Archive of Our Own

It was nearing her eighth month in the captivity of the New Republic. It had taken her time but in the end, she had learned to enjoy the fact that she no longer had to go about her days serving Palpatine’s empire. That same fact filled her with more guilt than she could bear. She had made an oath. She had to uphold it, no matter how she felt about its subject.

Sometimes she didn’t know which was worse: keeping her oath to the Empire or breaking it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the welcome rhythmic thumping of boots against metal, a rhythm she recognised immediately - Thane was visiting her again.

Her pilot visited her almost every chance he got, scarcely had a week gone by where she didn’t get to see him and she wasn’t sure if she liked that. She wanted to be angry at him, she wanted to be livid, Thane had stripped her of the chance to die with her honour intact and yet it was also him who reminded her more and more of what it meant to live with every single visit.

Seeing his face each time always brought a smile to her face, however, not only because she saw Thane and all the wonderful feelings that entailed but also because she got to see him change. Thane Kyrell, who was once the sourest cynic one could hope to meet had now become a man who approached everything he did with his head held high and with a smile on his face.

For a moment, it didn’t matter that he defected. It didn’t matter that he had been a rebel. It didn’t matter that he’d betrayed her. For a moment, even she smiled, knowing that Thane was happy. Today, though, Thane was happier than usual, not that that was a bad thing by any means but it did raise questions.

“What has you so chipper?” She asked just as he came to a standstill in front of the energy barrier that had separated them for so long.

“I just read through the list of your charges,” Thane said, he was practically beaming.

A pit of dread formed in her stomach. Why would he do that? More importantly, why was he so happy about it? She didn’t regret her actions, given the choice, she would have done the same again but still, her charges were crimes she had committed, they were to be the subjects of shame, certainly not whatever Thane was feeling.

“I don’t understand,” Ciena responded, what else could she say?

“What charges do you exactly think you’re under?” Thane asked her, giving her a smirk he was not nearly suave enough to pull off. “Because I’m willing to bet you and I have slightly different lists.”

Ciena narrowed her eyes at his question. “Willful killing, endangering civilian lives without cause, attacking undefended civilian settlements, the list goes on. What’s your point?”

Thane’s smirk widened to a full-fledged grin. “What you just listed was the list of charges against any Imperial officer before the Republic received their service records from the Empire. The charges are being revised for each officer as we speak and since they’re being done in order of rank, yours was pretty high on the list.”

“What are you saying, Thane?” Ciena hoped that addressing him directly by his name would knock a sense of seriousness into him; he was playing with fire and he didn’t even know it.

“Here, look at this,” was the only response Thane gave her before holding up a datapad that read Criminal Charges: Ree, Ciena; Rank: Captain.

It was blank.

She blinked several times to check if she had read the heading correctly. She did. That was supposed to be the list of the charges against her, and it was blank.

“Explain,” Ciena commanded. If this was some sort of elaborate prank-

“You should remember that service with the enemy isn’t a war crime itself. The brass looked over your record and found nothing that would indicate you committed a crime other than being in command of an Imperial Star Destroyer and purposefully crashing onto Jakku’s surface. The only reason you’ll still stand trial is to figure out if you did any damage to civilian properties from the crash,” explained Thane with a triumphant look adorning his handsome face.

Before responding, Ciena decided that happiness became Thane.

Ciena was still sceptical. Part of her still believed she needed to pay, for what, she wasn’t quite sure but she needed to atone somehow. “Why is it that my defender isn’t the one telling me this?”

“I wanted to be the one to do the honours. Besides, it gave me a good reason to see you.” The smile just didn’t leave his face.

“You never needed a reason to visit before,” Ciena protested, it was a silly thing to argue about but she still had trouble believing that the New Republic wasn’t going to charge her with any war crimes.

“I’d visit you even if it meant getting run over by a muunyak, you know,” Thane laughed. “It just feels better knowing that this time I’m here delivering good news.”

Ciena couldn’t help but roll her eyes and try to hide a smile. Thane had always insisted he was the cynic of the two of them, that he was the one grounded in reality and that she was the one with her head in the clouds and yet here he was making bold statements like that. Even more than that, Thane had worn a mourning band. For her. Thane had left his post and against all sense gone to Jelucan to stand with her and her family when none of the kindred did. And she loved him for it all, it felt wrong not to.

She finally sat down on the floor in front of the barrier and looked up at Thane. “Stay for a while, please.” When she was first arrested she wouldn’t have dreamt of asking Thane to spend time with her, seeing him was the last thing she wanted but now she found herself longing for his presence. She wanted him nearby, for however long she could have him.

Thankfully, Thane took a seat opposite her, the only thing separating them being the thin yet impenetrable wall of energy. “There’s a chair right behind you, you know that, right?”

“I do, but you don’t have one. I wouldn’t want to be looking down on you,” Ciena answered, taking comfort in the simplicity of their dispute.

