Daughter of Sol: Arrival

A/N: Honestly? I don't know. Have some writing 'cos it's been a while.

#HighRepublicEra

RUN.

Runrunrunrunrun

Not that way, not that way, NOT THAT WAY

STOP!

That way. Yes.

Runrunrunrunrun

Light stick. Light sword - Lightsaber? Lightsaber.

Lightsaber good? Blue, green, yellow, good. Orange, maybe. Red not good. Red bad.

RedbadredbadredBADRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN

Rib ow? Leg ow. Leg, not rib. Hip, thigh, knee, shin, ankle, foot, toes. Five toes to a foot--REDBADREDBADREDBAD

RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN

Breath not breathing. Stop. In. Out. In. Out. Breath, yes. Breath, good.

Voice? Voice. Need help? Can help? Can help. Breath, no. Breathe. In, out, in, out - breathe.

Mouth, throat, lungs, diaphragm. Breath, heart, blood, body, brain.

RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN

Black.

Voices. Voices? Voices!

Arms, ouch. Straps? Straps, arms? Straps... on arms. Restraints. Yes, restraints. Good.

Not good, not good!

Voice? Voice. Awake? Yes. Awake. Light. Too much! Too much! Less. Good. Yes.

Voices. People. Humans! Not human. Both.

Cloth. Cloth... brown. White cloth, brown cloth. Light brown, tan. Soft. Lightsabers. Lightsabers! Bad!

Letgoletgoletgoletgoletgo!

Sting. Arm sting. Wave?

Black

Voices. Shapes. Voices and shapes. Talking. People talking.

Shhh. Listen.

"The sedative should keep her asleep until we reach Coruscant."

"And you're sure it won't hurt her?"

"The scan says she's near-human, although the age... it couldn't read it."

"Hopefully someone at the temple will be able to help us figure it out."

"I'm sure we could get Master Khri onto it."

"You sure? She hasn't quite been the same since... well..."

"A good puzzle like this will keep her busy enough to forget that traitor, and all the mess he dragged her into."

Khri. Coruscant. Temple. master?

Temple, Master, Lightsaber, Coruscant - Jedi! Jedijedijedijedijedi

Jedi good. Yes? No. Yes! Jedi good, yes.

Black.

Lady. Nice lady. Clever lady.

"You look to be in perfect health, not even a scratch on you. You must have an accelerated regenerative system."

Clever lady. Look. Nice eyes.

"So, can you tell me your name?"

Name? Name. Name is... name is...? No name? No name!

"It's alright, don't panic. I'm sure we can figure it out."

No name! But name! Need name!

"I can try to read your mind, and see if you have it locked away back there. May I?"

Read... mind? Not book? Mind mind, book book, mind not book.

"Okay, I'm going to take it slow. You might see some things you don't want to."

Hands. Head, touch. Mind. Read?

Black.

"I don't know exactly what it was. Her mind was so fragmented, like looking at a shattered mirror. She could barely put two words together."

"Whatever it was, it did a number on you as well. I don't think we should try that again."

"Maybe Master Yoda, or Master Yaddle will have more luck?"

"We can only suggest it."

Yoda. Yodayodayodayoda. Master Yoda. Green, little. Bat ears. Grogu, baby Yoda. Grogu, Luke, Din Djarin

Not yet!

Jedi bed. Restraints. Nice lady. Noise? Make noise.

"I'm sorry, I can't take those off. You could easily hurt yourself."

Hurt? Nonononono restraints hurt. Self? Self, me, I, myself. Hurt self? Bad. No.

"I can't, it's protocol."

Khri. Master Khri, nice lady.

"That's right, I am Jedi Master Santari Khri. Bee-eight, make a note that the patient displays simple interpersonal recognition."

"Indeed, Master Khri."

Jedi good. Jedi Master. Council.

You are on this council, but we do not grant you the rank of Master.

"That's unheard of. Not all Jedi Masters are on the Council, but all Council are Jedi Masters."

An. Anakin. Ani.

NOT YET!!!!

"Is that your name? Annie?"

No, name... no name. No name! Bad! What name?

"It's alright, we'll find out your name some other way."

Grandmaster Yoda?

Laugh. Nice laugh.

"Yes, he'll be here in his own time. For now, I'm going to give you something so you can rest."

Black.

Grandmaster Yoda little green. Watch.

"One of the patrols found her just drifting amongst debris from the last Emergence. She's showing signs of a memory scramble, but... I must warn you, it might be painful to try and delve in there."

"A curious puzzle. Not one that cannot be solved, him?"

Hm?

Laughs.

"A skilful mimic, indeed. More to know about you, there is."

Grandmaster Yoda hand three fingers. Master Khri hand five fingers.

LIGHT

Lijah. Lijah! Human! Terran Human.

Long way home.

Yoda sound. Yoda okay? Khri helping Yoda stand.

"Solian, she is. State of mind, explains, this does."

"Solian? I thought they were a myth!"

Solian. You. Lijah, Solian.

"Lijah, her name is."

Name is Lijah.

----------------------------------------------

Santari is kind and helpful. She takes the restraints off so I can eat. She says to record everything in this, in case I lose my mind again. She says I am being transferred to a public facility tomorrow. She said not to worry. B-8 is going to stay with me.

