A Bigger Rebellion

by cwiptids

Summary:

Kanan distrusts the Clones, and Rex isn't the exception. This fact has to change as they both encounter a rather important clone who introduces them to a bigger rebellion.

------

“Master Jedi, please listen to me,” the clone said slowly, trying to calm the Jedi down, “I mean you no harm”

Kanan scoffed, “and how can you prove that?”

Before the clone could answer, steps came from behind him, to which he quickly dropped to a knee picked up one of his blasters and pivoted, his back turned to the wall.

“Rex?” The man sounded shocked, like he had seen a ghost.

The clone dropped his weapons immediately and Kanan could see Rex’s complexion had turn pale.

“…Cody?” Whispered Rex, eyes quickly flicking to the Commander’s temple, then higher to his hairline.

Notes:

Since the timeline is entirely destroyed, I'll provide some ages:

Obiwan: 51
Leia and Luke: 10
Ahsoka: 33
Cody and Rex are around 50 standard but actually 31 (they have found a cure for accelerated growing. How? Dunno, just go with it)
The Rebels are the age they were in mid-Rebel series
Omega: 26

Chapter 1

Kanan doesn’t trust Captain Rex. He doesn’t trust clones in general. He had been there when they turned on him and his Master, he had seen them kill her in cold blood after three years of hard battles and trust and respect between them. He had once considered them his brothers, he had been proud to be called Vod’ika by many of them, trusted them. He was never making that mistake again, even when Rex explained everything about the chips.

 

This, of course, caused everything to become more difficult after Rex joined their team. They bickered, fought, and antagonized each other, causing their crew to roll their eyes constantly and missions to become far more complicated than they needed to be.

 

Hera was losing her patience as well. Kanan understood, of course. She needed her crew to get along and work like a well-oiled machine, but that didn’t mean Kanan was going to put all his past aside so quickly.

 

“Kanan, you find anything yet?” Said a voice through his comm and Kanan grumbled, his thoughts dissipating.

 

Hera had insisted on a “bonding” mission for him and Rex after one too many fights between them. So, now they were wandering around a decommissioned military facility from the Clone Wars looking for supplies.

 

“Nothing yet. I’m starting to think that Hera just sent us here so she can have some quiet in the ship”

 

“Well, you certainly yap a lot, sir” said Rex, mischievous smile clear in his voice, “besides, it’s not like you can do this alone, Commander.”

 

“Will you stop calling me a Commander?”

 

Rex continued without acknowledging him, “You have no idea about the codes and systems needed to navigate this place without alerting anyone.”

 

Kanan scoffed, “I should’ve expected a Clone to know Imperial codes. Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Not Imperial codes, sir. The Republic system was so efficient the Empire didn’t bother to change it. My brother Cody and I came up with a great deal of that system, and well, it’s on them if we use it against them. It’s lazy, but I ain't complaining.”

 

Kanan was about to retort when he heard the barest sounds of footsteps up ahead.

 

“We have company. Silence”

 

The footsteps became louder as they came closer while Kanan crouched behind a supply crate. The steps seemed measured, he recognized the slow pattern as one of a person sweeping the area for hostiles, someone prepared for a fight.

 

Taking a breath, he quickly stood and ignited his saber in one motion. Two stunning blasts were fired, but went wide, missing his blade by a few inches.

 

“A Jedi!” Said the figure, sounding shocked. It was a tall and lean man, weathered by the sun, and dressed in brown civilian clothes, but bearing clone armor over them, painted in orange.

 

“Stay back! You will regret shooting again!” Yelled Kanan, heart thundering.

 

The clone in front of him slowly began to crouch, never taking his eyes off Kanan.

 

“Kanan, what’s happening? Is the Empire here?”

 

The Jedi didn’t answer Rex, instead he adjusted his stance, preparing to charge when necessary, “How did you know I was here?”

 

“Listen-“ the clone said, slowly rising after leaving his blasters on the ground.

 

“No, you listen! What are you doing here? Are you some sort of clone inquisitor? I thought clones were decommissioned!”

 

“Clone?” Asked Rex, “Commander- Kanan! Did you find a clone? Don’t- Where are-“ The Captain sounded almost frantic, but Kanan disconnected the comm. he needed to focus.

 

“Master Jedi, please listen to me,” the clone said slowly, trying to calm the Jedi down, “I mean you no harm”

 

Kanan scoffed, “and how can you prove that?”

 

Before the clone could answer, steps came from behind him, to which he quickly dropped to a knee picked up one of his blasters and pivoted, his back turned to the wall.

 

“Rex?” The man sounded shocked, like he had seen a ghost.

 

The clone dropped his weapons immediately and Kanan could see Rex’s complexion had turn pale.

 

“…Cody?” Whispered Rex, eyes quickly flicking to the Commander’s temple, then higher to his hairline.

 

In this moment, as the clone turned towards Rex, Kanan noticed a lightsaber hanging from his belt.

 

“Rex, keep back! He has a lightsaber, he’s lying!” Kanan took a step forward, reaching for the saber with the Force and pulling it from the clone’s belt.

 

“Kanan, wait! This is Cody! I can see the chip’s scar, it’s really him!” yelled Rex, striding to stand before his brother. Cody’s expression behind him had changed, however, his face was a mixture of surprise, regret, pity, and cold calculation as he looked at Kanan and then the saber in his hand.

