Meanwhile with Shaeeah

Shaeeah entered the kid's room and found Jek sitting on his bed, reading. The room was colder than outside, thanks to the air conditioner against the room's wall. The carpet in the room was a blue-grey colour, the walls were off-white, and the ceiling was also off-white. The ceiling fan was on low, with a light that shone gently. There were four beds, one for her, Jek, Alexis and Numa. The scent of wood and fabrics reached Shaeeah's senses as she sat on the kid bed Jek occupied. The sound of the fan and air conditioner kept the siblings occupied. The bed is soft and comforting, which Shaeeah liked.

"How are you?" Shaeeah asked, concerned for her little brother.

"Not good," Jek replied, "How did we not realise that living on a Desert planet meant she wouldn't know how to swim?"

"I don't know, either. But it's something we can't control. But you don't need to beat yourself up over it, alright?" Shaeeah asked.

"Alright," Jek climbed up and embraced Shaeeah, who returned the embrace. Once they broke apart, Shaeeah said, "Alexis asked me about something that I wanted to talk to you about,"

"What is it?" Jek wondered.

"Well, it's about our biological father," Shaeeah replied.

"Sis, I don't remember much about him. I don't know what you want to know that you don't already know," Jek said.

Shaeeah looked at Jek, surprised. Alexis was right. The 13-month age gap between them was enough for Jek not to remember their biological father as she could.

"So, what do you remember about our biological father?" Shaeeah asked. Jek took a moment to breathe, then said, "I don't remember much. I remember the feeling of him holding me when I was a baby, but that's it. I don't have any hard memories of him, just a few emotions when he held me. I don't even remember how old I was when he died,"

Shaeeah was momentarily taken aback, surprised at what Jek said. Alexis was again correct. How does she do that?

"So, you don't remember the associated grief of losing him?" Shaeeah asked.

Jek shook his head, "No, I don't. It's something that faded as I got older,"

"It would explain why you're struggling with the grief of losing Uncle Rex. You don't have the tools and strategies to cope with it because you never had the chance to develop it," Shaeeah replied.

Jek's eyes widened as Shaeeah said it, and the realisation hit him. He closely embraces his sister, who tightly returns the embrace.

"It's OK, little bro. We're all here for you. And what happened with Numa wasn't your fault. It was just a communication issue. We can make things better, OK?" Shaeeah asked.

"Thanks, sis, I needed to hear that," Jek replied, "How did you handle the grief of losing Uncle Rex?"

"How did I do it?" Shaeeah asked. When Jek nodded, Shaeeah explained, "Well, I have one thing that I do,"

"What is it?" Jek asked.

"Name your fondest memory of Uncle Rex," Shaeeah suggested. Jek thought about it momentarily as grief clouded his memories of Uncle Rex. Soon, he had one, "I remember the day we celebrated my birthday together. It was awesome,"

As Jek said this, pain and joy mixed at Uncle Rex's appearance on his birthday, and Jek realised it lifted a little more of his grief.

"What about you, sis? What's your favourite memory of Uncle Rex?" Jek wondered.

"It's the same as yours, except it's my birthday instead of yours," Shaeeah replied.

Jek and Shaeeah smiled at each other and hugged again. The pain was still there, but being able to talk about their favourite memory of their Uncle Rex continued the steady healing process.

"And as for Numa, didn't you help her last night?" Shaeaeh asked.

"Yeah," Jek replied, blushing awkwardly at part of that time.

"I was having trouble sleeping, and I sensed someone in distress. When I turned over, I saw Numa looking scared and upset. I wanted to help her, but it took a couple of attempts to get her to sit with me. I helped reassure her that she was safe from the Battle Droids that haunted us all during the Clone Wars. I offered to have her stay with me since it seemed like her being alone fuelled her nightmares. That was when I found out she doesn't wear anything while she sleeps, so we had to manage her privacy while allowing me to help provide her comfort. There was another awkward moment the following morning as she had to be very careful with getting ready, owing to managing her privacy. And she thought, for a moment, that I had tried to snatch a look at her before she got her gown on," Jek explained.

"Did you?" Shaeeah asked accusingly, knowing that privacy wasn't a thing between them due to their shared room.

"Of course not," Jek replied, his voice tinted with frustration, "I ensured Numa kept her privacy intact the night before. Do you honestly think I'd break that in the morning?"

