Hello, Jedi and Sith alike!
Just a note on date: the end of the chapter occurs on December 16, 2015, two days before the release of The Force Awakens. Just so you people know!
I hope you like it, and please tell me your thoughts in the reviews!
Elizabeth woke up to a larger group of people than she was used to when it came to little things like this (okay, not so little, but you get the point). Instead of just Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie, there was also Kanan, Ezra, and Hera by her bedside as well.
"How long?" she asked Luke.
"A day. Not too long," Luke replied. "Hera and her two Jedi friends wanted to talk to you about this, but I already got them up to speed. Kanan and Ezra helped out as much as possible, and that's why you only had it for a day."
"I still can't believe that this has happened before," Ezra said wistfully, his blue hair now hanging down on his shoulders. "How long has this been going on?"
"Since the Battle of Yavin," Elizabeth replied, sitting herself up on the back of the medical bed. "I hope that it doesn't go on for too much longer, but it is strange that it has lasted this long. I know of nobody in this galaxy's history who had to go through this."
"No other Jedi was ever a Seedling, and you are rebelling against a Seedling's nature," Kanan offered. "That's probably why you're like this."
"Maybe, but when I lost control of my anger at the Battle of Yavin, Darth Vader and the Emperor both realized who and what I am. I've been in hiding ever since. I would have gone back to Earth, but Leia wouldn't have it." Elizabeth stopped talking and looked wistfully at the ceiling, thinking about how much her life had changed since she felt the destruction of Alderaan.
"Thinking about your life back home?" Leia asked, leaning on the side of the bed.
"Yeah. If I was still on Earth, I would've just finished my first semester of college. Now the FBI's probably looking all over the country for me, although they probably think I'm kidnapped and dead."
Elizabeth sighed and buried her head in her arms while scrunching her legs up against her vines. Tears began to roll down her face when she realized that that day was her birthday and remembered the plans she and Claire had for the special day. She remembered Christmas, and lamented that she had to miss it because of the Empire. Her heart filled with sadness over her foolishness at the Battle of Yavin and wished that she never learned teleportation. A few soft sobs shook her body, and Luke and Ezra simply tried to comfort her. Luke got on the bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders while he lay his head on one of her shoulders. Ezra put a hand on her back, then put his arm around her shoulders after a look from Luke that told Ezra that it was okay to do so.
Darth Vader looked at the replay of the battle at Lothal and growled slightly. In one of the Rebel fighters, there were two familiar figures: Luke Skywalker and Elizabeth Langford, both of whom the Emperor wanted captured. Vader looked in two other fighters from Lothal and saw the figures of two Jedi from a couple years past that gave him a lot of trouble. He was annoyed, to say the least, and took it out on a poor droid who just happened to enter his room to fill up the bacta tank again. Another had to come in to do the job, but Vader was satisfied.
"We meet again, Jedi. I will soon destroy all of you or bring you to the Dark Side, whichever you decide," Vader said out loud to the hologram. The figures did not reply, but rather stood in defiant silence.
A few hours after, the medical droid cleared her to go. While she exited the room, her holocomm beeped. She answered it, and the image of her sister appeared in front of her.
"Happy birthday, sis!" Claire said, and Elizabeth was happy to know that her sister remembered this special day (then remembered that they were twins, so of course Claire would know about it).
"Happy birthday, Claire!" Elizabeth said in reply. "If I was on Earth, this would be the point that I would give you a present."
"I got you one! You have one for me?"
"Well, yeah, I never forgot about it, I just thought that I'd be home by now. It's with me on Hoth."
"It's still daytime over there, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You can just teleport your gift to me and mine to you!"
"Can you give me a specific outdoor location?"
"Our back porch. Is that specific enough?"
"Yeah. What should I be looking for?"
"Package with a big bow."
"I'll send the gift over."
"I'll be expecting it!"
Elizabeth broke the connection and got to the outside of the bunker with her present for Claire. Luke and Ezra went with her to make sure she didn't freeze herself. Elizabeth sent the present to the location Claire gave her and brought the other to herself. She opened up the present and smiled when she saw that it was a scrapbook of her life on Earth and a book of memes that had popped up in the past few months (she really liked memes, they eased the tension in her mind because of the war). She saw that it also contained letters from everyone that they knew that knew that she was a Seedling, including her roommate, Maria. She smiled at the love and support that the people in her life on Earth were showing her that her sister had compiled into this wonderful collection. It made her gift (a piece of the Death Star that had fallen on Yavin after the battle that included a kyber crystal) pale in comparison.
The holocomm beeped again and Claire's image appeared. "You like the present? It's from all of us on Earth. We miss you, Elizabeth."
"Thank you so much!" Elizabeth was tearing up because she was so overwhelmingly happy. "Do you like yours, as well?"
"Definitely! It's so cool! It's actually from Yavin?!"
"Yep, I got it after the Battle of Yavin. It's a piece of the Death Star with a kyber crystal inside of it. It pales in comparison to your gift, though, it's so wonderful!"
"Are you kidding?! No one on Earth has anything like this, and I think that it's the most awesome thing anyone's ever given me! I'll keep it safe, though; we don't want scientists figuring out that I have a piece of extraterrestrial technology and crystal. If they do, and they find out that you had it, they will go crazy with - well, you get the picture."
"Thank you! I feel bad that I cannot join you in this celebration."
"It's all right, people would wonder about you anyway."
"Is there anyone looking for me on Earth?"
"Not too many, but yes. Mainly Seedlings, but no one's ever thought of teleporting off of this planet, mainly because they never thought that you went off-planet and that there are other habitable planets out there."
"So I really can't come back without too much of a fuss, huh?"
"Not really. How about you finish this war over there and then come home after?"
"You realize that could take five years?"
"I know, but don't worry; I'll make sure to keep you up to date on what's going on. I'll even send you a late Christmas present: 'Star Wars-The Force Awakens'."
"So cool! Thank you so much!"
"It's not a problem! Hey, stay safe and warm!"
"I will!"
The connection cut out due to a sudden storm (which happens more often than people believe, and everyone went inside, with Elizabeth carrying her gift. Ezra and Luke looked at her, puzzled, and Elizabeth went to her room to take a closer look over what she had received. She smiled at pictures of her and her friends on Earth, her first day of school from kindergarten to high school, the big days in her life (including the day she began her Jedi training), and ended with a letter from Claire that read as follows:
"Dear Elizabeth,
"How's it going over there on Hoth? I bet it's a chore to keep the bunker warm, especially at night. It's almost Christmas over here, as you are aware, I'm sure. Snow fell in droves over here, and everyone's skiing or sledding on the slopes. It's the height of tourist season, and we're swamped at work.
"Mom really misses you, but when she heard about what happened she understood, and she is hoping that your war is over before she dies. I've tried to explain that it will, but she just said that she can only hope that it does as we both say it will.
"The FBI's still searching for you, especially because the Seedling division has become involved. There's a worldwide search going on, and I think it's best that you stay there for a while.
"Have you found any other Jedi alive? I hope that you did, because I know that you and Luke have need of training, and Yoda isn't the best (no offense to him) when it comes to being a teacher.
"Happy Birthday and Happy late Thanksgiving,
"Claire Langford
"P.S. I hope you like the memes. You need laughter in these years of sorrow and war."
She smiled at the thought her sister put into this gift, then saw that Luke and Ezra were looking on in curiosity. She invited them to sit and look at her gift with her. Much laughter and mirth came from the room, and soon all their friends (including Ezra's friends Sabine and Zeb, who were not previously introduced to Elizabeth) had joined them.
