-Galen-

As the fog of sleep began leaving his head, Galen became acutely aware of a strange warmth along his right side. It was strange and foreign and… comforting. Confused, he opened his eyes and looked to see what was going on. Even in the dark of his quarters he could see that Nina was the source of the warmth. With his right arm pinned under her, her head rested against his shoulder. Her hand was engulfed by his on his chest while one of her bare legs was tangled with his, causing her to be half on top of him as she slept soundly. Galen stared at her, stunned. He certainly hadn't fallen asleep with her in his arms. Digging through his mind for an explanation for her being in his quarters, he vaguely recalled her waking him up from his nightmare and crawling into bed with him.

The nightmare…

His heart raced at the mere thought of it. It was so vivid that he could have sworn it was real. It was becoming more and more fuzzy with each passing second, but he remembered that he was on some sort of space station with the Emperor, the massive room in shambles with debris littering the floor. Over a ledge was Vader, his mask removed, the man practically broken. With them were three men and one woman whose faces were blurred. No one was looking at him. It had been like he was witnessing something that he hadn't been present for. The three were being threatened to comply with the Emperor. Despite their blurred images, Galen had shouted and fought to free them but no one heard him and his actions saw no results. And then Nina was escorted into the room in shackles and brought before Palpatine. Before he could comprehend what was happening, the Sith Lord unleashed the Dark Side on the young woman in the form of lightening. Her screams tore at his head and heart as she felt to the ground, all the while screaming "help me" over and over. He tried to help her, Force he tried, but an unseen force was pulling him towards Vader's weak form.

It was then that Nina had woken him up.

There was no possible way he could begin to express how thankful he was for her coming to him. He was no child and would have been fine were she not to have come and woken him, but he was grateful that she had. And after he'd fallen back to sleep, he hadn't had a single nightmare or dream the rest of the night. His mind had gone completely blank, allowing him to have the restful sleep he desperately needed.

Absently, he released her hand and brushed a lock of blond hair from her face to get a better view of her. She stirred slightly only to splay her hand across his chest and burring her face deeper into his shoulder. She looked peaceful, worry free. Not once in his life had he ever been so close to a sleeping woman. It was something he could get use to, especially if that woman was Nina. A lump formed in his throat. He would be lucky if he had one more day with her. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that Juno was going to try to get them back to Vader as quickly as possible. He didn't have to be a Sith to know that she hated Nina. It was mildly awkward on his part as he was fairly close with his pilot, considering her to actually be a friend. But it was something Juno was going to have to live with for a while.

A few minutes passed and Nina slowly began to stretch, wincing as she jostled her shoulder that had been dislocated earlier. Breathing deeply, she shifted against him until she was looking at him with dark green eyes.

"Hi," she breathed, sleep layering her voice as she yawned.

"Hey," he replied a bit nervously, unsure what exactly he should do or say.

Nina, on the other hand, appeared only mildly nervous though it was hard to make out her expression in the dark. At least she didn't sound nervous.

Adjusting her position and folding her hands on his shoulder, she rested her chin on her folded hands. "How did you sleep?"

"Better after you woke me up," he replied honestly. "…Thank you."

A soft smile came to her face. "Anytime." Growing serious, she asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

He thought about it. He didn't want to think about it, much less talk about it. Sighing, he shook his head. "It was just a nightmare."

It was obvious that Nina didn't believe him, but she didn't press for an answer. He was relieved she didn't press.

Licking his lips nervously, he asked, "Why did you stay? You could have gone back to meditation."

"The bed's more comfortable than the floor," she joked before adding seriously, "You needed me. You didn't have to say it, you don't have to admit it now, but you did. So I stayed."

He didn't plan on admitting it, too proud to do so, when in fact he had needed her comfort, her warmth. He still needed her.

Though he wished he could stay put with her for hours, he had to get up and get something to eat before his workout. It was already late, he noted by looking at the time. He'd slept three hours longer than he normally did. Sighing, he began sitting up and Nina took the hint and untangled herself from him, swinging her legs over the bed and stretching before she stood. Galen couldn't help but stare at her from her long bare legs back up to the back of head. She wasn't wearing a whole lot and it was hard not to stare at her beautiful figure.

"Where are your pants?" he found himself asking.

As if just noticing her bare legs, she replied with a faint blush, "Back in meditation. I don't sleep with them on and after I sensed a disturbance in the Force I rushed out without them. Turns out it was your nightmare I was sensing." Glancing at his refresher, she ventured to ask, "Do you by any chance have an extra toothbrush? I need to brush my teeth."

