A Star Among Planets (Star Wars Rebels Fanfiction)

Chapter 78: New Missions with New Commanders

    The moon shone on an open landscape with stars glittering all around. Halftail stood in the middle of a giant meadow, able to see everything in all directions. He puffed out his chest as he took in the scent of everything. His breath caught as he scented someone that he would never get tired of scenting.

    "Halftail."

    Halftail turned and saw the snowy pelt of his deceased mate. She waltzed toward him with her blue eyes glowing. "Bine," he murmured as he took a step forward and pressed his forehead against hers. He purred warmly, his heart opening in affection.

    "You must not be able to stay away from me," joked Bine as she turned and intertwined her tail with his stub of one. "I can't blame you, of course, but still."

    Halftail rolled his eyes. As much as he would never admit it, he did love his mate's jokes. "Maybe you can't stay away from me. Have you ever thought of that?"

    Bine cuffed his ear affectionately. "Fish-brain!" She licked his cheek and Halftail longed for this moment to never end. "You're being summoned."

    Halftail inwardly groaned. "Can't they wait for a little bit? I don't get to see you that often and it never lasts very long," he complained.

    "I know, but they need you even more than I do right now. They look up to you and you can't let them down," she pointed out as she drew away from him.

    Halftail longed to call her back, but he knew that would be selfish of him. He knew that he was sort of like a leader, so he had to start acting like it, and that meant pushing all of his personal desires aside. "I won't. I promise you, Bine, I won't."

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    Halftail suddenly awoke to someone prodding him in the ribs. He took in a harsh breath, and when he looked up, he saw Kanan standing over him, poking the toe of his boot against his ribs. He grumbled a bit in anger before he rose to his paws. "Can I help you with something," he muttered as his eyes struggled to focus on Kanan.

    Kanan nodded as he rushed to the door of their room. "We've been summoned. Just don't look like you're half asleep."

    Halftail yawned as he stretched out, his back arching. He leaned forward before he stalked after Kanan. "I'll try, but I'm not making any promises."

    Kanan chuckled as the two met up with Ezra, Keen, and Swifttail. Keen bounced at Halftail's paws, his wings looking a lot better. "Do you have any idea what this is about," inquired Keen as he wove around Halftail's legs, almost causing him to fall over.

    Halftail shook his head and he pushed his head against Keen's haunch to get him walking. "No, but if we ever get there we'll be able to find out, but not until then," he meowed tersely and Swifttail darted forward with Keen right behind.

    Halftail rolled his eyes as he followed with his stub of a tail kinked over his back. They made their way into the briefing room and Halftail saw the rest of his team standing around and talking quietly. As he approached, Adlerleaf and Birchfoot stopped talking and eyed him excitedly.

    "Could you all have taken any longer," teased Adlerleaf as Swifttail stopped by her and pushed his nose against her cheek, purring noisily.

    "I'm sure that we could have but we're here now," pointed out Halftail as he yawned and stretched out. He loved spending time with his mate, but now he was sacrificing sufficient sleep for it.

    Bluefeather and Molis were sitting together with their ears alert as they listened to the Hologram. Halftail really wasn't interested in it since he had lots of other thoughts swarming around his mind. He was spaced out before he felt a tail graze the underside of his chin.