Yes! We are back with another book! I know it was so quick, but we couldn't stop! So please sit back and enjoy!

Part 1 Chapter 1- Haven

Viran woke up in his room at Haven. The Haven. The lodge of Oppie and Kyr's family estate, including the town, were named for. He looked around at the dark wood furniture and paneling and the rest of the deliberately rustic environment. Not the same as a ship's quarters, but he was thankful for the space for the time being, and figured that it was the closest thing to a home that the three of them had since Vestora. At least for the meantime.

After the battle on Arbortarum, Viran barely had a moment to gather his thoughts as everything moved at such a fast pace. Viran thought back to the battle. Although he was proud that he had successfully held off against Cien, his success felt overshadowed by everything else that had transpired. Sasha had actually opened up a fold in space, stopped Dracul from escaping, and now they finally had Oppie back. Viran knew that the Force worked in mysterious ways, but it also didn't mean that sometimes the Force wasn't occasionally cold and cruel. As soon as they got Oppie back, Kyr had almost died attempting to prevent the cave from being overrun. There was also Kitsu and Illara. They had joined Kyr at some point in the defense of the cave. Viran, however, had hardly noticed them as Sasha did something that he never experienced before or expected.

In all his time with her, he had seen her competence and skill in a fight, her ability to remain cool and collected under pressure, he had even seen her somehow look more gorgeous covered in bruises, saber burns, and with a weapon in her hand more than normal.

He chuckled to himself as he realized that probably wasn't healthy, he realized further that he didn't even know what normal would look like, a bit of a sobering thought. Hopefully he and Sasha could have a normal life at some point. Yet what she had done back on Arbortarum he could hardly describe. Viran still could not process it. He had seen her just use the same style of Force powers that Dracul had used. He had seen her focus in the Force like she had done a thousand times before, but instead of bringing back the living dead, Kry came back to life and Sasha seemed to bring him back with that power. He shuddered to think how much power she truly had if she had been able to bring someone back to life.

Viran did not know how long he had been staring at the carved wooden panels, but he figured that he should get up and check on his friends. Looking around, he saw that he was in a bedroom with a couple of twin sized beds. Probably was used by a set of young kids long ago. It was right next door to Sasha's room where she had a queen sized bed and a private refresher. A room he was thinking about potentially sharing with her soon. Viran finally mustered the energy to get up, and was instantly reminded of his several broken ribs, in addition to everything else that felt bruised.

"Rheeeeeeeek," the bed creaked and echoed eerily throughout the empty room. He realized how silent it was in a more rustic building like this, with no buzz from a ship's engines or electrical systems, only the gentle flow of the wind out the shaded window.

Viran stood up and felt his ribs smart as he began to straighten up. He also realized that his ankle was killing him as well, although he did not remember his leg being an issue due to his fight with Cien, he thought that he may have just slept on it wrong. Either way, due to Cien or sleep, he figured that the long walk through the estate would take too long and be a bit too painful if he did not have any support. He thought wryly that since no one really lived in this room that they no longer needed all these beds. He would be able to repurpose one of the bed supports to be used as a rudimentary set of crutches. Whoever had gotten him to this bed, though, had been kind enough to leave his saber and some new clothes.

He didn't remember much after Oppie fell back asleep on the Shadow. He remembered Sasha doing what she could for his injuries and then he went to go rest in the lounge of the ship. He had passed out on the couch surrounding the gametable. He didn't remember arriving to Haven. He just woke up in this bed.

After some hopping on his good ankle like an idiot to get the fresh clothes on, he set about making his set of crutches. A few lightsaber cuts later, and he had something that even battlefield medic would be proud of. He felt bad that he just ruined this furniture without permission, but he made the mental note to come back and fix it later. With a few clunk clunks of the crutches, he hobbled to the door and it opened with no issues as he peered into the hallway. The hallway wasn't as quiet as the bedroom had been and he heard enough voices so he assumed that he was close enough to the main living area. He followed the voices and soon clunk clunked his way to a great hall, of sorts, with a huge fireplace at one end and a couple of furniture groupings that seemed very inviting. He looked around and saw Kitsu and Illara sitting at a table that looked like it was made for gaming. Viran hobbled his way to them.

"Hey you two" Viran croaked, as he realized it must have been some time since he used his voice, or had some water

Illara nodded at Viran as he approached.

Kitsu turned around, grinned and remarked, "Well you look strong enough to pull the ears off a Gundark!"

Viran smirked, "Yeah well I feel more like the Gundark who just had his ears pulled off." He chuckled. He then felt bad about asking his next question. "Do you guys know where Sasha and Oppie are?"

"Your girlfriend is in the medbay, down the stairs, through the hall and the seventh door on the right. Still trying to take care of everyone." Kitsu replied, sipping her tea.

Viran was caught off guard that they had somehow figured that out, although given how perceptive Kyr had been about himself and Sasha he shouldn't have been that surprised. "Uh.. alright. Thanks." He croaked with a nervous smirk.

"No problem, Sport." Kitsu replied with a smile.

