Chapter 14: in love I wait.
It had been a few weeks, since the last time Angel and Runt had seen each other, from what he heard, Angel was promoted, Master Soo had retired, and Angel was the new general of the 130th, it suited her, she loved those men. As for Ahsoka and Rex, their relationship seemed to have progressed, Rex was still just as protective of her as he was before, and because of Runt, he had more time to spend with, her, on and off the battle field. Runt had his own battle scars to brag about, he remembered that he was screaming from the burns on his side, he blushed, it seemed so childish to scream from something like that, but shab it hurt, the right side of his hip was scared, and he sort of wobbled when he walked but he shrugged it off, it was nothing to serious. He could still run and shoot so all was good. Today would be just like all the others, coming back from a recent fight, the fight was nowhere in general, just empty space, and they had lost a lot of pilots, Ahsoka didn't look well, and she never did when she came back with fewer troops then when she started. Rex wasn't expected at the debriefing; he was tending to the commander, so Runt took up his job, and walked along side of General Skywalker. Taking notes in his datapad, which he would give to Rex at the end of the day or during meal time, whenever that was.
"Did you get all that Runt?" Anakin asked.
"Yes general, I'll take these to captain Rex, and get back to you with a report on Ahsoka's condition." Runt responded quickly with a swift salute.
Anakin seemed satisfied as he smiled and nodded his head, and before Runt knew it, he was off, probably to his room so he could talk to his girl without interruptions and eavesdroppers. Yeah like most of the command clones that stick with general Skywalker, he knew about him and the senator, it was impossible not to notice, but like everyone else, he chose to ignore it, however he couldn't help but get a little pissed off, seeing as Rex gets his girl next to him every day, and Anakin spoke to his girl every time he got a chance, the last time he said anything to Angel was when he was saying goodbye, and telling her not to cry. His fingers lightly touched the white cloth Angel had wrapped around his arm, she never took it back, and he never really took it off, wrapping it over his armor every day. Angel, she probably had her hair down now. He wanted to see her, no matter how many times he tried to stop thinking about her, it wouldn't help, he thought about her whenever he heard a lightsaber turn on, he thought about her when he saw birds fly, he even dreamed about her, and that was something different, for his dreams weren't as nice to him as his daydreams were, and he had been made fun of so many times already, unfortunately he was still just a normal trooper, and wasn't allowed to have his own room, not that they would have room for it to begin with. A deep blush ran across his face and he was thankful for his helmet.
Ahsoka kissed Rex gently on the cheek, she was glad he was by her side, he was always uneasy when it came to her flying, he was always on edge, afraid that one of the ships that got blown up was hers, relieved that they weren't, but that was always replaced with grief, it was a brother who died instead, and he knew that she did everything she could. The two comforted each other, made the sadness go away, even for a short moment. Rex pulled Ahsoka into his lap, and he kissed the top of her head, resting his lips there he took in her sent, and smiled. She smiled to and entwined her fingers in his.
"I'm sorry Rex."
"You have nothing to be sorry for," he whispered, his fingers closing around hers. "It's not your fault, those men died heroes today, and it's not your fault that it had to be like this."
"Then why do I feel so bad?"
"cause you have a heart, and it cries when someone dies," Rex said then wrapped his arms around her, best he could though he still had her hands in his, so in a way, she was hugging herself.
The two stayed there for a moment, in silence, Ahsoka would know when someone was coming and would be able to get up and look professional before they were caught. Rex sighed; breathing in Ahsoka's unique sent once again.
Every day is a gift; every moment must be shared with the ones you care for, for there may be a day where they will never return, that is the world we live in.
