Home II

It was a day of celebration. Quarantine ended for the men at Jester's house and the women. Suu was the second to act on it in the early morning but Jester was the first.

Jester & Saria

Jester had woken at midnight as he'd meant to. It was why he'd chosen to sleep on the sofa in the office, disturbing only Quad in the living room as he silently slipped from the house. Quad had opened an eye, then both as he watched Jester leave. A smile of comprehension came over his face as Jester pointed out the chronometer. Quad closed his eyes and returned to the peace of sleep. The little house was quiet as he shut the front door carefully, everyone asleep as the last night in quarantine slowly ended. Almost everyone had plans for tomorrow – playing chase with the younglings, soaking in the hot pool or talking with the women as they hoped for a soft hug. He knew Kix was planning to take up most of Saria's day and Jester wanted his time in with her. Uninterrupted time. Quiet time. Time to tell her how much he loved her, how much he appreciated her, how badly he wanted her. Time to softly run his fingers on her skin, to hear her voice, to taste her lips with his own.

Technically, and only technically, it was the day the quarantine ended for him and the others who'd gone to Issuya. Technically. It was past the middle of night. Technically. It was dawning the new day. He loped through the woods, almost as quiet as the night's shadow. He saw one of his brothers watching for drifters and waved. . He smiled as he reached the front porch of Cut's house. Cut was weak and thin; but he was alive, awake and no longer ill. All he needed was time and Suu.

Saria was a bundle curled up on the porch, snoring softly. Jester grinned. He'd always known she was the one to snore.

"Saria," he called in a loud whisper; hopefully to not wake anyone except her. "Saria!" It took several more tries.

"Mmm. What, Jester?" She was awake and smiled at him, her hand reaching out.

"It's past midnight. Quarantine is over today. Is there any particular time or can I come up and hold you now?"

She yawned. "How do you feel? Any tickling in the throat? Any headache or chills? Any of that in the house when you left?"

Jester shook his head. "I don't know about headaches, but no coughing, no chills. Last night everyone was feeling good, anticipating today."

Saria smiled back. "But not as much as you." She gestured with her fingers and Jester came closer. He sat beside her and pulled on her pillow.

"What are you doing?" she asked petulantly, slowly releasing the pillow to his insistent fingers.

"I get the pillow." He grinned.

"And what do I get?" Her green eyes almost glowed in the moons' light, her hair paler and lighter in the monochrome dimness.

He lay down beside her, tucking the pillow under his head and pulling her against him. Her head was on his arm, her back against his chest and his hands swept around her to caress her pregnant belly.

"Me, Saria. You get all of me. My body, my heart, my life, my mind. Do clones have souls? You get that as well." He bent his head into the curve of her neck. "I love you, Saria."

"I love you, Jester." She turned, facing him, curling into the circle of his arms.

Cass Cjain & Clones (Jesse, Edge, Baffle, Riposte)

Cass stretched and yawned. She caught herself before the yawn stretched too far into the cut on her face. They'd tended it, using skin glue to hold the edges of the skin together. One of the clones had come from Jester's house and tended it. They said he was a medic. He'd been shy and self-effacing at meeting her, but his hands had been skilled as they tended her face. "It will leave a thin scar," he'd said mournfully. "I know women don't like scars but it will fade in time and mostly it's right near your hairline. It will be almost invisible."

"That's all right." She had reached up to touch her face but he caught her hand in his and held it, gently placing it back in her lap. "It will remind me what a dummy I am when it comes to men."

He'd given her a small smile as he glanced down at the floor, then at the closed door behind which they could hear his brothers in the small hallway, from the corners of his eyes – a look only she noticed. "I don't think that will be much of a problem anymore." He'd said quietly.

Cass smiled. He'd been right. They'd stayed with her; Jesse, Baffle, Riposte and Edge. At first she thought it was just because of the epidemic and the need to remain in isolation. The first day she had figured out differently when the medic came then left the house. She'd found out differently when Jesse spoke of leaving and the others had looked at her warmly, declaring their preference to stay. Originally she'd thought they had only meant 'stay on Saleucami'. Her very reasonable excuses for her obtuseness including the medication, the epidemic, and getting hit in the head.

