Reunited

Chapter 3- The Temple

Coruscant loomed before Noelle and Thor as they peered silently out the front window of the Quinjet. Noelle just hoped they wouldn't have any issue landing. She wasn't even sure where a safe place to land would be. The entire surface of Coruscant was covered with city. There was not a blade of grass to be found, and no wildlife lived here. This was going to be interesting to say the least.

If the Empire didn't rule here anymore, then Noelle could only assume the people who won the Rebellion did. Either way, she didn't know who to trust, and for now, that was how they were going to have to go about– not trusting anybody until she found someone she knew.

Which was fine. Noelle was used to that.

"So where are we landing down here?" Thor asked, breaking her thoughts.

Noelle sighed. She had no choice but to take them in as close as possible to the lion's den. She didn't know Coruscant all that well. Even though she had lived there, she had spent most of her time on other planets or outer space fighting in the Clone Wars.

"Near the old Jedi Temple," she replied. "That's the place I'm most familiar with, and it's where I'm hoping to find some answers."

"What will we do with the ship?" Thor asked. "Someone might steal it."

"The worst someone can do is scrap it for parts, which they probably won't even be able to use. And they'd need a security code to actually fly it and steal it," she pointed out. "If that happens, we'll just steal another. Or make some friends."

Thor raised his eyebrows. "Well, you have it all planned out, don't you?"

"Always." Noelle smiled, even if it couldn't be further from the truth. She had no idea what she was doing.

"I will trust you know what you're doing, and let you lead from here, my lady," Thor teased, causing her to smile. Being called "my lady" only sounded pleasant to her ears coming from him. Otherwise, it brought up some painful old memories.

Noelle lowered the Quinjet in an old alleyway within walking distance of the Temple. Before they left the ship, she made sure everything important was hidden away and that the ship was completely locked down. Hopefully it would be alright for a couple of hours while they scouted the Temple. Noelle wanted to get a good idea of what was going on there, and who was there. If they were friendly, maybe they could leave the Quinjet parked there long-term.

"Are you ready?" Thor pulled a brown hood over his head.

Noelle nodded, doing the same with the dark grey cloak she had bought. The cloaks would be good for disguises, she had decided. Thor had pretty distinct, recognizable features, and she had been on the Empire's "most wanted" list. A little extra caution didn't hurt.

As they strolled through the streets, Noelle noticed that Coruscant had changed in a way she hadn't expected. The people who lived in the upper levels had always been more wealthy than the people who lived on the lower levels, but up here there was a new level of poverty. The Empire's collapse obviously hadn't made it easy on many people. The Empire had been oppressive and cruel, yes, but their reign was almost twenty years without a galaxy-wide war. That change must have been a shock when the Rebellion won.

As they approached the steps to the Jedi Temple, Noelle suddenly halted in her tracks.

It looks the same.

Not the same as it had when she was last here– as a fugitive, but the same as when she had once been a Jedi.

"Noelle? Are you alright?" Thor touched her arm.

"Yeah, I'll be alright," she replied, swallowing back the memories. "Let's walk around the side."

Noelle and Thor walked around the entire perimeter and found nothing suspicious, but they found nothing that clued Noelle on whether the people who apparently were at the Temple were friendly either. She spotted some ships at their landing pad from a distance, so someone was here.