The Runaway {Hunter} (WATTYS 2022)

Chapter 57

The soft chatter of the two girls could be heard throughout the ship. The soft laughter and Cora, the childish giggle from Omega. The boys didn't know what they were doing, they just heard them laughing and talking while they were going to their next job.

"Next thing I knew, instead of a fight with blasters, Jesse and Fives were having a food fight with their rations." Cora chuckled as Omega laughed at her story. "They had gotten the whole battalion involved."

Cora sat on the metal of the ship, her legs crossed, back straight. Omega sat on the chair by the computer, sitting on the very edge so she could reached Cora's hair. The woman often let Omega braid her hair while they were in between jobs. She had gotten better, her braids were solid and wonderful, Omega took it naturally. Her hair was too short to braid so Cora always took the time to stop what she was doing when Omega asked to play with her hair. It also kept both Cora and Omega occupied, giving them something to do and some bonding time.

Omega giggled behind her, her legs were over her shoulders as she braided Cora's hair. "That reminds me of when we were on Kamino." She started. "Some reg made fun of us, so I started a food fight."

"Did you now?" Cora looked over her shoulder with a glance.

"Yeah." Omega laughed. "It was great!" Echo scrolled towards the back with Wrecker, hearing the girls laugh and chat. "I was just telling Cora about the food fight we had." Omega said turning to the two men.

"Oh yeah!" Wrecker chuckled. "That was awesome!"

"For you guys." Echo groaned, "You didn't get knocked out with a tray."

Cora couldn't help but laugh. "Those flimsy things?" She eyed Echo as he crossed his arms.

"They're more stiff then they look." Echo said huffing.

Cora turned to Omega as she finished her hair. She pulled the braid forward and smiled to the girl, proud of yet another perfect braid in her red hair. Hunter walked towards the group as Cora stood to her feet, she turned to Omega and bent down, letting her climb her back. Lifting her higher on her back Cora let out a huff.

"Okay kid, time for you to get some sleep."

"But I'm not tired." Omega yawned.

"Sure." Cora rolled her eyes with a playful smile.

Cora walked back towards the gunners mount, pulling back Omega's little curtain and lifting herself into her room. Omega slipped off her back and settled herself down on some of the smaller pillows around her. Cora pulled her blanket over Omega as she rested her head down.

"Cora." Omega's voice was low. Cora turned before she exited her room. She turned and looked to Omega. "Can you tell me a story about you and Lark?"

Cora froze. She blinked for a moment, her heart racing. She never talked about Lark. The stories she told Omega were all about Rex and the 501st, but never about her time with Lark or Jax. She never liked to talk about.

But as Cora gazed down to Omega, she felt something. She felt like it was going to be okay, that if she did talk about Lark or Jax, that it would help her. She wouldn't burst into flames if she uttered their names, that it was okay to talk about the good times, not the bad times.

"Yeah." She nodded quickly. Cora sat down in front of Omega and crossed her legs. Omega watched carefully as Cora thought of her many adventures with Lark. "We we're on our way to collect some Separatist operation plans," she started shifting her weight while sitting, "our ship needed repairs, and it was just me, Lark and General Jax. We ended up crashing on a distant planet." Cora huffed a laugh as she remembered the event.