Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I had to do a bunch of school work and haven't had the time or will to write anything. Thank you TheNamelessReaper for answering my question. I also encourage any other readers to tell me their favorite Star Wars couples. I am curious.
Gree heard a faint rustling as he slowly opened his eyes. He gradually sat up in his bed, blinking a few times to get his eyes to adjust. With his vision clearing up he peered at the holoalarm on the side table by his bed; it read 12 am, and he groaned, wondering why he was even up. He looked over to Luminara's side of the bed only to see that his wife was absent.
That's strange. Maybe Mila woke her up.
He pulled himself out of bed and put on one of his gray undershirts with his gray pajamas. He slowly made his way down the hall to his daughter's bedroom and cracked the door open to peer inside. The small room was dark and he saw his daughter in her bed fast asleep. He couldn't help but smile a little as he quietly closed the door.
Well, she's not in there. Where else would she go?
He made his way down the steps and out the front door. Standing on his porch he looked around his house. Felucia was beautiful at night. Glowing bugs floated aimlessly around the illuminated plants. The large flowers swayed slowly in the wind, making a serene rustling sound as they moved. He looked around some more before coming to the fact that she wasn't out there and went back inside.
Gree made his way to the back of the house, checking the living room and kitchen as he walked back there. Finally, he opened the back door to check the yard.
She has to be somewhere.
He squinted into the dark yard until he finally made out a figure sitting next to the field. Just to be sure, he hopped down from the back porch and made his way to the figure, his feet brushing the grass as he walked. As he neared the person, some features made themselves more prominent. The figure was very thin, and wearing a black nightgown. Light green skin glowed in the darkness and was only blocked a little by the shine of purple hair. It was her. She sat with her legs crossed in the grass, her hands resting on her legs with her thumbs and index fingers touching.
Meditating.
The clone went and sat to the right of his wife. The second he sat down she opened her eyes and looked straight into his, her face blank. Her blue eyes that usually seemed so wise and content, looked stressed and exhausted.
Gree slowly took a hold of her hand and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb as he usually did. "Is something wrong?" he asked. "I woke up and you were gone."
She nodded and turned her eyes back to the fields. "I just needed to clear my mind," she said. Her head then sank until she was looking at the grass. She wasn't crying, but something was obviously wrong. Gree, knowing his wife, scooted closer to her and gently brought her head to his shoulder. She didn't stop him or look up. She just complied and continued to stare at the ground.
"You know," Gree started softly, "you never answered my question. What's bothering you?"
He let go of her hand and placed his arm over her shoulder. She sighed and looked back into the field. "It happened again."
Gree just sighed and pulled her closer, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Back when they first figured out how much they cared for each other on the return trip from a battle on Geonosis, she had a lot of terrifying and horrific nightmares because of the brutal fight. She tossed and turned, not allowing herself to get any sleep. She had seemed to have gotten over it after they returned to Coruscant. Apparently, however, they weren't over.
"Has it happened before?" Gree asked, hoping it was only a onetime thing.
"Only yesterday and tonight," she whispered, still deep in thought.
"What are they about?" Gree asked, seeing if he could help.
"How we got here," she said, now looking back at him.
He sighed again and stared into her beautiful blue eyes. "Oh yes. I remember…"
Gree stood on the wooden platform high up in the trees of Kashyyyk. He looked down past the beach and into the intimidating water where he saw Separatist tanks, ships, and droids charging his men stationed on the beach. Along with his men were several thousand Wookies, hundreds of Republic walkers and rovers, and his darling wife with her green lightsaber beaming out in the front. He worried about her. She was good, but there were waves upon waves of droids coming. He wished he was down there with her, but he was stationed up here to conduct the defense along with master Yoda, Chewbacca, and a wookie commander.
"Started, the battle has," Master Yoda stated.
Droid Gunships roared over the battlefield, firing lasers down on his men and the Wookies. Confederation Snail tanks rushed onto the beach from the water along with many spider and battle droids.
