Beneath the Stars

Aria: Memories

Shit. Shit. Shit. I scream in my head, I really should not have gone along being kidnapped.

I'm in a cell in the hold of a ship, I think. I can't see anything, even without the blindfold, it's pitch black in here. Damn, I was stupid, I really should have left when I could, not be stuck in the middle of a hold. Riley and Naomi'll probably be wondering where I am. I know I can get out of here easily, but I really don't feel like fighting right now.

A door opens and a light shines in from above me. I look up but am blinded by the brightness of the light.

"Hello, girl." A voice drawls. My head snaps towards it, but my eyes have yet to adjust and I can't see anything.

"What do you want?" I spit at the woman who just walked into the hold. She's dressed casually in a blue long sleeve top and purple sweatpants. It's kind of hard to tell the color, but I think she has undyed brown hair that is put up in a loose braid.

"Are you Aria Reyli?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't. I don't give a shit about you, and your motive's but I've got a family to protect, so if you value your life and the lives of those around you I suggest you tell me your name."

My life? Sure I value it, but not as much as Naomi or Riley's. I mean, I've been through a lot, I know I can get out of this one, but I'm not sure if I could get my friends out of it too. They don't know everything about me, in fact, they know almost nothing about my past, but they're still my friends and I care about them. Even if I hate what they fight for.

"Fine," I sigh, "No. My name is not Aria Reyli." I'm not lying, Aria is not my real name, and neither is Reyli.

"Yet this image looks exactly like you?" She pulls-up something on her AI and shows it to me. The second my eyes glance at the paper I freeze and my knees feel weak. On the paper is an image of myself, the name Aria Reyli pasted on the top. But none of that matters, it's not what caught my attention, it's not what makes my body threaten to break down again, as I had done in the park. As I stare at the logo below the image of myself, my mind travels back to two years ago.

**Past, 3 years previous

I hear a cry of pain from behind me and turn around, Leia isn't behind me, where she should be.

"Come on Leia, hurry!" I call back.

"I think– I think, I broke my– my leg. Go, Ari! I'll be f–fine." She cries.

"No! I'm coming back. Gale come help!"

"Go Ari, please! You have to!" She knows who I really am, but has grown accustomed to calling me Aria.

"No I can't leave you, nobody left behind, remember?" I begin to head back, even though I can hear footsteps approaching from behind her.

"Gale!" Leia yells, "Take Aria and get out of here!"

"No, Gale please!" I plead, but he takes my arm and pulls me away, I struggle against his hold, but he's too damn strong.

"Gale, Gale, we can't leave Leia. We can't!" I can see that all he wants to do is run back and grab Leia. If I just push him a little, maybe he'll agree. "Come on, you know they're not gonna care about her. Gale please, you know they're going to kill her!" I plead with him.

"Stop, Ari, please!"

I try to break away from Gale once again, but he holds me back, even with an injured wrist, my brother is stronger than me. "Ari," he looks me straight in the eye, his face is littered with small injuries. "We have to leave, we have what we need and they'll kill all of us if they catch us. Leia is– she's doing the best she can to let us get out." He pauses, his voice cracking, and I hear the sound of fighting in the distance. "We have to make the best of her–her... sacrifice." He forces out through gritted teeth. I can tell that all he wants to do is turn around and run to our friend.

It takes all of my courage to tear my gaze from down the hall and nod, before grabbing his hand and running off in the direction of our jet, tears streaming down both of our faces. It was the last time either of us ever saw Leia.

**Present

"So it is you?" I jump, I have completely forgotten I am not alone.

"Yes, it is me," I whisper, defeated. Yeah, I know it was stupid, I've told myself that enough times.

*****

I'm gonna try to start making the chapters longer.

Sorry if I keeping switching between past tense and present tense. I kinda write it differently every time. I'll try to keep it present tense. Feel free to point out any mistakes I make.

Hope you enjoy the story :)