CHAPTER 3: Healing Magic

Star turned when she felt something against her left shoulder. She saw Rex sinking to the ground, his pistols fallen beside him. Star dropped her sword and turned Rex over. He had a gunshot wound just about in the middle of his torso. She felt his pulse and noticed it was very faint. She felt rage building up inside her, and the fact that the droids were getting closer didn't help.

Her head shot up, tears brimming on the edges of her eyes. Star stamped her right foot, threw her hands outward, and let out a scream that turned into a shrill howl. Waves of flames rippled out in circles from where she was standing. Soon all that was left were piles of ashes and some small flames. She didn't have time to survey the damage; there were more droids coming in from the water. She grabbed Rex's arm, slung it over her shoulder, and carried his limp form back to the last gunship where General Skywalker and ARC Trooper Fives were waiting with others survivors.

"What happened?" Fives asked.

Star laid Rex down on the floor and boosted herself in. "He took a shot for me. Let's get back to the Resolute."

The gunship took off and soon they were back in the hangar deck of the Jedi cruiser. Skywalker had called the medics before they arrived so when they landed the droids were there with a stretcher waiting. Fives and Skywalker laid Rex, still unconscious, onto it and he was wheeled away. Fives turned to Star as she climbed down.

"He's going to be fine, Star. Rex is as tough as an ARC trooper." He said.

"I sure hope so," She said, looking down. "He's the only person I know who…." Star's voice trailed off. She didn't know how to finish the sentence. She felt the tears creep back into her eyes. Star couldn't bear to think of Rex dying. She ran back to her quarters before she lost control of herself. When she finally reached her room she just let go. Her claws came forth and she began ripping anything that could be shredded. When that was over Star shifted into her wolf form. General Skywalker found her pacing the floor and howling occasionally.

"Star, if you can get yourself back under control you can see Rex." He said calmly, and then walked away. Star reverted to her human form and took a few deep breaths. Fives was right; Rex was going to be okay. She was just overreacting because she was letting her…. feelings….get in the way of her better judgment.

Why did she feel this way about him? Sure she cared about Rex, but she cared about all of her brothers. This isn't any different, is it? Star wasn't sure. She couldn't tell if this was love or not. If it was, she would have to stop feeling this way. She was a soldier, and she had made a commitment to the GAR. Winning the war came first in her life. And besides, there was no way they could be together. They were just too different, and Rex probably didn't like her anyway.

But if he didn't like her in that way, why was he the only one who accepted her into his squad? Why did he save her when she was stabbed by those cadets? Maybe that was just him being nice, and a good soldier. Either way, Star knew he wasn't going to die, at least not if she had any say in it. She made her way down to the medical station.

When Star reached the med bay, she didn't even have to say anything. The clone medic just led her to where they were treating Rex. He was laid out on the bed, his upper armor removed and the injury bandaged. The machine to the right of the bed indicated that his vitals were returning to normal. Star came over to side of the bed and took Rex's left hand in her right. She started rubbing her thumb over the top of his hand in circular motions. She remembered someone doing that to her after she was stabbed. Now that she thought about it, it was probably Rex who had done that, and had watched over her the other days when she had to stay in the medical room back on Kamino.

The med droid shuffled over to check on Rex. His optic sensors glanced up at Star who in turn looked at the droid. "He is currently stable," was the stiff reply the droid gave. Star heard the door open and released her grip on Rex's hand as Cody and Fives entered the room.

"Where's the General?" Star asked.

"Council meeting, otherwise he'd be down here." Cody replied.

The two of them walked closer to the bed as the droid changed the bandages on Rex's chest. Star bit her knuckle and Fives whistled. They could clearly see where the blaster bolt had hit Rex. There was a little bit of dried blood around the entry point, and the surrounding area was badly bruised.

"Fierfek," Fives muttered under his breath.

"That must have been one hell of a blaster." Cody said, not bothering to hide his astonishment.

"I think it was a sniper. I didn't bother to look around until after I turned every clanker on the shore to ash." Star said.

The machine next to the bed started beeping wildly, and all three clones turned to look and see what it meant. The sensors showed that Rex's heart rate was increasing rapidly, something that they could tell was not a good sign.

Fives turned to the droid. "Aren't you going to do something?"

The droid continued applying new bandages to his chest. "In good time."

Fives pointed at the monitor. "His heart rate is going through the roof. It's only a matter of time before it stops completely." He practically shouted. And yet the droid moved at its same slow pace. It shooed the three clones toward the other end of the room. But it didn't seem like anything the droid was doing was helping. Cody leaned in to whisper to Star, "You've got to do something."

Star turned to him, eyes wide. "What can I do?" she was frantically looking from Cody to Rex. She wanted to help, but it felt wrong to interfere.

"Star, I've seen you use your fire for healing purposes. It saved a couple extra lives back on Umbara. You can at least try."

"Okay, but I'll need you guys to cover me."Star approached the droid, Cody and Fives close behind her. "I know what to do," she said to droid. "So if you could just move."

The droid turned to her. "You do not have authorization. Please stand back."

"No." was Star's defiant reply. She tried to shove past the droid, who turned and pushed her back. He was quicker than he looked. Star and the medical droid scuffled for a few seconds before Star shot a blast of hot air at the droid which sent him flying toward the opposite wall. "Grab him!" Star shouted. Cody and Fives pinned the droid against the wall and held him there.

"Make it quick Star," Cody said over his shoulder. "He's pretty strong."

Star focused her attention on Rex. Sweat was running down his forehead and blood was starting to seep through the bandages. She removed the dressings so she could see the injury. Rex was starting to lose blood, and the sight of the wound was making Star sick. She took a deep breath and cupped her hands. A small fire ball appeared in her palms. She blew gently into the flame and it turned a bluish color. Star made the flames spread by stretching her hands and then placed the sheet of fire on Rex's chest. She placed her right hand on top of the flames ad focused. She sent a jolt of her energy into the flames and through Rex's body. The blue flames sank into his torso, and the injury disappeared.

Fives and Cody relinquished their hold on the medical droid who rushed over to the bed and began to check Rex's vitals. As he turned to the monitors, Rex sat straight up and gasped. He looked around the room until his eyes settled on Star.

"What happened?" he asked.

Cody approached Rex and placed a hand on his friend's back. "Star just saved you life ner vod."

Rex looked at Cody as if he was thinking through what Cody just said. He smiled, gave Star his thanks, and asked for his armor back. Star turned to head out the door. "I'll go tell the head medic what happened and request for your release."

"Release? Where am I, I prison?" Rex asked.

Star laughed and left the room. As she headed down the hall, she thought about what just happened. It still baffled her, even though she was the one who had saved Rex's life. She reported what just happened and the medics agreed to let Rex leave. After she saw Rex head to the bridge to find General Skywalker, she returned to her quarters.

Star sat on the floor of her quarters, meditating, or at least trying to meditate. Eventually she just gave up. She would leave the meditating to the Jedi. She pulled out her sword and started cleaning it instead. The whole time she thought about what she had done. Rex had been shot two days ago, but the memory was fresh in her mind. She had almost lost Rex, and it wasn't going to happen again. Star promised this to herself, feeling that same feeling she felt after he had almost died. This time she welcomed it, and she could now honestly say to herself that she was in love with Captain Rex.