A/N: AGGGH I am such a horrible person for not updating for this long! :( I am so, so sorry guys! DON'T HATE ME!

*Ahem* Anyway… I'm still alive, just… busy, and… procrastinating… but here I am! Man, it's been almost a full year since I updated this one. I don't think I've ever taken this long before… I feel so ashamed…

Anyway, I hope that this chapter makes up for the wait. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE FORGIVE ME! *wails pathetically*.

Review!

Scars

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

The repetitive breathing had an extremely calming effect on Galen. Oxygen flowed steadily into his lungs, invigorating his mind and body in a way that had a sort of relaxing effect on the young man even as he leaned back silently in the copilot's seat

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

In.

Out.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Head a little clearer than it had been moments ago, the young Knight finally allowed his caf-colored eyes to flutter open and sweep the Shadow's cockpit. Outside the viewscreen, the blue and white streaks of hyperspace drifted by in hypnotizing streams of ethereal color. To the left of the control board, Galen could see the luminescent heads-up scope display glowing pale red and white. Behind him, he could hear the slight creaking sound of PROXY moving around in the hold.

But that wasn't what caught his real interest.

Seated at the pilot's seat, with her wispy blonde hair pulled back to the nape of her neck and a light sheen of sweat across her face, was Juno. She was biting her lip in concentration, typing something or other into the datapad gripped in her hands. Several stray strands of pale hair were hanging in front of her eyes, giving her a sort of unkempt appearance that Galen had always found kind of… what was the word?... 'cute'. (He shook his head, annoyed that a word like that would even cross his mind, but it was the best that he could come up with).

"I was started to wonder if you'd nodded off," Juno commented, her eyes still transfixed on the text in front of her. Galen blinked, then leaned forward, somewhat sheepish at how obvious his staring had been.

"No, just… meditating…" (not exactly what he was doing, but it was close enough). Peering over her shoulder, he questioned, "What's that?"

Juno finally looked up, offering him a slight smile. "It's a list of possible recruits that Senator Organa put together for me to investigate," she informed him, glancing back at it briefly before returning her gaze to the Jedi. "Some of these people are pretty green, though… over half have absolutely no combat experience at all…" She frowned.

Galen turned his gaze out of the viewport. "Well, that's how most people are, nowadays, if my experience tells me anything…" Or the experience that the original Starkiller had that was just passed on to me through his memories, he thought bitterly.

Catching the sour expression on his face, Juno set the datapad to the side and turned to face him. One hand came to rest on his knee. "Hey… what's wrong?"

Galen hesitated. He looked into her eyes – her beautiful, compassionate, sky blue eyes that even now completely captivated every part of him so fully that he couldn't help the fear that consumed him at the intensity of the emotions they invoked. They bored into him, full of empathy without pity (as only her eyes could ever be), almost begging him for an explanation. And why not? The two of them had been to Hell and back again in the course of a few months, struggling amid the chaos and the pain to endure all the way to the end. There was no reason for him to keep secrets from her now.

And yet, he still faltered.

Why?

Because I'm afraid, he realized. I'm afraid she'll reject me if she knows the truth.

With the way things were now, he couldn't afford to be afraid.

"Juno, there's… something I need to tell you…" he began haltingly. Her hand curled more tightly around his knee, acting as an anchor between him and complete terror.

"What?" she questioned, her face unreadable (though he could sense her apprehension through the Force).

Again, Galen faltered, unsure where to begin. The warmth of her hand was a welcome distraction from the convoluted nature of his thoughts, but he couldn't keep stalling forever. Finally, he found his voice. "Listen, after the Death Star… well, Vader was… he wanted to have an apprentice again, and he got his hands on some DNA and created… clones… of Starkiller. And… I don't know, I might be… one of them…" he trailed off.

Juno removed her hand and stared at him seriously, looking him up and down. Galen met her gaze cautiously, a little perturbed when he realized that for the first time ever, he had absolutely no clue about what was going on in her head.

At last, with a grave gleam in her eyes, Juno nodded. "I know."

That pulled Galen up short. He gaped at her.

"You… what?"

Juno nodded again, playing absently with the sleeve of her flight jacket. "I saw the others when Vader dragged me through the facility," she said softly, averting her eyes. A shudder ran through her body. "It was… awful. They were just so…" she trailed off, a forlorn look on her face. Galen looked at his hands.

"I know. I… had to fight some of them." Guilt washed over him in a tidal wave. He clenched his hands into fists, shaking his head. "They just wanted to live. And I killed them. Fratricide…" His head drooped.

Juno simply watched him with her compassionate blue-eyed gaze. Ashamed, Galen turned around so that he had his back to her.

"I understand if you don't want to… be with me… after all this," he told her quietly. "If you want me to leave, I will." His voice cracked.

Presently, he felt a pair of warm, slender arms wrap around him from behind. He shuddered at the touch, but took her right hand in his own and pressed it to his chest. Juno rested her chin on his shoulder and pressed her cheek against the side of his head. With her free hand, she gently rolled back the left sleeve of his stained aviator's jacket, revealing his scarred arm and forearm. Two fingers gently traced a scar that ran along his bicep.

A scar that he had gotten when Maris Brood had grazed his forearm with her lightsaber.

"I'm not going anywhere," she told him, kissing his cheek lightly. "I already lost you once. It's not going to happen again. Besides; if you're a clone, than why is this here?" She prodded the scar lightly with her index finger. Galen didn't answer. Instead, he touched his chest with his free hand, feeling another rough patch of scar tissue beneath his shirt where Vader had once impaled him.

With everything that had happened over the past month, he hadn't really taken much time to examine himself closely. He hadn't even noticed that the scar was there. Thinking back, he should have checked more thoroughly. He could have avoided a great deal of angst that way. To be honest, the fact that he hadn't even bothered to check that made him feel like a bit of a moron.

Turning his head just slightly, Galen looked into Juno's eyes. There were no words to describe the pure emotion that he saw there. Her eyes shone when they looked at him, overflowing with a mixture of compassion and love so intense that his breath was taken away at the pure force of it. Though he wasn't the type to give way to tears, he felt a lump start to form in his throat upon seeing the look in her eyes.

Closing the short gap between their faces, Galen closed his eyes and kissed her.

It was the first time that he had ever kissed her without her kissing him first. Confident as he was in most other cases, Galen was almost shocked by his own boldness. It was a big step for him, possibly the very first time when he had felt sure enough of himself with her to be able to take the initiative in their – admittedly complicated and extremely unusual – relationship. Growing surer of himself by the minute, the young man reached up with his free hand to brush a strand of hair out of Juno's face. Her fingers curled around his arm, holding him in a firm but gentle grip. Goosebumps spread rapidly from the area where she was touching him.

When they parted, cheeks flushed and breathing slightly uneven, both had enormous smiles splitting their pink-tinged faces. Juno rested her head on Galen's shoulder, her arms tightening around his middle. Galen buried his face in her hair, slowly breathing in her scent.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

And for the first time in a long time, all was well.