 

“I know who Commander Cody is, Rex. He was the Commander of the Third Systems Army, he was supposed to help Master Kenobi, but he murdered him. Rex, you at least didn’t murder your Jedi. This man did and had the blade of his general hanging around his belt like some trophy.”

 

Rex opened his mouth to speak, but Cody had beat him to it.

 

“Master Kanan, I understand your lack of trust, but I mean you or any Jedi no harm. If-“

 

“You shot at me!” Kanan yelled. Deep inside, he knew that was a shit argument. In places like this, stun shots were first and questions came later when it came to encountering armed strangers. However, his breath came fast and his nerves were on edge, urging him to run, to attack, to defend himself.

 

“Kanan, Cody doesn’t miss unless he wants to. If he wanted you dead, you would be. Put. Your. Saber. Down” ordered Rex.

Kanan was about to move, when he felt a force pulse from Master Kenobi’s saber.

 

Calm-Honest-Safe. Calm-Honest-Safe. Calm-Honest-Safe. Longing.

 

Longing… Kanan stilled. Why would the kyber crystal long to be with the Commander? He’d killed his owner!

 

“Please, listen to me,” said Cody, who waited in vain for Kanan to say something before continuing, “I mean you no harm. That lightsaber was given to me willingly.”

 

Rex looked back at Cody with a surprised expression, searching for something in his eyes, then lowered his gaze to his vambraces.

 

“Little Gods… Cody, are you…” whispered Rex.

 

“I came here looking for something to help us topple the Empire, I’m not hunting Jedi”

 

“…Us… Who’s us, exactly?” asked Kanan. If they weren’t fighting alone after all…

 

The Commander was quiet for a moment, his expression thoughtful before he turned to Rex.

 

“What do you know about Commander Tano, Rex?” He asked, his tone turning softer as he addressed his brother.

 

“She’s fighting. She was the one who instructed Kanan’s group to find me and try to recruit me. I saw her just a couple of rotations ago.”

 

“Ah, good. I’m glad she’s safe,” Cody said, then turned to Kanan, “I take it the word Fulcrum means something to you, then?”

 

“I- yes, it does. How do you…”

 

“What about the word Phoenix?” interrupted Cody.

 

“The…mythological bird?” Kanan looked to Rex, who shrugged.

 

“Ah, I see. You are not the leader of your crew, then. How about this: I get the lightsaber back, you help me find and retrieve what I need, and then you take me to meet your crew. Deal?”

 

The lightsaber’s longing grew in Kanan’s hand, but he still ignored it. He wasn’t about to give a lightsaber back to someone who had disrespected its culture so.

 

“I’ll take you to my crew, but I’m not giving the lightsaber back until I can confirm exactly who you are.”

 

“… I can live with that. Now, let’s go. I’m not keen on spending more time in this place than I have to.”

 

 

Chapter 2

Summary:

Cody meets The Ghost crew. It's as chaotic as always.

Finding and retrieving what the Commander needed was relatively easy. It was strange seeing Rex interact with Cody. He acted as he couldn’t believe it, as if his brother would disappear the moment he looked away.

 

Cody, for his part, looked relieved and somewhat at ease, pulling his brother into a Keldabe every once in a while, and muttering to him in Mando’a. He kept his word about letting Kanan hold onto the Lightsaber, but still kept a close eye on it, checking now and again that it was still attached to Kanan’s belt.

 

As they headed towards the Ghost, Cody turned on his comm, “Gold Leader, I ran into some friends. I’m headed to their ship to meet the crew.”

 

“Got it, boss. Glad it was a friend we detected on the radar. Keep me updated.”

 

“ That voice… Do I know this person, Cody?” asked Rex, expression confused.

 

“You do, actually. She’s very fond of you. I’m not sure if it’s the blond-haired kinship” Cody smiled, a smug look taking over his eyes.

 

“No way… Omeg’icka? Is The Bad Batch with you? She must be so old now!”

 

“She is,” Cody chuckled fondly, “Though she had the privilege of growing up without accelerated aging, so she’s only 26 right now. One of our finest pilots, that kid.”

 

“I’m sorry, she said you saw us on your radar. Our ship is cloaked, we made sure of it. There must be someone else on this base,” Kanan said, lowering his voice.

 

“Not likely. Omega is quite a capable slicer. Her brother made sure of that”

 

“Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la” muttered Rex somberly, then echoed by Cody.

 

“…right. The Ghost is this way.

 

The airlock opened with a satisfying woosh and then the sounds of familiar chaos reached them.

 

“I see the 501^st brand of chaos has followed you to this day, Rex’ika” commented Cody before patting his head and walking through the airlock.

 

“Believe me, they were like this when they found me” Rex sighed.

 

“Get OFF you slobbering bantha!! I can’t BREATHE.” Squeaked a voice from under a giant mass of purple hair on the sofa.

 

“What's that? I can’t hear you over the sound of my breaking heart,” Zeb moved further back into Ezra, dramatically clutching at his heart.

 

“I DIDN’T EAT THE LAST MEILOORUN I SWEAR. SABINE, HELP”

 

“I don’t know, Ezra, what are you gonna give me in exchange for my help?”

 

“Force-" Ezra grunted, "HERAAAAAA. ZEB IS CRUSHING ME!”

 

“And here I thought Hera would have some peace while Rex and I were gone” Kanan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.”

