Somewhere Out There

Part 2

Boil was right. The General was clearly not feeling well. When Cody addressed him first, he didn't react. It was only when he called him "Obi-Wan" that he opened his sea-blue eyes. "Y-ya, C-cody?" The man's voice trembled and his whole body shook. "General, you should come with me and sit at the campfire. The night is too cold even for a Jedi." "I- I'm fine, Cody. I-I was just me-meditating," the Jedi stuttered, but Cody did not believe him. "General, you'll come with me to the campfire. You need some warmth." The Jedi tried to argue, but the clone had already pulled him up. He grabbed his arm, so that the Jedi wouldn't have to strain the broken leg, but already after the second step, the General lost all his strength. "I'm dizzy," he whispered before his legs gave way and his head fell back powerless. "General," Cody exclaimed baffled, trying to hold the limp body in his hands. "General", he repeated, but the Jedi didn't react anymore. He was unconscious.

"He has a concussion, a laceration, a fractured lower leg and he's hypothermic. Dangerously hypothermic," diagnosed Helix, the medic. The General lay on a blanket on the stone floor and his body was shivering under the cold. The Commander's heart ached at the sight of the Jedi's pale skin and his blue lips. "Why didn't you check on him, Helix?" stormed Cody with rage in his eyes, "How could you not see how hurt he was?" The other Clone crossed his arms. "I saw it", explained Helix, "but he forbade me to treat his wounds." Cody knew that his brother really would have taken care of the Jedi. Still there was so much anger inside of him and he simply needed to blame someone for the bad condition his General was in. However, he had to calm down in order to help the injured man.

"What do we do now?", Cody finally asked. Helix pointed to one of the boxes with the supplies. "We need blankets and clothes." Boil, who had been standing next to the Commander, immediately ran there to get something, while Cody and Helix knelt down next to the Jedi. "We have to change him." Cody hesitated. "What? But we can't, I mean, in front of the men...", he interposed. "They won't mind. Besides, we have no choice. If the General stays in these wet clothes, he'll freeze to death." "Okay, I get it," Cody said. However, he took a last look at his other brothers, who were sitting around the campfire. They had all turned away out of respect. It was better that way because Cody didn't want them to see the general in that condition- so weak and so hurt.

Then he started to undo the soaking wet tunic that covered the Jedi's torso. Underneath the beige material there was a brown linen cloth, which was soaked as well. Cody unbuttoned the linen to see a bare breast. Bruises covered the upper body of the Jedi and a long scar stretched across his chest. Cody could not help but run his index finger over the scar. It was not old, because it still shone red and, in some places, there was still a crust.

"Helix, how?" Cody asked and pointed to the huge scar. The Medic looked up only briefly, only to immediately take care of the bandage around Obi-Wan's leg again. "I stopped hoping the General would pay me a visit a long time ago." "But how can the wound heal if no one takes care of it?" Cody asked and pulled a dry top over the sleeping Jedi. "It's called 'Force healing'," Helix explained, "Even though it's not really 'healing' at all. The Jedi simply turn off their emotions until the wound is gone, but their body suffers anyways."
He cut off the bandage and looked up at Cody. "Now you have to keep the General warm", said the healer, and switched to the Jedi's head. He raised his upper body slightly, causing the injured man to moan. Cody hesitated, but then he sat down behind the Jedi and Helix let him sink back slowly, so that Obi-Wan's head landed on Cody's chest. The Commander himself leaned against a storage box and wrapped his arms around the Jedi to pull him closer. Helix already wanted to leave, but Cody made him stop.

„You know, Helix, I'm worried about him and his self-destructive behavior." The medic sighed. "Cody, sometimes I doubt if it's a good call that the Jedi are generals. They weren't born to be soldiers like us clones, and the war is destroying them out of it. The scar shows only a fraction of the pain he has to go through." "So what can we do?", asked Cody. "We can be there, when they need you."

The night was long, but the Commander couldn't sleep at all. Eventually, long before dawn, the Jedi's eyes opened. He blinked, wounded, considering he'd fallen fast asleep to his commander. "Cody, what?" "You were hypothermic, General. I was there to keep you warm. I can leave if you want me too." The Jedi shook his head, and his blue eyes searched for Cody's brown. "No, stay. And call me Obi-Wan for now."

"O-Obi-Wan, you should take better care of you," Cody replied, "You almost scared me to death today." "I'm sorry, Cody. It's just that the Medics already have enough work and I don't want your brothers to suffer, when I'm treated before them just because I have a higher rank", explained the Jedi looking even deeper in the Commander's eyes. "We're just clones", explained Cody, "We're replaceable." Obi-Wan interrupted him by grabbing Cody's hand, which was still resting on his chest. Their fingers intertwined - Cody's big and strong and Obi-Wan's long and elegant.

"Cody, you're not 'just clones'." "General." "Don't call me that." "Obi-Wan, with all due respect, the archives on Coruscant label us as 'just clones'. We don't have any rights. All we are is weapon of the Republic." It wasn't good to upset his General regarding his current condition. But when the words left Cody's mouth, it was already too late. "Cody", Obi-Wan struggled for words, "I'm sorry." Cody knew the Jedi was talking sincerely and right then he probably realized, why Boil had asked him the question about another galaxy, where clones were no clones, earlier. He gently squeezed Cody's hand, who was just starring at the Jedi and waiting for his next words. "You're so much more than just a weapon. You're a brother, a friend, a good man. Cody, you're very important to me." The Jedi laid his head on Cody's shoulder and Cody could smell the General's scent. It was a mixture of autumn, salt and tea. "And so are you, my Jedi", whispered Cody and placed a kiss on Obi-Wans hair.

When his General's breathes became slow and calm again, the Clone's gaze went to the night sky. He remembered what Boil had said earlier about somewhere far, far away. Somewhere, where his brothers and his Jedi wouldn't have to be warriors but civilians and they would be able to life, which was filled with peace and love.

It was highly unlikely that such a place actually really existed. But still, Cody couldn't help but hold on to his little piece of hope.
Hope for this place somewhere out there.