WHO: Sora Hondo-Smith → Amilyn Holdo WHEN: Morning of May 30 WHERE: Her bedroom SUMMARY: Sora wakes from a dream about Amilyn and considers the possibilities of what it all means. WARNINGS: None, though spoilers from "Leia, Princess of Alderaan"
"If I may have this assembly's attention -- surprises are yet in store!" Internally, Amilyn cringed. That wasn't the way to start this. Though she was well aware that most of her peers were of the opinion that she was strange, largely in thanks to her appearance that she took great strides to make unique, this was the time to prove otherwise. This was important. "I mean, I have some more information that might shed light on this subject."
Though Amilyn could see from the edges of her vision that many of the others were mumbling between themselves, she ignored it. Instead, she brought up the charts that she had prepared during her research. "If you'll look at this, you'll see that it represents Lolet's fuel reserves at the period in question. Those levels are much lower than usual, to the point most plants would consider themselves in a state of crisis. My research indicates that the Lolet had taxed their reserves almost to the breaking point while evacuating one of their moons after major geological instability earlier in the year. They didn't give the Empire the requested fuel because they didn't have it."
She paused, taking a breath as she let this information sink in among the rest of the Apprentice Legislature. Amilyn might have felt pride in having dug up this information had it not been so devastating. It was yet another injustice in their galaxy and she had to hope that her peers would recognize that.
"They had it! The chart clearly shows they could've filled the quota."
"Only by completely depleting their reserves." She pointed toward the chart, indicating the data that showed exactly that. "Lolet would have had nothing left to deal with any future emergencies in their system. Imagine their -- " She paused, having to take a quick breath as she felt herself become overwhelmed with the sheer wrongness of it all. If she wasn't careful, she would lose her practiced calm and normal that she was trying so hard to convey. "No regulations require a planet to put itself at risk in that way."
It became obvious that she wasn't changing any minds -- at least, not any of the minds of those most loyal to the Emperor. Amilyn didn't know if it was blind patriotism or ignorance that they were practicing, but she could feel her demeanor slip with each word. Finally, when one of the apprentices from Glee Anselm claimed that the Empire would help should the system find themselves in need of it, she found herself speaking the most dangerous of truths. So caught up in her emotions and desire to make this right, she didn't even see the harm in the words.
"The Empire doesn't always respond to those calls!"
The arguing continued and Amilyn didn't even bother with the breaths and pauses that she'd coached herself through while trying so hard to appear polished, to appear as though she was someone that could be taken seriously. "It's a big galaxy!" she protested, waving her hands around her as though demonstrating just how big a galaxy it truly was. "Entire planets sometimes escape our notice! That's just -- natural."
"Maybe it's natural for you," the apprentice from Glee Anselm did, curling her lip at Amilyn. "With your head filled with feathers -- that's why they're always poking from your hair, I bet."
Amilyn didn't even have time to consider a retort as Princess Leia stood, her voice loud. "That's enough! If you're shallow enough to care about what anybody's wearing, then maybe you need to go back to playing with the other children and leave governing to people who've grown up a little."
From where she stood, her charts still illuminating her green robes and hair, Amilyn just watched. She hadn't expected anyone to come to her aid, not really. She had hoped that some of the others would agree with her that Lolet deserved leniency given the impossible situation that they had found themselves in, but she hadn't known if she should hold her breath. Still, as the apprentice from Glee Anselm and Leia spoke, she couldn't help but feel that they were losing sight of what was most important.
"I just don't think it's right to penalize a planet for -- for -- " Her words drifted off as she struggled to describe exactly what it was she thought, but it didn't matter.
"For a lack of clarity in the law. As you've said, no regulations clearly state what a planet is supposed to do in this situation." It was Kier, the other apprentice from Alderaan. Amilyn also knew him from pathfinding, just as she knew Princess Leia.
"Exactly," the princess herself agreed. "What we need to do is recommend a new language for the legal code -- "
Sora's alarm clock jolted her from sleep, more surprising than any of the dream she'd just had. She turned over on her side, groping for her cellphone on her bedside table. A moment later and the loud ringing had stopped, leaving her in relative silence and a new memory.
Letting her eyes close, Sora thought about what she had just seen. The dreams and visions of Amilyn Holdo had been increasing since the first she'd experienced during a yoga session, but this was the first time she'd had one where she could be pulled from it and know that her very best friend in the whole world, Charlie Parker, was Princess Leia.
Well, at least, she was experiencing all of this as Princess Leia.
Or, she considered, maybe they really were them. Though Sora hadn't been raised in any religion, Eastern or Western, she was familiar with Buddhism thanks to her grandparents. She knew of the rebirth doctrine and while she didn't really think that reincarnation had anything to do with so-called fictional characters that existed in a place both a long time ago and far, far away, was it really too hard to consider that her best friend in this world could be someone that she knew Amilyn considered to be a friend in hers? When Sora looked at all of the other connections that had been brought to light just the night previous, was it really so hard to think that perhaps they were more closely tied to these people than they'd realized?
Sora laid in bed, contemplating this until her snooze alarm went off. She turned it off only seconds into the alarm, then resigned herself to morning. It wouldn't be hard to just think about this all day, but she had things to do -- like her morning yoga.