Inga's Past

Written by Sailor Bothawui

Laughter rang throughout the field. Blue eyes darted around to find her next 'victim.' Children ran around laughing, taunting. The blue eyed girl grinned as she ran after the nearby boy. She managed to clip the marker to his shoulder as she quickly ran away from him. He laughed as he now sought after his target.

"Inga! Time to come home!" a feminine voice was clearly heard over the joyous laughter.

Inga groaned as she waved bye to her friends and met up with her Mother.

"Have fun?"

"Yep! We played assassin!"

"That's a fun game, how did you do?"

"I got," she counted on her furry paws, "four! I only got caught three times! Himio got caught seven times. Can you believe that, Mama?!" her eyes widened as she spoke.

Her Mother chuckled. "You are a very good assassin, Inga. How about we go eat?" Little Inga grinned as they walked back to their home.

"Mama, Mama!" little blue eyes searched through the house for her Mom.

The furred girl turned around and saw her Mom. "I'm here. What is it, sweetie?"

Inga held out her finger. "I hurt myself and I'm bleeding!" she whimpered.

Her Mother knelt by her side and looked at it. "You can heal this all by yourself, little Inga."

"How?"

Her Mother sat on the floor and pulled the girl into her lap. She gently held Inga's hurt finger in her own paw. "Close your eyes and will it to be healed. Focus, like I taught you and it will be good as new."

Little Inga closed her eyes and focused on her cut finger. Her Mother noticed that it slowly and completely healed. The girl opened her eyes and looked as her finger.

"It healed!"

"Yes, it did. You did a very good job. As you grow older and use your healing gift more, you will be able to heal more and you can heal others as well." Inga nodded, understanding what her Mother told her.

"I'm hungry."

Her Mother chuckled, "That's the side effect of healing. Come on, little healer, lets get you some food."

"Inga, dear, your Dada is home!" Inga's ears picked her Mother's words and she quickly ran to where her Father had entered their home.

She jumped up and flung her arms around his neck. He laughed as she giggled. "Glad to see you to. I heard you have been healing."

Inga nodded and grinned. "I'm becoming better at it!"

"That's good."

Little Inga sunk her face into her Father's fur, taking in his scent, enjoying it. "I missed you Dada."

He gently petted her multi-colored hair. "I know, my little girl, and I'm sorry. I missed you as well." He tucked his paw under her chin and gently lifted it so he could look directly into her eyes. "Let's make good use of our time together, while we can."

Inga nodded and tightened her grip around her Dad's neck.

Inga grinned as she made her way over to her clan with her prize trapped in her cupped paws.

"Guess what I have!" she stood in front of her grandparents.

"A twig?" Inga's Mom's Mom guessed. Inga shook her head.

"A rock?" Inga's Mom's Dad guessed. Inga again shook her head.

"Let's see, a creepy little bug?" Inga's Dad's Mom winked.

The little girl eagerly nodded her head and slowly opened her cupped hands. A little black bug suddenly jumped up and flew out of her paws. Her grandparents, Mom, and neighboring Aunts gasped as the little bug made its escape and buzzed around their heads before heading out toward the clear sky.

Inga stuck out her bottom lip, saddened, but soon cheered up. "He's going back to his clan, where he belongs!"

Her grandparents and Mother nodded and smiled. Her disgruntled Aunts shook their heads and went back to their gossiping. Inga spun on her heal and scanned throughout her clan to find her Father. She spotted him near her Uncles, by the blazing fire.

"Dad!" she ran up as he bent down and flung her up into the air.

"My little Inga! What have you been up to?" he smiled as he settled her on his hip.

The blue eyed girl grinned, "I found a black bug! It made my Aunts afraid!" she giggled.

Her Father turned his attention to the fire and the spit that had the meat on. "Doesn't that meat look good?"

Inga nodded and sniffed the fragrant air. "Making me hungrier! When is it gonna be done?"

Her Father and Uncles laughed. "Soon, my hungry girl, soon. In fact." He set Inga on the ground and cut away a small hunk of meat; the meat underneath was brown. He handed the piece of meat to Inga and she plopped it into her mouth happily.

"Go tell the clan that we are ready to eat."

