The car pulls up to a gate, and the driver rolls down his window to speak into a receiver. Anara catches the smell of the sea on the air, and she can hear the driver tell someone, "Princess Anara Solo." A buzzer sounds, and the gates begin to swing inward. In the dark, with the tinted windows, she can't see anything, but can feel the car winding up a steep road and can sense the ocean nearby. The car stops and the driver comes around to open her door. She steps out onto a circular drive before a very beautiful building. Large lights illuminate the front entry, the large double doors slashed with frosted glass, a sweeping circular roof overhanging the shallow steps to the doors. Large potted trees flank the stairs, lending it a regal appearance. One of the doors opens to reveal Pepper standing in the entryway.
"Anara, welcome. Please, come in."
Anara thanks the driver, who nods to her as he gets back into the car. Pepper waves as the car drives back through the gates. Walking into the home, Anara is impressed by the openness of the space and instantly recognizes themes of decoration and style similar to those in Stark Tower. Pepper leads her further into the house towards a large seating area flanked by a bank of curved windows. From the hushed sound of the ocean, she can guess the view must be spectacular in the daytime. They walk past the seating area and down a wide hallway. Pepper takes her to a room on the same side of the house as the seating area.
"This is our guest room. Please make yourself at home. If you haven't eaten we can whip something up in the kitchen. "
"No, I'm fine. Thank you. Mr. Lucas and I had dinner while we talked," Anara says as she removes her cloak and drapes it over a nearby chair. The ladies walk back out to the seating area.
"I was just having a glass of wine. Would you like one?" Pepper asks as she sits down on one of the circular couches. The arrangement reminds her of some of the seating areas in the Mead Hall, though Stark's is a bit more refined.
"Please," Anara says, joining her.
As Pepper fills a large glass with a red wine, she asks, "So, how was your visit with Mr. Lucas? Was he able to tell you anything useful?"
Anara, choosing her words carefully, says, "It was very nice to talk to him, but sadly, he could not tell me of a way to get back home."
"I'm sorry to hear that. So how is it he knows so much about your galaxy?"
Anara, not used to outright lying, tells Pepper the story she and Master Lucasoria agreed upon.
"It seems he met a strange man many, many years ago, who told him stories of my galaxy. They formed a fast friendship, and over several years this man told him everything he knew and even gave him drawings of things like the droids R2D2 and C-3PO, Jedi garb and weapons, and Darth Vader. While he never told George he was from another world, he said he'd always suspected it, and my visit confirmed it. I cannot say for sure, but I suspect that man was an archivist from the Jedi Temple. Not long after the fall of the old Empire, one was lost returning from a journey- a story not unlike mine. He was presumed dead, and his bust sits in memorium in the library on Coruscant."
Pepper buys the tale without question. Nodding, she says, "Well, you were there for a long time. Can I assume you told George your story as well?"
"Yes, I caught him up from the point when the Master Archivist disappeared until now. Maybe one day you will see the rest of my family's story in his movies," Anara says, silently hoping he never gets around to making the movie about her generation. She does not want to see the horrors of her childhood projected on a large screen.
Pepper smiles, her expression quickly changing to one of mild distress. "Oh crap. I can't believe I forgot. Tony asked me to have you call him when you arrived. He's got a question or two for you."
As if on cue, a screen on the wall blinks awake, and Tony's face appears.
"Oh, Pepper darling, did you forget to have her worship call me? Jarvis tells me she's been there for at least half an hour," he says, a snarky smile on his face.
"We were just getting around to it," Pepper says, sticking her tongue out at the view screen. "I'll have her take your call in the office. We'll see you there."
The view screen in the living area switches off just as Tony's about to say something.
"Come on, he won't leave us alone until you talk to him," Pepper says as she gets up.
Anara rises and follows her down a flight of stairs and into a small office off what looks like a large work room similar to the one in Stark Tower. A larger view screen on a desk shows Tony's image, grinning.
"Took you long enough. What did you do, stop for dinner?"
