A.N. ~ so, here's the sequel for 'Sea of Faces'! I hope you guys will like it, and please remember that, despite about an hour of begging, George Lucas wouldn't let me own Star Wars. Therefore, I only own my ONs (Original Nouns), savvy? Okay, so, please enjoy the first chapter!
The nightmares are getting worse.
I stumble downstairs and rub my eyes, yawning.
Why am I dreaming of horrific battlefields? And one soldier, he takes off his helmet and has my face. Sure, he doesn't have my hair; his is extremely short and yellow, but his face is mine.
All the soldiers are dressed in white armour. Blue and red lights flash during the dreams and I can smell burning flesh. I don't know how I know what the smell is, I just do.
And I can remember something hitting me. I always feel searing pain when that happens. It's always the same dream, just a little more vivid each time I have it.
"Akinta, have you been having nightmares again?" My mom is in the kitchen.
"Yeah, yeah—I mean, no! I'm fine." I stutter.
"Always so quick to hide vulnerability." My sister comes in. We look nothing alike, straight down to her blond hair and green eyes. Her nose is straight, too. She looks just like my mom. We always joke that I must be adopted.
"I'm not! It's just that dreams aren't important." I protest.
"Dreams are always important." Mom reminds me. I don't know why, but I just can't accept that.
"Maybe it would help if a certain someone would tell us what's going on in her head." Clara reprimands.
"No one needs to know what I'm thinking! I like—"
"Being unpredictable. Yeah, we know."
"Girls." Our mom scolds. We start putting together breakfast before sitting at the table. We fold our hands and bow our heads in prayer.
"D'haynna, we thank you for this food. Amen." Mom says before we dig in. "Don't forget, we're taking in that soldier today. I want you on your best behaviour. No. Arguing." She orders. I salute.
"Yes ma'am." I munch on a gruffle.
"And he'll be here in an hour." Clara chokes on her water while I shrug uncaringly. My sister is makeup crazy, boy crazy, all-out teenage girl. She'll want to get ready and look her best. I don't know how we're sisters.
We finish breakfast and put away dishes, washing and drying them quickly. I go upstairs and brush my shoulder-length hair before changing out of my sleeping garments into a comfortable black tee-shirt and pair of army-grey/green shorts.
I hurry downstairs again to tidy up the living room. My hands start twitching soon. I have way too much free time on my hands.
"I'll be outside." I yell before heading to the front door.
"Don't get too dirty!" Mom calls back. I go out onto the front lawn, then walk into the forest nearby, slipping amongst the trees quietly. I check my watch. Thirty minutes until the soldier comes.
Once the war ended, the clones were released from service. Some civilians have opened up their homes to the troopers, like my mom has.
I've never seen a clone before. I'm curious. But right now, I'm going to start looking around for the nest sure to be found around here somewhere. I'd seen a pair of hoverbirds, so they must be nearby.
I walk over a fallen tree bridging a creek. Halfway across, I stop. Images and sounds tear through my head. I can hear someone yelling. I see red, both from blaster fire and blood.
The flash is so vivid, I lose my balance and tumble into the stream. I yelp and drag myself out, squelching through the mud along the bank. I look at my mud-smeared boots and soaked clothes. Mom is going to kill me.
I jog to a large, flat boulder that I found when I was eleven and stretch out in the sunlight, letting it warm me. I dry off for fifteen minutes before jogging back to the house.
I come out of the tree line just as a speeder pulls up. One of the local farmers is driving. In the passenger seat is who I assume is the soldier. I can't make out his face, but I can see a nearly bald head with yellow hair masking part of it.
Strange coincidence? Must be.
I walk over while the clone gets out and the speeder leaves. The soldier has a pack on his shoulders. I see the man's face and freeze. A figment of my dream plays through my head.
I'd seen this clone in my dream. Just after the white-hot pain. He runs over to me and drags me into cover before removing his helmet. He always said, can you hear me? Hang in there, —
"Twitch?" The soldier asks, staring at me like I'm a ghost.
How'd he know what that was going through my head?
"What?" I raise an eyebrow, not understanding why he just said that, but we're interrupted when the door opens and my mom comes out, followed by Clara.
"Hi. You must be Captain Rex." The name nags the back of my mind, but I can't remember where I've heard it before.
"Please, just call me Rex."
"Thank you. I'm Mary, and these are my daughters, Clara and Akinta." We both shake hands with him. His grasp is rough and strong.
