"I don't know any Forest Spirit," Amir said with a smile, though he was inwardly surprised.
He wanted to brush it off, but the little witch remained serious, staring at him as if she had no intention of letting it go.
When Amir didn't respond, she seemed to fall into thought. Slowly, she stretched out her left hand toward the bowl of Malaka nuts and gently curled her fingers.
The nut lifted into the air, floating silently.
"To commune with the Forest Spirit is to be granted Her power—to wield the strength of the forest and protect our tribe... but I..." Gulgina lowered her gaze, her golden hair covering her green eyes.
She let the floating nut fall and returned to grinding it. "Sorry for saying all that. I felt a familiar aura in you."
Amir sensed the sorrow and apology in her voice. In response, he extended his left hand. The fallen nut once again rose into the air, levitating.
Gulgina's eyes widened in shock.
"I don't know the Forest Spirit," Amir said, "but this must be the same power. Can you tell me more about your homeland?"
Amir wasn't sure why he had revealed his Force powers like that. Normally, no matter how urgent the situation, he kept them hidden—like during that explosion when he deflected part of the shockwave with the Force, saving several lives. Even on the Empire's prison ship, he never used it unless it was a life-or-death moment. Though, in hindsight, Seventh Sister may have sensed something.
He'd never told anyone around him about his powers.
Because he knew the Empire was still hunting survivors of Order 66. If anyone saw or recorded him using the Force, his peaceful life would be over—and everyone around him would be in danger.
But with this witch, it felt easy.
Because she radiated pure kindness. No shifting moods like others, no terrifying chill like the Inquisitors.
Amir also suspected that Gulgina had already sensed the Force in him, which might be why she had tested him.
"We're from a small tribe on Adrien," Gulgina said quietly while grinding the Malaka nuts, her voice still raspy. "We used to live under the Republic's protection. After the war, the Empire invaded us."
"We borrowed the power of the forest to fight their machines… but we were too weak."
As she spoke, Amir noticed the furrow in her brow and the tremble in her lips.
"Most of our people were taken—shipped off to who knows where. Those of us with totems were brought to this planet."
Amir transferred the ground spice into a container and asked, "So how did you escape?"
"Two people snuck in and rescued me and…" she looked at him again, paused, then continued, "my younger brother. They hid us in a room—but they never came back."
"Wait!" Amir suddenly had a hunch. "Were they a grown man and a short elderly guy?"
"Ah! Yes, yes! You know them?!"
That confirmed it—the ones who had rescued her were the two "cellmates" that Ahsoka had helped escape from the prison ship.
"Yeah. They were in trouble, but they're safe now."
A clear weight seemed to lift from Gulgina's shoulders.
"And your brother?" Amir asked. By now he had lit the stove—blue flame flared beneath the alloy cooking pot.
"He's still in that house. I go out during the day to find food," she said, patting the nutrient paste in her clothes, "and come back at dusk."
"After lunch, I'll go with you. Do you two have anywhere you want to go? I can fly you off this planet."
"We have nowhere left. Our home is gone, our tribe captured." Her voice dropped low. "If I can… I want to join that resistance group the two of them talked about. I want to save my people."
"You mean the Rebellion?" Amir thought of Ahsoka—she had left contact info with BD-4 after the mission.
"I can help you get in touch."
"Really? You've helped me so much already… I have nothing to offer in return." Gulgina looked down in embarrassment. "But if you ever feel lost about your future, please come find me. I can see glimpses of what's to come. It may not always be accurate… but as long as it helps you, I'll do it—however many times it takes."
"I won't be shy about it," Amir said. A lifetime free fortune-telling pass? Not bad.
What interested him most, though, was her way of using the Force.
Gulgina seemed to consciously tap into future visions. His own experiences had always been passive—visions before disasters, gut feelings before danger.
Amir decided he'd ask her later how she accessed that ability, and whether he could learn it too.
While they talked, Amir had already started cooking the Nuna chicken. As the meat met the sizzling animal fat, the kitchen filled with a rich aroma.
"That's the smell! Malaka—blessed forever!" Amir's spirits lifted at the familiar scent—maybe a food obsession written into his DNA.
Beside him, Gulgina quietly swallowed a bit of saliva.
He stir-fried, added salt, the secret sauce from the goat-headed vendor, and finally water.
Satisfied, Amir closed the lid.
Soon after, Amir carried dish after dish to the workbench-turned-dining-table.
"Smells amazing, Amir!" Little Jack bounced on his stool, knife and fork in hand—until Pierre tugged his ear with a scolding pinch.
"Who taught you to cook like this?" Sain asked. "Before eating your food, I thought meals were just fuel."
"Haha. Self-taught."
"Can't believe this is Nuna chicken," Veronica said, cheeks full already.
"It's even richer than before," Rango added. After getting half his braids scorched in the explosion, he'd gone with a short cut.
Gulgina brought out the last dish of vegetables, sat down quietly, and began to eat.
"…Are you crying?" Veronica suddenly noticed.
"I'm sorry… the taste reminded me of home." Gulgina spoke softly.
Surprisingly, Veronica offered kind words and comfort.
"Here, try this—it took me forever to find a vegetable that's actually edible," she said. Amir had stir-fried those too, alongside the chicken.
As he watched everyone devour the food, full of praise, Amir felt something warm inside.
These weren't just dishes—this was a piece of his other homeland, left behind across time and space.
That Eastern nation could never have imagined its cuisine would one day move a group of alien strangers in a distant galaxy.
.
.
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