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Elzar turned. Stellan wasn’t behind him. But Forfive was.
“Master Elzar!” The droid called out.
Fuck. What was the droid doing there instead of—
Oh. He pushed past the droid.
“Master Elzar! Wait! Stellan told me to give you this!” A compartment opened on the droid's chest.
Elzar kept running back toward Stellan. He glanced back toward Forfive to see what he was trying to show him. Stellan’s lightsaber. Of course. He reached out behind and grabbed it, clipping it to his belt. The idiot, going on a fucking suicide mission. And for what? Just to give him a heart attack? Not today.
He finally made it back to the control room. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Stellan looked up at him, “I told you to—“
“You also told me you’d be right behind me! Come on!” He made to grab at his sleeve. He’d pull him out if he had to.
“I have to keep the station steady,” Stellan said, “but I don’t need you to help with that so go before you die.”
“Forfive, can you keep the station steady?” Elzar asked the droid.
“Affirmative, Master Elzar!”
“Forfive you don’t—“ Stellan started.
Elzar grabbed Stellan by the shoulders, “Fuck Stellan, what do you think the fucking droid is for? No offense Forfive.”
“None taken! My primary objective is to keep Stellan safe, this is fulfilling my programming,” Forfive said, almost cheerily. “But you have to go quickly in order to survive.”
Stellan honestly looked pretty shaky, “I’ve got you, Stel. Let’s get out of here.” He pulled Stellan on to his back.
“El—“
“It’ll be faster this way!”
He ran down the hallway toward the last escape pod. Faster than he had before, even with Stellan on his back. When he finally made it to the pod he all but shoved Stellan into a seat and put the safety belt on him. He plugged in the coordinates to a safe landing zone, then he took a seat next to Stellan and braced himself for landing.
“Elzar you didn’t have to—“ Stellan started, though he looked like he was about to pass out.
“Shh,” Elzar said, planting a kiss to his beard. “I love you, you idiot. I wasn’t letting you die. Rest.”
Stellan was highly susceptible to Elzar’s Force suggestion because of how tired he actually was. He leaned his head against Elzar’s shoulder. He didn’t fully fall asleep, but it was better than before.
The landing was…well if they’d taken the escape pod from Master Nubarron they probably wouldn’t let either of them use another of their ships for weeks. Elzar wondered if they’d survived. Or if they were one of the Jedi killed in the tragedy.
Stellan stirred then. “Back on the ground then?”
Elzar nodded and helped him up. Putting Stellan’s arm around his shoulder.
“I can walk, El,” Stellan said, weakly.
“Mhm, sure you can,” Elzar said, keeping his grip tight around Stellan’s waist.
They’d landed farther out than most of the other pods probably had. Right on the shore. They could see the remnants of Starlight burning. Elzar wished he could thank Forfive.
Elzar pulled Stellan closer to him. They probably should see a healer. They’d both taken in a lot of smoke. But for a moment, they’d just be together.
Elzar heard footsteps running toward them. He turned slightly. He gasped, in any other situation he’d go running toward the figure. He was once again united with the beauty of Avar Kriss. “Aves!”
Stellan turned then, “Avar?”
Avar ran over to them. She pulled both of them into a hug. “Thank the Force the both of you are okay! I was so worried.”
“Avar,” Stellan said again. “Avar, Avar, Avar.”
“I’m here, Stel, I’m here,” she said. “I’m really glad to see both of you, but you’re pressing on broken ribs.”
Elzar and Stellan both pushed away from her. “Why didn’t you start with that?” Elzar asked, “I would have been gentler.”
She kissed his cheek, “I didn’t care about that. I care about you. But I also care about not being in pain for extended periods of time.”
Elzar could sense Stellan watching them.
Avar looked over at him, feeling it as well, “Have something to say about us, Councilor?”
Stellan looked taken aback. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again. He shook his head. Then he glanced over at Elzar, eyes begging him to explain where he couldn’t.
