((AN: I apologize for any typos))
Bo ran through the crowds of people. She was lucky that the academy was in such a busy part of the city. If not, then maybe the security guard from school would have been able to catch up to her. She didn't know what he would have done. Maybe taken her to the office and they would have contacted Satine. Satine was off world so who knew who would deal with Bo, but as soon as she got back, Satine would never let her out of her sight again.
It was another reason that she had to make sure that she got to Concordia today and didn't get caught. She doubted she would get another chance. Satine was sure to send her to a head doctor after this and would brainwash her to be just like her.
There was no way that Bo could let a thing happen. She wouldn't let her sister turn her into some pawn or zombie.
Bo got lucky. No one seemed to recognize her. Satine didn't have Bo with her too much at public events. Bo was happy about this, but she wondered if it was because she was embarrassed by her. That's what Pre had told her a few times. It didn't matter now.
Her sister should be happy that she wouldn't have to put up with her sister who didn't get her point of view. She probably would be eventually.
Every time Bo passed someone who looked like they might be an officer or some kind of law enforcement, her heart beat hard in her chest. No one did anything to stop her. At least not right away.
Then she got to where Pre always sent a ship to get here. Usually, she had no problem going to his ship, but today there was security that there wasn't normally. How could this be? Sure there wasn't that much, but still.
Normally Bo knew all the employees here. They never bothered her or even said much to her. But this… she just knew that this was going to be different. These new people might stop her. Bo was going to have to be careful.
She wished there was a way to hide who she was. It wasn't like she had been able to bring any disguises or anything in her backpack. Really it had been a joke putting her helmet and few other things in it. If she had to put her armor in it, it would have been worse, but she was wearing that underneath her clothes. That probably was one of the reasons she had been stopped at school. It was obvious she was hiding something.
She was going to have to be careful here.
Bo adjusted her backpack and then watched as the security guards talked. She wasn't as worried about the ones that were here a lot. At least she wasn't as worried about them. But maybe she should be.
Bo bit her lip and then walked forward. She tried to keep her eyes at the ground, but to not look suspicious at the same time. Right now, she hated that she had red hair. It was hard to ever blend in when your hair was like Bo's.
It would be so much easier if she was blond or even had more strawberry blond hair like Korkie did. But no, she had bright red hair.
But she could still do this.
She did her best to act like a normal girl. Just a normal girl who was probably meeting with her friends or parents to go off world on some kind of vacation. And at first, it was going well. No one looked at Bo. It was as if she could just be anyone. She started to believe that things would actually go well for once.
And then it all went downhill.
"Hey! Miss! Girl!" someone yelled. At her. She was sure that it was at her.
Bo wanted to run. She wanted to run as fast as she could, but if she did that then people were sure to know that she was up to something. There wasn't a ton of people at this space station but there was enough.
All she had to do was get to the ship.
She could see it. They wouldn't ask questions. They worked for Pre and not anyone here. She was getting closer and closer.
And then someone grabbed her arm and yanked her toward them.
A security guard. One she had never seen before. Bo didn't know if he came here for her, but probably.
"You're Bo-Katan Kryze," he said.
Bo didn't even bother answer. She kicked him in the shins. He swore, but let go of her. Obviously, he had expected that she would be polite and well behaved like her sister Satine. As if that was ever going to happen.
She ran. The ship was getting closer and closer. The man behind her was yelling also. Maybe she shouldn't go straight to the ship. Maybe she should get lost in the crowd first. Then he wouldn't know where she had gone. Then Pre wouldn't get annoyed with her if they somehow found out that was his ship.
So she hid in the refresher for awhile. She didn't know if this would work and thought maybe security would come and find her there, but they didn't. Eventually after about a half an hour, she forced herself to leave. Maybe someone would grab her as soon as she got out and she would be taken somewhere
But no.
She got to the ship and breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she did. Soon she would be in Concordia. She should have only felt relief, but there was something else there too. When would she see Satine and Korkie again? It wasn't like she would be able to go and visit them very often. But eventually she would be able to, right?
She tried to push this away. She had to think about what was right for Mandalore and not her emotions.
She was glad when the ship took off because it gave her less time to change her mind. As soon as she got to Concordia, she could just try and forget everything. Instead, she could do what she was meant to do. Maybe she eventually wouldn't have this horrible feeling in her stomach. Maybe she wouldn't think about what Satine would do when she found out she had left the way she did.
This was the last thing she should think about. But as the ship flew her to Concordia, her mind kept drifting there. At times, she was tempted to the pilot to take her back. But it was stupid. So stupid! She had to think about Mandalore! Not Satine and their past. Or rather not the Satine who had been there to comfort her as a kid.