 

All three of the specters turned to look at him in surprise, Zeb even rising slightly.

 

“Kanan, thank the Force. Please-ARGH, STOP. Please, get him off me.”

 

“Well, did you eat the last Meiloorun?” Kanan fought a smile.

 

“I ate the last Meiloorun,” said a voice from one of the corridors, followed by a droid, “and enjoyed it thoroughly. I deserve it for having to put up with you all.”

 

At this confession, all three of them groaned, and Zeb finally stood up to let Ezra breathe.

 

“Serves you well,” Kanan chuckled, “Hera, we found someone who knows about Fulcrum… he says he wants to meet our leader.”

 

At that, Cody stepped forward, his hands behind his back, “Dawn approaches.”

 

Hera’s eyes widen, and she immediately snaps to attention, “and the phoenix rises from the ashes.”

 

The Commander smiles and extends a hand, “It’s good to meet you, Captain…”

 

“Hera Syndulla, sir. And you are…” Hera shakes his hand firmly and Cody nods, a look of recognition crossing his face.

 

“I’m Commander Cody, of the Rebellion. You may know me as Buy’ce. I’ve heard great things about your crew. We’ve been keeping an eye on the Ghost for a while, I wasn’t aware you knew Ahsoka.”

 

Sabine stood up, “Wait, there’s more of us? What do you mean you knew of us?”

 

“Ah, a Mandalorian. I did wonder about some reports. You are Sabine, right?”

 

Sabine frowned but nodded.

 

“You are right to be suspicious, ad’ika” Cody said, a proud gleam in his eye, “I can see you have a head for security and strategy. Good,” he paused.” Well, there is a larger rebellion than you know. We keep in contact with individual cells through several agents. Headquarters intelligence is tasked only to reveal the bigger picture to cell leaders. We keep both the identity of our base and that of the crews strictly confidential to lower the chances of exposing the whole Rebellion given the chance someone would fall into enemy hands.”

 

“So… you’re a clone too? Did you know Rex during the war?” asked Ezra, receiving a slap over the head from Zeb, “What?? Can’t I ask if he’s a clone?”

 

Rex laughed at that, “Yes, Ezra. Cody and I go way back. In fact, he and his batch adopted me and trained me after I was deemed…unsatisfactory by the Kaminoans.”

 

Hera looked over at Kanan with a knowing look, then turned back to the Commander, “Commander, I’m glad to welcome you aboard. Is there anything we can help with?”

 

“Thank you, Captain. Actually, I’m glad we ran into each other. The General and I are well aware of your impact on the galaxy and were already in the process of getting you more involved. If you’d accept, we would be honored to have your crew working directly from Headquarters. Of course, I understand if you wish to discuss this with your crew before giving me an answer.”

 

“I’m grateful for the offer, Commander. If you’ll allow me to talk to my crew in private?”

 

“Of course,” smiled Cody before turning to Kanan, “is that enough evidence, Master Kanan? I would like that saber back if you please.”

 

All eyes turned to Kanan then, but Rex’s seemed to bore a hole in his skull.

 

Longing. Longing. Longing.

 

Grudgingly, he unclipped it from his belt and handed it over.

 

“Thank you. I will ask my pilot to dock into your ship and I’ll remain until you make your decision. Join us when you are ready.”

Notes:

Mando'a:

Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la : Not gone, merely marching far away.

Ad'ika : little one, son, daughter, of any age - also used informally to adults much like *lads* or *guys*

Buy'ce : Helmet

Chapter 3

Summary:

Decisions and reunions

“I say we join” grunted Zeb, who was casually leaning on the wall.

The conversation had been going on for about five minutes and was still going nowhere; not for lack of enthusiasm from the majority, but because of Kanan’s reluctance to work so closely with the Rebellion.

“I hear you, Zeb. I’m just not sure about joining so closely, it could mean too many restrictions. We are not used to working like that.”

“So, what? We’ll learn, Kanan. We have to! This could be our only chance to get enough reinforcements to take back Lothal!”

Chopper made a string of agitated beeps, hitting Kanan’s leg with one of his arms before Hera shooed him.

“I agree, Kanan. I know this isn’t ideal for you, but we must take our chances. Besides, we can back out if we need to,” Hera said before softening her voice, “This isn’t the Clone Wars anymore, love. You have support, you have us. We all take care of each other. I promise.”

There was a long pause before Sabine moved towards Kanan and patted his shoulder.

“I get it Kanan, I’m not fond of military structure either, but if we don’t do this, who will?”

Another pause stretched, and then Rex sighed heavily.

“Listen, I know you don’t trust us. I know it hits too close to home, but I can at least vouch for Cody. I have never met someone as loyal as him and a sense of duty comes to him naturally. I… I think there’s more to him than you may imagine, Kanan. Give him a chance to show it.”
Kanan didn’t say anything for a while. I think there’s more to him than you may imagine, Kanan. That longing… Lightsabers were close to sentient, and very loyal to their owners. If this saber trusted him enough…

“…Fine,” he gritted out. “But we see anything suspicious, and we get out of there.”

“Aye aye, sir!” exclaimed Rex, beaming and raising his hand in mock salute.

“Good. Now, let’s go give the Commander the good news,” smiled Hera, squeezing Kanan’s shoulder.

 

---

 

The airlock to the other ship wooshed open. It was a smaller ship than The Ghost, designed for shorter missions with fewer people. The floor was clean, the bunks made, but the desks were full of knick-knacks and half-finished projects.

