#last batch of these. my final message. goodbye

[chiaki-c]

Hickey dynamics i enjoy

+bonus

[sassydefendorflower]

In case of their death, each Bat has a dedicated spot where they keep their will/private messages to different members of their family/their friends.

It makes sense in their line of work.

Tim's is a hard drive, no surprise there, but he made sure the code to access it was just stupid enough that most of the family would have to come together to crack it (and even then, they still have to call Bart for the final clue) - it’s something stupid and sentimental, something Bruce would never have guessed Tim would choose as a password. Maybe Quadruple Summersault. Or Short Pants. Or Second Mask. Or Always Be Prepared. Or maybe just I Love You.

Babs has a lot of video messages just in case. She wrote code that would automatically send her last words to everyone she cherished (her dad, the Bats, the Birds of Prey, her co-workers at the library) should she forget to enter the I'm Still Alive Code. (she has to stay at the hospital once without her phone and accidentally sends her last words to everyone - Gotham is chaos for a day until people manage to check in on her).

Cass has already hidden all her goodbyes in the rooms of those she thinks deserve it. Once she is gone, she hopes Bruce will find the letter in her nightstand. The one that says "my words are still here, you just have to look for it" - which is a bit ironic, considering most of her letters consist of funny cartoons and nice memories captured in the chicken scratch of someone who might never be a portrait artist but can undoubtedly catch a moment in time with just a few strokes of a pencil.

Dick updates his will every couple of months, just to be safe. And his letters? His final words? Those are usually stored with a civilian friend or two. One batch is definitely kept at Titans Tower. All of these people have instructions to send them once the news of his death has hit the public. His letters are unusually long, filled with jokes and anecdotes, and a lot of things he never quite managed to say before. For someone who likes to talk, Dick is awfully good at saying nothing. But that's not how he wants to die - at least not this time, so long letters it is.

Jason doesn't have a lot of letters, or a lot of anything really. He just has a very detailed will. A binding legal paper that explains exactly what the family is supposed to do with his body. He's not gonna take any more chances with this. At the end of his will, there is only one addendum: I love you. Please let me be dead. Nothing more - nothing less.

Steph is a bit obsessed with the details of her death, maybe because her first close encounter resulted in a complete loss of agency. She wants to plan it down to the smallest bit, and since she knows she cant do that, she plans everything else. Where she wants to be buried, what songs should be played, what kind of food should be offered... and in each of these instructions there is a personal message hidden just within. She wants Bruce and Tim to carry her coffin, carry her one last time. She wants Cass to dance at her funeral, and Babs and her mom to write the speeches. Small love letters hidden in a search for control.

Damian is needlessly good at compartmentalizing, or maybe its because he's just twelve. He should think of himself as immortal, and nothing is crueler than the fact that he doesn't. He has a will, hidden underneath his mattress because he's too young to actually request legally binding documents. And he has letters and paintings and notebooks - in the hopes that when they find them they'll remember him as a boy and not a weapon. For someone so desperately striving for the title of Robin, Damian mostly wants to be remembered as a son.

For a long time Duke didn't partake in this "family tradition". Because he saw himself as outside of them, as someone with parents, as someone with a home. But a dozen close calls, and suddenly mortality becomes something else. So he saves his will on the Batcomputer, addressed to his parents but protected by Bruce. And he writes small notes. Thoughts. Ideas. Things he thinks they will appreciate should he be gone one day. And he leaves them lying around. Maybe the mark he makes is hidden in the small things. The post-it notes and exploded overhead lights. Duke would be fine with that.

And then there is Bruce, who - in a way - cannot die. His legacy is the Cave, his brain a part of the mainframe they use to fight crime. And he knows that. He knows that no matter where he goes, he will never be really gone. So he makes sure that one day - long after he has passed - the Batcomputer destroys itself. To set them free. To leave them with the physical memorabilia of Bruce Wayne, and no longer with the desperation of the Bat. It's the biggest love letter Bruce can imagine writing - the possibility of being free.

[the-tech-turn]

My goodbyes to the members of Bad Batch

(I was inspired by someone else who also did this, but I can't find them. If anyone know who the op is, please tell me so I can credit them)

(Not spell checked, btw)

TECH

Tech -my beloved-.you have helped me gain confidence when it comes to my intelligence. Last year I was very insecure about my intelligence since I was the “advanced student”. Because of that title I was afraid to ask questions, afraid of not meeting that title. My self esteem relied on my grades and even though I would have an A I was disappointed it wasn't 100 percent. But because of you I learned that I don't have to prove myself to anyone and although I may struggle with it from time to time it's a lot better than last year. You also have been a big source of comfort for me. I would love to listen to you ramble endlessly. Your voice is a voice that I have learned to love and adore. In fact I cried when I realized I would hear your voice this season. I also see you as a person who would listen to me ramble and have a genuine conversation with. Something that I rarely have. You are a strong, intelligent, determined, and loving person. That is why you have a special place in my heart. Thank you Tech for all the things you have helped me with.

ECHO

I was pretty young when I watched The Clone wars. At that time I wasn't invested with starwars the way I am now. So I never really paid attention to what I was watching. I remember part of it like watching the attack on Kamino. In all honesty I don't remember watching you at all. But subconsciously I may remember since you are one of my favorite clones. Heck even characters. I really like how competent and funny you. To me it shows that even after all that you have been through you can still be an amazing person. I think that's an important message to send. I also like how you want to keep fighting for your brothers. It shows how much you care for them, even the ones you haven't met. I love how you are willing to take dangerous risks for people to love. It shows so much about you. And finally I love how you were able to find healthy coping mechanisms and make the most of your situation. You aren't the same person as before the trauma but you aren't left worse off. Echo you are the perfect example of “you aren't what happens to you it's what you do with what happens' ' and I want to be like you.

WRECKER

Wrecker, you and I are a lot alike. We are both affectionate, loud when we're excited, and caring. I adore how you openly show Lula! You aren't ashamed of her and I think that's incredible. To be proud of who you are and being able to feel unashamed by others trying to put you down is an amazing life skill to have. I think it is amazing how you were always willing to take Crosshair back. I can tell how much you love him. It broke my heart to hear you scream after Tech as he fell. You love all of your brothers and to see one of them die and being unable to help them is something I never want to face. But you are somehow able to still keep your positivity. You seem like the person your brothers go to for reassurance due to your loving and affectionate nature. I hope that whatever happens tomorrow in the finale won't take that away from you.

HUNTER

You are an amazing father/brother to Omega and your brothers. You want what is best for them and try to help them. You are a caring person. It is just how you are. This allows you to empathize with people more easily. It is also your caring nature that drew me to you. You are how I joined Fandom in the first place, and because of that, I made friends with people who want to have a genuine conversation with me(@techwrecker @thefrogdalorian )

You've also allowed me to find people who share my interests. For that I thank you. I admire your determination. You know what you want and no one is going to stop you from getting it. I understand how pressuring it can be when people look up to you and seek you for advice but you manage to pull it off and that is why you are the leader of the batch.

CROSSHAIR

Your journey has been a hard one. You had to see your brothers leave you multiple times. You had to watch Mayday, a reg who you quickly grew to care for and love, die because of the ignorance of the Empire. The same Empire you sacrificed your whole life for. You gave up your relationship with your family, your happiness and individuality. All for the Empire to take 2 of your brothers, and take away what made you different , acceptable to take away the reason you were born and to replace it with trauma.

What you had to live through was cruel and all I can do is hope that you'll be alive to make the pain worth it.

But just because you went through all of this doesn't mean you don't have amazing qualities that I love and admire. Like me you value loyalty. It is why you left the Empire and why you are trying to recuse Omega. You are also very protective of what you care about and it is easy to see how much you care for your brothers and for Omega. I think I like you as much as I do because you remind me of my best friend. She is as stubborn,and snarky, as you but she is also as caring, loyal, thoughtful, and strong as you. It is clear for me to see why Omega never gave up on you. And I want you to know that you deserve the galaxy.

OMEGA

I have loved watching you learn and grow through all of these years. You've grown so far from the girl who didn't know what dirt was. You have faced challenges that would change many people. And in all honesty you have changed; you've changed for the better. You are still the loyal,caring and empathetic person you were before. You are a bit of everyone in the batch

You're as loyal as Crosshair, as caring as Hunter, as strong as Echo, as positive as Wrecker, and as strategic as Tech. You have so much potential in this galaxy, and I just know wherever the force guides you, you'll never lose your spark.

(I will post my final goodbye to the series tomorrow)

[snippy-tano]

so this one hit me in the middle of night last night and I woke up in like a cold sweat and finished it off tonight. I hope you all like it! it is a part 2 to the Hunter x Senator!Reader. consider it an early present for you guys since my birthday is tomorrow ;)

hope y’all love it! let me know what you think!

s/o to @quizznag who commented on ao3 and said they should get their meal together and then hunter and reader sneak off to a balcony to have a chat. Bless u

(also apologies for no page break, I’m doing this on mobile and Jfhshdhf it sucks sometimes. I’ll fix it when I can get on a computer I promise y’all)

taglist is here!

masterlist is here!

tagging: @pro-fangirls-unsocial-life @marvel-starwars-nerd @mackstrut @dissapointingpancake @ahsokatano-thetogruta @welcometothepedroverse @lightning-wolffe @fractiouskat @mandaloriandin @lussyyung @lowkeyodinsong @str-wrs-fics @bantha-shit @badbatch-simp24 @katelynnwrites @s1st3r @leotatombs @torchbearerkyle @rain-on-kamino @the-navistar-carol @bombshe77 @arctrooper69 @social-mockingbird @isabelle-99 @dangraccoon

——————————————————————

Of Sergeants and Senators: Part 2

(Part 1)

After your stint as an investigator who brought down the spice smuggling ring on your home planet, things died down a bit for you.

You were still incredibly busy. Your side project had caught the attention of other senators and you suddenly found yourself involved much more heavily in politics. People took you more seriously and that made things both easier and more difficult.

But you didn’t mind. You finally felt like you were making a difference within the Senate and it was all thanks to what you were able to accomplish on your home planet.

Speaking of your accomplishments, you couldn’t have done it without the help of the Bad Batch.

Ever since they left to continue their specialty missions, you had kept tabs on them. You had given the Sergeant your comm link and you had kept in contact with him. It started as messages here and there, sometimes conversations left for days only to be picked up like no time had passed. Then it turned into calls when you had time, the duration of the calls gradually increasing. Then it was holocalls where you could see him. You had grown close with him over this time period, learning more about him and worrying when he didn’t reply.

Your calls didn’t occur as frequently as you may have liked, but you were both busy with your own jobs. Hunter was out there saving lives and fighting in the war and you were fighting your own battles on the Senate floor.

It was hard. But you lived for those quiet moments when you could message or speak with him. He had a way of making you forget what was going on in your life and you craved every second you got to speak with him. It was getting harder and harder to keep ignoring the tugging at your heart every time you had to say goodbye, but you did your best to ignore it.

Occasionally, you would send them a package for when they were back on Kamino with some things you found at markets on Coruscant. It wasn’t much, but you hoped that it showed your gratitude towards them and how much you valued them.

It had been hard to coordinate a time for you to treat them to that meal you promised them because they were hardly ever on Coruscant. You were like ships passing in the night. And you were convinced the war would be over before you had your opportunity.

But as luck would have it, you had a free evening and the Batch happened to be in the system.

It was only one night. But you were going to make it count.

Hana had insisted she drive you, which you had insisted she didn’t need to. You were perfectly capable of driving yourself.

“Hana, I can handle it. It’s like you don’t trust me.”

Hana only laughed as she started up the speeder. “That’s because I don’t.”

Ouch.

But you had to admit it, you made it to your destination much sooner and without any major incidents with Hana at the helm.

The Batch was already waiting for you when you arrived. Wrecker waved wildly when he saw the two of you approaching and it brought a smile to your face.

“I’m glad you made it!” You called as you approached.

Hunter let out a laugh. “We almost didn’t, but the boys were excited and we were going to make it no matter what.”

You smiled at him, taking a deep breath to calm your rapidly beating heart.

“Any reason we’re meeting down here and not on the surface? I didn’t take you for one to mingle here.” Crosshair said and you crossed your arms.

“What? You think a senator should be too afraid to come here?”

“Just an observation.” Crosshair replied, fiddling with his toothpick.

“I did have a reason for meeting here and not on the surface. And the reason is right there.” You pointed across the street and the Batch turned to follow your gesture.

“Oh no way!! I’ve heard about this place!” Wrecker cried, punching Tech on the arm. “Let’s go!”

You watched as the Batch and Hana moved towards the entrance, Hana and Tech already in conversation and Wrecker and Crosshair right ahead of them.

“Dex’s?” Hunter asked, crossing his arms. You smiled softly.

“I wanted to take you all to a meal that reflected my thanks to you, but I thought you might be more comfortable here. Besides, Dex is an old friend and I am always willing to provide him with business.” You replied, motioning with your hand. “Come on.”

“Senator!” A loud booming voice greeted you the moment you stepped inside the small diner. “It’s been too long! I’ve missed ya!”

You smiled broadly. “I’ve missed you just about as much as I’ve missed your food Dex. Do you have a booth open for us?”

“For you, I’ll make room. Head on over to that booth in the corner, I’ll be right there.” Dex waved you on and you raised a hand in response. You headed towards where Dex had motioned, the Batch and Hana following behind you. It was going to be a tight fit, even with a corner booth, but you’d make it work.

You ended up sandwiched between Wrecker and Hunter. Hana had somehow secured the edge of the booth and you had a sneaking suspicion that Tech was behind it.

Dex kept by a moment after you’d gotten settled, taking drink and food orders. One positive about Dex was the food was excellent, and fast. Meaning before you knew it, all of you were digging into some of the best food on the entire planet.

But you may be biased.

The night passed without a hitch. Even though you hadn’t spent much time in a casual setting with the entire Batch, it was easy to have a conversation with them, all of them. You talked to Wrecker about food and found you shared a love for all things sweet. Tech and you had a long conversation about book you’d both read on the floral and fauna of Naboo, and everyone else ended up cutting you off before it could really get in-depth. But you’d make sure you continued the conversation later because it truly was just getting fascinating.

Crosshair was a tougher nut to crack. You tried a few times throughout the course of the night but he never seemed to bite. The only time you got him to say more than a few snarky words was when you made a joke about Separatist droids and you’d gotten a sincere snicker from him. You only knew it was sincere because he immediately cleared his throat and refused to make eye contact.

Hunter and you didn’t talk too much, just a few short words here and there. But neither of you seemed to mind. It had been a while since you’d been in each others presence, but sitting next to him in a crowded diner with some men you’d developed an affection for was enough.

He was enough.

The night was drawing to a close much sooner than you had expected. Dex had insisted you could stick around past closing, but you knew he had a long day and would have a lot to do after you left. So with some fond farewells and promises to come back very soon, you were back outside in the streets of Coruscant.

“Well boys, I think our night of leave is almost up.” Hunter said, which made Wrecker groan.

“Aww! But I don’t want to go yet! We never get a night off!” Wrecker whined and you looked at Hana who shrugged.

“Alright, follow us. I have an idea.” You said, starting to walk beside Hana. The Batch hesitated and you turned, continuing to walk backwards. “Come on, you’ll love it I promise.”

Wrecker moved immediately and you grinned when you saw the rest of them begin to follow the big guy’s lead. You skipped once, turning back around.

The walk was a short one and before you knew it, you were standing in front of a nondescript building with a neon sign in the window.

You looked at the Batch with a smile as they stared in confusion. “Come on. You’re about to try the best cryo-treats in the galaxy.”

Wrecker whooped and you smiled, leading them inside. Hunter had protested against your footing the bill again, but you insisted and he didn’t fight you on it. Thanking you with a soft “thank you ma’am” and nudging the rest of the Batch to do the same.

Everyone split among the small shop, taking up chairs and tables. You met eyes with Hunter. You motioned for him to follow you and you stepped through the doors leading to a small balcony in the shop. You could hear the rest of the Batch’s lively conversation until the door shut behind the two of you.

“Wow.” Hunter breathed and you smiled as you walked up to the edge of the balcony, leaning on the railing. The balcony was secluded. Well, as secluded as Coruscant could be. The lights outside were dim, letting the light of the city planet be the main source of light. Vines native to the planet of the owner of the shop wove in and out of the railing surrounding the balcony. A few small tables and chairs filled the space, giving people who visit a quiet place to come and enjoy treats and company.

“Some senators like to frequent concert halls, or bars, or restaurants as a break.” You said. “I like to come here instead.”

“It’s quiet.”

“Surprising right? I’m not sure how they do it, but the city isn’t quite as loud from here. It’s calming.” You replied, taking a bite of your treat. “I don’t mind sharing my secret space, so feel free to come back here any time you’re planet side.”

“Thank you. For everything.” Hunter said, eyes fixed outwards.

You took another bite and shook your head. “I should be thanking you. You helped me and my people when you didn’t need to and continue to help the people of the Galaxy. I’m not sure I will ever be able to fully express my gratitude towards you.”

It was Hunter’s turn to shake his head. “We were just doing our job. We’re soldiers. It’s what we were bred to do.”

“I know the clones really didn’t have a choice in all of this, but there are people out there who are grateful for what you do. You’re also people who deserve to experience things the rest of us take for granted.” You finished your treat and set it aside. “You should have a chance to live a life without war.”

“I’ve never known life without war. I’m not sure I ever could.” Hunter said and you let out a sigh.

You had touched on this conversation before, during one of your many calls through the last few months. But Hunter had almost always dodged your questions or changed the subject. He clearly didn’t want to talk or think about it, so you never pushed him. This was the furthest you’d ever gotten along this line of thinking. You knew this was your chance to find out more and maybe convince him his life was worth living without war.

You turned towards him, placing your hand over his gloved one as it rested on the railing. His eyes snapped down, but you remained focused on his face.

“Hunter, I don’t know what you’ve been through and I cannot begin to understand. But I do know that you are standing in front of me, living and breathing. I can’t guarantee the war will end in our favor, but if it does, you deserve to live a life that you want with the freedom of discovering it for yourself.” You said. “And I will be around to help you figure it out. All of you.”

“We clones can’t really imagine thinking that far into the future. We’re designed to be expendable.” His voice was quiet and your chest tightened.

“Not to me. Never to me. You and all of your brothers deserve a life and I will do my best to make sure that when the war ends you’re given that choice.”

Hunter let out a sigh. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” You smiled, you moved to remove your hand from the top of his, but he held fast. You froze, shoulders tensing.

“Being a clone does have its advantages.” He said, looking out at the city, seemingly unbothered by the fact his hand was still clutching yours.

You swallowed. “Really? All of you, or just you?”

Hunter’s mouth lifted in a smirk. “Right now, just me. Wanna know why?”

No. Yes. Maybe? Your heart was pounding in your chest and you were trying to keep your hands from trembling.

“Yes.” You breathed and he turned to face you. He switched hands, only to tug off a glove and set it down on the railing. Then his bare hand engulfed yours.

Your stomach swirled as Hunter stepped closer and leaned down slightly so he was hovering near your ear.

“I can hear how fast your heart is beating.”

You stopped breathing as a shiver went down your spine. You could practically feel him smirking beside you and as much as you wanted to punch him for being so smug, you were absolutely frozen in place. Hunter straightened slightly so he was now looking down at you.

Your mind was racing. There were so many instances when the Batch was assigned to protect you where you found your heart rate increasing when you were in Hunter’s presence. You knew he had enhanced senses, but you didn’t think they were that enhanced. Does that mean every time you felt a little off in his presence that he knew it??

Hunter seemed to be following where your train of thought was going, because he chuckled softly. His hand tightened around yours.

“There is something I’ve always wanted to try that I think you can help with.”

Your eyes met his and you let out a breath. You trusted him completely.

“Really?”

He hummed in response as your eyes searched his face.

What could be possibly-

Oh.

It dawned on you what he likely meant and your face warmed involuntarily. You could feel your heart thump in your chest and you cleared your throat, knowing he could hear it now had your stomach flipping.

“Okay.”

Hunter hesitated for a moment, eyes searching yours. You met his gaze and gave his hand a squeeze.

You’re not sure you breathed the entire time Hunter was leaning closer to you, but the exhale you released the moment his lips touched yours was one of relief. Your eyes closed immediately and you sagged against him. There was some shuffling and then two bare hands gently touched your face, his fingertips weaving into your hair.

Knowing you were in danger of losing it entirely, you grabbed onto his wrists, holding them as tightly as you dared. Right now it was the only thing grounding you. His lips moved incessantly and you found yourself chasing every single movement. You hadn’t been kissed like this since…well ever. He wrapped an arm around your shoulders, dragging you closer and you went willingly, practically melting into him.

Before you were ready, he pulled back. You started to lean back in, but he laughed and pressed his forehead against yours. “I hear the boys talking, they might be heading this way any minute.”

You let out a breathy chuckle. “Aah. Right.”

“Trust me, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have stopped.”

Your stomach did a somersault and you looked up at him, lifting a hand to brush against his cheek. “I would have liked that.”

“To be continued?”

“To be continued.”

Hunter returned your smile, leaning forward to press one last chaste kiss on your lips before taking a step away from you. He adjusted his chest plate and you brushed at your slightly wrinkled clothes. Just then, the door opened.

“Oh, here you are.” Tech said. “I fear that Wrecker is rapidly approaching a sugar crash and I suggest we return to the Marauder before that happens.”

“Alright, we’re coming.” Hunter replied and Tech nodded before shutting the door behind him.

Hunter looked back at you, after he picked up his gloves. He reached forward, gave your hand one last squeeze before putting his gloves back on. You both shared another smile before heading for the door, side by side.

The journey forward would be hard, probably one of the hardest. But knowing Hunter had your six and you had his, it would be worth it.

[scarletawitch]

hear you me

Content warning: major character death. Major spoilers for the season two finale of the Bad Batch!!

A rough drabble I couldn't get out of my head after the season two finale. Tech leaves behind a message for Phee. I've also posted this on AO3 under the same username. Please like/kudos <3

“I’m sorry, Phee. Tech’s gone.” Echo’s voice is rough with grief and exhaustion. “He saved us all.”

Of course he did. A few tears shoot from her eyes and down her cheeks before she can stop them and she has to take a breath before she can speak.

“I… I see. Thank you for telling me.” Phee looks up and blinks, trying to hold off on her grief til she’s alone.

“He left a message for you on the Marauder to be forwarded in case something happened. I’ll send it over now.” Echo’s hand moves over what she assumes is the control board.

“He did?” She had hoped they were close enough for something like this, but to hear it confirmed was a little surprising, especially given their last conversation.

“Can take the soldier out of the war, can’t take the war out of the soldier.” Echo smiles, but it’s hollow and laced with the memory of hundreds of other dead brothers. “It was something us regs did before every battle. We all swore to each other that if we made it back and they didn’t, we would send out the messages left behind, no matter what. Usually they were for other vode, sometimes for our Generals, but there were a few I had to send out of the GAR. I told Tech about it, once, a long time ago. Of course he remembered.”

Phee doesn’t trust herself to speak.

“Well, it’s sent over. I’m sorry again, Phee.” Echo says quietly.

“Yeah, me too. Thanks, Echo.” She ends the transmission without waiting for a goodbye or acknowledgement to Echo simply because she isn’t sure she can keep it together long enough to get through another goodbye.

Quickly, she navigates through the comm’s menu until she finds Tech’s message, then takes a deep breath before pressing play. It’s not enough to steady her against seeing his face again, even if only in the pale blue light of a holo.

He shifts, clearly nervous, and avoids looking into the camera directly.

“Hello, Phee.” He pauses, shifts again. “If you are seeing this, I am not returning to Pabu. I am likely dead, and Echo has passed this message on to you. I cannot tell you what we went to do, not because I wish to conceal it from you, but because you are far safer if you do not know. Please know that it is incredibly important to me, and I would not have left otherwise.

My brothers and I were made to be soldiers. We were made to fight and die and do no more than that. It is all I expected I would ever do, and it was enough. After meeting you and coming to Pabu, I wanted more. I wanted to live quietly for the first time in my life, and I would have liked to do it with you if you would have been amenable. I hope you would have been, otherwise this is all incredibly embarrassing, even post-mortem.

When I last left Pabu, you tried to talk to me, and if I’m not mistaken, express concern over my well-being as well a desire that I would return. I realized this, of course, after you walked away, and I am sorry I did not understand sooner. I am even more sorry that I have not returned like you hoped I would.”

He pauses and looks directly into the camera. “I care for you deeply, Phee, and it will be one of my foremost regrets that I did not tell you that. I am sorry to do it now when it will likely cause you great pain. It is selfish of me, but I do not want to die without saying it. You… you are wonderful, Phee, and I wish we would have had more time.” His eyes fall away from the camera lens.

“Selfishly, again, I do not want to say goodbye. When we were young, we were trained by Mandalorians, and as such, they taught us what they could of their culture. I did not understand it then – there was no strategic reason to do so, so I set aside those teachings for more useful lessons. It’s funny, then, that they have given me what I want to say to you now.

Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la. It means, “not gone, merely marching far away.” They told us to say it to remember each other if one of us were to die in battle. It’s illogical – if someone is dead, they are gone. There is no denying that. Despite knowing this, I found comfort in this concept after someone I cared for deeply died. He died honorably and saved thousands, but it still hurt that he was gone. I hope it can give you a similar measure of ease if you are mourning my loss.” Tech’s eyes look up to the camera lens again, and then the message ends, leaving Phee alone.

[harry-on-broadway]

Tying You To Me: Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Word Count: 4.8K || Series Masterlist || Rating: M

A/N: The final chapter is here!!! I’ll have more to say at the end, but thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has read along! 💕

***

May 2022

“So this is it,” Lorne said, looking over his desk at Quinn. “I knew this day would come but I didn’t think I’d still be around to see it.” He looked down at the resignation paperwork in front of him. “We’ve had a good run together, Quinn.”

Quinn nodded, eyes watering. She knew if she opened her mouth to speak, she’d cry. She’d made it five years without crying in Lorne’s office and she wasn’t about to start on her way out the door.

“You’re good at this, Quinn,” Lorne continued, a high compliment from a man who was not known for his effusive praise. “I hope that wherever life takes, you don’t forget that.”

Quinn nodded again. “Thank you for taking a chance on me, Lorne,” she squeaked, before clamping her mouth shut and dabbing at her eyes.

“We’ll push this morning’s meeting if you want a few minutes to collect yourself,” he said gently.

Quinn nodded a third time and exited the room.

