Sabine was the one to show her the shower in the Ghost, giving the girl a tour of the Ghost after she had found her sitting on the couch, staring intensely at a piece of paper. The Mandalorian had just washed out her temporary brown hair dye, revealing her bright blue hair. Athena entrusted the Mandalorian with her bag as she took a shower, taking in just her extra clothes and a towel.
As Sabine stood in the hall next to the door and the girl's bag, she crinkled her nose as she couldn't get rid of that tar smell that clung to the girl's backpack. Her spray-paints didn't even smell that bad.
The girl looked up when Athena finally got done with her shower, her wet hair combed back into a ponytail as she wore a green tank top and black pants now. Sabine let out a little chuckle as she saw the girl with that look.
"Hey, stop copying Kanan's style," Sabine joked. "With your hair wet, it looks just like his."
Athena rolled her eyes as she took her dirty clothes and stuffed them into the bag she had asked Sabine to watch over for the moment. "It'll dry soon enough."
"Oh my Force, the others got to see this," Sabine laughed. "You even got the same shirt color!"
Athena smiled and rolled her eyes again as she put on her backpack. Sabine led her to the common room where Zeb and Ezra picked up Sabacc again. Sabine put both hands on the girl's shoulders as she stood a little behind and to the side of her.
"Guys look! It's a mini Kanan!" Sabine joked. "It's like a tiny impersonator."
Ezra laughed a little, "Hey, it really is! Quick, say something Kanan would say!"
Athena blinked a couple of times, "I met him this morning, how the hell am I supposed to know what the guy would say?"
"Ha!" Zeb laughed. "Kanan would say somethin' like that too!"
"All she needs is a little facial hair!" Sabine chuckled. She turned to meet Athena's eyes. "Look! I think she's got just about the same eye color too!"
Ezra laid down his cards, stood, and looked at the girl's eyes, her now getting uncomfortable once again as everyone was getting so close. Zeb even got up to get a closer look at the kid.
"Well, at least she doesn't have his ugly eyebrows," Ezra commented, just a few inches from the wide eyes of the girl.
"Or as big of a nose," Zeb said. "But almost everything else is about spot on, except more girly."
"You guys sure like to get close, huh?" Athena remarked.
"We're family!" Sabine held the girl a little closer in a jokingly loving manner. "You get used to it!"
"That guy is super tall, I'm tiny," Athena nervously chuckled. "And I'm blonde. My hair is dark for now because it's wet."
Sabine turned towards the doors of the common room as Hera and Kanan entered. She turned Athena to face them with a smile on her face as she displayed the kid. "Kanan, look! We found the girl version of you! She's a mini you!"
"I am highly uncomfortable right now," Athena said. "Does anyone care? No? Just me?"
Hera and Kanan shared a nervous glance. They turned to the girl and let out a nervous chuckle.
"Huh, yeah she kinda does look like me," Kanan said.
"I am tiny and blonde," Athena stated. "Why is no one listening to me?"
Hera gently grabbed onto the girl and placed her next to Kanan, comparing their drastic height difference - Athena not even to his shoulder. The pilot had to chuckle a little as she saw the similarities. The dark hair. The teal eyes. The widow's peak in their hair. The green shirts.
"I am not even to this man's shoulder!" Athena cried out in frustration. "I am small! I cannot reach things!"
"But look at you two!" Zeb howled in laughter. "Kanan, I didn't know you got cloned!"
"I am female! I am blonde! I am small!" Athena exasperated. "All we got is the skin tone and the eyes!"
"And the face shape," Sabine said. "You got a little more of a feminine shape, but overall about the same face."
Kanan placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and let out a hiss of uncertainty through his teeth. "We also got the same last name. That note you gave me to read-"
"What about it? You're Kanan Jarrus, I'm Syla Dume - according to that note from my mom," she said.
"My name wasn't always Kanan."
Now that got everyone's attention.
