Stardust ━━ Star Wars

━ 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗶𝗶

█▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█
chapter fifty-three: one last time
█▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█

    WHEN SHE WAS A CHILD Indira Beren was prone to wandering. Back then, she had been curious by nature; always searching for answers to a thousand different questions about the world around her. Even at a young age, exploring was a favored pastime of hers — much to the utter exasperation of her mother, Jana. On the days that Jana Beren brought her daughter to the senate with her, Indira could often be found roaming the walls of the building with her nanny droid — a bot that the senator had given the very creative nickname Nan — trailing after her.

      With Nan at her side, Indira was free to wander anywhere within the confines of the senatorial complex that she liked. But under no circumstances was she ever allowed to leave the doors of the senate without her mother. This was a rule that she reluctantly obeyed — mostly because Nan never let Indira out of her sight. The nanny droid was a strict enforcer of the laws laid down by her mistress; no matter how much young Indira tried to persuade the bot to bend the rules.

      In hindsight, it was easy for Indira to see that her mother only wanted to keep her safe, but at the time she had thought it was the worst thing in the whole galaxy. She resented Nan, despite the droid's doting dedication to her and her mother. Nan was Indira's longest-lasting caretaker even though the droid always had its hands full with such a precocious child. But there were never any accidents with Nan; no mishaps or calamities. For all intents and purposes, she should have been the perfect caretaker. Nan exceeded expectations when it came to her programming and — for any ordinary child — she would have been enough.

     Then again, Indira Beren was not a particularly ordinary child.

      It was the autumn of Indira's sixth year of life when she finally managed to outsmart her nanny droid and slip right out from under its watchful eyes. Back then, she was far less cautious and paid no mind to rules. The world had yet to teach her just how cruel it could be. Indira Beren was full of childlike wonder and an abundance of curiosity for the world around her — something that often wound up getting the best of her.