She took the long way back to her office, knowing it was the only way to avoid the rest of the cast and staff in her emotional state. She still couldn’t believe this would be her last week on the show. 30 Rock had become her second home over the years and, even if she was taking on a new opportunity, a chance to mold a show into her own vision, it was still bittersweet saying goodbye to the place that made her who she was.

She closed the door to her office and picked up her iced coffee from her desk. Harry had surprised her that morning with coffee from one of her favorite spots, knowing that she’d need the pick-me-up. He was in town for his own milestone, the rollout of his new album, and despite Quinn’s protests, had centerted the first batch of appointments in New York to maximize their time together.

When she felt a bit more centered, she picked up her phone, drink, and notebook, and headed to the conference room where she’d spent countless Mondays meeting celebrities and laughing at sketches. She slid into a chair in the back corner as Lorne called the meeting to order. Quinn knew what was going to come next – Lorne was going to announce the names of all the departing cast members – Aidy, Pete, Kate – and Quinn’s own departure as well. She was fully aware that her news would be overshadowed by some of the show’s most famous faces leaving, but in a way, she was happy about that. She didn’t get into this business because she wanted the attention. She did it because she loved getting to make something she was proud of.

As expected there were shouts and cries and all sorts of emotions as the announcement was made. When Quinn’s own name was called she offered a little wave, and everyone made the appropriate “aww” sound, but turned their attention back to the main cast. Marcus was the lone exception, moving his chair to sit next to Quinn, taking her hand in his own, and squeezing as hard as he could.

“I know you probably couldn’t say anything, but you couldn’t give a guy more than a week’s notice?” he said, eyes glistening.

“I’ve been in denial that this was even happening,” Quinn said, sniffling.

Marcus wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “What am I going to do without you Quinn?”

“Oh, you’ll be fine.”

“No, I won’t! Someone offered to pick up my lunch the other day and they didn’t get the good orange soda.”

Quinn laughed wetly. “You’ll just have to train them better.”

When the meeting was over, Marcus followed Quinn back to her office where they sat on the couch together, checking items off of their respective to-do lists just like the old days.

“How are your parents feeling about this move?” Marcus asked.

“Eh, they wish I was staying a little closer to home, but they’ll get over it. They know how important this is to me and we’ll be able to FaceTime and message each other. And they’ll have a fun trip when they come to visit me once I’m settled.”

“I’m sure Harry’s happy about the move.”

“I think he is,” Quinn said slowly. “But I also think a small part of him feels like he can’t be happy since I’m the one that’s taking the risk and making the sacrifice, even though I’m doing it because I want to. He’s already talking about how we can change up decor schemes to make me feel welcome and how we can convert one room in the house into an office for me.”

Marcus grinned. “And to think, this all started with some green tea and a coatroom hand job.”

“Marcus!”

“What? It’s not like I’m going to mention that in the wedding toast, but I just think it’s funny.” He turned to look at Quinn. “I’m so happy for you, Quinn. About everything. Finding love, crushing a job you deserve to have. It’s so rare that good things actually happen to good people and you’re one of the very best.”

“You can’t make me cry this entire week, Marcus.”

“Just once more for the road.”

That night, Quinn came home to a half packed apartment and Harry, cooking dinner for her.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

“It went as expected. Marcus was the most upset and I only cried like three times.”

“I’m sure that count will increase by the end of the week.”

“Oh, absolutely.” Quinn dropped her bag by the door and walked into the kitchen wrapping her arms around Harry’s waist and pressing her face against his back. “I can’t believe it’s almost over,” she mumbled into his t-shirt.

“You’ve got what, like six more days?”

“Yeah.”

“It’ll be great,” Harry said, moving to add rice to the pot of boiling water. “I’m making chili. Your favorite.”

“Smells good,” Quinn said into his back. “How’d you have time to do all of this?”

“Today was a slow day. Tomorrow will be too. Wednesday is the day all hell breaks loose.”

“Stern?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s like the worst one,” Quinn said. “Rip off the bandaid and after that it’s just performing and listening parties and maybe some less misogynistic radio hits.”

“I’m really excited about Today,” Harry said, placing the pot on a cool burner, turning around to face Quinn. “I heard there’s a very important VIP coming.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “We offered her a backstage pass and everything.”

“First of all, a very important VIP is redundant. Second of all, if you keep this up, I’m not going.”

Thinking he was funny, Harry had had Jeffrey call Quinn a few weeks ago to invite her to his Plaza performance as a VIP.

“I don’t know why he’s making me do this either, Quinn,” Jeffrey had said, a touch of loving exasperation in his voice as he placed the call, with what Quinn was almost certain were Harry’s soft giggles in the background. “Just say yes so I can hang up.”

“You have to be there,” Harry said, spooning rice into the bowls. “You promised.”

“I said I would if I wasn’t busy.”

“And you’re not. You always say Thursday mornings are slow.”

“I’ll try my best to be there, babe.”

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Harry said, kissing her on the lips. He shoved a bowl in her hands. “Now eat.”

They ate dinner and watched their reality shows before Quinn suggested they head upstairs. In bed, she shimmied up to Harry’s side as he smoothed his hand up and down her back.

“Settled?” he asked when she stopped moving, limbs twisted around his body.

“Yes,” she murmured, sighing contentedly. Quinn hadn’t been sleeping well the past couple of weeks, the combined stress of work and the impending move causing her mind to run in circles through the night, but the feeling of Harry’s weight against her and his heartbeat in her ear had her easily drifting off. When she awoke the next morning, there was a tumbler of coffee on her nightstand and she could hear Harry downstairs, in the kitchen once again.

“Morning!” he called cheerily, as Quinn carefully navigated down the stairs after dressing for work.

“You’re awfully chipper,” she said.

“Big week, innit?” He put a plate for her on the table. “Lots to be excited about. Can’t wait to wake up and make you breakfast in the morning.”

“How are you such a morning person?”

“I believe what you meant to say is ‘Thank you for breakfast, Harry.’”

In a way, it was weird to head to work that week. Mentally, it felt like senior spring after she’d finished her exams and just had to show up to class for credit. But in reality, she knew she still had work to do. But in between the typically weekly tasks, she was fielding visits from everyone in the building, wishing her well, wanting to know when she was leaving, and wondering if they could buy her a cup of coffee.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this caffeinated,” Quinn said later that night when she was back in bed with Harry.

She got up early with him on Thursday despite Harry’s pleas that she stay in bed and get some rest ahead of his mini concert.

“You said you wanted me to come with you so now you’re stuck with me,” Quinn said stubbornly as she snapped the lid on a thermos and handed it to Harry. “Coffee?” she asked, picking up her own cup.

It was wet and drizzly when they pulled up the 30 Rock several hours before performance time, but the sidewalks were packed with fans in windbreakers and plastic ponchos.

“How long have they been out there?” Harry asked quietly, taking in the crowd through the tinted windows.

“I think they started lining up on Monday?” Quinn said, trying to think. “Yeah, Monday because Marcus said people were cracking jokes about the crowd on the way to dinner.”

Harry’s cheeks turned red. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

Quinn looked at him. “You don’t need to apologize. It was stuff along the lines of ‘Oh, Harry’s here.’ Nothing bad.” She rubbed his leg. “You’re good.”

“I just – I never want to inconvenience anyone. And I know it’s a lot of work on security and people that work here. And the fact that they’re sleeping outside. It’s just a lot.”

“You’re never going to get used to it are you? That you’re an extremely desirable man who is just getting more desirable?”

“Stop it.” Harry’s cheeks reddened even more.

“I know it’s a lot to think about H, but you mean so much to so many people and that number is just going to grow even more.” Quinn looked at Harry as he continued to look out the window. He seemed so small and gentle, his baggy sweats hiding not only the ripped body he’d developed over the past year but the outgoing stage persona that would suddenly appear when he stepped onstage. “I know you don’t want to think about it, but you’re on the precipice of something life-changing.”

Harry plucked his lip as he slowly nodded. “I know. Scares me a little if I’m being honest.”

Quinn squeezed his hand. “Well, you don’t have to think about that now. Just focus on this morning and take it one moment at a time. And I’m going to be there right next to you.”

When the car pulled up outside the building, they were escorted inside and greeted by Reggie, one of the security guards.

“Quinn! Didn’t think you’d be back so soon,” he laughed. He’d been stationed at the desk when she’d left work just a few hours earlier.

“Well, I’m apparently a VIP for this guy’s show,” she said, gesturing to Harry as Reggie waved them through the gate. “So it’s a bright and early start for me.”

She’d considered heading up to her office while Harry prepped in his dressing room, but when she’d suggested it, Harry had put up a fight, which was how she found herself sitting on a couch in the corner nursing a third cup of coffee while she scrolled through her phone. The band and the rest of Harry’s team flowed in and out of the room, offering Quinn hellos and chatting when they had a few minutes to spare.

NBC employees were also making a point to stop by, many of them looking for a moment with Harry to gain some credibility with their kids, nieces, and nephews. A few of them even did a double take when they saw Quinn, recognizing her from around the building and trying to calculate why she was there.

Harry eventually retreated deeper inside the room to change for his soundcheck and when he emerged in a two piece denim number, Quinn was speechless.

“This should come home with us. Tonight,” she whispered to him as they left the room.

She hung back with Tommy and Jeff while Harry and the band rehearsed, only to be shuffled inside a half hour later to dry off and prepare for another wardrobe change. When it was time for the actual show to start, she returned to her spot outside, situated under an overhang that provided just enough cover to shield her from the rain. She watched as Harry chatted with the hosts, waved to fans, and was his usual charming self. Concerts were usually limited to three songs, but they’d given Harry a full half-hour and he squeezed in as much as he could, wrapping right as Quinn was expected upstairs.

“I have to head up to my office,” she whispered to Jeff. She caught Harry’s eye and waved from across the crowd, blowing him a kiss for good measure. He caught it and held it to his heart as she rolled her eyes.

Upstairs, she fetched herself another cup of coffee and booted up her computer. This week had been a weird mix of business as usual, handling offboarding tasks and letting her professional contacts know she was moving on, and completing onboarding items for the new job, all while figuring visas and other logistics.

She was getting ready to send another email, when a Starbucks cup was placed on her desk. She looked up and saw Harry standing there, sweats back on and hair damp from the rain.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Was feeling sentimental so I brought you some green tea for old times sake.” He dug in his hoodie pocket. “And some Skittles too. Did you know that they brought the lime flavor back? You don’t even have to take the green ones out anymore!”

Quinn laughed. “Thank you, I think? Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“Yes, but I told Jeffrey I wanted to play hide and seek, so we have probably five minutes until he comes up here.”

“Jeff is a saint for putting up with you.”

Harry grinned. “He is. But I just wanted to check in on you and thank you for coming with me this morning. And for talking me down this morning. This is a big week for you too and I just feel really lucky that I have a partner who will take the time to calm me down and support me even when she’s going through it herself.”

“Goddammit, I said I wasn’t going to cry today,” Quinn said, laughing wetly as she rubbed at her eyes.

Harry knelt down next to her, eyes solemn. “You should get one of those signs that lets everyone know the number of days since your last work cry.”

“You are such an ass,” Quinn said, pushing his shoulder as he attempted to wrap his arms around her. She spoke again once he’d nestled against her. “I do have something to tell you though.”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t stand green tea.”

Harry snorted against her shoulder where he’d rested his head. “I’ll give it to Mitch. Just like the old days.”

“There you are!” A slightly out of breath Jeffrey was standing in the doorway. “We have a soundcheck on Long Island in an hour. Let’s go.”

Harry looked at Quinn pitifully. “Go!” Quinn said. “I’ll see you tonight. Below Deck and pizza.”

“It’s a date.” Harry pecked her on the lips and stood. “OK, Jeffrey. I’m all yours.”

“Great,” Jeff said, sighing. “See you later, Quinn.”

***

As Thursday faded into Friday, Quinn found herself walking home in the dark, listening to Harry’s new album. Even though Harry offered to give her an early listen, just like last time, she’d turned him down, wanting to experience the album for the first time with the rest of the world. By the time she walked through the door, coming home to Harry and some pizza, she’d listened to it start to finish.

She hadn’t expected to have such an emotional reaction to the tracks, but listening to them was a surreal experience. The album was comfort food, yet also a joyous celebration. You could imagine yourself listening to it while processing a break up on the most autumnal of days but also crank it up loud while driving with the windows down in the middle of summer. Cheery melodies concealed heartbreaking lyrics and it was clear that Harry had poured every ounce of himself into the songs.

Quinn knew she’d be questioned in the coming days about which ones were about her. She had her own sneaking suspicions based on a lyric here and a phrase there, but she never outright asked Harry. He’d volunteered bits and pieces over the years they’d been together, but as she listened, she wasn’t focused on the bits of her that had made it into the album. What mattered was that this was a career-defining moment for Harry. She’d told him earlier that he was on the edge of something big, but hearing this cemented it.

“Hey,” Harry said, interrupting her inner monologue. “I can –”

Quinn cut him off with a kiss. “This is going to do big things for you, H.”

Harry didn’t have to ask what she was talking about. He just buried his face in the crook of her neck and stood there, holding her tight. He didn’t need to say anything for Quinn to know what he was feeling.

“Thanks,” he mumbled at last. “It’s weird for it to be out in the world now.”

“But everyone’s going to love it.” Harry licked his lips and nodded, and Quinn could sense that he was becoming uncomfortable with the praise. “Let’s eat,” she said, changing the subject and pushing him towards the counter. “I’m hungry.”

She left Harry asleep in the apartment to head to work a few hours later. He had interviews scheduled throughout the morning and some other press obligations before he headed out to Long Island later that day. Quinn was planning to meet him out there for the show that evening.

At the SNL offices, she spent most of the day delegating tasks to interns and other members of the crew, finally coming to terms with the fact that they’d have to take over everything she’d been doing since 2017. She had expected to need to give them a lot of guidance, but found that they picked up the tasks quickly. A part of her was a little upset. She almost wanted them to fail to prove how integral she was to the success of the show, but their quick learning just illustrated what she already knew: the show had run for years without her and would continue to do so in her absence.

After being shooed away by various people, she retreated to her office to begin packing, a task she had been avoiding all week. She made a pile of papers to give to leave with department heads and another pile of junk that would need to be disposed of. She pulled some mementos from the walls and her desk drawers to give to Marcus and then it was time to head to the concert.

She collected her backstage pass from security and ducked into Harry’s dressing room to give him a quick hello and kiss before meeting Tommy in the back of the pit. Harry’s concerts were always buzzing with energy but with the crew for the livestream and other VIPs around, it felt like it had been turned up several notches.

As she watched Harry take the stage and soak in the adoration of the crowd, she felt so in the moment, all of the stress and emotions of the week leaving her head. Seeing him dance around the stage, tell the stories about the songs, and share so much of himself had her looking toward the future she was going to share with him. The next week when she’d officially move into his house, the next month when she’d watch him play Wembley, the next year when she’d be running her own comedy show. It filled her joy.

She knew Harry would want to be alone after the show, so she sent him a text saying she’d see him back at the apartment, catching the train back to the city to wrap up whatever loose ends were remaining ahead of her last live show in New York and when she finally returned to her apartment Harry was asleep in bed. Based on the lights that were still on and the book that was open next to him, he’d tried, but failed, to stay up for her. Quinn turned the light out and placed the novel on the nightstand before quietly brushing her teeth, pulling on her pajamas and climbing into the bed next to him.

He was still sleeping peacefully when she headed out for her final day of work at 30 Rock. When she arrived at the building, Quinn went straight to the Starbucks in the concourse, celebrating one last drink at the coffee shop she’d grown to know so well.

When she got to the eighth floor and started walking down the hall, she was hit with a wave of sadness and nostalgia. Everyone was emotional – it felt like the last day of school, closing night of a play, and a breakup all in one – but something about the feelings Quinn was feeling felt…different. This show had changed her life in so many ways and this time tomorrow, it would be over.

Her phone buzzed with a text from Harry when she sat down. Shit. I can’t believe I slept that long.

No worries, she replied. You needed your rest.

Still OK if I show up around 8?

Yeah! I’ll be here.

Despite her protests, Harry had requested to be in the studio that night to celebrate Quinn’s last show. She said it was unnecessary – it wasn’t like she was performing – but he wouldn’t have it any other way. So right before dress was starting, she collected him from security at the front desk and brought him up to her office.

He waited patiently until rehearsal was over, and when the live show was about to begin, Quinn fetched him and brought him to the spectator section. After the show’s sketches were finalized, Lorne and the other producers had told Quinn to relax and enjoy the show that night, so she sandwiched herself in between Harry and Marcus and tried to watch the show as just a fan for the first time in five years.

She was fine for the first half of the show, feeling sentimental during Kate’s final Close Encounters sketch and laughing when Natasha cracked a joke about Harry not hosting, but she started to feel emotions brewing after Update was finished. The minutes were ticking down and she wasn’t ready to say goodbye. The tears came during the final sketch of the night and while she thought she was crying silently, the tears didn’t go unnoticed, as Marcus held her hand as tightly as he could while Harry wrapped his arm around her and pressed his lips to her temple.

She cried through bows and continued to cry as she and Harry walked down the hall back to her office. Harry offered her a tissue and a hug, trying his best to make her feel better. When Quinn had collected herself, they made their way to the Rainbow Room where the official afterparty was taking place.

Harry attracted his share of attention – everyone wanted to say hi to him – but Quinn also had a revolving parade of well wishers. Everyone was happily tipsy and ready to share memories and offer words of wisdom. About one hour and a glass of champagne later, Quinn started to get that bittersweet feeling again. Harry picked up on her change in mood and pulled her off to the side.

“I want to go down to my office for a minute,” Quinn said without prompting. “I just need to get away from all of this and I still have some stuff I need to pack.”

Harry followed Quinn to the elevator and they rode down in silence to the eighth floor, where Quinn unlocked her office. It was mostly empty at this point. Only photos and other mementos remained.

“I think I left the worst part for last,” she said, grimacing at the more than one hundred pictures that were tacked to the wall.

“Well you do have help,” Harry said, moving to the wall. “I’ll start at the top and we can meet in the middle.

Quinn nodded in agreement and began pulling down photos from this season, placing them into a box that already contained notes and other papers that would be coming to London with her. Harry asked questions and fished for stories he’d never heard as they worked, but paused when he got to the picture of them from his week as host.

“We do make a good team,” he said quietly, more to himself than Quinn. She wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned into him. “I came here to play two songs and never thought I’d find you.”

“I’m glad you did though.”

“Me too.”

When the walls were empty, Quinn sighed. Harry, ready for more tears, moved closer to her, ready to offer comfort. “I think I’m all cried out, believe it or not,” Quinn said. “I’m just exhausted now.”

“Do you want to sit here for a little longer? Then we can head back up?”

“No,” Quinn replied, shaking her head. “Let’s just go to bed.”

Harry held the box in one hand and used the other to hold Quinn’s.

The night air was perfect – warm enough, but lacking the humidity that was sure to arrive in a couple of weeks. As they slowly made their way to Quinn’s building, they chatted about mundane things…when they should leave for the airport, what should go in the final boxes Quinn was sending, if they should grab snacks before the flight. At home, Quinn threw some more of her things into a box before calling it a night and going to brush her teeth. As she crawled into bed next to Harry, her exhaustion faded, replaced by a rush of excitement for what tomorrow held.

Harry was fast asleep next to her, arms linked around hers as he held her close. She smiled to herself. She couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life like this.  

***

Sunday was anything but restful. Between finishing packing and attending her farewell brunch, Quinn hardly had a moment to rest as the minutes to her departure ticked down until it finally arrived.

“All set?” Harry poked his head into Quinn’s now-empty bedroom. She sold or donated most of her furniture, storing just a few pieces at her parents’ place, and over the past few weeks, she’d slowly pulled the art and photos from the walls, the books from her shelves, and the clothes from her closet, deciding what items would be shipped to London. She’d taped the final box shut that morning, and it was probably starting its journey across the pond as they stood there.

“Yeah,” she said softly.

“It’s OK if you need a minute.” She felt Harry come behind her and envelope her in his arms, resting his chin on her head. “We’ve had some good times here. Some rough ones, too, but I much prefer the good ones.”

“Even though I’ve spent like this entire week crying, I feel like it’s finally hitting me just now. That I’m leaving this city that has so much of my – and our – history. It’s a lot more emotional than I thought it would be.”

“That’s OK. You are allowed to feel things, you know,” Harry whispered against her ear.  

“Thinking back about all these years…” she trailed off. “I feel bad saying this since you never seemed to give up on us, but I truly did not think we’d be standing here, talking about moving in together. About spending our lives together. But I’m so fucking happy we are.” She turned around in Harry’s arms to look at him and saw his eyes were also shining with moisture.

“I love you, Agent Q,” he said. “And I always will.”

Quinn hugged him tight, and pressed a long lingering kiss to his lips before pulling away.

“Come on, H. Let’s go home.”

***

A/N continued: Writing has always been a huge part of my personal and professional life, but I really started to have a difficult relationship with it a few years ago. Lack of confidence combined with major burnout was really impacting me and I was really beginning to question if writing was something I was meant to do. Then, last fall, I decided to write a fic for fun to see if it could get me out of my funk…and it did. I had such a great time that I decided to write another – this story. What I thought would just be a fun exercise became so much more as I’ve been able to connect with people and make friends on Tumblr in a new way. I know fandom has been tough recently, but fic has been such a bright spot in all of the turmoil and I’m glad it brought us all together.

I want to thank @sunnyville36 for not only making the banner for this series but also letting me ramble about plot points to her over text, FaceTime, and once during a long car ride,  @hslllot @harrysblackcoat @oh-honey-styles and @andwhenshesays for hyping me up each week and being the best cheerleaders, and @kahluamystery97, @be-with-me-so-happily, @sweetwanderlust05, @last-saturday-night and so many others for reblogging and leaving messages after each chapter. Little things like that mean the world to creators so take this as a sign to send your favorite writer some love.

Most of all, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading. I can’t wait to share more writing soon. 🫶🏻💕

talk to me! || story inspo 

taglist: @rivercran @daydreaming-laur @oh-honey-styles @nevertoooldtodancelikeamaniac @tbslhrry @andwhenshesays @haute-romance-quotidienne @hslllot @luvonstyles @woody32271 @ambee789 @very-berry-harry @last-saturday-night​ @confusedbansheee​ @kakaym​ @daphnesutton​ @bableliketable​ @lauloupi​ @kkrenae​ @sing-me-a-song-harry​ @soup-sex-and-sun-salutations @sweetwanderlust05​ @deepestsweetsarbiter​ @kahluamystery97​ @thurhomish​ @honeybluebirds @daydreamingofmatilda​ @indierockgirrl​ @be-with-me-so-happily​ @a-strange-familiar​ @mleestiles​ @theekyliepage​ @b-reads-things​ @behindmygreyeyes 

[honeybellexox]

Hi guys! So, I’m finally posting the first chapter to my story, it’s my first story in years and I’m not the best writer so I apologise in advance if it’s a bit messy; I’ve gotten half way through the story but had a little hiccup as a chapter got erased/lost so I’ve been rewriting that from memory and it’s incredibly tedious! I would like to personally thank my friend @jalebi-weds-bluetooth who has not only encouraged me to write this story but has read it, given me guidance and criticism to revisit chapters and basically, kept my head screwed on! So I’ll be dedicating this story to Jalebi! 🥰. I hope you enjoy the first chapter :)

(aahhhh, I’m so nervous!!🙈🙈🙈)

Description/Blurb

What if Khushi never attempted to commit suicide? What if the marriage truth hadn’t been revealed? What if Arnav had left for London? What if the kidnapping never took place?

And what if Arnav has completely changed after his return? Will Khushi be able to unravel the truth behind this sudden and mysterious change or will she loose herself in the process?

The Unraveling

Chapter 1

Sunlight beamed brightly, lighting up the Raizada household in a cheery golden glow. This morning was unlike any other; the sun was shining brighter, the birds were chirping louder and the Raizada’s beloved ‘Chote’ was due to arrive any minute from his business trip in London. There was a buzz around the home as the Raizada women busily prepared for his arrival. His wife, however, would be found in the kitchen, solemnly frying batches of sugar free jalebi.

It had been days since Khushi had last seen him, last heard his voice. He had refused to answer her many phone calls, left all of her messages on read and whenever anyone would hand her the phone; he would abruptly cut the call ,without even a goodbye. She bit her lip as her mind reeled back to the events of the day he had left, she had begged and pleaded for him to stay but all her of pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

When Khushi had first heard of his business trip, it was as if someone had punched her in the stomach, hard. She didn’t quite understand where this feeling had been born from. Something had just snapped inside of her that day and before she knew it, she was already at the airport, she attempted to appeal to anything inside of him, that may have held a slither of regard for her. Khushi, now knew, that ‘something’ didn’t exist.

It had felt simply unholy for him to depart without having offered her any semblance of closure. The aftermath of their last fight had started to mutate into an unpleasant mix of animosity and apathy, mostly coming from Arnav’s side.

Oh, they had fought in the past, quite viciously, more times than she could even count but at the end of each fight there had been some sort of truce. A truce that was as legitimate as a child playing pretend but those pseudo-resolutions had always offered a little bit of consolation to Khushi’s heart, that tiny spark of hope was the only thing that helped her get through the day. The only thing that she had left to latch on to.

So when he had left, in the manner that he did, she had been fully prepared to follow him.

Nani and Anjali had wholeheartedly agreed to send her to London, concerned for her wellbeing but it was too late, she had received his message loud and clear, he didn’t want anything to do with her. She could easily imagine him abandoning her in London, to fend for herself. It wasn’t at all hard to believe, he had quite the track record of forcibly removing her from his car in random locations and this time he had thrown her to the wolves …or more aptly a snake.

Bile began to rise in her throat, as she thought of these last few days which had felt like an eternity in hell. Shyam had become even bolder in his wicked pursuit. Each night she would lay awake, keeping close watch of the door. The locks did nothing to keep her fear at bay. A fear that he would sneak into her bedroom, in the middle of the night. It had driven her to insanity. Khushi felt compelled to check the locks on the door, at least twice each night, just to see if she had 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥 locked them properly. However, sleep was still nowhere to be found. Locks couldn’t keep that man out, no, Shyam would always find a way.

Khushi had always possessed a carefree spirit, from the day she was born, she had been blessed with a sense of obliviousness that allowed her to view the world as a glass half full. So it would come as no surprise, that she was Ill-equipped to deal with this new found anxiety, Arnav was no walk in the park but still, even at his worst, not for one moment, had Khushi ever felt raw, unadulterated peril. This was a feeling that she was experiencing for the very first time.