“Someone likes to play with explosives…” Sabine gingerly picked one side of a partially deconstructed device.

“Sick. I’m already liking this” beamed Ezra.

They kept walking towards the cockpit, where they could hear two voices chatting amicably.

“Yeah, Hunter told me Crosshair fell off the boat and pulled Echo with him last week while trying to keep a fish from escaping. Wrecker hasn’t let it go for the whole week!” you could hear the smile in the pilot’s voice, “I wish I could’ve been there to see it, I miss them.”

“Well, do you miss me too?” asked Rex, arms open wide and eyes full of mirth.

“Rex?!” the pilot launched herself from her seat and into Rex’s arms, almost toppling both of them over, “Of course I’ve missed you! Cody didn’t tell me it was you!”

“Woah, Omega. You’ve grown so much! Careful now, you’ll topple an old man to the ground with those hugs!” despite his words, Rex picked her up and spun her.

Beside Kanan, he heard Hera gasp and hold a hand to her mouth.

“What-”

“Omega?” Hera said, eyes wide.

Rex released Omega and she turned toward the new voice, a shocked laugh escaping her lips.

“Hera?!” she almost tackled her, “it’s you!! I can’t believe it! You’re a pilot! A real pilot!”

Hera laughed, hugging her back “You are too! After all these years!”

The pair separated from each other and Kanan could see tears in both their eyes. Rex was sniffling suspiciously.

“Where are your brothers? Are they part of the Rebellion too?”

“No, they decided they’d had enough war for a lifetime. They deserve a normal life.” Omega shrugged, still beaming, then turned to the rest of the Specters, “So, this is your crew? I like it!”

Hera wiped her eyes and moved towards them, “Yes! These are Zeb, Sabine, Ezra, and Kanan” A loud noise came from behind them, and they parted to let Chopper through, “Oh, and you know Chopper, of course!”

“Chopper! It’s good to see you again!” she crouched and patted the droid.

While she crouched, Kanan could see the side of her red bandana, which held the symbol of a skull. It was familiar, but he couldn’t tell why.

“So, have you thought about my offer, Captain Syndulla?” asked Cody, now standing beside Rex.

“Yes, sir. We’d be honored to join you at Headquarters. I do ask that my team stay together if possible.”

“We wouldn’t dream of separating you all. The Ghost Crew has shown to work remarkably well together.” He crossed to shake Hera’s hand again, “Welcome to the Rebellion, everyone.”

Chapter 4

Summary:

Conversations during a long journey

The trip was slow. Way too slow for Kanan’s liking. He was a man of plans, he liked to know what he was going to be encountering, and where he was going. He wasn’t fond of surprises.

 

“Soooo…. Cody- Commander Cody, I mean. Where’s this base of yours? We’ve sort of been going for a long time” Ezra yawned from a seat in the common area.

 

Hera and Omega were taking turns at the controls and the shift was changing at the moment.

 

“You can call me Cody, Ezra. I don’t mind. I also won’t tell you where it is, but we must take the long way around, so we make sure to keep it secret.”

 

“Are there more clones in your rebellion, Cody?” asked Zeb, who was cleaning his bo-rifle.

 

“Hm, some, yes. There are some Jedi too” Cody said casually, knowing at least one of them would take the bait.

 

“Jedi? Really?? Kanan, I could-” started Ezra, but cut himself off at Kanan’s sharp look.

 

The Commander chuckled, “Yeah, I figured you were the other Jedi. Your secret is safe with me, I promise.”

 

“Anyone I might know, Cody?” Rex asked, an eyebrow raised and a weird look on his face. There was something both knew that the rest of them didn’t and Kanan was getting to the bottom of it.

 

“We don’t disclose names outside the base, Rex. Basic security procedure, really” The Commander was the picture of innocence as he looked back at his brother.

 

“Shebs”

 

Sabine snorted, “I’d heard that the clones adopted Mandalorian customs, but I didn’t know to what extent. It’s nice to hear Mando’a thrown around again.”

 

“Kanan, you were a Padawan during the Clone Wars, right? You must have spent a good amount of time around the clones, how come you don’t know Mando’a?”

 

“Or he does and hates talking to Sabine so much he’s hidden it for YEARS” Ezra exclaims before being tacked and pulled into a chokehold by Sabine. “Worth it.”

 

“You’d think they’d be better behaved around a Commander,” Kanan sighed and pulled them apart. “I was in the field for a relatively short time. I knew some of the most used words, but I had to be at the Temple for my studies far too often to really learn anything significant.”

 

“You were a Padawan?” Cody asked quietly, “Who was your Master?”

 

“That’s none of your business” the Jedi gritted out.

 

“Apologies, I overstepped” answered Cody.

 

There was an awkward silence after that, everyone looking at the floor or ceiling.

 

“So!” Sabine clapped her hands and wiggled her eyebrows, trying to dissipate the awkwardness, “Who’s the lucky guy, Cody? I see you’ve traded vambraces”

 

Now that Sabine pointed it out, Kanan noticed it. The Commander’s vambraces were mismatched. One of them had an orange motif resembling a sunrise painted on it and the other one had a blue phoenix with its wings spread.

 

“What’s that mean, Sabine?” asked Zeb.

 

“It’s Mandalorian custom to trade vambraces with the person you marry as a way of showing your bond.”

