Rebel huffed irritatedly through clenched teeth, her fists just the same and strode towards Ash with a passionate determination in her step as Ash immediately loosened his grip on my wrist at the sight of my fuming sister. He set his jaw confrontationally and shifted towards her, but a moment too late as she had already begun swinging her fist at him and making him stumble backward, catching his balance on the railing. My hands shot up to tent in front of my mouth as my mouth dropped open in shock and he fully released my wrists. Rebel aided in preventing him from toppling over the edge by grasping the collar of his black shirt. "I trust you to take care of my sister," she screamed in his face as he was already massaging his jaw and his eyes had already begun to water. She paused to inhale a deep breath, a futile attempt to compose herself enough to speak. Fortunately, she found enough control to complete her sentence. "And you turn around and abuse her?" She shoved him back against the railing by his shoulders, making me cringe, aware of how painful the scraping sensation of the rough solid material the railing was made of would be against his tender, sensitive back skin, never recovered from the torture he'd endured on Naboo. She applied pressure to the tops of his shoulders, snarling as she forced him to the ground and he resisted, clutching her wrists which served as not even a distraction for Rebel. I should have interfered, I had every capability to, my instinct was urging me to dive in and protect my husband, but something inside of me, something selfish and vengeful, prevented me from taking action. "You're no better than Thrawn," Rebel growled as fear flooded his irises and his mouth curved downward from a scowl to a terrified expression, now realizing he had no chance at retaliation. "Rue," Rebel turned toward me and closed her eyes to address me calmly. "Leave now," she demanded, pointing to the door to her right, speaking curtly, preferring not to waste time and accumulated aggression with an extensive amount of words. I looked down and to my right and saw Ash since I was facing Rebel where I saw Ash starting to rise to his knees. The terror had vanished and been replaced with perseverance as he nodded his chin towards the door as a silent signal for me to leave them. "But-" I began to protest complying with his instruction, however, Rebel seized my wrist, causing me to flinch, and dragged me inside. Immediately after the door shut on me, it refused to reopen, Rebel had locked it. I banged against the bullet-proof glass as vigorously as my body would allow, but my tenacity proved to be powerless in comparison. Out of breath, I watched Rebel punch her fist into the palm of her other hand in preparation as she stalked toward Ash, popping her knuckles, and knew I needed to enlist the assistance of someone who had the ability to unlatch this door and, more importantly, the ability to convince Rebel to relent against Ash or even just drag her off of him. Instantly, I raced to the one person I knew was always willing to help me and was capable of almost anything, at least in my eyes. I found him where I expected him to be, in the mess, sitting at his usual table in the corner, biting into his typical late night snack of carrots. "Rue," he lifted his head to the doorway as he noticed me enter and pulled the vegetable away from his agape mouth, teeth prepared to chomp down on the crunchy produce. "What's wrong?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he set the orange vegetable down on the plate in front of him, evidently able to deduce something was amiss from the tear stains down my cheeks. "It's Ash and Rebel," I responded in between sobs as I leaned up against the doorframe for support. Rex sprang up from the bench without another word and dashed after me as I led him back to the balcony. I slid to a stop before reaching the final curve in our course, not daring to see the aftermath of what had occurred between Ash and Rebel by leaning over the edge of the wall and peering out the door, neither outcome was favorable, nor was any alternative scenario I could imagine. Therefore, I pointed around the corner to the door without prying my gaze off the ground, instead leaving Rex to deal solely with the result of my two best friend's conflict, pinning the responsibility of separating them on him alone. It wasn't fair, I knew, but what I also knew was that he could handle any situation with far more poise than I could ever hope to possess. I heard Rex's retreating footsteps, the sound of a door being frantically opened soon following, finally, silence, dead, unnerving silence after the door had relatched. After a few moments of prolonged, disturbing silence, I began to peek around the corner, dreading what I might see. I was met with the most horrifying sight that has ever graced my eyes, Rex cradling Ash in his arms as he dripped blood from his face, his eyes and lips already beginning to swell as his head lolled back unconsciously. I tore my eyes away from the scene and they landed on an unremorseful looking Rebel. "What did you do to him?!" I screeched at her as I reached out toward my husband blindly and brushed his curls, drenched in his own blood back from his burning forehead. "What he deserved," she growled, side eyeing Ash hatefully and refusing to look me in the eyes as she wiped her forehead and I caught a glimpse of her glistening red knuckles which I didn't care to inspect at the moment since she was being so cavalier and I assumed it was Ash's blood anyway. I scoffed at her and glanced back up at Rex, consciously ignoring Ash in his arms since the sight made me nauseous. The blood was smearing Rex's white shirt, streaking red stains across his chest. I gestured down the hallway to the med bay wordlessly since my own throat was choking me and not allowing even my voice to escape as I darted in the direction I'd gestured, Rex pursuing me closely. Once we arrived, Rex laid Ash down on the cot and gently rested his head on the pillow as it was limp and Ash couldn't ease it down himself. I fell to my knees beside his gurney and squeezed his arm, rubbing my thumb over it and planting kisses all along his arm down to his hand as tears continued to stream down my cheeks. My breaths came