Here We Stand (Star Wars/Marvel/Arcane Fanfic)

Chapter 13: The Vega Variants

She had the same long black hair, tan skin, and brown eyes. The younger version of me seemed to be around the age of nine or ten. What was different was her clothing. Instead of her usual Jedi robes, she had a crimson tunic, black vest, dark red pants, and black boots. She still wore her belt with a lightsaber hung around it.

"Vega!" A boy's voice rang out.

So I was right. A boy with short brown hair, fair skin, and golden eyes briskly walked in carrying a toy boat in his arms along with a cane, which he held in his left hand. I immediately recognized him as Viktor, this must be Viktor's variant as a child. I watched as the boy, Viktor, approached us. His amber eyes were on Vega, but he then saw me.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"You must be a Vega Variant, like me, right?" The little Vega questioned, looking up at me with curious eyes.

She's a clever girl. I nodded. "I am."

The older Vega, Lyn-Ell, Sigrid, and the targon all made their way towards us. When they reached us, the older Vega spoke up. "This is the new Vega, she got arrived here today."

The girl Vega's face lit up. She extended out her hand towards me. "Nice to meet you."

I cracked a smile. "It's nice to meet you as well. And this is...?"

I had a feeling who this was, but I wanted the girl Vega to properly introduce him to me. The girl Vega turned towards the little Viktor, and immediately, she responded. "This is Viktor, my best friend in the whole multiverse!"

The little Viktor wore a sheepish smile as he turned to look at me. "Uh, hello."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, too." I mentioned.

"You too." Little Viktor replied in a timid tone. The little Viktor then looked back towards the little Vega. "I fixed the boat, do you want to see?"

The little Vega nodded vigorously. "Let's do it!"

With that, they both made their way towards the water, smiling and laughing. As soon as they were out of earshot, the older Vega spoke up. "The girl snuck out of the Jedi Temple and onto the cruiser with Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi for negotiations...their mission became sidetracked and they ended up on Tatooine with Queen Amidala. The little one became distracted and ended up in Mos Eisley. Vega was out on the streets for days, fending for herself as she walked into the sand dunes in search of Master Jinn and Obi-Wan. She was able to protect herself from slavers, but in the end she's still just a child. Some gang who Vega said were called the Night Wind Assassins found her. As if that wasn't bad enough, a Sith assassin found out about her and took an interest in her."

"The TVA quickly intervened, but Maul put up a fight." Sigrid continued. "The TVA had to send many troops to knock him down, but they ended up pruning Maul before they grabbed Vega, taking her to the TVA.  When Vega first arrived, she refused to talk to anyone, spending her time here in the courtyard...all by herself."

"Until she saw Viktor, bless that boy's heart. That's when Vega finally opened up about...well what we're telling you now. She and Viktor are inseparable, spending most of their time tinkering with toys, droids, or anything mechanical that needed fixing around here. She still hasn't talked about what happened during her time with the Night Wind Assassins or when Maul arrived...I can't imagine what the poor girl suffered." Lyn-Ell chimed in.

I stared at them, completely stupefied. That little girl, that Variant of me went through all of that? After a few moments, I finally spoke. "But she..."

"Looks all right?" Sigrid offered. "That's a facade. Deep down, she's hurting. The poor girl still has nightmares nearly every night."

My heart clenched. That's awful. No child should have to go through what she went through. The older Vega then placed a hand on my shoulder. "Why don't we show you to your room now?"