One Hundred and Nine
"Excuse me Master Nu?"
"Representative Gem. Have you found something?"
"Yes, well, no actually," Gem looked confused, "I'm not sure."
"Let me take a look."
Together they walked back to the area where Gem had been rifling through the Jedi Annuals, meticulously ticking off the years her mother was supposedly in the Jedi Order. Piia was swaddled in a capsule under the table and Jocasta, noticing the flash of pink, moved toward the sleeping infant, "how old is she now?"
"Six months."
The woman may have been a librarian entrusted to keeping the valuable Jedi history safe, but she was one herself. She stood slowly and closed her eyes, "Has anyone ever commented on – ."
"Yes," Gemma rushed out, and then more eloquently, "yes, they have."
Being the Chief Librarian of the Jedi Archives, Jocasta Nu was the one person Gemma knew could help locate the time and events leading up to her mother's demise as a Knight of the High Order. Not being a Jedi, she also knew she was indebted to the woman for allowing her to set foot inside the hallowed halls.
With a few click of keys on the data terminal, the information became illuminated before them. "Here is the entry where Master Koon was inducted to Padawan status under Master Tyvokka, but there doesn't seem to be any mention of my mother."
"Mmm, let's try the next annual, sometimes there is a gap between a Padawan entering training to when they are entered formally."
Although, try as she might, Jocasta couldn't find anything on Jedi Knight Eremena Torr.
She then took it on as a personal quest to find out why her name was omitted.
After three weeks of working through every annual that had been documented in the two years preceding and two thereafter of the time Eremena was a Jedi, they both came up a blank.
"I don't understand," Gem asked one afternoon.
"I think I do," Jocasta said with realisation.
.
"Fek! Where is it?" Vail was hunting on the floor for his greave. "It was here a minute ago, fek! Can't you help?"
Jesse rolled over and watched his partner now frantically pulling his armour pile apart searching for the missing piece. He then lazily leaned from the bed and picked up something white off the floor.
"Here," he said as he flung it over, "use mine."
Vail caught it and turned. "Are you serious?"
"What? Mines not good enough?"
"It's not clean," Vail stressed, "Fox'll have me."
"It may not be pristine, but I can assure you, it is in fact, clean."
"What's this mark?"
"That, my friend, is what is colloquially known as a blaster burn." Jess watched as Vail sized it up against the other pieces, "I think we both know it'll fit," he said with a smirk. "What's got your knickers in such a knot anyway, thought you said you were off duty?"
Vail ignored him, placing the marked armour to one side while having one final attempt of locating his own. He had just finished a shift and wasn't supposed to be called back for another six standard.
"Gotcha," he said with satisfaction as he flipped Jess' black underwear aside to reveal the missing piece.
"Fekking politicians. One has gone rogue at the Jedi Temple. Need to go over to cover their ungrateful shebs before the Jedi Guard throw them in their Brigg. Fox and all the Nine Corellian Hells will break loose if that happens."
Jess watched as Vail effortlessly shucked all his armour back in place double time and grab his deece. He stopped and quickly moved back to the tattooed soldier lying naked on his cot. Kissing him firmly he moved back slightly, "not sure what time I'll be back."
"Oh that's right! Off you go to save the Senate. Don't worry about me."
Vail picked up the dirty greave and threw it across the room.
"Oww! That hurt!"
.
"WHERE IS HE?" Gem stormed into the Jedi Temple determined to get answers to the travesty of injustice that the Council had bestowed upon her mother.
"Ma'am, there is a protocol that needs to be adhered to."
"Rubbish," she muttered under her breath as she continued to stride towards the large red doors of the hallowed chamber.
Gem knew her answers lay just behind them, "I just want to speak to General Kenobi."
She had made a pact to never say the word Jedi again.
Ever.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY," she bellowed. Another Jedi Guard fell in line next to the other, their ancient weapons now aglow.
"I demand to see the Council, whoever is inside, immediately."
