CSF Bar, Coruscant.

388 days ABG

"Come to the bar for a drink. On CSF."

It never really felt like a request or invitation with Kal, more like an order; he asked her to go with them, as she had been part of the "Team" as he put it. She didn't particularly feel like part of the team and didn't want to go but he insisted, that she attend, so she eventually crumbled and agreed to go.

On entering, they verified her ID, normal practice in most private clubs and more important for the CSF than others. She was on the list for the Reception held by the ATU and OCU for the men and guests of ARCA Company, Special Operations Brigade, the Commissionaire droid confirmed it and showed her the way in. She entered the bar and immediately saw Fi leaning on it; he already had a whole row of drinks lined up and more officers were queuing up to see him. He was a legend with them. She could see others but went up to Fi, she knew him.

"Su cuy'gar!"

"Su cuy'gar." He replied, correcting her pronunciation."Good try though."

"Thanks." She nodded to the bar, "Got enough there?"

Fi leaned over, "They keep wanting to buy me more but I'd rather have some spiced Warra Nut Cookies; have you brought any?" He was being serious, he didn't really drink very much, none of them did.

"Sorry, no."

He moved closer.

"They keep asking about my armour, especially the female officers. I keep explaining it and how easy it is to take off. They really like that part. Why? Is it a female thing?"

Ryssa thought he was joking at first but then stifled her laugh. He wasn't. He really was that naïve about how he looked. How they all looked to non clones not used to them.

"They like listening to your voice Fi."

"Oh….. Good…..I think. I thought I was doing something wrong."

"Oh no, definitely not."

The commandos weren't like the Nulls at all.

Feeling movement next to her, she turned to find Ordo with the policeman, Jaller Obrim, the friend of Kal's and introduced her as his sister, she offered her hand.

"Good to see you again, in better circumstances. Sorry about your friend. If something comes to light, we'll let Kal know." He was sympathetic. He had remembered.

"Thank you."

A good look around the room, revealed numerous clones mingling with the CSF staff; some she didn't immediately recognise, but she did recognise the blue Twi'lek who was on one clone's arm, Atin, she thought.

General Jusik was even there but he was not mingling; she still wasn't sure about these Jedi yet.

Taking a long drink from the carbonated mineral water that had been thrust in her hand after she refused alcohol, was on duty the next day, her eyes swept the whole room again and she realised that Fi was looking distinctly uncomfortable with Jaller Obriim, who seemed to have cornered him into having an in depth conversation with him.

The next moment she was gripped in a vice like hug by Kal, who it appeared had just arrived.

"Glad you could come, Ad'ika. Come and see an old Mandalorian do some knife throwing and enjoy yourself!"

She wasn't sure how all those differing aspects came together in one sentence but she joined him and could see members of the other squads were already there watching closely; she received a small nod in acknowledgement from Sev. She nodded back, thinking she would need to check on his shoulder.

Kal was enjoying himself throwing his three bladed knife with relentless accuracy, knocking the other knives out of the woodwork. He was impressive, winning every time. Next she heard Fi suggesting a demonstration of the Dha Werde; she had heard it talked about but never actually seen it. A shout of "Kandosii" rang out from the other clone squads. Ryssa frowned, confused.

I really must improve my Mandoa.

She watched as the Sergeant initially refused but Fi wasn't going to take no for an answer; He needed something to distract him.

"Need any help, Kal?" Ryssa joked.

"You've been spending too much time with A'den." he shot back, pushing a comlink and a credit chip into her hand.

"Obrim!" He called, "Find her somewhere secure." He moved closer to her, "You've got two minutes to get settled, somewhere quiet." It took her a few seconds, to realise what he meant, until he winked. She needed a room, as she didn't want everyone to see them. It was private.

Obrim, looking at her, asked "Been a long time since you've seen them, whoever it is?"

"Feels like it." He cupped her elbow, leading her to a small office, just a desk and a couple of chairs. He scanned the room.

"It's clear. No one'll disturb you here." He closed the door after him

She sat and put the comlink on the desk, almost immediately, the hologram sprang to life. He was standing.

