Soundtrack:
Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day (there is one cuss word though, if you don't want to hear it listen to Again by Flyleaf as an alternative)
Arise by Flyleaf
Brand New Day by Fireflight
Coruscant's tall spires and legions of airspeeders loomed overhead as sixteen-year-old Jedi Padawan Crisona Stari strolled through its' bustling streets, hand clasped tightly in the grip of her baby sister, Lacie. The two girls began to meander through a small, but lush, park and Crisona took time to glance down at her beaming young companion.
Despite the constant mantra of freeing oneself from one's past and one's attachments that always surrounded her, she missed her home planet almost achingly and had been enthralled when her sister came to join her at the Jedi Temple. Not yet five, young Lacie already looked like the spitting image of both their mother and father, and it was through her, this little being, that Crisona could still feel – connected – to them somehow.
The thought brought immeasurable comfort to her, and so she secretly doted on her little sister. Whenever she had free time, she often retrieved Lacie from the nursery in the Temple and the two put on civilian garments and cloaks, and roamed the immediate vicinity (sometimes in the form of sneaking out and often in the company of Crisona's older friend Jenna).
Crisona's Padawan braid fluttered in the faint breeze that wove its' way between the trees and, deciding it would attract unneeded attention, simply tied up her waist-length brown hair in a loose sideways bun. She couldn't risk getting caught, for she valued this time spent with Lacie far too much. With the Jedi numbers so thin and spread out across the galaxy as it was, fewer apprentices were selected for training and considering Lacie's innate levity and playful nature so contrary to their ideals, she felt it was only a matter of time before the barely force-sensitive girl was sent off to the Agricorps.
Lacie, of course, was oblivious to her sister's brooding as she liberally craned her neck to take in all the sights she could before she had to be shut in the Temple again, alternating between spouting cheerful chatter about everything she saw and bouncing as she walked. Crisona chuckled at the little girl's eagerness. That little free spirit, if it did in fact came under tutelage, would be exactly the thing the galaxy needed to bring some light into the Clone Wars.
She broke out of her train of thought as she saw Jenna sprinting toward them at full speed, urgency written all over her face. They had probably overstayed their time and now they had to go home, to return to their clockwork schedules and life of self-regulation...
Jenna fell from the blue plasma bolt of a DC-17 clone rifle. Her now-unseeing eyes went wide, her face staying frozen in a look of shock and distress as she impacted the metal walkway.
Time seemed to freeze still with that dull 'thud'. In that one pivotal moment, Crisona's world was forever changed.
Multiple battalions of clone troopers appeared and streamed out onto the walkway, headed straight for the Jedi temple to their southeast. Civilians screamed and scattered as they advanced, laying waste to anything in their path. A few Jedi raced out of the temple and were immediately brought down. Alarm bells screamed in Crisona's head as she hefted Lacie into her arms and delved into the stampeding masses.
Her cyan lightsaber was still secured to the inside of her tunic and she prayed that the small girl's weight would not activate it as she ran like a madwoman. Lacie's hands tightened around her neck and the small child let out a whimper. Crisona, now ducking and weaving through the crowd only mere meters away from an entire opposing army, ground to a halt and ducked into a nearby alley, depositing her little sister in a niche as she knelt to Lacie's eye level.
Hurriedly raising the hood of her cloak, Crisona took her time in adjusting Lacie's, urgently whispering words of comfort. "Now we're going to have to run for a while and no matter what happens I need you to be absolutely quiet. Can you do that for me?" At the little girl's scared nod, she continued, choking back tears as she struggled to remain strong. "As I said, we're going to run and we can't go back to the Temple. We're going to find somewhere far away to hide and go travel the galaxy, just like an adventure. Everything's going to be okay Lacie, I promise."
Crisona darted her head to the side and noticed that the crowds had thinned out considerably. It would be hard enough to blend in with the stragglers as it was. Windows were broken, speeders abandoned, and small fires burned, the carnage carving a path straight to the Jedi temple.
This time she didn't wait for a response from Lacie, just hefted her sister into her arms again and resumed running, using a little of the Force to make her just fast enough to get away quickly without attracting the attention of the clone army. She managed to make it as far as the center of the district, in front of a rail-enclosed chasm plummeting down to the lower city, before the hood of her cloak fell off, right in front of a passing clone patrol.
The streets were empty save for the girls and the patrol, and Crisona froze in place, fervently hoping that they wouldn't take notice of her. She would have no such luck. The trooper bringing up the back turned his head to look at her and, seeing the look of sheer terror that crossed her face once his black visor was centered on her and Lacie, called out, "You there! Civilian!"
