Content: accelerated aging, genetics, author does not understand science, mention of stewjoni biology, mention of past clone trooper mistreatment, marriage proposal, engagement, background Codywan, background Blyla
Mando'a Guide:
sarad - flower
vod - sibling (used to refer to a clone)
kaminii - kaminoans
the Vode - used to refer to the clones as a group
the Tolase - system (used to refer to the Vode government
ner mirdala jetii - my clever jedi
kih'vod - little sibling
cyar'ika - sweetheart (used here similar to girlfriend)
riduur - spouse
Kresta
Kresta knew she was getting close to it. She could feel it in her bones. She pulled up the latest analysis, scanning over each data point as she leaned against the kitchen counter.
Then she saw it. One tiny, seemingly insignificant gene. This was it, the breakthrough.
“I brought you some tea,” Fluke hummed, appearing at her elbow. She nearly jumped out of her skin. He eyed her, clearly bemused. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”
“I don’t understand how you do that,” she groaned as she accepted the mug from his hands, quickly shutting down her datapad.
“Gotta keep you on your toes somehow,” he grinned. “Especially since you’ve decided to spend all your time in that lab at the Temple–”
“I do not spend all my time–”
“All your time that you’re not here with your face buried in your datapad,” he corrected himself. “And you won’t keep up with your training.”
“My training is mostly medical,” she said.
“Oh, and all the combat training?” he teased, wrapping his arms around her waist, pressing his face into her neck as he hugged her from behind. “Ni kar’taylir ner sarad liser cuyir burk’yc… tuu kaysh copaanire.” [I know my flower can be dangerous… when she wants.]
She chuckled softly, tilting her head to allow him more access. “If you say so, darling,” she smiled, sighing as he pressed soft, lingering kisses against the scars on her neck.
“I do say so,” he murmured against her neck. “Dangerous, smart–”
“Fluke,” she protested.
He traveled up her neck to that sensitive spot behind her ear. “Beautiful, kind, funny–”
“Okay, okay! I get it,” she laughed as she tried to pull away from him, the low rumble of his voice tickling her skin.
⫷⪡◈⪢⫸⫷⪡◈⪢⫸⫷⪡◈⪢⫸
Fluke
“What are you working so hard on anyway?” he asked, releasing her. He hadn’t told her any other time he asked, so he didn’t expect it now.
He watched as she straightened herself up, smoothing down her dress and tucking a few strands of her hair behind her ears. He could see her wrestling with how much she could tell him.
“Well, I was able to find a… rather unique clone to aid in my research.”
His brow raised. “Your research that you refuse to tell me about? Or any vod for that matter.”
“Yes,” she said with an apologetic smile. “Hopefully, it won’t need to be classified much longer. I believe we’ve hit a breakthrough.”
He couldn't help the way his heart leaped as the excitement shone through in her voice. “Because of this vod?”
“This clone’s DNA is the closest we can get to an unaltered sample,” she nodded.
Fluke’s head spun. The kaminii had destroyed all of their data on the clones–the bastards–so she couldn’t have access to Prime’s DNA. “You found Alpha?”
“No, he remains under the radar as far as I’m aware,” she hummed. “Her name’s Omega.”
“Nala Se’s assistant?” he murmured. “But she’s not–”
He cut himself off as she smiled at him.
Realization swept over him, as well as that soft, warm feeling he got whenever he saw cadets nowadays. “We’ve got a little sister?”
Kresta nodded, grinning at him.
“Sister will be thrilled she’s not the only one,” he chuckled.
She laughed, then wrapped him up in a tight hug.
“Omega might be the key to slowing your accelerated aging,” she whispered. “We found the altered gene; that’s the breakthrough.”
The galaxy froze around him. He felt like his body was moving through honey as he pulled back to find nothing but sincerity and hope in her eyes.
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Kresta
“Is- is that what you’ve been working on?” Fluke whispered. His voice sounded so small. “That’s what all this secret research has been?”
She suddenly felt somewhat self-conscious under his intense gaze.
“Yes,” she said simply.
His breath came out in a soft pant, his mouth slightly opening and closing as he processed what she’d just told him.
All at once, he nearly collapsed against her, hugging her tighter than he ever had before. A quiet sob escaped him.