in distant, raspy, short gasps that I didn't recognize as my own as I completely ignored the commotion occurring around me and 2-1B placed a respirator over Ash's nose and mouth, slightly elevating his head to slowly attach the straps around his head. The only sound that was threatening enough to distract me from Ash for even a moment was Rebel's heavy footsteps approaching, planting down on the ground with a sound personifying reluctance in each step. I flicked my gaze to my left side, the side I could tell she'd appear on judging by the direction from which the sound seemed to be increasing and shot up on two feet when she'd gotten too near for my liking. "No," I spun around to face her and shook my head as I held my palm straight out to her and waved it side to side. "I don't want you anywhere near him," I declared adamantly as I defended Ash, extending my arm toward him behind me. She stared back at me, her persistence unwavering as her gaze skirted past my right shoulder and down to the cot. "I can heal him," she said sincerely as she jutted her chin in his direction before looking back up at me contritely. "I just wanted him to suffer first," she spat through clenched teeth while glaring at him, her fingers curling into fists again at her sides. "May I?" She asked, looking back up at me and gesturing down to him with her palm flat up toward the ceiling as I'd refused to lower my arm that was still blocking her from reaching him. I squinted at her, but concluded I'd known her long enough to sense when she was being genuine and, although it'd felt as if we'd grown apart over the years and were perhaps now more unfamiliar with each other than ever, this felt like one of those rare times. I shuffled to the side, allowing her to step closer to him and held my hands in the fig leaf position near my lower torso as I spied on their interaction from the corner of my eye. She knelt down at his side and hovered her hand over the bullet wound on his leg close to his shin as she closed her eyes to center her focus. Her lips pursed in concentration and her hand began to tremble with the effort of transferring her life force into his. She let out a sigh of relief as her shoulders sagged once his injury had evidently been healed. Then, without opening her eyes, her palm drifted up to his face and started to vibrate again. After a few quakes, she cracked one of her eyes open and observed that no change had occurred. She silently rolled her eyes and unwillingly pressed her palm up against his bloody forehead as if reluctant to touch him. The blood seemed to evaporate into the air as his cuts gradually sealed the longer her palm remained on his skin and his swollen features eventually deflated and returned to their natural handsomeness. My eyes widened as I watched the healing process and I realized this was the first time I'd ever witnessed force healing personally. I wasn't even aware Rebel had ever been taught the skill. I wondered if she had learned of this capability from Obi-Wan or if it was a talent she'd recently discovered through her meditation, which she'd been doing a lot more of lately. "Is this why you've been meditating so much lately?" I asked as I crossed my arms, skeptical of the possibility she'd grant me an honest answer. She slowly opened her eyes as she rose to her feet, pushing off of her knee to do so, and shifted toward me, her eyes glazed with exhaustion at the late hour and the energy she'd just used to repair my husband's wounds. "To get back in touch with the force so you could do…" I attempted to specify what I'd meant by 'this', but came up empty and only ended up repeating the same word. "This?" I gestured toward him, suspending my arm above his cot as I glanced down at him. "Maybe," she replied ambiguously with an indifferent shrug of her shoulders as she followed my gaze. "I saw how much pain he was causing you on the medication and the reason he was taking it was because of his leg," she looked back at me and raised one eyebrow. "Right?" She asked, seeking verification as she mirrored me by crossing her arms. I unpleasantly thought back to the day I'd first discovered he'd been taking the pills and his excuse. "And his dreams, yeah." I nodded as she was partially correct. "Dreams?" She asked, echoing me as she leaned forward attentively. "He has nightmares almost every night," I elaborated, deciding to expound on the reason the nightmares were of noteworthy mention since, as much as I hated to admit it, the pills were helping. "Well, except on the nights he-" I trailed off, my voice slowly quieting to a mumble as I looked down ashamedly and pressed my fingertips together. "On the nights he hurts you." Rebel completed my sentence for me, assuming the ladder part incorrectly. I jerked my head up to glare at her negative opinion of him. Although her statement was not entirely untrue, the medication did occasionally result in an increased tendency for him to be violent, I couldn't allow any trace of agreement to appear on my face or she might make far more preposterous assumptions that would only result in her intensified hatred of him. "No," I shook my head vehemently. "On the nights he takes the medication," I corrected her sternly, however, she appeared to discredit my correction as merely a blind, emotional response born out of unconditional love for Ash with a roll of her hazel eyes that her head copied. Her head roll resulted in her gaze landing back on Ash. It remained on him as she propped her hands up on her hips. "Nightmares," she murmured thoughtfully before inching toward him again and suspending her hand above his forehead as she shut her eyes. "You need to get this man into surgery immediately," she commanded as she shot up and her eyes widened instantly after reopening them. "S-surgery?" I stuttered, rubbing my finger along my collarbone to settle my nerves. I assumed he had completely recovered thanks to Rebel, now I was being informed he required surgery by someone I knew didn't have his best interests at heart. "W-why?" I asked, gulping to calm my pounding heart. "He has a chip implanted in him," Rebel said bluntly as she turned toward me. "A chip?" I parroted, confused. The only time I'd ever heard of a chip being implanted in a human being was when one needed to be extracted