Finally, another chapter finished! I had really bad writer's block with this one.
I'm sipping my water slowly as Fixr, Sinker, Echo, Boost, as we finish taking a break from our rather humorous activity. A lot has happened during the month since I had recovered from my injury.
Ever since Romeo gave me that warning, I had been more careful. I have learned to monitor what I say and how I say it so I don't sound flirtatious when I talk to my friends. I have also been careful not to spend too much time with them, especially alone. But, I miss spending more time with my friends, especially Fixr and Fives who remind me of elder brothers most of the time.
On the upside, by spending less time with my friends, I get to spend more time with Romeo. Looking back, it seemed that I had almost been pulling away from him before, and I have relished the chance to fix our relationship. For sometime now, Romeo and I have tended to stay in one of rooms while we are together.
We would sit close and talk, kiss, do whatever we wanted.
Unfortunately, our relationship has become quite tense despite my attempts to fix it. Romeo has become quite concerned on whether some of the men like Fixr or Fives have developed a romantic interest in me. I have tried to convince him otherwise, but it has not worked. And if I persist too long, he can become very upset. At time he will grab my arms and yell how I am acting seductive, that I am teasing them and it would only end badly. At these time I can only do my best to calm Romeo and convince him I don't mean any harm. Once he has relaxed, Romeo becomes very upset. But I always forgive him. After all, he doesn't mean to bruise me.
Talking about what happened in Christophsis has become harder too. My friends tend to be busy, and I don't want to burden them with my troubles during the fun times we spend together. I can't talk about it with Romeo either, because it tends to get him upset rather quickly. He would shake his head and say, "Why can't you let that go Jules? Trust me, it will get better if you stop bugging people about it."
So, despite the fact that I am still having nightmares regularly, I have quit talking about it so much. The ache I had felt a month ago feels like it has solidified into a little ever present core which only grows with time.
On the other side, my friends, Warthog especially, have taken a more serious view in teaching me how to fight. When we're not busy or messing around, I am being taught combat theory, hand to hand combat, and especially gunman-ship. The complexities of strategy still confound me though. And learning hand to hand combat is a slow and painful process. But at least the shooting part seems to come easier to me. While the rifles tend to be too heavy for me, I have become quite adept using a DC-17 blaster pistol. After proving my skill with one I have been allowed to carry one of my own in case I were to meet with another accident.
Another interesting fact is how Earth is joining the Galactic Republic. Three weeks ago, the 501st including Fives and the 212th among certain groups were deployed to Earth with their Jedi generals. The result was stricter laws on Earth and several trade agreements with other planets. After two weeks of unrest, the general population calmed down when they realized that crime, terrorism, and corruption had declined sharply. As a result, the 501st including Fives and the 212th were sent back to the battlefield.
But not before Fives had purchased a book with a certain play.
Which brings me back to my current situation. The 501st and 104th had just finished a difficult joint mission in taking back a planet from the Separatists and were recovering. Well, the 501st were until they were called over to Umbara. Fives just had enough time to hand me a copy of Romeo and Juliet and to jokingly tell me not to follow my namesakes example.
The play gather quite some interest from my friends likely due to the fact that Romeo and I was named after the main characters. It was quickly decided that we wanted to do out own performance just for ourselves. We even managed to rope in a clone named Echo. My guess is that everyone thought he had died considering the reaction his presence brought.
After a week, we had reassembled to act out our little play in an isolated part of the ship. Things had been going smoothly until the introduction of Juliet. Echo, who was playing Juliet, had apparently decided to take the fact that the play was a bit of a joke seriously. As a result, he came out wearing a cloak until it came time for him to act. To everyone's surprise, Echo pulled of the cloak to reveal he was wearing a dress and proceeded to deliver his lines in an astounding falsetto. After a minute of shocked silence, the room erupted in laughter. Unfortunately, Echo could not act out Juliet without people laughing too much so I was asked to play Juliet instead of Tybalt who I had been playing up until moments before.
As I lay 'dead' waiting for the play to end, I watch Romeo's face carefully. He and Wolffe had entered the room around halfway through the play, after Echo and had swapped places. Both had declined to take rolls, and Wolffe was watching with a rather strange expression on his face. I don't really care about that though as it's Romeo's expression that is concerning me. He smiling, or at least he's pretending to be smiling.
After spending so much time with men who look and sound the same, I have gotten more adept at noticing the often subtle differences in their expression which I can use to distinguish one man from another. This also made it easier for me to notice how Romeo's lips would thin when he was displeased or angry.
I have recently been checking to make sure that Romeo didn't look like that, as it always meant trouble. Right now, I can see how his lips are pressed tightly together and how one of his eyes appears to be twitching ever so slightly.
At the sight of his expression, I quickly move away from Fixr who had been playing Romeo. Before anything else can happen, General Plo enters the room and announces, "There's been bad news from the surface of Umbara. The entire group of the 501st, has disappeared. However, the location that they are capturing is vital to the war effort so the 104th will be sent to continue the siege under the command of General Krell. Everyone will head out tomorrow."