The two remained tight lipped. Then the unmistakable clatter of white boots from behind, she turned to see her cavalry arrive in the form of a Shock Trooper Unit.
They stopped with precision and one stepped forward.
"Good. Lieutenant, I'm glad you're here. I believe these men are stopping me from entering."
Vail wore a smile the size of a crater under the bucket. He liked the Representative from Oriis, and especially her tenacity of taking on the superior Jedi Guard.
One lone woman versus two Jetiise; now that was sight to behold.
The two moved their weapons in front and Vail had to only cock his head to bring the five deeces pointed back in retaliation.
Skylar Gem felt invincible.
"That won't be necessary," a low voice came from behind the clone squad.
Master Dralling had been alerted of the intrusion at the Jedi High Council and walked to the front of the group, raising his hand, silently instructing the pikes to be deactivated.
Vail lowered his unit's weapons in response.
"Ma'am, if you need to see the Council, I recommend the proper route of formally requesting an audience with - "
"Oh please," she replied sarcastically, "I need to see General Kenobi." Gem had felt betrayed by Ben, who must have known there was no record of her mother remaining as a Jedi. He had warned her of not delving into the past, but she had taken no heed and continued on belligerently.
It was like a slap to her face, and she had smarted at the audacity of the group held in such high esteem throughout the galaxy.
"Jedi Master Kenobi is on deployment."
"Is General Skywalker available?"
"No one, is available at such short notice, Again, if you wish to go through the appropriate –"
"I need to speak to the Grand Master," she regained propriety and spoke clearly as her station within the Senate would require.
"That is not possible."
"I'm not leaving until I see him."
.
"Just what the fek were you doing?"
Rex was furious.
She had been placed under 'house arrest' having to be unceremoniously dragged from the Jedi Temple by Lieutenant Vail of the Coruscant Guard. Never before had he been so ashamed of what Gemma had done.
Transporting Fives to Oriis paled into insignificance compared to this.
"Please don't yell at me," this time she was visibly upset, sitting and rocking in the chair as he gave her the dressing down he usually reserved for one of his men.
"I just don't understand," his voice was loud for all and sundry to hear.
Gemma continued to sit and cry. After everything she had been through up to this point, nothing could have prepared her for the deceit she had learned in the Jedi Library that afternoon.
"Rex, we have to leave."
Rex swung around and looked at her.
"Leave?"
There was that tone again.
"Leave, did I hear you correctly?"
Gem nodded. He hated seeing her so upset, but she hadn't mentioned anything of what had caused her to physically assault the head of the Jedi Temple Guard.
"And go where?" Gem thought Rex was about to blow, every vein in his neck and forehead visible.
"Home," she whispered.
"Well," again with the level of malevolence, "if you haven't already noticed, I am home and this is now your home, and wait, that's right, unless you haven't noticed, there's A FEKKING WAR ON." Rex was pacing the apartment, rubbing his hands over his head, more out of annoyance of losing his usual self control.
"I think it would help if you could just tell me what the fek," Rex stopped the tirade, "I'm sorry, what actually happened to cause such an event to occur. Gedet'ye Gem'ika?"
"THEY DELETED HER!" She bellowed it out startling him. "The Jedi High Council were ashamed of my mother so they just deleted her very existence. GONE! Not-one-record to show she was a Jedi Rex. I think I am going mad," she trailed off hysterically muttering, "Obi-Wan, where is he, I need to see him, Rex, he'll know why they did it, can't you help me?"
Rex knelt down beside her, "he's on assignment Gem. I'm sorry, I really am." She looked up into his brown eyes and knew he meant it, "but the next time you take on a Jedi, can we talk about it first? Hmm?"
She nodded and smiled, "some Jedi, he didn't even see it coming."
Rex chuckled as he drew her into him, "that's what I heard too."
.
"Gree," Rex nodded as he met up with the commander at a set of elevators. It was turning out to be a longer than normal day, and Rex happy to leave the Senate building and be back in the barracks. Gree was dressed in camouflage greens,the 41st obviously called out on another mission. There was an underlying level of excitement filling the usually calm and orderly barracks, units were being deployed left, right and centre.
