WARNING: mentions of violence, abuse, & suicide.


Rae tossed and turned in her blanket, her eyes closed tight as she wriggled in the blanket. The bottom bunk in Sabine's room was still hers for the time being - Sabine accepting the girl as a cabinmate. Most nights, Rae could go to sleep right away and have no problems. Tonight was an exception.

Rae could not settle down for the life of her tonight. She did not feel the ache of sleep seep into her bones. She did not feel the drowsiness pulling her mind into sleep. She just lied there, awake as ever. No matter how hard she tried, she could not go to sleep.

Finally, the girl got fed up, threw off her blanket, and sat up. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Suddenly, she froze. Her eyes riddled with confusion as she looked down to her chest. Her arms leaning against her torso were met with hardness rather than the soft t-shirt she would always wear to bed.

"Armor? I thought I took this off?" Rae mumbled, confused as to why she was wearing a full set of armor now. Though, for some reason, it did seem darker than its usual purple hue. She shrugged; maybe it was just the lack of lighting making the purple look black.

She swung her feet over to meet the ground and was once again wide-eyed. There on her feet were boots. Also dark.

"I don't wear shoes to bed...the heck?" Rae stood up. She shook her head, "No wonder I couldn't sleep. I got all this on."

She turned behind her to the sleeping Mandalorian on the top bunk. Rae furrowed her eyebrows as she was in full armor as well - minus the helmet.

"Sabine? Why are you in your armor too?" Rae questioned. She walked over to the blue-haired girl and shook her shoulder. No response.

Her breath hitched in her throat.

She couldn't sense the Mandalorian girl anymore. No heartbeat. No breathing. Nothing.

Her hand trembled as she turned the body of the Mandalorian to face her. Motionless, dead eyes stared at her now.

Rae screamed and fell back. Her mouth over her hand as she sat there on the cabin floor, looking at her dead friend's body in horror. Tears welled up in her eyes. Red light seemed to consume the room.

The door behind her swished open.

"Kanan, she-" Rae stopped her cry of help when she laid eyes on the man in the doorway. He wore black and dark red armor. Blond hair. Mean, brown eyes. "J-Jalo? How-" she caught eye of the activated red blade in his hand.

"Come on, haven't you finished the job?" he questioned in a tone that made it sound like the two were friends.

She scrambled to her feet. Her sabers flew into her hands as she glared at the former Second Brother. To her horror, when her blades activated, they were no longer purple.

Red. Blood red.

He casually looked to the dead Mandalorian and back to Rae. "Good, you took care of the Mandalorian. She was the last one."

"Last- l- what?" she screamed. Her heart pounded and her hands trembled. "What are you talking about?"

The girl froze.

Behind him, a pair of Converse sneakers attached to a pair of lifeless legs lying across the floor. Rae recognized those Earthling shoes belonging to her friend.

"A-Athena…" Rae sobbed. Her teary eyes looked to Jalo. "You killed her! You bastard!"

"It was a two-man job," Jalo nodded. "I couldn't have done it without your help."

"I would never help you!" she screamed. "I'd never help you!"

He chuckled, "What do you mean? You were a great help. You gaining their trust and making them think you were one of them? Brilliant!"

"No! I'd never!" she pleaded. "They're my friends! My family!"

Jalo scoffed. "Really? You honestly believe that? You were a plant from the beginning. A traitor in their midst. The key to our success."

"I'm not- I don't work with you!" Rae screamed, tears running down her cheeks. "They're my family! I love them!"

"Then why would you have those color eyes?"

Rae froze.

Carefully turning the silver saber hilt in her hand, she glanced into the reflection.

Bright red.

Her eyes glowed crimson red, yellow boarding the outer limits of her irises.

She dropped the saber hilt in horror; to get the pair of evil eyes to stop staring back at her.

She looked to her other saber's silver hilt - the same evil eyes glaring back at her.

The girl dropped both of her lightsaber's. The red blades retracted back into their hilts.

