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Bare feet slid across the tiles in the halls of the Room Behind the Waterfall. Quickly and silently they went, coming to a slow stop in front of the door marked "Su'Maka's Humble Abode."
The heavy wooden door cracked open under her strong hand, black eyes peering through the narrow opening.
After a few moments, Nom smiled, knowing that her children were safe and happy.
Harry woke, unable to imagine a moment more perfect than this, holding his two princesses in his arms. He slowly reached towards his sleeping daughter, tucking a lock of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. Then he looked at Ciel - no, Sumire. Stroking her now knee-length hair, his thoughts wandered to the events of the past night, when his wife had ascended to guardian form.
I will seal you away, far beyond the Gates of Solitude...
What did that mean? What exactly were the Gates of Solitude?
His thoughts were directed to a sound at the door. "Hey, Ciel?" the voice called, sounding concerned.
Harry slowly climbed out of bed, careful not to disturb his small family. He padded to the door, his toes sinking in between the soft rug. His hand grasped the knob and he opened the door, finding a surprised Priire on the opposite side.
"Oh... Harry," she started. "Where's Ciel?"
"I- in the shower," he stammered, not exactly ready to break the news that he had a child.
Priire's eyes took on their familiar sparkle as she slung her arm around her shoulder. "Harry, Harry, we've had this talk before... when two people love each other -"
"No! No! It's not that!"
"Well, then, let's take a look!"
"NO!!" he screamed, but it was too late.
"Oh, my..."
"It's a long story..." he sighed, lowering his head.
A small hand rose in between them, waving at Priire. "Hello! I am Asellus!" she said in strained words, not exactly having a handle on Basic.
Priire stared down at the golden-haired girl, a slow grin spreading across her face. "Hi, Asellus! Do you know how to play sabaac?"
"Sa-baac?" she said, tilting her head.
"Never mind," Harry said, pushing Priire out the door. "I'll explain later, okay...?"
"Chibi, right?"
"NO!!!"
"Riiiight..." she murmured, slowly walking down the hallway.
The prince slammed the door, leaning against it and letting out a sigh.
"Papa, who was that?"
"Priire... she's a crazy lady who likes to shoot things."
"Oh." Pause. "Can I have a cookie?"
"For breakfast?"
"Yes, please."
Harry grinned, taking her hand. "You're definitely my daughter," he said, leading her down the hall.
Ciel lay in a deep sleep, her body recovering the toll the events of the night had taken on it.
But her mind and soul were alive, trying to grasp fleeting memories of a past within a past. Memories were coming back to her, memories of an eternal empress, a golden queen, and a fallen empire known as the Maw...
"Where are cookies?" Asellus asked, unfazed by the gaps in her speech. "Cookies are not in here," she said with a frown, closing the cabinet.
"They're not here, either," Harry responded, searching through a cabinet across the kitchen.
"I have some," a voice chimed.
Asellus spun around, a huge smile crossing her face as she looked upon the woman in the doorway. "Nom!"
"Hello, child," the warrior said, smiling softly. She strode towards the table, placing a plate of freshly-baked chocolate-chip cookies on its surface. "Here."
The girl bounded to the table, stuffing a cookie into her mouth while looking up at Nom with a mixture of admiration and respect. "Thank you," she spoke in Dathomiri through a mouthful of cookie.
Harry watched the exchange in confusion, pulling his hand out of the cabinet and walking towards Nom. "You know her?"
Nom nodded. "I aided in raising her. She was de-aged, correct?"
"Yes," he nodded. "How did you..." Wait, he told himself. If she knew that she was de-aged, then she knew...
"I did not tell you the truth about Vra because it was not the time," Nom answered. "Had you been told about her, it would have complicated the situation. You would have had to deal with your developing feelings for Ciel and the realization that you had a daughter together."
"Sumire," he insisted, the anger inside of him building.
"Jeri, if you prefer to be technical."
Harry stared at her, she unflinching and emotionless. "C'mon, Asellus," he said, taking her wrist and storming out of the room.
Ciel brushed back her now knee-length tresses, struggling with inexperience as she tried to tie it into a bun. She stared into the mirror for a moment, regarding her new appearance with a quiet reverence.
The transformation into her guardian form had spurred her growth; measuring her height, she estimated that she had grown four inches, going from a petite 5'4" ingenue to a 5'8" vixen of supermodel proportions. She was not only taller, but she looked older as well. Her eyes had deepened and shined an eerie blue, the only contrast between her jet black hair and near-white skin.
