Before - Legends Tomorrow Can Wait - *New Post* 20th Nov: FINISHED AT LAST!!!

It's times like these that I really wish the Jedi had more of an understanding for those that aren't. It just makes me feel that no matter what Jemmy does it's going to be taken the wrong way, mistakes or not.

She also needs to stop having conversations with her inner voice. They don't seems to be helping her any.

 

More please!

 

Poor thing She's thinking of them but little of herself. But hopefully the day will go well for her. She will have a tough decision if her Uncle does ask her to move back. Man... tough decision indeed!

Great job!

 

Awwww... *Super hugs for Jemmy*

Beautifully written, Jem!!

 

*sniffs*

That was beautifully sad. I feel so sorry for her!

*Wahhhhh*

Why did you kill Evla?

I suppose it was part of the plot. I mean, what would there be to write about if nothing happened? But why does it always have to be so SAD!!!!!!!!

*sobs*

UP!!!

I wanna find out what happens!

 

awww, poor jemmy. so poor jemmy. I feel rotten!

 

I feel sad............. *sniff*

 

I feel...covetous

 

Obi-Wan hovered nervously by the door for a moment, waiting for Qui-Gon to follow. Outside, through the windows that closed the apartment off from the balcony, he could see the sky beginning to clouds ominously. It seemed like a suitably sombre atmosphere for a funeral, as if even the sky was prepared to cry for Evla's passing.

//We shouldn't grieve.// Obi-Wan told himself, sighing deep down as he remembered the smiling face of the crèche master. //She is part of the force now?at peace. Still, it's difficult to feel anything but sadness at the moment. Evla will be much missed.//

Nor would it just be himself who would mourn her absence. There was his master, who had been close to her for many, many years. He at least had been given the luxury of knowing that Evla's death was imminent; for everyone else barring the healers, the news had come as a complete and total shock. How would the children cope without their favourite carer? What about the likes of Lenchen, so very close to her during the last year of Evla's life? Would the younger ones even understand why they would never see their 'Nanny Evla' again? No doubt today would prove a very difficult day indeed.

Qui-Gon appeared from his room looking immaculately pressed and cleaned, completely without any trace of the porridge his padawan had so carelessly managed to fling across him that morning. His boots were polished until the leather looked like buffed diamonds, whilst even the sash on his tunic somehow gave the appearance of having the pleats ironed into them with starch-like precision. There were few people in the galaxy that were less vain than Qui-Gon, yet the man managed to look tidy at all times. In comparison Obi-Wan always felt like a badly crumpled sock?

Qui-Gon stopped in his tracks and looked his padawan up and down. "Very smart."

"Really? I don't feel smart. I feel distinctly grungy?like I was back on Urior without the benefit of the laundry droids." Obi-Wan muttered as he examined his own boots. Why couldn't he get his to shine like Qui-Gon's? "It's all in my head, I suppose. Maybe I'd feel uncomfortable no matter what on a day such as this?"

"There's a lot of truth in that." Agreed Qui-Gon bleakly, giving the room a final look around before ushering his padawan out of the door ahead of him. "And I'm afraid it won't get any easier. We've got a fine line to draw, Obi-Wan, between making sure we don't leave Jemmiah feeling as if she's on her own and giving her enough room to come to terms with things by herself."

"She'll never come to terms with Evla's death if she's left to her own devices." Obi-Wan scowled, his chin jutting indignantly. "All she'll do is bury her head in the sand."

"What do you suggest we do?" Qui-Gon responded in a similarly gruff tone. "Make her listen to what we want to say?" He was about to admit he'd already tried those particular tactics with no real success to show for it, but thought better of it. It wasn't the time to start an argument. Funerals were about letting go of negative emotions: carrying extra in with them would only add fuel to the fire.

Fuel to the fire?

He could have cursed his unfortunate choice of phrase but instead laughed it off. No doubt Evla would have chuckled too, had she been around to hear it. Jemmiah?she wouldn't be laughing right now, not at anything. He'd seen the horror in her eyes when he'd mentioned the crematorium, or 'friary' as she had so delicately referred to it, and her words had left him in no doubt as to how she felt at the prospect of attending another funeral. She'd seen so many of them over the years but this one, next to the death of her birth mother, must surely have shaken her the most.

"I'm not sure." Obi-Wan admitted after a moment's thought. "As you say, master, she doesn't like people smothering her?stopping her from doing what she wants. All I know is - if the past is anything to judge by - she'll just suffer in silence. It's what she's best at." The padawan added ironically.

There was always Rela, Qui-Gon thought, as they headed down towards

 

ooooooooo, cliffie!