"No, I didn't mean," Shaeeah was getting defensive, "I just thought you'd snatch a look or something. I know you're curious about our development, so I thought you'd be interested to see how Numa's development compared to mine,"

"That development stuff is strictly between us. OK? That's just something weird between us, that's it," Jek replied.

"Alright," Shaeeak replied.

"Also, Numa's a full-blood Twi'lek while we're hybrids. There isn't a 1-to-1 comparison," Jek added.

"I understand. Sorry about the accusation," Shaeeah replied.

"Apology accepted. I explained that I didn't see anything, and Numa was OK," Jek replied. Deciding to change the topic, Shaeeah asked, "By the way, what are you reading?"

"A comic book," Jek replied, grabbing the comic book from the bed and showing it to Shaeah.

"Ah, nice," Shaeeah replied, "Is that the adventures of the Water Demon of Dantooine?"

"Yep. It's fascinating," Jek replied. The two siblings then started reading.

Eventually, Jek and Shaeeah went downstairs for dinner, and then Jek, Shaeeah, and Alexis went upstairs to the kid's bedroom while Numa stayed with Boil and Nilim for the night.

Meanwhile with, Omega and Hera

Hera Syndulla sat with her friend and noticed the dark shadow on Omega's features. Observing the guardrail she had to climb over and the heavy-looking blanket on her bed, she became concerned for her friend. Why did Omega need a Weighted Blanket and a Guardrail to sleep?

"Why do you need a Weighted Blanket and a Guardrail on your bed? And are you alright? What do you need to talk about?" Hera asked, putting a hand on Omega's shoulder.

Omega sighed, then said, "I don't know if you know this, but I have a traumatic past,"

"Oh no. I had no idea. You seem like a lovely person. I didn't think you were struggling with your mental health. I'm sorry if I did anything to trigger you," Hera replied, scared by what Omega said.

Hera saw Omega shake her head and reply, "You haven't done anything. It was Crosshair and your father who helped trigger it. But you need to get an idea of what happened to me in my past,"

"Alright," Hera replied, repositioning herself and wrapping an arm around Omega.

"So, before I joined Clone Force 99, I was living on Kamino, in the labs below Tipoca City," Omega started.

"Tipoca City was one of Kamino's cities?" Hera asked, curious to learn more.

Omega nodded, "Yes. There were a bunch of laboratories underneath the city, and I was living down there for the first twelve years of my life as a Lab Assistant to the Kaminoan Nala Se,"

"I'm guessing "Lab Assistant" was just a cover for something more sinister?" Hera asked, her stomach knotting in fear and concern for her friend. When Omega nodded, Hera felt her heart drop into her stomach.

"Nala Se used it as a cover to abuse me. She would spend hours a day testing my strengths, weaknesses, and mutations. It didn't matter if the IV went in or out badly or if the tests were humiliating or tiresome. Nala Se just wanted to track my development and check the results of the tests. I couldn't tell anyone except for people who already knew what was going on," Omega explained, a haunted look crossing her features again.

Hera's heart broke for her friend. Tears welling in her eyes, she tightly hugged Omega and replied, "That's horrible. You didn't deserve any of it. Combine the hormones associated with being a teenager and the trauma of your abuse. No wonder you blew up like you did. I'm sorry you had to endure that,"

Omega returned the embrace and said, "I needed to tell you because you need to know what happened to me in the past,"

They held each other for a few minutes while Omega rode out the latest wave of trauma and pain.

"Oh, there's something else," Omega said.

"How can this get worse?" Hera asked. Omega showed Hera how worse it could get by pulling up the sleeves of her dress, which exposed her extensively IV-scarred upper arms.

Hera gasped, her heart breaking for her friend.

"Oh, Omega, that's horrible," Hera gently traced some of the scars, tears in her eyes, "Howzer implied you were as traumatised as your brothers. I didn't think that you had scars from the medical abuse,"

"It's OK now. I'm away from Nala Se and the other Kaminoans, and I've got people who can start helping me face my trauma," Omega replied.

Hera thought about it momentarily, then thought of something.

"Is this why Boba calls you Arla instead of Omega?" Hera asked.