For the remainder of their time together, until Thane was called away, they chatted and laughed together in a way that Ciena so deeply missed. They had spent years apart and energy barrier or no, they were finally together in some way. They finally had the chance to simply enjoy each other’s company as they had done so long ago. She realised her eyes were wet as it struck her that somewhere along the way, she had forgotten what it was like to have a friend she trusted.

It was so good to have -

- her back, Thane thought as he laid on his bunk that night. His mind took him back to that day on the Inflictor and it pained him to remember how little Ciena seemed like herself. The light had left her eyes back then. Now though, Thane had watched his best friend come back over the past few months, he was sure he had consumed at least a dozen holonovels just from Ciena’s enthused summaries of them after she had finally relented and given them a chance some four weeks into her imprisonment.

An ember of anger still remained when he thought about how his comrades slapped her into binders rather than helping her when they found him and Ciena on Jakku but he reminded himself that they were simply doing their duty. Soon enough, Ciena would be out.

Then what?

That was the question that permeated Thane’s thoughts. After she got out what would Ciena want to do? Thane wanted nothing more than to spend his life with her, they’d spent too long apart, but at the same time he had found himself in a job he liked and he answered to superiors he respected. Would Ciena want to stay? Even if he stayed with the New Republic’s navy? Thane shook his head, he couldn’t possibly answer that question on his own. He’d get his answer, it would just have to be after her trial.

Maybe he’d take her to Jelucan, just once. Their home had refused to join the Republic, not that he’d expected anything else. The valley folk had always been too stubborn for their own good, Ciena was enough proof of that, and still maintained their loyalty to themselves, if not the Empire. His own second-wavers were too interested in maintaining their wealth and status, giving them their own bullheadedness that stopped them from joining the Republic.

He wanted to spend time with her, without a barrier separating them. He wanted to take that old V-171 and fly to the Fortress. He just wanted to be with her.

He would know whether he would get his wishes exactly seventeen days from today.

Thane walked into the courtroom wearing his full dress uniform, it may have been uncomfortable but nothing less was acceptable for Ciena’s trial. The room itself had an intimidating aura, one of absoluteness. Absolute truth, absolute justice and absolute punishment.

Thane only hoped the last one wouldn’t be necessary.

Dozens of people shuffled into the courtroom and took seats on the benches. Thane was able to find a seat immediately behind Ciena and her defender, from what he’d heard the attorney representing her was a good one. He didn’t know why, he knew even without needing to be told that Ciena was innocent of anything as serious as war crimes, but sweat still gathered in the palms of his hands as the proceedings commenced.

The prosecution and defence each made their opening statements and each word uttered only increased Thane’s anxiety but he steadied himself and took some deep breaths. He needed to remain composed.

Thane’s nerves subsided as the trial continued, the air in the room continued to lighten as it started to become clear that Ciena had done nothing more than her orders required her, in fact, her defender even took her, and Thane, by surprise by citing a mission she’d done to the volcanic planet of Ivarujar. As it happened, Ciena had been tasked with evacuating the remaining Imperial troops after a massive eruption that would have otherwise killed them and Ciena followed through, not only that, but she went above and beyond and rescued forty civilians of her own accord.

Hearing the story being told made it seem almost unreal. Then he glanced at Ciena’s unyielding figure in front of him and it made perfect sense. Ciena had always gone above and beyond. Regardless of the outcome of the trial, Thane was, and forever would be, immensely proud of her.

“That’s not all,” declared Ciena’s defender. “I would like to call to the stand a witness to testify in regards to my client’s character, if I may, your honour.”

Thane steeled himself, it seemed like everything had been leading up to whatever was going to happen next.

“Please proceed,” answered the judge. The Togruta man preceding over the trial seemed kind enough, he had been polite throughout the day and most importantly, seemed sympathetic to Ciena’s position.

“Thank, you honour. Would Thane Kyrell please take the stand?” The lawyer ushered him towards a seat beside the judge’s bench.

Thane relished Ciena’s dumbfounded look as he took his seat. He tried to wink at her on his way there, it seemed she had no clue he was going to be testifying on her behalf.

“Please state your name and occupation for the record,” asked the defender.

“Thane Kyrell, Lieutenant Commander for the New Republic navy, Corona Squadron,” he answered dutifully.

“Mr Kyrell, it appears that you have known my client since you were children, could you please explain to the court the nature of your relationship? And more importantly, the nature of the defendant’s character?”

This was it. The moment of truth. He’d sat down with her appointed defender before. He’d been appropriately briefed. He knew what he was supposed to talk about but there, as his eyes met Ciena’s beautiful brown ones, all of that preparation went up in smoke. Whatever her attorney had told him completely escaped. He supposed that like so many other things in his life, he’d have to play this one by ear too.

Thane closed his eyes and took the deepest breath he could before he began to speak.

“To put it simply… Well, there is no ‘simply’ with us,” Thane couldn’t help but quietly chuckle as he said that. “But she’s my other half. It’s cheesy and corny, believe me, I know but the defendant, Ciena is the person I care about, admire and respect the most in the universe. We met when we were eight and she was being bullied by some older kids and I intervened. We ended up becoming friends and became inseparable, at least I like to think so. We competed and spurred each other on as pilots and as people until… we didn’t.

