Star Wars: Grey

Ch: 19

~~~Nova Amidala~~~

I awoke to a messy bed, covers thrown all across the room, and clothes were thrown across the floor. It was like a war zone in here. I looked at the figure who'd slept beside me all night, still asleep. So much for waking up early for his Padawan training session. Although...I didn't think Anakin particularly cared at the moment...not when I could sense that he was currently with Padmé...in the same direction as where I knew Padmé's room was.

Wait...sense...? I quickly asked myself before I got up, slightly stumbling as I tried to gain my balance back. I looked over towards where my clothes were now on the floor. I reached out with my hand before I willed them over to me...and over they quickly came.

I seemed to jump up and down with joy at its return as my emotions flew all over the place. I quickly knelt across the bed before I placed my hand on Obi-wan's arm and shook him awake...a bit too violently than I had originally gone far.

"W-wha...? Nova...?" He asked me before he saw the look on my face.

"It's back...!" I happily exclaimed almost as soon as he'd woken up, slightly taking him by surprise. It took him a moment to awaken from his morning stupor before he looked at me.

"The Force...?" He asked with a bit of surprise. However, that seemed to leave his aura as he reached out with the Force. "I thought you said it could take up to a month...?"

"I don't know how...!" I exclaimed. "But I'm so happy...!" So much so I'm sure my aura practically overfilled with it. "Also...." I looked out the window at the midday sun. "It's around noon...haven't slept in that long in like...ever...."

"Noon...?" He seemed to ask me before he bolted up with a sudden urgency to him. He then went over to his clothes and practically hopped into them with how fast he was putting them on.

"Are you...in a hurry...?" I asked him. He's seldom in a hurry...well...as much as he was in right now.

"I was supposed to meet Anakin at sunrise and now." He gestured out the window. "It's noon, half the day has already passed."

I went over to him before I placed my hands along his shoulders, giving them a light rub. "Relax," I told him, my voice calm. "This is Anakin we're talking about...surely you can let him have a day off...? So we can have a day off...?"

He looked at me, somewhat temptingly. "When you put it like that...it's so tempting...."

"Please...?" I asked him, slightly giving him puppy dog eyes. "For me...?"

"How can I say no to you...?" He asked me, caught in my trap. When he suddenly back away from me. "But he is the chosen one...."

"And because of that, he can't get any breaks...?" I just asked, slightly upset that he would choose training Anakin over spending time with me.

"An hour...that's all I ask." He tried to negotiate with me. "Then the rest of the day...I'm yours. Promise."

I took a second to think about that. "You'll have a lot to make up for," I stated, a small smirk along my face.

"Oh...I know I will." He told me, accepting my terms.

With that, after we got dressed...we went towards the dining hall for breakfast....or rather...lunch. They should be serving it soon anyhow if they haven't done so already.

~~~

I grabbed a plate from the buffet-like area they had set up and took a set at the grand dining table with Obi-wan. Everyone else seemed to already be here, save for Padmé and Anakin. Although, they entered slightly after us...with like a minute or so passing before the second one walked in. Padmé took a set beside me while Anakin sat across from Obi-wan and Kala sat across from me and next to Anakin.

Kala had her eyes on her plate, not even daring to look up at either Obi-wan or me. Meanwhile, Padmé gave me a simple smile after she had sat down. She started eating first before everyone else started to eat the food on their plate.

"So...what have you got planned for the rest of the day...?" Padmé seemed to question everyone, trying to make conversation.

Kala was the first to answer, eyes still pointed down as she pawed at her plate with her fork. "I'm going over to my parent's house, they're going to teach me more about my family."

Obi-wan looked at her, slightly confused. Oh...right...he has no clue that Kala knows who her parents are, which should be impossible as force sensitives are typically taken away at such a young age.

Padmé seemed to look at Obi-wan next. "Would you like to say anything, Master Jedi...?"

Obi-wan nearly choked on his drink, slightly coughing to clear his throat. "Anakin, how are you up for a little bit of training...?" He asked his Padawan.

Anakin did not look too pleased about that. "For how long...?"

"Not long," Obi-wan told him.

"You always say that and we end up training half the day," Anakin replied.

"I mean it this time," Obi-wan replied, sending a sly look in my direction. Only Kala and Padmé seemed to pick up on it.

"Nova...?" Padmé asked me. "Pray to tell...what are you up to...?"

Let's see...I had about an hour to spare and that was probably gonna start after Obi-wan starts Anakin's training so I probably had a bit more than an hour at that. "I may try and find Ashlyn...pry some answers from her." I just simply responded. "What about you...?" I turned the question back on her.

"I have meetings with advisors, some citizens wanting audiences." Padmé simply told me. "Simple Queenly duties."

Lunch didn't last for much longer after that, although the silence seemed to fill eternity. After lunch, I grabbed my lightsabers from my room and placed them along my belt before I went off to find Ashlyn. Who would be hard to find if I didn't have the Force. Luckily, it came back and so I just locked onto her force signature and followed that.

I didn't search long for the mysterious Jedi, finding her next to a raging waterfall as it emptied into a small lake a bit too large to be considered a pond. She was practicing with her silver, double-bladed, lightsaber...most likely to fill the void known only as time.

At my approach to the small clearing next to the small lake and waterfall, Ashlyn turned off her saber before she looked up at me. "I see the Force has already returned to you." She simply informed me. "Far longer than it had with me."

"A month, right...?" I questioned her.

"Actually...a week." Ashlyn clarified. "It was an absolute pain until I found out how to make it come back...the only way to make it come back."

"You...." I started as her words caught up in my brain. "You knew how to make it come back and just ditched me...?!" You could see how I was angry, livid even.

"It happened the first time a Grey Jedi, a true Grey Jedi, tries to manipulate their force signature. Whether they want it to seem aligned to either the light, the dark, both, or neither." Ashlyn informed me. "You just needed to connect with your emotions...all of them. You know the things the order tries to shield us from...? Those things."

"You knew...." I just stated once again.

"Ok...so next part...happening a bit fast there," Ashlyn told me, a little concerned...only a little.

"The next part...?!" I asked her. "What do you mean the next part...?! What are you keeping from me...?"

"I can't tell you, you need to figure it out yourself." Ashlyn simply told me. "This isn't something that can be taught...only felt."

A darkness seemed to creep over my being. It felt cold, distant, numb...yet so familiar and yet so...not. All at the same time.

"I'm sorry...but there's only one way for a Grey Jedi to truly use the dark side without succumbing to it...and I wished it could pertain to anybody...but it doesn't," Ashlyn told me before she put her saber back on her belt but she in no way turned her back on me. She took what resembled a type of fighting stance, her hand slightly in front of her. She was ready for nearly anything. "First...you must succumb...like getting sick so your body can gain the antidote to then prevent you from getting sick once more."