Hours had pass and the Resolute was in orbit of Coruscant, they were landing for restock, it was easier, and more secure if they did so on planet, then wait for things to come in space. Where things can be attacked and tampered with. Runt was allowed some off time while they restocked, and the injured was taken to the hospital, he was relieved to be given some free time, he would be able to get his mind off of Angel, or at least try, Rex had told him that fresh air would do him good, helped him when he was thinking about Ahsoka back when they were separated. Yeah, well, you have her, you know that if you live the next day you can see her, I don't have that luxury, he remembered saying before walking off into the city, he was being stared at, and some saluted him, he didn't understand why for a moment.
"Do I really look like the rest of my brothers, I thought I looked way younger," he whispered looking into a window of a small store, and that was when he realized he was still in his armor, he laughed and face palmed himself. "That explains it, I look like a trooper," he laughed. And continued walking through the streets, looking around, he didn't have any money, it wasn't like he got paid, and he wondered what good walking though the shopping district was if he was poorer then well, the homeless, and slaves, he stopped in front of a jewelry shop, there was a diamond ring in one of the displays, the ring had a nice diamond in the middle, and two different gems on either side, one was red, and the other blue, like Angel's eyes, he was lucky enough to be one of the few people to see those beautiful eyes, but Angel hated them, she refused to use them, because they were not her's, and she felt dirty using them even if she didn't mean to. The shop owner noticed that he was staring at the ring and decided to walk out and talk to the trooper.
"You seem to like that ring sir, is there a special lady you have this in mind for?" the shop owner asked tilting his head to Runt.
Runt blinked and scratched his head. "Uh, i…it reminded me…" he sighed. "If I was paid for fighting, I would buy this for Angel, "he said with a light smile.
"Angel? Ah, your special lady, you plan on marrying her?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah if that was even possible," Runt laughed, "why?"
"This is an engagement ring my boy, I assumed you knew that when you were staring at it like it was the most beautiful think you can put on her hand," he waved his hand and smiled at how naive the young clone was.
Runt blushed, "oh, sorry," he mumbled scratching the back of his head.
"Don't be, so this Angel what does she look like? And how did you two meet?" he asked.
"uh, well she is short, beautiful and strong willed, and we met here on Coruscant, a few weeks ago, saved her life," he smiled, then wondered why he was saying so much to a man he never met before.
"and in other news the battle between the 130th and the separatist have ended in victory, many lives were taken, but in the end, with the new general Jedi consular Angel Sada, the 130th rose in victory, saving the lives of the many…." HNN was on and it had grabbed Runts attention, he felt himself hold his breath as he heard them announce news on the legion Angel led, he was relieved that she was alive and safe, and it seemed that he was so relieved, that it showed greatly on his face.
He turned his head to the shop owner and blinked as he saw the man smiling back at him, his light blue eyes smiling as well.
"Uh, I know some guys back there, glad that they came out of that…"
"the only one mentioned in there was general Sada, don't worry young trooper I won't tell, its rather dangerous to have affection for someone like that," he raised an eye brow and pulled the ring out of the case, "here take it, it's my gift to you, for all the hard work you do for us, just promise me you won't tell anyone else, I have a business to run you know," he said so flamboyantly it crept Runt out.
"Right, I'll do that, um, thank you, this means a lot to me,"
"I just hope she says yes," the man squealed and waved Runt off as he returned to his counter.
Runt waved goodbye and left the area headed back to the ship.
I have heard it before, you're not a droid, you're a living breathing woman, and you should treat yourself better, yeah well, life sucks and I have to fight to survive, so there
Angel was laying in the med bay, she had passed out after they left orbit, she acted strong taking care of her men before herself, everyone was settled and while she was talking to master Yoda, she had fallen unconscious, and was rushed off to the medbay.
"She is reckless." Lucky said looking at Yoda, feeling like he had to finish what his sister started.
"Indeed," Yoda nodded his head, but couldn't help but smile at her dedication.
"Master Yoda, will she still be given a normal life?"
"Chose she has, Jedi she has become, normal she will not be."
