A continuation of the welfare of our team. There may be some Alick/Aella fluff here, just because that story is close to wrapping up (sorry if it gets too dramatic).

Ri'van walked down the dusty halls, tail scraping against the dirt floors. He hated his job. He was forced to feed and water the prisoners every so often, and the amount of blood in the cell made him sick—of course, he wasn't allowed to say that. If his clan members were to find out that he would rather be a pacifist than resort to violence every chance he got, then he would be kicked out—and he knew that there was nowhere for someone like him in the galaxy where he would be hospitably accepted. Ri'van pushed a clawed hand against the door, forcing it against the rusty hinges as he stepped inside. It was cold—too cold. Staying in the cell for long was detrimental to a cold-blooded species such as himself, so he had no clue how the others could stand to be in that room for long.

As the door opened, a few of the prisoners pressed their faces against the bloody wall out of instinct. Ri'van felt a pang of guilt for them as he stepped toward the pale-haired human male in the center. "I have water," he said, hating how young his voice sounded.

The male ignored him, instead keeping his face firmly set against the wall. His back and shoulder muscles visibly tensed.

Ri'van sighed. This isn't even the first time I'm coming in here, and they still don't trust me, he thought. He looked at the rusty bucket of barely palatable water, with its muddy color and taste. If they want to keep the prisoners alive, they need something more sufficient than this. Ri'van sighed again (internally) and moved on to the next prisoner, this one with an interesting strip of hair down the middle of his head. He'd long since removed the earrings while he was unconscious; the other Lizards were about to use them against him, and Ri'van didn't think it fair to use piercings against someone. Humans needed their ears. "Hey, wake up!" he stage whispered, nudging the prisoner to rouse him from sleep.

He stirred, but didn't open his eyes. His lips moved, barely perceptible, but no noise came out.

Ri'van had to hurry and water the prisoners before his presence was missed. "You need all the water you can get; wake up!" Ri'van prodded the least injured part of the prisoner's shoulder, until finally, he awoke.

"Wh…wha…?" his voice croaked, and his stiff neck prevented much movement.

"I have water, open up," Ri'van pressed the water dipper to the prisoner's dry and cracked lips.

The prisoner opened his eyes, widening his mouth to take in as much as he could. He drank it too quickly, almost finishing what was in the small cup and rearing back, choking on what made it down his throat. Despite how numb his hands were, they squeezed together in an effort to stop the coughing.

Yet another stab of pity pierced Ri'van's chest as he moved to the next. Don't forget the female! A small voice reminded him. Too many times, the slightly clumsy young Lizard had forgotten about the female on the wall perpendicular to the door. It wasn't entirely his fault; the cold made his eye sight bad. Ri'van shuffled over to the smaller wall, reaching into a pouch at his belt. He couldn't easily tell male and female mammals apart, but other than the scent, there were few subtle differences. He'd been told that she was pregnant.

And the only reason he could tell that was because of the sweet-smelling scent of hormones that pervaded the air—he was amazed the prisoners couldn't smell it, it was so strong. "I have some water for you," he whispered, leaning towards the female. It was on a separate sealed jug at his waist. It was much cleaner.

She cracked her eyes open, her entire body shaking terribly as she craned her neck to look up at him. Dark circles under her eyes made them look sunken and much larger than they actually were. Her black hair was tangled and filthy, and grime covered almost every part of her thin clothing. At least she was wearing long sleeves.

"I brought you some food," he said, pulling out a small roll from a side pocket. He had a satchel full of fresher, healthier food for the female. There was an extra bottle of water and some crackers and dried meat—all of which he was forbidden to give to the other prisoners. Ri'van unlocked one of the bracings from her hand, her numb arm falling limply into her lap as she tried to force some feeling into it. Shakily, she took the bread without word, biting into the hard crust.

Ri'van sat back and waited until she finished it, then fished some water out of the pack. As per his very specific instructions, he was to wait until she finished all or most of the food and make sure she wasn't hiding any to give to her friends. It was a horrible task.

