"Mom?"
The man and woman stood across from Valerie. No one dared moved. Three Kitehawk's flew above them. Valerie didn't know what to do. The woman took a couple steps forward. The garden tool slipped from her grasp. Valerie took a smaller step forward.
The woman slowly walked up to Valerie. Valerie realized that she was maybe half an inch or at most an inch taller than the woman. Everything else though was identical, their hair, eyes, even how the woman held herself. Valerie was a spitting image of her. The woman carefully brought her hands up to Valerie's cheeks.
"How can this be?" The woman whispered. Tears started forming in her eyes.
Valerie didn't know what to say, the only thing she could even manage to whisper was what this woman was to her. "Mom?"
The woman let out a choked cry and brought Valerie into a hug. Valerie eagerly hugged her back, she had also started crying. "You're alive! I can't believe this." The woman sobbed.
The man walked up to the two women. Valerie looked up, still hugging her to see the man also had tears in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around the two of them. "My daughter..." He whispered.
Valerie pulled away from the two of them but the woman moved her hands back to her cheeks. "I don't understand." She said. "We thought you were dead."
"No." Valerie whispered, she was afraid that she would cry more if she spoke too loud. "I'm not dead."
"Oh my heart!" The woman smiled. "We didn't want to believe it! We knew there was no way all the Jedi were guilty of treason, we begged the stars to keep you alive and here you are."
"How are you here?" The man asked.
"I always knew I came from Lah'mu." Valerie said. "There's so much more that happened but I just followed my heart and I'm here."
"Come, come inside." The woman insisted. "It's almost supper. Your father can move your ship."
"We have a carved cave in the mountain, we can hide it there." He agreed.
"Thank you, both of you." Valerie said. The woman wrapped an arm around Valerie and led her towards the homestead while the man walked towards her ship. "My bag and helmet are still on my ship!" She turned to him.
"I'll grab it." He reassured her and the two girls walked to the homestead.
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Valerie sat at a table in the kitchen. Food was being cooled on the stove top. Some sort of meat protein surrounded by vegetables. Valerie looked around the area while her mother got the tea kettle on the stove. The decorations were light. Few hand-painted paintings of what looked like of Lah'mu's flora and fauna were hung up. Dried herbs hung upside down throughout the kitchen. Pots, pan, cooking utensils hung on racks. A small rug hid under the table. A small vase with dying flowers sat in the middle of the table. Valerie's mother sat across from Valerie, pulling her attention back to the other woman.
"So, Valerie." She carefully said. "Why are you here? Don't get me wrong, nothing makes me happier but why? It's been 19 years."
Valerie looked at her hands resting on the table as she didn't know where else to look. "I-I don't know. A lot happened and I felt this was my last option."
Valerie's father walked in through the door. In his hand was Valerie's backpack with Tech's helmet strapped to it. He handed it to her as the kettle started to steam. "Thank you." Valerie said as her mother got up to attend to the tea kettle. Her father grabbed three teacups and placed them before sitting down in the last empty chair. Valerie's mother came back over with the kettle, a tin full of herbs, and some tea cookies.
YOU ARE READING
The Bad Batch Aftermath{TechxOC}
Fanfiction~Book two to Valerie's story~ What was only one mistake turned out to be the very thing that possibly saved her life. Newly appointed Jedi-Knight Valerie Ortis thinks her old way of life is over. She made a mistake and she knows that but that doesn'...
