Laying in the dark trench, head resting in his helmet, while staring up at the night sky, Zaire cared not for the many moons of Ralltiir, nor the stars in the night sky. He was more interested in the explosions above the clouds from the orbital battle taking place. “Staring at sky will not help our friends up there.” Zaire turns his head to see Melina again, then looks the other way. After an awkward silence, “I… take it you’re still mad at me, Zaire… I was just following orders.” With a big cold sigh, Zaire finally breaks the news. “After Ralltiir – my home – is liberated from from those jerk-ass Imperials, I am leaving the Alliance. I was not around when the Republic fell, nor do I care about whatever the hell Jedi are or were. And you know what else? I only stayed with the Alliance this long because they did not attempt to liberate my home until now. And I will be happy to get as far away from you as possible.”
Melina continued to listened with a shocked and somewhat heart broken face. The rest of the squad sat quietly in the trench and did not make a comment as most already knew. In their minds, it was just a matter of time until Melina realized the cold truth. The man she loves, the same guy who saved her life back at Hoth, cared nothing for her or her beliefs. Melina slowly sat down on one of the supply creates and stared off into the distance with a blank face. Zaire picked up his commando helmet, and his camo coat, and gave one last to Melina before walking away.
As Zaire walked to his tent, he noticed how quickly the sun seemed to set. The sky had now become a dark blue. He entered into his low-lit tent, threw his helmet and coat onto a chair, then collapsed on his cot face down. He gave deep sigh of relief, but before he could finish, a low yet angry sounding voice appears out of nowhere.
“You could be a little nicer. Especially sense half of the time we are the only people who have your back out there.” Zaire turns over on his cot to see Jennica standing just inside the tent entrance with a somewhat angry look. “And you know something else? All of us are awear that you have been though a lot in life; guess what? We all have, but at least we do not take it out on you. And why Melina even wants to be with you is beyond me. Half of the time you are like a broken droid with no emotions. And do not even bother saying anything else; I will be some place else.” Jennica walked out of the tent without a looking back and left Zaire sitting on his cox feeling awkward.
Following a big sigh, Zaire stands up, and walks out of his tent. Immediately he notices Grayson sitting outside of his tent on a crate, drinking from a metal bottle. “Hey, lieutenant. I did not mean to eavesdrop, but what Jennica was saying sounded interesting. You been through a lot in life, but it is not my place to judge. Actions speak louder than words. You’ve had my back on more than one occasion, so I always got yours. I just realized that I should be in my tent sleeping – night, L.T.” Grayson took another drink from his metal bottle, screwed the cap on, then walked away.
Zaire stood for a second outside his tent before walking to Melina’s tent. Her’s seemed to be at the back of camp, somewhat isolated from the rest. He found this strange for her, as she is well liked by everyone and usually has something to say during any group conversation. Regardless, he found it fourtunate as the few extra footsteps allowed him extra time to think of what to say to her.
As he approached her tent, he looked at the bright warm glow emanating from the entrance. He took a deep breath and entered. Melina was sitting on her cot writing on her datapad, while listening to ambient music emanating from headphones laying on her bed. “H-hey, Melina… I… Um…” Melina looked up with her big eyes. She blinked her eyes slowly before looking back down at her datapad. Zaire took one small step closer, “I… Just wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier. I… Know you have every right to be angry at me. I was a jerk. I want to use the excuse that I have been through a lot in life, but I realize now we all have. I was wrong to take out my anger and frustrations out on you.” Melina stopped looking at her datapad. She sat on her cot looking forward as if listing to Zaire but not wanting to look at him while he continued opening up to her. “And I am slowly changing for the better. And part of the reason I am usually quiet and distant is because I cannot go through another lose of a loved one, or someone who I might actually… Yeah.” Melina’s eyes quickly widened as she turned to look at Zaire. Without hesitation, she asked, “What do you mean?”
Zaire took a deep breath, “I never said that I did not care for you… Only that I want to get away from you. If I get to close and something should happen to you, I cannot take the loss of someone I actually care about. Especially sense I… Yeah.” Melina preceded to stand up and slowly ask, “You… What? …” Zaire looked in her eyes from a few feet away, and took another deep breath. “Well… I actually do care about you, and I think you are very special.” Melina asked again, “You… What? …”
nice, realy cool one :)