing Nadia’s hand to drop. “Here you are coming to get your mind off things and I just drag you right back into it.” Kira pointed at Nadia’s own saber hanging at her side. “Want me to give you a quick and dirty rundown of lightsaber construction?”

“As long as it’s not as dirty as what you and Syn assuredly get up to,” Nadia replied cheekily as she handed the weapon over. A burst of unfettered laughter left Kira, who snatched the offered hilt out of Nadia’s hands.

“Please don’t continue that train of thought. You definitely don’t want to have to deal with me when I’m sexually frustrated!” With both women laughing and thoroughly distracted from the peril that their lovers were in, Kira got to work on giving a crash course in lightsaber components.

—

For as sassy as she was, Kira was an excellent teacher. Nadia learned far more than she had expected to in such a short lesson, and they had just finished reassembling her saber when they heard the roar of a shuttle coming over the trees. Both padawans rushed over to the open patch of grass that served as a landing field, joining the gathering crowd that buzzed with anticipation. After what felt like ages, the shuttle settled down into the grass and the boarding door opened with a hiss, the ramp sliding out and digging into the dirt. The mere fact that the shuttle was returning at all signified at least some measure of victory, but victory did not always come without a cost. The first person out was the Jedi Grandmaster, Satele Shan, and Nadia didn’t think she’d ever seen her look so harried. The damage from the confrontation was evident, and she held one arm close to her side. Nadia could hear the sharp intake of breath from several people near her as they regarded the leader of the Jedi so obviously injured. Master Shan raised her good hand and spoke, her voice strong and unwavering.

“The shadow of Revan has been defeated,” she said, her declaration met with cheers from those gathered. Bowing her head, Master Shan continued down the ramp, and the other occupants of the shuttle began their exodus. Somewhat shockingly, none of the members of the assault team had died. They were all injured, some far worse than others, but the fact that they had all made it back was nothing short of miraculous. Nadia smirked as Kira dashed over to Syn, though didn’t see what transpired further as Kayora had finally emerged. Nadia took a few steps forward, locking eyes with her master who gave her a tired smile. As Kayora made her way over, Nadia took stock of the Twi’lek’s current state, which was not great. Kayora’s chest plate was blackened and scarred, and one of her shoulder pieces was completely missing. There were several long tears in her robes, some looked to be by lightsaber blade. She was favoring her right leg, and Nadia could see the beginning of a bruise starting to form under Kayora’s left eye. Moving over to help support her master, Nadia gasped as she saw a deep gouge in one of Kayora’s lekku, the skin around it stained dark with blood.

“I’ll be alright, I just need some rest,” Kayora said assuredly, before she wobbled, placing weight on her left leg and wincing.

“No, you need a medic!” Nadia dashed to the woman’s side, wrapping her arm around Kayora’s waist for support. Kayora threw her own arm over Nadia’s shoulders, gritting her teeth as they began to move.

“Just get me back to the ship, I have medical supplies there.” Nadia looked at her master, and saw the pain behind her eyes. Maybe against her better judgment, she gave a curt nod, slowly directing them toward the smaller shuttles that were used to ferry people back and forth to their ships. Shouting to a nearby scout to find Felix and Qyzen and tell them to return to the Star of Ryloth, Nadia helped Kayora onto the shuttle, taking care as she got her situated on one of the bench seats. Sitting down beside her, she couldn’t help but feel a tinge of worry at Kayora’s state, which was far worse than she’d ever seen. Giving the pilot their destination, she held tight to her master, trying to shield her from the bumps and rumbles of take-off.

—

After bidding the shuttle pilot farewell and starting up the boarding ramp to their ship, Nadia could see the adrenaline fading fast from her partner. Kayora became heavier, her breathing more labored as Nadia struggled to get her up the stairs and into her room. By the time she slapped the console to open the door to Kayora’s chambers, the woman was practically hanging on her padawan, who quickly lowered her down onto the edge of the bed.

“Where are your medical supplies?” asked Nadia, trying to keep her voice level. Gesturing weakly to the refresher, Kayora mumbled something about being in a cabinet. Moving quickly, Nadia entered the refresher, opening the cabinet doors and scouring the shelves inside. Fortunately, there was a well-stocked medkit, with quite a few bandages, some needles and thread, as well as four packs of bacta gel. Grabbing the healing items, she also grabbed a sponge from the shower and wet it in the sink, deciding it would be prudent to wash at least some of the blood and grime away before applying the gel and bandages.

Upon reentering the bedroom, Nadia found Kayora in the same place she’d left her, partially slumped over on the edge of the mattress. Setting down the supplies, Nadia held Kayora’s face between her hands, looking into the half-closed eyes. “I’m going to get you undressed and cleaned up, is that okay?” A faint nod, and Nadia started carefully removing Kayora’s armor. Gauntlets, shin guards, boots, a heavily damaged breastplate, and the remaining shoulder piece were all laid down near the wall before Nadia got to work on the outer robes. It was slow going, but eventually Kayora was clad in just her thin undertunic, still looking like she might pass out at any moment. With the other layers gone, Nadia could see that Kayora’s left knee was swollen and bruised, almost black in color. No wonder she’d been limping, Nadia thought, chewing on her lip. It was amazing she made it all the way here without collapsing.

