thefinaljedi | Appointments

I apologize if my presence bothers you, but your comfort is not my primary concern. Skywalker's mental well-being is. I dislike being here as much as any of you, and I do not wish to burden Luke with my presence.

I am unarmed and incapable of hurting you. Why must you allow your fears and insecurities to prevent us from speaking cordially?

Edited 2012-06-25 04:02 (UTC)

...

[At that Adele huffs a soft laugh. Motions to herself with hand and a wry smile.]

Hello? Adele LeBlanc. Paranoid bitch. Not speaking cordially because I am paranoid and uncertain more or less sums up the entirety of my public relations. And it is not you that I fear, it is what your regaining of your powers represents. The attention it might gain from those best left unaware.

This, coming from the woman who so spectacularly revealed one of Skywalker's deepest, darkest secrets in a crowded room? When he was trying to get people to trust him enough to allow him to lead them into battle.

[Nomi laughs back, a gently melodic sound that echos across the shifting sands]

You are paranoid when it suits you, and blind in many other ways. Yes, my powers returning may mean that the Malnosso may recognize me as an anomaly. But that also suits our desires as well. Have you not thought that I wish to quit Luke's mind? Have you not considered that both of us believe the Malnosso may be able to separate us?

[The commentary on her mistake is ignored. That is between her and Luke. Nomi's an unwanted third party as far as she's concerned. She knows she fucked up. She is painfully aware of it. And she doesn't need to be reminded by this sanctimonious-

Nice thoughts around the mind reader.]

And then we've another powerful tool in our midst for their experimentation. Because all we need to find a way out is one more Jedi. Then again it would not surprise me, at least in a literary sense. Four is a solid number thematically. It would fit.

And you're just as, if not far more powerful than Luke. I wouldn't trust them to separate you without something going wrong, or right for them and terrible for the rest of us.

[Nomi Sunrider does not get angry. She remains placid, calm, and the very model of a Jedi Grandmaster. And a mother used to dealing with an impetuous, impatient, and snarky daughter. Her tone remains dead even. Its not that she wishes to offend the younger woman at all.]

Adele, calm yourself. Your concerns are not lost on me. Another Jedi, one you are unfamiliar with, and find difficult to trust. The Force only knows why my presence is so alarming to you. Do you find me so aberrant that this discussion is warranted? Tell me, why should it be any different than any other New Feather?

Preserving the rest of you is our primary motivation in separating one soul from the other. I don't think that you understand the seriousness of the turmoil in either of our minds. If we're not set apart, I will be permanently attached to Luke.

[Adele LeBlanc, however, does get angry. Often. It leaves her frustrated and impatient with others more often than not, and to quite a few verbal missteps that she realizes she simply cannot afford to make here. Not after the first this morning.

The fact that Nomi just told her to 'calm herself' in the same damn tone Robert would always use when they fought did not help in any way whatsoever.

But she calms all the same. Visibly, at least. Turns her eyes back to where Luke sits, wondering how it is he's taking this. If he's aware. The fact that she's not at all certain makes her all the more irritated but-. Not her problem. Beyond the scope of what she can fix. Spirits and souls and the Force, things she doesn't believe in and doesn't understand.

Voice even and face blank, she turns back to Nomi.]

Coming through the cycle is one thing. Stepping through the mind, body, and soul of one of my friends is something else entirely. I have come to accept the cycles as they are and have come to understand them. This? Came from nowhere. to my knowledge nothing induced it, save the stresses of Luke's life in the village.

[Which she hasn't helped with in the slightest as of late. She makes a mental note to keep things simple and easy around him for a long, long while. And to make up for her earlier fuck up. Somehow.]

And what is the time limit on this? How long before it is irreparable- and how would be best to see it does not come to pass?

Edited 2012-06-26 21:03 (UTC)

[Nomi knows, quite well, that you are indeed angry, and she finds it somewhat disheartening. How does Luke deal with such a person? What had changed that the doctor turned so voracious over something none of them understood or had any control over. And...her slip earlier was horrifically uncharacteristic.

Adele was truly a frustrating woman, and Nomi's patience was wearing thin.]

By my reckoning, we have another month with which to separate. I believe the Malnosso are our most likely candidates for rectifying this. However, Doctor, I'd like to remind you that the ways of the Force are not your ways. If I am willed to step through the mind of Skywalker into a strange existence here, then it is neither of our place to question it. Do not pretend to speak as though you are any less ignorant than I am as to the nature of this world. For all any of us knows, I came in dormant with Luke upon his arrival.

But I'm not the one causing stress to Skywalker. You are. These outbursts are childish, and its not making it any easier for him.

