Theodosia

Chapter 11

The second they got back to the Resistance base, they were pulled into the meeting with Leia who had asked about their small mission. After a detailed mission report from Poe, Leia turned to Astrid.

"And what do you think?" the older woman asked.

"Me? Oh, yes, it went very well," Astrid replied hastily, having zoned out some time during Poe's report. Poe smirked at her and shook his head, amused.

It took a lot of convincing to finally get Leia to agree, but once she did, she had a particular set of rules. Astrid was allowed to stay on Coruscant provided that she buzzed in on a shared comm link with Poe daily, so they knew she was still alive.

Having come to an agreement that she would stay on Coruscant for two weeks to learn, Astrid was ready to go. She packed with her the vacuum sealed food that was used for missions and the few clothes she had. After saying goodbye to Kaydel who had enthusiastically hugged her tightly in response with a wish to stay safe and saying goodbye to Matt who had given her a stiff nod with a "Don't die out there", Astrid left with Poe to go back to Coruscant.

That night, Poe was hesitant in leaving her. He insisted that he at least stayed the night so that she wasn't completely alone. Astrid relented, the two of them making the council room their home for the night once again. While staring up at the ceiling, the gnawing question of Astrid's kept bothering her until she finally turned on her side and faced Poe.

"How bad is the First Order?" she asked.

Poe looked taken aback by the question. "Let's just say they're not the best people. They have killed so many societies...destroyed planets. All for power. They're power-hungry, and they won't stop until they get what they want."

"And what do they want?"

"People are saying that they're trying to find the whereabouts of Luke Skywalker, the legendary Jedi and also Leia's brother. They want to kill him because he's a threat to their power. Astrid, these people are the worst. They have destroyed and burned down so many homes just because they can. Just like what they did in Naboo. That was disgusting," he said, his lips turning down into a frown.

The name of the place sounded familiar to Astrid. "What happened in Naboo?"

"The First Order had sent their troops to interrogate someone who allegedly knew where Luke was hiding. It was a hoax apparently; Naboo had been planning to at least take out a small part of the First Order. When Kylo Ren found out, he was furious. He ordered the attack and his troops killed all the villagers...women, kids. Everyone was wiped out."

Astrid fell silent, letting the story sink in. "Astrid, I know you still have your doubts about your past, but I can't stress it enough that it doesn't matter what you did last time. We all have our pasts. I can't say I'm too proud of things I've done when I was younger, but I choose to let it go. First Order or not, you're still you. And only you can decide where you want to go from here," Poe said, turning his brown eyes on her with concern.

She considered his words and nodded. "I know."

The conversation died there, the two of them resorting to silence. They soon drifted off to sleep and only woke up in the early hours of the morning, the sun haven't not risen. They stared out the giant window, watching the sleeping city slowly come to life in the darkness.

"This is nice," Astrid said.

Poe turned to her and smiled. "Yeah, it is."

Though unspoken, they were both anticipating the day ahead where they would have to go back to their own duties. One to go back to the Resistance base and one to stay in the abandoned temple to train.