Chapter 10: A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed

(Day 10 w/ the Bad Batch)

Thanks to a proper dosage of painkillers, and a good rest/exercise/bacta tank ratio, Talla found she was able to go to the funeral at the Jedi Temple the next evening, even able to properly get ready on her own - aka, SHOWER - and even put on her blacks and new armor all by herself, to which she was overjoyed! Being clean elevated her mood exponentially and smiling brightly she looked in the mirror on last time to don the medal she had earned for the formal event, made sure her hair was presentable before picking up her helmet and exiting the room, a simple braided crown all she knew what to fancily do with the medium length locks.

Hunter would be escorting her to the Jedi Temple since she had no idea where anything was located, and he sprung for an air taxi so she wouldn't have to walk for miles and miles and risk being unable to make the trip entirely, and he would keep himself occupied while she was in the temple, then once she was finished, she'd comm and they'd air taxi their way back to hospital where she would be spending the night there for hopefully the last time, the bacta tanks having almost fully healed all her wounds received on Silva.

He was casually leaning against the wall of the hallway dressed in a variation of the same outfit he had been wearing since she woke up, arms folded and fingers tapping against his arm in a rhythm he only knew, "You ready to go? The taxi is waiting." He told her almost impatiently when she appeared in the hallway and... for some reason was unable to look directly at her, finding anything and everything around them apparently more intriguing.

So I do find her attractive. He admitted to himself, at first flustered by the realization, then quickly became defensive... at himself. So what?! I mean, who wouldn't be attracted to a woman in kriffing badass armor? Doesn't mean anything - I'll get over it.

Talla simply nodded, deciding not to question his peculiar actions despite her curious mind, and the two of them made their way outside the hospital.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to climb into the taxi herself, and Hunter had to hold her helmet with one hand and grasp her free hand with his and help her lift herself into the taxi. The touch of hands sent tingles down her arm, and she gasped slightly, making her quick to release him once she was inside to stop the weird sensation that was both electrifying but also terrifying. Hunter, who felt the exact same thing when they touched, once again couldn't look her in the eye and clumsily climbed in next to her and blindly handed her the helmet once she had settled in her seat.

"Thanks." She murmured, grabbing the helmet and unconsciously clutched onto it and the crutch she still required with enough force they almost shattered under the pressure, this strange occurrence being the second time it happened to her.

"No problem." He mumbled back, willing the heat on his face to go away. Get a hold of yourself!

What was happening? She briefly wondered in fright.

Her thoughts thereafter though became occupied with taking in the sights as they flew to the Jedi temple, turning her head this way and that way to see as they flew over this part of the city, her hair wildly whipping in the wind while Hunter had to fight the urge to grip into the back of her belt so she didn't fall out of the open-air speeder, something he truly feared by her leaning dangerously over the edge to peer down at the city life. There were multiple lanes all around the airspace, each level having vehicles of every variety going in so many different directions, and they weaved through dozens of skyscrapers, each one having its own unique architecture, and choosing to ignore what happened with her earlier Talla made Hunter promise again to take her exploring when she was physically able to handle a day of sightseeing, and he gave her the same threat he gave Tech every time he begged to explore:

''If you wander off, I'm putting you on a leash.''

It was a tease of course, at least, she hoped it was, but it got the point across nonetheless:

"Don't wander off, I hate scrambling all over a foreign place looking for a grown-ass (wo)man."

It took thirty minutes to reach the Jedi Temple, and her eyes widened at its size as they descended upon it. "For simple magic wielders, that place is pretty fancy." She remarked offhandedly to the Sergeant next to her.

He looked at her oddly and repeated in disbelief, "'Magic wielders?'"

"That's what they are, aren't they?"

He shook his head and clarified kindly, "No, their force wielders."

She made a jerky gesture with her hand, "Isn't that the same thing?"

He shrugged indecisively, "I don't think so. In my experience working with the Jedi, their powers are very different from magic. There's no spells or potions, they just somehow have a special connection to the energy that binds the galaxy together."