It had been Edge with his beautiful silver eyes, who had approached her, pulling a chair into her bedroom and closing the door behind him. "There's confusion," his words had been brusque and she thought he was angry. "You don't appear to understand and we don't know how to tell you." He set the chair next to her bed. "If you permit, we four would like to court you. Jesse would like the practice but ultimately plans to leave Saleucami. I plan to stay on Saleucami. Baffle and Riposte don't know." He looked into her eyes. She blinked, fairly stunned by his declaration. "It depends on whether or not you accept either or both. If you have questions, you can ask any one of us." She didn't realize it then, but it had been a long speech for Edge. He'd taken the chair and left the room, pulling the door quietly shut behind him.

"Awake?" The voice beside her was low and husky, his body warm. He reached, rubbing her back with his big, calloused hand. She turned toward him and smiled.

"Where's the rest of the pack?" She called them a pack and included herself because they slept tumbled on her bed; because there was a recognizable Alpha – Edge, because they listened to her, because they did things together.

"Edge went back to the barn for the day. He's looking forward to chase. Jesse is cooking breakfast and from the smell of things is doing ok; nothing's burning. Baffle is probably taking a shower." He listened for a moment, as did Cass, and both heard the water. "Shower," nodded Riposte then he grinned. "And I have the best part, keeping you company." Tentatively he leaned his face closer, his lips parting softly, his strong arm pulling her closer. She tilted her face up, meeting his lips with her own.

"It's not my house. I don't know how long I'll be able to stay." Cass bowed her head. "I thought it was mine, but I was lied to." Her words trailed into nothing as she inspected her lunch. Riposte had made nerf jerky sandwiches served with fresh golden fruit. The golden fruit was getting overripe but jiqui was coming into season.

"That's even better," said Baffle with a smile. "I've been helping Jester a lot with some work he's been doing on his house and I think we could design and build something more to our liking." He grinned and glanced at the other men. "Maybe even closer to the thermal pool?" There was general agreement to that idea.

Cass shook her head. "That's Suu's property. They don't like me very much. Even if they would sell, I don't think I have sufficient credits to buy a portion of the land."

"And we're Cut's brothers. Family." Riposte took a bit of his last sandwich. "I'm going to love you dearly, Cass, but I have to say that Suu does cook bread much better than anyone else." His statement caught her breath, snagging her heart on the way.

Jesse frowned. "Why don't they like you, Cass? Cut and Suu, I mean. I think we've figured out why Jester and Saria."

"Well, she was such a cold bi…" Cass looked around at the men. They were frowning but it was mostly confusion rather than anger. Cass swallowed her anger. If she thought about it, Saria's reactions actually made sense. "Jester apologized. I think I did too when I was sick, but I could apologize again." She glanced down then around with a tremulous smile. "I'd been told that he was no longer with Saria and I always thought he was attractive so…" She shrugged.

"You could always challenge her to one-on-one," said Baffle as he put the last plate in the sink.

Riposte shook his head. "It doesn't work like that for civilians, Baffle." He turned back to Cass. "Could you apologize to Cut and Suu? Or would you require an apology from them? They're family, Cass, and we won't give up on them. We'd prefer you to be friends." He sucked the last of the crumbs off his fingertips and gave her a lop-sided grin. "If only to get Suu's recipe for bread."

Cass held her hands in front of her, palms up. "I don't think there's much to apologize to Cut and Suu. I flirted with Cut a little, but I like flirting." She noticed they all seemed pleased at those words.

"We like flirting, too." Jesse gave her a brief smile. "At least, for as little of it that we've done we seem to like it." She laughed softly, stood and put her arms around his neck in a hug then she sat in her chair again.

"I can apologize to Cut and Suu for not being neighborly, I guess. The same for Saria and Jester." She chewed her lower lip slightly. "I can just stay away from Saria for the most part if she continues to be so cold."

Riposte shrugged. "We'll find out today." He offered his arm to Cass who stood. "We'll all be playing chase today and you need to be there to cheer us on." He was solemn as he looked at Cass. "Edge really loves chase. He'd be hurt if you weren't there to see him win. You do like him, don't you?"

"Does he always win?" She tilted her head as she looked up at Riposte.

"Pretty much," answered Jesse. "Are we even on the same team? I didn't ask Edge."

"If we aren't, then Cass has twice as much reason to cheer." Baffle gave a shrug of one shoulder.. "I still say one-on-one would be your best bet with Saria." He winked at Cass. "You've got reach on her."

I've been having problems with my computer lately. I will try to update weekly.

Please read and review. Let me know what you think. I'm starting to wind down. The return of Ahsoka and Saoha will mark the end of Haruu - with perhaps an epilogue or two.

Thank you for reading.