Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for all the support! You've been great with inspiring me, and I am highly appreciative of your input. If you have any tips writing tips, please feel free to comment.

As always, I continue to hope that I am doing justice to the spirit of Star Wars as well 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.

Mandalorian (Mando'a) words

Ika (EE-kah): diminutive suffix written as 'ika - also added to a name as a very familiar or childhood form, e.g, Ord'ika - Little Ordo

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Chapter 27

I needed to be free, to be able to live and explore. Bringing you into the galaxy was the greatest accomplishment I had done to date, but you didn't deserve a mother who would never be able to provide you with the attention a child requires. It would be unfair and cruel to stay with you, and we would only be miserable in our expected duties.

Excerpt from Queen Darian Psach's farewell letter to Princess Arlesse

Tochin Moon III, 786 Days ABG

Jas continued with his berry picking, gathering up just a few more to top off the small pouch on his belt. Relieved that he had earned Gath's reluctant approval for his previous actions and anything else that might occur with Les'ika, Jas popped a few of the berries into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully on the slightly tart yellow fruit, surprised at himself for liking the sharp flavor that accompanied the sugary berry. After having lived his entire life on a bland diet of specialized and balanced proteins, all these new flavors and textures had awakened his taste senses, making him want to know what else there was in the galaxy that he knew so little about.

Jas knew that flash training could teach him anything in a theory sense, but to actually experience it and live it was something he had been denied on so many levels. This mission to Tochin had given him experiences and moments in his life that no Kaminoan scientist could ever predict in a preconceived lesson plan. And, Jas found that he liked being on this sidetracked mission, this chance to not have to worry about war or how to survive by ducking through blaster fire and grenades.

Footsteps shuffled closer to Jas, breaking his thoughts, and he recognized the careful and uncertain pressure of Les'ika's feet as she stepped cautiously over the leaf and branch-strewn ground. He heard her skirts ruffling together and scraping against the foliage, and he could only imagine how many more tears would be along that hem. He hoped the material wasn't too expensive for her sake, and with the little bits of her life that she had shared, he could imagine that someone in her inner circle wouldn't be pleased with her current appearance.

Before turning to greet her, Jas' eyes caught sight of a Cerulea plant that grew close to the berry bush, blooming with blue flowers the size of his palm. He remembered from his flash lessons in the mission brief that these lily-like plants were harvested for their fragrance, and their oils were used for perfume as well as for scented candles.

Looking down to the sapphire-colored lily in his hand that he had just picked off the plant, Jas studied the light purple center embedded inside the petals. The scent that came from the bloom was more sugary than flowery, and he felt a strange pang of nervousness, wondering if Les'ika even liked this kind of flower. He ran a gloved finger over one of the petals thinking of how delicate this botanical wonder was. It could hold up to rain and weather, but it would die in hours now that it had been plucked from the patch where he had found it. He thought it was a rather fitting metaphor to his own existence. While living on Kamino, he was a plant rooted in everything he could want and need, but once he was pulled off that desolate planet, he had no chance to live long.

Finally bringing his eyes up and turning to face her, Jas saw that Les'ika had settled herself on a tree that had been knocked down by some storm that had passed through in the last few weeks. There was still evidence of the lightning strike that had burned a section of the tree near the center of the trunk, the wood blackened and cracked apart like splintered shards. Jas watched as Les'ika took a few minutes to eat a small handful of RubyFruit from Dusty's stash and follow it with a drink from her bottle of water.

Jas moved to her and took a seat beside her. Cautiously, he presented the bloom before her. "There was an image a long time ago in my lessons about how a civilian man presented a flower to a woman as a gift. I saw this flower and thought of you, but I don't understand why a dying plant is so adored by a female."

Having finished the fruit, Arlesse set the bottle down next to her as she smiled and took the Cerulea Lily from Jas, breathing in the scent. Then, she embedded the stem into the curls above her ear. "Flowers are a symbol of beauty, a reminder of delicate endurance. I don't know why we treasure them either, but it's nice to be given a gift, no matter how trivial it may seem."

Jas turned away from her smile and brought his hands before him as he looked to the ground. "Gath is going to push us harder. He knows about us and will do everything in his power to get you home even more quickly now."

Arlesse breathed silently for a moment, comprehending. "There's a part of me that...doesn't want to go home. Isn't that insane? All I wanted was my life back, my comforts, and now I'm not sure I belong there."

Jas looked to her but had nothing he could say to offer her. They were both obligated in different ways to different lives, and he wasn't sure he wanted to return to his life of war either. Last night, he felt her emotions for him so clearly in the kiss they shared, and her affections for him did not wane with the new day. Every time he looked at her, he had so many questions to ask, and he wanted to know everything about her because his emotions for her did not lessen either. Something sparked between them the moment they met, and it had grown into a flame that was constant but growing in strength.

