With Hadrien's recovery proceeding well, Sakiko released a slow breath and leaned back from him in her seat at his side, briefly resting from a healing session she had begun hours ago. Her son slept soundly and peacefully in the medical center in Paneau's capital city of Dalon, having first spent most of the day in a bacta tank to slowly warm his hypothermic body. The Paneau medics had been nothing but gracious and helpful since she had returned with him, and thankfully they had allowed her to continue his care unimpeded on her own. A few monitors over his head softly beeped his ongoing stable state, and she wasn't altogether surprised to finally see small movements from him as he slowly returned to consciousness.
To keep from startling him, Sakiko remained silent beside him as he awoke, only lightly brushing her fingers through his long brown hair that covered his ear. He took in a number of deep breaths, seeming to assess himself briefly before he finally opened his eyes and scanned the room. When he met her gaze, a small smile softened his features, though his voice remained jagged and rough.
"Mom," he breathed as she returned his smile. "...I didn't think anyone would find me."
Moved with compassion and slight heartache, Sakiko struggled to find her own voice. How could he think so little of her love for him? "Hadrien, you, and your sisters... You are my galaxy, my entire universe... I will always find you, when you need me."
She cupped his jaw with her hand and brushed her thumb over his cheek affectionately, and his eyes closed as he turned his face into the warmth of her touch. How much he had to have suffered, she mused, believing he had met his fate, alone and stranded on that hellish, frozen moon...
"Tell me what happened."
Though he opened his eyes in response to her request, his gaze remained unfocused and cast to the wall behind her. Her heart seared anew for him as he recounted his disastrous journey.
"A'allor and I decided to save time by traveling through an asteroid cluster instead of going around it. But there was an ion storm hidden inside it, and we only realized what it was after it was too late to avoid it. It disabled everything, and we drifted for hours before we finally cleared the asteroids. The ship took on a lot of collision damage, so even if we had been able to get the systems back up, we couldn't have gotten very far anyway.
"Eventually we noticed we were heading straight for a gas giant with powerful electrical storms that were going to tear us apart. A'allor was able to coax just a few short bursts out of the engines to steer us toward the moon instead, certain we'd rather survive a crash landing than a violent explosion." Hadrien paused briefly, his voice weakening. "...he did everything he could to stabilize our descent, but...we landed hard.
"When I came to, I couldn't find him. I thought maybe he was outside trying to repair the ship, but he wasn't there, either. Even with his injuries, he'd had the same thought I did - the cave would be better shelter from the cold than our mangled ship. And I found him there... He was already gone. I couldn't do anything for him. He had saved my life, and given his."
Intensely sympathetic to the pain of losing his friend, Sakiko held tightly to his hand at his side as she shared the calming Force with him. "It's such a terrible thing to experience, I know. I am so sorry..."
Hadrien finally met her gaze with an appreciative nod, deeply thankful for her comfort as he continued. "I went back to the ship to try to get at least one of the engines to burn for some heat, but it didn't last long. Nothing electrical would work, either, so I couldn't get a signal out. Eventually the cold began to...disorient me. I wasn't thinking clearly. I went back into the cave for some reason. Maybe I thought there would be something deeper, warmer in there, someplace that wasn't so cold. And then one of the last things I thought was...this is it. I will die here."
He paused again and briefly searched his mother's eyes, identically ice blue as his, before speaking again. "Thank you for coming for me."
Overcome with emotion, Sakiko dug her arms under Hadrien's shoulders and held him tightly, doing everything she could to not tremble against him. He returned her embrace with the strength he had left, and every breath he took in and released was more peaceful than the last. They had long brought calm and comfort to each other, bonded more closely through the Force than others, and Sakiko was nothing but grateful for it. Their connection had brought her across the galaxy to him, allowing her to save him at the last possible moment.
She eventually sat back from him after long, silent minutes, leaving a delicate kiss on his forehead. His mind quickly wandered elsewhere, though, their shared turmoil apparently still fresh in his memory.
"...is Father still angry?"
She hesitated briefly, struggling to keep the melancholy out of her tone. "He's...sad that he hasn't been able to talk to you. You know he doesn't do well when any of you three are gone. You remember how hard he took Kana leaving... He loves you, and he's missed you dearly. We both have."
