**Trigger Warning** Descriptions of Abuse
Mira’s first thought as she awoke was that Karter hadn’t lied. She was on a ship and judging from the rumbling beneath her, they were flying.
At first, she was alone, but seconds after her eyes opened, he appeared, his eyes wide with concern. He saw her awake and hurried over to her, dropping to his knees beside her head. His black hair was tied back in a low braid and his warm green eyes searched her face as he gently reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. She shuddered at his touch but didn’t move away. His hand was warm and calloused, and it felt nice resting on her shoulder.
“Mira,” he murmured, his voice low. “We’re in hyperspace. We’ve left Kessel. You’re safe.”
She shuddered again as she registered his words. Safe. Mira could not remember the last time she was safe. And his words didn’t guarantee that she was now. She had been lied to before.
“I’m going to try and find some medical supplies and food. Lay here and rest, I’ll be right back.”
Mira whimpered as he walked away. She didn’t fully trust him, but there was some part of her that was whispering that she should. He was kind and his thoughts were comforting. So she sat up shakily and followed after him on legs that hadn’t touched solid ground in several days and were now forced to move with a ship traveling through hyperspace.
She felt herself falling and immediately Karter was there, scooping her up into his arms. Unable to stop herself, she wrapped her arms around him and whimpered, shaking. She didn’t know why she was upset. But she knew she didn’t want to be left alone.
“It’s all right, Mira,” Karter soothed. Mira buried her face in his neck and breathed, trying to calm herself as she always had. Before the torture had started, it had been her only way to soothe herself.
Karter smelled of sweat and something metallic but there was also a scent that had Mira borrowing deeper into his neck, clutching his jacket in her small fists. He smelled just the smallest bit like her.
Karter shifted her slightly but didn’t try to put her down or push her away. Instead he carried her with him as he inspected the ship. Mira gazed over his shoulder at the ship as he pulled open doors and rummaged in crates. He managed to find medical supplies and rations, which he seemed pleased about.
Carrying her back to the seat she had been sleeping on, Karter settled her down and opened the medical supplies.
“Mira, they have a gel cast in here. And bacta patches. We can get you fixed up, okay? I can help the pain go away.”
Mira nodded, her eyes transfixed on his hands, which worked efficiently to treat her arm and her side. It occurred to Mira that Karter had likely done this before. His hands were tender and he seemed confident in what he was doing. And even though it hurt sometimes as he bandaged her, Mira relaxed.
When Karter finished an hour later, he sat back with a pleased sigh. Mira’s arm was encased in a gel cast that went up almost to her shoulder and all the way down to her fingers. She didn’t like the way it felt and kept wiggling, trying to get comfortable. Karter touched her shoulder gently.
“I know it doesn’t feel good Mira, but it will help your arm heal. We can take it off in a week, okay? Just try not to bother it.”
Mira nodded, biting her lip. She didn’t want to make him upset. And the pain was going away thanks to the painkillers Karter had found. Even her side felt better, half of her stomach encased in white bacta bandages.
“All right, I think that’s all we can do for now,” Karter said. He sounded displeased, but he held out his hand and Mira seized it in both of hers as he slowly helped her sit upright.
“Now I have food here,” Karter said, slowly opening a wrapped ration bar. “But I need you to eat it slowly, Mira. Otherwise you’re going to get sick, okay?”
Mira nodded but when he offered the bar, she seized it with both hands. It was half gone before a few seconds had passed. Karter gently forced it from her hands and Mira scrambled, trying to hold on to the bar. She reached for it but Karter held back, frowning.
“Mira, I told you to go slowly!”
Mira flinched back from his voice. She reached out tentatively, trying to sense him the way she had earlier. She encountered a wall of irritation and concern. Mira swallowed hard and folded in on herself, trembling, waiting for the blow to fall. She breathed in and out, trying to brace herself. She barely noticed as her hiccupping breaths began to turn to sobs.
She knew these emotions. Irritation. Anger. They had always preceded pain. So now she braced herself, silently whispering I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
Instead, Karter knelt on the floor and hugged her, stroking her back gently as her sobs wracked her entire frame and set her shivering uncontrollably. Mira stiffened, surprised by the response and unable to reconcile the emotions she had felt with the response Karter gave.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I yelled.” Mira yet again felt that swell of soothing comfort enter her mind as the irritation dissipated and she clung to it desperately, whimpering as her sobs slowly died away.
