Baz made his way off Ren's ship cautiously, making sure he wasn't spotted. Ren had left him worn him out again. He couldn't wait to get back to his quarters and sleep.

His mind wandered back to Thrawn's warning of the man. Ren didn't really seem dangerous. Well… maybe a little. But he wasn't any danger to Baz. Anyhow, it wasn't like this would happen again. It was weird enough that it'd happened twice now… it certainly wouldn't happen a third time.

He was drawn back to the present by shouting. It took him a moment to realize it was Oni's voice. He couldn't make out what she was saying – he followed the noise, curious.

She stood at the end of a hallway, raving at a bewildered looking Chiss in a language he couldn't understand. He hurried down the hallway to them. It was so late, he wasn't even sure what Oni would be doing on Thrawn's ship. She should be on the planet below, on the base with Hux.

"Oni?"

She kept raving, with large hand motions, not even turning to him. The Chiss looked at him, speaking in a thick accent. "Do you know the language she is speaking?"

"No… it's not your language?"

"No."

"What's she upset about?"

The Chiss glanced at him again. Oni kept raving over top of their words. "I do not know."

He stepped toward her, putting a hand on her arm. "Oni…"

She swatted his hand away and kept raving. He stepped back again. Other than the swat, she hadn't acknowledged his presence in any way.

The Chiss stood straight suddenly, making an odd motion. He turned to see Thrawn had joined them – his eyes trained on Oni. He and the Chiss spoke in their language. Baz's Cheunh wasn't good, but he managed to catch a few words from Thrawn: She, help, and thank you. The other Chiss dismissed herself, hurrying away from them. Oni kept raving after her.

Thrawn watched her silently for a moment, his brows drawn together slightly, his mouth a very severe flat line.

"Do you know what she's saying?" Baz asked.

He exhaled a little and shook his head. "No. It sounds as though she might be speaking a few different languages." He stepped toward her. "Oni…"

She drew back from him, snipping something unintelligible. He reached for her and she backed away again, turning like she was about to run. Baz wasn't sure where she intended on going, and he doubted Oni had any idea either. Luckily Thrawn was quick; he snatched her arm and pushed her, somewhat forcefully, into an empty room. Baz followed after Thrawn.

Oni just kept ranting, trying to escape his grip. Thrawn closed the door.

And then something entirely unexpected happened. Thrawn stepped toward her and took her face between his hands, and buried his nose into her hair. He muttered something to her.

She tried to pull away from the odd embrace, still chattering, but he held her there. "Oni. Stop this. Calm yourself." Something was odd about his tone – it was strangely soft.

She pulled against him a few more times, protesting in whatever language she was speaking, but her voice at least grew quieter. He spoke to her softly, asking her again to calm down. She finally fell completely silent, standing motionless with her face between his hands, staring at his chest. He didn't let her go.

It only took a few moments – her shoulders started to shake. He could hear little sniffs from her.

Still, Thrawn didn't move. It was the last thing Baz would have expected to see of him: an incredible amount of emotional sensitivity. While Baz wasn't quite sure what was wrong with Oni, it was very clear she was highly distressed. This must have been some sort of mental break.

"I don't know what to do." She finally spoke, in Basic. She was very quiet. "My heart is torn in three pieces."

Thrawn barely made a reaction – his shoulders sank just slightly.

Baz felt a painful amount of empathy for her. He couldn't imagine. Everything in her life had changed so drastically, and so suddenly. Just weeks ago, she had nothing. Now she felt she had to choose between her mother, her father, and Hux.

Another silence fell between them. "Oni, this decision is yours to make for yourself. You have earned that. But I will help make your decision easier. I will revoke my offer for you to join me and the Chiss."

A miserable sob caught in her throat.

He still held her face firmly between his hands. "This is not my method of rejecting you. You are my daughter; you will always be welcome with me and my people. But now is not the time for that. It was an ill conceived offer on my behalf. I am sorry to have put you in such a position."

She sobbed and muttered something back to him – Baz only knew what Cheunh he'd been able to learn from the books and recordings he'd found abandoned in the cabin, but he thought he understood: "I don't want to leave you."

Thrawn's shoulders sank a little more. He responded in Basic, though Baz wasn't sure why. "Oni… I will not abandon you. I have an obligation to my people, and I must honor that. But this will not be how it once was. I will visit you, wherever you choose to be. And you will be able to contact me whenever you please. I will always be here for you."