Gree looked down onto the battlefield, observing the oncoming forces. When he noticed some droids trying to flank or one of his units being ovverrun, he informed his men and they took care of it. As the battle raged on, their odds looked well. Most of the enemy aircraft had been taken out and his troops were holding strong. He glanced back at the quick movements of the green lightsaber, as he has done a few times now.
She could handle herself, but you never know what could happen.
As he focused back on the actual fighting, he heard the faint knock of wood in front of him. He saw Yoda leaning against one of the wooden supports, his head hanging and his right hand on his chest. At first Gree thought he was hit and was about to go help, but there were no scorch marks on him. Something was wrong. Something was hurting him. He was about to ask Yoda when his comm link went off.
He opened up to see a hologram of the Chancellor. Before he could even greet his commander, the Chancellor said, "Execute order 66."
His heart froze.
No, he thought.
But what came out was a formal, "Yes, my lord."
He slowly began to walk forward along with his clone sergeant who also heard the message. They slowly crept up on the old master and steadied their guns. Then a flood of realization spread through his mind.
Luminara. . .
He quickly peered down on the beach to see that green lightsaber waving around the black cloaked figure. The only difference was it was now facing the other way. She was reflecting shots back form his own men, and they were beginning to overwhelm her.
His sergeant aimed down his sights at the Jedi, but before Yoda could react, Gree pushed his man off of the hanging platform to the beach below. Yoda looked back at Gree with his calm, wise eyes.
"Sir," Gree started, but was interrupted by Yoda.
"Know, I do, of the order your men have been given. False, it is. Save Luminara you must, Commander, or perish, she will," Yoda said pointing down at Luminara who was still fending off the clone troopers.
"What about you, General?" Gree said, still trying to respect his commanding officer.
"Fine, I will be. Go, you must, before it is too late," he said, hopping onto Chewbacca's shoulder so they could leave.
"Yes, sir," Gree yelled, shooting a cable to the platform and zip-lining down to the beach. He landed hard, but managed to stay on his feet. He detached the cable and made a mad dash toward Luminara's position. With most of the droids dealt with and the Wookies being pushed back into the jungle by troopers, Luminara was now singled out and was almost surrounded. Gree was coming up on his men when a shot pierced Luminara's left leg. She fell on one knee, but still kept reflecting shots. As his men closed in for the kill, he rammed himself in between his men and Luminara.
"Cease fire," he yelled, pointing his blaster at his men.
His men stopped firing, but did not lower their weapons.
"Sir," one of his men yelled, "what are you doing? We've been ordered to kill her."
Gree, still standing in front of Luminara, faced the clone. "The order is wrong. The Jedi have not betrayed us. If they had, you and me would have been attacked by her already. Lay your weapons down!"
The clones glanced at each other, but then slowly started to move toward them.
"I'm sorry, sir," the clone yelled, "but we have our orders."
They opened fire only to have it blocked back by a few swipes Luminara made from behind them. A few clones were taken down, but the rest continued to advance. Gree shot down a few of his men before helping Luminara to her feet and making a run for the jungle. Shots flew by them and Luminara was doing her best to move quickly, but was limping because of her wound. The clone troopers were nearing them, but as they got close, Luminara used the force to push the men away. As she did this a ton of sand was kicked up into the air, giving the two cover. With this distraction, Gree grabbed a hold of Luminara's arms and dove into the brush of the jungle. They hit the ground with a thud and rolled under some shrubbery. The clone troopers waited for the sand to settle, then began to advance into the forest. Gree knew that he and Luminara weren't deep enough into the forest and would be captured for sure. He took a hold of his blaster and prepared for the upcoming fight. Just as the soldiers began to near them lots of movement stirred up within the brush. The clone troopers stopped and raised their blasters towards the deep part of the jungle.
Something's not right.
