61

When Saedii woke, the pillow beside her was empty. The hand that had clutched his sat alone on the sheets – pale purple against white.

Her fingers crept forward. The sheets were cold. He'd been gone for a while.

Saedii sat up, looking around the room. Omega's bed was empty, too. Her lula sat against her pillow, waiting for her return.

Golden sunlight spilled in through the windows. Yesterday's rain had blown away without a trace, leaving the typical sun and beauty that Saedii was used to. Through her window, the glistening waters that surrounded the island were startling aquamarine. There wasn't a single cloud in sight.

When she got to her feet, Saedii took a steadying step as pain laced down her side. It wasn't nearly as sharp as yesterday, but it still hurt. She'd need more bacta patches.

Waiting at the foot of her bed was a stack of clothes. Saedii held up the first article of clothing. It was a small tank top with thin straps. When she held it up against her, it left several inches of midriff exposed.

Phee, Saedii thought, holding up the matching pair of shorts. These were small too and would leave most of her legs bare. A similar style to what the other young girls of Pabu often wore about the markets, though Saedii's was a light grey instead of bright pink or yellow.

She knew what Phee was doing. The silent message in these clothes. There wouldn't be any Jedi robes around the island from here on out. For now, she would need to blend in as best she could.

Saedii changed, looking at herself in the mirror. With her hair down around her shoulders and her new clothes, she looked like the furthest thing from a Jedi or an Inquisitor or whatever else she had been. Now, she was just a girl.

Both her lightsabers were left on her bed, tucked beneath her pillow. Perhaps not the most secure place for them, but it didn't feel right to bring them down. Not if she was trying to blend in.

Downstairs, the rest of the Batch sat out on the balcony. Like Saedii, they had changed into Pabu-esque clothing that looked starkly different than their fatigues. Echo and Tech had both changed into canvas pants, long sleeves rolled up to their forearms, while Hunter and Crosshair had selected vests interwoven with shells and sea grass. Wrecker had a v-neck white shirt that made him look tan, like a true Pabuian. Even Omega was in loose fitting shorts and a tank top with her hair around her shoulders – the first time Saedii had ever seen it down.

Breakfast had been spread across the table. Phee had clearly spared no expense in laying out this spread – fruit and pastries and spreads and breads and meats. There was even an iced caff waiting with a little pink straw.

"Well, don't you look nice." Phee smiled from her place at Tech's side. His arm, Saedii noticed, was across her shoulders and his fingers brushed softly across the bare skin of her upper arm.

Saedii glanced down at the clothes. "Isn't this kind of pointless? Everyone on Pabu knows I'm a Jedi?"

Her voice still sounded awful. Absently, she rubbed at the hollow of her throat. It hurt worse than her ribs did.

"Sure they do, but there's no need to flaunt it. Especially since you lot are trying to hide." Phee slid the iced caff across the table. "I got you something. Cinnamon."

Saedii's favorite. Phee had remembered.

The caff tasted better than she remembered – sweet but not overbearingly so, and smooth thanks to the milk. It was a kind gesture of Phee to get her one this morning. Saedii was suddenly very glad that they had come here.

Omega drank her own iced caff, sipping from a rainbow straw. Saedii reached out and began to play with her hair, gently twisting the long locks into a simple braid down the back of Omega's back.

Hunter watched her from his place across the table. The short sleeves of his shirt revealed the dark line of the tattoo that continued down his left side – black outlines of his humerus, radius and ulna. Just like the skull on his face.

A skull that was pinched in worry. The feel of his gaze on Saedii's face was hotter than the sun, tracing the bruises along her throat. Since none of them had asked her how she was feeling, she figured she must look pretty rough.

"You hungry? Phee got those little fish jerky sticks that we like from the market!" Wrecker held up a long dried out piece of red fish. His now-casted leg was propped on the chair beside him.

"That you like, you mean," Crosshair pointed out.

"We've got fruit, too. And sitari cakes." Echo pointed to the plates before him as if Saedii had missed them. "Whatever you want."

But to her surprise, she wasn't hungry. Not even a little bit.

"I'm alright for now."

Hunter frowned.

Omega looked up as Saedii finished her braid and asked, "Do you want me to do your hair next?"

"That's alright." Saedii glanced back down the table, noting that there was someone missing. A dark broody stare that she'd grown accustomed to. "Where's Kalth?"

Echo rubbed at his jaw. The gesture was angry and exasperated.

A shock of alarm went through her. "He didn't leave, did he?"

Was that why he had stayed with her last night? As one final good bye?

"No, he didn't leave," Echo said tightly. "He wants to, but there aren't any ships to spare."

"Shep has also ordered all ships grounded for the immediate future, until the comms channels die down," Tech reported. "For our own safety and for that of other Pabu residents."

Saedii didn't understand why Echo was looking so pissed.

But Crosshair, with a little smirk, explained, "Your boyfriend didn't like that too much."

"Where is he?" Saedii asked, ignoring the barb.

Hunter gestured to the path in Phee's back garden. "Down at the beach. He said he wants to be alone."

She didn't really care what he wanted. The two of them needed to talk.

As she turned back into the house, she heard Crosshair mutter, "Five credits that she fumbles."

"You're on!" Wrecker agreed at the same time Echo snapped, "We're not gambling on her love life."

"Double or nothing says they kiss," Phee's smug voice added, to which someone sighed. Crosshair and Wrecker both laughed.

The path down to Phee's small sliver of private beach was rocky and uneven. She gripped the railing as she went, hissing at the flares of pain in her side. Rocks bit into the soles of her feet and she wished that she'd thought to grab her boots before she'd left.

Salty air pressed against her face as she finally made it to the beach below. Warm mist lingered in the air, jumping off the spray of the gentle waves as they lapped at the sugar-white sand. A few birds flew overhead, gently calling to one another as they banked in the sea breeze.

