by Jay-Jay » Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:20 am
Riley's expression smoothed and became neutral. He nodded at Aurora.
No greeting. No inquiry into how she was. Fine. Aurora could handle it. She had asked for help, not comfort. She nodded back his own greeting. The two began to walk together into the city.
Aurora waited for Riley to speak. Why didn't he? If only they could talk about what had happened, if only Riley would give her a chance to explain.
She knew one thing now. She'd known it the instant she'd seen Riley. She wanted to be a Jedi again. Not only a Jedi, but the Padawan of Riley. She wanted everything she'd thrown away. She wanted her life back.
She didn't belong on Melida/Daan. she had been swept away by a cause. A just cause, a good cause, it was true. But there were other just causes in the galaxy, and she wanted to fight for those, too. It turned out that Chase was right. she wanted a wider life than the one she'd chosen on Melida/Daan.
She had found her true path again. That was good. Still, despair filled Aurora. All she had to do was look at Riley to know that the Jedi would never take him back........
((Riley’s point of view))
Riley had expected the awkwardness. He hadn't expected the pain.
The sight of Aurora's young, hopeful face caused him to feel angry all over again. Riley struggled against the feeling. He knew he was being harsh.
He couldn't speak. He didn't want Aurora to hear anger in his voice. His first words needed to be calm.
So instead he merely nodded his greeting. He saw that his coolness had hurt the girl. And Aurora had suffered so much hurt already. Slowly, as they walked, Riley's anger trickled away and compassion took its place.
"I was very grieved to hear your news about Chase," he said quietly. "I am truly sorry for your loss, Aurora."