On Second Chances

[primelogic]

A world without time.

Worlds upon worlds, eras intermingling. Species crossing who would never otherwise cross paths. Never ending, infinitely possible. All coalesced into one shared space where the impossible is not only probable, but for certain exists around every corner.

"Fascinating."

The young may come and go through this place with the purpose and rush that that they so often have, but for the particularly old Vulcan who has ended up here there hardly seems to be a hurry. He patiently strolls up and down the streets of the plaza, through the shopping districts, and round to more open areas with parks full of lush grasses of varying colors.

The summer weather is favorable for one used to a more arid and warm climate. Ambassador Spock finds a quiet sunny bench to take a seat at and relaxes against the worn wooden frame with the peeling paint. Ah, but that's right. There are requirements here for those who seek answers.

"If one found themselves in an opportunity to meet their past self, what words of wisdom would you feel obligated to impart?"

Comments

[primelogic]

"And yet what such individual would be wise enough for such things?"

The Vulcan raises an eyebrow as he asks, though he has the manners to wait for his companion to sit before he speaks up. There is not a hurry when it comes to casual conversation after all.

"Your logic is sound. For what advice could you offer that would not deprive the man of your own life experiences? And yet, suppose he comes to you. Whether he mistakes you for an elder or otherwise. Surely you cannot say nothing then?"

[kohtoya]

"Then?"

He hums in thought, a deep rumbling hrrrmh. "It is difficult to say. My beliefs have always been as they are now, for all that I was once much younger and had only a younger man's understanding. I like to think that if he knew me for what I am, he would know why I shunned him."

And a younger Plo Koon would know him, of this he is fairly certain, no matter how surreal it is to consider this question as an actual scenario. The flesh and the bones may change, but the Force never does. Oh, a presence may age along with one's heart, like certain leaves turning their colors with the seasons - but in the Force, once familiar, one always knows.

"But those beliefs also demand working against suffering, where one may do so wisely, and so on some level I could not hold him at fault if, knowing me for what I am, he were to ask. But I hope that I would not answer, and that he would forgive me." It would be hard. It would be unspeakably hard. To be a Jedi is hard; that is simply the nature of it.

"Yet those are only my people's beliefs. I do not hold others to them. And you? What would you say?"

[primelogic]

"I am not so strong, nor wise. And the situation that lead me to that time would have meant our meeting would be inevitable at some point or another."

Knowing what his younger self would have prioritized above all else. Knowing what he would be deprived of if the aged Vulcan did not intervene. With the timelines already forever altered, there is no way of knowing if his decision had been the right one. He has seen logs of the crew together though, and he feels he made the right choice.

"I told him to leave his peoples' troubles to me as I was partially the cause of the situation we found ourselves in, and urged him to stay on as his ship's chief science officer. I could not take what would become his family...away from him. And I know myself, I would have done so. Without hesitation."

[kohtoya]

Past tense. Both eyebrows go up; the topic has evolved from a figure of speech to a serious hypothetical to, now, a plain fact after all. If the man is to be believed, of course, but it does not seem that he is knowingly deceitful, at least without prying excessively. Plo has never heard of such a thing - and yet, why not? Once upon a time he had never heard of other realities either, other physical realities behind doors long kept secret.

But other worlds are in their way wonderful. This? A terrible responsibility, yes, and an ever more terrible thing to contemplate.

"So it actually came to pass...?" he says, quiet. "I do not envy you the experience."

A second sigh. "I wish that I had something reassuring to say. It is all...rather enormous to think about." And to say well if the damage was already done is taboo, even if said to one who is not a Jedi. "I hope very much that all things turn out as they were meant to, in the end."

[primelogic]

"A complicated situation, to be sure."

To be back among long deceased comrades, and yet to not belong with them. Among them. To watch his home planet and the millions of lives on it destroyed because he had not been quick enough to save another. Unimaginable pain and sorrow. Spock is not certain even the Kholinar would have been able to stop anyone with a beating heart from the pain he felt at watching Vulcan be destroyed.

"I made it clear I would not interfere with his life or decisions. That I would dedicate myself fully to helping our nearly extinct people. It has been....difficult. To say the least."

[kohtoya]

Our nearly extinct people. It saddens him greatly even as it brushes painfully close against the sort of thoughts and awful possibilities he has resolutely not dwelt upon for...what seems like so long, now. You cannot know what else has happened, whispers a voice in Plo's thoughts that is at once his own and Tyvokka's, and Yoda's, and others with them. Not yet. And you cannot do anything about it now. So mind what is in front of you, and the Force.

What else can he do, but that?

"I mourn to hear of your people's struggles, and your own," he says, quietly. "My own people place great value on life; that is a most worthy dedication."