Her lack of sleep had not gone unnoticed. Payal, Anjali and Nani had stuck to Khushi like glue as her depression deepened, each day they became more innovative in their attempts to cheer her up, but alas nothing had worked. Nani had sweetly offered to sleep with Khushi at night, which Khushi had gratefully accepted but after the second night, the weight of guilt had settled over Khushi’s being, as Nani hadn’t slept comfortably on Arnav’s bed and Khushi’s tossing and turning had certainly not helped. Not once had Nani complained but her fatigue was clearly writtenall over her face so Khushi did what she did best, she mustered up the brightest smile and insisted she was fine. Nani hadn’t been completely convinced but had respected Khushi’s choice anyway.

Suddenly, the the main hall was full of merry and hubbub, the noise had travelled all the way to the kitchen, catching Khushi’s attention and putting an end to her rumination. All at once, her heart began to violently hammer, it was so strong that she feared her ribcage would break. It could only mean one thing. He was home.

She swiftly removed the last piece of jalebi from the hot oil, and placed it on top of the glistening, golden pile that she had made for over half an hour ago. The other women in the house had simply smiled at her eccentricity, passing it off as anxiety around her husband’s return.

They were right. She was anxious and today, her anxiety was solely centered around the man named Arnav Singh Raizada.

Taking a deep breath, Khushi willed herself toward the main hall, the loudness of the Raizada’s did nothing to drown out the noise of her beating heart.

“Khushi bitiya! Come! Look, your Arnavji is finally here!’’Nani called out teasingly, as she shared a knowing smile with Anjali.

Khushi slowly stepped forward, her eyes glued to the floor. She could already feel the heat of his gaze raking over her body, she felt a tingly sensation spread in her stomach as she clutched onto her dupatta tightly.

She didn’t have to look at him to feel his commanding presence, he was like gravity, reeling everyone and everything towards him. She used to deeply admire this quality in him, finding refuge in his silent strength but today, she felt burdened by it.

Khushi braced herself as her eyes slowly travelled from the floor to where he stood, her eyes immediately begin to drink him in, making note of every detail and every change that may have occurred in the last week and a half.

Arnav stood tall and stern as he usually did, wearing a pristine charcoal coloured suit. His hair had grown slightly but were neatly combed in place. He hadn’t bothered to shave the stubble, that shadowed the lower half of his face. His mouth was set in a firm line,as his heavy gaze pierced through her soul. Khushi fiddled with her dupatta, suddenly feeling self conscious under his tiger-like gaze.

She knew she wasn’t a pretty sight to behold, not just this particular morning but over the past few days, something had changed within her. She found no joy in her sparkling earrings, her jingling bangles or even her brightly coloured dresses instead she had donned a rather plain, light peach dress. She had once again started wearing her hair in a simple braid but this time, without the pretty clips and pom-poms in it, it felt like too much of an effort nowadays. Besides, who would she dress up for? Shyam? Khushi suppressed a shudder at the invasive thought.

Without warning, Arnav strode across the room and pulled her into a crushing hug. Khushi froze. Time itself had seemed stopped. Nobody else existed, the world becoming a distant blur.

Almost immediately, all of her senses were ensnared by him and only him.

Khushi first felt his warmth bleed into her body, it was enough to melt away all of the resistance that had been brewing inside of her, for days. She slipped into his embrace with a fluttering heart.

Although Arnav had his arms securely wrapped around her lithe frame, Khushi secretly wished he would squeeze her even tighter.

As she closed her eyes, she inhaled his deeply sensual, earthy scent. She couldn’t name what it was exactly, it was completely alien to her but just a whiff of it could make her feel heady…it was distinctly masculine, distinctly Arnav.

His chin was resting on the top of her head as his hand started to wander up and down her back, a soft sigh escaped her mouth, as her fingers dug even deeper into his back.

Someone clearing their throat was all it took for her to crash back down to earth. Khushi hastily took a step back as reality began to settle in again. Arnav, however remained planted to his spot, seemingly unbothered .

Khushi spared a glance at the Raizada women, who were bubbling with mischief and shyness; Nani was smiling softly at the ‘loving’ couple, as Anjali attempted to hide a giggle and Payal bashfully averted her eyes. Manorma, however, rolled hers.

‘Hello, hi, bye bye …Arnav bitwa, did you bring back a ‘do not disturb’ sign from London? it looks like you and Phatti saree needs…’ Manorma quipped, dramatically. This time no one attempted to hide any giggles. Khushi’s blush deepened.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Shyam. His face had contorted into a rather ugly expression and his eyes seethed with unbridled jealousy. Her stomach churned as she shifted uncomfortably behind Arnav, in an attempt to shield herself from Shyam’s venomous gaze. She felt Arnav stiffen, she reckoned it was due to her close proximity, he must be annoyed by it. The hug was just a facade after all…she just got a little caught up in the moment, but it won’t happen again.

Not knowing what else to do, Khushi politely excused herself. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her as she hurried up the stairs that led to their bedroom.

[midnight-sun-01]

The Price of Truth

Rating: 18+ minors, this ain’t it for you, get out of here

Pairing: OC x Crosshair

Warnings: these apply to the entire work and will not appear in each chapter: alcohol use, unprotected sex, violence, canon-typical gore, swearing, let me know if I missed anything

Wordcount: 4476

Summary: We finally get down to some action!! There's kind of a lot going on in this chapter. Also, action is hard for me to write, so it took me awhile, sorry about that!

Sorry if the formatting is weird, my computer is old so I had to get creative with posting this.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11

Poppy tossed and turned on her small bunk. Hunter was right; Wrecker’s snoring was incredible. She wondered how anyone in a 5-mile radius of his sleeping body ever got any kind of rest. How did the Bad Batch operate so effectively without sleep? Maybe you get used to it she thought, hoping, rather than believing it to be true. It wasn’t just the decibel level affecting her, however. The room was small, and while it was cold, she was missing the light breeze from her fan she normally slept with. The entire ship was hard, and the slightest noises echoed in a way her apartment didn’t. She had the lights of hyperspace flashing past reminding her of the endless light back on Coruscant. The similarity did not comfort her.

She turned over, picking at a piece of loose skin on her finger, and thinking of painful memories, of goodbyes that were too hasty-a life put on hold. Her friends had messaged her back, telling her they loved her and would miss her and to be safe. They had understood the job. Yet she still saw messages roll in of groups making plans for next weekend, people talking about how much fun they had together at dinner. She knew they had left her in their threads to make sure she didn’t feel left out, but the thought actually made her desperately lonely. Life went on exactly the same, even though she was no longer there. It was no one’s fault, but Poppy could not ignore the weight on her chest that pulled her downward. Tears pricked at her eyes but she pushed them away, not willing to give into something that felt like it could pull her underneath so easily. Willing her mind to quiet, she turned over.

Minutes later, or so it felt to her, a sharp rap on the door startled her out of a sleep she had not remembered falling into. Disoriented, she tried to make sense of the commanding voice on the other side of the door.

“Briefing in 10 minutes. We need to go over the mission before we arrive,” said Hunter.

“Okay, be right out,” she managed to croak, in a voice she hoped sounded reasonable, and heard Hunter’s footsteps recede.

She sat up, her entire body aching, and thought longingly of yesterday morning, when she had been in her own bed and had her house shoes. Trying to push those longing thoughts of comfort out of her head, she found a black shirt and pair of pants she could move easily in, pulled her unruly hair back into a braid, and pushed herself out her door before she had the chance to think too much about her new life.

“You look terrible,” were the tall sniper’s first words to her when she joined the rest of the group in the cockpit.

“Cross, really?” Hunter said as Poppy merely glared in his direction, still not awake enough to form a coherent sentence.

“Well, she does,” he said bluntly.

“You do look rather unrested,” stated Tech, glancing up from his data pad and peering at the dark circles under her eyes.

“I’m fine, just took me awhile to fall asleep last night,” Poppy said, trying to deflect any further conversation that brought attention to how exhausted she felt.

“Right, well, let’s get started with the briefing, and if we make it fast you may have time for a cat nap before we get into the thick of things,” said Hunter, moving forward and pulling up a holo in front of him displaying a map. “The mission is simple. We’re going to Felucia. Troops there are overwhelmed, and the Republic is pulling all forces out to regroup. A battalion of regs was separated and is caught in two different locations. Their Jedi general is going in to extract one half of the battalion, and our job is to go in and extract the other half. They’re pinned down pretty badly and taking extremely heavy fire from all sides, so it's going to be a smash and grab.”

While Hunter had been talking, Poppy saw Crosshair walk silently to the corner of the cockpit and heard the clink of a glass. She didn’t think anything of it until he was standing next to her, not looking at her, with his arm outstretched, and the smell of fresh caf hit her nose. She looked up at the sharp-featured face, but it was unreadable.

“Thank you,” she murmured, not wanting to interrupt the briefing.

“Don’t mention it. If one of us isn’t fully alert during this people are likely to get hurt,” he responded in a hushed tone.

She turned back to give the briefing her full attention, and thought she caught Tech’s eyes watching them behind his goggles, but they flicked back to Hunter so quickly she couldn’t be sure.

“What we’re going to have to do here is use the advantage that the terrain gives us. The group of regs we need to extract is in a bunker at the bottom of a hill, and Seppies are firing down at them from above. We need to sneak behind their lines, destroy the droid troops, and buy enough time for an air evacuation to come in,” Hunter explained.

“Felucia is full of various plants, fungi, and swamps, according to the database,” Tech stated without even bothering to look up from his holo. “While it is difficult terrain to move through, this might give us the tactical advantage we need to be able to slip through behind the droids unnoticed.”

“That’s exactly what we’re counting on here,” agreed Hunter. “We’ll drop in here,” Hunter gestured to a region of the holo map that looked thickly forested, “about 3 klicks north of where scouts tell us the primary unit of separatist forces are grouped. We’ll hike down, ambush them from behind, and obliterate the main force. After that, we should be able to break through the terrain into the base where the targets are pinned down. We’ll have air evac waiting for us after we clear the droids. Any questions?”             “Yes, I have a few,” spoke Poppy, and she felt all their eyes on her. “I’m sorry, but this seems a bit simple and trivial for a unit as advanced and successful as yours. Couldn’t air support just take out all the droids on the ground?”

“Felucia is overgrown with vegetation and extremely challenging to maneuver through for both ships and people. The ships available can’t get low enough to target the droids without risking the lives of the clones stuck in that bunker, and they have anti-aircraft weapons we’ll have to take out on the ground” Hunter explained. “Intelligence also suggests there is a tactical droid leading the charge, which is why Republic forces were routed so easily this round. Tactical droids have a harder time predicting our unit’s plans, so we have the advantage there. We can also expect several sniper droids to be in the mix and scattered higher up on the hills surrounding the bunker, so Crosshair,” Hunter turned to look at him, “it’ll be your first priority taking care of those while we go in behind the rest of the droids.”

“No problem,” Crosshair answered lazily, leaning against the counter, chewing a toothpick, and looking unconcerned.

“Will I get to blow something up?” Wrecker demanded.

“Yes, Wrecker, I’m going to need you to blow plenty of things up,” Hunter smiled lightly. “We’ll only need stealth for the first part of the approach.”             “Good! I hate stealth missions.”

“Where would you like me to be during this?” Poppy asked Hunter directly.

“Well, this mission is going to be dangerous. Not only do you have the certainty that we will all get shot at, but the terrain is not going to be easy to pass through,” Hunter said, not quite meeting her eyes.

“I can make it through that terrain,” Poppy said confidently, and without hesitation, standing up straight. “My job is to document this. I need to know where I will be in the way least so that I can do my job effectively.”

Hunter still looked slightly uncertain, so Poppy cut the pretense.

“Where would Ric be? With the main group or with Crosshair?”

Hunter took a deep breath, and then answered fairly, “Ric would be wherever he could best document the action, which in this case, is going to be with the main group.”

“Great, then that’s where I’ll be as well. What gear do I need?”

20 minutes later Poppy had strapped on the boots that Fox had convinced her to buy, a brown parka, a tiny, pinhole camera about the size of a pencil eraser pinned to the front of her parka, and a small blaster strapped to her waist. Poppy’s job was to document, but it would have been foolish not to bring the blaster into an active combat zone. Battle droids were not capable of feeling mercy, and would certainly not hesitate to kill anyone they thought could be working with clone troopers.

Sitting in the cramped cargo hold with the members of Clone Force 99, except Tech who was piloting their final approach, she could feel Crosshair’s eyes on her where he stood across from her. She tried to ignore it and focus on everything she had learned during previous field assignments, but after several minutes, she found it too distracting.

“Do you have something to ask me?” Poppy questioned, as she looked him full in the face.

He shifted the toothpick in his mouth to the side and said, “You don’t look shiny at all.”

She couldn’t quite tell from his tone whether this was supposed to be a surprise to him or convey disapproval, but Wrecker and Hunter stopped their quiet, easy conversation next to them and watched warily.

“That wasn’t a question,” Poppy stated. “Is that a bad thing? Am I supposed to look like a tourist out here with you?”

“No,” Crosshair murmured in his gravelly voice, “But I do wonder how a civilian managed to get gear that would make them look like they fit in so well with a clone detachment.”

“I had help,” Poppy admitted. “A friend of mine, another clone, took the morning off his normal job duties to help me pick what would be useful.”

Crosshair shifted slightly where he stood. “Must be quite a friend,” he added a delicate stress on the last word, leaving no doubt in her mind what the implication was.

Poppy didn’t even bother to hide her eye roll as she shook her head, looking away.

“Still,” he persisted, “it must have been an important clone to have the authority to take time off of job duties. Normal clones aren’t allowed to do that.”

“If you must know, it was Commander Fox,” she said turning back to look at him. “My assignment required I work closely with the Coruscant Guard, so we got to know each other quite well. He’s been a good friend to me for a few years now.”

 “You know Fox?” asked Hunter, jumping into the conversation unexpectedly. Poppy nodded. “We’ve worked with him on a few covert operations on Coruscant in the past. I’m surprised we’ve never crossed paths with you before now. Fox is a good man,” Hunter said approvingly of the friendship.

Crosshair said nothing, but continued to watch Poppy out of the corner of his eye, chewing his toothpick moodily.

“Making the final descent into the atmosphere,” came Tech’s voice over the ship’s intercom. “Hold on, this could get rough.”

“When does it not?!” Wrecker asked, laughing loudly, just as the ship began to jump up and down.

Lights flickered, and she felt the metal shudder as the sound of a shell exploding on the other side of the hull made her palms break out in sweat. She gripped the sides of her seat, praying Tech’s exceptional mind could accurately calculate the best way through the explosions now rocking the ship from side to side. The lights cut fully off now, and in the few seconds of pitch black before the red emergency lights activated, she could only hear the pounding of her heart in her ears. Clutching her seat so tightly her fingers were growing numb, she squeezed her eyes shut, and focused on controlling her breathing as the ship rocked around her. Then, just when she thought things were fully out of control, she felt the ship finally level out, and begin to glide smoothly through the air. She released a breath she had not realized she had been holding as they touched down lightly on the ground.

“Did you have fun?” Crosshair’s smirking voice cut through the silence, and she saw him with his helmet on already standing ready next to the ramp, looking completely unruffled.

"I enjoyed the turbulence more than our conversation," Poppy answered, as Wrecker yelled, “That one wasn’t bad at all! We didn’t even get hit once!”

“Alright, everyone, let’s focus,” came Hunter’s professional, commanding voice. “We’re here for a job, not for fun, so let’s get in and get this done.”

The lights powered down. The members of the bad batch became more silent than she had ever witnessed, pulling on their helmets. The ramp off the ship opened. Poppy’s stomach clenched.

A thick fog obscured everything further than a few feet away from her. She walked down the ramp behind Tech, trying to keep her eyes fixed on his back, while she could feel more than hear Crosshair moving silently behind her.

 As she stepped off the ramp, her feet sank into inches of stagnant, swampy water. She inwardly thanked Fox for convincing her to buy those boots, because even though she could feel herself standing in thick mud below a layer of moss-filled water, her feet were not totally soaked through.

She gathered around Hunter with the rest of the batch, and he motioned forward twice with two fingers extended, then made a closed fist, and finally looked at Crosshair and pointed off to the right. The batchers all silently nodded and fell into line, with Hunter leading the group, Wrecker behind him, Tech following Wrecker, Poppy’s eyes on Tech’s back, and Crosshair moving silently at the end of the line.

They moved nearly silently, scanning from side to side, with their weapons drawn and ready. The only sound was the steady slosh slosh slosh of their cautious march through the swamp. The fog was so thick that objects seemed to loom suddenly out at her with no warning, making it difficult to move with any kind of speed or agility.

Poppy had been worried about being physically able to keep up with the batch, especially since they were all so much taller than her, but she found that if she focused on the rhythm of their boots, and not on the difficulty of the terrain, she was able to keep pace with them. She also found that the repetitive physical motion and silence allowed her mind to disengage from the task at hand. Instead of being crippled by the fear of the unknown that threatened to emerge out of the fog at any moment, she followed the monotonous sound, and focused instead on the steady trudge through the marsh.

She suddenly became aware that she had no idea how long or far they had been walking, and sensed a slight change in her surroundings. Looking behind her, she realized that Crosshair had drifted off without her noticing and was gone. She hurried forward and tapped Tech gently on the shoulder. He looked back at her while still wielding dual blasters, and she pointed at Crosshair’s empty place. Tech looked back, looked at her, nodded, and continued forward with their march.

So that’s what the third hand signal meant, Poppy thought to herself. At some point, Crosshair was supposed to go find the high ground, but she was astounded she hadn’t noticed him leaving. He had been so silent, and even though he was less than a foot behind her, she had had no idea when he’d peeled off from the group.

They came to a halt. At Hunter’s signal, Clone Force 99 spread out silently through the trees, fanning out away from her and disappearing into the fog. She looked around, and found a small bundle of trees growing closely together. By placing herself into this grouping she was able to give herself some protection and still be able to capture anything that happened on camera through infrared, as the fog made normal filming impossible. She spun the edge of the pinhole camera until she felt it click into place for infrared, and waited.

Then, without warning, the forest exploded around her. She gripped the tree trunk in front of her as explosions came from several places at once, their heat ripping through the fog and clearing it. Blaster bolts flew from all around her in the trees with a high-pitched whistle, and answering fire came back toward them. All Poppy could see was smoke and fire. She hurriedly turned her camera back to normal recording, and moved up from behind the tree slightly.

Two tanks were sideways on the ground, and the bad batch was wreaking havoc below. Hunter darted between the droids, blasting some, knifing others, his fluid movements weaving through the metal bodies. Tech darted out from behind a tank while firing both blasters at every moving metal target within sight. Wrecker ran like a rampaging Bantha at the droids, slamming some together, ripping others apart, and destroying every enemy in his path. The whole time blaster bolts ripped through the sky above them, hitting targets with precision and efficiency. Every time that Poppy felt sure one of the batchers was about to get hurt, or had not realized there was a droid behind them, there was already a bolt from the sky taking care of the problem.

The droids scattered. Tech rolled droid poppers, taking out the ones on the edges that tried to run. Wrecker jumped up on the last tank that was firing wildly into the ridgeline and dropped an explosive inside the hatch, leaping off just as smoke and flame erupted out of the top of it. Hunter was already searching the droid debris for the tactical droid’s head. Everything seemed clear, so Poppy proceeded cautiously down the hill to join the rest of the group in the remains below.

“Just a scouting party. Come on, spread out, we need to see if that tactical droid is here,” Hunter’s modulated voice rang out. They all fanned out to search, but Poppy had not taken two steps when searing heat passed so close to her head she could smell the edges of her singed hair.

Scrambling desperately for cover, she ran as fast as she could, splashing toward safety. She had no idea where the shot came from. Her legs would not work properly. She stumbled several times, pushing herself back up out of the swampy water each time she faltered, and finally flung herself behind an overturned tank. Seconds later, Tech was next to her behind the tank, peering around the side of it to check if more droid troops were approaching.

“Sniper droid was right behind you,” Poppy heard Crosshair’s low voice speak calmly through Tech’s headset next to her. She whipped around and stared at Tech. So the bolt that had nearly hit her had come from Crosshair’s Firepuncher?? What if he’d killed her? Had he done that on purpose, trying to show her his sniper skills, or had that been a warning to her to not mess with their squad?

“All clear, Cross?” Hunter’s voice came through the headset.

“Yes, sir,” came his calm response.

They crept slowly out from behind the tank and saw the smoking body of the sniper droid that had been inching toward them from the trees behind. Poppy’s legs were weak, her hands shaking. She took deep breaths to will the adrenaline away, but she felt as if she could run a marathon, and was grateful when Hunter said “Come on, the tactical droid isn’t here, but we’re almost to the base. Crosshair, keep scanning for more snipers.”

“My pleasure. Time to go hunting,” then she heard a crackle of static as he turned his headset to silent mode.

She had no problem keeping up with the quick pace Hunter set. It took them no time at all to make it to the bunker with the speed they were moving at, but when they got close they slowed to a crawl, and hid, concealed, in the swampy mist.

An entire battalion of droids was lower down on the hill below them, slowly loading shells into a cannon and firing them repeatedly at the wall of the reinforced durasteel bunker. The methodical coldness behind the droids wearing away the wall to destroy the life forms behind it was chilling. The noise was so incredible it made stealth nearly useless. Hunter tapped out two notes into his headset, and gestured Wrecker to him then pointed silently at the tank. Wrecker’s face split into a huge grin, and he shoved his helmet back on eagerly. Tech and Hunter split off to take opposite sides of the droids in front of them.

The steady hum, slide, and plunk of artillery being fired and spent shells being ejected echoed rhythmically. She wondered what they were waiting for, when another blaster bolt ripped through the air above. Poppy had no idea which direction it came from, but she could tell it had hit an important droid, as the rest of the troops scattered chaotically, like ants scurrying away from a sudden rush of water. Hunter and Tech lunged into the fray from opposite sides of the trees, carving down droids as they went. Wrecker charged in headfirst, slamming droids out of his way, and ripped the droids operating the cannon out of its confines. Taking control of the heavy artillery, he fired with impunity, laughing wildly the entire time and mowing down massive groups of droids with ease.

Poppy could see the tactical droid at the head of a column, trying desperately to restore order while his soldiers ran amok, their metallic voices echoing through the fog, but within seconds another bolt from above had rendered him useless.

It was all over within a minute, and all that was left was the acrid smell of charred metal and twisted wire.

At Hunter’s signal, Poppy charged down the hill, reuniting with the rest of the batchers. Hunter walked right up to the door of the bunker and knocked loudly, while Wrecker yelled “anybody order room service?” then roared with laughter at his own joke. Despite the sudden violence she had been exposed to, even Poppy couldn’t help but smile at his lighthearted attitude. Crosshair jogged down the hill to join them, handling his enormous rifle with ease. The door creaked open slowly and a clone shoved a blaster out in front of him, his hand shaking.

“Easy,” said Hunter, holding his hands up in front of him. “We’re here to get you out of here. I’m Hunter. Air evac will be here in 3. Do you have any wounded who need help out?”

The clone dropped the blaster to his side, leaning against the doorframe and holding a shaking hand over his eyes. “Thank the maker,” he said quietly. “I thought the Republic wasn’t sending anybody. We have 4 wounded, the rest of us are beat up and tired but able to fight if we need to.”             “That’s good. We’ll fight another day. Get your men ready to go,” said Hunter, clapping him on the shoulder.

A flurry of activity began at his words, with all the clones in the bunker grabbing whatever supplies they could take, and pulling the wounded out to be loaded onto ships first. Wrecker rigged the bunker with explosives so that the Separatists couldn’t use it for anything, while Poppy walked around the group, and let her camera soak up the activity in front of her. She attracted several curious stares, but most of the soldiers were so focused on the task at hand, she was able to move through them easily. Within minutes the hum of approaching engines cut through the air.

“Alright men, let’s get ready to move!” called Hunter.

The wounded men were loaded onto the first transport ship without a hitch. Poppy saw the relief on their faces as they lifted off, knowing a shower, bacta tank, and decent meal were close at hand. Half the remaining clone trooper battalion had been loaded and was departing on the second ship as Wrecker yelled “fire in the hole!” and the bunker that had previously been sheltering the troops was reduced to a tangled mass of twisted steel and rubble. The smoke from the demolition drifted through the trees where they were sheltered, and Poppy coughed to clear her lungs.

Shielding her watering eyes, she thought she saw movement in the rubble, but how could she? Everyone had evacuated from the building. Squinting through the smoke, Poppy saw a metal claw walking over the rubble toward her. A last handful of droids, determined to annihilate them. Every single clone opened fire on them, but the droids returned the blasts. The last transport ship was dropping lower and lower, the gunners firing from above. Droids didn’t feel fear, though, and they advanced relentlessly.

The ship hovered feet from the ground, and the final group of clones jumped on, blaster fire going in all directions. Poppy circled around the back of the ship to get on, just as a droid fired in her direction. The blaster bolt missed Poppy, but slammed into Crosshair, knocking him backward out of the ship and onto her.

They were both smashed backward into the mossy, swampy, water below. Poppy felt the breath knocked out of her as she was fully submerged in the foul smelling water, and reflex forced her eyes closed as Crosshair’s weight landed on top of her.

She could not breathe, she could not move, and she felt the muscles of her back contract as something sharp scraped beneath her shirt. Before she even had time to panic, Crosshair’s weight was gone from her, and someone had grabbed the front of her parka, pulled her out of the water, and tossed her onto the deck of the transport ship. She could feel it vibrating below her, taking off, as the gunners destroyed the last of the droids.

Coughing up filthy water and gasping for breath, she turned to look at who had pulled her out of the water, and realized that Crosshair was collapsed on the deck of the ship next to her, breathing heavily and lying across from her so that they were face to face, still gripping the front of her parka.

[weuschoiceheart]

⋘I-Land (OT9) / Enhypen⋙ Love, I-Land

A special collection of stories, for a special group of boys...Happy anniversary to eggies, it’s been a year since I-Land announced the first batch of trainees, a year since we all dive into this roller coaster ride of a show.

~ Inspired by Taylor Swift’s love songs ~

Tagging: @mari-kigold @akira-star @affectionaterainoflove @enhypenthusiast @periwinkle-ink

Warning: suggestive in K’s part (just a brief makeout session), angsty in some parts BUT there’s fluff to make up for it, cursing (literally all my works have curse words in them, I can’t write without making the characters curse at least once lmao)

Word Count: 6k+

K - Wildest Dreams ; passionate love

You didn’t know how you two ended up like this.

It was just a simple school project, and you’ve told yourself it was going to be nothing more than that. That's what you kept repeating in your head, over and over again as you called him over. Yet in your heart, you knew you just wanted him all over you again, even if it’s just temporary, even though you knew it would tear you apart.  

