Chapter Ninety: All According to Plan

This was not how the plan was supposed to go. It was meant to be easy and smooth. Rex and I had spent the day together, enjoying the peace and each other's company. The chances that Embo would even show up were slim. I'd come to terms with that day being our vacation…happy with it, even.

And then two hunters I didn't recognize at first appeared on a smoking shuttle, limping their way into the town. Rex and I hadn't known who they were, but were wary considering we still hadn't heard from Anakin or Windu. They were on us before we could even draw our weapons, likely having recognized the white anooba trailing behind us from when they were still in the shuttle.

I'd known there was something severely wrong when there was no pain. There should have been, considering the direction I was watching my knee go in. I wish I could say I was tough, but I was so shocked by the sight of my leg contorting beneath me that I let out what I could only describe as a panicked wail. My voice was silenced in an instant, my teeth clashing together as a fist met my chin, blood spattering up my face. A groan slipped from my lips along with the red-tinged spit, my eyelids fluttering with the shifting of my vision.

"Kida!" I could hear Rex's grunted yell, but it felt distant. I fought towards it. The growl above me felt clearer, Marrok at my side moments after the first strike. The hunter leapt away gracefully and with such speed that my unfocused eyes struggled to follow her. The anooba shifted above me in a protective stance, his massive paws circling my head. I forced myself up with a grunt, my head exploding with pain. The sun was suddenly too bright. Blood dripped from my chin, but a quick swipe of my tongue in my mouth told me it was my split cheeks, rather than any loose teeth.

Thank Ka'ra.

Of course, the horrible numb, lifeless feeling coming from my left leg was incredibly concerning. The numbness would fade with my adrenaline, I knew, so it was best to handle this now. My knee was twisted in a terrible way that made my stomach flip. I looked away, forcing my vision to focus on Rex when I heard him scream.

He was shaking, his body stiff as red licks of electricity scattered across his skin. The parwan holding him in his tendrils was one I recognized, now that he wasn't moving. Derrown. The Exterminator. He had a record that rivaled Jango's when it came to deadliness, though Derrown was said to be…brutal.

I liked to think Jango had finesse, back in the day.

I drew my pistol I'd hidden beneath my loose robes, firing at the parwan. He dropped Rex to dodge my, frankly, poorly aimed shots, and skitter away. Marrok whined above me as he was suddenly kicked away. Long fingers wrapped around the back of my neck, shoving me face-first into the ground and squeezing. I gasped, but received no air in return. Instead, I lifted my pistol higher, tilting it over my head and firing wildly. The body above me shifted and dodged. This hunter felt…lanky.

Black dots were appearing at the edges of my vision like raindrops. I pressed my blaster flat against my neck, pointing the barrel up along the knuckles wrapped around my windpipe. I felt the trepidation from the hunter through the Force. The doubt.

You're about to kill me and you think I won't take a burn to the neck?

I pulled the trigger, unable to cry out at the burn and only gasping in hissing lungfuls of air as my neck was freed. The hunter who was choking me screamed when she released, her weight disappearing from my back. I rolled, suddenly very much aware of the pain in my knee, and trained my aim on the parwan that was advancing on Rex again. The two were grappling, the clone losing both due to his size and the electricity Derrown kept rocketing through him.

With my shots, the parwan disengaged again, ducking behind cover as Rex stumbled back a few steps. His eyes were on me in an instant to find me still prone on the ground. His expression grew fearful, eyes flickering above me. I twisted on the ground, squeezing my trigger.

A part of me wondered if the bounty hunter that was advancing behind me again had an inclination towards the Force, considering how she dove and weaved her way around my shots. My blaster was slapped aside, my good leg coming up to kick at her abdomen as she moved to slam her hands down over my face. Before she could, though, she was wrenched backwards, a scream tearing from her throat before being cut off abruptly. Something crunched, my stomach twisting as I watched her go limp, suspended in the dripping jowls of the anooba. I recognized the Frenk now. Her name was Twazzi and I'd heard of her through the whispers of the underworld. An acrobat and skilled hunter.

Not anymore, I guess.