"But that doesn't make any scientific sense." Talla contradicted.

The corners of his mouth lifted in amusement, and once again her heart did the little flutter. "You sound a lot like Tech, and I'm going to tell you the same thing I tell him - not everything can be explained by science."

Talla found herself too astonished to respond - the more she learned of the galaxy, the more it baffled her.

The taxi pulled up to the giant staircase that led to the temple, and Hunter climbed out first to help out Talla, those stupid feelings making themselves know upon their hand contact, and they were quick to spring apart from each other once she was steady.

Talla chose to focus on the hundreds of massive steps leading up to the temple and sucked in a sharp breath in apprehension. "I don't think I thought this through very well."

"You don't think you can make it?" Hunter asked in concern, handing her the helmet. Just the thought of her being in as much pain as she was in yesterday made him agitated all over again.

Talla saw a cloaked Ahsoka appear on the steps, and attempted to sound positive... for his sake, apparently, because this whole 'losing-a-limb' debacle was too much for him. "Well, I certainly will try."

Ahsoka, despite the sadness of the event, was beaming when she saw Talla. "You're up! And walking!" She exclaimed excitedly once close enough.

Talla grinned back from ear to ear, then she and the Sergeant briefly saluted before she looked distastefully down at her metal crutch. "Hobbling is more like it."

It was Ahsoka's turn to be concerned now. "Will you be able to make it up the stairs?"

Hunter gave Talla a sharp look out of the corner of his eyes, trying to remind her of her promise to be honest about her condition from here on out, but she blatantly ignored it. "Absolutely!..." Her confidence faltered when she took in the HUGENESS of the staircase again. "It just might be slow going." She predicted sheepishly.

Ahsoka wasn't annoyed in the slightest though. "It's still early, so that's fine - the funeral won't start until after sunset." Ahsoka reassured her.

Talla was flooded with relief that she wouldn't be rushed and turned to the still perturbed Hunter, "I'll comm you when I'm ready to go." Was her unshakeable resolve of a parting, feeling confident enough with the Sergeant that he wouldn't send her back to Kamino because she refused to obey his orders this one time - she absolutely did not want to let her friend down, who also happened to be her commanding officer above Hunter so really, he could not make her leave if he so tried.

Sensing he wouldn't be able to convince her to get back into the cab, he gave a terse nod in goodbye, and while he climbed back into the cab Talla simpered at her small victory while Ahsoka was more kind about his feelings. "You're welcome to attend the funeral, Sergeant Hunter." She offered. "I'd hate for you to be bored for the next few hours."

He made a noise of disinterest and finished his hop into the cab seat. "I appreciate the offer sir, but these events aren't really my thing; I'm very sorry about your loss though, and, I won't be bored - there's plenty of things to do in the city." He gave a short two finger salute in goodbye as the cab flew away.

"He's not a social butterfly, is he?" Ahsoka commented to her companion with hilarity evident in her tone.

"Surprisingly, Sergeant Hunter is the most sociable of the Bad Batch." Talla replied with a titter. "He's gruff around strangers, but once he warms up to you, he's quite friendly!" Then she sobered, knowing the reason she was here was to provide comfort and companionship to her friend during this sad event, and leaned against her crutch to allow her hand to be free to hold the helmet so she could place the other one soothingly on Ahsoka's shoulder and asked in the softest tone she possessed, "How are you feeling?"

Ahsoka's smile turned sad, but there was also peace written in her eyes and Talla didn't sense the heavy weight of grief in her emotions. "Obi-Wan was a good friend and mentor, so naturally I feel sad that he's gone. But he's now one with the Force, like we all will be one day, and I will celebrate his life instead of grieve over the premature end of it."

Talla didn't really know what to say to that... interesting perspective on the matter. "Oh - well that's good!" Her eyebrows snapped together in uncertainty, "I think. I really don't know. I'm not experienced when it comes to death, so I spent the whole night researching 'How to help a person who is grieving the loss of a loved one -'" She shrugged in awkwardness and embarrassment, "But if you're not grieving then..."

