#the tail end of this au is like ... unrepentantly self indulgent and you know what ... that's ok

[vipier]

tristan healing his deeply fragmented connection with the force because it’s either that or die, essentially. shedding both the inquisitor and jedi titles and starting from scratch. living deep in the forest of a remote planet strong with the force which cass specifically picked for them before the end of the war, far enough from the settlement to remain unbothered but close enough to fetch supplies when needed. initially intimidated by trying to rebuild the connection because of how close it came to killing him when he nearly fell to the dark side but gradually taking longer and longer walks into the nature surrounding them every day. it starts as rehab because he struggles to walk properly for a while after his release from medbay at the rebel base and he needs to try daily to recover. as he becomes more mobile again, it turns into exploring. swimming in the nearby lake in the morning. venturing out into the bioluminescent forest at night and returning with the bioluminescence clinging to his skin a bit, making him softly glow. ( something something bioluminescence doesn’t work that way but force shit, and it eventually becomes semi-permanent at night while he's on-planet and only fades when he sleeps. ) finding himself yearning for that reconnection eventually instead of dreading or feeling uncertain because he feels so grounded in the nature around him and wants to make himself a part of it through the force. him realizing pretty early on that there are parts of the darkness he was steeped in for two decades that he will never be able to fully get rid of and that terrifying him for quite a while before eventually realizing he can balance it with everything else and thus embrace it as part of his new self. him tapping into such exceptional power on this planet and using it to essentially fuse with the nature there such that he starts to feel drained if he leaves it for more than a week or two — but that’s okay, because he and cass are old and tired and never planned to leave again. actors in the new republic coming to them with questions and the occasional hope that they might choose to come help rebuild, which is rebuked more gently by tristan and less gently by cass. old friends from the wars paying them visits in their little hamlet, including tristan's old clone commanders specs and kilo, with whom he's made peace after the trauma of o66. the community on the planet embracing that they're there ( even if they mostly leave them alone ) because tristan's force fusion with the planet's flora and fauna has vastly improved farming, logging, and animal husbandry. force devotees hearing about the planet's ecosystem basically flourishing under tristan's care and making pilgrimages there on occasion, which tris mostly avoids because he's not here to be revered as some sort of a deity, which is what most pilgrims want to do, but making exceptions to speak to some force learners on occasion. finding peace after a lifetime of war and torture and anguish and grief through embracing his force abilities like never before and finally being with ( and marrying ) the person he’s loved for 30-35 years of his life, who is himself seeing the force through new eyes. finally feeling fully safe for the first time in his life, barefoot in the grass of a planet — unselfishly chosen by that love of his life — that has essentially welcomed him home, mind, body, and soul.

#the tail end of this au is like ... unrepentantly self indulgent and you know what ... that's ok #unfortunately despite being an inquisitor for like 20 years ... this arc is actually PEAK tristan patel babygirl #he's still arguably not a good person overall but he's somehow significantly improved from most verses which makes it Worse #bc he actually suffers SO MUCH throughout his life and this version of him SUPER doesn't actually deserve it #all of this isn't even to mention the part of the arc where tris's fusion with the life force of the planet #gives both him and cass by extension as the person he's fused his own life force to (fs or not) indefinitely prolonged life #forest god tristan era with his lover caretaker becoming myth #life to life. soul to soul. you pull me from the dark with this single thread of gold. ( star wars arc ii )