Hello readers! I hope you are all alright. As for me, now I have just a little bit more time to work on the story as we've been sent home from the university. Again… I know, it's a must in the present situation. But the fact that we cannot live a normal university life still saddens me. Anyway, let's pray together that this goddamn virus leaves us alone finally.

Stay safe!

Enjoy! Here is the 7th chapter about the Seventh Sister!

Pregnant silence. That was all that filled the prison cell as the two young women were sitting opposite to each other with the Seventh on the edge of the bed and Sabine on the stool with her arms and legs crossed.

"Are you going to say something or should I start it?" asked the Mirialan dryly. "I thought you were a warrior people." she said when she got no answer from the Mandalorian.

"You bet we are." replied Sabine stoically with a dead pan.

"I would have thought you're going to spring at me, instead of just sitting there silently, giving me cold looks and waiting for something to happen."

"A good soldier knows her limits. I know I wouldn't have chance against you in a one on one fight."

"Thank you." bowed the Seventh her head teasingly with a smirk. There was an unpleasant pause between them again. "Either my senses have weakened or you hide your thoughts very well, but I'll be honest, I can't figure out what is in your head."

"Try it at least. What do you think is in my head?"

"Let me guess. You're trying to find out what kind of threat I am to your friend from Lothal."

"Are you a threat to him?"

"I'm surprised that for you it's even a question."

"Answer me please. Are you a threat to him? Or to anyone else here?"

"First: No I am not. He's the first one after a very long time who treated me as a human being. Well, I'm not human but I think you get my point. Secondly: I know my chances too. I know I couldn't leave this moon alive if I decided to turn against you rebels. Besides, I have no intention to do so."

"I have to admit, you're different than last time all those years ago."

"Different bad or different good?"

"We'll see it. Ezra swears that you changed for the better."

"How kind of him. Yeah, it's true that I changed. Maybe even for the good. However, stating that I'm a good person… is foolish. On the contrary, I'm a terrible person, you don't have to tell it to me, I know it myself."

"At least you feel the weight of your deeds, that's certainly a good point."

"Well, being locked up here I can't really do anything else but thinking and philosophizing." shrugged the Seventh. "Do I have any chance to have fresh air at least for one or two hours per day? I probably deserve it, but I'd like not to go insane yet."

"Unfortunately that's not up to me."

"I thought so." muttered the Seventh. "Talking about the now not so little Padawan. How is he?"

"He's fine." said Sabine with a tone about which the Mirialan couldn't decide whether it was assuring or she was telling her not to think about Ezra. "He would be even more fine if they'd finally let him to come here to you. He's like a scatter-brained idiot for more than a week now and I know exactly why."

Hearing this, the Seventh had to resist the wide, satisfied grin that wanted to appear on her face. Imagining Bridger acting as a lovesick juvenile… She didn't really know if she wanted to laugh at it or find it cute.

"But if you are really interested; he is constantly practicing his skills and when he's not, he's doing other works like repairs."

"I see."

"You care about him." noted Sabine.

"You think so?"

"It would be hard not to notice it. You do care about him and his well-being. Another aspect in which you changed. It's not his skills that you are interested in but himself. It's not the old "come with me, be my apprentice and I'll show you what true power is" thing. You care about him as an equal, a comrade. And by the way if it cheers you up: he cares about you too. He asks us at least two or three times a day if you are kept well."

The former Inquisitor threaded her fingers through her hair. Awkward situation after awkward situation. What does Wren want exactly with this conversation? Does she want to find out if she's good enough for her friend? Or does she want to make her feel that she'll always be an outcast here?

"He's very important to you isn't he?" asked the Seventh.

"More than that. I could best describe him as my brother. My family. I would give my life for him anytime without hesitation." Sabine kept a pause here and deeply looked into the golden Sith eyes of the Mirialan. "What do you think? Would you do the same?"

"This is a dirty trick you know." She recognized when she met one, she was the expert of them. "I know you despise my and believe it or not, I know you have good reasons for that. But I am not your enemy."

Again Sabine didn't reply, just stared at the other woman in front of her. Then she finally let down her crossed arms, letting out a deep breath and placing her hands on her knees. "Strange. But somehow I feel that I should believe you."

In this moment they heard closing footsteps in the corridor. A rebel corporal arrived with a squad of well-armed soldiers and the door opened. "Follow me." he ordered the Seventh.

"I'm afraid we have to continue this later. See you around." said the Seventh with a grin as she stood up then she stepped out of the cell and let the soldiers to surround her.