Blaster fire made my head whip back around, seeing Embo flipping off a roof further up the street. He was firing at Rex, who'd been fighting with the Derrown again. Both dove in opposite directions, the parwan peeling off down a side road, while Rex huddled behind a cart that rattled with each shot hitting the side. My friend had seen a clone attacking his fellow hunter, not yet spotting me, his anooba, or his dead coworker further down the road. Embo wasted no time in leaping down to street-level and diving over the cart to catch Rex in the mouth with his foot.

"No!" I yelled, dragging myself forward on the dirt. I couldn't stand with my leg, and I could feel some of my adrenaline fading with my attacker dead in Marrok's jaws. My hands were beginning to tremble. "Embo stop!" I yelled, but he didn't seem to hear me over his fist-fight with Rex.

My captain had managed to wrench the gun free from Embo's grip and tossed it away. As much as I appreciated Rex knowing I didn't want my friend hurt, I'd rather Rex shoot Embo in the leg or something than let Embo have a chance to kill him. I looked over my shoulder to see the anooba watching his master intently, still not having dropped his prey.

"Marrok," I said firmly, gaining his attention. I pointed to my friends currently locked in battle. "Stop him!" The anooba paused for only a brief moment before he dropped the Frenk with a hollow thud and leapt over my form to race towards his master.

Embo had just thrown Rex over his shoulder, the clone rolling to try and find his feet, when the anooba let out a mighty bark. Both of their gazes cut to my direction immediately, seeing the white creature bounding towards them, followed by me. I wasn't running, of course. I was more….hopping on one leg before crumbling to the ground again. Shab, this was bad.

"Embo," I yelled hoarsely from the dirt, "Dobrah Do Pateesa, Koochoo Murishani!" The bounty hunter's fists dropped, Marrok circling his legs in greeting. Rex took that as leave to rush back to my side. He dropped to his knee, hand ghosting against my shoulder when I winced in pain. Embo called back to me in his native tongue. "Bolla," I yelled back, squinting up at Rex. "Go with him. That Parwan is going to steal his ship."

"But–"

"Marrok!" I called, cutting off Rex's protest. Much to Embo's chagrin, the anooba recalled to my side, nuzzling at me affectionately. "I'll be fine," I said, speaking to the captain again. "Go."

Rex frowned at me, but between the killing machine laying beside me and the townsfolk who were drawing closer with curiosity, he gave in. "Don't go anywhere," he advised as he moved away. I could feel the twinge of amusement beneath his worry.

"Ha ha," I called after him with sarcasm dripping from my lips. As if I could go anywhere. Still, I did my best to turn over so I was sitting and dragged myself to the edge of the street to prop myself against the wall. Looking at my knee made my stomach twist nearly as much as my leg was, so I kept my eyes on anything but it. Marrok settled on my thighs, the weight somehow steadying me.

"By Shiraya," a feminine voice whispered, words laced with horror. I smelled flowers, my bleary gaze making out fiery red hair. I blinked, seeing more red than I remembered on the shopkeeper's head. No…it was everywhere. My hand lifted to touch my face, finding warm blood. "Don't," the shopkeeper said urgently, a hand gripping my wrist suddenly.

I reacted slowly, glancing at her fingers wrapped around my arm before lazily lifting my eyes to hers. Her eyes were a deep, honey-like brown. I smiled at her, but I wasn't really sure why.

She was looking at me silently, likely trying to assess the damage. I was trying to do the same, really, but everything just felt like it was on fire. My adrenaline was sapped, so I was feeling the full extent of my blown knee now. My jaw ached and a nice, rather smarting cut was apparently on my forehead. My hand touched my throat gingerly. It hurt to breathe and I was sure bruises in the shape of Twazzi's hands were forming.

"What happened here?" the shopkeeper finally asked. Other townsfolk were appearing, some crying out at the dead Frenk in the street, spattered with blood. My head was getting fuzzy, so it was hard to see her, but her voice sounded watery.

"Are you crying?" I asked. My words were a bit slurred. And my question was, honestly, rude. The shopkeeper's image in the Force was hard to make out, wavering like a rippling pool of water. It hadn't been like that earlier… I glanced towards the other townsfolk to see them all like that. "What the shab is going on?" I asked no one in particular.

The shopkeeper's face was suddenly very close to mine, her eyes staring at me worriedly. "You got hit pretty hard in the head, didn't you?" She was shifting back and forth wildly. No, only her torso and head were. Her feet weren't moving.

