Hi everyone! We are back with another tale! We know the last one was a bit more on the heavy side with the action and emotions, but this one we are sure you'll love! So enjoy and make sure to leave a review!

Part 1 Chapter 1- This Isn't Sasha

Sasha took another step forward with a grunt as she leaned heavily on the rail that lined the walls of the shooting range. They didn't have much for physical therapy equipment at the house. So when Sasha needed to start working on getting strength back in her leg, Kyr had suggested using the shooting range as it had a similar enough railing set up that could be used for therapy. So Oppie and Cien had dragged in a thin crash mat just in case Sasha would fall, which happened a lot as she worked with them. Right now, though, she was struggling to walk from one end of range to the other. Her left leg was shaking under her as she took small and unbalanced steps. And she hated this so much. In fact, she hated it every time she did physical therapy, but she never told anyone.

With another grunt, Sasha moved her left leg forward to take another step as she slammed her eyes closed and her face contorted as her leg protested the step. Then her knees started to give out and she collapsed against the rail, panting.

"Damn it," she cursed as she rested against the rail.

"It's okay, just one step at a time." Oppie said at her side, trying to be encouraging.

Sasha huffed. "That's what I've been doing," she groused. "I just need a break."

"Just another five minutes." Oppie said, per Kelce's orders, he was trying to do a full forty-five minute session with her at least once a day, and some days it was a struggle to push her through that full time.

She groaned. "Why can't we stop now?"

"Just five more minutes." He said, "you just have to push past your breaking point a little so you'll get stronger every day."

Sasha straightened up on the rail, shifting all of her weight to her right leg and looked away. "I've already passed it," she mumbled under her breath.

"I know, so just push a little more." He asked gently. "You're nearly there, just keep going a little longer."

"Fine," she grumbled before resetting her grip on the rail. Turning her gaze forward, she stared at the end of range. At the goal Oppie was trying to get her to. Sasha stared at it for a long moment before closing her eyes and looking down at her left leg that was in a more flexible brace. Taking a deep breath, she took another step forward, attempting yet again to walk on her left leg. She managed to take another couple of very slow steps before she stopped again. The closer she got to the end the more her body shook. And after that last step, her joints locked up, preventing her from taking another step forward. Despite the few feet she moved, her breathing became labored as if she was walking away from a duel with someone. She could feel her anxiety returning again in full force and it was causing all of this. "I can't…" she said finally after a moment as she hunched over the rail, winded.

"Take a moment to rest, then, and then make the rest of the walk." Oppie said, "this is all you have to do today is just get to the end of the rail."

She looked down to the other end that seemed to stretch on forever then she shook her head. "I'm done. I'm sorry. I can't do this," she said as she turned, leaned forward and rested her forehead against the wall of the range, her back to Oppie.

He looked at her for a moment, the Sasha before him was so different than who he was used to. He thought she would be stubborn about wanting to push herself, not stubborn about wanting to stay in the chair. He swallowed before continuing. "The chair won't come to you, Sasha. You just have to finish this walk and then you're done for the day. But you have to make your way over to that end." He said, taking a slightly harder tone, having to be her mentor again instead of her older brother.

"Why… why do I have to do this?" Sasha asked, her tone wavering between defeat and anger.

"Because you want to get out of the chair, you want to be able to walk these five meters without having to think about it, like you could before." Oppie said.

"But I've been at this for weeks and nothings changed," Sasha groaned. She tightened her grip on the rail until her knuckles turned white. "It still hurts to walk. It's still a struggle to do anything. Why can't we just be done with this?" She asked, more to herself than him, but angry tears filled her eyes as the irritation of the words she said came out.

Oppie honestly wasn't sure how to answer. She should have been better by now, and more and more he had been getting the feeling it was because she was holding herself back. "It will get better, you just need to push yourself. Weeks ago you couldn't make this walk, now you're at the forty-five minute mark and you've done well today. Just get to the end of the rail." He urged her. "It will get easier day by day."

"You keep saying that. Everyone keeps saying that! And nothing feels like it's getting easier or better," Sasha snapped as she turned to face him. "And I feel like I am pushing myself everyday, but…" she got choked up on the words as tears fell. "But nothing is working." She said as she hung her head in defeat.

"It's working, just that recovery takes time." Oppie said, "be patient and push yourself, that's how it gets better. It won't happen overnight, I know you're frustrated with how slow it's been, but you're already better than you were when we got home."

"It doesn't feel like it," she whispered, brokenly.