The ex-Inquisitor was escorted through the corridors of the ancient temple, passing dozens or even hundreds of rebels who though didn't dare to look at her directly; they shot hostile looks at her from the corner of her eyes.

Not as if she cared about what they think about her but this much of hostility and hatred was becoming too much even for her. This was one of the reasons she wanted to see Bridger again so much. At least he would treat her in a better way.

They arrived to a room where several people were awaiting them, including further soldiers standing guard and rebels officers of significant rank. And there was this middle-aged woman in a long, white dress, with short, auburn hair, standing behind a table.

"Greetings." the woman bowed her head slightly. "Take a seat." she said with cold politeness.

The Seventh chose not to ask or resist so she just pulled out the chair before her and sat down at the table. The other woman did the same; she sat down and folded her hands on the table top.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Perhaps. But not sure." replied the Mirialan shortly.

"I'm senator Mon Mothma from Chandrila. The leader of the Alliance to Restore the Republic."

"So. I managed to meet you."

"Am I if I think that you always imagined that if we ever meet it will end with you taking my head to the Emperor?"

So that's it. They just brought her here to make her face every single terrible crime she committed. She knew what she did, okay? She knew that she is a monster. No need to tell her.

The Seventh closed her eyes. "I know what you think of me, alright? I know."

Mon Mothma laid forward and sighed. "Tell me. How? How can someone turn into what you turned into?"

Tell it? "I can't."

"Can't what?"

"I can't tell you. That must be seen. Felt." said the Seventh, her face making it obvious that she's talking about terrible memories. "Only then you can know what it is that can turn someone into me."

"What it is?" asked Mothma paying close attention.

"The worst you can imagine." shook the Sister her head.

No one said a single word for about an entire minute in the room.

"You told the truth." said Mothma.

"About what?"

"Our scouts report that Inquisitors have been recently "neutralized" by Imperial forces. It turns out that you've been really fleeing from the Empire."

"That's what happened." muttered the Seventh barely audible.

"And now? What are you going to do, former Seventh Sister of the Empire?"

"This is the umpteen time I'm being asked about this. And I still don't know. But let's be honest, it's not up to me what I'm going to do."

Mothma stared into her eyes deeply. "Do you want to live peacefully and freely?"

"That's all I want senator." There was actually something more she wanted as well. A certain young Jedi who holds her close and goes with her wherever she goes.

"I see. However you might understand that it's not so simple after… everything. What do you think? Can you be rehabilitated?"

"Rehabilitated? Well, let me see." rolled the Seventh her eyes around. "I actually don't have any idea what that means."

"Do you think you'd be ever able to be a fair inhabitant of the galaxy?"

"I know what you think it is. But to me this word lost all meanings. What do you want to know senator? Do I have any regrets?"

"Do you?"

"I have. But not for what you think I should. I regret that I didn't choose to leave earlier. That I let my fear from my masters to make me stay. You know I saw what happened to two of us who wanted to be free from the Inquisitorius, Vader and the Empire. I didn't want to share their fate. Now, I think even that would have been better. And I regret that I wasn't conscious enough as a child to say no to the Jedi. I should have known that I'll only cause myself pain if I join it. But it happened anyway. I spent a few years as a Jedi youngling listening to dumb teachings, I got turned by the Sith, suffered its ways, I committed crimes all over this blasted galaxy and now here I am. I want to know who that child was. But I don't think I could ever find the answers. And to be honest: I do not really care about this life anymore. Order one of the soldiers here to shoot me through the head, they would do it gladly anyway, I wouldn't mind. I'm not asking for forgiveness, I know I'm not worthy of it. I'm only asking to be left alone."

"…"

"I will not harm anyone again. If that is what you interested in."

"Forgiveness would be hard indeed." said Mothma with a neutral tone. "Nonetheless, we can give you amnesty."

"Fair enough."

"You'll have to earn it though."

"You mean I'll have to fight for your Alliance, right?"

"Here's my offer: you'll fight as an Alliance soldier for the rest of the war. We will send you out to the most dangerous missions possible; ergo there is a good chance that you'll get killed. However if you come back, you will be free and undisturbed forever, I give my word. But remember this: if you ever show any sign of betraying us, there will be no mercy for you. Do you understand?"

"What if I say no?"

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the court to decide your fate."

Oh, the Seventh wasn't naïve; she knew what kind of sentence she would get.

"Do you believe this Alliance can defeat the Empire?"

"Listen to me. The Empire may outnumber us. It may outgun us. But it can never ever take our hope. That is what we are counting on."

