Mission lay facedown on the bunk she'd picked out in the Ebon Hawk. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed out her grief. Her breath came sporadically as she tried to muffle the sound of her tears into the hard pillow. The young Twi'lek wasn't cognizant of her surroundings as she cried out her grief. All that Mission could concentrate on was the pain she felt at watching Taris bombed into the ground. Her emotions were a jumble as she felt guilty at surviving yet happy that she survived. She thought of all the people that she actually liked that were on Taris when it was bombed. With luck, some of the Hidden Beks made it through, they'd always been nice to her.
She jumped when she felt a light touch of someone's hand on her shoulder. It rubbed small circles and Mission found it oddly comforting but she didn't want anyone to think she was a baby. She could take care of herself, darn it.
"Leave me alone!" With an angry swipe across her face, she turned over and shoved the hand away from her. She was slightly relieved to find out it was only Adrine, her rescuer from the destruction of Taris. Mission wanted to use the word "friend" to describe her, but she didn't trust easily. Life hadn't been easy since Griff had left her alone on the streets of Taris. As much as she hated to admit it, the only reason she wasn't a dancing slave girl was because of Big Z. With luck, she thought to herself, Adrine would be another friend she could rely on, unlike her lousy no-good brother and his conniving no-good girlfriend, Lena.
"I'm not going to do that, Mission. You just watched your home's destruction. I don't know how you feel since I haven't experienced it. All that I do know is that you need a shoulder to cry on, not this pillow." Adrine picked up the pillow in question and tossed it towards the back of the bunk. "I'd like to be that shoulder, Mission." Adrine's voice was soft and comforting, as if she were talking to a small child.
"I'm not a kid! I don't need anyone! It's just me and Big Z and we like it like that. You may have gotten us off that rock, but don't think you're my friend!" Mission grabbed the pillow and hugged it to her chest as she sat up.
"Did I say you were a kid?" Mission sat with her head down and shook her head negatively. Her lekku shrank back defensively. "Don't go putting words in my mouth, Mission. After all we've been through, I thought we were friends. I know that you're in pain and as your friend, I want to help." Adrine reached over and put an arm around Mission's shoulders gently. "You can talk to me, you know."
"I, just, I didn't think it would hurt like this. Taris stunk and I didn't like it there. I guess I liked it more than I thought I did." Mission leaned into Adrine and wrapped her arms around Adrine's waist. Adrine felt Mission's lekku drift towards her.
"It was your home, Mission. Love it or hate it, it was still home. It hurts to watch your homeworld get destroyed. You probably feel guilty for surviving when so many didn't. It's natural to feel that way. Cry all you want, no one's going to think you're a kid or a baby for crying over Taris. I'm sure Carth cried when Telos was destroyed. If you want, I could go get him so he could talk to you, one survivor to another."
"Naw, that's ok, I think I just want to go to bed." Mission's actions belied her words as she snuggled deeper into the comforting warmth of her new friend. It was nice to be held this way and Mission really hoped that Adrine didn't leave anytime soon.
"You want me to stay until you fall asleep?" Mission nodded a shaky "yes" against Adrine's side. "Want me to tell you a story?" Mission nodded another shaky "yes".
"Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess named Leia."
"Does it have to be a princess? Princesses are dumb. They just sit around and rule all the time. This isn't going to be one of those falling in love stories, is it?"
"No, Mission, this is going to be one of those adventure stories. This princess got to go around the galaxy fighting bad guys. Let me tell the story."
"Fine, but make it good." Adrine rolled her eyes as Mission curled up on the abused pillow.
"Anyway, so there was this beautiful princess named Leia. She was the princess of a beautiful and peaceful planet. The galaxy itself was a mess because there was an evil ruler of the galaxy. This evil ruler was a Sith Lord."
"Was it Malak? That guy's a jerk. I could see him making the galaxy a mess since he's already done so much here." Mission curled her body closer to Adrine's. The room wasn't cold but Mission wanted to be closer to the comforting warmth of another person.
"Mission, I thought you were going to sleep. It wasn't Malak, remember, this is just a story, a fairy tale."
"Can we make it be Malak and have someone kick his butt?" Adrine chuckled.
"Sure, if you want. So, anyway, there was this Sith Lord named Malak ruling this galaxy. He wasn't a nice guy and the people in the galaxy staged a rebellion. Our Princess Leia decided to join the rebellion, since she really didn't like Malak."
"At least she isn't sitting around waiting for someone to rescue her like a lot of the dumb stories about dumb princesses." Adrine chuckled again and started rubbing small circles on Mission's shoulder.
"Leia didn't believe in sitting back and waiting for rescue. So, Malak finds out that Leia is part of the rebellion and he captures her. While he has her held hostage, he tries to get locations of rebel bases out of her. He wanted to wipe out the rebellion completely."
