03: Kagura's Awakening

Sand slashed through the bitterly cold air, working its way into the joints of the stormtrooper commander's armor and darkening his already sour mood further. His men were spread out on the dunes around him, pristine armor gleaming in the light of three moons. A few troopers from the local garrison were also present in their more weathered gear and brown cloaks, a few forming a perimeter about the crash site astride massive dewbacks.

"Useless gits," he muttered. Those men had "gone native," and it showed in their unprofessional bearing.

"Sir!" a technician yelled as he emerged from the still-smoking pod. "Blood matches. It's the missing woman from the crew manifest."

"Just great," the commander sighed, "So now these shit-kicking moisture farmers've got a hold of her. We'll have to search homestead by homestead."

"We have a map at the precinct office," one of the locals offered.

"Just how I wanted to spend my day…"


Kagura clambered to wakefulness through a miserable tan fog. Every inch of her hurt like nothing else, and it was so… so… bright. She sat up slowly, pressing the heel of a hand against her eye. Rough blankets fell away, revealing that she had been bandaged by someone who knew what they were doing.

Still reeling, she swung her legs over the edge of her pallet and started to rise, but a white-hot bolt of pain shot through her thigh and put an end to that idea. Her stomach didn't feel much better. Moving around was certainly going to be a chore.

Kagura laid back and took stock of her surroundings. It was a small, simple room, lit impressively by just a few tiny windows near the ceiling. Her possessions were arrayed on a small table next to her bed; thankfully, the disk was among them. On the wall next to it was a pair of brown drawstring pants, a loose white shirt and a crutch.

Rising more carefully, she dressed herself and took hold of the crutch. It was time to meet her captors. The room's door swung easily aside, admitting her into what looked like a kitchen, similarly Spartan in layout. A girl stood before the stove, just a few inches too short to comfortably preside over the bubbling pot atop it. She held a telephone (or whatever the Tatooinian equivalent would be) between her shoulder and ear.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the Toshi station with you and Miru," she was saying, "How are the power conv…?" She noticed Kagura in the doorway and her eyes grew to about the size of dinner-plates. "Um, Yuka? I'll… I'll have to call you back." She hung up without taking her eyes off the guest. "…you're up," she finally managed.

"Hi," Kagura replied. What's with the reaction? Did she look so bad?

"Um…" they stared at each other for a few seconds. The girl was disarmingly cute; Kagura didn't generally like cute things specifically because they disarmed her. This could turn out to be a rocky stay. "I'm… I'm Chiyo Mihama." She stuck out a tiny hand.

"Kagura." They shook. "Thanks for patching me up, but I really have to go."

"Go?" Chiyo asked, a little distressed, "But you're not well yet...!"

"Ah, well," Kagura replied lightly, "I'll be fine."

"At least stay and eat!"

The soldier had already started to limp from the room, but the mention of food brought her up short. It seemed her stomach had something to say to her other than, "Oh, my God! I've been SHOT!" Kagura sat as gracefully as she could and folded her hands on the table.

Chiyo breathed a sigh of relief and returned to tending the pot. "It'll be ready in a few minutes. Just sit down and relax, okay?"

Kagura was already sitting, though, and relaxing wasn't on her mind. "How long have I been out?"

"We found you just last night."

"Mm. Haven't lost too much time, then."

"Where do you have to go? I mean, why are you in such a rush?"

"It's—uh, a family emergency."

Chiyo glanced at her sideways, but didn't question further. "Kenobi… there's a hermit named Kenobi who lives a ways from here. Everyone says he's crazy, though. Is that who you meant?"

"Dunno." Kagura's eyes drifted over the counter and table. Everything was pretty darn normal… different colors and shapes than she was used to, but it was your basic household. At her elbow was a textbook entitled 'Hyperspatial Mathematics and You.' It looked like about four phone books. "This yours?" she asked, half joking.

"Yes."

She blinked. This Chiyo couldn't have been older than ten! "You're, ah, you're going to college, then?"

"Uh huh, next year!" Chiyo affirmed with a touch of pride as she laid a plate before her guest. "The Imperial Academy on Coruscant!"

"Ah." Kagura's voice was hard and flat. "Your parents must be proud."

"What's wrong?"

"N-never mind." Kagura sighed. No use in causing any trouble here. She'd only have to make small talk until the adults of the house arrived, then she could make her escape.


"You can forget it," Owen said, "You wouldn't make it a mile out there, and then all the water we spent on you would be wasted."

He was planted in the doorway, arms crossed, blocking it with his wide body. Beru stood uncomfortably to the side, her hands on Chiyo's shoulders. Kagura faced him in a posture that might have been threatening if she weren't leaning quite so heavily on the crutch.

"You don't understand!" she protested. "It's urgent…"

"Why? What's so urgent?"

"I… I can't tell you."

"Well, I guess you're not going anywhere then."

"I could blast you and steal your vehicle," Kagura suggested coldly.

"But you won't." Damn. He had her there. "You're obviously not from around here. I guess I can't stop you if you really want to go hobbling blind across seven-hundred kilometers of desert…"

"I'm a Rebel!" she suddenly snapped. There was a long, absolutely shocked pause. Beru tried to pull her niece close but Chiyo stood firm. After enduring a few seconds of determined staring, Owen shrugged. "So?"

"So? So the stormtroopers are gonna come and kick down your door!"

"Are you kidding? The stormtroopers around here barely…"

"There's a Star Destroyer in orbit."

"How about that. Hold… hold on a second," Owen said absently, then turned and pointed at Chiyo. "Ha! Ha HA Ha! I TOLD you!"

"Is now the time…?" Chiyo asked.

"Sorry," Owen said at Kagura's strange look, "It's just, between those two, I almost never get to be right. I have to gloat when I get the chance, you know."

"Oh."

"Listen, Ms. Kagura. You're not going anywhere until you're better, and that's final. Nothing is going to change my mind." But before he could go on, the "phone" rang and he snatched it up. "Yeah?" Owen listened for a few seconds, his expression slowly growing grimmer and grimmer. Finally, he said, "Thanks," and signed off.

"Okay, my mind is changed. Grissoms just got a visit from some stormtroopers… we think they're coming here next. Chiyo, take our guest with the landspeeder. We'll tell 'em that you're off with your friends or something." Chiyo nodded and rushed from the room. Beru started to protest, but her husband rolled right over her. "Sorry we couldn't be better hosts, Miss, but…"

"Wait, why are you helping me?" Kagura asked, ignoring the voice that shrieked Gift horse! Mouth! in the back of her mind. "I just told you I was a Rebel. Shouldn't you turn me in? I mean, if they found out, they might kill you!"

"Maybe that's why we have to help you." Owen grabbed a napkin and a pen and started drawing a crude map. "Okay, this Kenobi guy you're looking for…"