A Pirate wedding was a big deal. Most of the honored traditions of a human wedding were adhered to, though there were facets of different alien cultures thrown in. One thing that didn’t change was the seclusion away from one another before the actual ceremony. Alex had spent the time trying to decide what to wear, also comb the dreads from her hair. It no longer seemed appropriate to her. From the moment she asked Drogan to marry her, she was no longer a Pirate. She didn’t see herself that way. From that moment onward, she was on her way out. There was one thing she needed to do, something she didn’t feel powerful or Mirialan enough to do before. As she set the hairbrush down, she knew the time had come; she could go no further or put her family back together without doing it.

Being Mirialan, there were things to be done. Things she needed to do to honor her Ancestors. Reflections on her marriage to Bernard came flooding back. The preparation. The Ritual, both before and after the ceremony. Uniting under the Unity was no small matter. It was the joining of two sentient beings under the watch of that which they worshipped, which controlled their destiny. And one’s destiny was no longer their own, it was now a shared destiny under the eyes of the Unity. Drogan was not Mirialan, he wouldn’t understand the reasoning behind doing what she needed to do in order to prepare. And Alex was not going to subject him to any of the pre-ceremony ritual or post-ceremony prayers that went with being married to one another. Alex was sure the Unity and her Ancestors would understand.

The time had come to ask him. Nothing was more important than communing with her late husband. Mirialans are a spiritual people, she was raised and trained in the academies on Mirial to adhere to the rituals and scriptures of ‘The Unity’. The De’nabre’s were no exception to that rule and it had been so very long since she even approached her Ancestors, though they were never far from her thoughts. As Alex knelt in the darkness of her room, she removed the candle from her personal things and lit it. Kneeling before the dim light and as the green smoke of the candle began to slowly waft its way around her, she bowed her head; closing her eyes.

“Unity be praised. I come to you now, this hour of need. To seek audience with the one who has gone before. I have heard from my Ancestors, Great Unity of my Blood. I seek to hear from the one I am bound to. Ancestors watch over me. Great spirits of my people, Ancestors of my line…I come before you humbled and ashamed by my lack of communion. It has been so long since I have spoken to you or touched any of you in prayer. I ask that you come to me now in this my hour of greatest need. I ask that you…Bernard; my husband…answer my call…”

The smoke seemed to move with an unseen force, a wind that was not present as it sped up and seemed to disappear in the darkness of the room. In her mind’s eye, Alex steeped deeply into the Force, she began to see the emergence of an image. Time passed, she lost track of it until in that eye she saw a shape emerge clearer. More, she felt it in the Force, move through her. A voice that only she could hear. Alex smiled as she recognized it.

Alex looked up and into the image of her long-lost husband. Bernard’s blue glow seemed to fill the room. There were no words as tears dripped down the side of her face. Time was short, he knew it and Alex knew it. With her power as well as her former life returning to her; Bernard smiled, reached out his hand and nodded to his wife solemnly. The permission had been given.

Unlike before, when Alex asked permission from the Ancestors of her line, this request was much more solemn. And she lacked the strength to ask before, even considered not asking at all. But with her faith returning, she knew at some point; on the day of days, she would have to answer to The Unity for not asking. Though it was only a formality as far as Alex was concerned. Having Bernard appear and give his blessing spoke volumes to the new found faith and returning connection she once had to the Force. And Alex knew she still had a long way to go.

--

They talked details, Drogan seemed sullen and sad. She knew it was for her that he was doing it. Never once did he complain, never did he say anything about the ‘arrangement’. Guilt crept into her once again, the only thing overriding it was the guilt at having lost her children. Drogan did his best to keep it ‘professional’ and even as he talked to her like it was a business relationship, she could sense him holding something back.

Alex hated herself, she was hurting him to get what she wanted. Try as he might to play it off, Alex could sense it. It was more than just possessing her or doing her a favor; Alex reclaiming a part of her life was like placing the pieces of a broken heart back together. Something she never thought a pirate would understand. But, he understood much more than she gave him credit for. Listening to her talk about her ‘babies’ was like listening to her talk about their own children. In a way, though Drogan had never and would most likely ever meet Karolin or Mrysti, he already felt attached. What he did, he did for Alex. But he was also doing it for the children. Drogan felt close, bonded in a way that he was unaccustomed to. Marrying her was a way of becoming a part of a life he only heard about and he wanted to be part of Alex in some small measure. There were no illusions that she did not feel as he did. Now that she was regaining her power and changing back to the woman she once was.