“There were a number of years where I didn’t see Ciena for one reason or another until I defected from the Empire and eventually joined the Rebellion, from then we obviously almost never saw each other. I actually thought she died at Endor but then I heard her voice on the Inflictor. The ship was already crashing down at that point, we didn’t have much time left. I could go on but that wouldn’t reveal much about her character. My point is, that even on that day when mutual friends thought that Ciena would have been changed - become someone worse - she hadn’t.”

The very air in the courtroom stood still as Thane testified. It wrenched his heart to speak like this, he’d never been one for discussing such personal things so openly but what truly threatened to break him was the sight of Ciena. Her hands were clasped around her mouth. At first he wondered why but then Thane supposed he never did reveal to her to truest depths of his feelings for her. Well, he needed her to know, so he continued.

“Sure, it broke my heart to see just how empty and hollow she was. It was like she had lost all value in her own life. But she had never, not once lost the value in the lives of others. What I didn’t mention is that apart from me and her, the ship was empty. Ciena ensured that when the ship went down, she was the only one aboard. She made certain that not one of the thousands of her subordinates died along with her. It is - was Imperial policy to destroy a ship rather than allow it to be used by the enemy, which in this case, was exactly what we hoped to do. So, as is her most admirable and sometimes infuriating habit, she maintained the oath she made to the Empire but she did not for a second compromise the lives of others to do so.

“In the end, my relationship with Ciena is irrelevant to this case. What the court needs to know that Ciena Ree is the most steadfast, loyal and honourable person I have met. She is a victim of circumstance. In my view, the Empire took what makes her a great person and used it against her. You may be thinking: if she disapproved of the Empire’s actions why didn’t she desert? I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that, that’s a question I asked myself hundreds of times.

“Once again, it comes down to Ciena’s absolute and unwavering loyalty. This time, it isn’t to the Empire, I believe that particular loyalty was destroyed long ago, but to her culture. In the valleys of Jelucan, our homeworld, oaths are taken extremely seriously. They believe that oaths remain binding even if the subject proves unworthy. That way, it isn’t their own honour that is in question. This is what drove Ciena to stay with the Empire, not any sense of approval for its actions, I’m sure she detests the things the Empire did just as much as I do, if not more but her principles as a Jelucani are what made her stay until the end,” Thane finished with a heavy breath. It seemed he’d been rambling, he only hoped he didn’t hinder Ciena’s case. Nonetheless, he said only a fraction of what he wanted to tell her. There was so much more he needed to say, so much more he needed her to hear.

The rest of the trial passed in a haze, he was hearing but not listening to it, Thane couldn’t do anything but stare at Ciena, hoping to glean something, anything of her thoughts about what he had said. He realised that now, more than ever before, he needed to talk to her. It seemed that trying to give words to how he felt only intensified those feelings. He had made his peace with Ciena not being around when he thought she was dead but he needed to know whether she was going to be. If there was even the slightest chance that she-

“Not guilty!” Declared the judge as the sound of him hitting his gavel reverberated across the room.

He’d missed the rest of the trial while he was lost in his thoughts? It couldn’t have been that long, surely? To his surprise, it seemed that it had been. Everyone in attendance began to shuffle out of the courtroom, quickly but quietly, as those rooms were in great demand due to the high number of trials that were going to take place over the coming months - the only reason Ciena’s was one of the first was that everyone expected it to be a quick one, which it evidently was.

Thane waited patiently on a bench by the exit of the Chandrilan courthouse, he probably should’ve gone back to base but he needed to see Ciena as soon as possible, to hold Ciena as soon as possible. All he wanted was to take her in his arms and never let go. The only sound he bothered to pay attention to was the quick, rhythmic tapping of his boot against the floor as he maintained his gaze towards the doorway that she would come out of at any moment as a free woman.

She wouldn’t have to spend another night in that cell again. It wasn’t terrible, if she was being honest with herself, her bunk as a junior officer was much worse than the New Republic cell but imprisonment was imprisonment and she wouldn’t have to endure another day. Yet somehow, she didn’t feel joy, at least not only joy. Her happiness was accompanied by a feeling of loss, of uncertainty. What was she going to do now? No. That was a question for later. There were more pressing questions she needed answered. Questions like ‘did Thane really mean all that?’

It appeared she wouldn’t have to wait long to ask the man in question as he was sitting right there, mere metres away. She would be able to touch him, to see if the warmth she remembered from those nights spent in confusion was still there. Ciena fumbled around in her mind, trying to form a coherent sentence, any coherent sentence, so much had changed in the past few hours that she didn’t know where to begin.

Thankfully, Thane was going to save her the trouble. Ciena noticed him hesitating at the sight of her as he approached and the subtlest of blushes appearing on his cheeks. She had been given an elegant blue dress for her trial, it fit loosely on her frame but she appreciated the New Republic’s attempt at saving her the indignity of undergoing trial in her prison dress. That elegant dress had quite the effect on Thane, as it turned out.

