Hela's

Hela smiled as she made her way down his stomach, knees finishing either side of his thighs. He had not been back long before they reached the bedroom, frantically pulling at each other's clothes, until they tumbled onto the bed.

It had felt like an age since he had been back on Coruscant.

Her mouth skated over the plane of muscles on his stomach, feeling them twitch under her lips, small involuntary thrusts of his hips pushed her away. She returned.

This was a long time coming.

She reached him and took him in her mouth.

She heard him moan at the sensation, and felt his fingers in her hair.

When she felt the time was right, she let him go, knelt upright and manoeuvred him inside her, sinking slowly down before stopping for a minute and closing her eyes at the new sensation; she couldn't remember exactly when they were last like this. Mayday sat up, his abdominals pulling him effortlessly against her, as she wrapped her legs behind him.

"Ready?" Mayday, whispered hoarsely, as he held her close and adjusted her slightly before she gasped, as he buried himself deep within her.

Mayday now had control, setting the pace and Hela followed him. The time to appreciate one another would come later, but for now, the gratification they both needed took over.

Hela leaned back, exposing her neck and Mayday kissed her jawline, working his way down. She placed both hands behind her, leaning hard on his thighs as his mouth made his way down to her breasts, taking one into his mouth, sucking then teasing the nipple with his teeth and yet still holding her to him with one hand in the small of her back.

He watched as she bit down on her bottom lip at the sensation, knowing she trusted him implicitly.

They began a strong, controlled rhythm, focusing on the inevitable; sweat began to glisten on Mayday's body. Both were completely lost in the moment, lost in each other. "Hela," he breathed, barely maintaining his control, until his rhythm faltered, as he reached the point of no return.

She cried out, as she arched backwards meeting his climax with her own simultaneously, until they collapsed into each other's arms, holding on, the sweat snaking down between their bodies as they panted to regain their breath.

His hand wrapped around the back of her neck, supporting her, as she relaxed; eventually they moved apart and lay down. He pulled her to him, missing the feeling of her body when he was away and relishing it now, the familiarity coming back to him. He buried his face in her hair, taking in the distinctive smell of her.

Several minutes passed as they simply lay in each other's arms, the feeling of skin to skin cementing their emotional closeness.

"So how's Char doing?" Mayday finally asked.

"She's fine."

"Not set anything on fire yet?"

"No, I think we're safe, although I do think she would be better on Naboo. She's lively and growing and will need more exercise and more space soon—."

As if by telepathy the aforementioned Char pushed open the bedroom door and leapt on the bed. She jumped straight on Mayday, panting in his face, her smoky breath engulfed him.

"And she has learned how to open the doors." Hela advised him.

"Clever girl!" Mayday praised her; the Charhound turned around in several circles on the bed before laying on Mayday's chest.

"She loves you. I should be jealous." Hela said stroking the pup's head.

He gently pushed the puppy away, "Down girl! Sit!" The puppy obediently jumped off the bed and sat, settling on the floor, watching his every move, anticipating his next order.

"She ignores me." Hela commented.

"You're too soft with her."

"Perhaps."

She took a deep breath; this was something she had been thinking about.

"What is it?" May Day asked sleepily, eventually succumbing to a yawn.

"I was thinking about relocating to Naboo with Char."

He turned around and faced her, "Really?"

"I thought perhaps —all of us."

"Me too?"

This surprised him.

"Yes. When the war's finished. When the clones get full Republic Citizen's Rights. The Senate can't deny it now. Not after everything the clones have done."

"I'm not sure. There's no bill yet, not even drafted and we're still fighting."

"When it's over then."

"What would you do? What would I do?"

"I could teach. Anything. Run a bar, a music shop. Turn The Cabin into a proper farm. Just the two of us."

"I'm not sure I'd be very good at that. I'm a soldier. Born to it. Born for it. If it wasn't for this war, I wouldn't be here. What do I do without it?"

"You can learn to do other things."

"I don't know."

"You once said you'd die for me. I'd rather you lived for me."

He wasn't sure what to say to that and so said nothing.

Hela looked at him for a few seconds, expecting a further reply, then when none came she turned on her side and moved away from him.