How is the man from my nightmares here? And he looks so much like me.
"Kint, it looks like we've found your twin." Clara teases.
"Oh, be quiet." I retort irritably.
"Girls!" We clamp our mouths shut. I stiffen immediately. That tone always freezes me up. I hate it. Rex is watching me with a bewildered look in his eyes.
"Please, Rex, come in."
"Thank you." He takes off his boots once we're inside. We all follow suit before mom starts showing the Captain around. Clara nudges me with her elbow.
"Seriously, he looks just like you."
"You can keep saying it, it won't become true." I mutter.
"Same hairline, nose, mouth, jawline, eyes, though yours are more golden. Tell me I'm wrong."
"Fine, we share some similarities. Your point?" She raises her hands in surrender.
"Nothing. I'm just saying—"
"Akinta, feed Wailin. He's asking for food." Mom calls.
"He's always asking for food, mom!" I yell back, though I'm already heading to the kitchen. A black tom cat with white-tipped paws and underbelly comes in, yowling for his next meal.
I stoop down and scratch his ears, earning a loud, raspy purr that turns back into meows as soon as I stop. "Yes, I am feeding you now. You don't have to keep yelling!" I say in a tone just as loud as the cat's.
I grab a small dessert bowl and go to the fridge, opening it to grab a container filled with mushy cat food. I fork a mouse-sized helping into the bowl before putting it down for Wailin. While he devours the meal, I put away the container and wash off the fork, along with my hands.
Once Wailin is done, I wash his bowl and put it away, scooping the cat into my arms and rubbing his neck with my thumb. He purrs happily as I go to the living room and sit down on a couch.
A limp hinders my progress, my right leg sending pain signals to my brain. A long scar stretching from my knee pit to the outside of my right ankle is the cause. Scars mark my arms, back, and legs as well.
When I was little, my mom says I'd been attacked by a bad man who had scarred me and caused my leg permanent damage. I can usually ignore it, though there are some days it makes itself noticeable.
I start massaging the sore area while stroking Wailin. Mom and Rex come in and the cat leaps from my lap, hurrying away. "Wimp." I grumble, glaring after the finicky pet.
"Did I do something?" Rex immediately asks, watching where the cat had gone.
"No, no. Wailin is just afraid of men he hasn't met before." Mom explains.
"Strange thing is he doesn't mind women. No figuring that cat." I add. Clara comes in, plopping down beside me. My hand jerks and presses a sore spot. I wince and scowl at her.
"Sorry. Leg hurting?" She says.
"Not important." I shrug it off. I hear loud banging on the door and jump.
"Mary, you open this door!" A man yells. I reach behind the couch and pull out a slim metal pipe.
"Can I please hit him?" I beg.
"No. Stay here." Mom leaves and opens the door. I limp after her and watch from the hallway. My dad was divorced when I was three, but he's never accepted it. He's a drunk.
"What do you want, Greg?" She demands.
"You're taking in a soldier? I won't have a freak born from a bottle living with my children!" For some reason, I have an overwhelming urge to beat him for that.
"He isn't a freak and they are my children, too. Go away." He shoves her aside and storms over to me.
"Are you comfortable with this?" He demands.
"No, I'm not comfortable with you being here. Thanks for asking, now LEAVE!" I snap, glaring daggers at him. Dad catches sight of Rex.
"You! GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE!" I almost punch him. Liquor is on his breath.
"Dad, you're drunk. Go away." Clara pipes up. She's three years older than me, putting her at seventeen. We are, however, the same height; 5'5. Dad grabs my wrist and starts dragging me towards the door.
"I won't have you near it, Akinta." I break my arm away and sidekick him in the back.
"HE, YOU SHABUIR! Rex is a HE, and I'm not going anywhere with you!" I'm hit on the cheek. I stagger back and touch the spot on face. Mom wrenches dad away, shoving him towards the open door.
"Leave right this instant!" She thunders. Dad punches her and grabs me again. I struggle, but my leg is starting to really hurt. Rex sucker punches my father in the head, forcing him to release me.
The soldier quickly jabs his elbow into dad's rib cage before hauling him by the collar of his shirt to the porch and tossing him onto the driveway.
I kneel and clutch my leg, breathing between clenched teeth as pain springs up. Clara crouches beside me.
"Are you alright?" She frets.
