Sul-Juuk kept an eye on the controls as the ship sped through space. The Empire was definitely following them, but they had already achieved their freedom and the Empire was a thing of the past.

A figure sat beside her in the co-pilot seat. From the corner of her eye, she assumed it was Kim-Ny.

"Ma'am?" asked a small, pleasant voice.

Sul-Juuk was startled to see Mayek's daughter facing her with her hands resting delicately on her two bony knees.

"What is your name?"

Sul-Juuk smiled. It wasn't normal for her to smile, but after everything she thought it might be time to change that. "I am Sul-Juuk. What is yours?"

"Adda-Suu. I've never seen another Cathar other than my mother. I think you're beautiful."

Sul-Juuk was speechless at the compliment of the young girl. Certainly during her time as a slave many called her beautiful, but this was different. This girl was the legacy of a struggling race and a rare breed of brave men.

"I don't remember a lot from when I was little. All I've really known is how to be a slave. And my brother – he hasn't been free a day in his life until now. Your daughter says you were a slave once. I wanted to ask you... h-how... how do you be free?"

Sul-Juuk glanced at the controls in thought. She remembered having the same question when she was exonerated out of her own servitude. All she had was a promise and an unborn child.

"Freedom is only as free as you want it to be," she began, "If you can't let go of what was done to you or your family, you'll always be a slave to that memory. It will shape your life whether you wish it or not. You must first have a free heart. Sometimes it takes a very long time to realize it. And once you do, there is no going back. Freedom becomes a part of you." Sul-Juuk gazed off into the streaming stars outside the visor. That's was true freedom was.

"When did you realize this?" Adda-Suu asked, her eyes wide in curiosity.

Sul-Juuk sighed with a melancholy smile, "Today."

Kanan walked up to them to look over the radar. "Looks like they gave up," he said, pointing out the lack of Empirical vessels following them.

"That's odd," Yuurei commented as he overheard him, "Why would the Empire just give up like that? Sidious would kill his inquisitors just to get to Kanan and I."

Kanan should his head, "I don't know. Something feels off about this."

"Do you think we should exit hyperspace and see if we can find a hospitable planet to recuperate on?" Sul-Juuk asked.

"It could be a trick, but I do need medical attention," Kanan said, wincing in pain.

Sul-Juuk looked to Yuurei. It seemed fit that he got a say in the situation as well. He pressed his lips in a fine line with a frown before nodding, "Agreed."

Sul-Juuk calculated the co-ordinates to an advanced planet and pulled them out of hyperspace. As she did, everyone crowded around to watch, eager to see their destination.

The rain of light abruptly stopped and suddenly they were still. Everyone held their breath as they looked into space.

"No," Kim-Ny mewed.

A fleet of starships surrounded them. There was no way out. There was no freedom. There was no corner of the galaxy they could go. The Empire would always be there.

"Are we being hailed?" Kanan broke the silence.

Sul-Juuk hesitated before accepting it, knowing she couldn't avoid the inevitable.

"Rogue Empirical ship, please dock and come aboard... we would wish to speak with you." Silence followed the pleasant, womanly voice.

Yuurei snapped his head to Kanan, "Speak?"

"They're not bad!" Adda-Suu rejoiced with a bright laugh.

"Well, they're not going to kill us," Sul-Juuk added.

Even in the unrest of not knowing what lay ahead, they couldn't help but smile. They hadn't come this far for nothing.

...

As the surviving rebels stepped into the starship, a group came to meet them with a dark, handsome man at the front. Their walks were confident and they dressed in fine robes. The thing that distinguished them from the ordinary noble was the small three-year-old tagging beside her father.

"I am Bail Organa and we have been watching you. We know you are tired and wounded, so I will make this introduction short," the man said with his hand resting on his daughter's back. "The Empire is more than this galaxy can bear and you are proof of that. However, you are also proof that it can be resisted. My allies and I have organized a Rebellion to see that the Empire falls. We will aid you in whatever assistance you need, but we have a request. For through your bravery you have shown skill and endurance. We would like for you to join us in our cause – to keep resisting the Empire."

Sul-Juuk was speechless and she was sure the others were as well. To fight the Empire was what everyone wanted. But could they? Could they survive? They only just escaped the claws of Imperial darkness. If they joined, it would mean walking into the enemy's maw.

Thinking about it was too painful now. It was too soon. They were too tired.

So Organa saw to it that they were given medical care, beds, and meals.

Adda-Suu and her brother were about to be led to their own sleeping quarters when Sul-Juuk remembered the last words of their father.

'Save them.'

