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Description
Chapter 5
Mira

I loved stowing away. At first I’d hated it. The very idea of sneaking aboard a ship seemed like a kick in the teeth. We’d lost everything but each other; our friends, our teachers, our home and our very lives as we had ever known or imagined them, and how we couldn’t even afford to get on a ship legally. We had a shuttle once, but it was a T-6 that we’d taken from the temple, too easily identifiable as a Jedi vessel.

By now I had come to relish trips like this. It was peaceful, in a strange way, riding through hyperspace in the creaking, semi-dark cargo holds we usually hid in; surrounded only by the people you trust and the occasional bum that paid them no mind. Kana still slept next to me, and I could sense that Marl and Kirin, over in their corner, were still calm and resting.

I reached over and moved a lock of Kana’s black hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. Her face was relaxed, eyes closed, breathing slow. I found myself just watching her for a little while, not quite knowing why and not quite caring.

I felt Kana stir as much as I saw it. She held a hand up to her mouth, yawning as she propped herself up a little higher against the crate behind us. I felt her mind starting to tumble back into consciousness, little portions of her mind lighting up as she woke.

“Hey,” she said, her voice groggy and rough from disuse. She coughed to get her throat in line. “So,” her voice was largely back to normal now, if a bit sleepy, “Anything new?”

“Not yet,” I replied, somewhat apathetically, “We haven’t dropped out of hyperspace since the initial jump, as far as can tell. According to my chrono, we’ve been out for a few hours. I woke up about twenty minutes ago.”

“I hope my absence wasn’t too unbearable,” Kana half grinned as she spoke, “It must have been so boring.”

“Actually,” I matched her joking tone, “It was quite nice, really. All quiet and distinctly lacking in your particular brand of humor.”

“I’m hilarious and you know it,” Kana said with snide certainty, “You know you love me.”

I laughed now. “Right,” I chuckled, “Of course I do.”

“Glad you could admit it,” Kana said, leaning back and putting her hands behind her head, “Acceptance is the first step.”

“First step to what?”

“I have no idea.”

I smiled in spite of myself. Kana was the best friend I could’ve asked to have through all this. That made me think of Adorn, my best friend of four years at the time the temple fell. He hadn’t been much, really, as Jedi go; just a Rodian with basic Force powers and a purple bladed lightsaber. I had always shown him up along with everyone else in our group. The masters had called me a prodigy. But Adorn didn’t care about that. He was starting to get really good with both his saber and force techniques right before the Jedi were wiped out. I felt a tear trace down my dusty cheek. He would’ve been killed along with everyone else. Sure, he might’ve been like us and found a way out, but something told me that he hadn’t been that lucky.

“Hey,” Kana’s voice was soft, and I felt her hand grip mine, “What’s wrong.”

I had to compose myself before I spoke, make sure my voice wouldn’t break and my emotions wouldn’t keep leaking out through tears or the Force. “Nothing,” I finally said, my voice shaky but unbroken, “Just, thinking about an old friend of mine.”

Kana nodded like she understood. “I think they didn’t really get far enough to teach us how that whole ‘no attachments’ thing works.”

I gave a bitter chuckle in reply. “No,” I said, “They did not.”

I noticed then that my hand was still in Kana’s. I debated pulling away, or commenting on it, but I decided to just leave it there for now.

Kirin and Marl were stirring now, and I heard them start moving in our direction.

I pulled my hand out of Kana’s as the rounded a corner and joined us, sitting in our little alcove of crates.

“Do we have any idea where we’re going yet?” Marl asked.

“Yeah,” Kirin said, “And when are we going to get there?”

“Guys,” I said, “Why not just enjoy the trip?”

“Because we want to know these things first.” Kirin responded.

“Fair enough,” I said, “No, we don’t know where we’re headed, but we’ll probably be there soon. We’ve been in hyperspace for a few hours now.”

“And when we get there?” Marl asked.

“Well,” Kana said, “We’ll just have to figure that out when we land.”

