The White Armor

He was my knight in shining armor since the day my father was
stationed as a government scientist on Bespin . I was six and remember
running along these long corridors playing with my gravatating ball. Once I
lost conrol of the ball and it flew in a wild arc only to be caught in white
gloved hands. I stood in awe as he lowered himself on one knee and gently
thrust the ball into my hands. " Thank you," I replied as I slowly left the
corridor. I turned arround to see him take back his post once more a white
unpenetrable pillar.
From then on I always chose to play in that corridor and I managed to
weedle his name off of him. His name was Mikal and I reminded him of his
little sister who lived on his home planet of Corellia . He was my favorite
playmate even though he was really there as a bodygaurd for us all.
The day passed that he was posted elsewhere and he was not in our
special corridor. I mourned his loss we had had four beautiful years. I
became an introvert and lost my taste for being sociable. I could not forget
our special bond. A bond that seemed not to have ended though we were
separated by distance.

14 years later ...........
I was studying at the time at the University of Coruscant. I
would become a scientist like my parents before me. I shut myself in
the university's greenhouse and for my first two years that was the
only focus of my life. There were males that tried asking me out but
while I had accepted one or two of them the relationships had dwindled
after several dates. Ah yes I remember well living in my own private
cocoon. My parents had died the previous year and I had no one but my
precious plants. I was safe, but not for long. Like everyone I had to
grow up .

Leni walked across the alley and into the street towards her
apartment near the university. She had been assigned to go on an
expedition to Endor to study the native plants and their medicinal
purposes. She did not notice the shadow that fell across her own as
the creature behind her followed her every move. As she was rounding a
bend in the road she felt limbs go around her body as she was
violently pulled up against body. She managed to let out a scream
before a hand was clamped over her mouth. She struggled but it was no
use the organism was overpowering. She felt herself going faint and
she knew that she would die and no one would care.
A shot was heard in the distance and Leni did not connect the sound
with what was happening to her until she felt the creature slump over
dragging her underneath it. She lay against the ground as she heard
footsteps approach. Her lungs dragged in air as the weight of the
creature was lifted off of her body and Leni caught a glimpse of white
boots. She looked up to see the familiar white visor of a
stormtrooper.The trooper held out his hand and she got up. " Are you
allright Ma'am?," the trooper asked as he surveyed her from top to
bottom.
" I'm allright. I think.," replied Leni as she took another deep
breath trying to calm herself. The stormtrooper nodded and then seemed
to observe Leni more closely. He took Leni's hand and gently rubbed
a gloved finger over a scar on her hand. Leni started to feel weird
about this complete stranger touching her that way and gently took her
hand away from the caressing hand. " Is there something else you
needed to know or does fondling stranger's hands form a part of
stormtrooper etiquette ?" She said with an upturned brow.
Leni heard a chuckle eminate from his visor. He took his hands and
put them on his helmet and slowly removed it. This revealed a weathere
face with flashing black eyes and greying black hair. While he was not
handsome there was a certain charm to his profile. Leni's mind told
her she had seen that face before but she could not grasp it. It was
as if she had hidden it deep in the recesses of her mind.
" Well well it seems that my little firecat doesn't remember me. As
I recall , I was there when you received that scar on your hand. I did
warn you that that baby cub would bite but you never did listen did
you ?" The voice without the deadening of the helmet mouthpiece was
what fnally gave Leni her answer. She looked wide eyed at the man
standing before her. He had changed, he seemed wiser and weathered. He
was no longer the young buck he had been. Of course she had changed
too. He had seemed so tall to her then and now she came up to his
chin.
" Mikal ? I never did think that I would see you again." Leni hugged
him and gave him a peck on the cheek." How have you been ?" She was so
excited to meet her long lost friend that her eyes sparkled with
energy and her face glowed. Mikal tossed the helmet at Leni.
" How about you invite me to dinner and I will tell you of my
adventures. I was oficially off duty five minutes ago."
" Allright my apartment isnt too far away. How does a vegetable stew
with garlic bread and Alderaanian wine sound ?" Leni led him to her
front door and after opening it ushered him inside. Her apartment was
modestly furnished and was spacious with enough room for all her
plants. Mikal sat down and released a tired sigh. " You cannot believe
the day I've had." ,he exclaimed as he stretched in the comfortable
chair.
As Leni went to her kitchen and started to heat the soup and bread
she said, " Allright why dont you tell me about it. Then you can tell
me where you have been all this time and I will tell you about me."
She popped the cork on the cask of wine and poured two glasses handing
one to Mikal.
" Well first I chased down two pickpockets through a slime infested
sewer. Then I had to settle a dispute between two bantha fodder
merchants. Boy did they smell. Then I had to patrol the business
sector where there was a break-in at one of the credit exchanges. I
almost got my rear end shot off. Finally I was walking back to my
barracks and spotted you with your assailant.", he ended on a yawn.
" Wow that sounds exciting. All I did was play with my plants. Not
that they are boring . They don't offer much excitement. " She set the
table and they both were seated and started in on their meal. Mikal
slathered on the butter and ate two bowfuls of soup. " Wow you are
really hungry."
Mikal laid down his bowl after slurping down the last drops of his
second bowl with a contended noise. " You are a good cook. I don't get
this kind of cooking much anymore since my wife left me for another
man and remarried." This revelation seemed to hurt Leni in a deep
hidden part of her. That there had been someone else who had been
close to him. Never mind that the relationship Leni had had with Mikal
had been of protective brother and sister.
" Oh you were married ? " Leni toyed with her garlic bread twirling
it with her fingers.
" Yes but the constant moving around made her feel lost and she
wanted to stay in one place and put roots down. When I came back from
a mission on the Star Destroyer Executor she told me she was prgenant
by another man and that she wanted a divorce so she could marry her
child's father. That was ten years ago. Now I understand what my ex
wife meant. I been feeling my age a bit. I'm not as young as I used to
be."
Leni caught his derisive tone," Don't say that. You have been doing
what you have always wanted to. You are good at your job otherwise I
would be dead as we speak being digested in the bowels of that
creature that attacked me. Come on tell me a little of your travels. I
can not believe you were on Lord Vader's ship ! How incredible." Her
excited tone made him give a lopsided grin. He noticed the way her
brown hair had red highlights streaming through it and how her green
eyes had a blue rim around them.
" Well I have been on Dantooine, Tatooine, Naboo, Corellia, and
various ships. Of course my most prestigious post was on the Executor.
You see alot when you are a soldier like me. The good and the bad." He
looked at his chronometer ," Its getting late and I have to report to
my barracks soon. How about I meet you tomorrow around the same time
at a restaurant or something and we can speak some more ?"
Leni nodded ." Allright then tomorrow it is. Now shoo ! Out the
door now ! I don't want to get you in trouble for breaking any rules
now." Mikal gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek and left. Leni
closed the door and gave a sigh. She was already looking forward to
tomorrow and dinner with Mikal.

That is how it all began. I will tell you more about how the past
came to affect the future. But I see that my little darlings are
tired. Hush, go to sleep now. I will tell you more tomorrow.