The Lies that Bind

[General Dan]

His bags lay packed and set aside on the bed. By comparison to s'Il, he packed exceedingly light. He'd learned from his life as a Rebel only to carry what he needed to survive. The rest would sort itself out.

He'd sorted his business out the day before, and officially passed the reigns of his command on to a subordinate. He'd still be in the loop, only this time as a high level consultant, since he'd be a little difficult to reach at times. Everything had been prepared. Even that listless slacker Prent had seemed to redouble his efforts, and Dan didn't feel too annoyed at taking the tramp freighter out to their new home.

For the moment, he stood shirtless in the refresher, staring at himself in the vanity mirror. His face seemed somewhat older, and lines that hadn't been there before were now creeping into view. He wasn't put off by this unfortunate turn of events. Instead, he smiled. Everything would be alright. Soon, it would all be perfect.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

It seemed that, despite the thought of living somewhere other than Cathar or aboard the Dauntless, making any sort of preparations in regards to what she would bring with her was a rather small task. Certainly smaller than curbing Teagan's enthusiasm.

Since the early morning the little girl had been full of energy; much more than normal it seemed. After a quick breakfast, s'Il had sent her off to help Sanis. At least for a short while it would allow the Lupine to collect the few small possessions she'd left with Dan over the course of many year's worth of visits. Indeed there was not much to gather; some of her books that she had let him borrow so long ago, old pictures of the two, and even a few changes of clothes that she'd never gotten around to reclaiming - she supposed that it was always easier to simply keep such things with him for the times that the two were together.

But now it would be different, and as she sat at his desk, thumbing idly through the photos of Teagan she had brought him, s'Il gave a small sigh of happiness as she filed them into a small carrypack.

Standing then, she made her way to the bedroom, eye going to the bags that he had packed for himself. She knew that in contrast to herself, Dan did not carry much; the sparseness of his quarters was a testament enough to that fact. Perhaps it was the sight of his belongings waiting to be transported to a new home that finally drove home the fact that they were done with the way they had used to live. She stopped to stare at the bags, letting the finality of their future together sink in.

It was something that she had always wished for, but never thought would happen. And now it was.

She pulled her gaze upwards and towards the door of the 'fresher.

[General Dan]

Dan found her eyes on him, and he met hers, smiling.

"Do you need in?"

She wasn't the sort to take hours to get ready, and had a natural beauty to her. Still, it was early, and they were still in their routines. Dan still smiled, in awe that it was such a transition. His last day as the commander of the Dauntless, and his first day of his new life.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

The sound of his voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"No," she answered almost listlessly, "... not yet."

Slowly she sat down beside his bags, content to simply watch for a few minutes as he finished his normal morning activities. She had done such things many times in the past; watching him as he prepared himself for the coming day, watched the motions of his hands, the way he stood, the small movements he made. It seemed that observing him had become a morning ritual of her own that she performed without fail whenever they were around each other.

This morning seemed different though, and the Lupine canted her head to the side as she watched him. There was something in his movements that set them apart from how they'd been in previous years. It took a few more moments to recognize, but s'Il smiled at the revelation. He was happy.

Oh, she had seen him in such spirits many times before, but this happiness was something different. This was a happiness given life from the knowledge that something wonderful waited for him on the other side of the war.

"You're happy," was her soft observation.

[General Dan]

Dan smiled, affirming her observation.

"Feels good to get what I want."

He walked out of the fresher, drawing his hair back slightly before sliding a shirt over his bare torso.

"And you? Still remember what it's like to live for the moment? To lay your responsibilities down at least for a while and do something that you enjoy above anything."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"It's been a long time since I've been able to do that," she conceded.

In fact, the Lupine couldn't remember any recent time that she had been able to stop worrying about the 'what-if's' and simply be content. There had always been some manner of shadow looming over her; whether it be the Empire during the Purge or the Sith, Darth Decepis. And even though she knew that he was still out there somewhere, there was a sense of ease that seemed to permeate her being. The threat of him was so distant now, as if he'd retreated from her thoughts completely.

s'Il rose to her feet.

"It's not something that I ever thought would come to pass."

[General Dan]

"Not ever? That's tragic."

Continuing to comb his hair, he watched s'Il as she in turn moved toward the refresher.

"That's what you learned as a Jedi? That there wasn't ever a real day in the sun? That you were always going to be pulling somebody else's weight?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

With an expression of feigned hurt, the Lupine passed by him.

"It's not 'pulling someone else's weight'."

She reached out to run a hand through his hair, effectively undoing his combing efforts.

"It's more like being reliable and trustworthy. Zem always taught me that to be a Jedi, one must be selfless and help others."

s'Il entered the fresher, but left the door open so the two could still talk. A cursory glance over the countertop, and her eye fell on an old flask; the same one that had once held - what did he call it back then... gunnery hooch? Now though it seemed that Dan simply kept it around for whatever purpose. The thought of him holding on to something like an old flask for so long made her smile.

[General Dan]

"Well it's too often unrequited."

Dan held a brief look of concern, and let it wash away.

