I'll Run With You

[Owain]

"What?!" Owain yelped, his eyes going wide at Felicity's bold declaration, before the blonde hastily continued explaining herself. "Oh! I see..."he breathed after the girl explained exactly what she had meant. So she had been entrusted with a young child. That was a lot to ask of her, but he doubted the parents had much choice in the matter. Such were the realities of war. He frowned at the girl. "Of course I'm coming. Goodness knows what trouble you'd get yourself into without me," he stated, shaking his head and choosing to not mention the trouble they were going to get into anyway.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

The blonde was blushing like an idiot. She'd probably scared him half to death just now because of some stupid misstep in her phrasing. Poor Owain, thankfully, her clumsy explanation was enough for him.

"But... the baby? I mean, I didn't think you'd want to have to deal with it. It's kind of a lot to ask of you..." That was an understatement. Babies were really hard to take care of. Felicity herself had only ever held one herself when she was very little with help from her parents. That was way back when Celeste was a baby. She still remembered how much baby Celeste had cried. "Honestly, I don't know the first thing about taking care of a baby. I never really thought about it and I never really saw myself being a parent, at least not this soon. What if I mess up? I always mess things up, Owain."

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

She was glowing again. Owain only grinned as she spoke, further laying out her concerns. He shook his head in response. "Well, it's not something I'm trained for, but from what I've heard, no one is, so...might as well?" he said, trying to word his thoughts and grimacing at his phrasing. "ANd no you don't. I'm sure you'll prove to be an excellent mother."

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

He didn't get it, did he? She had so many plans. She was going to get out, see the Galaxy. She could do so much with her life. She could do so much with him. She wanted to take every little step with him, a little at a time, explore life. Then, maybe, someday settle down with him, have kids of their own. If, and only if, they both agreed on it. But now, none of them had that option. Well, no, he had the option. He could leave. But he wouldn't. She knew he wouldn't.

"You'll really come with us?" she asked quietly, "Um... you don't... mind if she calls you Daddy, do you?"

She couldn't look at him when she asked. It was too much already. They were young, much too young to even think about marriage, let alone raising a baby together. He was about as fit to be a Father as she was to be a Mother. But she didn't want to do it alone. She just couldn't do it alone.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

"Of course," he replied quietly, walking up to the girl and kissing her on the cheek. "Uhm...sure," he replied. "Is this a permanent thing or...after the war are you expected to return her or let her know her legacy or something?"

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

"I don't know..."

The girl growled under her breath, covering her face with her hands. She didn't know anything. How long would it last? Few months? Few years? Would the girl be grown up by the time it was over? War was unpredictable. Who knew what would happen? She might very well never see her brother again. She'd stay in contact with mom and dad, even Celeste. But Cyril was out there in the line of fire. Out there, while she hid from it all with her boyfriend and... a baby that she needed to pretend was hers.

"We need a good cover story though," she said standing up and moving about the room to collect things to pack, "Something simple that we can keep up with. Ideas?"

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

The raven haired youth looked blankly at his girlfriend. "How about the obvious? Teenage parents disowned by their families for the pregnancy?" he suggested, hefting the bags over his shoulders and smiling. "I was taught to keep lies as close to the truth as possible. It's easier to keep track of them then."

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

The girl shrugged, folding a plain blue dress on the bed and stuffing it in her small suitcase. Easy story for them both to keep track of. She hated the idea of posing as a stupid teen mom, but it would work. She could pull it off.

"And our names? Felicity is a common enough name that it won't matter, and Mason isn't bad either. But Felicity Mason? Too easy, especially if I'm going to be staying in Cyrils apartment. We at least need new last names."

She snatched up another dress and quickly folded it into a messy square of fabric before stuffing it on top of the scattered pile she already packed. Then boots. She was going to need a decent pair of boots too, and a warm jacket. She couldn't bring much, but it never hurt to pack for the unexpected.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

Ah names. Good point. Owain frowned as he though over the issue. He had never payed much attention in their infiltration classes back in the Academy. It wasn't like they were expected to seriously start learning until reaching Commando training after all. And Owain was generally terrible at coming up with names. "How are you with naming things?" he asked hopefully, beginning to think of what else would be necessary to pass their charade off as convincing. "And our daughter's name will be...?"

