We're Different Than the Rest

Chapter 29: Lothcats In the Meadow

"Reno?"

"Yeah Faylin?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"What was it like... actually, never mind. Sorry."

"In the war?"

"Yeah." Faylin quietly responded.

"C'mon." Reno stood up and offered his hand to Faylin.

"Where are we going?" Faylin asked as they walked out the front door with their hands intertwined.

"I don't want to wake them up."

"Right."

Reno led Faylin across the small grass patch in the mountain and over to the opening of the mountain wall. A single table and a small outdoor sofa were on the small deck that had been built there. Faylin sat on one side and Reno on the other. They sat in silence for a few minutes while Faylin quietly watched the wild Loth cats play in the field under the mountain.

"The war was all I knew. I mean, all of us were obviously bred for war. From the time we were born, we were trained to fight and follow orders. We had been told that when we got assigned to a Jedi, they would give us the cold-shoulder since we're expendable. That's why my battalion, the 327th, was surprised when we met Aayla. She was an amazing General. It was only seven months into the war when we lost Caro. He was Bly's best friend, the best of us all. We had lost hundreds of brothers at that point, but Caro was different. He was the overprotective brother of the 327th. Bly took it hard. The same battle that Caro died in, Aayla was hurt. We fought without her for almost four months, which was horrible. Then there was a week where we had time off on Coruscant. That was probably the best week of my life. We had a sparring tournament, went to 79's- which is a bar, went swimming, and watched movies. I made so much money off of that sparring tournament." Reno chuckled to himself. "Then Bly and Aayla went undercover to some Seperatist planet. Long story short we had to rescue them, Bly didn't leave Aayla's side for a week, and everyone turned out okay. Then the war ended. A clone from the 501st discovered the Sith Lord and the Jedi solved it all. And now we're here."

Reno looked over to Faylin after his long story of the war.

"Reno, you told me the story of your battalion and the story of Bly and Aayla."

"What else is there to tell?" he asked.

"What happened to you."

"Me?"

Faylin nodded.

Reno looked back down at the field below the mountain. "I- um."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Reno could hear the sincerity in her voice when she spoke.

"There was a point in the war when I thought about giving up. If I would have died they just would have replaced me anyways. That's what they told us on Kamino. We're expendable." Reno laughed. "And I believed it too, I really did." Reno paused for a minute. "After Caro died, I realized that any of us could die any day. I knew it before, but it dawned on me then that I couldn't let my brothers die without hope. Even if it was fake. Bly asked me about it once, after Aayla got hurt undercover. He asked how I stay positive during the war. I told him it's an act. And it was. All of it was fake. Sure, sometimes I was happy, but most times I was putting on a smile to make the boys laugh. And that was what made me happy. If I was going to take the boys' problems to make them happy it was worth the pain." Reno tried to hold back a single tear, but he felt it escape and run down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away.

"You're a good person, Reno." Faylin smiled.

"Yeah sure." Reno brushed off the compliment.

"Don't shrug it off. I'm serious."

"Thanks." Reno paused. "So what's your story?"

"It's not anything special like yours."

"That doesn't matter."

"Right, well." Faylin cleared her throat and started talking. "I came to Sicemon when I was five years old with my family. My dad had gotten into some trouble on Pantora, so we left. My dad got caught on the trip here, so it was just my mom, sister, and I. When I was a teenager, my sister- who was a few years older than me- moved to Coruscant. She wanted a bigger life. So my mom went with her and left me with Dhara, and said she'd be back in a few months. She never came back, or wrote to me. I know they're okay though because I saw my sister on the holonet once for a holocast. Anyways, Dhara raised me until I became a teacher a few years ago and got my own house."

"I'm sorry."

"Jeez our lives are depressing, let's talk about something else." Faylin joked.

"Yeah, maybe they used to be depressing. I don't know about you, but mine is getting better."
Reno looked up at Faylin.

"It is, I guess." They both smiled.

"I wish we could be like the lothcats in the meadow. Not worrying about anything."

.oOo.

When Reno looked at his chrono, it said 04:42 (4:42am). He and Faylin had been talking for over two hours.

He loved talking to her, but he was getting tired. They were talking about pets and animals when Reno felt a small weight on his shoulder. He looked down to see Faylin peacefully sleeping, but she had rested her head on his shoulder. Reno knew she didn't do that on purpose, but he was fine if she did.

"Have a good night, Faylin."

He rested his head against hers and quickly fell asleep.