"How are you doing that with your body?" I asked her. She blinked at me before looking over her shoulder in the direction of Embo's ship.

I hadn't felt Rex's approach in the Force. I only saw him as he jogged over, calling to the shopkeep, "How is she?"

The redhead gave me a glance and pressed her lips into a line. "Not well, I think," she called back.

I finally felt Rex's presence with his spike of fear. He came into my view, dancing just like the shopkeep. I raised my brows at him. "You too? Why is everyone–" I stopped myself, my mind clearing enough to realize that the problem was me. No one was moving at all.

"Well, she's with it enough to realize something's wrong, at least," Rex said softly, his hand reaching out to graze against my cheek. The shopkeep stepped away, whether it was for privacy or her stomach, I didn't know. "Cyare, you with me?"

I groaned, pushing my face against his hand. "Head hurts. Leg hurts more."

Rex's golden gaze cascaded over my body, taking in the damage. When he was done, he met my eyes again, forcing me to focus. "I can understand that. We should get you back to your shuttle." He breathed slowly through his nose, giving me a stern look. "And to a medbay."

I sat up at that, immediately regretting it and letting out a string of colorful curses. Rex eased me back against the wall slowly, but firmly. "But our vacation," I whined.

He sighed at me, hand ghosting past the cut on my head to brush some of the wispy hairs back. "Cyare–" he started slowly, but his words stopped when my hand twisted into the front of his robes, forming a fist at his collarbone.

I forced my vision to focus, zeroing in on my captain and dragged him close, our noses nearly touching. "Rex. I did not get my knee blown out just for you to not go on vacation."

I was surprised when both he and Embo laughed, drawing my gaze to the Kyuzo who'd appeared over Rex's shoulder. He spoke quickly in his native tongue, my slow brain doing its best to keep up.

"Yes?" I said to the silence after Embo finished, not entirely convinced I heard him right. Things were sounding weird and my ears were ringing.

Clearly, I hadn't heard him correctly, as the bounty hunter scoffed and rolled his eyes before stepping around Rex quickly. He was fast, jabbing me in the neck with a stim canister before anyone could react. Rex reacted when I let out a yelp, both in surprise and pain. And then suddenly it got better, the fog in my brain lifting a bit. I let out a slow, grateful breath, everyone relaxing as I did.

"Thanks," I chuckled, rubbing at my eyes again to clear the blood before pressing some of the excess cloth of my robes to my bleeding forehead. The Kyuzo spoke again, this time I could make out his words. "He stole your ship?" I looked at him suddenly in shock.

Rex sighed slowly through his nose. "The Parwan was already inside by the time we got there. There was no chance."

"Kriff." I chewed my lip, thinking. Before I could say anything, though, Rex was at my side, slowly lifting me in his arms. "I can walk," I grumbled automatically, despite knowing it wasn't true.

Rex only chuckled at me, leading Embo and Marrok away from the scene quickly. We boarded my shuttle immediately, Embo making his way to the cockpit to start the engine. After a bit of arguing, Rex followed him with me in his grasp.

"You'll have to use my ship," I mused aloud, earning a raised brow from Rex. "Embo, you need to fake kidnap us." My friend responded with a surprised flurry of questions, the clone sighing above me.

"Kida, you really need–"

"Embo gave me a stim," I argued, "And there's a medical droid where we're going." I wasn't certain about that, but it was likely, considering who owned the place. "Please, Rex. Everyone did a lot to make this happen." Again, Embo voiced confusion from the pilot's seat as he navigated my shuttle into the air.

The comms signaled. The beeping filled the room like an ominous warning, all of us frozen in our spots.

"Ignore it," I said, Embo obeying with relief.

"Kida–"

"If we're being kidnapped, we can't answer their calls with Embo flying my ship," I cut Rex off again, giving him a look. "Please just work with me on this."

"I want to." I felt he was being earnest. "But your leg…" Rex pinched his brow. "We need to set it first. If nothing else, please let me do this."

I wasn't really expecting that. And the thought made my stomach turn. "I'd really rather not." Embo muttered something from the pilot's chair. "I didn't ask you."

Rex's brow lifted. "I take it that he agrees with me." My scowl was answer enough. "It's going to hurt. A lot." He was being good at keeping his voice steady; he sounded like a captain. But I felt his worry over my pain. And his distaste at causing me more.