Ahsoka was touched, nonetheless, by her act of care. "Well, I appreciate your research, and I'm happy you're attending the funeral. Just by being here, you're helping me."

Talla's face brightened in relief, and she motioned her head to the stairs. "Shall we? Who knows how long it will take for me to climb?"

"How are things with them?" Ahsoka asked as they cautiously ascended, referring to the Bad Batch, "I sensed a lot less tension between the two of you, at least." There was still some she noticed, but even so it was a different one than the original.

Talla practically cheered. "You were right - once I proved myself, they all warned up to me!" Her face became downcast with a touch of sourness. "Except Crosshair. He still doesn't like having me around for some reason - but I'm going to keep trying!" She shrugged, "And besides this, and the fact that the Sergeant has been overbearingly hovering around me since the accident, everything's been great!"

"What do you mean?"

The floodgates opened, having to hold this all back because she didn't want to sound ungrateful, "He won't leave me alone for even a second, and asks a hundred times during the nine-hour visiting hour period, 'Are you hungry?', 'Are you in any pain?', 'Do you need anything?', and even though I prefer this nice, attentive Sergeant over the prickly cactus one, I'm still quite frankly getting annoyed at this other extreme and don't know how much more I can take, or how to tell him to ease up - I don't want to make him upset with me or offend him."

Ahsoka hummed thoughtfully, putting the dots together after a moment. "Sounds like he's feeling guilty over what happened to you."

"Why? Sneaking onto that base was all my idea - Tech doesn't even feel guilty and he helpedme. Sergeant Hunter was barely an innocent bystander in all this." This conclusion didn't sound rational at all.

"Yeah, but his mind has probably twisted the whole thing and he's convinced himself that your accident was his fault because he's the leader of the squad and he failed to protect you."

Talla scoffed, confident in her skills. "I don't need protection."

This drew a short laugh from Ahsoka too, "Okay, true, but the flip side is that squad members are also supposed to have each other's back, and he didn't do that either. What he's experiencing, it's almost like survivors' guilt and believe me, in war, that's a very common feeling."

"What is survivors' guilt, exactly?" She wanted to know everything about this so she could work out a way to help him get over it.

"When a person feels guilty because they survived a life-threatening event that others didn't survive." Talla's eyebrows raised in concern - that sounded like something bad... "In this case, Sergeant Hunter knows he should have been there to back you up but he wasn't, so you almost died and he feels like he should have been there to either save you from the blast or at the very least have been injured himself trying to back you up. He came out of this mission unscathed because he was ignorant while you lost a limb and received some other serious injuries by sacrificing yourself because no one would listen to you."

Talla now realized that being rational about the accident, so soon after it happened, was actually not something he could do? "That... Sorta makes sense, I guess. But how do I get him to see he shouldn't feel guilty because this was actually all my own doing?"

"Well, for starters don't minimize his guilt - it's completely normal for a leader to experience this. But really, it's something he has to work through on his own, you can't force someone to see your point of view, even if it's correct or not. In time though, I think he'll get it. Personally, I've had to do the same thing numerous times since the war started, so speaking from personal experience I know it's doable."

Talla nodded enthusiastically, filing away the knowledge, then berated herself for making the conversation about her instead of Ahsoka, "I thought it's supposed to be me supporting you, not the other way around."

Ahsoka's smile in response was sad, "It's my peacekeeping tendencies... Hard to turn off."

Their journey up the stairs took triple the time it would take for a normal person to climb, to which Talla was greatly embarrassed about, but Ahsoka always reassured her that it was fine when her apologies interrupted the conversation thereafter.

Despite the slow ascent, they still had plenty of time to kill before the funeral by the time they finished, so Ahsoka asked if Talla wanted a tour of the public places of the Temple, remembering her eagerness to see Anakin's cruiser, and of course Talla enthusiastically replied 'Yes!'


