After I finished speaking, I wanted nothing more than to go find Chewie on the Falcon and help him and Rey get ready to leave. In fact, as soon as I spoke my last words to the Resistance and they all began to applaud me, I turned eagerly back to my mother, my heart pounding (I never did get over the nerves of public speaking).

"I should go, Chewie may need me on the Falcon," I said, taking in a few deep breaths as I steadied my nerves.

"Later, Lucinda, right now you need to be here," she offered me a small smile. "Rey and Chewie won't be leaving until later, you'll get your chance to speak to them, don't worry. Right now I need to introduce you to some figures of importance,"

I nodded with a small sigh. As much as I knew that my place as a general was here with my mother at the front, my heart was calling me to the ship, where I would not only be saying farewell to Rey, Chewie and Artoo, but also to the Millennium Falcon. It was my father's ship and now it was mine, one of the last things left to me by him. Everything was changing, what with his death, me being appointed as a General and the possiblity of my Uncle returning, all I wanted was some normality through visiting the Falcon, but normality would have to wait; the Resistance had to come first now.

"Hey, General!" I heard a voice call out. I turned to see Erika and Izzy, who were both smirking slightly. I grinned deciding that if I couldn't have normality from the Falcon, the Antilles would do, them both being a reminder of my past but also a constant in my life.

"You two scrubbed up pretty well," I noted, looking them both up and down.

It was true. Whereas their hair always used to be tied back at the academy, when we went travelling and even before I got kidnapped, their hair was hanging loose. Their clothes were always rough, small holes and tears visible in their shirts, though never in their Academy jackets, since they were something we all took pride in. Being pilots, the two were always covered with scuffs and bruises, something that both of them used to boast about ('battle scars,' Izzy used to call them). Now however, even Izzy had made an effort, combing back her cropped blue hair into the tiniest of ponytails, wearing a long sleeved black shirt and grey combat trousers, though her boots were worn and scuffed. Erika had tied her hair up into a bun on top of her head, held up with a small braid she'd featured in her hair since she started at the academy acting as a tie, wearing a light brown flight jacket over a long grey top that came down to her knees, her boots newly polished. I notcied that whilst Erika had transfered some of the patches she used to wear on her Academy jacket (like the name tag reading 'E. Antilles', the logo of the Jedi code and the number seven displaying our years of study), Izzy hadn't, and to be honest I wasn't surprised; Erika was always far more nostalgic, whereas I knew Izzy would want to forget.

"Same can be said for you, flygirl," Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Or would I get a disiplinarary for talking to a General in such a derogatory manner?"

"Oh shut up, Iz," I laughed. "You never even used to call me by my name anyway, I don't see why you should now,"

"Maybe because our careers as a flight squad rely on it?" Erika joked, though I could see she was taking this more seroius that Izzy was. "In all seriousness though, Luce, congrats, you do deserve this,"

"Yeah, I mean now we can really say we beat a Resisitance General in sparring," Izzy grinned at me, making me roll my eyes.

"Don't you two have somewhere else to be and someone else to bother?" I asked, faking exasperation. "I'm a General now, I can't be seen to be mixing with lowly folk like you,"

"Whatever, Amidala," Erika laughed. If I'd have said that to anyone else they wouldn't have gotten the humour, but the twins had grown up with my sarcasm, and it helped that they were just as dry. "You'll always be that nerd from Tatooine we used to share a dorm with,"

I watched them both turn away and join a group of other pilots, and part of me wanted to follow them. I always wanted to follow them. Except for Poe, the Antilles were my only friends when I was a kid, and I had grown to be dependant on their friendship. So many years without them had led me to feel a little lost now I was with them once more; I wanted to be always with them the way it was when we were young. Nothing would be like it was when we were young though.

"Luce," I heard Poe call me, and when I looked over at him, I saw Connix with him. "Now that those two have finished bullying you, I  wanted to tell you how great your speech was,"

"It was, really rilled up the troops," Connix added in such a blasé way that anyone else would have taken as an insult, but I knew Connix; blasé on the outside, blessed on the inside. "I don't know if you've heard, General, but we're going to start preparing for the evacuation of this base as soon as this is all over and your crew has left to find Skywalker,"

"I thought so, it would be too risky to stay here," I nodded, knowing that the First Order was probably planning a strike at that moment. "Are you leading the operation?"

"Of course, can you remember our rogue mission years ago?" Poe asked me, reminding me of when it was only the three of us who survived our suicide misson. It was Connix that saved our lives that day, leading the right controls and communication operations back at the main Resistance base to get us back safe.

