The Day We Met (Hunter/Crosshair TBB)

Chapter 1: Clone Force 99

"Hey, Layla, we're home!" Aiden whispers, slightly shaking the slumped body of his partner, Layla. She was soundlessly asleep on the steel ground, somewhere she had become very familiar with. She slowly rose from the ground, brushing off her robes and meeting Aiden face to face.

"Finally, I'm ready to be back." She mumbled, rubbing her eyes. Aiden gives her a sideways smile, pitying her. She'd been on this mission for 3 weeks, and he had to come to rescue her from being contained by the separatists.

"Well, Master Kenobi did request to talk to you outside, he's waiting for you." Aiden says, but this made her eyes spring open, suddenly wide awake.

"Then I better not keep him waiting." She responds, trying to mask the excitement. She was very close to Obi Wan, but never got to spend much time with him. Layla left Aiden quickly to exit the ship, and blinked a few times to adjust to Coruscant's bright sun. She glanced around amongst the clones to see the warm smile owned by Obi Wan himself. She returned it, and pounced her way over to him with Aiden closely behind her.

"Aiden, Layla," Layla grinned, planting herself on the ground in front of him, as Aidens posture improves, and he stiffly bowed towards Obi Wan. "I understand the mission was long, was it successful?"

"It was, Master." Aiden responds, earning a stifled laugh from Layla. Aiden glared over at her, disapproving of her disrespectful nature towards her higher ranked Jedi.

"It was also very exhausting, what did you want to talk about?" Layla asks, ushering the conversation along.

"Indeed. Aiden, you are released. Layla, I will escort you to your quarters." Aiden nods, and glances at Layla as a short goodbye.

"Is everything alright, master?" Layla says, pacing herself next to Obi Wan. He nods, and strokes his beard, a signature thing she noticed he always did in a tense situation. That made her uneasy, as she slouched her shoulder forward slightly, accepting she should let him lead this conversation.

"Everything is quite alright Layla. The council has a special mission for you. It's a simple data extraction, nothing you can't handle."

She nods, not completely understanding the meaning behind 'special' if it was such a simple extraction. Obi Wan's nervous behavior made her nervous, and the headstrong persona she always held dissipated quickly.

"What's so special about it that makes you too anxious to delay telling me what it is?" Layla spoke fearlessly, no stutter or hesitation in her voice. That didn't surprise Obi Wan in the slightest, but he stopped stroking his beard as they entered an elevator, and he pushed the button that led to her quarters floor. Layla had her arms folded, a slight scowl on her face. She didn't like when conversations were jumping around the main issue, and that's exactly what Obi Wan was doing.

"Layla, you have to understand that the council strongly believes this is a mission that you need. An issue that alters your performance on the battlefield must be discussed, but the only person who can fix it is you."

She grumbled, still not getting to the point. She started to get antsy, and Obi Wan sensed this. He knew that bouncing around it would only make her more annoyed, and so he took a deep breath before explaining himself.

"You'll be teamed up with a squadron for this mission, and you must-"

Layla interrupted him, already knowing where this was going. She had been up in this situation before, but with another Jedi. One thing to note, she was not fond of clones. She didn't necessarily dislike them, but for sure didn't like them. She's met a lot of different clones, and never really bonded with any. She loved to argue with them, question their plans, and make something out of nothing. She knew that many Jedi she worked closely with worked very well with they're clone legions, some developing close relationships. She'd seen the way Anakin and his clone captain interacted, and Aayla and her commander. Even Obi Wan and his commander. She'd never felt that way. She'd never seen any outstanding performances by the clones.