As I knelt on the ground watching my husband fly away in an unknown ship with an unknown destination, I felt an unbridled rage curdle in my veins at the unfairness of him being taken away from me after I'd just gotten his true self back. I ground my teeth together as the handcuffs binding my wrists together clattered against the pavement. We've been separated from each other by forces beyond our control for far too long, it was time we regained control of our lives. I need to get him back and this time, I'm not letting him out of my sight. He's staying with me, for good. "We need to rescue Ash," I said to empty space as my eyes remained fixed on the ship as it exited the atmosphere and I rose to my feet. "And Rebel," Rex added automatically, grumbling as I looked down at him from where he knelt beside me. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, fighting the urge to gag at the mention of her name as I removed my blaster from its holster on my hip to shoot the chain connecting Rex's cuffs to release him. "She can fend for herself." I closed one eye to peer through the sight on my gun to aim properly. If I was one centimeter off, I could blast Rex's thumb off. "I'm done with her," I growled through clenched teeth as I took my shot, pretending it was someone else. The chain split and Rex pulled his wrists apart as he stood up. "Wow." His eyes widened in surprise as he looked up at me and gave me an almost proud nod, rubbing his sore wrists. "I knew you were upset at her for beating up Ash, but I didn't know you were that upset." He shook his head as he chuckled, his smile slowly widening. I felt my eye twitch as he mentioned the incident that had escalated this entire ordeal and was unpleasantly reminded that Rebel used to do the same thing when she was about to snap. I'd never told anyone, but it used to annoy the kriff out of me. I may have been able to be civil with her in front of Ash, but that was just for his sake and because I was much more concerned about his condition than her insignificant presence. What she had said to me about my husband, my daughter, and myself, how she'd mercilessly insulted us, had hurt me to my very core and just because she'd healed Ash didn't mean I was going to forgive her. It was her mistake to fix in the first place, so, no, I wasn't going to reward her for doing the right thing. She'd shown what she truly thought of our family and I wasn't going to allow someone like that back into our family that easily. I certainly can't trust her anymore, I'm not even sure I can consider her a friend anymore. As all of the emotions bubbled up to the surface, so did the words as they came tumbling out of my mouth. "I just-" I cut myself off with a deep huff of irritation as I propped my hands up on my hips and I let the truth spill out just as she had done. "I hate her," I snarled as I glared up at Rex and balled my hands into fists at my sides, gouging my nails into my palms. I felt my mouth contort into an evil smirk as it felt good finally admitting it. So good. I wanted to scream it as loud as I could and that's exactly what I did. "I hate her! I hate her! I hate her!" I yelled, stomping my foot each time I shouted. "This is all her fault!" I wailed as I gestured to the spot the ship had just taken off from. If she hadn't come back here, Sawyer never would've found us and Ash wouldn't be traveling through lightspeed to force knows where. This always happens though. My life revolves around her. When I was a cadet, when I should've been focused on my studies and on making sure my identity was hidden, I had to ensure that she wasn't getting into trouble with other cadets, that her true gender wasn't discovered either, and I had to keep track of her mind wipes. During the Clone Wars, I had to break up countless fights between her and Wrecker, her safety was my priority on the battlefield, I valued her life over mine and was always trying to keep her safe, I don't even remember why at this point, and I was constantly having to pander to her disability with her missing limb. In the years following the beginning of the rebellion, I was always under her authority and forced to comply with her every order, despite the fact that I technically outranked her. Let's not forget the way everyone is expected to drop everything and coddle her when she has a breakdown, even though it's her fault for bottling up her emotions until they explode and how difficult it is for her to have three men pining after her and how she's always suffering from some form of injury. Please, how much attention can one person crave?! "Everything is always about her!" I complained. "I wish I'd never suggested we go rescue her from the janitorial staff," I regretted the day I ever laid eyes on her in the mess hall on Kamino. "I wish I'd never met her," I lamented, crossing my arms and suddenly received an idea that solved all my problems. "I wish you hadn't rescued me," I poked Rex in the chest and he stumbled backward, clutching his chest. "You should've just let the Kaminoans terminate me!" I screamed, gesturing wildly into the space between us as I took a step toward him to close the gap and tears came to my eyes. "I wish I'd never existed!" I yelled as I pounded on his chest with my fists and leaned my forehead against him in between my two hands as I sobbed. "Woah!" He exclaimed, shocked, and wrapped his arms around me as he rubbed my back. "Hey, hey, hey," he said consolingly as he gave my back a few comforting pats. "It's been a while since we talked," he mentioned casually. "Let's go to the mess hall," he motioned