Description
Chapter 5
Mira

I loved stowing away. At first I’d hated it. The very idea of sneaking aboard a ship seemed like a kick in the teeth. We’d lost everything but each other; our friends, our teachers, our home and our very lives as we had ever known or imagined them, and how we couldn’t even afford to get on a ship legally. We had a shuttle once, but it was a T-6 that we’d taken from the temple, too easily identifiable as a Jedi vessel.

By now I had come to relish trips like this. It was peaceful, in a strange way, riding through hyperspace in the creaking, semi-dark cargo holds we usually hid in; surrounded only by the people you trust and the occasional bum that paid them no mind. Kana still slept next to me, and I could sense that Marl and Kirin, over in their corner, were still calm and resting.

I reached over and moved a lock of Kana’s black hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. Her face was relaxed, eyes closed, breathing slow. I found myself just watching her for a little while, not quite knowing why and not quite caring.

I felt Kana stir as much as I saw it. She held a hand up to her mouth, yawning as she propped herself up a little higher against the crate behind us. I felt her mind starting to tumble back into consciousness, little portions of her mind lighting up as she woke.

“Hey,” she said, her voice groggy and rough from disuse. She coughed to get her throat in line. “So,” her voice was largely back to normal now, if a bit sleepy, “Anything new?”

“Not yet,” I replied, somewhat apathetically, “We haven’t dropped out of hyperspace since the initial jump, as far as can tell. According to my chrono, we’ve been out for a few hours. I woke up about twenty minutes ago.”

“I hope my absence wasn’t too unbearable,” Kana half grinned as she spoke, “It must have been so boring.”

“Actually,” I matched her joking tone, “It was quite nice, really. All quiet and distinctly lacking in your particular brand of humor.”

“I’m hilarious and you know it,” Kana said with snide certainty, “You know you love me.”

I laughed now. “Right,” I chuckled, “Of course I do.”

“Glad you could admit it,” Kana said, leaning back and putting her hands behind her head, “Acceptance is the first step.”

“First step to what?”

“I have no idea.”

I smiled in spite of myself. Kana was the best friend I could’ve asked to have through all this. That made me think of Adorn, my best friend of four years at the time the temple fell. He hadn’t been much, really, as Jedi go; just a Rodian with basic Force powers and a purple bladed lightsaber. I had always shown him up along with everyone else in our group. The masters had called me a prodigy. But Adorn didn’t care about that. He was starting to get really good with both his saber and force techniques right before the Jedi were wiped out. I felt a tear trace down my dusty cheek. He would’ve been killed along with everyone else. Sure, he might’ve been like us and found a way out, but something told me that he hadn’t been that lucky.

“Hey,” Kana’s voice was soft, and I felt her hand grip mine, “What’s wrong.”

I had to compose myself before I spoke, make sure my voice wouldn’t break and my emotions wouldn’t keep leaking out through tears or the Force. “Nothing,” I finally said, my voice shaky but unbroken, “Just, thinking about an old friend of mine.”

Kana nodded like she understood. “I think they didn’t really get far enough to teach us how that whole ‘no attachments’ thing works.”

I gave a bitter chuckle in reply. “No,” I said, “They did not.”

I noticed then that my hand was still in Kana’s. I debated pulling away, or commenting on it, but I decided to just leave it there for now.

Kirin and Marl were stirring now, and I heard them start moving in our direction.

I pulled my hand out of Kana’s as the rounded a corner and joined us, sitting in our little alcove of crates.

“Do we have any idea where we’re going yet?” Marl asked.

“Yeah,” Kirin said, “And when are we going to get there?”

“Guys,” I said, “Why not just enjoy the trip?”

“Because we want to know these things first.” Kirin responded.

“Fair enough,” I said, “No, we don’t know where we’re headed, but we’ll probably be there soon. We’ve been in hyperspace for a few hours now.”

“And when we get there?” Marl asked.

“Well,” Kana said, “We’ll just have to figure that out when we land.”