Carefully, Alex lay the outfit out on the bed. White did not seem appropriate. She was hardly virginal, nor was this the first time she had been married. Even though she wished to make it special for Drogan, she did not want to sully her values or cheapen the fact that the first marriage was the true marriage in her eyes; a fact that marrying Drogan would never change. ‘Values’, she scoffed at the word. How long had she placed them aside, how long had she forgotten the words associated with Values? Duty, honor…integrity, they seemed so foreign to her from a Pirate’s sense. But as a Jedi. The words had meaning again, even as she felt unworthy to use any of them. The Jedi was returning. Alexandra would have to face setting those words and the deeds associated with them aside from all she done. Even as she looked at the rather mystical looking black and gold outfit; very Jedi looking in nature, Alex ran a hand across its fabric in admiration. She would have to become the Jedi again, to reclaim her life. To reclaim what was taken from her. In her heart she hated everything the Republic and the Jedi stood for at the moment, but in order to get what she wanted she would marry a man she didn’t love and act like the proper Jedi she should be.

Looking out of the window, she could see the men setting up the festivities. Drogan would be having his night out with the men and she had sworn, with much humor, ‘to stay away’. Tomorrow was going to be a big day for him and the last day on Hoth for her. The thought of leaving got to her as she looked down sadly and glanced at the outfit. It was truly something a Jedi would wear, less the heavy brown robe. She shook her head, there had to be something more she could do to honor his sacrifice to her. Moving back to one of the chests which contained mounds upon mounts of clothing, she tore through it until she found what she was looking for. Holding it up to herself, she smiled.

A wicked smile only the Dread Pirate ‘Elle’ could give.

--

A long night of partying, Drogan stumbled back to his pre-fab yelling toward the men who were ‘booing’ his departure, “I drank ya all under already…how many times ya want meh ta prove et!!!” He waved them off; the dancing women and loud music fading as he approached his domicile. The bulk of the White Maw still booing as he placed his hand on the door access. They would continue to party in his honor.

There were a lot of slaps on the back and comments; ‘Ya finally tamed ‘er’ or ‘Careful she don’t kill ya’. Laughing it off with much cheer, no one was the wiser. They had no idea that their new ‘Queen’ would be leaving almost as soon as he said ‘I do’. It saddened him, but it was necessary. He knew it was. As he stumbled in and nearly tripped over the threshold reaching for the light, he sensed something, but blew it off. When the light didn’t come on, he looked up and around, “Hmm?” Eyes that were still adjusting to the dark, the scent of the candles reached him and something sweet, spicy, exotic; just as the low light of the candles reached his one good eye.

Out of the corner, Alex stood and slowly walked toward him. It was a predatory walk, one foot in front of the other as she moved slowly, silently. It startled him at first, seeing someone suddenly stand up in his office. At any other time it could have been a rival or another pirate sent to kill him. A slow smile ebbed to his lips, he smelled her sweet scent even before she got close. Shaking a finger at her, he laughed slightly, “Hugh…are breakin’ tha rules…”

She stopped right in front of him, her arms slowly making their way up and over his shoulders as she slid them across his body, “I am your prize…your ‘last night’s’ entertainment…”

The smile got broader as he looked down at her, at more of what she was not wearing than what she was. The boots had become a fixture for the Dread Pirate ‘Elle’. Thigh high, shiny-black leatheris. Drogan closed his eyes in a drunken haze and remembered the first time he caught her with only her boots on. There was very little covering the rest of her, but what she did have on she wore for him. Only a corset. Sometimes ‘Elle’ wore one under her armor. Other times, just because. She was very careful to make sure it matched the boots. With nothing else but the corset and the boots on, Drogan knew it did. The expression; was all ‘Elle’, not Alexandra. The vicious smile, the manner in which she moved. Only ‘Elle’ had that look. A confidence born, knowing what she wanted. ‘Elle’ took it. The only difference in her appearance, the dreads. They were gone. Brushed out, Alexandra’s hair was a rich lustrous dark brown; almost black in the low light. Drogan stepped back, staggered a bit and crooked an eyebrow as ‘Elle’ started to push him backward, “Tomorrow, we are goin’ ta be married…how ‘er hugh my entertainment…”

‘Elle’ stood on tip-toes, opening her mouth to bite his lip and pull it away from his jaw before answering. Nibbling his lip in between words, ‘Elle’ released a bored sigh. “Tomorrow…you marry….Alexandra…” ‘Elle’ pushed him to the wall. Hands reaching down to take her own prize in hand through the britches he wore. The other hand she planted in the center of his chest, scooting her legs open as she prepared herself for the ‘taking’. She groaned, releasing the rest of him from the confines of the pants; sliding herself up and them down over him. Again speaking in between motions. “…tonight…you have ‘L’….for the final time…after tonight…there is no more ‘Elle’….”

