Author’s Notes: Thank you so much to everyone who is following this story, and a special thank you to all the readers who have left me reviews! I very much appreciate hearing your comments as it helps to inspire and encourage me. This chapter was originally written about two years ago, but with the evolution of the story and the characters, it had undergone at least three rewrites. I believe this is the chapter many of you have been awaiting, and I hope it meets with your expectations. Enjoy!

As always, I continue to hope that I am doing justice to the spirit of Star Wars as well as the respective authors and characters from which I borrow. Again, I gratefully accept constructive criticism as a means to help me develop my skills further as a writer.

Disclaimer: I make no money, and I only write about what I enjoy. I own none of Karen Traviss’ characters, and I hope she is not too upset that I have borrowed them to help tell the tale. Crimson Squad, the Tochin people, Gan Pohin, Moff Harkin, and anyone else I create are mine. Everything else belongs to George Lucas. This chapter’s opening quote is taken from Karen Traviss’ novel, The Clone Wars: No Prisoners.

Chapter 11

I’m a soldier. It’s all I am. I don’t know a lot about the outside world, but I’m pretty sure that other soldiers have families and lives outside fighting. We don’t.
Clone Captain CC-7567 “Rex”

Tochin Moon III
785 Days ABG

A calming peace had currently settled down upon the forest, extending into the lake that was surrounded by the wooded land. The night brought with it tranquility, and a cool breeze would pass through on occasion rustling the trees, causing some of the creatures to shift about in their nests. The humidity of the morning was long gone, and Gath was not wrong in his predictions about how the storms that had struck earlier were going to be fast and deadly. The elements had rampaged through the land, battling for dominance while the wind had howled angrily, and the rains fell in heavy sheets. The lightning had been bright and dangerous, the thunder deafening in its crackling as it seemed to split the sky in half.

The group of soldiers and the young princess that was in their care had no choice earlier but to confine themselves into the cavern and wait out the weather. No one complained or objected to the circumstances, however. They knew that it was by sheer luck that they had happened along the natural shelter, and if they had been left to the elements instead, they weren’t entirely certain they all would have survived.

By the time late afternoon had come to the forest, the storms had evaporated as quickly as they had approached, and the sun had broken through. With the last of the rains and the gray clouds dissipating, the forest had been left bright and crisp. Raindrops had settled upon everything, seeming to portray crystal shards that reflected a multitude of colors around the lake. For the barest of moments, there was complete harmony amongst the life of Tochin’s third moon, and the war for the Republic’s freedom was nothing but a distant memory for Crimson.

However, reality was never far away from them, and when the hunger for nutrition began, Mouse took the initiative to gather fish from the lake for their evening meal. Gath and Jas tasked themselves with trying to find decent firewood, regretting that they had not done so earlier before the rains struck. Dusty had accompanied Les’ika through the surrounding forest, their intentions to find more RubyFruit. He had thought about discussing with her the increasing tension she shared with Jas, but Les’ika had put her mind forth to the task at hand, and it left Dusty without a comfortable opening to approach her on the subject. Instead, he used his time to just be a soldier and protect her while they gathered the berry-like fruit.

Getting the fire started had taken longer than any of them hoped because of the lack of dry wood. However, once they managed to get a decent fire underway, the fish heated up relatively quickly. As opposed to the hours it took the Fang-bird to cook, the fish was ready to eat in about twenty minutes. Again, without seasonings or sauces, the flavoring was raw and wild, but it was one more meal that allowed them to hold onto their limited supply of ration cubes.

After the fish had been consumed, Dusty used the time to learn from Les’ika how to cook the RubyFruit the two of them had gathered earlier in the afternoon. He was determined this time to have more than enough of the candy-like rations so that he wouldn’t have to endure ration cubes or Plumrinds in the morning.

