Parhelion: A Fixated Story

The Most Cherished Woman in the Galaxy

The Supreme Leader wasted no time in having SN-10's position at the palace dissolved and her new position within his employ established. She immediately turned in her royal guard uniform as well as any other belongings not exclusively hers to the palace armory. There was little time to say farewell to the princess and the handmaidens, not that they cared about her leaving... The princess, unlike the Queen, had never given SN-10 much thought besides matching outfits, and the handmaidens saw her as a fixture instead of a comrade. She had no one else to say goodbye to, as her only living family was on Starkiller Base, so she left her tiny bunk behind and quickly reported to the First Order shuttle to depart the planet and join the Supreme Leader's entourage.

From one princess to another, she thought as she climbed the shuttle ramp and found her place within, recalling the pretty face of the linguist, Scholar, as the Supreme Leader had called her.

Little did she know, this would be one of the most dangerous chapters of her life.

--

"You'll like the Finalizer. It's beautiful, in its own way." The Linguist, D-98 as she was introduced during their shuttle ride back to the First Order cruiser, whispered to her as she waited for the shuttle ramp to drop. The journey through space took little time at all, but in that time SN-10 was able to learn quite a bit about her new charge. "I-," D-98 fiddled with the hem of her uniform blouse, feet shuffling closer as the ramp slowly descended. "Did they make you cut your hair?" She asked, wide eyes scanning SN-10's freshly trimmed strands, hot-ironed straight and parted down the middle of her scalp.

Very different from her actual hair texture, which was wildy wavy and naturally dishevelled.

She watched the other woman's face intently. "No, miss," she responded, mouth turning up into a small smile, "It was my choice."

And it was. SN-10 had been instructed to grow her hair out by the head handmaiden within the first week of guarding the princess. Princess J'olyne preferred handmaidens, and her guard, apparently, to have long hair that could be braided, twisted, and intricately woven into updo's; SN-10 was no exception. Now that she was no longer in that employ, she was able to cut it to her desired length, which was just below her shoulders. She'd chopped it off the moment she'd returned to her tiny bunk in order to pack up her belongings at the palace... it wasn't pretty by any means and she would clean up the cut later, but for now this would do.

Now it was long enough to pull into a bun or ponytail and with some length to style if the need ever arose, but short enough not to be a nuisance - or heavy. She wouldn't have to worry about shower time anymore, since she no longer had the length to rinse, and she'd never again find lost baubles or trinkets in the tangled nest of strands after a long night of watching the princess dance with strangers.

"Oh-I'm so glad! I was afraid it was a punishment, or something." D-98's concern touched SN-10. She was glad to be watching over such a genuinely kind person, even if it meant having to stand shoulder to shoulder with knights as big as Wookies.

The bright light from the hangar made her wince, eyes blurring for a moment as her memory flashed before her of a garden through open windows.

"First, a debriefing!" General Hux all but bounced down the ramp once it finally touched down, his boots thudding with each step as he hurried out of the shuttle and beelined it for one of the hangar doors leading into the Finalizer's many hallways.

D-98 and SN-10 would not need to attend the debriefing, so she followed behind her new charge through the hangar and towards a main lift.

D-98 was kind enough to show her around for a while, her instruction and gentle laugh when SN-10 bluntly said, 'I'm going to get lost and starve to death on my way to the cafeteria...' was a nice change to what she was used to.