"Caleb Dume, that was the name I was born with," Kanan sighed, keeping his hand on the girl's shoulder. "The same name your mother said was the name of your brother."
As he tried to give the girl a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder, he suddenly felt a sharp pain. He hissed and pain and retracted his hand away from the ice cold girl. Her hair was frozen solid now. Her shoulders erupted with a thin layer of frost.
"You…" she stepped away from him as she met his eyes. "You're my brother?! No! There's no way-"
"Athena, listen-"
She took a couple shaky breaths and looked to the floor. That constant dark shadow no longer there, the one thing in life that always stuck with her. Now gone. She glanced back up to Kanan, meeting his eyes once again. His eyes were still the same as hers. Teal. A color she never witnessed in anyone else's eyes on Earth.
"I...you're related to me?" she said in disbelief. "You- did you know our mom? Our dad?"
He shook his head. "I never knew my - our parents. I was raised in the Jedi Order."
She slumped her shoulders and shook her head in confusion. "I-I've never had a relative. A blood-relative." she gave a confused look at him as she pondered a little more. "Aren't you a bit old to be my sibling, though?"
"I'm twenty-nine," Kanan said. "You said you were thirteen, right?"
She nodded.
"That's sixteen years," Sabine said with a shrug. "It's a big age gap for siblings, but it's plausible."
"Your parents had you about two years after the Empire formed, then," Hera said, hand on her chin. "They probably realized that since Kanan was Force-sensitive, you would be too."
"And that's why they hid you on Earth," Ezra suggested. "So the Empire wouldn't find you."
"What- what did this Empire even do that they can wipe out- what-" Athena was so confused. She barely even heard of this Empire, Kanan and Ahsoka just giving her a quick briefing of it. Frost was forming on her face. She froze as she realized how cold she was getting, holding up her hands in front of her, watching as her hands turned blue and purple from the cold.
It was overwhelming. So many new things. She had just met these guys this morning when she was looking for some food, now she was in some intergalactic war and she had a biological brother.
"You're developing frostbite!" Sabine was wide-eyed at the girl's hands. She tried to grab her hands to look at them closer, but had the same reaction that Zeb and Kanan had earlier. The cold burned through her gloves.
"I'll get her a blanket," Hera quickly left the room.
"I'll get the hairdryer, her hair looks frozen," Sabine followed Hera, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to warm them up.
"What- what's going on-" Athena's breathing got fast and short. She felt light-headed. "Why are my hands-?"
"How about you sit down, kid?" Zeb offered. "You don't look good."
"I'll make her a warm drink," Kanan offered as he went off to the kitchen. "That should help."
Ezra and Zeb stayed there with her for the moment as she sat on the couch. They tried to at least put their hands somewhat near her to make sure she didn't fall, but the air around her had all of its warmth sucked out of it. Ezra and Zeb shared an unsure look, confused as to what was going on and what to do. She took off her backpack and put it on the ground near her feet.
Sabine and Hera soon returned, Hera draping the brown blanket over the girl. She shivered when she got close to the girl, feeling her warmth being sucked out of her. Sabine called for Chopper, who soon wheeled into the common room, a few angry beeps to follow.
"Shut it, Chop," Sabine warned before she plugged the hairdryer into the droid. She sat in front of the girl on the orange stool. Seeing that the girl's skin was covered in frost as well, Sabine decided to just blow the hot air on the girl as a whole.
Athena was a little startled and annoyed by the hot wind at first, but grew to enjoy it as a smile grew on her face, the ice starting to melt off her body as she closed her eyes. The blanket let her feel the familiar comfort that her now absent shadow used to give her for all those years. Kanan soon came out with a warm cup of caf, figuring that it would warm her up some more.
She held the metal container for a while, soaking in the warmth. Her blue and purple fingers slowly returned to their normal colors.
Sabine looked around to the group, "I think I can handle her for now."
They left the room, knowing that the kid just needed time to understand and wrap her head around all this. This was a lot for a little Earthling. Sabine had to yank at Chopper to stay to be her power source, the droid figuring he was included in her previous statement.