Shortly after night had settled down upon the lake and the cavern, Mouse ventured into their natural shelter, not hesitating to get some rest. Gath had run through the sentry duty schedule earlier, telling them that he would take the first shift and secure the perimeter of their chosen destination by the lake. Dusty was assigned the next shift with Jas following and Mouse taking the early morning shift. Gath had tasked Dusty and Jas with inventorying what was left in everyone’s kits during his absence.

Dusty sat just outside the cavern and had piles of their rations, supplies, and the new contribution of RubyFruit surrounding him. Jas was helping to count, organize, and evenly distribute the remaining provisions. The two of them were also trying to figure out how to reallocate the weight in the packs so that they could more evenly carry the loads.

Arlesse had tried to follow Mouse’s lead and get some rest of her own, but sleep was elusive. Her thoughts were overwhelmed with the events of the last couple days, and for as exhausted as her body was, her mind just could not settle down. Trying to avoid the feelings of frustration, as she knew it would only distract her from resting, Arlesse decided that a short walk might help her still her thoughts.

She stood and quietly left the cave, not worrying about telling the soldiers where she was going. They all watched her very closely, and she no longer had to explain her departures. Each of them had their ways for keeping her in eye contact, even when she thought she had privacy.

She had only walked about twenty yards from the opening of the cave when she found a rock by the banks of the lake. It jutted up a couple feet from the ground with a relatively smooth surface, and she wondered briefly if a primitive Tochin inhabitant had sculpted it in such a manner eons ago. Whether it was a natural design of the rock or a purposeful one, Arlesse was just grateful it was there for her to use. She settled herself upon it and looked behind her for a brief moment to see Dusty and Jas continuing with the inventory. She was certain that she was close enough to remain within their protection, and she could imagine that if they needed, they would be by her side within a matter of seconds.

--- --- --- --- ---

“Short end of the stick says it’s your turn to keep an eye on her,” Dusty told Jas as he set up a pile of ration cubes to distribute.

Jas decided he couldn’t hold back his resentment any longer, and he had to make an effort to face his irritation with Dusty. He kept his voice low so he wouldn’t arouse any of Les’ika’s attention. “How could you do it, Dusty? How could you shut off your communications knowing that the entire Clone Army was depending on you?”

Dusty stopped moving inventory around for a moment and looked to his brother. “It wasn’t that simple…”

That brought a snort from Jas. “Then which head did she hold the blaster to?”

At that, Dusty grabbed Jas by the neck and pinned him against the wall on the outside of the cavern. Mouse immediately mumbled something to them about letting a vode get some rest or he’d gladly shoot both of them.

Dusty kept his voice soft but offered no room for argument. “Get your kriffing, self-righteous head out of your shebs, you di’kut.”

“You could have killed us, all of us!” Jas said, biting down on his rising voice. “And for what?”

Dusty stared hard into his brother’s eyes, and brought an unusual edge to his words. “Stop thinking like a Clone for one damn moment, Jas. You’re allowed to be a man.”

“Not if it puts my brothers at risk, I don’t.”

“Shab, you truly are a sha’buir,” Dusty grumbled. Trying a different tactic, he asked. “Who do we fight for?”

“The Republic…”

“Wrong!” Dusty said, leaning further into Jas to keep him pinned against the rocky wall. “My time with Cerina taught me that I need to narrow my focus. A government means nothing to me. I’m not even a kriffing citizen in the Republic, but when I think about Cerina, I find clarity in my actions. I fight to keep her safe and others like her that do give a damn about us.”

“That’s anarchy,” Jas said, concerned that he may have to kill his own brother for being a traitor.

“No, that’s war,” Dusty responded. He nodded his head behind him. “You need to fight for her – that girl over there, and if you want to keep her safe, you need to earn back the trust you lost with her. You’re not the only one who can close off feelings, Jas. Les’ika built a fortress around her and made sure not to include you.”

Jas tried to push Dusty away, but his brother held him firmly in place until he was done. “She doesn’t see you as a Clone. Don’t you understand that?”

