Echo could still recall the day you abandoned the group and returned to the Empire. You had been chastised as a coward in your wake, no different than Imperial scum—returning to the so-called safety you had been blinded into submitting to. Was it power? A sense of security that led to your ultimate betrayal?

Echo never learned. Nor did anyone else. The majority employed more cruel phrases when describing you, but Echo could never bring himself to despise you. Just question your actions whenever you come across his thoughts. And it was very often that you did.

You still looked just as you did the day he lost you. You looked tired—exhausted even with a clearly forced smile. Barely anyone spoke to you, barely believing your claims and apologies. Echo believed differently.

How could he hate the very person he called a friend? Even now all Echo could see was the person you used to be. Not the person you had became. A bone-crushing hug instead revealed just what he thought about you. Not hatred, not hesitation. Just pure care.

"I missed you..."