She didn't respond, continuing to sniff little sobs.

If one thing was clear, Thrawn was a patient man. He stood there, holding her like that until her sobs died down.

"Commander, thank you for making the time to see me." Thrawn spoke before Hux had the chance to. He motioned to guest's seat in front of his desk, where Hux sat not too long ago and professed his affinity for Oni, not knowing that he was speaking directly to her father.

Understandably so, this made him nervous. He sat across from the Chiss. "It's not a problem, sir. I assume this is about Oni? I didn't see her last night. I assume she must have stayed here?"

Thrawn looked at him – through him – quietly for a moment. "Yes, this is about my daughter. I have something I would like you to see." He paced a small holoprojector device on the table. "Oni showed up on my ship last night. Our security cameras captured this."

A projection blinked onto the table before them – Oni walked into view. One of Thrawn's crew – a young Chiss woman – approached her. She said something, which Oni appeared to ignore. She reached out to grab her arm, and Oni swatted her away, looking cross. The young Chiss backed away a little and Oni let loose, yelling at her. The holo didn't have any noise, so he couldn't be sure what she was saying, but she was clearly very upset with whatever had happened.

"The cadet in the holo was attempting to see if she was lost." Thrawn said evenly, his eyes fixed on the projection.

Baz came into view – he stepped toward her but she swatted him away as well, continuing to yell at the young Chiss.

"She was not speaking Basic, or Cheunh. I didn't recognize what she was saying, but it sounded like a few different languages at once."

Thrawn stepped into the picture, looking completely in control of the situation. He cut the projection short, inhaling deeply. "It took Baz and I nearly an hour to calm her down. She is distressed by the decision she needs to make soon. I'm certain you can understand my concern."

Hux felt his mouth hanging open a little. This was clearly some sort of mental break. Exactly what Nev had been concerned about. But he'd watched her so closely… she wasn't behaving any differently around him. How could he have missed this?

He managed to push a few words out: "Is she okay?"

Thrawn gave a short nod. "She is. She has been sleeping on the sofa in my personal quarters most of the morning."

"Good… that's good to hear. Would it be possible for me to see her?"

He gazed across the desk at Hux for a few moments. Hux had to give Thrawn so much: he wielded silence like a blade. It was terrifying. "Commander… Oni cannot stay with you."

Some piece of him had expected as much, but his stomach still turned at the thought. "Sir… with all due respect… Oni is an adult; we ought to let her make this decision…"

"You would be cruel enough to force her to make such a decision?"

Again, a heavy silence fell between them.

"Commander, I do not think you fully understand what you are asking of my daughter. You are asking her to choose between her mother and yourself. The pressure from the decision was too much – she already broke down once. Further, you know quite well that she is not safe among your people, as evidenced by your father's actions toward her. I am asking you to have some form of mercy on her. Let her return to Nivo with her mother."

Hux ground his teeth. This was worse than the conversation with Nev. A million times worse, because Thrawn had actual evidence to back his concerns. He didn't want to be away from her. She'd filled some gaping cavity in his chest, made him feel like a whole person. Losing her… letting her go… it was unfathomable.

Looking across the desk to Thrawn, he realized he didn't really have a choice. Thrawn wasn't giving him options. He was just polite enough to ask for Hux's consent before demanding compliance.

He gulped a nearly painful breath. In the end, Thrawn was right. She wouldn't be safe with him. But with the pending alliance between the Chiss and the Order, he would still be able to see her from time to time. And when she was recovered from all this – then there was a chance they could be together.

He nodded. "Yes. Yes… You are correct; she wouldn't be safe with me. I'll speak with her when we have some privacy and let her know she should return to Nivo with her mother."

Thrawn bowed his head. "Your understanding is admirable. Thank you."

Hux's chest ached. He ignored it.

Thrawn leaned back in his seat, his fingertips pressed together. "This brings me to our second matter to discuss. There will be no alliance between the Chiss and the First Order."

"What?" The word slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. "No. What? You can't… You can't just go back and add that into the mix…"

"Commander…" His calm tone was supremely irritating.

"You know they will not let me see her. The daughter of the leader of a military force we aren't allied with? There's no way in hell they'd permit me to be around her, it's a massive conflict of interest."

