Chapter 37: Telling the Truth

“Congratulations are in order, Master. Your promotion is well-deserved. If only it was under better circumstances…” Smiling slightly, Aayla inclines her head. “Thank you, my Padawan. Yes… if only.” It’s a testament to the current state of their relationship that the two of them are kneeling across from each other in the shared lounge are of their quarters with Shaak Ti, instead of being already engaged in some sort of… sexual activity. Tylo wouldn’t call it strained, necessarily… but it had certainly gotten serious. Then again, what did he truly know? Perhaps it was strained, and he was just fooling himself. Of course, he had an undeniable advantage, even now, over the newly promoted Jedi Master in front of him. Stay strong, Aayla. No matter how badly you want him, now is not the time. Knowing what she was thinking, knowing that his beloved Master was balancing on a knife’s edge between fucking him and trying to maintain some level of decorum and control over this situation, Tylo is well aware of the power he holds. If he wanted to, he could certainly push Aayla into forgetting all about her concerns with a rousing bout of sex. His mind flashes back for a moment to the final conversation he and Annie had had on their return approach to the Jedi Temple. By that point, Padme had split off and it had just been the two of them in the back of the droid-operated transport. So of course, the two Padawans had engaged in some last minute coitus, with Annie bouncing up and down on his cock, kissing him deeply with her arms wrapped around his neck. It was then and there, as he’d been buried inside of her, that his fellow Padawan had disengaged from their lip lock to press her forehead against his and whisper something incredibly arousing to him. “I know you have other sexual relationships, Tylo. I don’t mind. In fact… I want you to keep doing it. I want you to fuck any woman who gives you the time of day. The thought of you taking them, dominating them, plowing them silly… it’s so fucking hot.” Tylo had been caught a little off guard, but Annie’s thoughts had provided the context he was missing. His fellow Padawan was secure in their love for each other. She not only found the thought of him fucking others titillating in the extreme, but she also fully trusted that as much as his dick got passed around, she would ALWAYS have his heart. And… it was true. Annie was the only one he’d waited for. She was the only one he’d held back with and kept at arm’s length until they were both ready for something more. And maybe the bedrock of their relationship wasn’t entirely based in health, thanks to Annie’s trauma over the injuries she took from Dooku, but all the same… he wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Yet, at the same time… Aayla Secura was his Master. And it was long past the point where he needed to stop lying to her. “Padawan… I think it’s time we had a talk about things I sensed back on Geonosis.” Aayla, it seemed, was in agreement. Bowing his head, Tylo ignores the repressed sexual desire in his Master’s mind, respecting her efforts to hold back her own depravity and take this seriously. “Yes, Master. I’ve been keeping secrets from you, and its high time I told you… everything.” That gets Aayla’s attention, her eyes widening slightly and her thoughts turning towards slight confusion. After all, all she felt was the brief brush with the Dark Side when he’d closed Janga Fett’s wind pipe in a moment of pure panic and fear. She didn’t know about… everything else. Straightening up, squaring his shoulders and working his jaw, Tylo lets out a long breath before finally speaking. “I have recently had a brush with the Dark Side, Master, just as you felt. And… I have also fallen in love. I believe these two things to be mutually exclusive.” Then, because he can’t just stop there, he’s held off on this long enough, Tylo goes a step further… a step beyond what he’s done with anyone ever, Annie included. “Also… there’s more. About myself. About an ability I’ve had all my life that is… not connected to the Force.” Aayla’s brow furrows, as Tylo explains. -x-X-x- To say the newly minted Twi’lek Jedi Master was thrown for a loop by her Padawan’s admissions would be an understatement. As his Master, Aayla was expected to guide Tylo in every way she possibly could. She’d long known that theirs was an… alternative sort of Master-Padawan arrangement though. He controlled the pace in the bedroom, to the extent that they’d even moved in with High Council Member Shaak Ti, just so both she and the Togruta Jedi Master could satisfy her