But she has to come! She picked out an outfit and everything! IT ISN'T FAIR!!!!!!

Lol Ishtar..... Me too!

 

I can't believe I hadn't replied yet! Sorry Jem!!

You know, for as awe inspiring as the Jedi order are, they sure can be dumber than a bag full of hammers. Don't you think that with Jemmy not being there yet, there is the off chance that something could be wrong.

Someone go check on her!!

 

This is so sad... Is Jemmy gonna show? I can understand why she wouldn't though... accepting the death of a loved one is hard as it is... but to be around all those people... that juz something I can't do. I know when my father passed away I did not want to have people all over me giving me their sympathies and asking if they could do anything for me. That was the worst part about it. Poor girl...I can relate and understand the need to distance herself.

Great chapter!!!

 

AUGH! Come on, JEMMY! Get your well-toned little butt down there!

 

I would offer to check on her but I don't know where Coruscant is......

She still has to come.

Always remember, she picked her dress out, she HAS TO COME!!!!!

(did you hear that Jemmiah? lol...)

 

Thanks for the comments, guys! Happy St Andrew's day!

*****

If she'd had any sense at all, Jemmiah thought to herself whilst trailing her fingers against the old, stone wall, she should really have arrived before everyone else. Now they would be there, waiting for her?talking about her. Discussing behind her back how disrespectful she was at not attending the funeral of her own foster mother or whispering about her lack of punctuality. There would no doubt be several unsuitable comments about tardy Corellian timekeeping or the need to be the focus of everyone's attention. It irked her but the whispering would go on regardless of whether she was there or not. Soon - very soon - the knives would be out for her.

A jedi saw things the way that a jedi was brought up to see things, and whilst they were supposed to show compassion and understanding it also made them extremely short-sighted and closeted in the way they thought. How could it be otherwise? When Qui-Gon had demanded she attend the funeral despite her voluble protests, Jemmiah had known he had thought it was in her best interests. She'd seen the unease in his eyes, the guilty twinge of his lips as he had done so, but there were other less understanding individuals within the temple walls who were not bound by the past as she, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were. Their blinkered vision that she comply with their jedi way of life, even although she was not a jedi herself, would in the end only serve to cause her more pain. For all their so-called insight they failed to see it.

She'd never liked the funeral chamber. It was in an old part of the temple; one that made her shudder whenever she was near. The very stones set within the ancient walls seemed to absorb the sadness permeating from within the cremation hall. Generation upon generation would have travelled the same route as the one she was taking; their combined unhappiness building up like invisible layers over the years so that she could almost feel it's great weight settle upon her shoulders. Did it affect the jedi the same way as it did her? Or perhaps they were impervious to it all?

Maybe it was a figment of her imagination?

The stones should have been cold but to Jemmiah's touch they felt clammy?almost warm against her fingertips. Ahead the archway heralded the entrance to the chamber, and around it stood what appeared to be a small gathering of padawan learners of mixed ages; some in their early teens by the look of them, and others a clear head taller maybe perhaps a few years younger than Obi-Wan. No doubt Evla had cared for them all and watched them grow until it was time for them to make their own way in the galaxy. Possibly, as they stood reverently by the entrance, they were reflecting on the fragile nature of life?and how easy it was to take those around you for granted until it was too late.

//I'm sure none of them thought to see Evla die so early in life.// Jemmiah shivered, hugging herself with her arms; the great swathes of mint green material almost drowning her in its many folds. //I expect they just thought she'd be there forever, just like how we always expect things to stay the same. But they never do?//

Without any warning the warm stone beneath her fingers suddenly became icy cold.

Her imagination, no doubt, playing tricks on her: knowing how much the crematorium bothered her. Making the flesh on the back of her neck and spine creep. Causing her body to wrack itself with nervous shivering. Using her grief to fuel her insecurity?would that stain in the carpet ever come out? Had she taken her tablets like she was supposed to? Had she checked the toxicity levels in her blood? Confusion began to swirl inside Jemmiah's head. Of course she had checked?she must have checked a thousand times. She always did! What had Evla once said? Better safe than sorry? Afraid of being paranoid Jemmiah felt reluctant to pander to her subconscious dread and run a hasty check, especially not with so many people nearby. She had taken her tablets?she knew she had. She was being silly.

Wa

 

Poor thing taking too much of the meds again

Yay glad the healer was there

Poor Obi and Qui I hope the Padawan goes and tells them that she is ill.

Great update! Loved the descriptions!!

 

Aww, I love and hate Gethin at the moment... It's wonderful that he was there, but he should have listened to her wishes and let her go to the funeral.


Excellent bit, Jem!!