Hmmm. He was probably going to have to grab a ring.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

'Our Daughter'. Felicity felt warm from her head to her toes when he said that. It was just a cover story, but it still felt embarrassing. She was going to have to pretend that the one thing she and Owain had been working hard to avoid, had happened. That she'd been the irresponsible teen her brother assumed she was. But she supposed if she had to be irresponsible and stupid with anyone, she was glad it was Owain.

"Her name is Zeldara," she replied, scrunching her nose slightly as she pressed hard to close the latch on her suitcase, "That's the name Almira gave her at least. But if she were my daughter, I would not give her a name so formal sounding. I think Zelda is a common enough name to work."

That way at least something of the child's birth remained. She looked around the room once more, picking up another empty bag to fill with the little things that could not fit into her suitcase. Shame she was going to have to leave the gowns mother had given her behind.

"I've used White as an alias before," she continued, throwing a small first aid kit into the bag, "Perhaps that could work. I don't know what you could use though. ...Unless we're going to try to pass as a married couple. I don't know."

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

"Well, that was the idea. I mean, we had our honeymoon and all," the youth pointed out, remembering the time they had acted the part of a newly-wed couple. That would work well within this tale they were crafting. "And Mr and Mrs White? Sounds alright I guess," he shrugged. Now he just needed a new first name. Hmmm. Peter? No. Paul? No. Charles? Urgh, no. Zachary? No.

This was harder than he had imagined.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

The girl closed the second bag and sat on the bed, breathing deep. Married. Well, it was less suspicious than her single mother idea. Nobody would pay too much attention to a happy young married couple. But still...

"Not exactly the wedding of the century," she sighed, "But I suppose that is one way to do it."

It was actually a little sad. She'd have to pose as his wife for who knew how long, but she'd never get to tell the story about how he proposed, or have wedding holos to show to the kids. Their marriage would all be as fake as the name she was taking. Not that she was a girl that needed to get married to validate her existence, but still, if she was going to live like a married woman anyway, she might as well at least have the experience and memories that went with it.

[member="Owain"] [member="Almira Magrath"]

 

[Owain]

Owain cocked his head to one side, shifting the bags hanging off his shoulders to rest more comfortably. "Hmm? Well...if you want it like that...I'll need some time to get things ready," he said, smiling at the girl. If they were going to pose as a married couple...well, they could just as well go all the way, couldn't they? Urgh...he was going to have to find a ring now. He knew nothing about jewellry, and had no one to ask about it either. Sellers would only give him misinformation in pursuit of ripping him off.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

"We don't really have that much time you know. We-"

She blinked. The wheels in her head grinding to an abrupt halt. Blue eyes watched him closely from her spot in the bed. He was teasing. He must be. It was cruel. But then, he has already agreed to be a father to a child he did not even know. For her. Anything was possible now.

"Was that... some sort of proposal?" She asked slowly, narrowing her eyes. It would be so like him. So casual. No frills, no sparkle. Just pure, plain honesty. He probably figured that they may as well. Made sense. If they were going to fake it for that long, they may as well have some grain of truth to it.

Still... that was probably the least romantic proposal in the history of the Galaxy.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

He raised his hands defensively. "No no no no! Not at all! Just...thinking out loud!" he replied quickly, catching Felicity's expression. The blonde girl could be downright scary at times...

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Oh. The girl relaxed some. Good. It was good, right? The pounding of her heart seemed to say it was. Or was it excitement? Was this disappointment? She was feeling too many things all at once to know for sure.

"Thinking? Well, think quieter. You made me lose my train of thought."

It was gone, whatever she was trying to decide. Well, at the very least they had some grasp of their cover story. All they'd need to do was contact someone who could fake the necessary documents, identity cards, and birth documents. She had someone in mind for that already. It paid to have a government official for a Mother. She knew everybody.