All except the 501st.
"Something big is going down ner vod, this is it, I can feel it," he emphasized as he continued to set his chrono, "we've been assigned to Yoda and we're bugging out for Kashyyyk," they stepped inside and he hit the Hanger Deck level button, "we'll hit dirt in ten and help the fur balls with the Seps dug in at Kachirho."
Rex had always found Gree to be an odd character.
His voice, for starters, although the same as every other troopers, was deeper, even more so than that of Wolffe's. He seemed more rough and tumble than the other officers as well, earnest and no nonsense. He loved nothing more than a good clean fight and was renowned as being one of the most loyal commanders the Republic had ever churned out.
"When are you boys heading out," he nodded to Rex's crimson fatigues, not giving Rex a chance to answer, "not to worry, once Skywalker gets a sniff of what Kenobi is up to, Torrent will be on the first star destroyer out of here."
"Kenobi?"
"You've heard the rumours?" Gree stopped and looked slightly annoyed that the captain of the 501st hadn't been keeping abreast of the war.
"Kenobi's found Grievous and they are fighting it out on Utapau."
The elevator doors then opened and Rex was then struck by the activity of men on the deck, all awaiting their transports to the star destroyers hovering in the Coruscant atmosphere. His eyes flicked past the colours an emblems, the 91st Recon, 41st Elite and the distinctive yellow of the 327th Star Corps. The men seemed anxious to get away, the rumours fuelling their eagerness to get back into the war and finish it for good.
If what Gree was saying about Grievous was true, the war could well be in its dying days.
There was hope, after all.
"Wish us luck captain," Gree turned and smiled, but before Rex had a chance to reciprocate, the commander was barking out orders to a Class 2 astromech moving a cargo lift with the forks elevated at a dangerous height.
"Lower your hydraulics before someone gets their head lopped off! Damn droids!"
.
Reed had to fix it.
So he made an appointment and waited in the office for the psychologist to enter. He sat upright and placed his helmet gently in his lap, all the time going over in his mind what he was going to say.
He wasn't prepared for her beauty.
Tash entered and took a step back the second she saw the man in the chair.
It still hurt; the pain that just never went away.
She was mentally working through the stages of grief perfectly.
Clinically, just not realistically.
First the sudden jolt of grief, followed by the prerequisite depression.
She couldn't eat.
Tash found concentrating at work difficult and more often than not would call the day early and head home to the loneliness that was all enveloping and in a weird way, comforting.
Then the realisation of her life without him.
The grief would then be replaced by irritability, anger and frustration; she no longer cared what her collegues thought of her moods.
She simply didn't care.
Now, she was in a constant state of heightened anxiety, feeling as though she was alone and no one knew that her heart had been irrevocably broken forever.
Or so it seemed.
"Lieutenant Reed, DPE Ma'am."
She nodded curtly and looked at the folder of flimsie on her desk. She then sat in her chair, refusing to look at the face she knew would bring all her hard work undone.
I hear you.
"I'm sorry Lieutenant, I am not sure why you were given this appointment, but I no longer do any evaluations for the Republic."
"I'm not here as a patient Ma'am."
She then forced herself to look up, to face Fives' voice, just one more time.
I can see your eyes.
Her cheeks flushed and Reed could see that the woman had mentally closed down, her grief enveloping her all over again.
He knew he had to speak fast or she would be beyond listening.
"Ma'am, please? If you could just hear me out."
Tash's finger automatically pressed the panic buzzer located under her desk, the one used to alert security that a patient needed immediate removal.
Reed followed her line of sight and stood up.
She felt dwarfed by his size, her head swayed.
I long for your weight against me.
The door opened and two hospital staff stepped in and eyed off the trooper.
"Is there a problem Dr Belling?"
Tash looked to Reed and he thought he had blown it, his chance to tell her that her heart needn't remain torn in two; if she would just let him talk it could be restored in an instant.
But would she give him the chance?
.
