Author's Notes: I am so sorry for the lengthy delay. Real life kicked me in the shebs these past couple months, and it took a toll on my inspiration for a while. I finally got things back together and was able to write Chapter 13, but real life is still tough right now.

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. All opening chapter quotes are my own design, unless otherwise specified.

Chapter 13

As a child, Arlesse used to carry around a heavy-bound flimsi novel that contained a collection of fantasy legends. She read that novel faithfully, even though the flimsi pages were falling out of the bindings and the pictures had faded. I got her a new novel to replace the one in disrepair, but she told me that the new flimsi didn't read the same. At first, I thought she meant that the printers had reworded the stories and changed some of the text, but when I compared the flimsies, they were exactly the same. I was baffled by what she said, and I didn't understand it then, but at some point I finally figured it out. Arlesse had so much of her childhood embedded in that old novel that to remove it from her collection would erase the comfort those stories initially gave her. The new flimsi remained unread on the shelf in her room, but the old one was devotedly left in plain sight. As she grew older, I would occasionally see her run her fingers through the pages, and memories of her younger days would pass through her eyes.
King Vollan Psach, recalling a memory of his daughter while preparing the speeches for her memorial service

Tochin Moon III
786 Days ABG

Mouse couldn't help glancing over to his left side, his eyes repeatedly falling onto the way Jas' hand kept a consistent grasp on Les'ika's, while his other one maintained a comfortable hold around the Deece. His brother made no attempt to hide now the attraction that he had developed for her, and every motion of his body indicated that Jas had taken his duty to protect the princess far beyond a simple order. Jas was attached, and Mouse wasn't entirely comfortable with the new predicament, but he wasn't certain he even understood why he felt such discomfort. He just knew now that Dusty and Jas had been more talkative than they had in the past. Their conversations were barely audible, and most of the time they held them privately. At first Mouse didn't think anything about their seclusion and the seemingly newfound bond, but the more he thought about it, the more he came to realize that there was something definitely brewing between his brothers.

Mouse never denied that he was a secluded man by nature, and he always preferred his isolation rather than mingling with others. Dusty often made him the target of his verbal attacks because of it, but Mouse was also very proficient at putting Dusty back in his place whenever he got too aggressive in his teasing.

However, in the last couple days, Mouse had grown certain that somehow Les'ika had something to do with Jas and Dusty's closeness, but his gut told him that she was not their enemy. Mouse could find nothing in Les'ika's actions or conversations that would lead him to think she was a danger to Crimson. Instead of feeling guarded around Les'ika, Mouse found himself more social. Unlike how he felt about most civilians, he didn't mind her company or her conversations, and Mouse had come to the conclusion that it was probably because she carried herself humbly. He had been exposed to far too many arrogant and overly educated persons in his short life, and the princess was refreshingly…modest.

Mouse had also become aware that Dusty seemed to exhibit an air of being more relaxed and liberated around the young woman as well, and Mouse was certain that Dusty was able to understand her on some instinctual level that Mouse certainly dared not to know from Les'ika or any female. Dealing with his brothers was bad enough at times, and Mouse was not the type of man who wanted to throw the obvious confusion a woman caused into his quiet and solitary existence. It baffled him now how Jas had gone and solidified Les'ika's trust to the point that he developed an attachment that broke the orders of simply protecting her.

Mouse watched as the young princess lifted her head slightly towards Jas and she smiled, her cheeks brightening for a brief moment. Mouse didn't see anything different happen between them prior to her reaction, and his brother had made no spoken sound. Again, Mouse felt his eyes fall to their hands, and he could only imagine that they were sharing some kind of silent conversation with their entwined fingers.

"Admit it, ner vod, they're cute," Dusty verbally jabbed, as he spoke through his helmet, setting the link to the private channel that he shared with Mouse.

"Gath does not think so," Mouse answered after having turned his own helmet onto private with Dusty. "He is concerned for the welfare of the mission. He thinks Jas is complicating it."

"Gath thinks in flat terms," Dusty explained. "Jas and Les'ika put a layer on that flat land, and now Gath thinks there's a mountain in the way."

Mouse contemplated that for a long moment.

Dusty had taken Mouse's silence for misunderstanding and instead offered, "Protecting Les'ika and getting her home safe is our primary mission, right?"

