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The first thing Stellan remembers about Avar Kriss, was when they were just crèche mates. They had all taken a trip to Feluca, appreciating not only the eccentric architecture and culture of the people, but also the flora that surrounded their cities. There had come a point where they needed to cross a chasm, which at the time, seemed almost impossible to traverse. Most of the other younglings hesitated, himself included. But not her. Avar sprinted as fast as her legs could and she jumped across the gap as though it was nothing. Everyone was in awe and Stellan couldn’t help but think of how brave this girl was.
Elzar’s first memory of Avar is the same one, but after taking her leap of faith, she turned and her eyes immediately landed on his. She smiled at him and urged him to jump. Without thinking, he did exactly that. When he landed next to her, he looked at her still smiling face and he couldn’t help but think of how beautiful this girl was.
The first time Avar spars with Elzar, she plants him firmly on his butt, taking only a little bit of pride in the action after all the trash talk he did before hand.
When Stellan’s turn comes against her, he gracefully takes the upper hand and disarms her before she can realize what is happening. They all accept they can learn something from one another.
Until they are able to wear Padawan braids, there isn’t a day they aren’t together. Living peacefully at the temple with their best friends, getting up to trouble often enough to earn a moniker for their little trio. “Firebrands” the Masters have dubbed them. They aren’t truly sure what that even means, but they wear it like a badge of honor.
They meditate together, eat together, train and grow together. That develops a bond between them they don’t even fully understand, but they know they are stronger together.
They all feel like a fish out of water when their Master’s chose them and they are pulled apart. Their bond still there, but now they truly see the strength of working together. Every-time they reunite, it is always that much more meaningful. Each time, the hello hugs are tighter, and the goodbye partings become longer. Their Master’s don’t reprimand them, but they must learn they won’t always have each other to lean on.
Stellan’s first extended mission away from Avar and Elzar, he comes to the realization of what his friendship with them means to him. How lucky he is to have them and be challenged by them constantly. They make him shine all the brighter with their own light.
One of the many times they reunite, they escape into the Coruscant streets, running after one another. Their padawan braids dangling loosely from their heads, smiles plastered in their faces, not a care in the galaxy. In that moment, everything seemed perfect.
Sometimes, they go on missions together. Those assignments were usually more difficult than when they were alone. Their ability to work flawlessly with one another were useful in those situations and their Master’s (and the Council for that matter) are always impressed by how the Firebrands seem bound by the Force.
There was a moment when things began to change. A shift in their trio as Stellan began to notice Avar and Elzar slowly drifting closer together. Two stars, seemingly destined for collision. At first, it scared him, he wasn’t sure what to think of it. But then, when he found them together one morning in Elzar’s room, he couldn’t help but wish they were converging into him.
Avar didn’t know when her attraction to Elzar began, but when they kissed, she realized it didn’t matter, only that she wanted him.
Elzar never had to convince Avar to let their attraction for one another become a full fledged fling. In fact, she seemed more eager than he had when they finally were at a tipping point. Spending all of their free time together, he wondered how long it would last.
Stellan made a point to express how Avar and Elzar’s intimacy was dangerous, how they were not considering the consequences of what their actions would be. Avar told him that they understood where the line was between them. Elzar had half jokingly stated that if Stellan was feeling left out, all he had to do was ask to join.
If Stellan did feel left out, he never expressed it. The trio continued on as they always had, united no matter what.
Avar and Elzar had been subtle, but they knew that a handful of people sensed their heightened connection to one another, to include their Masters. They had expected to be pulled apart as other hormone driven padawans had been, but the day never came. Though they were grateful, they also didn’t want to give their Masters a reason to separate them, so they continued stealing glances during the day and breathing each other in at night.
Though they always shared a bond with one another, nothing allowed them to be as close and open as giving their bodies and soul to the other. They appreciated the connection they had formed, renewed by the idea that it felt right, being with one another as they were. Surely the Force wouldn’t have brought them together if it wasn’t meant to be.
Stellan often wondered what they experienced, two bright stars, hovering in each others orbits. Did they know how he saw them? How brilliant they seemed to him? From afar, he knew the feelings they had for one another, though they never said it out loud and he never dared to ask either of them.
Adolescence came to a halt the day their braids were severed. This came with a shift in their paradigm. They all knew that once they reach knighthood, their childhood would be but a memory, one that they hopefully looked back on fondly. They promised each other to stay in contact as much as possible.
They had been lucky enough to be placed in several missions post knighting together. The Council calling on the Firebrands, Gios, Kriss and Mann to solve galactic problems, one that required each other them to put their strengths to the test and solve whatever challenges came their way.
Stellan grew in more ways than one. Not only gaining confidence in his abilities as a Jedi, but recognizing his talent in leadership. His first brilliant feat brought him the thanks of an entire system of planets, the second, a promotion to Master.
Avar wasn’t far behind, displaying her unique ability to connect Force sensitive individuals. Though Elzar had given her the idea years ago, she never truly felt like she could do it, let alone needed to until she had no other option. Stellan remarked to the Council of how courageous she had been. Elzar looked upon Master Kriss and reflected on how little she had truly changed.
Elzar couldn’t help but feel left behind. For all his talents, his probing of the Force for answers, new ways to learn and explore, his elevation hadn’t come. He watch Stellan and Avar bare the weight of leadership in the Order. Watched them become burdened with it, no matter how hard they tried to stand tall, seeing the weight slowly begin to crush them both.
Then, darkness consumed the galaxy. The once unbreakable trio find themselves isolated from one another. Pushed to their physical and mental limits, forgetting themselves and the bond that wove them together. Each tumbled into despair, only to be pulled out by one another in the end, with that one thing that connected beings all throughout the galaxy saving them. That tiny word with large implications.
Love.