"Where have you been?" Kix said over his shoulder.
Jesse raised an eyebrow and wore a smirk and his black bodysuit. He had managed to replace the lower part of his armour, the rest lie cradled in his arms.
"On second thought, I don't wanna know. Suit up, we have an assignment.'"
"Oooh," Jess replied sarcastically, "something to break the boredom?"
"Yeah," Kix smiled at the comment, "the captain wants us walking the perimeter of the Jedi Temple."
"What?" That's the Jedi Guards job, not ours!" Jesse was upset that his extended R&R was coming to an unceremonious end.
"Come on, it's gotta be better than lying around here?" Kix was happy for the distraction. He needed to be out doing something other than spending his days bouncing between the infirmary and the barracks. "The exercise will do us good."
Jesse began clipping his armour in place, "that depends on who you're lying around and exercising with?"
Kix laughed heartily at the comment and Jess stopped his dressing for a minute, the sound music to the tattooed troopers ears, "ner vod, I haven't heard you laugh in so long?"
Kix took in a deep breath and turned to face Jesse, "I haven't had much to laugh at recently." And then he spoke for the first time about his addiction, "I'm sorry Jess, for, well, you know." He looked rested; the dark circles that were once etched under his eyes were gone and the increase in the medic's musculature in recent weeks hadn't gone unnoticed. Kix had been working out, swapping one chemical high for another, and looked as though he could take on an angry Gundark singlehandedly.
"You look good brother."
"Thanks, I feel it too." Kix continued to get his kit together while Jesse continued to watch him.
"You know I could never have got this far without you, don't you?"
Kix sighed and moved over to his melancholy brother, "kih parjai."
"I mean it," Jess implored as he grabbed the medic in an embrace. Kix wound his arms around his bother and closed his eyes. He had never sought a relationship outside the army; his comforting of the injured and dying was simply enough.
But this time he held Jesse tight, he truly loved him, the emotion catching him unaware.
"Sorry to bust up the love in, but you two need to move your shebs and clock on a-sap, or I'll have you on refreshers. Did you hear me? Now move it ladies."
Kix leaned back and smiled at Jesse.
"Appo is such a sheb'urcyn."
.
Fives was learning to live with his new life on Oriis. He had spoken to Reed about Tash and the Lieutenant had promised to look into getting a message to her. Every two weeks he would do a drop of some equipment or supplies, or simply arrive and check his progress. The ARC would appreciate the company.
He was healing slowly, the lack of a tank made rehabilitation a lengthy, drawn out process.
Physical therapy some days consisted of just getting dressed.
Then he would walk slowly outside and sit beside the pool and sleep in the sun, waking only to the whirring of Housedroid annoyingly requesting him to return inside to eat.
If he were the fit man he used to be, Fives would have deactivated that droid, on more than one occasion.
More than anything, he was surprised at how quickly he had aged. It had been eight weeks and everyday there seemed to be another line marking his face along with more grey mixed in at his temples.
One morning, he had managed to walk over to the garage housing the old speeders. He had to sit for the best part of an hour to regain his strength to return when he heard the hanger ceiling begin to alarm. He watched as it opened and Fives smiled when he saw the familiar red slash on the small diplomatic yacht.
Reed was here, and he was overdue for some company.
The ramp was quietly lowered and Fives stood slowly with the aid of a walking cane to greet the lieutenant.
But this time, it wasn't Reed. Fives knew those legs as well as his own and he crumpled slightly in the realisation of just who was coming down first.
Reed had done more than get a message to her.
His lips began trembling as her golden hair flew around her face. She was smiling, her beautiful mouth beaming in happiness. She looked young and carefree and at that moment, he didn't care about his own appearance as he unashamedly began sobbing out loud.
It had been a long journey for them both.
Thirty be damned, suddenly 'twenty nine' would do just fine.
"Tash," he whispered as she collected momentum and began to run towards him.
Fives steeled himself for their contact, knowing full well he no longer had the strength to hold her.
He needn't have bothered.
From now on, she would do it for him.
.