“So… how does it feel? Being a free woman?” Thane asked her. Of all the questions he could have asked, he had to ask that one.

“I haven’t decided yet,” she told him and took a deep breath, she wasn’t particularly looking forward to what was coming. “I suppose we should talk.”

“I suppose we should,” Thane agreed, sighing. “Can we do it over some food though? I found this really good Corellian place that I wanted to show you.”

She knew he was avoiding talking, stalling for time and in truth, she didn’t blame him. She knew Thane, probably better than she knew herself, and she knew he was just as confused about everything as she was - although a hot plate of food, Corellian or otherwise, was more than welcome.

They walked beside each other in comfortable silence for a while. Her hand brushed Thane’s more than once yet neither of them had the courage to simply grasp the other’s. Yet another thing to talk about. As she followed Thane’s lead, she occupied her thoughts with what just happened. All charges against her had been dropped and she had a hard time understanding why. She served the Empire, she refused to defect, that much had been brought up in the trial. She was going to die for the Empire, as sick as it made her, yet the New Republic’s law didn’t see fit to convict her. Yes, she was acting under orders but enemy combatants were always treated harshly, they were made an example of.

That was unless Thane was right. If Thane was right then this New Republic did act according to the values it preached, that meant it was more than mere propaganda. Could she bring herself to believe that the New Republic was anything more than a terrorist group grown too large? She wasn’t sure.

“Here we are!” Thane said, his face as bright and vibrant as it had been when he came to visit her last.

The next few minutes passed in awkward idle chatter about the restaurant’s ambience, menu and clientele. This place still employed people to do the waiting instead of simply using service droids, which at first struck her as odd until Thane explained it was a thematic choice as the establishment was supposed to resemble an old Corellian diner. Those words were just there to fill the empty space, neither of them was really interested in the restaurant, charming as it may have been. She and Thane had never been ones for idle chatter.

Ciena almost grabbed the plate from the poor server’s hand when it arrived just so she could have something other than Thane to focus her attention on. More unbearably awkward moments passed until she had had enough, she wasn’t a coward, she was more than willing to fly in battle so she could at least have a serious talk with Thane Kyrell.

That was, at least, until she realised Thane had the same idea and they looked up at the exact same time, their eyes meeting. The two of them immediately broke out into a fit of laughter, of course they’d decided to do the same thing at the same time.

“Well, we have the food, I guess we should have the talk now too,” Thane finally said after they calmed themselves down.

“We should,” Ciena agreed. “I’ll go first. Did you mean all of what you said in court today?” It was an emotionally charged speech, that was much obvious, and she was touched at the sincerity with which Thane spoke. He acted like he didn’t know why she stayed with the Empire despite all its atrocities but today he had explained it all perfectly. He was right, she did what she did not out of loyalty to the Empire, as he had said that loyalty withered away years ago but out of loyalty to her culture and her way of life.

“Every word,” Thane assured her. “Remember back when we were training for the academy? You doubted yourself and I told you that you could do it. That belief hasn’t changed, not one bit. The past few years have been rough, for both of us but by the second time we talked after Jakku any and all doubts I had about you were gone with the wind. You are, always have been and always will be the greatest person I know.”

“Greatest is a strong word, Thane, are you sure I live up to it?”

“Without a doubt,” Thane replied without a note of hesitation in his voice. Ciena smiled at his unwavering faith in her, she didn’t deserve it, not at all, but it was good to know she had it.

“My turn now. What’s the plan?” Thane asked her, this time she sensed a touch of fear in his tone and she could’ve guessed why.

“I don’t know,” she answered, honestly. “I made an oath. You said it yourself, my oath is binding even if the subject is not worthy.”

She half expected him to snap at her and to respond in frustration and she wouldn’t have blamed him one bit. Instead, he answered coolly, “What about when the subject no longer exists?”

“The Empire-”

“Is in tatters. You know that. And what’s left isn’t the Empire we signed up to serve; the brave men and women we enlisted with are gone, all that’s left is warlords trying to play emperor or the husk of the old Empire in the inner rim. Neither is what you’re looking for,” Thane interrupted, with some of the frustration she’d expected earlier.

Ciena took another spoonful of her meal before she spoke, she was having some type of soup and it was surprisingly good. She hadn’t had proper food in years, it had been nutritives or more recently, prison rations for years.

“Then what do you expect me to do? Your New Republic hasn’t brought peace or order to the galaxy, innocents still lose their lives every day because of the fighting,” Ciena vented.

“Give it a try,” Thane requested. “That’s all I ask.”

“Even if I wanted to, how would I go about that? I don’t have anywhere to stay, I can only go back to Jelucan.” Then she realised, she didn’t even know the state of her home. She didn’t know what had happened since the Empire’s fall, was it okay? Was it safe? “Thane, wait, before you say anything else, how is Jelucan?”

“When I said ‘give it a try’ I meant more literally,” he said.