She let out an unholy scream as she fell to her knees. Her hands gripped her hair in a tight grasp. Tears streamed out of her eyes and she fell forward, her forehead touching the cold ground now as she sobbed.

It was all so dark. It was so cold.

It hurt too much.

A gentle hand touched her shoulder.

"Don't...go away!" she hissed through the sobs.

"Rae, are you okay?"

The voice was female.

Rae's sobs paused for a moment. The cold metal floor was suddenly soft and warm. She carefully turned her head.

Through her tears, she could see a mass of bright blue. She blinked a couple of times and could make out Sabine's face in the dark cabin now.

"I-I…" Rae could barely breathe. She sat up and no longer felt the hard plate of armor cover her body.

Sabine was crouched down in front of the girl's bunk now, concerned eyes looking at the distraught girl. She'd never seen Rae cry like this. It was her sobs that woke her up. Her cabinmate and friend was obviously very upset.

"Was it a dream?"

It took a moment for Rae to compose herself a little. Her muscles still trembled as she spoke. "I- I guess. It- was a dream."

Sabine sat next to Rae in her bunk now. "Those dreams can be rough, I know that for sure."

Rae nodded, looking down to the floor as she crossed her arms across her chest - as if to hold herself. She couldn't get the picture of those crimson eyes out of her head.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"It- it -" Rae sighed. "The Empire."

Sabine sighed. "Those kinds are the worst."

"It- I betrayed you," Rae wiped away a tear as she sniffled. "I killed - I killed you."

"You refused to actually punch me during hand-to-hand combat training," Rae reminded. "I can't imagine you ever killing me."

Rae let out a sigh, "I- the Empire...the Dark side…"

"Well, you're with us. I don't see you ever turning on us," Sabine assured.

Rae sighed again, still staring at the metal floor just beyond her bunk covered in colorful paint.

Sabine saw the look on Rae's face. She knew the girl was already beating herself up for not being there when Athena first engaged with the Inquisitors - blaming herself for Athena's messed up ankle. On top of that, she apparently was feeling down about her late Master. Now, she had to relive the horrors of the Empire in her dreams.

Being a cadet in the Empire was hard - especially when you were so young. Sabine couldn't even imagine what it was like to be transferred to Project Harvester; forcibly trained to be one of those hideous Inquisitors against your will.

"Wanna go get a drink of jogan juice?" Sabine offered. "It'll help."

Rae nodded and soon followed the Mandalorian out of their cabin and to the kitchen.

Rae was mostly silent as they sat there in the kitchen, drinking the jogan juice. Sabine looked to the girl sitting across from her at the table. Her bright brown eyes didn't even look up.

It hurt to see the most bubbly, friendly, and optimistic person you know go so silent and solemn. It reminded Sabine how much damage the Empire could do to a person. How much one bad dream could bring about a wave of dreaded emotions and memories.

The two teenage girl's ears perked up when they heard a distant door swish open.

Two sets of soft footsteps entered the common room just outside of the kitchen.

The girls looked at each other and shrugged. They stood and went to check it out. When they turned their heads to the couch, they saw a teenage boy with blue hair gently held by their twi'lek captain.

Hera looked to the girls with worried eyes. She spoke in a soft voice as she held Ezra in a soft side-hug. "What are you two doing up?"

"Bad dream," Sabine nodded to Rae. "We were just getting some jogan juice to pass the time."

"You too?" Ezra's eyes were puffy and red just like Rae's as he leaned his head against Hera's shoulder.

Rae softly nodded.

"Come here," Hera waved for the girl to join. Rae accepted and soon clung onto the other side of Hera in a tight embrace, burying her face in the captain's shoulder.

The two Padawans felt comfort in the captain's embrace.

Sabine smiled and looked to Hera. Without saying a word, Hera managed to get Sabine to join them on the couch. The Mandalorian with bright hair sat next to Rae and gave a comforting rub on her shoulder.


