"I'm going to say something." Zarabelle Penthurst said, as she attempted to get out of her seat.
"Don't you dare, girl." Zarabelle's mother hissed towards her in a feeble way of warning her daughter against what she wanted to do.
"Do you want us to die? This is a light ship that's attempting to nail a landing that would work for a heavy-duty ship. The velocity is far too fast. This ship can't decrease speed as fast as a heavy-duty ship. It's too light." Zarabelle hissed towards Mink, her mother.
"Is that true?" A scared passenger called out after overhearing the conversation between Zarabelle and Mink.
Today was a special day for Luke Skywalker's Jedi Training Temple. Today was the first day that visitors were allowed. This wasn't a pointless, bureaucratic rule that Skywalker implemented. It was a strategic one.
It was important for Luke's students to balance maintaining relationships, but also learning the ways of the force and the respect that it needed. Therefore he had to keep friends and family away whilst the foundations of training were being built. His students had come a long way since they first set foot in his temple and thus they were ready for their first visit from their loved ones.
The biggest handfuls for him were still his nephew Ben Solo, and Ben's closest friend Chaz Penthurst. The two had learned quickly they must respect their master and they no longer misbehaved in front of him. But he knew they acted up when he was not present. Not just because other students had dobbed them in. He could feel it.
He contemplated not allowing the two to have visitors. But any advantages gained by denying visitation had far greater risks. He sensed something not quite right in the two. Out of all his students they were the biggest liabilities of ever having their powers exploited by the dark side. It was important for him to nurture them and not punish them. Therefore he had still extended invitations to Han and Leia, as well as Chaz's mother and sister for a visit.
Little did he know that Chaz wasn't the only Penthurst that could be an arrogant handful.
"Quiet you lot. I know what I'm doing." The pilot of the ship gruffly snapped at them with a thick lower-class accent.
Zarabelle said nothing but sat down and buckled herself up in her seat and held onto a nearby rail dramatically. Her plan was to over exaggerate fear in order to cause a mass panic based on her fears. It slightly worked.
"H-how do you know the pilot is going to crash?" Another scared passenger asked in a stutter.
Many different types of passengers surrounded Zarabelle. After all Luke had accepted students from all corners of the galaxy and therefore each family belonged to different cultures. But it appeared none were from a piloting background, as no one appeared to question Zarabelle's hesitations.
"It's not going to crash. My daughter is an over enthusiastic air traffic controller whilst she waits for a suitable husband to come along. She's just trying to be a show-off." Mink Penthurst responded cruelly, wrinkling her nose to display her disdain for her daughter's behaviour.
"Air traffic controller? Sit down love, you're way out of your depth here. Those that can't pilot, become an air controller," The pilot wickedly stated before continuing "We'll be landing in the next two minutes. But feel free to talk to me after, love. You're the most decent looking one here. I'll help you prepare for a husband."
Zarabelle went to ark up at the sleazy pilot but Mink roughly grabbed her daughter's mouth with her hand in order to muffle Zarabelle's protests. It was only after a few moments when Zarabelle stopped talking, when Mink finally allowed her to speak again.
This caused Zarabelle to change directions. Instead of targeting the pilot she would go back to her favourite mark, her mother.
Mink Penthurst was a beautiful woman in her prime, and she absolutely knew it. She had smooth porcelain skin without a flaw in sight. It was accompanied by matching stunning features such as high cheekbones and very bright blue eyes. Mink Penthurst was the epitome of beauty and had never had trouble getting male attention just by batting her eyelids.
Zarabelle was pretty, but not beautiful. To some men who liked cute (rather than smoking hot) girls she would be considered beautiful. To men with very high, almost unreasonable standards, she could even be considered plain. She had golden brunette hair, more rounded facial features compared to her mother and a few light freckles dotted around her nose. The only thing she had inherited from her mother were the dazzling blue eyes. Zarabelle herself had never struggled too much to get attention from men - but her pool was always a little bit smaller than her mother's, and she normally had to work just a little bit for it rather than batting her eyelids. Hence how she had developed a personality and certain characteristic traits. One of which was a playful nature.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here, mother. That pilot dude said I was the best looking one on the ship. May I remind you that you too happen to be on this ship?" Zarabelle grinned towards her mother.
"Yes darling," Mink hissed through gritted teeth "Just remember that trash attracts trash. If you would just put in a bit of effort you could pull in a reputable man."
"If you could just age gracefully and stop living vicariously through me, you'd stop caring about something as pathetic as who I'm attracting." Zarabelle snapped. She was starting to lose her cool after hearing her mother nag her about this topic non-stop over the three hour inter-galatic flight.
"I'll have you know-" Mink started with absolute venom in her tone, but she wasn't given the chance to finish.
The ship had entered the planet's atmosphere and was approaching the runway at a fast pace. It was now the pilot realised what Zarabelle had tried to warn him - the ship was travelling far too fast for its size and would struggle to slow down in time to hit the runway at a safe pace. Therefore he slammed on the brakes, causing the entire ship to lurch forward and those passengers not buckled up to be thrown forward out of their seats.