"I know." Oppie said, "but you're getting there, and that's what matters."

Sasha looked up at him on that. She frowned before shaking her head. She looked back the way she came, where her hover chair sat. Then she looked the other way, towards her goal. Her heart started racing again as her anxiety took more control. "I can't. I'm sorry. I can't…" she said as she shook her head again as more tears fell and lifted her hand to summon her chair towards her with the Force.

"Sasha, you're stubborn about everything else, why would you give up on trying to get better?" He said with frustration as he saw what she was doing.

She stopped and looked at him, narrowing her eyes. "Why? Do you want to know why?" She answered equally as frustrated, her volume getting higher. "Because I'm tired. I'm done. I'm fed up with all of this. And because… because…" she hesitated. "Because, what if I don't want to get better." Sasha looked away on that and continued to summon the chair to her.

"What?" He asked, tempted to use the Force to push the chair away, but he didn't. "What do you mean you don't want to get better?" He asked, absolutely confused.

Sasha closed her eyes and dropped her hand. The chair hovered to a stop less than a meter away from her. She looked down as more tears fell. She honestly didn't have an answer to that. "I don't know," was all she could come up with.

Oppie stared at her, "do you want to be tied to that chair for the rest of your life?" He asked incredulously.

That made her grimace. "No… I hate that chair," she answered after a moment.

"Then just walk to it." He said, "that's all you have to do, is make it to the chair and not give up." He said, "if you hate the chair, then don't let it beat you." He finished quietly.

Sasha stood there, visibly shaking now. She didn't know what to do. She hated that chair, wanted to crush it into pieces and get rid of it. She hated what it meant when she used it. How weak she felt and looked while using it. But she was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if she didn't have it. If she didn't use it. And she was afraid to tell Oppie that. For the past couple weeks, even though she was physically getting better, this was still her biggest obstacle to get around. This and her mental recovery. Her arm was out of its sling days after they got back, and was already back to normal strength. Her lung had healed nicely and there were no aftereffects from it. But when it came to this chair, her leg, and this whole therapy thing, she was afraid of what it meant to get better. And her anxiety wasn't helping with that. It only made things worse as of late. Sasha was stuck on what to do.

After another moment of silence, she bowed her head. "It's already beaten me." She admitted.

He looked at her stunned. She had defiantly faced every challenge that had ever come her way. She had faced Draul, she had faced Cien and turned her to the light, she had rescued them from the cartel, and faced down an army of droids on Selina's ship. Even on Myrkr she had faced every challenge no matter how difficult. It hurt him, physically, to hear her admit defeat like that. He turned away, having no idea what to say, and then looked back. "You've faced everything that came your way Sasha, what is different about this? What are you... " he hesitated, "why would you give up like this?" He asked, looking at the short distance that she had only needed to walk to finish their session today that seemed like it was a kilometer long now, such a perfect analogy for where she was with her recovery.

"I… I don't know, okay?" She said, her voice shaking. "I don't know why. I… I…" She swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. "I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore today." With that, she summoned the chair the rest of the way to her with the Force, avoiding his gaze the whole time.

Oppie watched for a moment before looking away, having on idea what to say, or if he should say anything. Sasha sat down heavily into the hover chair. Once she was settled, she used the controls on the arm rest and moved out of the makeshift therapy area without another word.

Cien was coming in the doorway, she had felt Sasha's distress and had come down to see if they were okay. She saw Sasha coming towards her and she stopped, "Are you okay?" She asked.

Sasha looked up at her, tears staining her cheeks. She looked away immediately. "I'm fine. Excuse me," she said as she tried to maneuver the chair around Cien.

Cien stepped aside to let her pass, looking at her very worriedly. Sasha moved by her and out of the training room. She disappeared down the corridor as she headed for her and Viran's shared room.

Cien looked up as Oppie numbly walked through the room towards her. "What happened?" She asked.

"I don't know." Oppie said as he walked past, going up to his own room. She stared at his back as he retreated down the hallway, and she swallowed uncomfortably.

Oppie had been in his room, trying to meditate for the last hour or so. The past couple of weeks had been rough, trying to push Sasha along, trying to help her recover from the injuries she had sustained on Myrkr, both to her body and to her spirit. And he was at a loss for what more to do. When Kelce had first asked him to leverage his role as mentor to help her with her physical therapy, he had accepted it, thinking Sasha's stubbornness would be applied to getting out of the chair. Not the opposite. All these weeks she had tried but it had been a struggle to get her to make any progress, and today was the first day she had admitted that she wasn't sure she wanted to get better, that the chair had beaten her. And he had no idea what to do about that.