"Fine," I finally conceded. "Embo, with the scene back at Dee'ja Peak, you won't be able to drop us at our destination." Rex gave me a worried glance, but stayed silent while I continued. "There's no way the Republic hasn't tracked my ship in some way, so you'll need to drop us soon and then get out of the system. Take our comms, and then leave my ship somewhere the Republic will find it. Lock it," I added in a growl, earning a chuckle from both males.

Embo, when he quieted, gave me a look and inquired about his ship. "What did he say?" Rex asked after my incredulous look.

"He says if we weren't there he wouldn't have lost his ship, so I owe him one."

"We slowed them down for you, if anything," Rex said slowly, earning a chuckle from me.

"Thank you," I laughed, returning the scowl Embo gave me. "I'll help you get a ship," I promised with mirth, excited despite the inconvenient injury. "You just can't have mine."

The plan settled, Rex exited the cockpit to move to settle me on a bench, fishing out the medpacks he knew I stored there. He worked silently, drawing out metal bars and wraps of gauze, laying everything out in a rather meticulous manner. I couldn't help but smile at him. Such a soldier.

Despite my warm gaze, his features were drawn and harrowing. He finished laying everything out on the table beside us and knelt on the ground beside me. He didn't look at me, instead flitting his hands over my legs, ghosting over the injury with hesitance. Slowly, he lifted his gaze, golden eyes stormy and dark. "This isn't going to feel good."

My smile fell away, chest tightening. I wasn't really afraid of pain, sure, but my leg looked bad. Everything about it made my stomach turn, my vision growing a bit fuzzy. That could have been the head injury, though. The stim wouldn't last very long with this level of injury anyways.

"Okay," was all I said, shifting slightly to grip the sides of the bench, stuffing a clean portion of my robes between my teeth. Rex watched me carefully for a moment before his hands settled on my leg. I watched him adjust his body, shifting me gently to see how I needed to be moved. I winced around the robes, hearing a muttered apology from Rex. His signature in the Force was rippling with anxiety. He knew he had to do this, but he definitely didn't want to.

Neither did I, really.

"Ready?" he asked, eyes cutting to mine a final time before fully focusing on my leg. "I may have to go slower than we'd like." I breathed out slowly through my nose and gave him a nod, followed quickly by a grunt when I realized he wasn't looking at my face anymore.

There was something different about this. It was painful, sure, but pain wasn't something I was unfamiliar with. There was something… more. As if my body knew how wrong everything was, twisting my intestines to match my leg. Or maybe it was the pounding that was slowly beginning in my head, creating an absolutely demonic orchestra of pain.

I pivoted my torso as best I could without moving my leg, vomiting onto the floor. Lovely. Now my Nabooian robes had anooba slobber, dirt, blood, and vomit on them. I would be burning them, for sure.

"Sorry," I whispered, eyes screwed shut against the throbbing behind my eyes. The cut on my forehead had opened again, warm blood trickling between my brows.

A gentle hand caught my face, Rex having left my leg for the moment. He ran a cloth across my mouth quickly, hushing me with a soft, "Don't," before touching gauze to my forehead. He leaned me back a bit, moving my nose away from the sharp scent of my puke.

I let him, but watched as he elected to work on bandaging my face instead. "It's gross," I whispered, half-jokingly.

"You act like I don't see war every day." That was actually a great point. I hummed, but rolled my eyes anyway. "I'd give you medication to knock you out for this," he started solemnly, "but with how confused you were earlier…I don't want you sleeping." Another good point from my captain.

"Damned bounty hunter. I'm kind of sad Marrok killed her," I mused, Rex glancing at me with surprise. "I wanted to kill her," I explained, getting a shockingly dark chuckle in return.

"You and I both."

I smiled, closing my eyes under his ministrations. It was soothing, despite the pain. "Oh? You looked like you had your hands full."

