15 - Let's try a radical approach shall we?

I really should be paying attention. Focusing on the moment and in particular, the two women squaring off against each other. Two things are interfering with such sensible behaviour. First, I'm high on Galactic medicine intended to keep me docile while the healing stuff does it's thing. Secondly, I am still recovering from Shayla's kiss.

Hot green space babe. The white medtech uniform alone is sufficient to hit me in my cultural programming. The combination of her body in it is devastating. Her kiss was something else. Not a gentle peck on the cheek from a relative or friend. It was the full on, 'I want my chemoreceptors to check out your antibodies as prelude to further genetic mixing' variety. Knowing Galactic medicine, she probably isn't too fussed about compatibility issues either. I'm also a telepath. There's no confusion, no doubt, no pointless angsting about whether she's really in to me or not. I, know.

This could be a big part of the reasoning behind all the stoicism and hemi-demi-semi celibacy on the part of the Jedi. This was just a kiss. I'll freely admit I'm high at the moment, but still, mind totally blown. What would the sex be like? Nothing would get done! Ever. Maybe if you've been Jediing all your life it's a bit easier to take the occasional dalliance in your stride. There was nothing 'occasional' about Shayla's kiss. It's a lifetime offer.

I try and focus. Not on Shayla's rear as she attempts to shield me from what is to her an unknown intruder, but on the running argument.

"You're deluding yourself." says Hera.

"I, I know it will be difficult. And dangerous." says Shayla.

"Do you now? Has he told you what he is doing? Anything?"

"Yes! Something about his apprentice, keeping him from going over to some evil Jedi and saving the Galaxy." says Shayla.

"Of all the, Coruscant!" says Hera as she advances on the bed. I look up.

"Oh, hi Hera." I say, half blissed out of my brain.

"Don't you 'Hi Hera' me. Tell me Coruscant, just how are you planning to break this woman's heart?"

I already told her. Didn't I? Recent events are a bit vague at the moment but I'm reasonably sure I said 'Thank you, but no, saving the Galaxy.'

Shayla has pulled out a pad and thrust it at Hera.

"Look at this. He has had broken bones, drowned, bled..." the list of my injuries accumulated over the years is kind of long when viewed as one. I find myself tuning out again, just listening to her voice. It's lovely. No, focus. "And now we can add deathly poison and dead for ten minutes. Break my heart? He would never do that." says Shayla.

Why do you believe that! I'm not even a real space knight.

"Oh you're the real deal Coruscant. All smiles, promises and how you don't care about the rules. Right until your council says jump. Then you'll be gone." says Hera. She shifts back to Shayla. "Because that's what they do. They lure you in and then just, walk away. He will simply forget you while you are left with shattered dreams and broken promises."

Oh Hera. This is personal. I am so sorry. Who hurt you?

"Don't you dare feel sorry for me Coruscant. Just, just ... Stay out of my mind!" Hera screams at me.

"Stay away from my patient." says Shayla.

Hera turns on her.

"Patient? Really? Just what were you doing when I arrived? Checking for a throat infection?" she accuses.

I would say something at this point but I'm not only high and recovering from a passionate snog, but also the unexpected telepathic image from Hera has me gobsmacked.

Mace Windu? Wow. You look a lot younger in Hera's mind but are still easy to recognise. I try taking a couple of decades off Hera. You chose the Order over her? You, no, let's not make judgements, especially over what I know is Mace's fatal flaw. Thanks Stover.

"And why are you here? At least I'm not afraid to tell him how I feel." says Shayla.

Medical alert button. Come on commonalities. What does one look like this side of the mirror?

"Well I am still in control unlike your case of raging Twi'lek hormones." says Hera.

There's the button. I raise my hand to touch it and summon help. Except my arm does not work. Great. I'm as capable as Wesley. I also doubt Shayla or Hera will react to a request to be gentle either.

"Raging? I'll give you raging." screams Shayla as she crouches, her tentacles lifting horizontally behind her.

Hera for her part adopts a more formal stance. "Just you try it, slut." and gestures 'come on' with her hand.

Shayla screams and launches herself at her tormentor. I concentrate and catch her in the Force. She struggles, but I gently restrain her.

"Let me go, you witch!" Shayla yells.

Hera is not moving either. She is trying to though.

"Now that I have your attention I thought we could discuss this like civilised beings." I say.

The Man in Black has nothing on me.

-----

"Okay. I am going to release you and we will talk. Is everyone clear." I say.

"Yes." say both women. I let them go.

"You could do that the whole time?" begins Hera.

"We will get to that. I apologise in advance, but I could not let you attack one another. Now Hera, please apologise to Shayla. She is not what you accused her of. Shayla, niether is Hera, you next." I say.

Both women stumble through their apologies.

"Good, now for some answers. Where am I? And, dead for ten minutes?"

"This is Argentuff Medical. You were dying of what is to the staff an unusual poison. That, with your wierd biology was enough pings for me to notice and come on the first Medical courier. As for dead? You had zero function or response for ten minutes before I revived you." says Shayla.

