Rebel Scum

Chapter 9 - The Steam and the Fog

"You haven't explained why you didn't come back," I remind him.

He nods solemnly and lets out a breath. All of a sudden he looks so much older, he looks like a grown up. All of a sudden, he doesn't look like my big brother.

"A bounty hunter grabbed me, kept me captive on his ship. He was going to take me to the Empire," Nate explains.

"Why didn't he?" Sabine asks.

He looks at her, seeming to notice she was there for the first time. She raises an eyebrow at his silence. He clears his throat and continues.

I nudge Ezra's arm and nod to them, smirking.

He rolls his eyes but smiles slightly.

"I got away before he could. Dropped him off on some planet and took his ship."

"Wow," Ezra says, "that must have been hard."

Nate nods, "It wasn't easy, that's for sure. But still, part of me wonders if I should have even tried."

"What?" I ask. "Of course you should have tried. You had to get back here, to me."

He smiles slightly and rests his hand on my head like he always used to.

"I know," he says. His face goes from soft to cold in an instant, leaving me with only a glimpse of my brother before he fades. "But I was alone for a long time, I almost forgot who I was, getting lost in my head."

Fear grows in my chest as I realize. My brother isn't the same man I knew. Over these past few years he changed. He isn't mentally stable, he seems colder and more aggressive.

He takes another breath and continues. "There was, still is, a bounty on my head, and Olseer wanted it. Well, I suppose it's on both of our heads."

"Both of our heads?" I ask.

He nods slowly as if trying to remember exactly. "Yes, both of us."

"Why?"

He opens his mouth to answer but Kanan and Hera walk in from the cockpit. They rub their heads, looking dazed and a little woozy. I can't blame them, they just got electrocuted. Both of them stop in their tracks, there's a person they don't know on their ship.

They look from Ezra, to me, to Sabine.

"Uh, does anyone feel like explaining?" Hera asks, crossing her arms and giving us the Mom look.

I let my head drop, my hair going with it.

Ezra looks at me but I ignore him. So he decides to speak for me. "This is Soren's brother. Nathanael, this is Kanan and Hera, Kanan and Hera, this is Nathanael."

He smiles slightly and lifts himself off the floor with effort. I jump up to stable him. What drained him so much?

He reaches out to shake their hands with his arm across my shoulders.

"A pleasure," he says.

"A shock more like it," Kanan replies, warily shaking my brothers hand.

Nate nods slowly. "Yeah, that's to be expected. I'm sorry to have used such force but when I felt my sisters presence on your ship, I automatically assumed the worst."

I look up at him. He thought I was kidnapped by slave traders, or worse, a bounty hunter like he was.

He looks down at me and I smile at him. "But it turns out, you were keeping her safe," he says, giving my shoulders a squeeze.

Kanan smiles slightly, not enough for it to be clearly seen, but I catch it.

My brother lets out a deep breath and it makes me look at him, I frown.

"Kanan..." I say, fear heightening my voice, "something's wrong."

Nate puts less and less effort into standing. He looks like he's falling asleep.

"Nate," I say. "Nate!"

Ezra helps me keep him upright but he's already out cold. My chest rises and I hold my breath, tears pricking my eyes.

"What the heck just happened?!" I squeak.

"I don't know," Hera says, trying to calm me. "Just breath, okay? He's only asleep."

I nod and try to breath regularly but my heart is still racing.

We settle him in Sabine and my room because Ezra insists his is too smelly, thanks to a certain Lasat.

I watch him sleep, he looks calm and peaceful, there's no worried creases on his forehead, no insanity hiding behind his eyes. He's just, sleeping. I take a deep breath.

I felt something off about him, I can feel it. It radiates off him like steam. The only thing is, it's slowly cooling. It leaves him as he sleeps.

I turn and walk away from the room and down the hall, back into the main quarters.

"How's he doing?" Sabine asks.

I shrug and shake my head. "Out like a light."

The two nod understandingly but look worried just the same. I never expected to see him again, I didn't want to have hope. But he's sleeping a few doors down, in a strange, delusional state. And... I'm not sure if that's better than finding out he died.

I mean, he's still here, he's alive. But his mind is... clouded. I can feel it in him. It's like there is this fog that covers him. Like a blanket, I can't see through it, I can't see my own brother clearly. Back when we were kids he was the clearest person I knew, no secrets, no lies. Just... peace... I suppose he was closer to the Force at that time. I didn't know he was close to the Force at all.

Suddenly the slide doors to the cockpit open and out walks Kanan and Hera.

"The damage to the main thrusters is pretty bad," Hera informs us, "but luckily, we have the parts to fix it."

Kanan speaks up. "Until then, we're dead weight in dead space. Which will give all of you plenty of time to explain."

I have to admit, we look insanely guilty, but the mom and dad looks we're getting are enough to make even Chopper feel guilty.

"Yeah... okay," I sigh, taking a deep breath

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Sorry for no update for LIKE A MONTH. But I doubt anyone even cARES cuz no one COMMENTS. Ugh. How am I supposed to get feedback if no one gives me feedback! :(((

Fine, I'll just go over here in my corner with my books and double chins.

:((((