Wyl doesn't have much to put in his suitcase. A few changes of clothes, a trinket or two, a handful of holo images programmed to a datachip. The way the children of Home move around so often, the entire village their home as well as much as a single abode, they don't tend to collect many objects.

The memories, the wishes, the strong desire to return – those are the the things Wyl will take with him to the Rebellion.

He turns with the last couple of things to put into the case waiting on his bed and can't help but smile at what he sees. Solaria is there, the sur-avka he bonded with so many years ago when they were both little more than babies, her long flexible neck snaking in the open window like it has so many times. Her head is nearly invisible where she's tucked it in among the pile of things inside the suitcase as if she can curl her large body inside and come with him.

“I can still see you, Solaria,” Wyl says gently as he approaches. He drops his handful on the bed and reaches out to scratch her gray-green scales, sighing. “I wish I could take you with me. Flying a starfighter just won't be the same.” He closes his eyes for a moment, years of memories flooding through him. The wind in his hair as they dove together, the feel of the sur-avka's powerful muscles beneath him, Solaria's screeches of pure joy matching his own. A cold machine won't have any of that.

Solaria raises her head from the suitcase finally, blinking solemnly at him. Though her kind is near-sentient, she doesn't understand everything. Wyl thinks she knows how Home has changed since the Empire and their polluting weapons platform came. And she knows he's leaving her, even if she doesn't fully understand why.

Wyl plucks away a sock that hangs from her cheek and smooths his hand over her muzzle. “I'm going to miss you so much,” he says softly.

Solaria wickers softly and moves closer, bumping him with her head, and Wyl wraps his arms around her neck and holds her close for a long moment.

“I'm going to come back,” he promises fiercely. “I'm going to help end this war and get those beasts away from here. We're going to fly together again in clear skies, and everything will be like it was.”

Solaria purrs, the vibration running through Wyl's entire body, and he knows she believes him.