Song: "The Jedi Steps and Finale" from The Force Awakens OST

They climbed a cake-tree and sat in an unobtrusive place after she had shared her story. "I got the cybernetics to save Shia," he said. "I remember now....the Banking Clan had threatened to kill them. I couldn't bear the thought of losing them...."

At her cool gaze he stopped himself. "Are you jealous?"

"I've....moved past it," Ronderu said gravely, dropping her gaze. "She's gone now—and there's no use in jealousy." A sigh. "I'm so sorry she passed on."

"How did she die? She had been well. Childbirth is not the full story."

She did not meet his gaze. "I lost myself and lashed out at her when she was close to birth. The stress....it killed her."

And although the first time she had broken the news, she'd been callous—her eyes were filling with tears. "I made your cybernetics futile," she said shakily, trying to avoid crying yet again. "They're nothing but—"

He touched a finger to her lips. "I forgive you." A pained look came over his eyes. "It wasn't healthy. I....I was scared of loss."

"But you loved her, did you not?"

"She was my heart, Ronderu," he said, and a twinge of pain touched her chest. "As is Rón. As is my other child—"

"Quemáy."

"Yes," he said, bringing his hand to rest against her jaw. "They were—are—my heart. But you are my soul."

"But why?" she asked, her hands shaking suddenly. "Why did you go off and marry other women?"

A long silence. "I tried to replace you. But it was a futile endeavor." He gave a sigh, but it came out as an audible groan through his vocabulator. "Can you ever forgive me?"

Her throat was closed with tears. "Yes," she whispered. "Yes, I will."

✺✺✺

Ronderu awoke the next morning wrapped in his cloak. He had left her aboard the ship to sleep while he went about some business in a nearby town.

She buried herself deep in the cloak when he walked in and sat next to her. "We could be on the run for the rest of our lives. I...." he paused. "I don't want to leave any promises unkept between us. And there is one I must follow up on."

Taking a small box, he opened it and drew out a crimson wedding gown.

She gazed upon the gown for a time. Made a big deal of studying his face and eyes as he held it up to her. I promised when we were young.

After a moment, she attacked him in a hug. "Of course! You didn't think I've forgotten, did you?"

"I....I thought—"

She leaned down and shut him up with a kiss. "I'm going to prepare. Tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Tonight."

✺✺✺

That night, the most glorious night of Qymaen jai Khetsuu's life, culminated before him as he watched his wife-to-be walk up to meet him at the gates of the courthouse.

Ronderu had never looked so gorgeous. The ocean of ebony that was her hair spilled down her shoulders, ending at her hips, and the red of the gown complemented her fair skin. Her bright gold eyes reflected the billions of stars in the galaxy. The dim candle-light surrounding their ceremony pronounced her cheekbones and mouth.

And he had been too afraid to uncover his face, so he had worn his mask. But he would kiss her later alone, in private.

She fit her hands into his. Cold metal curled on cold metal, and yet her touch was the most soothing thing in the galaxy. The holy man standing between them prompted the vows he had given them—the vows that the Kaleesh spoke.

"I, Qymaen jai Khetsuu, pledge to honor and love Ronderu lij Kummar for the rest of my days. In wisdom and foolishness, in anger and joy, in modesty and immodesty, in loyalty and coldness."

The holy man turned to her, and she repeated after him. The words left her mouth with such fervor and emotion that as she gazed into his eyes, he could have sworn these vows were of her own writing. "I, Ronderu lij Kummar, pledge to honor and love Qymaen jai Khetsuu for the rest of my days. In wisdom and foolishness, in anger and joy, in modesty and immodesty, in loyalty and coldness."

The holy man then spoke. "And now, through the power and authority vested in me by the Talucema city-state, I pronounce you both....husband and wife."

Husband and wife.

Husband....and....wife.

Qymaen jai Khetsuu....and Ronderu jai Kummar.

She jumped up to his neck and laid her lips against his vocabulator, letting her skin touch his.

Husband and wife.

They may not ever find his family again. The war might rage on—and both sides would surely come after them. But just for a moment, he didn't care. As long as she was with him, he would be okay.

In the moment of ecstasy, a reflection of his old self melded with the monster he'd become. But he was no longer afraid of himself. In her arms, he was real. Mature.

Whole.

THE END

◈◈◈

Did you know....

● I hotly debated with myself whether they should marry at the end. However, I decided that it was only natural, since it shows that they've gotten their "heart's desire" - each other.

● The quote "As long as she was with him, he would be okay" is a play on the Eyes of Revolution quote "As long as this old thing holds together, we'll be okay."

Tell me what you think....

● What did you think of this book? Of Grievous? Did any previous opinions of him change after reading this work?

● What's the biggest tip you have for me to improve?