Elias was still flushed. He had been nervous touching Winter to wrap her. Winter was flushed because Elias was so gentle. He had treated her wound like it was a flawless ice crystal. She knew he had to be very uncomfortable. His eyes never left the place where he wrapped until he was done. Winter just looked up, occasionally casting glances down. After she was wrapped, she tried to get up off the table again. Elias just sighed. "Here, let me help you get down…" Winter huffed. "I'm fine. I can get down myself…" Elias gave her a serious stare. "Can you really?" Winter sighed. "Fine, get me down, and walk me back to Estelle and Kula. Please." Elias rolled his eyes, and picked Winter up off of the table and helped her steady herself. "Whoa… My legs don't wanna work. They don't want to do what my brain tells them to do… I can't get my balance…" Elias wrapped his arm around Winter's waist. "Here, let me help you. Just put one foot in front of the other, and let me do the rest. I can pull your weight. It'll be ok. Lean on me. I got you. Just like that time back on Hoth, when you sprained your ankle. You remember that don't you?" Winter nodded. "Yeah… I remember that. I would have never escaped that wampa if you hadn't come back early. I slipped on the ice, and my leg got stuck under something… You saved my life then. Now, you have done it again… How can I repay you? I have to do something…" Elias helped her exit the ship, and they started walking back over the ridge to go back to Estelle and Kula. "You can repay me by being you. You are all I need. I don't need anything else. Just you and you only…" Winter turned her head into Elias' chest. She murmured, "Thank you. For everything…" Elias sighed and ran his hand through her hair. "Anytime Winter." For the rest of the way to Estelle, Elias was silently helping Winter along.
(Alright! Just finished my homework, so we're good!)
(Nice! Working on mine! Multi-tasking is one of my strong suits)
Aquare approached Estelle calmly. "Shoot me."
"Don't come closer!" Estelle growled. The stands of her hair glowed. Slowly, her eyes grew strong with power too.
Aquare didn't stop. Her steps were slow and thoughtful. "Shoot me, daughter."
"I'm not your daughter!" Estelle insisted, aimed the blaster steadily at the woman who had pretended to be her mother.
The thought struck her, like a slap, hard across the face. Her mother. Her real mother. The one that this twisted woman had murdered.
"You killed my mother."
"Hmm? Oh, yes. She did fight hard, though. Yes, she was one of the last few standing. I remember… I remember seeing the light leave her eyes. It was quite the heartbreak. Her last words were, if I recall correctly, 'Fly, Snowbird. Fly.'"
Estelle snapped. She threw the blaster aside and lunged at Aquare's throat. Both women tumbled into a heap on the ground, each desperately seeking the upper hand. Estelle's nails dug into Aquare's skin and her fingers were desperate to leave a bruise. A mark. Something that would let Aquare remember who had given her such pain once, such agony. Estelle fought viciously, if not for herself, than in remembrance of her mother. Aquare, choking, managed a blow to Estelle's face, her nails slicing through Estelle's cheek. Blood dripped from the wounds. Estelle only screamed and fought harder.
Winter and Elias were coming over the hill, when they heard the sounds of a struggle. Winter staggered. "Elias, that has to be Estelle. I need to help her. I've got to get there faster…" Winter shoved Elias away, and started trying to run. It was more of a staggering jog… She crested the hill, and slid down the bank reaching Estelle, with Elias hot on her heels. Elias stopped Winter, and grabbed Aquare by the collar of the shirt. "You. You killed our people. Now, it's your turn. It's time for you to go. Permanently…" Elias lifted Aquare, and slammed her into the ground, repeatedly, until she grew limp, and still. Elias stepped away, breathing heavily, and glowing furiously. He snarled, "This time, stay dead, you traitor. Your murderer…" Winter got up, and her ribs were aching. She shakily walked over to Elias, and she grabbed his hands. "Shhh. It's all over now. I'm here. She's gone. She can't hurt us anymore… I promise." Winter turned and looked at Estelle. "Are you ok?"
Estelle stood completely still. Blood raced down her cheek and dribbled down her chin, but she didn't seem to notice. Her eyes were glassy and she was looking at Aquare.
WInter staggered over to Estelle. "Hey, she's gone. She can't hurt us anymore. By the way, where's Kula? And your face… You'll need to get a bacta patch when we get back on the ship…" Meanwhile, Elias was still seething. He was shaking violently with rage…
Essar glanced around, trying to pinpoint where the voice had come from. "Yeah. I did."