"Yes."

"Think of it like this: Instead of guarding Les'ika like a distant soldier…a sniper like yourself, Jas is now the plasteel blanket around her. He's a shield, closely guarding her to keep her from harm."

Mouse absorbed that, considering it. "How do you know so much about all this?"

Dusty paused, ready with the comments that he was certain would get Mouse to back off and turn his attention elsewhere. He knew his brother would never handle the truth of his experience with Cerina, and he wasn't ready yet to breach the subject with him like he had with Jas. "Wow, you're talkative today, ner vod. Got a bit of curiosity, have you? Are you wondering what it's like, wishing it was you with Les'ika?"

At that, Mouse clicked off his communications. He didn't want to hear it from Dusty. It was no mistake that the two of them were always sparring one way or another, and Mouse decided to end the conversation before it got to the point that they were sparring once again. He didn't feel like getting into an argument nor did he want to see it become another punching match. Jas had done well enough with Dusty's face the other night, and Mouse didn't particularly want to give him a matching bruise, especially if it would endanger his trigger finger.

Silently now, Mouse thought about what Dusty said and how Jas was no longer a distant guardian, but one close and connected with Les'ika. He was still glad he wasn't the one in that position, and maybe Jas was the best choice for her. Les'ika had seemed more interested in Jas anyway, and he had grown more relaxed after he started being more than simply polite to her.

Watching their hands for a moment, Mouse saw what he assumed had prompted Les'ika's earlier reaction. He noticed how Jas grazed her knuckles lightly with his thumb, and how her fingers instantly grasped his hand tighter. It meant something to them, that minimal touch, and again it was a language Mouse would prefer not to be bothered wasting his time learning.

Suddenly, Gath brought his Deece around and raised his free hand in the "hold" position. The group stopped, Crimson silently ducking down into the greenery and instantly clicking their communications over to the private channel that kept them soundless to the outside world.

Jas brought his arm around Les'ika and pulled her into the shrubbery next to him. He crouched down with her, conforming her into the back end of a huge tree trunk while he waited for further instructions from Gath before proceeding with an explanation to her.

Arlesse began to understand that when these soldiers got suddenly quiet and tense, that it was best for her to remain silent and let them do what they had been trained to do. She watched the four men soundlessly disappear into the wooded land around them, and she decided not to question Jas as he moved her safely within the underbrush of the forest.

Her eyes silently looked to his blue visor questioning him to tell her what he knew, but he offered nothing and just maintained his watch onto the pathway from where they had all quickly disappeared. She was aware that his blaster was positioned in his hands, ready to fire at whatever invisible being he saw out on the path.

After a few moments, Arlesse heard something that sounded like metal clanking together and the indistinct trail of voices, realizing that neither of those sounds belonged to any of the Republic soldiers that made up Crimson Squad. She strained her ears to try and hear the conversation, but it was lost in the clattering metal, even though it seemed to be growing louder and closer. Arlesse then noticed how Jas lifted the blaster slightly, holding it firmer. Instinctively, her hands came to her mouth and covered her lips so that she would not even be tempted to breathe loudly.

After a few seconds, the noises stopped, but the voices continued talking and had grown noticeably clearer.

Gath searched through the woods and looked further down the path where they had been heading, discovering a small clearing northwards about fifteen yards from where they were hiding.

Eight battle droids had taken guard positions around two beings, and half the squad blocked the path from the woods to the clearing. One of the beings that was within the guarded circle was a female Koorivian, and the drab, gray uniform did little to hide her reptilian, mauve-colored skin. In fact, the gray of her attire seemed to enhance her unusual coloring, making her appear brighter than she actually was. The insignia patch on her uniform bore the ranking of a CIS commander, something that Crimson didn't think would have been awarded to a female, but then again they really didn't know much about the Koorivians, so who were they to judge how rank should be distributed? After all, in a war it would only seem logical to give leadership authority to someone who had experience or knowledge on how to handle it.

As for the other being that was talking with the Koorivian, he was an older human, probably in his late fifties but seemed physically fit despite the elaborate dark green cape that flowed from the back of his expensively tailored light green tunic and pants. His bright, blonde hair had grown recognizably thin on top, and it gave the impression that he had less hair than his baldness appeared to have. His light, tan skin made his dark eyes seem to be placed deeper in his sockets than they should have been, and the noticeable birthmark on his right cheek gave a clear indication that this man was none other than Baron Erle Zech, the man who instigated Princess Arlesse's kidnapping.

