May the Force be Ever in Your Favor

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"Zah!" Kendy exclaimed, looking at the face of the bun-headed twin with a grin. "Force, I wasn't sure at first. I can't believe it's really you."

The girl smiled back. "It's been a while, friend."

The girls hugged while Rey and Jude shared a stupefied look.

Naysori and Shira both looked just as confused.

"You guys are friends?" Naysori questioned, the same time Berisse asked, "How do you two know each other?"

"I stayed with her and her mother when I went on the foreign exchange program. The only kind people of Mandalore, I'd argue- but I had no idea you had a sister!" Kendy looked over at Faesh.

"That's because we weren't allowed to speak about-or to- each other." Faesh said quietly, tugging on a pigtail.

The mood suddenly shifted uncomfortably.

"Our parents were split when we were very young." Zah added. "5 or so. My mother took me, my father took Faesh. It wasn't until we were 18 that we left our parents and finally found each other for good."

"Wow." Rey couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I can't believe you were able to hold out for so long." Kendy said. "That's commitment, right there."

Zah shrugged. "She's my sister. Besides, I saw her occasionally. It wasn't too bad. She's not really my cup of tea anyway."

Faesh punched her in the shoulder, but she was smiling. "As if you could survive without me."

"Oh, really? That's the best you could come up with?"

Faesh shrugged. "As I said, I'm the nice one. I don't get in enough arguments to have a dictionary of snappy comebacks."

Naysori snorted. "Good one."

Shira cleared her throat and said, not unkindly, "We should be training."

It was the first time the girl had spoken. She had a pleasant yet insistent voice, and matched the demeanor of her.

Shira smiled. "How good are you all with staffs?"

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After Shira had run through a collection of helpful tips on how to use it, they'd all partnered off and spared against each other with their staffs.

When a winner was determined, they switched off and repeated.

Rey was so exhausted that by the time she'd gotten through 6 rounds, Naysori beat her easily.

When she was on the ground, Naysori helped her up and looked at her in amusement.

"I thought you were going to be tough to beat." She remarked.

"If I weren't so exhausted, I would've given you a better fight." Rey agreed.

"Oh, I'm sure." Shira teased from beside her, also helping Berisse off the floor.

"You guys are really good with staffs." Berisse said in defense. "Rey had been the best I'd ever seen, and she struggled against you."

Rey flushed at the compliment. When had Berisse seen her practicing?

Naysori shrugged. "I suppose you're right. You guys don't have as many Stormtroopers as we do, though."

"How does having Stormtroopers make you good at handling a staff?" Jude asked. She, too, had lost against a Mandalorian.