Private Pieces of the People We Love

[Amea Virou]

It was a sobering wind that blew outside the Solstice Vine as Amea exited through it’s doors. Behind her was Rekha, the door held open for her acquaintance to come through with the weakest yet strongest smile Amea could muster. On the horizon the sun offered its last few rays of light before it went away for the evening, leaving the streets bathed in the artificial sheen of the overhead street lights.

“Since last we met, life has gone through a spiral to say the least.” Amea said and sighed with a headshake. “Being here brings back too many memories, vivid ones that I hadn’t thought about for a very long time.” A brief moment’s pause before she whispered under her breath. “... Runi must be going crazy right about now.”

Amea let in a deep breath and tried to focus on what she wanted to say. Or at the very least calm herself down.

“I haven’t been here since last we saw each other, if that says anything. Figured I might try to make the most of having my crew land here for repairs, but… Seems not.”

“And I mean, what about you? The First Order burned a lot of literal bridges when they seized power. Do you still have your bar?”

Rekha Kaarde

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Rekha mentally put on the hat that made her listen rather than run off at the mouth. She could hear it in her words the sorrow that being here brought her. It touched a kindred emotion in her. She knew what it was like to feel it.

"It's odd how the simplest of things can trigger memories that we think we bury deep." Her constantly came back in the form of dreams that left her exhausted, sweaty, and hoarse from screaming. But no one knew that she made sure that no one got that close to figure out that the facade she wore of smart arse was full of cracks.

"I still have it, its a little worn for wear and sometimes it creaks but the miners still like to come there. I guess it's a comfort even in it state." It wasn't sparkling and pristine anymore it was older even dingy but it still smelled like a good bar.

"Come out to the platform next time. You can sit in a corner and watch the door while I serve a drink." She looked around at the city the golden light bathing everything in subdued tones of yellow. Her green eyes looked around she remembered what it looked like with the First Order there. It too looked good on the surface while everything beneath fell into cracks causing problems for everyone.

"First Order left it's mark here though, you can see it if you look. The City keeps trying to wipe it away layer by layer till they find what they can live with. Where did you go from here?" It was two people talking even if it seemed like simple conversation to anyone else. It was normal and Rekha could always use a dose of normal.

Amea Virou

 

[Amea Virou]

Well, wasn’t that the truth? Though Amea wouldn’t be quite sure if seeing a person was a simple or complex trigger. Mostly on account of the fact that few people ever seemed keen on being called simple. As they walked and talked she found herself staring off into the distance, towards the sun as it settled down. It seemed Rekha still had her bar and customers. It was a bit more worn, but it was still there. She even recommended that Amea go there next time and while she had a point and Amea preferred more quieter establishments…

“I went home.” Amea said and looked to the ground for support. “Had to lay low, but once the smugglers began operating again I was pretty much set. The captain I found even seemed to take pity at the time. I was hardly talking, didn’t really eat. Lost both my brother and my girlfriend that day.”

It still hurt her. Though things had turned out for the better for a while, the cracks in her relationship with her girlfriend would prove too much to overcome, and as for her brother he would be in a coma for a longer while yet. It was only fairly recent in comparison that he had woken up, and almost as soon as he did he was gone again somewhere in the outer rim seeking what Kaili assumed to be answers.

“I-” She exhaled as she struggled for words. “I am sorry. I wanted to help you, but… It was too much.”

Rekha Kaarde

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Rekha smiled, "I'm sorry you lost so much." She wished she could see her family, but they were all dead now thanks to Sith and pirates. She knew alone, she knew loss. She could relate to the emotions that she didn't express but rolled off her like the clouds on mountains.

"I'm good with it. All you had to do. Don't lose any sleep over it." How many times had she done something and wished for a different outcome, wished that she had turned right instead of left.

"You lived through it, you're here now. I don't really have a claim to your time or your efforts. We are good." She had said it again, that word good. She just wanted to make sure that she understood, no problems, no...residual effects to linger on.

She took a deep breath she wished someone had said that too her once might have saved her a few years of torture and self depravation.

"So I know you've seen the underbelly of the City, wanna see if from a new height" Rekha pointed to the central tower, "I got friend we can let us in and go to the top. It's peaceful and has a view.

Amea Virou

 

[Amea Virou]

Rekha Kaarde

It still didn’t feel right. Naturally it felt good to have Rekha confirm that she was alright with what had happened, but some part of Amea — no, Kaili — couldn’t accept it. She could have helped, could have done something more than fall apart in a maintenance tunnel accompanied by panicked ugnaughts. She had stared at that wall for hours before she finally got up again when the worst of the explosions had come and gone.

