Property of the Republic

Prologue: Lost and Found

Author's Note: I'm not exactly sure how this story came to be. I just got to thinking about what it would be like if a clone grew up as a normal person, not that they aren't normal people. I'm saying that they were originally bred for the purpose of fighting for the Republic, not becoming citizens of it. So this is the story of a clone, with no knowledge of his original purpose, and how he was discovered by the people he was supposed to protect. This is the story of CC-1543 or, as his foster parents proudly named him, Aiden Mallecko.

No Name POV

Where am I?

I looked around and immediately cringed. The pain in my neck was terrible and I cried out in pain. What happened to me?

Hoping that my brain would come up with a recollection of whatever situation I was in, disappointment rang true when it didn't. Suddenly, a realization hit me straight in the face. I have no memories.

I tried sitting up, to at least get my bearings before I panicked, but my torso was under something heavy that I couldn't lift. "Help!" I cried, hoping for a savior.

Not just from dying here, but to help me remember something about my past, whatever it might have been like. "Help!"

A burning sensation made its way into the backs of my eyes. What is this I'm feeling?

"Tears," I said to myself, recognizing the word. I didn't know what brought them on, but I assumed that they were a common occurrence in sentients when they experienced types of emotions. What emotion am I feeling?

I would have scratched my head out of confusion if they hadn't been stuck under the metal rubble of the stuff that was on top of me. Pain rippled through my heart as I thought of dying here, all alone. There has to be someone out there that cares about me, right? They'll come rescue me! I had to have some kind of purpose in past...

But I lost my reassurance as night came.

I screamed, "Help!", once more, but it was to no advantage. I'd been yelling it all day and now my voice was hoarse from overuse and lack of hydration.

Abruptly, an intolerable pain appeared in my leg. It was like a hot-cold sensation that was suffering from starvation. A word came to mind for this feeling- fire. Well, this is a great way to die! I screamed again and again, yet there was still no answer to my plea.

I'm going to go out with no name, no parents, no purpose-

A scream emitted itself from someone besides me- it sounded feminine. "Ovai, get over here!"

Definitely a woman.

An audible gasp entered my ears and I assumed that Ovai had arrived. He said, "Help me get this off of him, Ivy!" I felt the heavy metal being lifted off of me and I was relieved that I would be able to move my arms.

I felt cloth being swatted at the flames on my leg and a pair of strong arms sat me up. Brown eyes looked into my own and a feeling of warmth surged into my soul, though not because of the burns. "Are you okay?" the woman known as Ivy asked me.

I didn't respond as I watched with interest as Ovai took off the boot on my right leg and examined my wound from the flames. "He needs immediate medical attention."

Ivy looked at me again and said, "Adiik, we need your name."

"I don't know it," I replied, staring at her with pain in my eyes. Whether it was from the flames or just sadness from not even knowing who I was, I wasn't sure. Filled with desperation, I asked her, "Do you know it?"

She didn't reply, just exchanged glances with Ovai. The latter picked me up and said, "We'll get you help, adiik. Don't you worry."

A few bacta bandages later, I sat in a medical examination room, wearing a white shirt and gray, cotton pants. I looked around nervously, though there wasn't much to look at. Just a few holo-posters and two chairs. I sat on a bed, twiddling my thumbs.

I heard angered chatter from outside my room. "What do you mean by 'he doesn't exist?'" It was Ovai.

"We've taken samples of his DNA and applied them to all citizens of the Republic," an unknown person replied, sounding a little exasperated with my saviors. "There are a few close matches, but nothing exact."

"You can't even find a guardian?" Ivy asked, worried.

I almost imagined the doctor shaking his head sadly. "The only thing that stuck out to us about this boy is the fact that his body showed signs of accelerated aging. Though we took care of the problem quickly, a question still plagues us as medical experts: who or what caused his age acceleration?"

There was a pause. "Can you tell how old he is?" Ivy asked.

"He was aging two times faster than he should have been, so I would say he's five."

Ovai asked, "What about his physical age?"

"Ten, obviously. And don't be worried about his leg wound. It will be healed in a matter of days."

"What will become of him?" Ovai inquired.

A sigh emitted itself from the doctor. "Since there haven't been any missing child claims in Orowood or Galactic City, he'll be sent to an orphanage. Unless of course..." The doctor cleared his throat. "Well, I understand that you're Mandalorians. Your people are known for taking in orphans or lost children. Maybe you could..."

I tuned out after that. I'm only five?

I didn't feel like a five year old. I might not have remembered anything, but I knew that five year-olds weren't supposed to be as tall as I was or be as smart.

The doctor mentioned accelerated aging. I knew what "accelerated" and "aging" was separate, so together, I had a feeling that it meant something along the lines of "I grow up faster than other people."

I looked down at my bandaged foot. Will it scar?

The thought of it scarring was bittersweet. Scars usually meant that you were either violent or injured. I was the latter, and boy, did it hurt to be injured. But I knew something about myself now- my right foot was scarred from flames.

The door to my room opened and Ovai and Ivy walked in. Now that I had the chance, I observed them.

Ovai was a Human man with blonde hair down to his shoulder and a thick beard. He had blue eyes and wore a forest green T-shirt, brown pants, and black boots.

Ivy was Human as well, but she was a woman. She had dark brown hair and warm brown eyes. She wore a long-sleeved cobalt shirt, black pants, and brown boots.

They both had guns in holsters that were strapped to their thighs.

I looked at them sadly. "Do you know who my parents are?" I had already heard the doctor admit to them that I wasn't identified as anyone's child, but I needed reassurance from people that I trusted. Ovai and Ivy seemed like people I could trust. But as they remained silent, the burning sensation of tears came back again. They fell from my eyes after a few moments and I looked down.

Ivy sat down next to me and wrapped her arms around me. "It's alright, adiik."

"Will you be my parents?" I sobbed, losing control of my self and burying my tear-stricken face into her shoulder.

Ivy rubbed my back and kissed the top of my head. Ovai laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. He said, "Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad."

That first night with my new Mandalorian parents, I cried myself to sleep.

Ovai Mallecko POV

"What will we name him, Ovai?" Ivy asked, looking at me with the same brown eyes I had fallen in love with.

I looked down at the child in my arms. We had checked him out of the hospital in Orowood and we were now heading back to our house in the Manarai Mountains. "I guess that we do need to name, huh?"

The boy hadn't cried when the flames had been eating away at his leg, a sign of high pain tolerance- a trait of a born warrior. The name needed to be a reminder of his toughness.

"How about Aiden?" Ivy suggested, taking the child from me and laying him in the back of our speeder. "It means 'fiery' in Mando'a."

I smiled a little at the name. "Fiery" was not only ironic, but it described my take on his future personality as a Mandalorian and my son. "Yes, Aiden will be his name."

Ivy kissed his cheek as we loaded into our speeder and sped off toward our house.

Author's Note: Well, the next chapter will expand a little more on how Aiden got to Coruscant, though not too much. You'll have found out the entire story by the end of this Fanfic, but let me give you some setting and context in this first chapter. There actually is a mountain range on Coruscant called the Manarai Mountains. Just look it up on Wookieepedia.

And for those of you who don't speak Mando'a, here are a few definitions:

Adiik- child aged 3 to 13

Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad- "I know your name as my child"; Mandalorian adoption vow

Anyway, leave a review...