At that, Jas stopped fighting against Dusty’s grasp.

“If you walk away from someone like her you’re going to regret it,” Dusty said, thinking for a moment that he had gotten through to Jas. Then, he saw his brother put up his defenses again, and he shook his head instead. “Never mind. Go tell her she has to come back to the shelter now, and be sure to be a di’kut about it when…”

Suddenly, Jas brought his fist into Dusty’s jaw. “I hate you, you traitorous sha’buir.”

Training instantly kicked in and Dusty rolled with the strike, lessening the blow. He loathed that he always had to hide the truth about that night with Cerina, especially from his brothers, and Jas’ reaction was exactly what he feared. Dusty had concealed his experience with Cerina for months by feigning his ignorance about women, but he couldn’t keep it bottled inside any longer. Jas needed to know what kind of regret would await him if he didn’t step outside the rules and orders they had ingrained in their psyche. Dusty’s experience with Cerina had somehow freed him from the desolate life he would have lived, and it made him appreciate the galaxy differently.

Watching Jas, Dusty rubbed his jaw knowing he would have a decent bruise come morning, and he had no idea how he wanted to explain that to Gath yet. “I almost think you meant it that time, Jas.”

“Go to hell,” Jas mumbled, his fist clenching as though seeking to strike again. However, instead of lashing out, he simply sighed, calming himself down. Then, he started walking away from Dusty.

Arlesse brought her eyes to the trees that surrounded the lake and looked upward to the natural clearing that displayed the night sky. Her eyes moved about the constellations and the millions of stars that made up the galaxy. The sky above resembled a black velvet curtain that had been littered with pinholes, and she realized then that she rarely had such an opportunity to see the universe’s wonder. There was just too much artificial light around the palace, and it blocked so much of the natural beauty that was the night over her world.

Rainbows of twinkling stars caught her attention, and Arlesse concentrated on a bright star that glittered in reflections of blue, red, and green. Suddenly, a larger ball of white passed beneath the twinkling star she was watching, and after a couple moments, the falling star disintegrated into the darkness. She couldn’t remember ever seeing a star fall from the sky, and she was quickly reminded of an old proverb from one of her childhood flimsi stories: If a star falls at night, make your wish right.

Finding herself disappointed now, Arlesse realized that she was so enthralled by the beauty the falling star held that she forgot to make her wish.

“Les’ika?”

Arlesse felt her breath quickly tighten, and she closed her eyes, forcing herself to contain the memories from the last three days. She didn’t think it was possible that by looking at the sky above for a matter of minutes, she could disregard her capture and the frightening time she spent with that mercenary. However, with just the sound of her modified name spoken in that undeniably unique and thick accent, she had relived her first encounters with these Republic soldiers, starting with Jas offering her his hand in that dreaded prison cell. She briefly wondered if she had never connected her hand to his if she would be feeling the overdrive of her emotions. If it had been Dusty who held her hand instead, would she feel this way for him rather than Jas or would she not have felt anything for any of them?

Opening her eyes now, Arlesse decided it was a question she would prefer not to contemplate. She cared about these soldiers even though it seemed very few others did, and the conversations she shared with Mouse and Dusty the previous night had educated her to the horrors they faced growing up. Even though they were able to make her laugh about their lives, she was saddened at how these cloned men didn’t deserve to be raised on a secluded world without a true childhood. She thought it was unfair that they were so duty-driven that they even had to bend and break rules to know what being human is all about.

And, as though she had discovered some new insight, Arlesse understood now why Jas could not continue to be so compassionate towards her. He had no choice but to be a soldier first and a man second. He had seen so much in his short life that he knew the galaxy was far too cruel a place for a cloned man with honorable intentions and a sheltered princess who had known nothing but the private sanctuary that was her home.

Jas turned briefly to Dusty and saw that his brother had put the buy’ce on his head and was busying himself with the inventorying and packing. Jas decided that Dusty was probably attempting to hide the forming bruise on his face and use the HUD to communicate the inventory findings to Gath.

