Finger gazed silently at Xil Nevin for a few moments after he turned about, though in reality his mind had moved off elsewhere. But he soon snaps back into it, turning about and pacing out of the room, his arm yet hanging limply by his side. Moving on outside, he is greeted by the roaring and cheering of his men, all of whom look upon him with respect, among them were the children, elderly, injured or pregnant women that they had fought so hard to protect, clinging to their loved ones and joining in on the celebrations. In the face of this, however, Finger felt cold, empty. If he had just been a better leader, they would not have lost as many men. He ran and re-ran the scenario over in his head a thousand times as he walked among his cheering men, slowly casting his gaze skywards. Where could he improve, how could he become stronger so that he could better protect them, save more, anything he could do to relieve their suffering.
Suddenly, Finger noted boy standing alongside him, no older than ten. He recognized the child, knew his parents, his sister. Coming to a pause, he gazes down at the boy, before slowly casting a glance about to try and spot his family. With a sinking feeling in his chest, he realized that they were nowhere to be found. The boy was silent, his expression empty in contrast to the others around him, none of their jovial attitude in him. Finger recognized the look, recognized how the boy felt, knew what it was like to be alone. Finger turned his gaze back down towards the boy once more, staring for a few moments as the boy does so in turn, and then he would gradually lift his hand up and place it upon the boy's head, fingers threading through his black hair, he simply held his hand there, offering the smallest, most compassionate smile he could, just like someone once had for him. "You're not alone, Kiral. I'm here for you, everyone here is your family." He would say, only loud enough for the boy himself, and perhaps one or two of the cheering bystanders to hear him. Kiral looks up at Finger silently for a time with slowly-widening eyes, before he would cast his gaze downwards. Finger doesn't remove his hand as the child's chest begins to heave, and tears roll down his cheeks, dropping to the ground. His cries are left unheard to all but Finger, and knowing the boy had his pride, the man allowed nobody else to see them. These people were his family, when one struggled, stumbled, a thousand others would come to help them along.
Gradually, the cheers began to die down, and Finger looked up, Kiral's cries having died down to sobs so that barely anyone noticed. Finger takes in a breath, before shouting out over the area, 'Do not relax yet! Gather the dead, both our own and those of the Zenithian's. We must pay our respects. Assist the Zenithian people with the cleanup! Those of you not doing this, take up arms once more and set up a perimeter, we cannot let our guard down until it is certain that we are in the clear!" He said, silencing the remaining cheers. Some were taken aback, but most of them had been given more than enough time to rejoice, finding themselves reminded of those that they had lost, their expressions turned stony once more, and they turned to do as they were told. They joined with the Zenithians as they came, helping with the cleanup efforts.
With that done, Finger would turn his gaze back down to the mourning child. The child needed time to recover, but also something to focus on, so he slowly kneels down before him, lifting the child's chin slightly and offering him another small smile, "Go find Mother Mira, tell her to gather the rest of the children and those not fighting and get them back into the ships, I don't want to put anyone else at risk. Understand?" Finger asked, his smile widening a tad as the child nods in response, wiping some tears from his eyes. Finger wraps an arm around the child, embracing him tightly for a moment, the child is surprised for a moment, but soon embraces him in turn, ready to cry once more, "You're a strong child, Kiral, now go." He says, releasing his hold on him and rising to his feet, giving the kid a small push. Kiral takes a step back, looking up at Finger for a few moments before nodding, and turning about so that he could run off to do as he was told.
There would be more like Kiral, Finger knew. And he would make sure that every one of them had someone to care for them. He knew from experience what loneliness could do to a person, he would not allow those feelings to grow within the children that he was tasked with protecting, so long as it was within his ability, and the abilities of the myriad people that fought alongside him. Mother Mira had lost her loved ones long ago, she would know better than he what she could help occupy the child with, but nonetheless he knew the child would be dealing with that gaping chasm in his soul for a long time to come. It was his duty to do whatever he could do to help fill it.
Finger looks back towards the others as they helped gather corpses, throwing the Geonosians into their own pile, whilst carefully lining up those on their side in a respectful fashion. The day was not over just yet. He moved to help with the clean-up efforts.
