Reflections: A Star Wars Fan Fiction Novella

Chapter 7

Trust is so fragile. One moment, I'm imagining what's going to happen to us if we're here much longer together, and if this was a holodrama what the rating classification would be. Now, my life is being threatened by the man who I had believed to have saved it. He says he won't hurt me, but so far his word's reliability is in question. I'll listen to what he has to say, then I'll decide whether or not I'm going to kill him.

His face was paralyzed with indecision. If it hadn't been my life on the line, I would have sworn he was just as scared as I am. I struggled to make myself sit down without resistance, but I crossed my arms over my chest in defiance. My beauty was mine, and I had the right to give and take away all privileges on my whim alone. This act didn't seem to affect him as much as I hoped it would.

Once I was situated, he placed his blaster beside him. I didn't even allow myself to imagine going for it. I watched his face, my eyes burning as the welcome mat for tears which I choked back silently.

"My interceptor was damaged during the battle. An X-wing had resorted to a ramming tactic and my starboard wing was broken in two. He survived the collision, and when he returned to finish the job, I neutralized the threat.

I inhaled sharply, realizing that he could have killed one of my friends, regardless that suicide wasn't their style in the first place. I held my gaze.

"I continued to fight off hostiles, before I lost my starboard wing completely. There was no way I could participate meaningfully in combat any longer, so I decided rather than die meaninglessly, I could survive if I escaped. I wasn't deserting, my death would mean nothing to the Empire. My life meant everything."

I decided now was the time for me to try to speak, respectfully of course. I still wanted to survive this. "I'm not sure they would see it that way." He nodded his head solemnly before continuing on with his story. Yes, story, for all I knew this was a lie too.

"I selected this moon due to its proximity. I barely survived the landing. Unlike you, I didn't notice the water, and I had to land on the sand. I'm lucky to have survived."

"Is this true? Swear on your Empire."

"This is true, I swear on my life that this is true."

"No, swear on your Empire."

"I swear on my Empire, there, are you satisfied now? May I continue?" I wanted to push him more, make him swear on his dead Emperor or something of the sort, but I still liked the idea of living without blaster burn scars. I merely nodded my head and set my face in the same half-angry, half-disappointed look which always worked for me.

"It wasn't an hour until I heard your A-wing and watched its descent. At first I thought it was one of my allies. When I reached the shore here, I saw your ship out at sea, drifting inland." He was very animated with his body language, his arms sweeping broad arcs in an attempt to trace every detail of the encounter.

"When I realized your ship was a New Republic asset, I got scared. I ended up standing my ground, and waited for it to beach itself. I thought you were dead."

I choked back a harsher comeback. "When did you realize you were wrong?"

His eyes met mine again, but they drifted off as he spoke. "I dragged you to shore, and I barely noticed you were still breathing. I was going to kill you, but I decided against it. Then you started to wake up, and I had to think fast. My lies were an attempt to temporarily dampen any negative feelings you harbored against the Empire."

"Did you ever plan on telling me this?" He looked down at the blaster beside him.

"Cryus." His eyes carried over to the A-wing, the monolithic entity to his left.