Padawan’s insatiable needs. Not that Aayla’s own libido wasn’t incredibly high. Not that her own needs weren’t equally insatiable… That said, she couldn’t help but feel like she failed, somewhere along the way. She- “No, Master. You have not failed me. Please, don’t think that.” Aayla flushes, as Tylo suddenly reaches out and takes one of her hands, giving it a comforting squeeze. She once again checks her mental shields in the Force. They hold strong, even now, but- “… But my ability is not of the Force. In the end… one’s connection to the Force, or training in shielding their mind… is meaningless before what I do. I hope you can understand why I’ve waited so long to tell anyone about it. I was afraid of what it would mean for my future…” Yes, that was an incredibly fair fear to have. At the same time though… “Yes, Master. I regularly meditate on that fear and release it into the Force. That fear is not what drove me to use the Dark Side, as I already explained.” Right. Aayla finds herself almost latching onto that, onto the one part of all of this she truly felt equipped to help Tylo deal with. His brushes with the Dark Side, and yes there had apparently been multiple, were partially her fault anyways. She shouldn’t have let Obi-Wan take him, obviously. The other Jedi had left Tylo behind, a Padawan on an unknown planet, with an unknown alien species and a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter. Kenobi’s neglect rankled with Aayla something fierce and- “Now who’s the one who needs to release their emotions into the Force, Master?” Finally, Aayla looks to her Padawan with a deep frown. Tylo immediately has the good grace to look abashed. “I am aware that you have spent your entire life hiding your knowledge of others’ thoughts, Padawan. I am aware that you have no real way of turning off this ability, and that being able to actually respond to the things you hear is a novel experience for you. However, I would appreciate being allowed to organize my thoughts without interruptions for a few minutes at least, no matter what you might see or hear. Do I make myself clear?” At the admonishment, Tylo ducks his head. “Yes, Master.” Aayla shudders. She’s never talked to him like that before. She’s not sure she likes it. She would much prefer to be… no, best not even let herself think in that direction. Eyeing Tylo, seeing that he’s staying quiet now, Aayla nods her approval and returns to her thoughts. Yes, he’s hearing everything she’s thinking… but that’s no matter. She already trusted her Padawan implicitly, truth be told. Which was why everything he’d told her was so troubling. It was one thing for him to snap against the Mandalorian woman Bo-Katan Kryze and use the Dark Side to defeat her in a duel. It was one thing for him to panic as Janga Fett sought to activate a self-destruct that would have killed them all and call upon the Dark Side again in a moment of fear. These were things that Aayla felt equipped to handle. These were things she’d been trained to handle. It was the other revelations that she wasn’t entirely sure what to do with. That Tylo was apparently in love with Annie Skywalker and had engaged in not just sexual relations with his fellow Padawan, but in intensely emotional sexual relations, was bad enough. But the revelation about his genetic ability to read minds, it’s completely disconnected nature from the Force, and what he’d ‘heard’ on Kamino… that was something Aayla wasn’t sure what to do about. … Frankly, she had always had a somewhat different relationship with the Force, compared to the rest of the Jedi Order. Her and her Master, Quinlan Vos, had had their own brushes with the Dark Side. Ultimately, Aayla couldn’t even say for sure that Tylo and Annie’s love was wrong. Worst of all, she already knew what decision she was going to make. And thanks to Tylo’s ability, he knew as well. They don’t have to say anything, at least. Aayla makes eye contact with her Padawan, and he nods solemnly as they silently exchange a look of deeper understanding than anyone else ever could without Tylo’s mind-reading. Put simply, Aayla could not condemn nor judge Tylo and Annie’s relationship… and her duty to her Padawan, she felt, came before her duty to the Jedi Order, no matter how much either of them might have owed to the institution for raising them and bringing them together. She would keep Tylo and Annie’s relationship secret. She would keep it safe. And hopefully, with her help, Tylo could separate the fear of loss that came with such a deep attachment, from the light of his love for Annie Skywalker. “Yes, Master. I promise, I