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Ponds absently watched as the surf slammed into the beach head, sending a wave running over the edge of the pier. He could feel how cold the water as it splashed up under where his feet were resting on a durasteel railing. A seabird cried above him before diving down into the water, hunting a fish. Down on the beach, he could see the vague blurry figures of General Billaba and Grey running from her Padawan, Caleb. He blinked several times trying to focus, but he could only make out General Billaba's hair and Caleb's flailing arms as he chased her into the surf. He quirked a smile as they shrieked from the cold, wincing as his scars pulled uncomfortably from the cold. The beach and pier were nearly deserted as winter lingered longer than usual on this small midrim planet.
The wind swirled through causing the picture-cards and flimsi on Ponds' bench to rustle. He quickly snapped up the ones not weighed down by rocks and other light weights. The clones had scattered throughout the Galaxy after the restructuring of the Republic, and some of them had settled on planets that still used flimsi and other more physical forms of communication. Ponds had adjusted to receiving various picture-cards and letters from different members of Lightning Squad and Commanders as they all tried to keep in touch after the war.
He shuffled the cards in his hands until he found with bright orange postage mark, and a picture of a ship sailing across the sea; the words "I AM NOT WHERE YOU LEFT ME" written in obnoxiously large, dark letters were scrawled on the bottom of the photo.
Ponds snorted in amusement, turning the card over to see Razor's name and Pillor's address like he expected. He had last seen the ARF on Corellia before they had moved to Pillor's place on Scarif. He wasn't surprised that this was the moving announcement he had received. Razor's favorite activity was sending slightly ominous messages to announce mundane events. He looked over to the small space reserved for the message, thankful that they had used big letters.
"HI COMMANDER! ENJOY THE OCEAN! WE MISS YOU! - RAZOR AND PILLOR"
He snorted in amusement at the antics of his trooper and their partner. He looked forward to visiting them in their new place on Scarif; he'd heard that the beaches were to die for. This one was nice enough, despite the cold weather today. He didn't see the appeal of sitting in the sand all day or splashing in the ocean; he'd had enough of that on Kamino, thank you very much. But Razor and Pillor had begged him to come visist, and he had quickly caved to avoid the aak eyes from the ARF and Marine.
He shivered again as the surf washed up under him, flipping through his stack for another letter to read; this one in Bacara's blunt handwriting. The letter heavy in a way others weren't. He smirked as he tore the envelope open to read what the former Marshal Commander had sent.
Bacara's letters were always a delight as he switched between trooper gossip-that had been sent to him and he dutifully passed on- and sheep shenanigans without warning or explanation. Part of the game was guessing which was which while crafting your reply. Whoever was the most correct received Bacara's favor until the next letter, and a usually a new wool sweater. He rapidly tapped his feet on the metal bar in delight as his face spasmed in pain from his wide grin. He didn't even care about the pain; the letter was going to be good. He was going to get a good grade in Bacara and sheep, and get the new wool sweater.
He squeaked at the rough sketch of Bluebelle on the folded side of the letter. She was Bacara's first sheep and produced a lovely, soft wool that was almost like touching a cloud. The new sweater must be made of her wool which was a treat since Bacara rarely ever gave out garments made of her wool for the game. He preferred to use her wool for gifts or at the market since it was so fine.
He carefully unfolded the three sheaves of parchment, being gentle with the expensive and rare product. He had seen what Bacara could sell the parchment for and he felt slightly giddy and ridiculous that his friend was wasting it on him and this silly game. So he treated the letters with care and saved each one. He was definitely getting a good grade on sheep this season. His mind and eyesight were clearer than they have been since Boba. He actually felt like he could fully participate in this round.
Bacara's distinctively blocky handwriting was in a beautiful muted blue that shimmered slightly. He must have been experimenting with new inks this season too. Or Matrix had visited recently and left glitter pens scattered throughout his former CO's residence. It could be either one.
Before he read more than the opening line, a seabird swooped down next to him and cawed loudly at him. He looked at the beautiful, silver and purple bird next to him and snorted. Seems like he wasn't the only gossip around, however, he began to slowly, painstakingly read the letter aloud to the seabird.
It had taken him months to recover from the execution attempt by Boba and Aurra Sing. By all rights, he should have died, but somehow he and Admiral Kilian had survived; they had been rescued and Ponds had been carried onto the frigate, bleeding out and unconscious. The shot had somehow gone wide. He still struggled, the shot had destroyed most of the right side of his face. Yet, clones were engineered to persevere, so Ponds did.
