Author's Note: Yes, I'm bringing in a new character. And JediKnightEcho is officially a genius. New romance! Kix X Grace! They're both doctors, in a sense, so this'll be fun. I didn't think of the Kix X Grace, but it's a way better idea then what I was thinking of. And it's more plausible.

Separatists didn't attack Abridon, but I needed a planet, and Abridon had a shipyard, so I thought, why not have the seppies try and take out a shipyard?

Both Kaitlyn and Grace belong to me.

5/25/12-Rewrite, reformat, rewrite. And yes, the first two-thrirds are rewritten. I want to upload it already. but I will update the later parts. I'm doing this at school anyways

Kaitlyn's POV

I had been with the 501st for almost a week now. I bit a piece of chocolate thoughtfully, and smiled. Anakin had given me some chocolate to shut me up, as promised. And I had gotten a very nice vanilla-like cake, when we first stopped on Abridon. Between me, Fives, Echo, Rex, Waxer, Boil and Cody, it was gone very fast. Ashoka complained about never getting a piece, calling us hogs.

And tomorrow is Christmas Day! I can't wait. Waxer and Boil had convinced the Jedi to let them get mistletoe. I avoided it as much as I could, but Ashoka and me did get kissed. And we did kiss the clones, too. And Artoo. We never, ever kissed the Generals though. Just the clones. Needless to say, morale was running high in the 501st and 212th. I smiled. Who would have thought the clones were such good kissers? Not me, but I was new here anyway. At first, I had regretted talking about the mistletoe, but now I wasn't sure.

I remembered catching Fives under the mistletoe. He was talking to Echo, and they were both clearly oblivious to the mistletoe hanging above their heads. Wooley, who was walking by, had snickered, causing Fives and Echo to frown at him in confusion. He just laughed harder, and walked around the corner. Echo rolled his eyes, and then saw the mistletoe, shifting smoothly out away from it. And then he saw me, and his eyes flickered to Fives, who was still oblivious. I smirked, walked up, and stood on my tippy-toes and kissed Fives. I took a step backwards, cracking up at Fives' surprised face, and pointed up. Realization crossed his face, and he sighed, quickly moving out from under the danger zone.

Suddenly, a weird sensation rocked in my gut, jolting me out of Memory Lane. I bent over, gasping, and saw one of Ashoka's legs buckle. Anakin and Obi-wan staggered. The clones all stared at us in confusion, before all worriedly asking if were all right.

I cursed, "What in bloody hell was that! I didn't have that much chocolate." I didn't, or at least not enough to make myself sick. And even if I did, it shouldn't have affected the Jedi.

Ashoka looked at the Generals and asked, "Master, do you have any idea what that was?"

Obi-wan closed his eyes, concentrated, and then spoke, "Two clicks north. There's something new here that wasn't here before. Something benevolent though, thank goodness. We don't need another Grievous. Let's go."

Helpful. I straightened up, and trotted north, following General Skywalker. The clones all looked at each other, but followed.

Grace's POV

I stared around the crater. Where am I? This is a fabulous Christmas present. Waking up with no clue where you are. Around the crater, I saw green grass, and the dirt I was sitting on was reddish like clay. Where in the world am I? I heard footsteps, quick and heavy. People in white armor spread around the crater. They carried weapons, so I figured military. Some had blue or yellow designs painted on their armor. They stared at me, or at least I assumed they did, because the T-shaped black visors never wavered. I could hear arguing, and one of them spoke in a louder tone, "Get the Generals!" What the heck is going on?

"Who are you? When did you get here?" One with orange markings and a visor on his helmet growled at me. Authority radiated from his figure, and though he almost appeared smaller than the man next to him, in blue, with a... pauldron. I think that's the term. He also wore a skirt, but it all made him appear bigger, and fiercer.

"Sir, with all due respect, I found Kaitlyn in a crater like this one, except Kaitlyn was unconscious." Another spoke up, this time with blue markings.

"Kaitlyn?" I broke in, recognizing my friend's name. "But she's dead. Or at least, the Marines told we she was dead. Funeral, 21 gun salute, the folded flag. But she's here? So when they told us she was dead they were lying?" My head spun. She's alive? Okay, maybe this is a good Christmas.