Gath watched as Zech held before him a small device that suddenly projected images of the Grand Palace, the home of King Vollan Psach and Les'ika. Gath steadied his blaster realizing momentarily that he had allowed himself the mental slip of silently addressing the princess in the name his brothers had given her, and he could no longer deny that he had grown concerned for her himself. He had tried to convince Jas to drop the attraction before it got too much further, hoping that his own compassion for the young woman would disappear along with Jas' affections. Unfortunately, neither subsided, and the last thing that Gath knew any of them needed was to deal with a commando with a broken heart and the punishment that would be doled out amongst them from both the Tochin government and the GAR.

Wrapping his fingers around the Deece tighter to suppress the urge to sigh, Gath knew that he had developed his own empathetic attachment to the princess, and he had seen how this morning it was so very clear in her eyes that her affections for Jas were genuine. Gath was certain that the way she opened her locket for Jas was something she didn't just do for anyone. Showing him the holograms within it had exposed a very real wound in her eyes, and Gath had no choice but to interrupt them and remind them that their affections could only be temporary.

Even Gath had to admit that he thought at first that the princess had simply latched onto Jas because he had overplayed earning her trust when he first rescued her. He was concerned that she had merely thought of Jas as some fantasy hero who would protect her from every evil, but since he observed their encounter this morning, he had seen how very real her emotions for his brother were.

Risking a glance into the thick underbrush where Gath had last seen Jas and Les'ika submerge, he hoped his brother could protect her and sustain his focus on the mission. Gath knew he could never handle maintaining the kind of dual focus required to protect a civilian on a personal level while trying to carry out mission orders, and he hoped that he would not have to report that they lost either Jas or Les'ika because of an attraction and attachment that they all knew broke every rule.

In the mere seconds that Gath had developed and pushed aside his concerns, he set his helmet to focus in closer on the visuals of the holoprojector that was between the two beings.

"You're certain we're safe out here?" the Koorivian CIS commander asked, skepticism and distrust clearly evident in her deep voice.

"These woods are abandoned, Commander Gunna," Zech responded. "Eons ago, the natives migrated to the land where the towns now exist. These trails were once used for equinine outings, but the farm where they were kept had burned to the ground about six years ago, and the trails had closed down shortly afterwards."

"And you're certain that no one decided to take over the farm?" the CIS commander asked, uncertainty clearly evident in her voice.

"Looking for a retirement?" Zech offered with quick sarcasm, as though he was in a hurry to get back on topic.

"Just being cautious, Baron," the Koorivian replied, changing the subject now to the task at hand. "Have you heard anything else to confirm the girl's demise?"

Zech paused, and a trickle of regret began to enter into his voice. "She's a princess, not just some common…"

"And you said nobody would miss her, that she's useless…"

"I also said she was harmless, Gunna. You promised me that she would be safe."

"I promised you that Hazar could behave as long as he continued to receive adequate payments. I forewarned you to keep him on his credit leash, and I even threw a clone trooper his way to keep him distracted from her."

Jas swallowed hard, knowing now who was ultimately responsible for bringing one of his brethren to the hands of Hazar. He quickly looked to Les'ika and saw her hands over her mouth, but her trembling was no longer solely from fright. He saw the anger in her eyes at the way these two beings were talking about her and the murdered clone trooper. Silently, Jas put his hand on her shoulder, and felt her tension ease slightly.

Her eyes came to his visor, and he took his hand from her shoulder to hold a finger before the lower part of his helmet, silently telling her she had to remain quiet. Her eyes closed softly and she nodded once in acknowledgement before opening her eyes again.

Jas then turned his attention back to the Separatist and the baron. Zech shook his head, seeming to want to know answers to a mystery that was eluding him. "Hazar was paid as he wanted, so what would possess him to attempt to leave the base on Moon II?"

The Koorivian commander offered no pity in her voice. "Forget about the girl. Besides, she was just collateral damage, and she served her purpose. From what you mentioned earlier, the clones' discovery of Hazar's wreckage had significantly distracted Psach. While he's mourning her loss, this is the perfect opportunity to strike. He will not see it coming while he is blinded in his grief."

