As I skidded to a stop inside the terrifying dungeon, I tried to center my focus entirely on Rebel once I spotted her, not wanting to lay my eyes on any of the instruments of torture strewn around the room to avoid the traumatic memories those sights might spark. I saw her suspended by her wrists with handcuffs attached to chains that were connected to the ceiling, her arms up above her head in a V shape as they were uncomfortably spread apart. Her shirt was off, but the important parts were covered, thankfully, although it was tattered most likely from thrashes courtesy of a whip which I could tell had been used on her based on the ribbons of bleeding flesh dangling from her back and the electro-whip buzzing and glowing in Sawyer's hand as he stood behind her. "Get away from her!" I commanded in a booming voice as I thrust my finger at him and marched toward him threateningly. He dropped the whip and it retracted into the handle as he began to back away from me with his hands in the air in surrender. Where do you think you're going? Nuh-uh, I'm not letting you off on just a warning. "Sawyer," I growled as I grabbed the collar of his shirt with both fists and pinned him up against the stone wall. The genuine fear in his eyes kept me from doing everything I truly had the urge to do as he pushed against my shoulders to widen the gap between us. I sighed, reluctant to show him mercy as I loosened my grip on the fabric of his shirt. "I don't want to hurt you, but I swear on my life, if you touch her again, I will kill you," I threatened through clenched teeth as I poked him fiercely in the chest and he nodded in agreement, his eyes wide with fear. I gave him one last backward shove as I released him fully and he collapsed to the ground, clutching his heart as he gasped for air. I spun around to face Rebel and glanced down at her shirt in shreds on the freezing cobblestone floor, giving me an inclination as to how long this torture had been going on for and making my stomach churn with a nauseous feeling I haven't experienced since the last time I was in this room. "Hey, Sis," I greeted her in the most soothing voice I could summon as I sprinted toward her and tore her shackles apart with my bare hands in a senseless, savage rampage to free her. "Are you alright?" I asked without thinking. I knew the answer would be no, but what I was really wondering was if she was alive, if she was going to live. "Yeah, I'm fine," she answered without a thought in her brain either, other than escaping this place, as I caught her and supported her by her torso before her feet touched the ground since I assumed her legs wouldn't be strong enough to support her. Her skin was cold, yet clammy against my fingertips as I tried to avoid touching the skin of her shredded back and the discomfort it would cause her. I slowly lowered her to the ground and she instantly wrapped her arms around her chest to hide her cleavage and her eyes darted around the room uncomfortably for cover, her cheeks pinkening with embarrassment and her legs beginning to tremble as the chill of the room seeped into her skin. I was grateful I was wearing a large hoodie over my shirt since it was slightly chilly outside, being a standard autumn afternoon on Naboo, so I could rip it off and give it to her. She yanked it from my hand immediately and threw it over her head. "Thank you," she whispered to me gratefully as soon as her head peeked through the hood and she situated the sweatshirt over herself, smoothing out the creases. It reached down to her knees and the sleeves were so long on her that the slack hanging off from her hands could almost be folded up to her shoulders. "The kids," she suddenly gasped and gripped my shoulders tightly for support as she stumbled. I instinctively reached for her hips to steady her and the pads of my fingers tentatively brushed her waist, unsure if she was receptive to touch yet or not. "What?" I asked, realizing I hadn't comprehended what she'd said since I'd been too focused on her, rather than her words. "The triplets," she said, taking a step closer to me. "They're here." She squeezed one of my shoulders tighter. "Impossible." I shook my head, recalling the triplet's last known location. "I just put them down for a nap," I corrected her as I stroked her shoulder comfortingly, assuming perhaps the trauma she'd just experienced had affected her memory too. "The other triplets," she said emphatically, gesturing with her arm by swinging it in a circle as if she'd forgotten their names, which I knew was a stereotypical thing for mothers with multiple children to do since I'd witnessed my own mother doing it during my childhood. Although, she could've been attempting to save time by not mentioning all three of their names individually. I sabotaged that attempt, however, to ensure I'd understood her correctly. "Ansa, Apollo, and Aaron?" I clarified and she nodded vigorously, but I still didn't understand how that was even possible, I needed further verification. "They're here?!" I asked in disbelief. "I didn't even know they were on Naboo!" I exclaimed, gesturing wildly with my arms out of total bewilderment. "Me neither," she denied, whipping her head back and forth and making her hair slap herself in the face. "Until just now!" She pointed down at the ground, signifying the current moment. I stuttered as fragments of words tumbled out of my agape mouth and I tried to process what to do with this information. "Where are they?" I asked, finally concluding we needed to ensure they were safe and, if not, reunite them with their half siblings and their mother. She closed her eyes and locked her lips together as she squeezed my shoulders, tapping into the force. "I can sense them." She nodded and slowly opened her eyes, her shoulders slouching as she disconnected from the force. "Let's go." I grabbed her by the hand and turned my back to her as I began leading her toward the exit. I heard a thud and felt the resistance on her end increase as I took one step in the opposite direction. I spun around to