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The torpedo fire wouldn’t let up. They had you. They had Thrawn. The Chimaera shook and rocked as you stumbled your way to your quarters, hoping to find him there. But alas, the empty room only flickered and sparked from the lighting shortage. A fuse must have blown. You slumped against the doorframe, staring blankly into the hallway, not even registering the wave of crewmembers that ran too and fro. The shouting merely a soundtrack to your empty chest.
“Ch’eo ch’acah.” A voice tugged you from your thousand yard stare.
Thrawn stood solidly next to you, shielding you from the crowd in the corridor, and brushed his hand over your cheek. Suddenly the tears came rolling, unbidden. You clutched to him in a desperate attempt to find solid ground. His steady arms held you tightly, shaking only briefly before he regained control.
“It’s alright, everything is going to be alright.” He whispered slowly. His natural soothing voice never betraying his own fear. His fingers twisting in your hair and brushing it down your back. Comforting. Warm. Home.
You choked a sob into his chest. “B-but-”
“It’s okay little vutucni. I have you.” He squeezed you gently and guided you both to sit just inside the door of your shared quarters. The space where you first made love. Where you laughed together and sipped tea. Where your shared collection of quirky artworks was kept.
He cradled you against him. His heart hammering just as hard as yours beneath your cradled head. His hidden fear came as no surprise to you despite his outward stoicism, but it was somehow a comforting thought that he was just as frightened when faced with his own mortality.
You shivered in his lap like a newborn. “What about -” You finally took a breath. “What about the bridge?” You looked up into his glowing eyes. “Shouldn’t you be on the bridge?”
He reached to stroke your cheek with his thumb. “They do not need me anymore.” His grip on you wavered as he spoke the words. But he shuffled you somehow closer. “Remember my promise to you?”
You nodded weakly, a whimper escaping your throat as a new wave of tears slid from your eyes.
“I intend to keep it. We are in this together, to the end ch’acah.” He tilted his forehead against yours and let out a heavy breath against your face. “I have you. It’ll be alright.” His voice was softer and smaller than you had ever heard.
You nodded against him and squeezed your eyes shut, clutching at the collar of his uniform.
You were in this together. And he had you.