When sunset was upon them Talla and Ahsoka, with sober expressions on their faces, entered the Pyre room, the latter pulling up the hood of her Jedi robe. There was a small group of human and nonhuman people surrounding the pyre where Obi-Wan's body laid, but on the short bleachers all around the chamber there were numerous cloaked dark figures giving off an ominous presence that gave Talla goosebumps as they just stood there... And did nothing else.

Ahsoka led them to stand between an elaborately dressed female human with a similar skin tone to hers and a brown hair/eyes combo, and a simply robed male Kel Dor. After a few beats, yet another cloaked figure entered the room, but this time Talla recognized him to be, at alarming levels, a troubled General Skywalker. With rigid strides he walked up to the foot of the pyre, and then the funeral began.

Talla bowed her head respectfully as a bald, dark-skinned Jedi Master gave the short eulogy. "He is one with the Force, and it is our job to remember that we will, in time, also pass on. We are luminous beings, but our bodies are temporary vessels. And in time we shall all find ourselves here. I ask for a moment of silence - to remember, and to move on."

Talla furrowed her eyebrows, and couldn't help but shift her eyes upwards to observe him, then all the Jedi in the room. They all appeared the same... emotionless, except for General Skywalker - she felt the anguish radiating off of him. This speech though, it contradicted everything she researched about death. There was supposed to be grief after the death of a beloved person in your life, but why did this man say that they had to move on right this minute?

Besides Skywalker, there was one other person in this room who didn't seem to do as the speaker suggested: another elegantly dressed female human, this time a blonde who standing several people past Talla. Her sobs echoed throughout the now silent room, and Talla deduced that she and General Kenobi must have been close, and it tugged at her heartstrings.

Ahsoka lifted her head to look up at the Kel Dor to her left. "I'm worried about Anakin." She commented to him in a low tone with crestfallen features. "He hasn't said a word since it happened." Ahsoka and him peered concernedly at the angrily-twisted-faced Anakin, and Talla copied their subtle sideways glances.

"I can sense that his grief is consuming him." Talla observed sadly, and those in the close proximity who heard her were startled at the troopers... Jedi abilities? She ignored the surprised looks though. "Him and General Kenobi were close, I presume?"

"Almost like brothers." The brown-haired woman to her right confirmed with curiosity for this trooper written all over her face.

Their attention was drawn back to the pyre, which slowly lowered into the ground and the doors clanged shut over Obi-Wan's body, a bright white beam of light emitting from its center. Talla felt Anakin's mood darken tenfold within milliseconds, and this frightened her. A man who she was told held such incredible power... She shivered at the thought of what he'd do to the sniper who took Kenobi out if he ever found him.

The short, straightforward funeral now over, the guests began talking quietly amongst themselves, non-Jedi expressing sadness and regret over the event and Jedi remembering all of Obi-Wan's good deeds. In the midst of their conversations, various people wandered up to find out who this woman in Clone Trooper armor was and asked her many questions about where she came from and why she was created and what her special skills were for the GAR. Because of this, she met important political figures - Senator Padme Amidala, who mistakened her for a Jedi after her comment about Anakin, other Master Jedi, such as Mace Windu who praised her for her victory on Silva... and the Chancellor!

She was quite rattled when the face of the Republic sent one of his bodyguards to retrieve her, and not knowing how to show her respect, she ended up clumsily putting on her helmet and gave an awkward salute when they were introduced.

His tone was all praise though despite that unseemly introduction, "You're the clone that I owe my life to."

"I just did my duty, sir." Talla answered modestly, as she had been taught to do when anyone gave her praise for her work - it was what she was made to do, so it was nothing special.

"Don't be so modest, SAC-1. I wouldn't have had General Kenobi give you that medal if your actions on Silva were insignificant." Talla smiled bashfully, though he couldn't see so. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart and look forward to seeing what else you're capable of."

Talla's smile faltered when she saw something flash in eyes, a spark of something eerie that sent a chill down her spine, but just as fast as it came it was gone, and she was unable to identify what that emotion was.

