Chapter Eight
Ella stood in the hangar, watching the controlled chaos as the walkers were made ready. She shook her head in disbelief; only Skywalker could come up with such an insanely foolproof plan.
Thickly gloved hands suddenly covered her eyes, cutting off all sight as someone leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "Guess who?"
Ella bit her lip. "Hmm… let's see… I saw Hardcase and Fives messing around across the room so it isn't them. Jesse's voice has more of a drawl to it. Kix's is a bit more clipped. Rex… nope not Rex. Chopper barely even touches me at all, and his voice is a bit different, a little more gruff. Axe is still in the medbay. I'm gonna say… Echo!"
An airy laugh preceded the blindness lifting, and she spun around.
"Ah! I was right! It is you!"
Echo pulled her into a hug, "You really do pay attention to our voices."
She shrugged, "After a while, it gets easier to tell you apart by the inflections and volume. I didn't really even think about it until now."
Echo's smile turned grim, "You're going to be alright here by yourself?"
Ella laughed, "By myself? Echo this ship isn't going to be deserted. The admirals and techies will be here, the landing crews, some of the medics who I am absolutely positive know how to use blasters. And besides, I think I can hold my own fairly well."
Echo sighed, "I'm going to teach you how to use a blaster. You wait and see."
She grinned, "Whenever you're available."
Echo was very close. Her head was practically resting on his chest, and when she looked up at him, their faces were mere inches apart.
There was a gleam in his dark eyes - one that she wanted to understand. It was a look no one had ever given before, filling her heart with warmth and turning her blood to honey. It was mysterious, elusive, and hopeful, just out of her reach.
And how she wanted to reach it. To reach him.
"Load up! Load up, everyone! Move your shebs!" Rex's voice called.
Echo sighed, stepping back. "I have to go. Be safe."
"Isn't that my line to you?" she asked.
He smiled, "I'll be safe, Vheh A'oatr. I promise."
She hugged him, and he smiled before rushing towards one of the walkers and leaping in.
Ella watched them go, a puzzled expression on her face.
What had he said?
Vey ay-oh-ahtar?
•~§~•
"Echo, put your helmet on before the clankers see you grinning like an idiot."
Echo shook himself out of his thoughts and pulled his helmet over his head. "Alright, alright."
"What happened this time?" Kix asked from right beside him.
Echo just shook his head, "Nothing. Not really."
"You looked like someone had just told you that you were becoming an ARC trooper, vod'ika," Rex laughed. "What is it?"
Echo sighed, "Really. If anything had happened, you'd know. I swear. We just talked and she told me to be safe." Then he checked himself. "Well, technically I told her to be safe and she said I was stealing her line."
"That's all?" Fives whined.
His last brain cell shrugged, "I mean, what was I supposed to do? Propose to her?"
Rex groaned, "No. I'd say you need to let her know your feelings before much longer though."
"But she doesn't like me yet," he protested.
This caused the entire occupants to groan in dismay. A trooper from the other end of the walker piped up, "Echo, not to be offensive, but the regs are getting to your brain. That girl adores you."
"How do you know?" Echo asked.
He shrugged, "She's only got eyes for you. She hangs out with you a lot. There's so much evidence, vod."
"What's your name?" Rex asked.
He straightened, "Rogue, sir."
"You've met Nurse Starrow?"
"Yes sir."
Rex nodded, "This goes for all of you: there will be no talk of this. I don't want to hear any gossip about it at all. Is that clear?"
"Sir yes sir!" came the sharp reply.
Rex nodded, winking at Echo. "Good. While we are here, it is alright to talk about it. But as soon as we step out of these doors, everything is over. Clear?"
Another chorus of acceptances.
"Now that we understand each other," Rex drawled, "raise your hand if you think Ella likes Echo."
There was not a single hand that wasn't in the air.
Echo blushed.
"Any advice?"
"Ticket, sir," one man introduced. "I heard girls like flowers."
"Post; learn to dance."
Each person seemed to have advice, not all of it good, but still advice. Some bordered on downright inappropriate, and Echo could feel his cheeks surging with red.
Then Chopper spoke quietly, "Don't let her feel unnoticed. Be patient with her. Remember that if you get in a fight, it's you two against the problem instead of you two against each other. Ask yourself if it's worth it."
Echo was surprised at his words. It sounded more like marriage advice to him than wooing advice. But he'd take it.
The red lights turned yellow, signaling that it was almost time to go. Echo said a little prayer that he'd make it back and be able to test out his new store of pointers.
"Green light!"