There was a knock at his door and he was a little surprised to sense Cien on the other side. He stood up from his meditative pose and opened the door. "Hi." He said, seeing her standing on the other side.

"Hi Op." She started, "I wanted to know if everything was okay?" She asked with a slightly raised eyebrow and a concerned look on her face.

"Is this about the training room before?" He asked.

"Yeah." She replied.

He sighed. "I don't know." He said, stepping back from the door and inviting her into his room. This was the first time she had ever been in there, and she noted how austere it was, especially compared to his twin brother. She had to fight a constant battle with him to keep their shared room tidy and keep the mess limited to his office.

"What happened?" She asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck as he leaned back against the chair that was under his desk. "I really, honestly am not sure." He admitted. " I was trying to get her to push through, to finish the last bit of her therapy today. And she just... " he paused, "gave up." He finished. "I've never known her to do that. When I tried to goad her into just walking those last few steps, she just refused to, no matter what I said. And she said she didn't want to get better, that she had been beaten by all of this." He wiped his face. "Maybe I pushed her too hard." He said quietly.

Cien was quiet for a while, "no, I think you had set a good pace with it." She assured him, though she frowned. "Not that I'm the best judge of such things. She sat down on the edge of his bed. "I never thought I would see the day Sasha's stubbornness would give out." Cien observed quietly.

"No, she's being stubborn, still." Oppie said. "More stubborn than ever, really." He said as he swallowed, "but she's being stubborn about wanting to not get better, which I don't understand at all."

Cien sat there, trying to understand as well. "Do you think she's afraid?" She finally asked.

"Of what?" Oppie asked curiously.

"Of getting better." Cien said quietly, "of getting better and having to go out and face the galaxy again?" Cien asked, looking up at Op. "First what happened with the cartel and Selina, now what happened to you guys on Nivon and Myrkr."

"Maybe?" Oppie asked, "but this is so unlike her. "She's never been the kind of person to shy away from something like that, she always confronts it head on and we have to try to hold her back, if anything." He said tiredly. "Unless this finally was enough to break her." Oppie said with pain in his voice.

Cien looked down as well. "She's a tough person to break." Cien said quietly, remembering how they had met. "Maybe it's a little like Kyr not wanting to wear his armor, maybe she just needs more time, and finally a reason to push past whatever is troubling her."

"Maybe." Oppie said noncommittally. "But she's going down a dark path, and I don't know how to help her back to who she was. I just want to see her back to being Sasha." Oppie admitted.

Cien considered that for a moment. "What happened changed her." Cien said, after a moment. "When she and I have been in the mindspace I can feel how badly affected she was by what happened on Myrkr. Not just what happened to her, but what it drove her to do." Cien said, "I think she will recover, but I think she's going to be affected by this, I am not entirely sure our Sasha is going to come back from this." Cien said quietly. "At least not fully."

Oppie digested that thought for a while as that realization finally sunk in with him. "I guess you're right." He said after a while, deflated.

"But no matter what she is still our sister." Cien continued, "and it is still Sasha. She's not so lost that it's not her." Cien said. "The reason she has been so deeply affected is because of who she is. Because killing those two hunters, as vile and deserving of it as they were, caused her more pain than the trauma they inflicted." She said, "so that means something. Our little sister is still there." She finished quietly, looking him in the eye.

"Yeah." He said, "So what should we do? I don't even know if I can or should try to do physical therapy with her anymore."

"Let me take over for a little while." Cien said, struck by an odd feeling of Oppie asking her for what to do. "You've been trying to run that for a couple of weeks now. But I can take over for a time. And I can be as stubborn and mean with her as I need to be. Take a break from it and just be her big brother for a while. And I'll talk with Kyr and Viran about this. Viran knows her better than anyone and might know something that can help her." She suggested, "and Kyr might have some ideas and insight as well." She said, remembering his own, recent trauma that was so similar to Sasha's.

"Thank you." Oppie said, looking up at her.

"Of course." Cien said, standing up and heading for the door before stopping and looking back at him. "If you need anything, let me know. You went through the same hunt as she did, if you need any help we're here for you as well."

"Thanks." Oppie said, he said, looking up at her. "I appreciate it ori'vod." He said with a slight smile.

She smiled as well as she left the room to go find Kyr.

Oh jeeze! What a start! Review!