Jude's Pov

∽

I don't have time to greet anyone as I pass by or even tie my boots for that matter. Hurriedly, I run down the dimmed paths to the docking bay. I can already imagine how grumpy Corinthia will be when she sees me.

Late yesterday, late today and probably late tomorrow.

When she sees me round the corner, I'm immediately taken into her strong embrace. She plants a soft, loving kiss on my lips and speaks. "Honestly Solo? Would it kill you to be on time?"

I shrug in response. "I'm just fashionably late."

Corinthia rolls her eyes. "Call it whatever you want, your late either way."

"How much time do we have?"

"Ten minutes?"

"That's enough time." I take her hand and pull her behind me. I take her to the small valley hidden away from the Resistance Base on D'Qar. I assume everyone knows about this place but never have enough time to actually check it out so it became Corinthia and I's secret place, our secret heaven.

The trees stand mute in the hot air. The humidity encases us both and like the leaves above me, I don't move. I am sprawled on last seasons leaf litter, now soft and on the way to becoming something else. No longer are the leaves above the delicate shade of mint, but they are as deep as green. Each one is so tiny, and from down here even more so, but yet together they almost obscure the sun rays that bring this unbearable heat.

Even the beasts are silenced, I imagine they are high in the rough limbs, statue like, breathing with open mouths. There is a fragrance here, a distinctive aroma of leaf and soil. Underneath me the ground is bumpy with roots that project through the soil and my loose cotton clothes. They twist like snakes turned to stone, writhing upward one final time before descending deep into the earth to take cool draughts from the water table below.

I feel my mother when I come here. I see her in the cloudless blue sky and the dark leaves. My mother was some kind of goddess during her time and I would never forget the undeniable truth to that statement. Poe told me that she was a warrior, a true Resistance pilot and I couldn't be more honoured to be her son.

Corinthia wraps her arms around my neck and brings herself closer to me. "I saw Leia today." I'm fully out of my daze and I become interested in what she has to say about my grandmother.

"Did she look okay?" I ask, a worried feeling taking over me. "Was she limping?"

"It didn't seem like it," Corinthia explains. "She smiled at me."

"There's that piece of good news I was hoping for." I twirl a piece of her blonde hair around my finger. "She's so caught up in finding Bell-" My mouth shuts closed and I feel the impact of my teeth coming together. "In finding the new First Order base, we never see her anymore. Not since she blacked out last month."

It was a horrendous moment. The First Order had just sent a message, vowing to destroy anyone fighting for the Resistance. I believe what stunned my grandmother the most were the people delivering the message, Kylo Ren and my sister. I have never hated someone so much, even just thinking about his sickly name causes me to shake with anger. My grandmother had fainted when she saw them, falling down a flight of stairs. Since that incident from last month, she didn't talk much, not even to Uncle Luke.

"She still thinks she can save your sister." Corinthia sighed, her words as sharp as knives.

"She can," I reassure her. "We all can."

"Jude I don't want to crush your hopes and dreams but she has slaughtered innocent people, you can't come back from that."

I cringe. "I just need to talk to her, she'll listen to me."

"When's the last time you even saw her Jude?" Corinthia questioned, her voice comforting and careful.

"I-" I pause, bothered that I can't remember. "That doesn't matter, she's my sister! I can't give up."

"Sometimes giving up is an option." Corinthia reasoned. "It doesn't mean you failed, it means you tried until you couldn't anymore. She's a murderer, a threat to the Resistance."

"She's the last thing I have of my mother." I shot back, silencing her.

Corinthia shut her mouth and sighed. She shook her head and took her hands out of mine. For awhile, she didn't say anything. "Jude, you and General Organa are the only two people in the entire galaxy who believe she is still good." She turned away, her back facing me. "I'll see you at dinner Solo."

I was left alone, to think about my thoughts and choice of words. After dinner, Corinthia and I would be boarding a ship to Naboo. There, a fleet of stormtroopers have terrorized small towns within Naboo's capital perimeter. All we know is that they are searching for something that we are unable to identify. Nevertheless, my grandmother refused to turn down  a distress call from a planet that means so much to her.

We are to attack their makeshift base at dawn, hence why it was so important for my grandmother to explain the plan to Corinthia this morning. She's frustrated with me but that won't stop me from being proud of my blue leader girlfriend.

A/N: So the last few chapters have just been fillers. I want to be able to explain what has been happening the last decade before everyone jumps into the story plot. It'll get better, I promise. Thanks for reading!