The Archives always felt like a different world at night. It was like the entire temple had belonged to only me while the last of the younglings all had gone to bed, emptying the premises, leaving it to me. I was just sitting there, looking at the rows of shelves going back and forth, barely illuminated by the dimmed lamps overhead.
Okay... I wasn't completely alone as I heard another voice, not far from me.
"Curious... Most curious," C-3PO mumbled, his voice carrying from the corner to my left, "I could have sworn this particular variant of old script used a different preposition… Why leave it out here? The youngsters have no love for Master Luke's books."
He hadn't even looked up when he walked past me with a handful of books... Perfect. I didn't really want to talk with him right now... I came here to relax a little, as only here could I feel everything be... silent. The fact that I was picking up on everybody was making it hard to focus.
Watching him shuffle away, I sank back into one of the low seats, resting my back against its leather-covered backrest, breathing out loudly. Finally... Quiet and peace... Well... until footsteps padded across the floor, quick and purposeful, heading directly towards me. I was about to curse, but... I didn't need to look up to know it was Vila.
"Kael," she said, appearing out of nowhere, standing right before me.
Slowly, I lifted my head and looked at her face. She stood with her arms crossed, her head tilted slightly, and her lekku twitching in what I'd come to recognize as her version of nervous anger. At the moment, she wasn't wearing her tunic, just her sleeveless training top and belt, like she'd come after me straight from drills... Or was she here to drag me out for some midnight exercise? No, she was training with Master Katarn, I could feel it... Damn it! I didn't want to read her thoughts... Why can't I stop it from happening?!
"I knew you'd be hiding in here." She began, probably noticing that I grimaced.
"Not hiding," I said, trying to keep calm, "Just… being... here..."
"That's just the fancy word for hiding." She pressured me as she walked over and flopped into the seat across from me, arms still crossed. "We haven't talked. About anything..."
"I know..." I muttered, looking away.
"You've been avoiding me."
"…I know."
"..." She didn't say anything right away, which was somehow worse than being scolded. Eventually, though, she leaned forward, "So," she began, "are we going to talk about it or do I have to beat you up first? Because we are talking about it. Here and now. If you start running, I am tackling you."
"Um..." I blinked, trying to play dumb, "Talk about what?"
"The kiss, genius." Her voice was flat, but her cheeks were pink, and I caught her thinking about how it felt, "Or did you hit your head harder than I thought? Don't play dumb, you kissed me, and both of us remember it."
My mouth opened to say something, but then it closed.
"Yeah... I remember..." I muttered in the end.
"Good. I don't know what's wrong with you, but if it is about that," She began speaking.
"Vila, that wasn't—"
"Don't say it wasn't real," she cut in, just as I cut her off, her eyes narrowing. "Don't you dare! We were in the middle of losing ourselves, and you brought me back, not with a Force push or a smack on my head, or some weird lecture... Both of us know you were more direct, you scoundrel! You kissed me. That was you. You. So don't you dare tell me it meant nothing to YOU. Because it meant everything to me!"
"I wasn't going to," I said hurriedly, "I just… didn't want to assume what it meant for you..."
"Ah..." She blinked her eyes, like she hadn't expected that answer. "…Oh."
"I am not troubled by the kiss, Vila," I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling really bad now, because I was, despite not wanting to, getting assaulted by her wild feelings, making it feel like I was sitting before a burning furnace. "Things have been weird... I've been turned weird... Vila... Since I woke up, I'm not who I was before..."
She didn't respond right away; she just watched me closely, eyes flicking over my face like she was doing her best to read my thoughts... Only if she knew...
"You're still you," she said.
"No," I whispered, "Not entirely."
"Nonsense," she argued, her anger very quickly turning into worry, all aimed towards me.
I took a breath and looked down at my hands, flexing my fingers, focusing on them instead of Vila, because if anybody, she was the one who I didn't want to cheat... or assault with the way I was reading others. She didn't deserve that...
"I can't shut it out," I explained, feeling that my eyes were watering already, mostly from my frustration, "The people, their emotions... I can feel all the little lies they make throughout the day, or just their happiness, fears, joy, sadness, whatever fleeting momentary emotion that gets to them... I can feel everything. I can know things I shouldn't... Vila, I—" I swallowed. "I knew you lied to me, too... About the nightmares."
She went still, but just for a second. Seeing her flinch and look at me like that... Yeah... this is what I was most afraid of.
"I didn't mean to pry," I rushed to add, "I didn't do it on purpose! It's just there... I mean... People's feelings... I... I'm lost, Vila... they seep through. It's not like before... It's so much louder that it feels like I can hear people the way you can hear whispers... If I meditate, it is even worse..." I didn't see it then, but her eyes softened while listening to me. "I am afraid," I continued, pouring everything out, "That I'd read something in you. Something you didn't want me to see because it is a... private thing... That I'd find out things you've never said out loud and wouldn't want to... I don't want to break your privacy just because my brain forgot how to... work."
"You thought that would scare me off?" She asked, her voice unusually quiet.
