Purge (Star Wars)

The Holocron

Ilyana steps up to the doorway to the common area as Adia rushes past her through the galley, down the short stairs and across the room to embrace her mother who had been talking to Cal and Cere near the holotable. Merrin is giving Greez a hard time in the galley as she helps him prepare their food. None of them have yet noticed Ilyana standing in the doorway.

The scene before her should have been comforting, welcoming; but it carries with it the sense of a dream, something she's looking in on from the outside rather than something she is a part of. To go so suddenly from that detention cell back to this place has left her rattled and not entirely convinced that she is truly here, as if she might wake from this dream at any moment to find herself back in that cell.

Adia says something to her mother that Ilyana cannot hear from this distance, but causes Cal and Cere to look up at her standing there in the doorway. Cere remains stoic while Cal breaks out into a huge smile.

"You're up!" He says enthusiastically, "We were beginning to think you'd be asleep for days."

"How long was I asleep?" She asks.

"About ten hours," Merrin answers.

"Dinner isn't ready yet," Greez interjects, "but I thought you might be hungry when you got up so..." he trails off as Merrin hands her a piece of bread, still warm from baking. When the smell hits her, Ilyana realizes she is famished and within seconds the bread is gone.

"You may want to slow down with that," says Cere but Greez is already handing her the rest of the loaf. Ilyana takes a seat at the table and begins tearing off pieces. With each bite, the dreamlike quality of the moment fades and the reality that she is actually back on the Mantis sets in, allowing her to begin to relax again. Merrin offers her some water and takes one of the other seats.

"When was the last time you ate?" Merrin asks, taking a piece of the bread herself.

"I don't know," Ilyana answers, then remembers Odoan handing her a dried piece of food from a ration pack back in that long, low building. Odoan... gone. Executed by the Inquisition along with the others. "I don't know how long I was on the cruiser."

"What happened down there?" Cere asks and Ilyana stops eating, her mind drifting back to the battle.

"Have some more," says Merrin, nodding to the bread to pull Ilyana back to the moment at hand.

"You seem to have been successful," Ilyana says, nodding toward Adia and the others know it is not the time for those questions.

"It was close," says Cal, as he starts across the room toward the galley, "Purge Troopers were closing in on them when we got there."

"I'm sure a few Purge Troopers wouldn't give you much trouble," Ilyana says.

"In my experience, Purge Troopers are nothing but trouble," Cal says, throwing Ilyana a pointed glance. Ilyana squints back at him for the implication as he steps up to the table but when he reaches for the bread Greez slaps his hand away.

"I made that for her," Greez says admonishingly.

"Okay," Cal says and starts to back away but as soon as Greez turns back to his cooking, Ilyana tears off a piece and stealthily hands it to Cal. Unfortunately, she is still a bit shaky from her ordeal and as she does so she accidentally brushes her hand against his. A blush rushes to her face and she pulls her hand back quickly, bringing it to her forehead to partially obscuring her face. She stares at the bread, hoping Merrin did not notice what just happened, but as much as she tries to hide it, Merrin saw it all too clearly. She also saw something Ilyana did not: as Cal walked back down the stairs he hesitated and looked back over his shoulder toward Ilyana and was blushing just as badly. Merrin could not help but chuckle at the sight.