The Lost Princess

Chapter Six

Kaura thought for a moment. She didn't share details about her life very often, so she had no idea how to tell a stranger her entire life story.

"Well, like I said, my mom died when I was very young and my father was never around to begin with." Kaura began. "So after my mom died, I ran away."

Poe listened to Kaura very intently and gave her a small nod to tell her to keep going.

"I was so young. And I was just wandering around by myself." Kaura said. "I ran into this group of smugglers and when they asked me where my parents were...I had to tell them that I no longer had any."

Kaura took a moment to keep her composure. She had never really talked to anyone about this stuff and it was hard. Poe gave her an empathetic look, that didn't just make her feel like he felt sorry for her. It was actually comforting.

"Take your time." Poe assured her.

Kaura nodded and took a big drink before continuing.

"So they took me in and they had me help them. No one ever suspects a child to have illegal stuff on them or to steal something." Kaura said. "I didn't know any better! They used me." She added quickly.

People often judged Kaura for her upbringing, but she couldn't help it. She didn't know what she was doing at the time. This was before the first order started taking over everything and smuggling was good.

Poe nodded in understanding. Kaura didn't need to explain herself to him. She felt an ounce of relief. She didn't want Poe to think she was a bad person.

"And let's just say it wasn't a great childhood." Kaura said.

That was an understatement, but she didn't want to get into all of that. That was it's own long story. She didn't need to tell it then.

"As I got older, I realized I had strange abilities." Kaura continued. "I hid it from everyone. If they knew, then they'd make me use my talents to do bad things."

"So have you told anyone about it, ever?" Poe intervened with a question.

"You're the second person in this universe to know." Kaura answered with a faint smile.

"I'm honored." Poe joked back. Kaura rolled her eyes at him lightheartedly.

"So anyway, I could remember my mom telling me stories about Jedi, but I was starting to think they were just fairytales." Kaura said. "So when I realized I might be able to use the force, it gave me hope again that they were real. I thought maybe some knew my mom and I dreamed that they would come to rescue me. To take me away and teach me to be the hero I was destined to be, not a criminal."

Poe continued listening with a truly sympathetic look in his eyes. It was like he really felt her pain. It was what helped Kaura to keep going.

"And when that didn't happen I lost all hope in the universe." Kaura said with a bitter sigh. "I gave up believing in the stories because I was tired of life disappointing me. I convinced myself I just had some weird birth defect and it was nothing to do with Jedi."

"You really thought that?" Poe said.

"I had to." Kaura shrugged. "When I was old enough, I stole a ship and left those smugglers behind. I traveled the galaxy and learned how to make goods out of scrap metal so I wouldn't have to steal or cheat people anymore."

"So you're a pilot?" Poe asked with a small smirk.

"Yeah, why?" Kaura said, not understanding why that sparked his interest.

"Oh, nothing, It's just that I'm a pilot too." Poe responded. "Maybe you could show me your skills later."

"I might just take you up on that." Kaura smiled back at him. "...when I'm sober."

Poe chuckled.

"So as I was saying, when the first order started taking over planets I began smuggling again." Kaura said. "Because I hate the first order and I think they're dumb so I don't mind breaking their stupid rules."

Poe laughed.

"Sorry, I'm drunk." Kaura apologized with a chuckle. "But, that's basically the whole story until I got here."

She then went on to tell Poe how she met Savi and he helped her create her lightsaber. She rambled a little too long about details of the design, but Poe didn't seem to mind. Actually, he seemed quite amused by Kaura's drunken rambling.

"And then I met you!" Kaura said finally.

Poe smiled.

"So, what makes you think your mom was apart of the resistance?" Poe asked her.

"Well, she had a necklace with this symbol on it." Kaura said taking the stone out once again and placing it on the table. "And I think that's why she was killed. I know that makes no sense because it was after darth vader and long before the first order, but I think there was still evil in this universe before Kylo Ren came around."

Poe thought about what Kaura said.

"No, that makes sense." Poe agreed with her. "There's been plenty of people who agree with Darth Vader's...ideology."

There was a short pause in conversation.

"Can I ask you a question now?" Kaura asked Poe, her words slurring a little bit.

"Yes, I think that's fair." Poe said with a small smile.

"This girl, Rey, that everyone talks about." Kaura started. "Is she... real?"

Poe started laughing hysterically.

"What?!" Kaura asked, confused.

"I'm sorry...it's just that...I-" Poe stammered in between laughs.

"What's so funny?" Kaura asked him with a small pout. Neither of them were very sober.

After a few moments Poe finally got himself to stop laughing and regained his composure.

"Rey's real." He said finally.

Kaura automatically got excited, but didn't want to get her hopes up too quickly. He did say it with a lot of certainty in his voice, though.

"Wait, really?" She said. "How do you know?"

"Because Rey is my friend." Poe answered with a small smirk.