Barradin: All Our Tomorrows

Barradin: All Our Tomorrows



It was all a dream.  Barriss had woken up and looked around for a second.

"It was just a dream." She looked over and saw Conradin, still sleeping.  Whatever it was that had stirred her from sleep was gone now, a distant coloring of images.  She only remembered that it was sometimes filled with action, sometimes unpleasant.

Barriss lay in bed, next to him, thinking about her life.  She never expected the course of Destiny to go this way.

Conradin peeked one eye open, and half smiled.

"You had a bad dream, didn't you?"

"I think I ate too much of that soup.  It was too cold.  Next time, we must heat up the soup." she smiled.

Barriss struggled to get out of bed.  Her Jedi powers found it a challenge, given her condition.

But she could not be happier.  Somehow, she had defied expectations, defied danger in the war, and found a new life far from Coruscant.  Far from the troubles of the Jedi Order.

"Can you heat up the soup next time?" She held her back and tried to stand up straight.  Her expecting belly had grown these past few weeks, and now she walked more carefully, sat more carefully.

"It's gazpacho soup, Barriss.  It's supposed to be cold!" Conradin smiled, still half awake.

He stared at her, stared at her pregnancy.  Stared at her amazed that they were on a journey that was scary and exciting.

Parenthood.  And gazpacho soup.  But if cold soup was the worse thing for them to worry about, then it was a good day indeed.

Bariss and Conradin escaped the war, escaped the insanity.  It was a hard decision to make, leaving behind all they knew.  Leaving behind people they knew.  But Destiny made a trade off for them.  They gave up an old life and found something more, found a beautiful discovery.

Barriss and Conradin were living in a remote country house outside the capital of Achilleas, and family life was creeping into everything they did as a couple.

Barriss maintained great discipline with her growing life, and her healing skills helped moderate the pregnancy.

But she grew tired more quickly, taking only short walks to their garden to plant flowers.  Far away from the war, Barriss and Conradin tended a garden and not much else.

She sat down and rubbed her belly, feeling a kick.  Once in a while, there was a push.  She smiled and wondered how anyone could not find this exciting.

Conradin sat down behind her and held her in his arms.  He also felt the excitement of an unknown future.

"What shall we name her?" Barriss asked.

Conradin was not the least bit surprised that she could sense so much about the baby.  The Force never ceased to amaze him, especially through her.

He rubbed her belly in its roundness and kissed her.  "Let's call her Hope.  Hope Offee Hadranus.  Because I believe in that." He smiled.

Barriss looked out at the flower garden, daring to dream that they would make it together.  "I still miss the Temple.  I miss Master Unduli and her teachings.  I miss my friends.  I miss Ahsoka and Master Skywalker and Kenobi.  I never got to say good bye to Ahsoka.  She and Master Skywalker were still on Cato Nemoidia.  Did we do the right thing?  It all happened so fast."

Conradin did not hesitate to nod.  "Yes.  One day, they will understand why."

Conradin did not talk much about the whirlwind romance.  It was quick and wonderfully chaotic.  Barriss abandoned all logic and duty.  The war had worn her down and she was at a crossroads.  To either choose the path of love or violence.

As a devoted Jedi, she leaned so dangerously in one direction.  But Conradin was there, and it was through him, and his ideals, that she chose to walk away.  She chose to have peace before the war could change her forever.  She chose him.

He knew it was right by the dreams Barriss had when she slept at night.  They were not just dreams, but visions from the force, though ironically she would never decipher them.  Conradin didn't care.

Of all the visions of the future she had in her sleep, all the possible courses of action that tomorrow presented, he liked the one coming true here and now.