to the cafeteria behind him with his head. "I'll go fix you something to eat and we'll talk, sound good?" He asked as he grabbed my shoulders and gently pushed me off of him, leaning down to see my face as he wiped my tears. I nodded, feeling my bottom lip pout out of gratitude for his compassion. He forced a smile and took me by the hand as he guided me to the mess hall where he sat me down on one of the picnic style tables and prepared me a sandwich. He handed it to me as he sat down beside me and as I took the first bite, it reminded me of how hungry I was. Maybe that was why I was feeling so cranky, I know I get like this sometimes when I'm hungry. Rex must've known it too since he offered to fix me a meal. I shouldn't have been this hungry though, it had only been a few hours since I'd last eaten. I suddenly remembered I was pregnant though and eating for two, perhaps that had contributed to my grouchiness as well. I glanced over at my brother as he rubbed my shoulder affectionately and remembered I hadn't shared the news with him yet. "Rex, I'm pregnant," I announced indifferently after I'd swallowed the bite I'd just finished chewing. "Aww, Rue, that's wonderful!" He cooed as he mimicked the same reaction Rebel had when I'd told her and the reaction 2B had, only more expressive. "People keep congratulating me, but I'm not so sure it's so wonderful," I said quietly as I looked down at my lap and shook my head. "I'm not even sure I want to be pregnant." I shrugged. "I'm having these crazy mood swings this time around that are making me do and say things that are not like myself at all," I said as I wrapped my arms around myself and rocked back and forth, remembering I had no clue where the idea to pour steaming coffee on Rebel's head had come from. "I feel like I don't know who's in there," I said and poked my stomach. "I feel like I don't know myself," I whispered. "I bet it's a boy," Rex speculated while nodding vigorously after a beat of silence. "Oh, yeah?" I asked as I sniffled and looked up at him, dabbing at the tears sliding down my cheeks with the backs of my hands. "What makes you think that?" I asked curiously, shifting toward him as I propped my elbow up on the surface of the table and leaned my head on my hand. "Boys are jerks," he stated bluntly and glanced over at me for my reaction as I chuckled softly at the memory that his statement triggered. "Remember when I taught you that?" He asked, revealing that it had been his intention to spark some nostalgia. I nodded as I recalled the exact occurrence where he'd knelt down to my level while we were still cadets to explain to me why a couple of my brothers who'd just found out I was female were teasing me. It had been immensely confusing that a boy himself was telling me such information and that the same boy was also critiquing me on how to be more masculine, but as I got older it made total sense. "Rue, I know it's an inconvenience right now," he said understandingly. "I know you weren't expecting to have more kids, but you're gonna do so good with this one, I can feel it," he insisted as he squeezed my arm with his hand. "You have a strong support system," he assured me. "And we're gonna not take you seriously during your mood swings and we're not gonna be sensitive during them either," he giggled as he teased me and I playfully jabbed him in the ribs with my elbow as I rolled my eyes. "And we're definitely gonna be here to help you take care of the baby once it's born," he said sincerely, patting the back of my hand as it rested on the tabletop. "Thank you so much," I said as I fidgeted with my fingers and gnawed on my lower lip to prevent him from seeing it tremble. "You're the best big brother ever." I leaned toward him and hugged him around his neck so he wouldn't see the tears forming in my eyes. "Mama, where's Appa?" I heard Ria ask as she waddled into the room. I sniffled and quickly composed myself as I dried my eyes and leaned out of Rex's embrace. I didn't exactly know how to explain to Ria that her father had been kidnapped and I certainly didn't want to alarm her, so I fibbed slightly. "Appa's on a little trip with Uncle Sawyer," I answered as cheerily as I could and extended my arms toward Ria as she stepped closer. "He'll be back soon," I promised her as I picked her up and sat her down in my lap. I kissed the top of her head and looked around, realizing her siblings hadn't toddled in after her like they usually did. "Where are your siblings?" I asked her and she shrugged wordlessly. "Well, do you know where your cousins are?" I asked, becoming more uneasy as I noticed the quietness and I saw Rex tense up as well. Ria shook her head in response to my question. "Where are all of the kids?" I asked frantically as I placed Ria back down on her feet beside me. "Where's Ally?" I inquired, searching to interrogate any bystanders I encountered as I stood up, praying to the force nothing had happened to them. "I have Ally," Benji announced as he suddenly entered the room, holding his daughter's hand and waving to us with his free one. I puffed out a sigh of relief and laid my palm over my heart when she smiled at me, unharmed. "Where are the twins?" I asked about the whereabouts concerning Leia's children as I spun around, looking for any sign of them as I proceeded with my tally of the rebellion's children. "Rue, I don't think they were targeting the kids." Rex shook his head as he looked up at me from where he sat and held one of my hands. "I think they were targeting Rebel's kids." Great, just what I needed. Another thing that was about Rebel.