Jaxon Alone

[Jaxon Del]

Dressed down in clothes that were not specifically Jedi but weren't specifically not Jedi either he loaded his packed things into the cargo hatch of his ship. The Jedi hangar was not as bustling as he remembered it when he was a little kid, in fact nothing was the same. Everything had changed in ways that he was more and more certain that were terrible. His Master was gone, life had changed and he wasn't sure who or what he was anymore.

He was certain that he was still a Jedi, but after the funeral the mention that he would be re-assigned to another Master was something he was simply not ready for, nor was it something that he wanted to deal with right now. Instead he asked for some time for himself which was not anything but a reasonable request given the circumstances. He took a deep breath and pulled a brown cloak over his clothes, again not specifically a Jedi cloak, but not specifically a non-Jedi cloak either. His lightsaber was hidden from plain view even without the cloak

"Where are you going?"

Chio' stood a few feet behind Jaxon having snuck up on his friend as he was loading his ship. Chio' had been at the funeral and been close to Jaxon since he had been back at the temple following Qareth's death. To say that he was worried about his best friend would be an understatement, Jaxon had clearly not been himself since he had been back and that much was certainly understandable but Jaxon had never been one to run no matter the circumstances and that was exactly what this looked like.

Jaxon stopped and turned around, his chest felt heavy but there were no more tears left to cry. Flying back to the temple with his Master's body in tow alone and admittedly afraid had exhausted his body of all tears. There was just nothing left, not even for the funeral. It had all been a surreal out of body experience and he was numb to it and everything around him even as Chio' spoke.

"I need some time Chio'. I don't know where I am going, just somewhere."

He folded his arms in front of him and stared at his friend.

Chio' nodded and scanned Jaxon's appearance.

"You look more like a refugee than a Jedi. The Jaxon Del I know doesn't run from things, he runs through them."

Jaxon's upper lip twitched and his brow narrowed, his sharp eyebrows and features looked especially intimidating, a look that was generally reserved for combat was now being used against Chio'.

"Ahh well that's helpful as hell Chio' I appreciate it. Tell me what exactly would you have me do?!"

Chio's expression was calm but stoic, he did not show any level of frustration or anger at Jaxon, he understood and expected the outburst even if it wasn't something that had much happened between the two in the history of their friendship.

"I don't know Jax. I know that she would expect you to put your best foot forward and accept a new Master who can finish your training. You're a good Jedi and this is...beneath you."

He rolled his eyes and stiffened.

"Easy for you to say, you didn't get your Master killed and I pray that you never have to fly sixteen hours back to the temple with the dead body of your master being carried back to the temple like a common piece of cargo. Knowing full well that you'll never hear her voice again, feel her hug, or receive her guidance. This is torture Chio'! And you just don't kriffing get it and I am GLAD YOU DON'T! I wouldn't wish this on a Sith. She was there for me! She helped me through every trial and tribulation that I encountered and when it mattered most, I wasn't there for HER and now she's dead."

He swallowed hard.

"I need this for me. I am not running away and I'm not leaving forever, I just need a little time for me. I am Jedi and this isn't beneath me at all. Jedi do this kind of thing when really bad stuff happens unless you weren't paying attention to history class when we were younglings. Yoda did it, Obi Wan Kenobi, the list goes on. I'm not them, but if you're saying it's beneath me then you're saying they are beneath me and that's just not the case."

Chio took a few steps forward and looked into the pained eyes of his friend, he could feel the anger in him. It wasn't an unnatural dark sided anger, it was an extremely natural anger shrouded in grief. He reached and put his hand on Jaxon's shoulder.

"I'm just saying I don't want to see my friend destroy himself over something that's not his fault. Had you been there you'd be dead too, I read the debrief. If Qareth was no match for the person that killed her then you as good as you are Jax definitely are no match for him either. Then as an order we'd be short two extremely gifted Guardians instead of one. So don't wish you were there, I get it you wish you could have done something, but wishing you were there sounds a whole lot like wishing you were dead...and I don't want to lose you too."

He stepped closer and moved his hand to Jaxon's mid back ready to hug him if Jaxon didn't pull away first.

"Just promise me you'll come back and that you won't throw it all away, because that's not why I want for you, that's not what you should want for yourself, and most of all that's not what Qareth would want for you."

He felt the hand on his shoulder, but only in the academic sense. The nerve endings in his shoulder told his brain that something or someone was touching it and his eyes confirmed it. Yet the emotion of the situation was kept somewhat in check. Until Chio' started talking that is. Once Chio' started talking there was part of Jaxon that wanted to reach out and punch him the face, there was another part of him that wanted to throw his arms around him and start crying like a baby, then there was a weird confused third part that wanted to repeat the mistake of a few days ago and kiss him and see if it worked out better this time as if this event had somehow turned Chio' not heterosexual.

