"Lyra, care to join us?" Anakin called over to me as he and Ahsoka passed me in the temple hallway.

"What are you two up to?" I gave them a skeptical look, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"Just training" Ahsoka shrugged calmly, but I knew she was up to something.

"Alright" I agreed with a nod, deciding I had nothing better to do with my day as there were no important missions. I followed the duo as they lead me out towards the clones barracks. "What are we doing out here?" I paused and looked to the Master-Padawan duo.

"We are training, now come on" Anakin pulled me along to turn the corner and see the men of the 501st training themselves. "Here" he tossed me two sticks that resembled my lightsabers. "Don't need to use the real ones and put the men in danger" Anakin explained his reasoning with a wink. I looked out at the troopers who I had fought alongside all lifting weights and doing push-ups until I was poked in the shoulder with a stick.

"Ready?" Ahsoka smirked, holding two of her own sticks.

"Let's do this" I replied, getting into position. I was moving flawlessly around her, blocking all of her attacks and striking a few of my own until a blond trooper caught my eye from the opposite side of the room and I was knocked down hard, falling to the ground.

"You alright there Jayko? You seem distracted" Anakin smirked with Ahsoka who let out a giggle as I grumbled and stood to my feet, picking up my 'sabers'.

"You planned this" I accused, pointing a stick at them both.

"Well maybe if you would stop gawking over Captain Rex we wouldn't be in this situation" The Padawan commented.

"I'm not gawking" I protested while twirling the two sticks to get a better grip. "Now let's go again" I took my sturdy stance.

"Oh no, you're going against me now" Anakin stepped in where Ahsoka once stood.

"Fine by me" I shrugged, holding the sticks prepared to fight. He didn't even give me a chance to strike before I was pushed back with the force, crashing into a troopers chest. "Oh no" I sighed, refusing to look as I could hear the two Jedi laughing from where I once was.

"General, are you okay?"

"Yes" I didn't even bother to look at Rex as I stormed back over to Anakin with a beat red face and determination set in my eyes.

"Run" he told Ahsoka quickly.

"Oh no, you don't" I threw the sticks in front of them as they tripped and crashed to the ground with a thud. "Really?" I stood over them, unimpressed as my hands were placed on my hips.

"You enjoyed it" Ahsoka taunted with a proud grin.

"You two are impossible" I groaned, throwing my hands up in the air and storming off to the temple again.

"What was that about?" Fives nudged Rex as he stared at my fleeting figure.

