Mirror Prism

Chapter 13 - Vision

It is still in the middle of the night when Tech wakes, and he would estimate they have been sleeping for over six hours total now. It is almost abnormally long, but he has been abnormally exhausted as of late. It is good to have a long stretch of sleep, but seeing his brothers together the way they always used to has somehow reopened a part of himself that he cannot let go of.

The part that Hemlock took away, that fell with him on Eriadu.

He hurt them all.

Does he really deserve to be here?

After everything he has done?

There are so many voices in this building, years of pain whispering in his mind. Whispering and demanding attention, protesting the years gone by and the time forgotten.

General Skywalker came through here in the Jedi Temple, now Imperial palace, when the Order was given out. Tech was not aware of that until he feels it, and it changes nothing, but it still shakes him a little. It is not something he had anticipated.

He's out alone in the halls when Ashla finds him, and leans against the wall he's facing with her arms crossed, a few paces from his side.

"What are you doing out here?" she inquires at last.

When he looks at her, he sees a flickering flash of everything past, of her life from a childhood to a monster and how she was pulled out and remade back into what she is. She came out.

And yet, he is not entirely certain he can.

"Nothing," Tech answers, "Do you need something?"

"No. Are you okay?"

He blinks at her. He doesn't know her. It is unusual for someone to ask that. Politeness is a part of his life that has been gone for a long time. Since long before he stepped on Crosshair's arm and pinned him to the floor to cut off his hand and listened numbly to his sobs.

He knows his little brother well enough to know he would've begged if he could've.

"I am unharmed."

She blows out a breath. "Physically, maybe. I've seen your future, Tech. I saw your past. I knew what was meant to happen, and I didn't want any of you to be hurt that way."

That is almost oddly thoughtful. "Thank you for trying to help us."

"I wish I hadn't stabbed Hunter to do it." She laughs, though it's a little broken and off. "I hurt you all a lot."

"Just as I have."

"Would have, Tech," she amends, jabbing a finger at him, "There is a difference between what you would have done, and what you did." She reaches out, her orange hand patting his shoulder.

Tech twitches, eyeing it, almost expecting an attack, but Ashla has never been anything but kind since her change.

"I was going to cut off his hand."

"You know, Obi-Wan was supposed to be my master in another lifetime. He chopped off all of my brothers' limbs and left him to burn to death because he was having a bad day."

Tech blinks at her. "I... do not believe it was so simple."

She shrugs one shoulder. "Basically. Anyway, I did worse than you have or ever could. At least you brought them back. I don't know if we can remake Raada. I'm not sure it's worth the risk of breaking reality again. And you don't deserve to be alone in this, Tech. None of us do. Your brothers want you. Stay with them."

"There is nowhere else I can go." That's a reality. One he doesn't know how it makes him feel – he is free, but there is only one place in the galaxy he can go. Not that he wants to be away from his brothers, but because he can never stop fearing that he might be a threat to them. His mind had been violated so many times.