Claudia Gray is the creator of characters and content from the incredible novel Lost Stars. This author claims only new, original characters and content only.

The First Visit
New Republic Detention Facility

Ciena heard the sound of Thane's boots growing dimmer as he walked away, noting his pace was slower and more hesitant than when he was arriving a half hour earlier.

It was their first visit since he had rescued her from the Inflictor only moments before it plunged into the Jakku desert. That was weeks ago. She was badly injured and overwhelmed with despair in the aftermath. She had finally seen a way out - a way to escape the Empire with her honor intact - and she had committed herself to the act. She wasn't supposed to wake up in pain and still hopelessly trapped. She wasn't supposed to wake up period.

But she did wake up, and the agony that came from the awareness that it wasn't over was incalculably worse than the pain from her broken and battered body.

She knew Thane had been trying to see her, but she refused. It had taken weeks for her resolve to weaken. By the time she gave in and asked to see him, he was gone on a mission. For Ciena, it was merely another sign that being alive meant being alone and miserable. Indeed, it was the will of the Force.

And then suddenly Thane was there. She only had to meet his gaze, and in that second the one thing she had simultaneously feared and longed for the most came true.

Seeing Thane gave her hope.

She still stood where they had placed their palms against the energy field, and began to replay their conversation in her mind.

"I wish you had left me on the Inflictor."

Did she mean it? She didn't know. It was hard to think differently when "living" might include being labeled a war criminal and never getting out of a 10x10 cell.

Regardless, Thane did not flinch. "If you're waiting for me to apologize for saving your life, you'll be waiting awhile." A moment of silence passed, then his expression and voice softened. "Either way, you know I'll be waiting for you, right?"

"You shouldn't"

"You would, if it were me inside that cell."

Ciena could't have hidden the truth had she tried. "Yes, I would."

And she knew she would wait for Thane forever if their positions were reversed. She would have no choice. There would be nothing left of her heart to give to anyone else if Thane disappeared from her life. It would break beyond remedy. It would be easier to reassemble the pieces of a dead star gone supernova than her shattered heart from losing Thane.

Only after lying awake for hours, replaying the visit over and over again... the way Thane looked at her, his disarmingly handsome smile, his blue eyes that always told the truth, and his palm pressed mere millimeters from hers... was Ciena finally able to sleep.

And she dreamt of cool rain falling outside of a very secret place... of passionate kisses that became the tender, soft whisper of Thane's lips grazing her skin.

Almost as wonderful was waking up the next morning. In place of the greyness that filled every corner of her life for so long, her eyes saw a myriad of colors and possibilities. Finally, against all odds, Ciena had hope.