The little girl grinned and ran off to gather the clan.

"Why is Dad away so much?" A now older Inga asked her Mom while they lounged underneath a tree.

"I've told you before, Inga. He has to work, he's one of the best at his job." She smiled at her daughter.

"I know. But he's gone so much, I miss him." she leaned back against the tree and threw away the rock she was playing with.

"He should be back next week." Her Mom reminded Inga.

"Yeah, I'm glad he's so good at spying. Yet, sometimes I wish he wasn't."

Her Mom ruffled her multi-colored hair and laughed. "You know he loves you very much."

Inga laughed and retorted, "Yes, and he loves his job as well. You know I got his spy skills." she smiled and looked to her Mom.

"Yes, I know you did. You have proven yourself many times, much to my disliking." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"But Dad loves it." Inga grinned.

"You're impossible!" Her Mom lunged and tackled her daughter. They both laughed.

"Now, I wanted to show you this." Her Mom held out a datapad.

"It looks really worn, why not get another?" She gently took the worn pad.

"Well, because this information is sacred and this datapad works nicely anyway." She scooted over so they both could look at the datapad together.

Inga looked at the information provided and her eyes grew big. "You told me these girls were fantasy, but it shows here that they actually existed." Images of senshi flashed in front of her blue eyes.

"They are very much real, the lastest one, here," she keyed in some letters and a senshi popped up. "died a few years back."

She looked at her. "Sora My'ka? So, girls in sailor suits do protect our planet." She smiled as she began to browse through the different senshi.

"Yes, but not now. One hasn't replaced Sora. Who knows, it might be you." She put an arm around her daughter.

"Me? I don't think so." She noticed that each senshi's costume had changed. "Their costumes change with each one."

"Yes you. Yes, they change based on personalities and what you govern over. See, this one governed over air and her colors were blue." She scrolled over to another. "She governed over wisdom and age and her colors were dark purple. Purple not necessarily represented wisdom and age, but her civilian form, see here, she was a princess."

"She was old, we don't have princesses anymore." Inga studied the princess. She looked so noble and courageous in her eyes.

"Yes. She was one of the first. See there," she pointed at the screen. "It shows when she was a senshi. And here," she pointed to another spot on the screen, "tells how they died. You see it tells everything about them, even things about their civilian form."

"But shouldn't that be kept a secret?" Inga asked puzzled.

Her Mom nodded. "Yes, but Bothans hold their senshi in high respect. No Bothan would dare cross their own senshi."

Inga nodded. "If senshi are held that high, shouldn't this be where everyone can have access to it?" she ran her paw over the pad.

"The information is already available to everyone. This is how we can add more senshi to the list. And before you ask, I am the only one in charge of keeping the information. That is why I don't go to work." She gently put her paw on top of the datapad and traced the designs on it with her fingers. "This is my work." Her voice was distant.

"Mom, were you a senshi? Is this how you got the job?" Inga titled her head.

Her Mom looked distant for a moment. She slowly answered the question. "Yes, I was."

"Why aren't you now?"

Her Mom sighed and looked lovingly at her daughter. "I died in a fight." She moved Inga's yellow strand of hair out of her eyes before continuing. "I was given a choice, to be dead or to come back and keep a record of the senshi for the original keeper grew tired and wanted to rest. I took the keeper path. For I knew my knight, your Dad, would miss me terribly and I wanted to live and be with him."

"Is Dad still a knight?" she hopefully asked. "Is that also why is gone?"

Her Mom smiled. "No, he is not. He passed his responsibility on. Right now there isn't a knight. There isn't a need for one either. Sometimes there isn't a knight for many lifetimes for sometimes a senshi is only needed."

"Are knights in here as well?" her eyes showed her excitement.

"Yes, they are in their own file section. It shows who their senshi was, and the senshi will show what knight they had, if they had one."

Inga nodded. "Can I keep this for awhile to look at?"

"That's why I gave it to you. When you're done with it, give it back to me." Her Mom kissed her forehead and left her to look through the many files of senshi and knights.

"But Dad, I hate politics! And you know that!" The teen, Inga, whined as she plopped down in a nearby chair.