Nothing lasts forever...but this is gonna take me down.

You shouldn’t be doing this.

You shouldn’t be making out with the school’s enigma, you shouldn’t have invited him to your house in the first place, knowing it would end up like this, with your lips latched onto his. You shouldn’t be reciprocating the kiss, his mouth hot against yours, one hand tangled in your shirt to bring you ever closer, the other wrapped tight around your waist that you knew it would leave bruises. And most of all, you shouldn’t be enjoying this as his lips moved down your neck, his warm breath tickling your sweet spot, tongue flicking over your collarbone.

Because you knew this moment would be your last, before he disappears and leaves you with a gaping hole in your heart.

K finally pulls away, panting slightly as he tilts his head, a cute gesture that doesn’t match the smirk on his face. “Your lips are so red.”

Bringing a hand up to touch them, you knew they were swollen from the amount of times he bit and nipped at them. Your eyes flicked to his, before looking away. “Well, so are yours.”

K studied you for a bit, his gaze searching, making you feel suddenly small under his glare. What is he thinking? After a moment, he lets go of you, standing up and straightening out his shirt. “I’m going to go. See you tomorrow.”

And suddenly, you felt that panicky feeling in your chest again, and the fear came rushing back. You don’t know if you’ll see him tomorrow, or ever again. Those were just casual words, something to say instead of “goodbye,” because some part of you, maybe it was just wishful thinking, hopes he feels the same. But K isn’t like that. He’s like the autumn breeze that comes and goes, before sending your life into winter without his presence. He never abides by the rules, and floats in that gray area in between, where your relationship with him also lies.

You knew what you were getting into when you kissed him on the rooftop that day, knew that it would only cause you pain. You don’t want your time with him, all these passionate moments of love, to disappear until you can only recall them in your wildest dreams.

Your body reacts before you can think, grabbing his arm as he turned to the door. He stiffened in your grasp, but didn’t make an effort to break away.

“Stay, please.” You mentally curse your voice for sounding so weak, the hand on his arm trembling.

K turned around to face you again, his cold, calculating eyes softening as they met your uncertain ones. His arm finally relaxed, and he sat down again.

“Alright.”

Heeseung - Superstar ; idol love

“I swear to god, why aren’t they picking up?” you tapped your phone in frustration, frowning. As if on cue, a message lit up your screen, and you opened it, curious to see the reason behind your friend’s unresponsiveness.

Sorry, I won’t be able to make it to the concert. I’m working on a project with K.

“K, huh?” you shook your head at your friend’s words. “Aren’t they afraid that he’ll break their heart? Project, my ass.”

Sighing, you pocketed your phone. There’s not much you can do to convince them that their relationship with K was only going to hurt them, but you couldn’t stop the two from having their hands all over each other, ever since your friend came to you screeching about their first kiss on the school rooftop. Like some romantic K-drama where a bad boy falls for the good girl.

Well, not like your love life is any better....

You shook your head, deciding to push these thoughts out of your head and go enjoy your school’s spring concert by yourself. At least you’ll be able to stare at Heeseung all you want without your friend teasing you.

A small twinge of sadness echoed in your chest at the thought of Heeseung, but you quickly pushed that out of your mind. You weren’t here just for him, of course. Youngbin and Geonu were doing a duet, Seon had a sexy solo that he’s been bragging about for weeks, and Nicholas, Jaeho, and the rest of their dance team prepared a special stage as well. So no, as much as you like spending most of the time ogling Heeseung, you were there to support your friends, have a good time off from your studies, and ignoring these annoying fangirls that always surround him—

Yeah, right. You knew it all circles back to Heeseung eventually.

Kicking at some pebbles on the ground, you sighed and realized that the guards were about to close the entrance doors soon. Joining the queue of parents and students, you handed your ticket to the theater teacher (who fixed you with a scrutinizing stare, perhaps remembering you as that problematic theater student she took under her wing a few years ago) and entered the auditorium. The lights dimmed, and the show began. 

You screamed yourself hoarse during the performances, cheering on your friends (turns out Seon’s performance did live up to the epic stage he was talking about, you saw the girls—and some boys—practically drooling), and the thought of Heeseung left your mind. Until the final encore, that is, when he and Geonu took center stage to cover “Butterfly” by BTS.

Your eyes widened as he started singing, heart racing a million miles per hour. A smile unconsciously made its way onto your face, and your breath caught in your throat as his eyes flickered over the audience. As if reading your mind, they landed on you, leaving you breathless. Please notice me...oh my god, his eyes are so pretty....

“Did you see that? He made eye contact with me!” the girl beside you squealed, and the moment was gone. The smile wiped off your face, and you turned to her, seeing her beaming at the same boy you were looking at before. Your gaze broke away to scan the masses of people staring at the boys on stage with love-struck expressions on their faces, and suddenly you just feel...alone. Some part of your heart broke, and it was like reality struck you across your face.

You were just another wide-eyed fan desperately in love with a superstar who doesn’t even know your name.

That revelation followed you outside after the concert ended, and as if the weather understands your thoughts, it had started pouring outside. Rummaging around in your bag, only to come up empty, you gulped down your tears and resolved to walk home without an umbrella. Damn it, you should’ve come prepared!

Well, you can’t really prepare for heartbreak, can you?

You hadn’t gone two paces however, when you felt something opening up above you, and turning, you almost had a heart attack upon seeing Heeseung standing beside you. He held an umbrella over you both, his eyes darting from you to the ground, a small blush painted across his cheeks. He seemed fidgety, unlike the confident boy on stage moments ago, and you’re left speechless. An awkward silence passed between you two, before he cleared his throat.

“You’re really cute—I mean, you’re Y/N from my research class, right?” You nodded, internally screaming at the fact that he just called you cute. “I...I, um, I saw you didn’t have an umbrella and it’s really pouring out here, so uh-” he laughed nervously, a small grin forming on his lips as he stared at you expectedly. “Do you want to share?”

Jake - Fearless ; first love

“Bleh, sappy couples,” you shook your head, wrinkling your nose at the scene in front of you. Then again, everyone basically called you and Jake a sappy couple, so you really shouldn’t be saying anything.

Speaking of Jake, you caught him running down the road towards you, his umbrella jostling over his head. Laughing to yourself, you watched as the umbrella caught on another, then got tangled in a whole mess of umbrellas. Jake quickly disentangled his from the rest, apologizing profusely to the party of concert-goers who only shook their heads and motioned for him to go. Giving them a slight nod, he ran up to you, thankfully with no further mishaps, stumbling to a stop in front of you.

“Hi,” he said breathlessly, beaming at you. You swear every time you look at him, it was like falling for him all over again. Despite the cold and the rain, the feeling spread all over you and you felt suddenly warm and fuzzy.

“Let’s go.” You grabbed his hand, and he tucked you under the umbrella, arm wrapped around your waist. The two of you began walking home. “How was the concert?”

“Amazing, though I still wish you got to perform,” you snuggled up to his side, unable to keep a smile off your face. Jake sighed, somewhat regretfully.

“You know I have to work overtime this week, or I won’t be able to pay the rent for the apartment.”

“I know, I know.” You turned to him, eyeing the dark bags under his eyes. “You look exhausted....hey, you should’ve gone home to rest, not come out in the rain to pick me up. You can catch a cold—”

“I don’t want you to walk home by yourself after dark, it’s too dangerous,” Jake interrupted. He grinned at you, and you felt like your heart was gonna melt. Is this what love feels like? Then I’m glad that he’s my first.

The two of you were almost home, when you realized that you were approaching the abandoned parking lot near your house. An idea struck you then, and you suddenly grabbed Jake’s hand, startling him out of his rant about the shitty customer at the cafe.

“Come on, let’s dance in the rain.”

“Huh?” Jake’s eyebrows knit into a frown. “Weren’t you worried about catching a cold a few minutes ago?”

You shook your head, a cheeky grin on your face. Your heartbeat quickened, a shot of adrenaline rushing through you. You weren’t usually like this, but you thought back to the shows you watched, and well, first love means trying something new, right? “The rain is letting up Jake, we’ll be fine. Please?”

A flicker of doubt crossed his face, and you thought he was going to say no, before he nodded and closed the umbrella. You let out a gasp as the cool drops hit your face, and a loud squeal when Jake grabbed your hand and twirled you around the parking lot.

You thought this only existed in movies, but it’s all real. You’re dancing with the love of your life, fearlessly, in the middle of a rain shower. His hands clasped around your waist, a wide smile stretching from ear to ear as you grabbed onto his shoulders and he lifted you off your feet, like the ballroom dances in these old fashioned films. The wind whistled in your ears, the rain splashing on the sidewalk sounds like music. You couldn’t stop laughing, and neither can he, and you knew you were going to remember this moment for the rest of your life.

However, your strength gave out after a while, and the two of you stood there, swaying side to side. At this point, you couldn’t care that your clothes are wet and sticking to your skin, and you lean your forehead against Jake’s. He giggled, small droplets of water trailing down from his soaked hair. And he slowly leans in, the distance between you two shortening, your hands begin to shake as your breath quickens.

Is he going to—?

Sensing your nervousness, he grabbed one of your hands in his, pulling you in. You felt a little more brave as you tugged at the front of his shirt in your other hand, and connected your lips, at last.

It’s a first kiss, it’s flawless, really something, it’s fearless.

Jay - Ours ; long distance love

Lucky Jake, you muttered to yourself, sighing as you rested your head on the counter. He doesn’t have to deal with stupid customers at this time, and at least he has more experience with people yelling at him. Or maybe you’re just jealous that he has someone to hang out with, go on dates with, and laugh by his side.

You smiled sadly to yourself and took out your phone, opening the photo gallery. You felt a pang of nostalgia and wistfulness as you clicked on the first photo of you and Jay. It was from your date at the shopping mall, where Jay had chosen several outfits and forced you to try them on. It was a time where you had let your insecurities get the best of you, and Jay was having none of it. The photo was of him hugging you after you tried on one of the outfits he picked out.

You look beautiful, you can hear him say. Stunning, amazing, don’t ever doubt yourself again.

I won’t, you had murmured back. Thank you, love.

“Seriously, is this some sort of playhouse? Can’t even do their job right....”

Your head quickly shot up, eyes widening at the intimidating businessman in front of you. Fuck, not him again....

He rolled his eyes at you. “Two large cups of mocha latte with a half shot of espresso. And make it quick, I’m in a hurry.”

You purse your lips in disdain. “Yes, sir.”

Putting your phone away, you sighed as you began making his order. If Jay was here, he would’ve made you laugh by making fun of his attitude, or just straight up told the man off. But he’s not here, and he’s not going to help you out, you thought to yourself, gritting your teeth together as you mixed the coffee. He’s working for that fashion company in Paris, so just let him live his dream. C’mon, Y/N, just make this damn coffee, give it to that damn businessman who can’t keep his damn mouth shut—

“Be careful, you idiot! You’re going to spill them!”

You snapped out of your daze, again, by the harsh voice of the customer, who grabbed the two coffees, spilling foam over your hands, causing you to hiss in pain. And he had the audacity to walk away muttering, “Gosh, I’m never coming back to this shitty place again.”

Swallowing the pain, you went to wash your hands at the sink. It’s part of the job, there will always be some people yelling at you, it’s not your fault, you tried to comfort yourself, though you were sick and tired of this. This endless routine, the fake smiles you have to put on, a gaping hole in your heart you can’t cover up. It’s been over a year since Jay has gone, and suddenly, you missed him more than ever. Frustrated, you turned the faucet off, almost yanking it off the sink in the process. Burying your face in your hands, your mind wandered to something Jay had told you, right before he left for the trip.

Don’t you worry your pretty little mind, people throw rocks at things that shine.

You smiled at Jay’s words, and took a deep breath, calming yourself down. You will get through this. Drying your hands off on a towel, you smooth out the wrinkles in your shirt and set your face in a hard line. Just a few more hours, and you’ll finally get off work. You can do this.

Making your way to the counter again, you prepared to put on your custom smile and act like the cheerful barista you were supposed to be. “Hello! How may I—”

“Y/N?”

Your breath caught in your throat, as your eyes met the person you were just thinking about. No, it’s not possible, how— The two of you stared at each other in disbelief, before Jay’s face relaxed into a bright smile, and he opened his arms.

You ran out from behind the counter and wrapped your hands around him. Nuzzling your face into the crook of his neck, you held on tight, and that’s when the tears came, happy and sad at the same time.

Jay didn’t say anything, for there was no need to use words when actions and feelings showed it all. He grasped you in his arms, body shaking slightly as he blinked back the tears from his own eyes. I’m finally back home.

The two of you stood there for who knows how long, but you couldn’t care less. No matter how many annoying customers you have to face, no matter how many times coffee spills all over you, nothing can separate you from what is yours.

You can say what you want, but this love is ours.

Sunoo - Sparks Fly ; pure love

You and Sunoo quietly crept out of the cafe, not wanting to disturb the couple hugging by the counter. Unfortunately for you two though, it had started raining outside, and none of you brought an umbrella.

“Really? And the forecast said it wouldn’t rain,” Sunoo grumbled, pouting. “The weather person needs to get fired.”

You laughed at his words, resisting the urge to pinch his cheeks. “They’re just trying to do their job, Sunoo. I mean, it’s not that bad....should we just make a run for it?”

Sunoo gasped dramatically. “And mess up our hair? How will I take our end-of-the-date selfie with our soggy selves?”

You rolled your eyes, “we can use our school bags to cover us. I mean, it’s either that, or be late to our movie night.”

Sunoo mulled over it for a moment, scrunching his nose in concentration. “Oh, fine. But we’re sticking to the cover until we have to cross the street.”

“Deal.” The two of you shuffled along the awning of the cafe, until you reached the end of the street where the crosswalks are. You two looked at each other, hunching your bookbags over your head. One hand holding onto your bag, you stretched your hand out to Sunoo, a smile crossing both of your faces as he took it.

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three. GO!”

The two of you dashed out into the rain, laughing and screaming like little kids. A wild, childish bliss took over you, and you couldn’t stop giggling as you gripped tightly onto Sunoo’s hand. He looked over at you, and you can see that he was having the time of his life as well, smiling so much that his eyes seemed to disappear. You wish time could stop at that moment, as rain poured down around you two, the happy feeling in your chest expanding with love.

All too soon, your journey ended as you two rushed up, panting, to the door of your house. Letting your bags fall over your shoulders, the two of you turned to each other and laughed. You reached over to part the hair from his eyes, and he playfully flicked his head, spraying water on your face. You let out an indignant yelp, before lightly pushing him, then reaching to catch him again before he slips down the wet steps. Sunoo held onto your arm, trying to contain his laughter, though his bright smile gave it away.

“Gosh, we’re a mess,” you said as you tried to catch your breath. Putting your bag down, you fumbled in your pocket for your keys. “But you know what? Let’s do that again next time.”

“Well, hopefully we’ll actually remember to bring an umbrella next time,” Sunoo said, shaking out his wet bag. He grinned at you, and you swear you can see sparks fly whenever he smiles.

Jungwon - Mine ; enduring love

You trudged down the street, not minding the fact that you’re thoroughly soaked by the rain. Everything felt like a blur around you as your mind kept replaying the scene from moments before, and the tears came streaming down your face again, mingling with the drops from the sky. The sound of laughter pierced through your reverie, and you turned to see a couple giggling together at the front steps of their house, the sight making your heart squeeze.

What went wrong?

We were like them too, so what happened to us?

Sniffing, you wiped your nose with the back of your hand, turning away from the scene. Looking around, you realized that you had walked farther away from the house than you expected, and that it was already dark. Should I go back? As much as you don’t want to confront Jungwon right now, you don’t want him to worry either. Would he even worry though? Maybe this really is the end...

Making up your mind, you resolved to just keep walking, until you finally decided on what to do. Taking out your phone, you texted your friend whether you can stay over at theirs tonight. Slipping the device back into your pocket, you continued plodding along.

Until someone grabbed your arm, and you screamed.

“Y/N, it’s me! It’s me.”

Whirling around, your heart rate slowed as you made eye contact with your boyfriend. The rain had slowed to a drizzle now, and you saw that his eyes were red, like he had been crying too.

“Jungwon...” you extricated your arm from his hold, and took a deep breath. “What are you doing here?”

“I ran after you,” he mumbled, looking down at the ground. “After you left.”

You blinked in surprise, not expecting that answer. “O-oh.”

Not knowing what to say, the two of you stood there, and each passing minute felt like a wall growing bigger and bigger between you two. You didn’t know how the two of you even ended up like this—an offhand comment, which somehow led to yelling and cursing, and then you were running out into the streets alone, crying. And now, to this silence. It felt like hours before Jungwon spoke up.

“I’m sorry.”

Gulping, you forced the words out of your throat too. “I’m sorry too. I should’ve stayed instead of just running away like that.”

He shook his head. “No, this was my fault. I shouldn’t have yelled at you...talked to you in that way.”

You sighed. “Well, let’s just say it’s both of our faults, then. It doesn’t matter.”

Jungwon nodded hesitantly, peering up at you. “Should we go back to the dorms?”

You bit your bottom lip, thinking. Everything felt too much, like a fragile heart broken into a million pieces, each one jagged and misshapen. “I already texted my friend that I’ll stay over at their house tonight. Should we—should we just take a break, Jungwon? These days we’ve just been arguing and fighting with each other, I don’t know how we can continue this, if we can even—”

Your voice cracked, and the whirlpool of tears finally broke free as you sobbed, face in your hands. Your body tenses as you feel Jungwon’s arms wrap around you, relaxing slightly as he patted your back, trying to soothe your sorrows.

“Y/N, do you remember when we first met?”

He was working part-time at a restaurant as a waiter, and you thought he was pretty cute. You found that he was going to the same school as you, and the two of you became best friends. You fell for him a few months later, and ever since then, he was always by your side. Until everything fell apart a few weeks ago, when your tempers ran short and tension climbed high.

“I thought you were so beautiful...and remember our promise? I swore I was going to stay with you, that we won’t make the same mistake as your parents. You are the best thing that’s ever been mine. I know it’s hard to be together right now, when both of us are so busy that we don't have time with each other anymore...but I’ll always have time for you, Y/N. I know this sounds cheesy and all, but I just want to say that I love you and I don’t want to let you go.”

Sniffing, this time the tears flow because of his words. Turning around, you gave him a cheeky grin as you wiped your face. “Didn’t know you were such a romantic, Jungwon.”

His cheeks turned a shade of pink, and he shyly held out his hand. You took it, and the two of you started walking back home.

Niki - Jump Then Fall ; childhood love

Never mind, I’m going home tonight.

You raised your eyebrows at your friend’s message. Probably some couple problems with Jungwon. You were about to text back a reply, before you felt your pants get splashed with water.

You lifted your eyes to the sky, exasperated because you already know who did it. Sometimes I wonder how I even have a crush on him. I waited for him after dance practice and this is what I get? Turning around, you faced your friend, or as you like to call him, your greatest enemy, Nishimura Riki.

He has his usual mischievous grin on his face, jumping from foot to foot as he kicks at another puddle. Thankfully, you jumped out of the way just in time. Narrowing your eyes playfully, you said, “I see how it is...this is war.”

The rain had left numerous puddles on the sidewalk (probably due to the potholes your school refused to spend their money to fix), and you chased Niki down the street, splashing him with water. He laughed loudly and reached up (dangit, why is he so tall?), grabbed one of the branches of a tree, shaking the water from it. Gasping, your eyes widened as you got drenched from the drops. You glared at him, only causing his smile to stretch even wider from ear to ear. “I won,” Niki announced triumphantly.

You pouted, rolling your eyes. “Oh, fine. But it’s not fair, how did you even get this tall?”

Niki shrugged, as if it was no big deal, though you want to wipe the smug grin off his face. “I grew 13 centimeters last year.”

“Impossible,” you huffed. He shoved his hands in his pockets, raising his eyebrows at you as if challenging your statement. Shrugging his dance bag over one shoulder, Niki started walking, and you followed. “You just want to brag about your height.”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t,” Niki teased in a sing-song voice. “Either way, I’m still taller than you~”

You smiled grudgingly, stealing a look at him from the corner of your eye. It seems like yesterday when you both were kids, and he was this bouncy little boy who loved to annoy the hell out of you. He still does, but you felt a twinge of nostalgia as you see how tall and mature he had come, and even more good-looking as well. If only he knows how much I like him.

Sensing your stare, Niki wiggled his eyebrows at you, making you laugh at his expression. “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing,” you turned away, embarrassed. You really need to be less obvious, though Niki’s too oblivious to know anything about your feelings for him. 

“No, it’s something,” he leaned closer to you, and suddenly you forgot how to breathe properly. “Is there something on my face?”

You shook your head quickly, gaze wandering anywhere but his eyes. Spying a puddle in the corner of your vision, an idea flashed through your mind. Leaning closer, so that your faces were only inches apart, you noticed that Niki’s cheeks were blushing pink at the close distance. Maybe this isn’t so one-sided after all.

“Actually, there is something.” 

“W-what?” You expected him to pull away, but his eyes were dreamy, getting lost in your own. Or maybe you were the one getting lost in his. Tearing your gaze away, you grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the biggest puddle near the curb of the street. Taking a deep breath, you jumped straight into it, causing a huge splash that doused both you and Niki in water. You wished you could capture this moment on camera: Niki’s flustered face when you took his hand, his eyes widening comically as water sprayed his clothes. You laughed out loud, smirking at him. “I won,” you said, mimicking his voice from earlier. 

Your smile faded when Niki didn’t say anything back, the shocked expression still on his face. Confused, you asked, “what’s wrong?”

Clearing his throat, he motioned his head towards your intertwined hands. “Um, you’re still holding onto my hand.”

Maybe it’s cliche, two childhood friends falling for each other, but what’s wrong with cliches? You tightened your grip on his hand, grinning as his face flared red. “Is there something wrong with it?”

“Nothing,” he looked down, making you giggle. Oh, how the tables have turned. You took a step closer. 

“No, it’s something.”

He glanced up at you, unable to conceal a shy smile. You loved the way his hair falls in his face, slightly damp from jumping into too many puddles.

And all I can say is come closer, take a deep breath and jump then fall into me.

Daniel - Fifteen ; platonic love

“When are they going to confess already?” you snickered, eyeing the two teens playing in the puddles. Daniel followed your stare, shrugging at your words.

“When they finally get in through their heads that their feelings are mutual,” Daniel said. “Who knows how long that’ll take.”

You fold your arms across your chest, turning away and gazing wistfully into the distance. “Maybe one day I’ll find love like that.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow at you. “You got time, you’re still fifteen after all.”

Your hands dropped, and you sighed as your shoulders sagged. “I can’t believe I’m fifteen already...high school is so hard.” 

Daniel laughed at the whine in your voice, reaching over to ruffle your hair. You pushed his hand away, glaring at him. “Hey, don’t laugh. You didn’t get any of the difficult classes this year.”

“That’s because I already know I want to major in art so...there’s no need to take these classes anyway.”

You stopped and turned to him, narrowing your eyes. “What in art, specifically?”

Daniel's eyes flickered to yours, looking away in embarrassment. “Oh, just something in music.”

You grinned slyly, probing further. “What in music, exactly?”

Daniel gulped, hoping you wouldn’t laugh at him this time. “Um...well, I really want to become a rapper…”

Your eyes widened and you gasped. “A rapper? Daniel, that’s amazing!”

Your friend blinked in confusion, surprised at your excitement. “You-you think so?”

Nodding fervently, you started walking again. Around you, the streetlights flared to life. “Yeah, I mean, you seem pretty passionate about it. I remembered how the teacher caught you writing lyrics in the back of the textbook when you’re supposed to be paying attention during class.”

Daniel humphed, his long strides quickly catching up with yours. “Hey, math is boring, alright? You weren’t listening either.”

You decided to concede with him on that point, because math, indeed, is a pain in the ass (also because you were afraid he’ll stop letting you copy his homework right before class). “Fine, but I’m just saying that you shouldn’t be ashamed of your dream. You’re dedicated, I know you can do it.”

Daniel smiled shyly at your words. “Thanks, Y/N.”

You smiled back half-heartedly. “And here I am, with nothing planned out. I still don’t know who I want to be, or even who I am.”

“It’s fine if you haven’t figured yourself out yet, just go with the flow and do things that make you feel happy. Then you’ll discover where your interests and dreams lie,” Daniel said sagely, making your eyes roll at his tone. He bumped your shoulder with his. “I’ll always be here for you, yeah?”

“Thanks, but I just...you know how you’re at that time in your life, when you’re just questioning everything? Like, what is the meaning of life? Why am I here?”

“Just to suffer,” Daniel whispered, flinching away as you whacked him on the arm. “Ok, ok, I didn’t know you were going to get this deep.”

“Maybe I should be an English teacher then,” you said thoughtfully. “Make all the students analyze the meaning of the universe, like how Mr. Kim is forcing us to analyze Romeo and Juliet.”

“Romeo and Juliet…” Daniel stopped suddenly, making you bump into him. “Oh no...I forgot my copy of the book at school!”

You gave him a look. “Seriously? I told you to get it out of your locker!”

Daniel scuffed his shoe on the sidewalk, avoiding your gaze. “Well, you know how loud and chaotic the dismissal was...I couldn’t hear you.”

You shook your head in resignation. “Whatever, I’ll just send you pictures of the pages we have to read.”

Daniel’s head shot up, eyes staring hopefully at you. “Really? Y/N, thank you so much, you know you're my best friend right?”

You rolled your eyes. “Just make sure to remember it next time, or you’re on your own.”

(Jokes on you, Daniel knows you’ll grudgingly share your book with him for the rest of the year if he keeps forgetting it).

Sunghoon - Love Story ; forbidden love

“Sunghoon!” you whisper-shouted, grimacing as your boyfriend stepped on a stick. The sound seemed too loud in the quiet darkness, and you looked around wildly. Grabbing his arm, you dragged him behind a rock, lips pursed in a tense line. Heart pounding, you felt both worried and exhilarated at the same time. 

“Sorry,” Sunghoon said sheepishly, scratching the nape of his neck. “Didn’t see that.”

You frowned at him, turning around. “And I thought princes have stealth training as part of their schooling.”

Sunghoon scoffed. “All they teach us is how to look buff and strong so we can pick fights with your family.”

Stifling a laugh, you took his arm again, pulling him along. “True true, that sounds a lot like what they teach Youngbin too...though Youngbin isn’t the fighting type.”

“Your brother’s too soft,” Sunghoon muttered, “I feel sorry for him sometimes...he’d rather be kind than argue.”

Your lips quirked up in a sad smile. “Yeah, but there’s not much we can do about the feud, right?”

