The Mandalorian Chronicles

Elodie: Time to Plan Something.

Here we go. It's time to plan something. 

Plan what?!!

I'm back in the alley, alone. Gwen's at her new job. She works long hours now. Apparently, being the intern to a lawyer is a full-time job. Not to worry. I like having some alone time. Today is special, though. Today is the day before my birthday. The day before my life was begun and messed up. Hooray. I am not excited at all. Corey's probably at school, so I'm stuck alone for now.  I kicked the wall and immediately regretted it. I picked up our bag of stuff and walked out of the alley. I pushed the broken board away from the window of Corey's and my house and slipped through. I replaced the board and put the backpack down. I took the tarp off of my mural and got to work. Maybe if I can get to the Archives or to some sort of computer, I can catch up on what's happened since I disappeared. I know that Padmé Amidala is looking for me. She might have given up her search now, which would be great for me. I looked up at the behemoth of a painting. 

"Come on, Elodie. Ideas," I chided myself. I stared at the wall for a bit longer. Then I had an idea. Evanna's got a computer. I know where she is. Brilliant! 

Well, it was either that or face the wrath of Jocasta Nu and the Jedi when I try (and fail)  to get into the Archives. Jocasta Nu is just plain scary sometimes. I put the tarp back up and slung my backpack onto my back. I shimmied out of the house and ran to the elevators. I got into one and pressed the button for the surface. I watched the different levels of the underground pass by and sighed. It's a little claustrophobic down here. 

"Some days I wonder how I ended up down here," an older woman muttered. I looked up at her. Her graying hair was tied up in a bun and her blue eyes were stern.

"Me too," I murmured. 

"Really?" she asked, pushing her glasses up. 

"Yes. I used to live on Naboo, then I ended up down here," I said, missing the rolling hills and blue skies of Naboo. 

"I lived on Alderaan. Then I traded it for this." 

"You know what? I wouldn't trade my life ever. Sure, it sucks sometimes, but at least I have a family that loves me. We may not be related at all, but we're still a family." I said, thinking of Gwen and Lucy. Aileen and Corey. Evanna, Vri, Sunder, and Sorcyy. The woman looked at me and smiled. 

"You and I are similar in many ways, young one. We'd give the world to those we love."

"More like the entire galaxy." I joked. She smiled. 

"That's more like it."

"I'm Elodie."

"My name is Veda. Tell me, who is a part of your family?"

"Well, I have my friend Gwen who's basically my sister. I have—had—Lucy. Aileen, who's an old friend of Gwen's and now she's my sister. Vri, Sunder, and Sorcyy. Evanna, Gwen's stepmom, who sort of adopted me as her own. Corey, a good friend of mine who's like a brother. My real—biological— family is out there, but they don't really even know I exist," I told her truthfully, fearing that Mom forgot all about me and threw out my datapad. 

"I had a family once. Then it all went away when I left them. I wanted to see the galaxy, pursue my passions. Sadly, I pushed my family aside to do that. Bad for me because they took it personally. I was never allowed back to my family home on Alderaan. I made a bad decision and got the consequences for it," Veda explained. Her hair must've been a brilliant black once. Now it's got streaks of gray. She doesn't look over 40 either. I guess that's what loss and stress does to a person. Don't tell her I thought that.