𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅.

-

she knocked his blasters away, and more and more the inhibitor chip started to take over with more aggression. rex growled and rushed to grab them before rushing after her. dammit, dammit!! he holstered one blaster and grabbed his helmet instead, pulling it back on as he ran. he hated this. the war in his bad was worse than all the others he’d experienced combined. 

❝ tano!! ❞ he shouted. as he passed more clones, they paused and saluted him. ❝ find the jedi- do whatever it takes, ❞ he barked before continuing to run where his intuition told him to. 

.

ahsoka  shut  each  door  shut  as  she  ran  through  them.  it  wouldn’t  stop  rex  and  the  other  clones  at  all  but  maybe  it  would  give  herself  a  few  extra  seconds  to  figure  out  what  exactly  she  needed  to  do.

one.  medbay.  two.  figure  out  what  exactly  she  had  done  to  get  rid  of  the  chip.  three.  get  rex  alone  -  or  at  least  knock  him  out.  four.  get  rid  of  that   goddamn  chip.  she  had  a  vague  plan,  now  she  actually  needed  to  execute  it.

WHATEVER  YOU  DO,  YOU’RE  STILL  MY  BROTHER.

don’t  be  afraid  of  who  you  are.

-

❝ absolutely not, ❞ he replied. ❝ i’m going alone, we’re not risking you. ❞ out of anyone to go, sol was the best option. he wasn’t going to let things go too far anyway, but even if they did, they couldn’t risk selene. 

❝ you have a fiancé and a kid now. the last thing you’re going to do is put yourself in danger. but, if there is something you can do to help, we’ll tell you. i don’t think i can do it all on my own, but it’s not smart for you to go in with me. ❞ he tried to come up with some sort of solution so she could feel like she was participating more. ❝ we can extract him – we stun him and take him somewhere safe… not here. not safe. but someplace hidden? ❞ he glanced up at selene. ❝ woods? ❞

.

selene  frowned  in  protest.  “  but  we’re  risking  you?  and  you  want  me  to  stay  home  and  wait  for  you  to  report  back?  “  selene  just  ...  wanted  to  help.  she  wanted  to  be  helpful   and  not  go  so  stir-crazy  in  her  home.  she  wanted  to  help  her  brothers  and  as  a  mand’alor  she  needed  to  help,   it  was  her  duty  to  help  all  mandalorians.  what  kind  of  a  mand’alor  would  that  make  her  if  she  just  sat  out?  she  might  as  well  give  up  her  title.

last  time  she  couldn’t  do  anything  to   save  lior,  even  with  how  much  she tried  to  find  him.  she  at  least  needed  to  do  something  this  time  around.

-

jett made a sound like he was about to start crying. he could feel something very dark coming from his dad. he didn’t like it. it reminded him of scary times, and he didn’t want him to fall to that. he whimpered and his ears flopped down. 

din glanced, panicked, between jett and selene. ❝ n-no i- i need to- i’ll take care of this, i’ll be back- i’m sorry- ❞ he said, swiftly grabbing his helmet and pulling it on.

shit. she saw his eyes. this was bad. 

he stumbled when he got up, but all he could do was grab his back and rush out the door. and yes, he knew he was leaving jett there. he had no choice, there was no way he was going to bring that child back when he was about to destroy everything. his only hope was that no one else got caught in the crossfire. but this was a sign, he couldn’t avoid this anymore. he had to finish this somehow.

“ s-stay, please! din, tell me what’s going on! “ selene had a horrible feeling about all of this. this wasn’t how things were supposed to go. they should’ve been married by now. something had been off in din for weeks now and while selene had chalked it up as din being his usual quiet self that’s not at all what was really going on.

selene scrambled after him but wasn’t fast enough to catch up to him. if it weren’t for jett she would’ve ran after him but once she got to the door she was brought back to reality by his whimpers and ran back over to him. she couldn’t leave jett alone to run after din, that just wouldn’t be right.

so a sad, defeated and worried selene shut the door behind her.

-

he paused a few moments, just watching her expression. no explanation that he came up with could accurately explain what was on his mind. nothing sounded right. so finally he just sighed and shook his head. 

❝ i just… hate not being married to you. ❞ he brought one of her hands up to his lips to give it a gentle kiss. ❝ i can’t explain it, i… every day, i feel it getting worse. this- this… discomfort. with our souls being separate. ❞ din was so honest, it was palpable. that feeling of separation, it was killing him. and marriage was a technicality, sure, but he wanted it. he wanted to not only justify the breaking of his creed and return it to its proper allowance, but he wanted her. he wanted to be married to her. he wanted to be her husband. he wanted to be a family.