 

Ezra made an ooh sound, but before they could embarrass themselves further, Hera came through one of the corridors.

 

“All right, Omega is all set up again. I’m gonna hit the bunks, guys” she yawned.

 

“I’m headed to bed too. Good night, everyone. Wake us up if you need us” said Kanan, ignoring Zeb’s snort.

 

As soon as the door to their room closed, Kanan heaved a sigh.

 

“You feeling okay, love?”

 

“I don’t know. I just- Everything seems too familiar, too secretive, too weirdly coincidental. I don’t like it” he groaned.

 

Hera stepped forward and took his face in her hands, “I know this is hard for you, but I’m proud you are willing to give it a try. The threat of the chips is gone, love. This might be the chance we’ve been waiting for.”

 

“I know… I guess it was just too sudden for me” he huffed.

 

“Well, maybe some sleep will give it a new light in the morning. Let’s get ready for bed, shall we?”

 

As they both went through their nightly routine, Kanan kept coming back to the skull on Omega’s bandana. He swore he had seen it somewhere…. Her face was also weirdly similar to the other clones-

 

“Hera, how did you meet Omega?”

 

“Gobi took me to a moon over Ryloth to receive some weapons her batch was dropping off. She even took me to see their ship! I think it was called the Marauder.” She paused, a bittersweet smile on her lips, “She and her brothers helped me out when the Empire was trying to take my parents… I never thought I’d see her again…”

 

“When you say ‘batch’… do you mean a batch of clones?”

 

Hera kept going about her routine, not noticing Kanan’s suspicion.

 

“Yeah, they call themselves The Bad Batch. They-”

 

Kanan dropped the Holocron he had been absentmindedly playing with, “The Bad Batch- Are you sure?”

 

“Kanan, what- are you ok? What’s going on?” Hera turned to him; concern written all over her face.

 

“Do you… Remember when I told you about the day my master died? The reinforcements I was asked to retrieve?” Kanan waited for Hera to nod, “They were the reinforcements, The Bad Batch. I thought they were so cool back then, I even followed them to finish the battle when I heard-”

 

Kanan hadn’t thought about that day in a very long time. Certainly hadn’t cried about it for even longer.

 

“Oh, Kanan…” Hera maneuvered him over to the bed and held him while he cried.

 

“They- they didn’t fire, but two of them followed me into the woods. Their leader -I think- kept calling me and tried to get me down from the trees, but as soon as I peeked over a tree, the sniper shot at me. The leader ended up following me to the edge of a chasm and then betrayed me. He had sent for reinforcements, so I had to jump to the other side,” he was starting to hyperventilate. This wasn’t how a Jedi dealt with his feelings; he didn’t deserve to be Ezra’s Master. He didn’t even follow the code against attachment. Maybe there was some good in this plan, maybe one of the Jedi in the base could take him as their padawan. “I- I didn’t even know if I could make the jump. I was s-so scared.”

 

“Oh, love…” Hera rubbed circles into his back, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know…”

 

They stayed silent for a little longer before Kanan calmed down.

 

“Kanan, if this is too much…”

 

“No, no. I know it was the chips, I just… my body doesn’t seem to know” he whispered.

 

“That’s a normal response, Kanan… You’ve never really talked about this to anyone, have you?”

 

Kanan shook his head.

 

“Then it’s no wonder you feel like this still, there’s nothing wrong with that” she continued. “Thank you for trusting me with that.”

 

Kanan was way too tired to continue the conversation, so he lay down beside Hera and drifted away easily.

 

---

 

As Kanan and Hera went off to bed, the rest of the Ghost Crew followed shortly. All of them, except for Rex.

 

“I’m glad we found each other again, Ori’vod,” he sighed.

 

Cody smiled, his expression calmer than Rex had ever seen it during the war. He seemed content, at peace. He wasn’t expecting that from his brother.

 

“I’m glad too, Rex. I missed you; it wasn’t the same without you. There’s so much I need to tell you.”

 

Rex knew how to spot an opportunity when he saw one and took it in stride. He was nothing if not an experienced nuisance to his brother.

 

“Right. Would the vambrace and lightsaber have anything to do with that?” He leaned back, exuding as much smugness as he could.

 

To his surprise, his brother smiled even wider, “Maybe, maybe not.”

 

“I can’t believe you finally did it, Cody.” Rex laughed, feeling years of deep sorrow for his vod finally dissipating at their easy banter. “Force, I can’t say I’m surprised he’s alive. That dikut has cheated death more times than I can count, but the fact that you finally got your head out of your shebs? Insane.”

 

Cody chuckled, a light flush creeping onto his face, “Yeah, I can’t believe it either. It was rough for a while, Rex. But it’s all worth it now. We’re so happy…”

 

Rex smiled, fond of his brother, “I’m glad you could have that Cody, I’m glad for you both…” then, his smile turned mischievous, “Though I’m not sure I should. Are the calf eyes and longing sighs better or worse than during the war? Cause I don’t know I could stomach more of that now, vod.”

 

Cody laughed then, a real laugh, and kicked Rex’s boot off the desk. It was strange, seeing him like this. He was still the Cody Rex knew, but it was like all the weight of being a Commander in the war was lifted off him. He’d never seen his smile and laugh so readily. Even in Kamino, Cody held what looked like the weight of all their brothers on his shoulders.

