Authors Note: Hello lovelies! This would have come out a lot sooner, but babysitting nephews combined with the stomach flu yesterday delayed it. Y'all are wonderful and I appreciate the views and support!
(Current day)
Kai was independent as much as anyone else, but surprisingly soon after she had arrived at the base, she felt like she had a safety net, a group of people she could depend on. The clones were always kind to her, and never let her down when she needed a sparring partner. As she worked with the 501st, and occasionally General Windu and Obi-Wans platoons, she was able to hone her fighting skills as much as the men were.
After a good hard afternoon of training, she showered and dressed in a pair of faded pants and a black shirt. She pulled on a sweatshirt and wandered out to her ship, figuring that she might as well start repairing all the damage she had. Ozan would have so many things to say to her if he saw the state of his ship.
"You take care of my ship while I'm in, ok?" Ozan said gently, holding her shoulder as she worked in vain to keep the tears off her face. "Trust me, I'll be fine. I need a break anyway. I'm getting tired. I could use the rest."
They both tried their hardest to ignore the sounds of sirens heralding the approach of the authorities. If Ozan was caught, here on Corescant, lower levels, he'd be put straight into prison, but he was ok with that.
"But I need you. I'm not ready to do this on my own." She cried, and he pulled her close, and spoke into her ears.
"Use your pain to fuel your ambition, my dear. Survive. I don't want you to get caught." He kissed her forehead, and gently shoved her towards the speeder parked. "Now go." He said gruffly and she stumbled away and got on, shooting him one last look.
Take care of my ship. I'll be fine.
The words echoed through her head as the whine of the engine became all she could hear.
Kai didn't realize she had stopped walking until she heard a "pardon me" of engineers passing by her into the hanger bay. She shook her head, and muttered a quick apology before continuing to walk towards her ship. After rummaging in her cargo bay, she pulled out all the necessary tools for the repairs, and after shedding her jacket she settled into work.
The whine of the tools, and feel of the ship under hands soothed her and she kept working until she felt the familiar rumble in her stomach, and she checked her chrono. She had been in here almost four hours, and she smiled with contentment at herself.
She hopped down and grabbed her jacket, knowing the mess hall would be cold, as usual. She walked down the familiar halls, giving smiles to everyone she saw and brief conversations to the ones she had trained with.
She got her food after talking with the clone at the window for a moment, and looked around. Where should she sit, she mused, and then she saw him. A clone, hunched over his food, not eating and not looking at anyone around him.
She walked over and set her tray down. "Mind if I sit here?" She asked, and when he just grunted, she hoped he meant yes, and sat.
She looked over at him as she ate, and noticed that he looked particularly sad, and distant. She decided to try different approaches, hoping one of them let her talk to him.
"You know you have to eat the food to get the benefit, right?" She asked, and he looked up at her and glared, his amber eyes hard.
She almost congratulated herself and stopped. She didn't think she'd get that strong of a reaction the first try.
"Why don't you just leave if you're going to try to talk? I'm not interested." he growled, and she immediately looked into his eyes, holding him there.
Yes, something was wrong. She spent entire days interacting with different clones, so she had come to know the different looks in their eyes, and this soldier, he was struggling deeply.
Kai tilted her head. "Yeah, probably not going to happen. What's your name?" She asked, and he looked away. When he looked back, she was still staring at him and he grimaced. "If I tell you, will you leave?" He asked, and she shrugged.
"I don't know, maybe. Probably not though, if I'm going to be honest." She admitted, and she saw his scowl lessen a little, causing her to smile a little.
"Rev." He said quietly and she smiled at him.
"Good to meet you. I'm Kai. So, what's up?" She asked, and he rolled his eyes at her.
"You're not going to give up until I talk to you…" He stated and she nodded, taking a bit of food and washing it down with her caff.
"No, I'm not. So, we can sit here in companionable silence if you'd like, which is fine by me, or you can talk to me. I'm completely unbiased, and a good person you can talk to about whatever you're struggling with. So." She gestured to him and waited.
He pushed the food around his tray and she took the time to observe him. He wore his hair shaved close to his head, and I looked like he had a series of interlocking lines tattooed on his neck that went down into his body suit and most likely she guessed, spanned his back. Most clones loved giving themselves distinctive tattoos when they had the chance. He looked tired, and looked to be in need of a shave. She then gave him a moment and looked down at her food, taking a few more bites.
