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Nights like this were beautiful.
The sky was scattered with intermittent clouds, all backlit by a shining white moon, almost too bright to look at. It cast against the ink of the night sky beautifully. The lap of the lake's shore was pleasant ambiance to a still evening.
She landed gently on the hull of the cruiser, above everything else but the bridge. She settled down a little ways away from the nose of the ship and crossed her legs, wings spread, but not unfolded. It wouldn't be a comfortable position to hold all night long, but it would do for now. She liked to think in places like this, places she didn't quite fit. It's easier to know yourself when you're surrounded by things that are other, as Master Jinn had once told her.
"The sky will never give you solace. When you're up there, you're more you than ever. Unless you're at peace with yourself, there is nothing up there for you." He'd said.
So she took what time was available to her and considered her life, what it meant to her to be sitting there, able to debate her choices. And, as Is inevitable when one considers their life, she always came back to Cody.
Cody, by rights, is the best rule she'd ever broken. He's everything she was never allowed, never meant for. She was never allowed love, not like that, and has the Council ever found out, she's not sure what the would have done. Exile her? Excommunicate her? Remove Cody and have him decommissioned? She didn't like to consider it, and neither had he.
But they had also never faced the problems other forbidden couples had.
They had never had to steal time quite like Anakin and Padmé, to run off to a secret location to avoid making it seem like they were any more or less than just friendly. They'd never seen long gaps of time that tested their fidelity, or the parallel direction of their lives.
Come to think of it, this night was much like the night they'd decided, when they had married.
It was a beautiful planet. Dominated by vast mountain ranges and sweeping valleys and multicoloured sands, Makenna was home to many natural wonders. Not the least of which were the giant crystal cave systems, branching throughout the mountains from their roots to the ice-capped peaks.
The crystal was Makenna's main draw - billions of credits worth of industrial, multicoloured and multitextured massive gemstone that grew from the planet's enormous underground mineral water oceans.
She'd been here before, with Master Jinn, and negotiated a treaty with the Republic for their resource. A room in the Temple now had a small wall of some of the bioluminescent crystals and she, specifically, had been given a sample of each kind she'd shown interest in. She wished she could have come back in better circumstances.
Word has reached the democratic leader of the House of Makenna that an insurgency was planning on a violent and forceful overthrow of the government. Not willing to lend the rumours any public credence but privately terrified, they contacted the Jedi and requested a small investigation. They wanted the names of key players and the possible plans, proof of something happening. She'd been in a nearby system and had accepted the plea.
"That went well."
Cody snorted from across the small fire.
"I'm actually serious. I expected it to be much worse."
"And you expected Lord Adeva to do what, exactly, to you when he found you messing up his plan?"
"Drawing and quarter me at least. Seems I wasn't trying hard enough."
He hummed, grinning. "Waste of a good dress, though."
She plucked at the rose gold fabric, considering it. "You think so?"
"It was very flattering on your skin tone."
"More than Entina?"
"Yeah. Makes your eyes pop more."
"I would rather say that yours was the outfit worth mourning."
He made a show of looking down at the gossamer shirt with golden embroidery and the elaborately beaded, skin-hugging pants. "Can't see why."
"Just because you can't appreciate your body doesn't mean I can't."
He bit back a clone joke. "Flattery won't buy my attention, Jedi."
She laughed, sliding over to him, letting her feathers brush teasingly along the exposed skin of his arm. "What can then, Commander?"
He rolled his eyes and shook his head in good humour - she had charm and charisma for days. Kriff knows he'd seen her use it plenty the last few weeks as they weeded out Lord Adeva's plans.
She wrapped her wing more fully around him - this cave wasn't the warmest place they'd ever been - and laid her head on his shoulder.
He glanced over, the fire crackling away, and considered her for a moment. Really thought about it.
Obi-Wan was the first person he ever loved and was also likely to be the last. They'd come incredibly close to dying more than once in their tenure together, but this time was really close. She'd almost dislocated her shoulders carrying him and the Reactor crystal out of the Adeva estate. She'd even been shot. But she lay here against him now as if none of it had happened, as though merely a few hours ago he wasn't seconds away from losing her or breathing his last. He never wanted to lose her, never wanted either of them to go having an echo of a doubt that they were loved. He didn't want to die without telling her at least once that he could never love another.
"Marry me."
She peered up at him. "Pardon?"
"Marry me."
She sat up, looking more pained than he'd ever seen her. "I can't. I want to, but I can't."
"No, not that official nonsense." He turned and took her hands. "I don't need a piece of government letterhead to tell me I'm your husband."
She glanced off to the side. "I . . . I suppose. Would you be satisfied with that?"
"I would." He paused, suddenly overcome. " . . . Do you not want to?"
Her gaze snapped back to his. "I absolutely do. I love you, Cody."