The female eyed him before closing her eyes and wrapping one arm around her middle, pulling her knees up. She wouldn't eat more.

"You have to eat something," he said, worried. "It's important if you want to have a healthy child." Unless she doesn't even want it, he thought, re-attaching the keys to his belt and putting the other half of the roll in his pocket. She needs something more nutritious than this, or else the baby won't make it. Rolls and dry meat wouldn't cut it. Mammals needed a lot of protein and fat in order to survive, especially when they were expecting to bear children. Often times, he wondered why the mammals had evolved to carry their young within them instead of laying an egg—it would be safer for both the female and the child if the mother was ever not eating properly. Quietly re-chaining her, he walked out of the prison cell—but not before giving the rest of the food to the other prisoners.

He swore to himself that he would get her something better to eat.

Ahsoka pressed her face into the wall, willing herself not to scream as the whip cracked against her back.

"Aw, still no peep?" their torturer said, pulling the whip back to his side. "Such a shame…"

Ahsoka could feel anger welling up inside her, making her blood run hot and cold. A feral growl was already beginning to form in her throat.

"I thought I said don't be rude?" the Lizard hissed, lashing out with the whip again.

Beside her, Danda screamed, her back arching backward as they yellow electricity ran through her system. She wrapped her frozen hands around the chains, struggling to support her own weight. They weren't raised enough to be able to stand comfortably—lowered just enough so that their knees were away from the ground. With every strike of the whip, they wanted nothing more than to just sag to the floor, but the chains in their wrists would dig painfully into their skin.

It was, to say the least, torturous.

"I take it you're not going to speak any time soon?" the Lizard mocked, deactivating the electro-whip.

Both Padawans held their silent anger.

"Oh well…" the Lizard said, not actually as upset as he was letting on. "You'll break eventually." With that, he walked back through the door.

Danda didn't say anything—she didn't want to say anything. Through the Force, she could feel that her Master and the men were in pain, even more so than hers and Ahsoka's. She focused on trying to let the pain flow through the Force.

She tried.

Almost instantly, the temperature dropped several more degrees, and the clamps around her wrists almost felt like they were tightening even more.

But that couldn't have been could it. They had no Force collars around them, the chains were a simple rusty metal, and if there were some kind of Force-hindering device, she would have noticed it by now.

This place was designed by monsters to break their prisoners, Danda thought to herself. It wasn't comforting.

"Are you alright Danda?" Ahsoka whispered, her voice croaking at the end. She was huffing, her chest rising and falling with each breath. And yet, despite the obvious pain she was in, she was still more concerned for her friend's well being than her own.

"I'm…I'm fine," Danda fibbed. I'm worry about Master…something seems off. "Do you think help will be arriving?"

It was a question that had been on both their minds for many days.

Ahsoka, unfortunately, had no choice but to answer it truthfully. "I don't know, Danda…"

Danda sighed almost dejectedly and leaned her forehead against the cold stone.

Anakin struggled not to let the anger build up in him as he focused on ignoring the pain. He gritted his teeth and sealed his lips shut as the whip cracked again, searing pain tearing through Anakin's back. His legs were weak from days of standing, and the muggy air made sweat drip down his back.

"You're a lot harder to break than I thought—just as well, I guess, considering you are the Chosen One." She pulled the whip back, letting it rest by her hip.

Anakin only gritted his teeth harder, forcing himself not to rise to the bait. He was going to get them out of there—single handedly, if he had to.

Alick shuffled slowly through the dense undergrowth of the forest, still getting used to walking after being carried for a day and a half.

"You're uh…making good progress…" the clone medic behind him said, trying to be kind to him.

You lose an arm, and suddenly everyone's nice to you, Alick thought, ignoring the clone. He continued on, pushing himself past what was safe. He'd been walking for almost an hour—his head was light, he felt like throwing up, and sweat poured down his face despite the cooled conditions of his bucket. His breathing was becoming labored, and he was sure that his heaving chest was becoming visible on the outside.

Alick didn't care. He didn't want to go back to the cot.