"... Uh, thank you, your excellency." Was her monotonous reply after her brief moment of uneasy silence and she was thankful he couldn't see her widened eyes, then stiffly bowed her head as he acknowledged her thanks then glided away. Once his back was turned and she was snapped out of whatever happened, a wave of tiredness came upon her again, so she leaned against her crutch and clicked open the cover to her comlink to type in the sequence of Hunter's frequency. "Do you copy, Sarge?"

Not one second later she heard, "I copy - you doing okay?"

She was too exhausted to roll her eyes at his anxiety, "I'm ready to go." Was her groggily almost slurred response that told him to drop everything and come get her.

"Okay, I'll grab a taxi and meet you there."

She clicked off her comm then hobbled her way around the room back to Ahsoka who was speaking to General Plo Koon, whom Talla met earlier.

"Pardon the intrusion, sirs," She apologized when they noticed her presence, and focused on Ahsoka, "But I'm rather fatigued, and think I should go. I've contacted Sergeant Hunter and he's on his way."

"I'll walk you out." Ahsoka offered, and Talla saluted to the general before they made their way out of the Pyre room.

Once they were alone, Talla did ask the question that had been bugging her since the non-heartfelt eulogy. "Sir, is it normal for Jedi to be emotionless?"

Ahsoka became incredulous. "We're not emotionless, we just don't let our emotions dominate and cloud our minds." She heartily explained. "Everything we Jedi do as the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy is motivated by compassion for others, and compassion is an emotion."

"But still, you're not allowed to grieve? That seems, I don't know... wrong- and I say that with the upmost respect!"

Thankfully, her commander was not insulted, instead choosing to use this as a teaching moment for her sheltered companion. "Grieving comes from attachment, which is forbidden for a Jedi."

Talla gaped at this startling fact, "Why?" The female clone had grown attached to Ahsoka, liking the female company that didn't involve experiments or put downs, and even the guys had grown on her... Why was that wrong? Having such attachments made her life feel fuller, more worth it than those four years of intense training and mistreatment despite the new issues she had experienced.

"Attachment feeds into the fear of loss and greed, which leads to jealousy. Attachment is selfish, a shadow of greed and thus a path of the dark side of the Force."

"The dark side, sir?" Talla repeated confusedly.

"The dark side of the Force is one of two ways of channeling the Force. The dark side is greed; the fear of change and the inability to let go. By holding on to things, one can rebel against the will of the Force and become angry and hateful, which in turn leads to suffering. That is the dark side of the Force."

Talla blinked - Ahsoka might as well have been speaking gibberish. "I'm afraid I don't understand, sir."

Ahsoka was not annoyed though. "It's okay. I know it can be hard for a non-force sensitive person to understand."

Talla nodded slowly. "Then I guess we should talk about things that the both of us can understand... were Duchess Satine and General Kenobi close?"

Ahsoka sighed sadly. "Now that is a very long story, and I only know my master's version of it."

Talla tried listening to the story as best she could, especially since that apparently there was this thing called 'love' that a sentient being could feel for another, but the closer they got to the exit the more dazed she became, and her leg ached, so she just nodded a bunch of times and said 'uh-huh' to Ahsoka's story. She managed to make it down the steps without stumbling too many times, and was able to say a proper goodbye to Commander Tano.

The young Jedi desired them to be on more relaxed terms though, "You can call me Ahsoka, you know."

Talla immediately rejected the offer. "I can't call my commanding officer by her first name, sir, it would be disrespectful!"

"But I'm not just your commanding officer, I'm your friend." Ahsoka laughed, "Friends call each other by their first names."

Talla looked down for a moment in confliction, this going against everything expected of her. "I suppose so." Nala Se would definitely not approve of this...

The taxi pulled up, so Ahsoka put a hand on Talla's shoulder in goodbye and said experimentally. "See you later, Talla."

Talla raised her head and hesitated before thinking 'What the hell?' and said confidently to her friend. "Bye Ahsoka." Nope, she just couldn't deny the rush that came from doing things outside the parameters set for her by that long-neck, which now seemed confining.

Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, or that the Bad Batch was a good influence on her or not, it was all a matter of opinion.