"I'm not coming to this as some sort of selfish robber-baron. I've invested a lot of myself for the Rebellion, so I can at least understand some of it. I just can't imagine not letting the sun set on it, eventually."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

His words made her pause, and the Lupine looked up into the mirror with an odd face. What he had said jarringly reminded her of what she hrself had once spoken to Zem so many years ago. They'd been on Hoth, and she had still been his padawan.

She frowned then. For almost the last decade she had fallen far to the wayside of her teachings. She lived selfishly, becoming very nearly a hermit. But her solitary existence was one of selfish desire, as she had done so in the hopes that she would not be hounded by Decepis. Certainly not how a Jedi was supposed to act in the least.

She craned her neck back to look at Dan, but any words she'd planned to say were held in at the sound of the front door sliding open, and then closing soon after.

It wasn't hard to divine who had just arrived, as the sound of rapid footfalls heralded the coming of one very excited little girl.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

The bedroom door was open, which meant that it was safe to enter, and that Dama and Daddy weren't talking about grown-up stuff. Grown-up stuff was boring, as she'd found out once before; all they ever talked about was the war that Daddy was fighting in, or other things that were just not interesting at all.

But with the door open, Tak knew that she wouldn't have to worry about them being in the middle of that kind of talk.

The little girl very nearly flew through the entry way, past the couch, around Daddy's desk, and in through the bedroom door.

She smiled wide as she kept on, scrambling up onto the bed and onto Daddy's back.

[General Dan]

"Heeey there you!"

Dan smiled as he looked back to his little passenger, and gave her a couple of enthusiastic bounces.

"Somebody's awfully ready to go on a trip! Did you get all of your things packed?"

He knew the answer before she even replied.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

The previous look on her face melted away to be replaced with a smile, and s'Il stole a glance back out at the two. Teagan gave her a wide smile, but it was the sight of both father and daughter's faces so close to one another that caused a mystified expression to befall her.

She was already more than aware of their matching eye color, but it seemed that while she and Teagan shared many features, so too did the little girl have with Dan. The sight was enough to elicit an amused huhn before the Lupine returned to her tasks of the morning.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Daddy smelled fresh and clean, and there was another scent mixed in with it, something different. It wasn't a bad smell, in fact it was nice.

She stared at the funny look Dama was giving to her and Daddy for a moment before deciding to answer.

"I did."

Sliding to the floor, Tak gave a look to Daddy's own bags. There sure wasn't much; she'd expected him to take more with him. Even if there wasn't much in his home, the little girl thought he'd have taken a little more with him than what she saw on the bed.

"Sanis said to come tell you that he's done getting ready, and that we can leave whenever we want."

It was said with a smile from ear to ear, as Tak was already imagining what it would be like to see Schwartzweld, and what their new home would be like. The thought was enough to make her jump back up to sit on the edge of the bed, then down again seconds later.

"When'll you guys be ready?"

[General Dan]

"Well..."

Dan looked from Tak, to s'Il, and back to Tak.

"...I don't suppose I can keep a lady waiting. I'll be your bellhop, miss. Just point me to your bags and I'll carry them."

He bowed deeply and formally to his daughter, and cast a knowing smile to s'Il on the way back up.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She sure didn't know what a 'bellhop' was, but she did know that Daddy was saying he'd carry her bag.

Scrunching up her face, the little girl gave him an odd look.

"I only have one bag, an' I already took it with me earlier when Dama sent me to go help Sanis."

She could hear Dama start the water in the sink, and knew that it was now only a matter of waiting. Good thing Dama never took very long in the fresher.

"I'll help you take your stuff, though."

A puzzled look to Daddy's bags.

"That's all you're taking with you?"

[General Dan]

"That's all I need, really."

Dan glanced to his bags as an afterthought.

"Some clothes, a few odds and ends. We'll have just about everything else we'll need, and what we don't, we can go get."

Dan imagined that s'Il intended on a sort of periodical supply run, with Sanis bringing needed sundries out every few months. Either that, or he could arrange something similar. It wasn't a hardship.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"Oh."

Testing each bag to try and find out which one weighed less, Tak settled on the one that she figured had some of his clothes inside; it was soft, and didn't have anything hard feeling inside. Had to be clothes.

She grabbed the handle then, starting to pull it off the bed. It was a bit tougher than she originally thought, and frowning, the little girl tightened her grip and pulled harder. It was still hard to move, and she gave an exasperated sigh while letting go and looking up to Daddy.

"Your clothes are too heavy. You'll hafta carry both bags.

"I can carry your old picture books though, if you haven't packed those yet."

[General Dan]

Dan glanced to his desk. True to form, they were still out and open.

"Good catch."

He gave her cheek an approving pat and went to the desk to close the book on top, and handed the three in total to his eager little girl. She braced for the haul with a determined look on her face.

Each with their own parcels, they stood ready for s'Il by the door.

"Ready to go?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

One last look in the mirror, and s'Il gave herself a fleeting smile. As an afterthought she palmed the old flask on her way out of the fresher.

A quick once over through the bedroom to make sure that any extraneous possessions had not been forgotten, and she plucked her own small duffel from the bed. Her gait was casual as she approached Dan and Teagan, and the Lupine nodded silently.

Depositing the flask on the small stack of books that the little girl was carrying, s'Il rested a hand on her daughter's blonde mop as Dan opened the door.