•~§~•
Ella watched as the ship began breaking apart, and shut her eyes. Admiral Yularen's voice ping-ponged in her ears.
'The ship is tearing itself apart! You could all implode at any second!'
No.
Echo and Fives, Rex and Jesse and Hardcase and Kix were all coming back. They had to.
Finally, a little ship darted from the separatist cruiser, only a few moments before it raged into a fiery inferno.
Ella tore down to the hangar, making it just in time to see Ahsoka be kicked to the ground by… Denal? The clone raced in her direction, headed for a ship behind her.
But Denal wouldn't ever dream of hurting Soka! she thought in shock. It didn't make any sense!
"It's Bane!" someone screamed.
Ella's eyes narrowed. Bane. The ruthless bounty hunter. With this clarification of identity also came a wave of righteous anger.
He must've killed Denal.
So when Bane ran straight at her, she didn't move out of the way. She'd do whatever was in her power to stop him.
Think like America Singer.
And she did.
The bounty hunter never saw it coming, and cried out when her foot crushed into him, actually falling in one knee. Taking advantage of this momentary weakness, Ella drove her knee into his forehead.
He growled, grabbing her by her hair and yanking it. Ella screamed and clawed at him, managing to cut his neck with her nails.
He chuckled and flung her to the ground, kicking her stomach for good measure. The Durosian bent down, his mouth so close to her ear that every breath fluttered her hair, making her squirm. He grabbed her by her neck and whispered, "Later, sweet cheeks, and next time, you'll treat me better."
Ella shuddered, not liking his tone at all. It made her feel nauseous.
Then he threw her down, her head bouncing against the floor. She couldn't find it in her to move as he leapt into a V-19.
"Ella? Ella!" someone cried. Hands hovered around her shoulders, not making contact but just close enough that there could be. "Kix… Maker!"
What…? What's happening?
Someone lifted her head, moving her hair.
Who's touching me? Go away! Don't touch me! Please, don't touch me!
"... it's okay. Ella… safe!"
Safe? That voice… I know that voice.
"She's… medbay. Heads… a lot."
Everything was distorted. She couldn't open her eyes. She felt like she was underwater.
Dimly, she was aware that someone picked her up and cradled her close to a plastoid chest, then she was weightless, gliding gently.
Am I flying?
Someone took her hand.
She knew that hand. There was something so familiar about it, like an anchor.
Everything's okay now.
The syrupy folds of unconsciousness beckoned, and Ella didn't fight it. It was all okay now.
•~§~•
She's going to be okay. Kix said she'll be okay.
Echo repeated those words to himself as the hours ticked by, unhurried. Time seemed to mock him. Did he really think it'd change its pace just because the woman he—
Echo sighed and shook his head. She looked so peaceful. Her hair was spread out on the white pillow, shimmering like a river made from the nuts he'd tried on Balido.
He smiled, remembering how relaxing that operation had been.
It was a relief mission - one of the few the 501st ever got. The General was more accustomed to exchanging jabs than courteous words, so better suited jedi were frequently assigned the tasks. But this time, they were lucky enough to be saddled with the civvies. He, Fives, and another trooper, Apt, had been helping the natives erect a shelter, when they had invited them to try their food. He wasn't about to turn down the offer. A girl took nearly fifty small nuts and crushed them into a paste, then stirred in some sort of milk and a good bit of sugar. Then she took some bowls and ladled the syrupy mixture into them, handing them to the troopers along with slices of fruit and crackers.
It was heavenly. Sweet, rich, and buttery, melting on his tongue.
They'd called it Cocalote. Chocolate. It was the main trade of their planet.
Looking down at the lovely girl sleeping undisturbed in the med bed, he could easily imagine her curls as that delicious substance.
Would it taste like it?
NO! Down boy. Echo, behave! You're being a creep!
His eyes lingered on her hair a little longer before sliding up to her head, which was bandaged over her right temple and forehead.
His hands drew into fists. How could he do that to her? How dare he!
It had been horrific to watch.
/*/ Echo knew that he was much too far away, and that no one else would be able to stop him. When he saw Ella stand her ground, his heart plummeted. She didn't know how to fight! Bane would hurt her, and he'd be helpless to do anything but survey.
He had to admit that a smirk had lifted his lips when she kicked him where the sun don't shine. Judging by how hard the bounty hunter had gone down, it hadn't been anything relative to gentle. Then she followed it up with a knee to the forehead.
Echo had almost started cheering her on, when the Durosion suddenly turned the tables, grabbing her by hair and casting her to the ground. He'd gotten up in her face, whispering something that made panic spread across her face. Then her head jolted up off the platform sickeningly, her eyes shutting.