Zech sighed heavily and shook his head again seeming lost. "I just wanted to scare Vollan, to find some way to get it through his thick skull that an alliance with the Separatists would be better than staying under the corrupt Republic."

"Look, Baron, we lived up to our end of the bargain. It's a little late to have regrets. You advocated solely for a Separatist Alliance for the last two months. If you're backing out now, you will not have another chance. We can do this civilly, with your cooperation, or we can just bring in the droid army and wipe out your people. Either way we get your tolium, but I'm certain you'd rather do so with a mutual relationship established than by us taking a path of dominance."

Zech touched another button on the tiny holoprojector, and a series of lights turned red within the structure of the palace. He started talking about the security system as well as the shifts and the rotation of the guards.

"I'm awaiting your signal, Gath," Dusty said, sounding somewhat impatient to get blasting at something.

Gath kept his focus on the holographic image, calculating the speed it would take for those droids to round on them and if any of their shots or shrapnel would deflect, striking the princess, the sole object of their mission that they had to protect.

"There's a light transport ship and a single-person speeder in the small clearing to the north of the path," Mouse reported, keeping his communications on the private channel that allowed him to speak covertly with his brothers and not allow anyone else to hear them.

"When the hell did you disappear?" Dusty grumbled, realizing now that Mouse had taken point and moved himself silently through the woods to recon what else they were up against.

"Learn to keep your mouth shut and you could be doing this, too," Mouse jibed. "Seems Gunna only brought with her the small escort you see out there. I'm getting no other readings off the ship – no biological and no droid."

"I say we take them out now," Dusty said, his voice itching for a firefight. "We've handled more than eight droids before, and we have the element of surprise. They don't even know we're here."

"I can't risk that with a civilian in tow," Gath reasoned. Again, he had the mental image of the princess taking a lethal blaster bolt or worse and their mission being a complete disaster.

Jas had heard the entire conversation that took place between Zech and Gunna, and he spared a look at Les'ika, knowing she had heard it, too. He couldn't deny that he wanted some personal retribution for this CIS commander having thrown one of his brethren into Hazar's razor-sharp clutches, and he wanted to prevent Les'ika from further harm at the Separatists' hands. Knowing that he didn't have the chance to help his murdered brother, Jas knew that he could, at least, help Les'ika. "Gath, we have to stop Zech and Gunna from launching this attack."

"He's right," Mouse advised. "Tochin is one of the Republic's larger suppliers of tolium. If we lose that, we may as well be fighting with sticks and rocks instead of blasters."

"Mission orders are to protect the princess and get her home safe," Gath reiterated.

Jas sighed in frustration, wondering how his brother could not clearly see the consequences. "And, if we follow those outdated orders, she may not have a home to go back to. This is what we do, Gath. This is the kind of mission we've been trained to handle."

"And, we've bent our orders so close to insubordination that we've practically shattered our armor," Gath argued. "Without communications, we don't even know if another squad was already planted to handle those Seps. We might end up killing our own."

"But, what if you're wrong, Gath, then what?" Jas asked. He turned his helmeted head to Les'ika and gently lifted one of her hands from her face. He studied her eyes as they shifted from anger and fright to curiosity and concern. Wrapping his fingers around hers, Jas squeezed her hand gently to offer her silent reassurance, selfishly allowing him a second to absorb himself in the blue of her eyes.

Dusty breathed softly. "We only have one chance for this, Gath. I'm not going to take the risk that there's another squad of ours out there. We all know we were assigned the Tochin mission because it's out of the way from the real fighting. Reject Squads don't get real missions, but if we walk away, Tochin might fall under Separatist control, and then we'd really be the Reject Squad."

Gath watched Zech as he passed the holoprojector to the Koorivian, and he knew he that had to make the decision right now about what they should do. It would only be a matter of minutes before Commander Gunna and Baron Zech broke away from their planning and scheming. He had to make this decision immediately, and even he knew his brothers were right. Without further thought, his voice came across with the flat, monotone accent of a man issuing orders calmly, "Triangulation."

