1 Month Later

Location: The Resolute

Aurora's POV

Sleeping was one of my least favorite things to do. I always felt my guard was down when I slept. Even though my years in Death Watch made me a light sleeper, along the fact with my hearing, which allows me to hear if someone is close to me, I always have felt that sleep is a sign of weakness. Never in my life would I ever want to be weak. When I was younger, my aunt made me train myself so that I would sleep lightly on purpose. Her reason? So that if an enemy came to attack the camp, I could be the first line of defense…or in other words, a sacrifice.

So here I was, sitting at some alcove on the Resolute in the middle of the night, watching the stars in space go by. The reason we were all on the Resolute? Well, Anakin, Ahsoka, and I were asked to ensure the safe passage of medical supplies to Ryloth. Even though they cleared the Separatist blockade, we stilled wanted to make sure that food and medical supplies were transported to the planet safely. Right now, however, we were on the way back to Coruscant.

I had my knees to my chest but was resting my back against part of the right side of the alcove. I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes to try and get some peace but was interrupted by familiar footsteps.

"If I wanted you to come and sit with me Flyboy, I would've called." I said with a sigh as I opened my eyes and turned my head so I could face Anakin who was now sitting across from me.

"I heard you were throwing a party." Anakin said with sarcasm, which made me roll my eyes.

"If I was, you wouldn't be invited." I explained.

"If you were, I feel like you are the type of person to have Tihaar on tap." He replied making me smile.

I nodded. "You know me too well…unfortunately, I can't get drunk."

He looked at me in disbelief. "Seriously?"

I nodded. "Never could, so even if you tried, it wouldn't work."

He shook his head in annoyance as I looked back out the window.

"It's beautiful." He remarked.

I nodded. "Why're you awake?"

I heard him sigh as I turned my head to look him in the eye.

"I couldn't sleep." He said making me raise my eyebrows. "It's shocking, I know."

"Did Obi-Wan teach you that sleep is for the weak, and it is a sign of weakness?" I asked.

He frowned in disbelief. "What? No, who told you that?"

"My aunt." I explained. "She basically told me that I must stay alert at all hours in case anyone gets attacked. I guess it worked because it made me a very light sleeper…asides from the nightmares."

"I know how you feel, I get nightmares too." He replied.

"Yours aren't like mine." I replied. "Mine are…awful."

"I know this may sound too personal, but what was it like?" He asked.

"What was what like?" I asked in confusion.

"Being in Death Watch." He confirmed, though I knew with my suspicions where he was leading with his question.

I sighed. "Honestly, I never knew what a normal childhood was like. Being born into the Royal Family, and being brainwashed into a terrorist organization, I never had a sense of normalcy…until I met you guys."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

I can't believe I'm telling him all this stuff. I've never been this open with anyone in my life…other than my brother and Zara, but they're family, but with all due respect, Anakin has become my brother in more ways than one, and surprisingly, he's one of the few people I trust with my life.

I sighed. "I grew up having the weight of an entire sector of the galaxy on my shoulders. Every single New Mandalorian looks to me as the future of the sector, wondering and hoping I will carry on the new tradition of Pacifism. Then when you look at Death Watch, and other exiled Mandalorians who believe in warfare, I'm a threat to tradition. I don't even possess the Darksaber, and have no one backing me, thus by tradition, means I can't rule...at least in their minds."

"You are of Royal Bloodline? That's impossible." He asked in disbelief.

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. The only thing my people want is for someone to have that Darksaber, and to have clans backing them. Neither of which I have…yet."

"What do you mean?"

I gave him a small smile. "I plan on killing the man that holds the Darksaber. He helped brainwash me…there is nothing more that I want than to see him rot in a Republic cell…but that's not a good enough punishment, at least in my mind."

"You do take enjoyment in killing people." He remarked making me frown.

"I never enjoyed killing people." I began. "I still don't, but because of how many years I was brainwashed in Death Watch, it became almost sterile to me. My nightmares are filled with the screams of my victims, begging and pleading for me not to kill them. It makes me wonder to myself, what kind of monster am I? But then I realize, I did it to myself. I allowed for my aunt to trick me…it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault." He began.

I shook my head. "I never wanted any of this. I never wanted to be an assassin. I just wanted to protect my family and keep my mother alive."

"I know this from personal experience, but it's the things we love most, that destroy us." He explained.

"I know that all too well unfortunately." I explained. "Haar'chak."