"Not you, Chopper! I need you for a power source!"
Athena chuckled, "So, he's your power outlet for right now?"
"Sometimes it almost makes up for his rotten attitude," Sabine joked.
"So...these robots can have their own personality? Is it like an AI or something?"
"They're called droids, and yeah, they can have their own personalities," Sabine said. As she saw most of the ice melt from her skin, she decided to work on the girl's frozen block of hair. After she got the front scalp done, she spoke again. "Hey, kid, can you turn around? I need to dethaw your ponytail. You can sit on this stool." she stood and the girl did as suggested.
Sabine stood behind the girl as she continued to thaw out her ponytail. It was pretty long, about to the girl's elbows. If long hair fit in helmets and was combat practical, Sabine would probably grow it out. Maybe. But, longer hair was impractical in her situation. It was a hazard.
As it slowly dethawed and the hair was freed from the frost, it dampened her hair once again and got her blanket wet. It didn't matter. She was getting warm.
Sabine began to lightly lift her hair in parts, intrigued by the mass of long hair. She never did have enough hair to braid or do anything more than coloring it.
"Do you have a hairbrush in that bag of yours?"
She nodded and bent down to open her bag. Athena soon dug out a hairbrush and handed it to the blue-haired girl. "Here."
Sabine put down the hairdryer after turning it off and took the hairbrush. "I'm going to try and brush your hair to get out any bits of ice left."
"Okay," Athena confirmed. She felt Sabine take out her hair tie and begin to brush her hair. She was used to her hair being combed and played with. Her little foster sisters and brothers constantly loved to play with her hair. It's how she used to make her little foster siblings feel more comfortable and loved in an oftentimes loveless foster home.
Most of the time, Athena saw little kids get forcibly thrown into the foster system at a young age. Their parents giving them up, parents going to jail, or parents being determined unfit to raise them. It was horrible to see little five-year-olds cry in those group homes as they wailed for their parents. They had been ripped away from everything they knew; Athena knew nothing but the foster care system. To help them adjust to the life she had always lived, she'd let them play with her hair as a way to bond with them. That's why she grew it out. It didn't matter how many older kids and adults yanked it out of anger. She kept it for whatever little kid would want to play with it. A random kid's joy was worth the pain.
But, Sabine was older. She was seventeen, almost eighteen. Athena almost never let the older kids touch her hair. They were mean and angry with her. Sabine, she was gentle. She was kind. She cared. These people cared about her.
It felt nice.
"Hey, can I braid it? I never get to braid hair, my hair is too short."
"Go for it," Athena said. "I don't mind."
Chopper beeped.
Sabine rolled her eyes, "Fine, Chop, you can leave. I'm done with the hairdryer anyway."
He unplugged the hairdryer and rolled away, grumbling about being underappreciated in this ship. Sabine chuckled.
"What did he say?" Athena asked.
"Oh, he's just a grumpy old droid," Sabine remarked. "I can teach you droid language if you want."
"I first need to learn how to read your guys' writing system," Athena said. "But, yeah, I'd love to learn."
Sabine parted the girl's hair into four parts, the top, the left, the right, and the bottom. Athena raised an eyebrow as she felt this.
"Why four? Do you guys braid differently?"
"I'm going to put in four braids," Sabine said. "You got a lot of hair."
Athena sat there for while in silence as Sabine braided her hair, fiddling with the edge of the blanket.
"Did...you know his name was Caleb?"
"No-" Sabine sighed. "-but the Empire does that, it forces people underground. Especially Jedi."
"I don't really understand this whole Jedi thing. Didn't the Empire wipe them out? How did-"
"Kanan managed to survive. He was about your age when the Jedi Purge happened. I'm going to guess he changed his name since the Empire would have gotten ahold of all of the Jedi's names," Sabine said. "I'm not going to lie, I kinda feel stupid for being shocked for his name not really being Kanan Jarrus. I should have figured. But, it still feels-"
"Weird," Athena sighed. "It's all really weird."