Ahead of him, Aella marched with another group of men seemingly talking over her rather than with her, she was so short compared to them. Aella didn't seem to be entirely paying attention. Yes, she was laughing and looking up into their visors, but they didn't see that she wasn't focused on them.

Alick retrained his outer audio to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Princess, you said you liked hunting?" the clone on her right asked, keeping his helmet firmly aimed at her. He almost tripped over a tree root.

"Yes," Aella replied, a small smile tugging at her lips. "I always went with my father when I was younger. I even had a cloak made out of one of the animals I caught."

"You did? That sounds interesting," the one of her left answered, cocking his head towards her.

The two clones were trying too hard to get to get to know her from a completely platonic conversation. Alick wasn't surprised—they'd never had much contact with females within their short lives.

He could also see that Aella was tiring quickly of the talk.

"Aella!" Alick yelled before he knew what he was doing. Dik'ut! He mentally chastised himself. Use her title idiot! "Uh…" for one terrifying moment, Alick forgot. "Princess Aella!" He was drawing attention to himself, but he didn't care. At that moment, he had to talk to her. Alick forced his already tired body into a jog, immediately throwing himself off-balance with the absence of one arm. Alick, having not been used to walking in general after his injury, tripped over a large root, landing face-first into the dirt. Graceful as a bantha…he thought, pushing up on one arm.

"Alick!" Footsteps thudded towards him as he looked up to see brown boots, then a pair of legs, that lead to a torso and heavy chest, that eventually lead to Aella. "Are you alright?" Real concern shone in her eyes before it switched to distant politeness. She offered him a hand, not expecting the stubborn trooper to accept it.

Surprisingly enough, Alick swallowed his pride and took her hand in his. She was stronger than she looked, easily helping him up to his feet. Alick swayed for a moment, before properly righting himself. He didn't waste time saying thank you. "Princess, I need to talk to you—"

"Alick, are you alright?" General Unduli had migrated to the back of the escort group, carefully stepping over the various plants and rocks. "What happened?"

Aella spoke for him. "He tripped and fell." She didn't look at him.

Alick could already feel a frustrated groan begin to form in his throat before he could stop it. "I'm fine, General Unduli." Just to prove so, he stood as straight at attention as he could—which was not as back-board stiff as he would have liked. The world was spinning again, and the constant flow of data from the HUD on his helmet was helping.

"We should break," General Unduli said. "We've been walking for six hours already, and I have another man at the front that's passed out as it is. Let's tend to the wounded."

Instead of finding a nice clear area to sit down, Alick collapsed in his place, planting his butt firmly in the dirt and refusing to budge. He took deep, slow breaths before he even dared move his head.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Aella asked from her position above him.

"I'm fine…" Alick said. His shoulder was tingling again. Whatever pain killers they'd been keeping him on were starting to where off. Shakily, he rose to his feet. "Aella, I need to speak to you."

"Do you?" An unbelieving eyebrow climbed over her forehead. "I didn't take you for a conversationalist."

Okay, that was cold, Alick thought, ignoring the bite in her voice. Instead, he silently moved a bit deeper into the bushes, knowing full well that Aella would follow. When he'd moved a few meters away from the main group, he spun to face Aella. "I wanted to apologize."

Aella started, just a tiny movement that Alick easily picked up. "Apologize…what for?"

"For…my behavior towards you earlier. It was uncalled for and inappropriate. I know you only wanted to apologize." He rushed out his sentence, forcing down the vomit that was rising in his throat.

"Oh, I thought you didn't want my apology," Aella said, casting her eyes to the side.

"I know but…" His lips formed a thin, hard line. But what? "You…you can apologize now—if you want."

That didn't come out the way her would have hoped.

"Actually, I've been thinking about keeping it," Aella said, folding her arms over her chest.

Alick could feel the sting singe him deep in his chest. Keep her apology? Alick was at a loss for words, while Aella was still speaking.

"You never wanted to listen to me when I did want to apologize; I see no reason to now," Aella's once pretty voice had taken on a cold, hard edge.