She had led them to safety, but she felt as if he meant more than escaping death. She suddenly felt responsible for them as if they were her own children. After all, they now had no one. Their uncle and father sacrificed their own lives, but it left them alone in the universe.

"Excuse me!" Sul-Juuk stopped the adult woman who guided the children away.

"Yes?" the woman asked with a pleasant smile.

"I would like these children to stay with me."

...

"Sul-Juuk?" Adda-Suu began as she pulled on a warm jacket over her new set of proper clothing, "What are we going to do?"

Sul-Juuk slipped a shirt over Juuth-Ik's head and straightened it out for him. He stood completely still, unsure and slightly confused.

"We're going to eat something," she replied hastily.

"I'm glad, but that's not what I meant." Adda-Suu scratched the top of one of her tall ears.

Sul-Juuk paused and looked over to her. She had been trying to avoid that question for the last day. They had been given care, water, and time to sleep. Even as she welcomed slumber with a heavy heart, her dreams dragged her into despair. It was such that the sleep she did receive meant nothing to the fact it was plagued by what awaited her when she awoke. Now she warded off her sleepiness to get her and the children to the cafeteria where Bail Organa wished them, Kanan, and Yuurei to assemble. She focused on the food rather than why Organa called them together.

"I don't know. I'm trying not to think about it," Sul-Juuk answered softly.

Sul-Juuk surprised herself with such blunt honesty. Just two days ago she would never have admitted something so personal to someone who was practically a stranger.

Kiernan would do that, she mused. Maybe in opening her heart again, she allowed herself to learn from his memory. She would try to be a little bit more like him.

"Why?" Adda-Suu asked, allowing Kim-Ny to zip up her jacket.

Sul-Juuk sighed, "Because I have to make a choice and whatever I choose has good and bad things. I'm not sure how to do it wisely."

Kim-Ny smiled at her mother and hugged her side, "I think you're wise, Ama."

"That makes one of us."

...

The escapees had eaten in the cafeteria and were met by Bail Organa. He introduced them to his allies Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, and a few others. Once again he asked if they would join him, and once again they refused to answer. As he sympathetically agreed to wait, Organa left them to their meal.

A group of the oddest people around the galaxy survived an impossible enemy and ended up sitting together in a clean, aristocratic ship, eating for the first time in a day.

One Jedi who buried all traces of his past to walk among the living and love a woman, now thoughtlessly shoveled vegetables into his mouth. His soul had been broken as well as his heart.

A Sith who refused to feel anything for the universe now gazed sourly at his plate, unsure if he deserved to eat. He had been broken a long time ago, but now he let it shatter him.

Two young children who have known nothing but pain and servitude now faced the overwhelming world of freedom, yet innocent to the woes of the others as they happily eat the best meal of their pathetic lives.

A mother who had taught herself not to feel now found herself feeling too much in light of an offer she would gladly take but for the responsibility she felt to her fallen comrades. Whatever she chose would only be just the beginning for her and her daughter.

Those strangers didn't have to speak to understand the other. Just as they once resolved themselves to death, they now resolved to do something harder – live.

...

Sul-Juuk woke up again in restless thought. It had been days and still she could not sleep once without reliving the nightmare. Sometimes the children awoke as well, crying in fear. She comforted them, knowing how deep the effects delved. What broke her heart was the way they would look around and question if it was reality. Always, they expected to rise for a sadistic master.

It was an unspoken decision, but it was decided to make these children hers. No other knew better their hardships or the abilities of their race.

But that was the problem, wasn't it?

To join the Rebellion she would have to give it all up.

Still, the offer lingered in her heart. With everything she had she wanted to crush the Empire. She wanted to hunt it down and brutally murder it for vengeance in what it did to everyone else. She almost owed it to those who died to fight back. She owed it to Kiernan.

Sul-Juuk cradled herself in her bunk, wrapped in darkness and shrouded in deliberation.

She remembered touch him one last time.

Kiernan died for her and Kim-Ny. He died for their future. What future would he want for her?

Setting aside all conjecture of vengeance or responsibility, she thought of Kiernan.

What future did he die for?

...

Sul-Juuk stood before Bail Organa, the picture of stout grace and confident pride.

"There is no guarantee you will make it," Organa said, "There is much for you to learn and also much to lose. Are you sure of your decision?"

Sul-Juuk smiled, "I am."

"Well then... I am sorry to see a skillful fight go, but I wish you the best in your endeavors."

Organa left with Kanan who decided to pledge himself to their cause, and Yuurei disappeared into the galaxy to redeem what was left of his heart.

Sul-Juuk aimed for a new life of freedom – true freedom. With her daughters on either side and her son on her lap, she intended help others who were lost to pain and death and rear them as her own.

And so she did in a galaxy far, far away.