from my brother nearly twenty years ago. "Like the ones in the clones?" I inquired. "Thrawn must've done it." Her assumption seeped through her clenched teeth as she looked back down at Ash, avoiding eye contact with me purposefully. "I'm not surprised." Her voice rumbled in her throat, but the blame she assigned didn't aid in easing my confusion in the slightest. In fact, it only served to puzzle me farther because the last time Ash had interacted with Thrawn was over three years ago and it wouldn't make sense as to why he would suddenly be acting contrary to normal after living with the anomaly for so long. "Thrawn?" I asked, contorting my face into a befuddled expression as I cocked my head. "When would Ash have come into contact with Thrawn?" I questioned, tossing my hands up in the air with my palms facing the ceiling. "He found me," she confessed, slowly rotating her head back toward me. "Ash found me on Ryloth about a week ago," she rephrased, specifying who she'd meant by 'he'. "He didn't fail, Rue." She shook her head, looking down at the ground with a reminiscent expression on her face. "His mission was a success." She spoke as if she knew I'd been subtly, unfairly holding his unintentional failure to return her to me against him as she repeatedly reworded her assurances to relieve my faint resentment against him for reasons I couldn't discern. "That's how I knew where to find you," she explained, somehow knowing I'd been wondering how she'd been able to locate us. "Ash was helping me escape though and he got caught by Thrawn." She glanced back at where he was laying unconscious. "He must've erased his memory of the encounter and implanted the chip in him then. That's probably why he doesn't remember finding me," she whispered as if explaining it to herself as she rubbed her chin with her index finger and thumb, mimicking General Kenobi's signature gesture in its exactness. "Rue," she straightened up as her eyes widened and the color drained from her cheeks, the stroking motion of her fingers against her chin pausing as a realization dawned on her. "He's dangerous." She faced me and placed her hands on top of my shoulders, tightening her grip on them as her eyes remained wide. "If he does have a chip in him, it must have a tracker attached," she said, her voice already trembling with fear. "Thrawn might be on his way here right now." She shook me back and forth by my shoulders as I saw and heard the signs of her terror increasing. "There may not be time to remove the chip," she speculated frantically. "We have to destroy it now." She pointed harshly in Ash's direction. I was completely on board with destroying the chip, under no circumstances did I prefer him to live with it any longer than was absolutely necessary, but I wondered what effect destroying it while it was still rooted in his mind would have on him. "What would that do to Ash?" I asked in a timid voice as I swiveled my head in his direction, already assuming the answer would be nothing favorable, either permanent brain damage or even possibly death. I looked back at Rebel as time passed without a response and saw her eyes filling with tears as she shook her head remorsefully. "No," I stepped back from her, freeing my shoulders from her grasp as I squirmed. "I'm not letting him die." I shook my head resolutely and pointed at her ferociously. "Rue," she held her hand up to me as she invoked a reasonable tone. "If you don't do this, you'd be risking hundreds of lives," she accused me of recklessness. "The entire rebellion could be at stake!" She raised her voice, gesturing to the base surrounding us. "I love him!" I yelled without thinking as I dropped to my knees by Ash's side and gripped his arm as tears began to spill down my cheeks. "Don't you care about the rebellion too?" She criticized, taking a step closer to me as I watched her towering over me from over my shoulder. "The thousands of lives we've saved?" She continued, comparing Ash's life to strangers who couldn't matter to me less at the moment. "I do," I nodded and turned to face the one person I knew would understand and not blame me for being unreasonable right now. "But this life right here is the one that's most important to me." I wiped my cheeks dry with the backs of my fists as I put forth full confidence in my decision to disregard every moral, every principle, every life to secure this one here in front of me. It defied everything I'd ever been taught as a cadet. Of course, the rule existed to never leave a man behind, but not if saving that man meant sacrificing thousands of others. Now, every regulation and ideal Rebel and I had once held so dear seemed insignificant as my priority was now my family, my real family, not some organization of insurgents that followed me with such great respect purely because I was sister to someone who didn't even consider me to be worthy of her kinship. "You're pathetic," she spat at me, grinding her teeth, and dashed out the door. I sighed as I knew she wished I'd race after her, admit defeat, assure her that I was the one at fault, that I was the one who was being stubborn, and resume our traditional dynamic in which I was the submissive older sister, but I refused to allow the same course of events ensue. She wasn't going to get me to surrender that easily this time. "You may begin," I permitted as I looked up at 2-1B who patiently held a drill up to my husband's head, eagerly awaiting my authorization. I cringed as the medical instrument whirred and the sharp, pointed head gained momentum before puncturing his skull. I remained kneeling at his cot all night until my knees went numb. I loyally stayed by his side throughout the entire procedure and even after 2-1B had shut down as I waited for Ash to awaken, never drifting off once so as to not squander the opportunity to ask him how he was feeling as soon as his consciousness returned. As morning arrived, Rex urged me to seek out some sustenance. Although I was famished, I was repulsed by the idea of abandoning Ash. The only success Rex had in convincing me to desert Ash was his assurance that he would assume the responsibility of supervising Ash and would immediately alert me if he arose. I unwillingly shuffled out of the room and toward the mess instinctively in an exhausted