“DAMMIT,  KID --  don’t you understand anything?”   There’s  desperate edge in Lorn’s voice,  an ever-present twinkle of remorse to be found in his brown eyes. He pauses for a moment to regain his composure,  old fingers pinching the bridge of his nose and head dipping downward for a moment,  only because his voice had  CRACKED  as if he were on the verge of tears. (Perhaps he was. He couldn’t say. There were so many tears he found himself shedding now if only because he was too stubborn to shed them in his youth.)

“---     YEAH.   It is my job to protect you.  I’m your father. It’s literally all I’m here to do.” The desperation for Jax to understand continued to plague Lorn’s voice even as he raised his head to continue speaking,  brows creasing in an effort to keep the emotion down. “I lost you once, okay, kid? And that ...   that was  on me. I can’t let that happen again. Would you just let me do this for you?  Would you just --     let me be there for you for once in our lives?” 

 THE SMILE HE SMILES  in response to that remark is completely warm. Has he been waiting for Obi-Wan to say something of that nature? It seems as though he’s been waiting for Obi-Wan to say something of that nature!   A muscled arm loops  EASILY ‘round his best friend’s shoulders as they walk toward the ship on which they were to depart,  chin tipped upward with delight  &  lips curled in a  BRIGHT SMILE. 

 “Now that’s the kind of enthusiasm I wanna hear,  Obi-Wan! See? Everything’s gonna be   A - OKAY as long as we stick together.”  Quinlan Vos:  a social creature, everybody.

  HE LOOKS AT HER  in  slight  surprise to feel the  dull  thump of her fist ‘gainst his  muscled arm,  at first unsure of how to react to such an action from someone like Jyn  --   she was pretty hardened,  not unlike himself.  But after enough time has passed for him to register, he finds his older face  melting into a smile,  his expression  PLAYFUL  as he moved to  TRAP  her in a headlock  to   RUFFLE  her hair,   saying:     “ ---    come here,  you.”    

It was interesting how Jyn could bring out such moods in him.  Sometimes Saw thought he’d completely rejected any aspect of  happiness  his more boyish personality had contained in his  YOUTH.  It was brief,  rare moments like these that Saw was  truly glad she was under his care. Maybe, in a way,  they were both being healed. 

 THE OLD MAN  has had an excessively long day too,  little one. It was amazing, the things one could accomplish and the places one could go when the slept little and woke early. Plo did not often think about his fatigue -  not when there was always so much to do, people to talk to, things to arrange -   so when it came time to rest,  he always realized there was a certain WEARINESS in his bones that had settled there long before he  NOTICED IT.   

He walked with silent,  sweeping steps,  prepared to get a good night’s rest,  if that’s how the night should end up GOING.  ( Plans were never definite when you were a Jedi council member. The Force only knew if someone would need his help across the galaxy and call him to their aid;  or,  hell,  even here in the Temple itself. Plo could only HOPE.  It seemed to be the main activity he engaged in consistently these days:  HOPING. )

The door to his chamber opens,  and indeed:  suddenly, there’s a tiny baby Sha in here.  Plo’d be lying if he said something didn’t flutter in relief and delight to see his little niece --  truly, even though he was desperately in need of some time alone,   Sha was the second best.  Silently doing as she commanded,  Plo scooped her up in his arms, simply holding her for a long moment.  “Koh-to-ya,  little one.”  It’s soft after the minute of silence is up  -   the ice breaks in his voice.  One can hear the exhaustion. Dorin never felt so natural and relaxing in his throat.  “Ready for bed, are we?”

  “-- EVERY DAY,  every single day I say that I am trying to get RID of this cursed belly,” He gestures animatedly in his very Hondo way to the obvious gut he’s sporting beneath that  button-up, “and yet my family INSISTS on always presenting me with such amazing food.  I swear to all that is holy,  you and Jango are trying to kill me. Is it that I am the WEAK LINK in the marriage? Hmm?”  He can’t help but   LAUGH,  even as he says it --   even as he’s walking into the kitchen to get the SPOON  Zam requested of him.  “Oh, well. If this is a plot, I shall walk into it with my eyes OPEN,  thankyouverymuch. And what a very sweet death it will be!”

  “ --  HEY, CUT IT OUT, WILL YOU?”   Quinlan  replies  semi-playfully,  swatting the other’s  STICK away with the wave of his hand.  “I’m actually trying to focus on this,  for once.  You’re throwing me off.”

He tries to go back to the task at hand, eyes closing & expression hardening in concentration once more,  but now Obi-Wan has completely distracted him. Good job, Obi.   His eyes flutter open once more,  and he turns to him,  brow RAISING as he inquires:  “ -- where did you get that?” 

 HER LIPS CURVED UPWARD IN A GRIN when she felt Braig’s against her cheek, and she didn’t hesitate in pretty much throwing her arms around his shoulders, pulling him in for a big ol’ hug, that delighted expression not LEAVING her. Normally they tried to keep their rather frequent physical affection on the down low, but Phral couldn’t help it: she was the cuddliest little thing, and the clones around them didn’t seem to mind. It was an appropriate situation for it, as well: a goodbye, for now.  

Phral knew the nerves one could have before going out to try and do the duty of a Jedi, but she knew Braig was an amazing Jedi. She had no doubts in him, nor in Master Kenobi and all of their men. 

“Good luck,” she said softly, turning her head to return the kiss to his cheek before squeezing him tight once more. “I’m gonna miss you. Take care of the boys, okay? I’ll be here when you get back.”