Pilot Pride (A Poe Dameron fanfiction -- Star Wars)

24. (Day 39-40) Life At Home

Rizee's POV

Opi had been gone for a few days now, and I was seriously beginning to miss her presence.

Obviously she was swamped. Her things had been searched by an unknown intruder. She had to go handle how her bosses now thought of her, be interviewed by interrogators to get to the bottom of the crime, and go through many files to see if any had been lost, or stolen.

But finally, 4 days after her things had been torn through, I got to see her. She came to lunch and plopped down next to Akai across the table. I gasped.

"Opi!" I exclaimed. Akai immediately hugged her, and Opi put her head in her hands tiredly.

"How are you?" Akai asked.

"I . . . Am . . . So . . . Damn . . . Tired." Opi sighed, looking up at me. "And I'm gonna be honest, I don't really want to talk about it. No offense, but I am in the worst mood."

"That's alright, we can talk about something else. Do you get to take your day off tomorrow?" I asked, trying to switch subjects. Opi groaned, this time with relief.

"Yes, thank the lords. I just hope my family can be understanding and let me sleep a little bit. Maybe get in a good meal." Opi said with a hint of optimism.

"Six sisters. You're right, hopefully they can be a little calm. How will your mom be?" I asked, referring to Jessica Pava, Opi's mother who is a Resistance pilot.

Opi pushed her lips together and shook her head. "She probably won't even be home, but that's alright. Maybe my sisters can take care of themselves. What will your trip home be like, Akai?"

Akai shrugged. "Probably pretty peaceful. I live with Statura and half the time he is just doing work at home anyways. You can come over if you need rest."

Opi smiled. "I'm good, but thank you so much. I need to watch over my sisters. How will your day off be, Rizee?"

I cringed a little bit on the inside. I could feel shame welling up inside of me, but I wasn't going to sit here and lie to them -- they were my best friends.

"I'll probably stay here at the academy." I admitted, looking off to the side.

"Why?" Opi asked, and immediately a look of regret dawned over her face. "Nevermind."

I nodded graciously, although I'm surprised Akai didn't ask any questions. She just looked at her plate and took a big bite of her food.

"You can for sure come back to my place. That's not right, don't spend your day off here. C'mon." Opi offered, and I couldn't help but grin.

"No way, you'll have enough to do besides worry about me."

"Seriously, come on, Rizee! Come home with me tomorrow."

I smiled even wider. "Alright."

*****

The next morning, I packed up my clothes for the first time and followed Opi out the doors. Akai turned down a separate path and bade us goodbye.

We walked down the steps and as I trotted next to her down the path and through the large grassy hills of D'Qar, I felt the emotion that only Opi could make me feel -- happy.

We got to a set of residence rooms and walked in. We got to her door, Opi entered the passcode, unlocked the door, and pushed through.

A variety of girls were already running about, doing who knows what. Two of them were playing loudly in the corner of the kitchen-living room space, one was at the table writing on paper, one was making food in the kitchen, and two more were simply running around the table, encircling the writer.