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"HEY, MAMA," INDIRA SAYS, waving in the direction of the camera shaped node in EV-1's chest. The little droid hovers in the air a few feet away from Kali's bed, filming the holo message that Indira had been procrastinating on sending for more than a week. "It's super late at night right now. Or maybe it's early; I honestly don't know. But, I was thinking about you today. It's been a while since I reached out and I know you don't like it when I do that, so I wanted to just let you know that I'm doing ... okay."
The words sound hollow and even though Indira knows her mother can't see her, she forces a smile onto her face. "I won't lie to you: things have definitely been rough around here, but I'm alright. We had a funeral today for Han and the pilots that died on Starkiller, which was pretty sad. But on the bright side, no one else has died recently, so that's a plus! And there haven't been any more assassination attempts either, which is always a good thing."
Her hands are busy, brushing through the dark, wet strands of hair on her shoulders; still damp and tangled from her recent shower. Her hair always becomes a knotted mess like this after she washes it and brushing through it is often painful, but she finds it soothing right now; a task that is entirely ordinary and routine to keep her mind occupied while she speaks.
"I hope things are still going well for you," Indira adds, tugging at a particularly difficult knot and wincing when it finally pulls free. "Tell Kes I say hello. And tell him Poe says hi, too. He told me that he plans on calling home soon, but he's been really busy with training the new pilots lately, which has been stressful for him. But, they're improving. Sort of. I think ... I hope."
She lets out a defeated sigh, tossing the brush down onto the messy sheets before rubbing her temples. "I don't know, Mama," Indira admits. "This whole ... rebel thing; I'm not sure that I'm cut out for it. I'm definitely not cut out to be a soldier — but I want to help people and I want to do what I can in this fight. It's just hard sometimes, you know? I feel like I'm surrounded by secrets and lies everywhere. Something has been bothering Poe, but he won't talk to me about it; Leia and I still aren't on speaking terms; and I feel like I'm going to spontaneously combust any time someone so much as mentions the name Luke Skywalker."