Snapping out of his musings, he nodded. "Yeah, there should be an extra one in there somewhere. Help yourself."

"Thanks," she replied, walking into the refresher and closing the door behind her.

With her out of sight, Galen ran his hand over his face and sighed. Why did things have to get so muddled and complicated?


-Nina-

After about an hour of just wondering around after she ate, Nina ventured into the cockpit to see how close they were to their destination. She wasn't exactly looking forward to speaking with Juno, but wasn't going to be frightened off by the pilot.

Entering the small space, she looked down at the controls and asked Juno, "How far are we?"

Jumping slightly, Juno stared back at her with narrowed eyes. "Not that far. We might get there sooner than expected if I play my cards right. Maybe even as early as tomorrow morning." Nina's throat tightened but she didn't have a chance to say anything before Juno added, "You didn't listen to me."

"What do you mean?" she asked though she had a good idea of what she was talking about.

"I went down to meditation to make sure you had gone back but you weren't there. You stayed in Starkiller's quarters all night," she snapped.

Having done nothing wrong, she wasn't going to deny it. "Yes, I did. He was having a nightmare and it would have wrong to leave him alone."

"I told you to leave him be," she argued, sounding more angry at her not listening rather than for fear that she'd disturbed Galen.

"You don't give orders, Captain Eclipse. Starkiller does." Sighing she leaned back against the empty chair. "Listen, I don't want to fight with you. I know you care about Starkiller, but I do to. This whole bet or whatever that we have, it's stupid. A bet like that is something young girls make, not adults."

Understanding crept onto Juno's face but was gone in an instant, replaced with a cold stare. "It won't matter much longer anyways." She left the rest unsaid. She didn't need to explain. In a short amount of time, Nina would be in Vader's hands.

With nothing left to say, Nina just nodded to herself and excused herself from the cockpit. So much for trying to be civil. She needed to work off some tension so she went to Galen's quarters and searched for her lightsabers. She really didn't give a damn at the moment if he got angry with her over getting them. Right now, she needed to run through some exercises to calm herself enough to meditate. Finding her lightsabers on the floor where they had fallen, she made her way to the meditation room, the only place large enough for her to maneuver around with her lightsabers.

Expecting to be alone in the room, she gasped as she was nearly decapitated by Galen's crimson lightsaber.

Breathing heavily, the Sith deactivated his blade. "Sorry, Nina, I… what are you doing with those?" he demanded, eyes landing on the two lightsabers.

It took a few seconds to recover from nearly being decapitated, but it took longer to pull her eyes from the Sith's sweaty, muscled chest. Despite the dozens of scars, it was impossible not to be drawn in by how attractive he was. Shaking her head, clearing it, she raised both lightsabers slightly. "I talked to Juno and… well, I just need to excise a little. Work off some of my energy before I meditate."

He appeared hesitant to let her keep her blades, but nodded slowly. "All right." Then a frown crossed over his face. "What did Juno say to you?"

Nina shrugged. "She just said that we'll be arriving at our destination earlier than planned," she said, hoping Galen didn't notice the quiver in her voice.

Unfortunately, he did. "Nina…"

"Do you want to spar with me?" she interrupted on a whim.

"What?"

"Do you want to spar with me?" she repeated. "I noticed when we fought that you had trouble keeping track of both of my lightsabers. If you spar with me, I get a workout and you get a lesson." She needed to get her mind off her nearing fate.

After a moment, Galen nodded. "All right."

Smiling faintly, the Jedi went through a serious of stretches before approaching Galen and beginning their duel.

Both Nina and Galen sat against the wall, utterly exhausted. That had been the most challenging workout of her life. While she had flexibility and grace, Galen had strength and speed. Both proved to be a worthy opponent of the other but after over an hour they both had to call it quits.

Taking a drink of the water Galen shared with her, Nina commented, "I haven't had a workout like that in a long time."

"What about our fight in the alley and on Felucia?" Galen questioned, drying his sweaty shoulders and chest with a towel.

"That doesn't count," she replied. "We were both out for blood."

"Good point." Setting the towel to the side, he asked, "Who taught you to fight like that anyways?"

"My parents mostly, but Kota finished my training after they were killed," she said sadly. "My mother use to make me bend in all sorts of positions so that I was more flexible why fighting. My father thought it was silly to have me doing splits all the time, but they come in handy every now and then."