Looking back to the princess, Jas still wasn’t certain what to make of the fact that she hadn’t turned around to face him, and he began to comprehend what Dusty meant when he told him that she had built a fortress around her. He understood now that from the moment he had pushed his growing thoughts for her into his locked box, she began to stay distant and detached from him. And, as he truly thought about it, he could see in the stiffness of her posture that he had undeniably lost her trust. That realization bothered Jas greatly because he knew now that in order to protect her properly, he had to fix the mistake he had made and find some way to earn that trust again.

“You should not have wandered this far from us,” Jas said gently, as he took another step towards her. While Jas looked upon her and saw that she continued to avoid facing him, he began to regret having closed down his humanity so that he could concentrate on the mission as they were ordered. He found himself wondering what it would take to mend the rift between them and show her that he only wanted to keep her safe.

Arlesse turned her head slightly to address Jas, as she couldn’t bring herself to see the rejection she knew would be in his eyes. Her voice was distant, her emotion flat. “I didn’t mean to make you worry, but I couldn’t sleep yet. I never really had the opportunity to see so many stars before, and I knew it was probably the only chance I would have.”

Jas moved a couple steps closer to her, and he saw her take a quick breath. Her face spun back towards the lake, and the angle of her head told him that she was looking upwards toward the sky. Jas decided to stop where he was, concerned that if he moved closer he would make her even more uncomfortable with his presence. They were now only a few feet apart, and if anything or anyone tried to attack her, he was near enough to step in harm’s way.

Arlesse tried to clamp down on how her heart beat just a little faster as she was aware how much nearer to her Jas now stood. She desperately tried not to think about the stirrings of feelings in her that she couldn’t control and knew she could not experience. Concentrating instead on the sky, she looked to all the different ways the stars twinkled. Some were glittering quickly, like a beacon sending a secret message and others blinked slowly, almost carefully. Her eyes were then drawn to the rippling water, and she watched the reflection of the sky in it, the motion of the gentle waves making every star twinkle in some random and hectic pattern.

“It’s so beautiful,” she said in awe, unable to hold in the feeling of being insignificant in the broad span of the galaxy as it floated above her. “It all looks so peaceful and…safe.”

“I wish that were true,” Jas said sadly, thinking about the many of his brothers throughout the galaxy. Despite the rivalries and differences he had with many of the other troops, they were still his vode. “But, there are numerous battles going on so many of those planets and in so many different systems…even as we speak.”

Arlesse continued to take in the sparkling and twinkling of the sky above her, and she wondered how many of the other cloned men throughout the galaxy would survive their battles. If any of them were anything like the men in Crimson Squad, she wanted those soldiers to be safe and hoped for a quick end to the war for their lives’ sakes. Closing her eyes, she tried not to think about what would happen to Crimson and the dangers they would face after they return to combat.

Bringing her fingers to touch upon the star pendant that rested against her chest, she opened her eyes wanting to know about the more trivial parts of their missions, the things she was certain no one else cared about. “How many other worlds have you visited?”

Jas shrugged his shoulders casually, even though he knew she wasn’t watching him. It was simply a natural reaction of the body during a conversation, and with that realization, he was relieved to be able to talk to her again, to share words that were more than just polite manners. “Only a few. Our missions don’t give us time to sightsee the planets where we are deployed. Your world is the only one where we’ve actually had the opportunity to explore it freely.”

Arlesse slowly turned from the sky and looked to him, her fingers falling away from her necklace to rest in her lap. She wanted to know about the galaxy beyond what she had read or seen. She wanted to know from the personal experiences of one who had seen it, not through the eyes of an ambassador or a pilot who took what they saw for granted, but from someone who knew so little of the galaxy, just like her. “From what you have seen of other worlds, does Tochin compare at all?”