 

Thank goodness Toms and Gethin found her! I was worried that she would have collapsed in her room or in the corridors and no one found her.

For a group of beings that are sent around to bring peace and justice to the galaxy, the Jedi sure are a bunch of stuck up people! Shouldn't they be putting themselves in Jemmiah's place? If they did they wouldn't be so quick to judge!

Or at least they shoudn't!

Another wonderful post Jem!!

 

I'm going to start crying again if you don't stop it!

to late.......

*sob*

*cry*

*weep*

*cry*

*sob*

*sniff*

anyone have a tissue?

*sniff

 

Many things went through the mind of Qui-Gon Jinn as he attended Evla's funeral service, listening with one ear to the gentle words of Master Genista's eulogy. Things that, perhaps given the circumstances, he should have pondered at a more appropriate moment. Thoughts, however, had a habit of turning where they ought not to, especially if prompted by the subtle prompting of the force?

Jemmiah had not come. It surprised him rather than annoyed him, for much as one could beg, cajole, persuade and - yes, he could admit it - emotionally blackmail an individual if it were truly in their interests, you could never make a person do something that went directly against their will. Her absence saddened Qui-Gon but did not move him to anger: if anything he felt only pity for Jemmiah's plight. How great must her distress be if she couldn't bring herself to say farewell to the person she loved more than any other in the galaxy?

He could see his sadness reflected in the eyes of his padawan. The young man's posture which was naturally inclined to a certain roundness of shoulder slouched further forward whilst his face remained grave and serious. No doubt the same questions and answers were forming themselves within Obi-Wan's mind. Where was she? Why had she changed her mind when she had given her word?

Things were happening around them all: Qui-Gon could feel it. Change was something impossible to stop. This time it all felt so final?so definite, as if all the powers within the galaxy were conspiring against them to break the ties that bound them so tightly together. Obi-Wan, G'emela, Jemmiah, Rela, Leona, Dex?people for whom he had great love and affection. Now Evla was gone like Tahl before her: who amongst their fellowship would be next? Perhaps himself?

Death held little personal fear for him and after losing Tahl what greater pain could he suffer? But to see all he had worked so hard to preserve snatched away from him caused him unbelievable pain. He'd striven to provide Jemmiah with a secure life, a good upbringing and, above all else, a family. Fate was threatening that cosy existence. Qui-Gon felt sure that, for purposes as yet unknown, the force was actively working to tear them all apart.

The image of a large bouquet of flowers returned to nag at him. On the face of it there was nothing more to the gift than kindness, yet perhaps that in itself was cause enough to wonder if perhaps there wasn't some ulterior motive lurking behind it. Why should an important politician like Valorum pay Jemmiah any heed at all? Concern for her welfare after the Kaligari incident? That might explain some of it away, he supposed; yet somehow he had the feeling that only half the story was being told. Perhaps it was time to pay another visit to Finis Valorum and see if the force wouldn't help reveal the true reasons behind the expensive floral display?

Above him the vaulted ceiling stretched to almost cavernous proportions, built from carved solid rock. The friery, Jemmiah had called it: a crude but somewhat apt name. Even now, looking upon the serene face of Evla Sovalla, Qui-Gon could still reflect on the first funeral he had been asked to attend: that of an old and revered master of a similar age to Master Yoda. Until, that was to say, his rather untimely death during a sabre display for the over 500's. The man had possessed a sense of humour that might have put Dex Berlingside to shame, which was why when the ventilation system had failed to work during his cremation (nearly resulting in the suffocation of all those in attendance) Qui-Gon remained convinced the old man was having one final joke at their expense?

There would be no such mishaps or final hitches with Evla. Everything would be as calm and as dignified as the crèche master had been in life. If only Jemmiah had been able to see that final, peaceful journey for what it was - just one more stage in the cycle of life. Death was never truly the end.

Of course that was what the Jedi were brought up to think. For Jemmiah things were no doubt different: the cleans

 

Awww that was a heartfelt posting! Poor Qui reminiscing (sp) there of those that had gone on before, and the thought of Tahl. Poor guy at least Leona with him now. but I am glad to see that he is still willing to uphold his promise to Evla

Great post!

 

Wow. Simply wow. Especially the funny part about the untimely death in an over-500's saber display. And then the rest of the post made me want to cry.

 

That post just tugs at the heartstrings. Evla was much loved by every child she had in the creche. Quite touching!

On the other hand... Obi-Wan's musings of 'What has she done now?' really makes me want to smack him upside the head! Of course Jemmy did something to herself, on purpose, to get out of going to Evla's funeral. That comment just makes me angry!

Wonderful post Jem!!

 

That was too beautiful for words, Jem!