The rest of his squad turned to look as well, as Crisona timidly approached a few feet closer. They stood barely three meters apart now. "What is your business?"
Crisona replied in as even a voice as she could muster, "I...was just picking up my sister from school, then we heard shooting and now we just want to go home. Please let us go, we're just ordinary citizens minding our own business."
Her emotions were in a frenzy at being literally point-blank range from the enemy and she didn't notice the blatant Force persuasion she'd laced her sentences with until, much to her horror, the trooper replied mechanically. "I'll let you go. You're just ordinary citizens minding your own business." The other troopers glanced at each other suspiciously and Crisona decided that the situation had just reached peak dangerousness.
Her voice now trembling with nervousness, she hurriedly backed away towards the edge of the chasm while gushing, "Thank you trooper, we'll just be going now, good day to you and..."
The trooper shook his head rapidly, as if trying to shake the Force persuasion from his mind, and shouted, "Whaaa...urgh...hey, that's a mind trick! JEDI!" Immediately the rest of his squad trained their blaster rifles on the two girls and, out of sheer desperation, Crisona bolted around and took a running leap straight off the edge of the chasm.
Lacie clung desperately to her sister as the two free-fell toward the under-city, stray blaster bolts heading in their direction as seemingly endless levels of Coruscanti walkways flew past. Wind beat against her from all sides and colors and noises flew by in a myriad. Her hair came loose from the velocity and streamed behind her like a ribbon. Crisona, with all the steely effort in her consciousness, pushed away the panic and fear that threatened to cloud her judgment and doom them both.
With a tremendous amount of will and bravery, she craned her neck down and focused on an outstretched viewing platform coming up about thirty levels down. She drifted forward with a tremendous Force push and bent her knees in anticipation of hitting the solid matter.
Holding her breath and gripping her sister protectively, Crisona used the Force to cushion their fall as she hit the platform and tumble-rolled onto the adjoining walkway. Tears were streaming down Lacie's face, and no doubt the little girl had been hurt in the fall, she realized guiltily. Her own limbs were nearly numb, and her head spinning, but she jumped up like a prizefighter and began sprinting, not caring about the amount of attention being drawn to them anymore.
She couldn't concentrate long enough to do anything with the Force, so she was running on pure adrenaline and instinct. For all Crisona knew, she could have been going aimlessly in circles, but she continued to weave in and out of walkways, alleys, and streets. She was just desperate to get away from the Imperial forces that she knew would be hot on their heels.
Finally, as she reached a bustling block that a nearby sign identified as Entertainment district 35, she began to search desperately for any shelter, temporary or otherwise. Immediately her sights locked on a rather outdated and run-down looking inn across the district center and she sprinted for it.
Crisona burst in the front door, to a dingy but neat grey-and-white lobby. A rattly door on the other end of the vacated front desk space shuffled and Crisona, not wanting to be seen by anyone, summoned up one last, exhausting Force boost as she ran up three flights of stairs into a deserted hallway. The walls were not durasteel gray, but rather painted a surprisingly clean and bright shade of white, and the floors were covered in cheap, thin bluish carpet.
Glancing around madly as she heard footsteps resound up the steel stairs, she darted into a maintenance closet at the end of the hall and waited for the threat to pass. The footsteps reached the top of the stairs, hesitated, then ebbed away as whoever owned the building clearly decided that whatever noise they heard did not merit much investigation.
Noticing a low shelf protruding into the middle of the large closet, she set Lacie down on their new makeshift bed and breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever happened – she preferred not to think about it considering that she'd probably hear more about it in the next few weeks then she'd ever want to hear in her lifetime – she'd survived and Lacie had, too. That was all she needed for now.
Chubby little hands reached out for comfort and she sat up on the bed with Lacie, bringing her baby sister into a comforting hug. "You okay, kiddo?"
"Yeah, just scared."
Crisona patted the child's head soothingly as she replied, "We're alright now. You were very brave back there and I know Mom and Dad would be proud. Just rest right now and tomorrow I'll figure out where we'll go next, okay?"
Lacie nodded and settled down on the bed, her pixie face never leaving her sister's own gaze even as she drifted off to sleep. Crisona leaned against the wall and stared at the ceiling. Exhausted as she was from her near-death experience and sprinting half a sector's distance in a single day, or at least that's how it felt, she still felt like she needed to keep watch, to make sure they stayed safe.
