Title: A New Era
Summary: The war is over, and the New Republic has been formed. It's been four years since these old battle hardened friends have met, now some new surprises bring them back together. Can they all put aside their differences to help build this new Era together?
Disclaimer: Don't own Star Wars, though I wish I did. There would be more Twi'leks if I did. The characters in this story, other than obvious canon characters, belong to me and my friends.
It was a beautiful spring morning on the small mid rim world of Kettiv IV, and Rona Stormhunter had spent most of it in the 'fresher, being sick in the toilet. It was the fourth morning she had been like this, and she knew Darren would start harping on her to go see the base doctor the minute she stepped out of the 'fresher. She had tried to calm her husband's worries, telling him that it was only food poisoning, but he still insisted, and she had agreed if she hadn't felt better this morning, she would go see Uncle Finnegan. Finally feeling like she wasn't going to be sick anymore, she flushed the toilet, and began to wash up. Maybe Darren was right, and something was seriously wrong. Leaving the Refresher, she walked into the hallway, and heard Darren talking to someone on the hololink.
"I think I just heard her come out, let me go check." Darren poked his head out into the hallway and smiled. "Hey, beautiful."
"Hey yourself, handsome. Someone on the 'link?"
"Yeah, but it's a surprise, and I'm not going to ruin it. You're going to have to come in here and see for yourself. And after that, it's straight to Finn, you hear me?"
She mock saluted him. "Yes sir, Commander, Sir." She walked into the communications room, and halted at the doorway, shocked. It was Kaala, her closest friend. "Kaala!" The Twi'lek exclaimed. She raced over so the young woman could see her. "My goodness, I wasn't expecting to hear from you. It's been nearly four years! Last I heard, you and Merran were on a mission with Skywalker, looking into clues on the Jedi."
"This is true, we were, but something came up and we came home early." Kaala said, her lilting voice barely containing some secret. Her smile was contagious, and her soft eyes could have lit up the room by themselves. "That is why I am calling you. I was hoping you and Darren could perhaps come to Coruscant for a little reunion of sorts. That is, if you are feeling okay? What is this about seeing the Doctor?"
"Well, I think it's nothing, but I've been nauseous the past four days, which usually culminates with me getting sick in the 'fresher all morning. I think I ate a bad Nerf steak, and that it will clear up soon, but Darren's worried, and I know he won't feel better until I see Uncle Finn about this. Still," She paused, smiling, "I think we can manage a trip to Coruscant. After all, you're not telling me something, and from the smile on your face, I can tell it's big. And if I know you, nothing I say will get you to tell me. So, reunion of sorts…I take it you mean the whole gang." She paused. "Is Da—I mean, is Drogo going to be there?"
Kaala nodded. "So it is back to Drogo again?" She crossed her arms, and looked at her friend skeptically. "Do not tell me that you two still haven't spoken to each other? Like you said, it has been nearly four years; surely he has gotten over you marrying Darren."
Rona looked down, a little sheepish. "I don't know; I haven't really had the guts to call him and find out. He really didn't take the engagement too well, Kaala. Remember? He wouldn't even come to the wedding? Uncle Finn had to walk me down the isle. The man who raised me since I was six years old couldn't be bothered to watch his daughter get married to a low life scoundrel, as he was fond of calling Darren. I don't know what he had against him."
The human girl shrugged. "I am not sure myself. Anyone could tell that Darren loves you more than life itself. And everybody knows how crazy you are for him. Still, it is very upsetting to see you to fighting for so long. Perhaps this reunion is long overdue. There are things that need to be sorted out between alot of us. Namely you, and…" Kaala muttered a name and looked around as if she hadn't said anything.
Rona groaned. She didn't have to hear the name to know who her Jedi friend was talking about. She ran a hand down her face. "Oh no, Devona's gonna be there? I think I'm going to be sick again."