"Melodrama again. Humans…"

Dead silence once more. The Seventh was staring at the senator without a blink, while Mothma was watching her the same way. Finally…

"Alright." said the Seventh.

"So you accept our conditions?"

"I do. Somehow there's still a little hope in me. I hope I can get rid of this nightmare once and for all."

"In this case let me present you your future commander." said Mothma and stood up, gesturing at someone in the crowd.

The Mirialan looked there and thought that it just cannot be a coincidence. It was the Twi'lek from Bridger's crew who stepped forward.

"General Syndulla, please take care of our new recruit."

"Yes ma'am." nodded Hera the turned to the surprised Sister. "Come with me." she said and headed to the exit.

The Seventh hesitated for only a second, and then she stood up and followed Hera.

"Do you think this is a good idea senator?" a rebel general asked Mothma.

"If she turns out to be a good rebel soldier than there's literally nothing that hope cannot defeat. Remember, that is our greatest weapon." she replied and sat back. Yes, hope. That was everything she had when it came to the ex-Inquisitor.

X

Out in the corridor Hera was walking wordlessly, staring forward with the Seventh by her side.

After what seemed to be an eternity the commander of the Ghost crew finally spoke up. "We haven't met before personally, have we?"

"I guess we haven't. But I'm pretty sure you've heard lots of things about me by now."

"It would have been hard not to. You've caused a lot of suffering to innocent people you know."

"Yes."

"You've done a lot of bad things."

"Yes."

"And lately you've helped Ezra to return home."

To this the Seventh had no answer. How will Syndulla continue this? Will she blame her more? Will she point it out that one good deed is not enough to redeem her? Or a miracle happens and she'll say something nice to her?

"And for that I am grateful to you." said Hera.

"What could I say? Taking him with me was no longer an option." said the Seventh, unable to bring herself to say "your welcome".

"How can I call you?"

"Unfortunately I can't provide a name General; I'll still have to choose one."

"Take your time Spectre Seven."

"Seven huh?" she thought. "Does it mean that I'm officially a member of your crew now?"

"Yes, you are. I requested it myself."

The Mirialan couldn't help but notice how Syndulla's voice changed from distant to friendly and sincere. And it left her confused.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, I asked the Rebel High Command to let you join us. You may ask why I did that. The answer is that I was interested in you."

"Was that your only reason?"

"No, actually not. But let's discuss this later. First we get rid of your old clothes." said Hera and gestured at the Seventh's Imperial uniform. "Here we are." she said when they arrived to a storage room. "Serve yourself, choose something that you like. I'll be out here."

"You let me to be there alone just like that? What if I do something bad inside there?"

"You will not."

"So sure are you?"

"I feel you'll not."

"Don't tell me you're a Jedi." scoffed the ex-Inquisitor. "Two is already enough."

"Don't worry about that, I'm not. Besides, I think you don't have that much problem with one of my Jedi." said Hera with crossed arms.

The Seventh thought that it would be the best if she doesn't reply anything so she just entered the room and shut the door behind her.

Inside she saw seemingly endless rows of shelves and huge piles of crates.

"Okay, let's see." After almost a quarter of an hour she found the "clothing department" and started searching until she found everything she needed.

She knew that it will be strange at first, she couldn't remember the last time she wore something that was not her Inquisitor uniform. Despite of this it felt heaven to finally peel off the worn, dirty, sweaty material. One by one she freed herself from the clothes she became so familiar with in the last two decades.

Before she threw away the upper part of her uniform she looked at it for one last time. More specifically at one certain part of it: the Imperial insignia on the shoulder. That was the sign she always carried with herself as she was protecting the power of her Sith masters throughout the galaxy. The sign that was the only certain point for her for so long. And she did all those horrible things in the name of this emblem. Now it had no meaning for her at all. Half of the galaxy wanted to kill her for wearing it, and the other half now wanted to kill her too in the name of it.

With a quick move she threw it on the ground.

It was relishing to feel fresh air over her flesh. The smooth stone floor under her bare feet was hard and cold but even that felt good after she took off her old boots.

It would have been even better if she could take a long, hot shower but for a start this was good too.

With Mirialan elegant and grace in her movements she stripped off the last of her clothes then pulled on some underwear she took from one of the crates. She looked at her half-naked reflection in a small mirror that was hanging from the wall nearby.