state, my eyes barely open although I didn't need them to find my way. I brewed myself a cup of caf and plopped down at one of the picnic style tables to sip the steaming liquid from my mug gradually. As I sat in the silent, shadowy room pondering over how long it would take Ash to recover, what kind of nurturing he'd require, and what he'd be like when he awoke, Rebel strutted in with a certain confident swagger in her step as she swung her arms wildly at her sides. The pompous nature of her walk aggravated me greatly as she seemed to be flaunting the fact that she was completely unharmed from the brutal brawl she and Ash had been involved in while Ash was unfairly confined to the med-bay, still incapacitated. She froze as she noticed me seated on one of the benches, her arms suspended in the air mid-swing as her damp and stringy hair, presumably from showering, collected water droplets on the tips that slid off and plummeted to the floor. I readjusted my jaw as I squinted at her judgmentally and felt myself begin to quiver with rage. "Did you seriously have to fight Ash?" I asked condescendingly as I gripped the mug tighter to suppress my fury. The way she'd reacted toward Ash had been far more rash and immature than I'd ever expected of her and the disappointment I derived from her was immense. The more sensible response would've been for her to either use her words rather than physical force or stay out of our private affair that didn't concern her altogether, a mistake she should have learned from in the past, however, the lesson hadn't seemed to make an impact. Even if it had been too difficult for her to control her temper at the time, she had to have known that combating violence with violence would only breed further violence and perhaps now by bringing her error to her attention she would recognize her conduct had been improper and admit fault. "Oh, thank you, Rebel, for saving my life," she said sarcastically in an overly dramatic display of gratitude as she locked the fingers of both her hands together and brought them up to her chin while kicking her foot up behind her and staring up at the ceiling, her eyes endowed with an exaggerated amount of appreciation as she batted her eyelashes. "You're such a great sister," she ground out through clenched teeth as she looked back down at me with a glare and planted her foot back down on the floor to join her other, her arms going rigid at her sides, her hands balled into fists. I smiled back at her patronizingly in reply to her extravagant performance as I obtusely pretended not to recognize her sarcasm, after all, that was how she expected me to respond as I remembered that was how she so obviously viewed me, inferior, cowardly, ignorant, unworthy, a glitch in the system ultimately that was never supposed to exist. "Well, I can't really tell 'cause I'm just a reg." I attributed my ignorance to my evident inferiority in her eyes as I used her own words as a retort against her and shrugged innocently, letting my arms fall back to the table limply. She rolled her eyes and scoffed with a disapproving shake of her head as she crossed her arms and glared at the wall to her left. I snapped at her outrageously careless attitude. "HE'S IN THE MEDBAY BECAUSE OF YOU!" I sprang up out of my seat, feeling the need to remind her of the seriousness of the situation as I slammed my palms down on the surface of the table, causing the caffeinated beverage to slosh out of the mug. "LOOK," she matched my volume and her drenched hair slapped her in the face as she turned her head back toward me. "I'M SORRY I HURT YOUR DUMB HUSBAND," she apologized insincerly as she gestured in his direction, but refused to break eye contact with me. "BUT HE HAD IT COMING!" I slapped my palm against my heart, deeply offended by her outrageous accusation as if she had personally insulted me instead. Ash had been the completely innocent victim of Rebel's vicious attack, I was sure of it since the version of himself Rebel had assaulted wasn't his true self. "It wasn't his fault," I disputed with a shake of my head as I slung my leg over the bench to stand on the opposite side of it to face her with a more confrontational stance without the table in between us to shield me from her, demonstrating that she did not scare me as she so obviously believed. "It was the drugs!" I yelled as I marched toward her, realizing all too late I'd shouted the excuse for his behavior much too loudly for it to remain a secret to the rest of the rebels. I glanced around nervously, ensuring there was no one nearby that might've heard that information and use it to damage Ash's reputation. "Well, whose fault is that?!" She screamed, crossing her arms over her chest and taking a step closer to me. I couldn't believe she would ask such a question when it was so blatantly obvious that she was to blame, Ash had suffered from the injury that caused him to begin taking the pills on his mission to rescue her. It almost seemed as if she were genuinely seeking an answer to her rhetorical question because otherwise she'd only be betraying herself by admitting responsibility, something I knew she'd never do, she had too much pride. "Yours!" I pointed at her as I scoffed, but her eyes merely widened, expressing surprise and conveying her complete inability to comprehend my answer. I sighed at the fact that I was being forced to explain the reason she should be experiencing guilt, making the moment she did eventually experience it less satisfying, and the fact that I was being forced to unpleasantly revisit the reason behind Ash's sustenance abuse. "Because, if you had never disappeared, then Ash wouldn't have had that wound!" At that moment, I'm not entirely certain what took control of me or what thought prompted me to take the next action, but my mind went completely blank and the only emotion that coursed through my veins was revenge. I didn't see my sister anymore, I saw my enemy, a target on which to release my anger. Instead of my former friend, I saw a traitor as I snatched up the handle to my coffee mug and tipped it upside down over her head, unleashing a deluge of scorching liquid on her freshly washed hair. She gasped and closed her eyes as it rained down upon her and I continued holding the cup over her head waiting