investigate the reason behind the friction since I didn't want to tug on her and wind up dragging her. My eyes plummeted downward as I spotted her kneeling on the floor, her head hanging as she panted, already out of breath. "Rebel, you are not fine," I argued as I shook my head and crouched down to her level. She barely raised her head to allow her eyes to meet mine and her irises were filled with pain. "We need to get you looked at," I said urgently as I supported her chin with my fingertips and her eyelids began to shut out of exhaustion and gratitude for me relieving the weight of her head. I hated to make her relive her traumatic memories from just a few moments ago, but my desire for her to heal far outweighed my reluctance to ask what had happened so that I would know what remedies she needed. "What did he do to you?" I asked and as she cracked her eyelids open, I realized I should be asking the person who'd done it to her since he was still in the room and I knew he'd be honest with me, no doubt wanting to brag about his exploits, as opposed to Rebel who wouldn't be entirely truthful to try and hide the ways she'd been abused and conceal the cracks in her strengths to maintain the facade that she was completely unbreakable. "What did you do to her?" I asked, shooting Sawyer a death glare. "I-" He began to speak, immediately lifting his hands into the air as if innocent, probably preparing to fire excuses at me. "Nothing!" Rebel cut him off, extending her arm in his direction, her palm facing him. "Let's just go get the triplets," she grumbled as she struggled to rise to her feet, grunting with effort as she pushed against her knee and my flattened palm. She winced as she collapsed back to the ground. "I'll carry you," I offered, stretching out my open palm to her, the one that wasn't already holding her other hand. "No, Ash," she refused, shaking her head as she swiped her hand through the air. I had expected her to decline, but I never would've anticipated her reasoning would be an insult to herself. "I'm too heavy," she muttered to herself scornfully as she jerked her hand out of my grasp and wrapped both arms around her torso. "What?" I asked in utter confusion as I tilted my head and furrowed my brow. She's always so confident, I've never seen her so insecure before, except just a few moments ago when I'd seen her half-naked. "What are you talking about?" I asked, but I didn't allow her to answer. Her confidence is one of the things I love most about her and I wasn't about to let her betray that aspect of her personality and talk herself down just to ease my confusion. Besides, this wasn't a debate we needed to be having right now when her kids' lives could be at stake. She's gorgeous and that's all there is to it. I'll have to assure her of that fact at a later time when things are less chaotic, if that ever happens. I've wanted to tell her that for a long time, but I think I've always been waiting for the right moment. "Just get on my back," I instructed as I shook my head to free my mind of instances in which I'd contemplated complimenting Rebel on her beauty but decided not to because Rue had just entered the room or Sawyer was standing beside her and I hadn't wanted to make either one of them jealous. "I'll give you a piggyback ride," I introduced an exchange of services as I turned my back to her and pointed to it over my shoulder with my thumb. "You tell me where to go," I told her what she'd offer me in return. "Are you sure?" She asked hesitantly as I saw her reach for my shoulder, pausing and hovering her quivering palm over it before making actual physical contact. "Yeah, of course." I nodded and patted my shoulder as a second invitation. "Okay," she said reluctantly as she set her hand next to my neck and gripped it tightly. She placed her other hand on the same spot on the other side of my neck and wrapped her legs around my waist as I stood up with ease. She felt light to me, I could do this all day. I reached around behind me and supported her by placing my hands underneath her thighs as she wound her arms around my neck and nearly choked me with her forearms, but I didn't mind. She pointed in the direction she wished me to take her and obediently complied. Eventually, under her expert direction, we found the kids in a corner of one of the rooms on the same level, their wrists tied behind their backs with white cloths as they huddled together for warmth. "Hi kids," I greeted them as I sat Rebel down in front of them and noticed the terror in their eyes as I squatted down in front of Ansa to untie her bonds. As soon as her wrists were free, she leaned forward as she flung her arms around my neck, giving me the biggest hug and knocking me off balance as I landed on my butt. "Aww, you're safe now," I assured her as I patted her back and held her against my chest tighter, feeling warmth spreading within my chest. "We've got you," I promised her as I rubbed her back in a circular motion. She abruptly pulled back and I released her as she scampered over to her mother. Rebel and I swapped kids as the pair of boys toddled over to me. "Hi boys," I waved to them before they both crawled into my lap and embraced me. "Are you hurt?" I asked as I hugged them back and they shook their heads in response, burying them deeper into my chest. "No?" I verified as I gently grabbed their arms and pulled them away from my chest to examine their pudgy faces. They gazed up at me with innocent expressions, yet their eyes reflected a distant fear caused by their surroundings which they kept side eyeing distrustfully. I glanced over at Rebel, silently conveying we should go upstairs to remove them from the prison they've most likely been confined to for the past two days. She shared a look with me that I assumed mirrored my own and that I interpreted as the same message I was trying to make her receive. We nodded simultaneously as we registered each other's thoughts. "Come on, kids." I stood up with both Aaron and Apollo in my arms, one secured to either side of me. "We'll