In a gentle tone, he said, "Sounds like you respected them greatly."

Nina nodded. "I still do. They live on through the Force and soon I'll most likely see them again."

"Don't talk like that," Galen said quietly, glancing at the ground then back at her.

"It's the truth, and you know it. I… I'm okay with it. Really," she insisted. "If dying means my friends stay safe, than so be it."

In reality, Nina didn't want to die. By the Force, she wanted to live, to fight against the Empire and make something out of her life. It seemed like everything she'd gone through throughout her life was a waste if her life was ended so soon. Dying wasn't something she was looking forward to. The thought of never seeing another sunrise, never feeling the rain on her face again; it terrified her to no end. Fleetingly she wondered just how she was going to die. Was she going to be tortured to death or simply killed? She hoped that it wouldn't be torture that kills her. Somehow, though, she doubted her luck was that good. But no matter how terrified she was of dying, she wasn't going to run from Galen. Looking at him now, she wondered if he would even chase after her if she tried to escape from him. That was something she didn't have an answer to.

"Nina," Galen began, taking her gently by the arms and turning her to face him. "My offer is still open. Tell me what you know, and I promise I will let you go. I'll have Juno land on a nearby planet to refuel the ship or something and you can run."

She shook her head. The offer wasn't even tempting because she knew the cost. "I can't do that," she whispered, closing her eyes tightly. Why did he have to torment her by asking again?

Angered by her refusal, he gave her a mild shake. "Damn it, Nina, just save yourself! No one will blame you for saving yourself," he said, trying to make her see reason.

"I'll blame my safe," she replied sharply, turning her eyes to his. He looked downright pissed. "I won't be able to live with myself, Galen. Please, understand that."

"I don't understand that," he replied angrily. "I don't understand why you won't take action in keeping yourself alive."

"That's because you've never had anything worth sacrificing yourself for, Starkiller."

The use of his alias had the effect of a slap on him and he was taken aback briefly. She should have left the conversation go then, but anger was bubbling up to the surface. He couldn't understand what it was like to have something to fight for.

"All my life I have had friends and family looking out for me, helping me. The people fighting back have helped me. My own parents sacrificed themselves to save me as have friends throughout my life. But you, Starkiller, you've killed Jedi who have tried to make the galaxy better without listening to their side of the story. You take orders from a monster." The look on his face told her she was going too far, but she didn't care. "With that being the only life you know, the only life you remember, there is no possible way you can understand what it takes to be willing to sacrifice yourself, the love you have to have for the cause and the people apart of it. You may remember that your name is Galen, but you only know how to be Starkiller."

In a flash, his expression turned furious. His grip on her arms tightened painfully and he spun her around, slamming her back into the wall.

A yelp of pain mixed with shock escaped her lips, feeling her shoulder that had recently been dislocated crack. He hadn't slammed her back with enough force to dislocate it again, but his rough handling of her definitely didn't do the injury any good.

"You want me to stop being Starkiller? To be a Jedi and rebel like you? I can't do that!" he shouted inches from her face, giving her a rough shake.

"How do you know? Have you ever tried to change?" Nina demanded.

"I can't change! It's not part of Vader's plan for me to change."

"You tell me to save myself, why don't you save yourself from becoming a monster like Vader? Or are you too afraid and cowardly to try?" she hissed.

It wasn't possible for him to look more angry as his face had gone red. In the back of her mind, Nina knew she had crossed the line and taken things too far, but it was so easy to get frustrated and angry with him and it seemed easy for him to get angry at her. Before she had a chance to try to apologize for what she'd said and talk like adults, Galen had roughly yanked her back from the wall and thrown her to the floor. In the next instant, Galen was on top of her with his hand on closed around her throat, brown eyes flashing to yellow for a split second before returning to brown.

"I am not a coward," he hissed through his teeth, sounding more terrifying than ever.

Through the Force she was able to sense that he didn't intend to hurt her in that way, though his position above her said otherwise, but she was none the less afraid and shook slightly with fear. With his hand on her throat tightening gradually, she felt herself starting to panic. Reacting on instinct for her own safety, she let loose a Force push that threw him into the wall of the meditation room and away from her. Wasting no time, she scrambled to her feet and backed away, holding her throat.

Staring at her, a look of horror fell over his face and he slowly rose to his feet. "I… I'm sorry. Nina, I'm sorry." He shook his head, taking a step closer to her. "I… I'm use to reacting to anger with violence. I don't know anything else. I didn't mean to hurt you," he insisted.