I heard a female voice break in, just as sarcastic as I remembered, although it was hoarse, like she'd been unable to speask, "Nope, not dead. But I wouldn't have blamed anyone if they thought I was dead. Several times I thought I was dead, too. But I was just captured. Anyways, you're a doctor, you know what a pulse is," Kaitlyn said, hopping down into the small shallow crater. She held her arm out to me, and said, "There's a pulse, if you were wondering."

I squealed and tackled her in a hug. Kaitlyn grinned, and hugged me back. I pulled back, and nodded at the men, "Of course you would find yourself with soldiers."

"Of course. And, you should know that before we get to the ship, there's mistletoe hung in it." She leaned closer and whispered in my ear, "The clones are quite good kissers, by the way."

I doubled over laughing, it was good to see Kaitlyn again. Although many things had happened back home while she was gone, and I sobered quickly, and said quietly, "Your brother… Well, his daughter was stillborn."

Kaitlyn smiled disappeared, and she sat down, her legs folding under her as if they had given out, in a move that seemd like she was used to it. A pang shot through my heart; I hated to be the bearer of bad news.

The men moved forwards, as if they were worried, and a pang of nostalgia shot through me. Back when we were younger, Kaitlyn had always been able to rally others, because of her confidence and 'charisma', which was really unflinching realism and sarcasm. I shoved down a pang of jealousy. For all her abilities, Kailtyn could never fit in with any others, and she was prone to overconfidence, and moodiness, and since her break-up, she was liable to blank out under the assault of memories she tried so hard to repress.

She shuddered, and said, "I should be there. Alex has lost me, and now his daughter. My niece. It's not fair! And what about my stepmom, and my dad, and Lindsey, and Anna, alex's wife? I should be home. It's Christmas Eve. I should be with family."

"Something tells me you're already with family," I said, giving her a comforting nudge.

"You always did know what to say," she replied, giving me a grateful smile. She continued, "Back to business. You're a doctor. We have injured and wounded, and once you learn their medical tech, we'll need your help. I won't let you be a battlefield medic, but you can help by healing the clones that have injuries when they come back to the Resolute." I nodded. Realism and Practicality do go hand in hand, and Katie has both. I again shoved down my rebellious thoughts. I was just as goos as Kaitlyn, if not better-I healed, while she tore apart families as a warrior. I tossed my head in agitation, a sign that only Kaitlyn would have caught and her eyes narrowed, the hazel eyes flashing unreadably. I had gotten used to not living in her shadow anymore, and now I was resentful to be back with her, even though I was glad to see her.

"Of course! I love helping people, and maybe I can actually get you to accept medical aid." Maybe, just maybe, wherever we were, Doctors were more valued. It sounded like I'd almost be on the front lines. The gleam in Kaitlyn's eyes showed that we had to be close, and she hifted with anticipation. I smiled slightly, remembering when we moved to a new school and the bullies had made the mistake of picking on her. She had been shifting like that just before one first swung at her.

"If you did, I'm pretty sure all the medics would practically worship you." A sliver of guilt hung in her voice, and I shook my head.

"How badly have you terrorized them?" If she's up to her old antics...

Kaitlyn glanced at me, guilt spreading all over her face, a flush rising to her cheeks. I smacked her shoulder. "Don't terrorize medics! Or I'll have some not-nice things to say to you." I knew I couldn't really hurt her, but force was one thing Kaitlyn understood very well. She, however, lacked diplomacy.

Kaitlyn rubbed her shoulder, "Fine, I'll listen to the medics and not traumatize them."

We walked towards the men, who I thought were very intimidating, what with their silence and armor, and helmets. Four of them walked up to Kaitlyn, and pulled off their helmets. My eyes widened. They all share the same face. Why?

"They're clones," Kaitlyn said, chuckling, she greeted the first three happily, "Hey Fives, Hey Rex, Hey Cody. Kix." She gave a chilly nod to the last one, who watching her warily.

"You a medic?" My mouth twitched and I sighed, eyeing Katie, who returned my gaze with the look of a child who had gotten into a fight with their little sibling and was being chastised.

He looked at me sharply, "How did you know?"

I elbowed Kaitlyn, "She always traumatizes them, won't listen, and hates accepting medical aid. And she's never been the nicest to anyone who knows anything about healing" I poked her, "Remember when you sprained your ankle. You wouldn't even lean on me, and wouldn't stay off it, which incidentally is why it took six weeks to heal."

"I was fine, and I get along fine with you, doc." She snapped. Kix rolled his eyes.

I smacked her in the shoulder again, harder.

