"More Than Just A Clone"

Chapter Ten

"Tell me again what you sensed?" Bly asked, as they made their way through the heavily wooded area.

Aayla frowned, studying Bly as he walked ahead of her. He was moving quickly, despite having a stiff-legged limp. But, she could tell from the way he held his body that he was still in a lot of pain. She was wondering if she should have insisted that he remain back in the ship.

"I sensed a presence. Maybe more than one."

"And, what kind of presence was it exactly?"

"I think it possibly could have been a force user, but it was hard to tell. It was obvious they were trying to mask their presence. So, I can't be sure."

"So, we may, or may not, be looking for one, or not one, or more, Force users who may, or may not, be here?" Bly clarified, with a note of sarcasm in his voice.

"Yes," Aayla said, "look Bly, you asked me to use my Jedi senses. I did. I'm sorry it's not an exact science. But, it is what it is."

Bly stopped, and put a hand on Aayla's arm, "I'm sorry, Aayla. I meant no disrespect."

"I know. I'm sorry I can't be more precise. I hope we find what it is you're looking for here, Bly."

Bly took a deep breath, and let it out again. He looked around at the seemingly endless forest around them, "There's not much here, is there?"

Aayla put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Appearances can be very deceiving. Take heart. We may yet find what you're looking for here."

"Yeah," Bly said, starting to walk again, "thanks for coming with me to Mandalore. I know it probably wasn't high on your places you wanted to visit one day when you retired from the Jedi Order."

Aayla looked at him curiously, "You thought I would retire from the order one day?"

Bly shrugged, using his one good shoulder, "I have no idea what old Jedi do. But, sometimes I just figured one day you might get tired of what you were doing and decide to leave."

He looked down, suddenly uncharacteristically bashful.

"Leave, and then take up with a certain Commander than I had fallen madly in love with during the Clone Wars?" Aayla asked, sounding both pleased, and playful at the same time.

"Something like that," Bly mumbled.

"So, you fantasized about having a future with me?" Aayla clarified.

"Not a big deal," Bly murmured, now clearly embarrassed about the whole thing.

"So, you didn't just fantasize about having sex with me?" Aayla clarified.

"Why does it matter?" Bly asked, confused about the turn the conversation had taken.

Aayla stopped walking, "Take off your helmet."

Bly stopped, and fumbled with the release, with his one hand, his left hand. He grumbled under his breath with frustration. Aayla reached over to help him. Once she got his helmet off, she could see in his eyes how frustrated he was that he still couldn't do these tasks for himself. It always instantly plagued her with guilt, because she knew he'd lost use of his arm because of her.

Bly was looking at her expectantly, "Well, my helmet's off. Now what?"

Aayla pulled her thoughts away from her guilt about his arm. She grabbed Bly's face between both her hands, and gave him a long, scorching, passionate kiss.

When they stopped for air, Bly muttered: "If we don't stop now, we are going to end up making love right here in this spot in the woods."

He turned his head and began looking around. His eyes lit up as he looked at a nearby tree.

"No, Bly," Aayla said, laughing, "although I do appreciate your creativity. Another time perhaps, OK?"

"Then, what was that kiss for?" Bly asked, confused, and also, obviously a bit frustrated. He glanced over, longingly at the tree again, as if hoping Aayla would change her mind. Aayla put her hand on the back of his head and directed his attention back to her.

"That kiss was for imagining a future where we were together."

"You kissed me because I used to think about us growing old together?" Bly asked, confused, "growing old together is a turn on?"

Aayla nodded happily.

Bly shook his head in wonderment, "I have so much to learn."

Aayla laughed, gave him one last quick kiss, and then replaced his helmet on his head. She also gave his tree a quick, playful glance, telling the tree: "Another time, perhaps."

Bly looked back at her, startled, and laughed.

They continued walking on.

#

Two hours later, they were still exploring the area.

"Oh, look, more trees," Bly said, sarcastically, as they made their way up a rocky slope, and caught a glimpse of what was on the other side.

"Are you holding up OK?" Aayla asked, looking Bly over with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Bly said, quickly, trying to keep his tone as natural sounding as possible. Truth was, his injured leg ached fiercely and felt in danger of giving out. He wished he had a walking stick, or something similar, to take some of the weight off his leg. But, he didn't want to admit to Aayla that he was hurting, so he couldn't admit that he needed a support. His arm hurt a lot worse now that it wasn't in the sling anymore, and his chest armor was rubbing up against the still healing wound in his side. But, he wasn't about to admit any of that. If he did, he was sure Aayla would tell him he should have remained in the ship. He gritted his teeth and focused on planting one leg in front of the other. He kept reminding himself that it was his idea to come to Mandalore. Granted, they were checking out this particular area because Aayla had sensed a Jedi presence. But, Bly had no ideas about where else to set down, so it was as good a place to start as any.

"Maybe we should call it a day, and head back to the ship," Aayla said.

"We've only been out here three hours, Aayla," Bly protested, "in the Army, we usually did three hours of work before breakfast."

"You're exaggerating, because I for one, know that most clones are terribly grumpy if they don't get to eat first thing in the morning. I've seen it first hand," Bly opened his mouth to protest, but Aayla cut him off, "I lived alongside you for three years. I noticed all these little things. And, you're a free man now, Bly, Army rules don't apply."

Bly shook his head, "That is still such a weird idea."

Aayla nodded her head in agreement, "I think it will take both of us sometime to adjust to all these changes."

"OK, then, just a little longer before we head back then. If we don't find anything in another hour, then we'll head back, OK?"

Aayla nodded, still looking over at Bly with concern. She was still tuned in to his pain signals, and could feel that he was struggling. Why wouldn't he admit it? Why did he have to push himself like this? They continued on.