I woke up to the feeling of kisses on my neck and shoulders. A smile automatically tugged at my lips, and I woke up with a soft sigh.

"Goodmorning," Qimir mumbled against my skin, his deep morning voice sending butterflies in my stomach.

I quickly realized we were both still fully naked, the thin blanket the only thing protecting our bodies from the cold morning air. However, I wouldn't have felt cold either way because Qimir's warm body was flush against mine as he was hugging me tightly from behind, his arm wrapped around my waist.

"Goodmorning," I mumbled back as I slightly looked over my shoulder. He smiled and kissed my cheek, slightly squeezing me like a teddy bear.

I could definitely get used to waking up like this.

I turned around so I could face him, but then winced as I felt myself aching down there. I didn't even know how many times we had done it last night.

"I'm sore," I commented.

"Good." A satisfied smile played on his lips. I glared at him for his lack of sympathy but he just responded with a laugh. At this point I was now cuddled right into his chest, as he tightly hugged me by the shoulder. His other arm was over my waist as his fingertips constantly traced my back scars.

It was becoming his habit, I noticed.

A comfortable silence stretched between us since nobody seemed to show any intention of standing up.

"I don't feel like doing anything today." He admitted, breaking the silence. I just chuckled since I felt the same thing. "I just want to lie here with you forever."

"Yeah, it's not like I can walk anywhere with how sore I am." I said sarcastically.

"You should get used to it because I'm going to make you sore everyday from now on." I lightly hit his chest at his suggestive remark, but it got me blushing nonetheless. If he was going to do to me everyday what he did last night, I was surely going to need a wheelchair in no time.

"Qimir, I wanted to ask something..." I changed the topic, finally deciding to ask what has been bugging me for a while. "I know the holocron already showed me most of it, but I want to hear it from you yourself. I want to know everything that happened to you."

His face turned serious at my request, and I saw in his eyes that he was still worried that I would see him in a different light once I knew everything.

"Qimir, I accept all of you. In light or in darkness." I gently touched his cheek as I gave him an encouraging smile. "I just want to know everything about the man that I love."

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes as he took my hand to kiss my palm. When he opened his eyes once again, they became full of emotion and vulnerability, and at that moment I knew that he had completely broken down his walls.

Qimir started to explain everything from the time that he was a padawan of a certain Vernestra Rwoh, his former Jedi Master. He was knighted at a rather young age of eighteen due to his impeccable fighting skills and connection to the force, but his master still always kept him in check because he always questioned the deeper reasoning of the Jedi rules and philosophies, because he didn't want to just follow it blindly.

Qimir also told me about the planet, Bleise, where he met Elysia. He had been tagged along by his master to pacify the protests of Bleisians due to the establishment of a new Jedi Temple. At that time, the Jedi philosophies weren't particularly well received yet by everyone in the galaxy and they were mostly treated as unwelcome visitors.

Turns out, Elysia was active in the propaganda against the Jedi Temple, which prompted him to investigate her, only to find out that she was the daughter of an ex-Jedi. She had a suspicion that her father was killed by the Jedi as well, which was the main reason that she was so against them.

Qimir ended up investigating her father's death just to prove her wrong, because he was confident that the Jedi would never do harm to their fellow Jedi, former or not. However, it backfired on him because he only uncovered the truth that Elysia's father was indeed, killed by the Jedi. This disillusioned Qimir on the Jedi Order and finally saw them in their true form, just as Elysia did.

At this point, Qimir had grown intimately close with Elysia, and asked her to run away with him once he is permitted to quit the order.

However, she was committed to the Bleisian council and seeking justice for her father's unjust death so she refused. This quickly cascaded into a series of problems up to the point that the Bleisians declared war against the Jedi if they do not leave Bleise immediately.

What proceeded that night was what haunted Qimir's and I's nightmares--- when the Bleisians were massacred by Jedi's in cold blood during battle, and when his master killed Elysia.

After that unfateful night, Qimir had to hide away for a long time in the outer rim. He admitted that his name used to be "Ren", but he had long abandoned that identity as he considered it dead along with Elysia. Which led to the creation of his new identity, Qimir.

Many years passed as he tried his hardest not to be detected by the Jedi, and during this time he jumped from trade to trade to survive; he was a mercenary for a while, and when that risked his identity to the Jedi, he changed to more low profile professions such as smuggler, gunrunner, or merchant.

Eventually, he decided to seek for a potential apprentice, or an "Acolyte" as he so called it, to teach them his ways and forward his knowledge of the truth about the Jedi. His last acolyte was a young woman named 'Mae', whom he had already vaguely mentioned to me before. That was until he met me.