Fingering her lightsaber and credit-less pockets, she vowed that somehow she'd get them a shuttle to the Outer Rim. And when we get on that shuttle, then I'll sleep.
Eventually exhaustion won, and Crisona drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
And so she slept on and on. Occasionally she would awaken suddenly, plagued by nightmares of the Jedi temple's invasion, but she'd always sit back down and force herself to sleep. When Lacie would wake up, Crisona just told her stories or lulled the child to sleep again.
It could have been mere hours, or it could have been days even, but eventually the girls' exhaustion was quashed and then some. Their little haven, so fervently welcomed just a little while ago, was now more of an unwanted shell the two simply wanted to be rid of. The main issue now was getting food, as their annoyingly noisy stomachs often reminded them.
Crisona's waking hours were divided between plotting exactly how to escape the confines of the inn while remaining undetected and trying to care for Lacie. Keeping a hyperactive and bubbly four year old quiet and entertained while hiding in a maintenance closet was no easy task, as Crisona soon found out.
The more time passed, the more the sisters naturally fell into a steady routine of games, rest, stories, and quiet. But with no food, no water, and no amenities, they predictably began to grow weak. They still remained hidden, however. It was not until the heavy, thudding footsteps approached the closet again that Crisona decided to make her move.
Lacie had been having another one of her energetic spells again, and the girl had made more than a safe amount of noise pleading for release from their hiding spot and making up games and imaginary stories to bide the time. Crisona looked up feebly from her perch on the shelf/makeshift bed and reached out a hand half-heartedly to quiet the young girl.
Once her heightened senses alerted her to the sentient proceeding up the stairwell, her energy returned tenfold as she grasped her sister to herself and hurriedly shushed the child. Mercifully, the footsteps retreated after a few moments of heavy and suspenseful silence, during which she had to keep an exasperatingly tight hold on Lacie to stop her from alerting whoever it was to their presence.
Crisona shakily ran a hand through her hair, nerves frayed way too much for someone so young. Lacie still thought this was all a game; she didn't fully realize how dire their situation was. WHY couldn't the temple have been invaded when Lacie was just a little older? The sense of claustrophobia and imprisonment surrounded her again and this time her resolve to stay hidden snapped.
Her hand snagged on her Padawan braid and, very tearfully, she stopped and un-did the leather tie, unraveling the plait that her Jedi Master had crafted so carefully on the day her apprenticeship ended. This was the last thing Crisona had to remember her by, and now all that remained was a lock of hair, wavy from its' remaining in the braid for so many years. Eventually the waves would fade away too and then her Jedi past would really be no more.
But now was not the time to think about that. She put a finger to her lips to signal quiet, put her hands on Lacie's shoulders, and said seriously, "Lacie? We're going to leave but if we want to make it out of here and to our next hiding place then we have to be very quiet and still." Lacie nodded and Crisona was eternally grateful that her sister, while overly energetic, was at least very well-behaved.
Okay...now came the sketchy part. Perhaps she could mask her footsteps down the creaky stairwell by proceeding the right length behind the manager or trying to pass herself off as a guest. After that she had to run like heck and just wing it. There was no way of knowing where she'd hide next or if she'd survive long enough on the street to make it to another hiding place, but she knew she had to leave now, so she cleared her thoughts and, taking her sister by the hand, slipped out of the door.
Already anxious and coursing with adrenaline, Crisona crept down the hall again, only to scare the living daylights out of herself as she stepped right in the middle of a creaky floor tile. The sound echoed through the hall and, no doubt, down the staircase as she mentally smacked herself. Now it was a fight-or-flight situation, and she really didn't have the strength to do either.
As the footsteps thudded rapidly up the stairwell again, options raced through Crisona's mind. She could try to pose as a lost customer...but the building was too small to get lost in and he'd probably remember giving her a room key. She could try to fight him off, but she was very poor at hand-to-hand and using a lightsaber would likely draw the clone army to them like moths to a glowrod. Immediately she resolved to make a mad dash for the fire escape straight across from the stairwell – if they ran fast enough they might just make it before the owner spotted them, or at least their faces.
She whisper-shouted, "RUN!" to Lacie before grasping the girl's hand and beginning to dash down the hallway, using a little bit of the Force to augment their speed. The mental and physical stress was too much for Crisona in her weakened and emotional state, though, and an almost palpable wave of dizziness overtook her, mere steps away from her escape.
