Say Goodbye
Locations
Adasta
Alzeera
Factions
Players
Tia O'Mandalorio (Laurie)
Sabbath Rune (Jack)
NPCs
Lt. Lee Meriweather
Velayna
Short Public Excerpt/Summary
After speaking with Sabbath about his final moments aboard the Alzeera, Velayna seeks out Tia for a late-night heart-to-heart.
Velayna sat in the darkness. She was not alone. She could barely make out the silhouette of her Master, Sabbath Rune, where he sat, his breathing slow and even. She knew he wasn't sleeping. She could feel his tension like a vibration on her skin and in her ears. She rose and lightly tiptoed to stand before him, settling down to her knees, as if in anticipation of a lesson. She reached out and touched his arm, her fingers sliding down until she found his hand. He did not flinch or withdraw. She thought his hand might be cold, because... But, it was very warm. "Why did you say that before?," she asked in a whisper. "Why did you say you failed to save her? It wasn't your fault. Everybody knows that. "Everybody," she repeated, but she wasn't talking about everybody. Sabbath said nothing, but she could see in the dimness that he was looking at her, his eyes glittering wet. "Please talk to me," she begged, her own eyes watering. "I am alone, too, and far from home and I don't have anybody. "Please," she begged, a tear spilling. He was silent for so long she thought he would not speak. And he did not. But, like a slow heat, she felt the Force touch her, she felt his mind touch her. He did not tell her about those last awful seconds aboard the Alzeera. He showed her. It was only a moment, but she lived the whole thing as if she were there. As if she were Sabbath. The pain was so great that she cried in miserable, wracking sobs. She cried until she was weak. "I'm sorry, Velayna, " he whispered, sniffling his own tears. "I hope there is something to be learned from that, even if I don't know what it is. "Go to sleep," he squeezed her hand gently. "It will hurt less tomorrow. " "Will it?," she asked as she rose, squeezing his hand and letting go. Sabbath did not answer, but she heard him sigh. She did not go to bed. She left the stateroom they shared and walked the halls of the luxurious hotel. She saw none of it. She did not know where she was going, but she knew the Force would take her there. When she found the door she knew she wanted, she knocked timidly. When it opened, she looked at Tia and opened her mouth to speak. Instead, she cried and rushed into the woman's arm, holding her with a desperation that reminded Tia of... someone else. Tia blinks in surprise - she clearly wasn't sleeping, but she looks tired. "Velayna?" She hesitates only a moment before putting her arms around the young woman. "Hey, what's wrong?" Tia looks at her, then looks down the hall with some measure of alarm. "And what are you doing up so late? Did something happen?" The girl cried for a while, but in between heavy sobs, she gasped out. "I saw it. I saw it all." She tried to stop her sobbing, never letting go of Tia. Finally, she found the composure to speak. "My best friend was Farralla," Velayna spoke softly, almost reverentially. She sniffled and sighed. "Two years ago, her family left Nigita because her father got a good job on Coruscant. I was really mad at her. I know it wasn't her fault, but I was so mad, I didn't even go to say goodbye when she left." Her tears began again, but she kept on talking. "I felt terrible, but when she left I thought I would wait until she got to her new home and I would send her a Wave and apologize. My father said that when he got time off, we could visit." Velayna loosened her hold on Tia, but didn't let go. "Their ship was taken by the Zygerrians no sooner had they left the system, " she sniffled. "You know what they do. If she's still alive, she's...." She could not finish the thought and she didn't need to finish it. "I didn't get to say goodbye," she almost sobbed again, but controlled herself. "So, I wanted you to know that even though you did say goodbye, I... I know how you feel. I'm sorry, Tia. "But," the girl shuddered in Tia's arms. "... he showed me... Sabbath showed me everything... because I begged him to.... "She wasn't alone at the end, Tia," the girl started crying again with renewed strength, pulling Tia closer. "... he tried... they died in each other's arms... she wasn't alone... and... and... "... and the last thing she heard in Life...," her sobs were becoming uncontrollable again. "... that last thing she heard was... that you loved her... "... I'm sorry... I just thought you would want to know that..." She cried for a long while after that. As Velayna speaks, Tia gently shifts her out of the doorway and into her room. Keeping one arm around Velayna, she closes the door, then leads her and lowers them both to sit side by side on the edge of the bed. Tia gently holds Velayna through her tears, lightly stroking her back. Until Velayna starts talking about Lee. At which point, she stiffens and her soothing motions abruptly stop, though she does not pull away or remove her arms from around the young woman. As Velayna continues to speak, Tia's eyes glisten in the light, but no tears fall. She's silent but tense as she waits for Velayna's words and tears to run out. Finally, once Velayna has quieted, Tia slowly disengages herself from the woman, drawing back enough to look at her. She swallows, then starts to speak, though her voice is as hoarse and rough as if it were being scraped across cut glass. "I'm sorry for your loss, Velayna. And thank you. For telling me. All of it. I'm glad she wasn't alone, at the end. Although I'm sorry that Sabbath put that in your head. I suppose he never does anything in half measures." Her voice cracks, and again she swallows before continuing. "You're wrong about one thing, though." Her expression is grim, and her voice is low with a quiet but intense anger. She turns to look at Velayna, and for a moment her eyes roil with betrayal and loss. "I didn't have the chance to tell her goodbye. She didn't give me that opportunity. Oh, she said her goodbye. In a language she knew I can't speak or understand. And then she left. Before I could tell her anything. Or even try to convince her not to go." Tia's jaw clenches. "If she were here, I would deck her for that." Tia's eyes overflow, and she angrily dashes the tears from her face. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. When she opens them, the anger is gone. In its place, Velayna sees grief and resignation, though both seem somehow muted, as if she were looking at them through a veil. "I did love Lee. I always will." Tia's voice is soft. "She always did know more than she let on - she would have known that. If I'm honest with myself, she probably knew what I would have wanted to tell her, anyway. And knew there wasn't enough time for it. I think... I think she's at peace now. And I suppose that will have to be enough. Maybe it will be, in time." She draws to her feet, gently pulling Velayna to her feet. "But it isn't tonight." She gives Velayna a sad smile. "Go back to Sabbath, Velayna. I know he doesn't want all this - to be a Vanguard, to live only to watch others die around him. I'm sorry that he had to go through that." Her expression is empty. "It wasn't his fault. I know him. He did the best he could." She pauses, and her eyes briefly flicker with some unknown emotion. She sighs, pausing by the door. "Please. Take care of him, ok?" The young woman nodded, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Again, Tia was reminded of....someone else. A memory came, unbidden, of a man crying on the streets of Nigita, on a night not so very long ago. "I will," she took a deep breath and stood up straight. "But, he doesn't need me, Tia. "He needs you," Velayna turned to go, looking back once, smiling sadly. Then, she went.
Comments