35

She was still in her cell.

Saedii knew that as her eyes fluttered open and she found the dull grey ceiling waiting for her overhead. A new bed cushioned her body, which felt heavy, and a thick blanket was draped over her, keeping her warm.

The familiar dread at the realization that she was still trapped didn't come. Instead, she felt numb, like all her emotions had been spent. Like she didn't have anything left.

Krell could have ended it. She'd said the words he'd been waiting for – that she would serve and be obedient. But he hadn't.

This nightmare was never going to end.

Above her, the heartrate monitor continued to beep softly. A new IV had been stuck into her hand, which was now wrapped in thick heavy bandages. Her prosthetic knuckles were bent and scuffed, but when she flexed the fingers, they still worked.

Her gaze drifted further. More food and water waited on a new table beside her. The smell actually made her stomach hurt with how hungry she was. It smelled delicious.

Further away, sitting in the hall beyond the door, Hunter was resting his face in his hands. He looked nearly as worn down as she felt.

After a moment, he seemed to sense the weight of her gaze and looked up. When he noticed she was awake, he sat straighter.

"Hey, kid," he said gently. "How are you feeling?"

There was no point in answering. She was sure her expression gave away plenty.

"You scared us. We thought you were going to try and hurt yourself."

"That doesn't work." She knew. She'd tried once.

Something about her words made him close his eyes, like he was in pain. He took a deep breath. "You still think you're dreaming?"

"I am."

"These dreams – you always have to do something terrible to get out?"

She was too tired to try and ignore his questions. If Krell wanted her answers, then she would give them. "Yes."

"Like hurting people."

He didn't say it like a question, but she nodded anyways.

His eyes were blazing as he asked, "That's why you attacked us. Because it's the only way to end the dream."

"Yes," she said, even though he already knew that.

For a moment, the only sound was the continuous beep of the monitor. Saedii was so tired that each one was obscenely loud in her ears. She wished that someone would turn it off.

"There has to be another way," he said finally.

Absentmindedly, Saedii's hand reached for her throat. The warm brush of her fingers against bare skin was all-too familiar now. "There isn't."

But Hunter was suddenly staring at her intently. "You keep doing that – touching your neck. Why?"

Her hand dropped immediately. There was no way she was telling Krell about her necklace. It was the only thing that could save her now. The only thing that would pull her out of these terrible nightmares.

"Are you looking for something?"

Silence.

"Come on, Saedii." He got up from his chair, resting his hand along the door. "Let me help you. Please. Tell me how to convince you you're awake."

"You can't."

"I will. Just give me some kind of clue. Some way to help you."

The torment in his eyes was too much for her. Even if she knew this wasn't real, she hated to see him so upset because of her. After seeing it a thousand times, this was one too many.

Saedii resisted the urge to touch her neck again. "Omega would have known."

It was a vague enough answer that Krell wouldn't be able to parse out the truth. He didn't know anything about Saedii and Omega's time on Ord Mantell, back when they'd first met. This clue wouldn't be enough to tip him off.

Hunter went still. Then, with a solemn nod, he told her, "I'll be back."

When he was gone, Saedii finally exhaled. Breathing a little easier. It was the closest thing to peace she could get here in this vision.

Slowly, the minutes trickled by. The exhaustion weighing along Saedii's limbs gradually faded until she felt strong enough to rip the IV and heartrate monitor readers off of her once again. When she was free, she climbed down into that same spot between the bed and the wall.

Yesterday, she'd used this vantage point to try and scour out an escape plan, but today, she knew that wasn't possible. She wasn't leaving. Not until Krell was satisfied.

"I meant what I said yesterday," she said to the silence. He would hear her. "I'll serve. I'll obey. Just let me out."

There was no answer. No voice hissing in her ear. No flood of smug satisfaction. Nothing but Saedii's own thoughts, which began to buzz uncomfortably.

Why wasn't Krell speaking? He always had instructions for her. Always had critiques. His continued silence was either some kind of punishment or some kind of test.

Or, a defiant thought sprouted before she could stop it, maybe he isn't here. Maybe this isn't a dream after all.

No, she wouldn't let herself entertain that. She knew better than to hope. The visions were never ending. There was no escape.

Saedii closed her eyes and rested it against the wall at her back. Waiting for whatever was supposed to come next.

A door opened in the hall.