take you back up to the room." I turned and headed for the door when I heard the same thump as before when Rebel had collapsed and the faintest of voices following the sudden crash. "Mama?" Ansa inquired hesitantly as I spun around to see Rebel was on the verge of fainting as she was laying on her side, her legs bent at the knees and tucked up underneath her in an uncomfortable position as she panted and her arms were contorted at awkward angles on either side of her. Ansa was kneeling over her, her tiny hands on either of Rebel's collarbones with a panicked look in her eyes as she witnessed what no child should ever be forced to see. "Mama's okay," I assured her, failing to suppress my own flustered tone as I set the boys down. "She's okay," I whispered to Ansa as I bent down on one knee on the other side of Rebel and set my hand on Ansa's shoulder, trying to convince myself of what I'd said as well. I wasn't looking at Ansa though, I was watching Rebel's eyelids grow heavier and more difficult for her to prop open as her eyes rolled back and her eyelids fluttered closed. "Uncle Ash is just gonna give her a ride for now, okay?" I grabbed Rebel's hands and sat her in an upright position as I began to turn my back to her to give her another piggyback ride. "No, Ash," she rasped, shaking her head weakly as she coughed and tried to wriggle out of my grasp when normally she would've done so with ease. "The kids-" She stretched her arm out toward them to point a trembling finger at them cuddled together for comfort. "The kids are fine," I interrupted her, not wanting her to lose her voice even more as I cupped one of her cheeks with my palm. She cocked one eyebrow at me skeptically which made me chuckle at the fact that while her strength was meager, she could still make the most distinct facial expressions. "Aren't y'all?" I glanced over my shoulder at them, asking them personally instead so that she'd believe me since it had come from them. They each nodded in unison. "Y'all can walk by yourselves," I said, verbalizing their response since I wasn't certain if Rebel had seen it or not with her eyes barely open. "You've been walking all your life, haven't you?" I asked rhetorically, sprinkling a morsel of humor into the bleak situation as I grinned teasingly at the triplets. "No, Ash." Rebel shook her head, taking me seriously in her frail state. "They're three years old, they've only been walking for two years, you idiot," she scolded in a hoarse voice, somehow mustering the breath to address me by my affectionate nickname. "Still," I continued, maintaining the facade of a blissful idiot for Rebel since it was so entertaining for her. Plus, my main goal was still to convince her she wasn't detracting attention from anything more pressing. "That's plenty of time for them to become experts, isn't it?" I asked, pretending to be genuinely uncertain as I struggled to conceal my smirk. "They don't need me to carry them." I gestured at them and they shook their heads in sync with each other with amused smiles on their faces as they caught on to my humor. "No, see?" I displayed plainly to Rebel her childrens' fully competent walking abilities and finished turning my back to her once I'd seen one side of her mouth twitch up into a mocking smirk. "Hop on," I demanded, patting my back and she complied. I carried her upstairs as the triplets followed closely at my feet, clinging to my pant legs. Once we'd stepped inside and I'd sat Rebel down on the edge of the mattress and the kids had said their hellos, I sat beside Rebel, noticing her wincing whenever my hoodie made contact with her back. "Do you think we could talk outside for a sec?" I asked in a hushed tone as I gestured with the side of my head to the door, certain she wouldn't want to discuss the extent of her injuries in the presence of her children, but I knew we needed to assess her wounds as quickly as possible. She glanced around the room at the kids playing together happily and looked back at me as she nodded. I stood up and walked toward the door as she pursued me. I held the door open for her as she exited and I turned toward her as soon as I'd shut the door behind me. I crossed my arms and sighed as I leaned up against the wall on my side, deciding how to approach this subject delicately. "You don't have to tell me what happened." I held my arms up to her in surrender, well aware she wouldn't want to reveal what happened in that room in detail to anyone. I didn't either when the same thing happened to me. "I just need to know where it hurts so I can take care of you," I said gently as I lowered my hands back to my sides and saw tears flood her eyes. "My back," she whimpered as she pointed to the affected area, refusing to let me see her cry as she sniffled and clenched her fists, holding back her tears. "Okay." I nodded, inhaling a shuddering breath to suppress my rage with Sawyer for even thinking about hurting her and ground my teeth together as I balled my hands up into fists in imitation of her. "I'll get the supplies." I pointed to the door with my thumb knowing there were some ointments above the vanity and turned the knob before realizing I should probably check to see if there were any professionals who could care for her better than I could that she knew wouldn't drug her or turn her over to Palpatine. "Are there any medical personnel here you trust?" I asked, hanging onto the door frame as I leaned back to look at her. "There's no one here I trust more than you," she whispered to me timidly as she toyed with the hem of my hoodie and nibbled on her lower lip. Hearing that I was her most trusted confidant made my heart swell as I gave her a comforting smile to inform her I'd be right back. I turned back to face the door and cringed as I opened it to hear something less pleasant, high-pitched squealing coming from all six kids as they played tag. I glanced back at Rebel realizing that wouldn't be the most relaxing sound to hear as I was trying to stitch her up when she'd nearly lost her vocal cords after all the screaming