"Cyar'ika!"

"Den!" she wasn't going to cry, not now.

"I hear you've been helping?" She could hear the hint of humour in his voice and a trace of stress, amid the hum of the ships engines.

"A little, you've been talking to Kal?"

"Every week. SOB updates." she felt a pang of illogical jealousy but she knew if anything happened she would find out and Kal would get help to him, immediately, just like she heard he had for Omega recently, ensuring they had been extracted by Delta. Delta had bragging rights.

"Is it going well?"

"As well as can be expected."

"That's my line."

"You okay, Cyar'ika?" There was now concern in his voice.

"Yes, I'm fine, just tired."

"You take care."

"Me? I'm not in a war zone."

"You know what I mean. Have the Boys in Red been around?"

"Not seen them."

"Hmm."

The clones had started the Dha Werde, which was some kind of ritualised dance with chanting; she thought it made them sound spectacularly ferocious, which of course they were. Their vibrations and muffled shouts were coming through the walls. A'den cocked his head.

"Is that Dha Werde I can hear?" He changed the subject quickly.

"Yes, Fi even persuaded Kal to take part…... I wish I could see them. I've never seen it."

"The Dha Werde?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Your wish is my command, Ma'am. It's always better to see it performed by a true warrior."

She heard snorts in the background, as he turned and walked out of sight, the next thing she saw was four Republic Commandos in dark grey armour, lined up with him.

"My beautiful assistants." He grinned, as the others snorted and they started.

She frowned as she saw and heard the smack of Katarn on Katarn; someone was bound to get hurt, then after a few turns, she was pulled in, fascinated by the regimented movements. They had just finished five sets, when he turned to someone in the room, "only a few seconds left, sir," came a disembodied voice.

"K'oyacyi!" She said, hoping it was pronounced correctly..

"Ner cyar'e Riduur." He replied and held his hand palm towards her, she just had time to put her palm to his before the Holofeed ended and then she was left with her hand up in the air facing nothing.

Sometimes it was too much.

.

Coming out of the office, she tried to look calm and composed but not sure if she succeeded; she could see Ordo saying goodbye to the Revenue Agent, she had treated. He looked a little awkward but she was happy he was actually talking to her; she headed to look for Kal, to return the comlink and the credit chip, which she realised was a ludicrous amount of money and not sure why he had even given it to her. Ordo joined her, as she walked towards the balcony.

"I'm going soon, I need to get some sleep as I'm on duty in the morning, just got to say Goodbye to Kal." She explained to him.

Ordo nodded his understanding; she could see the split lip now; she did wonder about Dha Werde, but dismissed the thought; they would be too good for that. She pointed to it. "You need some Bacta on that."

"Hmm" he seemed distracted, as he wiped his hand across it.

"Is Miss Wessen okay, no lasting effects from the PEP".

"She's fine, thank you." Ordo wasted no words. Ryssa really wanted to ask more, to probe; she knew A'den would want to know all the details on his return.

They were about to enter the balcony, when they heard Kal's voice raised. She could barely hear the other one replying. Ordo's arm moved in front of her and stopped her entering but she could still hear part of the conversation.

"Pregnant! Whose is it?"

"Darman's, of course." she caught that.

Ordo, sensitive to anything that upset Kal, was like a stone statue, consequently she daren't move or breathe either. They stood eavesdropping on the difficult conversation. Kal was furious, she could hear it in his voice and Ryssa was shocked at his fury; she had never been on the receiving end of its full force and hoped she never would be. Even when she was….

It brought back bad memories.

She backed away into the main room, as Ordo moved in, Kal's fury seemed to have dissipated. They came out, ignoring her and Ryssa found herself standing alone. She went onto the balcony to check on whoever it was.

Etain!

Not knowing the young woman she was unsure what to say and she didn't know the whole story. The Jedi was resting her head on the balcony railing.