"Mine didn't have his hands around your neck. Eyes open," he added with a firmness in his tone that reminded me of how he commanded his men. Though this was more gentle, and not barked across a battlefield. I snapped my eyes open dutifully to find that his face had gotten closer, his nose nearly brushing mine. With Embo in the cockpit, Rex had nothing worrying him as he dipped lower to touch his lips to mine. It was gentle and far too brief, but he quickly returned to his work on my forehead. "No sleeping"

"I wasn't," I argued, but mentally slapped myself. I wouldn't admit it to him, both for his anxieties and my pride, but he was right to be worried. My eyelids were terribly heavy and the lights in my shuttle were far too bright. I could practically hear them buzzing, like bugs burrowing in my skull. Whether Rex believed me or not, he didn't react, returning to his work. I wanted to reach out to feel him through the Force, but the idea made my head pound again. Besides, last time I looked through the Force, everything had been far too wobbly to be of any use.

When Rex deemed the wound on my forehead dressed, he offered me back the rag I'd had between my teeth before. I shook my head. "I might puke again." It was both an explanation and a warning, but Rex accepted it and took up his place beside my leg once more. Neither of us spoke, but with a nod from me and a steadying breath from him, he went back to setting my leg.

I lost consciousness once or twice, each time Rex coaxing me back with a gentle call and shake of my shoulder. And each time after ensuring I was fully conscious again, he diligently went back to work until my knee was realigned. He wasn't a medic, but I felt when it went back into place. It was like instant relief, mixed with a low, constant burning. I hissed through my teeth as he fashioned a make-shift brace with the metal bars and gauze. He rigged it beneath my billowing skirts, letting the bloodied cloth fall to the side.

Rex moved quickly, applying bacta patches to my knee and neck before fetching new Nabooian robes for us both. His hands stretched to me, calloused palms rough as he slowly lifted me to my feet… foot. Balancing my weight between my good leg and his shoulder, Rex carefully stripped me of the bloodied clothes, running a damp rag over anywhere that was particularly dirtied.

I flinched away. "Ciryc," I complained.

Rex gave me a small smirk. "You mean cinyc."

"No, I don't," I grumbled, but he only laughed at me as he finished and left me for a moment to collect my clean clothes. I wobbled where I balanced, the buzzing of the lights above me making me squint down at the floor. I waited there, breathing slowly, trying to block out the pounding in my head.

"Cyare?"

I hadn't realized my eyes had closed until Rex's voice sounded from somewhere near me. I snapped them open, the flooding of light into my vision making my head spin. It was hard to see, but when things began to focus, I found the floor racing towards my face. It never met me, thankfully, Rex's arms catching me before I could kiss the metal ground.

"I'm okay," I assured, but my voice sounded a few octaves higher than usual and not very convincing.

Rex didn't speak as he helped me to sit on the bench, slowly lowering himself to a crouch before me. His amber gaze was like molten lava, burning a hole through my soul. "You're not."

"I'm just tired," I whispered, surprising us both with how broken my voice sounded. Tears were pricking at the corners of my eyes.

"That's what worries me." He breathed slowly through his nose, looking me over for a moment before rising to help me into the new robes he'd collected for me. Thankfully, Naboo robes were soft and flowing, usually having lots of wraps and layers. I didn't have to fully get off the bench at any time or move my leg. "I know you wanted to do this vacation, Cyare, and I'm grateful, but we are getting you to a medic."

"No!" I fought, giving him a look. I didn't like how firm he sounded. He met my gaze immediately, my blood going cold at the commanding stare he gave me. I ground my teeth, my rebellious nature flaring. "I already told you that we are doing this vacation, Rex." Rex said nothing as he finished dressing me, settling me back onto the bench with my leg awkwardly outstretched in the brace as I sat upright. "Hello?" I asked as he began to move away, my temper rising. "You're just going to ignore me?"

"I'm going to change," he said softly, his back to me. "I'll be right back and then we can go talk to Embo." The captain stepped away to change his own clothes before disappearing into the fresher for a few minutes. I watched him go with grinding teeth. I felt blind, the Force being a rippling pool of nonsense rather than the calm sea I was used to.

The issue was that I didn't know if there was something wrong with the Force…or something wrong with me. I closed my eyes, focusing on the Force, only to be met with a splitting headache and wobbling images. I sighed, leaning back against the wall while I waited, mentally planning my argument in favor of our vacation. When he came back, I had to fight to appear like I hadn't been falling asleep.

"Cyar'ika," he chastised as he approached, rag in hand. "You had a head injury." His voice sounded strained.