She dug her toes into the soft rug underneath her, staring down her long legs and blinking her eyes very slowly. She forced herself to take a few steps, and her fears were affirmed: she wobbled around the room like a toddler. A toddler with extremely poor motor skills.
Waddling back to her dresser, she fumbled for a pen and a piece of paper. In the sloppy remnants of what was once perfect cursive script, she scrawled the words Amara Jeri, Child of the Maw. Staring at her work for a moment, she squinted her eyes and wrote, I am Amara Jeri, Child of the Maw, Jedi Master.
A rage took over Ciel's frame and she scratched out her writing, ripping through the paper and tearing apart the upper layers of the antique blackwood bureau. An enraged scream escaped her mouth, followed by a deep, guttural cry. She dropped to the floor, her legs collapsing underneath her. She wrapped her long, foreign arms around her long, foreign legs, resting her woman's face on her bony knees, mass of black hair of insane length closing in around her, drowning her.
Her strong, toned physique was not strong enough to brace itself for the shaking sobs that racked her entire being. She threw herself into the dresser, looking for anything to comfort her. Instead, she felt more pain, physical this time, rather than mental and emotional. "Mother... Leostellan... Mure... Eddie... brothers... sisters... I failed you all," she whispered. "I FAILED YOU ALL!" she screamed, her body again impacting with the dresser. brushes, jewelry, coins, art supplies, and other items raining around her. "No matter how hard I try... I always fail some way or another..."
She reached into her lap, producing the silver hilt of Larik su'Maka's lightsaber. With another burst of blinding rage, she screamed and threw the lightsaber through the antique stained glass of her window. Beams of rainbow light danced around the room on their final descent to the floor. She regarded the destruction and began to weep.
Harry's head reeled with every sob that leaked through the heavy door. He knew Ciel - no, Sumire, his wife - better than to burst through the door and comfort her. As always, she would shut herself up for a time, eventually emerging from her shell to seek solace in his warm, loving embrace.
But until then, she would brush away his concern. She would only allow herself to be comforted when the time came, and then he would be there, ready to hold her close and kiss away her tears, holding her tight as she cried herself to sleep in his embrace.
He had several of his own issues to work out. He had been killed before Sumire learned she was pregnant... he had no idea that he had a daughter. They wanted desperately to have a child to share life with, to take care of, to nurture and to love, even if they were young at the time. And now, as he watched the golden-haired girl who slept in his arms, he kissed her forehead and thanked the universe for bringing the three of them together again, for allowing his daughter to be redeemed.
Her azure eyes slowly opened, taking a look around. She squirmed out of Harry's arms, reaching into the box of fortune cookies he had smuggled into the temple from Earth several months ago, when he had first arrived. She ripped open the small cellophane package with her teeth, breaking the cookie in two and pulling out the small paper slip inside. Her brows furrowed as she tried to decipher the foreign script. "Nom didn't teach me how to write Basic yet," she explained in a small, exasperated tone, handing the slip to Harry.
" 'A pleasant surprise is waiting for you'," he read, gathering up the little girl in his arms on an impulse and kissing her on the top of her head. "I love you, Asellus."
"I love you too Daddy!" she said, blinking her large eyes and snuggling into his chest. "Where's Mummy?"
"Mummy..." he struggled. "Mummy isn't feeling too good, and she doesn't want to get you sick, so she's resting for a little while," he lied. Well, it's a little bit true, he reassured himself.
The golden girl smiled, trusting her father. As she turned her head to face the corridor, she called out in Dathomiri towards the woman approaching. "Nom! Are you going to help Mummy?"
Harry turned to face the woman who had raised his child. "Why are you here? Why can't you leave us alone?" Placing the bright-eyed child on the chair, he faced the warrior woman. "Why do you feel you must intervene? Ci- Sumire will come out when she feels she is ready. Why must you push her?"
"Edward. You are talking of someone secondary to the one I speak of. Now move." Nom's long ivory fingers (Just like Cie- no, Sumire's... Harry thought fleetingly) crooked in a spellcasting stance.
"Daddy... no." Asellus put her hand on her father's arm.
"I can't win for losing, can I?" Harry spat out bitterly. "If she won't even see me, then how do you know she'll see you?"