 

“I’ll let you be the judge of that… I don’t think Kanan has realized yet.”

 

“Oh, he’ll be in for a surprise, alright,” he barked a laugh, “He didn’t spend that much time with the vode, so he probably didn’t think much of you having his saber.”

 

“That and the fact that he thinks I killed him. As does everyone else.” Cody raised his eyebrows.

 

“Very convenient if you ask me. Can’t have the empire know he’s alive and well.”

 

“Hm, yeah.” Cody paused, then unclipped his back plate. “I wanted to show you something, Rex.”

 

Cody held out his backplate for Rex to take. There, right where the plate would rest against his spine, was Rex’s name in aubresh.

 

“Oh, Cody…” Rex’s eyes began stinging again. Clones had a lot of customs when it came to their armor, some of them outside Mandalorian tradition. Writing the names of their loved ones on the inside of their armor was one of the most secretive traditions since it was strictly prohibited by the Kaminoans. Very few Jedi knew about it, too.

 

“I wanted you to know how important you are to me, Rex. I never told you during the war, but you are the backbone of my moral compass. You’ve always had a sense of justice and righteousness, even as a tubie. I’m honored to be your brother.”

 

Rex moved to hug Cody, tears silently streaming down his face. Then, he unclipped his own backplate and held it out. It had Cody’s name on it.

 

“You’re a dikut, you know that? You made me cry again” laughed Rex wetly.

 

Cody held the plate like it was the biggest gift ever, tears clinging to his eyes as well.

 

“Thank you, Rex. Truly,” He whispered.

 

Neither of them went to bed that night, instead choosing to stay up to catch up.

 

---

 

Sabine, Ezra, and Zeb decided to have a very cramped sleepover to discuss the happenings of the day. It was mostly gossip.

 

“Do you think Rex got fat cause of the Joopas? I thought it was just how clones aged, 'cause Wolffe and Greggor looked the same, but Cody’s kriffing fit.” Ezra said, lazily hanging from the top bunk.

 

“Maybe they don’t have that much food on the Rebellion…” muttered Zeb, “I might honestly back Kanan up on leaving the Rebellion if they don’t have food…”

 

“Damn, Zeb.” Sabine said, not turning away from her new sketch of Cody, “That easily swayed, huh?”

 

Zeb shrugged and made a non-committed noise.

 

“I mean- wouldn’t you?” he said as he butted into her space to see the drawing, “that’s pretty, you even got his mismatched vambraces.”

 

“Speaking of which, Sabine. How did you know Cody was married to a man? What if he’s straight?”

 

Sabine snorted, “Have you seen him, Ezra? Of course he’s married to a man.”

 

Zeb and Ezra just stared at her.

 

“Okay, fine. It was the vambrace he exchanged.”

 

“I mean, I can see it too though, so I wouldn’t put it past you” Shrugged Zeb, fist bumping Sabine.

 

“Ugh. It’s boring being the only straight person in a sleepover” moaned Ezra.

 

“Yeah, your gaydar sucks, dude” Sabine continued with her painting.

Notes:

Mando'a used:

Shebs: ass

Vod: sibling

Dikut: idiot

Vode: Brothers, Sisters, Siblings. The clones use this word to refer to themselves collectively.

Kriffing: fucking

Other terms:

Tubie: this is what clones call babies or toddlers

Chapter 5

Summary:

A stop on the way.

The next day, the ship-wide comm came online loudly.

 

“Good morning, everyone! It’s a new shift and a new day. We are making an unscheduled stop at Alderaan by request of Commander Cody. I recommend you get ready for the day and eat up before meeting in the commons” chirped Hera, who seemed to be in good spirits.

 

Rex got up from the couch in the main area with a groan, which was echoed by Cody.

 

“We’re too old to sleep in couches” Cody griped while running a hand down his face.

 

“At least we are already at the meeting point,” Rex muttered while he cracked his spine, “Kriff.”

 

“I’m gonna take a sonic” Cody yawned, “I recommend you do too, vod. We’re meeting Senator Organa in a bit.”

 

Those words immediately woke Rex up.

 

“Senator Organa?! Cody- what do you mean we are meeting Senator Organa?”

 

“He’s part of the rebellion too. Besides, we’re just picking up his daughter, we won’t be staying long.”

 

Rex thought for a second about everything he’d seen in his life. Especially everything he’d seen Cody do, decided that wasn’t worth the shock, then shrugged and moved to try to get to the bathroom before any of the Specters did.

 

By the sounds of bickering and running feet, he was fairly sure he wasn’t the first to have that thought.

 

---

 

The ramp of the Ghost lowered before a beautiful palace. Rex recognized it as Organa’s home; he’d been there with Skywalker a couple of times. Organa and his wife, Breha, were standing before them dressed in beautiful robes.

 

“Cody! Welcome back, it’s good to see you!” He exclaimed in his usual enthusiasm and pulled Cody into a hug.

 

“It’s good to see you both as well,” he said while moving to hug Queen Breha.

 

“You seem as tired as ever, Cody. How are you supposed to keep an eye on Leia while you can barely stand” joked Breha, a mischievous smile in her lips.

 

“Ah, your tongue is as sharp as ever, Breha.” Cody laughed, “I just happened to spend the night catching up with my long-lost brother, if you care.”

 

Rex was going to have a conniption with how carefree Cody was with the senator and his wife. Was he trying to get himself killed?