WIth that, Viran crutched his way toward the medbay, following the directions Kitsu had given him. As soon as he reached the door Kitsu instructed, Viran noticed the sign clearly labeled on the door as 'Medbay." Moving closer, the door slid open to reveal a small little medical ward. The rustic aesthetic of the rest of the lodge gave way to a pristine medical room that looked like it could have been from a military base. A set of two beds lined both walls with monitors and sensors lining the bulkhead around them. In one of the beds, Viran noticed Oppie. His injuries were properly wrapped and he was resting comfortably under a thin blanket. As Viran slowly moved further into the room, he noticed that Oppie's tunic, armor, lightsabers and boots were sitting on a shelf, neatly folded. Glancing past Oppie, he noticed two doors. One looked like it led into a surgical chamber. The other door opened to the bacta chamber where Kyr was floating in one of the bacta tanks. Standing beside the tank was Sasha with her back to him next to a cylindrical medical droid. He also noticed the bacta patch on her right shoulder that Kitsu had applied back on the Shadow Runner. The patch was no longer its bluish color like it is when first applied as it was now more an off white color. There was also a slight dark smudge appearing from underneath it.

Viran approached her with a slightly worrying gaze. As he got closer, she turned to face him. Her face looked tired and exhausted as if she hadn't slept or rested in days. His face furrowed further with worry seeing her tired state. However, she raised an eyebrow at him and his makeshift crutches.

"What the hell happened to your leg?" Sasha asked, her voice strained.

"I'm not quite sure if I injured my ankle facing Cien, leaving the cave, or just on my own in my sleep," Viran said with a shrug.

Sasha sighed. She then pointed at one of the three empty beds behind him.

"Go, sit," Sasha said before turning back to the bacta tank. "I'll take a look at it here in a moment."

"Sash, hold on. My ankle is fine, you need to take a second and rest yourself," Viran urged, adding emphasis to the word you.

Sasha sighed and shook her head. "I'm fine. I'll rest once I'm done here."

"Sash, you need to slow down, you won't be any help to anyone if you pass out from exhaustion. I can sense your injuries and your exhaustion through the Force. Others may not see it, but you are worrying me, almost as much as you did when you brough Kyr back."

"Yeah, we should talk about that," Sasha said with a nod. "I'm still not sure what it was."

Viran gingerly grabbed her good shoulder, and slowly turned her toward him, "Sasha, look at me, please, you need to rest. You look ready to collapse any second."

Sasha stared at him at a brief loss for words. Before she could respond, Kitsu and Illara entered the medbay.

"Hey guys, how are the twins doing?" Illara asked, ignoring the slight tension between Sasha and Viran.

The two glanced over to them before looking over to Oppie on the nearby bed.

"Oppie is doing well," Sasha started. "His injuries will still need time to heal, but he should be on his feet soon. As for Kyr, he is going to be in the bacta tank for a while. His injuries were very serious. It will be awhile before he is ready to return to any action."

"That's great." Kitsu said with a smile. "How's your shoulder doing?" She asked, knowing from the state of the bacta patch that it needed changing.

"It's a little sore, but it's not bothering me," Sasha said with a slight shrug followed by a small wince she tried to hide, but failed.

"Ah, good. It's been a couple of hours, how 'bout you sit down and let me change the patch?" Kitsu suggested nicely.

"I can change it later," Sasha said. "I still have a lot to get done before I can rest."

She started to move back over toward Kyr and the bacta tank.

Viran reached up and grabbed the side of her head, turning her back toward him. "You. Need. To. Slow. Down." He then kissed her and pulled away a moment later, holding her face close to his, their heads touching still. He held her head still at that moment, hoping that she could focus on his breathing, hoping that she could just catch up to the moment. He whispered, "I love you." He first felt her breathing slow down, then he felt the muscles in her neck relax along with her shoulders.

"Thanks," Sasha said in a quiet tone. "I love you too."

Kitsu cleared her throat. "So, that shoulder?"

Sasha pulled away and looked at her. She nodded. "Yeah, you can take a look at it. But then I do need to get back to work once you are done."

"That's fine," Kitsu said with a nod. "Come on."

Viran followed Sasha as Kitsu guided her over to the nearest empty bed, Sasha sat down on the edge. Kitsu came around to the other side and carefully removed the bacta patch. Sasha winced slightly at it. The wound hadn't completely healed as it was still cracked and bleeding slightly. Viran watched as Kitsu tended to the wound before placing a fresh bacta patch on her shoulder.

"There," Kitsu said. "How does that feel?"

Sasha didn't respond.

"Sash?" Viran asked as he came around to her front. A chuckle came to his lips as he noticed Sasha resting her head in her hand, sound asleep. "Well that was easy."

Kitsu and Illara came around too. They smirked.

"Well finally," Kitsu said with a chuckle. "We should leave her to rest."

Viran nodded as he removed her boots and set them beside the bed. He then grabbed Sasha and carefully laid her down to the pillow. He then reached over and grabbed the thin blanket to lay it over the top of her. Once she was resting, Viran kissed her head lightly before he straightened and adjusted himself on the makeshift crutches.

Illara looked over at Kitsu, "Next time I can't sleep you can try kissing me like that." They said with a wink.

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