Rebel looked into my eyes, calmer than I was and hugged me. I was frozen at first, feeling drowned in guilt and knowing all I'd been wishing for, normalcy, all hope of returning to a typical life, now was lost. Finally, I hugged her back, dismissing the fact that I was the one crying, not her. I was in disbelief that she was the one who'd reached out to me just now and not vice versa. I dried my tears, concentrating on my promise that I'd be the one to support her. I heard footsteps come running in and the last thing I wanted was for there to be more disturbances. "What happen-" I identified the sentence fragment as Commander Tano's and I wanted to release Rebel and shield her from anything else that had entered the room, but I felt Rebel cling tighter and I realized I already was. I felt Rebel's heartbeat speed up, even through her armor as she let me go. I saw she was looking towards the door, her eyes wide, it couldn't be good whatever it was, but how could the situation get any worse? I turned to see Pouch standing timidly holding out a metal bar, as if ready to protect himself with it. I hadn't heard him approach, he must've done so muted or I was too distracted to notice, but now my attention was drawn towards the shiny, solid item he presented to us. As I examined it, I observed that it's features were similar to that of a leg, with a bending joint at the knee and a foot jutting out at the end, it couldn't have been more foreign though. Its characteristics were perceivable, but just something about its appearance was so obviously fake and would always shine through brighter than its actual purpose and function. My heart ached for Rebel to be subjected to this horrible differentiation. "It will take you a while to get used to it and, also, it will take a while to recover." Pouch spoke in a pitiful tone and I knew it had already begun. He seemed to know it was not the ideal situation, of course not something we wanted, but he didn't seem to know how to express a real understanding of what this would mean for her. How could he, though? How could anyone put themselves in her shoes? "How long are you talking?" Rebel asked, her voice steady. "A month, if everything goes well." He answered, readjusting his tone back to seriousness. Rebel sighed to herself. "Will I be able to fight again?" She took the question from all of our subconscious as if she was a mind reader. I'd known my medic for a while and could understand more from his body language than his words. He looked to the ground, shunning his face from us like he did when he wasn't able to save one of his brothers. I gasped and looked to Rebel for her reaction. A soldier without a fight was like the night without day, a trooper without a war was like a Jedi without the force, Rebel without action was going to be worse than that. "Can I be alone?" She didn't look at anyone, but she reached for my hand, her heart not in tune with her words. I hugged her first this time as soon as I heard the door fasten, knowing she wouldn't be able to keep her act together much longer. "If I can't fight, how are we supposed to stop Palpatine?" She wailed. "It's gonna be okay, it has to be." I said, shushing her.