That night, in the glistening caves of Makenna crystal and under the light of the three moons, they murmured their vows to each other, kissed sweetly, then stepped back. Here, they performed the pel Kaldabe for the first time.
It wasn't as graceful or beautiful as it was by the time they reached Sinena, but it was enough. The strikes were more violent, the action itself less glamourous and attentive, but by the time she got him to submit (as she always would), he was breathless with anticipation and tense with anticipation.
"I submit." He lifted his head to her, barring his neck. Her eyes glittered as she repressed her grin. "What are you going to do with your prisoner of war, General Kenobi?"
"Any suggestions, Commander?"
"Only with your approval, Sir."
She smirked down at him, her fingers tracing the lines of his throat. "I'm always open to recommendations. And experimentation."
By the time the Lieutenant had managed to find Obi-Wan's distress beacon and send a shuttle down to grab them, Cody was more sore than he could remember. The ache was thick in every part of his body and it was the sweetest sensation he could recall.
For her part, Obi-Wan acted like nothing was remiss. Helix had come down on the shuttle with their armour, the only one Cody let see her in such a state of disarray. Shotglass had ribbed him remorselessly for all the bruising across his body. Blueyes, more astute than his friend, only raised a skeptical eyebrow at the marks. Obi-Wan's hickeys were all hidden amongst the black scarring he'd worshipped, the only time he would ever be grateful she'd been marred so.
He moved a little crookedly on his way back to his room (a Commander's luxury), but was met outside his door by her.
"I pulled a muscle in my back, apparently." She said, kicking off the wall. "Helix demands I see a healer in the Temple before we return to active duty."
"That's fair." He looked her up and down - her blacks, her basic tunic and a pair of pale leather boots, something from before the war. Casual clothing.
"I've ordered a reprieve for the 212th." She continued, undisturbed by his staring. "A week mandatory leave for all active combat troops and five days for soft shells."
"That's very generous of you."
"Not generous. Necessary." She looked away. "The 212th is second only to the 501st in having the weight of battle resting on their shoulders. You're human - you need a break. From all duties, not just a break from death."
He softened. "General . . . "
"There was also something I have to propose to you. As per our arrangement on Makenna."
He jolted into action. "Yes, of course. Come in."
She settled down on his bed, one of three items of furniture in the space. "I was thinking we could get tattoos. Since we can't be married traditionally or openly, we may as well come up with a new standard."
"Is this what the leave is for?"
"I wasn't joking about what I said outside. But this is an addendum, as it were."
"What did you have in mind?"
Unconsciously, she cupped the mark on her ribs. Cody's stain on her skin, one that will never fade. The clones were allowed little in the way of possessions, had even less money, but Cody had managed to claim something even more illustrious than a forbidden trinket. He owned his General in way only two others to her knowledge had, and now they were the last in the galaxy.
She wondered if that would ever change. If there would come a time she would lose him. She wondered if, even if she managed to keep him till old age overtook him, would she be prepared to let him go even then? She had kept this secret to herself, from even Anakin and Cody.
Humans, if treated well, lived for two hundred standard years.
Her species of raptor, if they fulfilled their lifespan, lived to two thousand.
Cody's mortal life was already short for his clone DNA, likely made more so by the stress of battle on his body. She had no wish to see him wither away within the century, nor did she wish for him to see the years wash off her without a mark.
She considered that might be something he already considered when he agreed. Well aware not only of his chance of survival, but the gap in his lifespan, he would be the kind to mark her so permanently, so she would always remember him.
"What's got you up at this hour?"
She moved her wings so Boil and Waxer could sit either side of her. "I came with intent to meditate. I found myself lost in thought."
"Not really your bag to lose to anything." Boil muttered, glancing at her.
"I've lost plenty."
"Now there's a loaded statement." Waxer laid his head on her shoulder.
She wrapped her wings around them.
"If we ask you again, will you actually answer us this time?" Boil prodded, raising an eyebrow.
"No." She clasped their hands in hers. "In this instance, my thoughts are my own."
"We are up here for a reason, other than to get hugs." Waxer said.
"The Senator wants to deploy us to Anastasie. She has reliable intelligence that says one of their major imperial bases is compromised. She wants us to destroy it." Boil informed.
She nodded. "Anastasie is Umbara's sister system. I've been. When does she wish for us to leave?"
"Tomorrow, as soon as everything's fuelled."
"If the men are rested enough, we'll go. I don't want any mishandling on such a murky planet. I'll consider formations."
Waxer kissed her cheek then stood, Boil awkwardly patting her shoulder. "Get some sleep, General. No use to us half-alive."
"Please," She scoffed, "I've been half alive plenty of times and excelled on the battlefield."
"To be hauled off by Cody afterward, you mean."
"Well, yes. But functional during the battle."
The clones scoffed and walked off.
She took one last look into the sky, then departed herself. The gardens would calm her enough to sleep. Maybe her husband would find her there.