Alick had no response to that. "I'm sorry…"

"What are you still saying sorry for?" Aella snapped.

"I don't know! I'm just sorry!" Alick threw his arm up in the air, almost losing his balance again. "I'm sorry that you can't seem to like anyone who's not the same status as you! I'm sorry that I can't seem to meet with your high standards! I'm sorry I ever kissed you in the first place! I was obviously wrong to act on my feelings!" Alick froze.

Aella's face twisted, before she turned around, threatening to walk away. She paused before actually taking a step. Her voice was low, almost too quiet for him to hear. "You almost bled to death…"

Alick desperately wanted to ask what she'd said, but he decided against it. "I…"

"I almost lost you, Alick…" she whispered, folding her hands awkwardly in front of her. "General Unduli had to use the Force to try to stop the bleeding, it was just so much, and she cauterized the wound with her lightsaber. She didn't think you would make it." Aella sighed quietly. Alick pulled his helmet off, not able to bear the heat under it any longer. He breathed in the moist jungle air. "Aella I—"

"Alick I'm sorry."

Alick started, not expecting to hear what he did. "You're sorry?"

"Yeah, turns out I didn't want to keep my apology, did I?" Aella smiled a little wanly. "It's just that I may never see you again, and I didn't want you to leave this place hating me, and…" Aella took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling. "I was scared, Alick. You were the only person in a long time who didn't treat me like a princess who didn't know anything. I didn't want to lose you." Without warning, Aella wrapped her arms around Alick's middle, clutching him tightly. "Do you forgive me?"

Alick stiffened at the initial action, having not been used to physical contact. Her head rested against his chest, her arms squeezing him tighter. Eventually, Alick melted into the hug, his single arm wrapping around her waist protectively. "Yes, I forgive you, Aella," he spoke softly, leaning back to look her in the eye.

Aella smiled brightly, the expression making her entire face light up. Her bright green eyes sparkled as she leaned closer towards Alick, with Alick meeting her halfway.

The kiss had gone on for about a second before they were rudely interrupted.

Alick was the first to jerk back, a guilty look taking over his features as he blushed a bright pink.

"Oh no, don't mind me! I just thought I heard…interesting noises back here. I wanted to check it out. Sorry for interrupting," the clone—he went by Mac, Alick remembered—said, nowhere near sorry.

Alick knew what he was insinuating, and he fought the urge to call him out for suggesting something so inappropriate.

"I'd appreciate it if you would stop eavesdropping on us," Alick growled out, his standard annoyed tone taking over his attitude. He was still blushing (and still holding Aella).

Mac's bright blue hair was a stark contrast against the greens and browns of the jungle. "I wasn't eavesdropping," he smirked, cocking his head to the side. "Like I said before, I was merely investigating. I wanted to make sure you two lovebirds were…alright." His smirk broadened into a suggestive smile, knowing it would tick off Alick.

"Get out of here you little—" Alick moved to take a step forward, disengaging himself from Aella's half-hug. He almost immediately lost his balance, tipping forward before regaining his center again. The jungle was spinning, this time with more ferocity. Alick felt sick.

"Whoa, whoa!" Mac said, throwing his hands up in surrender. "No need to get rude—there's a lady of high status in your presence!" Mac smirked again, spinning on his heel and heading back to the main camp.

Mac's deliberate intrusion had soured Alick's mood, and quite possibly his stomach. Alick moved back until he hit a tree, sliding down and not stopping until his butt was firmly planted on the jungle ground. He remained seated for a few moments.

"Are you okay?" Aella said, kneeling beside him in the dirt. She placed a palm on his back, leaning forward to look at his face.

Alick took a deep breath. The initial stinging in his shoulder had grown to a dull, throbbing pain. Sweat was beading on his forehead in buckets, and his face was reaching a deathly pale palor.

"You need to rest," Aella said, her tone leaving no room for argument. "Wait here." She stood and quickly rushed off to the main camp, arriving back shortly with a medic in tow.

"How ya feeling, buddy?" the medic asked as he took out some examination tools.

