Hi.

I have to apologize for taking so long and being flaky on everything. A few years ago I got one hate comment and it kind of made me shut down and deny myself the idea I was ever good at writing. Of course, all you lovely people left such wonderful reviews and I owe so much more to all you loyal readers, and I'm sorry that I took so long. I will strive to be more consistent, though I do have finals this week so I may not time.

RainIsMyMusic: I am so glad you liked the chapter. Thank you so much for your review. Sorry you had to wait so long. I'm going to try and update more often though, so high hopes.

GarynFett: This really made my day. I gave an actual real smile at this, which is the first one in a while. I really can't put my gratitude for this into words. It means an incredible amount to me. Thank you.

DeathGoddesses: I always planned for Zania to be alive, I think. It's going to add a bunch of stuff later on.

Ashloveleaf: I'm sorry it took me this long, but I think I'm in a better mental place now and can pick this story up again.

Chapter 3: Weapons and Body, Armor and Mind

Zodiac had never run up stairs so fast in her life after that comment. Why did she do that? She could have kept walking. She didn't owe the boy. If anything, he owed her his life.

Which she saved. And she had no idea why she did.

She groaned at herself as soon as she had gotten to the top of the stairs, cursing herself for running so much again. She stumbled into the room where she found her clothing, promptly losing her balance when she stubbed her bare toes on a raised ledge in the doorway, barely managing to awkwardly take huge steps to save herself from face-planting. She quickly stood upright again, glad no one saw her loss of balance, then cringed slightly at the pain emanating from her foot. She looked around the room she had been in earlier in that day. Was that really just a few hours ago? She shook her head and focused on the task at hand. She glanced at the shelves of supplies that she had dismissed earlier, now walking to it and confusedly looking at the objects she had no clue how to use. She had to find something for a broken leg, something like a crutch or a-

Her vision snagged on an object that seemed to fit her criteria. She tiptoed on her bare feet, a reminder worming its way through her head that she should probably get shoes at some point. She finally knocked the brace off the shelf, resting back on her heels with a huff as she did. She picked it up off the floor, flipping it over to see the front. It had a orange triangle on it, pointing to what seemed to be down for where the brace would be positioned. She looked at it a bit longer, before thinking she had the gist of it. She tucked it under her arm before walking out of the room. She debated on taking as long as possible to go down the steps so she could avoid the inevitable conversation that was sure to occur if she even went near the boy again.

She decided that taking care of his broken leg was more important than her lack of comfort at conversation.

Zodiac more easily went down the stairs than she had gone up. Her (still) bare feet barely throbbed now after walking, running, and dragging around all day. She thumped down the last stair and took the brace in her hands from under her arm. Ezra, thankfully still slumped against the wall, lifted his head slightly then dropped it down again. Seemed like the medication was working. She let the brace clatter to the floor near him, before looking over to the other side of the room. She walked over, and carried a sturdy box to where Ezra was slumped. She let it thump to the ground near his left, non-broken leg, before walking over to his right and lifting up his leg. He groaned incoherently as she did, but she ignored it, roughly grabbing the object just within arms reach, and dragging it until it was under the boy's foot. She carefully laid the leg down on the box, effectively propping it up.

Now came the... interesting part.

Zodiac internally cringed as she picked up the brace and knelt next to the box propping up the leg. She gingerly lifted the leg, unclasping the brace and making sure the mechanism surrounded the broken part of the leg. She slowly moved her fingers toward the latch that would clasp the contraption around his leg and-

"No."

The sound of a human voice, even one she knew wasn't hostile, still made her jump, hands flying away from the leg, causing it to drop harshly onto the box. Ezra winced slightly, groggy from painkillers.

"Ice."

The girl's eyebrows furrowed together. Ice. That was-

Fire raced through her skin, sinking into her bones. Teeth grit together, refusing a whimper to be let out. The burn continued to pulse through her body, until-

"Hey, you listening?"

Zodiac blinked into reality again, turning to look at the boy against the wall.

"There's some stuff in that medical kit," he waved his hand in the general direction of where the female had left it, "Should be enough for a good amount of ice."

She opened her mouth to say something, before closing it. She silently made her way to the medical kit and brought it over to Ezra. She rummaged through the container, searching for anything resembling what the boy had told her about. She took out a bottle of water and a canister that had a label of 'instant ice' across its middle. She soundlessly read the instructions, and began the process of making the ice.