"So, only a case of 'mostly dead'. Thank you again Shayla." I say.

"You are welcome." Shayla says quietly, looking a little puzzled at the reference. Of course no-one has heard of 'The Princess Bride'. I am in a land of savages, philistines and heathens.

"How long was I out?" I say.

"Five days Coruscant. Looks like I cannot leave you alone at all." says Hera.

"Thank you Hera. Now we shall talk about why we are all here. How about I start?" I say. Both women nod. Looks like we can proceed. Very carefully, ahead one quarter. "I find both of you incredibly attractive. I may be a Jedi and trying to save the Galaxy, but I'm not dead." and I am not convinced being dead is that much of an impediment, but still. Now. "I also have reason to believe you both are attracted to me."

There is a snort from Hera "Reason to believe Coruscant? That girl was all over you!" Hera says.

"Yes, Shayla was. We will be getting to that. First though, why were you so angry? What are my affairs to you?" I say.

"Your affairs?" says Hera.

"Okay, bad word choice. Why are my actions so important to you?" I say.

"Yes, I am attracted to you Coruscant! Is that what you want to hear? Are you happy?" says Hera.

"I am extremely happy right now. What a strange way to say that. I'm going to look forward to when you say I love you. Should be an exciting experience." I say.

Hera just looks at me. Shayla giggles "You said that out loud. Did you mean too?" says Shayla.

"I did? Damn. I blame the medication." I say.

Shayla looks sideways at Hera. Uh oh.

"Is there anything you want to ask him? Because I have several questions." says Shayla.

Hera looks thoughtful. "It is best to intersperse the important questions with more normal ones to put the subject at ease. Though refrain from kissing him. He wasn't all that talkative just after." says Hera.

"United against a common enemy, I see. Not fair." I say.

"Oh, everything is fair in love and war." says Hera with a grin.

-----

Fortunately, I am able to be sufficiently evasive with regards to deadly secrets and abject nonsense. I was tempted with confessing my origins but rejected it since Shayla wouldn't care and Hera would refuse to believe me. Also, it's way too exotic. Master Dee-Jay, slightly unorthodox plodder who is training the Chosen One has kept me under the radar or at least where Palpatine thinks is a good place for me to be. Master Dee-Jay, extra dimensional visitor who has secured training of the Chosen One rings all sorts of alarms that only complete fools would fail to investigate. Because this sort of thing has happened before. Even if Flash and Dale were not corroborating evidence there are other incidents. I don't even recognise most of the places. As for my actual name? That seemed safe.

"I think it sounds silly. Too pompous and stuffy" said Shayla at that particular revelation.

"I, don't know. Don't know why they gave you a new name either. I'll stick with Coruscant." was Hera's comment.

"Now that you know a bit more about me, how about we address the big questions." I say.

"Like what you will do when your Council gives you your marching orders." says Hera.

"Yes, okay we can talk about that. Yes, know who will be giving the order? Master Windu." I say.

There is a sharp intake of breath from Hera. "No." is all she says.

"What are you talking about?" asks Shayla.

"Within the Jedi Order attachments are forbidden. While they understand that passion can get the better of us all, they demand that we do not pursue the matter. So, as a rule the Jedi do not fall in love, form long term relationships and do not marry. So they will tell me to not continue or encourage these relationships. They will ask me to move away and put aside my feelings for you." I say.

Shayla finds a chair and sinks into it, head bowed. There is a sniff.

"Shayla, look at me." I say.

"Why? This is horrible. A cruel joke." says Shayla.

"I have told you what the Order will say. I have not yet said anything about what I will do." I say.

Shayla looks up. Her eyes are slightly puffy, she sniffs again.

"What, what are you saying?" she says.

"Yes Coruscant, exactly what are you saying?" adds Hera, her arms folded.

"The Order's rules are good. They are sensible and right. They have allowed for peace and stability to continue across over a million worlds for thousands of years. In the next decade the Order will be tested to it's very limits. My defiance may cause a fracture at a time when unity is needed most. So, to do that I will need a good reason. Something truly noble to justify shaking the foundations of the Republic. No pressure." I say.

"You bastard." says Hera.

"I don't have anything like that. I'm not that important" says Shayla.

"How about true love?" I say. In the absence of a great BLT sandwich it will have to do.

-----

The two women stare at me. As much as I can, I check to see if I have changed colour, sprouted tentacles or developed some other gross mutation. Nope, still me.

"Are you serious or is this just the drugs you're on?" says Hera.

"Patience. Yes, I am serious. So Shayla, what do you want? Again, I caution you to consider those worlds where it is still unsafe to tread upon because people thought no price was too high."

There is a long pause. That's okay. I may order my life with the fate of the Galaxy in mind, but other people, not so much.

"I want to not live in fear anymore." says Shayla.

"Something no one should live with. Why me?" I say.

"All my life I have lived in fear. That one day I would be forcibly taken away from everyone I knew and loved and enslaved. Beauty isn't a gift for a Twi'lek. It is a curse. A poisoned chalice. That your freedom will be taken from you. My parents would hide us whenever there was a ship."

