Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the movies.

Okay….no excuse for the wait. But I hope I still have some readers, but I know it's likely I won't…But here's FINALLY an update…Enjoy!

Chapter Eight – Awakening

At the sudden sound of the door opening I quickly wiped at the tears pricking my eyes, turning to look at the door and sitting up as far as my injured shoulder would permit me. It still throbbed with a dull pain, but not with the intensity it had before. I knew it meant I was healing and I was very thankful for that small comfort. Either that or they drugged me so much that I just think it's healing…

Sila Wantt, the nurse from my previous bout of consciousness, entered my room, carrying a blue tray that had what appeared to be food precariously balanced on top of it. She turned towards the bed, her eyes widening and her mouth forming an 'o' upon seeing me staring back at her.

"Well, about time you woke up," Sila said, smiling at me and walking closer. Still jumpy from my dream, my hand reached instinctively towards my waist, but my belt was absent, which meant my lightsaber was missing. I frowned deeply; I disliked being without my weapon.

Laying the tray on a table beside my bed, Sila continued to smile down at me. It was becoming irritating; perhaps even more so than Rayn's smile, since his was at least cute. Hers just seemed so artificial, but I guessed that nurses probably faked smiles a good deal of the time.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked cautiously, still leery of her. Her smile widened and I gritted my teeth together to keep from commenting about it.

"You've been sleeping on and off for about four days now…" Four days? Have I really been here that long? My dreams didn't seem to last that long… "I was quite surprised that you didn't even wake up when they bathed your wound in bacta, most people can't sleep through that."

"You have bacta here? I'd thought there was a shortage…" I asked, letting my suspicion show plainly on my face. She nodded her head at me once more, and I realized that I was getting annoyed with the act.

"Well, we received-"

"Where is my friend?" I asked, cutting her off as I was uninterested in the hospital's obvious dealings with black market bacta supplies.

"I believe he went out to find something to eat. We only feed the patients here, after all," Sila smiled yet again, and I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. There was an eerie feeling about her smiles that just did not seem right, as if she was trying to hide something from me.

"Okay…" She stood there for a few more minutes, neither of us speaking. "You can go now."

"Don't forget to rest," were her parting words as the door closed loudly behind her. I sighed heavily and threw the covers off my legs, swinging them to the side of the bed. As I sat up, my muscles bunched and tightened up at the sudden usage, protesting after the days of disuse. I grimaced, but gritted my teeth against the pain. Putting my hands on either side of myself, I slid closer to the edge of the bed until I felt my bare toes touch the cold floor. Ignoring the chilling coolness of the tile, I pushed off of the bed, the world suddenly swimming before my eyes. Wobbling unsteadily, I rapidly sat back down and closed my eyes, waiting for the dizziness to pass. Oh god; that made me nauseous…

I heard the sound of the door opening once more, but I was feeling too queasy to look. Not the smartest thing to do, but closing my eyes is hardly the worst thing I've ever done…

"Zira, what are you doing? Are you trying to hurt yourself more?" The worried tone of Rayn's voice very nearly broke my grimace into a smile, but I restrained myself when I heard him rushing to kneel in front of me. Opening my eyes, I stared down at his purple ones and smiled weakly.

"Probably," I replied, forcing myself to keep looking at him. He sighed wearily and ran a hand through his short blonde locks.

"Stubborn girl." I jerked back as if he'd hit me. I knew I was stubborn and I had definitely been acting like it, but I had not yet heard him call me stubborn to my face. For reasons I couldn't explain even to myself, that one small comment stung more than him smacking me would have. He must have seen the hurt in my eyes because he looked away from me and stood up, forcing me to look up at him and pinch the muscles in my shoulders to near agony. I bit the inside of my lip, trying hard not to show how much pain I was in; he already seemed to be able to read my emotions too well.

But I didn't tell him that his words had struck me that deeply, because I couldn't explain why even to myself, and he had stuck me as the type to demand an explanation; he had so far ever since I met him. I simply nodded.

"Yes, I am. And your point is?"

"Doesn't matter," he replied, shaking his head. "Listen, I have to tell you something…" This rapid change of topic startled me and my mind began racing, wondering what he could possibly have to say. Maybe he's finally going to tell me why he's afraid to go to Tatooine.

"I brought you here, to Sirali, not just because it has a good hospital; this is the best in the sector, but…it's here that I will need your help."

"You mean my payment for the ride." I felt my eyes growing wide, my interest peaking. He nodded, not meeting my eyes. A deep sigh escaped my lips.

"What do you need me to do?" It was Rayn's turn to sigh as he began to pace around the room, traveling from the side of the bed to the door and back again repeatedly.

"What I'm asking, what I need done is not going to be easy. It's not a simple task Zira, nor something that can be explained quickly."