She believed him, but it wasn't that that bothered her. "You scared me, Galen," she murmured.

He reached out for her with his right hand and she held her ground even though she wanted to shrink away. Hesitantly, he hand cupped her cheek. "I'm sorry," he repeated, bringing his other hand up to cup the other side of her face. Turning his attention to her injured shoulder, her kneaded the muscle and Nina hissed in renewed pain. "I didn't think I was that rough on you…"

"You were, Galen. I'm not asking you to change, just… just keep an open mind." Stepping away from him, she brought her lightsabers to her via the Force and started backing towards the door. "I'm… I'm going to go take a shower," she said and made a hasty exit, practically running back to his quarters.

The moment she was in the refresher with the door closed, she began breaking down. Turning on the hot water of the shower, she took off her boots and clothes, tossing them carelessly to the floor before stepping under the hot stream of water. Washing shampoo through her hair, she found that she was having a hard time breathing as her emotions started to spill over. After all the shampoo was out of her hair, she slowly sank to the floor of the shower, pulling her knees up to her chest. Finally, she broke. A strangled sob tore from her lips and her forehead came to rest on her knees. It was all too much for her to deal with. Jedi were being killed, one right in front of her, Galen was going to hand her over to Vader, she was going to die, and Galen had hurt her. It didn't matter if it was unintentionally because violence was the only way he knew how to deal with anger, she could forgive him for that, but he hurt her just the same and all the stress she was under came streaming out her eyes in tears.


-Galen-

Not once in his life did he feel so horrible. He hadn't meant to hurt Nina. Vader had always taught him that when angry he was to lash out with violence. It was drilled into him to the point that he'd hurt Nina without a second thought. Never again, he swore to himself. No matter what he was not going to lay a harmful hand on her again. She deserved better than that. The Jedi was right, he only knew how to be Starkiller, learning to be Galen again would be like learning to walk; it would take time. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to be Galen. Yes, he wanted to be Galen for Nina, but he wasn't sure what he wanted for himself. Sighing, he leaned his head against the wall, thinking about everything Nina said. Everything she said was correct. There wasn't anything in his life he would sacrifice his life for. Maybe one thing, but he wasn't sure still. But he wasn't about to admit to being a coward.

What a way to start the day.

After half-an-hour of confining himself to meditation, he pushed himself off the wall and dragged his way back to his quarters. Surely Nina was done with her shower by now. He fully intended on apologizing again then taking a shower. Entering his quarters, he heard the shower running and frowned. Maybe women just liked long showers. A bad feeling crossed over him, however, and he went to the door of the refresher and knocked.

"Nina?"

On the other side of the door, a choked up voice replied, "What?"

"You all right?"

"I-I'm fine," she said and he knew she was lying.

Hesitating momentarily, he said, "I'm coming in, Nina."

"Don't," he heard her faintly say through the door.

Ignoring her, he stepped inside and his heart sank. The shower door was open and Nina was seated on the floor with her legs pulled up against her chest, keeping her modest before him, and her eyes were bloodshot from crying. Shaking her head, she lowered it back to her knees. Swallowing, Galen adjusted the temperature of the water and, keeping his pants on, stepped under the water and sat down next to her. Doing what felt right, he put his arm around her and was rewarded with a shaky sob as she leaned against him. Nothing he could say would help so he just held her as she shook, entirely unsure of what he was doing. All he could do was offer her comfort.

The water steadily began to run cold and he reached up and turned off the shower. Bringing a towel to them with the Force, he shifted away from Nina to wrap her in the towel before slipping his arm under her knees and the other across her back. Lifting her up off the wet floor, he took her out of the refresher and to the bed. Moving the covers back, he laid her down and pulled them back over her.

Sighing, eyes partially closed, Nina said, "It's early."

"Yes, but you're tired," he replied, brushing wet locks of hair from her face. "Just get some sleep."

"Galen, I'm sorry for what I said to you back there," she apologized tiredly.

"It's all right. Just sleep," he told her.

She didn't need to be told again and she pulled the sheets tighter around her, shutting her bloodshot eyes. After a few minutes, her breathing evened out and she was asleep.

Grabbing some dry clothes, Galen silently changed before exiting his quarters, leaving Nina to sleep in peace. It would probably be the last time she was able to sleep as long as she wanted.