Nodding, Sunghoon carefully stepped over a pile of leaves, hand clutching tight onto yours. As the two of you cautiously stepped around the bend in the country road, Sunghoon let out a light gasp seeing what lay ahead. You grinned at his expression, quickening your pace until you two stopped in front of an enormous garden. Its gates were made up of interlocking flowers and vines, a sweeping archway of overhanging branches from two willow trees, and an open field lined with flowers of every kind laid beyond. Pushing away the branches, Sunghoon watched as you unraveled the flower gate and stepped into the beautiful utopia.

“A secret garden,” Sunghoon commented in awe. “How…”

“Youngbin and I used to go here all the time, whenever our families fight,” you answered. “Now that he’s confined to the training field, I feel too lonely being here all by myself.”

“Are you sure Youngbin wouldn’t mind?” Sunghoon asked, not wanting to intrude in sibling affairs.

You cast a funny look at him. “No, I’m sure he won’t. Besides...you’re the person I’m closest to besides him.”

The comment made Sunghoon blush, and he followed you down the path. On each side of him bloomed hundreds of colorful blossoms, making Sunghoon wonder who lived here long ago to tend to them all. Marigolds, roses, lilies, fuchsias, tulips, flowers of every kind decorated the leaves and vines. He reached out to pluck a red rose from the fray, careful not to prick his fingers. Stopping every now and then to admire the flowers, you tugged him towards the open field. Sitting down on the grass, you leaned your head against his shoulder.

“Look, the sun is rising.”

And indeed it was. Sunghoon smiled as you two relaxed in silence, watching the sunlight streak over the horizon in different shades of pink, yellow, and orange. A new day, a new beginning, he thought. He turned when he felt something being placed on his head, only to meet your grinning face as you adjusted the flower crown in his hair. 

“There,” you said, pushing a stray hair away from his eye. Leaning back proudly, you nodded at how the wreath of white daisies complemented his raven hair. “You look pretty, flower boy.”

Sunghoon took the red rose, breaking off the stem, tucked it behind your ear. “No, you’re prettier.”

“Whatever,” you said, though Sunghoon saw that you were trying hard not to smile. “Do you know what this reminds me of?”

“What?” Sunghoon asked, laying back onto the grass. He took the flower crown off and held it up to the sky, scrutinizing your handiwork. You mirrored his movement, turning on your side to face him.

“There’s this story I read in the library a few days ago, about how two young lovers woke up at dawn so they could watch the sunrise together.”

“Oh?” Raising an eyebrow, Sunghoon motioned for you to continue.

“Mhm,” You gazed off into the distance, a thoughtful look on your face. The sunbeams have gotten brighter, and they cast a glow on your face that Sunghoon couldn’t describe, other than ethereal. “It reminded me of us.”

“Who knows,” Sunghoon shrugged. “Maybe someday someone will write a story about us too.”

“A forbidden love story?” You snickered. “Who would write something like that?”

—— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— ——

~ Which story is your favorite? ~

[chitto]

I ANALYZED ALL OF THE NEW SONGS ON RANBOO'S LORE PLAYLIST - HERE'S WHAT I FOUND

Back in March, I listened to every single song on Ranboo's DMCA Lore Playlist. I came up with a solid theory, published my evidence and that was that. My work was done.

But nope! Ranboo's back and he's deleted a ton of songs and added more. And so I listened. Again. And I'm back with a theory, and it does not look good.

This new batch of songs shows us that this is a new era of c!Ranboo. Redesign Your Logo is meant to tell us that things are changing, and so is c!Ranboo. This could be do to the fact that something bad is most likely going to happen to c!Ranboo in the near future, probably the taking of his first canon life. Songs like Eyewishes and Goodbye heavily point to the ending of a chapter (or life) of c!Ranboo. The song Blue Monday isn’t anything revolutionary, as we were already well aware of the toxic relationship between c!Ranboo and c!Dream. Another thing to point out is that Everybody Wants To Rule The World sets up an interesting take on nuclear weapons, a thing that c!Tubbo has and c!Ranboo doesn’t know exists. If c!Ranboo were to find out about the nukes, it could lead to the two fighting over whether or not they were a good thing. Going into Time Moves Slow, the narrator there discusses a relationship that just ended between them and their lover, meaning there could be a c!Beeduo divorce arc in the near future.

Below are the analyses on each individual song and the added and deleted songs

Deleted: Prologue (StarKid), Introduction to the Snow (Miracle Musical), Dream Sweet in Sea Major (Miracle Musical), Turn the Lights Off (Tally Hall), The Mind Electric (Miracle Musical), The Ruler of Everything (Tally Hall), Ain't No Rest for The Wicked (Cage the Elephant), The Bidding (Tally Hall), Stranded Lullaby (Miracle Musical), Hidden in the San (Tally Hall), & (Tally Hall), I'm Gonna Win (Rob Cantor).

Added: Redesign Your Logo (Lemon Demon), Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears), Blue Monday (New Order), Eyewishes (Lemon Demon), Bystanding (Lemon Demon), Goodbye (Bo Burnham), Time Moves Slow (BADBADNOTGOOD and Samuel T. Herring).

Redesign Your Logo (Lemon Demon) - This song is about a pdf that went around during 2009 about the Pepsi company logo. In it, the Arnell group is trying to sell Pepsi a new logo, so that they can make tons of money. I feel that this song symbolizes evolution and growth, we’re entering a new era of c!Ranboo. He’s redesigned and rebranded. This song could also be on this playlist because of a fan animation on youtube set to the same song by Shyshui.

Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Tears for Fears) - This song was written about the Cold War between The Soviet Union and The United States that happened during the 20th Century. The main line of the song ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ is about how everyone wants power, and the misery that it brings with it. This is a theme we can see clearly on the DreamSMP, with many leaders such as c!Eret, c!George, c!Bad, c!Wilbur, and c!Dream all leading lives of misery in one way or another. This is also important for c!Ranboo, as he is the most powerful man on the server. It tells us that his power will soon be his misery. Also a small little thing I’d like to point out is the line ‘Say that you’ll never, never, never, never need it’ which is meant to be about the use of nuclear devices during that time period. Many governments had them but claimed they would only use them if another country was launching a nuclear attack. This could translate to c!Tubbo owning nukes and c!Ranboo possibly finding out, which could cause discourse between the two.

Blue Monday (New Order) - Blue Monday is about the singer pondering the mistreatment of their person by someone they trusted. The person seems to be manipulative and toxic for the singer but the singer is too far under their control to leave them. Immediately we can tell that this song is most likely about the relationship between c!Ranboo and c!Dream. c!Dream uses c!Ranboo as his errand boy, making him do all sorts of tasks, although this hasn’t really happened since the Disc War Confrontation. However, we know the c!Dream still has some sort of hold over c!Ranboo because we saw c!Sapnap trigger an Enderwalk episode by giving c!Ranboo a message from c!Dream.

Eyewishes (Lemon Demon) - Eyewishes is a song about a distraught man who has no eyelashes, as he used them all on wishes, and now he can make no more wishes. The man pours out his frustrations and then resolves to committing suicide. While I don’t believe c!Ranboo would take his own life, I believe that he soon will die. The last line of this song is ‘So take care of my plants and pets and now I’ll say good-’. c!Ranboo has many pets in his care and he would want them taken care of after he dies. I could see him saying this line to a character like c!Tubbo. However, c!Ranboo is still on three canon lives and would not perma died if killed.

Bystanding (Lemon Demon) - Bystanding is the direct sequel to Eyewishes, starting off with bi, completing the phrase ‘goodbye’ started at the end of Eyewishes. Other than this, the song has no real points of interest as it’s just the singer repeating different words, working his way up from 2 to 5.

Goodbye (Bo Burnham) - I’m going to split this song up into two sections, just because I think there’s a lot to cover here. Let’s start pre-bridge. For context, Goodbye is the final track from the comedy-musical special Inside, done by Bo Burnham. Bo says the special was a long project for him as he filmed the entire thing in his house during COVID-19 Quarantine. The beginning part of this song talks a lot about how Bo doesn’t want the special to be over because now he has nothing else to do, and he’ll just have to live his life. This could translate into c!Ranboo losing a lot of things that he worked for, such as his valuables (totems and riches) and just being a normal person again. It could also signify an ending of a chapter for him, maybe his marriage ending, his partnership with the Syndicate ending. However, I believe that its most likely to be c!Ranboo’s neutrality ending. During the recent lore stream he did with c!Wilbur, we finally saw c!Ranboo pick a side. He chose Wilburger over Las Nevadas, losing his trademark neutral stance. c!Ranboo thought his neutrality made him more than others, that he was the one able to see over the conflict, but now he’s just like everyone else. He has a side and an enemy. Let’s move into the bridge and ending of the song now. The first line I’d like to call specifically is ‘Wanna guess the ending, if it ever does.’ This line could maybe signify the fact that throughout the history of the SMP there have been many times that the conflict and story feel like they’ve finally come to a close, only for everything to start up once again. The next lyric is ‘If I wake up in a house that’s full of smoke, I’ll panic, so call me up and tell me a joke.’ This is a callback to another song on Inside, Comedy, in which Bo talks about using his comedy as a way to help people, but really it was he who needed help. c!Ranboo acts as a protector for a lot of characters, most notable c!Tubbo and tried hard to please most people and aid as many as he can, but most of the time he’s the one needed the most help. Similar to Bo, c!Ranboo doesn’t realize he needs help until it’s too late.

Time Moves Slow (BADBADNOTGOOD and Samuel T. Herring) - This song is about a person who’s lover has left them, and although it’s painful they know its for the better. This could, unfortunately, suggest a c!beeduo split but there is another part of this song that I’d like to touch on. ‘Running away is easy, its the living that’s hard.’ This is the chorus for the song and it talks about how running from your problems is easier than facing them but having to live without them is hard. Throughout the story, we often see c!Ranboo ignore his problems, most recently with the vandalism of c!Tubbo’s cookie shop. c!Ranboo found it and decided to fix it and tell no one it happened, which lead to a hostile confrontation between c!Quackity and c!Tubbo.

[starilicious]

der lagi lekin (hunter x force-user!gn! reader + ep. 8 fix-it)

》 summary: tbb episode 8 fix-it featuring a force-user reader who used to be a jedi. reader is a part of tbb and in a relationship with hunter, but the squad–nor hunter–knows that reader is a force-user. (disclaimer: all of this was written before episode 9 was released! see a/n for an explanation ^_^) (another disclaimer: if you want just the hunter x reader comfort, please let me know and i'll finish it up and post it!)

》 word count: ~8k (yeah, it's a lot LOL)

click here to read on AO3

》 warnings: in-universe swearing, mental breakdown, some slight sensory overloads, pretty mild panic attack, light canon-typical violence, angst + some comfort, survivor's guilt from surviving order 66, no use of y/n, slightly plot heavy because i got way too carried away in writing (whoops?) [if i should add more warnings, please let me know!]

》 spoilers: major ones for tbb episode 8 "reunion"

》 a/n: okay look, i gotta confess: this wasn’t supposed to be an episode 8 fix-it. really. i’m actually glad cad bane won because we get to see that the clones don’t always win every fight... i think it makes for a better and more complex story. anyway, i started out writing just reader and hunter comfort after episode 8 ended. but i’m weak for omega because she reminds me so much of my younger siblings and i ended up writing a wholeass fix-it to save her (even tho cad bane is a downright badass). i kind of liked what i did with building up the plot so much that i might continue this story of force-user!reader with tbb. but that’s a tangent we can deal with later. if you would like a part two with the hunter x reader comfort this was originally intended to be, let me know!

as i said in the summary, i wrote all of this before episode 9 came out–just be aware of that. because it’s so long, it took me a while to edit, which is why i’m posting after ep. 9 was released. but without further ado, i hope you like it! <33

》 misc. notes:

• title of the fic is from the hindi song "der lagi lekin" from the film zindagi na milegi dobara. i linked the song in blue and linked the english translations in green in case you're curious! it's not necessary to listen or understand the song, but i thought it went well with the fic :)

“Everybody get down!” Wrecker yells. You and the squad immediately do as he instructs, diving towards the ground and covering your head. Stars, I hope this works.

The charges the six of you placed around the gigantic cone that surrounds the core cylinder explodes in a deafening blast. You curl into the tightest ball you can manage, breathing so hard that the HUD inside your helmet temporarily fogs up. Metal shards of the explosion rain down on you hard.

For a moment, it seems like nothing happened. But then you hear the telltale, ear-grinding creak of the durasteel and the squad is roughly catapulted forward from the force of the cone beginning to fall down.

You struggle to stand up as you lurch this way and that, trying to regain your balance and stabilize as Tech calls out, “Hold on!”

You quickly glance at the rest of the Bad Batch, trying to see if any of them were hurt. Other than the absolutely terrified look on Omega’s face, all is well considering the circumstances. The metal groans and begins its descent, taking your feeling of being grounded with it. The weightlessness is uncomfortably familiar to say the least, but you ignore it as the six of you scramble to hold on to the side of the cone. You certainly did your fair share of acrobatics back in the war, but feeling it hum around you...it’s too much. It’s too much. You elect to push it back into the depths of your brain. But it doesn’t leave.

It never really does.

Omega’s anxious whimpers come in faintly through your thick helmet and you whip around, frantically trying to find where she is. But before you can find her, the cone lands vertically on its head and the force is so violent that your stable hold on the durasteel is broken. Panicked, you quickly fire a grappling hook towards the ledge where you were previously hanging on. The hook catches and you stop abruptly, the jerky movement almost wrenching your arm out of its socket.

You look down to see Omega falling from someone’s grip and into Hunter’s arms. You can barely tell where anyone is thanks to the lack of light and the incessant motion.

The cone begins to topple onto its side and suddenly, your wire snaps from the tension. You let out a scream of surprise as you plummet downwards, wind rushing past your helmet. ForceIdon’twanttodieohmyMakerohno–

But you never hit the ground, instead being flung sideways as the cone tears into two. On trained instinct, you tuck yourself into a ball to try and roll in order to break your fall instead of using it. That time is long gone.

You land with a sickening thud and hiss in pain as your back hits the metal hard. You hear something crack, but whether it is your armor or something internal, you have absolutely no idea, and don’t have time to check before you black out.

✧✦✧

You jolt awake, a sound making its way into your consciousness. Finally, the damn place stopped moving. You take a few minutes to try and relieve the painful pressure in your chest, reaching up to rip your helmet off because you can’t breathe, you can’t breathe.

You tilt your head back as you struggle to take in air and let the adrenaline subside. You hear voices in the distance and you strain your ears to pick up on the sound as you quickly check yourself over. As far as you can tell, nothing major is broken, and at this point, that is all that matters. Though, your head is pounding, and for more reasons than one

“–nter.. port side... what… status?”

You can’t tell who is speaking, the message too far away for you to hear. But the bits and pieces are enough for you to know that it’s someone from the Bad Batch and that you weren’t unconscious for long. You stand up and dust yourself off before slowly walking to where you believe the origin of the sound is.

“–engine… got company.” A blaster sound and then an explosion rings through the quiet.

Your eyes widen and you quickly pick up the pace, getting your blaster ready as you pick your way through the sharp metal that is jutting out from the ground.

You click on your wrist comm. “Echo, you there?” A faint crackle before his voice comes through, but the signal is scratchy. You frown in frustration.

“–are you? Hunter is... port side,” Echo says and you smack your commlink to try and get the electronics to work, but it’s no use. The device is broken, most likely from the fall, you deduce.

“Meet… Marauder.”

You don’t bother to answer, knowing Echo would probably not even be able to hear what you had to say anyway. Without a signal booster or repeater, there’s no way you can get your transmission across the channel frequency.

It takes a few minutes, but you eventually find the night sky of Bracca blinking down at you at the end of the ripped off cone. You run out to find that you’re in the middle of where the cone broke in half. Okay, new plan. I need to find Hunter. Hunter will know what to do.

You scan your surroundings. The HUD isn’t picking up on any lifeforms near you, and you realize with sinking dread that you have no more options. Whichever piece you climbed through to get to your squadmates, it would take too long for you to search for them since you don’t know their coordinates and your comm isn’t working. Frankly, the Empire–Crosshair–would find you first. You have to use it.

You have to use the Force.

A wave of nausea overcomes you at the mere thought of it and you sway. In an attempt to ground yourself, you tear off your helmet to breathe some fresh air and end up keeling over as the bile rises in your throat. Nothing comes out. You can’t tell if that’s a positive or not.

You could have saved them. Someone. Anyone.

It itches at you in the back of your head, wishing to be let out of its cage. But you can’t. You can’t do it. What’s the use anyway? All you would be doing is saving yourself. The choice of surviving it all has haunted you ever since. Your head pounds in agony.

You saw it happen. You could have helped them. And you ran like a coward. Only ever concerned about yourself.

You inhale sharply as the scene flashes before your eyes, clones shooting at you and the other Jedi. The blaster fire. The confusion. The screams.

How pathetic.

The last statement, an echo of Crosshair’s words, bounces around in your brain. You clutch your head as you let out a heartbroken sob, knee deep in the dirt and metal and grief. Tears create clean tracks down your face as you finally break down, the flood of emotions bursting the dam open. At this point, you don’t know if the emotions are yours or the ones you previously felt through the Force, all of them swirling and blending into one. The bottled up anguish merged together when you attempted to cut yourself off from the Force after the clones–your friends–attacked.

The pain of their death is perhaps the worst of all. Horror courses through you as you finally process your friends and mentors dying around the galaxy, their deaths, their distress, their fear reverberating heavily throughout the Force. Each one cripples you further as you once again struggle to breathe.

It feels like light years pass when you finally calm down to a practically numb state of being. The scenes stop replaying behind your closed eyelids and the echoing shrieks die down to a faint, hollow whisper. You’re suddenly exhausted, limbs heavy and energy sapped. It was almost relieving to finally let the Force once again flow through your body, your nerves lightly tingling with potential despite how tired you feel. You collapse onto the ground and try to recenter yourself.

But despite finally acknowledging the loss, it doesn’t feel right. You didn’t get to say goodbye. You hadn’t been able to even think about them, much less honor them, too focused on going on the run to concentrate on anything beyond the next day’s survival. Even once you joined the Bad Batch, you were paranoid about their chips, about your friends turning on you at any moment. You were always extremely reluctant to engage in the Force, even at the worst of times.

With a start, you realize that you don’t need to worry about your squadmates. Their inhibitor chips are now gone. You… you are safe.

You let out a shocked laugh as it sinks in. A glimmer of hope, of peace. I’m safe.

You sit up then, criss-crossing your legs as you survey the broken landscape of Bracca. Despite the planet being a graveyard, you feel lucidly alive. Perhaps something died in you, that wretched day. But something else, slowly but surely, began growing in its place. It’s meek, but it’s there.

You let out a breath and close your eyes, reaching for the Force like it’s an old friend. It accepts your invitation with hesitation, joining hands with you as if you did not try beating it to death for days on end. You sink into the gentle lapping waves of the Force, extending into it and widening your scope.

There’s something that lurks beneath the surface, in the deep. Dark and sinister and so utterly painful. It calls to you, quiet and low. Enticing. Tempting. And something in you knows that it’s the reason for your previous life’s demise.

But you can feel Hunter’s–and Omega’s, you realize–presence near you in the Force. Even with your relatively damaged connection to the Force after Order 66, the Bad Batch’s Force auras were something you could always hone in on. You let yourself direct your focus to the duo, letting their emotions be your beacon to the acceptance of the Light side of the Force.

In a split second, you decide to not dive deeper into the Force. This isn’t the place nor the time to discover what is prowling in the endless yawning of the Force, to discover why everything happened. So you direct your concentration to the beings on the planet, feeling and breathing your way through the Life Force.

You freeze. There’s something here. No… someone. Your eyebrows furrow as you divert your attention away from your friends and other organisms to the peculiar source. Something about this person strikes you as familiar.

Your eyes snap open and you gasp. I’m not alone. A Force-sensitive. Someone survived. Giddy beyond belief, you snatch up your helmet and begin trekking your way across the wreckage in the opposite direction of Hunter and Omega before pausing. Whoever this person is doesn’t know about your presence on the planet.

And despite the fear you felt emanating off of them in the Force, you somehow knew they were safe, at least for now. And they would remain so if you have anything to say about it. Maker forbid anything that jeopardizes this person’s fragile safety. After all, you know best what it’s like to constantly flee scene after scene.

Staying away is the best thing to do. I’ll come back for you, whoever you are.

You double back and make quick work of getting across the debris as you focus your concentration on Hunter’s and Omega’s Force signatures. As you get closer to the port side, you hear Omega’s high voice. Through your HUD, you can see her small form. You grin. She disappears then, and on closer inspection, you figure she jumped through some broken cargo doors.

The entrance she and Hunter took is too high for you to jump up to, even with the aid of the Force. Combined with your wariness of probe droids, you decide to take a different route from the right side, climbing up the broken ship. The slick oil mixed with the water still present on the metal makes for a difficult trek, and you slip more times than you would like to admit.

Hunter’s gruff voice floats up towards you and you scramble the last few meters to the edge of a hole in the ceiling before pausing. The Force is itching at the back of your head. Something’s wrong.

You peek over the edge of the giant slab of durasteel that created the hole to see bodies in white armor littered everywhere–clones, you realize. Your heart pangs in sadness at the sight.

Slightly to your right, a blue figure and a techno-service droid stand in front of a ship and a frightened Omega stands behind a defensive Hunter. Your mouth drops open. Kriff.

Cad Bane.

A memory from near the beginning of the war hits you in full force. You and Anakin had taken some time on Coruscant to catch up with each other after you passed your trials and were promoted to Jedi Knight. He told you about a mission where he had to stop a bounty hunter who successfully stole a Jedi holocron. You remember how surprised you were when you heard the bitter disgust in Anakin’s voice. The ruthlessly cunning bounty hunter not only threatened to kill Ahsoka, but he murdered Master Ropal.

Judging by the looks of it, Hunter doesn’t know who he is. If the Anakin Skywalker had a difficult time with Cad Bane, there is no way in sithhell Hunter can take him on, even with his enhanced senses. Frankly, you seriously doubt you can either, especially with how rusty your Force skills are now. And that means this isn’t going to end well.

You watch carefully as you tune into the conversation.

“Ain’t you smart?” Bane smirks. “The kid’s got it all figured it out.”

“You’re in trouble now!” the droid exclaims, pointing at Hunter and Omega. You grit your teeth in annoyance.

“Who hired you?” Hunter asks. Stalling. Not a bad move, Hunter.

“Son,” Bane sighs, already done with the brief conversation. “That’s confidential information. Now hand her over.”

Omega stays behind Hunter, taking a knee as Hunter walks forward protectively. You bristle. How am I supposed to help from up here?

“She’s not going anywhere.”

Your eyes drift over the scene in a panic and you take in the fallen clones again. An idea pops into your head. It is desperate, but at this point, you don’t have much of a choice.

Bane mimics Hunter’s movement, walking forward and putting a hand near his belt. The tension is as thick as duracrete.

“That’s unfortunate… for you.”

You grab the long barrel piece from your belt, fitting it over your blaster hurriedly as the showdown begins. Out of the corner of your eye, you see them staring each other down and you can’t help but roll your eyes. Men.

During the war, Crosshair helped you re-engineer your weapon so you could put together various pieces in the field to make a blaster gun that loosely resembled his own sniper. Seeing the clones reminded you of him. A wave of sadness washes over you, but you shake your head. Now is not the time.

You screw on the telescopic sight and set up your makeshift sniper. You peer through the viewfinder and find Bane’s chest. Your finger tenses over the trigger.

You let yourself sink deep into the Force, let it guide your actions. Inhale. Exhale. I can do this. As you relax, the mellow warmth you missed so dearly washes over you, gently eroding the torment in your mind and heart, guiding your focus to the here and now. Trust in the Force.

Wait.

Wait.

Now.

You fire two bolts straight into your target the same exact moment Bane and Hunter shoot each other. Hunter’s shot hits the droid, breaking off its leg. Bane’s shot hits directly in Hunter’s chest, as yours did Bane. Both men immediately fall backwards and slam into the ground.

“My booster!” Oh. So not a leg. Got it.

“Hunter!”

Kriff kriff kriff. You jump down nimbly from your hiding spot in the ceiling and immediately sprint towards the duo. Is he dead? You would unapologetically release sithhell on Bane if he killed the man you love.

Omega panics as she tries to wake Hunter up, continuously calling his name before taking a glimpse of her surroundings. Before you can react, she grabs her bow and pulls it taut, aiming at you. She looks petrified.

“Whoa! Omega, it’s me!” you exclaim, holding your hands up in surrender. She takes a moment to actually look at you before sagging in relief. Suddenly, the droid comes speeding out of nowhere and Omega shoots, the energy bolt whizzing past your waist and straight into the droid before it can attack you from behind.

The shot rings true and the grumpy robot falls. You turn around to grab at its exposed parts under its head and yank them out to make sure it can’t power on again.

“Thanks, Omega. I owe you one,” you say and Omega gives you a proud smile.

You place a comforting hand on her shoulder before kneeling down to shake Hunter awake, but it doesn’t work. You take a moment to analyse Hunter’s Life Force. It’s a bit dimmer, but it’s constant, meaning he’s out cold and doesn’t have the life draining out of him. You let out a sigh of relief. He’s alive. You glance back to see Bane still not moving. Good.

“What’re we gonna do?” Omega whispers as you both peer down at Hunter. His armor is smoking from Bane’s blaster shot and you exhale through your teeth, trying to come up with a plan. You slip off a glove to check Hunter’s pulse–it’s strong. You don’t want to leave Omega alone, even if Bane is unconscious, but you aren’t sure you have a choice.

“Well we can’t carry him to safety, neither of us are strong enough for that,” you think aloud, gears churning in your head. You would have to wait for help, even if you were sitting ducks.

Briefly, you entertain the thought of taking Bane’s ship. The only problem is you don’t know what trackers or other gadgets are in there–it’s too costly of a risk and a price you weren’t willing to pay. You sigh, resigned.

“Omega, you try to comm the others and see if you can wake Hunter up. I’m going to go inside this guy’s ship and see if I can find something that can help us. We have to get out of here before the bounty hunter wakes up,” you instruct and Omega nods, youthful determination flooding back into her eyes.

You leave her to it, walking cautiously towards Bane’s ship. You look down at him. His armor is smoking in two places from the shots you fired. Based on what you see, he’s still unconscious, and his Life Force reflects the same conclusion. How long that would remain, you don’t know. Which means you need to work fast.

You board the ship while you remove the sniper attachments from your blaster and clip them back onto your belt. You keep your guard up as you look around. No droids. Guess that techno-service droid is his one and only.

