MINDSPRING- FINALLY IT WORKS! Sorry, I just spent at least an hour trying to transfer my work from my other computer to this new one, and IT WORKS!!! Yay!
Ok, so this chapter is sappy/cheesy, but I had to include at least one chapter like this. Don't blame me for my natural instincts as a woman! Alright, I'm done rambling now. Enjoy and review!!
~Caitlin~
Sometimes, I forget that the clones are clones. Sometimes, and it is getting more frequent, I catch myself thinking they're just regular guys. Especially tonight on the porch- honestly, it had grown to everyone hanging out, talking it up and drinking some cold drinks (It was still at least eighty- even at night.) It just started out as Captain Rex and me, last night.
Last night. Oh man, was it going to stick forever in my memory. We had discussed so many things. I was truly obsessed with this galaxy that we didn't know existed, and that apparently didn't know we did, either. So many new cultures, and peoples, and things to absorb! I found out that he and his men were actually an advanced type of clone, called ARCs, or Advanced Recon Clones.
Suddenly, the wars here seemed so petty and small to me. Actually, everything did. While every tiny little move anyone made out in that galaxy affected hundreds, maybe even thousands of other worlds out there, our problems and concerns and happiness seemed so little, so self-centered. Rex had said that the capital of the Republic, a planet called Coruscant, had one trillion inhabitants. The entire planet was one city! And had been ever since history began to be documented.
It astounded me that they had had flying cars and ships that could travel at light speed before we had even discovered fire.
Plus, last night would be engraved in my mind because of how surprisingly easy it was to talk to Captain Rex, and how he made me laugh, and how he knew so much already but was curious about us here… Yeah, I have a crush on him. Big whoop.
I had been talking to Natalie and Maureen about it while we were grilling hamburgers outside, so Link and Beta must have overheard it while they were taking a break from drills. (I'll admit it wasn't the most secure place to talk about my feelings… but whatever.)
It was basically just a move-over from dinner. We finished dinner, and then Mo said we should go out on the porch, because it was so claustrophobic in the small kitchen. And so here we are!
Odd Ball was right in the middle of telling his fascinating story on how he got the three scars across his face (and by fascinating, I mean interesting but probably more than ninety percent made up.)
"…And so I am dodging the blows as fast as I can, but this monster is fast as hell, and an absolute brute, too. Honestly, I think he was at least the size of that barn."
Link leaned into us and stage whispered, "And this is all true, of course." I laughed with everyone else while Odd Ball hit him on the back of the head (pretty hard, too), and then continued as if nothing had happened.
"Anyway, I've lost my gun, and I'm still slightly disoriented from that crash landing. Suddenly, his claw flashes out of nowhere and absolutely rips my face to shreds. So now I'm blind as well!"
Maureen, Natalie, and I did the best faux horror faces ever- it was so hard to keep them straight when ten men were laughing as hard as they can. But we succeeded (sort of). Odd Ball continued his story, with strategic interruptions by the other men and the three of us. It was great. By the time he finished his tall tale, we were all laughing so hard tears were actually streaming down my face.
We were all laughing so loudly that I started to worry that the neighbors across the street would call the police.
I think the guys liked having some new ears to tell the story to. It wasn't just something they had all experienced and wanted to forget- it was now a story. Plus, we had no idea what was real and what wasn't in this galaxy, so they basically had free range with the amount of twisting they could do. It turned out to be a contest, with Mo, Nat, and me as the judges. I think that the winner had to be when Mo asked Veber the story behind his two different colored eyes.
He looked at her like she was crazy and said, "I have two different colored eyes. End transmission."
We booed him and Nat said, "Okay, who can make up the best story?" That started at least ten minutes of intense discussion, during which I couldn't even hear myself think.
Kirk and Jazz made the best impromptu skit about it- it involved radiation, giant rats, and a stupid droid. Even Veber was smiling by the end, and laughing a little (!). He was the serious, quiet-thinker type, but making those people actually have emotions is fun.
Every so often I snuck a look at Captain Rex. He was so nice last night; it would be hard not to like him. It was so weird to think that this was the great Captain Rex of all of the clones' stories- honestly, he was in every story, and he was kick ass, too! He was actually one of those people that could do amazing things, but when you mentioned it in a praise-worthy manner they smiled uncomfortably and looked away. It was kind of sweet.
It was starting to get late. I pulled out my phone and checked the time. I wasn't tired, although I knew I should be. That was about the time that the discussions turned a little more serious; as in like, questions that Rex and I asked last night to each other. Then we started talking about their earlier missions- well, the three of us did most of the prompting. They answered in short answers, acting as if they didn't want to recall any more of it than needed.
So Natalie, brave little girl she is, asked the important question, "So, you guys are going to forget us?"
That got an answer out of them. They looked at each other, and then Fives smiled and said, "I honestly don't think that's possible."
Link smiled even wider and said, "Yeah, somehow, you would find a way to get to us-"
"Even if we were in the most top-secret bases of the Republic's bases, you would find us."
"And then you would force us to remember."
Fives leaned back on his chair and put his hands behind his head, "Ha, I can just see that- three angry teen girls storming the base."
Maureen looked at him and raised her eyebrows, "And you'll be cowering in fear, of course. We can be scarier than the scariest monster- we're teenage girls."
We stayed out on the porch for another good hour or two- by that time I was nodding off majorly. We said good night and walked to the tent, where we fell asleep almost at once.
I woke up curled into a ball underneath warm covers on a soft mattress.
I sat up quickly, and looking around. I was in the master bedroom. Maureen and Natalie were squeezed into the huge bed with me, both sleeping soundly. I closed my eyes and tried to remember what happened- we went to the tent, fell asleep, and then what?
My heart leaped and I smiled with satisfaction when I had the answer. This had to be proof that the men were our friends- they had carried us into the house after we fell asleep.
There was no way that they could forget us when they left.
