Emeraldi licked Mona to groom her as the sun was setting on Alderaan, where she'd taken Mona to keep her safe. There was no way Hunter would risk his goddaughter being recaptured by her biological mother. But when Mona heard about what happened to Tech and Diamond, Mona blamed herself.

"I should've gone with them." Mona sniffed. "I could've saved them."

Mona had improved a lot at flying since arriving at Pabu, and even at spell-casting, but Hunter said it was still too dangerous for her to risk being seen by Mariverde's soldiers or worse, being captured and imprisoned all over again.

Indira, on the other hand, got more and more worried every day. Hunter was away for months, and she was progressing more and more in her pregnancy. She was almost nine months pregnant by now, and since she shifted from pegasus to human, they couldn't predict if the baby would be due very soon or a few more months from now.

Goldie sat in a chair at lunch one afternoon, a plate of barbecued chicken with grilled pineapple sitting in front of her. But she wasn't eating any of it.

"Come on, Goldie. You have to eat something." Padme said.

"I'm just not hungry." Goldie said.

Lately, Goldie didn't seem too keen on eating, and every time her foster family tried to feed her, she always said she wasn't hungry. And now it was extra concerning because barbecue with pineapple was her favorite, and because she was part werewolf, her resistance of meat was concerning, but she did seem to drink more orange juice lately. And it was spring, but for some reason, Goldie was still wearing her winter coat.

The Skywalkers and the Organas were concerned for Goldie; they thought she was depressed because her parents were away aiding in the search for Mariverde's kidnapped victims. Or worse, she might be getting sick, but the medical droid said despite the occasional shivering and the decrease in hunger and eating, she was fine… physically, anyway.

Goldie left the table and went to her room, face-down on her pillow. Her pegasus zebra friend Buttercup tried to cheer her up by doing tricks with her soccer ball, but Goldie just put her pillow over her head.

Mona came into Goldie's room to try and help her feel better. She knew better than anyone here how it felt to be a prisoner, and since fleeing Naboo, all the kids were prisoners wherever they were staying. Even Lamenta moving from place to place felt like a prisoner because even she had to wear a disguise now so the paparazzi wouldn't become a tool for Mariverde to find her and thus endanger her branch of the family.

"Goldie…? Goldie, are you okay?" Mona asked.

"Do I look okay?" Goldie said, muffled by her pillow.

"You haven't been eating, and the grownups think there's something wrong. Is it because you miss Mom and Dad?"

"No… maybe? I don't know. I just… feel weird and I don't know why. Maybe because I miss Mom and Daddy. Maybe I don't like being cooped up here. On Verden, I was homeschooled, but at least I could go beyond the yard of our old cabin because we knew all the neighbors."

Goldie started to cry, prompting Mona to hug her.

As for Indira, she was receiving regular checkups with a medical droid as she progressed with her pregnancy. Indira missed her husband so much, and was devastated that Hunter wasn't around to watch their baby getting ready to be born. Padme helped her out as much as she could with the other side effects of her pregnancy, whether it was nausea, fatigue, or aches.

The baby was starting to get heavy and Indira's belly grew even more, but she wasn't sure if it was harder carrying that bump in human or in pegasus form, as she'd found herself randomly transforming from one form to another. It made her start to wonder if the baby would be a shapeshifter like her. Padme couldn't say she knew for sure; she didn't know everything about shapeshifters, much less a unique case such as Indira's.

Indira hoped at least Hunter would be around when it was time for the baby to be born. The baby kicked a few times, which was bittersweet because Hunter should've been there to feel the baby's kicks. But, she could only settle for the kids' eagerness to feel the baby in her tummy. And Indira refused to learn the gender of the baby without Hunter present; he deserved to know as much as his wife if they were going to have a son or a daughter.

But she wasn't the only horse missing a member of the Batch.

Teatra, as you can probably imagine, was beside herself when she learned what happened to her rider.

"I should've been there to protect him!" she'd cried.

She couldn't even bring herself to sing a song to comfort herself. Like so many others, Teatra blamed herself for the loss of Tech.