"Yes, honey, I do. But at least go for a couple of lessons to get to know the basics. You'll be glad I made you go later." He tried to reason with her.

"Could I go to the military academy, instead?" she asked hopefully. It was time for her to learn a trade, and she didn't like her parents' decision.

"Are you sure you want that? You know Bothans don't look with favor upon the military." Her Dad reminded her.

"I know, but I want to learn to battle with blasters and stuff. It interests me. I don't do well with politics anyway." She pointed out.

Her Mom spoke up, "You could go to the academy, if you take a couple lessons in politics. How does that sound?"

Inga and her Dad looked at each other and nodded their heads. Her Mom breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll make the plans for you tomorrow." He got up and made a note for himself. He then turned to face his daughter. "I'm going to miss you when you're gone."

Inga looked at the floor for a second then up to her parents faces. "I will miss you too, but you said I should do what interests me."

They nodded their heads and her Mom told her, "Now, you better keep in touch while you're away."

Inga nodded and got up and hugged both her parents. "Thank you for everything."

"I'm home!" Inga called out as she set her bags down at the front door to her house. "Inga?" Her Mom called back. "Are you really home?" She came out of the kitchen and ran to her daughter. "You are! Welcome home."

Her Dad also came out of the kitchen. "Good thing I'm home. What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the academy."

Inga hugged her Mom then her Dad. "I was. I lived there for about four years."

"But your training isn't done," her Dad pointed out.

Inga sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I got bored. They kept repeating the same stuff that I already knew. The teachers say that I learned fast and that there really wasn't anything else for me to learn. They basically sent me home and told me to get a job with the military, but I don't want to get a job yet."

"What do you want to do now?" her Mom asked while she found a seat.

"I want to learn spying and be a part of the SpyNet," she said as she also sat down.

Her Dad smiled proudly, "Of course Inga. I could teach you."

Her Mom gave her Dad a stern look and sighed. "I somehow knew you would want to, Inga. I hate it, but you should do it if you like it."

Inga grinned. "Yay! Thanks again!" She looked at her Dad. "When do we start?"

Her Dad could hear the excitement from her voice, "How about right now? I'll be home for a couple of months. I can even see if I can take you with me on my next mission. How does that sound?"

Inga jumped up. "Great! Let me put my things away and I'll be ready!" she grabbed her bags and headed off to her room.

Her Dad stood proud as her Mom went over to her husband. "You are one proud Dad." She hugged him and he returned the hug.

"You should be proud too," he told her, "You wanted a child that was well rounded."

She smiled and shook her head. "You better get ready, it sounds like she is about ready."

He grinned as he heard Inga call out that she was ready.

"Let the fun begin." Inga's Dad laughed.

"Dad, this dress is horrible!" She smirked as she entered the room where her Dad, dressed in formal attire, was patiently waiting.

He snickered as she fixed some of the fabric so it would fall correctly onto the hoop that she was wearing. She then spun around for him to look at. "I know dear, but in order to get inside, we have to put on roles." He could barely maintain his laughter.

Inga grinned and spun around to make sure he saw the back. "Look at that bow! Not only is it huge, but its pink!!"

"Come on Inga, do you have all your equipment on you?" He stood up, grabbed a cane, and walked over to his daughter.

She crossed her furry arms over her chest and gave him a stern look. "Of course I do. You should know I wouldn't forget anything."

He nodded and smiled as he gave her his arm. "Shall we head out, Lady Syril?"

She politely smiled back and took the offered arm. "We shall, Sir Kinero."

They headed out of the building and toward a party.

Inga gracefully curtsied as her name was called, announcing her arrival. Her Dad bowed deeply to the crowd when his name was called. They then stood proud, gently interlocked arms, and deliberately walked down the red carpeted stairs into the mingling crowd.

"Lady Syril?" Undercover Inga spun around and saw a brown furred Bimm with his hand stretched out to her, palm up. He was dressed in rich yellow robes and had many decorations and sashes on.

She smiled sweetly as she carefully put her paw out, palm down, on top of his. "Yes. Major Numia?" she kept her smile.

He grinned as he nodded his head, both dropping their arms delicately to their sides. "Glad to see that you arrived." He spoke in his sweet voice.