Small outcroppings of rocks lined the beach. On the furthest one, a figure was tossing rocks out into the surf.

The sand made Saedii's footsteps silent, but even so, Kalth demanded, "Can't you leave me alone?" as soon as she was within hearing distance.

"I just want to see if you're ok." Saedii hesitated at the edge of the clustering of rocks.

Kalth's expression darkened. In the sunlight, his eyes were like icy fire – so bright that they put the glistening sea to shame only a few feet away. "Why would I be ok? I'm trapped on this kriffing planet, same as the rest of you."

"Why don't you want to stay?"

The look he gave her questioned her sanity. "I already told you. It's not smart for us to stay together. If they find us –"

"They won't find us here, Kalth. No one will."

"If you believe that, then you're just as dumb as they are."

Saedii said nothing to this. She could sense his fear. His worry. She'd gotten used to the fact that this new version of Kalth often hid his emotions behind anger.

With long fingers, Kalth pried one of the small black rocks from beneath him, chucking it into the sea. The Force echoed around him as he used it to launch it nearly a hundred feet away from the break line, into the deeper water.

Then he lowered his head.

"I didn't mean that," he said softly.

"I know." Gingerly, Saedii climbed up onto the rocks beside him. A faint sound escaped her as she sat down and her ribs flared. "You've never been a good liar."

A ghost of a smile played along his face. "No, you've just always been able to read me better than I can read myself."

She followed his gaze out to the water. It was calm today. Gentle waves rolled in along the shore and a soft hissing sounded each time it rolled the rocks caught in the whitewash. From here, Saedii spotted a large white spotted shell tumble in with the next wave, embedding into the sand.

"Do you really want to leave?" she asked him.

It took him a minute, but he finally answered, "I did on Teth. Now, I don't know. But it doesn't matter anyways. Your Clones took the choice away from me."

"They're just doing it to keep us safe. All of us, including you."

He scoffed. "Why would they care about me? I'm nothing to them."

Saedii gave him an admonishing stare. "Wrecker carried you four hundred yards on a broken leg. Crosshair stitched you up. Trust me – they care about you more than you realize."

"They're just doing that for you."

"Crosshair doesn't do anything for anyone. If he doesn't like you, he would have let you bleed out on the Marauder."

Another faint smile. Odd, but Saedii sensed that Crosshair's ruthless side amused him. "Maybe he should have. I did try to kill him – all of them. Who says I won't try again?"

The words were harsh but his tone was gentle, which told Saedii he didn't speak it as a warning, but as an admission. That was what he was afraid of. Losing control again. That was the real reason he wanted to leave.

"You could have left, you know," Saedii said mildly, eyes still on the horizon. "Back on Teth, you didn't have to follow me."

The look he turned on her was furious. "I couldn't leave you with Krell."

"Sure you could have."

"He would have killed you. Or worse."

Saedii gave a little shrug, even though the thought of worse made her stomach churn like the shell in the waves. "We're not your responsibility. You don't owe us any loyalty."

"Of course I do! I don't want to see you hurt or –"

He broke off as a little smile pulled at Saedii's lips. Realizing what it was she was doing.

"You're not going to hurt us, Kalth," Saedii told him. Not a question, but a statement. "You had the chance to do that on Teth, and you nearly lost your life to save us. What happened at the monastery when you first woke up was a one-time thing. You don't need to worry about it again."

By the tension in his jaw, he didn't agree. "What if I do? There are a hell of a lot more people I can hurt here. Innocent people – not highly trained soldiers that can defend themselves."

Gently, she reached out and grabbed his hand. Just as it had last night, it felt warm against her skin. Calloused and scarred. "You won't. I promise you."

Kalth let out a low breath. After a moment, he tugged his hand out from hers, reaching down to grab another rock. "So we're just supposed to stay here and hide? Lay out on the beach?"

"I'm sure you could get a job if you're bored," she teased.

"What, like a fisherman?" He chucked the rock again. This time, he didn't use the Force to help and it landed only just past the breaking waves.

"Anything you want." Saedii picked up a rock of her own. "Crosshair picked up spear fishing last time we were here."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." Saedii threw the rock. It landed an embarrassing distance away, only just in the water.

A little snort escaped Kalth before he could help it, though he hid his grin as she glared at him. "What are you going to do? I can't see you taking up fishing."

"I'm planning on resting and trying to get better," she admitted, brushing the rock at her throat. "I realized I have a long way to go."

"And after that? What happens when you get better?"

"What do you mean?"

"Skywalker and the Clones – are you planning to join them once again?"

She frowned, letting her necklace drop back under her shirt. "I don't know. I haven't really planned that far. After Teth, I just want to focus on getting better."

He nodded, as if he understood. After how he'd found her last night, he probably did. "I guess I could hang around then. It's not like I have anything better to do."

"Wow, I'm so honored."

"Don't be a wise ass."

"Careful, Commander. Don't forget that I outrank you now."

His lips twitched. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you? That you made Knight before me?"

"Nope," Saedii promised, handing him another rock.

Kalth let out a chuckle – a low, smokey sound, so different than his old laugh. Though not in a bad way. "Well then, I promise to be on my best behavior, General. I don't want to get court-martialed."

"You'd better be," Saedii threatened with mock severity.

Out in the deeper water, a large scaled creature with an arrow-shaped head breached, blowing water from a line of contours along its side. The defensiveness to Kalth's jaw disappeared and his lips parted as he watched it. And Saedii knew that for the first time since they'd landed, he was finally taking in the raw beauty of Pabu. The quiet. The safety.

And if the gleam in his eye was any indication, he had decided that this place wasn't going to be so bad.