Last time: Oppie's words helped Sasha heal.
Now: Kyr checks on his little sister.
Chapter 14- I Know What Happened to Cien
"Mama, Dada, wabba see a trip?" Lana said eagerly as she jumped excitedly on the other end of the call.
Viran came in a few hours ago to sit with Sasha after Oppie left and brought a holocomm with him so they could call Lana. Sasha had been overjoyed earlier to hear her daughter's voice, but now getting to see her made her heart soar. So far they have been catching up with Lana about all of the exciting things she'd gotten to do for the last half hour. She told them about all of the fun she had with Oppie and Kait were home with her. And had just finished going on about all of the fun activities and games she has been playing with Zeran and Reya.
"Um, sure," Sasha said, smiling at Lana, but still a little unsure what the almost two year old said.
"Wavch me," Lana said, waving her hands at the camera. She reached out to the side as if to grab something then she got distracted as someone seemed to pass by behind her. She watched them go before looking back at the camera and grinned at them.
"Lana, what were you showing us?" Viran said, encouraging Lana and trying to help her remember what she was doing.
"Oh, ye," Lana said, nodding. She looked back to the side with her hands out. Suddenly her doll flew into frame and landed just past her. "Ta da." She said as she held her arms open wide.
Sasha and Viran gaped at her with a grin. They were impressed with her growing Force abilities. They applauded.
"Way to go, baby girl," Sasha cheered.
"That was awesome, kiddo," Viran said, happily. "We're so proud of you."
"Tank you!" Lana said as she clapped too. After a moment of clapping, she stifled a yawn. "Mama, Dada, be home?" She asked in an adorably, sad voice.
Sasha and Viran exchanged a glance. "We'll be home soon, baby. I promise," Sasha assured her. "We just need to finish a couple of things first then we will be back."
"No, wan home now," Lana pouted.
"Now Lana. You must understand," Viran started with a slightly stern tone, but slightly unsure on how to broach the subject. "Aunt Cien needs us right now. And she needs you too to be strong, okay? That means protecting the house until we get home. Then we will be home before you know it. And if you're a good girl, maybe we will bring you a gift." He then added, slyly.
"Fur me?" Lana asked, now excited at the idea of a new toy.
"Yes, just for you," Viran nodded with a smile.
"Ye! Toy!" Lana cheered.
"Alright, Lana. Time for dinner," Reya said, coming into the frame and scooping Lana up into her arms. "Say good-bye."
"But…" Lana said, frowning as she squirmed in Reya's arms. "Wanna Mama an Dada."
"I know, but big girls have got to eat too," Reya said, smiling at her. "We'll call them later, okay?"
"Lana, it'll be fine, sweetie," Sasha said, comfortingly. "Go eat dinner and we will talk later. And then you can tell us more stories."
Lana looked from the camera to Reya and back a few times before nodding, sadly. "Kay. Wuv you."
"We love you too," Sasha said, smiling at her sadly. "Good night, kiddo."
"Nigh, Mama. Dada," Lana said, waving at them.
"I'll send you a message in the morning so you guys can talk again," Reya promised.
"Thanks Reya," Viran said. "This meant a lot."
"Of course. And keep me posted when you guys find Cien," Reya said, smiling at them. She then waved them off before ending the call.
Viran lowered the holocomm and looked at Sasha. He frowned. "Don't worry, we'll be home soon."
"I know. I just miss her," Sasha said, softly.
"Me too," Viran said as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Knock knock?" Kyr's voice said after giving them a moment from behind the curtain.
"Come in," Sasha said as she pulled away from Viran, but he kept one arm around her shoulders as he sat next to her. "Hi Kyr."
"Hey, Kyr," Viran said with a smile.
"Hi guys, I didn't want to disturb your call with Lana." Kyr replied as he came in with a stack of three lidded to-go plates from the canteen. He turned slightly to kick the curtain so it would fall closed properly.
"No, you're fine," Viran said as he straightened up to give him a hand. "I'm sure Lana would have loved seeing you too."
"But thank you for bringing food," Sasha added as her stomach growled a little loudly.
"Yep." Kyr said stepping to Sasha's bedside next to Viran. "Kait and Op were having a cute date so they won't be down, I don't think. Soup for vod'ika and." Kyr said as he put the lidded bowl down on the rolling tray table next to Sasha. "And some grilled lasnmon for us." Kyr said, handing Viran his plate.
"Thanks," Viran said as he grabbed the plate. He unlidded it and took a smell of the aroma.
Sasha opened hers with a slightly annoyed expression. "I can't wait to get back to my normal diet soon." She groused.
"Kelce said you're on this diet for another day then you can start eating normally again, but in smaller portions," Viran reminded her.
"I know," Sasha sighed. "But your food just smells so good right now." She huffed as she shot them both a small glare.
"Don't take it too fast." Kyr suggested as he pulled a stool over. "If you go too fast you can make yourself pretty sick."
"I won't," Sasha said as she grabbed the spoon and dished up a spoonful. "Honestly, that's the last thing I want to do. I'd like to be able to get out and rejoin all of you. I feel like I've been here for too long." She ate the spoonful, letting the hot, soothing soup warm her throat.
"Kelce said just another two or three days until you regain your strength." Kyr said, "you'll be out of here before you know it."
"I know," Sasha said before having another spoonful. "I'm just grateful you guys are here to keep me company. I don't know what I'd do if you guys weren't here."
"Probably meditate or rest like you should do here soon," Viran suggested then took a bite of his food.
"Yeah, maybe," Sasha said, distantly as she stirred her soup for a moment before having another spoonful.