"It's just hard to feel important." He said quietly and Kai immediately looked back at him, to find him staring at her with conflicted eyes. "It's hard to go into battle after battle, and see your brothers die, some of them fresh out of Kamino. It makes me wonder why I'm always the one that's left, and I just…" he sighed in frustration and shrugged as he frowned. "I just don't feel like I matter. Like..any of us matter. But I wouldn't expect you to understand. You're a civvie." He said, with no real heat behind his voice, just fatigue.
Kai took another bite, and swallowed. "Well, I may not understand what it's like to be a clone, to have an army full of family, of brothers like you do but I know what it's like to not feel important. The galaxy is huge," she gestured. "And I'm just this one, small person."
Rev nodded as he listened to her, and he took a bite of his food, the first in over twenty minutes. "You think anyone cares that we're here?" he asked, and Kai shrugged.
"I don't know. I'm not sure everyone in the galaxy cares if Kai Findell, bounty hunter and clone trainer" She teased, and she saw the corner of his mouth lift up in a smile. 'That's better. Keep smiling', she thought. "exists, but I know there are a few people that did, and still do. I know Rayfe, the man I used to be with, cared about me. I know Ozan, my adopted father cares. My mother cared. And it's the same with your brothers." He seemed to be thinking as she kept talking so she did just that.
"Your brothers care that you're alive. And if you feel that it's unfair all the times that you survive, take what you learn with all those battles, and teach it to the ones that arrive. Help them so that they can at least live some of their life they were meant to live. Help them survive so they can go to 79ers with their squad, and experience things. Help them survive so they can feel joy and every other emotion we're meant to have." She put a hand on his and his hand instinctively moved to hold hers. At that moment, it was just the two of them.
"Maybe that's why you're still here, Rev. Because you are important. To them. And hey," She "You have a friend right here that cares if you exist." She pointed to herself. "With Ozan gone for the time being, I need somewhere to belong. And I'm hoping it's here," She looked up and gestured to the room, to the whole base. "with all of you. Ok?"
Rev nodded and removed his hand and grabbed his drink to place it on his tray. "Alright." He seemed embarrassed but happy she had talked to him. "Thanks for the pep talk. You're not so bad you know that?" He told her and she smiled wide.
"Hey, thanks." She teased back and got up. They walked over and put the trays back to be washed, and when they parted ways, she smiled and walked down the hall feeling as though she had at least a little purpose.
When her comm beeped, she looked down and her eyebrows furrowed. It was an urgent message to meet Rex and he gave her the designated room. It looked like it was a command center, and it was on her way, so she reached the room he was in a quick amount of time. She knocked, and pressed the button to open the door and it opened with a hiss.
"So, what's the trouble?" She asked, and he looked at her briefly before he spoke.
"A bounty hunter got into the temple and stole a Jedi holocron and General Skywalker is going after them. So that means that were going with him to the Devoran system." he said succinctly and she nodded curtly.
"Ok so what does that mean for me? What do you want from me?" She asked, and Rex stepped forward.
"We need you to come with us on this. We're headed out soon and we could use on on the mission. Does that work for you? Probably a good fight will happen."
"Hey, it's the Republic that's paying for this whole job of mine, so when they to do something, I'm there. I don't have any potential jobs on my plate at the moment, so I'm free. I'm assuming dock my ship?" She asked, and he nodded, and she thought about her weapons, but turned to them as her brain worked. "Send me what you can about the briefing. I'm assuming you're taking a gunship up? The ship ready to go?"
"We leave the atmosphere in 10." he instructed and she immediately turned to the door. "Got it. See you in the hanger then. I'll take my ship there."
With that she took off out of the room, and jogged down to her own, the door sliding closed behind her. She went to her closet, and changed out of her training wear to something sturdier. Strong boots, and a thicker jacket. She grabbed her knife from the table and strapped it on and grabbed her comm device before jogging over to the hanger as well.
She grabbed her tablet as well, in case they were gone for longer than the couple days this mission hinted at.
She approached her ship at a light jog, after dodging various squads on their way to different gunships. The whole organization hummed with an organized chaos and she shoved down a smile.
"Why am I enjoying this so much?" She asked, confused at the feeling she felt. Of course, it was business and it was a job, so that was nothing, but having all the action around her, having a trooper guide her timing of taking off, and signaling where to go, made her feel part of something bigger. That was something she hadn't experienced in a long time, not since...being home in her village.