Arlesse felt Jas' hand suddenly become tense, and his body stiffened as though he had changed again into the soldier who kept her locked out. He released her quickly and brought his sidearm blaster into her hands. She took a shuddering breath, knowing that something was about to happen, and it involved Zech, Gunna, and Crimson.

Jas' voice was a near-whisper, a faint sound that could easily be lost amongst the breeze and the creatures in the woods around them. "Keep down, and be prepared to run."

Arlesse shook her head, her questions coming faster than her voice could produce them, and before she could utter a sound, Jas' finger was over her lips.

"You're kotyc," he told her, taking his finger away.

Arlesse looked to the blaster in her hands, an object that appeared to be an oversized weapon and one she had no experience in using. She couldn't count the single shot she had taken earlier this morning as any kind of significant training, especially when it was Jas who aimed it and steadied her hands. Part of her wanted to push the blaster back to him and curl into his armor-plated chest where she could hide and feel safe. However, something inside her didn't want to be the helpless and scared child anymore. There was something about these soldiers, and Jas especially, that made her want to be stronger – kotyc, as the Mando'a language pronounced it. She needed to prove to herself that she could allow Jas the chance to save her father without having to worry about her. Arlesse knew her father had no idea of the danger that was about to unleash on him and his subjects, and she had no right to be selfish with her fears when there were others who needed Jas and Crimson more.

Reaching a hand upwards, Arlesse tilted Jas' helmet slightly downward and placed a gentle kiss above the blue T-visor. Taking a calming breath, she uttered simply, "Be careful."

Forcing himself to push aside the concept of leaving Les'ika to fend for herself in this endless forest, Jas tried not to think about the new branding that his helmet had just received. He knew it was only his imagination, but he could swear that Les'ika had burned a mark on his bucket with her touch and her soft lips. Closing down all the emotions he suddenly wanted to feel and stuffing them into his mental box, Jas moved silently from Les'ika, seeking his place in the triangulation maneuver. He had his communications already set back to the channel he shared with his brothers, and he listened to Crimson report in, hurrying to get into his own position.

"I'm already near the vehicles. I call dibs on disabling them," Mouse reported softly.

"Kandosii!" Dusty shouted, and his voice tingled with excitement. "I call sniper."

Gath sounded reserved. "Jas, you in position yet? I need a crossfire."

Jas couldn't hide his concern for Les'ika in his words. "Okay, I'm ready."

"On the count of two, flash grenade," Gath told them. "One…two."

A fast, hard explosion of light echoed through the woods scattering birds and creatures in every direction. The droids had been in the midst of forming up into guard position behind the Koorivian, but now at least two of them were knocked to the ground. One was thrown towards Zech and slammed him into a tree. The crack of the baron's head hitting the wood was lost in the firefight that suddenly erupted.

Blaster bolts began firing wildly into the wooded land, but Crimson remained hidden in their alcoves, firing on the droids.

Gunna didn't hesitate to get back up on her feet and move further into the clearing. Two droids attempted to follow behind her, maintaining their guard duty. However, Dusty lived up to his name and "dusted" the metal soldiers, his smile hidden beneath his gray helmet.

"Mouse, Gunna's coming your way!" Jas reported, his words strangely on edge.

"Relax, ner vod," he replied calmly. "I have a surprise for her."

Gath and Dusty concentrated their efforts on the remainder of the droids, and Jas stepped from his secluded position amongst the shrubs. The Koorivian was quickly regaining her sight and hurried herself faster, as she ran back towards her ship. Jas thought of nothing but the dead clone trooper and finding Les'ika as a broken and frightened child in Hazar's prison bay. Instantly, his adrenaline pushed him, and he ran after her faster.

"Don't kill her," Jas yelled suddenly to Mouse. "She might have that trooper's identity tag."

"Oh, shab," Mouse said, regret filling every syllable.

"What does that mean?" Jas asked, instinct promptly stopping him in his tracks as he knew Mouse's tone of voice.

"Get clear! Get clear!" Mouse quickly began yelling.

Shab…shab. Shab! Jas mentally screamed. He saw Mouse pop out of his hiding place near Zech's speeder, and the two of them were running fully on impulse and adrenaline back into the woods for shelter.

Gunna didn't think twice and hurried up the ramp to her ship, believing that she had managed to get her enemy to back off.

