Not Milliways Continuity :Aftermath, here be spoilers.

[last_kallig]

Ibani feels....well, she's not sure how to describe what she feels. She comes through the door to Milliways looking shaken and pale, vulnerable. She hates being vulnerable.

Darth Zash tried to steal her body, her identity, her power, her legacy, and was within a hair's breadth of success. Ibani is trying not to think about it, because she's afraid that if she starts to fall apart in here there will be no getting herself back together.

She has her hands wrapped around a mug of something intensely alcoholic, but she hasn't drunk any of it yet. Her hands are shaking, you see, and they never shake.

Comments

[iprotectyou]

Baze can't feel people's moods through the Force, but he can see how pale Ibani's face is, and the slight tremor to her shoulders. He approaches cautiously, his normally light step a heavy tread to alert her to his presence. He loops his massive arms around her thin shoulders, leaning his chin on one and offering silent support.

[last_kallig]

It takes Ibani entirely too long to notice Baze's presence, which is another warning sign. She leans into his arms, trembling a little despite herself.

"Baze. It's so good to see you."

[iprotectyou]

"Ibani," Baze murmurs, and sets to kneading her shoulders, smoothing out tension and dragging his thumbs across knots gathered there by many hours of blade practice. "What happened?"

[last_kallig]

Ibani giggles, the sound having a hysterical edge to it. "I found out what Darth Zash's plan was. I didn't, I had no idea."

The kneading feels good, feels grounding.

"Worse than killing me, so much worse. Her body was dying, so she needed another one..." Ibani's throat closes up, remembered horror creeping in and temporarily strangling new words.

[iprotectyou]

That giggling is terrible, and Baze's expression--while sour to begin with--darkens considerably. He smoothes his fingers over her skin, pinching the muscles where her shoulders meet her neck.

"I'm sorry," he says, offering what comfort he can. "You don't have to talk about it, if it's too difficult."

[last_kallig]

"Thank you. I, I need to tell it, I think. If I keep it inside I don't know that I can hold myself together."

She swallows. "She planned to take MY body, my life, my identity." Her tone and her expression grows angry as she continues. "To force my soul out of my body and STEAL everything that I am!"

"She was within a hair's breadth of success too, when Khem Val intervened."

[iprotectyou]

Baze swears under his breath in Jedhan, something about pounding sand. "I'm glad she failed," he says, nearly biting through his tongue with how clipped the words are. "And I'm glad he intervened. What happened to her?"

[last_kallig]

"That's where things get...weirder," Ibani continues. "Instead of taking MY body, she ended up in Khem Val's, only she didn't displace HIM. They're, well, fighting one another for control, I suppose. I can't imagine how awful it must be to have someone taking control of your body from time to time, to have them in your head!"

Ibani smiles viciously. "And now she's bound to obey ME the same way Khem Val is. You should have heard her scream of frustrated rage when she discovered THAT."

[iprotectyou]

Baze offers her a grim smile in return. "Good," he says, nodding exactly once. "Hopefully he'll never relinquish control to her--though either way, you win. What will you do now?"

[last_kallig]

"Survive the investigation into the...accident that killed Darth Zash," Ibani replies. "We're not allowed to blatantly murder one another, after all."

"And figure out how to train the two apprentices of hers that I've inherited, who are both older than me."

[iprotectyou]

"Ah," Baze says, still massaging her shoulders, and moving on to a particularly stubborn knot in the middle. "Do you think they'll pin it on you, given that she attacked first? Or will you be able to conceal the facts in your favor?"

[last_kallig]

Ibani sighs as he hits that knot. "Well, from a certain point of view, it WAS an accident. She left her body to take mine, which resulted in that body's death. And she certainly didn't PLAN on winding up in Khem Val."

"And Darth Thanaton hates her, which may make him less inclined to dig into things too far. Although I have a nasty feeling all the artifacts I gathered will wind up in his custody as 'evidence' interminably."

[iprotectyou]

"Hopefully he won't become too powerful with them," Baze says, shaking his head. He's meticulous about the shoulder rub, as he always is about these things, starting on her left side and working his way across to her right. "I'm glad you might be able to escape this unscathed--well, at least politically. I can tell you're upset otherwise, and don't mean to discount that."

[last_kallig]

"Hopefully," Ibani agrees. "And I need to find a way to get Zash out of Khem Val. Permanently. She's cunning, and she's got nothing but time. She's certainly the kind to try and get around the bond to find a way to hurt me."

"Yes. I'm, I feel...torn? Like something's ripped a hole in me."

[iprotectyou]

"Oh, Ibani," Baze says with a soft sigh. He abandons the kneading and wraps his arms around her again, holding her close. "I'm so sorry. Do you think that will fade in time? It had better."

[last_kallig]

"I hope it will, it has to," she says, leaning into Baze. "Right now it hurts to use the Force to actively DO anything."

And that would be a death sentence, in her position.

[iprotectyou]

"It hurts to use the Force?" Baze says, shuddering. He buries his nose in her hair, squeezing her tight. "I can't even imagine what that must be like. You can stay here until it fades, right? Until you recover?"

[last_kallig]

Ibani nods, hugging him tight. "I plan to. I'm not going back until I'm at 100%."

"It's like my soul is bruised," she explains. "I don't know how else to describe the sensation."

[iprotectyou]

"Good," Baze says, caging her in his massive, meaty arms. He cuddles her close, tucking her into that one comfortable spot in his armor between his arm and his chest. Chirrut's spot. "A bruised soul sounds awful. And bruises are tender for a long, long time. I hope you recover quickly. Is there anything we can do to help?"

[last_kallig]

This feels nice, no wonder Chirrut is so fond of cuddling up to Baze like this!

"So do I. I don't think there's anything you can do, other than what you already are. I wouldn't even know where to start with fixing bruises to the soul."

[iprotectyou]

"Well, you can get blisteringly drunk," Baze says, his voice vibrating through his armored chest. "I'm teasing, of course. But it is an option."

[last_kallig]

Ibani chuckles at that. "Not sure that's a good idea, with my nerves like this. Not taking that option off the table for the entirety of my stay though."

[iprotectyou]

"You can stay with us, if you want to," Baze says, snuggling closely. "We'll protect you."

[last_kallig]

"Thank you," Ibani replies. "I'm more worried about being a threat to myself than outside threats, so long as I have my lightsabers. My ability to sense things through the Force doesn't hurt, which means I should know if there are threats about."

"I haven't really lost control since I was a child, but I've never had anything like this happen either. Hopefully, I won't accidentally break or electrocute anything."

[iprotectyou]

Baze isn't sure how she'd be a threat to herself--or him and Chirrut--until she continues speaking. Then he nods. "I can't even picture you losing control, honestly."

As if Baze is ever not honest.

"I hope you won't, though I can't imagine how a bruise to the soul would cause you to. I don't want you to test your lightning if using your Force powers hurts you, but it would be good to know," Baze says, carding his fingers through her hair. "I am not afraid."