Living with Ozan was a small and simple existence, one that she loved and cherished beyond words. She loved that man, and in the corner of her mind, she decided a visit was due. She didn't care if the Jedi knew or not, but she needed to see her father. But even her life was him was small, it was nothing on this scale, and her time with Rayfe, that had been brief and bright, but they were once again, just two people in the midst of the galaxy together. Per usual, as soon as she thought about him, and his characteristic grin, and strong embrace, her eyes burned, and she wiped them quickly before giving a nod to the clone on the floor. She took off, and flew towards the cruiser in the atmosphere. She fell into formation with a group of other pilots and they waved to her through the cockpit and she shook her head and waved back with a smile. From what she could tell, those pilots were a different breed.
She landed, and engaged her locking gear and stepped out of her ship and true to her words, she saw a squadron in blue and orange move out and head towards the barracks most likely to get gear settled in. She sauntered over and leaned against the gunship.
That was a bad idea.
She misjudged how big Rex's steps actually were, so when he turned around and took a step, not seeing her, his chest ran into hers, her head knocking against the base of his shoulder pauldron as well and she grunted before rubbing her forehead with a small grimace. It stopped as she realized she had fell off balance and Rex's arm around her waist was the only thing keeping her upright.
Why am I blushing like I did when I was still in school, when I'd see that one cute boy? Kai wondered in her mind. She quickly stood and regained her footing and offered a grateful smile to Rex. "Thank you. I tried to be smooth, but once again, I don't think that's exactly my strong point. I'm sorry about that."
Rex offered her a genuine smile, creating small wrinkles in the corners of his eyes, before bowing his head ever so slightly. "You wouldn't be the only one with that problem. It's quite alright. Now, due to the ship's capacity, for the time being, we are going to have you bunk in the same place as the rest of our squad for now. Is that alright? I can try to find you your own room as soon as possible."
Kai's heart softened a little as she saw the genuine look on his face. He genuinely wanted her comfortable and that made her feel very happy and.
"No thank you, Rex. Thank you for the offer, but I'll be alright. Don't worry. Any bed I have to sleep in is good enough for me." Kai said, and Rex shot her a grateful smile in return as they started to walk down the hall.
She shifted the straps on her back as they got to the room and Rex pressed the button, gesturing for her to go in first. It was relatively empty, with few items on bunks, which meant most of the company wasn't here yet.
"You can sleep anywhere you'd like for the time being." He said kindly and she nodded, while looking around.
She found a nice bottom bunk near the back wall where she could see the entire room, and it made her feel sort of tucked back in a corner, and she had to admit, she liked it.
"If you'll excuse me, I have some things I need to take care of. Let." he paused, and the closest word Kai could come up with was that he fumbled for the right word. "let me know if there's anything I can do for you." He said, his firm voice in direct contrast with the pause that had just occurred.
She offered him a crooked smile that had his cheeks turning an interesting shade of pink as he turned and walked out.
She placed her bag down, and flopped onto the bed, her head near the foot of the bed, and she watched as some of the new troopers came in, talking amongst themselves or throwing themselves down in similar fashion to herself, twisting to composite for the armor.
She recognized Hardcase and Jesse, very inseparable friends, and they took bunks in the middle of the room before Hardcase's gaze swept down the beds. His eyes landed on hers, and his smile seemed to double.
"Hey, I didn't know they'd have you bunking in here? Couldn't get a room by yourself?" She asked, leaning against her post, and she rolled onto her back to look at him.
"They asked me if they needed to find one, and I figured it wasn't a huge hurry. It's not the first time I've slept in a room full of people, and I'm sure it won't be the last." She said easily and he threw back his head and laughed.
"Yeah, but we're a loud bunch let me tell you." He countered as he walked away, and she shook her head affectionately. He was certainly a loud one during training, that was to be sure.
Kai learned some things that night.
She learned that at least three separate wrestling matching occurred before all of the troopers ended up in their own bed.
At least four stories of previous missions were brought up, and a debate if one of the clones supposedly was telling the story wrong.
And then there was whispered chattering once some of their brother started to fall asleep. It was most commonly between closer brothers, and some would hang from the top bunk for a moment to talk.
And they snored, Kai thought with a smile, but she didn't mind that. "It kind of reminds me of Ozan" she thought affectionately, and when she turned over on her other side to fall asleep, she actually trusted the clones to watch her back.
She was safe here, and for that she was very grateful.