won’t keep you out of the loop going forward.” That was the most Aayla could ask for. Of course, then they got to the final thing. Tylo’s oh-so dangerous knowledge. Truthfully, it was almost unbelievable… but of course, Aayla didn’t doubt her Padawan for a moment. “Thank you, Master.” Tylo’s last two responses have been quiet and relatively unobtrusive, so Aayla just nods to him as she considers what he’s told her. Frankly, there’s a festering fear in her own heart, at learning what he’s learned. All things considered; it was no wonder her Padawan had felt the touch of the Dark Side after what he’d heard. Taking her Padawan’s other hand, Aayla reaches out with the Force, and Tylo does the same. It’s certainly not physical sex, but in a way, it’s a metaphysical sort of joining, as their two Force Presences mingle together, and they both acknowledge their fear before releasing it out into the Force in a shared moment of meditation. Exhaling at the same time, they both feel a slight weight leave their respective shoulders. But only a slight weight. After all, the danger is still there. The Sith’s plan is still in motion. “Master… surely, we cannot fight this war. We need to put a stop to this, don’t we?” Aayla’s lips thin out at that. In truth, she’s not entirely sure they can. If Dooku was telling the truth, if Obi-Wan heard properly, then… the Senate is under the control of a Sith Lord. Perhaps that was a lie. It would certainly be lovely to believe it was a deception on Count Dooku’s part. After all, the man was now steeped in the Dark Side. It would be so nice to be able to say no part of the stalwart Jedi Master he once was remained. It would be so lovely to be able to claim that he was lying from start to finish. However… the evidence was staring them right in the face, wasn’t it? “… You’re right, Master.” Aayla’s smile is wan, as she nods to her Padawan, still holding Tylo’s hands. Put bluntly, his information, combined with what Dooku told Obi-Wan… it all adds up. It fits together too well. The Kaminoans and the Clone Army are supposed to be on the side of the Republic and the Jedi Order. But Tylo heard from the mind of the Prime Minister himself that they were working for the Sith, and that the clones were a trap for the Jedi. But how could that be… unless a Sith Lord truly WAS in control of the Senate? If they went to the Jedi High Council with this information, what would happen if it got out? The Sith might enact their plan early. Would that be better or worse than trying to do everything themselves? Should they approach no one with their information? Or perhaps hedge their bets, and approach Master Ti? Or was it time to go all in and go directly to Master Windu? Going to Master Windu with this was as good as going to Master Yoda and the entire High Council… but maybe it was time. Maybe there’d been enough secrets. Aayla might be newly promoted, but she was still a Jedi Master now. She shouldn’t have to reveal all of Tylo’s secrets to make sure this knowledge got out there… right? She- Aayla blushes, as Tylo suddenly leans forward and kisses her. She finds herself hungrily responding a moment later, pushing right back into him. Ah, damn it… she could figure it out later. -x-X-x- His Master had been spiraling, mentally. And as important as this all was, Tylo figured they had an hour to spend on getting Aayla’s head on straight. Of course, the only way he truly knew how to do THAT was through copious amounts of sex. And so… that was what he would do. He would fuck the beautiful blue-skinned Twi’lek and give her something else to think about for a little while. Or more like, an excuse to stop thinking altogether, heh. Pushing his Master down to the floor, still kissing her deeply, Tylo divests her of her new robes, the robes she was given as part of her promotion. They honestly hadn’t felt like they really fit her, and he’s glad to see her usual garb just under them, her tight top containing her beautiful blue breasts and her equally tight leather pants. His hands move down her body, across her garments, and he quickly divests her of them as well without a single moment of hesitation. He wants to be inside of her, but more importantly, he wants to embrace her, skin to skin, flesh to flesh. As he leans back to do the same with his own clothing, Aayla moans beneath him, her thoughts as much an open book as ever. Nnngh. Yes, Padawan, yes. Take me. Give it to me. Let me stop thinking, if only for a moment. He didn’t have all the answers, and neither, it seemed, did Aayla just yet. But this much? This much, Tylo could do for his beloved Master.