So, it was Etain who was pregnant with Darman's child and hadn't told him or even asked, if he wanted one and was going to accelerate her pregnancy. Ryssa found she had gleaned a great deal from the one sided conversation and she understood why Kal was angry but another part of her felt for Etain; she knew what it was like to be with a clone, to want things for them. But Etain needed a friend now, or someone at least and Jusik wasn't around.

Etain looked up.

"I overheard, or some of it."

"Oh."

Ryssa joined her at the rail staring out into Coruscant.

"Are you really going to accelerate the pregnancy? I didn't even think that was possible outside cloning."

"As Jedi, we can…."

Ryssa cut her off, "As a doctor I don't know much about Jedi pregnancies and accelerating them but it's not right, from a medical or ethical point of view; an embryo needs to develop in a certain way."

"He's going to be Force sensitive."

"Oh." That had never crossed her mind. "How do you know?"

"I can sense him."

"Him?"

This was way out of Ryssa's comfort zone, irrationally she got angry. The more she thought about it, her anger grew.

"You're as bad as them, aren't you? Doing the same as the Kaminoans. Order a child, manufacture it, accelerate its growth?"

No wonder Kal had been angry; hers was the anger she first felt when A'den explained how the clones had been engineered and she was directing it at Etain.

"They...are…..not…..things. They are not Units to be ordered and grown as required."

Ryssa's anger evaporated, as quickly as it rose, as she saw the skinny girl standing in front of her, much younger than her, like a younger sister she never had. Yet, she was a General, who commanded thousands of troops, which Ryssa couldn't even contemplate doing but at this moment she just looked as if she was going to burst into tears. She was ashamed of her outburst.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I shouldn't have said anything. It's not my place. I shouldn't judge. Please forgive me?" She gabbled her apology and Etain still looked stricken.

Ryssa put a hand out to her, "Are you okay? Come on, let's get a drink. Non-alcoholic. We both need it."

Ryssa steered her towards a little alcove and went to fetch some fruit juice for her. On her return, she sat and pushed the drink towards her. No one seemed to notice them.

"It's fruit juice, full of vitamins. You need to look after yourself, eat properly, not take any risks and above all do not accelerate the pregnancy. There's a reason why it takes nine months to grow a baby."

Etain glared at her, "You don't understand, it's for Darman and the baby's going to be force sensitive." She paused, "If the Council find out.."

"What….the Jedi Council? What will they do?"

"I'm not sure but it won't get to that. I'll leave….. we'll disappear…."

"I understand, I know how it feels, why you want to do it…...and I understand the…. loss, which is why you need to take care of yourself."

She leaned across and touched Etain's stomach. "He's very precious. Do not endanger him."

Etain stared at the pale haired medic, who she knew from Jusik, was with A'den, another Null clone who she hadn't met yet. Suddenly she understood a great deal more. Etain finally got her voice back, "I'm sorry for what you had to go through…..for your loss, with A'den."

Ryssa's eyes filled up; she sniffled, struggling to keep control, taking deep breaths, she calmed down. Breaking down served no purpose.

"Oh." Etain felt the wave of grief again, and this time it nearly overwhelmed her, she felt what the woman facing her, lived with everyday.

"Don't play with his life, please…Kal would never, ever forgive that." She warned her and rose.

"I know, and I do know what I'm doing." she retorted.

Ryssa sighed, "At least let me examine you, tomorrow. Let me check you over. And no, Kal has not put me up to this."

"I'm fine. He's fine." Etain shuffled along and out of the booth, then stopped. She gave a little bow, very jedi-like, thought Ryssa. "But thank you."

She turned on her heels and left.

Ryssa leaned back and finished her juice. I tried, hoping she would see sense. She and A'den had had the conversation again after their loss and decided that it would not be a good time to have a child, as much as both of them wanted children, they would come later again, Ryssa hoped. This ill thought out conception by Etain was understandable but sad.

She eventually found Kal again with Jaller, sitting at a table and couldn't resist giving him a big hug and holding onto him tight. It wasn't the first time she had initiated a hug but it was rare and Kal was taken aback by it, giving her a hard stare; so did Ordo, then Kal smiled broadly at her.

"I take it you needed that."

"Yes" she admitted.