For being his prize, she wasn’t acting like it. Prizes were taken. Combination of drink and his thoughts of possession came back. The warm feeling started to ebb its way up from his loins into the pit of his stomach again. Silently, he cursed. This was not going to be about love. Hidden anger at her unleashed. Thoughts of her leaving. Of giving up the life he gave to her. There were good reasons behind it, but this was ‘Elle’. The Dread Pirate.

Grabbing her up forcefully, Drogan planted his mouth on hers. Pushing her down forcefully. If ‘Elle’ was the prize. ‘Elle’ was not going to be the one taking. Alex fell limp for a moment, the both of them giving in to one another as the battle began. She didn’t want to be Alexandra, not at that moment. And Drogan deserved to have the woman he created. One last night, one last kiss…one last everything, before it all went away.

Drogan was going to have her every way he could as many times as he could and resist the urge to be tender. He didn’t want that, he wanted the women he created to be destroyed. Screams of passion, cries of lustful anguish gave way to the darkness. It would go on the rest of the night. And this time; it was Drogan who left as the sun came up. Leaving Alex to think about it. The candles nearly burned down to the base, ebbed in the air the two of them moved that evening and as the sun came up, they died along with the Last of ‘Elle’ the Dread Pirate. Darkness gave way to light, the sun coming up and shining over the naked form of Alexandra; alone. Left to think about the woman Drogan destroyed all night long.

She sat up, pulled the sheet around herself…and smiled.

--

Standing on the precipice that overlooked the Starship Graveyard, Drogan waited alone; the other pirates all assembled in states of either sitting or milling around. He glanced at his chrono. Was Alex really going to be late to her own wedding? The crowd grew silent as Drogan turned to look down the hill, the mass of men starting to slowly part for something heading their way. They peeled back and finally revealed Alexandra, who strolled up the hill, her long skirt and cloak flowing over the snow and billowing out behind her.

The silence came from having never seen an ‘L’ quite like the one slowly marching up the hill. Though in her heart and Drogan’s heart, ‘L’ was gone. What was coming for him was Alexandra. As she made her way toward him, a regal air surrounding her as she walked, some of the pirates actually bowed or took their hats off as she passed. Reverence to their former Captain, soon to be their queen.

Alex gave a shy smile as she stopped next to him, and looked down. He didn’t expect her in white, what she wore the way she carried herself, the sparkle of her eyes and skin gave him more than he could have ever hoped. Placing her hand out in front, folded together one in the other she looked at him. There were no religious figures, just a droid preparing to direct the proceeding. Drogan started even before the droid gave his que; placing his hand on top of hers.

Her words were short and sweet, she stopped short of saying ‘I Love you’ implying it with the look she gave. “My heart…I give to you. For the good of the clan, for the good of our people. May The Unity guide me in being the best wife and queen, I can be.” Alex cast her eyes down, leaving out what they both knew, ‘…and for the good of my daughters….’. Though it was implied, he gave her a kind smile squeezing the hands briefly as he watched her look down.

Drogan frowned slightly, as if he expected more. It wasn’t what he practiced hearing from her in his mind. But, it didn’t change what he was about to say. He squeezed her hands again, laying the other on his heart.

“You travel through life, not really knowing where you’re going or what it is you’re looking for…” He looked deep into her eyes, “…from the moment you walked through my door, I knew. There was no more reason to search, my purpose had been realized. It just took me a while to realize it. My life, is yours…all that I am is yours as it always has been for the past ten years. I was yours even before I realized it….” She broke the look in his eyes, looking away slightly. Drogan was going to say it and she couldn’t bare to look at him when he did, “I Love you…with every part of my being now and forevermore…”

The words struck her to the core. Those three little words. Those words, his solemn vow. It was all too much. What had she done? Now more than ever she wanted to leave. To run away from the shame of it all. It was done, as the droid piped in and said something to the effect of pronouncing them man and wife, it droned on and the two of them turned to face the clan. He raised her hand in the air and together they looked out over the sea of pirates.

“YOUR QUEEN!!!”

The crowd erupted. Hats flew in the air as blaster came out pointing to the sky firing in sporatic bursts. Alex thought she smiled. She didn’t know, everything went dull and numb in her mind. Even as she folded into him for the first kiss as husband and wife, she was still numb. Alex was already gone and guilty for having done what she did to get out.

Drogan felt it in her, as he held her close after the kiss. Leaning down and whispering in her ear over the roar of the gathered pirates, “It’s ok…I will love you enough for the both of us….”