for the guilt to consume me, but it didn't. As the last few drops of coffee trickled down the sides of the mug and I watched them drip onto her already burning scalp, she winced and I felt no remorse. In fact, I felt content with myself, justified, even yearning for more of this feeling as ideas for ways to inflict further pain ventured their way to the forefront of my brain originating from a crevice in my mind I'd just discovered. I considered shattering the mug over her head and allowing the shards to slice her already tender skin, seeing the blood travel down her forehead and hearing her whimper in agony as Ash had would have pleased me. Was this what I'd become? Merciless, cruel, vengeful? Was I evil or was this what it felt like to finally be human? I wondered if this was a moment of weakness or if this was a hidden aspect of my personality I'd yet to begin exploring and would be no doubt difficult to bury back down, much less shed entirely. "Enough!" My pondering was cut short as a voice cried out to us from the shadowy corner at the back of the room and to my right. I flashed a glance over my shoulder with my arm still suspended above Rebel as I heard the bang of fists against a table. "What in the world is wrong with the both of you?!" Ahsoka chided by way of rhetorical question as she emerged from the darkness. "You are grown women, mothers no less, acting like children!" She rebuked as she set her hands down on her hips disapprovingly. That was the first time I experienced disgrace over the situation, but it was not because of what I'd done. In fact, it didn't concern what had happened to Rebel at all, it was because the commander was disappointed in me, so I directed my apology only to her since Rebel deserved everything that had happened to her, even the punishments Thrawn imposed upon her. "I'm sorry, Commander," I apologized to her as I dipped my head contritely and reluctantly stood at Rebel's right to face Ahsoka after finally withdrawing my hand from above Rebel's head and allowing my arms to hang down in front of me as the mug dangled off the pointer fingers on both of my hands. I glanced up to steal a peek of Ahsoka's expression, hoping to detect an inkling of forgiveness on my part, but there was none. She was a Jedi as well as an eye witness to our encounter, so I couldn't tell her an outright lie and say that I was completely innocent. I knew I had reacted too harshly, even though I didn't truly feel like I had, so I decided to explain to her why I had done what I had done, hoping to achieve sympathy from her. "But in my defense," I pressed my palm against my heart truthfully as I leaned toward Ahsoka. "She was the one who fought Ash," I pardoned myself as I pointed at Rebel to my left without looking at her. "I'm leaving," she announced through a scoff as she waved her hand dismissively. "She's too stuck up and perfect to be wrong," she grumbled insultingly as she turned around to face the door and pointed at me over her shoulder with her thumb. I sighed at Rebel's contempt for me that I didn't allow to hurt me as I now felt the same contempt for her as I turned back around to face Ahsoka and held my mug in my hands behind my back. Commander Tano stared at me for a few moments incredulously and I held her gaze with a confused stare before she was forced to give me an obvious nudge in Rebel's direction by jutting her chin out toward the door, indicating she wanted me to follow Rebel. I rolled my eyes as I placed my mug down on the nearest table and trudged reluctantly out of the mess hall. I paused in the hallway, glancing left and right to get a sense of which direction Rebel had disappeared off to, well-versed in searching for signs she had taken a particular path. As I chased after her, I strove to mentally tally up the amount of times I'd done this, but they proved to be innumerable in comparison to the amount of times she's chased after me: 0. Eventually, I caught up to her and found her pitifully dragging herself down the corridor with her arms wound tightly around herself. I sighed as I decided I would undertake all of the blame immediately just to end this feud quicker so that we could tell Ahsoka we had reconciled since this would never be over if I requested that she even assume a small fraction of the blame, she was too stubborn. "That's not what I meant and you know it," I muttered insincerely since I was doing this out of obligation because I was ordered to by my superior, not because I wanted to as I seized her arm with my hand to stop her from walking farther away from me. "No," she looked up from the ground, but continued to face forward. "That's exactly what you meant because I'm the only one who can be wrong." She unexpectedly placed the accountability completely on herself. My eyes widened for a split second in shock before they squinted at her instead as my annoyance flared up again at realizing she was only doing this to appear as the humble one in the eyes of Ahsoka, she was trying to take my place! I've sacrificed my dignity for her countless times by admitting blame when it wasn't my fault, now she wanted to seem as if she'd apologized and been the selfless one? How much more could she steal from me?! "No!" I pointed at her firmly with the same hand I'd been gripping her arm with. "You're wrong, I-" I prepared to go on a rant in which I'd remind her of all those times I'd sacrificed for her, but she cut me off before I could even begin. "Can you shut up?" She spun around to face me and I leaned back just in time to dodge being whacked in the face with Rebel's saturated hair. "All you ever say is; "Oh! You're wrong." She held her hands up innocently on either side of her head with her palms facing me as she increased the pitch in her voice to a ridiculously exaggerated degree in imitation of me. "Oh! I'm being misunderstood." She continued to mock me as she cupped both hands around her heart. "Oh! My birth daughter is a brat." She flicked her hair over her shoulder like a self absorbed individual as if I often did that and I gawked at her unrealistic impression of me. I would never say such a terrible thing about Ria, much less even think it! Rebel acted as if she thought I were truly that hypocritical, that dramatic, that narcissistic, that much of a