"Oh stop it, Tony." Pepper laughs. She looks at Anara. "I'll leave you two alone. I'll be upstairs if you need anything."
Anara nods her thanks and sits down in the leather chair behind the desk.
"So…how was your visit?" Tony asks.
Anara smiles at his feigned interest, knowing he'd much rather be asking her questions of a different sort.
"It was… informative."
"Oh do tell me that guy's Jabba the Hutt in disguise," Tony begs.
Anara laughs. "No, he's not, and a good thing too. The Hutts stink worse than Bantha dung!" she giggles. "Now, what is it you wanted to ask me?" she asks, attempting to forestall further questions. She really doesn't like lying.
Tony proceeds to ask her questions about power conversion ratios of the lightsaber and whether or not anyone ever considered an energy feedback loop to recharge the power cells when the lightsaber was ignited.
His questions answered, he signs off abruptly, rushing back to whatever it was he was working on. Knowing it's late and sensing that Pepper is tired, Anara heads back upstairs.
"Did Tony get all of his questions answered?" Pepper asks when Anara reaches the top of the stairs.
Anara smiles at her. "Apparently. He signed off without so much as a 'by your leave'. I can only imagine the types of things he would come up with if he had access to the technology in my galaxy."
Pepper smiles, then yawns.
"Pepper, if you don't mind, I'd like to go for a run on the beach - if it's allowed?"
Pepper looks at her questioningly. "Of course you can go for a run. Most of the beach for miles is privately held by the homeowners association, so you should have it all to yourself."
Getting up, she motions Anara back to the guest room. "If you'd like, there are workout clothes in the closet. Agent Romanov stays here occasionally, so we keep a variety of things on hand. You're welcome to whatever you'd like." She looks down to Anara's feet.
"Do you know what size you are? I wouldn't recommend running barefoot. Even on the private beaches, stuff washes up that you wouldn't want to step on."
Anara compares her foot to Pepper's. She judges they are about the same size.
"I don't know what they would be in your size system, but I think our feet are about the same in dimension."
Pepper waves her towards the guest room as she turns in the opposite direction.
"Go look through the closet for something to wear. I think I have something that should fit you."
Anara enters the guest room and finds the walk-in closet. Unlike the one in New York, this closet has more airy dresses, suitable for a more temperate climate, and surprisingly, quite a bit of black leather. She can see Black Widow's influence here.
A set of shelves along a short wall holds tight-fitting, breathable leggings, some long, some of shorter length, and tight, short tops similar to those she has on Asgard for working out in. Choosing a shorter length legging and a top she thinks will fit, she heads back into the bedroom at the same time Pepper returns.
"Oh good, you found the workout gear. You and Agent Romanov are about the same size, so hopefully things will fit."
"Are you sure Agent Romanov won't mind me borrowing her things?"
"Not at all. Like I said, we have a variety of guests over, so I like to keep a little bit of everything on hand." Pepper tells her. "Here, try these on."
She hands Anara a pair of shoes that look like feet, with pockets for each toe.
"They're designed to make running more like being in bare feet, and they're mesh on top, so if they get wet, it's not a big deal."
Anara sits down on the edge of the bed and removes her boots. Slipping one on, she finds it remarkably light and comfortable. She wiggles her toes and finds good freedom of movement. These may work well on the sand.
"Thank you," she tells Pepper. "I have never seen footwear like this. I am curious to see how well they perform."
Pepper nods and says, "Meet me back out in the living room when you're ready. I'll show you the way down to the beach and how to get back into the house when you're done with your run."
Anara dresses quickly and rejoins Pepper in the living room. Pepper takes her down a different flight of stairs that exits onto a stone patio overlooking the ocean. A wooden staircase extends from the patio down to the beach. At the large glass doors, Pepper shows her another communication panel.
"Just place your hand here," she says, indicating a large flat screen. "Jarvis will recognize your palm print and unlock the door." Anara nods her understanding.
"Unless you need anything, I think I will head to bed. I have a meeting first thing, and our flight is set for 11am, so the house is yours until then."