"I wasn't sleeping." To be frank, it was a little hard to see him, so I wasn't sure what his expression was as he neared me. I wondered if he could tell how unfocused my vision was.

He hummed, grabbing my chin gently to hold my face to the light. He brought up the rag to wipe away the grime on my skin, a smile gracing my lips when I realized he'd warmed the water in the fresher after I'd complained. I let him work, my eyes sliding closed in the warmth and pampering. I'd wanted to fight a moment ago, but this was nice. And I was tired. My head shook in his grasp, my eyes snapping open to glare at Rex, who still had my chin between his fingers.

"No sleeping."

"I wasn't–"

"Cyare, I am right here," he argued, actually seeming frustrated. "I'm watching you fall asleep." I frowned, my eyes downcast as I looked away. He sighed, but continued working until he was satisfied that my face was clean. He kissed my cheek quickly. "I know you're not trying to." His knuckle replaced his lips, brushing up my cheekbone gently. "But you need to stay awake until we can get you to a medic."

Ah. That again.

"There's a medical droid where we're going," I said again, as I had earlier. His hand dropped from my cheek, his gaze avoiding mine. "I feel fine, Rex." That got his attention, the clone turning back to me with a hard expression, his eyes fiery.

"Don't you dare lie to me, Kida." There was no pet name, and his words were like ice. My mouth snapped closed, my eyes wide as I stared at him. Still, my silence told him the truth. He sighed slowly, taking in my nervous and guarded expression before delating slightly. "What are your symptoms?"

"You sound like Kix."

"Your symptoms," he merely repeated, his words less icey now. Now he just seemed…tired. And maybe a little scared.

I blinked at him for a moment before whispering, "It's just my head." His brow lifted, silently prodding me to continue. "It hurts," I tried, earning a scowl. "Fine," I sighed, "My vision is pretty weird and it's hard to focus. I'm really tired and the lights are too bright and can you not hear that buzzing?"

"Buzzing," Rex repeated back.

I squinted at him, my stomach flipping a little when I tried to reach out with the Force. With a groan, I pinched the bridge of my nose, mumbling, "I can't tell if you're teasing me or not."

"That's unlike you." Each of his responses were steady, but short. There was little to no emotion in them, each word sounding flatter than the last.

"Yeah, well the Force is…" I struggled to find the right word. "...wobbly right now," I settled on.

"Wobbly." He repeated the word, just as he had with 'buzzing.'

"Are you okay?" I asked, leaning back against the wall to give him a challenging look.

"I'm not the one who can barely focus her eyes." Now his voice was like a whisper, his gaze slowly lifting to meet mine. I'd expected to find fire in his golden eyes, but saw only worry.

I reached out slowly, touching his cheek. The clone turned his head, pressing his lips to my open palm. "It's just a concussion, Rex," I assured. "A good one, I'll admit that, but I'm going to be okay." I knew a head injury had risks, though, and I allowed, "I should see the medical droid when we arrive, though."

"Cyar'ika–" Rex started, dragging his hand down his face tiredly.

I cut him off though, grabbing his hand. "Rex. Gedet'ye."

The captain watched me for a moment from where he crouched, his eyes scanning across my features slowly. His hand twisted in mine to hold it, fingers curling to give mine a squeeze. "I know you wanted to go. And I know how much planning went into this…"

My face crumpled, tears spilling out now. "But I–"

"Kida," Rex breathed, his tone a mix of chastise and warmth. "I can't lose you."

Can't.

I wasn't sure if it was the head injury or not, but I didn't think he'd said it like that before. There was something different about his voice or tone, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"I just–" I hiccupped a little around my words, tears flowing freely now. I blamed the injuries. "I just wanted to give you some time away. I just–" I sniffled, aware of how pathetic I probably looked, but not really caring. "I just wanted to give you something normal."

"There's nothing normal about our relationship," Rex chuckled, earning a louder sob from me. He immediately realized he'd chosen the wrong path of comfort, lifting himself a little to grip my face with both of his hands, forcing me to look at him. "Cyare, even if our relationship isn't normal, I still love everything about it."

"But you're not just a soldier," I argued, cutting myself off with my own shaking breath.

