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Cal felt ragged all the way into his bones. The quest for Tanalorr had been bought in pain and loss, and with the blood of friends. The Empire had stolen so much of his hope over the years, turning allies into traitors, taking everything and giving only fear and ruin. No wonder the Dark Side was so seductive. The power it offered fed on what the Empire gave freely to the galaxy: fear, anger, and cycles of revenge.
That cycle had to end. Here they could put griefs to rest. Here they could build something good the Empire couldn't touch.
"There," said Merrin, indicating a grassy expanse not far from the Temple. "That'll make a good home."
He gave her a little smile. "That's what I was thinking, too."
"No, it wasn't," she said, turning from him. "You were thinking about everything you've lost again."
"I'm the one who's supposed to be able to read the past."
"You are. But I know that expression." She took his hand, still staring at the place where they would build their home. "Getting to know you and Cere taught me to put my own griefs to rest. My sisters cannot ever return but I can live each day in fulfillment of the happiness they would have wanted for me." She glanced to where Kata and Greez were talking, the latter gesturing as he waxed poetic about the saloon he wanted to build in the next field. "Kata will learn this from us. That is how we honor the memories of those who are gone."
"You're right." Letting go was easier said than done, but Merrin's hand squeezed his and he knew he'd have her with him as he learned. "So about this new home we're building." He turned to the same blank spot in the field. "One story or two?"
"Three at least," she said with a laugh. "With sturdy winding stairs going up the side so we might reach the roof and sleep out under the sky on calm nights. A huge gathering room on the bottom floor close by the kitchens where Greez can make every meal he's every wanted. He'll teach Kata."
Cal pictured it with a strange, soft ache. Merrin had traveled far while they'd been parted, and now she'd observed a cozy life on any number of worlds, but not a life either of them had ever led. For all he knew, the family he'd been born to lived out there on some distant planet in a home like this, warm fires in the kitchens and family members rambling around the steep stone stairs to the higher levels.
"We'll need several," he said. "Once the Hidden Path starts bringing us refugees, they'll need room to spread out."
"They will come and help build their own homes," she said. "Some may want great domes, others low boxes close to the ground. And some will live in the Temple."
"You think of everything. Have you been working on what our home will be like for long?"
She tilted her head oddly. "No." At his confused expression she took his chin and said, "Cal, anywhere with you is home."