Work Text:
Aure wakes to the sound of a scream that makes the hair at the back of his neck stand up, and he’s running before he knows where he’s going. It’s Rán , and he doesn’t know what could have dragged that sound from her, but-
She’s sitting up in bed, completely motionless, her fingers buried in her hair as she whimpers. He doesn’t hesitate to sit on the bed next to her, pulling her into his lap. It’s only a little harder than it had been when she was just a little slip of a thing, and he holds her against his chest, hoping the heat of his body will warm her as she shakes apart in his arms. He’s seen her panic attacks before, but this is worse than any of those, this is… this is a complete shutdown. “Shh, shh, I’ve got you, al’verd’ika, I’m here, you’re not alone,” he murmurs, Basic slipping to Mando’a in the only way he can think of to comfort her, “You’re not alone, you’re safe, you’re alright. I’ve got you.” She’s hyperventilating, breaths fluttering like a bird’s as she buries herself against his chest, desperate for someone . “Shh, shh.” He keeps his hand rubbing circles over her back, grounding her a little with his firm touch.
“I felt it again, Aure, I felt them dying again, it doesn’t stop, it never stops, they’re all gone, there’s nothing left.” Her voice hitches as she rambles, the words spilling from her lips near-hysterically, her blue eyes wide, pupils blown - fuck, he’s never seen her this bad before, he doesn’t even need the kriffing Force to feel her panic and distress beating against his skull while she shakes apart in his arms. “They’re gone and there’s no light left, it’s just dark and I can’t- I can’t feel anything, it’s just gone !”
Aure closes his eyes and sighs, his heart breaking for her; she'd told him once, after a nightmare like this, how it had felt during Order 66, when countless Jedi were slaughtered by his own brothers across the galaxy - like the light had gone out and only pain was left in its wake. “Hey, there’s lots of light left in the galaxy, yeah? You just need to look for it. Might feel a little different now, but it’s there.” He runs his fingers through her hair as he rocks her a little. “Just ‘cause you can’t always see the stars, doesn’t mean they aren’t there, does it?” he smiles at her shaky laugh, “That’s what I like to hear, Rán’ika.” He tilts her chin up, wiping away her tears for her as she gives him a watery smile. She’s still white as a sheet and shaking, but the distant, glazed look in her eyes is gone, and she’s responding to him instead of the ghosts in her mind, so he counts it as a victory. There are too damn few of those lately, he’ll take what he can get.
“Thank you, Aure,” she says, wrapping her arms around him, tucking herself against his chest again, “I don’t know what I’d do without you, ner nau o’r werde .”
“You’re never gonna find out, yeah? Where you go, I go.” He rested a hand over her heart, sitting back against the wall to keep watch in the darkness so she could sleep again. “Go back to sleep, I’m here.” He smiles to himself as he listens to her breaths slow as she drifts off again. Maybe he doesn’t have as many years left as she does, but he’s determined to spend every one of them with her.