“Thane-”

“Let me finish,” he demanded gently. “It’s been seven months since Jakku, a lot’s changed. The fighting you’re talking about is almost non-existent, the only fighting that’s happening is between the Republic’s military and the few splinters of the Imperial navy that still won’t follow the Concordance, civilian casualties are low, and decreasing every day. I was going to take some personal time off and take you there myself, to Jelucan, I mean. I went there a few days ago - fixed up the Fortress. It’s already much nicer than last time we were there.”

“Does that mean that Jelucan joined the New Republic?”

Thane shook his head, “No, our people are as stubborn as they’ve always been. The valley folk still maintain their oaths to the Empire and the second-wavers refuse to acknowledge that their greed and eagerness to suck up to the Empire hurt their planet, which they’d need to do in order to even consider joining.

“Still, they accept aid and as far I saw Jelucan’s looking a whole lot healthier these days, people are starting to wear their old clothes again. Valentia doesn’t feel like walking through a poor man’s Coruscant anymore. I should’ve told you as soon as I found out as well but you know the trial…”

“Come on Thane, I don’t care, what else?” Did he know something about Mumma? She hoped with every fibre of her being that he knew something about her and that it was something good.

“Last I checked, your mum spends her time sewing, rather than hauling ore around,” Thane said with the single most adorable smile she had seen from him yet.

Ciena could only close her eyes and breathe a sigh of relief like none other. Thane’s tone may have been jovial but what he had just told her had the weight of a thousand stars. Two years, her mother had spent doing hard labour as punishment for a crime she did not commit but no longer. She was free, and sewing, apparently. The sheer thought of it made her grin.

If that was the case, it was the New Republic’s intervention that had made it possible. The valley’s kindred were too loyal to their oaths to dare challenge a punishment mandated by Imperial officials and second-wavers would never have done anything. It had to be the Republic’s doing. Maybe Thane was right about them too, just as he was about the Empire, maybe they did mean what they said.

Ciena intended to find out.

“Let’s do it. Let’s go to Jelucan.” As soon as she said the words she saw Thane mouth a triumphant ‘yes’. “That is only if it doesn’t hurt your career. You’re happy with the Republic’s navy, right?”

“I am,” Thane admitted. “But I’d be a thousand times happier with you. Besides, it’s leave I’ve earned, I wouldn’t be doing any damage to my career at all, same rules as when I came to stand vigil with you. That said, if you hear me out there’s another job I’d rather do, and it would be with you if I ask my superiors nicely enough.”

“Later, Thane, let’s get to Jelucan first.” She was intrigued without a doubt but any thoughts of a career or a job came after seeing her family.

It was only twelve hours later that they found themselves on Jelucan’s familiar surface. Thane was even allowed to take his ARC-170 fighter, making it all that much faster as Ciena was able to co-pilot. Being in the sky with her for the first time in so long felt right.

Ciena asked him if he wanted to visit his own family, out of politeness if nothing else but neither of them was surprised when he flatly rejected the idea. There was nothing left for him with them. In the single evening that he’d spent with Paron Ree, he showed Thane more courtesy than Oris Kyrell ever had.

The two of them stood at the doorway of Ciena’s family home and she held her fist up to the door, ready to knock but not quite going through with it.

“Go on, it’s alright,” Thane tried to reassure her.

Ciena nodded and steadied herself before she knocked on the door three times, clear and resolute.

Moments later the door opened to show Ciena’s mother, Verine Ree, wearing an expression of pure shock that immediately melted into one of pure, enviable love.

“Ciena, my heart!” She exclaimed as she pulled Ciena into a hug that seemed like it was going to force the air out of her lungs.

“Mumma… You’re here… You’re home,” said Ciena as Thane saw light reflecting off tears in the corners of her eyes.

Mrs Ree then ushered the two of them inside, greeting Thane like he was an old friend. He supposed that in a sense, he was. He hadn’t actually seen Ciena’s mother when he came to his homeworld, he’d only heard from their neighbours about her newfound freedom. At the time, it was all he could do not to sneer as those same neighbours refused to stand vigil when they were most needed. That didn’t matter now though, Thane thought as he saw the heartwarming scene unfold before him.

Verine Ree looked older than her age, a little gaunter and more tired than he remembered her but he hoped that given time to recover she would be in good health again soon enough. At the very least, it seemed that her spirit had not suffered from her farce of a trial and subsequent sentence, judging by the strength she showed just then.

Ciena’s father joined his family’s embrace and for a moment all was perfect. Thane shook his head, admonishing himself as a disgusting feeling of jealousy crept up on him. He knew he never had this with his family and he knew he would’ve loved to have it but for even a part of him, however small that part may be, to feel envious because of what Ciena had made him feel awful. At least he was able to recognise that it was terrible, that was all the consolation he could give himself.

It had already gotten dark, Thane needed to find a place to stay for the night and his family’s home was not going to be it. He didn’t even think to bring more credits with him, he hoped he had enough for the night, at least.

“You must be hungry,” Mrs Ree assumed. “Come, we haven’t had dinner yet.” She beckoned Ciena and to his surprise, Thane, to sit around their table as she set out delicious-smelling plates of food.

“I don’t want to impose,” Thane protested. “I’ll just find somewhere else to eat and spend the night.”