Viran looked at her with a furrowed brow as he silently ate his food. He knew she had been through a lot recently and that it still haunted her. That made him worry that her going to sleep might cause her to have nightmares, just like when she was younger with Order 66.
"Or play some games." Kyr suggested. "I've got my datapad if you want to borrow some of mine."
"Um, sure," Sasha said amusedly as she came out of her daze. "I'll probably do horribly at them. But I'm willing to give them a shot. It's better than nothing."
"You can use your Jetii magic to cheat, like Op does." Kyr said taking a bite of the grilled lasnmon.
"Does it work on games like that?" Sasha asked with a chuckle as she glanced at Viran.
"Why are you looking at me?" Viran asked in mock hurt. "I don't cheat when I play them." He said matter of factly.
Kyr glanced at Viran from under his brow sardonically. "Oh? That explains your K-D ratio that one time we played multiplayer."
Viran scoffed at him. "How dare you accuse me sir of cheating!" He said dramatically. "I would never!" He looked away in a mock affronted manner. "Except maybe once or twice. Or ten times. But after that never!" He declared.
"That explains all the forest games." Kyr harrumphed.
Viran snorted at that as he nearly choked on his food. "Maybe just a bit. But it makes it more fun."
Sasha rolled her eyes at that as she ate a spoonful of soup.
"Maybe you guys shouldn't get armor. With the buy'ces and stuff you'd just be even more cheaterific." Kyr groused as he ate another forkful.
"I don't think that's a word," Sasha said with a chuckle.
"We'll see at the next family game night." Kyr replied. "Worth at least twenty-one points." He grumbled under his breath.
"Sounds good to me," Sasha said with a smile as she took another spoonful of soup. There was a comfortable silence as they all ate their food for a few moments. But as Sasha sat there, quietly sipping her soup, she thought about what she saw in the mindspace. She knew that Viran and Oppie had updated Kyr and Kait on what she had experienced in there, so she didn't have to re-tell all of that. But she knew that Kyr must still want to know more about Cien. And now was as good a time as any to tell him. Lowering her spoon, Sasha cleared her throat. "Kyr," she paused for a second. "I… I need to talk to you about Cien."
Kyr's countenance fell, bracing himself for the worst. "What is it?" He asked trepidatiously.
"I mentioned earlier that I saw Cien and that I think she has amnesia, but…" Sasha trailed off, trying to figure out how to phrase it. "But I feel like I need to explain what I saw."
Kyr swallowed and looked down, not sure what Sasha might tell him.
"I know you know the majority of what I experienced in the mindspace, but it's how I got out that involves Cien," Sasha started. "I reached out to the acolyte Cien in that reality's mindspace and she didn't answer me. I tried again and again until I finally went in to get her. But I summoned your wife, my sister to that reality instead." She looked up at Kyr. "She was wearing the same dress from the last time we saw her and she was… terrified… of me." She said, uneasily, almost ashamed.
"Why?" Kyr asked, "because..." He trailed off, "because she didn't recognize you?"
"Yes," Sasha said, quietly. "Admittedly, I didn't recognize myself either, but my hair was shorter, my clothes were different and… and I was engulfed by the dark side. I was a threatening presence to her, but I didn't hurt her. But she was definitely terrified of me to the point she thought I was going to hurt her." She swallowed, ashamed. "But as I stared at her, something about the way she looked was familiar. Then all of my memories came back. I stopped being Sinya, Dracul's new acolyte. I was Sasha again." She looked back up at him. "Cien saved my life."
Kyr swallowed and looked down at his forgotten plate, his free hand anxiously clenching underneath it. "For all that you went through, I am glad that of all things it was Cien, our Cien, that was able to break you out of that." Kyr said quietly, and genuinely.
"Me too," Sasha agreed, quietly. She paused for a brief second before continuing. "Once I came back to my senses and I was me again, the acolyte version of her showed up. The version I had been stuck with for two years." She said that with no malice in her voice, but definitely anger at that darker version of Cien. "I could just sense it, in the Force and in my gut, that she wasn't there in a friendly manner and that our Cien and the twins were most likely in danger. So I sent Cien and the twins back to reality, to keep them all safe. Plus, with just how terrified Cien still seemed, it was for the best that she returned to where she was. I sensed she was safer there than in mindspace." She looked down at her soup. "As strange as that sounds."
Viran nodded quietly as he sat watching the exchange. He already knew about most of what happened to Sasha in there. But he knew why Sasha was saying this to Kyr. She had been so anxious to tell Kyr what was going on with his wife that she could barely sit still, it had seemed. And he knew Kyr wanted to know, but he had voiced to Viran on their way up that he didn't want to make Sasha upset after everything that happened. Now Viran could sense the weight being lifted from his wife's shoulders telling Kyr.
Kyr considered for a moment as he relaxed at that thought, ever so slightly. "She seemed safe wherever she was?" He asked, looking back up at Sasha. "They seemed safe?"
"Yes, they seemed safe," Sasha said, meeting his gaze with a nod. "That I am most sure of." She said confidently.
"Any idea where that was?" Kyr asked. "I'm sure you would have said if you did." He observed, looking downward.
Sasha shook her head as she looked away. "No. I didn't have a chance to look into it. My escape from that reality happened so fast after that, that I never got to look."
"At least she…. They're okay, that's all that matters." Kyr said quietly, still looking down. He looked up at her, "thank you Sash'ika."
"Of course," Sasha said, giving him a comforting smile. "I'm just glad I was able to give that information to you."
Short but very sweet! REVIEW!