She looked up as faint, timid footsteps pealed against the metal floor, followed by several sets of harsh metal boots. A faint whispering broke out as voices spoke just outside of her field of vision, too far down the hall to see. A brief argument, from the sound of it. Then, the timid footsteps continued on alone.

Behind the glowing pane of the door, a small figure came to a halt.

Omega looked different than she had in Saedii's other nightmare.

Before, Krell had shown her a young girl. A child with wide brown eyes and short blonde hair. Face round with youth and a curiosity in her gaze that never seemed to vanish. The same face that Saedii had remembered on the brief occasions she'd allowed herself to think of her sister.

The person that stood before her now was not a child. Time had caught up with this version of Omega and she had finally become a teenager – face sharpened from the roundness of youth to the more svelte and rigid lines of adolescence. Her body, too, had grown and stretched, growing longer and leaner. Even from her place on the floor, Saedii could tell that Omega had grown several inches in the past year. Had thinned into the reedy, stretched body of someone who was growing too fast.

Her face was different, too. Those wide brown eyes were jaded. Wary, like they'd seen too many atrocities in too short a time. The beautiful blonde hair that she'd always kept short was tied into a long ponytail, which hung in deep golden waves down her back.

For a moment, Saedii was too stunned to speak. Too surprised by the drastic changes that Krell had made. It was new territory for her.

Omega was just as silent. Watching. To Saedii's intense relief, there wasn't a mark on her. Not a bruise or a scar. She was perfectly healthy. Untouched.

The stillness of Omega's body was unnerving. It was like she'd turned to stone. It didn't even look like she was breathing.

Somewhere out of view, someone shuffled their weight nervously.

"Saedii," Omega finally spoke.

Saedii flinched before she could help it. Omega's voice was deeper than she'd remembered. It cracked on Saedii's name – so full of emotion. So full of longing and angst.

It felt like a lump had appeared in the back of Saedii's throat. She didn't know what to say to this new, older version of Omega. She was a stranger to Saedii.

Very hesitantly, Omega took a step closer, hand reaching out towards the door. In the faint glow of the light that played along her face, silver tears were gathering in her eyes.

Soft sobs spilled from Omega's throat as the first tear fell. Her breath hitched.

"Saedii," she said again, more intently. "You're alive."

Saedii shut her eyes. Was this Krell's answer to her pleas? Her ticket out? After what she'd been through yesterday, Saedii wasn't sure she had the strength to hurt this version of Omega. Not when this was the one version that Saedii knew she would never get to see – the version of Omega growing older, safe and happy and free.

"I thought you were dead." Omega's voice broke on the last word. "Hemlock told me that you'd been killed."

"I am dead," Saedii said.

Silence filled the hall again – so thick and pressing that Saedii had no choice. She had to open her eyes. Had to see what Omega was doing.

She was frowning. Looking at Saedii as if truly seeing her for the first time. Not afraid, as she should have been, but sad. Heartbroken.

"What did they do to you?" Omega whispered.

Saedii met her gaze. "What they had to."

Omega's brow furrowed. She glanced to her left, looking to whoever was waiting in the shadows.

Whatever they told her strengthened her resolve. Shoulders straightening, she took another purposeful step closer. Touching distance to the glass now. From this close, Saedii could see her own reflection in Omega's dark eyes – small and cowering and broken in the corner.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to see you. Hunter was afraid that you would hurt me, since you hurt them," Omega went on.

She was uncharacteristically nervous. One hand kept reaching down into her pocket while the other fluttered nervously against her chin. Saedii watched each movement with impassive eyes.

"I know you didn't mean to hurt them," Omega added suddenly. "It wasn't your fault. Master Junda told us how real Krell's visions could be. How they turned her Padawan into an Inquisitor."

Cere? What did she have to do with this? Krell never mentioned her in their visions, as if afraid the thought of her would be enough for Saedii to withstand.

Omega's voice dropped. "She told us how you resisted. Krell failed to change your memories, so he had to call for Darth Vader's help."

At the mention of the Sith lord, Saedii tensed.

"She said it was because of this."

Omega pulled her hand from her pocket, holding it out to her like an offering. In the dim light of the hall, a worn leather cord was pooled in Omega's hand. And attached to it, sitting at the very center of Omega's palm...

The torrinite.

Everything around Saedii suddenly grew hazy. She had eyes only for the necklace – only for the ugly chunk of black rock in Omega's hand, no larger than a walnut.