Anakin frowned. "What does that mean?"

I smiled. "It's Mando'a for damn it. If you want me to teach it to you, I'm more than willing to."

He sighed. "What's the word for friends?"

I smiled. "Burc'ya."

"So, we're burc'yas?" He asked questionably.

I laughed at his horrible pronunciation and shook my head. "No, I consider you to be my vod."

He tilted his head to the side. "What does that mean?"

"It means, that I consider you to be my brother…since you're annoying like one." I explained with a sigh.

He gave my shoulder a slight shove. "That was uncalled for."

"I'm not wrong though…you whine a lot." I continued.

"And you don't?" He asked back and I rolled my eyes.

"The point is, I consider you, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan to be my family…right now more so than my own. The people who are related to me consider me to be a disgrace to the sector and planet, the people who I considered to be my family for the longest time wish I were dead, and a person who I considered to be one of my closest childhood friends hates my guts along with his wife, who thinks I'm a stuck-up snob because I was raised in a palace, when in fact her husband himself was raised with a life of luxury…his mother and siblings though love me." I rambled in annoyance.

He just sat there in silence and let me ramble.

I stood up from my seat and began to pace. "And thinking back to said friend, which now when I think of it was never really my friend, just an annoying prick that likes to drive me up a wall, wants to literally conquer every single planet that Mandalorians once controlled, to make Mandalore the powerhouse it once was. When that happens, women are going to be forced into oppression, and do nothing but stay in their homes…unless of course a family has only girls…then it'll be different, but you get the idea. He's like 'I want to bring honor back to the clans, look how many clans back my idea', guess what buddy my grandfather tried that, and he got killed for it. It's like he wants me to be submissive to him and I don't. He's lucky I'm letting him train my brother."

"He's training your brother?" He asked in surprise.

"Not to use his powers, but in regular fighting…he's not doing it without me though. I can't believe I agreed to help him take back Mandalore…just so he can sit his ass on the throne." I said with a huff as I sat back down.

"So, what're you going to do about it?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" I shrugged. "I can't do anything. I have no one backing my claim, and many think it's a useless claim since I am claiming the throne as my birthright. Plus, I have no army, no weapons…part of the agreement of me backing him was to let me reforge my armor, but now thinking about it, it's a useless idea."

"Why?" Anakin began. "You're more protected."

"It's also heavy as well." I explained. "I'm much more comfortable taking down droids the way I currently dress, it allows better movement."

"You have an army." Anakin began.

"No, I don't, not to his…" I began.

"The 501st, 252nd, and the 212th, those Clones would follow you to the end of the galaxy." He cut off.

I shook my head. "And many would believe that they are betraying their own people, beliefs, and traditions if they were to follow me. Everyone in my life wants me to follow them, but right now, I don't know what I want anymore…I don't even know if I want to continue to be an assassin."

"So, this is why you couldn't sleep?" He asked.

I nodded. "Too much on my mind. I feel like I betrayed my mother…like after all these years I finally realized that I have betrayed my mother."

I put my head in my hands and sighed. My entire life finally hit me like a meteor striking the ground. I feel horrible, I'm such a disgrace to my family, and to my planet. The princess who couldn't make up her mind on what she wanted and the princess who ruined Mandalorian culture…that's what I'll go down in history as.

"My mother was right, if my father was here, I'd be his biggest disappointment." I murmured as I picked my head up and sighed.

"Listen, I may not know a lot about being a princess or being royalty, but I do know when the pressure of it all is getting to someone." He began. "Ro, the best thing that ever happened to us was you. I've never seen Ahsoka happier, and quite frankly, even though you annoy the crap out of him, Obi-Wan looks to you like a daughter."

"You annoy him too." I joke.

"True." He said with a familiar tone. "But the point is, we're family, if you ever need us for something, or need us to handle someone, we're one comm call away."

I turned my head towards him. "You mean that?"

He nodded. "I'm serious. You annoy the hell out of me, but at the end of the day, you're the closest thing I have to a sister, and…one of the few people I trust."

I gave him a warm smile. "That makes two of us…I'm not going back to sleep though."

He shook his head. "Neither am I…want to play a couple rounds of Djarik?"

I stood up and nodded. "I'm going to kick your ass."

"As if." He replied. "You suck at this game."

"Not as bad as you." I sarcastically replied earning a shove from him as we walked down the corridor, being the only two awake, other than the pilots.