Star Wars Character Cafe - Redemption Epilogue

REDEMPTION

EPILOGUE

Night had long since descended on the celebration at the Ewok village on Endor. Shiba, weary with fatigue from her shift on board the medical frigate, had distanced herself from the other partying Rebels and their new Ewok allies, not because of that fatigue, but because she wanted to spend sometime alone and so that she could have Flik all to herself when he returned from the errand he was on.

She heard the sound of claws scrabbling on wood and she turned around to see the familiar half humanoid half lupine shape approaching her in the darkness.

“Where have you been?” she asked, a little more sharply than she’d intended.

“Saying good bye to an old friend,” Flik replied, referring to the funeral pyre of Darth Vader. He’d exchanged a few words with Luke Skywalker and then left Anakin’s son to make his peace with his father.

“Sorry. You lost your brother in the battle,” Shiba said, moving forward to embrace him.

That too, he thought as he hugged her tight to him, not wanting to think that he had almost lost her. Again. He wondered if he should correct her, but then perhaps it would be better if she didn’t know he’d been referring to Anakin Skywalker – Darth Vader, rather than his brother, Lak. Although the Rebels had won this day, that victory had still extorted a high price. Quan was gone, has were Cresentina, Trin and Cathos.

“How are Zan, Shara and Artea?” Flik asked her, not really wanting to stay on the subject of Vader, or his brother.

“After a few hours in the bacta tanks they’ll be ok.”

“That’s good, apart from that Zan will be back to his annoying self again.”

Though he didn’t want to think about Lak, Flik found himself bringing that subject back again a moment later. “All I have left know is Zak - ” Flik began, despondency resonating in his voice.

“Hey, you have me,” Shiba interrupted, kissing him on the muzzle to remind him of the fact. “And Jeana and Chan too.”

“I know,” Flik replied. “I – I meant from my original family. My parents are gone, Auoura, Tek, my twin Lyet and now Lak.”

“And you still have Lyet’s kids. There’s still a chance that Nakita and Ryqik are out there.”

Flik’s eyes widened in surprise at the mention of their names and shook his head in frustration. “I searched for them, Shiba, right after I found out about Lyet’s death. I never found them. Besides, how do you know about them? I don’t recall ever discussing them with you.”

“Rivik and I had a little chat,” Shiba explained and ignoring Flik’s angry curse, continued by adding, “They could still be out there, Flik.”

“Rivik also told me who was responsible for Lyet’s death,” Flik said. “How long do you think a couple of children could elude a Sith on their own? I suppose he also told you about Azet.”

“He did,” Shiba admitted as she reached out to bury her fingers in the thick fur of the mane that surrounded his neck in an attempt to calm him. “Look Flik, you can’t just give up on Nakita and Ryqik, at least until we know for sure one way or the other about their survival.”

Flik’s expression softened. “I guess you’re right, Shiba, but after all this time, it’s gonna be difficult to pick up their trail.”

Shiba flashed him a smile. “Consider it our last act as bounty hunters.”

At that moment, Kat materialised out of the darkness.

“What are you two doing here skulking?” she asked. “Come on, you should be enjoying your selves at the party.”

Flik and Shiba exchanged resigned glances as they followed her back to the centre of the festivities. They found Sholinar, Kobrossk and Rivik standing in a group in the company of Karli Savoyna and Junel.

With a smirk on her face, Kat said, “Zan’s gonna be so peeved he missed this.” She referred to the fact that he was at that moment, floating around in bacta. Sholinar let out a series of amused guffaws.

“Serves him right,” Shiba added.

Turning to Karli and her cameraman, Flik asked, “What will you two do now?”

Karli shrugged her shoulders before answering, “Our careers are definitely over. We broadcast the entire battle to civilian networks all over the galaxy. I suspect whoever’s in charge of the Imperial administration have frozen our assets back on Coruscant for it. We were thinking of going into smuggling, if we can still have access to them.”

“And if it’s the case you can’t get at them?”

Karli shrugged her shoulders again before replying; “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”