All of these thoughts were confusing to the sixteen year old as he grit his teeth and felt his body trying to produce tears but they just wouldn't flow.

"I...appreciate it. I promise I'm not running from the Jedi. I just need to be alone and a new Master right now. Is not something I'm ready for and I'..."

He closed his eyes and collapsed against Chio' and burried his face into his shoulder. Chio' carefully caught him and rubbed his back putting his other arm around him. Jaxon spoke somewhat muffled into his best friend's shoulder.

"I...need to....figure it out Chio', I just need to. For me. For the sake of...any Master that...will have me. I need to work on me. I...it's not my fault. I know but I need to do this."

He felt himself convulsing a bit and trying to cry, snorting a bit into Chio's shoulder as he tried to steady himself and get a grip on his emotions.

"Shh it's okay Jax. It's okay. I...get it, I don't like it but I get it just be safe and come back"

Jaxon pulled away from Chio's shoulder and hugged him one final time. He nodded looking into his friend's eyes as if he'd never see him again. He then pulled completely away and took half a step back.

"I will. I'll come back...besides, I still owe you another duel. Just give me a month or so and I'll be back and ready to go again...I promise."

Jaxon climbed the ladder and got into the cockpit of his ship. He closed the canopy and listened to the seal as the cockpit pressurized. The mechanical noises of the ship were comforting to him as he threw a few switches and the ship powered up. He turned away from the panels and looked at Chio' who waved to him. Jaxon waved his left hand at him and nodded to him as the ship lifted off and he turned it towards the hangar exit. Chio' knew the type of pilot Jaxon was and he was smart enough to take several steps back as Jaxon's ship turned towards the hangar exit.

Jaxon focused on the task at hand and as the ship hovered there facing the exit of the hangar he threw his shoulder harness on and fastened it down tight. There were two twin spires in the distance and Jaxon had always wanted to try it but he had always been cautious, today he was feeling a bit less restrained. He did a few calculations in his head and eyed the spires. For the first time in days he felt a slight grin tug on the corners of his lips.

He threw the throttle forward and accelerated at alarming regulation breaking speed out of the hangar as he the g-forces pushed him back in his seat. The lights of the hangar had flashed by him in a blur and the sun of the hangar filled the cockpit as he screamed toward the spires at break neck speed. He was in control.

He rolled the ship on it's side and split the difference between the two spires by inches as they zoomed past his vision in brilliant flash. He felt his adrenaline flow as he rolled the craft all the way over and back to level flight. He pitched up violently to a ninety degree climb, the g-forces threatening to make him blackout, he flexed his muscles as hard as he could to keep the blood from rushing to his legs. Once he was in his climb he let out a breath and pushed the throttle even further forward to a position usually only used for spaceflight. He watched the altimeter numbers fly by as the stubby wings of his ship started to glow from the friction with the atmosphere. A few warning lights came on, but he pushed his ship faster and before the ship knew what to do with itself it was out of the atmosphere and the heat began to dissipate as he activated the radiators. He confirmed his position in space quickly and using the calculations he did in the hangar he made the jump to hyperspace. He knew now exactly where he was going as the stars became long and the ship moved faster than the speed of light. This all felt good and he needed it.

A day of flight late and he was now landing on a remote world populated by a plethora of species but mostly by humans and humanoids of sorts. It was the type of place that someone who wanted to disappear for a bit went. It wasn't a bad place, the crime was relatively light and there were several villages scattered across the planet. The climate varied by region but where Jaxon had picked was a mix of sparse forest and small villages. He had set his ship down in a clearing surrounded by trees. After several minutes of unpacking and securing his ship so that he knew it would be here when he returned, he took his Padawan braid in his hand and tucked around his head and up into a hat that he had picked up on a mission a long time ago. He made sure his lightsaber was tucked away and hidden and he threw his pack over his shoulders. Chio' had been right he looked like a refugee and not a Jedi and that's exactly what he was looking for. He wanted time to not be a Jedi and to just be a person for awhile. He had water and a little food, but the planet would provide, he knew this to be true and had chosen this place for that reason.

He looked down at his feet and saw the sun rising through the trees and he started walking. He wasn't going anywhere in particular but he knew there was a village a few clicks in the direction he was going. Maybe the people there would be nice and simple, maybe he could buy something from the market to bring back to the temple. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he was sure that it would be interesting.