I gtg, mom is turning off wifi…)
Estelle didn't answer. Her gaze was too far into "the Beyond". She was seeing things that no one else was. Suddenly she returned. She blinked several times before looking at Winter and bursting into tears. "Winter…"
Shiloh looked around quickly. "That sounded like… Kula!" She took off without thinking. "Kula?! "
WInter grabbed Estelle by the shoulders. "You remembered didn't you? You saw a portion of your life through your own eyes… What did you see? I can tell you where and why it happened…" Winter slid her hands down from Estelle's shoulders to her hands. Winter then placed Estelle's hands on her side. "I'm fine. See? Elias healed me. I'm ok. It will take me time to heal again, but I'm out of the woods for right now… Hey, where is Kula?"
"I… I saw my mother, Winter. My real mother. She was beautiful…" Estelle sighed dreamily.
(HI! School…)
WInter nodded. "Yes. Everyone was beautiful. Our people were that of beauty and violence. We fought when we had to, but other times, we were kind, and we cared about how our kind looked. Your parents were some of the most beautiful. Your mother was the envy of the people, my mother was her best friend, my father was the chief, the one that fell for my mother… Your father… he was the one that all the women wanted. He tried for years to win over your mother's heart… When he did, nothing could separate them. My father made your father his most trusted advisor. We were the most highly regarded children of the palace… Until the Imperials came in. Then, they put imposters in my place, and yours. Until they found my parents… I wanted so badly to stop their deaths. I was too weak at the time, and I would have died with them. Your parents, stopped me. Adopted me until their death. Then, when the Imperials came to finish us off, you saved me, and "died" for me. You took my place. After they left again, and I was the only one left, I cried. We weren't supposed to show pain, or sadness, but I made an acception. That's why I wasn't afraid to die. I knew the pain wouldn't last, and all the sorrow I have felt, would disappear. But, apparently something in this galaxy needs me alive, because I'm not dead… and neither are you…" Elias just sat down. He looked up, "Winter, my people were that of emotion and art. We fought with a purpose, and with grace. I broke that. I was too violent, and I had too much emotion for my people. That's why they exiled me. Because I was too violent, and I didn't want to use my gift of healing. I was 12. I wandered on the outskirts for sometime, until the Imperials came, and killed everyone in a day. I didn't weep. I locked up all emotion, until I found you. You brought back everything that I had tried so hard to forget, and what I had loved…"
(I had band. We can't get on computers until after… All good though…)
(Coolio!)
"What was her name? What did she look like? How did she speak? What was her walk like? Do I look like her?" Estelle asked rapidly, her eyes bright and ready to relive the past she'd forgotten.
Winter thought for a moment. "Her name was Snowfall. She looked like the stars when all was black. She shone brighter, when others failed. She spoke very quietly, until she needed to defend something she loved. Then, she wouldn't be quiet. She walked with a purpose everywhere she went. She cared about everything, and anything. You do look like her, but you resemble your father a little more. You have her eyes, her smile, and her hair, but I see more of your father in your face…" Elias sighed, and Winter looked at him. He started, "I don't remember anyone that I looked like. I was an outcast. I was blonde in a sea of white, and pale blue… I never fit in… My family was so lowly, that we were only regarded to as "them". We were not accepted. Until, I found out that I could heal. Then, everybody wanted to be my friend. They knew it drained me, and I started falling behind, and I started to act out. I became violent, and no one could calm me down. Most times, they kept me in chains. I wouldn't be freed until someone needed to be healed. Then they would only free my hands… I never knew what freedom was. I have been locked up and scolded for most of my life because of what people were scared of. I was a threat, and that was all they saw in me. Until I met Winter. We were nothing alike, and we hated each other at first, but I was so glad that I had found someone who wasn't afraid of the monster underneath. Then, the first time we fought, and we were so in sync, I knew it had to be fate. No one could connect with me like that. Then when we first met Essar and 5 in the cantina, and I confessed everything to her, and she didn't cringe, or shy away, she smiled, and said she wasn't going to leave me. I knew then I had finally found a home. In all this, Estelle, what I'm trying to say is, your real home was destroyed, but the home that you have created, will never go away. We are all family here. We all come from some form of pain or a broken past. That what makes us so special. We all have cracks. They're there so the light can shine through. We're the hope for this galaxy. We have to use the time we have, to be the good in all this…"
Estelle listened intently to Elias speak, and she absorbed his words into her blood. But what really stuck with her was what Winter has said.
"Her name was Snowfall… She looked like the stars… She shone brighter… She defended the things she loved… She walked with a purpose… You have her eyes, her smile, and her hair, but I see more of your father in your face…"
"Elias… I've never truly known freedom either. On Naboo, I never left our estate. I was not allowed to go out, so I didn't have many friends… Or rather, friends that I knew about." She smiled shyly at Winter.
Winter rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I had a friend that I thought was dead…Now let’s go find Kula, Shiloh, and Essar. Come on, let’s go!” Elias smiled. “Lead the way Winter. Wait, I gotta help you walk. Your balance is still jacked up…” Winter just laughed. “Fine, escort me frost boy…”