"I feel like osik," Alick muttered. He hung his head, willing the headache he was getting to dissipate. The pain in his shoulder was steadily rising, setting Alick's stomach to a churning roil. He took a short, deep breath through his lips, squeezing his eyes shut tighter.

Aella's small palm pressed against the back of his neck, rubbing small circles. "How is he?"

The medic wasn't going to sugarcoat it for the princess. "He has a temperature. His wound may be infected. I'll have to check."

Despite the pain he was in, Alick groaned in annoyance. Aella's lips pursed, her soft features taking on a grim look. "Would you need help?"

"Actually, I would appreciate it, Princess." The medic began rolling out a blanket. "I need you to get the General for me."

Aella nodded, quickly rising to her feet and running off through the bushes. Her footsteps thudded and faded away.

Alick pushed his head back against the rough tree bark, his breathing coming out ragged and shallow. He pressed his hand over his eyes, trying to block out the harsh sunlight. "I don't feel good…"

Aella came back, General Unduli following close behind. "I brought her."

"Is he alright?" General Unduli knelt by Alick's side, pressing a palm against his forehead. He abruptly pulled his head back, her hand burning like a fire on his skin. "He has a fever."

"I know. I need you to stop the bleeding if there is any, and Princess, you have to hold him down—I don't have any painkillers on me—I'm going to remove the bandages and check the wound." The medic pulled out a small medic's knife, moving carefully toward Alick.

"No…no get away from me!" Alick lurched backward on his arm, trying desperately to distance himself from the scalpel.

"Alick! Alick, you need to stay still, the medic's not going to hurt you," Aella pressed her hand against the back of his neck, the other resting firmly on his shoulder. "Alick, listen!"

"Alick, can you hear me?" General Unduli's calm voice washed over Alick. He stared wide-eyed at her, breathing heavily though his mouth. Slowly, so he could track the movements of her fingers, General Unduli pressed her middle and pointer fingers to Alick's temples, closing her eyes for a moment.

Through the Force, calming feelings were sent to Alick, slowing his breathing. Alick's pupils dilated, his eyes almost taking on a faraway look in them. "Yes, General," he answered, his voice quiet. His eyes shined with fever.

"You must remain calm, understand?" Her hands never left the sides of his head. She continued to make eye contact with him, her bright blue eyes boring into his brown ones. "The medic is just going to try and fix you, alright?"

Alick's eyes slowly descended to the medic making quick work of the bandages on his chest. "Yes, sir…"

"If you would excuse me, General," the medic said, making a motion towards Alick's shoulder. "I need to remove the bandages now."

Aella remained silent, her hand gripping Alick's fiercely as he was lead to lie down on the blanket. She pressed her other palm against his chest, spreading her fingers. She could feel his heartbeat under her finger tips, fast and thready.

Carefully, the medic removed Alick's bandages. He put the dirty gauze down and examined the wound. He didn't sound pleased."Yep, it's definitely infected."

The smell hit Alick stronger than he thought it would, making the rising nausea shoot up to his throat. He shifted and tried to turn his head to the side, feeling the need to vomit.

"Alick, you need to sit still," Aella said, pressing a hand against his forehead.

"Alright, now this is going to hurt," the medic said from his position in front of Alick. He pulled out a hypospray and a scalpel. "I'll do this as quickly as possible, but I need to cut off as much dead tissue as I can." He sprayed the wounded shoulder, and made the first incision.

Alick screamed and promptly passed out.

Yes, Alick has an infection. Sorry I made that bit so long (to my readers who aren't fans of romance), but I wanted to get as much of that done as possible, since we'll be hitting the climax of the story soon. Not as much on the condition of Anakin, Ahsoka, and Danda as I would have liked, but in the version in my head, there weren't many things for them to do. Next chapter will have a little update on Obi-wan and friends.

~AAx

Edit: The Aella/Alick bit is so dramatic and sappy, but I can't just remove entire chunks of chapters. If anyone has a way for me to make it more palpable, that'd be great.