“He’s umm, he’s cool with it,” Elzar said. “We should try and find a healer.” He changed the subject, not ready to go into that conversation right that second. “We both inhaled a lot of smoke. And you have broken ribs.”
Stellan reached out his hand to Avar. He squeezed it when she took it. He signed ‘I’m sorry’ to her.
She squeezed his hand back. “We'll discuss it later.”
—-
Somehow they had convinced the Coruscanti healers to let them all go. And the only place they could go after that was Stellan’s quarters. Well, technically they could have gone to Elzar’s, he’d had his own room in the Temple more recently than Avar, but it was significantly smaller. And there was no way they were separating themselves right then.
Avar cuddled up against Elzar’s side, and Stellan leaned his head against Elzar’s other shoulder.
“This is nice,” Elzar said.
“How did we end up like this?” Avar asked.
“We all almost died and the only room with a big enough bed was Stellan’s,” Elzar said.
“No—I mean…is this—something? Our constellation,” Avar asked.
It was one of the only times Elzar had ever heard her sound so unsure. He knew what he wanted. But it was really between Avar and Stellan to figure it out since they had been the ones arguing before.
“I’d like it to be,” Stellan said cautiously, “But--I understand I was cruel to you, and you may not want to. Some of it was caused by the disturbance in the Force aboard Starlight, but some of it was my own pride and my desire to look like a better Jedi, however, I was wrong. And I’m sorry. I want to fix this, more than you could ever know.”
Avar stared at him for a while. Long enough that Elzar was about to break the tension himself, especially since he was stuck between the two of them. When finally Avar smiled, a real and beautiful smile, one that Elzar would be more than happy to see everyday for the rest of his life. “Can you say that again? So I can get it on holo. It’s not everyday you get an apology from Stellan Gios.”
Stellan looked at her blankly. “What--”
Avar leaned the rest of the way over to kiss him. They went at it for a considerable amount of time for a group of people that had almost died just a couple of days prior.
Jealousy wasn’t the Jedi way. So Elzar wasn’t jealous. “Hey. I’m still here. Doesn’t anyone want to kiss me?”
Avar broke the kiss laughing. She turned toward Elzar and kissed him quickly. “We love you too, idiot.”
He reached back out, asking for more. Instead Stellan leaned down and kissed him. He gasped. It wasn’t the first time they’d kissed, they’d spent plenty of time together when they were padawans and Avar was gone on missions without them. But it had never felt real back then like it did now.
They broke the kiss, both of them smiling. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted that to happen, Gios.”
Stellan smiled wider, “I just made out with you and you’re calling me by my last name?”
Avar laughed. And for a moment they were all just happy. And together. Something he wasn’t sure was ever going to happen again, just a few days prior. Even before they all almost died. He was so happy his Avar and Stellan had made up.
Avar buried her head in his neck. He’d never object to that, but he could feel her mood shift. “What is it sweetheart?” He kissed the top of her hair.
Avar pulled her cloak tighter around herself, put her hands over her ears, and closed her eyes tight. “They’re so loud. Can’t you hear them?”
Elzar ran a hand through her hair. She hadn’t been on Coruscant in years. And it wasn’t just because she had duties on the frontier. Her headaches had always been worse on Coruscant, with so many other Jedi around, and especially now that all the Jedi had been recalled to the Temple.
Stellan moved so he was on her other side. He moved so his chest was against her back and his arms were around her waist. “What do you need, darling?”
She shrugged. Her shoulders barely moved, but it was enough for both of them to notice.
“It’s okay,” Stellan said, “We’re here regardless.”
Avar’s headache eventually tired her out and she fell asleep between them. Neither of them dared move, they both knew she needed the sleep. They all did, honestly. But if it was between the three of them Elzar was the one who would stay up keeping his song and polestar safe, he’d probably had the most sleep in the past couple months.
He glanced over at Stellan, who looked like he was starting to doze off. Good, he thought, he’d keep them safe.
—-