Smoothed Out Lines
113. “I wonder why you never look so peaceful when you’re awake. Worry lines have never suited you.”
AO3
Soft hours but also sad
The halls of the Courageous were silent and still as Plo Koon walked through them, hands that would normally be clasped or steepled hanging loosely at his sides as he walked.
Their last campaign had ended in victory, but it had been a hard won one with many losses from the Battalion. Too many. But to him, one life lost was one life too many— though Plo’s opinion that wasn’t shared with a good majority of the Republic, it seemed. Still, the upper chain of command— the main ‘Pack— hadn’t been taking it well.
It was to be expected, though, Plo mused as the door to his office opened quietly. No matter how many people died, the loss would still hurt, Plo knew this well.
He let out a soft sigh, the noise coming out akin to a hiss through his mask but his eyes softened. The original three, plus the additions of Jag, Warthog, Comet, and Wildfire were all piled together on the floor, blankets and the cushions from the couch in the office piled around them. Wolffe stirred a bit as Plo crossed over from the door to them, gently adjusting the blankets around them all as he sighed again.
They were just children.
And if he could duel Dooku and know that would be the end of the war, he would have done so long ago to save them all from the darkness of War.
Still, Plo reached out, gently carding his talons through Wolffe’s hair as he slept, eyes sad as he watched over his sons. He had noticed something over the months of war. With another sigh, he brushed his thumb gently against Wolffe’s cheek.
“In the past,” he murmured, “I wondered why you never looked peaceful when you’re awake…” He shook his head a bit, moving to gently brush his hand through Sinker’s hair. “Worry lines have never suited you. Any of you.”
He stood after a moment, stripping himself of his outer robe before gently draping the brown fabric over them all. “If I could end the war, I would, if only to spare you more pain, my sons.”