"It's part of it. Boba doesn't want to give the Demagolkas, as my brothers and he call Nala Se and other Kaminoans, any credibility by using the name Nala Se gave me. He doesn't use the name Nala Se gave him, Alpha. He thinks that had his father, Jango, known me, he would've adopted me in a second and given me the name Arla, after his sister," Omega explained.

"Oh. That would explain a lot," Hera replied, "It would explain a lot about Boba's feelings towards you. Did Jango know about you?"

"From what Boba said, Jango suspected my existence but never confirmed it before he died," Omega replied.

"Wow," Hera replied. Hera remembered something and asked, "Cham mentioned something about the Inhibitor Chip. What is the Inhibitor Chip?"

Omega sighed. She hated talking about these things. She took a deep breath, then said, "They're a biological chip inserted into every Clone during the early stages of their development. Nala Se claimed that they were to reduce aggression in them. The chips were to help them. But, the real reason for inserting the Chips was because of Order 66 and the transformation of the Republic into the Empire. I saw Nala Se put them in the Clones. My brothers have all had their Inhibitor Chips removed, but not before Crosshair was brainwashed into joining the Empire and Wrecker's Chip activated. Luckily, I don't have an Inhibitor Chip, as Tech checked twice. Those chips turned good Clones into mindless murderers," Omega explained, wiping tears out of her eyes. Hera rubbed Omega's back to try and calm her down, in disbelief about how badly the Kaminoans treated Omega and how much she suffered.

After a few minutes, Omega calmed down enough to speak again.

"I can't believe what you've been through. Nobody should have to endure what you endured, especially not someone as friendly, determined, and compassionate as you, Omega. You're a dear friend, and I want to help where I can," Hera replied empathically.

"Thanks," Omega replied, smiling gently.

Suddenly, they got a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Hera asked.

"It's Al. Can I come in?" Alejandro asked from the other side of the door.

"Sure," Omega replied. Alejandro opened the door and entered.

"Are you two OK? I heard your arguments from outside," Alejandro asked as he gently moved the guard rail and sat on the bed.

"We're getting better. Talking has helped," Omega replied.

"That's good. I've just been ensuring my sister is OK, and now that she is, I decided to check on my friends," Alejandro smiled, which Hera and Omega returned.

"Well, we're OK now," Hera replied.

"What were you talking about?" Alejandro asked, seeing Omega's puffy eyes and Hera's empathic look.

"Omega told me about the Kaminoans medically abusing her and how she knows about the Inhibitor Chips," Hera replied.

"That explains what happened to them about a year and a half ago," Alejandro sighed, "I'm sorry that I couldn't help more than I have,"

"Al, it's OK. You can't always be there for me, as you've got your family to take care of," Omega replied, putting a hand on Alejandro's shoulder, making him smile.

"So, now we're all here, I have a suggestion," Hera said. When Omega and Alejandro turned to her, she continued, "Considering that several adults have been causing problems with this festival, I was thinking that we could sneak out and try to enjoy our remaining time of the festival here,"

"We're not doing that tonight. Others will question what we're doing, and we don't want to get in trouble for trying to sneak out," Alejandro replied.

"Well, what if we waited until morning, and we can head to the festival then? If we find somewhere to stay, we can avoid the adults and still enjoy the festival," Omega replied, amazed at what she was saying. She was talking about leaving her brothers for her friends. Then again, she had always had a rebellious streak. That streak was the reason for a few scars on her arms.

"That's something we could do. Good idea, Omega," Alejandro replied as he walked over to his bed and sat on it.

Then, they get another knock on the door.

"Who is it now?" Alejandro asked.

"It's Suu. I've got some food for you three," Suu replied. Omega got up and opened the door. Sure enough, Suu had three plates of food on a tray, complete with knives and forks.

"Thanks, Mom," Omega replied as she carefully took the tray.

"No problem. Hunter said that at least you and Hera didn't want to get into arguments with some people," Suu replied.

"Thanks, Suu. That's greatly appreciated," Hera replied. Suu smiled and said, "Omega, message me when you're all done, and I'll collect everything,"

"I will," Omega replied. Suu closed the door, and Omega handed the plates and utensils to her friends before the trio started eating.

Twenty minutes later, Omega collected the plates, utensils and tray and messaged Suu to pick up the tray, which she did.