Mrs Ree turned to Ciena, “You never told me Thane was insane, dear.”

What could he do but blink in surprise? He’d wanted to impress Ciena’s parents, not somehow give the impression he was insane.

“Mumma!” Ciena cried out, stifling laughter.

Then her mother turned to Thane, “I’m joking, of course. But Paron told me about how you stood vigil for me when none of the other kindred would. So long as I’m around, you’ll always have a place at our table.”

Thane darted his eyes first to Ciena who wore a shy smile and then to Mr Ree who was himself smiling, albeit more wilfully than his daughter. A nod of approval from Paron Ree was all the signal he needed to take a seat at the table of Ciena’s family. He noticed Ciena grasp at her wrist, at the bracelet that was no longer there, where had it gone? She wouldn’t have lost it and it would have been returned to her by Republic authorities if it was confiscated which could only mean she didn’t have it on Jakku.

That was a question he needed answered, the bracelet had always meant too much to her to simply disappear. Nevertheless, Thane was glad to see that Ciena mouthed the words ‘look through my eyes’ all the same: she thought this moment was important enough to share with Wynnet. He was inclined to agree.

At first Thane thought that Ciena’s parents would have been cold towards him, disapproving, even and perhaps he wasn’t entirely wrong as Mr Ree didn’t seem entirely comfortable with the idea of a second-waver at their table. Not that Thane could hold that against him - the enmity between their cultures had been a point of contention between himself and Ciena at times as well. Yet after a few spoonfuls of Jelucani rice all that seemed like a footnote in their history and he became privy to stories about Ciena that left even her dark skin beet red. Those stories would be great ammunition to use against her.

For the first time in so long, everything felt truly right but in the back of his mind the question remained: would Ciena leave him again? He knew he could have gone on with his life eventually if she died but he wasn’t sure if he could’ve lived without her, knowing that she was alive and well. No, he had to be okay with that, Ciena deserved that much. Still, a life with her was far from the worst thing Thane could have imagined. For the moment, he was content knowing that she had agreed to give the Republic a chance.

Thane had to grin when he remembered flying with her in his ship on their way to Jelucan, he’d won the right to pilot in a customary game of lizard-toad-snake and only when he was in the vast starry emptiness of space did it strike him that he had never flown beyond a planet’s atmosphere with Ciena before. He would’ve been hard pressed to say which was more beautiful: the space around him or Ciena’s face at peace when she stared out of the cockpit.

“Jelucan to Thane?” Hearing Ciena say his name snapped him to attention.

“What?”

“You seem out of it, everything okay?” Ciena asked, her question was accompanied by the worried gaze of both her parents.

“Yeah. Everything’s perfect,” Thane said with complete honesty. “Oh and compliments to the chef, the food was delicious. I really should get going now, though.” If he waited too long then he might not have been able to find a bed to sleep on that night and Jelucan at night was far too cold for comfort.

“Nonsense Thane, you’ll stay here, with us. There’s a guest room three doors down, it hasn’t been used in a while so it might be a little dusty but I’m sure you’ll manage,” Paron Ree answered.

Thane was surprised at the offer of a meal, and he thought then they might still harbour some dislike for him due to his affiliation with the Rebellion but here he was being offered a bed to sleep on as well. The more he was around the Rees the more it made sense why Ciena was the way she was.

“I’d really appreciate that, thanks.”

Never in a million years would Ciena have thought that Thane Kyrell, second-waver and former rebel, would have been sleeping in her family’s home. And yet there he was, sitting at the edge of their guest room’s bed, taking off his shirt to show his singlet. Clearly, he’d been as surprised as she was that her father had offered a place to stay, judging by his expression at the dinner table but she was glad he did. Ciena squeezed her nails into her palm in guilt as she hadn’t even thought about where Thane could have stayed, she’d just assumed the two would sleep in the Fortress, not even considering that her parents might’ve objected to that.

Thankfully, it worked out, she thought as she passed a clean and fresh set of sheets to Thane. He probably would’ve rather slept in a ditch than contacting his parents so Ciena decided this was the better alternative.

“Can I ask a question? It might be a personal one,” said Thane.

“Yes, what is it?” Ciena replied, casting her mind back to the last time he asked a ‘personal’ question, he didn’t ask anything rude then and she doubted he would now.

“What happened to your bracelet? I know you kept it in your uniform pocket but you’re not in your uniform anymore, are you?”

Of course he noticed. Only Thane would have noticed something as innocuous as a missing bracelet. She made a mental note to tell him how much she appreciated his friendship. Even after everything, he was the only one she truly trusted.

“You know how I was injured at Endor?” Ciena began, stuffing the old and worryingly dusty sheets into the basket at her feet to be washed later.

Thane nodded, she’d told him about her injury while she was still imprisoned. “The medical droids destroyed anything ‘nonregulation’ items they found on me. Including my bracelet.” She had to steady her breath or she would’ve broken down then and there.