He lay thinking over what she said.

What could he do?

This was his life; a life of fighting with his brothers.

He had never really considered what he would do after the war, not really.

He never thought he would live to see it finish.

He couldn't leave his brothers behind.

What if they didn't want the same?

As he lay, all these thoughts ran through his mind.

.

Mayday had eventually succumbed to sleep but then he woke with a sheen of sweat covering him but it wasn't hot in the apartment; he rubbed the side of his head,vague images receding from his consciousness. He must have had a dream, another one. He'd had them before but they had become more often of late.

He turned to find a cold empty spot in the bed next to him. He rose and tiptoed to the door; he could hear murmured voices, or rather one voice in the living room. He crept towards it, stopping at the door listening.

"What do I do Char?" Hela asked the hound as she sat there scratching its head, just behind its ear. Just as it liked. It purred contentedly, its high body temperature warming Hela's hand, as its head rested on her knees.

"I want to spend my life with him." She changed hands, scratching the other ear, "As long as he has. I know it won't be as long as mine but I want him to have as long as he possibly can."

The hound rumbled as if replying.

She sniffled, "Am I being selfish to want him all to myself? Free. Safe."

The char hound grumbled when she stopped scratching, pushing its head in her hands for more. Hela restarted.

"I wish I could persuade him. Especially once the war is over. They won't need so many troops then and if his brothers wanted to come. We could find places for them all. I will find a way."

She leaned her head back over the back of the chair, tired from everything she was contemplating. It was too much to think about.

Mayday stood listening.

Was he being selfish now?

"Hela?"

She turned, smiling, "I woke up, thirsty. Sorry I disturbed you."

"Don't be!" He walked over and pulled her to him, head resting against hers. "What you said surprised me. I need to think about it. Now come back to bed. I'll have to leave in a few hours."

Their precious time together was becoming shorter and shorter as the war went on.

.

Christophsis

The LAATi was being well and truly buffeted, as Wings brought them down into the lower atmosphere.

Mayday braced himself, as the Separatists fired on them.

"Thought we'd taken this fucking place once." Groused Tank.

"We did but a secret Separatist base had been discovered here. Kenobi and Skywalker are here now, after Dooku and Ventress."

"Explains why we've been pulled from Felucia—Dooku. The Big One. Better even than Grievous." Splicer interrupted.

"We're here because Dooku took out more of our brothers and Cody's in Bacta with two snapped femurs."

He didn't say anything about Vos but that was disturbing if it was true that he had betrayed the Republic.

"We're ready for them, eh Plug?" Decs nudged his brother's arm.

"If you say so." the older clone replied, smiling beneath his helmet, he enjoyed the banter with the younger clones.

Decs grabbed his shoulder playfully in reply.

The gunship lurched to one side and took several more seconds to get back on its trajectory.

"You okay Wings?" Asked Mayday, that one felt a bit too close for comfort and they were now coming down faster than he expected.

"Glancing hit Boss, but I've got it!" The pilot replied, tersely.

"Good man!"

Mayday had decided long ago that there was no good way to get on the planet in the middle of a battle.

Wings finally brought them to the ground in a bumpy landing, skidding along the last few metres before coming to a halt.

"Be careful out there. Remember it's all crystal. Looks beautiful but each building turns into a thousand tiny projectiles when they're destroyed."

He blinked through the channels on his HUD. Wings hadn't said anything on landing.

"Doors!"

Tank thumped the button.

.

Galaxies Opera House

Hela bowed with the rest of the cast; it felt good going back to the High Opera and with a new leading man whose voice was tremendous. It was a joy to perform with him and it showed in their performance.

Some of the audience stood applauding, the action spread around the auditorium.

"I think they liked us."

"Yes they did."

She looked up and saw the Chancellor watching from his box; he was smiling and applauding. He had enjoyed it and she could see from his face. It was gratifying to see him smiling for once. The war was taking its toll on everyone. She just wished he would do more about the Clones position but he kept saying that was up to the Senate, the democratic process and the Jedi. She smiled wider trying not to let her worry come through. Then she saw Mas Amedda enter the box. Her smile dropped for a second, angry that the Chancellor could not be left alone for even a few hours to do something he enjoyed.