Athena sobbed violently in silence as her forehead pressed down to the surface beneath her, culled up in a ball of pain and agony.

She could barely swallow or breathe for that matter as tears burned their way out of her eyes. Her hands gripped her scalp as her muscles trembled.

Kanan had been trying to calm down the girl for a good few minutes now, but barely made any progress.

Athena slept in his cabin for the most part - taking the bottom bunk as her own.

Both of them always dreaded every third day. The day Son would put her through some kind of torturous Hell. Kanan didn't mind having to wake up and console his distraught sister every few days, but it did break his heart this night particularly.

"Bastard…" she sobbed. "The...gun...blood…so much blood..."

Athena tried to wipe the memory of her foster mom's suicide out of her brain for years now. Her little nine-year-old self standing there, helpless, as the woman in front of her pulled the trigger.

The beatings.

The hurt.

The torture.

She completely forgot about most of the memories of her childhood as a way to protect herself.

She forgot about the house burning down around her - her being the only survivor in the foster home, she witnessed the rest of the family be engulfed in flames. Son made her remember. She forgot about the whippings given by her foster parents for no good reason other than existing. Son made her remember. She forgot the attempted drowning. Son made her remember. She forgot the boys who tied her up and let her dangle from the tree by her neck. Son made her remember.

Back to even when she was a toddler, Son made her relive every traumatic episode.

Every. Single. One.

Athena wanted to puke, but there was nothing left in her stomach.

Kanan couldn't even compare these sobs to the one's Athena had shown him back on Earth. This was far deeper. Far more hurt.

Athena felt like she just came back from those memories. In her mind - all those scars were wide open again. Every bit of hurt somewhat healed by time now bled new blood in her mind.

She couldn't stop it. She knew those were in the past, but she couldn't stop feeling the pain in the present.

"I-I-" Athena sobbed, keeping her eyes tightly shut.

Kanan could tell she was trying her best not to make much of a sound. Everything was restrained. She acted like if she made a sound while crying, she'd be hurt again.

"Let it out, let it all out," Kanan gently rubbed his sister's shoulder. "It's okay to cry. It's perfectly fine."

"I want to die…" she sobbed. "Please…make it stop. Make it stop hurting."

Kanan froze.

He'd never heard those words from the girl - and she didn't sound like she was joking. This was pure pain the girl was going through.

In the Force, he felt nothing but suffering from the girl. Suffering that came nowhere close to the pain he'd sensed from her getting that lightsaber lodged into her ankle.

He couldn't help but to hold disdain to the Son at that moment. He caused so much hurt to this young girl. A girl who did not deserve it.

Kanan couldn't even find the words to comfort her as she continued to sob there on the bottom bunk. He had to recenter himself a few times as he was so put-off by the amount of hurt he felt in this girl.

Five, ten, fifteen, twenty minutes passed before there was even a slight show of her tears even begging to lighten up. Snot plugged her nose and her throat could barely support her breathing.

"Come on, you're getting dehydrated," Kanan soothed the girl. She didn't look at him. Her face was still down and her eyes shut tight.

"I hate him," she sobbed. "I f***ing hate the Son. I hate him so much."

"He put you through you something bad again?"

"He- he's the worst!" she clutched her scalp a little harder and curled herself into a little tighter of a ball. The muscles in her face were so tight. "Bastard!"

"Come on, let's get you something to drink and some tissues," Kanan offered.

The girl was withering in misery and pain. He couldn't have her just lay her in agony. She needed some kind of help from him.

She was silent. Her sniffles were the only sound now.

"Unclench your muscles. You can hurt yourself like that," Kanan spoke softly.

Her fingers were first. It felt like her bones and joints were creaking as she slowly let the tension out of her hands. Her muscles couldn't stop shaking. Kanan sighed a sigh of relief as he felt the muscles in her shoulder slowly loosen.

It took a good bit of time for her just to uncurl from the ball she had tucked herself into. Her joints felt thirty years older now as they slowly began to release all the pent up tension.