"Maybe I wasn't. I'll listen next time, I promise. But stop being so critical!" She hissed the last part, and I recoiled, then straightened and glared at her. I knew I was critical, but Kaitlyn would get herself in a lot of trouble if no one would talk any sense into her!

"Only because you know you can't get past me. I know all your tricks by now, Katie." I did. Katie was very prone to injury, especially since she never listened.

She swore, and said, "Kix, take Grace back to the Resolute. She won't bite another medic, I promise. She's a doctor, and a good one, from back home. Just teach her you guy's medical tech."

"You need to clean up your mouth Katie. You swear like a sailor," I admonished her, then mentally smacked my forehead. Again with the criticism, Grace?

"I spent a week on a Navy Destroyer, Mom. I was around plenty of sailors. Would that explain it," she retorted sarcastically. She wasn't reacting well, but her eyes gleamed playfully,and I realised she was baiting me as much as I was baiting her. I smiled; the bickering was familiar, and I had missed it. Nice, old-fashioned arguing.

"Yes, it would. And I'm not your mother."

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes, "Kix, get her out of here. We'll destroy the droid infantry, and we'll meet you back at the Resolute."

He nodded, and started to walk off, and Kaitlyn shoved me towards him, snorting quietly with mirth. I rolled my eyes, and followed.

~Time Lapse~ Grace POV

I followed Kix up the ramp to the ship. It's huge! I sped up, so I could stay near him. He had a long stride and walked quickly. "Hey Kix, can you slow down a bit? I'm not military, like Katie is."

He nodded, an amused smile finding it's way onto his face. His honey-colored eyes watched carefully, and then he frowned, "You're limping."

"It's an old injury, from when I was a kid. When I'm stressed out, I start limping. Or when I'm tired. Or confused, or mad. Or—,"

Kix cut me off, smirking, "Okay, I get it! Any negative feelings and you start limping." He frowned, and looked thoughtful for a second. "Why do you call Kaitlyn Katie?"

"Childhood nickname. We've been friends for a very long time. I'm very glad to see she's alive. Everyone was upset when we heard she was killed. Katie had the kindest heart, but she was fiercer than a grizzly when it came to protecting people."

"What's a grizzly?"

"A big brown furry predatory animal. Really long claws; fast, really strong, big sharp teeth. And a basic rule when dealing with them is never get in between a mama grizzly and her cubs. You'd be dead before you hit the ground. I've dealt with people who were attacked by grizzlies. Not fun to heal."

Kix nodded. We walked down the hall. I saw mistletoe hung above one door. Kix caught me looking, and grinned, chuckling.

A clone walked by, his armor decorated with thin blue lines, and looked at us. "You two going to medbay?" He had an evil gleam in his light brown eyes that reminded me of Alex, Kaityln's little brother, when he was about to do something that would get him in trouble but be completely worth it.

Kix nodded, and the other clone broke into a run, grabbed the mistletoe, and ran back in the direction of the medbay. Kix froze in shock and anger, and muttered something about idiot designers and one entrance to the medbay, before yelling, "Hardcase, stop! It's not funny!"

I heard another yell, "Yes, it actually is!" Laughter echoed down the meatl halls, along with the fading footsteps. Yep, he's an 'Alex'.

We walked around the corner, and saw Hardcase hanging the mistletoe above the medbay door. He grinned at us, and I crossed my arms.

"Kaitlyn was the one who mentioned the mistletoe in the first place, right," I whispered, looking up at the tatooed medic.

"Right." He gave a stiff nod, eyeing the other clone with a gleam in his eyes, and with a sinking feeling I realised there was a possibility they all had the same sadistic sense of humor as Kaitlyn, Alex, and the rest of her family. Lord, give me strength, and a ver very very large amount of patience.

"I'm going to kill her."

Hardcase smiled, and said, "Too bad there's only the one entrance."

I muttered something derogatory about army men.

Kix growled, "Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod?"

We stood right outside the medbay, glaring at Hardcase. He remained infuriatingly unfazed.

Kix frowned, rolled eyes, and then leaned down towards me, his lips softly brushed my lips and then he kissed me. He then stood up straight and glared at Hardcase.

"Now can we get through?"

"Of course."

Kix walked past him, and I hurriedly followed, if somewhat in a daze. Kaitlyn was right. The clones are good kissers. He flicked on the lights. I looked around, and muttered, "God, you guys are so much more advanced."

