On Coruscant's midnight rooftops, the world was full of lights. Streets of windows swooped downwards into the glowing neon rivers far below. Scurrying chains of aircars wove between them like so many lines of glowing insects. Words and signs were scrawled across the buildings, multicoloured graffiti advertisment, shifting and pulsating as each fought to draw the eye. None of it could compete with the majestic arch of the sky above, the parade of stars and satellites making its solemn nightly march across the heavens. "It's beautiful," whispered Arina. Barin tucked his arm closer around her waist, and smiled at her delight. "I never knew Coruscant could be so beautiful." "It is not so beautiful as you," Barin told her, seeing only the light in her eyes. Arina looked at him sideways from beneath her eyelashes. "Coming from anyone else, that would sound corny." "I never do corny. Besides, even if it were corny, it would still be true. You look even more beautiful when you blush like that." Arina pushed him away, then relented and cuddled in beside him again. "I've always thought Coruscant was so tawdry. Garish on top and dirty underneath." "Garish can be beautiful," Barin told her. "It all depends on how you look at it. Take that sign over there, on the theatre." "The awful green one that looks as if somebody threw radioactive noodles at the wall?" Barin laughed. "It does rather, does it not? Look at it again. See it as a collection of curves, sweeping and flowing the way the branches twist on a Ylalian tree sapling. Look at the way the colour shades, the green of the bud of a white blossom just before it flowers, to the flush of new grass in a sunlit field." "Hmm." Arina laid her head on Barin's shoulder, and he rubbed his cheek against her hair. "I never even saw grass until I went away to college." "Have you ever walked barefoot on the grass, in the dew?" "I think that's one of those things that sounds lovely, but when you try it you just get cold, wet feet." "Perhaps you tried the wrong sort of grass. It has to be soft, soft as your hair. Short and thick, like winter snowcat fur. And cushiony, like your..." his hand crept out and squeezed a very cushiony part of Arina's anatomy. Arina giggled, and pushed him away again. The padawan seemed to have an endless fascination for certain of her attributes and yet he was such an odd mixture of innocence and experience, alternately hesitant and eager. "If you start talking about ripe melons, I shall go home right now." "The comparison is considered very complementary on some parts of Epicanthix." "And you've been to Epicanthix?" Arina asked, dubiously. "On a mission. Trying to negotiate peace between the planetary rulers and a Ravaathi independence group." "Oh." Arina had never travelled any further than the next planet. "What's it like?" "The mountains are breathtaking. Massive, sweeping expanses of twisted rock, all foaming greens and greys and whites, like ocean waves frozen into stone. They make their cities from the same rock, with great, soaring arches and endless stretches of polished stone." "It sounds cold." Barin grinned. "But beautiful." "You and your beauty!" "There is beauty in everything, if you look for it." "So I'm not really that special after all, then," Arina said teasingly. Barin rolled onto his back, pulling Arina with him then holding her at arm's length, supporting her weight with no apparent effort. His blue eyes danced with the reflected light of a million stars. "You are more than special. You are my sun, my moon, my laughter, my dreams. You are everything I could ever want." "What happened to Jedi dedication?" Arina asked, a little breathless at the intensity in the padawan's voice. Barin's face grew frighteningly solemn. "Not every padawan takes the Trials. Some leave the Order. I would so much rather be with you." Arina traced the line of his jaw with a finger. "I like you as a Jedi. My Jedi." The light faded in the padawan's eyes. "I am my Master's Jedi." Arina smiled. "I'm sure he doesn't mind sharing you a little." Barin looked away. "He disapproves of distractions." Arina let her long hair fall forwards to tickle the padawan's nose. "And I'm a distraction?" "He would say so. He would be right. You are very distracting, and very lovely, and far, far more appealing than another five years or so of training." "You have to study, you know," Arina said seriously. "Education is important. It's not much of a life if you haven't got any qualifications. My father's managed okay, but a lot of my family hasn't. Five years isn't really that long if you think of things that way." "It feels like eternity." "Now you're exaggerating." Arina pinched his nose between her fingers and wiggled it. "Why not apply that imagination of yours to finding the beauty in training?" Barin lowered her until her head rested against his chest. One hand caressed her hair as it flowed darkly over her shoulder. "I have. It is not all bad. Even the worst parts." "Well then," Arina said with muffled contentment. "Stick with it. There will be plenty of time for other things after you graduate." Barin sighed, and gazed up at the night sky, and a million stars reflected in the tears that gathered unshed in his eyes. |
 |
| If you have enjoyed this story please consider leaving feedback, no matter how short or long. Many thanks! Add Comment |
| Eye Of The Beholder By HaiGan |
|