Star Wars: A Thing Of Beauty

Waking Up

The rising sun shines on Jinang's face, waking him up. He is laying on his side, in bed with Tanner behind him, who is just waking up too.
"Morning, hon." Tanner says, running his hand across Jinang's back, avoiding his prosthetic spine and synthetic muscles which don't feel much. "You sleep well?"

"Better than I have in a long time..." Jinang answered quietly. Then he rolls over to face Tanner.

Tanner's hand slides down Jinang's side and he grips the small of his lover's back, pulling him closer to seal the distance between their bodies. They share a few slow, passionate kisses, and then cuddle for a bit in silence.
"I'm going to disappear today..." Jinang says suddenly, wistfully.

"Oh?" Tanner says, rubbing Jinang's back. "Should I be worried?"

"No." Jinang answered, hiding his face in his lover's shoulder. "No, I just need a quiet, peaceful place to think about some things. I'm telling you because I don't want you or Poppy to worry."

Then he looks right into Tanner's eyes, placing the tips of his fingers on his face.
"I love you..." Jinang stated, something he's never told anyone before. And it feels just right saying it.

Tanner smiles warmly and wraps his arms around Jinang's body, squeezing him firmly in a deep kiss.
"I love you too." Tanner answered, pressing his forehead against his lover's. "I love you too."

The couple cuddled in bed for a little bit longer, and then began their day. Jinang ate breakfast with Tanner and his little girl, and then set out, borrowing the doctor's speederbike and flying out into the wilderness. He has no idea where he's going, but he's just going to follow his gut and go as far as he needs. He also brought a digital map so he won't get lost.
The desert air is hot, even with the wind blowing on him from the high speed vehicle he's flying.
For a while he had no idea what he was going to do with his life, and up until this morning that he woke up in Tanner's bed, he was completely empty inside. Now Jinang knows what he will do. He's going to move on from everything he lost when he died. And he's going to spend the rest of his life with Tanner Shae, and help him raise Poppy. Tears well up in Jinang's eyes, and blow away in the wind as he continues to fly the speederbike. It's excruciatingly difficult to let go of something he's been trying to cling on to for so long, but that's what he needs to do. He was just looking for something that simply isn't there anymore. Jinang Iang died on Felucia, and what's left is only a distorted shadow, and that's all he can ever be if he doesn't move on.

He had flown around on the speederbike aimlessly for a little over an hour, the city still in view if he looks back. He realizes he didn't need nearly an entire day to figure himself out, and was going to head back until he found something concerning... He spots two Republic clone troopers that were hiding behind a hill, spying on the city with recon scopes. They immediately tried to get to their own speeders to escape, but Jinang got between the troopers and their bikes. They fire at him, but he dodges the blaster bolts and throws two knives - one nails a trooper in the throat and the other slices some fingers off of the other, making him drop his blaster. Jinang approaches, drawing his sword, and the spy calls for help on a commlink. Jinang cuts off his head though, interrupting him. He watches blood gush out all over, quickly making a pool in the dirt. Jinang just killed two clone troopers without hesitation... He doesn't let himself panic though, and he grabs the bloody commlink device which is still on, as a man is trying to get a response.
"Run..." Jinang says simply.

His first instinct was to contact Dekker. Dekker is an expert hacker and he can track down two commlinks that have connected with each other, just like one would follow footprints. So there is nowhere for the Republic to hide. Dekker and a squad of Harrowers are on their way to the initial scene, planning to capture or destroy the spying Republic agents. If there is a Jedi, they will ransom them for money, but clones are just dead weight and they will all die...
While he waits out in the desert, Jinang is coming to a shocking realization. He is turning out to be more and more like Koga. The memories he's been fighting, the things he suddenly knows, like protocol involved with taking out spies. The side of him that is Koga had just completely taken over... But there is no time to think about that because Dekker arrives with the Harrowers and he gives the scientist the clone's commlink and he gets to hacking it...
"They're pretty close." Dekker says, looking up from his datapad and over to the flat-topped mountains. "They're in those mountains. I'll have the exact cords shortly."