Just then, the retreated Wookies counterattacked. Green blaster fire flew through the air, firing on the clone squad. The large, hairy beasts poured onto the beach once more, tearing through the clone battalion.
"Now's our chance. They can't keep the clones occupied forever," Luminara said, trying to force herself up.
Gree nodded and helped her to her feet. With her now leaning onto him for support, they pushed their way deeper into the forest. As they moved the blaster fire and explosions got quieter and dimmer. They kept struggling forward until Luminara collapsed. Her left leg finally gave out and all of her weight had shifted on one leg. Gree was able to slow her down enough to land softly, but she immediately started grasping at her left thigh.
"Whoa, just relax," Gree said calmly, gently letting her down onto her back. "Let me take a look at it."
Gree took his utility knife off his belt and cut her leggings open to see the wound. It was not that bad but he felt kind of stupid for not putting any pressure on it earlier. The injury ended up being only a flesh wound, but she had lost a lot of blood.
"Shit," Gree mumbled, taking out his knife and cut off some of Luminara's robe to use as a temporary bandage.
As he worked, Luminara looked up at him.
"How bad is it?" she asked, slurring her words a bit.
Great, Gree thought. She's lost too much blood. It's beginning to mess with her.
"It's just a glancing shot," he stated, "but you have lost some blood. You'll need some medical-"
Suddenly Gree's abdomen flared up in pain. He fell to his knees and looked at his stomach. There was a large burn mark just to the right of his abdomin and blood was dripping out.
Damnit. How long has that been there?
As he struggled to tear off another piece of Luminara's cloak, she moved to a sitting position. She tightened up her bandage and helped Gree tear off the piece of her cloak.
"You were shot on the beach," she said. "I thought it was just a grazing shot, but I must have been wrong. Sorry."
"It's fine," Gree said. "My armor took most of the damage. You, on the other hand, need to get proper care. Your blood level could be very low and you won't last long without a transfusion."
Gree wrapped up his injury and attempted to help Luminara to her feet. She winced and struggled to get up, but was eventually standing. With both of them up, they slowly began to make their way to the Republic landing zone.
"There should be a ship there somewhere. . . we just need to find one," Luminara choked out.
"Got it," Gree said, almost dragging his partner through the forest.
Gree knew they were close, guessing by the number of ships and fighters coming from the north. The clone eventually saw some lights up ahead and could hear the landing and taking off of ships. He gently lay Luminara against a tree, stroked her cheek softly for comfort, then crept forward to the edge of the Landing platform. Peering through his visor, he spotted a Y-wing bomber near his position. It wasn't much, but it had a pilot and gunner seat, and that was good enough. He rushed back to Luminara to find her slipping in and out of consciousness. Gree removed his helmet and tried to keep her awake.
"No, no, no. Come on, sweetheart. Stay with me," he said, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "You need to stay alive. You need to."
Her body was beginning to go limp and he needed a solution, fast. He put his helmet back on and rushed back to the landing area, searching. He looked high and low between the ships in desperation. All he saw were pilots and guards. As he began to lose hope he saw what he wanted. He spotted a medic trooper exiting a ship. Gree wasted no time. With his blaster in hand, he crept from ship to ship, making his way closer to the trooper. The medic slowly made his way through the ships and cargo. Gree prepared himself as he positioned himself behind some cargo on the medic's route. The trooper closed in and passed by the cargo. Gree jumped out and bashed the trooper in the back of his head with his blaster, knocking him out cold. With the man now limp, the commander pulled the body behind cover and searched through his pack. He filled his arms with bacta gel and emergency blood packs before backtracking to Luminara.
Don't be too late. Don't be too late, he thought, rushing to Luminara's side.
She was motionless as Gree desperately spread the bacta on her wound and began inserting blood into her system, but she lay still. Her beautiful, soft green skin was now very pale and dry. Her body was full of scratches and cuts. The bandage was soaked in blood. Gree injected the last of the blood he had and took her hand. It was cold.