In an effort to slowly re-familiarize yourself with the Force, you send out a quick pulse through it to see if there are any lifeforms aboard the ship, relaxing when you find none. You rummage through all the cabinets that you discover, looking high and low as you try to locate something of use. The secret compartment in the cockpit proves to be the fruitful reward to your search. With a wave of your hand, you unlock it with ease. Bingo.

Credits. Bags of them. And they’re unmarked creds, which make your score even better. Hopefully, it would be enough to pay off your debt to Cid and give the Havoc Marauder some much-needed upgrades.

Usually, you would feel bad about stealing from someone, but considering this was a bounty hunter – Cad Bane, no less – you figure you can risk treading the grey area of your moral code.

You grab as many bags as you’re able, stuffing them inside your backpack and clipping the rest onto your belt. At this moment, you’re incredibly grateful to Tech and Echo for designing a sturdy utility belt that fits you well. The standard ones were for clones and you definitely were not a clone.

You exit the cockpit and head to the second level of the ship to see if there’s anything else you can find. A stack of crates sits in the corner across from what you assume to be a prison. You scrunch your nose in disgust as you open one to find medical supplies. Bacta patches and gel, vitapaste, rations, water, gloves, sanitary napkins–it was all there. Delighted, you close the crate and click the repulsor to make it levitate. Oh how you love technology.

You turn around and walk back up the stairs to leave the ship. You freeze at the exit ramp. You have got to be karking kidding me.

“Sorry lil’ lady.”

Cad Bane stuns Omega in front of your eyes before rounding on you and immediately fires. In a desperate attempt to save yourself, you throw your hands up and the honeyed power of the Force rushes through every fibre of your being. The blaster bolts slow down to a snail-like crawl and your eyes widen. How did I…?

Never mind how you argue with yourself. Time to get out of here!

You tiptoe around each bolt, the effort of keeping them in stasis becoming more difficult with each passing moment. You grit your teeth as your arms shake, but you keep going until you are finally off the ramp. You lower your arms and the energy hits the inside of the ship, spazzing out the blinking controls inside.

Bane turns to you in surprise, astonished at how you’re suddenly in front of him. You don’t give him the luxury of processing the event and immediately punch him in the face with as much strength as you can muster. Bane pitches backwards and collapses onto the ground, just as he did the first time. You grab your stun blaster and shoot him as extra assurance. You really did not want this to repeat again. Hopefully he never wakes up with a memory of what I just did...

“Now stay down,” you mutter to a knocked out Bane, cradling your now injured hand. You have no idea how Wrecker ever does this because wow your hand is killing you.

You have to say, you’re pretty proud of yourself for being able to render him unconscious not once, but two times. You wish you could tell Anakin–the thought saddens you. He’s probably dead too.

With that vividly cheery thought, you stagger back from the ramp in exhaustion, weary from the sudden surge of the Force still ebbing and coursing through your body.

None of the Bad Batch knew you used to be a Jedi–not even Hunter. It was something only a few of your closest Jedi friends and the Jedi Council knew about.

But after what happened today, with Rex helping your squadmates get their inhibitor chips out, with you finally letting the Force in… maybe it is time to tell them. The secrecy wouldn’t be needed anymore now that you were sure you were safe around your friends. But clearly, the universe wanted to throw a nasty vibroblade in your plans by knocking Hunter and Omega unconscious and having the best kriffing bounty hunter in the galaxy be hot on your heels.

You take a few seconds to get your breath back and regain your mental energy. You aren’t out of the woods yet. You run inside Bane’s ship to grab the crate of medical supplies before sprinting back out towards Hunter and Omega.

You lean down and pat Omega’s cheek gently, trying to wake her up, but she’s out cold. Why is everyone around me unconscious? Frankly, you’re equally amused and terrified by the situation laid out in front of you.

You sigh, looking around to see if you can find some cover. There’s a giant sheet of durasteel to your left, big enough to act as a barrier in case trouble comes knocking. You bend down and pick Omega up before placing her down cautiously, leaning her small body against the metal. You repeat the action with the crate you found.

The third time proves to be much more difficult. Hunter certainly isn’t as muscular as Wrecker, but he sure as sithhell isn’t as light as Omega. You tap your foot nervously, trying to figure out a way for you to lift him. Yes, you could use the Force, but you don’t want to alert the other Force-sensitive on the planet. If they knew about your existence, it could put them in danger, and that was the last thing you wanted.

Giving up, you place your hands underneath Hunter’s armpits and effectively drag him all the way over, propping him up as you did Omega. You cringe at the sound of his armor grating the floor. There are sure to be dirty scuff marks on it now. Sorry Hunter.

Just as you’re about to sit down next to him, heaving deep breaths from the exertion, you pause. A warning is practically blaring in the Force and you tense, urgently trying to figure out the cause.

“Not again,” you mumble under your breath. You can’t handle any more action today. With Hunter and Omega both down, and your extreme fatigue from engaging in the Force, you don’t know how much of a fight you can put up. Not to mention you never trained as a soldier. There was a reason why you left the military planning strategies to the Bad Batch.

You hold your blaster close to your chest as you scan the environment. Bane is immobile and so is the dismantled techno-service droid. So what’s wrong?

Ten nerve-wracking seconds pass before you get your answer. Clone voices waft up to your hiding spot and you bite your cheek in frustration as your head continues to pound. Your headache still hasn’t stopped.

There is no way you can fight them all off, especially if Crosshair is with them. They are too far away for you to get a read on how many there are, and frankly, you’re much too scared to even peek around the durasteel to count.

One of Tech’s previous statements floats through your mind. About three attack shuttles worth.

You can feel your heart thumping wildly in your chest, blood rushing through your ears as anxiety ties your stomach into knots. I can’t do this, I can’t do this, Ican’tdothis.

You take deep breaths, doing your best to clear your mind and focus. You had to do this. There is no other option other than surrendering or dying. No, damnit, you would go down fighting until the Life Force left you.

You peer just past the edge of the metal to see at least twenty clones heading your way. Certainly not ideal, but you bide your time. If you started shooting now, you couldn’t use the element of surprise to your advantage and they would easily overwhelm you. But once they’re close enough, you hope you can at least take a couple out before having to resort to using the Force. It isn’t ideal, but it’s all you have.

Honestly, you don’t know if you could get out of this one alive, much less protect Hunter and Omega too. Maker help me.

It throws you off when they finally come into sight–you see how plain the clones’ armor looked without paint. You never really noticed it before since you were always running for your life in those circumstances. But now that you think about it, you are so used to seeing bright blue or green or yellow that the alabaster white just seems so… odd.

“Looks like a big fight happened here.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. All these men are dead.”

Now.

You whip your body around the metal and immediately begin shooting as fast as you can pull the trigger, trying to make every shot count. The troopers hesitate for just a moment, most likely due to their surprise of you being there. But that second is all you need.

You take out the three men closest to you before jumping back behind the metal as their barrage of fire rains down on you. You do your best to shoot back and manage to take out one more clone, but they’re beginning to gain too much ground too fast. I can do this. I have to do this.

As far as you can tell, Crosshair isn’t with the clones attacking you, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t set up shop somewhere nearby, waiting to shoot you.

You shudder. It’s a chilling thought.

You grab one of your last detonators from your belt and hurl it as far as you can. The rapid beeping rises quickly in pitch before the charge explodes. Anguished cries reverberate throughout the area, and you briefly feel sorry for having to take such drastic measures as you feel their Force signatures dim swiftly. But you don’t have a choice.

Peeking around the corner, you count around eight to ten clones down. Not bad considering the circumstances.

You continue shooting as much as you can but now the troopers are much too close for comfort and you’re feeling overwhelmed. The durasteel you are using for cover isn’t meant to take this kind of damage, and the integrity of your shield is quickly waning as told by the constant creaks and groans. You don’t know what to do. Will we make it?

In your haste of shooting first and panicking later, you don’t notice Hunter groaning, finally waking up. And before you have time to even glance at him, the familiar hum of the Havoc Marauder and its lights shine down on you. Your sag in relief. Looks like Omega was able to comm them after all. Never before have you been so glad to see the beat-up hunk of junk. (You would never say that to Tech though–the Marauder is his baby, his pride and joy.)

Echo, Wrecker, and Tech all race off the ship, guns ablazing. Wrecker and Tech stand guard, serving as cover fire while Echo bends down to help you out.

“Hunter, wake up!” Echo hisses and smacks his helmet lightly. Hunter mumbles in pain as he starts to move, trying to look around as his HUD boots back up. Seriously? Now you wake up? you think sarcastically. But you’re much more relieved at the fact that he has actually woken up.

“What happened? Where’s Omega?” Wrecker bellows, worried.

“She’s right here, I’ve got her!” you shout back at the same time Echo says, “He was shot in the chest plate.”

You pocket your blaster and gather the young girl in your arms with every last bit of strength you have left. You aren’t strong enough to hold her in one arm and shoot with the other. That is much more up Wrecker’s alley.

“We have to get him on board!” Tech exclaims as he helps Echo support Hunter. You pick Omega up in both arms and bolt for the ship as fast as you can while yelling at Tech to grab the crate of supplies.

“Incoming!” Wrecker calls out as a fresh wave of troopers advance towards the six of you. You grunt as you deposit Omega in a chair near the controls before pulling out your blaster and helping Wrecker shoot down the men racing towards you.

“Got him. Tech, fly us out of here!” Echo commands while Wrecker makes a gesture for them to get on the ship faster. Hunter stumbles as he does his best to upright himself.

“Go go go!” Wrecker exclaims. Tech shoves the crate next to Omega’s seat and makes a beeline for the cockpit as you continue shooting, moving to the side to make space for Echo and Hunter to come on board. Wrecker quickly climbs in right after them and the ramp closes shut.

Tech immediately pilots the Havoc Marauder up and away from the scene. You vaguely hear the sound of blaster fire hitting the bottom of the ship while you drop your blaster on the ground and wrench Hunter’s helmet off in a panic. You take his face in your hands as you scan him quickly, trying to figure out if he’s hurt or not.

Hunter bats your hands away. “He... he took Omega,” he says and you shake your head. Wrecker pipes up from behind you to respond.

“Who? Crosshair?”

“The bounty hunter,” Hunter mutters as he rubs a hand over his face. Before Wrecker can answer again, you step in.

“No, he didn’t. I took him down. And no, he’s not dead,” you tack on quickly when you see Echo open his mouth. Echo shakes his head fondly and you just grin at him.

“She’s right here,” Echo says instead, pointing to Omega’s sleeping figure. Hunter turns in surprise to see that his brother is indeed telling the truth.

“How...?” Hunter’s voice trails off. Echo and Wrecker look at you expectantly, and Hunter follows suit. You sigh and take off your helmet, setting it down on the ledge next to the controls. You don’t look at them.

“It’s a long story.”

You don’t have a chance to elaborate any further because Tech walks in, interrupting the conversation.

“I’ve made the jump to hyperspace. There was a cruiser in the atmosphere, but I was able to quietly go past them by disguising our ship as a bounty hunter’s. They didn’t interfere. I put in the coordinates for Ord Mantell. I estimate our time of arrival to be five hours and thirty two minutes,” Tech reports and Hunter nods while you voice your thanks.

“Looks like we got time!” Wrecker says cheerily, pulling out an extra chair. Tech looks to you in confusion.

“Did I miss something significant?” Tech asks, concerned about the information he did not receive as he adjusts his goggles. You shake your head but now, all eyes are back on you.

“She was just about to tell us how she saved Omega,” Hunter supplies helpfully and Tech nods in understanding. He grabs a chair as well and sits down, interested in hearing what you have to say.

You look around the room, realizing you can’t get out of it. You are exhausted and just want to sleep but based on the looks you are getting from the boys, there is no way you can leave without giving a sufficient answer.

You sit down on a chair in between Omega and Echo and begin explaining.

“When the cone fell, it separated. I got knocked out when I hit the ground, but I don’t think I broke anything,” you quickly reassure as Tech grabs a datapad to scan your vitals.

“After I came to, I tried comming Echo, but my commlink was broken – I could only hear bits and pieces of what he said. There were some voices near me so I just followed them and–” you pause, not sure if you should tell them what happened. What you experienced, what you found out. “–I saw Hunter and Omega. The ledge I found was way too high for me to jump to, so I climbed up the side of the wreckage to see them and the bounty hunter facing off,” you say, choosing to leave the detail out. It was too personal. You still needed time.

All of them are listening intently, hanging on to every word you’re saying. Hunter’s gaze on you is heavy and loaded with questions. Tech is still tapping away on the datapad, but you know you have his full attention. Multitasking may not be possible for regular humans, but it definitely was for Tech.

“When I saw the bounty hunter, I knew Hunter wasn’t going to win,” you mumble sheepishly, rubbing the back of your neck. Hunter winces at your statement and you rush to explain why.

“Hunter, you have to trust that I genuinely don’t doubt your abilities. You are much more of a soldier than I will ever be. But this bounty hunter is one of the best, if not the best in the entire galaxy. He’s gone against the Jedi, and won. Based on what Anakin told me at the beginning of the war, Cad Bane is ruthless. He tortured Master Ropal and killed him. Believe it or not, I think he tried to abduct Chancellor Palpatine. Even Anakin had a difficult time fighting him.”

A tense quiet settles over you all as you mentally revisit your conversation with Anakin, and later with Ahsoka. She told you how it was one of the first times she was genuinely afraid that she was going to die, or at least get hurt very severely.

Echo’s rough voice shakes you out of your reverie. “How do–did you know General Skywalker?” he asks, clearly confused at how you referred to him on a first-name basis. You mentally facepalm yourself. How did I forget he served as part of the 501st? You feel incredibly stupid.

You could make up a lie, of course, but it wouldn’t be worth it. Hunter’s enhanced senses and Tech’s vitals scan could probably pick up on your biological signs, not to mention you would feel terribly guilty about not being honest. I promised myself I would tell them…

You blow out a nervous breath, deciding to at least give them something. They deserved that much.

“I’m–well, I was a Jedi,” you admit, staring down at your feet. You can’t bring yourself to look at them, feeling almost… ashamed.

The boys are shocked into silence and you cringe. There was probably a much better way for you to say that, but now it was out there. Yet the pressure that had been weighing down on you since you let the Force back in didn’t lessen.

“What?” Wrecker questions, thrown completely for a loop. “You’re a Jedi?”

Before you can answer, Tech pipes up. “When I reviewed your medical data, there was no note about an elevated midi-chlorian count or any sort of connection to the Force. Additionally, there is no documentation of you serving as a General or a Commander during the war in the Republic military records. How were you a Jedi? And why aren’t you one now? You used past tense in your sentence,” Tech adjusts his goggles as he attempts to register this new information that conflicted with his previous knowledge.

You sigh, drumming your fingers on your thigh. “I left the Jedi Order before the war ended. I promise I’ll explain everything in detail later, but for now, you have to understand that I’m just a Force-user. I trained as a Jedi, but I’m not a Jedi, not anymore,” you clarify, lifting your head up to make eye contact with each of them.

“Aw man, that’s so cool. You have to show us your cool mind tricks sometime!” Wrecker smiles and you agree to his request. It warms your heart to see him so excited.

“It makes sense. You must have seen the regs turn on the Jedi but didn’t know why. When you started traveling with us, you didn’t know if we would turn on you too, even though we’re not regs,” Hunter realizes, and you nod in affirmation. You’re secretly relieved by the fact that he doesn’t seem angry, just… just thoughtful.

“And then when I saw what happened to Crosshair, I knew I couldn’t risk ever telling any of you. But when Rex told us about the chips…” you trail off.

Echo picks up your sentence quickly. “You figured out you would be safe with us if we got our chips removed. No wonder you were so insistent on following what Rex said.”

You smile at the last part, a bit embarrassed. He wasn’t wrong. You were probably even more insistent than Rex was on telling them to get their inhibitor chips out. Better to be safe than sorry you told them. Though at the time, you hadn’t even thought about how removing their chips would impact you and your abilities. You were too focused on keeping the Force out of your body to entertain that thought.

Wrecker suddenly gets up and gathers you in a bone-crushing hug. “Well you don’t have to worry now! We got those stupid chips out of our heads, which means I promise we won’t kill you!” he says cheerfully and you can’t help but laugh as you hug him back, the knot in your chest beginning to unravel. You could always count on Wrecker’s wonderfully big heart to raise your spirits.

“You’re right, big guy. It’s honestly a relief. One less thing I have to worry about.”

Wrecker lets go of you and you pick up where you left off. “As I was saying, Cad Bane isn’t a bounty hunter we can take lightly. Crosshair helped me re-engineer my blaster to turn it into a pseudo sniper with attachable parts during the war. Because I was so high up, I could get a clear shot of Bane. From that vantage point, I shot him at the same time Hunter and Bane shot each other.”

Echo’s mouth drops open. “Damn.”

“What I didn’t expect was for Hunter to be rendered completely unconscious. So I told Omega to try to comm you guys while I went on Bane’s ship to see if I could find anything. And I did.” You pull off your backpack and dump out the contents. Bags of credits come tumbling out. You unhook the few bags on your belt and toss them into the pile.

“Bane had a secret compartment with a lot of credits. So I took them and that crate I yelled at Tech to get,” you explain as you reach into the bag to show off the Imperial credits.

Tech’s eyes widen as he lifts up a bag to inspect it. “I will have to calculate how much you took and mark it in the inventory, but based on my initial deduction, this may be enough for us to upgrade the Marauder and provide sustenance for at least a few months.”

“Nice one!” Wrecker compliments and you grin in response. “What’s in the crate?” he asks, walking over to lift up the top.

“Medical supplies. We barely had any left so I figured I might as well take that too,” you shrug as Hunter gets up to join Wrecker to peer at the contents.

“What happened after that? You said you told Omega to comm the others, which means she was awake. Did she get hurt while I was out? Is that why you look so exhausted?” Hunter inquires, astute as ever.

You bite your lower lip. “When I was getting off his ship with the goods, he had woken up again. Before I could do anything, he stunned Omega and then immediately shot at me,” you pause, wondering if you should elaborate on how you got out of the situation. You decide to come clean on this part.

“I… I don’t know how, but I was able to stop the blaster bolts and keep them – and Bane – in stasis with the Force. The problem was that it took a lot out of me. After not really using the Force for so long, my energy reserves were pretty much gone,” you sigh, absentmindedly rubbing your arms. Your muscles are still sore from the event.

“After that, I punched him and knocked him out again. I dragged you and Omega away from the ship so that I could protect you, and I ended up using that giant piece of durasteel as cover to fight off those clones. Then you guys came and rescued us and that’s that,” you finish, suddenly fatigued from the conversation. You slump back into your chair, perfect posture be damned.

“Wow,” is all Echo says, surprised by your strength. It took some serious stamina to be able to withstand so much for so long. Echo remembered seeing Commander Tano and General Skywalker be exhausted after some especially intense missions where they constantly had to use the Force.

“Yeah,” you mutter, massaging your dominant hand. It is still throbbing from the mean hook you threw at Bane. You don’t have any regrets. You glance at Omega’s sleeping figure and soften. The things I would do for this girl.

“Looks like I taught you well!” Wrecker laughs and you smile. When you first met the Bad Batch, Wrecker took it upon himself to teach you basic self-defense and how to overtake an opponent intelligently. Even though you already learned how to fight as part of your Jedi and military training, you couldn’t say no to him when he looked so excited. But it paid off because he’s right. Wrecker did teach you well.

“You did. You basically saved my ass out there with your amazing teaching skills,” you chuckle, glancing down at your hand. You think you’ll probably have to cover it in bacta gel to speed up the healing process before having yet another realization. (You seem to be having a lot of those today.)

I can just Force-heal. Before, you couldn’t Force-heal because it would look suspicious if something healed too fast. But now that they know, you don’t have to solely depend on medical supplies anymore.

Tech, as always, is right on cue. “Is your hand alright? For you to render Bane unconscious must have been no easy feat. Not to mention that according to the medscan I just took, you have a mild concussion, most likely due to your fall. I can run a medical diagnostic test to start and then run more specific tests to combat your pain...” Tech mutters the last part to himself, brain running light years faster than his mouth as his fingers fly over the datapad.

You debate it for a moment before nodding. “That would be great, Tech–thanks. But right now, I’m exhausted, so I’m going to go and crash in my bunk. Wake me up if I need to punch someone again,” you joke before shuffling away from your squadmates. You ruffle Omega’s hair affectionately as you pass by her and pick up your blaster from the ground before climbing down the ladder. You don’t notice Hunter’s troubled gaze or how his Force signature sours a bit as you leave.

You quickly clean up and throw on some bacta patches on a few nasty bruises. You sit down on your bed and pull the privacy curtain before deciding to open up your secret compartment next to your mattress. You stare down at the objects, the only things you have left as a reminder of the past. You reach down for one of them, about to touch it when you stop.

You shake your head and shut the drawer. Deciding to finally, finally hit the hay, you’re out like a light as soon as your head hits the pillow. Dealing with the Force and healing yourself could be done later. Not even your constant pain and crippling worry about your family friends could keep you up any longer.

please consider reblogging! it really helps me and is super encouraging ^_^

[animationnut]

Of Broken Spirits and Renewed Hope

Spoilers for True Colors.

Rating: K+ Summary: Three human girls arrived in Amphibia. Only one made it back home. Note: If Google has any degree of accuracy, นางฟ้า is Thai for angel.

“Home.”

Anne felt her vocal cords vibrate in her throat, felt her tongue curve around the syllable of the word, felt her lips as they moved to accommodate her vocal cords and her tongue. But she was speaking from instinct, not intent, as her brain swam in a haze of mixed colours—green, pink and blue, and the orange glow of a blazing sword—

Anne could feel herself wavering on the edge, practically see the black abyss threatening to swallow her whole, but three harsh coughs interrupted her dark spiral.

“What’s that smell?” rasped Polly, covering her nose as she wheezed. Her gags racked her small form and Hop Pop quickly whipped a handkerchief from his pocket, using it to cover Polly’s face.

The buzzing in Anne’s ears stopped and the world exploded with sound and sensation.

Dozens of horns blared from commuters who were impatient and annoyed with traffic that should have been as familiar to them as the back of their hands. Heat seared Anne’s exposed skin as the metal of the vehicle they were lying on burned from the exposure to the Californian sun. Exhaust rose in black clouds, sour and noxious, burning Anne’s nose and making her eyes water.

There was the click of the car door opening and Anne snapped her head around. The portly man gazed blankly at her as his mind struggled to comprehend what he was witnessing. With a boggled expression, he looked between the girl wearing an armoured chest plate and the three large, anthropomorphic frogs sitting next to her.

“Hi,” chirped Anne, managing to sound upbeat and cheerful. “Sorry, dude. We’ll just be on our way.”

“Where did you come from?” he asked. Anne couldn’t identify his dialect, but his accent coupled with the maple leaf-shaped air freshener and his outfit screamed ‘tourist’. “And what the heck are those?”

Sprig opened his mouth, no doubt to introduce himself, but Anne seized the Plantars in a one-arm hold, squeezing just tightly enough for speech to be difficult. “Sorry,” she repeated, using her free hand to snag the strap of her backpack.

She slid down the hood and if it weren’t for months of walking over sticks, stones and hard, uneven ground, the hot asphalt seeping through her worn-out sock might have crumpled her. But she ignored the pain as she swung her bag over her shoulder. The weight of Frobo’s deactivated head nearly sent her sprawling, but she regained her balance and took off running.

She weaved her way through the bumper-to-bumper traffic, climbing over vans and sports cars and SUVs, ignoring the shouts and curses aimed her way by the disgruntled owners. She reached the metal barrier that separated the embankment from the freeway and she hoisted herself over it.

They tumbled down the grassy slope and Anne sprinted through the trees. The sounds of human civilization eventually quieted and Anne halted her sprint when she registered Sprig smacking at her arm.

She quickly let them go and they dropped to the ground. Anne’s knees buckled as the adrenaline drained right out of her. Her mind was a mess of thoughts and her lungs felt like they were going to collapse.

The flaming blade piercing through Marcy’s chest. The stunned expression in Marcy’s eyes, the way all colour faded from her face. The tears that spilled down her cheeks, and the final words that tumbled from her mouth as her eyes rolled back into her head.

“I’m sorry. For everything.”

Anne’s agonized scream was promptly choked by the vomit that filled her mouth.

Hop Pop was by her side in an instant, hands gripping her shoulders as she hunched over and hacked into the grass. Her throat burned and her limbs trembled, the sight of Marcy falling lifeless and the sound of Sasha’s horrified howl haunting her.

The sobs that pealed out of her came from somewhere deep inside the girl. They were filled with pure loss and devastation and it echoed amongst the towering trees. Tears poured down Anne’s face, snot leaked from her nose as she cried and her fists pounded into the grass as emotion overcame her.

“Marcy!” she wailed. “Marcy, nooooo! Maaaaarcyyyy!”

Hop Pop wound his arms securely around her neck and pulled her close. Sprig and Polly clung to her, and all of his grandchildren were in a state of grief, tears glimmering on their skin and their small bodies shaking.

Hop Pop swallowed back his own sadness. As traumatizing as it had been to see a child slain in front of his eyes, he had to be strong for his family. He stroked Anne’s hair, patted Sprig and Polly’s heads, and gave comfort not with words but his presence.

Anne cried herself hoarse. When she found she had run out of tears to shed, she weakly sat up and wiped at her face. “It’s not fair,” she said croakily. “Hop Pop, it’s not fair.”

“I know, kiddo. I’m so sorry.” Hop Pop rubbed his thumb gently over Anne’s knuckles.

“She sacrificed herself to save us,” said Sprig, squeezing his eyes shut against the swell of despair. “Her and Sasha.”

Anne gave a distraught moan, her head bowing slightly as the weight of two worlds crushed against her shoulders.

“Hey, hey, look at me,” ordered Hop Pop, and Anne reluctantly lifted her chin. “We don’t know what happened to Sasha. She’s a tough one. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“We don’t know that!” shouted Anne, her voice cracking. “Marcy should have been fine, but she isn’t! She’s dead, and Sasha might be too! This isn’t how it was supposed to go! We were supposed to come home together!”

She began to dry heave, stress and panic and grief clenching tight around her heart and making her feel sick. Hop Pop grabbed her face with both hands and stared steadily into her wet eyes. “Breathe with me. In and out.”

Anne’s first attempts resulted in strangled gasps, but eventually she gained control of her breathing. “I don’t know what to do,” she whimpered.

“We worry about that later,” said Hop Pop firmly.

“But what about Andrias? And if Sasha is still alive—”

“Anne, right now, none of us are in a state to do much of anything,” said Hop Pop calmly. “To be honest, I don’t know if we can do anything.”