After their house had been attacked, for awhile Satine had let Bo sleep in her bed because… well Bo wouldn't admit it but she had been scared. Satine would tell Bo the most wonderful stories. Bo would cuddle up close to her sister and she would tell her stories about past princesses and princes and everything. Bo didn't even know if they were real stories or just things she made up, but they were wonderful. Satine would also say the most comforting things. When Bo closed her eyes, it was almost like she was stuck in those times.
So she tried to push it away. She really did. Thinking about something like that wasn't going to make things better. It would make it much worse.
It took forever, but the ship finally arrived on Concordia. Bo drew a deep breath, but paused. This was going to be the rest of her life. Or at least the rest of her life for awhile. She wasn't going to just be Satine's little sister anymore. She could become someone.
Her stomach twisted in response. She should be happy or at least she should try to act like she wasn't nervous. Pre wouldn't want her to show any emotions, and so she wouldn't do that. She would try to be perfect.
As soon as she walked off the ship, Pre was there to greet her. Ursa and Lottie were there too. Pre was grinning, but Ursa didn't show any emotion and Lottie was glaring ahead and scowled.
Pre came over and put his hand on Bo's shoulder. "I'm glad that you're finally seeing what needs to be done."
Bo nodded. She wished that she had put her helmet on. It was easy to conceal emotions with a helmet. She reached for her backpack but before she could take it out, Pre took it away from her.
"You don't need to worry about that now." Pre put his arm around her waist this time and pulled her close to him.
Lottie muttered something under her breath, but Bo couldn't make out the words.
"I'm glad that you did this the right way, Bo-Katan," Pre said as they walked. At one point Lottie took a couple steps toward Bo, but Pre shot her a look and she sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm glad that you decided to join when you did."
She opened her mouth to ask what he meant by the right way, but then she stopped herself. She didn't want to upset Pre and she wanted to try and be happy today. It was just Satine's face kept invading her mind, causing her heart to hurt.
But Pre was right. Satine had abandoned her in a way. She had left her years ago, even though she had promised she would always be there for her. She had broken that promise to Bo when Bo needed her.
"Today is a special day," Pre said. "The first day of the rest of your life, Bo-Katan."
Yes, yes today was. And she was going to make sure that she enjoyed it. She was fifteen now. Not a child. It was time to leave childish thoughts in the past.
-Scene Break-
At first it seemed like Pre was never going to let her out of his sight, but eventually night came and she was shown to a place that she would be staying at for now. For housing, it wasn't anything special. More of a glorified large temporary tent like house, but it was her place. She didn't need something fancy anyway. What she wanted to do was to be able to make a difference. Now she would be able to do just that.
Bo put her backpack on the floor. Pre said that they would get her the things she didn't have, but she didn't care. She sighed and sat on the bed, putting her face in her hands. What was Satine and Korkie doing right now? Did they know that she was gone?
No! She couldn't think about this. She couldn't.
That was when someone knocked. Her stomach twisted. It was probably Pre. She just… She didn't want to be alone with him in a place like this. She knew that it was stupid, but it didn't make her feel good.
But then Lottie walked in.
"Lottie!" Bo said as she went over to her.
Lottie shot the door and rolled her eyes at her. "I can't kriffing believe you."
Bo stopped and stared at her. "What do you mean?"
"Are you completely stupid? Because you're acting that way." Now Lottie was pacing back and forth. "I just… I can't believe that you would come here."
"Why?" Bo glared at her.
"Why would you want to be in Death Watch?" Lottie asked. "I'm a kriffing Vizsla and I don't even want to be here."
"I want to make a difference."
"I want to make a difference," Lottie mocked.
Bo glared at her, wanting to shove her for a second like they used to do when they were children.
"You don't know anything about Death Watch and you know even less about my uncle," Lottie said. "I'm pretty sure I found out something about my uncle." She was now wringing her hands together. "I was going to visit Mandalore when I finally had an excuse to so I could tell you but…"
"What? What did you find out?"
"It'll change everything," Lottie said.
"What?" She doubted that Lottie found out anything big. She was just being weird and Lottie, but she didn't know why she wouldn't want her here. They could spend more time together now. And she thought that Lottie would believe the same as Death Watch, even if she hated her uncle for a reason Bo doubted she would understand. "I bet it's nothing."
"I don't know. You tell me if having your mother killed is nothing."
There was a long silence. Bo couldn't breathe at first. All she could do was stare at her.
"What?" Bo finally choked out.
"Yes, I think my uncle had your mother killed, and I'm going to prove it."
((AN: Three chapters left. What do you all think of the plot twist at the end of this chapter? We'll find out if Lottie is correct or for of it soon. I appreciate any comments. Thank you for reading.))