"well, then I just have to do a good job of protecting her," Lucky smiled, then told Yoda of the advancements and such, he hated having to deal with things like this but it was part of the job. With a deep groan he dragged his feet out of the briefing room, just to get a camera on his face; he shot a glare at the temporary second in command, who gave him an apologetic look. There was a reporter in his face, and a camera droid along with her.
"You are commander Lucky of the 130th, how was the battle commander, is there a chance that I would be able to get an interview with general Sada?" she asked pressing the mike in his face. He raised an eyebrow and smiled warmly.
"General Sada is resting, she needs It, haven't slept in days, but as for the battle, it was hard, like all battles, and the battles to come, but like we keep saying around here, today is a good day for someone else to die," he said, then thought about it, "it's a mando thing," he added quickly. He walked away from the woman, but she was persistent.
She wasn't willing to let up, and continued asking questions, like how he became commander, how he managed to pull his men out of this fight, and so on, and he had thought of shooting her, he had his blaster in the holsters on his kama, it would be easy, but he wasn't looking forward to another trip to Kamino, and he really didn't think that his mom would be able to pull any more strings for him. So against his better judgment, he refused to kill the annoying twit.
"I was bred for war hun, eat it, live it, breath it, it's only natural, I was pro…raised to be a command clone…command trooper, and it wasn't like I pulled these men out alone, my sis…my general did all the hard work, I just made sure we got on the blasted transports." He said making so many mistakes. It was getting harder to speak to normal people, especially about his sister, and he really didn't like being known as a clone, he wasn't just a clone he was a trooper, the republics finest.
"I see, so do you consider your general as anything other than just a general? I noticed you had to correct yourself."
"No I didn't," Lucky said bluntly, he really hoped she didn't catch that.
"I'm sure you did commander, just as you corrected yourself from calling yourself a clone, do you think yourself different from the other clones?" she asked.
"look we aren't just clones, we are republic troopers, the best of the best, and we plan on holding that record, a record carved many years before this war, and as for General Sada, well, it's none of your business, she is a Jedi who does her job with most efficiency, she makes little to no mistakes, and she tends to her men before herself, does this satisfy you?" he asked truly getting annoyed, he was in front of the medbay, "now if you mind, I have business to tend to, and you're not authorized in," he smiled kindly to her and bowed, then walked in closing the door and making his way to Angel.
The reporter huffed folding her arms. "well there you have it, the first time we get the chance to talk to these muscle heads and I get blown off like I was some pest, just trying to find the truth," she continued to glare at the door, half expecting commander Lucky to get the chills, or go into an accident because of her.
"Nice work out there, bro," Doc said sarcastically, his eyes didn't meet with Lucky's but rather stayed focused on the task at hand.
"Unexpected visits tend to make me uncomfortable, and I don't work well in those situations dear brother," Lucky smiled back.
Doc put everything down, snipping the stitching string and tying it tight, he turned his head as a medical droid applied the bacta and finished the injured trooper up. His dark brown eyes were filled with the kind of seriousness that made most men cower in fear, it just made Lucky uncomfortable.
"I know what you're going to say."
"Do you now? Then tell me what is it that I was going to say?" Doc asked folding his arms.
"I should be more aware of our sister, and stop her from doing such reckless things," Lucky started.
"And?" Doc asked not fully satisfied with the answer.
"And that she needs to get at least seven hours of rest a day, she is still a growing child and she needs her strength, or her body will fail."
Doc sighed and pressed his middle finger and his index finger on either side of the bridge of his nose, "then why must we have this discussion again? You know how worried I was, thinking that she might make herself sick, or die on the battle field due to the lack of sleep?"
"I know brother, but you should know that once Angel makes up her mind it's hard, if not impossible, to get her to change it," Lucky said not liking Doc's tone but knowing full well that he was right, he should have been able to get a girl half his size into be for longer than one or two hours.
"We'll talk later, but for now let's leave her to rest," Doc smiled and the two walked out of the medbay, to see a most pleased looking journalist, Doc shot Lucky a quick glare, then shook his head.
It's going to be one heck of a week