It was her necklace.

The ground felt like it was churning beneath her. Saedii braced a hand against it to keep herself upright.

This couldn't be possible. Krell didn't know about the necklace. She was sure of that. So why was it here? Why was it being used against her?

Unless...

Unless Hunter had been right. Unless this cell and the bed and the food were all real.

Unless this wasn't a nightmare.

Saedii's heart thundered in her chest. She didn't dare allow herself to hope. Didn't dare allow herself to entertain the idea that she had actually been freed from Krell's control. That her friends had come for her after all.

She'd had hope before. When she'd stormed Wayland in search of Omega. But that hope had broken along with her arm beneath Krell's boots.

"This is what you keep looking for, right? Why you keep touching your neck?" Omega asked. She held it closer to the door. "It's how you know when you're dreaming or awake."

Her throat worked. She couldn't speak. Didn't know what to say.

There was no way that Krell knew about the necklace. No way he'd know it was the key to Saedii's sanity. It was her most closely guarded secret. The one thing he'd never been able to wrestle out of her – her one last act of defiance.

On shaking legs, Saedii pushed up to her feet. She stopped just before the door, close enough that she could look at the necklace in its entirety.

It was hers. She was sure of it.

Her throat felt dry as she demanded, "Let me hold it."

It wasn't real until she felt it in her hands. Until her fingers brushed along the familiar rough edges and weighed the familiar weight in her palm.

She had to touch it. Just to be sure.

With a determined nod, Omega reached for the door control.

"Wait, Omega." Hunter was suddenly there, hand stilling hers. He looked uneasily between Omega and Saedii, torn with indecision. "I don't know if that's a good idea. She might not be ready."

"She's ready," Omega said, sure. Her eyes were on Saedii, patient and expectant.

Hunter glanced behind him. The uneasy shuffling of several pairs of boots told her that there were others waiting. Others willing to protect Omega if Saedii tried to hurt her.

With a pained sigh, Hunter lowered his hand.

Omega pressed the button.

The door slid open, bathing fresh, cool air into the cell. Without the dim glow, the hallway was suddenly familiar. Carved from rough-hewn rock and lined with dull buzzing lights.

A sudden urge to run made Saedii tense. Every instinct screamed at her to go – to take her opportunity for escape. All she had to do was cut her way through – a feat she'd done a thousand times. She could do it now, and be freed.

But she didn't.

Saedii was deathly still as Omega slowly approached, hand out. The necklace caught the light in the cell, flashing a quick amber.

When Omega was close enough to touch, she stopped.

Slowly, with a shaking hand, Saedii reached out.

At the first brush of the rock on her fingers, a shiver ran down her spine. But when her hand scooped the solid rock into her own palm and closed a fist around it, the familiarity that flooded through her made her catch her breath.

The rough edges. The weight. The cool feel of the leather.

It was hers.

Her legs finally gave out and she fell to her knees, holding the rock in her hand. A tidal wave of emotion crashed over her, a flood of thoughts – but only one that mattered.

Real.

This was all real.

Tears fell down her cheeks. "I'm not seeing things?"

"No," Omega said definitively. In the doorway behind her, Hunter was lingering. Tense and apprehensive.

She looked up and met Omega's dark eyes. "I'm free?"

"Yes," Omega said and gave a small smile. "You're safe now."

Only moments before, Saedii had felt empty and numb. Devoid of all the emotions she'd used up yesterday. But now, she was suddenly brimming with emotion – with relief and joy and giddiness.

Krell couldn't hurt her any more. Couldn't control her.

She was finally free.

Saedii buried her face in her hands and wept. Every tear that slid down her cheek carried with it a terrible memory from the last year – cruel words and scars and crippling fears. Memories that she released with every drop of water that fell into her hands.

Omega knelt before her and opened her arms.

Without hesitation, Saedii fell into them.

Her tears dampened Omega's shirt as she held her sister close. Her sister – the one she'd fought so valiantly for this past year – who was safe and free and whole before her. Alive, like Saedii had wanted.

A wide hand splayed along her shoulders. When she looked up, Hunter had joined them. His jaw was tense with emotion, but there was a little warm smile on his face.

She fell into his arms next, and the familiar feel of them wrapping around her felt like coming home.

"You're alright, kid," he whispered into her ear. "It's over now."

He was right. Krell, the visions, the pain – none of it would ever hold her again.

The nightmare was finally over.