 

“Oh! You’ve found Rex?” Breha looked behind Cody directly into Rex’s eyes. “Captain Rex, we are so glad to have you back. Cody here has been looking for you since he was able to take his chip out” she said as she walked over and took both his hands in hers.

 

“Uh, thank you ma’am”

 

“No need for such formalities, Rex. The war is done, and you are our friend” smiled Senator Organa.

 

“I ran into Rex and The Ghost’s crew a couple of days ago. Omega and I are taking them to Headquarters for their new assignments.”

 

“Ah, yes. Congratulations on your achievements, we’ve heard quite a lot about your heroics. Especially you, Ezra. Your voice was heard throughout the galaxy,” said Bail approvingly.

 

Ezra opened his mouth, but Hera was quicker, “Thank you, Senator. We’re just doing what we can.”

 

“Now, I thought I was coming here to pick something up, but since I don’t see it, we’ll be on our way” Cody shrugged, his face perfectly serious.

 

Cody turned towards the ship and a young voice was heard from the roof of The Ghost, “Oya'cye!”

 

Both Sabine and Rex reached for their blasters immediately. That was the first word of an old Mandalorian war chant. They both looked at each other, not sure of what to make of the situation since Cody looked so at ease.

 

“Kyr'am! Mare'cye! Darasuum! Oya! Oya!” yelled a young girl dressed in white, launching herself directly at Cody.

 

They both crashed to the ground and began wrestling, Cody clearly moving slowly and letting the girl try to work out how to defeat him. It was like he was training a Cadet.

 

“YIELD!” she said as she put him in an, honestly, fairly good chokehold for a cadet.

 

“All right, all right. I yield!” Cody held up his hands in surrender but stood up before the girl could release him, leaving her dangling from his neck while he laughed.

 

The girl giggled with him, then let go only to attach herself back to him with a bear hug, “Su cuy’gar, ba’vodu Cody!”

 

“Su cuy’gar, verd’ika,” Cody hugged her back, “I see someone has been practicing more than Mando’a!”

 

How The Kriff did Cody end up being the Organa’s kid’s uncle?

 

“I’m kicking Luke’s ass when we get to the base. We made a bet, so I’ve been training!”

 

“Leia…” Breha pinched the bridge of her nose, “language…”

 

Cody chuckled, “Well, Luke’s been training too. We’ll see.”

 

Bail sighed, trying to suppress a smile at Leia’s outburst. “Everyone, this is Leia, our daughter. She’ll be traveling with you to headquarters.”

 

“Leia, these are new headquarters recruits, we expect you to be on your best behavior, yes?” Breha asked her kid, but a proud gleam in her eye betrayed how much she trusted her daughter to do just that.

 

“Yes, mom!” she went to hug her parents goodbye before grabbing a suitcase and walking over to the ships.

 

“Do you need some help with that, ad'ika?” asked Rex politely.

 

“Nope! I can do it, thank you,” she said as she continued to struggle and drag the suitcase over.

 

“We’ll take care of her and make sure you get updates,” Cody said and hugged both his friends. “I’ll let you know who wins the fight too, I guess.”

 

“Send your husband our regards and tell him to visit soon. I’m craving a good game of Sabbacc and Force knows I haven’t been able to find a worthier opponent than him” said Breha.

 

“Remind me to bring Omega for a game next time we come by. That way you’ll have one more opponent to choose from.”

 

Bail laughed, “Good gods, Cody. You’re playing with fire. Send Luke our love as well, we sent a present for him with Leia.”

 

They all said their goodbyes and returned to the ship to find Leia patiently waiting by her luggage.

 

“Hey, kid. Good moves you got there. Who’s this Luke you wanna fight so badly?” asked Zeb, hands on his hips.

 

“He’s my brother! He lives with my uncles on the Base, so we don’t see each other so much.”

 

“Everyone, this is Leia Organa, princess of Alderaan and my favorite niece,” said Cody.

 

“I’m your only niece!” Leia squeaked, crossing her arms.

 

Cody swatted at the air, “Still my favorite, though, aren’t you?” Rex could tell this was a well-worn banter between them once Leia rolled her eyes. “Leia, this is the Ghost Crew: Hera, Kanan, Sabine, Ezra, Zeb, and… my brother Rex”

 

Leia’s eyes became the size of saucers then, “YOURE Rex?! You’re Cody’s Vod’ika!”

 

“I am, ad’ika. It’s really nice to meet you, Leia,” Rex crouched before her.

 

“Can you be my uncle too?” Leia asked, her eyes huge.

 

Rex’s eyes were even bigger, “I-“ he looked over at his Vod, who was smiling fondly, “Of course! I’d love to be your uncle as well!”

 

“Thank you!!” she jumped into his arms.

 

“Is that a princess I hear?” Came a slightly sleepy voice from the bunking corridor.

 

Leia gasped and wriggled out of Rex’s hug to rush into Omega’s arms.

 

“What was that about,” Rex whispered to Cody while the rest of the group dissipated, and Hera went to take on the rest of the shift. “Why was she so excited about me?”

 

“She’s heard a lot about you. Ahsoka and I have told her endless stories about you. You are her favorite person to hear from when we recount stories from the war,” Cody said as he squeezed his shoulder. “You’re her hero, Rex.”

 

Joining The Rebellion seemed to be a pretty emotional process, it seemed to Rex.

