To Heal Poignancy ■ TECH - The Bad Batch ■

It Takes A Village

The clean-up and rebuilding of the island was taking a steady pace. Even though most of the islanders helped all day long, there had been more to clean up and rebuild than anticipated. Adla spent her time focusing on helping the people of Pabu. For hours a day, she would assist in aligning, hammering, and decorating new homes for the residents of the island.

Clone Force 99 took off their armor around Adla for the first time when they began to aid in the rebuild. When she saw Tech without his armor, she froze and almost dropped the wood she held in her hands. He looked so comfortable and relaxed that it looked a little unnatural, but her eyes quickly adjusted to the change. In the back of her mind she hoped Tech couldn't feel her gaze as it slowly took in every detail of him.

"You're staring," Crosshair snuck up behind her.

Adla let out a shout of surprise and dropped the wood onto the ground.

"'Don't have a thing,' pfft, what a load of bantha fodder," Crosshair huffed and walked away without helping her.

When Tech walked over to silently offer his assistance, Adla had accidently dropped whatever wood she had picked up once more.

"Are you alright?" Tech inquired.

"Yeah, I just... It's -- This sun, am I right?" Adla let out a nervous chuckle. Her hands flapped awkwardly in the air before she slowly placed them on her hips. "I just... Oh, hm? What was that Phee? I'll be right over!"

Like a coward, she fled the scene with a reddened face that could have been mistaken for a sunburn.

After her breakdown in front of Tech, she honestly felt a little lighter. Her heart was still heavy, but it didn't weigh down her shoulders. She didn't feel the need to drag her feet. She allowed herself to cry some more, in private. She even found it as an acceptable response to blankly stare out at the water. Tech reminded her that everyone grieves differently.

In the early mornings, just before most of Pabu rose, she took to meditating on the same spot of cobblestone overlooking the island. Similar to the first time, not every moment was peaceful. When she closed her eyes, Apailana's body and the bodies of the innocent that littered the streets of Naboo flashed in her mind. Even through this, she didn't stop meditating. Plus, she realized she always had the Bad Batch to lean on when it became too much. She slowly let herself feel better both physically and mentally.

The physical effects of the Empire's torture faded, but mentally, she went right back to it every night. She also saw the streets of Theed drowning in red. The bodies that littered the pavement, Apailana dying in her arms: it all caused her to wake up screaming. One night she had awoken in such a cold sweat, Omega ended up sneaking Lula in whatever cot Adla snagged for the night to keep the senator "safe".

The twenty-three year old also stopped lying to herself that she didn't feel anything above platonic or innocent admiration for Tech. She had admiration for him alright, but it was far from innocent. She wanted him badly. She wanted to listen to his rambling, to wake up next to him in the morning, to figure out what foods he specifically liked and disliked. She wanted to witness every moment his eyes lit up in excitement or amusement, and to comfort him when he was feeling down. She had been practically flirting with him since their early encounters. She wanted to make a move, or even just say something, but she didn't think it was the right time. She didn't think it would be fair to him to place him in a position when she was feeling very vulnerable recently.

Meanwhile, the senate wasn't something Adla thought about. Well, she chose not to. She didn't want to think about what was said about her to her fellow senators. Did they even know about the Empire on Naboo? The Empire knows she's still alive. Did they think she was dead? Were her peers told that she was a traitor? Did Mon Mothma or Organa know Apailana was gone?