It was different now, yes, but the feeling was there. It was quieted at Rekha’s question but lingered beneath Amea’s skin. Did she want to see the top of this platform? Air burst through her nose in a small chuckle as a small smile spread on her lips.

“Sure.” She said and nodded her head. “You know, you seem to have a lot of friends.”

The girl raised her brow.

“Makes me feel like we probably have a few in common. Especially given the, uh, name of your bar.”

The Underground had after all been a big part of her early life. The name of the bar didn’t feel like something that just so happened to be a coincidence, but Amea could have been wrong with that. Most of the time the people of the Underground were a bit less conspicuous in how they showed their belonging.

Not all were the same though.

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Rekha just agave this 'maybe we do smile' to her. "Well I still greet some friends in old Corellian" It had bee the language of choice for the reistances and spies when the First Order was challenged here on Bespin.

She still used it around the galaxy it was viewed as an ancient language not often spoken and therefore not understood quickly. She smiled again yeah sometimes they were a slick bunch.

"I like friends Kaili sometimes they are a necessity." yeah sometimes you just had to have them but then you ran the risk of losing them, putting them in anger, and well...sometimes they got killed.

"If you need something send it in old Corellian I'll know it's important" Important, life threatening and anything other word to be substituted for life threatening.

"Well let's walk that way towards the big pointy thing" She winked at her and kept going.

"So are you running with smugglers and pirates?"

Amea Virou

 

[Amea Virou]

Rekha Kaarde

Old Corellian was a language that Amea had indeed learned from the Underground and practiced under other circumstances. The positives of being together with a Corellian, perhaps. It wasn’t something she had ever heard outside of historic re-enactment camps and the Underground. As for friends, well, Amea understood that one too. It was just hard to stay in touch and open up to others.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She said and nodded her head in appreciation for Rekha’s offer. “Thanks.”

Rekha pointed towards the ‘big pointy thing’ and Amea’s brow rose on her forehead.

“Do you mean the comms. array?” She answered rather smugly and leaned over the railing by the ‘big pointy thing.’ “I guess you could say I am working with both. I started taking up archaeology, run the finds by smugglers. I also make it my duty to punch every pirate I find in the face. Preferably while they are in the act.”

Wardens usually did.

“Were you ever in touch with the Merrills a lot? Before they, uh... Retired.”

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

"Yes yes the comms array. I have to maintain my image of...." she laughed, "beautiful but dumb bar maid. helps in my work" She winked at Kaili the work was resistance and anything that made her look less productive as a spy and more like a smuggler than a warden was good for her.

"We can develop a game and call it the Pirate Punch I bet everyone would love to punch a pirate or two." Or three. She would. "Archaeology huh, I bet that means you need supplies, and travel...a lot....go any play near Sith space?" Before Kaili could answer in true energizer yoda fashion Rekha tried to answer her other question.

The tone of the conversation changed a bit "Old Jorus I had not seen him for a time until the Star needed some upgrades. As for the Mara only through rerouted communications and such. I miss that old man" She was sad for a moment or two as she remembered him and all he did. One of a kind really.

Amea Virou

 

[Amea Virou]

Rekha Kaarde

Well, Rekha would admittedly have gotten her image down if she was going for the barmaid image on purpose. Maybe not so much the dumb part, few ever cared to learn more about the ‘pointy thing over there’ as it were. And to that point Rekha would catch Amea in a grin as they kept talking. She was going to provide an answer as to whether she headed into Sith space, but the conversation went over to the Merrills again before Amea really had the chance.

“Mara was my best — and sort of only friend — when I grew up.” Amea said and felt her grin soften into a weak smile. “I miss our adventures and talks, but… Well, she got married and settled. As for Jorus, I hear he isn’t so much old anymore. Something about a new body, being almost younger than Mara at this point. It didn’t make much sense, but few things ever do with that family if you think too much about it.”

Before Rekha could inquire, Amea would push on from the topic as well.

“As for ventures into Sith Space, I prefer not to. There is no denying that uncovering Sith artifacts has a way of making you enough credits to live another day or twenty,” Amea shrugged. “But I usually give those artifacts away, it’s really all about the discovery and the lessons it can teach. I try to specialize in bridging the gap between what happened during the Gulag Plague and today, but the streams have an eerie tendency to cross every now and then.”

“And then there was the threat of a dirty bomb, but well… I lost that trail. So somewhere out there, a big nasty bomb is floating between the stars.”

“... These last few weeks haven’t been the greatest, I won’t lie.”