She collapsed to the floor as the world rocked back and forth, spinning rapidly and madly as her vision blurred to almost nothingness. On instinct she curled up slightly, holding her head in a vain attempt to make the dizzy spell go away so she could get up and run, fight, do anything!
I can't do it anymore, she thought despondently. No more... but the door, it's so close... no, I just can't go anymore. I've failed...so sorry Lacie...
Crisona heard Lacie scream as if from a distance. She could vaguely make out the shape of her sister running to a much bigger black-and-white figure and crying something about her sister having fainted. No, Lacie, don't trust strangers, just run!, Crisona tried to scream, but nothing came out and the statement just echoed within her own mind.
The blur that was Lacie seemed to lead the bigger figure over to her as her eyes fluttered and closed on their own accord. A soothing tenor voice could be heard, just barely, before she lost consciousness.
"Miss? Miss, are you all right?"
Crisona opened her eyes tentatively to find herself sprawled on the couch of a dimly-lit staff lounge. Hovering over her was a boy, probably a little younger than herself, with shaggy black hair and a fringe hanging over the sides of his face. Sitting up a little, she could see straight out a doorway across the room to the front desk. Yup. I've been caught.
"I'm fine. Who are you?"
"Trav Skenna, I own this joint. I should probably be the one to be asking who are you and why were you passed out in my upper hallway?"
Crisona smiled wryly as her head began to pound and she flopped back onto the couch. "I don't recall asking you why you were passed out in my upper hallway."
The bit of levity was mainly to buy her time to think of some way to talk herself out of this mess, and surprisingly Trav bought it and gave a small smile. "True, but I still have a right to know."
She sighed, steeled herself, and brought herself up into a sitting position slowly, still stalling for time. Knowing that hesitancy would probably ruin her chances of making a believable argument, she blurted out the first thing that popped into her mind.
"Me and my sister...we... we're runaways." It was true, in a way. Runaway Jedi still counted as runaways. It turned out to be a rather foolhardy thing to say, as Trav stiffened, all the mirth gone from his eyes, and he replied, his tone hard, "No. I can't have runaways here. Your family is probably looking for you, and if a missing person report comes up I don't want the authorities finding you harbored in my inn. You and your sister need to leave."
As he got up off his knees and prepared to exit the room, Crisona reached out and caught his forearm to stop him. Like it or not, she needed this boy's help now that he'd seen them. If he didn't want trouble he could just as easily report a sighting of a person matching the profile of a hidden Jedi to any trooper that would happen to question him. And they couldn't keep running forever, sooner or later they'd need an ally or a permanent shelter. This place was as good as any other, she figured.
He raised his eyebrows as he stared down at Crisona. She took on a pleading tone, lacing her words with just a hint of Force persuasion. If excuses weren't going to work, now would be a capital time to come out with the truth, or at least some of it. "Please, we don't have anywhere to go. Look...at least let us stay long enough for a meal or maybe even a night, I'll work to pay for it. Surely you have something you need done around here?"
Trav stopped and turned around to face her, picking up a cleaning rag from atop a plasteel container and tossing it to her. "Fine. One day and night. Your sister can stay in the third room on the left, second floor. Staff eats after the evening shift is done. And if I get any complaints from Millie or J.T., you're outta here."
Crisona nodded, catching the rag and promptly standing up to look her temporary boss in the eye. Trav stood just a few inches shorter than her, though it was hard to tell his age because he talked and moved with such a mature air. He wore tight black pants, drexl leather boots, and a loose white button down shirt with the sleeves folded up to the elbows.
"So what are your names?"
Crisona snapped out of her observations and fought through the haze of dizziness. "Huh?"
"Names. I gotta know what to call you two if you're gonna be working for me. Ages too, if you don't mind."
Crisona racked her brain trying to think up an alias. She vaguely remembered a game she and Lacie used to play, where they'd act out make believe stories and call each other all kinds of crazy names. What were those two favorite smuggler aliases we made up?
"Zerra Solu, and the little girl is my sister Vixi. I'm fifteen standard years old. She's six."
"Okay, good. Follow me please." He led them back up the stairs and unlocked a door, opening it wide and handing them the key card. The room itself was white and drab, the flickering lighting fixture casting a sterile grey hue over the sparse and well-used furnishings. Crisona ushered Lacie past the threshold, and as soon as Trav retreated down the hall, she hurriedly whispered, "Lacie, honey, I need you to listen and don't ask any questions. Your name is now Vixi Solu. Stay here, turn off the lights, and don't come out for any reason. There's a holovision and a refresher in here, and I'll be back with food later. You've been doing real good, and I just need you to stay put for just a little longer, okay?"