[Luke hasn't said anything during this exchange, not out of an inability to do so. He's been fully conscious since Nomi began projecting, but has elected to allow the two women to have their exchange.]

I cannot imagine anyone else within the enclosure would be able to do so, not with the power limit inherent in the barrier. Nor would I think anyone would know how to do so; We've evidence enough that the Malnosso do what is considered impossible or something very close to it often. They are quite likely your best bet.

[As for the rest, she bites her tongue. Continuing to speak to Nomi- to Luke, wouldn't end well for anyone. She's erratic at best as of late, lashing out without reason, and. She does, quite frankly, find this woman, this spirit, disconcerting and vexing. She feels the thin skin under her left eye begin to twitch and that, that is a sure sign that she needs to end the discussion and leave.

Is it childish? Cowardice? Perhaps. But if she remains things will be said that she'll regret. That twitch was always a solid indicator that her arguments with Robert were about to become needlessly vicious and antagonistic.

She's put her foot in her mouth enough today.]

I wish you the best of luck in your separation. And.

[Less formal, a bit of her usual warmth that was borne of fondness for Luke.] Luke. While I do appreciate the offer to remain with you, Ben and Anakin- I do not think it would be wise at this time, for all the safety it would bring me.

[Between the height, her current level of agitation, and the knowledge that Nomi was always going to be right there? It wouldn't end well. For anyone.]

[Nomi and Luke both had a long look at one another. The older Jedi looked at her young host, her eyes sparkling with genuine concern. This wasn't like the Adele they knew, it really was a different side of the woman than Luke remembered. Without a word, Nomi Sunrider faded into the evening moonlight, the power giving her form willed to end.

With what the young shrine maiden had seen, and with how things had been recently. What was going on?]

That is your decision to make, Doctor.

[Luke speaks this time, his voice genuinely icy. He is not pleased at all, and his tone abandons any pretext of familiarity. Being familiar was one thing, but getting into a vicious argument with a fellow Jedi? Particularly one who had done nothing wrong.]

When you go, please leave my lightsabers.

[This, at the very least, is somewhat familiar. She'd been braced for it since she'd first started making friends in the village. It's almost a relief for her to not have to wait for it to swing around.

Patterns remain consistent. Even here.

More resigned than anything else she turns her attention from the spot of sand where Nomi had been standing and watches Luke for a long moment. This is how it was, and she cannot blame him for feeling as he did. She's earned this.

Adele unclips the hilts from her belt without a word and returns to the mat Luke had set out at the beginning of their discussion. Packs up the brandy and glasses, leaves the sabers next to him. Hesitates for a moment before she shoulders her bag and stands again.]

...I am sorry, Master Skywalker.

[Not that it means much of anything. Or that it will help.]

[Luke remains silent, his icy blue eyes staring out into the horizon. There was nothing more to say, nothing that could be said at the moment that would not further escalate the situation. He was genuinely angry with her, offended that she felt that she could speak to anyone that way. Nevermind that the target of her belligerence was as benevolent as Nomi Sunrider. Adele was certainly a sharp tongued individual, he'd known that much, but this was beyond simply being a smartass.

Luke had mediated arguments between Mara, Han, Kyle, Leia, even men like Talon Karrde. He'd played diplomat between worlds and solar systems, but none of them had managed to say something to one another that had genuinely given Luke pause. This was new, and maybe it was the stress of the last few days or his hurt at what Adele had said at the meeting, but it cut him to the quick.

Here was Nomi Sunrider, an unwilling victim of the Malnosso just the same as anyone else, trying to make Adele feel more comfortable only to be met with belligerence. Had something changed? Was there something she wasn't telling him? Or was it truly just paranoia on her part? Nomi was a mixed blessing to be sure, but she did not warrant this sort of behavior. She'd protected Luke, helped Sabriel, given advice to Red, counselled Obi-Wan, offered lost knowledge to Anakin, and was even offering to help defend the village against the Malnosso. Adele's behavior today was unacceptable, and as much as he cared for her well being, she was simply to volatile to trust.

That was the heart of it, it stung. Realizing that he'd misplaced his trust, that bothered him most of all.

For the first time in a long time, Luke Skywalker held his head in his hands, and let tears trickle slowly down his cheeks. No matter what, he'd look out for Adele, but to see a trusted friend turn so vicious? That hurt...]

Appointments

[Action] June 13th, evening

[Action] June 13th, evening

[Action] June 13th, evening

[Action] June 13th, evening

[Action] June 13th, evening

[Action] June 13th, evening

[Action] June 13th, evening

[Action] June 13th, evening

[Action] June 13th, evening

[Action] June 13th, evening

[Action] June 13th, evening