she'd done herself and she probably wouldn't want them to be present in the first place where they'd be susceptible to seeing her injuries. "Do you want the kids out of the room?" I asked, scrunching up my face, already predicting her response. "Who would watch them?" She asked, tilting her head as she realized our predicament. I knew I'd leave them under Martha's care as I'd already done twice before and the kids seemed to enjoy spending time with her, but Rebel probably didn't know who that was and I didn't want it to appear as though I was leaving her children with a complete stranger, so I introduced her flatteringly. "There's actually this really nice babysitter that I trust." I snapped my fingers and pointed at her as the thought dawned on me that she may actually be acquainted with her. "I actually think she's the one I saw you talking to." I recalled her comforting a servant in the hallway before I'd given her the bouquet of queen's hearts who looked identical to the triplets' babysitter. "What's her name?" Rebel asked suspiciously. "Martha," I replied and instantly saw a flash of recognition in her eyes. "Yeah, that's her!" She exclaimed enthusiastically as she nodded, obviously pleased with who I'd elected to put my trust in which made me proud of myself as well. "Great!" I clapped my hands and the boom that ensued made her flinch. I sucked in a breath through my clenched teeth apologetically and reached forward to stroke her arm lovingly. She waved off my non-verbal apology with a flick of her wrist and I entered the room. "Come on, kids," I announced loudly, disrupting their playtime and demanding their attention. They paused and looked up at me attentively as I gestured toward the door in a sweeping motion. "We're gonna go spend some time with a nice lady named Martha for a little bit," I informed them cheerfully to disguise the ugly truth behind the reason why they were being kicked out of the room as they lined up behind each other and filed out of the door in an organized fashion, all but Ansa. "I wanna see Mama though," she lamented as she stopped beside my leg and tugged on my pants to encourage me to look down at her. "I know you do, sweetheart." I crouched down beside her and took a hold of her delicate hand as I rubbed my thumb up against the back of it. "I know," I pouted as I looked at her sullen face and stroked her cheek with my finger when her shoulders sank, already assuming her request would be denied by the tone of my voice. "But Mama's not feeling very well right now," I conjured up an excuse as I made a sickly expression. "So you'll have to wait just a little bit." I held one finger up to her face, signifying exactly how long it would seem to her and she nodded patiently. I stood up, my back slightly hunched to accomodate for our height difference as I held her hand and walked with her out the door. She waved to Rebel as we passed by her, making Rebel's face light up as she stooped down toward her daughter and propped her hands up on her knees. "I hope you feel better soon, Mama," Ansa said as she released my hand and reached up toward her mother. Rebel lowered herself even more so that Ansa could wrap her arms around her neck and hug her. "Aww, thank you, sweetie." Rebel's eyes closed as she swaddled her arms around her in a warm embrace and rubbed her back up and down with her palm. I saw her eyelashes beginning to flutter as if tears were building behind her eyelids and she was afraid to open them, exposing her vulnerability to her daughter, so I decided that was the time to intervene and be the bad guy, for Rebel's sake. "Okay, time to go, Ansa," I whispered as I crouched down to her level and tapped her shoulder, breaking up the hug. She looked over her shoulder and flashed me a wary expression before turning back toward her mother and waving one last time and grabbing my hand again for me to lead her away. I escorted the kids to the nursery where Martha, already in the room, was tidying up and left them with her for a few minutes while I went back to Rebel and found her pacing in the hallway outside of my room, technically our room now. Her head lurched up as she either sensed me approaching her or heard my footsteps from this distance with her enhanced hearing. "Okay, Ash, I have to warn you." She held her palm up to me as her pacing came to a halt and I smiled at her nervously, permitting her to continue. "It's not pretty." She planted her face into her palms embarrassedly and shook her head, referring to the injuries on her back. I started to chuckle and brush off her warning, relieved my anxiety could finally settle after discovering it was not something as serious as I'd theorized and finding it humorous she was again apologizing for flaws she had no control over. "And it's not in a good spot and it's so embarrassing and I'm so sorry-" She rambled in humiliation, but I interrupted her, unable to bear seeing her apologize for what had been done to her. "Rebel, Rebel," I interjected, reaching forward and placing my hands on her shoulders as I bent down to meet her eye level, suppressing the urge to hug her since I didn't want to startle her. She parted her fingers to peek at me from in between them, making me snicker at the adorable, innocent stare she was giving me. The innocence in her eyes reminded me just how much she didn't deserve what Sawyer had put her through. "You've been through enough," I said, my words heavy with guilt, guilt that I wasn't fast enough to prevent this from happening in the first place, guilt that I'd lingered in the hallway too long, wallowing in my own trauma while Rebel had been suffering. "I don't want you to apologize for anything, okay?" I shook my head as I ensured she understood there was nothing for her to feel remorse over and cupped one of her cheeks with my palm. "Nothing that happened is your fault, no matter what they say," I added, well aware of their tactics to plant seeds of self-doubt in someone vulnerable, having experienced them myself first hand. "Believe me, I've been down that road