Then he disappeared from the box.

The curtains closed.

"Well done! Great performance everyone!" Her co-star was always giving praise; it was a totally different experience to her last Opera.

She joined in the praise and standing next to him, applauded the chorus.

This was a happy company.

Hela headed back to her dressing room, desperate to get out of the costume and wig despite the standing ovation. They were still heavy and restrictive.

"Zur. Just get me out of this!" She said as she entered her dressing room.

"Yes, ma'am!" He smiled, as he started to undo the heavy dress.

Hela stepped out of it and he took her wig off.

"Showers running!"

"Thank the Gods for that." She accepted the beaker of water he offered and drank it all in one go.

"Great performance. You can see that you enjoy it."

"Yes. It felt good. Really good."

"Heard anything from Mayday?"

"No! Why? Have you heard something?"

"No! Just the usual battles." He replied, sympathetically.

The normal anxiety rose up when she thought about Mayday and his men fighting; she tried to distract herself and stepped into the shower.

She heard the door shut; Zur must have left to fetch something.

.

Hela dried her hair, then combed through it with her fingers applying some gel. She was going to leave it to dry naturally and leave the makeup off; it was harsh and her skin needed a rest. She was not going anywhere and might even suggest walking back to the Apartment. She and Zur had not done that in a longtime.

"Baylan!"

She was surprised to see him sitting there, not having seen or heard from him in months.

"Where's Zur?"

"I don't know. He wasn't here when I entered."

Hela watched him suspiciously.

"Mayday?" She asked, suddenly worried, knowing they had worked together in the past.

"He's fine as far as I know."

She looked closer at him, his expression was similar to when he told her he would not be leaving the Order. She sat next to him, his relaxed form belying the stress showing on his face.

"You then?"

"Am I that obvious?"

"At this moment—yes. Something is troubling you. Really troubling you."

"I could always talk to you even about Jedi business."

She smiled, a little.

"Go on."

"We've lost our way, the Jedi. This war, there is something wrong with it all."

"You've said all this before."

"But now—"

"What?"

"It wasn't common knowledge but —"

"The Council sent a Jedi to assassinate Dooku."

"Not Ben?" She could not imagine him doing that although— Maul.

"No. Word is it was Vos."

"Vos? Quinlan Vos?" Ben had spoken of him fondly, "You said was — has Dooku killed him?" She had always thought that perhaps without Dooku the war would end.

"No! Vos turned to the Dark side." He didn't yet know all the details and may never, "You saw the new Admiral they called Enigma?"

She nodded.

"That was him. Some of us wanted to go after him, especially Desh. They were close but the Council refused at first. One of our own. One of the best."

"You were close to him?"

"Not like Desh."

"Eventually the Council saw reason and could not let it continue. They sent Kenobi, Skywalker, Desh and Bayons after him with orders to execute them. Vos, Dooku, and Ventress, who was involved in all this, somehow."

"What happened?"

"They failed. Desh and Bayons died but the thing is Master Windu ordered Kenobi to execute them all."

He appeared distraught at the thought of all this, "I grew up with Bayons. Attended the same classes with him."

"And he was your friend?"

"Jedi don't have attachments—friends."

"No. They don't."

They were silent, until Hela spoke again.

"No trial?" She felt very uncomfortable about that, her Naboo heritage screaming at her that it was wrong.

"No. But this is not what Jedi do. Not what I was trained to do. There has to be a better way. I need to find a better way."

"Are you leaving the Order?"

"I don't know. There is still the war to finish, if it ever will."

"Perhaps you would be better staying and trying to change everything from the inside, after the war, things—"

"I can't see an end to it, to the War. To this Battle between the Dark and the Light and it's centred here on Coruscant."

She reached out and took his large hands in hers. She was still fond of him despite everything that had happened and she accepted that.

"There will be. There has to be."

"Ever the optimist." He said sadly, staring at the floor.

"Baylan?"

He continued to stare at the floor and recited in his head.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

There is no death, there is the Force.

"Are you okay?" She asked again, worried as she had never seen him like this before.