Something uncomfortable roiled in her gut. She hadn’t meant to upset him. Only five years had passed since the end of the war, but that was ten for the clones. The eldest of them were in their thirties physiologically. Assuming that no fights, accidents, or diseases took them before their time, they’d follow the typical average age for humans and live into their eighties or nineties.
Kresta shuddered to think that was only about twenty-five to thirty years, whereas she’d likely live another eighty from her current forty-two. Part of her cursed her Stewjoni biology like she had many times over her adult life, but anyone part realized with dread that she would likely have to live another fifty years after Fluke had marched on, as would Obi-Wan without Cody and Aayla without Bly.
She might be able to ease that pain from their shoulders. Maybe that was selfish. She knew Obi-Wan and Aayla carried it with them the same way she did. She wondered if there were others like them. Jedi who fell in love with their troopers. It wouldn’t surprise her.
But now, standing here in the kitchen of his little apartment on Centax-2, she wondered if that’s what the Vode wanted. She’d been so caught up in trying to see if she could do it to think about if it was something she should. So many of the Vode had been poked and prodded constantly by the Kaminoans’ endless tests that maybe they wouldn’t want her to go in and manipulate their genetics even further. Horror dawned over her. She wouldn’t hurt them. She’d found what she was looking for; her curiosity was satisfied, and her questions were answered.
“I-I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her chest feeling hollow. “I shouldn’t have–”
“What?” Fluke gasped, pulling back to look at her. His eyes were damp, and his brow was scrunched together. “Sorry? Sarad, what–”
“I shouldn’t have assumed that it was something you would want,” she said, solidifying her thoughts in an almost scolding tone. “You’ve all endured so much. I should have just talked to the Vode. I should have gotten my research approved by the Tolase or–”
Before she could continue any more of her guilt-ridden rant, his hands cupped either side of her face, roughly pulling her to him in a searing kiss. She was so startled she nearly forgot to close her eyes.
⫷⪡◈⪢⫸⫷⪡◈⪢⫸⫷⪡◈⪢⫸
Fluke
He pulled back, cracking a smile at her confused face. “You’re not upset?” she whispered.
“Sarad,” he laughed. “What you’re doing, all your research? You’re giving us a gift; you’re giving us the possibility of living a normal life. How could anyone be upset about that?”
Her lips finally started to pull into a gentle smile. “I still shouldn’t have told you yet,” she murmured, her brow scrunching slightly. “It’s- it’s too much to promise, Fluke. I don’t know that I’ll be able to–”
“Kresta,” he said. “Ner mirdala jetii, I have every confidence in you and your abilities.”
“But–”
“But, even if it doesn’t happen, I will love you for as many days as we have,” he told her, pulling her against him and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.
His hands started to shake despite the sense of calm that washed over him.
You’ll know when it’s time, kih’vod, Cody had told him at the wedding. He’d been skeptical at first, but, as usual, Cody was right. It was time.
“Sarad,” he breathed.
“Darling,” she replied. He could hear that she was starting to let her anxiety about the gene go.
He pulled away from her. “I do have… one question.”
She nodded. “Anything.”
Maker, she was so beautiful. Her eyes were bright and curious, their sea green wrapping around his soul as usual. The top layers of her hair were tied back from her face in a simple braid. He could see hints of silver at the roots of her long, auburn locks. He had told her it was just as beautiful despite her usual protests.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while and… I think it’s time you got a promotion, don’t you?”
She grinned. “What do you mean? I told you Jedi ranks function differently–”
“I meant from being my cyar’ika to my riduur,” he said. Slowly, he lowered himself to one knee, taking her hands in his. Her soft gasp sent a thrill through him. “Kresta, I love you with everything I am and everything I ever could be. I want you in my life for the rest of it. You are my light, sarad. Will you marry me?”
He could see the tears welling up in her eyes as her face burst into a wide smile. “Yes!” she cried, practically tackling him backward, kissing him hard.
They lay like that for some time, tangled up on the floor, smiling, laughing, kissing without any expectation for more, eventually relocating to the couch to cuddle close to one another.
“I… I never thought I could ever be this happy,” she whispered after a while. “You make me happy.”
“You make me happy,” he repeated, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Ner riduur.”
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To be continued…
⪡ Previous Day
Thanks for reading! - River
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