[member="Owain"] [member="Almira Magrath"]

 

[Almira Izlay'ti]

Almira stood quietly as she looked into the crib, the small bed now empty. Her daughter taken as she let out a deep sigh. She knew she was making the right decision, and now she stood silently in the room. If she moved now, or had taken the child herself to Felicity, she knew it would have been that much more difficult to hand her to the girl... no woman that was to raise her. ​

​

She could not bring herself to say good bye save to keep herself from going back on her word. Closing her eyes, she nodded to herself softly, steeling herself as she stepped forwards the desk. Taking her seat, she pressed a small button, a little buzzing noise filling the servant's ear. Almira spoke softly before pulling her finger away from the button. ​

​

"A ship has been made ready for them. An older model shuttle. A droid is also on board to aid in keeping it running. It should get them to where they need to go. If they need anything there is an encrypted channel as well."​

​

Almira leaned back in her seat. It was now the hardest day beyond the loss of her mother. Closing her eyes she steeled herself, allowing her red hues to shot open, the fire within beginning to overtake her once more. She had those to lead that depended on her, and now she would be able to tear across the galaxy without the worry that her own children would be used against her. ​

​

With that, the servant nodded to herself, not speaking a word as she stepped into the room. A bundled of cloth in her arms as she approached Felicity, making no sign that she even acknowledged Owain as being in the room. Her eyes falling upon the girl before she smiled and slid little Zeldana into Felicity's arms. ​

​

"She is your daughter. There is a vessel ready at the space port. If you need anything an encrypted channel has also been included."​

​

Slowly turning away, the young woman stepped towards the door, stopping for a moment. Uttering a simple phrase that many had seemed to over use, yet she felt it was appropriate. ​

​

"May the Force be with you..." ​

​

She trailed off, fighting back her own tears before slipping out of the room. The girl was no in Felicity's care, in her arms, and now as she blissfully slept, it was up to this girl turned woman to take care of the child. ​

​

[member="Felicity Mason"]​

[member="Owain"]​

 

[Felicity Mason]

That was it. Before the girl could even react, the sleeping infant had been thrust into her arms. She felt so awkward sleeping in the crook of her arm. Head nestled against her chest, snuggling into the young woman's elbow. She was trying to think back. What did she know about babies? Well, you were supposed to support their head, that was something. And they needed to eat a lot.

What did they eat again? Oh. Right. Servants. No. That wasn't right. The servants fed Celeste when she was a baby, but she hadn't eaten them. The servants fed her... some powdered thing mixed with water. They called it.... baby formula. What ever that was. Sounded disgusting. Anything that came powdered first couldn't be tasty. But what did she know? The holonet existed for this very reason, to fill the gaps in her knowledge.

"Owain..." her voice felt fragile. Ready to break any second. She was scared. Terrified. This was a step she hadn't been ready to take. Not yet. But now it was too late to go back. The future was set.

"Meet your daughter." She turned towards the boy she loved, moving the blanket out of the way to give him a better view. She was... cute. Felicity hadn't bothered to notice before. Of course now that she saw it, she couldn't unsee it. She was already wondering what her own birth child would look like. Her and Owain. Would their baby be cute like this too?

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

He blinked and stared at the bundle in Felicity's arms. The girl was trembling, but she spoke clearly. She was strong, she'd endure. Owain's thoughts however had slowed as he looked at the small life cradled in his other half's arms.

Meep.

THat was all that could go through his mind as he tried to process the fact that he...no, they, were now responsible for this tiny, fragile life. And they were going to have to raise this girl as their own...in this galaxy. He gulped and smiled, looking up at Felicity. "Zelda White," he said, as if in confirmation.

They would make this work.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Zelda White. The name sounded so.... typical. Prefect. Not very elegant. It would work. Felicity bit her lip looking from the baby, back to Owain.

"We have a ship now. We should leave. Quickly."

She hadn't packed much. Her two bags were sitting in her bed, one of them was only half full. That made her nervous. What if she forgot something important? And what about the baby? She didn't have anything for her. No food, clothes, nothing. She'd have to do some shopping before they left the system... assuming she could figure out what the baby needed in the first place.

[member="Owain"]