"Thank you, Pepper," Anara says. She can sense some concern from Pepper and continues, "Don't worry about me. I have my lightsaber and some skill in a fight. I will be fine. Besides, you said the beach is typically deserted."
Pepper smiles at her. "Alright, just be safe. If you get to a point where there are no houses, be careful. That's where the private beach ends, and the public beach starts."
Anara nods. "I will be mindful. Thank you again, and sleep well."
Pepper bids her goodnight and enters the house, watching as Anara walks down the stairs and onto the beach. Wiggling her toes in the sand, Anara lets herself get a feel for the shoes and of the beach beneath her feet. Taking a deep breath of salt air, she starts to run, letting the exercise free her body of its anxiety and the disappointment of not finding a way home.
She runs for miles, slightly surprised at how effortless it seems, then realizes that the Asgardian home world must have a higher gravity, and that the Golden Apple elixir she received must have helped her adapt to it without her realizing it.
She comes to the end of the houses on the beach, but decides to run on, her mind still spinning around the day's conversation with Master Lucasoria. A few more miles down the beach, she senses the presence of several others. She continues to run. As she draws nearer, she can sense their thoughts and knows they've seen her. She slows down, intending to pass around them, but they fan out along the beach, clearly meaning to stop her. She stops short of the three men and senses a fourth coming down the dunes to get behind her. Their intent clear even before the cat calls start, she considers drawing her light saber. With no witnesses, it would be easy to dispose of the bodies in the surf.
She shakes her head, clearing her mind of thoughts born of the dark side. As the men come closer, calling out "Hey baby, what ya doin' out so late? Wanna have some fun?", she decides she does want to have some fun.
Giving in to just a sliver of the Dark Side, she decides to take them on unarmed. She lets the one behind her get close, allowing him to think he's snuck up on her. She can smell alcohol on his breath as he tries to grab her. Taking his arm, she backs into him, using his weight to flip him over her shoulder.
The men approaching her stop, and the one she's tagged as the leader says, "Hey now, that wasn't nice. We just wanna have some fun, Come give us a kiss."
"Come and get one, if you can," she taunts.
The men rush her, the one she flipped struggling to get up and join the fight. Try as they might, they can't get the upper hand. Just when they think they have her pinned, she strikes out, kicking the leader in the chest and flipping up and behind the one who thought he'd had her held fast. Whipping her braid around, the heavy silver clasp at the end smashes into her would be captor's face. Sooner than she'd like, the four men lie in a groaning pile, beaten, all with broken bones.
Moving them one-by-one with the Force, she sets them up against a large driftwood log. As she ties up each one with long strands of seaweed, she assesses their injuries. None is life threatening.
"Who the fuck are you?" the leader manages to get out around moans from broken ribs.
"Someone you never should have messed with," she replies, nudging him in the ribs with her foot, making him groan.
She uses the Force to implant a suggestion that they will confess when they are found by authorities to having tried to assault a woman and were beaten by her. She wipes their memories of her using the Force to float them to their current positions and clouds their ability to recall what she looks like. Blowing them a kiss, she turns back the way she came and heads back to the Stark house.
Returning to the house, she brushes off the sand and uses the palm scanner to gain entry. Once inside she heads for the small view screen in the living room.
Speaking quietly she says, "Jarvis?"
The panel activates, the Stark logo slowly spinning.
"Yes, my lady?" the computer replies.
"Will you alert the authorities please. There are four men about five miles south down the beach. They were involved in an attempted assault."
"Of course, my lady. Shall I make this an anonymous call?"
"Yes, please."
"Am I correct in assuming you were their target?"
"Yes."
"Are you all right? Shall I alert Mr. Stark, or Thor?" Jarvis inquires.
"No, there is no need. The authorities will find the men secured but injured. They will need medical assistance."
"Very well, I will alert the proper authorities. My lady, are you sure you are alright?"
"I'm fine, Jarvis. Thank you. I didn't even get a scratch," Anara says and walks away from the panel.