.

selene  looked  at  din  with  only  awe  and  love  in  her  warm  eyes.  she  could  practically  feel  how  strongly  he  needed  this.  selene  had  been  feeling  a  similar  way.  the  only  reason  why  she’d  consider  waiting  was  due  to  her  family  and  friends  and  wanting  to  share  this  joy  with  them.  but  they  could  do  that  later  when  things  calmed  down,  right?

she  loved  the  idea  of  the  vows  being  private  and  just  between  them  (  and  jett  ).  stars,  they  were  actually  going  to  be  married  soon.

-

din was hyper-vigilant. constantly waiting for the shoe to drop, for maul to burst through the door and destroy more lives, for anything to happen. he was just waiting. and he hated it, he hated waiting, he hated having this massive thing hanging over his head. so he cleared his throat a little. 

❝ i’m sorry that things have been so bad. and if there’s anything i can do to help, i want to help. ❞ he bit down on his lip for a moment, his eyes trained on his gloves, which he was nervously fidgeting with. ❝ i actually… came here today because there’s been something weighing on my mind for a bit. ever since we… agreed to it in the first place, actually. ❞

.

selene  gave  a  little  shrug.  lior’s  absence  created  a  giant  shift  in  the  home.  everything  was  so  off.  selene  felt  so  off.  she  didn’t  even  feel  whole  anymore  ever  since  waking  up  to  find  out  that  he  left  and  was  reconditioned.  “  you  being  here  is  enough,  “  she  reassured.  his  presence  made  her  so  happy  that  she  could  forget  about  the  real  bad  stuff  for  a  bit.

-

❝ i’m not accusing you, ❞ sol reminded her. ❝ we’re going to find a way to solve this. ❞ it was nearly impossible, but nearly implied a chance. even if it was small, he’d risk anything to try and get his brother back. 

❝ i might visit the base. to talk to gawynn, see if she can’t sneak me in or something, ❞ he said after a few moments. ❝ i’ll disguise myself or something. ❞

.

her  brows  furrowed  slightly  at  sol’s  idea.  it  sounded  like  a  sure  way  to  lose  both  of  her  brothers.  if  sol  got  caught  ...  if  gawynn  got  caught  sneaking  sol  on  base  ...  if  sol  tried  to  talk  to  lior  and  it  ended  horribly  due  to  the  circumstances  ...  stars,  there  were  so  many  ways  for  that  to  backfire. 

-

jett cooed and cuddled up to selene, happy that he was getting attention. he loved attention from his buir, that was for sure. 

din gave a small smile. he was never too expressive in general, so the small smile was enough. he entered further into the home and sat down on the couch, then patted the spot beside him so selene would sit with him. he was feeling a little strange – partially due to his helmet being off ( he was positive he’d never truly get used to it ) and partially because he could feel that presence in his mind, that Something that usually led to his horrible episodes. he was concentrating hard to avoid such a thing – the last thing he needed right now was to lose his fucking mind in front of selene. but they had become so common that he’d had one that very morning and already felt another coming on. there was more flecks of gold in his eyes than usual. 

❝ i’m sorry i haven’t been around as much. ❞

.

selene  sat  beside  din  and  placed  jett  on  her  lap.  she  was  worried  a  lot  more  nowadays,  what  with  din  vaguely  hinting  at  things  that  she  didn’t  exactly  understand  but  knew  enough  to  worry  and  lior  not  being  ...  around.  also  staying  inside  so  much  made  her  more  antsy  and  anxious  than  usual.  

she  nodded  a  little.  she  wished  he  came  by  more  but  with  everything  going  on  she  assumed  he  was  just  busy  with  his  own  stuff.  “  it’s  okay,  it’s  been  so  crazy  lately  ...  but  you’re  here  now,  “  selene  gave  a  tiny  smile.  she  was  just  happy  to  see  him,  that’s  all.

.

annora tried feign some sort of confidence as well, hoping that if they both faked it then maybe some miracle could happen. stranger things had happened, right? cobb had literally died and was alive again so getting a stormtrooper to open the cell wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibilities, although very unlikely.

she thought back to the times she had watched the other cells get opened. “key card,” she said, actually confident in that. “the troopers that guard the cells each have one. they don’t even have to enter a passcode or anything. just swipe and the door opens.”