Kanan gently held onto her as she slowly sat up. Her eyes were so red and puffy, Kanan could barely see them.

When she tried to stand up, she cried out in pain and sat back down, lifting her left ankle as it throbbed.

She hadn't healed the internal stuff completely.

"Want me to carry you?"

She nodded and sniffled some snot back into her nose.

Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and he took her knees into his arms to pick her up. His other arm gently hugged her bag as he held her. She buried his face in his shirt and he could feel the tears seeping through the cloth.

The Jedi carried the girl from the cabin down the halls of the Ghost. He paused in surprise when he entered the common room. There sat Hera, holding Ezra and Rae under each arm, Sabine on the other side of Rae. All of them were sleepy.

The twi'lek captain looked at him and the girl in confusion. "What happened to her?"

"Really bad dream," he whispered. He felt Athena grip him a little tighter. "What about these three?"

"These two had bad dreams," Hera nodded to each of the Padawans that clutched onto her.

"I was helping Rae with her bad dream and we met these two out here," Sabine nodded to Hera and Ezra.

"Athena too?" Rae's puffy eyes looked to Kanan and the girl in his arms.

"All three Padawans…" Kanan mumbled.

"You want to join us?" Hera offered.

Kanan looked down to his little sister. Her little blonde head nodded yes, keeping her face buried. He walked over to the group and sat next to Ezra, just a little bit away from Hera.

Ezra's sleepy and red eyes glanced behind him to look at Kanan and Athena. Kanan hadn't seen that much pain on Ezra's face since the day he learned his parents had been killed.

Kanan froze as he realized this was no coincidence.

Athena was still slightly trembling as she sat on Kanan's legs, her head buried in his left shoulder. Kanan reached out his right arm, as he kept his left around Athena's back, and made a connecting hug between him, Hera, and Ezra.

Ezra nuzzled his head into the side of Kanan as he was comforted by both Hera and Kanan's hugs. Rae clutched onto Hera as both Sabine and Hera comforted her. Athena gripped Kanan in a tight and shaky embrace.

Kanan and Hera shared a look. They wanted to be proud parents, but they couldn't help but to realize something was deeply wrong here.

Kanan could sense when each of the Padawans fell asleep, along with Sabine. Hera and himself fought off the drowsiness to make sure these kids didn't feel alone. Athena was the last to go back to sleep - still trembling in Kanan's arm.

"What in the universe happened to these kids?" Hera questioned, looking to Kanan.

Kanan frowned and looked down to Athena, "Something bad. Really bad."

"Athena's been having a bad dream at least once every two or three days," Hera said. "But I've never seen Ezra get this upset over a dream. Same with Rae."

"It took me almost a half hour to get Athena to somewhat calm down," Kanan sighed. "Way longer than usual."

"It can't be a coincidence that it's only the Padawans, can it?"

"I'm afraid not…" Kanan said. He turned back to Hera. "What were Ezra and Rae's nightmares about?"

"Ezra said his was about his parents. Sabine mentioned Rae's was about the Empire just before you guys came in here," Hera said. "What about Athena?"

"Flashbacks," Kanan admitted.

"It took you a long time to even get her out of your cabin?"

He nodded, "This one was worse than usual."

Hera sighed and looked to the two Padawans still under her arms and the Mandalorian just past her arm. She pet her hand through Rae's hair, "These kids are sure going through a lot."

"I'm afraid so."

Kanan's stomach churned as he realized these three Padawans having nightmares all in the same night was no mistake.

Son.

He wanted to hurt the people Athena cared about. He wanted to show he could reach her peers. He wanted Athena to relieve every old hurt and feel new hurt on top of it. He wanted her to feel suffering.

And there was nothing Kanan could do to protect these kids. Not Athena. Not Rae. Not even Ezra.

He couldn't do anything but watch. He could only watch as the Padawans around him suffered at the hands of the Son and his cruel tricks.