Lacie nodded, her little pixie face staring up at Crisona trustingly. "Kay, sissy."
Crisona set her down on the bed and rushed to the door, sparing a last smile as she shut and locked it. "Love you, kiddo."
She met Trav at the base of the stairs and he led her through a simple archway to the left of the lobby, past the dimly-lit and hazy dining area, behind the serving counter, and through a pair of double doors. He gestured to a kindly-looking elderly woman chopping up vegetables on a durasteel counter. "That's Millie. She handles most of the cleaning, cooking, and serving. You'll be taking orders, busing tables, and doing dishes. J.T.'s the maintenance guy and janitor – he doesn't get around as well anymore so you won't be seeing him as much. I suggest you get started wiping down the tables and counters, then clean all the dishes piled up from breakfast."
Crisona nodded and set to work without another word. As she passed Millie, the older woman greeted her and gave her a smile of encouragement, which bolstered her enough to begin her task. Unsure about what to do, she filled the sink with water, soaked the rag, then flopped the cloth onto the counter and began pushing around the water haphazardly. Her Jedi training hadn't prepared her for anything like this – back at the temple they had cleaning droids to do this kind of thing and so she spent most of her time in academic or combat training. Needless to say, she wasn't looking forward to waitress duty.
She kept up her routine, trying to get as much soapy water onto the counters as possible. Soon, every flat surface in the entire kitchen was sopping wet, and Crisona figured she'd just let it drip dry.
Millie finally took note of the state of the kitchen and burst out, "My goodness, dear, what happened? Didn't anyone ever teach you that you have to wring out the cloth before you start cleaning?"
Crisona reddened and mumbled, "No, ma'am. I didn't have anyone to teach me to clean."
Millie's face softened and she gently took the rag from the young girl. "Here, let me finish for you. Just go and stir that pot of stew, if you please." Crisona gratefully exchanged the rag for the spoon and began to stir diligently. Soon enough, the kitchen was spotless and Millie was back by Crisona's side. Dizzy spell after dizzy spell came over her, and she gripped the handle of the oven with her left hand as she fought to stay upright. Millie noticed this and inquired, resting a comforting hand of the girl's shoulder, "Dear, when was the last time you ate?"
"I can't remember. Yesterday...two days ago?" She hung her head listlessly over the pot, breathing in the delicious smell wafting up.
"Star's sake, girl! Sit yourself down and have a bowl of this." Millie pushed Crisona over to a chair in the corner and set about getting a bowl and spoon.
"Millie, I can't. I have to work...Trav won't let me stay here if I don't.", she protested feebly.
"Come now, we won't have any of that. How do you expect to get a decent day's work in without eating?", she thrust the bowl of stew into Crisona's hands, "And besides, that boy put you in here because he knew I'd give you something to eat."
Crisona looked up over her bowl and spoon. "Really?", she managed to get out around her mouth full of food.
The old woman smiled fondly. "Oh yes. He can be a bit cold and distant sometimes but he's got a heart of gold with enough compassion for the whole planet twice over. Just like I raised him to be."
"You're his mom?"
"Goodness, no!" She sighed and looked away sadly. "He doesn't like people to know, but his parents – the first owners of the building – died, oh, about five years ago, and the poor boy had no one left but me and J.T. Bless his heart, he's kept us around long past our usefulness, treated us good, and probably will keep doing so out of the kindness of his heart. Brave one, he is, running this place for the sake of his parents' memory, and so young too. Only fifteen."
Crisona's head snapped up in shock. "Wow...that's incredible." He'd lost everything too, but he managed to find another family and keep his parents' business going. Just the realization that it was possible gave her hope that maybe she and Lacie would have a future too. Finished with her meal, she thanked Millie and set about doing the rest of her chores.
"What about you, dear?"
"I'm sorry?" Crisona looked up from the large basin of dirty dishes.
"Why aren't you with your family now? Surely they'd miss a delightful girl such as yourself."
Pain clouded Crisona's eyes as she replied, "There's probably nobody left to miss me. They're all dead."
Millie looked up, kind sympathy and sadness evident on her own face. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry. If you don't mind me asking, why would they be gone?"
