Author's Note: Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away. This is my character's story in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasArts. I claim no rights to the characters of Star Wars and simply wrote this for fun. Fun illustrated images will be showing up on Deviant Art under Diana Hart Voices. Feel free to check it out when they come out. Thanks for reading. (Some words are in Mando'a, the Mandalorian Language, there is a translator available on google.)

Chapter 21

The Vanguard connected to Rix's ship. Once the seal was activated, Meric stood up and made his way to the exit. Pip crawled up to him, letting out a string of beeps. He wanted to see her too.

Holding down his hand, Meric invited the little droid. "Come on, she would want you to be there too."

Pip jumped up and landed in Meric's hand, and crawled up his arm, latching onto his shoulder while he walked a fast pace to the other ship. Waiting for the door to open, Meric tapped his leg with his finger. Once the door opened, he began running to the Medical Bay of the ship. Rix met him half way.

"How is she?" Meric asked as Rix matched his pace and guided him to the room.

"Her wounds are pretty extensive, it will take some time to heal." Rix confirmed. "But she's alive."

"Do we know what happened?"

"No," Rix stated. "All we know is that the ship she used is completely depleted of fuel. She was trying to get as far away from where ever she was as fast as she could. The ship was also damaged, suggesting that she didn't just leave easily. Her injuries also confirm that."

Meric came to a stop and rubbed his eyes. "Thrawn really tried hard to keep her there."

Rix's eyes widened. "Thrawn was the one who took her?"

"Apparently he's been after her for a long time now. A little over a decade." Meric stated. "Trisk said it's because he sees them as the same."

They began to walk again and came to the Medical Bay. Trisk lay on one of the beds, her features in a relaxed state. She had several bandages wrapped around wounds that had hit her arms, and even one that had grazed her cheek. She looked badly beaten. Several dark bruises appeared on her skin as well, and the sight broke Meric's heart.

One week, she had been missing for one week, and the first time he saw her again was after she had to fight her way out all alone. He planned to go and save her, but he couldn't do that if he didn't have help and couldn't find the ship.

Reaching down to her, he placed his hand on her cheek, rubbing her skin with his thumb. Leaning down, he placed his forehead against hers. He had never felt so helpless before. He could do nothing for her other than wait. He just needed her to wake up.

"Thank you, Rix." Meric said while sliding his arms under her legs and back. "I'll take her back to the Vanguard and take her someplace to rest until she can fully recover."

"Where are you thinking?" Rix asked.

"Mandalore," Meric's eyes didn't leave Trisk. "It's probably one of the safest places for her. No Imperials will attack her there. And my parents would be willing to help."

"Do you want me to come with?" Rix asked, willingly being a support to his friend and brother.

Meric shook his head. "We should be okay, but could you inform the other Mandalorians searching that we found her. They can stop now."

Rix nodded. "I'll check in on you and her progress later."

Meric turned and walked out of the room, making his way to his own ship. Pip crawled down Meric's shoulder and rested on Trisk's lap, hugging one of her hands. They were both worried about her. He took her back into the Vanguard and rested her on her bed.

Tucking a hair behind her ear, he instructed Pip. "Watch over her. I need to get us to Mandalore."

Pip gave a confirmation beep and stayed close to his creator. Meric smiled at the two and went up to the pilot's seat. Setting a course for his home world, he piloted the ship to the safe haven. After a long flight, he saw his home world come to view. He needed to call his parents and inform them they were coming.

Pressing a few buttons, the call went out as he began preparations to land the ship as close to home as he could.

"It's been a while since you called, Meric." His father's voice answered. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"I wish it was more pleasurable circumstances," Meric admitted. "I'm coming home for a while. My friend has been badly wounded and this is the only place I can think of being safe for her."

"Is it that Jedi friend I've heard so much about?" Meric's mother asked.

"Who told you?" Meric asked.

Meric's father answered. "Rix called us a while ago and told us the situation. You know our home is always open to your friends. Though, Rix also said she is more than a friend to you."

Meric didn't know how to answer that.

"It's nice to hear that you have a cyare, ad." Meric's mother commented.

His father agreed. "You've been so focused on your bounty hunting that your mother and I actually were worried that you wouldn't find someone."

Meric had entered the planets atmosphere and began the landing procedures. "I do love her, and she knows that. But I don't know where we stand. She lived the majority of her life under a code that taught her that romantic relationships can lead to the Dark Side. It wasn't until more recently that she told me she wanted to live as normal a Mandalorian life as she could."

"Sounds pretty clear to me." His father stated.

His mother added on. "But there's also the worry of her being known as a Jedi. The Empire will constantly target her. If she wants to live that life, she needs to be willing to completely drop everything dealing with the Jedi and become a full Mandalorian."

"She's partially there." Meric explained. "Vata adopted her into the clan, and gave her armor after she died. She just needs to be fully approved by Mandalore. But I don't want to make the choice for her. Her Jedi past is a big part of her life."

"Then I guess we wait and see what is more important to her." His mother answered.

Meric's ship touched down. "I just landed. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Meric closed the call and powered off the ship. Walking back to Trisk's room, he opened the door and saw that she had not changed positions. Pip still watched her, and his heart fell a little more. Walking over, Pip looked at him and let out sad string of beeps.

"I know." He acknowledged. "I want her to wake up too."

He bent over and picked her up, holding her close to his chest. Pip didn't hesitate to jump up and cling to Trisk's hand once more. He walked out of the ship and made his way to his home. It had been quite a long time since he had visited his parents, and he should have sooner. He even had been on Mandalore not that long ago when Vata passed away. He could have visited them, but he had focused on his feeling for Trisk.

After walking a while, he arrived at him home, where is father, Vrack Cryl, waited for him with an open door. Entering the domain, Meric made his way back to his old room, finding that little had changed since he last visited. He placed Trisk on the bed, covering her with a blanket.

He looked over and grabbed a chair nearby and sat down next to the bed. Resting his elbows against his knees, he leaned forward and watched her for a bit. Reaching over, he grabbed her free hand hand gave it a squeeze.

"You have to wake up." He demanded of her, hoping the words would reach her somehow.

His father and mother watched from the doorway, both saddened at seeing how their son was effected by the situation. They knew he wasn't going to move from that spot that often. He would stay by her side until she woke up. They didn't know when that would happen, but they hoped it would be soon.

"Poor thing." His mother whispered.

"They both look like they've been through a lot." Vrack commented.

Rikillo, Meric's mother, rested her head on her husbands shoulder. "I've never seen our ad act like this before. His feelings are genuine."

Vrack rested his hand on her waist. "I wouldn't expect less from our son. This girl must be special if she effects Meric like this."

"You think she could survive a plate of my Tingilar?" Rikillo asked.

Vrack let out a chuckle. "You know we have to keep her if she does."

"Buir," Meric called to his parents. "I don't know how long we will be here, but..."

"Don't even worry about staying here too long." His mother told him. "Take as much time as you need. She needs to be healthy again before you take off."

He smiled at them and looked back to the sleeping Chiss woman. He just needed to wait and hopefully soon, she would wake up.