When he'd arrived, there was a growing pool of blood, staining her hair a mahogany hue. Her long eyelashes were still, pink lips splattered cherry. Echo sank to his knees beside her, ignoring the sticky blood as he gently lifted her head in his hands after hesitating to touch her.
"Ella?" he called quietly.
She didn't stir.
"Ella!" Her name was a cry on his lips this time. "Kix! Kix hurry! Oh, Maker… there's so much blood! Oh, Ella, please wake up, please!"
Ahsoka was the first to reach him. She shut her eyes, then nodded, laying a hand on his shoulder, "She's alive. Just out of it. She hit her head hard."
In a flash, they were surrounded by brothers, each identical face wearing an expression of concern. Ella had quickly grown to be a favorite among them.
"Everyone give them space!" Rex cried. "Kix, come on."
Kix nodded and sat next to Echo, taking her head from his protective hands and surveying the damage. To their surprise, the girl began trying to get away from him, squirming and tossing her head.
"What's wrong with her?" Kix asked.
Bane. She's scared we're Bane and he's going to hurt her.
"Ella, it's okay," Echo said softly, and as steadily as he could manage. "You're safe. No one is going to hurt you here."
Upon hearing these words, she stilled. Echo breathed a sigh of relief.
Kix resumed his assessment. In a few seconds, he sighed and faced his younger brother.
"She's going to be okay, though she needs the medbay. Heads bleed a lot. She probably has quite the concussion as well. Wander! Can you get me a stretcher?"
The young medic nodded and sprinted off in the direction of a supply closet.
General Skywalker chose that moment to show up, "Kix, how is she?"
The medic nodded, "She's going to be okay. That dar'kar'ta demagolka rammed the side of her face against the floor - broke the skin. Only the skin, thank the Maker. She could've died."
"She kneed him in the aliit meshuroks," Hardcase added with sadistic pride. Echo couldn't help but feel the same way.
"Kix!" Wander cried, pushing a stretcher through the throng of worried brothers. "Here. I found one."
Echo gently lifted the girl, holding her close for just a few seconds, wishing he could've done the same thing before she'd been hurt; that he could've changed places with her to save her this.
Reluctantly, but carefully, he eased her down upon the stretcher, letting Kix push it towards the medbay.
"Are you sure she'll be okay?" he asked as the doors hissed shut behind them.
Kix nodded, "I swear. She'll be fine. I have to patch up her head though. Help me get her into the bed here, would you?"
Echo picked her up again, guiding her tiny body to the mattress and pulling the sheets over her. He slipped his gloves off and took her hand, stroking it softly.
There were calluses on the fingertips of her left hand; from playing an instrument. She'd told him about that once, shyly. She loved music. It calmed her and comforted her. It was her escape from life when it was too harsh and brutal to endure. She'd learned to play a lovely instrument with white and black keys when she was young, then taught herself to play another with strings. She'd called them a piano and a guitar.
'The calluses are from the guitar. I had to build them up so it wouldn't sting when I played,' she explained.
'How'd you build them?'
'By playing frequently. The more you play, the less it hurts, the stronger the calluses are.' She frowned. 'They're rough.'
Echo studied her lovely hands in his, small things just a little bigger than Ahsoka's. These hands bandaged up his brothers, held their hands when the pain was too great to bear, wiped tears away from their eyes. These hands loved. They danced over strings or keys and created audible masterpieces. He longed to hear her weave some of them, just once if that was all he'd get.
These hands clung to his shoulders or the blades of his back when she hugged him, or turned pages delicately as she read to him in her lilting voice.
In a world full of pain and darkness, the terrors of war, her hands had never been rough to him. They were soft. Even the calluses were soothing, adding a certain weight, a feeling of experience, that told him everything was okay - he wasn't alone. These hands were the most beautiful things he'd ever seen.
Kix stood back up, wiping his hands on a rag which he used to clean up her face. He sighed. "Her hair really needs to be cleaned. It's matted and dried with blood."
Echo stood and ran from the room quickly, doubtlessly surprising the medic at the suddenness of his actions. He hurtled through halls, twisting and turning until he came to room H35. He keyed in the code she'd given him - 1030- and entered.
Echo didn't pay attention to the surroundings, though he wished to see the place she had made into her own little space, her own haven. No. He was on a mission.
He made his way to the bathroom, grabbing two bottles and a brush from the shower and a towel from beneath the sink. Then he slipped back out and raced back to the medbay.
Kix filled a basin full of water and helped him to wash her hair and squeeze as much excess water as he could from the long locks, laying the cloth beneath her head to keep the water from soaking the pillow.