Rex knew what I meant, though, sinking back onto his haunches to watch me with a contemplative gaze. "Kida, you've given me more than enough moments that I will cherish forever. Each moment with you reminds me that I'm a man. A person, and not just a number." I was still crying, the clone shifting closer again to reach up and wipe my face with his knuckles. "Like when we go to your club. Or sleeping in a real bed. Or using soap that isn't from the GAR. Or Rouva's cooking. Or when you taught me Holochex–"

"Something I still regret," I teased, my mood finally beginning to lift.

Rex chuckled, gently touching my cheek a final time before dropping his hand to my thigh. "My experiences with you have made me realize how much more there is than just this war and the GAR. I cherish every moment with you, Cyare. I'm grateful for the time we had on Dee'ja Peak."

My expression dropped again, remembering how this conversation began. "It won't take any more time to get to a med bay than it would to get to where we're going." The ship shifted beneath us, both of our gazes lifting when Embo called over the speaker that we would be landing outside the nearby trading town.

"We should tell him not to land."

I gripped his forearm, keeping him in place before me. "Or we could exit the ship as planned and I can see the medical droid the moment I arrive. And I'd do everything you ask on the way there, even if I think it's stupid."

He huffed a bit of laughter at that, but looked me over with a frown, "I already said–"

"Right, and it's adorable and I appreciate it," I cut him off, the pain in my head clearing the fog for just a moment. "But I'm being genuine in that the time to either location is probably comparable, public shuttle aside." I grabbed his hand, lacing our fingers quickly. "Rex, please. You need a break." I glanced down at my leg. "I also need a break. Please, just come away with me. I promised you I'd never ask you to run with me again, so please just give me this. A few days…where I can pretend we're just two normal people in love by a lake."

His expression softened, but I could tell him mind was racing. I didn't need access to the Force at the moment to see the slight flickering in his eyes as he turned over all of our options. Finally, his gaze refocused and he looked at me. "A lake, you say?" Despite my better judgment, I threw myself from my seat on the bench to wrap my arms around his neck with glee. Of course, I had an immobilized leg that immediately slid to the side, sending my tumbling forward. Rex was a strong man, catching me easily as he stood and steadying me beside him. He looked me over for a long moment before touching my cheek gently. "How are we even going to get you there? We'll draw gazes on public transit. You can't even walk."

I clapped my hands at his apparent resignation. "It's back in place and the brace is there. I'm sure I'll manage."

The clone frowned at me, letting me push off him as I tried to move towards the cockpit. "Your knee was…very dislocated, Kida. There's surely damage other than the displacement because of that."

"I'll be – Rex!" I pitched forward, letting out a pained yell. Rex caught me immediately, taking all the weight off my left leg as I panted against him. My vision was swirling, heat flooding to my face and making it hard to breathe. "Okay," I gasped, throbs of pain still shooting through my leg from the brief moment I'd try to put weight on it. "Maybe this is going to be a little hard."

The ship shifted again, Rex steadying me as it rumbled in its landing on Naboo's surface. The cockpit doors hissed open to reveal Embo, the bounty hunter piecing together our plight by our stances. He muttered to me in Kyuzo, Rex lifting his brow in question.

"He says he has a painkiller that could help, but it's…hefty."

"Hefty?"

"I'll be awake, at least," I offered with a shrug. "I don't have many stim canisters and they won't last long. I honestly don't have any other ideas, so unless you have one?"

Rex shook his head, glancing to Embo. "Ridiculously heavy painkiller it is."

MANDO'A

Ka'ra – stars - ancient Mandalorian myth - ruling council of fallen kings

Shab – fuck

Cyare – beloved; loved

Ciryc – cold

Cinyc – clean

Cyar'ika – darling; sweetheart

Gedet'ye – please

HUTTESE

Dobrah Do Pateesa, Koochoo Murishani! – I am your friend, idiot bounty hunter!

Bolla – Go; To go

Author's Note:

*insert grandma from The Croods saying 'still alive' here*

As per usual, I guarantee nothing. I'd love to write the next chapter tomorrow but I make no promises and there is a huge chance I drop off the face of the earth again. I'm still committed to finishing Kida's story, though, so it will happen.

One more chapter of vacation goodness (I think?) before we are back to story-mode:)

Likes/shares/comments/reviews/dms always welcome 3

-Ryder S Block