Jas took a soft breath, suddenly wishing to extend this conversation and find every way he could to compare his experiences for her. Finding inspiration, he let his eyes wander past her to the sparkling reflection of the stars in the lake. He allowed the woodsy scent of the forests to permeate him, and he doubted he would ever have that odor cleared from his sinuses. The aroma of certain flowers hung heavily in the night air despite their closed petals, and on certain breezes it left a near-sickly sweetness in its wake. In the daytime, colors all but exploded all around him, and the life that thrived on the moon seemed as though it would survive anything.

Bringing his eyes back to the princess, Jas understood now how he saw her so differently than he had in that first holo during their briefing. When he had first been provided that mission file and was told to study it, he initially thought that Princess Arlesse Psach would be nothing more than a superficial monarch, concerned with her own welfare, arguing with them over what was in her best interest. Instead, he discovered this sheltered girl who understood kindness and compassion and cared about men whose disposable lives were for the sole existence of fighting a war. She was as unexpected as her world, and in their short time together, he was certain that he saw her in ways no one else in her protective environment ever had or dared to try.

“Being here is like nowhere else I have ever known,” he finally said softly. “Everything is alive, overwhelming, and at times…unpredictable.”

Arlesse now turned again from Jas and studied the stars above, forcing her mind to take mental pictures so that she would never forget the peacefulness of the night sky and the beauty it held.

Unable to hide the sadness in her voice, she told Jas, “These past three days I have seen more of my own world than I have my entire life. My father and my servants mean well, really they do, but I’ve never been past the perimeter of the surrounding towns before.”

Jas was not certain what to say in response to her. She seemed to be confessing another failure on her part, another opportunity that had been denied to her because of the restrictions that were enforced upon her to keep her protected. He wanted to ask why they sheltered her so strongly and hid her away from the galaxy, but he feared knowing the answer would either anger him or force him to pity her, and he didn’t want to feel either of those emotions right now. He was content during this time he was sharing with her and didn’t want to pollute it with negativity.

After a few moments had passed in silence, Arlesse brought her eyes back to Jas. Now when she spoke, her voice sounded lost. “You want me to come back to the cave, don’t you? That’s why you followed me.”

Jas felt a strange pain in his chest suddenly, a moment of guilt for having been caught with his intentions so clearly displayed. Instead of agreeing immediately with her, though, he was bombarded with a brief fantasy of stealing her away in a transport and taking her to any planet she ever wanted to see. Shaking his head at the ridiculousness of the image, he forced it out of his mind and glanced over his shoulder to find Dusty still engrossed in the inventorying task. Jas felt a pang of remorse about striking his brother, but he had been just so frustrated for so many reasons that he needed to vent it some way, and Dusty had the uncanny knack of putting himself in the line of fire.

Turning back to Les’ika now, Jas saw her stand and give the sky one last glance. She started to walk past him when she suddenly stopped short.

Jas didn’t understand what happened. It was a reflex, a movement of instinct that forced him to reach out and take her hand in his. His eyes caught hers, and he wondered what it would take to see that unique light in her irises again, the light he had seen in them yesterday, after he took care of her snakebite. Jas felt the agonizing need to earn her trust again, and he was determined to find some way to repair the distance that had broken the gentle kindness she had given him.

Arlesse forced herself to breathe, and she tried to push aside the nervous tremble that suddenly overcame her. Jas’ large, gloved fingers enclosed her hand, seeming to swallow it in a grasp that conveyed concern rather than force, and she wasn’t sure if she should pull away from him or return his grip with her own.

“Please don’t be afraid of me,” he told her, breaking the silence between them.

Arlesse was taken aback by his words, but she understood why he had said them. When Jas distanced himself from her, she pulled away as well to a place where she sought the safety of the solitude she had known her entire life. Her defense mechanism for rejection was to hide within herself and stay behind the barriers of her loneliness. She hadn’t realized just how deep she had buried herself there, and it occurred to her that Jas had mistaken her rejection defenses for fear.