before," I muttered as I stood up straight and dropped my hands from Rebel's face and shoulder, glancing down at the ground distractedly as I reflected on past memories where I'd felt Palpatine's assaults were somehow my fault and somewhat justified even. I cleared my throat and shook my head to expel memories of my screams echoing around the hollow dungeon as I turned toward the door and stepped inside, expecting Rebel to follow me so I could begin treating her. "What did Palpatine do to you?" She asked curiously in a timid, wavering tone of voice as I gathered up the supplies I needed and wetted a washcloth in warm water to wipe the blood from her back. "I don't want to talk about it," I snapped impolitely as I flashed her a glare over my shoulder and forcefully turned off the faucet, terminating the flow of water. I saw her stumble backward at my harsh tone as she groped behind herself to support her body on the nightstand, preventing herself from collapsing out of startlement at my brashness and I instantly regretted the way in which I'd spoken to her. "I'm sorry," she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. I sighed before I spoke and drooped my head, letting it hang down toward the sink as I propped myself up against it, my fingers gripping the rims with the damp washcloth wadded up in one of my fists. "No, it's not you." I shook my head as I turned back around to face her and pinched the bridge of my nose with my free hand. "It's just, a lot of things have resurfaced today and I'm just not ready to deal with all of it yet," I explained as I dropped my hand from my face and cringed at the memories. She nodded understandingly as she twirled one of the drawstrings from my hoodie around her finger. I smiled at her understanding, knowing she'd know better than anyone what I'd been through, and at the fact that my hoodie looked substantially better on her than it ever had on me, but for the moment she needed to take it off if I was going to dress her wounds. "Now, take your top off," I demanded bluntly as I gestured to her up and down. She gasped in horror as she gathered up the excess of hoodie that was hanging low on her chest, revealing more of her undergarment than I had previously realized now that she drew attention to it, and held the neckline of the hoodie up to her throat in a makeshift turtleneck. "Ash!" She scolded my candor. "I know, I'm sorry." I chuckled as I held up my hands to her and shook my head, apologizing since I knew she'd already been deprived of covering against her will once today and once was one time too many. "It's the last thing you need to hear today, but I just need to get you taken care of so it doesn't get infected," I explained, but she squinted at me, still not trusting my motives as chaste as her grip on the hoodie refused to budge. "I won't look, I promise," I vowed, placing my palm over my heart sincerely and she slowly unclenched her fist, letting the neckline drop back down to where it would typically rest on me, although it was a little lower on her. She turned her back to me and I glanced at the wall to follow through on my promise as she hiked the hem of the hoodie that was dangling around her knees up to her waist. Gradually, however, I caught myself watching her undress and when she glanced over her shoulder to ensure I was honoring my word, I quickly diverted my gaze elsewhere, clearing my throat in embarrassment and she tutted at me. Eventually, she subtly let me know she was finished by clearing her throat. I thought perhaps if she were lying facedown on the bed, she might be more comfortable since she wouldn't have to stand and she wouldn't have to cross her arms over her chest to hide her, well, you know, since the mattress would do it for her. "Do you mind laying down on the bed?" I asked as I pointed to it while continuing to stare at the wall and not at her. She rushed over to the bed and I smirked as I noticed, from my peripheral vision, her struggling to contain everything she didn't want me to see. Once she was situated on the mattress, I strode over to her with my bundle of supplies and set them down on the nightstand, climbing up onto the mattress to sit beside her. I hovered the damp washcloth over the torn skin of her back, deciding to warn her before the searing pain induced. "It's gonna sting a little, I'm sorry." I waited for her response before pressing the rough fabric to her sensitive skin. "It's okay," she said indifferently as she folded her arms underneath her head and rested her cheek against her forearms. "It has to be less painful than what put me in this position, right?" She asked rhetorically, making a dark humored joke and I chuckled at her ignorance. She wasn't aware I'd told a slight untruth by describing the pain she'd experience as minimal so as not to frighten her and now she was in for an unpleasant surprise. "Ow! Ow!" She yelped as she gripped the sheets tightly and arched her back as an instinctive reaction to escape the sensation she felt from me dabbing at the patches of blood. "I'm sorry, I lied." I winced as I finally informed her of the actual truth. "It's gonna sting a lot." I emphasized the final two words, correcting my previous statement. "How do you know so much about this?" She asked, keeping her voice light to pretend she wasn't flinching at every gentle touch I gave her, even though I saw her back twitch and tense up each time. "I had to do a lot of this to myself too," I replied, inadvertently partially answering Rebel's question from before of what Palpatine had done to me as I recalled slathering bacta patches on my back, peeling them off, and the long soaks I took in the bacta tanks in the med bay. There was a brief pause in the conversation where the void of silence was only disrupted by the faint sounds of me placing the bloody washcloth down on the nightstand and picking up a bottle of ointment to slather the substance that oozed out of it onto my palms. "You love those kids," Rebel murmured affectionately and I glanced back at her to see a smile steadily stretching across her face with her eyes closed as if she were reflecting on a memory. "Of course I do," I responded immediately as I rubbed the cream on my palms together and crawled back over to her on my knees, holding my hands up beside my head so as not to accidentally wipe any of it off on the comforter. It was easy to love her kids because of their many lovable qualities, courtesy of Rebel. "They're yours." I straddled Rebel's body with my knees on either side of her without fully sitting on her since, being twice her size, I didn't want to crush her. