i'll try.

Not that his own memory is the greatest, but he can at least try to give her things when she needs them.

Thank you.

And then she loses it again.

He's worried about her.

But she's doing better. Soon she'll be okay. It's fine.

His worry is concerning, but - she's pushed herself; she's tired. She goes back to sleep.

Within a few minutes, so does he.

And that's about the shape of things, for the next couple days: she's asleep more often than not, and has trouble staying awake for more than a few hours at a time. The droid is a constant presence, feeding her and encouraging her to walk. She continues to be very distractible, even as her memory comes back; she gets more general information, things like 'I was an engineer' and 'there's a war, out there, somewhere' and 'I need to hide what I can do' more than she gets her working memory back, though that comes back too, little by little, and kai-zi gets better at predicting what she'll need to be reminded of.

His captor has been very consistent, so far, sending the droids for him every third evening; that comes around again all too soon.

He's numb enough to it, now, that he just lets them take him.

(He's felt less, recently, tuned out more. The...heat of it is gone, along with much of the fear. He almost wishes he were still scared.)

She tries to comfort him - not that there's much to say, but she can still be there, reassuring him that he doesn't have to go through it alone.

And then her door opens, and she barely has time to catch a glimpse of her co-prentice before she falls into the dreamless unawareness that's quite unlike sleep.

She wakes up a few hours later, when it's all over and he's back in his room.

He's curled up in the corner.

they took you.

She's gotten better, over the last few days, at getting the context behind his words, without him having to say it.

Yeah.

You - okay?

i wish i still felt something from it.

that's kind of fucked up, isn't it?

Whole thing's fucked up.

We've really got to get out of here.

yeah.

yeah, we do.

He's very quiet, the rest of the day, outside of the constant thrumming energy of his practice.

That's worrying. She doesn't ask about it - she's doing well on remembering that her memory is impaired, that she should check things rather than asking every time she's confused, so she doesn't ask the same question over and over - but she does check.

Context comes easily, memories of events, and then the real significance of it all.

1. "Enjoying things" is an important part of him. Enjoying things that would hurt other people, especially. He holds very tightly to that part of himself.

2. Sexuality is important to him. He holds very tightly to that part of himself, too.

3. He is really feeling for the first time, now, how at least one of these parts is being purposefully taken away from him, that something he defined himself with and took for granted as part of his being is being stolen.

4. He focuses now on escaping, tries not to think of other things, because he doesn't know what other parts of him can be taken away, and he is very deeply afraid to find out.

Yeah, there's not much to say to that.

She helps him with his practice, instead. And sleeps; sleeping seems to help more than anything, for her.

He practices, and helps her with her memories. He waits while she sleeps. He tries to sleep himself.

He starts to really understand how “nothing” looks, to the Force sense — it definitely doesn’t look like nothing — and how to quietly weave together edges and make something disappear. It’s slow work, but he’s progressing, inch by inch.

He is. She's always been good at keeping hope, but it's easier, now, with something more solid to hang it on than the possibility of someday having a chance.

Three days is terribly, awfully short.

It’s no time at all, really.

they’re going to take me again.

and...they’ll probably knock you out.

i guess

you have to let them.

She doesn't want to. She's already plotting how to not - she has her saber, and there's not much cover by the door, but she'd have the element of surprise - when he stops her short.

But-

i’ll be fine.

i have to be.

if you stop him—they’ll know something’s up.

He's right. She knows he is, once she checks.

I'm sorry I messed this up.

you didn’t mess anything up.

Yeah I did. I didn't know, but that doesn't make it any better now.

I know you'll be okay. But you shouldn't have to go through it alone.

yeah.

soon we—neither of us has to be alone. i hope.