A Savior To All

The Long Run

Just a small detail for @antisocial-mariposa who's doing a drawing of Asalyn for me, this is what I imagine her to look like.

Asalyn's pov
It was a lot to take in for me. It was even harder to imagine Aliyah dealing with this by herself on a foreign planet. Sure she had Ahsoka, but the two hadn't met that long ago. Ahsoka didn't know Aliyah like I did. Sure we both trusted Ahsoka with our lives but she didn't understand what we've been through as victims of this type of long-term abuse. I gave Aliyah one of her pills and she was out like a peaceful light. The poor girl had to stay up for days with calls from her friends she made on Mandalore and her conversations with Ahsoka for entertainment to avoid seeing Kriffy Krell in her nightmares. She really needed these eight hours and I was proud to be the one who gave it to her. I stayed in the med bay I felt like I was always bursting into with her as Stitch changed her wrappings on the busted jaw. He said it was mild and would be fine in a week or two or sooner with healing sessions with Jedi healing he didn't understand but didn't argue with.

"You sure that's it? No medication to speed it up, no treatment other than time?" Stitch stopped typing up his medical report he had to fill out and send to the council about her condition. As the medic he had to sign off if she was mission ready or not.

"While I may be overstepping my bounds here General-"

"You never overstep Stitch, I just get too emotional." He laughed away something we probably should have delved deeper into now that I think about it. But whatever, moment has passed.

"Aliyah will recover from all her wounds physically. However, I as her friend still hold major concerns about her mental health." Not this talk. Please universe anything but this talk.

"Really? Cause I'm not." Stitch was stunned into silence. I could tell he still wanted a much called for explanation to my own thoughts on the matter though.

"She sleeps fine with her pills, she acts fine around us. Krell is something of the past. Sure he's still out there but he'll pop up eventually and when he does I'm gonna be the one to end him." It was kinda scaring me how nonchalant I was beating about everything that was just said.

"You are aware that the pills are supposed to be a temporary solution, right General? Axel told me that you use them on Aliyah every time she sleeps."

"Yeah? Is there a problem?" He's the one who issued me the bottles of t-2 sleeping pills a months dose at a time.

"Multiple, actually sir. For one, it costs a lot to have the ingredients professionally fusionized. And two, which is unarguably the most important one, it is not helping Aliyah get over what's giving her the night terrors to begin with."

"Oh really?" I was trying to test if he was testing me or genuinely concerned. Stitch sighed and took his helmet off to show his broken face.

"General, I know you don't want to see the Commander in pain. I don't either, but short term pain is better than long term." I paused at that. What he was saying made sense yet the logic I had already come up with failed too, but I still wouldn't give up on this.

"Hasn't she been through enough?"

"More than enough, but General-"

"Listen Stitch, I'm not gonna make her relive everything she's already been through. I can barely stand it when she's upset do you know how much it pains me to see her experience the same feeling? I can't go through it again, and I'm definitely not putting Aliyah through that. Ever. End of discussion."

"But-"

"End. Of discussion. You're dismissed." His eyebrows shot up at the new term, the tone at of his shocked expression giving away his emotions. I hadn't ever heard it come from myself before either. It was the first time I've ever told one of my men to leave, rather than letting them decide when they wanted to leave. When he stayed there silently stunned and didn't make any effort to exit the room, I had to go into tough mama mode. I learned it from Obi-Wan.