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked through a chuckle as I applied the ointment to her skin. I was grateful she was facing the other way because I was blushing for two reasons which I'm sure only deepened the color of my cheeks and made it more noticeable. One, the position we were in was slightly romantic and I was worried she might sense the thoughts that were involuntarily popping into my brain. I didn't want her to think I thought of her that way, not when she's been abused and harassed for her body for years. The last thing she needs is another man to feel unsafe around. Two, she was forcing me to explain and explaining meant admitting to her that I loved her, platonically, of course. "Nothing," I said through a nervous chuckle as I massaged the cream into her back, hoping I could brush it off for now and she'd drop it. That, of course, was not the case. Since when does Rebel ever give up on anything? "No, tell me what you mean," she demanded and her authoritarian tone made me realize I couldn't delay answering any longer. "Rebel, I like you a lot, why wouldn't I like your kids the same amount too?" I asked rhetorically, my words spewing out of my mouth rapidly because of my nerves, but I'd somehow managed to switch 'love' to a different, less intense, four letter word beginning with L and ending in E since I wasn't quite ready to confess just how much I cared about her yet and I was afraid she'd take it the wrong way. She didn't respond, apparently accepting my answer as suffice as I continued kneading the lotion into her back. Her skin, although scarred, was so soft that my fingers couldn't help but venture up to her hair and sweep it aside, exposing the area between her shoulder blades along with burnt flesh that seemed to form a symbol that was in the shape of a circle with a smaller outline of a circle in the center and five smaller circles scattered around the largest one. Four of the circles were of the same size while one was slightly larger and on the rim of the outer circle with one of the smallest circles hiding underneath it, half peeking out. Another of the smallest circles was on the rim of the inner circle and the other two smallest were on the rim of the largest circle. The more I examined it, the more it looked like the Chiss Ascendancy symbol. I placed my palm over it gently and I cringed silently as I felt the gouges in her skin and imagined how painful whatever had happened to her must've been. As my palm lay there, I also felt a knot in her shoulder and that I knew I could fix. I reached up and placed both hands on either side of her neck and began massaging with the base of my palms. "What are you doing?" She asked nervously as she panted in terror, clutching the bedsheets again and arching her back to squirm away from me. "I'm sorry." My hands immediately shot up beside my head. "Your shoulders felt tight," I explained. "What are you, a masseuse?" She asked disparagingly as her muscles finally relaxed again enough for her to tease me and I giggled awkwardly as I scratched the back of my neck, embarrassed I'd made her uncomfortable when that was the last thing I was trying to do. "I'm sorry," I mumbled an apology as I began to lift my leg up to sling it over the other side of her so I was no longer hovering over her. "No, no," she protested as she placed her hand on the back of my thigh to halt my movement. "I mean," she chuckled uncomfortably as she realized her hand placement and instantly drew it away from the underside of my thigh to her cheek, flicking it disgustedly before tucking her forearm back under her head. "You can, if you want to," she offered indifferently as she shrugged. I situated myself on top of her again and settled into a comfortable position with myself suspended over her as I turned the sides of my flat palms toward her back, making chopping movements along either side of her spine. I let my curiosity consume me as I stared at the burn pattern between her shoulder blades, just below her neck. "What's this?" I asked, tapping against the charred flesh lightly to not cause it to fester in case it was still sensitive. Her response was belated and I realized it may not be physical pain I needed to worry about stirring up. Perhaps the subject was sensitive and not just her skin. "If you don't mind me asking," I added hurriedly as I shrugged. She gulped and drew in a shaky breath before answering. "It's a brand," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. A brand? Like the ones they imprinted on fathiers? Who could've possibly done this to her, treated her like an animal? I clenched my jaw to release some of my anger and prevent it from escaping through my hands which would've started prodding Rebel's back more aggressively. "Who gave it to you?" I asked through clenched teeth. Whoever had done this was going to pay, even if it was my own best friend. I'd swore on my life to kill him and I was prepared to follow through on that promise at a moment's notice. "Thrawn," she spat hatefully, but a fearful shudder ran through her body at the mention of his name. It's settled then, I'm going to kill Thrawn. I needed to know if it should be a quick, instant death though or a slow, painful one. "Did it hurt?" I asked, my voice cold and clipped as I imagined both snapping his neck and bludgeoning him to death simultaneously. "Everything he did to me hurt," she whimpered softly, her voice fragile as it cracked and I saw a tear roll down her cheek. My heart