He regaled the seabird with news of the 21st Nova Corps shenanigans and comings and goings, Bolt and Blaze (clones) had gotten married, Hatstacks, Riot, and That Bastard had broken into a neighbor's yard and were found eating his morning glories. All three (sheep) had blue and purple stained mouths for days afterwards. Bacara's neighbor had been rightfully angry at the sheep, but amused at the Marine. The seabird listened intently as Ponds continued on detailing different news that Bacara had heard. Apparently Doom was seeing someone on the outer rim, Ghost (the sheep) had had two lambs this spring, Moony (clone) had been arrested for burning down his apartment for the fourth time, Bluebelle (sheep) had also had two lambs who were named Pup and Kit. Ponds assumed Bacara had done that to make Wolffe pay him a visit, and to keep Fox from visiting.
Ponds abruptly stopped as his comm unexpectedly chirped with a notification. He slowly, carefully put Bacara's letter back in order while watching the comm with narrowed eyes. It was currently acting as a weight to hold various picture cards and letters that Ponds had brought, and was supposed to be silent. Ponds distinctly remembered putting it on silent as General Windu-call me Mace-had frowned when it kept chirping as they made their way from the shuttleport to their accomadations. The comm continued to sit there silent as he stared at it. He bit his lip, deep in thought.
He was interrupted by the seabird cawing loudly again and taking flight, leaving Ponds alone again.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare your friend away," an small voice said. Not alone then.
Ponds turned to see two young natborns from the small town standing near his bench. One of the girls, the older of the two, was holding a vibrant basket of flowers.
"No worries, I don't mind." Ponds smiled at the young girls. "Did you-"
"What were you reading to the bird?" the younger girl interrupted, reaching forward towards him.
"Saera! That's so rude. I'm so sorry, sir. We'll go now," the older of the pair rushed to grab her.
Ponds laughed gently, "It's okay," he reassured them, showing Saera a few of the picture cards that had been sent to him, "I'm reading the news my friends send to me."
"Why?" Saera asked, flipping the cards over to look at the pictures on them. She laughed at the one that Pike has sent with a poorly drawn mastiff on it, and traced gently over the flower one sent by Lithlin. He chuckled again, delighted by the inquisitive girl. His comm chirped again, and he grinned wildly, an idea coming to him.
"One of my dear friends died recently, and I like to update him on all the gossip he's missing." Ponds explained, ignoring the third chirp. The older girl frowned, and murmured.
"I'm sorry." She obviously had clocked that he was a clone, and was assuming that his friend had died terribly in the war. Saera, however, lunged forward and hugged him as best as she could with her little arms.
"I'm sorry, that's so sad!" she cried, eyes wide and a frown on her small face. Ponds blinked, he never had a natborn be that upset over a clone dying before. Ponds smiled awkwardly at her. She smiled up at him, still holding his legs, before asking,
"Do you always come here to read it him? Do his friends send you things to read to him? What was his name? Can I read to him?" she rapidly asked, bouncing on her toes. Ponds' mind spun from the onslaught, and also at the tiny hands still on his legs. He wasn't used to interacting with such small natborns, or any natborn children really, especially now with his scars, but Saera didn't seem to be bothered by them.
"No, I'm just visiting here for a few days, but I try to find an ocean if I can; he loved the ocean. Sometimes, it feels like I can still hear his voice on the waves," Ponds smirked as his comm chirped three times in succession, "His friends sometimes send me things, but they mainly remember him in other ways. His name was Fox," another chirp interrpted them, along with the slow sound of footsteps. Ponds and the older girl turned to watch as General Windu Mace limped the stairs up to the pier.
The older girl gasped as the General, Mace fully came into view. The extensive lightning scars were stark against his dark skin, and he walked with a deep limp from where Palpatine had struck. Saera turned to look, and waved at the Korun and Neyo. Mace waved back and Neyo frowned, a puzzled look crossing his face.
"Hello Little One," Mace wheezed as he sunk onto the bench next to Ponds. Saera shuffled over to him, gently patting his knee. Neyo's eyebrows rose at the sight before something else caught his eye. He silently slipped away, and was out of sight within moments. The older girl frowned after him, but awkwardly smiled at Ponds when she caught him watching.