General Plo turns towards me as he says, "Unfortunately, due to complicated diplomatic reasons, both Juliet and Romeo will go to Umbara as well." I flinch slightly at the thought of being on another battlefield, but nod to show I understand as Romeo voices that he understands the situation. To be honest, I don't speak because I'm afraid my voice will betray the fear I feel if I open my mouth.
I sigh as I sit in my room. Now that I have accepted that I will be on yet another battlefield, I feel the full weight if the first bit of information I received. the 501st has disappeared. That means Fives is either a captive of the Separatists or much more likely, dead.
I feel tears prick at my eyes at the thought of losing such a good friend.
A second later, the door to my room slides open as I hear an angry voice say, "What the hell did you think you were doing out there!?" My head snaps up to look at Romeo's enraged expression as he shuts and locks the door. I flinch as I say warily, "What do you mean? Why are you so angry Romeo?" The glower on his face darkens as he says, "The play just now, you were laying all over Fixr just a minute ago!"
I blink as I say, "But that was just a play! I was only playing out the part I had been given." Romeo snorted as he said, "Yeah, 'cause no one else can play Juliet, right!?" I shake my head as I say, "No! That's not it! Echo had been playing Juliet, but everyone was laughing too much for us to continue so I took over because I've memorized all the lines. It is our play after all. I was playing Tybalt at the beginning!"
Romeo snorts as he says, "Of course you were. And I bet Fixr wanted to be Romeo so he could get close to you!" I flinch as I say softly, "That's not it Romeo, that's not it at all. And if it was, I would never have agreed to play Juliet." Romeo shook his head before he fires off, "And why were you crying just a minute ago?"
I blink and try to stutter out a reply as Romeo interrupts, "You're missing you're little boy toy, Fives, right?" I feel my mouth drop before he said, "I knew it ... At least I lost some competition then." I shake my head as I say, "No! It's not like that! Fives and I are just friends, nothing more! I lo ...!" My voice trails off as I feel a pair of hands grab my wrists and pin me to the wall violently.
Romeo's glaring face is inches from mine as he snarls, "Shut the hell up you little tramp! Don't you dare play the innocent here! I've seen the way you act and you're lucky that I still love you regardless! Any other guy would have dumped your ass weeks ago, but I'm still here so you better behave yourself!"
Within seconds, I collide violently with the ground and cry out in pain before I whimper, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Romeo's expression softens as he says, "Neither did I, but you deserved that, you here? You screw around and you get punished." I nod softly as I scramble to hug him as I whisper, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ... I, I am really really sorry ..." I continue to whisper apologies as his arms loop around my waist and he says, "I know baby, I know."
He kisses me on the head then steps away and says, "I wish I could stay, but I gotta go. I'll see you later Jules." With that, he leaves. I sigh as I look at the time and logon to the chat room. ping.
crying~silent~tears: Just saying hey to all my buddies.
ping
hitting~the~walls: Been a while, Silent
ping
drink~in~boredom: Yea, pushed me to drink
ping
so~totally~emo: You always drink boredom
ping
drink~in~boredom: It was more this time though
I smile at the conversation, nothing ever changes here. ping
crying~silent~tears: I get it, sorry everyone, I've been really busy
ping
drink~in~boredom: I don't mind, I like excuses to drink
ping
hitting~the~walls: As long as you keep coming, it's cool
ping
so~totally~emo: Ditto :)
I bite my lip gingerly as I think about the upcoming battle, I might not be back. Not that I'd tell them that. To be honest, I haven't ever told them fully what happened to me. All I've said is I've been been hired as a musical therapist. They don't know about Christophsis, about the scars, about the dreams, about how Romeo has been acting.
But with this battle coming up I have to say something. ping
crying~silent~tears: I gotta warn you, I'm gonna be really busy, it might be a long while before I can contact you guys again
ping
hitting~the~walls: We get it
ping
so~totally~emo: Gonna miss you though, Silent :'(
ping
crying~silent~tears: I'll miss you all too ... night all
I sign off quickly. I feel guilty for not telling them the full truth, but I don't want to hurt them by making them worry. A sigh slips through my lips and I briefly wonder what Wolffe would do if he was in my position. I shake the thought out of my head of all, Wolffe would never be in my position, and I doubt he would join a chat room for any reason.
He tends to avoid having conversations in general.
And second, why am I wondering what he would think about this anyway? It's not like we're friends. Although, we haven't argued that much in this past months. And the arguments we have had were all rather tame.
As I think about this I remember how his face was the one I thought of when I was falling to my death. Even now, I still don't understand why. I sigh again and lay on my bed, then wince. The arm I fell on has a nasty looking bruise on it. I trace the shape with my fingernail. To be honest, I still feel guilty about the way I've been acting even though I can't see how what I've been has been bad. As I look at the bruise I decide to wear long sleeves tomorrow. After all, I don't want my friends to misunderstand and think Romeo is some kind of terrible person.
So now the abuse has well and truly began. Also, Juliet and Wolffe continue to react to each other even if it isn't much. Makes you wonder what that look he had on his face was about. Well that's for the next chapter!
Please leave a review, cause I really enjoy them.
