Hunted

XXXII. The Lightkeepers

That afternoon Serela set out from camp in the direction of the base, her mother waving from the door flap of the tent as she watched her daughter leave, dabbing her eyes with an apron. It was the first time they'd been separated in the two weeks since Serela had been brought here.

Of course there was talk in the camp between the locals, but nowhere was there more talk than on the base amongst the Resistance. Rumours flew rapidly and everyone seemed to have an opinion on Serela's situation, and Leia's choice to get them involved in it. Most agreeing that there was nothing to be done for it now, but apprehensive of the repercussions that were sure to come from such an audacious move.

For her first training she had not expected to run into anyone save for Luke and possibly the girl he had mentioned. It was still early enough in the day that she expected all the Resistance staff would be busy running drills and the many other things she knew they must be doing to prepare for the First Order's arrival.

So when she cleared the last of the trees and began to head through the tall grass surrounding the back entrance to the base, the last person she expected to see was the dusky, olive-skinned man who had stayed after the council meeting to speak with Leia. Yet there he was in the middle of the grass, seated on a large rock with his back to her. Even without seeing his face she somehow knew that it was him, the orange jumpsuit reminding her that his position here was as a pilot. Immediately wary, she tried to think if she knew another way to go around without him seeing her, but the only ones she could think of were too far for her to walk in her pregnant state.

Hesitantly, she stepped forward on the worn path through the grass, trying not to make any noise as she did and hoping that somehow he might not notice her pass by him, or at the least ignore her. The soft afternoon breeze rustled through the green stalks and they bowed under its force. Her newly short hair caught in the wind and lightly grazed across her face as she kept closely to the path. Reaching up to tuck the strands back behind her ear, she was almost past him and knew he must see her when she heard his deep voice, "Hey!"

Serela stopped, but didn't turn, instead waiting to hear what he would say next.

"Hey!" he said again, and she heard the sound of his feet hitting the ground and shuffling over to her through the grass, "Are you heading towards the base?"

Finally she turned to face him and was surprised to see how close he was. For a man she was pretty sure did not want her to be here he was almost near enough for her to reach out and touch. He was an average height, not nearly so tall as Kylo had been, but still much taller than her, and upon closer inspection, had a face that seemed very good-natured. Brown eyes and a wide nose, with a set of brilliant white teeth flashing at her as he spoke, "Are you okay?"

"Yes!" she said a little too forcefully, and the baby gave a faint kick. "Yes, I'm fine," she assured him, feeling the baby roll over and resettle himself, "You just startled me is all."

"Sorry about that," he gave her a sheepish grin and raked his hand through his wavy hair. This was not what she had expected to receive from him in the way of welcomes.

"So are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Heading for the base?"

Embarrassed that she had been distracted when he first asked her the question, she nodded, "I'm supposed to be meeting with Luke and his 'pad-ah-wahn' to begin training," her lips enunciated every part of the word carefully.

He grinned at her as if stifling a laugh at the way she said it, "Well, I haven't seen you around here since the first night after you arrived. Do you know the way to the training area they use?"