Efnir, Nomi, and Somi

After the crew all agreed to not kill Seth Iscandar and to figure out the details of turning him over somehow to a Bounty Hunter on Nar Shadaa or similar, everyone parted to head off to their respective quarters to think more about the situation and get some sleep for the night. Efnir Kis and Nomi Amersu part ways with Somi Amersu in the hall outside their rooms on the lower level, saying some good-nights there with Nomi spending more nights than not in Efnir's room. Efnir sheds his top robes and climbs into bed. "Let's try and get some sleep?" Nomi follows shortly after, perhaps a bit quieter than normal. It takes a bit, but soon she does doze off, since her plans would need to wait until later when everyone is sleeping.

Waking herself up a few hours later she carefully gets out from the covers and is surprised when Efnir, who seemed to be asleep, says, "I think maybe you should stay here with me tonight." She looks over and sees him propped up on an elbow wide awake and staring at her.

Nomi briefly considers lying to him about going to the refresher, but it's only the briefest consideration. Since coming clean about her past as a spy, she has held fast to a policy of truth with those she loves. Now is not the time to break that policy.

She sits on the edge of the bed. "Did you See something?" she asks.

Efnir pauses and looks up. "I Saw Iscandar's death tonight, even though everyone agreed that we would not kill him. Tell me, where were you headed just now?"

Nomi sadly shakes her head. "We all should have agreed that turning Iscandar over into anyone's care is the wrong move. He knows too much. Too much about us, about what we are interested in, about Lilikai. Rhen and Nawah left nothing out of their questioning. If Iscandar escapes or is turned over to the Empire he poses a greater threat now than he ever has before. What is a bounty hunter going to do with him? Find the highest bidder and give him away. If he doesn't have a bounty and they find out he's an Imperial officer that's the first place they'll look for their reward. Do you think the Empire's gonna say 'no thanks, you keep him'? If someone is out there taking justice into their own hands tonight, I do not blame them for doing so." Nomi leans over and kisses Efnir, gently. "I'm sorry."

"Nothing was planned though trying to get him back to the Wookiees in some way was the idea. Then they could deal with him as they saw fit. I know you may have killed in the past but now you are connected to the Force. Those dark deeds have more consequences for you now beyond the ethics or legality of it. I had to make sure that it wasn’t you."

Nomi shakes her head. "Connected to the Force or not, killing leaves a stain. I am aware of the consequences. If I were to execute someone I would do it in full cognizance of those ramifications. Thank you for looking out for me, I hope you don't frequently feel worried about my choices." Nomi reaches out and cups Efnir's cheek with her hand. "I may make choices that you do not agree with. I hope that it does not harm our love." She smiles at him fondly, but her affection is tinged with sadness. "So, what do we do now?"

"I know he is dangerous, but it is different when it is not self-defense. It is too much like the Sith and I couldn’t handle that vision of you. So I thought if you never left the room I could be sure. Maybe this vision is one that can change, and we could still find another answer in the morning." He looks doubtful. "There's still many hours until awakening and some of that should probably be sleep. At least I would prefer that instead of sitting by the door all night."

Nomi slides back into bed next to Efnir. "Iscandar knows we can't let him go. I believe he would rather die at the hands of someone who respects him as a threat and perhaps whom he respects as an adversary than some faceless mob or being torn apart by angry Wookiees. Just because we don't lift our own hands in his death does not make us less culpable if we knowingly give him to those who would kill him. If this death is preceded by torture or suffering, I believe it is of greater reprehensibility than doing it myself."

Willingly, she wiggles around until her body is farther from the door than Efnir's, making it harder for her to sneak out. "I will not make you sit by the door or hold me or it in place all night. But, while I love you and I love your opinion, I know to my deepest understanding of Truth that I cannot let Iscandar leave this ship alive. He is too dangerous to our group, he poses a threat to whatever we plan on Zoph and he knows how to use us against Lilikai or Lilikai against us. If he goes free, he will not afford us the same decency were we to meet him in the future. We can't hold him forever and we can't guarantee another will hold him. He's too sneaky - too likely to convince anyone else to let him go. I see no other way." She wipes her cheeks and lays down, starting blankly up at the dark ceiling. Nomi feels the bite of hypocrisy in her heart, knowing that if Efnir saw the deed and she is giving up so easily, another of her crew is probably doing her dirty work. She feels like a coward; she's afraid of losing Efnir and of facing the pain it would cause her to kill Iscandar, but knows that hatred may drive another to use cruel means or humiliation where Nomi would offer him dignity and respect. Tears run freely down her temples, over her ear bumps and onto the pillow (or Efnir's arm, if it's under her head).