Anne blinked at him before realization hit. “The music box is still in Amphibia.”

Polly was crestfallen. “Does that mean we’ll never be able to go home?”

“What about Bessie and MicroAngelo?” asked Sprig desperately. “And Ivy! I didn’t get to say goodbye to Ivy!”

“Hush,” said Hop Pop soothingly, pulling Sprig and Polly into his arms. “The townspeople will take care of our snails, and I’m sure Ivy will understand, Sprig. As for going back home, I don’t know.” He let out a heavy sigh, feeling every year of his existence weigh down his bones. “Maybe we can figure something out. But if we can’t, we have each other. Home is where we are, even if we aren’t in Wartwood.”

He swept his eyes over his grandchildren, biological and adopted, and saw the words provided little peace in the moment of intense sorrow. But he knew they would come to appreciate how fortuitous it was that they returned to Anne’s world as a family, even when the losses they suffered hung darkly over their thoughts.

Anne was staring numbly at the ground and Hop Pop tugged lightly at her elbow. She fell easily into his embrace, as if she were made of nothing but feathers, and her forehead rested against the top of his head. For a moment they just stayed there, Anne’s body radiating warmth and causing Polly and Sprig to nestle closer to her, seeking her familiar heat.

Polly was the first one to hear the musical twinkling. She blinked over at Anne’s backpack. “Anne, your bag is singing.”

Anne slowly turned to follow Polly’s gaze, and it took her several seconds to register the noise. Suddenly it was as if a live wire had touched her and jolted to action, shrieking, “My phone!”

The Plantars were jostled as she dove for her bag. She ripped Frobo’s head out and Polly said furiously, “Hey! Don’t treat him like he’s junk!”

But Anne barely heard her. She plunged her hand into her bag, the bristles of her brush and points of her bobby pins sticking her flesh. Her fingers wrapped around her phone and she yanked it out.

Her text alert, which she hadn’t heard in months, was jarring to her ears. The notification center on her phone was being flooded by dozens and dozens of texts, missed calls and voicemail alerts. They poured in so fast Anne was only able to glimpse the names attached before they were replaced by another batch of notifications.

The majority of the texts were from Sasha, Marcy and Anne’s parents. There were a couple from the local police station, which caused Anne’s stomach to grow cold with fear. She hadn’t even considered the consequences of literally disappearing off the face of the Earth.

And then her phone froze, unable to keep up with the backlog of messages coming in all at once. Frustrated, Anne stabbed at her screen with her finger, but it was no use.

Her eyes fell upon the last text to make it to her notification center. It was from her mother.

Oh, นางฟ้า, your father and I miss you so much. We pray for a sign that you and the girls are alive, and that you will return home soon.

“Oh, Mommy,” whispered Anne, her fingers digging into the rubber material of her phone case.

Hop Pop approached and set a hand against her back. “Let’s go see your parents,” he said softly.

“But I don’t even know what to say to them,” she said helplessly. “I don’t know if they’ll understand. It’s…the things I’ve been through, the things we’ve been through, they don’t happen here. Not ever.”

“Well, we’re here to help you explain things,” said Sprig earnestly.

“Yeah, I’m…I think I might need some time to prepare them for you three,” muttered Anne. “They are so gonna freak out.” She glanced back at her frozen screen, and her heart plummeted as she read the most recent message from Marcy’s father. “Oh, how do I tell them?” she said in despair. “How do I tell Sasha’s parents that I had to leave her behind? How do I tell Marcy’s parents that their daughter is…is…”

Her voice wobbled and her eyes started to sting once more. Anne wanted to cry, but she didn’t have the energy nor the water for proper tears. Hop Pop gently set her phone back in her bag, which Anne allowed without protest. He laced his fingers with hers and said, “We’ll tell them the truth, Anne. That’s all we can do. We’ll tell ‘em how brave their daughters are.”

Anne gave a sniff. She tugged her hand free from Hop Pop’s grasp so she could rub at her eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, for sure.”

She took a few minutes to gather herself, to try and clumsily sort through the heavy emotions swirling in her chest. She wanted to mourn, but there wasn’t time. She had to see her parents, had to tell them what happened.

“So, how long have you been gone?” asked Polly in a small voice, embarrassed by her earlier outburst. “Does time work the same way here?”

“Um…I don’t know.” Anne gestured to her pink backpack, where her phone was once again nestled safely inside. “It froze on me, so I can’t check the calendar or anything. And I didn’t get to see the dates on the first few rounds of texts.” She looked over to see the pollywog nuzzling Frobo’s cheek. “I’m sorry, Polly. I shouldn’t have thrown him around like that.”

“S’okay,” mumbled Polly. “I shouldn’t have yelled. I’m just really sad and upset right now.”

“Me too.” Anne leaned over and brought Polly into her arms, pressing a gentle kiss against her head. “I’m sorry, Polly. Maybe we can fix him.”

“Yeah,” piped up Sprig. “He just needs a new body, right? When we get home, we can go back to that weird machine place and get him a fresh one.”

Polly perked up at that. “Yeah…yeah!” she said. “If we keep his head safe, we can rebuild him!”

There was hope in her eyes. It glimmered and shone and Anne found herself hypnotized by it.

Something flickered in her heart.

“Until then, we’ll do what we can here.”

Hop Pop, Polly and Sprig looked at her in surprise. The teen’s chin was set, her mouth settled in a determined line. “Anne?” ventured her best friend. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not just going to sit here and wait,” said Anne. Her own hope ignited, and the spark soon blazed throughout her whole being. “I’m not gonna just do nothing.” She set Polly down and stood, her fists clenched by her sides. “You’re right, Hop Pop. Sasha’s fine. Marcy…Marcy made the mistake of turning her back to Andrias, but that wasn’t her fault. Sasha won’t do that. She’ll find a way to take the box from that monster and open the portal again.

“But until she figures that out, I gotta do my part. That music box came to Earth somehow. The thrift store where Marcy found it, they had a wardrobe with the Amphibia symbol engraved into the wood. And Marcy knew what the box could do, which meant she found some information about it somewhere.”

She thought about Wartwood, her home away from home. She thought about Wally, Mrs. Croaker, Archie, Bessie, MicroAngelo, Toadstool, Toadie, Loggle, Ivy, Sylvia, Felicia, Stumpy, Maddie and the rest of her friends from the humble country town. She thought about Sasha, who despite her need for control and her habit of lying to get what she wanted, came through for her friends in the end.

She thought about Marcy.

She had tricked them into leaving their parents, their lives, and trapping them in a world so beyond imagination that Anne never in a million years would have dreamed it up. She had done it because she was so scared to lose the friends she loved most, so desperate to stay with Sasha and Anne forever.

She had been inconsiderate. She had been selfish.

So had Anne. So had Sasha. Marcy didn’t deserve to die for her mistakes—none of them did. They were just three teen girls who sometimes did stupid, stupid things.

But they cared about each other—Anne believed that. Even if it was misguided, even if it was manipulative, she knew Sasha and Marcy cared about her—they sometimes just went about it in all the wrong ways.

And even though Marcy was the reason they were in this mess in the first place, and even though Sasha’s trickery was the reason Anne didn’t initially believe her about Andrias, she cared about them, too.

Right now, it didn’t matter if she wasn’t sure if she still wanted to be friends with Sasha after all she had done. It didn’t matter that she still stung over Marcy’s own manipulative scheme to take her friends away from everything they ever knew.

However complicated her emotions currently were, it didn’t mean she couldn’t still care about the two girls she’d shared her most precious memories with.

She was going to find a way to get back to Amphibia. She was going to save her friends. She was going to bring her frog family back home. She was going to save Amphibia and countless other worlds from Andrias’ tyranny.

She wouldn’t let anyone else she loved die by his hands.

“We’re not helpless!” she said fiercely. “We won’t let him make us helpless! We’re gonna stop him!”

Her pupils and irises illuminated a bright blue.

“They did it again!” exclaimed Polly.

Anne blinked and the colour of her eyes returned to normal. “What?”

“Your eyes! They did the funny light-up thing! Are you gonna turn blue again?”

Anne flexed her fingers, but she didn’t feel numb or tingly, like she had when Andrias had thrown Sprig out the window. “No, I don’t think so.” She glanced down at her hands, brow furrowed. “To be honest, I have no idea how that happened. I don’t even really remember it? I mean, I know what I did, but it felt like I wasn’t in my body while I was doing it.”

Sprig looked between Polly and Anne in confusion. “I clearly missed something when I was falling to my death.”

“Oh, it was so cool, Sprig! Anne went all glowy, and she was using blue magic, and she was flying! She nearly beat the snot out of Andrias!” said Polly excitedly.

The words reverberated through Anne’s mind; She nearly beat the snot out of Andrias.

She could beat him. She was still connected to her stone, and that fact seemed to cause Andrias great unease.

“Do you think you’d be able to use those powers again, Anne?” asked Hop Pop, following her same train of thought.

“I’ll learn,” said Anne firmly. “I’ll figure it out. Once I get control of my powers, Andrias won’t stand a chance.”

There was no question of whether or not she’d be able to gain control of her newfound abilities—she had to. It was her best bet to defeat Amphibia’s king.

Sprig tilted his head to the side. “Do you know what activated them in the first place?”

Anne regarded him, intense warmth and adoration bubbling in her stomach, and she gave a soft smile. “You. When he threw you out the window, I thought you were dead, and I was so angry.”

At a momentary loss for words, Sprig’s eyes filled with touched tears and he jumped into her arms. “Oh, Anne.”

“I love you,” said Anne passionately. She lowered to her knees and brought Hop Pop and Polly into her steel embrace. “I love all of you. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you.”

“We love you too,” said Hop Pop tenderly, lightly running his fingers through her curly hair. “That’s what we’ve got over Andrias—love for one another. Pardon the sappiness of it, but that’s what we’ll use to beat him.”

“It’s not sappy at all,” said Anne. “It’s the truth.” She gave them one more tight squeeze before setting them back down. She grabbed her backpack, swinging it over her shoulders, and she picked up Frobo’s head. “Come on. I’ve kept Mom and Dad waiting long enough. I can’t wait for you guys to meet each other.”

They headed back to the freeway, where Anne hoped one of the stuck commuters would be willing to lend her their cell phone so she could call her parents to pick them up. As they made their way up the littered slope, Anne closed her eyes briefly.

Hang on, Wartwood. I’m coming back for you. Do what you can until I get there, Sasha. I know you can do it—you never give up.

A lump swelled in her throat, and she swallowed back a sob.

We won’t let him win, Marcy. I promise we won’t. You saved us, and I’m so sorry I couldn’t return the favour.

A breeze kicked up, ruffling her thick, curly hair, and in the caress of the wind she swore she could hear a carefree giggle and a sweet summons of Anna-Banana. She let out a slow breath, and a lone tear spilled from the corner of her eye and trailed down her cheek.

I forgive you, Mar-Mar. I forgive you.

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 139

Day Two of the Food Festival!  This one has a specific request from @baelpenrose, which was fun to play with in the Low-Stim session (always on day 2).

To everyone who has reached out to tell me how much they are enjoying getting to see Sophia actually relax and just have fun for once.... Y’all are the best! It’s been fun writing it, too. 

New reader shout outs go to @corvallis, @penguin--person, @amphibiousuprising, @chip5-0, and I think @lostsoul8822. I think that’s everyone... If I missed you, please DM me, and I’ll add you to the next chapter.

On with the show!

The first day of the Festival, Conor and I ended up staying through not only Maverick’s shift but the one after, just so we could drag him to our favorite spots. Day two, however, Conor was on deck as Support Personnel as well as Maverick, and neither were assigned to me - for the first half of day two, we were in the Low Stim Mode, so I was pretty sure I could brave it on my own with everyone else’s proximity alerts and my own personal hyper-alertness preventing accidental bumps.

For me, the most exciting part was the different foods offered, and the fact that I could focus on just the food. Not having to ignore the other stimuli was a completely relaxing experience. The visual of the mural, with everything present, was still completely different in the even, indirect lighting. The dual nature of it was toned down significantly, leading to the overall feel being softer and overall more pleasant without being distracting.

Halfway through a very good pad thai, I spotted Derek and Sam sitting with Ivan and poking at something that Sam was clearly excited about and Derek was equally doubtful of. I circled around so they could see me approaching, and made a point to wave. “What do you think?” I asked, trying to sign as I spoke but hampered by the food in my hands.

“It was a good try,” Derek confessed, cheeks stuffed with something that had previously been on a plate to his left as a backup plan.

Setting my food down, I grinned mischievously. “Doing my best,” I signed, leading to laughter on all sides.

“You just told him you do him the best,” Ivan murmured, my face immediately flooding red.

“That is NOT what I meant,” I tried to explain out loud, over-enunciating while I clenched my hands in embarrassment.

To his credit, Derek signed what he seemed to understand I meant, emphasizing each sign. It was clear that I had gotten several out of order and added one that changed everything overall.

After repeating the signs and getting confirmation, I shook my head and sighed dramatically. “I tried.”

Ivan was trembling with laughter. “You. You did,” he admitted. “But that was… wow.” His head dropped on his hands as he shook silently.

“Souffle pancakes?” I offered, finger spelling the word souffle since I had no freaking clue how to actually sign it.

“Egg pancake,” Derek explained, poking the one I offered and contemplating the jiggle.

“It’s cinnamon sugar, and not gooey,” I explained.

Apparently I got that one right, because Derek immediately stabbed a piece and shoved it in his mouth.  The only judgement I needed was the fact that he dragged the entire remaining pancake onto his plate.

Sam watched his roommate before contemplating his own sample. Before he could even ask, I held up a cup full of macerated berries. “And fruit topping for you, sir.”

“Are those my berries?” he asked, skeptical.

I shook my head. “Bog standard, from the consoles. Your vegetables and fruits are being used in the other shifts. We didn’t want to give anyone here unexpected tastes.”

He nodded and dumped the entire cup of fruit over his pancake, digging in happily.

Ivan batted his eyes at me until I explained. “Sam’s produce has… unexpected pairings. Tomatoes that pair with cheesecake and wines, strawberries that really go well with steak…”

“The mango that goes with beer but not fish?”

“Yeah, that one. Von soil does strange things to produce, turns out.”

“Those matcha-edamame are amazing though.”

“For ice cream, yes. For tea, less so. They’re like… cooking matcha, almost.” I laughed. They actually worked better for ice cream than matcha did, oddly - reducing the sugar content but still giving the same flavor.

“One vendor on the last day is using nothing but my produce,” Sam announced happily. “They asked my permission.”

“That’s good!” I encouraged him. “They should always ask your permission to do things like that.”

“People ask with requisition forms,” he agreed. “Mona asked in person.”

Note to self: much more patronage at Mona’s normal spot, I swore in my head.  She specialized in vegetarian dishes, and honestly made some of the best fried cabbage I’d had in my life.  Knowing that she was so considerate of Sam cemented her as my new favorite takeaway place.

After a little more chat, I finally waved my goodbyes to everyone and strolled slowly to the next tempting stall. I wasn’t really in any hurry, and did more people-watching than I did eating. Latkes were infinitely more interesting when I could overhear people arguing over family recipes.  A small bowl of udon was delicious, but not nearly as flavorful as the discussion around hot versus cold, what to top them with, egg or no egg… the only thing anyone seemed to agree on was that the smiling vendor ‘obviously’ ground their own flour, because the flour provided by the consoles was the wrong texture.

Another mental note: don’t learn to make udon.  Despite what I had previously believed, it takes a lifetime to make it right, turns out.

Wandering further down, I was delighted by the discovery of something that was very clearly Hannah’s doing: demonstrations of older food prep techniques.  Simon winked at me as he carried on a demonstration of - insanely - how to hand pull toffee. I didn’t know he could do that. Muna was demonstrating the correct way to make chapatis and handing them out as fast as she was making them. Clearly, she had been making them her whole life, because at no point did I actually see her look at them, but every single one was perfect.

Laughter erupted over my shoulder, and I whipped my head around to see the source. After wading through a crowd of smiling faces, I couldn’t help but join in.  There, right in front of the entire Ark, was Maverick trying to flip takoyaki as fast as the person demonstrating, and ending up with just a mess of octopus and batter on his side.  Both Maverick and the person guiding him were smiling, though, and in the end, the vendor handed Maverick four perfectly-round balls and quickly devoured all of the - less shapely, so to speak - ones on my partner’s side.  With an exuberant cheer and extending his arms wide to the crowd, the man exclaimed “The first takoyaki of a new student are always my favorite! Nothing tastes better!”

After bowing to his sensei, Maverick turned and spotted me, face still flushed with laughter.  He offered his food to a smaller man I did not recognize, who must have been the person Maverick was Supporting, before waving to me and continuing on.  Despite the urge to crush him in a hug, I forced my feet to stay in place and reminded myself that he was working.

By the time I trusted myself not to race after him, I realized someone had been trying to get my attention and had resorted to messaging me rather than shouting. “Phee, I don’t know what la-la land you are lost in, but look 100 yards to your four.”

The hell was Arthur doing here? He wasn’t scheduled to work this shift, as far as I was aware.  Craning my neck over my shoulder, I turned to see… Apparently a hallucination. It had to be.  There was no chance in any of the nine hells that Arthur Farro was dishing out spaghetti, much less smiling while doing it.

Almost dreamlike, I found myself drifting over to confirm that I was wrong, only to be startled when he shoved a plate with not only spaghetti but two gorgeous pieces of garlic bread under my nose. “Special plates, you can’t smell anything unless it’s on purpose.”

“You… Spaghetti?” I asked, eloquent as ever.

“Family recipe.”

“Leaning into the stereotype a bit, aren’t you?” I asked carefully before shoving as much of one thick, crusty piece of toast in my mouth as I could.

He shook his head. “Anyone who tells you their family is Italian and denies having a family recipe for anything is a damned liar.”

Skeptically, I took a bite. It was amazing. “Ah ee deh rehahee,” I tried to get out around the heap of pasta I was steadily shoving in my mouth.

“Maverick is a very bad influence on your table manners,” he observed drily, plating more portions and handing them out. “And no. Not happening.”

“You know I can cook.”

“Not the point. I also know that you will fiddle with it until it is unrecognizable, so there’s really no point in giving it to you.”

Defiantly, I took a smaller bite and chewed carefully. “Garlic, onions, obviously. Sausage and minced… Lamb? But that’s probably just for this session, knowing you it’s spicy sausage regularly.  I’m not getting carrot, though, so no soffritto? Unexpected…. Is that thyme, I’m tasting?”

“Rosemary, you heathen. And you’re still wrong.”

I mumbled to myself. “What did I get wrong? It’s gotta be the lamb… maybe he does usually use the lamb? I’m certain it is lamb…”

“It is lamb, and no, I don’t usually use it. But you left several things out.”

I stared at the plate again, confused. “I didn’t think I needed to mention the tomatoes….”

“Basil… oregano….” he drawled.

“Duhhh?” I poked through the last bite on my plate, sniffing it, trying to figure out what I was missing. “Fine, you win, I’m lost.”

“Mushrooms, Sophia. There’s mushrooms. Jeezus. It was an easy one, too.”  He showed me a bowl full of what looked like cooked and crumbled sausage, only for me to realize it was the tiniest diced mushrooms I had ever seen in my life.

“I am dying to know how you got them that small.”

“With a knife?” He arched an eyebrow at me as he turned to start another batch of sauce.

“Yeah, no shit, Arthur.”

“Correct, there is no shit in the spaghetti,” he confirmed cheekily as the vegetables started sizzling.

“Asshole,” I laughed, scraping the remaining sauce from my plate with the piece of bread I saved just for that purpose. Just as I was frowning at the sauce-less plate and remaining half-piece of bread, a scalding hot dollop of fresh sauce invaded my vision.

“You love me, because I won’t let you frown at your bread like that.”

Fiiiinnnne I sighed in my head as I shoved a piece of saucy, saucy bread into my cheeks and waggled my fingers to let him get back to work.

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[ghostlywritten]

If Only I Had Stayed In The Shadows - Chapter Four

James Potter x OC

Words: 3,3k

Prologue  Chapter One  Chapter Two   Chapter Three

A few weeks passed and we soon had reached the second half of November. By now, it was snowing heavily on the Hogwarts grounds, footsteps barely printing the ground before it was filled with a new batch of the white powder.

The classrooms were thankfully warmed and for once I didn't wish the lessons to end to avoid going outside. Letters to and from the outside world had stopped unless it was a big emergency to let the poor owls rest. Lucky for me, I had sent the last letter for the year to my parents consisting of the message that I would not do an internship at the Hospital Wing in the near future (or at all, but pssh). Lucky because my parents wouldn't send our family owl back no matter how angry they would get. Thus, I wouldn't have to think about their wrath until Christmas break.

Madam Pomfrey - whom I started calling Poppy in my head after hearing Dumbledore call her that once - still got half of the small packages of sweets once a week without a word. The other half went into James' stomach, who insisted he could still maintain his abs with playing Quidditch.

Practice was a pain in the ass and the next game against Slytherin was not something anyone of us were looking forward to. Especially the Captain was annoying during the time before this game, insisting to have more sessions than normally scheduled.

It was usual for people to watch practice – mainly the respective partners or friends – but only the supportive – and therefor maniac – ones would stay outside in a blizzard-like weather like this. I tried sneaking off from time to time but James was always already there to intercept me in my escape route.

Imagine my surprise when I saw not only Marlene next to Alice but also Lily, huddled closely together on the stands between the other stranded ones.

"Alright Beaters up now, I'm gonna release the Bludgers. Try to improve your aim." Sirius und Frank grumbled as they stayed up on their brooms whilst the rest of us got down, breathing heavily. "We are probably going to have to play in a weather like this! So we better be prepared!" James yelled after them, releasing the Bludgers.

"Have you looked at the stands already?" I asked as I resisted the urge to huddle into him, choosing to just place myself behind him for wind protection.

"Yeah, I'm always on the look-out for the sneaky snakes," James replied with a smirk over his shoulder, causing my heart to leap slightly.

"A-alright…but have you also noticed a certain red-head up there to your right?" I leaned over just in time to see his eyes flicker towards that area.

"Yeah, I have noticed," he said with an indifferent tone.

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for a second, "…And?"

"And what?"

"That's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You see the love of your life and all you have to say is 'Yeah, I have noticed'," I mimicked his voice, causing him to raise an eyebrow at me, "Didn't you promise that you wouldn't give up on her? I haven't seen you trying to pursue her in the past weeks."

James stayed quiet for a while, shouting an order towards the two Beaters. "James?"

The dark-haired boy sighed before he turned to face me, "And what about you? I haven't seen you try to get that internship, either."

"I have!"

"Leaving the sweets at her door is not trying."

"How do you know about that?" I asked surprised.

"I have my ways," he winked, "So what's going on?"

It was my turn to sigh this time, "...She is just been stressed and very unapproachable. Especially last week…," I hinted, watching his smile fade in realisation. It had been a full moon night. He cleared his throat awkwardly, "Well, you should maybe not try then anymore."

"….Oh? All of a sudden?"

"Yeah. And I'm not gonna try, either."

"What?" I stared at him in surprise, "What happened?"

"Nothing, I'm just sick of chasing something that seems unavailable," James said indifferently, "That promise was a dumb thing to do."

I swallowed slightly, wondering why I felt hurt about him breaking our promise. "Hey, listen," he appeased, noticing my expression, "I mean, I shouldn't have made you promise to keep asking her when it seems that she won't budge at all."

Nodding, I figured he was right. I wasn't really trying for good reason anyways. And he seemed to have realised that it wouldn't work out, either. But how…

"Why do you think that all of a sudden?"

"Er…," he scratched his neck, "I might have tried to persuade her to take you in." My eyes bulged. "What?!"

"Yeah…I kind of…had a slight – a very slight – suspicion why she wouldn't take you in as an intern," he started slowly, looking everywhere but at you, "And I offered a solution…but she still refused."

I stared at the shuffling boy in front of me, "You…tried to get that internship…for me?" My voice was almost breathless as I thought about what he had done more deeply; he had actually tried to find a solution for me despite his best friend's secret. "What- what was that suspicion?" I forced myself to ask, wondering what he would tell me.

"It doesn't really matter," he waved off quickly, "I just suggested to her to schedule your training periods around the…suspicion…yeah…and it didn't work."

…

I had the sudden strong urge to grab him by his Quidditch robes and kiss him senseless.

"Thank you, James," I said sincerely, blushing at my own thoughts, "Really…that's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." His cheeks already slightly flushed from the harsh wind reddened some more. "It's nothing."

"No, it's not nothing," I insisted, placing my hand on his arm. He didn't know I knew but I still wanted him to understand how important that was to me, "I'm really, really thankful, James."

"It didn't even work out, you don't have to be so embarrassing now," James tried to joke slightly, swallowing as he watched my beaming smile. Biting my lip, I forced to keep my arms down in order to not crush him into a hug, "Why are you staring at me like a creep?"

I shook my head with a grin, "I guess I'm just surprised what a sweet person you can be?" He spluttered slightly in protest, "Oh yes, Potter. Underneath all that prankster façade is a tiny, sweet boy…," I teased him before turning slightly serious, "who would do anything for his friends."

James puffed out his chest in pride, nodding, "I agree with the last part."

Laughing, I shook my head and let go of his arm. "I owe you something, siriusly."

"It didn't work out, though?" James questioned before shaking his head, "Nevermind, why am I complaining?" I laughed again as the Beaters went down, puffing heavily.

"Are we done yet?" Sirius huffed.

"Oh. Sorry, Padfoot! I didn't watch. Do it again!" James yelled over the wind, causing the two to groan in annoyance, "Hey, now. This is not the way to groan at your Captain!"

"Stop flirting then and pay attention!"

I was glad for the harsh wind now as it hid my tomato face. James chuckled slightly, "Sorry Pads. Couldn't resist."

"Oi, what the hell are you on about?" I grumbled, punching his arm.

"Ouch, woman," James complained, and I rolled my eyes, it wasn't even that hard of a hit, "I was just kidding. Now get your ass up there. It's time for an actual game!"

Needless to say, practice got us cold and sore after another hour, leaving us to yearn for nothing but a nice hot shower. I was about to head inside the lockers room, smiling tiredly at Marlene, Lily and Alice as they came up when James called me back to him.

Figuring he was just going to comment on my training session, I trudged back with curses muttered under my breath.

"Are you going to Slug's Party this weekend?" James asked outright and I blinked for a second in surprise at the sudden topic.

"Yeah, why?"

"Cool, let's go together then," he suggested, ruffling my hair with a quiet smirk as I stared at him dumbfounded.