felt sore and swollen at the sight of her tears and all I wanted to do was take away her pain. "Rebel, I'm so so sorry," I whined as tears of my own blurred my vision since all I could do was apologize which felt insignificant compared to what she'd endured. "It's not your fault." She cleared her throat at her voice crack and shook her head as proficiently as she could with her cheek pressed up against the mattress. After a few moments, she closed her eyes and I lulled her to sleep by rubbing her back until I heard the soft whistles of her snores. I leaned forward and kissed her temple before covering her up with the same blanket I'd used last night and exited the room in hopes of stealing some medical supplies from a storage closet since I knew she'd need care in the approaching weeks before she was completely healed. As I trudged down the hallway, dragging my feet, wondering what I could bring Rebel that might enliven her spirits other than medical supplies, I finally looked up to see where I was going and thought I saw a ghost. "Rue?!" I asked for verification, stopping in my tracks and squinting. In my illusion, her pregnancy bump was becoming more visible and she was wearing her clone uniform which didn't seem to do anything for me anymore and she was ahead of me, facing down a corridor to my left, not looking in my direction. I finally realized what I was seeing was real when she perked up and spun on her toes to face me and her expression lit up as soon as her eyes focused on me. "Baby!" She called out to me by one of my pet names and sprinted toward me, but I scrambled backward slightly, the collision seeming frightening to me for some reason, rather than unifying. "Are you okay?" She asked, assessing me for injury as her eyes scanned me up and down and she slid to a stop in front of me as she flung her arms around my neck. I couldn't hug her back around the waist because my arms were full of empty bottles of medical supplies, but I reluctantly realized I didn't really want to wrap my arms around her and hold her close. "Let's get out of here!" She said eagerly in a hushed tone as she seized one of my hands and tugged on it as she turned her back to me, making her own conclusion about my health, rather than waiting for my answer. "Wait, not without Rebel," I objected as I refused to budge from where I was standing and struggled to contain all of the supplies that Rue hadn't even asked about in one arm. She stopped and turned around again slowly to face me, stretching her jaw by sliding it to the left side of her mouth and glaring at me in annoyance. She was prepared to leave without the kids either. True, I'd thought of them second, after Rebel, but at least their existence had crossed my mind, unlike her. She rolled her eyes at me and propped her hands up on her hips and released my hand, allowing me to sling both arms under the supplies, and she gestured with her chin down the hallway I'd emerged from. I turned around and headed in that direction, opening the door for Rue once we'd reached our destination. Little did I know what I'd opened it to was Rebel, her back to the door, wearing my hoodie as she folded the blanket I'd draped over her. I puffed out a silent sigh of relief that we hadn't woken her and that she wasn't half naked as she had been earlier. I'd almost forgotten she'd been laying on my bed in my excitement to take her home and away from all of this torture. "Ash, I'm glad you're back," she said cheerfully without realizing Rue had entered first as she smoothed the folded blanket out on top of the bed. I followed Rue, who had stopped in the doorway and was watching Rebel irritatedly with her arms crossed, into the room and set the bottles that needed to be disposed of on the desk. "I wanted to-" She began to introduce experimentally as she turned around to face me, her fingers woven together, but she gasped and jumped back as soon as she saw Rue. I looked up from the tabletop to explain I'd found Rue in the hallway, but accidentally spotted Rebel's bra hanging on one of the bedposts and my eyes widened. I flashed Rebel a glance with the same expression on my face and she stepped in front of the bedpost as she caught my gaze, her blush spreading. The hoodie was half off her shoulder, exposing her bare skin as she bit her nails adorably. Why does she have to be so kriffing cute?! "Why is she wearing your hoodie?" Rue asked suspiciously as she slowly raised her finger and pointed at Rebel, instantly recognizing the article of clothing as my own. "Is this your room?!" She questioned further, raising her voice as she glanced around the room, recognizing certain items scattered about as my belongings. "What is she doing in here?!" She gestured to Rebel, recentering her focus on her sister as she put the pieces together and was now more furious than ever. At the moment, however, I didn't particularly care about comforting Rue and clearing my name with her as my eyes remained fixed on Rebel who was looking at me helplessly. I felt sympathy for her as her eyes began to water and it seemed as though she felt she was responsible for Rue's annoyance with me as if I hadn't been the one to invite Rebel into my room in the first place. If it was anyone's fault, it was my own. "I should go," she said quietly as she pulled the hoodie back up on her shoulder and discreetly unhooked her bra from the bedpost and wadded it up before stuffing it into the pouch at the front of the hoodie. "No, no, no." I held my palms up to her as she hung her head with her hands in the pouch and started to walk toward the door to squeeze between Rue and I. I didn't exactly know what my excuse would be for keeping her here, all I knew was that I didn't want her to leave. Rebel halted her steps and looked up at me curiously, the same way she'd looked at me when we'd been sitting outside, surrounded by piles of leaves and she'd asked me how I knew something was off between her and Rue which gave me an idea. "This is good," I decided, placing my palms on Rebel's shoulders and nodding. I saw Rue