Echo took a seat beside her, holding her hand in his, unwilling to leave her side until she woke. What if she was scared again?
"You really should change out of your armor, Echo," Kix suggested after he'd been sitting for an hour as the medics shuffled to make up for her absence as they hurried to help the injured. "I can get you some new blacks and you can shower off here, if you want."
Echo pondered this, and was about to shake his head, when Denal, who had somehow made it, coughed and pushed his shoulder weakly. "Vod, go bathe. No offense, but you smell."
Echo flushed and nodded.
He showered as quickly as he could, then hurried back to her side. Kix took a double take when he saw him a few minutes after he'd dropped off the blacks.
"Echo, did you shower?"
"Yes."
"With soap?"
"Yes!"
"Really?"
Echo rolled his eyes, "Wanna smell to find out?"
Kix just huffed and turned around, muttering to himself about lovestruck di'kuts who were so head over heels that they were forgetting personal hygiene.
Echo paid him no mind and went back to staring at the girl intently, praying that Kix was right and she would recover.\*\
•~§~•
Someone was laying across her waist. Or something.
Ella blinked her eyes open to a dim, calculating glare of light. Looking down, she smiled.
Echo was fast asleep, his head on her stomach, one arm thrown over her waist as if to bar her from leaving, or perhaps from being taken away. The other rested next to him, one of her hands firmly clasped in it.
Oh, sweet Echo.
She smiled and took her free hand, running her fingers through his hair. His face contorted blissfully as he slept on, snuggling closer to her.
The clones were all so physically deprived. She'd noticed in the short time she'd been here how they'd lean into one another's touches or her own. There were always cuddle piles whenever she passed the barracks, even if they were small. Ever since she'd first seen the signs, she began to go out of her way to discreetly incorporate touch into everything she did with them. They probably thought she was the touchiest person they'd ever met. That was okay as long as it helped them.
Glancing up from the snuggler in her lap, she looked around at the other occupants. There was Rogue on her left, and to her right… Denal?
It can't be! He exploded!
He had a breathing tube and a ventilator, and several wires and IV lines stuck to him, and there were burns on his face and exposed chest. But he was alive. The beeping of the heart rate monitor gave clear evidence to that.
Tears blurred her eyes.
Oh, thank you God! Thank you!
She'd have to ask how on earth he managed to survive that later. But for now, she just was so thankful that the kind and witty boy had made it.
Echo stirred and groaned on her lap. He glanced sleepily at her face, and smiled. Then his eyes widened and he sat up so quickly he fell out of his chair onto his rear end.
"Ella!" His voice was soft and bubbling over with joy. He picked himself up and sat in the chair again, taking her hand almost automatically. "How are you feeling? Are you okay? I can call Kix. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Do you feel bad?"
She waited for him to cease his solicitous queries. Then she smiled and held his hand to her heart. "I'm okay."
He stared at her, transfixed. "A-Are you sure?"
Ella nodded. "I'm just fine. Very fine." Then she winced. "Well, actually, my head aches a bit."
He nodded and was about to stand, but she stopped him with a tightening hand. He sat back down.
"Echo…" she breathed, looking him over in more depth.
There were faint circles beneath his eyes, indicating that he'd stayed up a long time before crashing into sleep. His hair was tousled, and looked like it'd been cleaned, for it had a soft, silky appearance that didn't show itself until after showers. Battles always made his hair greasy, so he must've showered sometime between when she'd passed out and now. And he was in blacks.
Did he stay here the whole night? she wondered.
Echo leaned in close, and he sighed, "Vheh A'oatr." His hand brushed a stray hair from its current activity in tickling her cheek, pushing it submissively behind her ear before cupping the same cheek, painting over the single freckle with his thumb. He leaned forward, resting their foreheads together.
Oh my gosh, kiss me! Kiss me, please kiss me! she chanted internally. She couldn't breathe a word with her lips. They were too occupied in frantically inhaling air into her anticipating lungs. Her heart pranced excitedly against the confines of her chest.
"Ah! Ella! You're awake!" a cheery voice exclaimed, and Echo jerked away as if he'd been caught tampering with explosives.
Ella sulked.
Kix, I'm going to kill you.
Mando'a translations
Vheh A'oatr - Earth Angel
Shebs - basically rear end, tushy, whatever you prefer calling it.
Dar'kar'ta - no longer possessing a heart; heartless
Demagolka - monster
Vod - brother
Vod'ika - little brother
Ori'vod - big brother
Aliit - family
Meshurock - gemstone
Di'kut - idiot