complainer. Apparently that was all I was to her when I have no recollection whatsoever of acting in such a manner. I do, however, recall those characteristics being attributed to Rebel. Sure, she was selfless as I'd told her three days ago, I'd meant it when I said it and I still agreed with my statement now, but I wondered just how much of that selflessness was a front for her to receive more attention, how many times she'd specifically made a scene where she flaunted her selflessness simply to be dramatic. And how many times has she complained to me? Such vents never bothered me in the past, what had bothered me was the way she'd bottle all her emotions up and refuse to tell me what was troubling her so that she could seize her dramatic moment to combust all at once. Realizing I was still standing there, staring at her slack-jawed by her remark about Ria's attitude, I finally closed my mouth and straightened my posture. "Yeah," Rebel chuckled humorlessly as she nodded and slapped her palms down at her sides against her legs. "She is!" I gasped at her heartless comment and smacked my hand against my heart. Every insult she'd fired at me so far hadn't hurt me, but this one cut deep and I rubbed my chest in an attempt to soothe the sting. "And guess what?!" She prompted rhetorically, leaning forward with her arms up at her sides. "She's just like her mother!" She yelled as she stomped her foot and propelled her fists back down at her sides as the sting surrounding my heart spread to my eyes, a threat of future tears. I turned my face away from her to hide how wounded I really was. Despite all of the pain she'd caused me, I still cared about her deep down so, if she had even an ounce of care left for me, which would throb in agony if she saw how crushed I really was, I protected her from experiencing that pain because she's still my sister. "No wonder you and Ash made such an insolent child!" Her scaring words echoed in my mind as her footsteps did literally as she stormed down the hallway. I stayed there, frozen, for quite some time, gazing at the ground and scuffing it with my shoe as tears rolled down my cheeks and the only sound the corridor was filled with was the sound of my soft sniffling. In time, my knees grew wobbly and I felt like collapsing, but I instead turned and wiped my face dry with the backs of my fists as I walked to the med-bay, deciding I'd left Rex alone with Ash long enough. I made sure I was fully composed before entering, well aware that if Rex detected even a trace of distress in me and he discovered the reason why, more fighting would ensue between Rex and Rebel. I informed Rex his shift was over and he politely exited the room after giving me a comforting pat on the shoulder. I smiled at him convincingly and took a seat in the same chair Rex had been sitting at as I manually placed Ash's hand in mine, usually he was the one to reach out first. I watched his lungs inflate and deflate with air, but other than that, he remained completely still. "How's he doing?" A voice from behind me, identical to mine, asked. I looked over my shoulder and saw Rebel leaning up against the doorframe with her back, her arms crossed. It seemed as though she were genuinely curious. If she could be civil and casual, so could I. Perhaps it was better just to pretend the incident hadn't happened at all, to just forget it altogether and move on. I gave a silent shrug in answer to her question and turned back to face him. "They got the chip removed," I informed her, noticing the bacta patch over his right temple where the incision had been made to extract the chip as I realized how far behind she was on the nature of his condition since we hadn't discussed Ash at all since before his surgery. I stroked the silky patch with my thumb as the mention of the chip caused me to ponder over it and the correlation between the pills and the chip. The more I thought about it, the less I understood how his pills were able to counter some of the effects of the chip and not others. "What I still don't understand is how the pills managed to combat the nightmares the chip was giving him." I said my thoughts aloud, unaware Rebel was still in the room. "They didn't," she replied assuredly after a beat of silence. "What do you mean?" I asked, intrigued as I turned toward her and she now stood in the middle of the doorway, her shoulders square with the frame. "Thrawn needed a diversion," she said as she set foot into the med-bay. "A way to explain why Ash wasn't acting himself," she elaborated. "The pills were it." She stood beside me tapping her foot on the floor and her index finger against her chin simultaneously. "Give them to me," she instructed as she held her hand out to me and flexed her fingers inward toward her palm twice. I complied by lifting the blanket that had been draped over Ash's legs and dug around in his pants pocket for the bottle. I handed it to her and watched as she unscrewed the lid and poured a handful of white capsules into her palm. She puffed out a heavy exhale and tilted her head back as she placed her hand over her mouth, tasting the medication herself. "Rebel!" I scolded as my eyes widened and I gripped the armrest to the chair fiercely, bewildered by her actions. "They're not even pills," she said with her mouth full and shook her head as her tongue roved about her mouth to lick up every dissolved grain from the tablet, holding the bottle of pills up to her eyes and squinting at it. "They're…" she paused as she looked up at the ceiling and allowed her tastebuds to reach a verdict. "Sugar." She smiled at me as she reached a conclusion. "What?" I asked as I sprang to my feet. "Let me see," I demanded as I extended my empty and open palm to her. She tipped the bottle over on its side and let the rim rest on my palm as she tapped against the opposite side of the rim with her index finger, causing one capsule to tumble into my hand. I picked it up by pinching it between my index finger and thumb and opened my mouth with my tongue sticking out. I cautiously placed it on the tip of my tongue and immediately tasted the sweetness as it disintegrated. "You're right," I confirmed, looking at her with wide eyes. As I swallowed the granules of sugar, I finally realized this now meant that the chip was the only