"Did you get hurt in the same accident as he did?" she asked him, pointing at Ponds.
"Saera!" the older girl hissed, reaching for the girl. Mace smiled gently at the girl, grief rising in his good eye.
"No, we were injured in separate incidents."
"Oh, did you meet him while recovering, then?" she asked curiously.
"We worked together before our injuries, but he has been a dear friend to me while I recover." Mace said, lifting his eyes to warmly smile at Ponds. He smiled back, helpless to his General's praise.
"That's good!" Saera declared, "He's been updating his friend Fox," she turned to Ponds, "Why is your friend named that? It's a silly name!"
Ponds couldn't help but laugh as his comm beeped, the sound now more shrill, almost offended. Mace's left eyebrow rose high on his head, but he didn't say anything. The older girl flushed red with embarrassment, but didn't try to stop the other girl.
"Stop laughing! It isn't that funny! It's an honest question!" Saera scolded, and pouted up at him.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Your right!" he cried, "It's just that he was very silly, and several of our brothers wondered the same thing."
Another four consecutive beeps from his comm. The older girl frowning at the comm before clearing her throat. They all turned to look at her.
"We're sorry for taking so much of your times, sirs. We really came down to offer you a flower as we made our way into town." she explained.
"OH, YEAH!" Saera exclaimed, rushing to the older girl and reaching into the basket. She pulled two long stems topped with a vibrant orange explosion of petals. She handed one to Mace, and flung the other at Ponds.
"Saera!" the older girl hissed again, but Ponds was laughing again. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed so hard.
"Thank you," Mace intoned seriously, but Ponds could see the smile curling up on the side of his mouth; the scars pulling his mouth weird for a moment before he relaxed. Ponds managed to pull it together enough to stammer out his thanks, waving to the girls as the older one dragged Saera away.
Mace was smiling warmly again at him when Ponds managed to get his giggles under control. "It's good to hear you laugh again," he said somberly.
"It's good to see you smile," he responded, smiling at his General. His General hadn't had many things to smile about lately, not with the way the war ended and his long recovery afterwards.
"She was cute," Mace said simply. Ponds nodded in agreement, huffing a laugh as his comm shrilled again.
He flopped a hand over it, dragging it towards him, outright laughing in glee at the slew of messages Fox had left him. They ranged from playfully offended to dramatic angst, whining about Ponds' cruelty to play act that Fox was dead, and didn't he remember that Fox could have died during the confrontation with Palpatine. And that Ponds should be grateful that Fox had acted when he did. And. And. And.
Ponds was wheezing towards the end. He had only barely lied; he did miss his brother, and he could hear his voice with every comm chirp that came in. Plus Fox had been spying on Ponds while he was reading, so technically, he was updating his brother on the trooper gossip. It turns out, he just wasn't dead. That was barely lying. Only a slight exaggeration.
Neyo was staring at him judgementally once Ponds was able to wipe his eyes and see again. Ponds could actually make out the details on his tattoo on his cheek, and the disdainful judgement in his eyes, which was better than most days. He internally cheered as he grinned as wide as he could at the former Marshal Commander.
Neyo wrinkled his nose in response, handing Ponds a bright orange citrus fruit. He handed another one to Mace, the top helpfully peeled open in respect to Mace's nerve damage. Mace sighed, but took the fruit; peeling the rest of it quickly before sectioning it to eat.
They ate their fruit in silence ignoring the occassional chirp from Ponds' comm. However, they all froze when Neyo's comm chirped after a few minutes of silence. Neyo snarled as he threw his comm next to Ponds' and pointed accusingly at it.
"I know that your irritating partner is bored out of his mind after being caught hacking Corellia's defense systems, but find something else to do. Stop harassing us on vacation because you're bored. Fox," he hissed at the small comm, "Get the fuck out of my comm, Cody." he finished with a snarl.
Ponds snickered, and a smile edged over Mace's mouth as he watched the standoff. Both of them chuckling as Neyo's comm cycled through all the notification sounds possible, landing on one that mimicked an eeopie call.
In the end, Ponds fell over laughing as Neyo's comm erupted in, WAHHHHH, WAHHHH, WAHHHH, WAHHHH, sounds as Fox and Cody spammed him in succession. The last thing he heard as the surf crashed under him, soaking him, was Mace's laughter ringing in his ears.
He was so glad to have survived, some guys truly had all the luck.