Life is a journey, a path on itself...

The morning Macey said goodbye and I was felt standing on the landing platform watching the ship make it for the sky and vanishing between the thin layers of clouds, I had an uneasy feeling. Where it came from, I had no idea. But when I felt it, I had to be watchful, because something might happen in the near future. Maybe it was from Macey’s destiny, but how would I know for certain. With the Force nothing was really certain. It had been my mother who once said to me not to chase dreams, just let them come to you. In her advisable words I had always found much wisdom and comfort and still I did. Mother’s words would always remain for me important. I remembered her love and care, her anger and worries. But never there had been evil around her. As I thought about her and then compared Macey into her place, I wondered if she would be the same, loving and caring? I knew I wanted a family of myself, something I could watch and take care for, but also something to protect and to be proud off. Were these the wishes of a man? According the laws of the Hapes men were barely allowed to have wishes, the existed only to help the women to offspring. The more beauty he had, the more chances he got with women. It was the dark side to a women dominated civilization. But either it was a bit the other way around inside the Empire. My choice for the Empire had not come lightly.

But what if I married? I had a job at the Imperial Academy, but never had I really sworn an oath of trust to the government what would bound me to obligations I didn’t want. In true sense I belonged among the illegal citizens, but I had official clearance and cards. I existed in a grey zone, where only Force-sensitive persons could live. Normal people never got that far. Their lives were always fairer and stricter than mine. They hadn’t the power that could free them from the clear zone, to more shadows. My mother had been a child of the clear zone too. Would it be better if my own wife would be there from too? Just an Imperial girl? Or a woman from another nation?

Life went normally on here; I returned to my lessons and prepared my students for the first exams. They were coming quickly again. In my weeks off I flew to Naboo and lived in my house there. Pretty local autumn was coming there and feasts were prepared all around the city of Theed. My homecoming was noticed, but I held myself locked inside doors and didn’t come really out. I went out after a day to get more furniture for the house. A huge furniture store on the southern outskirts of the city was interesting to pay a visit, so I took a speeder to get me there. Parking was possible in a large underground garage. The Naboo didn’t like an open terrain with vehicles. Rather they had a park instead. Nerny was with me and together we went inside the store by a lift that brought us to the right level. Customers in the store looked a bit odd when Nerny wheeled beeping from the lift and I walked right behind him. I had told him what I had in mind, so Nerny took the lead on me and went immediately to the right to find a sofa. Next the article was a console where you could wave your ID card over and say how many pieces you wanted. The central system registered it and would take care that you got your articles delivered at home. But Nerny went beyond my desires and whistled disapprobation for what I had chosen. It dismayed me quite he didn’t agree. But his willful whistles took me to some other articles. Furniture that was more comfortable and looked lesser dull. I bought what he suggested. But for my study room I chose myself really what I wanted and with that he could agree, although he was not quite happy. The droid was a wonderful companion.

Nerny had clearly pleasure in the visit to the store. Except astronavigation, he liked also to break and fix things, so he collected a lot of stuff I had no idea what I would need it for. Nerny pointed out it was not for me, but for him. He had something in mind and needed it. Together I gave out more than I had planned, but I wouldn’t be the largest customer ever. With Nerny I returned home and waited there before a transport would arrive with my new stuff. I needed some lamps, because there were a couple of light points where they could be added. Adding I fixed that partly with the Force, handling the tools in midair. It was a good exercise on concentration. Also in the garden I took care of the plants, so all wild grow was trimmed back to more moderate sizes. Nerny hid himself in the garage with his stuff and was for hours busy building something. He came back with a small cleaning droid who could brush the floors. It had a simple droid brain and was programmed to the sizes of the house. Speaking to it was no use, because it had no receivers, no speaking unit, nor any chips where language on was stored. I was astonished what he had put together. The astromech appeared to be dull of cleaning himself, in fact he hated it and so had now a help.

The droid had innocence over him, which had moved me from the first moment he had entered truly my life. In some ways Nerny was still shy, but he had also a hand of putting his opinion loud up front. He was not afraid of me, instead of people. More of that he was fond of floating through the air, so sometimes I used the Force on him and let him make a tour. Excited whistles would than come from the body of my companion. Nerny had a dislike for little children and when I asked him about it, he had a long tale to tell about the kids of his former owner, those who had sold him later on. Perhaps it was not possible to developed feelings for it, but I did, because I was fond of Nerny. But I was a little angry about the sadism that the former kids had played on the astromech. For universal laws droids were possessions, not living beings. And so there were not really laws to protect them. I understood that, but for the higher advanced droids with an own personality and the power to think merely was it another case. Taking revenge for a droid was universal out of the question. And that was something I just liked to do now. But I didn’t. I was Nerny’s rightful owner now, what his past was it had to remain that way, the future was another matter. But Nerny was old already and it was a week after he had created the cleaner droid that his memory chips burned suddenly and the heart of him really died out. Death came quickly upon him, although the droid wasn’t really aware of it. Closed down he wouldn’t also know what happened around him. Yet it pained me quite to see him die like that. And the next day I stripped him of everything that could be used again. For the rest was the garbage and recycling facility the end station. Sad I brought Nerny to there and said mentally goodbye to him.