Next afternoon, dressed in my dirtiest and poorest-looking dress (which isn't actually very dirty or poor at all), I found myself wandering to the hole in the hedge once again, the durasheet enclosed in my hand. The message was gone from its surface, but I had memorized it ages before it faded. I wasn't sure why I still held the sheet. It just felt right, I guess. Like my own little symbol of hope.

I was still in debate with myself over whether or not to go. I couldn't just leave my family. If I did, news would spread all over the galaxy and everyone would be looking for me, destroying any chance I'd had of freedom.

At the same time, now that the chance had been given to me, I couldn't just ignore it. If I didn't go, I would always regret it.

It's now or never, I told myself.

Ten minutes later, I stood outside Dock 133 in Theed's main spaceport. Tentatively, I reached out and knocked.

A strange man answered the door and asked gruffly, "What do you want?"

"I want to talk to Tal Castian," I squeaked nervously. "Tell him it's Bellah."

The man ducked back into the dock. A minute later, Tal emerged.

"Hi!" he said brightly. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't interested."

Shuffling my feet, I admitted, "I changed my mind. I want to join the Resistance."

"Great! Come inside and we'll take you to the base right away!"

"Hang on a minute." Tal's face betrayed a little confusion as I halted his progress in leading me inside. "I'll join, but I have to be able to come home everyday. I can't be out for more than the afternoons, or they'll notice I'm gone."

Tal's expression was now one of concern. Slowly, he said, "I'm not sure how that will work. No one's ever been given special permissions like that before. Not that I know of, anyway. It'll be tricky, but I'll see what I can do."

I relaxed. I had expected him to say no, and that would be the end of this whole thing. I relaxed and let him lead me inside and introduce me as Bellah Undarri to the other rebels in the dock, then he took me to the ship waiting in the center of the dock. It had been a long time since I was in a spaceship, but I hopped in without a word.

As I strapped myself in, Tal buckled himself into the pilot seat and put his hands to the controls. I personally have no clue how to fly, but he did it brilliantly. We never even had to leave Naboo. The Resistance base was in some remote forested area that I'd never seen before. We came in for a smooth landing on a large disk of tarmac next to the base, and I disembarked, ogling at all the men and women in pilot's uniforms occupying the docking area, droids dogging their heels as they serviced their stationary fighter ships.

"You like it?" Tal asked as he trotted down the ship's ramp to me.

I nodded, smiling.

"Come on." He started towards an opening in the side of a hill, in which still more ships of varying sorts sat waiting to be used. I followed, staring at my surroundings in wide-eyed curiosity.

Inside the base, two men approached us with solemn countenances.

"Who is this?" the taller of the two asked, addressing Tal. He was a buff man with piercing gray eyes, dark hair, and a very large jaw.

"This is Bellah Undarri, Commander. She'd like to join the Resistance."

I held my hand out to the men in a friendly manner, but they ignored me.

"Mr. Castian, how do you know she is not a spy?"

"Um, well… I don't, really, but –"

"Yet you brought her here anyway? Your innocent trust will get you in trouble someday, mark my words, Mister Castian."

The other man, older than his companion, with a grey beard and garbed in a dark robe, halted his partner and said, "Hold on, Commander. I trust Mister Castian's judgment. He would not knowingly bring an enemy spy into our midst. He must trust the girl, and we should, too, until we have such evidence as proves to the contrary."

He turned to me and asked kindly, "You wish to join our forces?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you have no evil intent?"

"None, sir," I replied, shaking my head.

He looked at me thoughtfully. "I sense no evil about you. However…," he trailed off, shaking his head. He faced his companion and ordered, "Let Miss Undarri join, Commander Olin. She is of good mettle, and we have great need of that at such a time as this."

The commander nodded. "Of course, Master Skywalker."

I gasped. Skywalker? Luke Skywalker! I had heard tales of a Jedi, the last of his kind, who went by that name, but I had thought them only legends. Now it seemed I had met the hero of those stories!

"Miss Undarri, I would like to speak to you for a moment, please," said Master Skywalker.

I nodded, and he led me a short distance from Tal, who was telling Commander Olin of my requests to be allowed home each day.

In a hushed voice, Master Skywalker muttered, "You have no harmful or reason for wanting to join us, of that I am sure, but I sense that you are not who you say."

I reddened. I hadn't anticipated anyone finding out my true identity. "Please, Master, don't tell anyone. I don't like to lie, but if the wrong people found out who I am, it could put me and everyone around me in danger."

"But who are you, girl?"

I hesitated, unsure whether or not to answer truthfully. If the stories I'd heard about Master Skywalker were true, then he was someone I could trust. "Since you already know who I'm not, I'll tell you that I am a princess of Naboo," I whispered.

"Arabellah?"

I nodded. Master Skywalker knitted his brows.

"Please don't tell anyone, Master Skywalker. Please. You have no idea how much this opportunity means to me."

I watched anxiously as he thought, then nodded. "Don't worry, Princess. No one shall learn of this."

"Thank you, Master."

He nodded again, still frowning slightly, and I went back to Tal.

"Commander Olin has agreed for you to come here only in the afternoons. It was tough, but none can resist the persuasive words of Tal Castian." He grinned. "What did Master Skywalker want to talk to you about?"

"Nothing. Just making sure I would fit in, I guess." I shrugged the question off.

"Oh. Come on, let's get you some regulation clothes. You can't fight the First Order in a dress!"

I was fitted with a white button-up shirt, dark red pants, leather boots, and a belt, complete with gun holster. I unpinned my bun and braided my hair instead.

As I came out of the changing room, a woman in an official-looking uniform gave me some papers to sign and, once I had done that, handed me a comlink, an ID card, and a blaster, which I handled very delicately. She showed me briefly how to use them and told me to keep them with me at all times.

I've never even really held a blaster before, so to be given one and told it's mine to keep made me nervous. I felt strong and independent of my old life at the same time, though. It was a good feeling. All the same, I kept my finger far from the trigger.

The woman told me of all the training I'd have to go through before being allowed to actually fight or go on missions. I did my best to pay attention, but my thoughts kept drifting to the blaster in my holster. I was absolutely terrified that it would go off, even without me touching it.

When she finished, I left the changing rooms and found Tal waiting patiently on a bench.

He stood and suggested, "It's getting late. You should probably go home for the day, right?"

I nodded in response, and we worked our way back to the port, where our ship awaited.

As we clambered aboard and strapped in, Tal asked, "So what did you think?"

"I think… I think this is right for me. I made the right choice."