After more discussion, the three teenagers agreed on Omega's plan. Shortly afterwards, they were asleep. But only after Omega went through her nighttime routine, consisting of the relaxation techniques, setting up the ASMR, and putting on noise-cancelling headphones and the eye mask.

Meanwhile with Echo

The Kitchen was dark and gloomy as Echo entered it. The light above the table provided light, but the ceiling light over the table was on the lowest setting, so everything was in semi-darkness. It was milder but still warm for a Summer evening. Suu was sweeping the last bits of dinner off the table, and the scent of wood and food particles remained. As Echo sat at the table, he registered that Cut, Boil and Howzer were also sitting there.

"What's up?" Echo asked.

"What was the blowup with Omega about?" Howzer asked.

Echo sighed, "It's a combination of teenage hormones, past trauma, and frustration about Crosshair not participating in the festival,"

"In other words, she's a typical teenager. Just worse intensity due to trauma," Boil said.

"Yeah," Echo replied, "What about Hera? What was the reason for that blowup?"

"Something about Cham's mention of the Inhibitor Chips," Boil replied, "What is going on with that?"

"I hate to admit that I know what's going on there, thanks to my Twin, Fives," Echo replied.

"Fives? Your twin?" Cut asked.

"Yes," Echo replied, "After another Clone, Tup, killed a Jedi during a mission after his inhibitor chip malfunctioned, causing Order 66 to activate prematurely, The Republic sent Tup to Nala Se, who removed his chip, but he died shortly after,"

"So that's what happened to Tup," Howzer said, his eyebrows raising in surprise.

"Sounds like it's a good thing I got mine removed as soon as Rex told me about it," Cut replied.

"Fives had his removed shortly afterwards and found out the true purpose of the chips," Echo continued, "Then Nala Se was involved with the plot to take him out, which succeeded. The Inhibitor Chip business was a coverup, as I, and Rex, now know,"

"So that coverup was how you lost your twin," Cut asked. When Echo nodded, Cut thought of something from a conversation with Omega recently.

"Does Omega know about the Inhibitor Chips?" Cut asked.

"She knows everything. It haunts her. It's among the many things that burden her," Echo replied, "We've talked about it a few times, but it was only earlier today that I got an indication of how bad her trauma is,"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Boil replied.

"How about you, Boil?" Howzer asked. Boil sighed, then stated, "I think Cut is the only one who doesn't know about the Battle of Umbara,"

"You were there?" Howzer asked. When Boil nodded, Howzer continued, "What happened?"

"His name was Waxer. Out of the two of us, he was better with kids, as evidenced by his interactions with Numa," Boil explained, sighing, "During the Battle of Umbara, the Dark Jedi Pong Krell conspired to destroy the Republic forces on Umbara to put himself in the good books of Count Dooku. The big thing he did was to send instructions to both the 501st and 212th that Umbran resistance fighters had stolen a bunch of clone armour and were impersonating Clones,"

"No way. He turned the two legions against each other?" Howzer asked, horrified. When Boil nodded, Howzer whistled, "Whew, that's horrifying,"

"Agreed," Boil replied, "Eventually, Captain Rex realised what was happening and managed to stop the fight. That's when we realised that the 501st and 212th had been fighting each other. In that fight, Waxer suffered fatal wounds. I wasn't at Umbara during the fight, so I didn't know until later,"

"I'm sorry to hear that. Losing Waxer must have been hard," Cut replied empathically.

"Not as hard as having to tell Numa," Boil replied, "But telling her allowed me to start healing as best I could. She hasn't made much progress on healing,"

"That's sad to hear," Echo replied.

"I hope Jek and Shaeeah can resolve any issues between them so they can work together to start healing alongside Alexis," Cut said.

"If we can overcome the language barrier, that would be good," Boil replied. Cut agreed.

"What about you, Cut?" Boil asked.

"I was the only survivor of a Separatise ambush that destroyed my gunship. That included losing my twin, Slice," Cut replied, "Not really any more than that. I met Suu, Jek and Shaeeah, and quickly fell in love, got married, and now we've got another adopted kid with Omega and a biological kid in Corin,"

"That's sad to hear, but you've made the best of a negative situation," Howzer replied.

"Thanks, Howzer," Cut said, "What about you?"

"I refused to execute Order 66. And while my twin, Lancer, did, the Jedi we targeted quickly killed him," Howzer explained.