"It's all coming to a head. I can feel it. You need to get off Coruscant! It's dangerous here! Its all centred here. Get as far away from here as possible, as soon as you can!"

He reached out and touched her face; she surprised herself by not flinching away but then she knew nothing was going to happen. It was just the remnants of the feelings they once had for each other.

"Be careful." She touched his hand before he drew it away.

He rose and turned to leave, "I'm sorry." He said and left.

.

Christophsis

"He's gone Boss."

Plug climbed back down from the cockpit inside the gunship, after checking on Wings, who had not climbed out of the cockpit when they landed. The hit had been much more severe than he let on and it was only his expertise as a pilot that had got the rest of them down in one piece.

Mayday tried not to think too much about it; he had lost a lot of brothers but Wings had been with him longer than most. He would mourn him later.

"There's nothing that we can do for him now but remember him and live. Just survive and take out as many clankers as we can for him. Follow the walkers. They're heading for the base." Ordered Mayday.

The troops jogged off at double pace towards the crystal tower, which was being blasted by the Walker.

Mayday and his brothers were used to this; taking out clankers as they marched towards them in their regimented lines. Mayday lost count of the ones he blasted. Some brothers he did not know fell and many didn't get up. In his HUD he could see Plug run to one side dropping to his knees to check on one.

"Careful Plug!"

"Yes Boss."

Enclosed in their helmets they didn't smell the acrid smoke from the blaster fire, melted components from the destroyed B1 battle droids, or the melted plastoid of fallen brothers armour. That would be a distraction and if they were distracted they would be killed.

Mayday looked skywards as ARC - 170's screamed overhead giving them cover and heading towards the large crystal tower.

Kenobi and Skywalker were leading the charge on the tall crystalline structure that was now being bombarded by cannon fire. They were finally making some headway.

The outer crystalline walls of the structure shattered and rained razor sharp shards of crystal on the ground automatically found cover.

"Plug!" Mayday heard Decs's anguished cry, "I'm coming!"

Mayday heard Tank reply, then the sound of heavy breathing as the two men raced to the aid of their brother.

Mayday blinked through his HUD and confirmed what he dreaded. There were no lifesigns for Plug.

He continued to listen to Decs and Tank trying to give him first aid, the sound of plastoid armour being ripped off and the ripping of the undersuit to get to whatever injury he had.

He raced over himself, running faster than he had thought possible as he slid to the ground beside them to take cover.

"Veetch! Follow orders!" He barked into his com. They needed to keep attacking or more brothers would be lost.

Tank was leaning over Plug, trying to give him CPR but Mayday knew it was no use. The piece of crystal embedded in his head confirmed that; he had removed his helmet to help his brother, a shiny, also lying dead to the side if him.

Decs sat back his haunches, his Helmet on the ground, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" he repeated over and over again.

Mayday knelt, the laws of probability had always been against them all surviving; he grasped Tank's shoulder. "Enough ner vod, he's gone."

But why did it have to be Plug?

"Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum, Plug."

.

Hela's

Mayday stood outside hesitating to tap in the code; he wasn't sure why he was here although it seemed the natural thing to do. his brothers were grieving in their own ways. They were coping.

He wasn't sure he was but he had to.

He tapped the code in and entered.

He stood there unsure what to do next.

.

The sound of the door opening, disturbed Hela; she had fallen asleep on the settee, reading a holonovel. She rarely had time to do that now and she usually fell asleep, the datapad dropped to the floor, clattering. She blinked furiously to focus and saw Mayday standing at the door, not moving, not doing anything and still fully armoured.

She roused herself, "Mayday?" She asked as she walked up thinking he was wounded; he pulled his helmet off. She stopped when she saw his face, she had never seen him look like that before.

"What's wrong?"

"We lost Plug and Wings." He stuttered, barely able to string the words together for her.

Lost Plug and Wings.

It took a few seconds before the reality of what he said hit her.

"Come here!" She whispered, swallowing back her own tears; she had to be here for him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling his head down and letting him rest it on her shoulder.

She steadied herself as he leaned on her; she had never felt his full weight in armour before.

He was worrying her, how this affected him.

"What can I do?" she asked, blinking back her own tears.

A/N:I'm sorry, so sorry.