Rebuilding (COMPLETE)

*Episode 16

Author's Note: So sorry, but updates may be rather irregular for a while. Stuff is going on and my focus is definitely not on writing these days

Rya raised an eyebrow as Numa collapsed on her workbench, brushing a few tools to the side so she had room to sit. "You'd think you'd be in a better mood. The entire planet is rising. I thought you'd be happy."

"I am. I have never seen our people rally like this before," she explained, "but this mission was not the smoothest I have ever been on. Almost nothing went as planned."

"I take it that's why the carrier wasn't the ship that was destroyed?"

She nodded, then smiled at the mechanic. "You are improving at identifying ships."

"Well, I've only been working for the general for ten years. It's about time."

Numa laughed, the corners of her eyes turning up. Rya was no warrior, especially not the warrior she was. Ever since she met two clone troopers and her father's death, Numa had begun to train to fight. It had been difficult, as there weren't many experienced fighters on Ryloth. She had stepped into a niche that, until their people began to rise against the Empire, had been seen as unnecessary.

Though she admired Numa for her resilience and strength, Rya knew that she was no warrior. She was a mechanic and a friend, but she recoiled from violence, as she always had. She understood that peace was not an option, not anymore, but she left the battles to those better suited to it, as did her mother. One of those people was Numa, the child Rya's mother had adopted after she and Rya moved to Ryloth. Now Numa and Rya were sisters. Their mother worked at an orphanage, caring for other children who had lost their families because of the Empire. Rya watched over Numa, who was now in her twenties, as she fought under General Syndulla.

She glanced over at her sister again and saw her rubbing her arm. "Did you get hurt?"

Shaking her head, Numa denied it. "We had to crash a ship onto the carrier to sneak onboard. It is just a scrape."

That was enough for Rya. Pausing the repairs on the speeder she was working on, she grabbed a small medkit from a nearby shelf. "Let me see."

"It is not-"

"I know, I know, it's not that bad," Rya said, finishing that sentence. "That doesn't mean it won't get infected."

Begrudgingly, Numa rolled up her sleeve and exposed the area near her elbow. It was a little red and irritated but skin-deep, thankfully. Rya pulled out a disinfectant wipe and got to work.

"One might think that the smallest injury could kill me from the way you get so worried," Numa grumbled, holding still for Rya.

"Mother would have done the same," she insisted, not taking her focus off her work. "I can't help you during a fight, but I can help you recover once you come back alive."

"Recover from a scrape? Yes, surely, that is the most urgent matter at hand. Not the uprising of hundreds of people across our home."

"If they need you so badly, then what are you doing here?"

"Having my scrape cleaned, apparently."

Rya shook her head. It was the same conversation they had after nearly every mission. Numa would come back with a rolled ankle, a cut, a bruise, literally anything, and Rya would patch her up. She would complain the entire time and jump to get back into action. Yet as annoyed as she was to be cared for, Numa didn't try to stop the process. If nothing else, Rya was grateful for that.

One bandage later, she was done. "See? It took less than a minute."

She didn't respond, just rolled her sleeve back down and watched as Rya put the kit away, grabbing a soldering iron. The mechanic worked for a minute until Numa asked, "You decide to learn to use tools such as that, despite having only ever watched your friends do it, yet you refuse to handle a blaster?"