Efnir holds her close and comes to the same conclusion: if she does if fact stay, then someone else is going to follow through with the execution. For a brief moment he thinks about going out, but decides to stay. If it is going to happen, at least there is a short list of suspects (Brawln, Nawah, the Nightsisters, and Vic Dantor, having ruled out Nomi, Somi, Vesper Syl'tine, and himself) so maybe just lay back and let the adults sort it out. It does solve a problem, but Efnir feels that is a token excuse to feel better about something he would not do. Feeling young, naive, and weak he buries his head under Nomi's lekku and tries to disappear until sleep finally comes.

Nomi wakes at the time she usually would go do her Captain's rounds. Guilt writhes uncomfortably in her belly and she is loathe to leave the little sanctuary of love in the room she (basically) shares with Efnir. She kisses him awake, seeking to mask her grief and guilt with the physical exertion of other, happier emotions.

The Rouge Ronto wasn't THAT large of a ship, so Somi knew that Vesper had limited places to hide. Normally she'd be right on his metaphorical heels (she wasn't sure if Bothans technically had heels), but her processing of the implications of the midnight shenanigans surrounding Iscandar left her slower to react when Vesper suddenly dashed out of sight rather than answer her questions. Vic's room was probably out, but if there was a place where Vesper had another hidey-hole, it would be in the room of someone he knew well.

Hoping to catch Vesper unawares, Somi decided to just barge into Efnir's cabin at full speed, where she skids to a sudden stop trying to catch a glimpse of disappearing fur. "Vesper! I know you're in he-" Somi exclaims before suddenly cutting herself off as she notices her sister and former classmate locked in a passionate kiss.

It was very obvious she should have knocked.

Efnir's head pops out from behind Nomi and says "Um...Vesper is not" (pauses and looks) "likely here."

"Somi!" Nomi's face shows her shock and embarrassment as she blushes. Perhaps the Force was still on her side, twisting fate to bring Somi here before she and Efnir had moved beyond kissing. "What are you..." she starts to ask, but stops mid sentence as her knowledge of her sister catches up to her racing brain and heart and she notices just how distressed Somi appears. "Are you okay?" Nomi slides sideways on the shared bed and stands up distracting Somi from the sight of Efnir without a shirt. "Is the crew alright?"

Somi blushes rapidly as she quickly realizes what was about to happen. She is prepared to provide a hastily mumbled apology about not knocking and back out the door, figuring that if Vesper was actually hiding in there, he deserved the awkward lesson that was about to ensue, but Nomi's question causes her to pause.

"Um..." Somi says, as she takes the moment to reorganize the momentum of her thoughts. She sits down on the unused bunk, averting her eyes until she is fully sure that it is safe to look back at her friend and her sister. "Were you in the bunk all night?"

Nomi nods, glancing over at Efnir and squeezing his hand as she looks back at Somi. "Yes. Never left. I haven't done my rounds this morning. What happened?"

"Iscandar is dead." Somi delivers the news looking at both Efnir and Somi for the first time since entering. "I don't know who did it - I found Vesper cleaning up the supply closet. His body is missing, too. I know Vesper knows who decided to take the matter into their own hands, but he ran off and hid instead of answering the question."

She grabs the end of her left lekku and strokes the end slightly, something she's always done since a child when uncomfortable.

Efnir nods with no evidence of surprise. "I guess it was not avoidable after all. I am not sure why Vesper ran, but we can be sure he wouldn't commit such a deed." He lays back and lets out a sigh of frustration, then is quiet.

Nomi looks regretful and sad. "I'm sorry." She says, though it's not clear to Somi what she is apologizing about. That she didn't stop it; that she didn't do it herself; that Somi feels so upset; that Efnir thought Nomi was the only one on the crew who would stoop to clandestinely killing a dangerous enemy; all of the above?

"Vesper doesn't like confrontation. He never has. Perhaps he felt you would be angry at him or ask him to help you do something about it." She sighs again. "As captain, I will make inquiries, Somi. I have a good idea of how to figure it out. Then what? We find out what happened and put the person in trial? For Iscandar's murder?"

Somi continues stroking the end of her lekku, focusing her attention on that, rather than the others in the room. "I wanted to make sure it wasn't you," she says in a quiet, barely audible voice.

Nomi takes a deep breath, biting back her first response. "So did Efnir. Had I done it, it would not have been out of hatred, but to protect the people that I love. I did not harbor any ill will for Iscandar and he knew that, I think." Nomi stands up and paces across the small room. Efnir can feel the intense guilt feelings rolling off of her. "And if it was going to happen, I think he would have preferred it was me. But I was too much of a coward to do it."

"I'm glad it wasn't you. I know that you feel responsible that it wasn't you, but I think it would have been worse if you had. Logically, I know we didn't have many alternatives, but I don't like that it happened." She sighs. "It would have been one thing if it happened during battle, but a middle of the night execution just feels wrong."