"Den'ika alright?"

"Mmm." She shrugged, opened her bag and took out the credit chip he had given her earlier.

"I can't take this Kal, it's too much. Even if I wanted to charge you for the treatment."

Kal looked at her, he suddenly looked tired and smiled.

"It's yours and A'den's, he can't use it but he said there was something specific you were saving for, something, you had wanted to do for a long time. Hopefully now you'll be able to do it."

"I don't need it." and she pushed it back in his hand. "K'oyacyi!"

Kal winced inwardly at the pronunciation, as she walked out of the bar but at least she was trying.

After what Etain had just put him through he would have given Neryssa anything; she was almost the perfect daughter, almost. She made his son happy, you could see that and she would do anything for him. If she had been pregnant again, he wouldn't have been happier; still not ideal but they would have survived, as would any of his boys and their partners. Except for the Jetii.

He suspected Neryssa and A'den had married, taken the Mandalorian vows but A'den hadn't said anything and that was between the two of them, as the Mando way. He was sad that his son hadn't told him but he must have his reasons, probably to do with his brothers.

Ryssa hailed a taxi and as she waited, she pushed her hands in her pockets, it was cooler in the early morning, her fingers were feeling it. They hit the credit chip back in her pocket.

"How the hell did he manage that."

The credit chip glinted as she turned it over between her fingers and she saw the numbers on it again and compared it to The Coruscant University Medical School Re Registration Programme fees, it was more than enough to cover what she would have needed but no longer. That was already paid. All she had to do now was complete the examinations for each module; Dr Cahu had been as good as his word and completed his recommendation for her application. Even now she did not feel confident enough that she would pass and was nervous. One day a week, all day, she would have to attend to complete each module and had to pass all of them. Dr Cahu had confidence in her; he had been one of her tutors before and had encouraged her to continue.

The taxi zoomed through the sky lanes, she hadn't heard a word the driver had said to her.

.

"Etain here. You're right. Can I come and see you?"

The call had surprised her; Etain wanted to be examined. Ryssa wasn't going to refuse but it needed to be off GAR property. Nothing had to lead back to the Jedi through official records.

"Come to my Apartment tonight. It's secure. It'll be private." She gave the address.

Etain was on time but she had dispensed with her robe and didn't look particularly Jedi-like. Her two lightsabers were still on her person somewhere, hidden. Ryssa prepared some food for them both. She felt the need to feed Etain up, she always looked so skinny.

"So what does entail?" Etain asked, her voice almost petulant that she was doing this.

"I scan you, take some bloods. Check the hormone levels. All done here. The information goes nowhere."

"The advanced ageing?"

"There was no sign with me but…..everyone could be different and if you're accelerating the pregnancy…I'm sorry. I just don't know."

Etain lay on the couch, Ryssa took the bloods, and passed her scanner over her. Only weeks old but yes there was a Foetus but how Etain knew the sex and the fact that it was force sensitive was totally out of Ryssa's medical experience.

"It's fine, strong. Everything else is okay. Looks good. So long as you be careful. Things can change quickly in a pregnancy."

Etain sat up quickly, rearranging her clothes. "The bloods."

"They're good."

"Thanks."

"If you need anyone to talk to about it, any questions. Just Com me. It's encrypted."

"Thanks."

The two women stood there bound together by two things, clones and Kal.

.

The Coruscant University Medical School

398 Days ABG

Ryssa stood in line, stomach churning, as she waited to start the re registration process. The initial entrance test could be anything, she just hoped it was something on trauma, she was more comfortable with that. Dr Cahu had been particularly helpful and tested her several times and she had been studying relentlessly.

The others looked so young and confident that she felt out of place but it was all or nothing now and her hands were sweating, it had been so long since she had taken any test like this, and this was old school.

They filed into the room, and picked a table each at random, their task was then set for them at that table. Each task was different and set down on Flimzi, the old fashioned metal bell clanged indicating that they could turn over the flimzi and complete their task.

Ryssa turned over the flimzi and a stasis field popped up with her simulated work on it.

Kriff! I know exactly how to do this.