The Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 74 - Encounters

The next morning, Wedge knocked on Nomi and Dash's door. The couple and their offspring had just finished breakfast and Dash opened the door.
"Good morning, Dash. Good morning, Nomi," the leader of Rogue Squadron said and entered. "You asked me to take you to Corran Horn before we leave for our mission."
Nomi nodded her head.
"Good morning, Wedge," she smiled at her friend. "Thank you for making it possible, my friend."
"You're welcome," the commander replied. "Just follow me to the hangar."

Together they made their way to the hangar and went to the Rogue Squadron's X-wings.
As they entered the hangar, Antilles walked over to Nomi's fighter where Corran Horn was standing and exchanged a few words with him. The new Rogue Squadron pilot stood with his back to Nomi and Dash.
Nomi gave a pang when she saw Horn next to her X-wing where Fuzzy was already in his socket.
"I brought you someone, Corran," Wedge said.
Corran turned around and a smile lit his face.
"Captain Darklighter!" He shouted, rushing towards the young woman and hugging her. "When we parted on Corellia, I told you we would see each other again soon."
Then he noticed Dash, who had stayed in the background and let go of Nomi.
"I see you did it too, Lieutenant Rendar. When we heard at CorSec that the rebel posing as Commander Ors Raviul was critically wounded, I feared the worst."
Dash squeezed Corran's hand tightly.
"Well, it was a close call, Corran. Without Nomi I would be dead."
"How is your father, Corran?"
The smile on the young man's face vanished at Nomi's question.
"My father is dead, Captain Darklighter," Corran swallowed hard before continuing. "He was killed by a bounty hunter. I held him in my arms as he died."
Nomi and Dash looked at each other in dismay. Hal Horn was dead? That couldn't be. They were still grateful for what he had done for them. Mentioning that to his son seemed more appropriate to Nomi than a statement of condolences.
"We owe him our lives, Corran. Without him, we would have ended up in an Imperial prison cell and likely executed."
Horn nodded thoughtfully.
"My father always helped those who needed help. It was second nature to him," he said. "I see your daughter is already born, Captain Darklighter. Would it be possible for me to see her?"
"Sure, join us for dinner tonight," Nomi replied with a smile. "We would be very happy. And please drop the formalities, Corran. It's Nomi and Dash for you."
The young pilot smiled back.
"Alright...Nomi...Dash. I'm looking forward to the evening."
"See you, Corran," Rendar said, taking his wife's hand as they exited the hangar.

After feeding Tasherit, Nomi dressed for another training session with Luke. She knew she couldn't avoid the lightsaber fight with him any longer. After attaching the lightsaber to her belt, she picked Tasherit up and made her way to the Jedi's quarters.
Skywalker was already waiting for her.
"Hello, Nomi. Today we fight against each other with the lightsabers," the Jedi said and made room for his friend.
The young woman nodded and went into the bedroom, where she put her daughter to bed. Then she took a deep breath, adjusted her mask, and went back outside to find Luke waiting for her.
"We should meditate before we begin," he said, sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Nomi followed his example, closed her eyes and began to meditate. It wasn't long before she felt a deep sense of peace and opened up to the Force.
Feeling Nomi's connection to the Force, Luke opened his eyes and stood.
"Let's begin," he said, activating his lightsaber. With a hiss, the green blade came to life.
Nomi stood up as well and backed away when she saw the blade.
"What do you have?" Skywalker asked, holding the buzzing saber in his artificial hand.
His friend knew she had to pull herself together.
"Nothing, Luke. I'm fine," she answered after taking a deep breath.
Her teacher raised an eyebrow and looked at her inquiringly. He had promised never to read her mind again, and he kept it. So he had to wait and see if his childhood friend would finally tell him what scares her so much.
But maybe a little encouragement could help Nomi open up.
"You're scared, Nomi. Please tell me what you're afraid of," he said in a soothing voice.
The young woman shook her head.
"If you don't tell me, I can't help you," Luke continued. "I noticed yesterday that something must be terrifying you. Don't you want to talk about it?"
"Luke, do you remember what I told you about my vision?" Nomi started slowly and looked at her friend who nodded.
"But I don't know what that has to do with our training. Why are you so scared all of a sudden?" Luke interjected.
Nomi noted that he hadn't remembered everything she told him about her vision.
"The dark figure's lightsaber - its blade was green. Just like the blade of your saber," she said softly.
A look into his eyes showed her that he was beginning to understand.
"You are afraid of the blade of my lightsaber because it reminds you of your vision," he said thoughtfully and deactivated his lightsaber. "And you fear that I might be the one you saw in your vision of the future."
Even if she wasn't fully aware of it until then, she had to admit that he was right. She actually feared that Luke was her opponent in this vision.
"Yes, Luke."
"Why would I do such a terrible thing, Nomi? Dash and you, you are my friends. I would never harm you or your family. And I would never raise your children to be Dark Jedi. You have to believe me. I'll never serve the dark side of the Force. I would rather die. You must learn to control your fears, Nomi. They could lead to the dark side. And now we should begin."