reason he'd been acting so out of character. That was why I'd had little moments with the real Ash since he'd returned from Ryloth, when he held my hand, when he called me beautiful, when he interacted with the kids, and when he expressed sincere concern for me. That was why it seemed as though there were two separate versions of Ash, one being controlled by the chip and one that listened to and obeyed his true inclinations. If it had been the pills, his old self would have completely vanished. I'd unfairly been furious at him for something he had no control over, I now understood as I looked at him over my shoulder. While he'd been suffering with a parasite in his head that had been nonconsensually implanted in him and that had ripped him in two and commanded that he do one thing while his instincts do another, I'd been pestering him about a habit he'd abandoned long ago and hadn't even touched in years. I felt extremely relieved, but also extremely remorseful. "So you mean this whole time none of it was his fault?" I asked as my voice cracked and my throat closed with tears blurring my vision. "That he hasn't relapsed?" I walked toward him and knelt down at his side. "That everything can go back to normal?" I gulped against the rising lump in my throat, threatening to suffocate me as I squeezed his arm with my hands. However, one question still remained. I knew I had those brief moments with my real husband, but I still didn't understand exactly how I had them. At least with the pills there was an explanation, the effects wore off, but with the revised knowledge that he had never taken medication during his marriage to me, I wonder if perhaps it was a malfunctioning chip that allowed his true personality to come in waves. Perhaps I could finally thank the force for once for being on our side and permitting the coincidence that granted Ash's chip to be a faulty one. "How come real Ash would peek out sometimes then?" I asked as I looked over my shoulder at Rebel, hoping she'd be able to explain it to me as she had with my previous questions. "Well," she said hesitantly out of the corner of her mouth as she crossed her arms. "At the risk of sounding cheesy," she held one hand up, palm facing me. "I think he fought the chip for you." She gestured at him by tossing her chin in his direction and looked down at him as she recrossed her arms and smiled softly. "For me?" I asked as I pointed at myself by poking my heart with my index finger. "His love for you, Rue," she sighed as she shook her head and I looked back at him. "It's stronger than anything," she continued as I stroked Ash's arm with my thumb. "Maybe I was wrong about him," she said faintly, mostly to herself, as Ash began to stir and I sat up straight attentively, hovering over him watchfully. He took a deep, cleansing breath and scrunched up his face adorably, stretching his arms straight down at his sides as he woke up. I fought the urge to coo over how cute he was as his eyelashes fluttered open and he blinked the sleep from his eyes as they adjusted to the influx of light. He immediately focused on me and smiled his familiar, contented, sleepy grin as he rubbed his eyes, not requiring them to recognize me by my silhouette alone. "Hey, princess," he greeted me groggily. I giggled and brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes as I reciprocated the greeting by addressing him by my signature nickname for him. "Hey, handsome. How are you feeling?" I asked. "Alright," he answered as he sat up, massaging his forehead with his hand to awaken his brain cells enough to speak. "What's going-" His question was cut short as he removed his hand from his head and he looked up, his gaze snagging on Rebel. He jumped, startled, picked me up off the floor, and sat me down on the bed behind him. "Rue," his voice trembled with fear as he spoke and shielded me from Rebel with his arm. "Stay away from her," he instructed gently, striving to keep his voice even. "She-she tried to kill me," he stammered as he pointed in her direction and he shuddered. "No, I didn't, you big baby." She glared at him as she shook her head and he slowly lowered his arm, the pace of his breathing returning to normal. "If I tried to kill you, you'd be dead." She leaned toward him and stared at him intimidatingly as she raised her eyebrows, causing him to flinch. Suddenly, he chuckled and clutched his chest. "You're right." He nodded in agreement as he laughed. "I wouldn't stand a chance against you." He shook his head. "Must've just been a bad dream," he assumed as he looked down, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry for accusing you, Sis," he addressed Rebel affectionately as he looked back up at her and I bit my lip to prevent a squeal of excitement from escaping at my thrill that our Ash was back! I draped my arms around his shoulders while sitting behind him and kissed him on the cheek before resting my chin on his shoulder as well, copying Ash as I looked up at Rebel for her reaction. "You just called me Sis." She stumbled backwards slightly and held her arms out at her sides in an attempt to maintain her balance, a hint of enthusiasm behind her subtle smile as she began to point at him. "Yeah," he shrugged embarrassedly as he looked down at his lap and fidgeted with his fingers. "You're like my sister," he explained. "Is that okay?" He asked considerately as he looked back up at her and ceased fiddling with his fingers to fully concentrate on her response. "Sure thing," she nodded as she smirked. "Little Bro," she teased him about his younger age as she playfully punched his arm. "Ow." He winced and rubbed his arm with his hand. "I'm sorry." She cringed in sympathy pain, sucking in a breath through clenched teeth as she jumped back. He chuckled as he shook his head, waving off her apology as unnecessary. "What happened?" He asked as he finally noticed his surroundings and glanced around the room. "Why am I in the med-bay?" He inquired as he cocked his head in a display of confusion. "Um…" I trailed off as I leaned back, removing my body weight from his back and pressed my fingertips together as I tried to conjure up a way to explain to Ash what had happened in a tactful manner that didn't make him feel guilty as I knew he would if he learned the truth. "You