{ 006 } ♔ video

[igniculus]

I'd say I'm surprised but I'm not. Seems almost a little too convenient, actually, now that I think about it.

[ And before you is seated a much older woman, her once long brown hair heavily streaked through with gray and white at the temples, pulled back with an Alderaanian mourning braid topping it off, something that not many will know of or understand the significance behind it. Fatigue is one of the more recognisable emotions in her expression and tone.

Tired, weak, at a loss with all that's happened back home, and now sick of the Porter's business (or at least Leia thinks this is because something has happened with the Porter), Leia leans an arm on her cane as she reaches for something off-screen, and then the feed cuts off. ]

Comments

Video

[flightforfreedom]

[ Poe instantly scrambles for his comm, flipping on the video. He's young - far too young - but he looks incredibly hopeful. ]

General?

Video

[igniculus]

[ Give her a moment, she's only ever seen him this young, and it feels like so long ago. But if there's one thing that's never changed, it's the hope he always wears on his expression like someone who would wear their heart on their sleeve. ]

Poe.

[flightforfreedom]

[ He could feel his heart in his throat, almost trying to choke him. He'd had no idea how badly he'd missed her until this very moment, that it even overcame his eighteen year old's reckless carelessness. He was grinning so hard his face hurt. ]

You get hit with this thing too, huh? Do you know where you are?

[igniculus]

[ She smiled at the way he was grinning, it couldn't be helped. ]

Looks that way. I know what it's like to be bone-deep tired, but to actually feel like your bones are aching, remind me never to grow old.

[ Leia paused to look around. ]

De Chima.

[flightforfreedom]

Okay, I'll head that way right now.

But you- you remember everything, right? I remember everything but I keep running into people who are acting like they just got ported in, only without the helpful explanation folder.

video;

[smugler]

Why, you have aged like a fine Corellian vintage, your highness.

video;

[igniculus]

Considering the fact that I've been fighting wars and battles since I was 16, it is pretty impressive.

[smugler]

[ Cue an impressed look. ]

Well, you've agreed with a grace that belies all the hardship you've faced. Take pride in that, if nothing else.

[igniculus]

You know what's not fair? I'm old and worn down and here you are, younger than I remember you to be. Enjoying your retirement?

[smugler]

Quite immensely. No Empire here to watch out for. Barely any repercussions for less-than-legal activities? It's a smuggler's dream!

audio; private

[myownprice]

[It seems he’s not the only one who the Porter has seen fit to advance in years. Leia appears to be about the same age she was the last time they met back in their own galaxy, but over video, it’s difficult to tell. Fett wonders absently if she already knows what her son has become or if that revelation is still in her future. If anything, it could be one explanation for the exhaustion in her expression.

Her reaction to him might reveal more on that front; at least that shouldn’t be too hard to gauge.]

Care to elaborate, Lady Organa?

[His voice doesn't have the feedback from his helmet this time, but it still shouldn’t be too hard to recognize.]

audio; private

[igniculus]

[ The private feed that comes in has her pausing. Who would be sending her— ah. Boba Fett. A Boba Fett who is from a time that's much earlier than her. A Boba Fett who... ]

On which part?

Re: audio; private

[myownprice]

You aren’t the only one the Porter moved forward.

[It’s a clean way of putting it: moved forward. Like pieces on a gameboard. It certainly feels like they’re being toyed with.]

I’d like to know where we line up now.

[And whether or not she still considers him an enemy.]

audio; private

[igniculus]

You're no longer a child. [ Obvious and yet... ] Where did the Porter move you to?

audio; private

[myownprice]

No.

[Not for a long, long time.]

The last year I remember is 40 ABY. You?

[Video | I told you I was gonna do it]

[faithfulson]

[ A pair of wide, blue eyes ends up staring back at the screen, staring at Leia's image for a very long moment, a look on his face like he was trying and failing to find something to say. He's definitely recognizable; how many other blonde former sand rats could be out there on Earth? ]

...grandma?

[ Especially when they say something like that. ]

[Video | ah frick]

[igniculus]

[ He's so young. Leia recognises him immediately. It's almost like they're back on the Death Star and he's burst into her cell to free her, yanking off his stormtrooper helmet to declare that he's there to rescue her. The same short and sandy blond hair, the jaw. Those eyes.

Even as they'd grown old, almost nothing had changed. Other than the thick beard, the sadness and regret in his eyes more prominent.

Leia snorts. She has to put a hand to the base of her throat as the laughter comes out freely and suddenly. It was such a shame that they hadn't grown up together, that they'd been separated for so long. ]

Close. But no.

[Video | Another dollar for the feels jar?]

[faithfulson]

Really?

[ Luke frowned, squinting hard at the screen. ]

You look like Uncle Owen's holos of her. Like you really look like her.

[Video | quite possibly]

[igniculus]

Really.

[ She waited, rather patiently, letting him have his moment of squinting. ]

Don't squint too hard. You might end up blind. [ Oh, wait, hold on... ] Holos of who? Your grandmother? What was her name?

[Video | Oops :D]

[faithfulson]

[ Luke pouted, leaning back from the communicator and folding his arms over his chest. ]

I will not! If the twin suns can't make me blind, then this tiny screen won't do it either. And you sound like a grandma.

[ He sunk down a little bit. ]

Her name was Shmi. Uncle Owen said she died before I was born.

video;

[herrstory]

I prefer the other version. How do we go back? I do not seem able to swipe left.

video;

[igniculus]

[ Excuse her as she laughs suddenly. Oh, Starr. Never change. ]

If I knew, we wouldn't even be here in the first place. But it's good to see you, too.

video;

[herrstory]

So you have your memories still? Of this place and the things you've done here?

[ Many of the younger versions had forgotten. Leia is the first he has seen who has gone older. ]

[igniculus]

Don't worry, Starr. I haven't forgotten you or our enlightening conversations.

[herrstory]

I would have been disappointed if you had.

[ A hint of a smile. ]

But it does seem you are the anomaly. Most have forgotten.