Prompt: Don't Stop Believing […write about your character facing such a moment, and not giving up. Finding the strength to go on.]
Characters: Tember Daviin, Gunslinger; Aitahea Daviin, Jedi Consular; other OCs mentioned
Setting: Odessen
Spoilers/Notes: Vague KotFE & KotET spoilers.
"I can't do it anymore, Ai."
Aitahea Daviin turned at the sound of her sister's voice. She'd never heard Tember sound so despondent, so stricken. Not when Aitahea left to continue her Jedi training after the Sacking of Coruscant; not when her first serious boyfriend broke up with her; not when she lost her first crewmate to enemy fire.
Tember's sorrow and shame rushed over Aitahea in a painful wave. The Jedi knew immediately what had happened – something that had happened all too often since the emergence of the Eternal Empire – but it was Tember who needed to say it.
"What happened, Tember?"
The smuggler trudged into the room and slumped down on the couch next to Aitahea, curling her legs up under her and leaning into her sister. Aitahea put an arm around her, hiding her shock. Tember was not one for displays of affection with anyone.
"We lost the supply transport, Ai." Tember's voice hitched, and Aitahea felt her struggle to hold back a sob. "The ship we were escorting, you know the one. The Eternal Fleet came out of nowhere. The ship – and everyone on it - was gone before we even knew what was happening."
Aitahea closed her eyes and tightened her arm around Tember. "I'm so sorry. But I'm glad you escaped."
Tember stiffened, then threw herself to her feet, hands clenched into fists at her sides. The synthleather of her gloves creaked with the gesture. "That's the problem, Ai. I keep making it. Me. But we keep losing so many." She strode across the room, turning on her heel to make a quick circuit as Aitahea watched.
The sage remained sitting, allowing her sister room for both her feelings and pacing. "You've saved many more than you've lost, Tember," she offered quietly.
"But we still keep losing them. So many dead…" Tember's unsteady voice trailed away, and when she looked up at Aitahea, her eyes were rimmed with tears. "I don't know if I can keep doing this."
Aitahea crossed the room to embrace her sister. Tember seemed to shrink into Aitahea's arms, letting loose a rough sob. "You can't save all of them, Tember."
Tember laughed hoarsely. "Even I know that. I'm just some gunslinger, Ai. I'm not important. The commander is important, she's doing things. I'm just losing ships and people."
"Tember." Easing her sister gently upright, Aitahea projected comfort and understanding into the Force. Tember relaxed a little, and Aitahea turned her gently to face the back of the room. "You are important. Look."
Tucked into the small trundle bed at far end, white-blonde hair poking out from under the rough blanket, was Tember's niece. Lucent.
"Oh, kriff," the smuggler swore, then clapped her hand over her mouth, looking at Aitahea in chagrin. "I didn't know she was in here."
Aitahea's nose crinkled in amusement. "You can't wake Lucent up, Tember. She sleeps like an uxibeast. But look again."
Tember shifted her gaze slowly back to the sleeping child. "I didn't think she still took naps, Ai."
"When she's been up all night reading holocomics she does."
A grin came unexpectedly to Tember's face. "Heh. Wonder where she got that," she snickered, a bit of her usual roguish charm creeping back into her voice.
Aitahea arched a brow at her sister, but smiled nonetheless. "You are important to her, Tember."
Tember turned her eyes back to Aitahea, a bit of hope easing away the bleakness in her gaze. "Well, sure. She's your kid."
"She wouldn't be here without you. Do you remember?"
Tember looked away, remembering. When Arcann swept into Republic space and blockaded Coruscant, Aitahea and Erithon had been trapped dirtside. They'd been settling into temporary residence with their parents in preparation for Lucent's birth. Tember was approaching the capital world, trying to control her enormous delight at her impending aunthood, when the Eternal Fleet appeared.
Sia had tried to get them to the Luminous, but they couldn't even get to the spaceport safely. Tember ducked expertly through the blockade and hovered the No Promises just above the roof of their parents' apartment. Aitahea and Tember's parents refused to leave – just like they had after the Sacking of Coruscant – but Tember had refused to allow her sister's child to be born on a terrorized planet.
If anyone could get them to safety, it was Captain Tember Daviin. The Voidhound, the Republic privateer, the best pilot in the galaxy. Even with her standard hyperdrive (okay, let's be honest, it was a little more than standard. Tember had taken care of that herself), she'd managed outmaneuver the Eternal Fleet gunships and got them safely into hyperspace.
Then, like some ridiculous holodrama, Aitahea had gone into labor. Tember had actually thrown her hands into the air, a moment of levity in the face of terror, before Prelsiava ordered her to get blankets and Erithon eased Aitahea to the medbay.
Lucent was born while they were still in hyperspace. A child of the stars in the truest sense. It was the most amazing thing Tember had ever experienced. There were four of them in the room: Tember, Sia, Erithon, and Aitahea. Then suddenly there were five. Five sentient beings where there had only been four.
She'd done that.
"You rescued all of us, Tember. More than once," Aitahea explained. "Yes, we will lose allies, perhaps even friends and family, but each one we save is important. Even those yet to come.
"You're important to them."
Tember's gaze dropped to her boots. "I guess."
"And I know." The Jedi smiled affectionately at her sister and nudged her toward the little bunk where Lucent slept. "It's time she got up. Why don't you wake her? She'll be glad to know you're safe."
The smuggler reached for her sister's hand, squeezing it gently. "Yeah. Hylo can wait a few more minutes." Tember smiled gratefully at Aitahea, an unexpected tenderness in her gold eyes, before turning toward her niece.
Aitahea watched as her sister crept to her niece's bed and tickled the girl awake, delighting in the noise of their laughter as it echoed through the halls of the Alliance.
[AN: A couple things - I'm excited to write more with Tember. She plays a big role in Aitahea's life, even if they're apart more often than not. They both join the Alliance, along with Erithon & Prelsiava, and even Isme.
Tember's feelings about Lucent's birth – there suddenly being five people in the room – was my literal reaction to my nephew's birth. I got to be in the room and I still recall it with wonder, even after having a child of my own.
Finally, I really wanted to use the word 'persistence' somewhere. It has a lot of meaning socially and politically right now, just as I expect it does for anyone in the Alliance. It only made it into the title, but there you are.
Thank you for reading, and I'm always so grateful for any comments or feedback. Love!]