got really dehydrated," Rebel interjected with a lie as she rocked back and forth on her tiptoes. "Passed out," she continued as she scuffed the floor with her shoe and avoided eye contact with him. "Even missed my wedding," she said unfortunately with a disappointed smile as she looked up at him. That was the only truthful part of her account, but I have to admit, it was a believable excuse. Ash really did need to drink more water and it would make sense as to why he didn't remember being carried to the med-bay. I sighed, grateful for her ability to think swiftly on her feet. "Oh, wow. I'm really, really sorry," he apologized regretfully. "It's fine." She smiled and brushed off the apology with a flick of her wrist. Ash returned her smile reluctantly and pressed his palm flat against the mattress for support as he stood up. He grunted with effort and his knees began to wobble as he put weight on them and extended his arms out at his sides to steady himself. "Ash…" I protested his endeavor as I saw how much of a struggle it was for him and grasped his arm. "I'm feeling much better, love," he assured me as he pressed his free hand against my cheek and stroked it with his thumb. I felt my face grow warm under his touch and also by the nickname. The certainty in his tone settled my reservations against him standing up and I decided to help him with his quest instead of hinder it. I reached up to grab the wrist of his other hand, the one that was against my cheek and supported him with both hands as he stood up the rest of the way. "Thank you," he said appreciatively as he bent down and kissed my forehead. "Can I have a hug?" He asked as he turned toward Rebel and extended his arms toward her experimentally. She flashed him a toothy grin and burrowed her face in his chest as she embraced him. I clapped silently, feeling my heart swell as I watched Rebel relax into the hug. Ash is a good hugger, the best one I know. In fact, I've told him that on multiple occasions. He pulled out of the hug at precisely the right time and held onto her by her shoulders. "Wow, Rebel, you look gorgeous!" He exclaimed as he took one of her hands in his and lifted it over her head, twirling her in a circle as he observed the way her wedding dress flared. "Thank you," she murmured to the ground as she swayed side to side, flustered by his compliment and blushed furiously, pinching the side of the dress with her fingers and gnawing on her lower lip in embarrassment. "Somebody needs to tell you that more often." He chuckled at her reaction to his comment and squeezed her hand in his as someone entered the room. The three of us heard the sound of footsteps approaching and each looked up at the doorway in unison as Benji crossed the threshold. "I'm leaving that up to you," Ash said as he squinted teasingly at Benji and pointed at him. Benji had evidently heard Ash's statement beforehand because he giggled. He had either been quick to forgive and forget the altercation with Ash earlier or Rebel had already had her suspicions that Ash's capsules were actually just sugar and had told Benji so that he didn't hold a grudge against Ash any longer because the tension between the two of them had dissolved entirely. Suddenly, Rebel winced and interrupted Ash and Benji's pleasant laughter as she looked down at her hand that was resting in Ash's. He followed her gaze to her bandaged knuckles. "What happened to your knuckles?" He asked, his pitch increasing with sincere concern as he took her other hand in his as well to examine them both. "Do I need to kill someone?" He asked vengefully as he looked back up into her eyes. "No, Ash," she chuckled as she shook her head. "I'm fine," she promised. "Are you sure?" He asked, glancing obviously in Benji's direction as a silent inquiry on whether or not Benji was to blame in case she couldn't explicitly say it was Benji's fault due to being under some form of blackmail. Ash clearly knew that would never be the case, he knew how much Benji loved Rebel, and he meant his wordless question as a joke. The couple understood that it was a joke as Benji glared at him teasingly and Rebel concealed her laughter behind tightly closed lips as she shook her head. Once the humorous moment had ended, Ash sighed and looked back down at Rebel's hands. "Listen, guys," he rubbed his thumbs over her bandages. "I feel really terrible about missing your wedding," he said guiltily and barely lifted his gaze to meet theirs. "Let me make it up to you." He perked up as he received an idea. "I'll pay for your honeymoon," he offered as he pressed his palm against his chest. "No, Ash-" Benji instantly began to decline as he took a step forward and reached out to pat Ash's shoulder. "No, no, seriously," Ash insisted. "I inherited some money from Mom, I'd like to put it to good use." He smiled as he slammed the side of his fist down against the palm of his other hand decidedly and alternated between looking at either Rebel or Benji. "Thank you, Ash," Rebel said gratefully as she grabbed both of Ash's wrists. "That's very generous, but we couldn't possibly-" My husband cut her off with a roll of his eyes while his smile remained and he turned to face Benji instead. "Please," Ash urged as he reached into his pocket and retrieved his wallet, extracted a check, and placed it in Benji's palms. "Take her on the trip of her dreams," he instructed as he gestured toward Rebel and folded Benji's fingers down so that they closed around the check. "We'll take care of the kids," Ash said as he gestured between himself and I and closed the wallet, restoring it to its rightful place in his pocket. "I-If that's okay with Rue of course," he stuttered as he glanced at me over his shoulder with a pleading smile. How could I say no to that face? Besides, I would have agreed to just about anything at that moment, I was just proud to be the wife of such a gentleman. "That sounds like an excellent idea, Ash." I nodded as I situated my hands in my lap and his smile shone even brighter as he turned back to face Benji and Rebel, eagerly awaiting their response this time now that plans had been arranged to watch the children. Rebel sighed in defeat and glanced over at Benji who nodded. "Thank you." Rebel bowed her head appreciatively, finally accepting his offer.