I nodded, not daring to look at her. She was silent for a moment, then stood up and came forward, sitting down in my lap, and reached for my robe. Before I could even think, she grabbed the front and yanked me toward her, slamming her mouth into mine. I just... sat there, my eyes wide as ever, looking into hers.
Wel... It wasn't a peck. This was nothing like the first one at all... It was Vila, giving her everything. This kiss was wild and impulsive, the kind of kiss that made my brain stop like it had hit a wall. Not only that, it made me blank out so much that I didn't even return it for a few seconds. Her hands were tight in my robes, her lips hot and fierce, and when I began returning the kiss, she took it to another level. Without waiting, her tongue brushed mine, and I forgot what thinking even was one more time, letting her invade me.
I might have stopped breathing, too... I don't know... But... It was so good! When she finally pulled back, I stared at her, eyes wide, my pulse somewhere in the stratosphere or beyond it, making me blink my eyes in surprise.
"So," she asked, a little breathless, "did you feel everything that time?"
I opened my mouth, but I genuinely couldn't form a coherent answer.
"I take that as a yes," She grinned. "Good. Then I'll just keep doing this whenever you start freaking out. I'll use my lips to shut you up, along with that overthinking brain of yours."
"Vila," I said hoarsely, finally returning to my senses, "you can't just… weaponize kissing."
"Why not?" she smirked. "Seems to work."
"You'll give me a heart attack!"
"Then I'll resuscitate you with more kissing." She giggled, licking her lips, holding onto my neck, flicking her lekku over her shoulder, "Problem solved."
Before I could come up with a retort worthy of that level of nonsense, a high-pitched, proper voice cut through the Archives. Ugh... The only thing I can't perceive... droids.
"Oh my! I do apologize. I didn't realize the two of you were, ah… conducting a romantic entanglement. But please don't go too far, these are the archives."
I turned so fast my neck popped, I swear I heard it crack... Of course, C-3PO stood nearby, holding a data slate as if it had betrayed him... Or we did. Come on... We didn't go that... far! No fair! I watched as his photoreceptors blinked rapidly in what I could only describe as digital embarrassment.
"We weren't—!" I started,
"I saw nothing!" 3PO declared, "Truly. My memory circuits are already overloaded. You two carry on... ignore me! I'll be over there. Just please, keep in mind this is a public space. Oh my creator... These two are like Captain Solo and the Princess were back then..."
We both watched as he shuffled away, muttering to himself, still going on while disappearing.
"…You okay?" Vila asked, turning back to me, her voice quippy, holding back a laugh.
"Reset to factory default settings: completed." I nodded.
"Hehe," She tilted her head. "So... does that mean you're not afraid anymore?"
"…No," I smiled a little, "Well... Maybe a little less."
"Hmm," She nodded, then nudged her boot against mine. "Hey."
"Hm?"
"Will you sleep with me tonight?"
I froze again... What? Looking at her, I noticed that she immediately went wide-eyed, too, realizing the misunderstanding. Oh... so it was a misunderstanding. Khm... Of course...
"I didn't mean like that! I mean, like, sleep beside me. In the same room. Strictly. Mh... Well... Um... Maybe in the same bed... But with clothes on! Okay?! Clothes. On. Just... You know... So I don't have the nightmares."
"Oh," I said, heat rising to my ears, totally lost in her panicking eyes.
"Scoundrel..." She flushed too. "You knew what I meant."
"I thought I did," I muttered... Well, when she realized the mistake, her thoughts were also going to the same thing mine did, and it was... spicy. But why didn't I feel her recoiling from the idea? Oh... oh...!
"Still," she said with a small smile, "you didn't say no."
"No," I admitted, then shaking my head, "Wait! You can read minds, too?"
"Hmph!" She snorted, standing up, fixing her clothes, glancing at me with a pout, "I am a twi'lek. I can notice a hungry gaze when I see one! It's okay, I am a cutie."
"Boasting is a step towards the Dark Side," I warned her, standing up too, feeling relaxed for the first time since waking up.
"Please!" She rolled her eyes, holding onto my hand as she began leading me to her alcove. "I can read boys without your gift! So, keep in mind, Kael..." She looked up at my face, "Not weird touchy-touchy business. Otherwise, I am hacking off your hands and kicking you out!"
"Ouch... But... you can touch me and kiss me? Your tongue went so wild just a minute ago, you sucked out all my thoughts!"
"That's different!"
"In what way?" I pressed on, chuckling.
"I am a girl. I am the one setting the boundaries. Currently, we are an item. Hand holding? Check. Hugging? Check. Kissing? Check. Groping? Wrooong~! You need to earn the next step!"
"What, is this some new holonet game I am not familiar with?"
"Sure!" She grinned, "You need to... hm, level up before the next fight!"
"Fight?" I asked again, raising an eyebrow, and to my surprise, throughout our discussion, I never once invaded her thoughts... The flow between us was... so smooth, it felt... natural like... Yes. This is how it should be.
"Duh." She blushed, squeezing my fingers, "The next step is a wrestling match... isn't it?"
"Oh..." I blushed too, almost falling over. "I... I don't know... I... guess..."
"Then learn it!" She stomped as we arrived at her door, "Because I don't know either..."