18 BBY
.oOo.
"Do you have everything packed?" Aayla stood in Bly's quarters, stuffing her few possessions in her satchel.
"I'm all good. None of us have much to bring. Are you all packed?" Bly, checking his dresser for the last time, answered.
"And Reno and Sid are waiting at the rendezvous point?"
"You know, cyar'ika, now that we aren't actively fighting a war, you can call it a landing pad."
Aayla chucked. "I guess your right. Okay." She inhaled deeply. "I'll meet you there in a few hours."
"Are you sure about this? Do you really want to leave?"
"More sure than I've ever been about anything else."
"Nervous?"
"Definitely."
"I don't know if it helps, but from what I've gathered, you're not the only one leaving."
"Who else?"
"Rex said that General Skywalker was leaving to go to Naboo. And that Master Kenobi was leaving temporarily to meet some kid on Mandalore."
"Good to know I'm not the only one."
.oOo.
Aayla entered the grand Jedi Council chambers, golden sunlight flooded the grey room.
"Masters." She bowed, showing her respect.
"Speak with us, you wanted to?"
"Yes, Master Yoda. I have come to a decision that has been rather hard to make."
"Then please enlighten us."
"Of course, Master Windu. I have..." she took a deep, anxious breath. "Decided that it is right for me to... leave the Jedi Order."
The room fell silent.
"Share the reason, will you?"
"I have... found a new calling, Masters."
"See, I do."
The room once again fell silent, until Master Ti stood up.
Shaak Ti stood close to Aayla. "While the council does not know your true reason for leaving," she winked discreetly, which Aayla almost laughed at. "We understand and accept your decision. You have not been the first to leave, and you will not be the last. The Order will miss you greatly. May the Force be with you, my old friend."
"Thank you, Master Ti."
Shaak Ti bowed and returned to her chair.
"Agree with Master Ti, the council does."
"You are allowed to leave the order. May the Force be with you."
"Thank you. May the Force be with you." Aayla bowed and left the room.
.oOo.
The small landing pad was almost empty, since Sicemon didn't get many visitors.
"I almost thought we were going to leave without you." Reno, finishing off his mantel mix said to Aayla, who came running onto the platform.
"Sorry, but you have bad luck today."
"You made it just in time, General."
"Great, let's go."
Reno, Sid, Bly, and Aayla all walked on the small transport to Sicemon. They quickly took a table with two cushioned benches near the back of the ship and put their small bags on the luggage racks above them.
"How long is the flight there?"
"It's only seven hours in hyperspace, Reno. Nothing compared to the war."
"Yeah, but we had our own beds during the war, genius." Reno rolled his eyes at Sid.
This is going to be a long ride.
Unfortunately.
The ride to Sicemon was incredibly uneventful. Since the transport had only filled up half way, Reno moved to his own spot and took a nap the entire time. With the source of chaos sleeping, Sid, Bly, and Aayla were able to relax. After Sid winning almost every game of dejarik for two hours straight, Aayla and Bly finally gave up.
.oOo.
Aayla stood in front of the door as it hissed open, revealing the beautiful landscape of Sicemon.
Bly, Sid, Aayla, and Reno were the only ones to get off the transport. They stepped onto the dirt landing pad, surrounded by fields, besides one small dirt path.
"Well, I guess town is that way." Sid started walking down the path.
"Y'a don't say." Reno said sarcastically as he followed Sid.
They walked until dusk, when they finally came into town. The dirt path led to the town square with a few buildings surrounding it.
"Feandra Inn. Is it open?"
"Sid, you're not adventurous enough. To know if it's open, you go in the door." Reno opened the door of the inn and walked in, Sid, Bly, and Aayla followed. A bell rang as they walked through the door. "Hello?"
"Oh! Coming! Sorry!" A voice said from the back room. Seconds later, an old Mirilan woman walked out of the room. She was short, with long black hair pulled back into a bun. "Sorry folks, we don't get many visitors."
"It's no problem at all." Aayla smiled and walked up to the counter.
"How can I help y'all?" The lady asked.
"Could we have three rooms, please?"
"Of course, hun." The old lady hobbled over to the cork bord and pulled three keys off of a thumb tac. "Here y'a go, folks. Up the stairs and the two rooms on the left, plus the first one on the right."
"Thank you... Dhara." Aayla paused to read her small name tag.
"Of course, dear. Just pay when you check out."
"Okay boys, this way."
The group walked up the stairs and got settled into their own rooms, all of which were incredibly small, barely bigger than the quarters in the Jedi Temple.
"This is nice. The floors are creaky, but nice." Bly said, the floor creaking with every step he took from the refresher to the bed in the middle of the room. "The bed's comfortable."
"Is it soft?"
"Almost as soft as the one on Simocadia."
Aayla laid down on the mattress. "Kriff, you're right."
"Are you sure you made the right choice?"
"Bly, I know I made the right choice. Growing up in the temple was great, but I didn't realize what I was missing out on until now."
"Glad I could help, cyar'ika." Bly pulled Aayla closer, their faces were inches apart.
"Although there was this one time at the temple, when I was a padawan, where Shaak Ti and I-" Aayla burst into laughter.
"What's so funny?" Bly asked in total confusion.
"We- pranked- Obi-Wan and-" she managed to say through laughter, "and Siri- kriff- it was so- funny."
"How did you prank them?"
With a few deep breaths, Aayla managed to put a full sentence together. "They obviously liked each other, so Shaak Ti and I- we-" She burst out laughing again.
"Take your time, cyar'ika. We have the rest of our lives." Bly smiled and watched Aayla roll over laughing.
.oOo.
Aayla's chrono beeped at 0600, waking her up immediately. "Bly, wake up. Let's go watch the sunrise."
"Huh?"
"The sunrise!"
"Right, coming."
Aayla hopped out of bed and quickly put on her outfit for the day before running down the stairs and onto a hill close by.
Bly walked up minutes later, just in time for sunrise. "It's chilly out here. Do you need a personal heater?"
"Indeed I do. I'm so happy we can do this every morning."
"Every morning?"
"Every morning."
.oOo.
Hi readers! The shorter chapter is because school started this week and I have t had time to write a lot! Longer chapters coming soon!