❛ Does it ever drive you crazy just how fast the night changes? ❜
In which a Rebel intelligence officer's life changes in an instant when a blonde boy in a Stormtrooper disguise rescues her from the hands of the Empire.
cover by the amazing @shangch...
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Inside the desolate cell, the frigid air nipped at Elara's arms. She sat dejectedly on a metal slab that the Empire called a 'bed', staring down at her feet. Had they been there a day? Two weeks? A month? She couldn't tell.
There was no days nor nights inside a prison cell floating through the middle of space. She used to think hospital's dreary white walls and white lights were the worst, but she'd give anything to be even locked away somewhere with white walls, or wall art for Force's sake. But, The Empire made it clear they didn't care for their prisoners. To the likes of Vader, they were enemies just taking up space, to the guards, Stormtroopers, they were just a task - a number on the computer screen. Since they'd been there, they'd been offered food or drink only twice, and subjected to almost every interrogation technique in the Imperial books.
Her entire body ached from the continuous interrogations, not to mention abuse from every guard, commander, or Stormtrooper that was granted access to their cell. "I'm sorry, Leia. This is all my fault. If I hadn't missed the shot–"
"Ellie, don't say that," Leia offered up a weak smile, "even if you'd shot that Stormtrooper –"
The clanging of the heavy cell door opening cut off her words. Two guards entered the cell, followed by none other than Vader himself, for once, and behind Vader, an interrogation droid. Elara had heard stories of the interrogation droids, but never was unfortunate enough to experience one first hand. In the Rebellion, they were simply a cautionary tale told by those few who escaped the Empire's clutches.
And so her heart dropped in her chest when the droid hovered over to Leia , while the guards grabbed her by the arms, and drug her down from the metal slab. "And now, your Highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden Rebel base."
Anger coursed through every vein in her body as they held her up, forcing her to watch. She tried to look away, and struggled against the guards, but it only earned her a tightened grip, and a pull closer to the droid itself.
"Stop it! Please," she cried out, attempting to kick at the droid, and free herself from the guards' grip, "stop it! The senate will -"
Both guards became fed up with her squirming and screaming, so one hit the girl over the head with his blaster. Immediately, she was greeted by the blackness of her subconscious.
The Alderaanian moon shone brightly in the night sky while seventeen year old Elara snuck out into the palace gardens. Her slippers barely even made a sound as she slipped past the roses, making her way towards a lone willow tree at the garden's center.
A tall brunette boy waited patiently for her under the willow's branches, hidden from everyone but Elara's sight. A gentle smile formed on his face at the sight of her. "Ellie!"
She sat next to him, resting her head on his chest. "We have to stop doing this Oliver. We're gonna get caught."
"I know, but I called you out here to give you something," he pulled a small white velvet boxfrom his pocket, "since your birthday is tomorrow."
He handed it to her. Gently, she pried the lid open. Inside, was a necklace. A singular crescent moon hung from its silver chain. She recognized it as a carbon copyof the one her late mother used to wear everyday. "I had this made for you. I know how much you miss her."
Elara winced in pain as she slowly came to. She didn't know how long she'd been unconscious, but it had to have been several hours, based on how badly her body ached from the metal floor.
She weakly pulled herself off the floor, resting her body against the wall. She fumbled with her necklace – the one Oliver gave her.
He disappeared the day after he gave her the necklace – as if he knew. Not long after, Leia's father received word he'd been killed by the Empire.
It all happened a few months before, yet it still felt so fresh. Oliver had been her whole world. He'd helped her through her parents death – he was there for her every time she broke down at 2 am, every time she'd needed someone else to talk to. He was there.
The cell door opened, startling the fragile girl. A guard shoved a sobbing Leia inside, then closed the door back. "It's gone, Ellie."
"What's gone?"
"Our home," Leia collapsed next to Elara, "they destroyed Alderaan."
°°°°°°°
Elara once again rested her head against the wall. Her eyelids felt so heavy, she couldn't even keep her eyes open.
With Alderaan gone, she and Leia had nothing left, except each other and the clothes on their backs. Not that that even mattered anymore – their executions could be any moment now.
She'd nearly drifted off when the cell door reopened.
A Stormtrooper appeared in the doorway, but both she and Leia assumed he'd be the one escorting them to their execution.
Something seemed off about this Stormtrooper, though. He stood in the doorway distractedly, and seemed a lot smaller than most.
"Aren't you a little short to be a Stormtrooper?" Leia remarked.
"Huh? Oh, the uniform," he removed his helmet to reveal a boy with tousled blond hair, "I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you!"
"You're who?"
"I'm here to rescue you. I've got your R2 unit. I'm here with Ben Kenobi!"
Leia's plan worked.
"Ben Kenobi?! Where is he?" They ran out of the cell, almost trampling the boy.
In the hall, they're bombarded by blaster fire, and nearly run into another man – and a Wookiee. Their only visible way out was in the same direction of the blaster fire.
"Looks like you've managed to cut off our only escape route!" Leia yelled.
"Maybe you'd like it better in your cell, Your Highness!"
The fire causes the group to jump backwards, Elara pinned against the wall in between Luke and Leia. The boy fumbled with the com link on his belt. "See-Threepio! We've been cut off! Are there any other ways out of the cell bay?"
She could barely hear the response, but from his facial expression, she didn't need to hear it – there wasn't another way out.
long a/n What do y'all think about Oliver? 👀 (he's gonna be important to this story's plot later on)
Also I wish I had a boy that was actually there for me like that but I kinda accidentally pushed away the one that was (bc I had a crush on someone else) bc now we haven't talked in almost a month 🤡🤡
ANYWAYS I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Ik it's not as good toward the end, but I spent a long time working on this chapter. Please don't forget to leave comments and vote if enjoyed! Any support is appreciated. Thanks so much for reading! 💕
Next update is halfway done, but might be in about a week or so before it's up since I have two volleyball games and some other stuff this week, but I promise I'll get it up as soon as possible.