He walked for hours taking in the beautiful scenery of the forest, he crossed a stream by carefully stepping between wet stones poking out of the water. It was fun, it was energizing as schools of small fish swam around the stones seeming to all collectively move at once. He wondered if this is what the galactic society would look like to some imaginary giant that was the same size and scale to the universe as he was to the fish in the stream. What an interesting concept he thought to himself. He stopped and saw one fish that had been separated from the rest, lost and alone. Maybe he was scared, or maybe he was doing exactly what he needed to do for himself...like Jaxon was. The pace of everything had been too much for him, the constant changing of the scenery, dodging rocks and moving at break neck speeds had just taken a toll on this little fish. Maybe he too had lost someone close to him. Jaxon nodded and knelt down, he spread his fingers apart on his left hand and dunked them in the water just in front of the lone fish who bumped his ring finger and then seemed to stop and stare before moving through the gap and swimming off. Jaxon stood up and shook the water from his hand, he offered the fish a half smile and made the last jump back onto solid dry land.

He felt his stomach growl. How long had it been since he had actually eaten? He thought back on everything over the last four or five days. He couldn't recall a single circumstance where he had sat down to a meal of any substance. He had a few snacks here and there but it might have been north of three days since he had actually eaten. How did he let this happen? No wonder Chio' had been so worried about him at the temple. He had stopped caring for himself and others noticed it but he surely didn't he had been to overwhelmed by everything. He thought about breaking into his rations, or he could stop aimlessly exploring the forest and take the direct path to the village and try out some local foods. That might be the smart thing to do. Jaxon took the canteen out of his pack and took a long sip of water before he made his way through the edge of the forest and towards the village.

As the tree line faded and he moved towards the outskirts of the village the dirt turned to sparse grassland until he made his way into what he could only describe as the center of the village and then the grass faded to dirt roads. He stopped and looked around there were people buying things from various street vendors, a few of them stopped to stare at him, a curious but not too suspicious looking outsider. Most people didn't pay him too much attention, visitors weren't especially common, but they weren't extremely rare either. The sun was now high in the sky it must have been past noon as he stopped at one of the merchants and eyed a curious looking knife on the table for sale. As he was standing there he heard a commotion coming from between two small buildings, if he was in a major city somewhere he'd have called it an alleyway, but it hardly felt like the appropriate adjective given the size and scale of this village.

He turned away from the knife which he was genuinely interested in and walked towards the alley. He stopped to see a couple of boys about his age beating up a smaller one who must have been only ten or eleven.

"HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

He yelled and took a few quick steps forward.

The two older boys stopped and shoved the younger one to the ground. They turned to face Jaxon and glared at him.

"Yeah and what are you going to do about it!"

Said one of them while the other one walked towards Jaxon and stared at him at an uncomfortably close distance.

"He asked you a question kid."

The young man closest to Jaxon shoved him.

Jaxon widened his stance and caught the young man's arm as he shoved him.

"Nothing if you leave him alone, if not you'll soon find out."

As the young man's arm was caught he pulled away and then took a swing at Jaxon.

Jaxon went low to dodge the swing and brought his fist up in a powerful punch between the ribcage of his attacker who doubled over and fell forward to the ground. The other young man charged Jaxon who reacted by leaning into him and flipping him over his back onto the ground. As the second young man tried to jump to his feet Jaxon's boot caught him in the face and he was knocked out cold.

The first attacker who had the wind knocked out of him was struggling to get to his feet when he saw his friend get kicked in the face. His eyes widened and he stared at Jaxon who had taken fighting stance. The young man thought better of it and ran off into the distance, Jaxon turned to see the second attacker unconscious on the ground. He knelt down beside him and checked his vitals, after he was sure that the dope would survive he looked up to see ten or eleven year old cowering against the wall. He stood up and walked over to him and knelt down in front of him. The boy had a bloody nose and a split lip. Jaxon pulled a piece of cloth from his cloak and soaked it in water from his canteen.

"Hey, it's going to be okay now. They won't bother you anymore today. My name is Jax, what's yours?"

The boy opened his eyes and saw the warmth of Jaxon's smile as the stranger knelt before him.

"I'm Aldo."

Jaxon offered him his hand and gently helped the younger boy up.

"Well Aldo, it's nice to meet you. Let me help you with your nose."

Jaxon reached out and gently dabbed the boy's nose with the water soaked cloth and wiped away the blood.

"It looks like the bleeding has stopped so everything looks a lot worse than it actually is. You're a tough man Aldo, taking a punch from someone my size like that and here you are standing."

"My brother said never run away from a fight even if you can't win."

Jaxon smiled.