When I sleep, I forget everything. Santari tells me to listen to this to . I am still trying to figure everything out. Talking helps. Everything feels like a big puzzle. I don't know where all the pieces fit. I know Jedi don't live where I come from. I know a lot about them. More than most Jedi, says Grandmaster Yoda. I don't know how I know this all.

There are other Jedi here. Almost all Jedi live here. It's a lot. I like seeing them train with lightsabers. The sound is louder than I expected. I don't know why I expected sound.

The public facility is nice. Everyone is very kind to me and very careful. Sometimes I hear them lock the door to my room, but I keep writing. I things in fragments, so I write them all down and try to put them all together. B-8 helps where he can, but some of the things are strange to him. He has never heard of "Star Wars", but says they fight wars in space here. Maybe that's what it means.

I feel like I'm getting better.

I met a giant today. He barely fit through the door because he is nine feet tall. He wears a lot of armour but calls it his "exosuit". He says underneath it he is just a mass of muscle tissue. His name is Vald'ren, and he likes talking to me and helping me figure out The Puzzle.

Santari visits too, and she helps where she can. There are things I shouldn't tell her, but Vald'ren won't tell anyone. Santari seems uncomfortable around Vald'ren. She says she has met another of his kind, a violent one. Vald'ren promised he does not like violence.

Vald'ren has offered to take me with him when he leaves. The nurses have noticed the improvements in my speech and social engagement, and think he is really good for me. Santari says that if the stories are true, a Solian and a Gen'dai are probably the best companions for each other. Gen'dai can live for thousands of years, and Solians... apparently nobody has ever seen one of us die.

I don't have much to my name, but Vald'ren has promised to help me collect things if that's what I desire. I think I'd be happy with just some normal clothes. The hospice gowns are itchy.

I've been travelling with Vald'ren for a month now. Months here are different to what I know. Actually, the whole year is different. Everything seems to work so differently compared to what I know - just further evidence that I'm not from the Galaxy.

I talk to Santari often. She is thinking about leaving the Jedi Order. They could really use her skills, but she feels guilty for something she did a few years ago, but she doesn't know how to resolve it. She feels like her goals no longer align with the Jedi. I wish I knew what to say to her, but she says that sometimes just being able to talk to someone is enough. She knows that I know things I can't tell her, and she accepts that. Apparently I muttered a lot of things when I was under her care. I kept mentioning the name "Skywalker", and "Vader", but she couldn't find any records for a Vader, and the name Skywalker is as common as the name Johnson was back home.

Vald'ren and I spend most of our free time with The Puzzle. He's given me the detachable solar pod but the common area of the ship is where we spend most of our time. We've made it a sort of actual puzzle - there's wooden chips, and I write down short memories or keywords on the chips, then we fit them together.

We've known since Yoda identified me, that I'm a Solian. Solians aren't from the Galaxy, our home is about three million light years away, in a twin galaxy. Vald'ren has some old texts on Solians, but it's been centuries since the last one was confirmed and most people think they're a myth.

Apparently Solians can't die, unless under extremely specific circumstances (allegedly). I guess that's a relief, but that includes old age death. I'll never grow old, and I'll never die of age. Vald'ren says that being long-lived can be draining, and most of his species choose to live as nomads because of this. Apparently he's close to five thousand years old, and has seen empires rise and fall, regimes come and go, and people live and die. It sounds lonely when he puts it that way. I think, if I can't find any other Solians, I'll just stay close to Gen'dai. The idea of outliving everyone around me is just... saddening.

I had my first encounter with pirates today! It was exciting, and we found out that I know how to shoot. I feel bad for the two pirates I shot dead, but they sort of deserved it, too.

Vald'ren is scary to watch when he's fighting. He killed all the rest that didn't flee, which was around eight in total. He looks huge and bulky but he's so fast and agile. Note to self: never pick a fight with a Gen'dai.

Apparently the only way to kill Gen'dai is to launch them into a star, or damage their brain. I'm glad to know, but I don't plan on fighting any of them anytime soon. Probably ever.

The Puzzle is starting to fall into place and it's... well, the more we figure out, the less sense things sort of make.

I know about things that are meant to happen around two hundred years in the future. I also know a bit about things that even Vald'ren had trouble getting documentation of. I watching and reading media about such events in my childhood and youth. Vald'ren thinks the space jump that got me here also messed with time, and I got flung into a different time period not relevant to my original frame of reference. Crossing roughly three million light years means there's a lot of Time mess-around.

Suffice to say, most Solians can't handle this on a mental level, so their mind shatters when they "Arrive" here. That's why, according to Santari, before we started tracking my memories and putting things together, everything I said or wrote down was so disted. It was the thoughts in my head in that exact moment. Sometimes I spoke them, other times I mumbled and muttered to myself, but what I said didn't match what was in my head. I didn't have a concept of self, time, space - it was all just very animal, very instinctive.

It's a fragile thing, this "Fractured Mind" thing. Every time I lose consciousness - even through sleep - it falls apart again. Vald'ren is figuring out a way to encrypt all the information I know into a holorecording, which he says I can keep with me for any accidents. Easier to carry around than this holocron, and he said I can keep the common knowledge as the main audio, but the encrypted layers can be everything else I know. He wants to find out if there's frequencies Solians can hear that no other species can.

I considered the idea of going home at one point. I all my family and friends, of course. But if getting here one way messes up my mind as much as it did, maybe it'll be even worse if I go back. Much as I want to see my friends and family again, I want to them when I do.