He smiled, and his eyes flicked towards me, then back to the ground.

Aww. He's embarrassed. The clones are so not like the idiots back home. I think I'm going to enjoy being here.

Kix POV

I kissed her. Kaitlyn was probably going to kill me. And then hopefully Hardcase. The di'kutla shabuir. See if I treat him first for injuries next time.

"Kaysh mirsh solus," I muttered to myself angrily. I'm going to kill Hardcase. He did the stupidest things.

"What did you say," Grace's soft voice broke into my thoughts. I looked at the small blue-eyed blonde. She was small, but she seemed tough. In a different way from Kaitlyn, the-terror-on-two-legs, but in her own way.

"Oh. Kaysh mirsh solus. It means 'his brain cell's lonely' in Mando'a." I looked down, embarrassed that she caught what I said. I had a slight headache from dealing with Hardcase.

She snorted, and said, "That seems like the truth. And relax Kix, Kaitlyn hung up mistletoe in Fort Hood. That was pure chaos. She's done stuff like this before, so don't worry about kissing me because of mistletoe."

"She's crazy." I then added as an afterthought, "And scary. And tough. I've never seen someone get up that fast from injuries like her's."

"How badly was she injured?"

Grace POV (Yes I'm switching again)

"Had a couple knife cuts, and there was burns around them. They'll scar once they fully heal. And she was badly bruised. Rib was cracked, but there's nothing I can really do since it's only a crack. It'll heal, and Skywalker wasn't planning on sending her on a mission. And I won't be able to get her back here unless…" A smile crept onto his face, "Unless she's unconscious." His eyes glittered with mirth. "This'll be fun." He sat down onto one of the hospital beds.

"I could just talk to her. She won't say no to me. When I get to know the other clones well enough, they won't either." Poor Kaitlyn. That's a lot of injuries.

"That would be good. Neither Captain Rex nor Commander Cody will accept medical help unless they're unconscious or it affects their aim. And most of us just hate being here."

"I don't blame them. It's so….bare. There's nothing, like no decoration or anything! Jeesh. At least let them watch sports or something while they heal. That's what we do back home." I know I would hate being stuck here. Kaitlyn must have loathed it. And poor Kix must had to deal with her like that…. Poor man.

"Hmm. Good idea. And I have a question. Kaitlyn acts like she's running away from something. When she thinks no one is looking, she drops a smile and her eyes look haunted. So what is she running from?" Kix looked at me thoughtfully, and continued, "Do you know?"

"Her past. Her fears. And until I got here, she knew no one here, and even though I'm here now, I can't watch her back."

"So what is her greatest fear?"

"Being alone. Not alone like no one around. Alone like no one cares. No one to watch her back. No one making sure she's okay. That's why she hates hospitals. They leave her alone, many times they didn't answer questions, and she feels alone. She's also afraid of dying alone. She's not afraid of death. But when she takes her final breath, she is terrified of the thought of no one being there to care, or tell her it'll be okay, or that they'd miss her, or remember her. And after that, one of her greatest fears is not being remembered."

"Everyone dies alone. No one can accompany them into the inky darkness that claims too many of my brother's while I watch."

"She knows that. She fights the fear of ghosts from her past, too. She sees them, I think. She never forgot a single Marine who lived or fought and died around her. Ever. That's why she blames herself. She constantly asks herself if she made the right decision." I frowned at him, and asked, "You have a headache?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Even when Katie's not around, she gives everyone headaches."

He burst into laughter, doubling over with mirth. I sat down onto the hospital bed next to him. His laughter subsided into chuckles, and then he fell silent, but smiling. He looked at me, "True, true. But there's really nothing I can do for headaches."

I pulled my legs underneath me, and leaned over, "Relax, I'm not going to bite. Where's the headache?"

He tensed as I leaned closer, but he pointed to a spot a little to the right of his ear, almost next to his temple.

I reached forward and rubbed it in a circle. He stiffened, but relaxed, and leaned into my hand. I chuckled.

He groaned, "Force, that feels good."

I just smiled.

I heard a cough, and I jumped, just about falling over onto Kix. Kaitlyn was looking at us, gleefully. Suddenly I realized how close I was to Kix, and the way he was leaning into me, and how I was leaning closer to him. My eyes met Kix's and we both flushed. I scooted back, awkwardly, and he coughed.

"You two are so cute. Wish I had a camera," Katie teased.