Jas heard the sound of the engines come to life and then an explosion suddenly ripped through the clearing, shrapnel and debris blossoming out in a violent blast. Both Jas and Mouse were thrown to the ground as they had been a bit too close to the explosion for their own comfort.

After a couple minutes to be certain that the worst of the debris had finished raining down, Mouse and Jas turned to see the twisted and destroyed wreckage that once was a space-faring ship. It was no longer recognizable as a CIS transport. Zech's personal speeder didn't fare that well either. The bright blue coating was dented and scratched with parts from Gunna's ship violently embedded in its plating. It looked more like a being from a horror-holoflick than a vehicle now.

"Overkill much?" Dusty asked as he caught up with his brothers and the destruction they caused. Neither Mouse nor Jas thought anything of it as he lugged the unconscious form of Baron Zech over his shoulder.

"So much for using her for information," Gath said, shaking his head. "At least, he's still alive."

"Ni ceta, ner vod," Jas said, quietly apologizing to their unnamed brother and knowing now that any chance of finding out who that clone trooper was that had defended Les'ika was lost forever. He had wanted to give the princess some peace, some closure for having to witness his murder, but instead he was left with nothing.

Les'ika! Jas suddenly realized, his mind closing down from the mission as his emotions for her surfaced from that mental box. He had left her by the tree when he went to take on the firefight, and he had no idea if she was even okay. The debris and shrapnel could have landed anywhere…potentially harming her or worse.

Without warning, Jas turned from the wreckage and bolted towards where he left the princess, hoping that he would not find her with a piece of Gunna's ship lethally embedded in her.

"Guess you better make sure Gunna's body is cooked, ner vod," Dusty sighed, looking at Mouse. "Your mess this time."

Jas sprinted towards the tree where Les'ika had been, noting that the debris hadn't blasted out nearly as far as the explosion made it seem it should have. He stopped abruptly as he saw her raise the blaster at him. Her arms were shaking, both her hands holding the grip of the blaster as though she was a frightened animal defending her territory. Her blue eyes were glazed with panic, turning them almost into a shade of sickly gray. Yet somehow, Jas found that the feral look in her eyes was more comforting than the broken woman he had met on Hazar's ship in that prison cell. Something in her was changing; she was growing kotyc and determined, and it was a transformation Jas wasn't certain he would have seen in her just a couple days ago.

"Les'ika," he said gently, as he lowered himself to his knees before her watching her eyes suddenly soften. He saw how she became the trusting young woman once more, and her breath came in a sudden gulp of air, seeming to awaken her from some horrible dream.

Jas pulled his helmet free from his head and dropped it quietly onto the ground next to him. His hands gently pried the blaster out of her grasp and returned it to his holster.

"It was so loud," she said, shaking her head.

Jas took her hands gently and caught her eyes with his. "It's over now. You're safe."

"Your brothers?" she asked shakily, her blue eyes looking to his but worrying about the rest of Crimson's safety.

Jas was warmed at her concern for his vode and couldn't hide the smile that touched upon his lips. "They're okay, too."

Arlesse caught the child in Jas, as his shy grin revealed more about him than words ever could. She felt herself becoming further calmed in his presence, and the trust she had for him was strengthening and growing deeper, if such a thought was possible. She had given Jas her complete trust already, and the fact that he could reach further inside her meant that there was more of her heart that she wanted to share with him. Her concerns for him were growing far beyond any infatuation she had ever known before, and every moment they were together showed her just how much she wanted to share her life with him.

Jas noticed that Les'ika's eyes came back further from that look of feral panic, and the gentle woman with the compassionate and concerned demeanor returned. It made Jas feel that nagging hunger for her again, and he felt no need to try and resist it. Leaning towards Les'ika, Jas was surprised when she took his cheeks in her hands and pressed her lips to his. He remembered a lesson once about how humanoid nature reacted when faced with a situation of life or death and it often brought out passions in people that they normally wouldn't feel. For the briefest of moments, Jas wondered if this was one of those situations, but as his hands gently curled around Les'ika's back, he realized that it was far deeper than simple impulsive passion. Sliding a hand to the back of her neck, Jas melted into their embrace and silently hoped once more that this mission could last for just a while longer because every time he touched Les'ika, he found it was growing harder to let her go.