"They have your apartment ready Ma'am; you can head there now and rest up if you like. You are not required to sit in the Senate until next week, although I hear the Chancellor wants to see you privately. You'll be notified when."
She looked so sad.
She noticed a soldier wearing red on his armour enter the room. He looked over at Kix and nodded.
"Sir," she heard the medic say.
Her head felt fuzzy, she was aware of being injected with something in the Mess, and the effects were making her feel dull.
"This is Commander Fox, head of the Coruscant Guard. He will escort you to your new accommodation."
Kix was already weary from the morning's proceedings.
He was looking forward to ending his shift, eating a meal and having a drink with his fellow 501st brothers.
Gemma didn't say anything; she just picked herself up and wandered over to the man in red.
"Ma'am," he said standing to attention.
Ascertaining that she was a little shaky, he held out an arm. She looked at the offered arm and gently placed hers on it, looking up at the soldier expressionless. It struck him immediately. Was this the Sith Slayer everyone was talking about? The woman who, together with Captain Rex had struck a blow to the Separatists? She looked small, broken, defeated. He tilted his head in question, thinking how fragile this woman was.
"Ma'am," he said again. Startled she looked away and together they continued into the Senate Building, leaving the ghastly Republic Army Barracks and Infirmary behind them.
###
He entered a sequence of numbers into the control panel on the door and it slid effortlessly open.
She walked through into her apartment and without looking at him, thanked the Commander for his escort.
He nodded, saying something she really didn't hear.
Commander Fox went to leave but quickly turned back to look at her.
She stood forlorn, thin, looking out at the world of speeders whizzing past her giant window, feeling more alone than she ever had in her life.
###
After falling into an artificial sleep, Gem awoke and realised that it was late afternoon.
Dragging her body out of her enormous bed, she took a tour of the apartment that would now be her only home.
It was a small but satisfactory accommodation.
A galley kitchen and open plan eating and lounge area. One bedroom with a large refresher attached.
Her possessions had been delivered and she stifled back a cry when she saw her guitar, alone in the corner of the lounge. She had broken two strings and would be looking at replacing them as a priority. Music had been her passion when not debating politics with her peers on Oriis or helping her father in his laboratory. Those days were now over she thought as she was an orphan on a strange planet that could not tolerate anything less than one hundred percent.
Her thoughts then drifted to Reed, and the sadness once again tore at her heart. She had been congratulated in keeping the young pilot alive, but if they only knew, it was Reed who kept her going, giving her a sense of purpose when she thought all was well and truly lost.
She made herself some caf and ate something from the conservator. There was an endless array of sweet and tasty treats in her cupboard, a far cry from the bland, beige food the soldiers had to eat in the Mess Hall.