"We're in safe hands then," I smiled at her, the feeling of gratitude coming back to me.

"Same can be said for you being a General," she smirked back at me. "You're the first one to be appointed with no ties to the war against the Empire, you know,"

I did know, and that was a fact I found terrifying and intimidating. I was walking in the footsteps of heroes, people who filled my bedtime stories with their heroic deeds during the war now classed as my equals. It was a lot of pressure, to live up to not only my name as an Organa and a Solo, but also live up to the expectations and example of the other generals and admirals. I was going to respond to Connix, because I was certain she would know how I was feeling, but I heard my mother calling me, so I excused myself. I saw my mother talking to a tall, skinny, purple haired woman, her curly locks held up by halo-styled rings at the back of her head. The woman was dressed elegantly in a long dress, only shades darker than her hair. She was looking at me in wonder, as if she was finally meeting someone she had heard so much about.

""Luci," my mother said, almost gently. "I've just heard word from the Falcon and they're preparing to leave soon so if you want you may go, but first, Lucinda, this is Vice Admiral Holdo," my mother introduced, and I knew immediately who she was, my eyes widening in shock slightly. "Holdo, this is my daughter Lucinda,"

"The Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo?" I exclaimed slightly before regaining myself. "Sorry, when your parents were part of the Rebellion all of your bedtime stories as a child are those of the war, especially the glories. It's wonderful to meet you, Admiral,"

"I could say the same for you, Lucinda," she said as she shook my hand, almost the same awestruck expression on her face that was on mine. "I've heard so much about you from your mother, and your speech was truly inspirational, Luci, or should I say General Organa-Solo?"

A rebellion Admiral, inspired by me? I felt like laughing. I was little more than a teenager and here I was being complimented by an Admiral who had helped to protect the Rebellion against impending imperial attack. I'd done nothing compared to her and my mother.

"I think that it should be me saying you're inspirational," I let out a small laugh of disbelief, but then remembered my mother's first comment and grew serious again. "I'm sorry, I've got to go, but it was an honour to meet you, Admiral,"

"And you, General, may the force be with you,"

***

"You all set, Chewie?" I asked as I ran up the ramp, calling out to the cockpit. I heard a muffled roar in response. "You don't mind if I take some stuff do you? Just some clothes and pictures and... a few of my dad's things?"

The wookiee came out from the cockpit at that point, sensing my hesitation at mentioning my father. He looked at my sympathetically, and then roared something to me. It was a story, about my father long time ago, the first time he introduced me to his Wookiee best friend. I felt my eyes bud with tears though I forced them away, and when he was finished, I practically threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around him tightly, burying my face in his fur.

"He was right, you've always protected me when he couldn't, you've always been there for me," I muttered into his fur. "I honestly trust you with my life, and I know my father did too. I mean, we all know that's the only reason he lived so long, since you were always there,"

Chewie let out another small moan and I hugged him harder. The last few years without him and my father to guide me and look out for me had been hard, and now I'd lost my father and Chewie was going off with Rey... I was just glad my mother would still be there. Eventually I got a grip on my emotions and pulled away, giving the Wookiee a slight nod before I turned and went back down the corridor to where my room was.

I didn't take much. I found an old satchel and searched through my wardrobe, though nothing in there was really suitable for me to wear as a general. However I still took some of my old shirts and vests, even taking some of my smarter trousers. Dresses weren't really my style and each pair was marked with a Corellian bloodstripe and I knew it was probably important to express pride for my father's heritage. Apart from that nothing else was suitable, so I instead packed up a few things that were of some value to me, like my old diary from when I was fifteen (a lot of old Academy stories were written down in there, I was sure Erika and Izzy would enjoy reading that as well), an old sketch pad that Ben and I used to doodle in on long journeys, and a photo album that I kept from about the age of ten to seventeen. The album seemed to document my life as it went from happy family photos to photos of training at the academy to my early involvement in the resistance for it to then stop drastically halfway through when there was nothing worthy to document.

My room was like a time capsule of my childhood and my early teen years, when everything was good. Being in this room now was like looking into the life of someone completely different, someone who didn't know what loss or tragedy was. I felt lost myself looking at the life I once had with my father on this ship, almost like I was caught by the shadows of my old life as Luci Solo.

Now, however, I was General Organa-Solo and I had to leave all that behind. My childhood would influence me, always, but I had to become someone stronger, someone wiser, someone worthy of leading the resistance to success. This was almost like a new life, a new life with Erika, Izzy and Connix, girls that helped me mature, a new life still with my mother because the force knows I'd be lost without her and hopefully a new life with Poe.

***
Word count: 2123

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