The pilot's quick thinking had worked as the light spacecraft skidded to a halt. But the landing was a lot less smooth as it should have been, as the occupants had to pick themselves off the floor and smooth their flyaway hairs.
A few snide remarks were thrown towards the pilot as the passengers began to disembark off the ship onto the planet beneath them. Zarabelle didn't bother with any 'told-you-so' comments - however she didn't need to. Before she could exit the spaceship the pilot stuck his arm out gruffly to prevent her from leaving.
"That only happened because you distracted me. You're forbidden from making the return trip on my ship." The pilot angrily stated.
Zarabelle sent a side look towards her mother. She expected her mother to lash out at her. After all, Zarabelle's comments had gotten her banned from the return trip. Instead, Mink would shock Zarabelle.
"So you're telling me that because my daughter's prediction was correct, she's no longer welcome on your ship?" Mink asked cooly, her voice low and dangerous.
"No Ma'am," the pilot stated in an embarrassed tone, going pink as he tried to cover his tracks "Your daughter is a troublemaker which is why she's not allowed back."
"Yes my daughter is a troublemaker and she will be dealt with later," Mink hissed as she shot a dirty look sideways towards Zarabelle before continuing "But it hardly seems fair that she's now stranded with no way to return home."
"She should have thought about that before opening her pretty little mouth!" The pilot said, sounding very flustered.
Zarabelle scoffed as she remained almost-composed and wasn't going to let the rude man get to her.
"It's okay mother. I didn't want to make the return journey anyway. This schmuck couldn't even land a light spacecraft. At least I'll actually survive the return journey if I find another ride home." Zarabelle shrugged apathetically as she bounded off.
As she was walking away she overheard Mink hiss more negative words towards the pilot before she strode quickly to catch up with Zarabelle's fast paces.
"Well he's right. You could have been more graceful in your criticisms. But they were valid as we did face danger and he was a spiteful, little unsuccessful man." Mink said to Zarabelle with a very strained smile on her face. It was rare for Mink Penthurst to smile. It was even rarer for her to speak up in defence for her daughter.
"Thank you, mother." Zarabelle responded. She wanted to sound grateful but like her mother she too was very stiff with unfamiliar feelings.
The two decided to remain silent as they both stalked down the now-empty corridors. Mink kept her eyes ahead as she was a woman on a mission - she wanted to reach the room where her son was as quickly as possible. Zarabelle on the other hand was amazed by her surroundings and kept darting her eyes around the corridors.
The corridors were very roomy, but very plain. They had high ceilings with a wide berth but there was nothing as far as the eye could see, except for boring oak doors in the distance. The walls and floors were also white. Too white - not a scuff mark in sight. It made the halls look untouched and not lived in.
Zarabelle and her mother eventually landed in front of the oak door. Mink gave a large scoff, feeling she was too important to be letting herself into the room. Zarabelle on the other hand took no hesitation in hastily placing a hand on the wooden door and barging into the next room.
Unfortunately for Zarabelle the door was not nearly as heavy as she had anticipated. They flew open and banged loudly against the wall as she burst through. This caused all the occupants in the room to cast their eyes onto the newcomer.
"Hi, hi, how ya goin'?" Zarabelle grinned widely as she addressed all the stares that were sent her way, to the embarrassment of her mother who hid her face in her hands as she followed her daughter meekly.
Most of those in the room averted their eyes away from Zarabelle upon these actions, either being unphased by the family or not wanting to be caught staring and appear rude. But one boy couldn't take his eyes off of Zarabelle - Ben Solo.
Ben was presently in the company of his father, Han. His mother Leia had important senator business and couldn't make the trip, but Han could. But instead of asking about Ben's training he had spent the entire time bragging about a recent adventure he had taken with his lifetime Wookie friend, Chewbacca.
Feigning interest but finding his eyes wandering around the room it was very easy for him to focus on Zarabelle - after all, he felt the girl was nice to look at. He immediately knew who she was - she was Zarabelle Penthurst, sister of his newest friend Chaz. He had once seen Chaz speaking to her on a video call where the girl had oozed confidence like she was today.
After strutting through the visitation room she finally noticed the boy sending looks her way and the two finally locked eyes.
"She's a bit of a looker. Has Luke put in any rules about girls?" Han asked his son with a grin on his face.
Ben had been so focused on Zarabelle he hadn't noticed his father had seen the looks he was sending the slightly younger girl.
"I-I don't know," Ben uncharacteristically stuttered "I don't really care. All I'm here for is to grow strong with the force."
Han could read his son very well in this situation. The two weren't terribly close, but as he had spent his own youth chasing skirts between his complicated relationships with Qi'ra and Leia, he definitely knew how to read when a boy was interested in a girl. It was written all over Ben's body language.
He didn't bother responding to his son, but beckoned over both Zarabelle and her mother with a hand gesture.
"What are you doing?" Ben hissed to his father.
"I'm about to teach you the most valuable lesson I will ever teach you, son. I'm going to teach you the art of seduction," Han grinned. "I'll practice on the older woman with her as a guide. Just don't tell your mother.