"Did he torture her? I bet he did. Sith are all jerks."
"He did try to torture her but she was a strong person and refused to give in. Malak decided that he needed to do something bigger and more evil so he flew this huge space station to her peaceful home planet. He pointed all the weapons at it and threatened to blow it up."
"You mean like he did to Taris?"
"This isn't the same Malak, remember? It was even worse than he did to Taris because he threatened to completely obliterate the planet. He had enough firepower to do it too, that's how evil this guy was."
"So he's worse than Malak? I'm really glad I'm not a Sith."
"Mission, we're all glad you're not a Sith. Continuing the story though, Leia had to decide between her homeworld and all the people on it or the rebellion. However, our heroine is one smart cookie so she decides to tell the evil Sith Lord the name of a planet that the rebels had been on a long time ago. It was completely deserted, so no one would be hurt by Malak. Malak decides that he's going to blow up her planet anyway. Leia is forced to watch all those people she knew and loved get killed. She is really upset, I'm sure you can figure out how she feels." Mission nodded her head while her lekku moved uncomfortably on the bed.
"While she's so upset, there was, in another part of the galaxy, a young farm boy who dreamed of joining the rebellion. His name was Luke Starkiller."
"Is she going to be rescued by him and fall in love? Cause you told me that that wasn't going to happen." Adrine ignored Mission and continued on with the story.
"So, Luke finds something that the rebellion must have and he sets off to find them. Along the way, he's joined by a Jedi Master named Ben."
"This Jedi guy isn't a jerk like Bastila, is he?"
"Bastila isn't a jerk, Mission."
"Yes, she is. She yells at me and treats me like a kid. She's mean. She told Big Z that he stank. That wasn't nice. He may smell but you shouldn't be so mean about it."
"Maybe Bastila is just upset about being captured and held hostage."
"Was Leia mean to all the people that rescued her?"
"We haven't gotten there yet but no, she wasn't terribly mean to all of them."
"See, Bastila is a jerk."
"Bastila isn't a jerk, Mission. Give her a chance. Back to our story, Luke is joined by Ben and they get passage on a ship piloted by a guy named Han and his Wookiee friend Chewbacca."
"About time there was a Wookiee in the story. Are there any Twi'leks in this story? Cause if they're all dancing girls, then I don't want them in there."
"Got it, no dancing girls. So, Chewbacca and Han fly to this blown-up planet cause they have to return this stuff to Leia and get captured by Malak, instead."
"Not a very good rescue, was it?"
"It's all part of the master plan, Mission. Patience is a virtue here, let me finish the story. So, Luke, Ben, Han and Chewbacca find Leia and rescue her. Malak finds out and tries to stop them. Ben, being the good Jedi he is, sacrifices himself for all of them and they go speeding away from the space station.
"Luke finally gets a chance to return what he found to the rebellion. They all decide to attack this space station so no more planets get blown up."
"Are you serious? Isn't that kinda dumb? I mean, if it can blow up a planet, how are they going to beat it? I bet they all die, don't they?"
"I'm getting there, Mission. Luke flies this one-man fighter and he's juking and moving. He avoids getting hit by all kinds of enemy ships and all the turbolasers. He's backed by a couple friends of his and they go into this trench."
"Why would they be in a trench?"
"In this trench is this vent and if they can get a bomb into it, they can blow it up. See, Malak's ego is so big, he thinks no one can beat him. This space station is so big that he thinks no one can attack it. Instead, these rebels find where one person can defeat this entire station with only one gesture. So, Luke gets a bomb into the vent and blows up the space station. Unfortunately, the evil Sith Lord Malak wasn't on the station at the time."
"Then what happens to him? When does someone finally kick his butt?"
"In another part of the story that I'll tell you some other time. That's enough for now, Mission. Go to sleep. I'll be here until drift off."
"K." Mission's voice was slurry as she started to drift off. "Adrine?"
"Yes, Mission?"
"I'm sorry that I said we weren't friends and I was mean."
"It's ok, Mission. You're hurting, I understand."
"Thanks for the story, Adrine. I'm glad that the princess didn't fall in love with Luke or anyone. It's dumb to have someone fall in love with someone just cause they rescue you. You don't see me drooling over that geezer, Carth." Adrine laughed.
"He's not that old, Mission."
"Oh, c'mon, he may be cute but he's ancient. I don't see you falling in love with him because he saved you."
"Carth didn't save me, we saved each other." Adrine was surprised to feel a little upset at Mission's statement. She didn't know if it was because it implied that she couldn't rescue herself or because she really was falling for Carth.
Mission just smiled a drowsy smile and drifted off to sleep. As she slipped away into a dream, she stuck her fist next to her face. Adrine watched Mission's thumb drift towards her mouth as she rose from the bunk. She couldn't control the little jump as she saw Carth standing in the door. He only smiled and walked off.