"Yeah," I stand, favouring my leg, "it's just sore. I knew I should've held on to the pipe." I limp back to the couch and sit down. The door is closed and Rex comes back into the room with my mom.
"Kint, are you alright?" Mom demands.
"Fine. Next time he shows up, I'm using the pipe." Wailin meanders in, jumping onto my lap and rubbing his cold nose over my cheek. He must sense my discomfort and his protective instinct is winning out over his fear of Rex.
I stroke him, listening to the familiar purr. A loud meow that I can identify as his I want more food! howl breaks the sound of contentment momentarily. "Oh, you suck-up." I chastise. He mrows and nuzzles me.
"What's a 'shabuir'?" Clara asks, carefully sounding out the foreign word.
"No idea. That just sort of...happened." I shrug.
"It's Mando'a." Rex catches our attention. "It's a strong insult."
"I don't study Mando'a. How do I know that?" I furrow my brow in confusion.
"Chance?" Clara guesses.
"Yeah, I just happened to form the syllables that happened to be in a language I've never heard of that happened to fit perfectly with the rest of the sentence." I reply sarcastically.
"So, you've been studying the language, then?" Mom accuses.
"No! I swear by D'haynna, I haven't." I protest. Wailin walking over and jumping onto Rex catches my attention. I gawk as the man-shy cat purrs and nuzzles the Captain.
"He never does that. Why is he doing that?" Clara gasps.
"No figuring that cat." I repeat my earlier statement. Rex looks at the pet uncertainly before stroking Wailin's back. The cat kneads the Captain's legs before lying down with a whoosh of extra-loud rumbling.
"D'haynna's Bow, he likes you! What did you do?" Clara mumbles. Loud explosions and men screaming echoes in my ears. I can see a terrifying, large white droid attacking the white-clad soldiers. The flash ends as quickly as it started. A hand waves in front of my eyes and I jump.
"He-ey, Coruscant to Akinta!" Clara sings.
"Five seconds to move your hand, sister dear." I warn. She impishly waits just until five seconds before stopping.
"Good to know you're just as annoying when your terrified as you are when you don't look like a ghost." She teases. I shoot her a glare.
"I'm not terrified. There's nothing to be scared of. Except for Wailin's apocalyptic behaviour." We glance at the cat still purring on Rex's lap. I raise my eyes to see the soldier's. He looks concerned. Mom's handheld holoprojector starts beeping.
"Excuse me. Kint, Clara, don't kill each other." She rushes out of the room. Clara's holoprojector also starts beeping. She checks who's calling and squeals.
"Have to go, too. Bye!" She tears out of the room, probably about to talk to a boy. I face palm.
"Dear D'haynna, I must be adopted." I suddenly remember Rex is here and blush. "Sorry about my crazy family."
"It's fine, just...what are you doing here?"
"What are you talking about? I live here!"
"Twitch, are you undercover or on a mission?"
"Why do you keep calling me that? My name is Akinta." I look at him, utterly confused.
"Must be memory loss." He mutters to himself.
"I don't have memory loss! I can remember everything from right now to when I was five."
"And false memories. Your leg, it's hurt, right? There should be a wound going from the inside of your knee to the outside of your ankle, right?"
"Did mom tell you that?"
"No, I was there when you got it."
"I was just a little kid. You'd've had to be the one who hurt me to have been there."
"You got it three months ago. When you were fighting Grievous."
"I've never been in a battle before in my life. And how would I fight off General Grievous?"
"I'm sorry, Rex, but I have to go into town. Business." Mom interrupts.
"Nothing to be sorry for, ma'am."
"Mary." She corrects before bustling to the front door and leaving.
"Dweeb, I'm going to be in my room for a while." Clara yells.
"See you next month!" I shoot back. That leaves me with Rex. He goes to the landing and comes back with a holoprojector. He places it on the coffee table and activates it.
A girl flickers into existence. She has short, tousled hair and holsters on either side of her hips. She's holding two blaster pistols, firing. On her arms are gauntlets with blades coming from the outside of her arms. She looks over her shoulder and I see my face. My mouth parts slightly as I watch her.
"Tail, I need a droid popper." She—I shout. A small orb is thrown to her and she tosses it out of view. A loud roaring sigh is heard and she holsters her guns, blocking a lightsaber.
She flips back to avoid another one and a lightsaber scores down her right leg, just in the way my injury is placed. She lands in a kneel, clutching her bleeding limb. She dodges a swipe from Grievous and a human Jedi attacks the droid.
