It was one of those nights when the pain just suddenly returned, fresh as could be. Sabé tried to hide from it, curling up in a blanket in the Organa living room. Everyone else had gone to bed, tired with the day, leaving Sabé to face the darkness by herself. It was ironically cold despite Alderaan being in its warmest month. The dark, rolling clouds outside didn't seem to care. The darkness and cold enveloped her. Sabé curled herself up tighter.

Though months past, the effects of the Empire's attack on Alderaan still lingered within Sabé, haunting her. Her memory now stored images she'd never be able to forget. Her heart had now felt a kind of grief that would never leave her. The damage was irreversible. She closed her eyes to the world, but those images, so stuck in her mind, returned. She saw Padmé lying in her coffin as tall, white, elegant creatures marched her body to the graveyard. A serene look had been painted onto her face by the mortician, betraying the horror and sorrow that had been the last hours of her life. Her brown curls of hair were splayed out around her head with small, pastel flowers decorating the thick waves. She wore a dark blue, satin dress. At her stomach, the dress protruded with the belly that no one knew was fake. Her real skin was cold to the touch. This was how she'd been the last time Sabé had seen her. Padmé Naberrie Amidala Skywalker- Sabé's best friend, sister, confidante- was dead. But then, this image changed. There was still the coffin. However, instead of Padmé lying inside, there was Breha Organa. And, somehow, it hurt just as much as it had with Padmé. The Alderaanian queen's hair was done up in a long, thick braid atop her head, a navy ribbon twisted along it. The dress she wore matched the ribbon, or, more accurately, the ribbon had been picked to match the dress. It was the same navy blue with a bodice appropriate of a queen, a long skirt, and baggy sleeves with slits that looked like they'd been slashed open. The calm, peaceful expression on her face betrayed nothing. Now, both of Sabé's queens were dead.

Suddenly, Sabé was jerked out of her reverie. A knock had sounded on the main entry door nearby. Reluctantly, she dropped her warm blanket and padded across the cold floor to the door. She opened the door to see none other than Ducchi standing outside, completely soaked from head to toe by the relentless rain. Her mouth dropped. "You must be freezing! Come inside. I'll get you a towel." Sabé hurried to grab a couple towels and knew Ducchi had stepped inside because she could hear the sound of water dripping on the hard-surfaced floor. Carrying a few towels, Sabé turned back to see him leaning over the doorway, wringing out his newsboy hat over the pavement. "What are you doing here?" she asked him. "Traveling in the cold?"

"I was on my way home," he said and ended the statement with a sneeze. "Speeder broke down and I had to walk a couple blocks to get here. I was hoping Han would be able to help me get it started again."

Sabé shook her head. "Leia was feeling horrible today, so Han went to bed early with her." She handed him a towel and dropped another where he was standing. "Come on in. Would you like some hot caf?"

"I don't know, Sabé. I gotta figure out what I'm going to do."

"You know, Bail wouldn't mind if you stayed the night, I'm sure."

Ducchi very suddenly looked to Sabé, so suddenly that she jumped. The Alderaanian mechanic smiled the softest smile there ever was at her. He took a step forward and asked, "Would you like me to stay a while, Sabé?"

Sabé sucked in a quick breath, turning away even quicker. Ducchi turned his smile to the ground. "I can't do this tonight, Ducchi."

"Sabé, I care about you. If you need a shoulder to lean on, you know I'm always here."

"Why do you think I need-?"

"Your eyes, Sabé. Your eyes speak for your mouth. Besides, they're shining with tears, not light."

A heavy silence settled, during which Sabé didn't dare look at Ducchi because she knew she wouldn't be able to hold the tears back if she did. Taking in a deep breath, she walked to the small kitchen and started boiling a pot of caf. "How do you like your caf?" she asked, grabbing a mug from the cabinet.

"Nothing special. Now, talk to me, Sabé. You never say what you really need to say. Sit with me. Talk to me. You can lean on me, Sabé. I've always been here, haven't I?"

Sabé braced herself against the sink, growing angry with herself. Without her own permission, tears had begun falling down her face. She hurried to compose herself, but she was losing control. All her borders, walls, layers, it was all coming undone. It terrified Sabé. "Ducchi," she sighed his name. "Ducchi, I can't do this tonight."

"Why not?" Like a Jedi, like Luke or Leia could, Sabé felt him approach. "You've been running so long, Sabé. You've been running away from a struggle Bail doesn't even know you're still having. You let me in once before, Sabé. Why can't you talk to me tonight?"

"Because I'm afraid I'll say yes!" she finally burst. Then, all was silent except for Sabé's ragged breaths. It all hit her in that moment and Sabé knew she would collapse under the weight if she didn't move. She ran for the door and collapsed there, her personal hell breaking loose. Ducchi met her at her level in every sense of the phrase, using two fingers to tilt her chin up. Sabé found herself facing things she'd been running from for years. So much pain she hadn't let go of yet. So many feelings she'd been running from. Sabé found herself staring into the eyes of a man she'd pushed away and hurt without meaning to. Sabé found herself staring into the eyes of a man she loved.

"Yes?" Ducchi asked, stroking Sabé's cheek. She couldn't help but take such pleasure in the feather touch; she loathed herself for enjoying the intimacy. "To me? Sabé, darling, you know that I love you, that I care about you. And I've agreed to leave you alone for this long, but I know how to read your eyes and I know you. I know you're hurting. Sabé, darling, it's okay to cry."

Finally letting go, Sabé fell into his arms, all her emotions flooding free. Now, she felt free.

"Sabé, I remember 20 years ago, you were so broken-"

"Everything that you know about me, I never meant to tell you. You know I don't like talking about-"

"I know you don't. I've never made you talk about anything. That night, though. Twenty years ago when you and Memily first came here, that first night when I found you, those bottles of whiskey weren't making you spill everything to me. You needed to talk to someone, to have someone listen. All these years, I've never done anything with what you told me. I've never told anyone any of it. What you told me that night is still strictly between you and me-"

"I was drunk! I didn't want to share any of that with you! Ducchi, I am broken! I am so broken, you don't need to be carrying all that. I don't want to put any of that on you-"

"Sabé, I have my own past I've been carrying. I don't mind helping you carry your load. Trust me, Sabé. Please, just trust me already."

"I do trust you. I do love you and that's just it! I can't burden you with-"

But Ducchi wasn't listening to her anymore. Quickly, he moved his hand on her face to cup her cheek and he leaned in to kiss Sabé's honey lips. Sabé's breath caught and her mind raced as she realized what he was doing. At this point, she was already in a state of shock, but Ducchi was managing to unravel her layers. Sabé had lost control and Ducchi was testing how far he could go. His hands were grabbing her, pulling her close, holding her tight. For the first time in far too long, Sabé felt loved, riding on ecstasy, and she didn't want it to ever stop. For the first time since the last time she had really let someone in. For the first time since the last time she had let Ducchi in . . .

"Sab, darling, you kill me. You kill me, but I'll never be able to get over you. Over and over again, you do this to me-"

Trying desperately to regain control over herself, Sabé hung her head, suggesting, "Then, maybe you should stop this."

"No," Ducchi said quickly. "I could never. Haven't you been listening to me? Sabé, time and time again, we have this conversation and you always push me back. You always say no- but I don't think you mean 'no'. I'm not ever going to stop. Not until you finally say what you mean. Listen to me, Sabé. Look at me. Stop lying to yourself. Stop lying to me. Just say what you really mean."

"I'm scared."

"I know."

"Give me a reason to let go."

Ducchi tilted her chin back up and dove in for another long kiss. When he broke the kiss for air, he whispered against her crown, "I love you."