Nomi activated her lightsaber and with a hiss the icy blue blade appeared. Luke activated his lightsaber as well, and this time his friend didn't flinch from the green blade.
The young woman got into a fighting stance and waited for his attack. The attack came lightning fast, but she managed, albeit with difficulty, to parry it and launch a counterattack. Luke easily parried the thrust and counterattacked in a wide arc.
Under the force of the impact, Nomi nearly lost her balance.
Her master had been right, fighting a living being was something else entirely. Above all, it was more dangerous.
The would-be Jedi found her footing and blocked Skywalker's next swing, which was attempting to breach her defenses.
Thrust after thrust, feint after feint followed one another in rapid succession. The air crackled with electrical discharges whenever their blades clashed.
Eventually, Nomi grew tired and Luke managed to run through her defenses with a swing that would have been fatal in a real fight.
At the same moment he deactivated his lightsaber and laughed.
"That was very good, Nomi," he said, hooking his saber on his belt. "I felt you used the Force. You really learned a lot. I'm very satisfied with you and your performance."
Nomi looked at him doubtfully as she deactivated her lightsaber.
"I didn't realize I was using the Force, Luke. Are you sure?"
Skywalker nodded.
"Yes, I'm sure. You're on the right track when you can use the Force without conscious effort. I'm happy to have a very talented student in you," he said with a smile. "Let's call it a day."
He turned and went back to his quarters, followed by Nomi.
It was already late and Nomi pulled out her comlink to ask her husband to pick her up at Luke's.
A few minutes later Dash arrived.
"Hello, Luke," he greeted the Jedi after entering the room. "How is our future Jedi improving?"
The former mercenary went to his wife and kissed her while waiting for his friend's reply.
"Oh, very good Dash. I'm very happy with her. Nomi's very talented. I hope your children will be the same," Luke answered smiling.
"I'm glad to hear that, my friend."
Dash went to the Jedi's bedroom, where he picked up his daughter. His wife smiled when she saw how proudly he looked at his youngest child as he came back into the living room.
"We should go now. Corran will be visiting us soon. Have a nice evening, Luke."
Skywalker nodded and waved goodbye as they left and made the short walk to their own quarters.
There wasn't much time left before Corran Horn would arrive. Luckily Leebo had already prepared everything.

The young Rogue Squadron pilot was on time. He stood in front of Dash, holding a bottle of Corellian ale, flowers and a baby rattle. Who knows where he got the flowers from, but it showed Nomi that he has manners.
"Good evening, Dash...Nomi," Corran said entering after Dash made room for him. "Thanks for inviting me. I made something I hope your daughter will enjoy."
He gave Nomi the flowers and Dash the bottle, but kept the rattle.
"Is it possible that I see Tasherit now?"
"She's sleeping right now, one of her favorite things to do, but if you're calm you can look at her," Rendar replied while his wife tended the flowers.
Nomi came over and placed the flowers on the table already set by Leebo before following Dash and their guest into the bedroom where Tasherit was sleeping.
They walked past the triplets' beds to Tasherit's bed. Corran looked at the baby in fascination, clutching his gift tightly and whispering so as not to wake her.
"You really have a sweet daughter. It would have been a shame if she hadn't been allowed to be born. Here I see that what my father and I did for you was right."
Lost in thought, Corran twisted the necklace he was wearing between his fingers. It had a pendant in the shape of a coin, which Nomi was amazed to see embossed with a Jedi Knight.
"What's that coin, Corran?" Asked the young woman.
He flinched as if she'd caught him doing something forbidden.
"It's a talisman," Horn began as he turned to leave the room. "My father gave it to me. This coin has been in our family for a very long time. It brings me luck, so I always carry it with me."
They sat down at the table and began to eat.

After dinner, Nomi and Dash sat with Corran for a long time. The next day he was to leave with Rogue Squadron to take part in the offensive to liberate Coruscant. But nobody wanted to think that it might be the last time they could talk to each other.