The Varactyl Squadron Commander (A Star Wars: The Clone Wars Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Fifty-One

Throughout the night, the group of four took turns with their shifts and ended up getting much more sleep than they thought they would. The nights must've been longer wherever they'd been transported to because if the clock on their comm-links were correct, it took the sun thirteen hours to rise in the distance. Molindi wasn't complaining though, and neither were the others; they hadn't had this much sleep in one night in weeks.

"There it is," Molindi grinned when the first rays of sunlight filled the sky and cast a blood-red hue onto the jungle below. Despite the terror she'd felt when her eyes first made contact with the greenery that blanketed the horizon, that fear seemed to have evaporated over night and replaced with a sort of excitement.

Maybe it was because she opened up about her past and therefore could let some of her fright go, or that Axel knew what truly plagued her memories and gave her a feeling opposite of being alone like she always thought she was. Either way, now the commander was ready for anything and practically jumping out of her boots to get a move-on like a little kid about to go on an adventure.

"Alright, now the plan is simple," General Skywalker began when the four had gathered together in a small circle to go over what their next move would be. "We stick together at all times. You three don't have weapons which means I'll be the only person with any kind of real self-defense sort of-"

Molindi tried her best not to dose off during General Skywalker's 'Stand behind me because I have a hot, blue glow-stick' speech while Rex and Axel did their best not to smirk since they were thinking the exact same thing. The jedi must not have seen any of the fight with Ventress, otherwise he wouldn't be wasting his breath.

"In the case that we end up being split up," The General fished out two more comm-links and handed them to Molindi and Axel, who then clipped the small devices to their wrists. "These will make sure we stay in contact."

After putting out the fire, tossing the rocks back where they had been in the cave and scattering the ashes they'd left behind to hide their tracks, the four began the walk down the side of the cliff toward the jungle below in the same order as they'd walked through the sewers.

"What's that stuff on your neck? And your leg?" Axel asked when their surroundings began to get brighter and he had a clearer view of the woman. It was a dull green goo that may have once been slimy, but was now dried and cracked like a riverbed after a long drought. Remembering the advice Rex had given her that previous night, Molindi rubbed the dried flakes from her skin and revealed dull scars beneath, already healing and shrinking in size.

"Rex said that it would heal my burns," She ran her hand over the spots and found only a dull ache left behind at the contact. The woman grinned when Rex turned his head to check if the plant had helped and she leaned her chin to the side, revealing what was left of the mark. He returned her smile, then looked ahead.

"Glad it helped." Molindi and Axel exchanged knowing glances to each other as General Skywalker raised an eyebrow to Rex in confusion, then wiped the expression off his face. That must not have been the Jedi's idea, and it amused the two Varactyl Squadron members when Rex sent a smirk back.

Though they hadn't really had any time to discuss the situation with Rex and General Skywalker after she told him the entire story of what happened on Ganta-Nego, the jury was still out in Axel's eyes in regards to whether or not he believed the two could be a potential match. He wasn't an idiot- he knew that there was something growing between them. He'd heard their conversations, noticed the stolen glances and the small tint of color that shaded their cheeks in the presence of one another. Anyone could've seen the sparks flying.

The only factor that pushed the idea of them being a couple to the side was her vulnerability. Only hours before, she'd been in a state of grief over the loss of her troops and her lover. He was no expert on how much time it took for a person to get over something as traumatic as that, if a person even could get over it. But what he knew for sure was that if Rex genuinely cared for her, not her body or the fact that she was the only woman in the entire clone army, then they were going to need a lot more time than this mission would probably allow. Yes, he knew that Rex was his superior...