.

kai  nodded,  processing  the  information.  not  that  it  would  help  a  lot,  but  still!  maybe  it  would  come  in  handy?  could  one  of  them  steal  a  keycard  if  they  got  a  trooper  close  enough  and  distracted  enough?

-

❝ i don’t think that’s true. we didn’t have access to him last time. this time, we do. we could help somehow. ❞ it could just be a spice dream, but they needed to at least try. they couldn’t just… ❝ we can’t abandon him. not when he needs us. ❞ 

but he had no clue of how to go about it, especially given how confusing the situation was overall. he didn’t know what would be making matters worse, what would get him killed, what would get lior in trouble… there wasn’t exactly a way to learn this sort of thing, was there. ❝ i’m not going to lose him again. i won’t. ❞

.

“  i-i’m  not  abandoning  him,  i’m  not  giving  up.  “  she  didn’t  give  up  hope  that  he  was  alive  throughout  all  of  those  years  without  him,  she  wouldn’t  give  up  now  when  he  was  just  across  town.

-

❝ it was fine, ❞ he answered, ❝ uneventful. ❞ that was definitely a good thing – it was chaos out there, and he knew what was causing it. that’s why he was working so hard to completely avoid it. he didn’t want to get anywhere near the problems that would only incite him – he knew that they’d stop at nothing to cause some sort of nightmare.

the pram settled on the ground so jett climbed out and toddled over to selene, babbling to her about all the things he hadn’t told her since the last time he saw her. it was moments like these when din was grateful that he couldn’t actually talk. ❝ have you been staying safe? ❞

.

“  that’s  good,  “  selene  nodded.  she  was  always  so  worried,  it  was  difficult  to  not  be  with  everything  going  on.  she  only  left  when  she  had  to  -  groceries,  necessities,  checking  up  on  friends,  etc.  she  was  glad  that  din  hadn’t  run  into  anything  on  the  way.

“  hi  dumpling,  “  she  grinned  and  scooped  him  up  into  her  arms,  hugging  him  close.  she  always  listened  to  what  he  had  to  babble  about,  even  if  she  couldn’t  understand  and  none  of  it  made  sense  to  her.  

-

he shook his head a little. ❝ nothing, ❞ he answered. he wouldn’t even know what to say even if he knew what he was doing. ❝ just… nothing. ❞ there was so clearly this one thing between them that they didn’t want to talk about, it was frustrating. he glanced at the ground for a few moments. he was never really one to hold back from talking to his siblings about important personal things – unless, of course, it was necessary to protect them. but this… this was difficult to navigate. he remembered it feeling this awkward the first time around when lior was taken and they had no clue what the fuck to say.

❝ i… i guess i thought it was solved for good, ❞ he confessed. ❝ gawynn is doing everything she can. but i… i feel doomed. ❞

.

selene  nodded,  trying  to  keep  her  hands  busy  with  the  tea.  if  she  wasn’t  doing  something  then  she’d  be  shaking,  she  was  sure  of  it.  she  wanted  need  to  cry.  lior  being  taken  away  from  them  once  was  bad  enough,  but  now  a  SECOND  TIME?  the  galaxy  really  must’ve  hated  them  so  much  if  it  went  through  all  of  these  lengths  to  constantly  destroy  their  lives  once  they  get  readjusted  and  happy.

she  was  afraid  that  if  she  said  anything  more  than  a  few  words  she’d  lose  what  little  composure  she  had  and  she’d  just  start  sobbing.

“  me  too,  “  selene  confesses  quietly.  she  still  wasn’t  sure  how  it  was  possible  that  it  happened  randomly  in  their  home.  maybe  it  was  happening  for  weeks  before  he  finally  snapped?  maybe  the  force?  stars,  she  was  so  angry.

-

rex winced, her voice cutting through the confusion in his mind. he wasn’t in control of his body, he wasn’t in control of anything – not in the way he wanted to be. ❝ f-fives… find- chip- ❞ he uttered, still doing everything in his power to stay calm before it wasn’t a choice anymore. tears burned in his eyes – this was hell. this was hell, he didn’t want it, he didn’t want any of this!! 

he pulled his blasters and his trembling hands saved them. he pulled the triggers, the shots missing as he struggled with keeping his focus on his friend. his family. ❝ ‘soka- i can’t- you have t-… ❞ 

he was moments away from turning the damn blasters on himself. anything to get this to stop. 

.

ahsoka  managed  to  avoid  the  shots.  there  was  only  one  solution  to  their  current  situation  -  she  needed  to  get  the  hell  out  of  there  and  do  what  she  did  before.