Hadrien nodded weakly, his own expression sullen as he seemed to understand the grief his contentious departure months ago had caused his parents. Sakiko didn't allow him to dwell on it long, though, adopting a soft smile to lift his spirits. "He'll be here soon to see you, as will your sisters."
With the promise of a much-needed family reunion, Hadrien's face lifted as he scanned his room, but he quickly became confused upon finding nothing familiar in his surroundings. "...where are we?"
"A world called Paneau. It's not far from that moon, and I have some...old friends here. They've been helping me take care of you, and they even helped me find you. We owe them a great deal."
Before Hadrien could pose another question to her, a soft hiss of the door opening behind them interrupted any further discussion. Heavy footfalls soon followed, and without looking, Sakiko already knew who it was that had joined them.
"I'll let you two talk," she told Hadrien gently as she stood from him, giving him another light kiss at his temple before she turned to face her husband. Derek's expression was difficult to read, but Sakiko offered him an encouraging smile as she squeezed his hand while walking past him and out into the hall. She would give them respectful space to talk honestly and openly with each other, repairing their relationship that had been strained for months.
Sakiko walked toward a broad, curved window at the end of the hall that looked out over the twinkling cityscape in the yawning twilight hours, finding solitude for a few moments. The bustling city of Dalon was bordered by a majestic, snow-capped mountain range, and from the high-reaching medical center tower, Sakiko could see its rocky formations for kilometers. The peaceful, pleasant world appeared untouched by galaxy-wide conflict, a fact that, like her own homeworld of Loreena, endeared her to it even more...
"Master Ryuuzaki?" a familiar voice so politely interrupted her reverie from behind her. She looked both Echo Rys'tihn and her wife Volta approaching her, each sporting concerned expressions. "How is your son doing?"
Sakiko smiled broadly. "He is doing very well, I'm happy to report. The bacta treatment did him so much good, and he'll have no lasting physical effects. We couldn't be more elated."
Echo breathed with profound relief as Volta nodded gracefully. "We're really glad to hear that," Volta answered. "If there's anything else you need, please let us know."
"No," Sakiko shook her head, "you all have done plenty for us. I can't even begin to express my deep gratitude. You both saved Hadrien's life."
"It was our honor to help, Master," Echo returned with a slight bow. "Truly. And I'm thankful we got to see you again before we have to leave. We have something for you."
Curious, Sakiko waited while Volta dug into a small pouch at her hip, withdrawing her hand to hold out a delicately carved oval stone for her to take. Sakiko accepted graciously, holding its dense weight comfortably in her palm as she studied its fine detail, intricate designs, and beautifully marbled crimson and gray colors.
"It's called a Life Stone," Volta explained with reverence. "It is tradition here on Paneau that these stones are carved and created in special remembrance of a major life event. Marriages, births of children, appointments to special offices... Anything the celebrant wishes to commemorate. Some cast their stones into the Polu River as a communal memory, but others choose to keep them and pass them down through their families."
"...Wil carved this one himself after you helped him save his father's life," Echo continued, her voice soft with care. "He wanted you to have it, even if...he wasn't the one to give it to you."
Unable to formulate much of a proper response, Sakiko closed her eyes with bittersweet memories flowing through her mind. So many beings had fluttered in and out of her life over the two centuries she had traversed the galaxy, and so few had left such a lasting impression on her as this young man had. His kind and gentle spirit had clearly been passed down through his children and their children, and she could imagine no better family worthy of ruling such a lovely world. It was an innocent, genuine gesture, creating a small piece of art to give to a friend, but it was the meaning behind it that made a simple object so special.
Closing her hand over the stone, Sakiko even felt a subtle warmth emanating from its core despite its cool surface. Certain it was the influence of the Force as a friendly greeting echoing beyond time, it made her smile. Her voice hardly had any strength to it. "Thank you."
"You're always welcome on Paneau, Master," Echo concluded as both she and Volta bowed one final time. "You and your family, anytime. We hope to see you again soon. May the Force be with you."
"And with you."
As Echo and Volta left hand in hand, Sakiko again stood alone in the hall, but it had been some time since she had last felt so deeply connected to the living Force all around her.