Ciena rubbed her eyes with her hands, it wouldn’t do to cry in front of Thane but she then felt the warmth of his arms wrapping around her and his hand pushing her head into his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I know how much it meant to you.”

Ciena swallowed hard, trying to bury the depths of her sorrow. She hoped that Wynnet was still able to see through her eyes, even without the bracelet; she had a feeling that there was going to be a lot she wanted to show her sister in the future.

“What if…” Thane said. “What if you made a new one? I know it wouldn’t be the same, but it’s the thought that counts right? Who knows, maybe the Force will still connect you to her?” He offered that last part with a smile that said he knew that it sounded farfetched, especially coming from him, but it didn’t matter.

“Maybe.” Ciena had thought about making a new one, but she hadn’t been able to decide if it would’ve been right. Her bracelet was a symbol of her connection to Wynnet but losing the bracelet didn’t mean that connection was gone. Maybe, when she had time, she would make another one.

“Alright, let’s call it a night. I was thinking we could head to the Fortress tomorrow?” Thane asked, still nothing but sympathy in his voice.

“Sure.”

Ciena had been waiting by Thane’s ship for almost twenty minutes, not that that was his fault. For some reason, Thane skipped breakfast and told her to meet up by his fighter as he had something to take care of, apparently. She soon saw Thane come running up to her, panting and muttering apologies for his lateness.

“It’s fine, you’re not late,” she laughed. “What did you have to do, anyway?”

“I’ll show you when we get to the Fortress.”

Show? What exactly was he going to show her? For the time being she put her faith in Thane and decided to hold off any more questions until they were at the Fortress. Instead, they walked towards the Fortress with a nice breeze making her hair flow outwards, drawing Thane’s eyes. They talked mainly about their homeworld and how much it had changed since they had last been here. The shanties were still there but fewer of them and far more permanent, stone homes had been built. The people around them wore the traditional clothing of their cultures, the mass-produced Imperial clothes that had taken over seemed rare as homespun cloth and fine silks were as common sights as they were in Thane’s and her childhood.

The sky was as clear and blue as it had ever been and almost no signs remained of the pollution that had gripped Jeluncan’s atmosphere in the years past. The mountain peaks were full of snow once again where the last time she had visited they had started to become bare from the heat released by all the industrial processes the Empire forced on her world. Once again, she realised Thane was right. The Republic, if nothing else, was trying its best and in many ways, that was more than the Empire had ever done.

Is it right to be glad that the Empire’s gone? Ciena thought. The effects of the Empire leaving Jelucan were only positive as far as she could tell: the scenery had become wondrous to look at again, the people of her planet looked healthier and happier than they had done in years and most importantly to her, her mother was free. She had made an oath. She had to honour it. Thane’s words echoed in her mind, even if she wanted to, how could she? He was right, there was no Empire anymore, only small factions that claimed its name and she did not swear her oath to any of them.

Suddenly, she felt her hand slip into Thane’s as he comfortingly rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. How did he always know when she was feeling unhappy?

“Thane, are you psychic?” Ciena chuckled and looked up at him.

“No. I just know you,” he said, not letting go of her hand. That, he did.

A short while later, she and Thane were sitting opposite each other on a red rug that she had smuggled in years ago. Thane had made the place pristine when he last came here and three weeks wasn’t long enough to ruin the Fortress, they named it that for a reason, after all.

“So, what was it that you wanted to show me?” Ciena asked.

“These,” Thane said, pulling out a small pouch from his pocket.

Ciena raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Open it,” Thane nodded at the pouch.

So she did and found a number of leather strips: muunyak leather… just like the leather that her bracelet had been made out of.

“Thane…” Ciena began hoping that she would think of something to say but nothing came to her.

“I know you made the first one with your mother but I thought that maybe I could help with this one,” Thane said, not quite looking her in the eyes as he always did when he was feeling self-conscious.

She still didn’t know what to say, to call the gesture thoughtful was an understatement. “I said maybe,” was all that Ciena could think of, she wanted to remind Thane that he didn’t have to, that he never had to do any of the things that he did.

“I know,” Thane nodded. “I’m sorry if you don’t want to make another one, I get that your bracelet was precious to you.”

“No… I think I do,” Ciena hoped that Wynnet wouldn’t mind a new bracelet, she hoped that her sister didn’t hold losing the first one against her.

So the two of them set to work, with Ciena guiding Thane through the process of making a leather bracelet according to Jelucani tradition but he knew a surprising amount already; then again, it shouldn’t have surprised her, between the vigil and the mourning band Thane had shown time and again that he wanted to, and did, understand her culture.

“You’re still feeling conflicted about your oath, aren’t you?” Thane asked her after several minutes of pleasant silence.

“How can I not?”

“What do you think you’ll do? You’ve seen what the Republic can do for planets. I don’t want to sound like a broken record but…” Thane looked up at her. “I want to be with you. I don’t want to lose you again.”

“I don’t want to lose you either,” Ciena sighed. “You said you had an idea for a job.”

Thane’s pale blue eyes lit up. “Does that mean that-”

“It means I’m considering it. Please, don’t get ahead of yourself.”