"I'm glad I could make it." She took in the rich sights and sounds. "You went all out for this party."

He grinned and inclined his head slightly. "I'm glad you approve. Now, if you will excuse me."

The furred girl slightly curtsied as the gentleman walked away from her. She followed Major Numia with her blue eyes until he was lost in the crowd. She frowned slightly but knew that she had to keep an image up so she regained her composure and smiled.

She scanned the richly dressed crowd to find her Dad. She finally spotted him in the middle of a group. She shook her head slightly as she noticed that he and another Bimm were engaged in a tale. She saw her Dad gesture and she soon recognized that tale by his gestures alone. It was a tale that would take a long time for him to tell, and by the looks of it, it would take longer for everyone was putting in their own comments.

She chuckled as she mingled into the crowd. She pleasantly made small talk with various party goers and made herself out to be a prim and proper lady. She soon excused herself from a conversation to go freshen up.

Inga cautiously made her way down a hallway. She knew the room that she had to find was in this hall somewhere. She stopped at a white door that had blue designs painted around it. She knew this had to be the door. She carefully leaned her ear against the door to see if she could hear anything.

The multi-color haired girl soon heard mumbling and a sing-song voice. She bit her lip for she couldn't make out any of the conversation. She backed away from the door and took in the craftsmanship. She noticed the door seemed to be made with thick wood. She ran her paw around the edges and noted that the door sealed really good. She kneeled in front of it and frowned as she found out that the door neatly reached to the floor.

She defiantly put her paws on her hips as she glared at the door. She sighed as she threw back her head in annoyance. She then suddenly focused on the ceiling. Blue eyes took in the white ceiling, and her eyes widened as the fact sunk in. It was a mock ceiling.

The furred girl walked a few steps on down the hall and found a plain white door. She carefully opened it and saw that it was dark and empty. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust so she could see her options.

"Luck was with me." She muttered as she made her way over to a corner that obviously lead to the space above the mock ceiling. She quickly took her hoop and skirt off. Glad I put shorts on, she thought to herself as she quietly pulled a chair over to help her get up.

She easily climbed up through the hole and soon found that the mock ceiling was very unstable. She flattened herself down as she cautiously crawled over to where the room should be.

Mumblings got louder as she reached the room. She noticed that each room had a space to reach where she was, so she eased herself over to that spot in the room. She was lucky that the vents slanted enough where she could see the human and Bimm. She heard others in the room, but she wasn't too focused on them.

She slowly reached to her pack that was strapped to her leg and pulled out an audio recorder. She quickly set it up and placed it on the vent. She hoped that she wasn't to late, but soon found that she wasn't. They soon held the conversation that was in interest to the SpyNet.

She saw the human gesture wildly and then heard the Bimm sing a calming song. Inga started to close her eyes, but then shook her head. She knew that she better not fall asleep. She pinched her arm in order to stay awake.

Inga again looked down below and noticed that they were in the middle of the conversation. All of a sudden the human began to sneeze uncontrollably. The spy narrowed her eyes and wondered what was happening. The human was given a wet cloth and he put it over his nose. She heard him explain that he was allergic to Bothan fur.

The Bothan spy bit her lip. She hoped that they could quickly finish their conversation so that she could get away.

She sunk lower to the thin ceiling as they suspiciously glanced around the room. The Bimm then reminded everyone that there were Bothans attending the party, and that settled everyone down. Inga inwardly sighed.

After several minutes, Inga began to feel hot. She hoped the conversation would end quickly so she could get some fresh air. The human kept the cloth up to his nose as he talked, which muffled his voice. She frowned as she paid close attention to his words, making sure she understood what he said just in case the recorder muffled his voice.

Within an hour, the conversation was ended and they all shook hands and headed out of the door. Inga praised them and clicked off the recorder and put it back on her leg pack.

She slowly and cautiously crawled her way back to the room where she hid her skirt. She carefully lowered herself down onto the chair and then onto the floor. She wiped the sweat off her face as she recovered her skirt that she hid behind a bookcase.

She quickly put the hoop and skirt back on and made her way to the open balcony that she had seen in the party area. She had to get some fresh air.