"No," he whispered. "She can't leave me. Not yet."
His tears ran freely now as his hope slipped away. He put two fingers up to her neck to check for her pulse. It was there, but weak.
Come on. Work through it.
He held her close hoping and praying that she would pull through. He was about to lose hope when he heard footsteps behind him. Gree turned to see two of his men looking down on them.
"Get up!" one yelled.
Gree felt finished. There was no need to fight back. No need to keep going. He lay Luminara's still body down, raised his hands up and turned around. Both troopers wore the regular battalion armor with green stripes. One had his blaster aimed at Gree while the other came closer with cuffs.
Then a bunch of rustling came behind him. Gree only turned his head slightly before him and the other two clones flew through the air. Gree skid against the ground to a halt while the troopers were bashed against a tree. The commander jumped back up and ran back to Luminara.
She was sitting up, her hand extended from the force push she unleashed on him and the other troopers.
"Luminara!" he yelled as he slid to his knees and hugged her. "You're okay."
She gently pushed him off her and slowly removed his helmet. "I wouldn't say okay. Just alive. Thank you."
He kissed her forehead and pulled her up once more. "There's a Y-wing that's unmanned. We just need to get to it. Can you make it that far?"
She put some pressure on her legs to test them out. Her left leg was completely motionless, but her right was still working.
"Yes," she said, wearily, "I just need to lean on you to get there. How are you?"
"I'm fine. Could have gone without the flight though," he said, smiling a little.
She chuckled then motioned toward the landing zone. "We better get moving."
Gree nodded and put his helmet back on. The two slowly made their way to the landing zone's edge. Gree pointed out the bomber and the two slowly followed the way Gree had taken before. The landing zone wasn't very busy, because most of the troopers were off fighting the Wookies. With less men it was easier for them to sneak up to the Y-wing. Gree looked around for any guards before helping Luminara into the gunner's seat. It was a struggle to push her up there, but she managed to climb in. The commander then jumped into the cockpit and started up the engines. The jets roared to life, and before any of the guards could notice the Y-wing was already on its way into orbit.
"Where to?" Gree asked as they exited the system. "We need to find some allies, but I don't know where to look."
He sat there quietly, waiting for a response. He heard some calm breathing on the other end of the comm, but no answer.
"Honey?" he asked.
"Coruscant," she stated.
"Coruscant!?" he questioned. "Why there? Isn't that where we don't want to go?"
He heard her sigh, then answer, "I sense my padawan on the surface. She also seems to be with some of your brothers."
"Who?" Gree asked.
"I see clone armor, with yellow stripes," she said.
"Cody," Gree mumbled. "If someone has a plan, it's him. Okay, Coruscant it is . . ."
Luminara sat in his arms, her eyes closed and calm. Gree stared off into the horizon, reliving that day. Those struggles and hardships they had to get through. It was all in the past, but it still lingered in their life. Maybe one day they will be able to forget. . . To leave those struggles in the past for good so they can live their lives fully now.
"That might take a while," Luminara said, her eyes still closed.
Mind-reading
Gree laughed and stroked her head, a few strands of hair falling in front of her face. "I know, but we'll get through it. We just need to keep going."
Gree kissed her forehead and began to pull her up.
"You ready to go back to bed?" he asked.
Luminara nodded. "Yeah. I could go for some sleep."
Then the Mila's voice echoed out of the house. "Mom. Dad."
Both parents sighed.
"Coming, sweetie," Gree yelled back.
Luminara looked back at him with a smile. "I guess that sleep is going to have to wait a little longer."
Gree rolled his eyes humorously. "Yeah. Maybe when she's an adult, we'll be able to sleep."
Luminara laughed and took his hand. "Can't wait till then."
Gree laughed and squeezed her hand a little. The two then made their way back inside.
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Thanks for reading. Don't forget to review or pm. I also want to hear your favorite Star Wars couples. I know more than one of you have an opinion. :)