Ahsoka beamed, then waved goodbye to Hunter - who had just arrived - before beginning the long trek back up into the temple.

Talla staggered to the side of the cab as Hunter hopped out and set her helmet in his outstretched hand while he became wrought with concern, and guilt which she could now identify at her sluggish actions and pale face covered in a sheen layer of sweat. "How bad is the pain?"

An audible wince as she took his steady hand with her trembling one was enough to let him know it was too much to put into words. "Yeah, I walked waaaayyyyy too much," She grunted as she climbed over the side of the taxi into a seat with his help and reluctantly admitted, "Maybe the doctor was right in saying I was taking things too fast."

She clumsily scooted over for Hunter to give him his seat back, but only made it to the middle seat, and the cab took off right after he settled back in. "Tomorrow, just take it easy, okay? Even if your released..." He almost begged.

Talla tried to minimize his concerns with a reassurance but couldn't hold back a big yawn before having to rest her heavy feeling head against the cushiony back of her seat, which confirmed she was close to conking out after the days strenuous activities. "Fine." She was only able to mumble, then through lidded eyes gazed upon the twinkling skyscrapers of the city around them. The enchanting view of dim lighting and the sway of the taxi as it flew made her begin nodding off, then weakly fight to keep her droopy eyes open, but before she knew it, she found herself leaning against something warm and sturdy and she gave in to the pull of sweet unconsciousness.

Hunter immediately tensed up when he felt Talla's head press against his shoulder, and then felt like jumping over the side of the cab entirely when her both of her arms wrapped tightly around his own and she was now cuddled up right against him. Now, Wrecker had a terrible habit of trying to cuddle his brothers, especially when he was down or had a nightmare, so Hunter was not completely starved of physical touch... but this was physical touch from a woman... and one who turned him into a complete puddle of nerves with just one look or touch at that... like right now... and this touch wasn't of the hand-on-the-shoulder variety... which still flustered him despite the fact she was definitely not aware of her actions.

One look at her peaceful features though made him attempt to relax his rigid muscles in acceptance over this uncomfortable situation, and then he tried not to jostle as they sharply flew around corners. That'd make her more comfortable right? He prayed she didn't hear the pounding of his heart.

It was the longest, most stressful thirty minutes of his life, AND HE BLEW UP SEPERATISTS BASES FOR A LIVING!

And instead of being relieved from the close proximity at the hospital, he was faced with another situation that made him unbearably uncomfortable - he didn't want to wake her up, for she looked so peaceful and she was so tired, but she had to get to her room!

The taxi driver grew impatient as Hunter dumbly sat there for a minute in his cab despite having arrived at their destination, wondering what the heck he should do, and grumpily cleared his throat at the clone sergeant, forcing Hunter to make a split-second decision. He ever so gently pushed Talla off of his shoulder - man, she was completely out of it, not stirring despite having enhanced senses that made deep sleep difficult - and then he quickly climbed out of the taxi, chucked credits at the moody driver's head, then stepped around to Talla's side. Giving an unenthusiastic sigh, he slid his arms under her knees and behind her back to carefully scooped her sleeping form out of the taxi, to which she immediately curled into his warmth with a happy sigh.

Maker, you have to get a hold of yourself Sergeant, she's just your SQUADMATE! His mind chastised him when heat rose to his face again.

The driver, happy that he was paid, decided he would help Hunter by kindly handing him the helmet and crutch, and then Hunter carried her through the lobby, a lift, and two hallways to reach her room, the whole time wishing the sleeping woman in his arms was created a man so he could have just punched the soldier when he accidentally cuddled him.


A/N:

~ side notes ~ Just to clarify, the rest of the Bad Batch were on the Marauder during this whole funeral thing. I couldn't find a way to add it into the paragraph, so I'm telling you that now. That's why there's sadly no teasing about Hunter's predicament Also, for Obi-Wan's funeral I used the eulogy Yoda said in the bombing episode of TCW... There's really no set words that the Jedi use at funerals sooo... Yeah. That's what you get lol

- Ella ✌