"So you're a quiet one, huh?"

Of course the boy she saved couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"You should be knocked out," she muttered, focusing purely on making the ice.

"Yeah, I swallowed one pill. Spit out the rest when you turned around."

The glare Zodiac was giving Ezra could have burned holes through his head. She glared at him for a few more seconds, before looking back at the ice and taking note of how far along it was, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin in between them.

"I don't have a name."

She said the words suddenly. She stayed silent, for fear of all the experiences and pain she had been through would spill out to this stranger. This stranger who she had saved, who she didn't even know-

...who was the first to treat her as an actual person.

"What do you mean?" he answered, far more quickly than she expected, "Everyone has a name."

"I had a designation," she said tonelessly, staring even harder at the ice, "It's not the same thing."

"Well, while weird-girl-who-I-met-randomly-in-an-alley-and-saved-my-life does have a nice ring to it, it's a bit of a mouthful. So anything shorter would be nice."

"I don't like the name I was given," she said rather stubbornly.

"Then make up one. It's actually your name then, isn't it?"

Zodiac blinked. That...genuinely made sense.

"Ice is done."

The female glanced back at the container she had been letting it form in, confirming that. She shook the block out of its container, sealing it in a pouch and carefully placed it on the broken leg of the boy. He hissed at first, before relaxing as the cold numbed the limb.

"You good?" the girl questioned as Ezra adjusted to the ice.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," he replied.

Awkward silence ensued.

"Get some sleep," Zodiac mumbled abruptly, transitioning out of the conversation gap.

"You probably should too," Ezra argued.

"I'm not the one with the broken leg."

"Doesn't mean you shouldn't get sleep."

"Mmh." The noncommittal answer came.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Get some sleep," the girl repeated, before standing up and exiting the comm tower quickly.

A loud, heavy sigh slipped past the her lips as soon as she got out, shuffling over to the wall next to the door and sliding down it until she was sitting against it. She buried her head in her hands. Black specks danced into her vision, exhaustion crumpling her form. She closed her eyes for a few seconds.

Well, it felt like a few seconds. She realized she was in fact wrong in her judgement when she was woken up by the annoying sound of pinging on metal. She blearily opened her eyes, shaking her head when she realized she had slept till the sky flooded black with white splatters. Closing her eyes and knocking back her head again, her eyes snapped open at the continuous annoyance of the sound. She groaned, getting back up, and shuffling over to the metal door which seemed to be the source of the irritation. Sighing, the girl hit the control panel to open the door.

Only to get greeted with a sharp sting to her forehead. The female in the doorway hissed slightly, but ignored the pain in favor of glaring at the person who shot the tiny projectile.

The boy she had saved earlier looked at her, then the pronged object with the rubber band stretched among the branches of the tool. With utmost subtlety, he threw the slingshot across the room.

"Wasn't me."

Zodiac stared, unimpressed, before grabbing the blaster from the floor and moving out of the doorway again to the outside.

"Oh c'mon, you can't actually lea-"

She hit the control panel harshly, punctuating the fact he was being left behind.

"At least bring back food!"

The brunette wandering the streets alone at night began to think that this was not her smartest idea. She clutched the blaster to her chest like her survival depended on it, which it partially did.

Oh, why did she not go when it was sunny outside?

Patrols were easy to avoid at this time, as she could hear them even more clearly than before without people making noise. She easily moved from alley to alley, her footsteps light and unnoticed.

Zodiac was, admittedly, more unaware as she avoided patrols with ease. She was about to leave an alleyway and kicked out her foot to begin walking-

crack

The girl froze as her ankle joint made an extremely loud noise and stiffened as the troop that was about to pass stopped.

"Did you hear that?"

A wretched tightness drawing into her chest kicked her into gear, the former experiment looked for an escape in the dead end alley, her vision snagging on a rickety looking structure that led to a open window. Without sparing a moment, she quickly sneaked over to her only chance at escape, settling the blaster under her neck, and tilting her head so it didn't fall. She cringed at how much noise she was making as she climbed, and attempted to keep sneaking as she went up a creaky metal ladder.

"Who's up there?"

Well, sneaking wasn't working.