I didn't know how long we just laid there as he revealed his entire story to me, but all the while I listened carefully. I liked that he already trusted me wholeheartedly that he finally let me into his life. Once he was done and I found my cue to speak, I sat up and looked at him earnestly.

"What if I become your acolyte?"

His expression darkened as he sat up as well. "No, it's too dangerous."

"I don't care." I argued stubbornly. "Besides, I want to help you. I know you still want to seek justice for Elysia's death."

I grabbed his hands and looked at him deep in the eyes so he knew that I was dead serious.

"You showed me my potential, Qimir. You believed in what I could do with the force. This time, I need you to believe in me as well. I can help you seek justice for Elysia. I can help you reveal the true colors of the Jedi."

He stared at our hands with a mixed expression, and I could tell that he was on the verge of being convinced. I could tell he was having an internal debate, and I patiently waited for his reaction.

Unexpectedly, a humorless laugh broke out of his lips.

"Funny, I always desperately looked for an acolyte..." he shook his head as he brushed his thumbs over my hands. "I always had to corrupt someone else and force my beliefs onto them. They followed me, yet they never really truly understood me. Turns out, I was looking in the wrong places."

His eyes softened as he looked at me, almost as if he was in awe of my presence before him.

"I always wished to have someone to share power with... the power of two... and now, here you are right in front of me, as if you were meant to be here all along."

"Does this mean... you're saying yes?"

He chuckled as he shifted closer to pull me into a hug. "Who am I to refuse? Destiny has spoken."

He kissed my forehead, letting it linger a little longer.

"And destiny said it was always meant to be you. My Eli. My Acolyte."

*****

Unknown outer rim planet

A Jedi starship landed in the middle of a grass field of a faraway outer rim planet. A Jedi master and a padawan stepped off, immediately scanning the place for any suspicious activity, but eventually let their guard down as soon as they realized no one else was here.

"Stay by the ship." the master commanded, her voice firm and emotionless.

"Yes, Master Vernestra." He bowed formally and proceeded to stand rigidly as he watched her walk away and towards a visible dead spot in the middle of the field.

Although Vernestra didn't like hyperspace travel very much, as soon as she felt a strong disturbance to the force from this particular planet, she made sure to be the first to ask for permission from the council to check it herself.

She had a strong suspicion that the recent massacre in Collossus had something to do here as well, and that it could be the doing of the same person.

And sure enough, as soon as she was close enough to the dead spot that was about twenty feet wide, she could see fragments of red glass scattered everywhere.

The sith holocron.

Her jaw clenched in annoyance, now finding out what had happened to the holocron she ordered to be delivered to her. Perhaps it had been intercepted in Collossus which triggered the chaos among the mercenaries and bounty hunters, and it was somehow obtained by a lightsaber wielder.

A gray jedi, unofficial reports said. But she sensed something more menacing that that.

Vernestra crouched down to touch the remnants of the holocron and closed her eyes, hoping to see any visions she could gain from it.

And sure enough, she did. She saw the moments right before its destruction, and she saw not one, but two persons responsible for it. Her eyes widened as soon as she recognized those two faces.

"They're alive...?" she whispered in disbelief. It had been so long since she had seen those faces. She had long buried that dark past behind her, and she had hoped that it would stay that way.

"Master, is that..." the padawan's voice rang from behind her, breaking her from her thoughts. She quickly regained her composure before turning around.

"Mog, I told you to stay by the ship." She reprimanded, causing the padawan to nervously avert his gaze. "It's a sith holocron, yes. It's what caused the disturbance to the force."

She started heading back to the ship.

"Aren't we going to collect samples?"

"No, it's already destroyed beyond recognition. There's no use of it now." She smoothly lied. A confused look crossed the padawan's face, but he opted not to question the master's authority and followed her back to the ship.

In truth, the remnants could still be taken back to Coruscant to conduct further investigation, but Vernestra couldn't afford anyone else to know that Ren and Elysia were alive. If any other Jedi discovers them, what occurred at Bleise would be at risk of being uncovered.

She needed to find them herself, and she needed to find them fast.

*****
[A/N]:

Since we are not getting season 2 of The Acolyte, I've taken full creative liberty of Qimir's backstory.

BTW, I chose his original identity to be 'Ren' because I very much liked the theory that he's the original Ren. Why do I think so?

✅It was hinted that The Stranger/Qimir "collects people"
✅His charred looking arms during the fight at Khomar, which is trademark to the original Ren
✅Doesn't like to follow rules and doesn't specifically identify as a Sith
✅Big ass biceps
✅Likes to break people's necks

Anyway I'm still upset at Disney for denying us more footage of Qimir's biceps 😤