"Commander." Thrawn's tone kept the same even-keeled pitch. Somehow that was even more terrifying than if he sounded angry. "Did you actually think that I would suggest the Chiss ally with your people? Think about the situation. Your organization chooses to "recruit" by abducting children as old as five from war-torn areas. That could have been my own daughter."

Hux looked away. "Don't you think that would have been better for her than…"

"Do not make such a suggestion. Neither situation is ideal and I will not be asked to choose one or the other for my daughter. Sloane is a smart woman – when she discovered my relation to Oni, I am certain she deduced that there would be no alliance. She's likely being kind, letting you have whatever little time you can have with her."

Hux couldn't look at him. He couldn't bear to think about it. This was unfair… all he wanted was to be able to see her. How was that too much to ask?

Thrawn seemed perfectly comfortable in the tense silences.

"I am, to say the very least, highly concerned with the path Sloane chose to take this organization. You are not ignorant of these things, I know." Thrawn gave him another long look. "Which brings us now, to our third topic of discussion. I would like to extend an offer to you – a position within the Chiss Defense fleet."

His head spun. "You… You're asking me to leave the Order? To leave all this… everything I've built… to betray Sloane…"

"Which is why the offer includes a rank elevated from your current rank within the Order, and a ship to command – roughly the size of an Imperial light cruiser. And, of course, the ability to still see Oni." He nodded, as if to conclude his offer. "You do not need to decide now, however you will want to make your decision soon."

"I can't do that. You know I can't do that. I'd automatically become a massive target for the Order. I'd be more a liability to your own people…"

"I am well aware of that, and I will still extend you this offer. It is the best I can offer, and I owe you that much for saving my daughter's life. As I said, you have some time to consider your options."

"I don't need time." He tried his best to keep his tone under control. "I understand the situation very well. If I left… Sloane needs people who don't think like my father, people who are more progressive. I…" I already made a promise to help her, because she helped me. "I cannot betray the trust she put in me." He shook his head. "No. There must be another option."

Thrawn was silent for a moment. "If you see another option, please mention it. I have put several hours of thought into the situation. I see no other solutions."

He shook his head again. "I will not betray the Order. I will not leave what I've built. And I will not betray Sloane."

"So you have decided to reject my offer?"

He felt as though someone were jabbing an ice pick into his chest. This wasn't fair… Couldn't he have this one thing? One little thing that made him happy, that made him feel that everything would be right eventually. Something that helped him sleep at night.

But then… maybe this was right? She shouldn't be near the Order. She didn't deserve to suffer the constant ridicule from his father. Oni wasn't stupid. She would know her presence would affect his career adversely. She would feel guilt over that.

"Yes. Thank you, but I cannot take that offer."

Thrawn made no reaction whatsoever, other than looking at him with incredibly intense red eyes. "It is a foolish decision. But very well, I will respect it is the decision you made."

He could barely breathe. "I want to see her."

"Of course. One of my crew will take you to her." He paused. "Commander… I fear your organization is on a very dark path. Your decision to say is not a wise one."

"I appreciate your concern," Hux replied through gritted teeth, "but I will see to it that is not the case."

Thrawn gave the slightest sigh. "I owe you a very large favor for saving my daughter's life. A day will come that this path will put you in an impossible position to escape. When that day comes, find me. I will assist you however I am able."

Hux looked back at him for a few long moments. He wanted to reach across the desk and shake the man by the collar. How about you assist me now, so I don't have to abandon her?

The thought made him sick – he would not trade her for a favor, not even for a favor from the likes of Thrawn.

Oni looked very tired when he was finally taken to her. She smiled at him and it struck him – how had he not seen it before? It was empty. She was trying, but there was no joy inside to reinforce the smile.

He pulled her close and kissed her. "Oni…" He squeezed her a little, feeling like he was going to get sick. "We need to talk."

He told her as gently as he could - that she wasn't safe with him. That she was best to return to Nivo with her mother. She was upset, but ultimately agreed. And then he told her that he wouldn't be able to see her, for political reasons. She was upset. She cried. He felt like his heart was being crushed.

He didn't tell her about Thrawn's offer that he turned down, because she was already upset. The last thing he needed to do was confirm that he willingly rejected an option that would have allowed them to be together. Instead he told her that they would wait - when he was higher ranking, when he had a little more influence, or when the Chiss and the Order were able to come to some sort of alliance - they could find a way to be together then.

And he meant it. He would make it happen, somehow.