That's when a shot hits the girl's shoulder and she falls over with a screech. The camera jiggles as the one holding it runs over to her. The person glances to the side, revealing droids. Then he drags the girl into cover, just like in my dream. The camera is moved as what I assume is a helmet is taken off.
"Can you hear me? Hang in there, Twitch!" I say the words with him. I stare at the machine long after it's turned off. Exactly like my dream. This can't be forged, so...
"How the heck did I do that three months ago? I was here!" I finally manage.
"Best guess? Your memory was wiped and replaced with fake experiences. Probably when you went to Kamino for ARC training. That battle was just prior to your departure."
"And...I knew you?"
"Yes. We were friends, actually."
"Why do I look just like you?"
"You're a clone. The only female one in existence. And the only one who ages at the standard rate of a regular human." I try to cope with the new information. I can't show I'm fazed. I have to make myself calm down. I force a smirk.
"I knew I was adopted." I say with as much triumph as I can muster. "Now, why was my memory wiped and I was stuck here?"
"Maybe it was becoming too obvious you were a clone? You tried hiding it at first, but as it got easier to tell, you stopped caring who knew what. A female clone meant the Kaminoans' cloning system wasn't perfect, and they hated imperfection." He explains.
"So, I'm a mistake? I wasn't supposed to exist?"
"No, but ever heard of something going perfectly wrong? You saved a lot of lives, helped in critical battles, and became the youngest sergeant in history." Wow. I'm even cooler than I thought!
"I was a sergeant?"
"The leader of Pyro Squad, named due to your—ah, creative and continuous use of explosives. The original members were Decker, the medic, Jax, a sniper, Wing, Bark, Dinger, Fritz, the mechanic, and Tail, your scout. He was also your most trusted subordinate."
"Okay, so why do you call me 'Twitch'?" He looks saddened by my question, as though he's lost something very important.
"Clones start out with numbers, but usually get nicknames later on. When we met, I called you Twitch. You must've taken a liking to it, 'cause that's how you started introducing yourself."
"How'd we meet?"
"This might take a while."
"I have no where else to be."
"You're going to get a bit of a backstory of yourself, then."
"Good. I don't like not knowing what I did for the last rest of my life." He hides a smile at this and starts.
"You were kept secret on Kamino. You weren't trained for battle. They didn't know what to do with you. When you were ten, you somehow got off of Kamino and started fighting the Separatists alone. After three months of sabotage and I-don't-know-what-else, you were captured and held for two years, undergoing torture such as injections, spider bites that caused hallucinations, Force-Lightning shocking, and so on. When you were twelve, you got away. You'd stolen gauntlets that were made of phrik, which can withstand a lightsaber or laser bolt. They had blades, as you saw in the holovid. For nine months, you kept on fighting.
"Sometime during those nine months, you turned thirteen and went to Tatooine. There, you tried to save a clone named Splinter. Jabba the Hutt had caught him and you tried getting him out. During the fighting you got separated. He was dropped into a pit with a rancor and you were forced to leave the palace, or be killed. You blamed yourself for leaving Splinter behind, especially when you found out he was alive. Five months later, you were on Ryloth. That's where you saved Captain Keeli from being killed by droids, though the rest of his men and his Jedi General were killed. Later, you were chased by a Sith assassin named Asajj Ventress into a battle. General Kenobi chased her off, while you destroyed all the droids. You were shot in the process and taken to Anakin Skywalker's flagship, the Resolute. We met during your bed rest. I had broken ribs and had to stay in your room.
"We didn't talk much, since the medical droid sedated you for ten days. We met later when you snuck down to Umbara against direct orders to help with the fighting. That's where we became friends. You met Fives and Tup there, too. Close friends of yours." I blink in surprise.
"Okay, okay okay. Um... How do I get my memory back?" He thinks about it.
"No idea. We'd have to ask Kix, a medic you knew in the 501st." I pretend I know what the 501st is.
"Where's he?"
"Working as a doctor on Coruscant."
"How am I supposed to get to Coruscant? Mom'll flay me if I even suggest it!"
"No, she won't." I groan in dread as mom walks in. "Because mom knows about your past."
A.N. ~ yes, I am truly cruel enough to leave you guys with a cliffhanger on the first chapter. At least it's only a small cliffhanger! I hope you liked the first chapter. Chapter Two will be up within 48 hours. Please review, positively or critically. I like hearing your opinions!