Now prioritizing speed over all else, the girl threw the blaster up to the platform next to the window, then practically launched herself up the ladder, and rushed up the rest of flimsy metal. She grabbed the weapon she had thrown up previously, and dove into the open window, landing on her stomach. Groaning slightly, she pushed herself up with one arm, and shut the window before-

Oh wait, did she just break into an old man's house?

She didn't break the stare she had with presumably the owner of the house, backing away from the window slowly. The man blinked at her from his spot in a comfy-looking chair. Zodiac held the blaster up in what she hoped was a threatening-looking way.

"You seem like you need some help," the man said kindly, getting up from the chair with no small amount of effort. The girl snorted at the understatement of her situation, not angling down the blaster. "That's a blaster rifle model E14," the man stated, taking a cane from the side of the chair and leaning on it, "It has quite the kick if you fire it. You will miss if you shoot because of your lack of mass."

"Not if I shoot enough times," she snarled, a cold expression easily sliding over her features.

The old man chuckled, shuffling over to her in a hunched over form. "I won't hurt you. But you would really do better with something that relies on accuracy more." He reached his hand out, palm facing up. "May I?"

"No."

The elderly man sighed in exasperation, lowering his hand. He hobbled over to a table, taking out a metal disc, fiddling with it until the gun snapped out Zodiac's hand, making her eyes widen and a small gasp escape her.

"I apologize," he assured kindly, setting the gun down on the table, "I didn't feel safe with you pointing that."

"I didn't really care, old man," she snarled, every muscle in her body pulled taut, ready to react. The elder didn't seem to be concerned as he shuffled his hands around in the drawer of the table he was next to, pulling out a gray metal brace, and a curved sliver of blue metal. He chuckled, holding the items out and beckoning Zodiac to come closer. Hesitantly, she did, sliding slowly in front of him.

"Take your pick, young one," he croaked, setting the items on the table and picking up the gray metal contraption up, "This is a slingshot. Though, I did say you may want something with more accuracy. I suggest - " he set down the gray metal, picking up the slender blue object, " - this."

The blue suddenly expanded into an arc, metal unsheathing from its compact form, a soft sfhfft emitting from the action. Staring in disbelief at the weapon, the girl gaped in awe, unconsciously lifting her hand to it. Smiling, the man held it out, allowing the brunette to grab it and turn it around in her hands, a strand of blue electricity leaping into action from the ends of the curve.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, quietly, still looking over the bow.

"Ah, well," the man shuffled back into his chair, "I suppose I've seen too many children die at the hands of the Empire. And I'm much too old to use those weapons." A small smirk glanced across his face before he settled back into a neutral expression. Zodiac regained herself, fiddling to press a button on the bow that compressed it.

"Who are you?" she questioned, turning to him.

"Just a tired old Loth-rat," he murmured, "Leave the blaster if you want both of those. I'll consider it payment."

Hesitating before following his advice, the small girl scooped up the weapons, securely holding them. She walked over to the window, sliding it open before stopping.

"Thank you."

She slipped through the window, and was gone.

Walking through the doors of the comm tower was, of course, not greeted with silence.

"Did you walk to the other side of Lothal or something, because - ?"

Zodiac ignored Ezra, throwing the grey metal weapon she was holding at him, provoking a yelp. Dropping her newly stolen bag next to him, she dropped down to sit, pulling a purple fruit out to munch on.

"What even - hey is that jogan?" the easily distracted male questioned rhetorically, "Where did you get this? How did you get this?"

"Yes, stealing, market vendor," she answered with her mouth full. Gulping down the large bite of fruit, she began again, "I think I found my name."

"What - oh right," Ezra realized, pulling out a jogan, "Forgot you didn't have one. What is it then?"

The brunette sighed deeply, evaluating her decision. This kid seemed nice enough. Maybe he would be a valuable resource in the future. Might as well tell him.

"Ciadoz."

"Huh. Suits you."

I AM BACK AND STILL DEPRESSED AF BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I AM BETTER AND I REALIZE I AM WORTH SOMETHING.

Thank you all so much for sticking through this, I actually have already started on chapter 4, and we're done with the flashbacks, thank everything holy. I am better now, I'm not abandoning this story, WOOOOOOO

I'm so friggin excited

Peace out and have a lovely day or night or evening!