Somi is now clutching her lekku, sounding slightly angry. "We all agreed to wait until morning."

"I agree that a middle of the night execution was wrong. It wasn't what I would have done. But I don't understand what would have made it worse for me to do it than someone else. Worse for your vision of who I am and what I am capable of, maybe." Nomi paces a few more times. "We were backed into a corner. But I should have stopped it." Pausing, she looks over at Efnir who is still in their shared bed. Then with a frown she turns and pulls open a drawer, retrieving clothing and her holster. She grabs her jacket from the hook and goes to the door. Turning back to her loved ones she says, "Thank you for looking out for me. I'm sorry you feel so little trust in my judgement that you feel my mortal soul is your responsibility. But I'm a grown up. I can make my own choices and I have full understanding of the consequences. I've probably seen more beings who have fallen to the Dark and the consequences of their actions than many Jedi ever did by my age. I'm not Lilikai and I won't do what she did. Maybe next time you can ask me about what I intend or what I did rather than assume the worst." Nomi opens the door. "I'm going to be alone, now."

Somi clutches her lekku even tighter.

“You can’t declare yourself responsible for everyone else and not accept the same accountability from everyone else! That’s where the temptation comes in. Darkness has a hunger that’s insatiable!” Somi calls out at her sister, sounding more frustrated than angry at this point.

Nomi turns back from the open door and closes it slowly behind her.

"I'm angry because I feel as though you both decided I was going to do something wrong or had done something wrong, but rather than talk to me about it and find out where I stood you treated me as though I could not understand the moral consequences of whatever choice I might make. I don't mind being protected from others, by all means take that kind of responsibility. And thank you for doing it. I protect my crew from outside dangers and I take responsibility to make sure they don't endanger others by their actions. But you were protecting me from myself without asking me and treating me like a child.

"I'm upset because I told Iscandar that I would try and figure something out to keep him alive and now I don't have a chance. I'm sad because now I have to send Iscandar's last message to his wife and it's something no wife wants to hear.

"I love you both. But I am dealing with a lot of emotions right now and I feel like I am receiving judgement for something I didn't even do.

"And yes, if it came down to it, I was going to kill him because I didn't see that anyone of our crew, Lilikai or our friends on Zoph would be safe with him back with the Empire or with anyone we didn't KNOW was going to control what happened with him. But I would not have done it clandestinely like a criminal in the middle of the night.

"Do you understand me now?"

Efnir looks a little confused. "We know you didn't and we are glad for it, but what do you mean you wouldn't have done it like a criminal in the middle of the night? Then where were you going before I asked you to stay?" He shakes his head a bit. "Maybe it doesn't even matter. Iscandar is no longer a threat regardless of who took action. We can move on."

Somi's expression doesn't quite shift to confused - instead it becomes something closer to concern. She still keeps hold of her lekku. "If you're interpreting our concern for judgement, then I apologize for not making myself clearer."

"I feel that you're putting too much responsibility on to yourself. It sounds like you're making yourself responsible for the decisions of everyone around you. It worries me, because I have never seen that end well."

Nomi answers Efnir first with a shrug. "I had given him a blanket and a pillow and I had told him I would be back for them before morning came. It didn't really matter. So I didn't go." Then she turns to Somi with a tired glance. "I'm not responsible for everyone else's decisions, but I am responsible for my own. And thank you for your concern." She gives them both a smile. "Time to start the day." She turns and does leave then, taking her clothes with her to change elsewhere.

Efnir turns to Somi. "Whoever did this might have beaten her to it anyway, so I wonder if she is just mad that it happened out of her control? I probably should have gone to Iscandar to intercept whoever rather than just keep her out of it. I don't like this feeling bad about trying to do something good. I just am not sure I am ready to embrace the pragmatic for survival fully and drop everything we were taught at the Temple, you know? There's already enough from those days that is gone forever."

Somi turns her head to Efnir. "I'm worried about her. I know she's denying it, but it really seems like she's taking on more emotional responsibility than is good for her. She's not usually so..." Somi trails off as she looks for the right word. "Defensive?"

Efnir nods. "I tried to shield her somewhat from this since she has not had our training and even so killing outside of self-defense is against the code. I can't say this currently feels like the correct path, but I hope this is better than the alternative. Times like this make me miss having a Master to confide in for answers and guidance."

Somi smiles slightly, her grip loosened on her lekku. "At very least we have each other to talk to."

She starts to head out as well, having given up on her original mission of finding Vesper, before turning back to Efnir. "Thanks for watching over her."

Efnir nods at Somi as she leaves then sits alone in his room, quiet.