After a long pause, he finally answered, "I think I understand."

Arlesse laughed softly now. "We're a real pair, aren't we? I'm a helpless princess who's been rejected by most of her peers, and you're some age-accelerated cloned soldier who's been assigned to a rejected squad."

Jas couldn't help himself and offered a quiet snicker, too. A couple seconds later, he took his DC-15 sidearm blaster from his holster and brought it before him. He kept the safety on as he turned the barrel and handed it to the princess, offering the handle to her. "Maybe I can help with your being helpless. Here."

Arlesse flinched back and tightened her hands in her lap, refusing to bring them near the weapon, clearly avoiding it.

Jas saw the strange apprehension in her eyes at the sight of the blaster, and he couldn't understand it. He had held weapons since he was at least two years old, and they were like an extension of his arms. He wondered how someone could not be comfortable around such a device. "Haven't you ever held a blaster?"

"No," she admitted, her eyes glancing from the blaster to his face. "My guardians always protected me."

Jas lowered the weapon and wrapped his hand around it as though to use it, studying how his hand confirmed to the grip of the blaster, muscle memory taking over. "The same guardians who let you get kidnapped?"

"It's not their fault," Arlesse suddenly defended, hearing the accusing tone in his voice. She feared that he blamed them for her abduction when it was her own stupid innocence and ignorance. "I wandered from them. They escorted me into town so I could peruse the flimsi novel shop. I only have the opportunity to go there once a month when I need something new to read, and it took forever to convince Papa to let me venture out there even that often, rather than having the stories always downloaded or shipped to me." Arlesse lowered her eyes and took a soft breath. "I know it's silly, but I want to read the flimsies in old-fashioned form, rather than on some datapad. I'm just appealed more to the story if I can touch the bindings and feel the craftsmanship in some of the more expensive covers..."

Realizing she had gone off topic, Arlesse shook her head and looked to her now-folded hands, forcing herself to relive that frightening day. "The shopkeeper insisted that I follow him to the back room where he had just received the latest shipment. I thought I could trust him like I had many times in the past. He always seemed like such a kind and generous man."

Jas saw her eyes had remained lowered, and as he holstered the blaster, he finished what she was struggling to tell him. "But, the shopkeeper had made a pact with Hazar, knowing your scheduled visits to his shop. Hazar either forced him into helping, or your shopkeeper wasn't as honest as you had hoped."

Arlesse brought her eyes to Jas and nodded. "All I wanted was a story to take home that day that would give me some way to pass the time, some way to escape my mundane existence. I never asked to become a bargaining chip in a war."

"Les'ika," Jas reached out and took one of her hands in his, sliding closer to her. He reached his arm around her after his other hand had taken the DC-15 out of the holster again and brought it before her, slipping it into her hands. He watched her flinch, but he refused to relinquish his grasp on either her or his weapon. Carefully, he wrapped her small fingers around the blaster. He placed her forefinger into the trigger, realizing just how tiny her hands were as her fingertip barely made it around the trigger. He felt her inhale sharply, and then he lifted her hands with the blaster enclosed in them, aiming at a dead tree.

"You never close your eyes when you fire," he told her. "That's the first common mistake everyone makes. You need to watch your target."

Arlesse swallowed hard, taking a moment to examine Jas' hands over hers. She realized that he was taking the time to teach her and show her things, and she didn't understand why she was so frightened. His need to have her learn how to defend herself was more than she ever had anyone do for her at home. Jas' touch eased the reservations she had about holding the deadly weapon, and for a slight second, she wondered how many lives he had taken with it. Then, she forced the thought aside as she came to understand that Jas was staying next to her and keeping his grasp on her. He was protecting her, carefully inviting her into this new experience. He was not going to let her shoot the weapon alone where her clumsiness could cause someone to get hurt. He was experienced and had been trained hard since his childhood to handle blasters and numerous other deadly weapons. He was going to continue to be her safety net, just as he had when he forced her to confront her fears over Hazar and her kidnapping.

"Can you see that gray rock near that small opening?" he asked softly, his voice shutting down her roaming thoughts.

Arlesse nodded quietly, and her voice was heavy. "Yes."

"I'll help you aim, but you have to pull the trigger. Can you do that?"

Arlesse took a shaky breath. "I think so."

Jas brought one of his hands away from the blaster for a moment and reached down to his helmet still on his belt. He clicked on a button inside his helmet. "DC-15 test. Disregard unless I say otherwise."

"Acknowledged," came Mouse's reply.

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