"I don't know" Rex shook his head slightly before going back to training.

~~~

"Rex, you and Lyra go scout out the path ahead for tomorrow and evaluate the separatist base" Anakin ordered out, all of us standing around our make shift set up.

"Yes, sir!" Rex started off as I moved to catch up with him. The two of us walked side by side in silence for a while, taking the hike up to get a look at the separatist base nearby. "Uh, sir? What are you doing?" Rex asked in confusion, watching as I looked around the beautiful planet with many plants.

"Inspecting the native plants to decide which ones we need to stay away from" I answered, looking over a bush of berrys.

"With all due respect, we should really be moving towards the base so that we can report back to the other generals as soon as possible"

"Relax, this is all part of the mission" I reminded.

"Get down" Rex pulled me to rest behind a rock quickly. I crashed into his side, hitting my head off his shoulder armour. "Are you alright, General?" He questioned in a hushed voice.

"Fine" I nodded to him before adjusting myself next to him. "What was it?"

"Two battle droids securing the area" the Captain answered, I peeked over the rock to see they had gone back into the base.

"Well, looks like hey didn't see us" I told him. "Now let's see what we are dealing with" I crouched on the edge of the cliff and pulled out my binoculars to check out the area.

"Front door is heavily guarded by— what are you doing?" Rex snapped his attention towards me as I had once again been distracted by inspecting a flower beside us.

"I've never seen anything like this" I noted, looking at it closely.

"Well, you can read about it in a library. We have to report back to the generals with the base security layout" he scolded before hearing no reply. "Sorry, sir, I didn't mean to overstep" Rex started out again to apologize for his sudden out-lash. "Sir? General Jayko?" He turned to face me with confusion as the wind blew and a puff of pollen had been pushed into my face.

"Ah" I coughed at the dust in my lungs before becoming very dizzy.

"General? Are you okay?" He worried from beside me. My body fell flat into his and panic set in. "Lyra? Lyra, can you hear me? Come on, stay awake" the worried clone stressed, shaking me slightly to try and wake me up. "Kriff" he muttered, scooping me up into his arms with ease before running back to the base, forgetting about the mission at hand to scout the base.

"Rex, what did you find— what happened?" Anakin started before cutting himself off at the sight of my limp body in his right hand mans arms.

"She was so focused on this flower that she had never seen before and then she just passed out" Rex rushed the words out with a panic, not knowing what would happen to me.

"Kix!" Anakin called out for the medic urgently, catching the attention of others as well.

"What's going on?" Kenobi joined the group to fall at a loss of words at the sight of his former padawan unconscious in a clones arms.

"Lyra?" Ahsokas voice caught their attention and they all snapped their heads to look at the worried Padawan who I treated like a sister. "W-what happened to her?" She looked to Rex with worry and tears in her eyes, fear setting in.

"I don't know kid" Rex sighed, trying to be gentle with Ahsoka.

"Bring her here!" Kix called out, rushing to get me to the medical tent for him to help out. "I need you to tell me what happened in detail" he looked to the captain after I was set down on the cot, him starting to evaluate my symptoms.

"We we're looking down at the base when she started investigating a flower that she had never seen before."

"What did the flower look like?"

"Blue petals with yellow at the Center"

"Did she inhale any pollen?"

"Maybe, I think a gust of wind could have blown some into her face because she started coughing then passed out" the worry was clear in Rex's voice as they all stood around listening to him recall the event.

"I'll go check on Ahsoka" Anakin walked himself out, leaving Obi Wan, Kix and Rex with me.

"I should go work on the mission plan" my former Master moved towards the door of the tent, unable to watch me hurt.

"You're continuing the mission and just leaving her here, sir?" Rex questioned in shock at the generals lack of interest for my safety.

"The mission must go on, Lyra understands that."

"But you are leaving her in her time of need" Rex continued. "What if something worse happens to her?"

"I can't watch her die, she knows that pain that we both share of losing those close to us." Obi Wan told the worried Captain. "Let me know if anything changes" he turned to Kix with his orders.

"Yes, sir"

~~~

"She's awake!" Kix called loudly out of the tent where I was resting, alerting the others of my status.

"Lyra, it's nice to see you with your eyes open" Anakin commented with a joking tone covered by his genuine concern. I gave him a weak nod before looking to Obi Wan who stood next to him with a tired expression. Without speaking we both understood that this could be the end of my life.

"Lyra! I heard you were awake!" Ahsoka rushed into the tent followed by Jesse who was trying to catch up to her.

"Sorry, sir, I tried to keep her away" Jesse told Anakin who held Ahsoka back from me.

"Come on Ahsoka, let's leave her alone or rest" Anakin tried to pull her out but she protested. "That's an order" he reminded sternly as she looked up at him with sad eyes, just wanting to make sure that I was going to be okay.

"She's okay to stay in here" I told him gently with a small smile for the girl who had been like my little sister.

"If you're alright with it" Anakin agreed reluctantly. Rex stood from his chair to let Ahsoka sit with me for a bit as the others stood around talking with me to give me comfort. Suddenly I was taken over by a coughing fit and they all silently agreed that it was time to leave. Anakin dragged a worried Togruta out as Rex and Kix helped me to calm down after the sudden fit of coughs that left me feeling worse than before.

"Thanks" I offered a weak smile to the pair.

"You should rest, sir" Kix suggested. Rex sat beside me again and started to tell story's of the war or nights in the barracks with his brothers to ease my mind a bit and help me to relax into sleep.

"Captain, we are preparing for the attack" Kenobi stated as he poked his head into the room. Rex looked to me before I gave him a nod to go ahead, eyes struggling to stay open any longer. He reluctantly got up to leave while I laid my head back to sleep, immediately drifting off.

~~~

"Sir, you might want to hear this" Kix gained their attention upon their return to base after a successful mission.

"What's wrong?" Anakin worried immediately as Kenobis face fell in realization. They followed a silent Kix into the medical tent to find me on my death bed, looking significantly worse than when they had left me. Kenobi looked at me quickly before leaving without hearing the situation, unable to watch someone else he cares about die.

"It's not looking too good" Kix explained to the group that had stayed, not wanting to admit the truth of how I was dying.

..............................................

Question of the day: do you think Lyra will die?