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Jorus was young?!!! Was he bottling it and selling it?! She wasn't even sure how to react to that but thankfully Kaili had it easy as she just moved on to the next subject they were talking about. Thank the goddess.

She talked about Mara the hint of how much she missed her friend showing just a little around the edges. Must be great to have a friend like that someone that knew you from...yeah...well...the only one who knew her tried to kll her. Everyone else was kept at a distance. She couldn't risk that hurt to her heart anymore. It was a lot to bear.

She then heard these words - The last few weeks haven't been the greatest, I won't lie.

Rekha slowed her pace employing those listening skills. She found herself biting her lip and looking at Kaili what could she offer the young woman. Did she have anything that would even offer a bit of support.

"I'm sorry you're having a tough time. It will pass to something else hang in there. I"m not great with advice but I listen real well. If you need to talk...I'm here" and in truth she had no one to tell either.

She smiled part of her wished for a drink right now.

"Kaili I bet Mara misses you too. You don't grow up with someone and just forget. things change...but I bet she wouldn't mind a call." She did a quick smile.

"Artifacts. Never thought much about them. I was thinking more about what the Sith were doing...what their movements were...understand?" She had moved to a new subject the emotional stuff well it was emotional.

Amea Virou

 

[Amea Virou]

Rekha Kaarde

In many ways Kaili had tried to talk about it, but talk had that way of pushing you into your own mind even more. At times like these that felt like the opposite of what Kaili wanted, despite knowing that she damn well should.

“I mean, we talk. We just haven’t met. She’s busy with her companies and… Other affiliations, I imagine. And I am here, as you see, being someone else entirely.” Amea let her hand run through her hair and gently shook it from side to side. “Figured, if I am doing all these things… Having the blame fall on a person that used to exist before the Sullust records burnt down with the fall of the Alliance…”

It wasn’t identity theft, the records of Amea’s birth and personal history existed out there because she had created them. They had been purposefully injected into the databanks of the Alliance’s records merely out of convenience and because, well, Allyson had been an agent of theirs. All that had been needed was to abuse that trust as the end came crawling. It wasn’t necessarily something that Amea was proud of, but it had been a necessity at the time.

“Oh, you mean like that.” Amea finally said as Rekha made her point crystal clear. “I try to stay out of the more deep-rooted politics.” She said with a gentle bob to each side of her shoulders. “I pluck their unknown fancy widgets and take a small percentage of the profits, keep the spacelanes clear. It makes things simpler, allows me to — in a way — become anyone I want. Nothing says suspicious like someone who knows too much.”

“But I mean, if you want I could probably get you some idea of their movements and forward them to you. If I head out there any time soon, that is.”

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

"And......why are you being some else?"

She'd wait to ask about the information, while it was of importance right now it seemed more important to pull some of Kaili's discomfort out. Rekha generally paid no attention to such things figuring folks were entitled to their eccentricities and she was an oddball herself so who was she to question why Kaili was Amea.

Course there could be any explanation really...just..not sure what this one really was.

They were walking really slow now as they talked Rekha mindful of anyone around and to keep them on track to the array.

Amea Virou

 

[Amea Virou]

“Oh,” A small chuckle parted the brunette’s lips. “It makes it easier to move around. Used to be my face was plastered on some buildings around Coruscant, just about around the time the One Sith fell. Besides that my grandmother once ran KDY up until she died.” Her shoulders then rolled in a shrug. “I may also have been a goddess on a world in the Outer Rim together with my girl—”

Well that was a good way to drop the mood. Amea shook her head and dropped the red thread instead.

“We had a palace and everything. So when you have roughly a million people still questioning where the hell you went on the day that you just upped and left…” The girl let on a grimace. It wasn’t her most proudest moment, but with a following like that they could only be dropped with a cold cut. “I left a note, but… Yeah, no, I sometimes operate out of territory in the outer rim where one of them could most definitely identify me at a glance.”

“As a warden… Generally not a good thing, so I created this Amea persona to keep myself safe. Sort of.”

Rekha Kaarde

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

"Ok, I was almost there until you said a goddess....so. like goddess of everything you survey or goddess of something like fertility?" Rekha had never met a goddess. She had met criminals, royalty, war lords, Sith and a few Jedi...but Goddess was not on the list.

She only smiled the whole time this was turning into quite the conversation for her. Rekha looked Kaili over again she did not appear to glow as if devine, and she did not have wings, or an aura that radiated blue. So...what kind of goddess?

She left a note and left home...so...obviously the next question Rekha was going to ask Kaili was.....