"Yikes. Someone had to have a major Order 66 story," Echo sighed.

"Probably the worst event to happen to the galaxy in the last century at least," Boil replied, "At least we have each other now, four Clones who all share similar experiences with loss and the struggle to raise family,"

"That's true," Howzer replied, only now appreciating that he had adopted Hera Syndulla as a daughter.

"Made a realisation, have you?" Echo asked.

"Yeah," Howzer replied, "I've realised I've adopted Hera Syndulla as you all did with Omega, Jek, Shaeeah, and Numa,"

"It was the best way to honour Waxer's memory," Boil replied.

"And Jek and Shaeeah adopted me," Cut added.

"Certainly interesting to see how our paths, though different, came to similar results," Echo said.

"Agreed," Boil replied. He then saw the time, "We'd better get to bed. It's very late,"

"Also, is it just me, or are we being listened to from outside?" Cut asked.

"Only one way to find out," Boil replied.

Meanwhile, outside the Kitchen

Numa was listening from the downstairs bathroom, forgetting that she had left her nightgown there. She stood there with her dressing gown mostly on, her ear pressed against the wall as she listened attentively. Jek was in the front sunroom, having gone there to retrieve a book he'd left behind during his previous visit. He also had his ear pressed against the wall of the sunroom. Jek was also listening to the conversation happening.

Boil had told Numa about what happened to Waxer, but until now, she didn't know how Waxer had died. This knowledge brought her to silent tears as another wave of grief overtook her. The knowledge that his brothers had killed Waxer was even more painful than knowing Waxer was dead.

Jek heard that and immediately felt horrible for Numa. Hearing more of her story frustrated him that he couldn't communicate with her properly due to the language barrier. How could someone be so cruel as to put brothers against each other for personal gain?

Suddenly, Jek and Numa heard the line, "Also, is it just me, or are we being listened to from outside?"

Both kids froze. The adults knew they were listening in. They didn't know what to do as they had nowhere to hide. Jek listened carefully and heard the scrape of chairs and footsteps heading for the door, then down the hall.

A minute later, Boil knocked on the door to the downstairs bathroom and listened. He could hear someone was upset and quickly knew it was Numa. He gently knocked on the door and asked, "Are you decent, Numa?"

"Yeah," he heard Numa reply, combined with a sudden rustle of clothing that meant Numa had finished with her dressing gown. He saw the door open, and Numa's tear-stained face greeted him.

Sighing, Boil kneeled to Numa's level and asked, "Were you listening to our conversation?"

When Numa nodded, Boil continued, "I know. But Waxer wouldn't want us to be sad forever. Waxer would want us to celebrate him and his life and achievements. Waxer would want us to honour him, alright?"

"He would," Numa replied before continuing in Twi'leki, "It's so hard, knowing that Waxer died at the hands of another brother. It's horrible, and knowing that hurts so much,"

"I know, Numa. At your age, things like this are incredibly challenging to handle. But you've come so far in the last two years. I'll talk to Tech tomorrow and see if we can get translators for you and the other kids. I know they want to help. They've got their traumas, so they understand," Boil adjusted Numa's dressing gown, then picked her up and held her close. Numa hugged Boil and buried her head into Boil's shoulder.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," Boil said as he carried Numa upstairs, whispering words of support into her ear.

Meanwhile, Cut reached the sunroom door and opened it to find Jek standing at the wall, unmoving. Cut carefully kneeled to Jek's level and shook him out of his stare.

"Are you alright?" Jek asked, looking at the almost haunted stare on his son's face.

"Numa," Jek quietly said.

"I know," Cut replied, "You want to help her. But without a way to translate what you're saying, that's going to be difficult,"

"It's just so hard, knowing how deep the pain and trauma goes," Jek sighed.

"It is hard. It's the same with Omega. Hopefully, we can find translators so you, Shaeeah, Numa and Alexis will all be able to understand each other," Cut replied.

"I hope so," Jek sighed.

"Now come on, let's get you to bed too. It's way past your bedtime," Cut said as he followed Boil upstairs. Echo and Howzer would follow shortly afterwards.

However, in the Living Room, Tech was listening.

"Sounds like Translators are on the cards for presents this year," Tech said, taking notes on his data pad. With several presents added to the list, Tech decided to finish what he was doing and head out for the night.