Igniting the Stars/Part 10

Bekli was first through the door when it opened; the recycled air brought her Elmir's scent a second before she found him sitting up on a lowered recovery table, staring at a four-toed, clawed cybernetic limb where his right leg had once been. Bekli stifled a gasp, determined to be strong for him when he needed her. He slowly clambered down, and she caught his elbow to steady him.

"How is your sensation, sir?" the medical droid asked.

The four clawed digits moved, clamping and relaxing. Elmir balanced on his real leg, then shifted his weight to the prosthetic; it bore his weight without squeaks or sparks, though Bekli was already analyzing the wiring and metal framework. It would have to be expanded, she decided, durasteel shielding to bulk it up like his real leg, maybe some extra insulation there around the wiring to keep it from snagging or rubbing raw…

"It feels…" Elmir paused, a thoughtful look in his black eyes, and Bekli grinned. He was ever the Consular; he could never just settle for "weird", he had to have the perfect description. "…it feels artificial. I have balance, and a sense of touch and texture, but there's a lot missing without flesh and fur."

"Pain sensors are an optional additional modification, sir," the droid responded. "Many patients prefer not to install them, as they feel it imposes additional weakness on what is already a medical condition. However, some trial patients believe it allows perception closer to normal sensation.  If you wish, I can make the installations."

"I'll take care of it," Bekli pledged. She gave Elmir her toothy smile. "Bulk it up a bit, tweak the sensors, add a jet booster for those big jumps, maybe a pop-out blaster…"

Elmir laughed and wrapped an arm around her, and she embraced him without thinking, without caring about the droid, swept away in the reality that they were both still here, and together, and the darkness had, for this one moment, receded.

When he drew away Elmir was smiling, and after he had collected his sash and lightsaber, he nodded to the droid. "She can tweak it if I need anything. But thank you very much; I appreciate all your service to me."

"It was my pleasure, sir. Kuat Drive Yards is a proud supporter of the Jedi Order and its noble work.  If you need any additional treatment, sir, please return."

Kuat had funneled substantial credits into the creation of a top-level medcenter for its workers aboard the Gyndine Shipyards, and even though the 'Yards were down to caretaker crews, most of the medical personnel were droids, and a grateful Gyndine had sent the two injured Padawans to space for treatment. Elmir walked out with his hand on Bekli's arm, testing his new leg on the walk; when he began to walk normally, she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow.

"You know, if I can get my hand on some synthskin, I'm sure I could rig up some artificial fur on it too," she said. "I have my tool belt in our ship…"

Elmir chuckled, stopping in a corridor and sliding his arm out of hers. As he studied her, his eyes lingered on her head. "Your ear…"

She sighed; Vandak's blade had shorn away much of the cartilage of her left ear, and though the droids had cleaned and bandaged it well, it had still been a shock to see herself in the mirror without a point to her ear. But she had come to terms with it, and she shrugged, "I can still hear. Well, without the bandages I could."

Elmir nodded, but he still cupped her face, his claws gently combing through her rough fur in that way that always got her hearts beating, careful to avoid the still-raw places where Vandak had burned her with nothing but his gaze. She leaned into his touch and smiled, but then gestured with her head. "We've gotta go."

"Go?"

"He's waiting for us."

They went hand-in-hand to an upper deck, where only days before Lukkad had been setting up his recording equipment for a meteor shower he would never see. When Bekli and Elmir released their hands and walked in, though, they found not a Snivvian astronomer, but a big, broad Gand wearing an ammonia mask and robes clearly woven with rough use in mind; Bekli's hypersensitive nose picked up the faintest trace of ammonia where the gas hoses had been attached. He sat in meditation on the floor, which brought him close to their heights, but he stirred and stood when they entered and strode to meet them.

"Elmir. Bekli." He laid a three-fingered hand on each of their shoulders, and they both bent under the weight. "What you've done here is nothing short of incredible. Truly outstanding.  The Force is with you."

"Thank you, Master Bnodd," Elmir said. "But we couldn't have done it without the others."

"My master died fighting him," Bekli said, willing herself to stay straight and strong as she remembered it, to not disappoint Master Nakaana.

"And mine," Elmir added. "And Krajjey kept fighting even though he was injured, and Lukkad charged right in without fear…"

"Cienis died protecting me," said Bekli. "He was so brave…"

Kussam Bnodd raised his hands. "Nobody's denying their heroism. They died in battle against the dark side, and that's a noble way for any Jedi to go.  But despite all that, you still prevailed.  You saved Gyndine from Darth Vandak, and who knows how many other worlds—how many other Jedi?  How did you do it?"

They looked at each other for a moment, then Elmir said, "We trusted the Force, Master."

"And we relied on each other," Bekli added. "We never could've beaten him without everyone else here, but together…"

"We're stronger than we are alone," Master Bnodd finished, nodding. "If more Jedi could absorb that as fully as you two obviously have, the Order would be better for it. But you two have done things right, and the Council expects you to keep doing them from now on.  Kneel."

