Ezzie interrupts the two, whirring around them as fast as he can go. His metal body is covered in stains of grass and some lost flower petals he must have collected on the way by accident.
Neira arises again as the girl's attention shifts towards the droid, admiring it's shining form and flashing buttons.
Behind them the village Miri comes from stretches out, a loose arrangement of small huts around the glistening waters of a lake. Three shipments of tools, holo-books and droid pieces and other resources have been received by this village in the past month alone, and Neira is proud of the progress they've made so far. It has not been easy, and it won't get easier unless something changes, she tells herself.
But for this moment, she just lets it be. For this one heartbeat it is enough to just stand here, taking in the scenery around her, the rolling hills, this wide space consisting of only an azure sky and green grass, filled with the warm scent of plants and winds bringing freedom.
Unintentionally her thoughts drift towards Obi-Wan, this feeling of ease she has when he's around reminds her of how she feels right now: if feels like there's a horizon before her, opening up just for her alone.
In the past few days the space between them has grown even more relaxed, a safe sphere where it is suddenly so easy to breathe in.
Neira likes that.
And the way he always means what he says, the way that there is never a hidden implication in what he says - it is refreshing to talk someone like that. And yet, he is cautious about his words - but not in a bad way, rather in a way a craftsman carves his figure, thinking about how every stroke will shape the final product.
His face is open, and his eyes are sincere but there is an ease to it you will rarely find. A humor, hidden behind the polite words, a spark calling to her, bright as drops of moonlight.
She likes that, too.
Don't be stupid, she thinks the next second. Focus.
But it's hard to focus in an environment that makes you breathe so easily, that dissolves any shield of caution to shimmering particles when the sun hits them, running through your veins like silver.
She is so lost in thoughts that she almost misses Miri's next sentence: "I want to be just like you when I grow up." Her eyes are flashing with admiration and Neira's heart swells.
Do you?
Doubt passes her mind, shadowing the bright scenery like a bird's wings shadow over sunlit land. After all, she is a liar and her methods don't follow a high moral like Obi-Wan's.
Will she think the same of me when my mother takes over?
Neira automatically rises her chin, her gaze stern as she watches the soft curves of the hills rising and falling around them, the patterns the wind forms as it sings in the long grass.
The shadow passes, leaving only determination, and belief – almost as strong as before.
Of course she will. They have the people's best interest in mind, and are not afraid to take action.
Neira can be proud of herself.
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