AN:Theo, thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad you've enjoyed these stories. I definitely agree, Thrawn was just misunderstood in the Thrawn trilogy. That, and as you said, his exile and Imperial service changed him. I'm interested to see just what being married to a Jedi does to subvert or alter those changes and if he can keep that idealism. As far as his early Imperial service and adventures in the Unknown regions are concerned, stay tuned! There will be some of that in the next story. Although, I should warn you to be careful what you wish for... *insert ominous wiggling of eyebrows here*

Chapter 24

Chiara was sitting alone in the medbay, wrapped in a blanket and eating a bowl of steaming hot soup when Anisi appeared.

"Chiara!" the pettite woman exclaimed, hurrying over to her. "It is such a relief to see you alive. When you didn't come back after a few days, everyone assumed the worst. What happened?"

"I'm afraid we wrecked your ship. We put it down on an ice ledge on one of the cliffs because it was the only place to land while we went and got Mitth'saml'inas and her children. We think an ice boulder must have fallen while we were gone, though, because the ledge was broken and the ship was gone by the time we got back," Chiara told her. "The life support in their ship was damaged, so we couldn't even go back there. We decided it was better to try to make it back to the city than to give up and wait to die."

"You made it back on foot?" Anisi asked in shocked amazement.

Chiara nodded. "Thrawn is in serious condition, though. His suit was damaged when he was attacked by a htisahtin'casi, this morning. He has frostbite and hypothermia."

Anisi sat down beside her on the bed and put a comforting hand on her arm. "Our medics are very experienced in treating these conditions. He will be alright."

"I hope so," she shivered. "I'm sorry about your ship."

Anisi shook her head. "Don't trouble yourself over it. As long as you and Thrawn are safe, I can live with losing the ship. I still can't believe that you were able to walk across the surface in the middle of a blizzard and survive. How did you avoid getting lost and how did you manage to find a way back into the city? I heard you came in through one of the launch tubes."

"Thankfully, you packed a compass for us and Thrawn knew what direction we needed to head. Once we got close enough to the city, I could sense the people here and was able to guide us the rest of the way in. Otherwise, I think we probably would have walked right past it and never known," Chiara told her.

"And once again, your Jedi powers prove their worth," Anisi murmured. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Aristocra himself invites you and Thrawn to his home once Thrawn recovers. You took quite gamble by going out there, but it certainly paid off."

Chiara sighed and pulled the blanket a little more tightly around herself. "I didn't do it for the political gain, Anisi. Yes, I did think about that and I'm glad it will most likely be beneficial for Thrawn and me. I did it because I am a Jedi and I have a duty to protect those whom I can and to save those whom I can."

Anisi looked at her. "And this is what makes you truly unique and even more valuable. You serve others without thought for personal gain. The Ascendency could use more of that."

Just then, the door slid open and one of the medics came in. "Commander Mitth'rawn'nuruodo conscious and in stable condition. You may see him now, if you wish," he told Chiara.

"Go on," Anisi told her, squeezing her arm encouragingly. "I'll let you two have some time alone. I'll drop in later to see how you are both doing."

Chiara smiled at her gratefully, thinking how fortunate she was to have the Chiss woman as a friend. She turned and followed the medic to a treatments suite a few doors down. The gentle hum and beep of medical equipment greeted her as she stepped inside. The bed at the center of the room was covered in a large archway that was designed to return Thrawn's frostbitten limbs gradually to the correct temperature to avoid further damage. Only his head and upper shoulder were visible outside of the equipment and, despite what the medic had told her about him being conscious, his eyes were closed. She could see where several tubes had been hooked into a port that was attached to his neck, delivering vital fluids and nutrients to speed his recovery.

She pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down, clutching her blanket around her to drive out the lingering chill that she hadn't yet been able to shake. Thrawn opened his eyes at the sound of the chair scraping across the floor.

"Thrawn!" Chiara exclaimed, hurrying over to him. His eyes, she noticed, were much clearer and burned with a steady fire.

"Chiara," he greeted her. "I'm told I owe you my life, once again."

She blushed. "It was nothing. How do you feel?"

"Always so modest," he observed mildly. "I would not say that I feel well, but the medics assure me that there will be no permanent damage. It will take a few days to complete the tissue regeneration process, but we have the technology to repair frostbite rather effectively."

"I'm sorry I dragged you out into this mess. You're the one that is suffering for it."

"There is no need to apologize. You kept us all alive and you kept me going when I wanted to give up. You are an incredible woman, Chiara Matao. No one else could have gotten us through that alive, yet you did. You will never cease to amaze me," he told her.