When she arrived at the party area again, she slowed her pace and became the proper lady that she had presented at the beginning of the starry night.

She finally reached the balcony and Inga took in a deep breath of the fresh night as she relaxed. A deep grumbled startled her as she spun around to see what it was.

It was a Wookie and he delicately held out his hand for her to take. He rumbled again and she smiled as she took his offered hand.

He led her out into the throng of the different species that had gathered for the party this night. He held his right fuzzy arm up as she stood beside him and put her right furred arm next to his.

The music began as they circled slowly to their left and then circled to their right, keeping their arms together. They soon broke apart and moved gracefully to stand closer together as he delicately wrapped his right arm around her waist. She put her left arm lightly on the arm that wrapped around as she held up her right palm for him to rest his left palm against. The again circled to the right and then to the left, the music began to grow louder and the beat became faster.

Couples soon moved off the dance floor as the music grew strong. Inga and the Wookie were too wrapped up in the music and dance that they didn't notice the floor belonged to them.

The Wookie broke Inga free of his embrace as he deliberately spun her around. The Bothan's skirt flung out as she neared the end of her outward spin and came spinning back toward the Wookie. She quickly let his one hand go as she grabbed a hold of his other hand as she spun out and defiantly faced the crowd that was focused on them.

The furred girl stood her ground as their hands broke free and the Wookie danced boldly around the defiant girl. He then suddenly gasped her at the waist and held her weight as she dipped quickly and snapped back up. She dramatically brought her right hand up as if to stroke his face, but suddenly dropped back down into a deep dip. The Wookie also brought his free hand up, to add to the drama. The furred girl stayed in the deep dig for a breathtaking moment as the music began to wind up. She then snapped her upper body back up and held it as the music finished.

The crowd applauded as the couple bowed and curtsied to the gracious crowd. They then faced each other and smiled happily.

"That was a lovely dance, I thank you for it." She deeply curtsied as she tried to catch her breath.

He grumbled his thanks and bowed deeply to her. He slowly turned and walked away happily as Inga saw her Dad walk toward her.

She grinned as he approached her. "You know it was comical to see you two dance because of your height difference."

Inga stuck her chin out. "I'm sure it was, but I made everyone jealous because of my dancing."

Her Dad chuckled as he nodded. "Right you are, Lady Syril. Shall we go? The night is growing old."

Inga took in a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, the night is old. We shall leave."

They took their leave and vanished into the dark starry night.

"Hi Mom!" Inga dropped her bag near the front door as she entered their home.

"How did you do?" Her Mom came in wiping her hands on a rag.

"She did great." Her Dad responded from behind Inga, he too dropped his bag near the front door. "She had collected the information they needed and was also about to clear up some missing information that the audio couldn't record."

Her Mom hugged her daughter as her Dad continued on. "You should have seen her dance! She was fabulous, even paired with a Wookie!" He took her hand and spun her around.

Inga laughed. "I hated being so lady like though. Oh, here Mom." She went over to her bag and dug around until she found a picture. She handed the picture to her Mom. She laughed at the expression on her Mom's face.

"You actually wore this?" her Mom half chuckled. With Inga's nod, her Mom bust up laughing but soon settled down. "If the dress looked better, I think you would look great."

Inga stuck her tongue out at her Mom. "Thanks," she spoke with sarcasm.

All three laughed.

"I'm sorry to do this to you." Inga said as she hugged her parents goodbye.

"It's okay. You can't hold back your feelings of restlessness." Her Dad smiled at her.

"We somehow knew that you wouldn't be content to stay here. It just took you many years to realize that." Her Mom wiped away some tears.

"Don't you worry, I'll keep in touch." Inga said as she picked up her last bag and tossed it on her ship.

Her Dad laughed. "Don't keep in touch to much. Have fun as you explore, you only live once."

All her Mom could do was nod her head in agreement. Inga's parents held each other close as Inga waved a final goodbye to them as she walked onto her ship.

"Good luck in anything you do, dear daughter." Her Mom whispered as she waved back to Inga and clung onto her husband.

The proud parents watched as their daughter fly away in her ship.

Back to Stories