What she was always satisfied with was how she looked. And it was more satisfying to know that a certain young man was thinking the same. The fabric of recovered underwear hugged her waist perfectly and did little to hide the tops of her breasts, allowing a look at them. Bridger was the only one outside of her who ever saw her like this. Moreover he saw even more of her during that night in that cave. He even went as far as calling her attractive while they were travelling through hyperspace with a stolen shuttle.

Damn, she was slowly forgetting how his lips felt on hers. It was now really about time to have some time with him again. In the cave everything happened so fast, she didn't have the time to observe his physics well and she neither had the time to let him adore her body for long enough.

She finished and left the storage. Hera was still waiting for her in the corridor as she said.

"You like dark colors, don't you?" asked Hera when she saw the Seventh.

The Mirialan was now wearing black boots that went up to her knees, black pants that accentuated her legs and waist well, a long, sleeveless, dark-grey tunic with a waist belt and a pair of long, black sleeveless gloves that went up to her upper arms. "What could I do General, that's my style." spread the Seventh her arms.

She followed Syndulla further. When they exited the temple she had to narrow her eyes first because of the sunlight, she got too used to the gloom of the cell.

"There's something in your mind." noted the Seventh.

"How do you know?"

"I'm still Force-sensitive you know."

"And what do you think is in my mind?" asked Hera.

"The youngest member of your crew." referred the Sister to Ezra.

"Ah."

"The others told you that there is some kind of a "connection" between him and me, right?"

"I do not deny, I've heard a few things."

"I thought so. And yes, there is. In fact, I'm here mainly because of him. I'm here because he was convincing me and asked me nicely. And somehow I let him to take me here."

"You said before that there are things that you regret. Is coming with him one of them?"

"…I don't know."

"Because you could have done anything you want, go wherever you want. And still. You are here."

"I'm here. I'm here and bear the thought that all the people here hate me to the extremes. I'm here and gave up my choices. And it's because one Jedi called me attractive and courted me. He's likely the very only person in this galaxy I can count on and to whom I mean anything. That's why I do not stay away from him." said the Seventh, refusing to look at Hera. "He's all I've got."

Force, when did she start exposing her feelings and thoughts this much? And how can it be so easy?

Nevertheless it was true. She just needed him. And slowly the memory of him caressing her body, kissing her, making him climax and climaxing inside her was becoming better and better.

"He was constantly telling us that we can trust you." said Hera.

"I'm not your enemy." ensured her the Seventh.

"If you were it would be pretty interesting that you helped Ezra to escape, and gave us informations that helped us to fight more successfully against the Empire. Plus, ever since you arrived here I was kind of sure that you care about him. The mere fact that you came with him and put your fate into the hands of your enemies because of him already tells a lot."

"You think so?"

"We'll see. Behave and we'll magnificently get along with each other."

The two kept strolling through the vast landing field between the temple and the jungle, passing various ships and starfighters until the Seventh noticed a familiar ship among the many. It was the modified VCX-100 light freighter, the Ghost as Syndulla and her crew was calling it.

"Are we already going somewhere?" tilted the Seventh her head.

"Not yet. I was thinking about a little "accepting ceremony"." replied Hera.

"I'm not very good at things like that you know."

"Then it's time to practice." said Hera with a lopsided smile.

They climbed the boarding ramp with the Seventh following Hera. Inside the Ghost a little surprise waited her. There was the entire crew, Ezra, Jarrus, Wren, and the Lasat standing in a semicircle.

"Crew. I'd like to introduce you our newest member. Spectre Seven." gestured Hera at the former Inquisitor. "Spectre Seven, I think you met all of them, except Spectre Four. Spectre Four?"

"I'm Garazeb Orrelios. Call me Zeb." said the Lasat in a surly way, looking away. He was obviously uncomfortable with the Sister being around.

"Please work with her as a full team member. She has a lot to prove and it's our job to make it possible for her. Do you have any questions to her?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Alright. Then you are free to go." dismissed them Hera then turned to the Seventh once more. "Welcome aboard Spectre Seven."

"I'll need to think about a name." thought the Mirialan and turned her eyes toward Ezra. Okay, his handsome features didn't change in the past more than one week.

As the crew was leaving the Ghost, Ezra got beside her. She took him by the arm, leaned close and whispered in his ears: "You'll have to make up a lot."

"Were you alright?"

"Kinda. Unfortunately the inside of my cell was visible and it wasn't soundproofed. Any of the rooms here might be?" she asked and watched with a smirk as his cheeks were slightly turning red.

Who knows? Maybe this will turn out not so bad after all.

To Guest: Your welcome. I always update as soon as I can. It's good to know that you love this story. This was also enough three times.