plant her hands on her hips and snarl at us in disapproval, so I immediately removed my hands from her shoulders and proceeded to apprise them of my idea. "You two need to talk," I pointed between the two of them and they both grunted unwillingly as they crossed their arms and avoided eye contact, their lips curling up in disgust with each other. "So talk," I demanded as I pressed one palm against Rebel's back and the other against Rue's and pushed them together simultaneously until they were face to face, grumbling irritatedly about it. I clapped silently as I praised them for not scooting away from each other once I'd removed my hands from behind them and realized my presence certainly wasn't helping anything, so I decided to go somewhere I could be of use since every passing moment we were letting slip by without preparing to leave was wasting precious escape time. "I'll go get the kids and then we can get out of here," I said, relieved this entire ordeal would be over as I expected the two sisters to be reconciled by the time I returned since that was almost always the case. "No, you stay here," Rue commanded, snapping her fingers at me as I turned toward the door and I spun around slowly to see her pointing down at the ground as a signal for me to remain in my place as she glared at Rebel confrontationally. "You want us to talk?" She asked me rhetorically, her tone sarcastically pleasant as she looked at me sweetly then back at Rebel, folding her arms over her chest again. "Fine, we'll talk," she growled through clenched teeth, staring daggers at her sister as she squeezed her fists over her upper arms to release some pent up aggression. "Rebel, I'm sorry for pouring coffee on your head," she apologized sincerely as she leaned slightly toward Rebel and placed her palm over her heart. "Wh-" I began to ask, flabbergasted as I could not even begin to comprehend what the latter half of my question was preparing to be. It could've been what, when, why or a combination of all three, but I didn't have to worry about it because I ended up being interrupted by Rue. "Now you tell me what you're sorry for," she ordered Rebel, taking a step closer to her threateningly and stabbing her in the chest with her finger. "In detail," she hissed and Rebel gulped down a terrified scream while fidgeting with her fingers inside of the hoodie pocket. "Rue," her breath hitched as she looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry for insulting you and your family-" I saw a teardrop fall to the ground from her face as she wasn't allowed to complete her apology since she was cut off by Rue. "Tell him what you said about him to his face," she ordered as she threw her finger in my face so haphazardly I had to dodge to prevent my eye from being poked out. "I-" She stuttered, her mouth gaping as she looked at Rue pleadingly, but was shown no mercy from her sister and she whimpered before turning toward me. "Ash, I'm so sorry," she apologized so earnestly, so genuinely, all I wanted to do was forgive her, but I didn't know what for. Honestly, I didn't see how she could ever do anything wrong. My brow furrowed in concern for her as she grabbed my arms and squeezed them, shaking her head in disagreement with what she was about to say as tears flowed freely down her face. "I called you stupid," she reluctantly confessed between sobs and I scoffed as I didn't see why she should need to apologize for that when I probably deserved it, just as I had all the other times she had insulted my intelligence. Besides, I didn't see why she felt so strongly the need to apologize this time in particular when I'd clearly shown it never bothered me before. "Oh, that's fine." I chuckled as I bent down toward her and cupped her face in my hands, wiping her stray tears with my thumbs as I smiled unoffendedly. "You call me an idiot all the time, Rebel," I reminded her. "You know this," I said, giggling. "No, it was different this time." She pressed her palms up against my chest as she shook her head and I tilted my head, feeling intrigued as I stood up and dropped my hands from her face. "I meant it," she admitted and those words hurt me, they sliced me to my very core. The entire time we've known each other I've been trying to get her to see me as more than just her sister's idiot that she's stuck with as a brother-in-law, I've been trying to get her to see me as more than that, as a competent member of her flourishing rebellion, not that I'm just there because Rue is there and they have to find something for me to do, I've been trying to get her to see me as a friend and I thought we'd made great strides in our relationship together as of recently, but I guess not. I'll always just be an incompetent fool to her, maybe that's all I'll ever be. She must have either sensed my despair or seen it on my face because she tried to excuse herself. "But I-I didn't really mean it," she stuttered, waving her hands back and forth frantically to spare the idiot's feelings. "I just wasn't thinking," she said faintly as she shrugged. "Is that really all you think of me?" I asked as I pointed to myself and felt tears stinging my eyes. "No, I-" she immediately shook her head and took a step closer to me, but I could tell she didn't have anything planned after that, so I decided to save her the embtarrassment of being forced to make something up on the spot. "That's all I am to you, an idiot." My vision became more distorted and hazy as tears filled my eyes, but I refused to let them fall and I stumbled backward to spare her brilliant mind from being infected by my dumb one. "No, Ash," she wailed as she grabbed onto my arms again and squeezed tighter than before. "You're my best friend," she said, stamping her foot adamantly and I couldn't pay attention to much else that she said as my eyes widened in shock. She really did think of me as more than an idiot. I felt a goofy grin steadily begin to spread across my face as I realized she's my best friend too. She's more than my best friend. Oh, kriff. I think I'm in love with Rebel…