They knelt side-by-side, and Master Bnodd took his lightsaber hilt in hand. "Your masters should be here to speak for you, and the Sith have cheated you of that, and for that I'm sorry. But I knew Lishedra, and she was a good Guardian and a good Jedi.  I didn't know Kirthi as well, but Master Maktan and Master Towla did, and neither of them can say enough good about her.  And we all believe—the whole Council—that they'd be proud of the Jedi you two have grown to be."

This time it was Elmir who cracked the veneer of neutrality, reaching out to take her hand; Bekli took his without hesitation, but if Master Bnodd thought it anything more than a gesture of friendship, he kept it to himself. Instead, he said, "You've shown incredible skill in taking down an enemy who was well beyond most of the Order's best, and courage in the face of incredible evil. You've both taken serious injuries and fought on," he said, gesturing to Elmir's leg, then Bekli's ear, "and you must have resisted the call of darkness—only the light could vanquish a Sith like that.  And amidst all that distraction, you had the wisdom to see the way to defeat Vandak.  If it's up to me, I'd say putting you through the Jedi Trials is a sham and a waste."

He ignited his blue blade and cocked his head. "And since I'm the resident member of the Jedi Council, it is up to me. So…by the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, I dub thee Jedi…"

He slashed twice, his blade a whirlwind; by the time Bekli felt her Padawan braid drop to her shoulder and processed the dopplering hum beside her good ear, Master Bnodd had already brought his blade back to guard.

"…Knights of the Republic."

They bowed their heads, picked up their severed braids, and rose. Master Bnodd shook their hands and gave them instructions on what to do next, including impending orders from the High Council. Once he had congratulated them again, he excused himself. He had come only to do what damage control was necessary and knight the pair of them; with Darth Saleej's war machine gearing up for further attacks after Taanab, no moment could be wasted. The door closed, and the two Jedi Knights were alone again.

"What are you going to do?" Bekli asked.

Elmir scratched the little black nose Bekli had found cute since she was five. "Master Kirthi would want me to keep the Five Brothers in mind, but serve the whole galaxy. What about you?"

"Well, Master Nakaana always said Jedi serve best where things are worst," Bekli mused. "But I was thinking…"

"Yeah?"

She turned to look out the viewport; it dominated an entire wall of the room, allowing an unobstructed view of Gyndine. The system's star was behind the planet, and night had fallen on the city of Vractos below. "Cienis was the Jedi Watchman for this sector, but he's gone now. Lord Osydro could wake up any time, and we're caught between Darth Saleej and Lady Gasald, too.  I was thinking…maybe I'll stick around here.  At least until the Council appoints another Watchman."

Elmir stepped to her side. "What if the Council appoints you?"

She laughed. "Me?"

"The hero who stabbed Darth Vandak in the head?"

Bekli gave him a look. "I'd say that was a team effort, wouldn't you?"

"Well…"

"Yeah?"

"Well, what if the Council appoints us?"

Bekli stared at him before a grin stretched her lips. "I could be okay with that, I guess."

"Oh good," Elmir nodded, looking out the viewport. "Me too."

They shared a laugh, but motion caught Bekli's eyes, and she pointed one claw. "What's going on down there?"

They stared for a few minutes at the dark cloud cover over the dark side of Gyndine before another flash of light caught their eyes, a lance of flame along the planet's curve. Bekli gasped. "It's the meteors."

"What meteors?"

"The Mosrekky Meteor Shower—the one Lukkad was here to see."

Elmir thought for a moment, then stepped over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "We should watch it, then."

She hugged him around the waist. "Definitely."

They looked for the flashes in the atmosphere, remembering the Jedi who had fallen below. After a moment, Bekli asked, "What if the Council doesn't appoint us?"

Elmir lifted his hand from her shoulder to gently trace his claws through the fur of her head. "If they don't, they don't. And if not…"

He pulled open a pouch on his sash, drawing out a little ribbon and winding it through his severed Padawan braid. He offered it to her; gazing at it against her palm, the parts of her eyes that saw in the visible spectrum could only see faint black-on-black material, but the parts that stretched into the infrared spectrum saw ''L OVE FOREVER. –E LMIR ''

Bekli smiled, holding the braid to her four nostrils and inhaling her lover's scent. She tucked it carefully into a pouch on her belt, then retrieved her own Padawan braid and a heart-shaped gem she had been saving for just this occasion. Weaving the strands of her hair through the gem's backing, she laid it in Elmir's hand and watched him read the inscription only visible within the gem with Force-enhanced vision: ''Y OU CARRY MINE WITH YOU. –B EKLI ''

Elmir brushed one eye with the back of his free hand, placed her gift in his sash, and returned her smile. "See? From your mind to mine from a thousand light years away; we're always together."

She nodded, then added casually, "And if the Council says no, maybe you'll come anyway."

"Yeah, there's that too."

They laughed together, then Elmir pointed. "There's another one."

He pointed with one claw. Bekli laid her head against his, Elmir put his arm around her again, and the Republic's two newest Knights stood at the viewport to watch the flames in the skies over Gyndine until a blaze of sunlight on the horizon brought Vractos's new day.