"So start talking. The longer you stall, the longer it will take to accomplish whatever it is you need done," I replied, my mind once again intrigued by this strange man. What could he possibly need done here?

He stared at me for a moment, his mouth slightly pursed as he gathered his thoughts.

"All right…this is my home planet. I was born right here, in this hospital." My eyes widened in surprise at his statement, but I kept my mouth closed and let him continue. "My mother gave birth to twins, me and my sister…but she abandoned us shortly after we were born. Our father raised us, but he was killed when we were only twelve."

"Killed?" Rayn stopped pacing and sat down on the bed, between me and the table upon which my uneaten breakfast still sat. He didn't turn to look at me, his gaze trained on the wall in front of us.

"Yes, by the military…on the orders of the Siralian government." I gaped at him, for I had never heard of such a thing, having grown up in the Core planets. Oh my stars…How could a little boy have gone through that? Why would a government kill a man, a single father? "You see, the people of Sirali are, in a sense, brainwashed. We're supposed to grow up happy and content, knowing nothing of war and strife, or the galaxy beyond our planet. It's a method of control; it keeps the people from rebelling against our tyrannical overlords some choose to call 'politicians'. But there are people who know the truth, who see through the lies. They choose to protest against the isolationist attitude our world has unwillingly developed. My father was one such person. Normally the military simply disrupts any demonstrations and jails the dissenters for a short time. However, he was caught organizing a full-out mutiny against the government so he was convicted of 'treason against Sirali' and publicly executed. Most rebel activities have since calmed down as no one wishes to risk their lives or loved ones any longer."

As Rayn's voice quieted, I sat staring at him, my mouth hanging open and my eyes wide in disbelief. I simply could not believe his story, it was so beyond my understanding of the way life should be that I was positively baffled. I really am a spoiled brat…The first tragic thing to happen in my life and I whine, cry, and complain while Rayn had suffered so much already at so young an age…

"I…I'm so sorry Rayn." He winced and turned his head even farther away from me.

"I don't want nor need your pity," he spat sulkily.

"Then why tell me that story?" I asked, even more puzzled than before.

"Because it's the only way this next part makes sense." I nodded slightly and listened as he began to speak again. "After my father's death, my sister and I were raised by our aunt, who refused to let us speak of him. But we talked anyway, when she wasn't around. We made a pact to keep our father's memory alive, to continue his work and one day free our world. Though we were still young, plans formed and we prepared to launch a political war against our oppressors. But my aunt found out and she began finding ways to keep us separate, so that she would not lose her brother's children the way she'd lost him. She busied us with all kinds of activities and kept us in separate rooms. By the time I was fifteen, I only saw my sister at meals and there was no time to ever talk to her." That's so sad…his only real family left and his guardian kept them apart… "And then my aunt made me an apprentice for a local mechanic. Shortly afterwards, he decided to move his business off Sirali and my aunt insisted I go with him and further my career. I ended up on Arnickay and six years later the old man died, leaving me in charge of his business."

I bit my bottom lip, trying to think of something to say to him but could not come up with anything. He's been through so much…But this still doesn't explain what he expects me to do… Rayn stood suddenly and walked over to the door. Opening it, he peered into the hallway beyond, looking back and forth before finally closing the door again. He turned to look at me, his hand still gripping the knob.

"I don't want to be overheard," he explained upon seeing my questioning expression. That makes sense…He probably wants my help in some kind of civil rebellion… "My sister wrote to me as often as she could. She had to sneak the letters past my aunt, and they took what seemed like forever to arrive since she had to wait for merchants traveling between the two worlds who would agree to deliver them. But I craved the letters like a man in the desert craves water. Even though we'd been separated, she kept making plans and as she got older, and she started holding protests of her own. I urged her to stop, or at least slow down before she ended up like my father since I was no longer there to protect her, and then her letters stopped coming altogether. It took me more than a year, but I eventually found out why; the government had found her plans for revolution."

Against my will, I gasped. Could she have suffered the same fate as her father? Perhaps he needs me to help him get revenge… "What happened to her?" He closed his eyes, his body still leaning against the door.

"She wasn't executed, surprisingly enough…but she was condemned. The government deemed her psychologically unstable and sentenced her to a lifetime of treatment in the mental ward here in the hospital." Rayn's eyes snapped open rapidly and his body stiffened, seemingly ready to pounce at anything that moved. I jumped back slightly on the bed, surprised at his sudden intensity.

"And that's where you come in, Zira. I intend to break my sister out of here…today."

Okay this chaps definitions and descriptions!

#1: Bacta – a medicinal item, vaguely described, with many uses throughout the Star Wars world. For more information, I'd suggest you look it up on Wikipedia.

Umm….again, I have no excuses…I just hope you'll read and hopefully review and let me know what you think. (prepares for a verbal assault from her lack of updates)