"They were accused of harboring Jedi. They were innocent, of course, but the clone patrol didn't think so." Crisona was surprised at how easily the answer came to her. She felt awful at not telling the sweet and compassionate old woman the whole truth, but she couldn't just go and tell her that her family was the Jedi, not before she went and found out what the heck was going on at the temple. "Me and my sister got away and managed to come to the lower city, and we wound up here. If it's ok, I'd like to not talk about it anymore." She and Millie spent the rest of the evening in companionable silence.
Hours later, bone-weary and tired, Crisona trudged up the stairs toward her room. She clutched a bottle of black hair dye she'd gotten from Millie and a package of leftover bread, meat, and vegetables for her little sister. Never before in her life had she worked so hard. After the cleaning fiasco, she had bustled around the kitchen frantically helping Millie fill out orders, rushed out to tables with armfuls of food, pacified irate customers, passed out bills, served drinks, mopped floors, cleaned tables, hauled chairs, and washed stacks of dishes until her hands were bright red.
She had barely been able to stay awake as the staff congregated around one of the dining room tables, laughing and trading banter as they ate. She had finally gotten to meet J.T., and the greying old man's jovial attitude and hilarious jokes had entertained her thoroughly throughout the meal. Millie would trade anecdotes and gossip, occasionally scold the two men for their table manners, and often remark how wonderful it was to have female company around and what a wonderful help Crisona had been to her. Trav simply alternated between nodding in assent, staring down at his plate, and looking across the table to Crisona.
As she fumbled for her door key, she heard a familiar set of thudding footsteps quickly approaching up the stairwell and turned to meet a breathless Trav, who ran his hand through his thick hair and remarked nervously, "Oh, good, you're still up. I was afraid you'd gone to sleep already and I just wanted to talk to you real quick..."
Crisona wanted to simply wave him off and beg him to spare her the conversation until tomorrow, but she stifled her exhaustion and annoyance. "Yes?"
"Yeah, um...Millie told me about your family and all. Look, I'm so sorry about how I treated you this afternoon and after all the good things she had to say about you, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to keep working here? Millie and J.T aren't as young as they used to be and I can always use some help with the little things. Business has been kind of slow so you can even have your own room if you want, and your sister can keep this one."
It was almost too good to be true. "Yes! Thank you so much, you don't know how much this means to me."
He smiled, the first genuine smile she'd seen on him all day. "No problem. I understand what you're going through and it's the least I can do to pass on the gift of a second chance. I'll give you the keycard for your new room tomorrow. Have a good night."
Crisona waved goodbye and unlocked the door, surprised to find Lacie surrounded by toys and empty food containers, holovision cartoons blaring in the background. "Lacie, where'd you get all this stuff?"
Lacie bounded up and hugged her big sister's leg furiously. "Hi, Crissy! I missed you today but when you were gone the nice man came and gave me food and presents. He even played with me a little."
"Who? Trav?"
"Yeah!"
Crisona whipped around to see a still-smiling Trav leaning on the corner next to the staircase. Lacie waved at him excitedly and he waved back. "Have fun today, kiddo?" Lacie nodded and called out, "Yep!"
Crisona could only stare back at him in awe. He didn't even know her sister and he did all this – but how much about them had Lacie told him exactly? But she just said the first thing that came to her mind. "I was so worried about her. Really, thank you. You didn't have to go through all the trouble of getting her toys and buying her dinner..."
"Nah, those were some of my old toys and I snagged her a bit of food before the evening shift started. It's nothing, really. I was kinda bored too so spending the afternoon with the little one was a bit of a welcome change." He remarked playfully, "Well what are you waiting for? Morning shift starts at the crack of dawn and you're gonna want all the shut-eye you can get."
"Night, Trav."
Trav assumed a Talravian accent as he replied, "Night, milady. Pleasant dreams – your second chance awaits." He executed a sweeping bow and proceeded up to his quarters down the hall.
Later that night, as Crisona lay next to her sister's small, sleeping form in that dingy grey hotel bed, she felt more safe and secure than she'd ever hoped she would. Tomorrow would bring another day of frenzied, hard work and even more risk of getting caught, but at least she had a tomorrow to look forward to. To her, that alone felt like a miracle.
And so she fell asleep peacefully, ready to let go of her past little by little and face whatever lay ahead for her and Lacie. Our second chance awaits.
Author's Note: This was inspired by a crazy dream I had one night that, after some contemplation, turned into a pretty inventive scenario for an Order 66 survival story that just begged to be written. Since I've got two different stories on my hands already, I'll keep this a one-shot for now, but if you want to see this turn into a series later on, please review and let me know.