Slipping back into her quarters after seeing Willow and announcing her unexpected time off, her mind was a jumble. Piece by piece her uniform came off, items tossed carelessly to be ignored until she needed them again. Soon the pulses of the sonic shower swept over her body and she all but willed it to make her feel better. It didn’t. Sliding down to the floor, Dira sat there with her knees drawn up, arms wrapped around her legs and rested her forehead on her knees.

She stayed that way for awhile until she dragged herself out of the shower stall and found something cozy to wear. A cup of jestral tea wafted through her living space as it came to rest on the coffee table. Dira’s limbs felt weak as she neared the couch and she all but collapsed on it, pulling a blanket over her. She closed her eyes but her mind was no refuge and sleep was not likely to come. A ghost from the past hovered in her mind and she no longer had the energy to push it away.

She was trying to figure out which moment it was where things began to unravel so quickly. But Dira couldn’t put her finger on it. Instead, exhausted, she just closed her eyes and attempted to mediate, and maybe (if she was lucky) fall asleep.

Commander Myqian, XO