trans_9 | For wisdom is better than jewels [Open]

Sitting on a bench under the shade of a large tree within a garden of the Vatican City, Ghanima Atreides was slowly reading the large book that sat on her lap. She had found an old Roman Catholic Latin Bible in one of the rooms of the 'Casina' of Pius IV that she, along with Alia and Duncan - or Hayt - had claimed as their own.

She had needed time to herself, time away from worrying about her aunt, and how her aunt was taking the news of how Hayt had no recollection of his marriage to Alia. It was sad, though she was sure that time would only lead the two on the path they both belonged on - such was the way of life.

She had chosen a small garden as her refuge, and had found she enjoyed the silence that surrounded it. It seemed as though the Vatican City was not a place that many ventured to, and for that Ghani was indeed pleased.

While many from her world had forgotten the old Earth languages, Ghani had always enjoyed speaking, and using them as a way to communicate with her twin brother, Leto. It had been their secrect way of communicating when they didn't wish others to know what was being said. It was one of the gifts that having so many Other Memories had given them. And it was a gift that provided useful now as she read over the Latin words.

"*... melior est enim sapientia cunctis pretiosissimis et omne desiderabile ei non potest conparari. Ego sapientia habito in consilio et eruditis intersum cogitationibus." Ghani read aloud and couldn't help but agree with the small two verses.

*Proverbs 8:11 and 8:12
11 "For wisdom is better than jewels ; And all desirable things cannot compare with her."
12 "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion."

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"I've never heard of it," Luke said, walking over to sit beside her. "Or the religion it comes from, and to many in my world Earth is only a legend." He tilted his head, eyes scanning the strange words. "It seems like good advice, though, the passage you read. But you'd know more about the religion than I do and could say for certain."

His fingers reached out, wonderingly touching the pages. Real paper, a real woodpaper book, not flimsi. He'd only seen these kinds of things in the Chiss library when he and the others had been searching for Zonama Sekot.

"I don't know much about it myself," Ghani admitted. "I do know that in it's time it went through many extremes - though is that not true with many religions?" She shrugged her shoulders and sighed.

She watched him as he touched the pages, almost as though he were in awe. She held the book out for him. "You can look at it if you wish. I've already read a good deal of it."

He smiled, cheeks a little pink as he took the book. "It's woodpaper. We don't have a lot of actual books at home," he explained. "So to see one is something of a novelty to me. I'm so used to datapads and holocrons." Closing it, Luke ran a hand over the cover, feeling its texture, then opened it and traced the lines of some of the illuminated letters, following the designs around the page.

"We don't have anything like this," he said. "It's as much a work of art as... well, an artwork, or a statue." Luke closed the book, looking at it a moment. "And I suppose it is true. Something like a belief system would have to change to suit the times, or else it wouldn't be able to continue to exist."

"Then you may keep it if you wish," Ghani said with a small smile. She didn't mind him keeping it. She had seen many books in her time, and while the book was indeed beautiful, it wasn't something she needed to have.

"In my world, there are few items from the old Earth. The few things there are, are kept as valued treasures and rarely showed to anyone else." She frowned slightly. "It's sad though, I think. That such treasures, such things of beauty are kept from others to enjoy."

She looked around at the garden they were sitting in, and her frown disappeared. "At least here, there are places such as this to enjoy."

"This place feels like the Jedi Temple," Luke said, looking around as he set the book beside him on the bench. He'd take it with him and leaf through it, perhaps find something in the Library to help him translate. He didn't have the same knack for languages that others he knew did, but the idea of concentrating on something mindless for a little while was appealing. He'd have to find time between Rogue Squadron and the training he did with Mara, and the pointers he was giving to various people about meditation and to Ryo about swordfighting...

Come to think of it, Luke realized, he was pretty busy. None of it involved the amount of paperwork that usually flowed through the Grandmaster's office, which may have made it seem like less work and more activity, which he liked.

Perhaps it was for the best. It kept him from dwelling on things. Luke how he'd wake up with lightsaber in hand, ready to kill the imposter who wore Mara's face...

Luke shook himself. Dark thoughts, not ones a Jedi should be having. "I mean to say that it's got a very serene feeling in the Force," he explained.

"I have not been to a Jedi Temple, so I cannot make the same comparisson," Ghani said, though looked around the quiet garden.

She looked back at him, taking in the small flicker of thought moved across his expression.

"I too find this place serene, for the most part." Except when Alia was going through one of her spells, demanding to know things she should not. Demanding and crying. Though Ghani could understand the sorrow in her aunt's heart. It must not be an easy thing to be unknown to someone who you loved so dearly.

"I was hoping the calmness of this place would ease my Aunt's mind a little," Ghani admitted quietly, her fingers picking almost absently at the side seam of her dress. "I fear I shall lose her again."

"Your aunt is Alia, isn't she?" he said. Luke had only met the woman briefly but knew all too well what it was like to feel as though the ones you loved were slipping away from you. Jaina, at one point; Tahiri, Jacen, Ben. He understood the compulsion to do something, anything to keep things together.

"How is she doing?" he asked.

"Yes, though she's from the time when my brother and I were merely babies." She sighed softly, her eyebrows furrowing as she clasped her hands together. "It was a difficult time she comes from. My Father had wandered out into the desert, my Mother had died and Alia was left with not only my brother and I to raise, but an Empire to run. She was only little more than a child."

She looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers for a moment. "By then, I now know, she was slowly slipping into the thing that all Pre-borns dread. The Other Memories, or at least one of them within her are slowly driving her crazy."

Ghani looked over to him. "Now, she's on a ship that thinks, that speaks to us. She's been told our world is no more, has been told the things she would have come to do in our world. And now the man she loves has no memories of that love." Her tilted a fraction to the side. "To say the least, she's not doing well."

Edited 2010-02-09 07:23 (UTC)

Luke realized he should have inferred this from Ghanima's manner of speaking and from her words earlier, and scrubbed at an eye tiredly. His exhaustion was starting to dull his mental sharpness. What he wouldn't give to lay beside his wife and simply sleep the night through without waking!

"I'm sorry," Luke said, putting a hand out to touch her arm. "I'd talk to her, if you think that might help her."

Glancing down at his hand for a moment, Ghani smiled faintly. "I think anything that could possibly help her would be very much appreciated," she finally said after a moment of silence.

Looking back up at Luke, Ghani's eyebrows furrowed a little bit seeing the exhaustion written across his face. "Are you alright? You look tired."

Luke's cheeks went a little pink. "Is it that obvious?" he asked sheepishly as he ruffled the hair on the back of his head. That gesture became one that spoke of how tired he was, as he ran a hand over his face. "I guess it would be. We can't hide everything."

"Well, I do tend to notice a little more than the normal person does," Ghani pointed out with a soft smile. "Are you not getting enough sleep because of the Nightmare King?"

Luke nodded. "I relive battles, I walk into traps in which my foes wear the faces of my family..." He shook his head. "I can tell myself they are only dreams and bolster my mental defenses, but I'm still waking up in the middle of the night."

For wisdom is better than jewels [Open]

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