Chapter 8

Beautiful

Anakin POV

"Ani? Ani? Wake up sweetie. We overslept," Padme said as she leaned over me and kissed on the cheek.

"What do you mean we overslept?" I asked. I mean after all it is a prison. It's not like we had anything to do.

"Well everyday, the guards let us outside for about two hours and I know this really great place to sneak away to. It also has an amazing view of Felucia."

I groaned. "But do they have to let us outside at six in the morning?"

Padme smiled and said," I've learned pretty quickly that it's their way of waking us up. Either get some fresh air or stay cooped up in here."

I stood up and said," Well, then let's find ourselves some clean clothes and go outside!"

30 Minutes Later

"Isn't it beautiful?" Padme asked, staring at the forests below.

"You sure are," I said dreamily, as I stroked her hair gently.

Padme laughed and said," Not me, Ani. The forests."

"Oh… I knew that."

She laughed again. It sounded so good when she laughed, like it could brighten up even the day of General Grievous.

Anyway I decided to turn away from Padme for a second and then I saw the beauty of the world below us. The forests were lush and full of colors. I could see almost all of the wildlife in the area from here.

It's so clear and peaceful up here. I don't even see one Separatist weapon from here! Wait a minute…

Captain Rex POV

Before Skywalker contacted me, I was training with my friend Cody. Cody and I have been friends ever since our first mission together when we were trapped in some underground tunnels and we had to eat rat for a meal everyday for two weeks and the only way could keep our spirits up was crack jokes about our crazy new generals. Or at least I cracked some jokes. Even back then Cody still went by the book.

Anyway, we were both practicing hand to hand combat, surrounded by our fellow clone soldiers cheering us on. Things were pretty even at that point, but I knew it was just a matter of time before Cody wore me down, as he usually did.

But things changed when something caught Cody's eye and he let his guard down. I took it as an opening and swept Cody's feet out from under him with my foot. Before he react to the situation, I had him pinned to the floor.

"Do you give up?" I asked jokingly, knowing that good ol' Cody wouldn't give up so easily. But again he surprised me.

"Okay. Yes, I give up. Now could you please get off me?" he answered, sounding distracted, yet embarrassed.

Reluctantly, I got off of him, as the rest of the clones dispersed, looking for something to watch or do.

"What was that about?" I asked Cody, helping him up.

"What was what about?" Cody asked, but not really paying attention. He was staring across the room at two black winds slashing at each other.

I realized that the black winds were actually Jedi and that the Jedi were none other than Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee.

I have to admit, they were really going at it, performing expert moves that Jedi Initiates could only hope to accomplish.

Plus, I could also see why they had caught Cody's attention. Both of them were graceful with their slashes and aerobics, but especially Barriss. Then it hit me.

"Cody, do you have a crush on Barriss?" I asked, causing Cody to start sputtering.

"Wha- what? Of- of course not! Why do you ask?" Cody asked, obviously surprised my sudden question.

"Well it's just that, she seemed to have captured your attention during our little exercise earlier," I said, causing Cody to stare opened mouthed at my statement. "Now come on Cody. I know you. I we've been friends since our first mission together, so don't try to lie to me."

"Well… um… ," he started, then looked at me and said, " It's just that she's so… beautiful!"

At the exact moment Cody said that, Barriss was thrown into a wall by her master.

Cody raced forward toward Barriss and knelt down beside her. I was right behind him and we both looked at Barriss to check for injuries.

"Barriss! Are you alright?" Cody asked, hoping that his crush was alright.

"Um… yeah… I'm alright," she said sheepishly, as if she had overheard Cody and I's conversation.

"Barriss! What happened? You were doing so well," Master Unduli said, her tone of voice expressing concern and… disappointment?

"Um… I guess I lost focus there for a moment. But my foot really hurts now," Barriss said, staring at Cody as if he had just grown another eye.

Did Barriss overhear Cody calling her beautiful? Oh crap! I forgot that Mirialans have that almost superhuman sense of hearing! But how come Unduli didn't hear us? Maybe she wasn't listening closely enough… but was she even listening at all? But if she wasn't listening then why was Barriss?

"Rex!" Master Unduli's voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts. "Can you and Cody please take Barriss to the Medical center? I have an incoming transmission from the Council."

"Oh! Sure thing, General," I said politely, even as Cody started shaking his head ever so subtle.

"Thank you," she said, as she walked off toward the bridge.

"Come on Barriss," I said slinging her arm over my shoulder. I signaled to Cody to do the same thing. He reluctantly put her arm around his neck. I swear I saw Barriss blush when he did this.

Cody and I helped Barriss over to the Medical center on board the ship and laid her down on one of the beds. Right now there weren't any clones in the Med, so it was easy to find a droid that wasn't busy doing something.

The droid did some tests on Barriss and we got the results back a few minutes later.

"I broke my foot!" Barriss yelled, obviously surprised considering the fact that she hadn't hit the wall very hard.

"Yes, well when you hit the wall, your foot was probably already in danger of shattering and that incident probably did you in," the droid explained then left the room.

"This can't be happening. I'm usually the one who heals people when they get hurt, but it looks like I'm going to need someone else to heal me this time." Barriss nearly started crying, just thinking of it.

"Don't worry Barriss. We'll just rub some bacta on the foot and you'll be good as new in a few days," Cody said reassuringly and put his arm around her shoulder. I looked at Cody, wondering where he had gotten this courage as he was acting shy in the training room.

"No it's not that," Barriss said and sort of leaned her head into Cody's shoulder. "It's about the fact that my master broke it. I mean I probably put some wear and tear on it but my master did me in. Now she'll never live this down and go hard on me again. It took me months just to get her to go this hard on me."

"Don't worry, Barriss. Your master doesn't have to find out about her being the one that broke it," Cody reassured. This made me look to him in shock. He was usually followed the rules. Now here he was promising that he wouldn't tell a Jedi Master about her Padawan's injury.

"Really?" Barriss asked.

"Yeah, but we'll need to come up with another excuse as to why your foot is broken," Cody concluded.

I was about to argue this, when my comlink went off. I looked at Cody and Barriss and said," I have to take this."

I went outside and activated it and heard General Skywalker's voice. "Hey, Rex. It seems as though I've managed to find the perfect place to pick up the hostages."

"I'm listening."