21 BBY
7 Months After Geonosis
.oOo.
Bly saw it coming, but he couldn't stop it. He was too far away. "Aayla! Watch-" Bly's heart stopped. "Aayla! Oh kriff." Bly ran as fast as his feel could carry him as he watched Aayla collapse on the cold dirt. "No no no Aayla!" Bly kneeled next to Aayla's limp form, throwing off his helmet. "Aayla! Aayla wake up. Come on." Bly looked around the battle field. "Caro! Caro come in, this is Bly!"
"I read you Bly."
"I need cover now! Aayla's down!"
"I'm coming vod."
"Aayla please wake up." Bly moved to put Aayla's head in his lap. "Why can you wear any armor?"
Bly ripped a section of his kama off and pressed it to the two-inch blaster hole in Aayla's torso.
"Caro! Where are you?"
"Almost there."
"Aayla, please. Come on, wake up. I can't lose you." A clanker disappeared as fast as it appeared when Caro shot it down, protecting Bly.
"What happened to the General?"
"She got shot, Caro!"
"Get her to Sid. He's half a click west."
Aayla's eyes fluttered open. "Aay- General!"
"Bly? What?" Her eyes darted around, taking in what was happening. "Help me up."
"What? Are you insane? No!" Bly protested. "You are NOT fighting."
"I gave you an order. Help me up." Bly didn't move. "Fine." Aayla stumbled as she stood up and almost greeted the dirt again, but Bly caught her.
"You are NOT fighting. You can't even stand!"
Aayla ripped the kama piece out of Bly's hand and held it to her injury. She took off her belt and tied it tight around her torso. "I'm fighting, Bly."
"No, you are not."
She ignited her lightsaber just in time to stop a shot from hitting Bly in the chest. "Do you remember what I said after the Zillo Beast incident?" Bly nodded. "Then you know I have to."
Aayla started to stumble away but was stopped by Bly's hand on her forearm.
"Do you remember what I said?" Aayla nodded.
"I-" No, not now. "Stay safe." Aayla smiled and hobbled into the line of fire. "Caro!"
"Yeah?"
"Stay with the general, okay?"
"She'll be safe with me."
"I know. You're the only one I trust to keep her safe, besides myself."
"Thanks, vod." Caro sprinted and caught up with the General, which was not hard to do in her injured state.
.oOo.
Bly met Caro and the General in the heart of the Seperatist base after they won the battle. "We finally did it." Aayla weakly smiled, holding her hands on her stomach. Her breathing was shallow and she was a lighter shade of blue than normal.
"We did it." Bly said, patting Caro on the back.
"Barely, but we did." His helmet was tucked beneath his arm, making his smile visible. "Can I talk to you for a minute, vod?"
"Uh, yeah sure." Aayla took the hint and walked away. "Everything okay, Caro?"
"When are you gonna tell her? I heard you almost do it, not that she knew. Why didn't you?"
"It's not possible, Caro. She's a Jedi. I'm a clone. We both have rules."
"For once in your life, don't care about the rules, vod."
"Caro you know better than anyone that I have to follow them."
"So don't break them, bend them."
Bly scoffed. "Says the one who never breaks the rules."
"If I had the possibility of what you have, I would break any rules."
"I-"
"Seriously Bly. You've only been around her for what, seven months?" Bly nodded. "I think, at this point, you two are bonded to one another."
"Seriously?"
"Have you seen the way she smiles when you walk in the room? Or vis-versa for that matter."
"Caro, but we can't. She's a Jedi. I'm just a clone. There are literally millions of me throughout the galaxy."
"And she picked you, vod. Over every other one of us. Not me or Galle. You. Don't let that turn into nothing." Caro walked away from Bly, who stood still thinking about what Caro had said. A small noise caught Bly's attention.
"Clankers!" Bly sprinted towards Caro and knocked him over. "Aayla, get down!" Aayla spun around looking at Bly as a shot hit her in the shoulder. She fell instantly. "AAYLA!" Bly and Caro sprinted over to her.
Her usual bright blue skin was covered in blood and dirt. "Get away, Bly. Get to saf-"
"Shut up. We're not leaving you. Caro, how many and where?"
"No more than a dozen." Caro said between firing shots. "Get the general to safety, I can handle this!"
"Caro, I can't leave you here! "
"Go! I'm right behind you."
Bly picked up Aayla bridal style and ran away from the droids. Caro started to follow after he had shot down five of the twelve droids. Bly glanced behind his shoulder when he heard a loud thud. "CARO!" He screamed.
Bly suddenly appeared next to Caro. He gently set Aayla down and removed his helmet so he could look Caro in the eyes.
"It's okay, vod. It's okay." Caro smiled weakly.
"Tell her."
"I'm gonna get you out of this." Bly held his comlink but Caro pushed it down.
"No." The bullet hole in Caro's chest was pooling with blood. "Tell her. You deserve to be happy."
Bly had tears in his eyes.
"Ni kartyall gar darasuum, vod. Ni kartyall gar dar-." Caro said as life left his body.
"No. No. Caro! Vod!" Bly grabbed Caro's blaster and quickly shot down the remaining seven droids. "Caro, please come back to me. Please." A tear escaped Bly's eye and fell on Caro's dirty blood-stained armor. "Ni cu'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum." (I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal.) "Ni kartyall gar darasuum vod. Ni kartyall gar darasuum."
Bly sat with Aayla's head resting on his leg and Caro's helmet in his arms until an LAAT pulled up near him. Sid quickly loaded Caro's body onto the ship while Bly carried Aayla.
.oOo.
Bly collapsed in a chair next to Aayla's bed in the medbay and grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry, cyar'ika." Bly cried...
It had been a bad day.
.oOo.
Hi readers! Thank you so much for reading my story! I hope you like it!