50

A/N: This chappie took me a little longer to post, I apologize for that. :P

The truth is, I'm not too sure what to think of it, so yeah... Feel free to give me some feedback! ;)


"I think I can survive your moodiness, Captain."

Wait, what? "Excuse me?" She sat up, still not believing her ears. She would have expected such a comment to come from Risha, but Corso? That girl was obviously bad influence...

"C'mon, Captain, you need to eat, too. And why waste a perfectly good voucher? Please be ready by six. We're going out for dinner." With that, the Mantellian exited her room, leaving her momentarily speechless.

Did Corso Riggs just ask, no, order her out for dinner? She let out an incredulous laugh, falling back onto her mattress.


"..Ling? Liling?" A caress on her hair. "Time to wake up, Baby Girl." That voice…it couldn't be! And yet, there she was, looking down at her, a slightly chiding smile on her red lips. "I told you not to stay up late…"

"Mama!" she held on tight, wondering if she was dreaming... Perhaps, it was everything else that had been a dream. This felt so real. She could smell the familiar perfume Lani Gara would wear on special occasions and…

"What is with you, today?" She looked up to see her mother's mildly concerned, disapproving expression. "Hurry up and get changed, we're going to be late!" She straightened up and smoothed her dress, before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

No! Liling jumped out of bed, wrenching the door open, but to her amazement -and relief, her mother was still in the hallway, looking back at her with a frown on her face, hands at her hips.

"Liling, for the last time, go get ready!" Then, she gave a sigh and her face softened. "We'll be waiting downstairs; now shoo!" She was gently but firmly pushed back into her room.

I'm really home, she thought, as she took in her surroundings. Her unmade bed was the only thing that could be called messy; everything else was right as it should be, right down to… Spiky! What am I doing…I have to get downstairs! She put her old pink saber cat toy back on the shelf and rushed to the refresher, carelessly throwing the first thing she found from her wardrobe and tying her hair in a ponytail. Stars knew how her mother could go on and on about how silly it was to let one's hair cover one's beautiful face…

The house was silent as she went down the flight of stairs and a sense of dread suddenly overcame her. She hurried her steps. It was all she could do not to panic when she found the living room empty. Please, no… She had all but started to run towards the kitchen when she collided into someone. Ouch.

"Lil' Monster! What took you so long?" She felt her breath hitch, despite her brother's slightly irritated tone.

"Ronnie!" she threw herself at Rong, catching him by surprise. "You're a jerk!" She half-heartedly beat at his chest with her fists, causing him to chuckle.

"What's wrong with you, Brat?" He caught her wrists, taking a step back so that he could look at her and she saw the smile leave his face as his dark brows drew together. "Hey, what's wrong?" he repeated, more gently, this time.

She tried to speak, but no words would come out, so she simply shook her head, trying to ignore the lump in her throat. "I missed you," she finally choked out.

His frown deepened, eyes flashing with concern, before he chuckled once more, ruffling her hair. "You're strange, you know that? Come on, let's go."

She smiled, as they stepped outside through the backdoor, but something was wrong. What were they doing on Coruscant?! She looked back, but their house was gone; as was her brother.

"Rong?" She did a 360 turn until she found him, right in front of her. "Ronnie, what's happening?"

His face was sombre as he spoke, his eyes avoiding hers. "I'm sorry, little sister."

No. NO! This wasn't happening... "They're not dead!" she heard herself yell. "They're not! Just a stupid crash, that's not possible! Papa is always so careful…" She blinked, and suddenly realised no one was listening to her. It hit her, then. "Rong!"

He already had his back to her, walking away.

No! Not again! She tried to run after him, but her legs felt like jelly, too soft to support her weight. She tried anyway; and failed. "Please! Don't leave me, big brother! Please…"


She woke up with a start. Asleep; she had fallen asleep. She hadn't dreamed of them in a long time…at least not so vividly… She sat up, absently wiping at the tears on the sides of her face and in her ears as she headed to the refresher. A glance at the chrono told her she still had forty minutes to get ready.

She stood there, letting the tepid water run down her body, picturing it washing away her memories. Eventually, she made herself step out, feeling somewhat better. She stopped by her closet, shaking the last remnants of the dream from her mind. No reason to ruin his night as well… She didn't know the restaurant, but it didn't sound like the sort of place one had to dress up to get into. She picked a simple dark blue, short-sleeved turtleneck top, which she paired with a fresh pair of black pants. She decided to let her hair down, pinning the top back so that it would stay out of her face. Then, she grabbed her black clutch, stuffing her holocomm and Flashy inside, not really wanting to wear her holster in a restaurant. Finally, she looked between her trusted boots and her high heels. This wasn't really a date, now, was it?

.

She checked everything was in order in the bridge, before instructing C2 to watch the Starla carefully. The droid nodded vigorously, eager to please her. Of course, the droid tried to please everyone, but he took things to a whole different level with her and while she had tried telling him she forgave him for 'betraying her secret' back on Nar Shaddaa, he was still fretting every time he saw her. At first, she didn't mind. Finding her boots always polished, her laundry washed and her bed done was fine with her. However, one night, she had found him waiting for her just outside her door, holding a cup of water for her. It wouldn't have been that bad, really. But she had been scared silly, not expecting a mechanical hand to grab her –he had wanted to give her a shoulder rub, which in turn, had scared him silly. Soaked by the 'perfect cool drinking temperature' water, she had ordered him to leave her alone, unless summoned.

.

She found Corso patiently waiting for her in the galley. She noticed he wasn't carrying his blaster rifle either, although he had his pistol with him. He also looked like he was cleaned up, a pair of lightly armoured green pants and his green jacket that she rarely saw him wear, over a plain black t-shirt. It was a nice change from his bulky armor and she noted appreciatively that it complimented his tanned skin.


"Well, are we going or what?"

He looked up at the sound of her voice. He had been so absorbed in his thoughts he hadn't even noticed her coming. He got up, palms a little sweaty. "Hi, Captain. You look…nice." Ugh, real smooth.

She merely smirked, throwing him a knowing look, before walking down the steps to the airlock.

He wondered whether he should offer her his arm, but he took too long to decide and she simply walked beside him, close enough to touch, but not so close that their shoulders brushed.


A/N: Liling's thoughts: This is going to be a long night. Lol.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I think 'nice' is a GREAT compliment, coming from Corso. ;)

Also, Rong rhymes with 'long', but when she was little (five year's age gap), she couldn't say it properly and ended up calling him Ron, and that became Ronnie (which she used whenever she wanted to annoy him).

Just decided on her parent's names: Lani and Kai Gara. :)

Lani (Hawaiian name meaning 'sky')

Kai [kye] (many meanings including: 'ocean/sea', 'universe', 'triumphant', 'fire')

Gara Italian for 'race', 'competition'