Last time: Sasha was summoned before the Queen of Naboo. Cien... continues to deal with the antics of the twins.
Now: The Zeb's return home.
Chapter 12- Grounded
Sasha sat in the co-pilot's seat of the Forerunner as Viran pulled the ship away from the surface of Naboo and back up to the stars above. She sat there staring at the datapad in her hands that held her entire family's history and status not only on Naboo, but also the rest of the galaxy. After meeting the Queen yesterday and being given this pad, Sasha had been too afraid to open it and read it. The Queen was kind enough to let her take the information home with them, but that meant Sasha had waited longer to not see what it said. Now, however, they had a two day flight home which was more than enough time to read it. All she had to do was turn it on. But she didn't.
"Coruscant to Sasha," Viran said, trying to get her attention.
Sasha came out of her daze to see they were in hyperspace and that Viran was staring at her with a worried glance.
"Sorry, I was zoned out," she apologized as she looked at him.
"I could tell," he chuckled. "You still haven't looked at it, have you?"
"No," Sasha admitted.
"Why not?"
"Because… I'm afraid of what I might find," Sasha said simply. "This datapad holds all the information about my family potentially going back generations. I'm not afraid of what my family or who my family were. I'm afraid that…" She trailed off.
"That they all might be gone?" Viran finished carefully.
Sasha nodded as she looked down at the datapad.
"Sasha, I know it seems scary, but whatever is on that datapad is in regards to your biological family, not your actual one," Viran reminded her as he came over and knelt before her. "And by reading that doesn't automatically make you alone in the universe or have like fifty cousins just by the press of a button. Reading that will just teach you about where you come from and who may still be out there if you ever want to reach out to them. There is nothing to fear, okay?"
She sighed and nodded, looking at him with a soft smile. "Thanks hun." She said as she leaned over and placed a kiss on his forehead.
"Always," he said, smiling at her as he grabbed her hand.
"Okay, let's take a look," Sasha said as she turned on the datapad.
After a few moments, her whole family's history appeared before her. She silently sat there, reading through it all with a wondrous gaze. But as she scrolled through, her face slowly turned to a deep frown.
"What is it?" Viran asked as he had not moved from his kneeling position next to her chair.
"My parents' names were Jaren and Stela Monroe,'' Sasha started. "They were both the youngest of their families. And a majority of their older siblings are dead. Only one pair is still around. One Aunt and Uncle. And I have a few cousins scattered across the galaxy, but that's it. That's all that's left of my family."
Viran nodded slowly as he listened to her. He then squeezed her hand gently. "And now you know that there are still Monroe's out there. And if you want to find them, now you can. But we still have a family who is waiting for us at home." He said as he stood up and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "So you're never alone."
Sasha nodded as she continued to stare at the datapad. She stayed that way for a while as she learned more about her birth family and as the reality sunk in that there were not many of them left. But Viran was right. Knowing there are still members of her birth family out there gave her hope that maybe one day when she had the courage to do so, she would finally reconnect with them all. But for now, she was just happy to be going home to Haven to see her actual family again after a long and relaxing week away.
Haven came into view as the Forerunner flew over the surface of Artemis. Viran and Sasha sat in the cockpit as Viran brought the ship in towards the hangar.
Sasha sighed. "It's good to be back," she said.
"Agreed," Viran said with a nod as he brought them in closer. "I did really enjoy our first family trip with Lana."
"Same," Sasha agreed. "Though we should think about a trip in the near future just the two of us."
"I like that idea," Viran said, looking at her with a smile.
As the ship approached the hangar, the doors slid open and Viran brought the Forerunner in for a landing. Sasha got up from her seat to go get Lana while Viran shut down the ship. Once Lana was free of her booster seat, Sasha picked her and headed for the ramp of the ship as Lana babbled at her.
"Yes, we are finally home, kiddo," Sasha said as if she understood what her daughter just said or was trying to say.
Sasha headed to the ramp as it lowered.
Cien was walking over alone from the rest of the house, dressed in a comfortable blouse. "Welcome back." She said with a smile as she saw Sasha and Lana leaving the ship. She looked like she wanted to give Sasha a hug, but didn't want to squish Lana.
"Hey, thanks," Sasha said as she approached her. She adjusted Lana and gave Cien a one armed hug. "It's good to be home." She added once she pulled away.
"Yes." Cien agreed as she pulled away from the hug. "I'm glad you guys are back. Op and Kyr were… Bored, I think." She said annoyedly.
"Oh?" Sasha asked, curious.
At that moment, Viran walked down the ramp. "Hey Cien," he greeted her.
"Hi Viran." Cien said, looking up at him. "Did you guys have a good trip?" She asked.
"It was great," Viran said with a smile. "We got to tour a lot of neat places, we went swimming in the lake country, Sasha saved a kid from being eaten by a fish, and we met the Queen." He said nonchalantly.
"Oh." Cien replied, blinking slightly. "Was she nice?"
"She was very nice," Sasha answered then changed the subject. "We can tell you guys all about it at dinner, but you've got my curiosity. When you say Op and Kyr were bored, what do you mean exactly?"
"Yeah, I was wondering where those two were," Viran pondered. "They are usually out here when any of us come back from jobs or vacations or whatever."
"I sent them to their rooms." Cien answered with a slightly stern voice. "Kyr was playing with Op's lightsaber and broke a lamp, and they were acting like children all week. So I decided to treat them accordingly."
Viran burst into laughter at that and actually doubled over. "That is the greatest thing ever!" He cried while laughing.
Sasha laughed a little too at that. "We leave for one week and this place turns upside down," she said with a giggle. "Well at least you were able to handle it."
"Hmph." Cien grouched, "we also apparently needed a lot of firewood. So they were blowing up trees." She rolled her eyes.
"Seriously? No way!" Viran gaped.
"Viran!" Sasha snapped.
"What? I know that's dangerous and all, but that still sounds awesome," Viran said with a smirk. He then looked to Cien. "Are they still grounded?"
"Yes." She stated simply.
"Oh ho ho," Viran snickered as he rubbed his hands together. "I'm gonna go mess with them." He said then ran into the house.
Sasha sighed. "I swear they are all children," she said. "We seem to be the only adults here." She then looked at Lana. "Right, Lana?"
"Ye!" Lana squeaked.
Sasha chuckled. Cien laughed at how cute Lana was before turning and leading them into the house.
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