"It's all right, vode," the voice said. "Come on out, you don't have to be alone..."

"He's not alone now," another voice cut in. A feminine voice.

And, as he turned, he realized it was a feminine voice with a blaster.

Ordo's jaw reset itself. Mereel could barely restrain the urge to roll his eyes. And Jusik's response only exacerbated those reactions.

"Sister. Be at peace, you have nothing to fear from us."

One snorted out a laugh as Rar let her head fall back and grinned that grin he'd come to love so much.

"I'm not your sister, jedi. And I am not afraid."

"That's my girl," the renegade clone smirked. He showed two empty hands to the plain-clothes trooper closest to him in a false display of innocence. Then all hell broke loose as he quickly slugged the other man while ripping the blaster out of his hands. He smashed the butt of the gun into his face with a snarl.

"Come into my home, will you?" he grunted as he turned the weapon on the remaining two. Rar had already stuck the muzzle of her own side arm in the jedi's face and had pulled her holdout blaster on the clone's partner. "Answers, please," he demanded.

Ordo glanced at Mereel, lying prone on the ground.

"Please," One groaned. "He's not dead. Yet. He's out cold. Tell me why we're all still standing here or I'll fix that."

Jusik gestured to Ordo and sent soothing waves of calm over the force connection.

"I am calm," Rar suggested. "One's pretty calm. I guess. Especially considering that he was minding his own business and we have small children napping upstairs."

"You have children?" Jusik asked.

"I do," she said in her most patient tones. "And you're lucky, you and your brothers, that his protective instinct was outweighed by his curiosity. Else you'd have all been dead the moment you set foot on our property."

"I hadn't heard that you left the order."

She shook her head. "No, indeed. For you left long before I did. I would guess that the Empire records my death on the night Order 66 was issued. Least, it was night where we were. Now, an answer for my husband. Why have you come here and what are you doing in our home?"

One shook his head at Ordo. "This one's Sergeant Skirata's pet. Which probably makes the napping clone one of his Nulls."

"You're calling yourself One?" Ordo asked.

One mocked a half-bow. "CT-zero-zero-zero-one, at your service. Jango's best and brightest, no further mutation necessary, thank you."

"He's Ulohu One now," Rar corrected.

"How did you end up here?" Jusik asked.

"Transport," Rar shot back. Her arms were beginning to tire. And she was wary of this game with no good end.

"How did you find me?" One asked.

"We were looking for someone else. A scientist who specializes in genetic mutation. There were records of research on decelerating aging and Jaing tracked another worm in the good doctor's system."

Rar clicked her cheek. "That would be it, then. And did you ascertain that Dr. Havina is a quack?"

"We did. But we also keep check on who else is interested in the data we want. Just in case. We tracked it back to you."

"And recognized One?"

Ordo shrugged. "I walked past him twice. Without realizing that I was looking at another clone. He's out of context as we thought we sought a servant of the Emperor. It was Fi who caught the resemblance when he reviewed footage of our surveillance." He turned to the clone. "Our father, Kal Skirata, is compiling everything about anti-aging he can get his hands on. We'll get you your lifespan back, vode."

One lifted one lip. "I have a life I'm happy with, actually. There's another doctor here-an herbologist. She thinks I have a rare genetic mutation. She has no clue it was purposefully embedded in my DNA. She's treating me with various supplements and inhibitors. Works wonders. I actually feel full after a meal-and stay that way for hours and hours. That alone is worth my cred."

Rar smiled at him. He met her eye and winked.

"So...questions answered, what now?" His foot came down on Mereel's neck as the other man started to groan and writhe where he lay.

"Home to Mandalore for us," Jusik responded. "Although I'd love to have the herbalist's information."

One shook his head. "You'll not remove me from yet another home. It's been a long road to get here. The good doctor's competent and kind, but backwards in the use of tech. No records, no 'pad. Just her greenhouse and small lab. She stays here with me. And just in case it's hereditary-"

"It's not," Ordo told him. "It isn't passed to the next generation."

Mereel was watching the man's face from his vantage place on the floor. He felt the tremor in the other's body and saw the relief flood over his expression. Jusik, too, felt the waves of shock and joy and comfort in the force from both beings.

"Brindar, my love," One said thickly.

She smiled at him. "I told you," she whispered. "I told you it would be fine. Babies are miracles. Always."

He nodded, then stepped back to free the man beneath his boot. "Go," he whispered. "Good luck, but go. I have a life here. A good one. A family. Friends. A job I enjoy. I won't go back. And I'm not adverse to killing to get my way."

"If you need us-" Jusik began.

Rar shook her head. "You misunderstand, Master. This is our decision. This world, this life. If we only have a few years together we'll spend it as we would."

A small sound came from above. Jusik glanced up as a toddler came to the top of the stairs.

"Da? Mama?"

Rar smiled up at a sleepy {}, clad only in shorts and an undershirt. She felt the child within her move and realized how perfect was her life.

"I'll be right up, Ika," One called. "Let me say goodbye to Mama's friends."

Jusik swallowed harshly. "Your son, he has no force echoes?"
Rar shook her head. "It is a great relief to me to know that no one will hunt my children based on their midichlorian counts. Jedi, it seems, cannot be bred. And grateful I am for the line to die out in me. My children are Ones, natives of [] who emigrated here with the rest of the population. That is all and that is enough. We are content."

"I'm tired of sleeping," the voice whined from above.

Brindar rolled her eyes, but One smiled indulgently. "Have you these brothers in hand, my love?" he asked her. Brindar nodded and he turned, nodding curtly, before jogging up the stairs. His deep, rolling voice came down full of love and contentment and the little boy's giggle was a balm to the souls of those who watched.

"He is happy," Jusik noted.

"We all are."

"What will you do now?"

"What we've done for a long time. Keep ourselves and our family and prepare for the future. Live, Bardan Jusick. We'll live. The jedi were wrong, although I doubt that the emperor had the truth in what happened that night. But attachment does not lessen one's abilities. It simply makes all those moments worthwhile."

Ordo reached out a hand beseechingly. "I have a wife. We'd like children. I have brothers who already have them. My father watches us age and it hurts him—badly. I'd very much like to be able to find a cure or a deterrent at least. The world owes us that much."

"The world owes you nothing, clone. I am grateful to the masterminds who foresaw a need for an army and thus shaped one to their liking. Else I would still be on my own, alone and separate, part of an ancient culture who bred children to detachment. My life's desire is to spend every moment I have with One, soaking up his essence. Our children are young. And the healer's medicine will hopefully keep him around long enough for them to develop full memories of him. I want him to hold a grandchild someday and rock the next generation to sleep, even as he rocks his own children. But every moment of our lives is a gift from the same evil that destroyed the temple. How can I ask him to regret that? How can I curse the fates that came together to bring us here?"

Ordo's face showed his inner turmoil.

"Peace, sister," Jusik said again. "We'll leave you. But I beg this, do you have listings of what herbs and treatments this healer uses on your husband? That we may take the information back to our own scientists and share the knowledge. Even just slowing their metabolism so that they enjoy meals for taste and texture and time together would change their lives significantly."

Rar's lips pulled into a flat line. She visibly considered the request before nodding once and moving to a doorway nearby. There she scanned a series of jars and pots with her 'pad before gesturing to the former jedi. He gave her his contact and she transmitted the data.

"If you need anything-"

"We won't."

"But if you do," he insisted.

She smiled. "I have your numbers. If she makes a breakthrough I'll let you know. Otherwise leave us alone. Please."

Mereel nodded and extended his hand. "Thank you. Tell One thank you."
"Fine," she agreed. Her grip was cool and calm. Remote.