I have been here four years and still find starships amazing. I cannot imagine growing up fearing them.

"I grew up as best I could. Afraid to make any real connections because they would be easily broken. I studied. Trained. I was determined to escape Ryloth. As an educated Galactic I would be safe I felt. I learned medicine and acquired a scholarship on Reshika. It was, not easy, but I persevered. I became a medtech and found a post on a peaceful little world, away from all the terrors of the Galaxy."

Naboo. Just before the little war that jump starts all this palavar.

"I had just settled in when the blockade began. Nemoidians are horrible. We are just product to them. I was terrified, but the Naboo were so optimistic. The situation would be resolved diplomatically they said. The Republic would come to our aid. There was nothing to fear. I, I believed them. Then, the invasion happened. Ships descending everywhere, those droids everywhere, like walking skeletons. Because I had believed and not run I was captured and herded into a camp. Those droids were terrible, they did not care, feel pity or remorse over what they were doing. They just ordered us about, cuffed us if we stumbled or fell and shot those who resisted or ran. I saw a boy, no more than six standard run for his mother who had been placed in a different group. The droids just blasted him and then his mother when she ran to his body. I was so powerless."

Back home the B1 battledroid is a joke, their clumsy antics a thing of fun. They exist to be laughed at. But this is what droid armies are really like. This is what they do to normal people who are not blessed with superpowers or combat training.

"So I was in a camp. With thousands of other scared, frightened people. I tried to help, to use my training to help those suffering. Without supplies or machines, there was little I could do. All it did was get me noticed. An actual Nemoidian visited, commented that I 'was a pretty one', made a note and left. The nightmare had come. I would be taken, made property, sold, and there was nothing I could do."

Nothing you did mattered. All your training, your knowledge was worthless.

"Then a miracle occurred. The Trade Federation and their armies were defeated. I was freed. We went home and tried to recover from the horror. Then a Jedi walked into my office with a strange request. You. You were so strange and exotic. Nothing you did made sense. Then you stood up for me, you started an abolition movement just because I asked. For the first time in my life I was not afraid. I had a champion. That is why I love you."

Well, damn.

"Very well, as you wish. So shall it be done." I say.

"Does that mean you love me too?"

"We are both enamoured of each other. So I suggest patience though, take things slowly. I may have many secret annoying habits after all. Also, it is best to pursue a romantic relationship when you have the use of your limbs." I say.

Shayla smiles, looks a little puzzled, but is otherwise happy. Good. Now.

"The same question applies to you Hera. What do you want?"

-----

Hera looks down at me.

"What do I want? What is it you're proposing?" she says.

"Nothing as yet. What we do depends on what you want. We learn. We understand. Then we come up with the outrageous plans. Perhaps I should start. We work well together, our abilities and outlook are stronger together. This has happened before. Years ago." I say.

"I knew it. You know. Did he tell you? Laugh over it?" says Hera.

"As I have told you I came into the Force late in life. I cannot of done as you say. All I can do is reflect on what is happening between us. It must of been similar to cause you so much pain in remembering. For that, I apologise. So, you were a newly minted Green Jedi, on one of your first missions, if not the first. You met a handsome, charming Jedi, also probably on his own for the first time. Do you want me to continue?"

"You're going to anyway." snorts Hera.

"You worked well together, making a fine team, and more. He said he would defect, to stay with you. He promised you everything. You believed him. How could you not? Our telepathy granted by the Force leaves little room for deception."

"Yes. How do you know?" says Hera.

The entire universe runs on melodrama. Also, hello? The Force.

"Because I can see the shape of things. I am a little unsure what happened next, the order in which they occurred." I say.

Hera sits down.

"What does it matter Coruscant? It is done. Over. I will not be made a fool of again!" she says.

"An old part of the code says there is no Ignorance, but Knowledge. There are things you do not know. Tell me what happened and perhaps I can help." I say.

Hera shakes her head.

"No. It is too painful. No." she says.

"At some point, if you want to heal, you must trust someone. It will hurt, I will not lie, but there is something beyond the pain. Trust me." I say.

I wait patiently. I glance over at Shayla, she is leaning forward. Hardly surprising. The secret heretic lover of the head of the Jedi Order? There's a news story.

"Alright. Like all Coruscanti, Mace meditated on the Force. He often invited me to do so as well with him. One night, I declined, I just wanted to lie in bed. Afterwards he was changed, detached, cold. He contacted his Council and spoke with them for some time. Afterwards he was even more reserved. He said he had to return, that he had had a vision regarding the safety of the Republic. He said he could never see me again!"

Yes. Mace loves the Republic. It's ideals, what it stands for. It's the truth he clings to justify everything he has done. The Jedi serve the Republic. That is good. That is right. It makes the sacrifices worth it. Because he thought he could not both love you and save the Republic.

"Thank you Hera. I, see. You will need to speak with Mace again."

"No."

"It is what must be done if you wish to move on. To heal. If you wish, I will go with you. You need not face him alone." I say.

As if there was any doubt after I caught that image from her mind. There is another pause. I wait.

"Okay." says Hera.