"I don't know about never, but that's generally good advice. Where is your brother now?"

The younger boy hung his head.

"He's gone."

Jaxon nodded solemnly, sometimes the words of a child did not need to be fully expanded upon to fully understand what they meant. He took a deep breath and decided not to bring it up again.

"You know what, I'm going to take you home okay? I don't want anyone else giving you trouble. Where do you live?"

The boy smiled as wide as he could with a busted lip and a trace amount of blood still under his nose.

"That would be great. I live on the outskirts waaaay over there."

Jaxon nodded and motioned for Aldo to lead the way who did so by staying a half step in front of Jaxon. The walk wasn't quite as long as he had made it out to be but the boy certainly did live pretty far away from the village center so the two had plenty of time to talk along the way. Aldo led most of the conversation talking about his home, his pets and some of the cool things that he couldn't wait to show Jaxon. It felt good to listen to him talk and hear the excitement in his voice. Jaxon had been an only child and was orphaned at a young age, he knew little of life outside of the temple and had never had a little brother figure aside from the younglings to look after. It was something that he sort of always wanted and this was nice.

"So why were those guys attacking you?"

Aldo sighed.

"It's embarrassing."

"Try me, I don't judge."

"Well..."

He looked down at the ground watching his feet move beneath him.

"Sometimes, I can move things without touching them. I'm a freak...or at least that's what everyone says. "

Jaxon glanced down at Aldo. This was the first time he had met someone who was ashamed of their force sensitivity, but he also wasn't sure that Aldo knew what force sensitivity was either.

"Hey that's actually really neat! Not many people can do that Aldo, that's something to be proud of not feel embarrassed about."

Aldo's smile brightened for a moment.

"Really? That's not what they said though..."

Of course it is. Well that's because they are weak minded Aldo. Weak minded people tend to fear what they don't understand, they see you, a gifted child with that ability and it scares them because they don't understand it.

Jaxon placed a hand on the boy's shoulder as he saw a home in the distance.

"Never do it in anger though, if you do, you reduce yourself to their level. This your place?"

No sooner than he had opened his mouth the boy's mother came running out of the house and approached them

"MOM! This is my new friend Jax! He saved me from kids who always pick on me, they were beating me up and then Jax came in out of nowhere and was all like STOP and then they tried to attack him and he taught them a lesson. Can I show Jax my stuff Mom?"

Jaxon blushed a bit as Aldo raved about his abilities and his heroism so to speak. He sure didn't feel like a hero, just a bystander in the right place at the right time to do some good.

"Hello. Jaxon Del is my full name and Aldo was in a bit of trouble, I was just passing by and did the right thing is all."

The boy's mother breathed a sigh of relief, she wasn't sure what she had thought when she saw Aldo approaching with a stranger...but that wasn't it.

"Well, thank you Jaxon Del. Won't you stay for dinner? You look hungry. Yes Aldo, but only after dinner, now go wash up while I talk to your new friend."

Jaxon smiled at her and nodded politely.

"That is very generous of you. I have had a lot going on and eating is something I think I just forgot to do...

Time passed as it often does and Jaxon found himself seated at the end of the table after just finishing a delicious and hearty stew filled with meats and vegetables he was not sure he could identify but he was quite sure that it was hearty and nutritious. After hours of spending time with the family which of course he soon came to find out consisted only of Aldo and his Mother, Jaxon was getting tired especially as Aldo had long since gone to bed, it was now just him and the boy's mother sitting up and talking. Jaxon had not mentioned that he was a Jedi, it wasn't appropriate at the time nor was it a need to know thing, he was just trying to get to know other people and live like them for a bit.

"Aldo mentioned the other kids were attacking him because he could move stuff without touching it?"

She froze looking as if she had just seen a ghost.

"He told you?!"

Jaxon studied her body language and nodded.

"He did, but I make no judgement. Is there something wrong with being able to do that?"

She looked taken aback.

"You aren't from here are you?"

"No Ma'am, I'm not."

"Well if the Jedi don't come and take him away, I have the hunters to worry about."

Now it was Jaxon's turn to freeze, a chill went up his spine as he remembered a conversation with Qareth a few weeks ago where they spoke of places like this and the locals talking about hunters who targeted force sensitive kids.

"The Jedi will never take him away from you without your consent as well as his. Maybe a few hundred years ago stuff like that happened, but not anymore. Who are the hunters?"

She leaned back in her chair, there was something comforting about the young man in her presence. Something reassuring in his words as if they carried the weight of authority even though he was just a boy a few years older than her own son. She let out a breath from her nose.

"They target people like Aldo, they come and take him away and the rumor is that they kill them."