Picking up the sponge, she began to clean Kayora’s exposed skin, wiping away dark blood and black ash until the green skin was visible again. Kayora would occasionally wince in discomfort when Nadia cleaned near a wound, but it wasn’t until she moved to her lekku that Kayora cried out in pain.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be gentle,” Nadia apologized, her heart wrenching at the agony that Kayora must be in. She knew that many Twi’lek had died from losing one of their lekku, and with how sensitive they were the pain must be immeasurable. As softly as she possibly could, she dabbed around the large gash, letting the dripping water do most of the work. A broken sob escaped her master, and Nadia had to blink tears away from her own eyes, dabbing twice more before setting the sponge down. As she reached for one of the packets of bacta gel, the sound of the main boarding door sliding open caught her attention. Felix and Qyzen must be back, she surmised, ripping open the packet and squeezing a fair amount of gel out onto her hands.

Thundering footsteps preceded the appearance of the other two crew members, Felix immediately going into crisis mode upon seeing Kayora. “What do you need from me? I’ve got some field medic experience, but it looks like you’ve got that under control.”

“Get us airborne. Start looking for the nearest Republic outpost that has a full medical facility.” Nadia saw Felix turn ashen, and quickly spoke to assuage any fears. “I don’t think it’s that bad, but I’d rather be safe than sorry, right?” Qyzen muttered something that sounded like a prayer to the Scorekeeper, while Felix backed out of the doorway and made a beeline to the cockpit. Nadia rubbed the gel between her palms as the Star of Ryloth shook, engines engaging as they left the surface of Yavin IV.

Deciding to get the worst of it over with, Nadia brought her hands up to the damaged lekku. Her palms and fingers, thick with bacta gel, hovered just above the skin, as she willed herself to do what needed to be done. A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her frozen state and her head swiveled to see Kayora looking at her, eyes still not quite fully open, but the trust within them undeniable. Words didn’t need to be spoken, the simple gesture was enough to give Nadia the encouragement she needed, and she braced herself for the pain she would inflict.

As soon as she made contact, the hand on her shoulder tightened, fingers digging in sharply. As gently as possible, Nadia rubbed the gel over the wound, making sure to spread it generously around the surrounding skin as well. She directed her focus as best she could, trying to block out the gasps and whimpers coming from her master, at least until she was finished. The wound was ragged, and cut deep into the muscle; Nadia knew bacta could work miracles for healing, but was fairly certain that this would leave a scar. Satisfied with the application of gel, she wiped her hands on the bed sheets (they’d need to be washed anyway) and picked up one of the bandage rolls, stretching it out and wrapping it around the wound, starting low enough on the lekku to be able to apply a little more pressure to pinch the fabric down. Spiraling it up, she tore the end of it with her teeth and secured it, then turned to finally look at Kayora. The Twi’lek’s eyes were shut tight, tears gathered at the corner, which Nadia leaned in to kiss away.

“Done with the hard part,” she murmured, though she wasn’t sure whether the other woman heard, as she appeared to have retreated into a meditative state to mitigate the pain. Placing another featherlight kiss on her cheek, Nadia got to addressing the rest of the wounds. Besides the knee, none of the other injuries posed the same threat, so they were taken care of rather quickly. After she applied gel and another strip of bandage to the knee, hoping it was only bruised and not broken, Nadia stepped back and gathered up the medical supplies, returning them to the cabinet.

“Nadia?” Kayora’s voice floated weakly through the room, and Nadia swiftly returned to her master’s side, kneeling down next to her. The bruise on Kayora’s cheek was already starting to look better under the bacta gel, giving Nadia a brief spark of relief. “Will you stay with me while I rest?”

“Of course, let me check in with the others and I’ll be right back.” As fast as she could, Nadia made her way to the cockpit and briefed Felix and Qyzen on the situation. Felix informed her that they were still several hours from the nearest Republic station that would have any decent medical facilities, and he’d inform them over the intercom when they arrived. Although she hoped Kayora wouldn’t need to spend any further time at a hospital (given the bacta as well as a Jedi’s ability to call on the Force to spur on their healing), she was pleased to hear they weren’t too far away.

Passing through the doorway, she closed the door behind her and turned to see Kayora seating in the middle of the bed, having moved back from the edge where she’d left her. She’d also managed to discard her tunic, leaving her in only her underwear, with her upper torso completely bare. She caught Nadia’s eye and tilted her head, a wry smile on her face.

“With my lekku how it is, I can’t really lay on my back, so I was hoping I could lay on you instead?”

Nadia laughed. “You know, you didn’t need to get yourself so injured just so you could use me as a pillow.” She began to discard her own armor, setting it next to Kayora’s. “And would you like your pillow to be clothed or bare?” she asked cheekily, overjoyed that Kayora was already looking in better condition than when they arrived.

“Bare, of course.”

Smiling, Nadia disrobed and climbed up onto the bed, laying back against the actual pillows and gesturing to Kayora, who slowly lowered herself onto Nadia, head resting against her chest with the injured lekku somewhat draped along her side, away from the bed. Nadia sighed, unable to stop the rush of heat as she felt Kayora’s breasts press against her, her hand lazily drawing circles on the Twi’lek’s back. She felt Kayora rotate her head ever so slightly to kiss her skin, lingering a moment longer before returning to her previous resting position.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” she said, exhaustion prevalent in her voice.

“Of course. Now get some sleep. I’ll be here when you wake.”

“I love you.

“I love you, too.”