"Rona, please." She held her arms out, trying to calm her younger friend. "I could not invite Ram without inviting her, it would have been rude. Besides, most of the group has put their differences with her in the past. Even Nicca has forgiven her, and he was the one that Devona was after in the first place."
"Kaala, first, she held me hostage, then she nearly killed me when she cut the stabilizer fin off my swoop, and then she nearly BLEW ME UP! That's not a good start to any relationship."
"Yes, well, she cut off Ram's arm, and now they are married. Why can you not let the past go, Rona?"
She sighed. "Because I've lost my past once, and I never want it to happen again."
"I beg your pardon? I do not understand."
"Look, remember when we met up three years after our first grand misadventure? You asked me how I had been during those years, and I said Drogo had stopped letting me go on missions because of one bad one? The real reason he was afraid to let me go was because…well, on that botched mission, I suffered a severe head injury. I was in a coma for two weeks. When I woke up, I had amnesia." She took a deep breath. Rona seemed to find something just to the side of the hololink very interesting. "I mean complete amnesia. If you had come to visit for, oh, I think it was six months after the accident, I wouldn't have even known you. I still can't remember anything that happened before I was six. It's been almost seven years since then, and I don't have any hope of remembering my mother, or my life with her. All I have are stories that Drogo said I told him when he first started taking care of me."
"I am sorry, Rona, I did not know. Why did you never tell me?"
"I don't like to think about that time of my life. It's the only thing I want to forget." She sighed. "I won't promise anything other than this, I won't start anything with her. But if you're asking me to forgive her, well, that may take a while still. That was my favorite Swoop she ruined." A broad smile lightened the dark mood that had descended on the friends.
"I will take that as a step in progress." She smiled again. "It has been good to talk to you again, but I still have to get in touch with Nicca and get him to come. It should not be too hard since he lives here on Coruscant. I cannot believe I convinced Six-deeeight to come along. He must be as anxious as I am to see everyone again. I will see you soon?"
"We'll try to leave today or tomorrow. That being said, we should be there in two to four days. See you soon, Kaala." She cut the transmission. She began to play with one of her Lekku head tails that cascaded from her head. Seeing her old friends excited her, but she wasn't sure if she were ready to deal with her father yet.
"Are you sure you're ready to deal with Drogo?"
She started, and looked over her shoulder. "Dammit, Dar, how long have you been standing there? And quit reading my thoughts. It's intrusive."
He tilted his head from side to side. "Oh, for most of the conversation. It's not intrusive if you're projecting them for anyone who's Force sensitive to pick up on it." He stood up from the door frame he had been leaning on. "I'm proud of you by the way. It's about time you told your friends about what happened. You know they must have suspected all these years." He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. His Lekku reached out to find hers. He wanted this moment to be close, and intimate. "I'm serious about the Drogo thing. You two haven't spoken since the engagement. And if I recall, you both said some pretty harsh things to each other. I believe…'I never want to see you again as long as you're married to that low life scoundrel' and 'As far as I'm concerned I don't have a father' were some of the nicer sentiments that were shared?"
She sighed. "Don't you think I've regretted that conversation? I've missed my father. I mean, so much has happened since we've gotten married, and I haven't been able to tell him any of it. I can't even tell him that Luke has offered to train us both as Jedi recently, and that we accepted. You know that was his one wish for me? He's always known I was Force sensitive, and has been biding time, waiting for someone to arise to train me, like he said my mother said would happen. I want to hear his voice again, even if it is only one more time." She felt the tears start trickling down her face. "I want to ask him why. Why he--"
Darren wrapped his arms around his wife, and held her close to him. "I'm sure he had his reasons. He may not have been your biological father, but that never stopped how he felt about you. I don't think he meant those things he said at the engagement party, either." He patted her on the back, then held her at arms length, so she could look him in the face. "Now, how about we go see the doc, and figure out what's wrong with you?"
She smiled. "I still think there's no need, but okay." They both left the room, and headed toward the base, their head tentacles still intertwined behind them.