Amea Virou

 

[Amea Virou]

“Well, more that we helped them re-establish themselves with surrounding sectors, but this being a rather long-isolated society with a force cult of their own… There was a prophecy, and a idol worship.” Amea grinned at the idea of being a fertility goddess. “That wasn’t my part to play. I was more something with machines and life. Commerce, to some extent. It was… Terrifying to have that kind of power.”

Amea let a hand be raised as if to assure Rekha. “I am not a god. They just raised me to such levels.”

Her eyes met Rekha. “You seem to have another question on your mind.”

Rekha Kaarde

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

"Yeah.." She did not normally hesitate but she would ask this question. Because it would give her a frame of reference to work with ya know. She wanted to go home ...see it and touch it to remember the good things. So if Kaili went...she could go...right??

"Ever go back home? I mean its not like you wouldn't be welcome right? So..aside from the being wanted, and the sith and all that might get in the way. Still it's home..its" She wanted to say family but well it felt wrong to say it, cause for her it would be family for Kaili it might be something else entirely.

Amea Virou

 

[Amea Virou]

“Home is home, yeah.” Amea said and smiled at the thought. “No, my mother would murder me if I didn’t come back home. I mean, while I enjoy being Amea, I will never deny myself a chance at being my real self in the one place I can truly feel safe.”

Her shoulders rolled with a shrug. “Needless to say, if Kaili simply disappeared that would be a big red flag too.”

“And besides, I don’t know if you heard but… Well, I am from Borleias. Ever since Kaine Australis came to town it went from a pearl in the rough to… Hell, in a real handbasket.” And at that Amea would grimace and give an angry headshake. “I have tried to not let Mara’s anti-mandalorian rants get to me, but that man has made it… Very difficult.”

Rekha Kaarde

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Rekha would have to think about the galaxy news and rumors that she heard. "Borleis. I heard a bit about it." Truth was she heard things but somehow seem to always manage to avoid things lately. Not by choice events just happened the way they did.

"Kaine Australis, yeah..I've heard about...he held high position at one time." Rekha thought about it, "Are they going about say, 'this is the way'?" A reconfiguration of everything she knew or thought she knew. Mandalorian was not a race it was a belief, and....they were all brought together by the belief and by their professions.

"I'm sorry for it. I can get them supplies if they need, your family that is.." It was an offer she could get in some places but not others. Now she was going to have to get a beacon that could transmit mandalorian codes, just for just in case moments.

Man this talk with Kaili was also weird at times, one moment she is Amea and then she refers Kaili like she's someone else. Weren't they the same person? Rekha smiled though and kept her wits.

Amea Virou

 

[Amea Virou]

Rekha Kaarde

Would they say ‘this is the way’? Amea laughed out loud for the first time that felt like a while.

“I don’t know, will they still carry compensators into the field?” She asked with her own sarcastic remark. “I don’t doubt that the Mandalorians once were an honorable people of morals and ideals, but…”

Amea’s shoulder rose in a shrug.

“Used to be I respected them at the very least. Not so much these days.” She said and gave Rekha an appreciative smile. “Still, I appreciate the offer. Though my father,” And right there Amea stopped for a second before she would say too much. She had grown up keeping her father’s false godhood in the Moross Crusade a secret. As much as she trusted Rekha, this was still too much. “He was a senator once. We’re pretty set.”

Made it seem like she was just having a rebellious teen phase, which in reality might not be too far from the truth either. She never had been one to rely on her family name to get somewhere in life.

“What about you?” Amea threw back at Rekha, her eyebrow rising in curiosity. “We’ve talked a lot about my family and my problems. What about your family? Do you have anything that I can help you with?”

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

"My family" She half laughed that breathless ha ha she could do so effortlessly. "That's like herding cats." She looked down She never talked about her family but Kaili had given so much of herself here that Rekha would break her own rules and tell her.

"My family all gone. Dead on Kelada." She looked straight ahead for a moment getting her emotions in check she doubted she would ever get over it ever forget it. "I was thinking o going back to look around if I could. I mean I can but somehow after I build up my determination I find an excuse to not go." She half smiled then.

She had a terrible curiosity as a child and broke into a pirates ship, their price for her curiosity was to take her with them and work off the damage she had done. She was a child what did she know she....but that was a while ago now. The Captain of that vessel would never tell anymore tales not since she and Mon Loup escaped.

She looked to Kaili, "Everyone has a story oh Goddess Divine" She smiled big teasing Kaili. Her way of dealing with the emotions bubbling up within herself.

Amea Virou