Nom's familiar black eyes shimmered. "Because she must, Edward."
"Mother!" Ciel shouted, throwing herself at the warrior's feet. Newfound tears ran from her eyes. "Mother... I'm so sorry..."
Nom looked down at the child at her feet. Regardless of the changes, the woman recognized her daughter.
"Jeri, what have you done to be forgiven for?" The voice was soft, much softer than Nom's usual gruffness.
The tears continued as Nom knelt down by her daughter. "I... I failed you all... mother... I allowed Leostellan to die...... the Home is gone... I FAILED YOU!"
Nom gathered the shuddering body close. Ciel wept onto her mother's strong body, whispering the same phrase over and over.
The former Empress lifted her daughter away from her shoulder. "How, Jeri? How?"
"Draco... was incontinent..."
Nom was puzzled.
"Incompetent, you mean?"
"Yes..." Jeri began to weep, but controlled it enough that she could sit.
"The Pendant was lost... after you died, anyway. Draco claimed the throne with Aunt Teta's son. Then... Orleans..." Jeri collapsed, sobbing at the memories.
"Orleans... I knew I should have never mated with that smuggler. But he was a rather fine -"
"Mother!" Ciel's tear-streaked face looked at Nom with indignation evident. "I don't want to know!"
Nom smiled. "Fine. At least you remember. But none of it was your fault. None."
"But... I let them die! How can that not be my fault?"
"Jeri, my child, that is how it had to be. There was no way any of it had to do with you, or any of your brothers or sisters. Now, stand up and act like you were taught to act."
Ciel found herself standing, unable to resist Nom's voice.
"Walk."
With a few steps, Ciel found herself back on the thick carpet. Frustrated, she tried to slam her hands down, but her hair was in the way.
"Oh, Jeri." The voice was filled with loving exasperation. Nom picked up a long handled brush from the debris from the dresser. Using it and a few flicks of the Force, Ciel found her hair up in a single braided bun.
"How..."
"Long hair takes practice. And no matter what you try, Jeri, this hair with remain this length."
As Ciel made it to a chair, she watched as Nom picked up the remaining debris from her attacks on the dresser and somehow used the Force to repair both the dresser and the stained glass.
"Jeri... I would have expected better from the Heir."
With that, the former Empress of the Maw was gone, leaving Ciel to puzzle out what Nom had meant.
"Edward."
The young man frowned at the woman in front of him, furrows creasing his forehead.
"You may go in, but do not ask questions. Allow her to heal." Before she turned, she motioned for Asellus to come with her.
Asellus looked at her father. Harry nodded tightly, his hand on the doorknob.
"You can go with Nom, just come back before long, all right?"
Nom picked up the small child and carried her off, leaving Harry to gently open the old-fashioned door.
"Ci- uhm... Sumire?" His voice startled the woman on the dark velvet and ebony chair.
"You can call me Ciel. I'm still her, but different." The long hair, Harry noticed, was now up in an elegantly-braided bun, similar to the one Princess Leia had on Yavin IV, giving the medals to Luke and Han after the Death Star created the biggest fireworks show Harry had ever seen.
Okay... Harry crossed the room to his wife, intending to hold her closely, when a knock at the door came.
The young man smiled sadly. "Hark, a knock at the door. Want me to get it?"
Ciel gave a small grin at the Shakespeare quote. "If you want to. I have a feeling though, you might not want to be in here for what follows." She gave her husband a cryptic smile.
As the befuddled man twisted the heavy brass knob, a white head popped in. "Good morning, Harry, Ciel. How are you two?"
Yousei Akki was usually not this bright and cheerful in the morning. However, Nom had handed him two of her famous pastries and a paper-wrapped package to give to Ciel. Akki had eaten the pastries within moments of them meeting his hand. Nom didn't give them out lightly. Only when she wanted something.
Harry gave an odd look to the young man. His eyes were a bit more... dilated than normal. "Akki, have you been licking frogs again?"
The young man's cheeks burned. "Nope. Nom gave me two pastries."
Harry nodded in understanding as Ciel's hand hid a small smile. "I think I'd better leave you here, if Nom has pastries. Those are some potent weapons." The former Knight also wanted to check on his daughter. Ciel may trust Nom with her life, but I'm not sure I do.
With that, Harry left the two alone, one with a small package, the other curled up on a chair.