"Yeah...weird," Sabine said. "It's not everyday you find out someone you've been living with has a whole 'nother name."
"Hey, Sabine, have you seen my slingshot?" Ezra questioned as he walked into the common room.
Sabine glared at the boy, his hair now back to dark blue. His slingshot obviously on his wrist. The Mandalorian knew he just wanted to bother her or the girl.
"On your wrist," she rolled her eyes and turned back to Athena's hair, continuing to braid the long locks. "Now go away."
"Hey! It is!" Ezra dramatically faked his surprise. "Well now that I'm here-"
"Go."
Athena looked over her shoulder to see the boy with dark blue hair now wearing orange clothes. He must've just changed.
"What are you doing with her hair?" Ezra walked over to the two. "Are you braiding it?"
"Yes, now go," Sabine said. "You might scare her and she'll make us all into ice cubes."
Athena chuckled at that.
"How do you braid?"
"I'm not showing you," Sabine glared at the boy like he was an annoying little brother. "Now go."
"I wanna braid too!" he whined. "Athena, can I braid your hair?"
Athena laughed, "Sure, I don't see why not. Just don't tangle it."
"See? She wants me to braid her hair!" he grinned at Sabine.
The Mandalorian rolled her eyes, "Fine, I'll teach you. Watch carefully because I will punch you if I gotta re-comb her hair."
Athena lightly chuckled as Sabine taught Ezra how to braid her hair, instructing him in every step as he braided one of her four parts. Though Sabine's was obviously more snug and neat, Ezra was doing his best.
She had to let out a laugh when she felt Ezra get a good shoulder punch from Sabine for his comment about Athena having beautiful hair.
"You better not start harassing this girl too!" Sabine warned. "I dealt with your crap for a year. I don't want her to suffer your corny pickup lines too!"
"Okay, okay, fine," Ezra chuckled.
"She can just kick you in the nuts again," Sabine suggested. "I'll cover for her."
"Okay, okay, okay, but that was PAINFUL, Sabine," Ezra said. "It hurts for guys getting kicked down there."
"Oh, okay, just admit you lost to a little girl that's not even your size," Sabine teased.
"No! I was caught by surprise with no weapon!" Ezra defended.
Athena laughed, "Wanna throw hands later?"
"Throw hands?"
"It's an Earth term for fight," Athena said. "Wanna have a friendly fight?"
"Sure, tomorrow," Ezra said. "It's almost bedtime, anyhow."
"What? It's not even nighttime" Athena held up her wrist to show her digital watch. So Earth had almost identical numbers in their writing system.
"In your time on Earth," Sabine said. "Here, we're on a different time schedule. It's almost 21:00."
"Oh," Athena said. "Okay."
"It'll take a while to adjust to the time change, but you should be fine," Sabine assured.
"I am tired, so going to sleep should be easy," Athena said. "Do you guys just want me to sleep in here?"
"This couch sucks to sleep on," Sabine said. "I don't have a bottom bunk, but I can set something up in my cabin. Hera doesn't have anywhere to sleep and I doubt you'd want to sleep in the same room as these stinky guys."
"Hey, it's mostly Zeb," Ezra defended. "Not my fault."
"Yeah, sure it is…" Sabine rolled her eyes.
"Before Hera forced Zeb to let me sleep in his cabin, I had to sleep in that closet over there," Ezra gestured behind them. "This couch hurt too much."
Athena raised her eyebrow, "Well, it's bigger than some places I had to sleep in. Can I sleep in there?"
Sabine knitted her eyebrows."You want to sleep in that closet?"
She shrugged. "I like having my own place to sleep. Doesn't matter if it's cramped."
"Alright, let me just get some of my paints out of there. I'll grab you a pillow and I guess that'll be your room for the night."
"Thanks Sabine," the girl nodded.