Ben only sent a snarl towards his father as he continued to watch Zarabelle intently. Her mother was watching Han and had begun to approach the two, but Zarabelle hesitated in her spot. She was peering around the room to try and find her brother. She was far more interested in spending time with her brother than two strangers.
But when she couldn't see him, she hesitantly followed her mother over to the two strangers.
"Grab a chair and sit down, join us!" Han spoke up politely, indicating to two spare oak chairs at the table next to the one they were occupying.
"A gentleman would pull up chairs for a lady." Mink stiffly responded with a 'hmph' at the end.
Ben successfully swallowed laughter at his father's rejection as he began to once again eye Zarabelle, to see how she would respond. She had noticed his amusement at his father's expense and had sent Ben a kind smile when she noticed he was studying her.
"Guess he doesn't think you're a lady then." Zarabelle teased her mother, earning a scowl.
"Son, pull up a chair for this delightful young lady. I'm very sorry miss, let me get you a seat too." Han quickly stated in order to regain control, scampering off his occupied seat in order to grab a spare for Mink Penthurst.
Mink stood still in her spot but sent Zarabelle a smirk to show she was very pleased with herself. Zarabelle did nothing but roll her eyes at her mother's arrogance.
But before she could say a smart retort, a chair flew from the table next to them and landed in front of Zarabelle's feet. She yelped at first in surprise of the chair moving of its own accord but out of the corner of her eye she saw Ben lower his hand.
"You did that?" Zarabelle asked in amazement, pointing between Ben and the chair.
"It's called the force, kid. Something only very few people in the universe can possess. And my boy is one of them." Han grinned once he got back to the table and offered a chair to Mink who elegantly sat down.
Zarabelle darted her eyes between Ben and Han. They didn't seem like bad people. She couldn't quite read Ben's personality and thus he was a mystery to her. But Han was easy. He was arrogant and cocky, two undesirable traits. She didn't dislike him off the bat, but she loved to stir the pot. To give up this opportunity to tease would be denying herself a great pleasure.
"So living off your child's achievements, I see?" Zarabelle sarcastically responded with a wide smirk growing upon her face.
This caused Han to frown and Ben to snort out with laughter.
"Here we go. You asked for it. Be prepared for 'something, something twelve parsecs.'" Ben smirked, finding himself joining in with Zarabelle's teasing of his father.
It took Zarabelle a few moments to comprehend Ben's statement. It was very vague and wouldn't make sense to someone who didn't know the information he was trying to relay. But Zarabelle worked in the aviation industry and thus she had heard many tales of what Ben was trying to poke fun at.
"Ah. I see. You're Han Solo - who flew the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. I'm a little impressed." Zarabelle mused.
Ben raised an eyebrow towards her. From what he had heard about her from her brother Chaz, Zarabelle wasn't one to be easily impressed. He wondered what the girl was up to.
"I see my reputation precedes me." Han boasted, and then sent a wink towards the older woman Mink as an act of bragging.
"Nah. Well, yeah, it does. But I'm not impressed about the actual Kessel Run thing. I'm impressed by the amount of idiot copycats who have done serious damage to their ships trying to find shorter routes to show off." Zarabelle spoke up.
Before Han could spit something out to defend his honour, Ben cut him off.
"You're an air traffic controller, right?" Ben asked her curiously before quickly adding on once he realises she had yet to formally introduce herself "You're Zarabelle Penthurst, Chaz's sister"
"Mmhm!" Zarabelle confidentially confirmed "Did Chaz tell you I'm an air traffic controller?"
"Yeah, he did." Ben mumbled, as he didn't know why he brought it up, nor where he was going with this conversation.
A silence then fell upon the table. Han was drumming his fingers upon the table top as he thought carefully about what he could say to the attractive mature woman he was using as an example to his son. Mink was sitting upright as she eyed Han, expecting more compliments to be fed to her.
The two younger occupants of the table however had their attention elsewhere.
Ben was staring at the table's wooden leg to distract himself. He had met many girls throughout the years through fancy events his parents had attended. But no one had ever had the effect that Zarabelle was having on him. It wasn't just the fact that she was attractive to him, he had always felt pretty girls were a dime a dozen.
It was her allure. Ever since he had seen her video chatting to Chaz, he had wanted to know more about her. She had carried herself so confident and so keen to challenge authority. He had been probing Chaz for information about her, and had been so keen to meet her.
But he couldn't bring himself to make this information obvious to Zarabelle. And so he was quiet.
Zarabelle on the other hand was looking around the room to try and spot her brother. When she couldn't find him, she addressed Ben directly.
"Where's Chaz?" She asked him.
"He's still training with Luke. He's had a bit of an issue grasping the use of the force, and had a break through just before visitation started." Ben went on to explain.
"Oh." Zarabelle responded as she slumped her shoulders, looking very disappointed.
Ben didn't know what to respond with, but a bright idea hit Han so he was the one to speak.
"Hey, son. Why don't you take Zarabelle to go meet her brother?"