She saw Thane falter for a moment and then pick himself up, he never was one to stay down. “It’s a job where we’d be able to fly. Where you’d be able to fly.” He looked at her again to gauge her reaction. It was a good start, that much she was willing to admit. “The Republic needs pilots who can do mercy runs across the galaxy: rescue missions, emergency supply drops, that sort of thing. The fighting’s dying down but there’s still people who need help, and we could be the ones to help them.”

A job where she would spend her days in the sky and every flight would be one where she would be helping someone rather than killing them? Thane had said that the job would be with her earlier, meaning he wanted to do it too. He had just described her dream. Except that that would’ve meant joining the Republic’s navy.

“That sounds amazing, really,” Ciena began. “But I can’t do it, not if it means I have to join the Republic’s military. Breaking an oath is bad enough, actively going against the Empire I swore it to is so much worse.”

To her surprise, Thane wasn’t fazed. “First, I’d argue that you aren’t breaking your oath. Our tours of duty were supposed to be five years after the Academy, you served in the fleet for six so I’d go so far as to say you’re more than free to take up any other work. Secondly, and more importantly, I knew you’d say that,” Thane finished with a smug smirk.

“The more important part is that you knew what I’d say?” Ciena doubted him with a brow raised once more.

“What? No,” he laughed. “No, the important part is the best part: you wouldn’t have to join the military. I talked it over with my superiors and we can do those missions as contractors hired by the Republic, we’d be self-employed basically just working with and not for the Republic.”

By then, they had stopped working on the bracelet and it sat in the palms of her cupped hands, unfinished. Ciena looked at it and then back at Thane. “You thought of everything, haven’t you?”

“Well, not quite everything but I think I did okay,” Thane said. “So, what do you say?”

Ciena searched her mind for a reason to refuse him, any reason, it still felt wrong to even contemplate working for the Republic but Thane’s reasoning was sound. She doubted that even the strictest of her people would call her out for doing mercy missions with the Republic given that her tour of duty was technically over. She’d get to do what she loved most with the person she loved most and all while giving people aid that they needed.

Thane had taken the time she spent mulling over his proposal to finish off the last braid on her bracelet and carefully wrapped it around her right wrist. “There, now Wynnet’s back.”

“That’s not quite how it works but…” Ciena looked for the words she needed to finish her sentence but the only reaction she could give was drawing Thane into a hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She clutched her bracelet with her arms still wrapped around Thane’s neck and whispered, “Look through my eyes.”

Thane let out a quiet laugh as he laid a hand on her back, saving her from toppling the two of them over. “What is it that you’re trying to show your sister, exactly? I know you did last time but-”

“This isn’t that,” Ciena rolled her eyes. “I wanted her to see the moment where I accept a career I can take pride in.”

“Then you’ll do it?” Thane asked, clearly incredulous.

“Yes, I’ll do it,” she confirmed.

“Yes!” Thane shouted as he made the mistake of letting go of her, making them fall over onto the fortunately soft rug. He kissed her then, so passionately that for a moment she forgot to breathe. It had been a while since he did that, too long, Ciena decided. She kissed him back, again and again, the only thought in her mind being that they wouldn’t have to be separated again. Before, indulging their relationship was a dangerous, fleeting thing but this time she would do everything in her power to never let go of him.

She didn’t let go.

The last time Thane saw Ciena lying next to him with only part of a sheet covering her body he was conflicted and confused. He was hurt. He was scared that he was about to lose Ciena forever. He was convinced he would never get to see her face again, never get to touch her again, never get to laugh with her again.

This time, all he could feel was bliss. He grabbed her hand from under the furs and squeezed it as she curled up next to him, snuggling her head against the crook of his neck. He could have spent the rest of his life just like that.

For a while, they simply stared at the clear, Jelucani sky in perfect silence, listening only to their own breathing and the quiet hum of the heater near them. He ran his fingers through Ciena’s hair, carefully and deliberately so he didn’t accidentally pull on any knots in her dark curls.

“Say,” Thane started, unsure if he should speak the words he was about to say. “Are there any special traditions when it comes to marriage proposals in the valley?”

“No, you just ask, I suppose,” Ciena told him, oblivious to the gravity of the question she just answered.

“Good to know,” Thane said, satisfied.

He waited a couple of seconds as the cogs turned in Ciena’s mind.

“Thane… What are you saying?” And there it was. Thane revelled in the fact that he knew Ciena well enough to take her by surprise like that.

“Nothing. I just wanted to know if I had any prep work to do,” he told her, giving her the slyest smirk he could muster.

Ciena lightly punched his side, screwing her face. “Thane, don’t joke like that, please.”

Thane had to scoff. “Ciena… I’m not joking.”

Her eyes widened so much that for a moment Thane thought they might leave their sockets. She pulled her hands out from the covers and covered her mouth, nodding furiously as what little sunlight reached the back of their Fortress twinkled against the corners of her eyes. That was all the answer he needed.

“I will!” Ciena called out. “Of course I will,” she repeated, softer this time.

Well, verbal confirmation was also good.