Once the former Prince had closed the door behind him, and Akki heard the click of the tumblers, his body language made a complete turnaround. "Amara Jeri, Daughter of She-Who-Walks-Softly-Through-Time, is Required by the Ritual Blood to take up the Heir again."
The blue eyes shined. "How do you know the Words? How, Akki?"
The young man frowned at her. "Take the package, look at me, then look at the mirror. Only then, open the package."
He walked out, but not before allowing the now-standing woman a good strong look at his features.
The paper crackled in her pale hands as they tore through the thick wrappings. Was this...
"It can't be. There's no way. It disappeared after I left for the Hapes Cluster!" The wobbly legs paced the thick carpet, the mind fretting over what it knew could not be true. As she turned to face the silvery mirror, she thought about what Akki had said. He had known the Ritual Words, the Words that only the Heir Apparent knew. Jeri had known them because her sister, Draco, had had them placed upon herself not long before Lanaeki had died. Only the children had known the translation of their mother's name. Well, yes, Aunt Teta had known it, but she had died long before Jeri was born. Only Leostellan had met her. She had been really pretty, just like Fon was now.
A soft knock came, jarring Ciel out of her thoughts. "Come in," she said.
"Mummy? Uncle Akki?"
What!? "What do you mean, 'Uncle Akki'!!" Ciel nearly shouted.
Nom stepped in with Asellus on her shoulders. Ciel was nearly agog. Nom never, never let anyone ride her shoulders. It was not done. Never. Not done.
Yet here she was, allowing a child to ride her shoulders.
"I see you received my Gift. However, I believe he did not tell you what was also to accompany it." Ciel had noted when she had joined the Senshi that Nom didn't tend to smile much, but she did have a rather odd smirk that seemed to serve the same purpose. That smirk was quite evident right then.
"I don't think he did! What does she mean, Uncle Akki? Akki can't be related to - wait. How did he manage to see the Pendant! Only the Heir and the Empress can see it! How did Akki see it! Much less handle it!"
Akki stepped in behind Nom. "Oops..." he said sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Jeri. I forgot. I got wrapped up in the drama. I haven't heard those words in a long time, and I got carried away."
"CAN SOMEONE JUST EXPLAIN WHAT IS GOING ON!!" Ciel's voice, while rather whiny at times, was sometimes quite capable of imitating Nom's famous bellow. It was quite a shock to hear this coming from such a whiny throat.
"Mummy? You and Uncle Akki are twins." Children were brutally honest, and Asellus was no exception.
"Just how? Hm? Can you explain that?"
"Sure. Nom told long time ago."
I swear...sometimes that woman is right irritating! "Okay, Zelly, why don't you tell me how Akki and I are twins." Ciel forced herself to sit, knowing she would have to.
"You 'n Uncle Akki born at same time -"
"Were at the same time, Asellus. The simple fact that I was not fluent in Basic at the time that I taught you is not an excuse for slovenliness in your grammar. Excuses are weaknesses. Weaknesses can be exploited. Therefore, eradicate them."
"Yes, Nom." The small girl looked at Nom with admiration in her eyes. "You and Uncle Akki were born at same time. Uncle Akki went someplace else. You stayed."
"Akki? Where did he go?" Ciel looked at Nom and her daughter.
"I'm right here, and I got sent to the Empress Teta's System. But I got sent before she died. The Mater played with the Graveyard Hag and made a deal with one of the Goddesses. I got sent back in time, before Her Imperial Highness unified the system."
"Oh." The sarcasm lost on her audience, Ciel looked down at the Pendant as Nom shooed both Asellus and Akki out.
"Now you know. The only true resemblance is the eyes, and in the Blood." Nom walked out.
Ciel stuck her tongue out at the door as Harry walked in, his face revealing his confusion.
"Uh... Ci- Sum- uh whatever! Ciel! What's glowing!!" Harry jumped as the Pendant in his wife's hands began to glow. Of course, being a mere mortal, he could only see the glow, and not the titanium pendant.
The woman's body arched in pain as the glowing light thrust itself into her chest. However elaborate the Ritual was, it was always accompanied by exquisite pain. It was the pain of responsiblity, and a taste of what the price of failure was.
Ciel su'Maka, Sumire Tia Kether Jah-Chokhmah d'Centreal, Amara Jeri, Child of the Maw, Heir to She-Who-Walks-Softly-Through-Time, refused, with typical stubbornness, not to fail.