Jaxon felt his stomach tighten. It was true, Qareth's suspicions had been correct and then those were the same people that killed her and all of those younglings....and they were led by a Sith. Jaxon nodded quietly in understanding.

"That's horrible."

Not much else was said between the two and soon she left for bed but not before extending an open invitation to Jaxon to stay as long as he liked. Before long the exhausted young man and Jedi Padawan was asleep on the couch.

Three days had passed and Jaxon had been helping out around the homestead bonding with both Aldo and his mother. His strength was returning to normal as he had been focusing on his own self care and had taken to training Aldo in basic hand to hand self defense with his Mother's permission of course. After the chores for the house were done the two would spend two hours a day training in the field out behind the house, all the while Jaxon hid his own force sensitivity from his new friend and what was beginning to feel like a younger brother. He enjoyed spending time with them, he enjoyed being with them and helping them. To the point where he questioned if he was indeed going to break his promise to Chio' this life was much more simple than that of being a Jedi, so much less nonsense to worry about. It was appealing to him at least right now and the more time he spent around them he felt it was going to be harder and harder to leave.

It was all nice and relaxing to a point to focus on just himself and the other two.

On the fourth day the three of them went into town to buy supplies, Jaxon was starting to look as if he belonged here and Aldo and his mother were starting to not be able to imagine life without him. As they approached what would be main street in any normal city they noticed a group of troopers in white armour with red stripes down their flanks. One of the troopers looked directly at them as one of the bullies from earlier in the week pointed to Aldo.

::Alright kid, you're Aldo. You're coming with us we have some questions to ask you.::

His mother tried to object but the other trooper pointed his rifle at her.

Jaxon was mindful of his facial expressions as he stepped between the family and the troopers.

"Can I respectfully ask sir, what has this boy done?"

The trooper stopped and raised his blaster at Jaxon.

::None of your business kid, now STAND DOWN! He's coming with us!::

"No."

Jaxon closed his eyes and raised his left hand both troopers were sent flying backwards as the Jedi Padawan unleashed a powerful force push that sent them smashing into the dirt. While they were enveloped in a cloud of dust Jaxon grit his teeth and threw his cloak off and his lightsaber sprang out of from beneath it's hiding place under his tunic and sprang to life, the quick movement knocked his hat off and his Padawan braid fell into place over his shoulder his blue blade hummed by his side.

"Over my dead body will you ever take him from his Mother. Now leave peacefully or die, it's your choice."

::He's a Jedi! Get them!::

The troopers opened fire on Jaxon and the family behind him, blaster bolts flying through the air were quickly deflected into the dirt...and the surrounding area away from any innocent bystanders as Jaxon moved faster than most everyone could understand except Aldo who watched in total fascination as the young man who had rescued him days before revealed himself to be a Jedi.

He saw one of the troopers lift his arm to radio and then Jaxon force pulled him directly into his lightsaber blade. Jaxon used trakatta to let the troopers body fall and then block and deflect another blaster bolt directly back into the second trooper's faceplate as he fell over lifeless. He scanned the area before extinguishing his blade but still holding the hilt.

"Come on we have to go..."

Jaxon talked and moved the family quickly back to their homestead retrieving his commlink from his pack once they got back and sending a message to the temple about where he was and what had happened. He had urged the family to pack up there things and moved them away from their homestead. More troopers were sure to come and probably the same Sith that had killed Qareth would probably be coming soon as well especially now that he knew there was a Jedi protecting Aldo and his mother.

After they had gathered their things, Jaxon led the way back to his ship. He helped Aldo and his mother into the back seat and took off. In a few hours he was rendezvousing with two Jedi at an outpost on a distant moon. He knelt down to Aldo and looked at his mother.

"You need to go with these two they'll keep you safe. I promise that the Jedi will never take Aldo from you if that's not what both of you want..."

He paused.

"But for his safety, I do recommend that he be trained to be a Jedi like me you can stay at the Temple with him...plenty of people do it, not a lot...but enough. You have my word that these two Knights will do more to keep you both safe than I could, I'm just a student...they are better than me. I'll be back for you but I have unfinished business I need to investigate."

Aldo threw his Arms around Jaxon his mother then joined in the hug. Jaxon's stomach tightened and in a moment they were gone, off to Coruscant. While Jaxon stood there finally finding a purpose in Qareth's death. Someone was hunting force sensitives and he was going to do everything in his power to stop it, even if it cost him his life. At the very least he would be able to relay information to Jedi that could help stop this travesty....

Jaxon nodded to himself and he jumped in his own ship determined to make a difference....