"I hope not," she murmured, moving close enough to plant a kiss on his forehead. She stroked his cheek gently, noting that his skin was still noticeably cool to the touch. "Do you know what I hated most about those environmental suits?"

"What?"

"Being isolated from you. Obviously, I could see you and hear you, but I missed being able to touch you or hear your heart beat when you held me," she told him.

"Odd, I had the same thoughts," he told her with a small smile. "Except I most missed being able to kiss you."

"At least that is something that is easily corrected, now," she told him with a smile, leaning over and brushing her lips against his. Just then, the door slid open behind them. Chiara straightened and turned to see Thrass hurry in.

"What in the Ascendency were you thinking?" he demanded. "Going up to the surface in the middle of a storm of this magnitude? We all thought you were dead."

"But we're not," Chiara told him. "And we brought the Aristocra's family back. I would think you would be pleased with that, Thrass."

"I would, if you hadn't both been risking your lives so recklessly," he told her stiffly.

"Thrass, it was not a reckless decision. Chiara has abilities far beyond that of anyone else in the Ascendency and she also knows her limits. She said that she could handle a ship in the storm and find the Aristocra's family and I trusted her. You will notice that she did all of these things perfectly," Thrawn told his brother.

"Yet you still had to walk back to Csaplar through one of the worst blizzards we have had in a decade," Thrass pointed out.

"That was hardly my fault, Thrass. I can't predict that an ice boulder is going to fall where we left the ship and destroy our ride back. If that hadn't happened, we would have been back days ago, none the worse for wear," Chiara told him.

"And it was still her skills that got us back, even if we had to do it on foot," Thrawn said pointedly.

Thrass shook his head at both of them and sighed. "I suppose I should just be grateful that you are both alive. The medics tell me that you will recover," he said, looking at his brother.

"In a few days," Thrawn replied, closing his eyes.

"I should leave you to rest. I am glad you are back," Thrass told them. His eyes flicked to Chiara. "Both of you."

An hour or so later, one of the medics appeared to check on Thrawn and told Chiara that she would have to leave for the night. No amount of protesting would change his mind, so Chiara eventually gave up, told Thrawn goodnight and headed home.

Much to her surprise, several Chiss she had never met before, all wearing the burgundy colors of the Eighth Ruling Family, stopped her on the way home to thank her for rescuing the Aristocra's family. She accepted their thanks as gracefully as she could in her exhausted and disheveled condition and continued on her way. When she finally arrived at their house, it felt almost odd to be there, knowing that Thrawn wouldn't be coming home in a few hours. She headed to the 'fresher first, stripping off the clothes she had been living in for several days, now, and turning on the hot water. She sighed with relief as she stepped under the deliciously warm spray, letting it drive away the lingering chill and the aches that still clung to her from their long and arduous journey.

Too spent emotionally and physically to even bother dressing again when she finally stepped out of the 'fresher, Chiara climbed wearily into bed. After so many nights of sleeping on the icy ground, the sheets felt like silk against her skin and the bed was a cloud of comfort for her aching muscles. She ran a hand over Thrawn's empty pillow, wishing she could feel his strong arms around her and feeling guilty that he wasn't there because of her stubbornness in insisting they go after Mitth'saml'inas and her family. She lay there in the darkness for several minutes. wondering if he felt as lonely as she did. Chiara stretched out in the Force, wondering if she could find sense him from so far away amongst the clamor of so many minds. She was pleasantly surprised to find that, even at this distance, she could still find his presence in the Force with surprisingly little difficulty. Maybe it's because I've grown so familiar with him and with the way his presence feels, she thought. She could vaguely feel his discomfort as the regeneration process rebuilt his damaged nerves and skin, as well as his impatience and something else that she couldn't quite identify. Clearly, he was still awake and finding it as hard to sleep as she was. Finally, making up her mind, she rolled out of bed and slipped on some fresh clothes.

She stole silently through the streets and into the medbay, easily eluding the few night patrols that were scattered around the base. Arriving at Thrawn's room, she keyed the door open and slipped inside. Thrawn's eyes shot open as the door slid shut behind her. "Thrawn, it's me," she told him softly.

She saw his glowing eyes move in the darkness as he picked his head up off the pillow to look at her. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I couldn't sleep," she confessed. "It didn't seem like you were sleeping, either, so I thought I would come and spend the night with you."

"The medics won't be happy to find you here in the morning," he told her.

"Let them be unhappy. It's better than neither of us getting sleep," she pointed out.

"It is, indeed," Thrawn agreed.

When the medics arrived in the morning to check on Thrawn, they found Chiara curled up in the chair at his bedside, her head laying on the edge of his pillow and one hand resting gently on his cheek, both of them sleeping soundly.