Author's Games: Star Wars

Task 6: Yuurei

Yuurei opened his eyes, groaning. Everything ached. Wait... Everything hurts? He looked around, noting the bright lights of a spaceship and the various gadgets that were humming quietly in the room he was lying in. Where am I? How did I get here?

He tried to sit up, an involuntary whimper escaping him as he did so. How am I even alive? Did they have the doctors heal me so they could torture me or something? Why not just execute me, anyway?

A door slid open, and he slowly turned his head to look, biting back a moan. Kanan stepped in. Yuurei's eyes widened, and he momentarily forgot the pain. "You..." The word slurred strangely, and his lip smarted, reminding him that at some point it had been split. He couldn't even remember how he'd received the injury.

"Me," Kanan deadpanned. "I came to get you up and moving... Your presence has been requested for the Force only knows what reason."

"Requested?" Yuurei lisped, clutching his aching head in both hands. "H-how... How am I here?"

"Because I got to you before you got yourself killed, moron." Kanan folded his arms, glaring at Yuurei. "What did you think you were doing, anyway? Pulling a stunt like that with those injuries was idiotic."

"The point was for me to die," Yuurei muttered, wishing his head would quit pounding.

"She wouldn't want you dead," Kanan snapped, walking over and hauling Yuurei to his feet. "As for you, you've been sleeping for the past week after the rebels' doctors patched you up."

Yuurei blinked, then frowned. "R-rebels?"

"Yeah, they're fighting against the Empire. Some kind of resistance, I guess... Most of us have joined. We have nothing left to hold us to the outside world anyway. They wanted to shoot you, but I vouched for you," Kanan said, clearing his throat. "For a Sith..." He shook his head, stopping. "Never mind. Just come on... The leader wants a private audience with you."

Yuurei nodded, getting his bearings back slowly. "Kanan..." he said slowly, something occurring to him. "I really meant what I said on our execution day. I'm sorry I didn't stop her death. I tried. I really did... It's how my hand ended up broken. I know she's dead because of my failures, and if you want to kill me now, then I—"

"Would you shut up?" Kanan shouted, startling Yuurei into silence. "What's with you and dying? It's like you'd rather be dead! She's gone, okay? Zillah is gone! You can't bring her back. Nothing you do can. So just let go of her, already. I miss Adaara too. Heck, I feel like I'm dying each day without her. But you have to keep moving. It's what they'd want."

Yuurei swallowed back tears, nodding. "Okay," he mumbled. "You're right... It's just going to take some time before I accept that I even deserve to be alive. I've done some pretty awful stuff."

"Yeah, and some pretty awful stuff was done to you too. I didn't want to believe it, but Adaara's part of the Force now, and I guess she was allowed to join the ranks of the Jedi who guide others. She visited me while you were out to convince me that you weren't just another traitor looking to gain our trust. I guess you did some pretty brave stuff to try to help her... And had a pretty dark past..." Kanan headed for the door, refusing to meet Yuurei's startled gaze. "I forgive you. Now pull yourself together and go to the bridge. You're wanted."

Yuurei watched Kanan disappear down the ship's corridor, unable to speak or move. Those three words seemed like a balm to his broken soul. They mended what had been shattered, knitting the pieces back together and bringing hope. He was forgiven. For the first time in his life, someone had actually shown mercy and forgiveness. He barely knew what to do with it.