Okay, so I started this a few days back but haven't had much time between work and so on. Anyhoo, here's Mera's chapter. Next we'll be stopping in with Ving, and then we'll be jumping back to Avethelia on Lokori.

Anyhoo, this is just a chapter to show where we are with Mera. Honestly, I barely have time to write, so I am sorry for not replying to reviews or messages – I am reading them, but if you can bear with for a week or so, I should be getting back to everyone.

Anyhoo, I'll be sure to do 2 updates this coming week, but who knows what days they'll be up…

The Strider, Outer Rim

15BBY

Screaming. Crashing. Lightsabers humming and screeching as they collided together. Pleas and cries and pants and gasps. She could feel him following her – the long bronze doors being shredded apart as she sprinted forwards. She was trapped, hunted, nowhere to go.

Mera woke up in a sweat, gasping for air as she immediately balled herself up in the corner, her bright green eyes flitting around to look for the monster that'd been hunting her through the temple.

She wasn't in the temple. She was in a small cot in a smaller room, wedged into the back of the ship. Mera let out a long breath, reflecting on what she'd seen and heard and felt in her dream.

Four years later, and she wasn't any different – a scared little girl, running away from the big bad monster. She wrapped her arms around her knees, bringing them up to her face and crushing her face into it, sobbing.

A while later, she made her way through the ship, touching the faded and mismatched panels that lined the corridor to the cockpit. She heard Ziv before she saw him.

"Yes, I know," Ziv groaned. There was a beep and whistle that answered him. "See, why would you say something like that?" Ziv snapped. "She'll understand."

Mera paused in the hallway. Was he talking about her?

"No, that time I was borrowing it – slight difference," Ziv corrected the astromech, "besides, I came back- always come back…" There was another chirrup and the astromech's head swivelled around and gave another beep.

Ziv turned around to see Mera standing there. "Sorry," Mera said as soon as he saw her, "I just… didn't want to interrupt."

"Please do," Ziv replied, "the more this thing talks, the closer it comes to becoming my toaster…" he murmured. Helio, the droid, let out a high-pitched squeak. "Yeah, I said what I said," Ziv glowered at the droid. Helio let out a small whine and slowly moved by Mera and away from the cockpit. She frowned, watching the little astromech pivot its head around to look at Ziv for a moment before making its way to the engine room.

"You seem to not like him too much…" Mera said.

"You seem to be awake," Ziv replied. "And Helio's not a 'he'."

Mera nodded, walking down and sitting into the co-pilot seat, balling her knees up to her chest, looking into the vast expanse of empty space. But it wasn't empty – the stars were sparkling in the distance. Distant planets, moons, suns… life was everywhere. She knew that, but she didn't feel it. Not any more. Not since… well…

"I don't sleep well," Mera explained.

"Nightmares?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't," Ziv scoffed – as if it were obvious.

Mera shot him a glare before looking back to the stars, running a hand across her leg. "Where are we?"

"We are currently about to pick up an associate of mine before we take you… wherever you're going."

"An associate?"

"Awin – we… work together, sometimes," Ziv said hesitantly. Mera nodded along, eyes narrowed at him. She hadn't expected much, what with meeting him on Nar Shadaa, but he was certainly cagey to say the least.

"If you say so…" Mera murmured.

"So, where are you headed, anyway?" Ziv asked. "Be nice to get a destination at some point."

"Yeah, I'm… I'm still figuring out that bit," Mera confessed with a nervous chuckle.

"Well, you can't stick around here," Ziv stated, "unless you're willing to pay or work."

Mera wanted to say something to him. Something harsh and sarcastic and cutting, but all she managed was, "Okay."

"You got any family?"

"My mother and father are from Naboo."

"Mother and a father? Luckier than most…" Ziv stood up to flip several switches on the ceiling.

"What about you? Are your-"

"My old man's dead," Ziv replied casually – as if he was mentioning the time of day, "think the old bag is too."

"You don't know?"

"No, but it doesn't hurt to dream," Ziv said with a small grin. "So, you're a runaway."

"I'm not a runaway-"

"Then I'm not a crook!" Ziv said mockingly, wide-eyed and aghast. "My poor old father would be so disappointed in me." He sat back down in his seat, casting his eyes across the numerous switches and dials. "Anyone else?"

"A cousin. I had a…" She felt a pit in her stomach when thinking about Xyras. It still didn't feel… well, however it should've felt. She would find herself thinking about him in passing and have to remind herself that he's dead. He's gone – he's never coming back. "Someone important to me. He's gone now."

Ziv stopped adjusting a dial for a moment, his eyes downcast in thought. Then, no more than a second later, he continued whatever he was doing. "Friends"

"No," Mera said. She never really did have friends – not really. Ursa had been a good friend at one point. Back before the Purge. But she… there was more to her than that. More to them. How she seemed to find herself smiling around her, the way she felt when she learned she had died. Like everything was frozen but time was still passing. "No friends," Mera said finally.

A moment passed with Mera staring at the distant lights when Ziv spoke.

"Don't love." He said. She turned to look at him – he was staring at her, the red cybernetic iris reflecting in his lone green eye. "We all gotta go sometime, kid. Caring's just a- a way of making that painful for others." He looked back to the dash. "Love, attachment – whatever you call it really… just messes everything up."

Mera stared at him. It was funny – here he was, dour and skeptical – a cynic, through and through. Yet, he almost sounded like a Jedi for a moment.

"So I've heard," Mera murmured. She climbed out of the chair, pulling her coat closer around her petite frame. "I'll just- when we land, I can-" Ziv interrupted her with a wave and, moments later, Mera found herself wandering back to her cot. She was exhausted, but she wouldn't sleep. She didn't think she'd ever be able to sleep again.

Well guys, review and whatever.