Reflections: A Star Wars Fan Fiction Novella

Chapter 4

I couldn't believe my eyes, she really believed me. The best lie is a slanted truth, afterall. If she knew who I was, and how many of her allies I dusted earlier today alone, I doubt we would both still be alive. Turns out, I'm a better actor than I believed. If playing pretend would keep us both alive on this snarkin' planet, so be it.

I stood there longer than I wanted too. Don't get me wrong, it was nice, but I wasn't actually an Imperial turned Rebel stranded alone for over a year. If I was this desperate for female companionship, I would not have signed up for this battle. I decided it was time to break the silence.

"I think we should find shelter, there's no telling with the weather here."

Her head stirred. Had she really felt safe enough to fall asleep? Head tilted back, her tiny round face slowly orientated itself towards mine. Her eyes were still closed.

He was right. We needed to find shelter. I eased her down and allowed her to sleep on the sandy beach. Typical, New Republic personnel, always lazy and somehow competent enough to pull off victories. Shelter, I had no idea whether it was even going to rain or get dark on this world. This was unprecedented.

I stood there thinking over all the things I needed to do. Then I realized that I hadn't marked the location of my interceptor. Unacceptable.

I retrieved my blaster. I returned her holdout weapon to her boot's holster, but she barely even stirred. I stood above her, watching her sleep for several moments before I forced myself to leave.

So far no winds had disrupted my tracks. I couldn't risk losing my interceptor to the elements. It would never take off again, but it was the last connection I had to civilization. When I reached it, I loaded my helmet and other gear inside, before sealing the hatch. I was searching for my gloves to lock inside, when I realized I had left them on the shore near Fyra.

Oh well, I likely needed to keep my gloves. I left the nutrient bars inside, it wouldn't have made sense for me to have saved them for over a year. The question was, how was I going to explain gathering food? I hoped the ocean was full of sea life.

When I returned, Fyra was resting upon her elbows watching the sun. That's when I noticed the sun was lower in the sky than it had been, and the clouds were tinged with orange. I wasn't sure how much time had passed so far, but that was good news nonetheless.

She must have heard me, as I'm pretty sure I saw her micro jump with fright. She pivoted on her left arm to glance back at me before returning her gaze to the ocean. That's when I noticed she had shed her jumpsuit for a tank and shorts. I did not see those in the survival pack.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself, trust me, the magic wears off." The irony of my statement wasn't lost to myself, especially when I hadn't even been here for an entire day yet.

"If every day is this beautiful, how could you ever tire of it?" Her eyes hadn't left the horizon, but her head nodded to accentuate her statement.

I was stuck now. Did I say every day was this beautiful or it wasn't? If we were here for much longer, that could likely ruin my whole cover story. I selected the most illogical statement which popped into my head.

"Your beauty outshines everything about this place." I'm telling you, if for some reason I don't get my job back, and I don't end up dead or in prison, I'll be an actor.

Her head tilted forward and I saw a flash of her smile before she turned her face out of my view. "I can't believe this is real."

"Oh, it is, my angel. Now, do you know how much water these converters generate? I'm parched."