Lowering her eyes, Arlesse tried not to think of the heartache she got by allowing her imagination to deceive her with his good intentions. Jas had been there for her since they met, guarding her and protecting her, even forcing her to face her fears. He personally took care of her wound from the Pallid Viper and began to open himself to her with little snippets of his life. But, it was his kindness that had led her into her immature fantasies, giving her the false hope that a good and honest man like him could ever care about a helpless and pampered girl like her.

“I never meant you any harm. My orders are strictly for your safety,” he told her, his fingers taking her hand almost desperately. He regretted having ever closed down his emotions and opening the damn box in his mind to hide them away. He was beginning to understand now what Dusty had told him about opportunities, and he saw that he had clearly broken something between them. He didn’t understand why he thought pushing her aside would have made protecting her easier.

“I know,” she replied softly, looking to the dark ground, feeling her heart pounding in her chest with every moment his touch remained on her.

“I am sorry,” he said.

Arlesse closed her eyes and took a quiet breath wondering for what Jas felt the need to apologize. Was he apologizing because he wanted to share her emotions and he knew he couldn’t, or was he apologizing because he recognized her emotions but had no desire to share them? She swallowed hard, trying to decide if it was worth the risk to tell Jas that her feelings for him were growing every minute and she could only hope he would return the affections she wished to share. She wasn’t sure she could handle his polite rejection when it would come, and she didn’t want to embarrass herself in such a manner.

Arlesse slowly opened her eyes, still unable to face him wondering how to even begin expressing what she felt when she, herself, was still trying to understand the complexity of how her imagination could carry her away so strongly with a fantasy that would never come true. Unable to find any words that would make sense, Arlesse decided for a subtle but daring move and simply laced her fingers into his.

Jas flashed instantly back to the moment when they were alone yesterday, and the hunger of it filled him again. He looked to her troubled blue eyes and saw the maelstrom of confusion in them. He felt her gentle trembling and realized that part of it was his own. He took in her face, the soft curvature of her profile, and he looked to her wild curls, tracing them with his eyes as they fell freely about her shoulders. His eyes then moved to her lips, and the hunger that had been locked in his mental box had finally broken free. Jas had the overwhelming urgency to touch her and move closer, and he didn’t stop his free hand as it moved of its own accord to her cheek. His palm cupped her face gently while his thumb softly brushed some of those wild curls back from her face.

The touch of Jas’ hand on Arlesse jolted through her, and her eyes instantly came to him, finding his dark irises.

Jas thought he had done something improper with the speed of her reaction to his touch. He feared that he was about to further lose her trust, and he was angry with himself for breaching the protocol of her position as a princess. He pulled his hand back from her face, but found his fingers were unwilling to detangle from hers. His voice came out as a bare whisper, his embarrassment for what he had done clearly evident. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

“You feel it, don’t you?” Arlesse asked, refusing now to turn away from him, and she hoped that he was experiencing the same maddening excitement that she did whenever they were so close.

Jas looked to her eyes and didn’t understand what it was that he was supposed to feel and what exactly she was feeling. He could only describe what he experienced as a hunger, a need for her closeness and her touch. He wanted nothing more than to protect her, yet at the same time, he wanted to discover the entire galaxy with her. Her touch made him feel like he was crazy at times, how it confused him and filled him with excitement.

Jas knew his uncertainty reflected in his eyes, but as he looked to her blue irises he saw that hers shone with…hope, expectation. He saw the fear in her eyes, the hesitancy that she was still anticipating him at some point to turn from her and reject everything about her. And, for some reason he will never know, the idea of someone rejecting her made him both angry and pained that anyone could be so cruel to this caring and compassionate young woman.

Arlesse felt her heart pounding and her breath quicken. She wondered if such emotions were always to be this confusing, this awkward, and she wanted to find some way to prolong the sweet ache of his touch, his stare. Breathing softly, Arlesse forced herself to be brave, even though she had mentally prepared herself for the usual dismissal. Bringing a shaky hand forth, she gently touched her fingertips to Jas’ chin.

