I Choose You ( discontinued )

Chapter 10: Feelings of Affection

The Victory circled Coruscant for three more weeks before departing for a supply blockade and security around Kamino. Everybody on the ship could sense Krell's bad mood about this transfer. Nobody spoke to him unless he commanded and nobody knew why he was so downcast about circling around the planet he hated. He wasn't even sent there to go on the damn place, just to cover for an unnamed Jedi who had left the planet to take Krell's place on Coruscant. Al was somewhat excited for the change of scenery and position because she knew Krell would be disgusted to land on Kamino so he was bound to send her and seeing more people than just the ones she had been around the past months would be much more fun. They moved out the day before Al was set to turn fourteen and arrived around midnight Coruscant time. Al was woken by the pounding of Krell's large fist on her door.

"Wake up!"

"I'm up," she said, yawning. "I've been up for hours."

"Get ready! I have a job for you."

Al was up in an instant and rushed to the door, opening it hurriedly. She was greeted with the looming shadow of Krell standing over her. "I'm awake!"

Krell made a deep snarl and walked down the hallway, Al followed, waving inconspicuously to the clones as she passed. When they reached the destination Krell had intended, Al was grateful to see Red Hawk and Blue Jay near a transport shuttle. They seemed to be arguing about something, but stopped immediately as Krell approached.

"You!" he barked at Red Hawk. "Escort my padawan to Kamino to collect supplies for the ship."

"Yes sir!" Red Hawk said stiffly, standing up straight. Blue Jay copied him, eyeing Krell suspiciously.

"Good," Krell said firmly. He turned to Al, his yellow eyes full of hatred. "Don't do anything stupid. There will be consequences."

"Got it!" Al said cheerfully, bouncing over to the ship. Krell snarled again and stormed up to the bridge.

"What's his deal?" Blue Jay asked as they boarded the shuttle.

"He doesn't like Kamino," Red Hawk said dully. "Too many clones."

"Ah." Blue Jay sat down. "That makes a lot more sense. What's got her so excited?"

Al was bouncing around the room, beaming. "I've never been to Kamino before! It'll be exciting."

"Don't get your hopes up kid," Red Hawk said, smiling at her. It's not as exciting as it sounds."

"The Kaminoans are dicks," said Blue Jay, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms behind his head. "Plus their necks are way to long."

"My home planet is torn apart by war every day," Al said softly. "so it's beauty is often overlooked. But if you climb up to the top of one of tallest mountains, you can see the sunrise over the plain. It's beautiful. And even though the world around it is burning, it still stands and you can still see the sunrise on it. It's a sign of hope to my people, knowing that they can wake up the next day alive, knowing that even thought things seem dark, the sun is going to come up eventually." She gave Red Hawk a sad smile. "I'm sure your home will be amazing."

Red Hawk smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Me too kid."

"That was deep," Blue Jay muttered from behind them. "Did you come up with that on the spot?"

Al beamed. "It's a gift."

The ship rocked as it entered the atmosphere and Al looked out the window, her jaw dropping. "There's so much water! I've never seen this much blue in my life!"

"Well you were raised on Coruscant," Blue Jay mumbled.

Red Hawk shot him a glare. "Don't ruin the moment." He slowly left Al to marvel at the scene before them and slunk back to Blue Jay. "Do you have it?"