The Only She- A Star Wars Fanfiction [COMPLETED]

When I See You Again... (and the rest of that song)

-Bright's POV-

     The next few days were relatively uneventful.  The base was secured, a Republic fleet moved into orbit above.  Regular patrols were sent out, but no counter attacks were launched.

     Count Dooku escaped, but the Republic now held the base.  Dawn had been in the infarmy for the past few days, and she was barely awake.  She couldn't talk much, and she looked like a ghost of herself, her copper skin chalk pale and her hair now back to its icy-blond color.  Bright was on patrol when Oak jogged up behind him.

     "We've got to go," he said.  "We're needed in a different sector by tomorrow."

     Bright shouldered his gun with a sigh.  "Always rush, rush, rush," he joked.  "I knew we would leave soon, but..."

     "Soon isn't the same as right now," finished Oak for him.  "The Republic depends on us, though.  We'll always be together, right?"  (Unless one of you dies)

     "Right," agreed Bright. (It's rhyme time apparently)  They marched down to a large gun ship waiting outside the blast doors.  Blast, Rider, and Dawn were already waiting outside.  Dawn had changed out of her armor, but still looked a little pale and uncharacteristically shaken up.

     "Did you miss me?" she asked with a small smile.  It wasn't much, but it was a big improvement from the day before.  "Now let's get this bucket up."

     They jumped into the gun ship, joined, to their surprise, by Commander Tano.  "I'm coming up to the cruiser to give a report," she explained.  "Hopefully I come back and the base isn't in flames for some reason or another."

---

     They disembarked in the cruiser, surrounded by other troops getting ready to jump to a new system.  Ahsoka walked up to the command center, while Bright and the squad walked down to their bunks to grab their supplies.

     They talked animatedly, recounting their best moments in the battle and talking about what might happen next. (Bright's credits were on an invading half-dinosaur half-loth wolf species trained by the Separatists)  However, Dawn was uncharacteristically quiet and trailed a little behind, fiddling with her spray paint.

     Abruptly, Bright held up his hand.  The squad went silent and stopped, but Dawn didn't even notice.  She just went on walking for about 50 feet before stopping with a start.  Bright raised an eyebrow.

     "You're ignoring everything, talking to yourself, and being QUIET," he said.  "Normally I would be over the moon, but clearly something's wrong."

     Dawn sighed.  "I... I can't tell you," she started quickly.  It's too risky.  ANd that's why I'm leaving the Armee."

     They all gasped and glanced at each other.  Leave?  Was that something you could do?  "Why?" asked Blast finally, speaking for all of them.

     "It's... complicated," Dawn replied.  "And goes into some of the reasons I can't talk about.  But you saw me at the battle.  I'm no soldier, not like you are.  I can't fight endlessly on, watching my friends die around me."

     "More people will die without you!" exclaimed Rider, angry.

     "I KNOW THAT!" Dawn yelled back.  "And I thought about it, I feel terrible.  But as long as I'm here, you're more of a target.  You saw what happened, they dispatched DOOKU to try and take me out, they didn't care how!  I'm a weapon, and I can't fall into Separatist hands.  I can't...  I can't let you get killed because of me."

     It was Oak who spoke up this time.  "Dawn," he said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder.  "We're soldiers.  We are... we're meant to die OK?  I know you want to protect us, but that's not how it works."

     "No," Dawn said, turning away.  "I'm sorry, but I will not get you killed."  Her voice was thick, and Bright saw with a start she was crying.  "This war is out of our control.  There are things..."  She stopped again.  "I've cleared it with General Skywalker.  I have to go."

     She walked slowly from the room, and Bright remembered when they first met, how she had smirked at their amazed expressions, how bold yet kind she was.  The others started to follow her, but Bright held up a hand again.  He knew they couldn't stop her.

     When she was almost out, Dawn turned towards them one last time.  "Thank you," she almost whispered.  "For being my friends.  My comrades.  My... brothers."

     "I will see you again.  May the Force be with you."

---

     Bright and the other had their packs and were trudging heavily down to the hanger.  They were all quiet for once, fiddling with random things.  Bright ran his hand down the wall (I do that when I'm bored I just touch everything) when he felt something go click under his hand.

     "That's odd," he said to no one in particular.  The locks on the bunks were handprint activated, and this wasn't his.

     "Bright?" said Rider.  "How did you open Dawn's bunk?"  They all lined up in the doorway, the doors shutting behind them.

     "I don't know," frowned Bright, looking down at his hand.  "Maybe she re-programed them to our handprints before she left.  But why would she do that?"

     "Because of this," came Blast's voice.

     Dawn room was very small compared to the trooper bunks, because it only housed one person.  It had a bed against the back wall, empty pegs against the right.  Oak tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to the left wall.  Rider and Blast were pinning a huge canvas up to the left wall. It had been turned into a giant mural, covered in meticulously drawn figures.  Buckets sat at the foot of the bed, with several makeshift stools and empty cans of paint.

     "Wow...." breathed Rider.  They were all there.  She had captured them perfectly, making them look nothing like clones, even with their helmets on.  Ahsoka and Anakin were there as well, standing side by side with them.

     "She must have been working on this ever since she met us," whispered Bright.  The finishing touches were shiny, like they were still wet.  And at the bottom, Dawn's last words to them were repeated.  In big, bold letters, also shiny like recently painted the mural said.  "May the Force be with you."

     "There's one more thing," said Blast from behind them.  There was a long blaster sitting on the bed that had been covered by the canvas.  He was inspecting it with nimble fingers.  He looked like he was choking down a laugh.  "I don't believe it."

     "What?" replied Rider, walking over to him.

     "This gun isn't filled with pulses," he said, laughing thickly now.  "It's full of spray paint!"

     And that's a wrap people!  Thank you so much for reading The Only She!  I hope you enjoyed it.  It means so much to me for people to enjoy my work.  If you liked The Only She, I am going to write a sequel after I take a break to write some of my other books.  Will update when Chapter One comes out!  Again, thanks for reading!

May the Force be with you,

Jedi Master Swift