I glared at her, "Why are you here anyway?"

"We have injured. No deaths, but some injuries. It was easy fight. They didn't see us coming. Anyways, get ready."

Kaitlyn POV

Aww… They're so cute. And awkward. The sight of the two of them so close, and Grace helping with Kix's headache, that yeah, probably was caused by me, helped me forget what Grace had told me in the clearing. Almost.

I had no niece. Not anymore. Not that I would have been able to see her anyway. It was hard. I had thought that for a moment, Alex's life would have gone on. And now Kaitlyn II was gone, too. I could only imagine what my little brother was going through.

Life sucks.

I heard footsteps behind we, and saw Fives and Echo supporting another clone to the medbay. I pushed a button next to the door and it slid open. They gave me a grateful look and I followed. As we entered the main medbay wing, I saw a couple other clones that had been injured in the battle. Guilt ran through me. I hadn't even noticed them go by me into the medbay. Fives and Echo helped the clone onto a medbay bed, and I looked at him.

He was gritting his teeth, and bad scars ran through one of his eyes and into his bodysuit. He noticed me looking at his scars and glared at me defensively.

"I've seen scars before, trooper. They don't bother me none. What's your name?"

"Chopper," He answered tersely.

"Okay, Chopper, where and how were you injured?"

"Left calf, shrapnel."

I walked to the other side of the bed, and looked at the injury. I nodded at him, and said, "That's shrapnel? This is some good armor." I rapped my knuckles against the armor on his arm and continued, "Wish we had it back home. I've seen too many good soldiers felled by shrapnel wounds, or permanently injured. I've been hit with it myself." I rolled back my sleeve, showing Chopper the small scars that peppered my right arm.

Grace and Kix showed up by my side, and Kix said quietly, "Okay Choppper, you're the last."

Kix leaned over and took the armor off Chopper's leg, and Grace watched attentively. He looked at her and asked, "Grace, you're steadier than me. Think you can get that shrapnel out?"

" 'Course." She leaned over with a pair of tweezers, and putting a calming hand on leg, just above his knee, she gently worked out the shard of metal. She pulled out two more, and said, "That's the only pieces I saw, but Kix, have a look and see if I missed anything."

He nodded and looked at the wound. He grinned at her, and gave her the thumbs up. "Got it all."

Grace grinned, and said, "Great."

I exchanged an amused glance with Chopper and Fives and Echo both looked at me. I tapped Kix and Grace on the shoulders, and said, "You two lovebirds go tell Rex and Cody you took care of all the injuries. I think they'd want to know."

Kix choked, and Grace coughed, turning bright red. She squeaked, "Kaitlyn Marie Winter!"

I just grinned at them, and said, "Go on. Rex and Cody will be pissed if you keep them waiting."

Kix stormed out, and Grace followed, glaring at me over her shoulder.

Fives broke into laughter, and looked at us, "He's a goner. And they didn't deny it!"

We all chuckled. "I haven't seen her act like that since school when we were assigned the people we would have to work with for biology. She got to work with a guy she had a crush on." I snorted, "This is the same thing all over again."

The other clones in medbay looked at us with curiosity in their eyes. I saw one raise his eyebrows, and suddenly I realized it was Boil. He looked so different with out his armor. I trotted over, and teased, "What did you do to yourself, Boil?"

"Stupid clanker shot me." He pointed to his stomach. His shirt was off, and he was just wearing hospital pants. He was seriously ripped, and had a six-pack and everything. If I was a hormonal teenage girl from home, I probably would have been squeaking and stuttering and blushing. There were bandages over it, and he grimaced. "I'll be okay."

"Kix is a good medic. Grace will be, too. I don't really know the other's so I can't judge." I looked around, and sat down on the foot of his bed, sitting with my legs crossed. He raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged. Fives walked over, and nodded at Boil.

I missed the look Fives gave Boil, filled with jealousy.

Author's Note: I think the intro of the new character went rather well. Since I don't want Kaitlyn falling for Fives in a couple of days, because it's not in her personality, I made Grace and Kix awkward around each other already. Grace is meant to be sort of a foil for Kaitlyn. If you don't know, a foil is a character that seems to be the opposite of another character.

Reviews please! Next one is about Christmas Day in Star Wars!

And yes, I did call Kaitlyn the-terror-on-two-legs. It was in Kix's Point Of View.

Again, review please! I need to know what you think of Grace.