The touch of her fingers sent a flush of warmth through Jas, and he was aware how soft they were as she lightly grazed them over his chin. He took comfort in the contact of her petite fingers and didn’t fight the reflexes that slowly eased him towards her, the space between them shrinking to mere inches.

Arlesse allowed the soft, but shuddering breath to escape her as the thin layer of stubble on his face brushed roughly against her fingertips, leaving a trail of sharp-like burns over her fingers. In the seconds that had passed, she brought her eyes back to Jas, realizing that there was nothing but a mere breath separating them.

Consumed by the maddening closeness between them, Jas still felt his inner turmoil as the soldier within him fought to find a reason to break the moment and remain in protocol. However, what he saw in Les’ika’s eyes was something intangible, something that seemed to beckon him closer.

Her blue irises showed him so clearly the contradictions that made up a female, and he understood finally why the Kaminoans never bothered to teach them anything about women. Their gender was too complex, too multi-layered. Les’ika had intelligence and attractive features, despite how she didn’t think she was comparable to other women. She was soft and fragile as a human woman is thought to be, but she was also strong in compassion and kindness. Her contradictions made her harmonious, and it would have been impossible for the Kaminoans to ever put together a lesson plan to explain a woman.

Similarly, Arlesse was drawn to the man she now saw in Jas’s irises. He was this being who was protective and considerate and cared nothing for anyone who saw him as anything less than a good soldier. He was truthful, brutally so, and his honor couldn’t be questioned because his integrity had been ingrained in him since he was a mere child. No hidden agendas or matters of dishonesty existed with Jas because he had nothing to hide and everything to live for in his shortened life.

Jas felt himself nearly drowning in the haze now, and as he fell deeper into it, part of him argued one last time that they were far too close than he ever should have allowed. They were far too different to be falling prey to an invisible fog of emotions. He was merely a soldier, a clone. Clones were disposable beings who did their time and died on a distant planet away from real humans. Les’ika was a privileged princess, a normal human who would live long after he passed on. Her duty was to help her planet and marry someone who would bring her family worthy heirs.

The simple blue of her eyes, however, brought him back to her, and he understood finally what Dusty felt in that moment on Denon with Cerina. Jas was compelled now to ignore the mission protocol just this once, as this might be the only time in his life he would know such contact. If he wasn’t dead within the next twenty years from the aging process of a clone, he could be dead in the next second because his life as a commando expected such risks. Something deep within him, emotions he thought he wasn’t supposed to experience had grasped his attention, and he could no longer ignore those feelings.

Arlesse found the innocence in Jas’ eyes, the truth that he had no more knowledge in such an encounter than she had. She understood now why the connection they shared was always so awkward and confusing, and the realization attracted her to him even more. Whatever this moment would entail, they would learn about it together because neither of them ever had the opportunity before to share such affections.

Jas’ gloved hand returned to her face now, and her head tilted upwards as his hand gently brushed across her cheek. He saw her eyes softly close at his touch, and her breath gasped quietly while the warmth of her exhale grazed over his chin.

Instinct promptly took over and Jas closed his eyes as his lips brushed against hers, experimenting with the feeling of the soft touch. He felt the princess tremble slightly, as her lips returned the gentle graze.

Carefully, nervously, they pressed to each other and both of them shared a flush of warmth that sent a tingle of emotion through them. Instead of squelching the maddening excitement, however, the gentle kiss fueled it. In mere seconds, they leaned in closer growing more emboldened at the sensations.

Jas gently buried his hand into her hair and pulled her tighter to him as his other hand remained securely laced within hers. He felt her fingers stop trembling as they grasped steadier to his hand, and she leaned in closer letting him know that she trusted him completely and with no reservations.