It wouldn't be the first time an equine lost his or her rider, but that didn't make it any less devastating.

Teatra did know, however, that the rest of the Batch needed help to find Omega, as well as the other victims. But one victim in particular she thought about was her rider's wife Mila. When Teatra learned Tech's last words were "Tell Mila I love her," she knew Tech would've wanted his friends to make sure his wife was safe and loved.

"Poor Mila. And she and Tech had been trying so hard to have a family." Teatra looked down when she thought of that.

But Teatra decided,

"No. I won't let his sacrifice be in vain."

Teatra decided she was going to find Mila and Omega, even if she had to do it herself. But first, she had to see if the other members of the Batch were okay.

Teatra was relieved when she learned Hunter, Echo, and Wrecker were okay. Except, with Echo and Banjo helping Rex, and with Indira's pregnancy leading Hunter to refuse allowing his wife to join on missions, it was just Hunter, Wrecker, Kara, and Pinto on the mission. But, according to Hunter, this mission was not going to be easy without a computer expert on the job. Fortunately, though, Teatra knew a computer genius who would be more than willing to aid in the search.

Teatra came into Goldie's room to find Mona with Goldie and Buttercup. When she explained the group's need for a computer expert, Mona saw her chance to get out of the palace, but then she thought and said, "Goldie, how far are you in your tracking practice?"

"My sniffer's pretty good." Goldie shrugged. "Why?"

"Because if Hunter needs a computer expert, we're gonna need a great tracker to find the others too."

Mona hugged Hunter the moment she saw him again. However, Hunter was surprised to see some additional guests, and it wasn't Goldie, Buttercup, or Emeraldi that surprised him.

"Did you really think I'd keep missing out on the fun?" Indira said.

"Indira?! What are you doing here?" Hunter said.

"Someone has to be a lookout around here."

Hunter looked at Teatra, as she'd been the one closest to Indira when she and the others arrived..

"Don't look at me." Teatra said. "She grabbed my tail at the last second."

Hunter insisted Indira should go back, what with the baby still in her womb.

"Relax, Priye." Indira said. "I won't do anything intense. But if it makes you feel better, I'll stay on the ship and stick to being in charge of medical proceedings."

Hunter knew there was no time to argue, so he reluctantly agreed to let his wife join in on the mission. But, there was one thing he wanted to do first.

Without hesitation, Hunter wrapped his arms around Indira and pulled her into a passionate kiss for the first time in forever.

"I've missed you so much," sighed Hunter, kissing Indira again.

"I've missed you too, my priye." Indira sighed.

Hunter couldn't resist gently rubbing Indira's stomach, and joy overcame him as he felt a small bump from inside Indira. The baby must have sensed that its father was back.

"Hey there, kid." Hunter said to the bump. "You missed Daddy, huh?"

Indira giggled. She missed seeing Hunter behaving like a big softie towards their baby.

Hunter gently stroked the baby bump and said to the unborn child, "I promise, I won't let anything happen to you, my future little girl or boy."

And so, the search and rescue team went out together in search of their victims. Mona was certain that Omega and the others had to be in the same place. If she knew her birth mother, she always kept her prisoners in the same facility, Mona being the one exception.

"Did Mariverde ever discuss her plans around you?" Teatra asked. "Think hard."

Mona did think long and hard. She did recall her mother saying something about Operation: Metamorphosis when she thought Mona wasn't listening. Mona didn't know everything about it, but she could recall something about requiring pure genetic specimens, as well as the Kaminoans' cloning research and something about finding power couples.

"Either that last one is about celebrity gossip," said Teatra. "Or Mariverde's got a twisted view on romance."

First things first, the group knew one person they sought was Dr. Royce Hemlock. But, they needed to find a lead on where to find his lab or a hideout of some kind. Fortunately, Hunter recalled that someone owed him and his friends a favor.

Short, I know. But next chapter will be longer and more exciting too. Please be sure to review, and I'll see you in the next chapter soon.