"Ehm, what?" I mumbled; my words overshadowed by Marlene's shriek of 'WHAT', "Why?"

"Why not?" James asked back, leaving me slightly speechless when I had no argument against it either. "It's settled then. I will pick you up at the Common Room at eight."

"Alright," I muttered as he walked backwards towards the locker rooms, waving goodbye at me before he turned and went inside.

What just happened?

-

"I told you!" Marlene squealed, bouncing on her bed as we all got ready for the evening, "I told all your asses this would happen!"

I rolled my eyes as I shuffled into a plain blue dress, charmed to keep me warm and deciding to just leave my hair down for once.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked indifferently, looking stunning in her long red dress whilst she put on some earrings. She even managed to straighten her hair, which I still wondered why she would in the first place. I had straight hair, so I am a reliable source when I say it's boring.

"I mean," Marlene pressed, "That James Potter has actually started to look elsewhere for once. And his eyes are now set on Cecily!"

"You are being ridiculous," I said, trying to hide the tiny flush creeping up my cheeks, "He asked me as a friend. And you are still my date, you know?"

"Doesn't matter," the brown-haired beauty said dismissively, "It's the first step to romance. Pretending to be friends."

"Then why hasn't he ever tried to use that move on Lily?" I pointed out and she went quiet for a second, pondering on it before she said, "He's just dumb." A collective sigh resounded through the room. "I'm serious, though. Why is no one seeing this but me? It's so exciting, too. Cecily is finally getting a boyfriend!"

I sat down on my bed to put on my shoes, a tiny smile gracing my lips without my intention. "Look, how happy she is!" Marlene pointed at me almost accusingly as she looked at the others for confirmation.

"Oh, shut up already," I grumbled, embarrassed and she threw me a sleazy wink.

"Lily, what do you think?" she suddenly asked the too quiet girl in the back, who was absently fiddling with a chain in her hand.

"What?" she asked, blinking slightly.

I smiled. 'Who is the daydreaming one now?' "You need help with that?" I asked, ignoring Marlene's chatter in the background about my non-existent love life. Lily nodded, smiling back softly but stayed quiet otherwise.

"You must be relieved, too, Lils," Alice suddenly pointed out, appearing from the bathroom in a cute white dress, "With James finally stopping his pestering."

"Yes, for sure," Lily said but I noticed the usual fervour in her voice whenever she talked about James was missing, leaving it mellow. As I looked up, she was watching me through the mirror with a thoughtful expression.

"Everything alright?" I asked and she simply nodded, turning away with a 'Let's go'. Shrugging to myself, I followed the girls out towards the Common Room, fashionably late…I hated being late.

"Damn, what took you so long?" James greeted me with an eyeroll as he stood up from his hunched position with Sirius in front of the fireplace.

"Hello James. I'm fine, thank you. You look fancy yourself," I said sarcastically, and he gave me a peeved look, though his lips were twitching upwards.

"You would be the same if someone made you wait for half an hour, woman," he complained after the others greeted each other and we started heading towards the dungeons.

"I would still be polite in my greetings," I said poshly whilst wondering about the eager-looking Sirius peeking at us over James' shoulder.

"Oh yeah?"

"No. I would punch you for wasting my time." James laughed quietly, hooking my arm through his as we walked down the steps. "Hello Sirius, by the way."

Sirius perked up. "Hello to you too, dear Cecily. How are you feeling this fine evening?" he asked with a overly nasal tone.

"I'm feeling just splendid," I replied in the same voice. James made a face when I gave him a look. "This is how you greet someone, James."

"Please no," Sirius said in his normal tone, "It's the way purebloods greet each other."

"I was just going to say that reminded me of the way Slytherins talk," James laughed, causing some peers around us with green ties to glare in our direction.

"Or Ravenclaws when they recite something from the books in class," I added, and they nodded in agreement.

We entered Slughorn's class and I had to momentarily blink at the different sight from the usual dark interior. Every year Slughorn would change the décor and theme of the party although it would always be a little Christmas-like for a little thrill of anticipation. For me, it only reminded me of all the presents I had yet to shop for.

"Hello, my dear students," Slughorn greeted us with wide arms, ushering us inside, "My my, almost all my best students from Sixth Year at once!"

"Except for Marlene," I muttered, nudging the girl's shoulder teasingly and she slapped my arm painfully. Hey, she got here only because of me, I was allowed to poke fun at her for once. Her glare turned into a smirk when she noticed the arm hooked around James' and I looked away pointedly, ignoring her giggles at my red cheeks.

"Professor Slughorn, you have really outdone yourself with the decoration," Lily commented politely as the rest of us saw no point in making conversation with him and longingly stared at the food across the room instead.

"Finally," I muttered, grabbing myself a plate and handing one over to James to pile up something to eat. Marlene had slapped my hand away from anything edible throughout the whole day, insisting to keep my stomach from bloating to have a good figure for my dress. A dress that wasn't even tight-fitting.

"Someone's hungry," James remarked as he watched the pile on my plate grow higher and higher.

"Got a problem with a girl eating?" I asked with a raised eyebrow playfully and he grinned. "Not at all," he replied and put a cherry on top of my pile, causing us to chuckle.

We spent the first hour sitting down on one of the tables and chatting about nonsense as we ate, Slughorn occasionally fluttering past us, stopping for a quick talk and leaving as fast to attend to others. Looking around I was positive that there had never been so many people at one of his parties than this time around.

"He must be still looking for potential candidates for his trophy stand," James mused as if reading my thoughts. I noticed he did that a lot; knowing exactly what I was thinking.

"Hm, we must not be enough for him then," I commented. Sirius placed a hand over his heart dramatically, "How can you say that? We are lovely!"

"Lovely doesn't get you anywhere," James argued and puffed his chest out as I laughed, "Manliness does."

"Touché," Sirius agreed, puffing his chest out as well.

"You look like dumb idiots," I said with a shake of my head, still chuckling.

"Dumb and idiot mean the same," James said in a posh tone that would make a Ravenclaw proud.

"Two are better than one to describe your idiocy," I said, causing them splutter indignantly, "Oh hush. I'm just joking."

"You wound me still," Sirius said with a sniff.

The evening continued with the same light conversation and I couldn't help but settle in my position comfortably. Usually I would feel totally out of place in social circles like these, having a hard time to come up with mindless small talk, but it was somewhat easier with James on my side and Sirius on his respectively. The tables disappeared after a while to clear space for the dance floor, leaving me to mourn after the food that went with it.

"Now let's shag some legs!" Slughorn exclaimed enthusiastically. I choked on my drink whilst Sirius and James had a hard time keeping their laughter in as the music started blaring louder, soft classic music making space for some Wrock bands.

"Is that actually a real Muggle phrase?" Sirius asked between his barks of laughter whilst I watched Lily talk to Slughorn with a flustered face, probably trying to explain the right phrase to him. I bet you ten galleons that she was the one telling him about it in the first place.

"Something along the lines," I said with a small grin, rolling my eyes at the cackling boys next to me.

My feet were starting to ache from the heels Marlen had forced on me after a few more hours and I couldn't help but sigh in relief as James agreed to leave the slowly dwindling party close to midnight. "This was actually nice for once," James interrupted the sudden silence surrounding us, my ears still pounding from the too loud music.

"Yeah, it was way more fun than usual," I agreed.

"Was it because of me?" James asked with a wide grin and I rolled my eyes, bending down to get rid of my shoes to hide my blush. The dark-haired boy gave me his arm for support, and I sighed in relief as my aching feet hit the cool ground, immediately soothing my sore joints, "Wow, those heels were really high, weren't they? You are suddenly ten inches smaller."

"Oi, I'm not that small," I protested, looking back up only to have to crane my neck to see his crooked grin. "Oh, shut up," I mumbled, suddenly shy as I noticed how close we were standing. James chuckled softly before nudging me, "Come on, it's getting cold. Let's get you into the Common Room."

"You could lend me your robe like any gentlemen would," I pointed out and he gave me an affronted look, "And what about my freezing ass?" he asked in shock, causing me to laugh. I couldn't remember a time where I had laughed as much as this evening, my heart feeling light and floating around as if on clouds; an unusual but welcoming feeling.

Muttering a Heating Charm, I heard James sigh quietly in relief, apparently having felt really cold. "You know you are a wizard, right?" I asked him amused and he gave me look before grinning himself, looking away out of the window. We reached the Common Room, which was completely empty, and I would have almost automatically walked towards the fireplace if it hadn't been for the pure exhaustion from the evening catching up on me.

"You should sleep, we have class early in the morning," James said quietly as he watched my eyes droop every few seconds. He nudged me towards the staircase, "I can't carry you upstairs, the stairs are cursed."

I chuckled, walking up the way to the girls' dormitories as he stayed back, "It's not the staircase, it's the boys who are cursed."

"Cursed to fall at your feet," he added charmingly, smirking. I looked over my shoulder, shaking my head slightly. He had the most random bursts to flirt than anyone I had ever met before. "Good night, James," I simply said.

His brown eyes softened and for a second we stood there, staring at each other from across the room. I couldn't decipher anything from the distance, but it felt like something shifted in the atmosphere in that moment.

"Good night, Cec," he said faintly.

Chapter Five

[curseofaphrodite]

hELLO LOVER

my pre boards are over. fucking finally.

FAREWELL TOMORROW FAREWELL TOMORROW OMG I CAN'T WAIT yk i'm lowkey temped to show you my dress but meh ig i'll describe it so it's peachish pink colour, three forth sleeves, mid thigh length? and has pink sequins all over it istg it looks so pretty 😩 and and and i have nail polish in the exact same shade hssiwgsisowhwhid oh god and i'm wearing silver jewelry and silver high heels istg i feel like wattpad protagonist who goes to club as undercover

me cheating on that ss map enrichment 🤝 nobody giving a fuck

literally i was cheating on ss map tests and the teacher sitting there was like okay👌

i literally love youuuuuuu you write long paragraph replies for me<3333

me 🤝 writing stories poems in the middle of exams

oh guess what i was writing an answer but then started writing "don't blame me" song lyrics 😭🙏‼️

how's you how's you

anyways your new tasm peter parker story>>>>me HONESTLY LOVE THE CHAOS

hehe so about the poem...

i no longer like it so

lol

*runs away cutely*

goodbye lover💗

-🔮

no thoughts mind empty just priest remus railing the fuck out of innocent reader<3

*pulls you back*

DUDE WHY DIDNT I KNOW YOU WERE IN 10TH?? holy shit good luck for the upcoming boards! i know theyre so imp!! FUN BRAGGING FACT - I HAD BOARDS LAST YEAR BUT THEY WERE CANCELLED HAHAHAHA.

that was honestly lucky for us cause our batch knew NOTHING. all of us would have collectively failed. this year's finals were bad too cause thats the first time we did offline exams and online ones were all *cough* we cheated.

(long long post so more under the cut bestie)

most of us probably failed phys and chem but thats just hot people shit xx

DUDE IF MY CALCULATIONS ARE RIGHT, YOUR FAREWELL IS TODAY!! good fucking luck and i hope you have a very memorable, lovely, happy, tea-filled event <3 you should totally gimme all the tea too btw. imagine if tina shows up tho. *plot twist*

YOUR DRESS SOUNDS SO PRETTY YOU'RE GONNA LOOK AMAZING BESTIE!!

lolol cheat on ss maps, thats a requirement in high school. my ss sir hated me tho. now he doesn't teach our class but he does subtitution periods where he goes "ash" then points at my legs and i go EXCUSE ME SIR WHAT

and he says my legs are knotted together and i should put them down so i went ohh ,shajhsj i misintercepted that message. he is way too young tho. and i did turn 18 last year i- okay this is stupid im gonna bang my head against a wall.

I LOVE WRITING LONG ASS PARAS FOR YOU!!

pls people who write song lyrics are the best. and dude did you know cbse did a para on BTS for english literature?? in 9th grade i think?? imagine a desi 9th grader going to exam centre and seeing bts questions and going "OH MY GOD"

THANK YOU CHAOS IS MY ONLY TROUPE.

wdym you dont like it.

who doesnt like masterpieces.

gimme the poem.

now.

🔪🔪

[angelic-kisses13]

Haven’t Forgotten You

Warnings: Angst, Assumed Cheating, Swearing, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Happy Ending

Authors Note: Sorry it took me so long @beyond-antares​, its been a very very bad couple of weeks. Hopefully this is what you wanted, if it isn’t let me know and I will write you another. Much love!!!

‘Hey.’  You frowned as you looked at the text you had sent Henry early this morning. It wasn’t often that you got jealous or insecure but it had been two weeks since you last had a conversation with him. It was beginning to eat at you and you weren’t sure what you should do to remedy it. 

Two weeks was a long time for both of you, especially when you knew he was only an hour away shooting. He was supposed to come home for the weekends, had made the plans and everything, but when the weekend finally came around, you were disappointed. 

He had his secretary email you, saying he couldn’t make it because of some issues with the contract. It wouldn’t have bothered you if he had sent that email that morning. But instead, you had gotten up, went and got your hair and nails done. You had bought a brand new set of lingerie and you had even gone out of your way and watched a youtube video on how to do a bold look with your makeup. All to have yourself sit in your living for two hours, the special dinner you had cooked for Henry went cold on the dining room table. The fact he hadn’t bothered to contact you was the icing on the cake. 

You knew he loved you, but it was times like these that you questioned just how much. He could get so carried away with his characters and his fans and you loved that about him. But you were here too, you wanted to at least be in his top five list of important things. Clearly, that wasn’t the case. You bit your lip as you threw your phone onto the couch, not even caring where it landed. If he didn’t want to talk to you then that was fine. There was plenty here for you to do. 

Two hours later and you found yourself curled up in your bed, a batch of cookie dough in your lap and a tv show playing in the background. You had been scrolling through your Instagram when you saw it. Your throat tightened and you struggled to hold back the fierce stab of pain and betrayal. Henry was stood in front of a restaurant, his arms around a tall beauty, his award-winning smile on display. The other woman was in heaven, her head was turned up towards him, a smitten smile on her lips, her arms wrapped around his back, and one hand resting on his chest in an intimate caress. Looking up at the name that had posted it you saw that it was the same girl in the photo. Apparently, she had a friend hide and take the picture as they were leaving. 

She had the gal to mention you and Henry both in the post, claiming how happy she was to finally go on the date with him. You could feel your chest tighten and your breaths started coming in shallow pants. 

Your eyes filled with tears as you set the bowl of cookie dough aside, your hands shaking in fear. Was she why he hadn’t been messaging you the last two weeks. Had he finally realized that he deserved better? He had hadn’t he? It all made so much sense. He was done with you and knowing the heart of Henry he couldn’t handle telling you face to face. You must have been missing the subtle clues the whole damn time. 

‘God, how stupid could you get?’  

It wasn’t long before your phone started lighting up with messages from friends and family. All wondering why you weren’t with Henry. All asking who the other woman was. You didn’t have answers, you were in the dark just as much as they were. What you did have the answers to though, was the fact that Henry was with another girl and you weren’t going to stay and find out why. 

Just as you were grabbing your clothes from the closet your phone rang. It was Henry’s ringtone, it was the first song you two ever slow danced to. In fact, it happened downstairs, Henry had made you dinner and had found an old swing record, turned out the swing record was a slow instrumental. He had been so disappointed but you had loved it, you had grabbed his hands and pulled him to you, just barely managing to not trip over Kal who had run between the two of you. Henry’s arms wrapped around you, encasing you in his warmth. 

Blinking, you were brought back to the present when the phone stopped ringing. You bite your lip as you try to decide if you should call him back or not. The decision was made for you when it started ringing again. Taking a deep breath, you grabbed the phone and answered the call. 

“H-Hello?” You answered, your voice shaking. 

“Babe? Oh thank God, I wanted to talk to you before you went to bed.” 

“Oh, what about?” Your response was nonchalant and straight to the point. There was a moment of hesitation before Henry’s voice picked back up. It was slightly deeper than his usual timber and your eyes narrowed. He only got that tone when he was feeling guilty for something or he was lying. 

“There was a photo that got shared on Instagram. I wanted to clear things up before you jumped to conclusions.” Your jaw clenched and the muscles in your neck tightened. Your whole body was wound tight, it would only take a few words or actions to get you to snap. 

“You mean the one with Shelby?” A wince was heard on the other line and your lips pulled up into a malicious smirk. 

“Listen, babe, it really isn’t what it looks like. I had no-,” 

“That’s the oldest line in the book, Henry. Were you there with her for dinner?” 

“Yes, but baby-,” 

“Then it is what it looks like Henry. I don’t see why you have to explain yourself to me. Clearly you would rather spend your time with her and not me. I got the message loud and clear. Don’t worry about me, go back to Shelby and have a wonderful night. In fact, don’t bother coming home at all, I won’t be here. Goodbye!” You were positively seething by the time you managed to get your little speech finished. 

You hung up the phone and for the first time, wished that you could slam it as you hung up, really sending the point across. Instead, you threw the phone and grabbed a pillow, before burying your head in it and screaming yourself raw. 

Your eyes were flooded with tears and your mouth wouldn’t stop quivering as your nose runs. You hadn’t cried this much since you were sixteen and your first boyfriend broke up with you. 

______________________________________________________________

“Babe. I’m home.” Henry called out as he sat his luggage by the door. Kal was sniffing around the house, his tail wagging when he came across a scent he recognized. Henry frowned, he wasn’t expecting you to come racing down the steps and into his arms, just like you always did, especially after the argument the two of you had but the house was too quiet and he was beginning to become concerned. 

“Sweetheart, are you here?” He asked as he pushed open the bedroom door, but his suspicions were confirmed when he was met by the dark silence. Not a single sign of you. He pulled his phone out and dialed your number, it went straight to voicemail. Putting his phone back into his pocket he switched the light on and he looked around. 

There, sitting on his pillow was an innocent purple paper, folded in half. He walked over to the bed and picked it up, his heart was racing and his palms were sweaty. Taking a deep breath he opened the letter and began to read. 

Dearest Henry, 

I know it was sudden and I know I owe you more of an explanation on why I left but frankly, I don’t want to. You did the one thing that you promised you would never do. I don’t know what I did to make you forget about me and stop loving me, and whatever it was I hope I can do better with the next man. 

This letter isn’t meant to make you feel bad, I never want you to hurt. But I need you to know that seeing that other woman replace me hurt more than you can imagine. I thought what we had was good, I know it wasn’t perfect and I never wanted perfect, what I wanted was you. All of you, not just random parts, but everything. 

I guess I never shared that information with you, maybe if I had you would have stayed longer. Maybe you would have seen how much I really love you and just want to be your everything. God knows you were my world, everything revolved around you. You were my sun and my moon and I never wanted to go a day without seeing your smile or hearing your voice call my name. 

But like all love stories, I guess ours had to end too. Its a shame it ended the way it did. I hope you find peace and happiness Henry. I will always love you. Remember that for the rainy days. 

Sincerely, 

Yours. 

P.S. I don’t want you to ever blame yourself for what happened Henry, I know you were trying to tell me you weren’t happy anymore. But we both know how dense I can be at times. I have one request though, Find happiness in everything you do. I don’t want you to ever stop smiling. 

Henry felt the air leave his lungs in a choked gasp, quickly he got up and headed to the closet, hoping beyond hope that her clothes were still there. What awaited him was naked hangers and a coldness that seeped into his bones. She had really left, he should have gotten here faster. No, he should have been here from the beginning. He should have told Shelby that he wasn’t interested and left. His choice had cost him the one good thing in his life. His girl was no longer here and was ignoring him to top it off. 

He sat on the bed, head in his hands as he tried to come up with a plan to get her back. He had, no he needed, to get her back, and soon. 

He felt Kal nuzzle at his hands, his wet nose cold against his skin. A low whine was heard and he looked down at Kal, trying to blink the tears away before they could fall. 

“We are going  to get her back, buddy, I promise.” 

______________________________________________________________

It had been two weeks since you had left Henry and you looked and felt awful. You had bags beneath your eyes, your hair was a rat’s nest and you couldn’t remember the last time you had eaten a meal that wasn’t chinese noodles and ice cream. 

The thing that had gotten to you the most was the fact that Henry had fallen off the face of the Earth. He hadn’t contacted you and the media had no idea where he was. His fans were worried about him and so were you, much to your annoyance. The man could probably stab you and you would be more concerned about him than you. 

Sighing, you grabbed your coffee cup and made your way outside to sit on the porch swing. You had rented a cabin from an old friend, it was in the middle of the woods, a meadow and a dirt road stretched out in front you, keeping you isolated from the media and your troubles. 

You had just settled down when you noticed a dust cloud in the distance, not thinking much of it, you turned your gaze away to the pond beside the porch. A family of deer had made it their watering hole and you smiled as the fawn pranced around in the water, splashing its mother every couple of seconds. 

Turning your attention away from the cute sight you cocked your head to the side when you noticed that the dust cloud was getting closer. You frowned and watched it, trying to decide if it was freak weather. No-one but your friend knew you were up here, and she wasn’t planning on visiting or she would have called. 

Fear churned in your stomach as a black car came into view, spooking the dee family. Your fingers clutched the cup tightly, your knuckles turning white. You stood up and quickly moved back into the house, closing and locking all the doors and windows and pulling the shades down tight. 

Grabbing your phone, you quickly pulled up the keypad and typed in a number. You waited as you heard the car pull up, tires crunching on the dirt and rock. The engine cut off and you moved further from the door, a car door opened and shut and footsteps moved closer to the cabin. 

Your breathing was heavy and you clapped a hand over your mouth, trying to keep yourself as quiet as possible. Thuds echoed on the wooden porch and your thumb hovered the call button. Silence greeted your ears and you peered around you, trying to figure out what the next move would be. 

You jumped when the front door was knocked on, your thumb accidentally hitting the call button. Your face paled when you realized just who it was you were calling. 

Air left your body when you heard a familiar ringtone from the porch and you stood in the middle of the living room, waiting to hear the voice that belonged to the phone. 

“Y/N.” The one word response held such relief and joy that your body trembled. Even from the other side of the door, you could make out the unmistakable tenor of Henry. 

You quickly marched forward and wrenched open the door, phone falling to the ground as you launched yourself at the man. He stumbled back, not expecting you to come at him this way. 

“You scared the shit out of me!” You breathed as you clutched at the back of his neck, your hands tangling in his dark curls. You could feel his beard scratch at your neck as he hugged you tightly to him. His face nuzzling against you, trying to inhale your familiar scent that he had missed. 

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.” he chanted over and over. His frame shaking as he kept you pulled against him. 

“I missed you so much, and I swear nothing happened with Shelby, it was just a dinner to get some more information about a new movie.” You pushed away from him, or at least tried, Henry seemed keen on making you apart of his body. 

“Henry, I can’t talk to you this way, let me see your face.” You said as he finally released you. You took a few steps back, taking him in. He was wearing an old t-shirt that you bought him and some jeans, sneakers on his feet, his eyes were bloodshot and he appeared to have permanent bags under his eyes, his skin a pale white. 

Your heart broke at the sight, but you also felt elated that he looked just as affected by you leaving, as you did. 

You hesitated before asking, “You wanna come inside? I can make some tea or coffee?” Your fingers picked at the hem of your shirt as you awaited his reply. 

“Yes, please.” His response was just as quiet as your question and you gave a weak smile. He was just as scared as you. Reaching out, you grabbed his hand and guided him into the cabin, he stood by the door as you walked around and opened the shades, letting in the natural light. 

He followed as you moved towards the kitchen and got the kettle ready. You dug through a couple of cabinets before coming across some tea leaves. It was quiet, to quiet, and it unnerved you. Your hands fumbled as you measured out the tea into mugs. Your hands were halted by his as he grabbed the spoon from you and set it down on the counter.

You tensed as his arms wrapped around your waist, pulling your back against his chest. 

“You need to breathe, slow deep breaths and then exhale.” His chest rumbled as he spoke, his fingers linking with yours as he placed your hands onto your chest, allowing you to feel each breath. 

“Good girl, I have you now. Not letting you go.” The weight of his words hit you hard and tears blurred your vision. 

“But you did let me go. You just left me, for her.” Your voice broke and every bad thought and insecurity hit you at once. Your knees buckled and Henry caught you as you fell. He guided the two of you to the floor, his legs criss crossed as he settled you into his lap. 

“I never left you, you left me. You didn’t even give me the chance to explain.” Your head shook vigorously, hair getting caught in your tears, sticking to your face as you sobbed. 

“You forgot me, replaced me with her. I was never good enough for you or the media.” You were silenced by Henry’s hands coming up and covering your mouth, not caring about the snot that was staining your face. 

“I haven’t forgotten you, and I sure as hell did not replace you. Do you hear me?” He gently but firmly turned you around to face him. His blue eyes were shiny and he blinked a couple of times, willing the tears to go away. 

“I took you for granted, thought you would always be there for me, even though I wasn’t for you. I am so sorry, sweetheart. I never meant to hurt you, ever.” 

“Nothing happened?” You asked as you reached out and wiped a stray tear from his cheek. 

“No, I was there with Shelby, yes, but there was also someone else I was having dinner with. Her name is Avery, she is producing a new movie that I have been trying to get in for a couple of months. Shelby is best friends with Avery, she was there to put a good word in. I tried to call you and let you know but I wasn’t able to get through to you. I had Liam email you the details, I didn’t think to check it before it was sent. I swear it wasn’t a date, I would never cheat on you.” 

“It was for a movie? Why didn’t you tell me about this before? I had no idea you were trying to get an audition.” You could feel anger and guilt build up in you but also confusion. Why wouldn’t he tell you something like this. His eyes softened and his fingers reached up and rubbed your frown away. 

“I wanted it to be a surprise, it's based off of your favorite book. I wanted to tell you when I was sure I had the part and I could come home in costume, make it really special.” A new sob tore from your throat and you crushed your lips against his. He was taken by surprise but quickly recovered, fingers tangling in your hair as he pushed you closer to him. 

“I’m sorry I left and overreacted…” You winced as you pulled away, your fingers twirling a piece of hair, “also for leaving you a goodbye letter.” Henry breathed deeply as he licked his lips, his eyes searching yours. 

“I’m sorry for keeping secrets and making you feel like you weren’t important and replaceable. I hated that I couldn’t be here with you, time always passes slower without you, even more so when I’m the one that made you leave.” A rueful smile touched his lips. You both sat in comfortable silence, your head resting on his chest as you listened to the beat of his heart. 

  “I discovered something else when you left.” He murmured, his lips pressed to the top of your head.

You grinned softly, “I did too.” 

“Say it together on 3?” He asked as his hands rubbed up and down your sides. You smiled and titled your head up, lips brushing, you whispered, “1...2...3!”

“I love you.” 

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