Once she had calmed slightly, albeit still shaky, Karter pulled her up into his lap as he sat leaning back against the high backs of the seats. He slowly broke off a piece of the bar and handed it to her.
“It’s okay,” he murmured again when she hesitated. “You just need to go slow.”
Mira nodded and ate, already turning her eyes towards him for more. She had never realized how hungry she was until she had been handed a ration bar that was all for her. She couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t hungry. He fed her slowly, piece by piece, holding her tightly in his lap the entire time.
When the bar was gone, Karter crinkled up the wrapper and stuffed it inside his pocket. Mira sighed. Her stomach was cramping slightly but she couldn’t remember the last time she had had a meal. Now that the pain of her body was gone and she had eaten, she was beginning to feel tired again. Karter had her drink some water before settling onto the bench with her again.
“Mira?” Karter murmured.
“Hm?” She turned into his chest, burrowing her face into his leather jacket. Karter sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
“Mira, do you know where you’re from?”
Mira jerked backwards, reality suddenly returning with a low thrumming through her small body. She scrambled upright, forcing herself off Karter’s lap and landing on the floor of the ship. Fear coursed through her and she threw up her hands.
She’s a freak!
“Mira, wait!” Karter cried desperately. He gently grabbed her shoulder, trying to project calm once more.
“Don’t make me! Don’t make me!” Mira cried, slapping at his hand, resisting his attempts to calm her. Memories coursed through her and she cried out in a strangled voice. She couldn’t go back. And if she told him… Would he make her go back?
Would he leave her behind?
“Mira it’s okay! I’m not going to make you do anything.” And suddenly his presence was all around her, flooding her with calm.
Mira stopped struggling for a moment and Karter used the opportunity to again wrap her tightly in his arms, murmuring, “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,” repeatedly into her hair.
Mira sobbed, clinging to him, wanting to run and stay at the same time and not understanding why. Karter for his part just held her, rocking them both back and forth slowly.
“I’m sorry,” he said when Mira’s shuddering sobs had been reduced to exhausted sniffling. “I won’t ask until you’re ready to tell me, okay? I promise Mira, you’re safe with me. I’m not going to hurt you and I won’t let those kriffing Imperials near you. You’re safe.”
After several minutes, Mira began to relax. The calm which Karter projected was slowly working to relax the dark tendrils of fear that were around her heart. Mira tentatively sent out strands of her own, letting him feel how much better her arm and side felt now.
Karter gasped in shock and recoiled slightly, staring at her with wide eyes. Mira shifted, unsure if she had done something wrong. She reached back out and she now felt confusion and… fear?
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, drawing inwards. The waves of calm and comfort were now back and Karter smiled down at her softly.
“You should probably go back to sleep for a little while, Mira.”
She nodded but when Karter tried to lift her back up onto the seats she had been sleeping on, she clung to him. “Please don’t leave,” she whispered. She was terrified to let him out of her sight. She was afraid he would leave and she would be left alone again.
“I’m just going to go to the cockpit,” he said kindly. “I’m only a few steps away.”
Mira continued to cling to him, unable to let him go, her small hands shaking involuntarily. She was afraid that, if he left, she would wake up from this good dream. She hadn’t had a good dream in a long, long time. Maybe not ever. She never wanted this one to end. She didn’t want to wake up at her bed in the Academy, or worse, in that chair that had bound her limbs.
Karter huffed and scooped her into his arms, carrying her into the cockpit. Mira stared with wide eyes at the sight of hyperspace flashing by. When she had been in ships before, she had usually been locked up. As such, it was her first time seeing the beautiful blues of hyperspace.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Karter asked as he settled into the pilot’s seat. He shifted the steering column, lifting it so there was plenty of room for her to nestle against his chest.
He hummed softly and Mira heard the buzzing deep in his chest as she nestled her ear over his sternum. She sighed and gazed at the blue lights. Karter held her tightly and before she knew it, she was drifting off to sleep once more.
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