Jas felt her small hand fiercely grasp his, her petite fingers seeming to be stronger than he thought was possible. He was aware of how soft her lips were against his and that there was the faint taste of RubyFruit left on them. He heard her inhale heavily and realized that part of it was his own need for air. Neither of them had any idea how long they had been sharing the embrace, and it seemed that neither one of them was concerned about it.

They dared to fight against their need to breathe, to prolong the separation that would occur once they parted. However, they were left with no choice but to succumb to the needs of their lungs, and they were forced to gently pull back, breaking the seal of the kiss shared between them.

Jas opened his eyes, and felt his lungs burning. He took a heavy breath watching her eyes flutter open while she sucked in the cool night air.

After a few moments, reality began to return to Jas’ senses, and against his desires, he forced his hands to pull from her, freeing her from the gentle capture of his embrace. He tried to think of how he should apologize for breaking the protocol of the mission and allowing himself to forget his objectives. He never should have touched Les’ika like that, and he had no idea what possessed him to take her in such a manner. He wasn’t Dusty, and unlike his brother, Jas looked ahead to the end of the mission, not just the moments that took place within it.

Arlesse couldn’t break her eyes away from Jas’ dark irises, and as she caught her breath, she could see an entire new world in his eyes, a world that she wasn’t sure she could ever understand but knew she belonged within. She saw for a moment that he regretted his actions, fearing what he had done was wrong and dangerous to her, and as his hands suddenly came away, she took a soft but saddened breath. Even after such a connection, she saw that he was now trying to find some way to gently reject her.

Jas swallowed hard, fighting within himself. He knew he felt something when he was with her, and he felt something for her. Embracing her had freed the feelings he fought to keep locked away, and he was not certain any longer that he could contain the rampant feelings when it would matter most.

As the silence between them grew heavy and long, Jas tried to listen to his logical and militaristic side, the one nagging at him to walk away. However, his emotions, the part of him that made him a man, a human, understood how the battle to follow protocol was worth losing. He could not deny how he was attracted to Les’ika and could not ignore what he saw within her eyes any longer. She cared about him without shame or concern, and he meant something to her.

With sudden comprehension, Jas now understood very clearly was it was to be a member of the Reject Squad, a squad known for breaking rules and finding loopholes because that was what they did best. Jas decided that if he was going to ignore protocol, he had to do it for the right reasons, and right now Les’ika was the only reason he needed.

Taking a soft breath, Jas stared into her blue irises. He saw again the intangible world there that he wanted to share with her, and he decided that the world in her eyes was worth any punishment that the GAR or those within power on her world could devise for him.

Abandoning caution and protocol, Jas brought both his hands to her face and cupped her cheeks gently. He leaned forward, his voice soft and honest as it brushed against her lips, “I do feel it.”

Then, he kissed her again, allowing the uncontrollable haze to overtake him once more. Arlesse responded without hesitation, and they both decided that drowning in their emotions was better than fighting against the tidal wave caused by them.

Blind to the world around them and the night as it moved about its subdued life, neither of them had the slightest concern that Dusty watched them through his bucket’s HUD.

Keeping the helmet communications open, Dusty heard Gath curse softly over the speakers, and he immediately responded, “Don’t, Gath.”

Dusty sensed that his brother was about to interrupt Jas and the princess, and he was not going to allow that to happen.

“It’s against mission protocol,” Gath grumbled. “We’re not…”

“Supposed to be men, right?” Dusty finished for him. “We’re flesh droids, I know. Then, you go tell the Kaminoans that they kriffing screwed up. You tell them that we’re not supposed to care or be cared for. And, you be sure to tell them that one of their reject clones developed an attachment to a princess.”

With that, Gath breathed heavily, and Dusty knew that his brother was unable to find a convincing argument. It was Gath’s subdued way of admitting defeat while still trying to find some way to win the battle.

“Let it go, ner vod,” Dusty said gently. “Just let it go.”