Notes:

Mando'a:

Kriff: fuck

Oya'cye! Kyr'am! Mare'cye! Darasuum! Oya! Oya!: Life! Death! Revelation! Eternity! Let's live! Let's hunt!

Su cuy’gar: hello

ba’vodu: uncle/aunt

verd’ika: private (rank) Can be used affectionately, often to a child; *little soldier* - context is critical.

Ad'ika: kid, little one, son, daughter, of any age - also used informally to adults much like *lads* or *guys*

Vod’ika: little brother

Vod: brother

---------------------------------------

Leia and Luke grew up on the base, of course they've picked up some swear words here and there.

Chapter 6

Summary:

The crew arrives at Headquarters

Notes:

Hello folks! I'm back!

So sorry to keep you waiting for so long, life happened.

I hope you enjoy this chapter! I hope to upload faster now.

Kanan was feeling better about this. Now that he’d had some time to process and had seen that Senator Organa supported Cody’s efforts, he could at least rest easy without thinking this was just an elaborate trap.

They had gotten the call from Omega that they would be landing shortly, so they all squeezed into the cockpit to see the base from above.

“Omega, can I please bring us down?” pleaded Leia, eyes huge.

“That kid knows what she’s doing with those eyes,” muttered Zeb.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll let you sit on my lap, and we can bring the ship down together.” Answered Omega with a smile.

Leia happily let herself be seated on Omega’s lap and very seriously held out her hands for Omega to guide them.

“So… what planet is this?” asked Ezra.

“Confidential until we touch down, I’m afraid. We have to run through some security checks for comms and trackers first, but I promise I’ll debrief you on everything once I can. I can only tell you that we’re not landing on the planet, but rather one of its moons.”

“Can we know how many Jedi there are here, Commander?” Kanan said as he strained to pick any force sensitives from where they were. He was getting nothing, but that wasn’t a surprise seeing as they were barely breaking through the moon’s atmosphere.

“Not yet, no,” Cody smiled apologetically in his direction, “but I think you’ll be pleased with what you find.”

Well, that’s cryptic, he thought as he laced his hand through Hera’s, feeling her squeeze his hand in support.

“Gold Leader to control tower, permission to land,” Omega said through the ship’s comms.

“Permission granted. Proceed to landing bay A, Gold Leader.”

As Omega maneuvered them toward the ground, Kanan could see a beautiful and luscious jungle. The green here was comparable to that of Kashyk, unending and inviting, almost warm to look at.

“I don’t see a base,” said Sabine as she came closer to the windshield.

“That’s the point!”, exclaimed Leia indignantly, getting a quickly suppressed chuckle out of the group.

Soon, a couple of buildings -pyramids- came into view. They looked old, worn, and abandoned a long time ago.

“Ah, I see why you chose this place,” smiled Hera as the ship was lowered to the landing bay.

At touch-down, Kanan could see several people in flight suits approach, getting ready for post-flight check-up and refueling; but two other figures caught his eye. It was clearly an adult and a very excited child pulling him along.

“Is that Luke, princess?” Rex asked, clearly having spotted the child as well.

“YES!!!” she yelled and quickly jumped from Omega’s lap. She looked ready to bolt, but stopped at the last second, “Thank you for letting me help, Omega!” she blurted as she gave her a quick hug, then disappeared down the corridor.

Cody laughed, “Alright, I guess that’s our cue, then. Come on, The General will want to meet you all.”

As soon as the ramp went down, Leia rushed straight towards a little boy waiting on the landing bay and hugged him happily. The boy looked to be ten standard years as well, but Kanan got the distinct feeling that he was the calmer of the two.

“Leia!” the kid laughed, “I can’t breathe, let go!!”

She let him go, and immediately noticed the adult some distance behind Luke, and started bounding towards him with great joy. The man picked her up and spun her around, their words lost in the distance between them and the ship.

Kanan’s attention was then caught by Cody, who began walking down the ramp, arms open and inviting. As Luke turned to look back at the ship, he noticed him and ran to his arms

“Buir!” the boy exclaimed excitedly as Cody picked him up and kissed him on the cheek. “I missed you!”

“Oh yeah? How much?” Cody asked, his grin almost splitting his face.

“THIS much,” Luke said and spread his arms as wide as he could.

“That’s a lot! Do you want to see how much I missed you?” Cody asked in a mock whisper, to which Luke nodded eagerly, “THIS MUCH!” he yelled, launching a giggling Luke into the air and catching him again.

Kanan heard two pairs of steps approaching and looked over to Leia and the other man only to freeze in place. Standing there, holding Leia’s hand was Master Obi-Wan Kenobi in the flesh. He looked older and more weathered than he remembered, the white hairs he had during the war taking over the ginger. His face had more freckles and lines from the sun and hard work. However, his expression was more similar to the one he remembered seeing on him while he was still in the creche, before the war.

Cody put Luke down, who took Leia’s hand and ran back to the foot of the crumbling temple and turned to the Jedi smiling.

“Welcome home, Cyare” said Master Kenobi with a smile, walking towards the Commander and kissing him sweetly.

I have to be dreaming. Maybe someone drugged me, and this has all been a hallucination, Kanan thinks.

“Hello ner kar’ta,” Cody kisses him back, then gently rests his forehead to Kenobi’s, “I believe this is yours. Thank you.”

Cody unclips the lightsaber from his belt and solemnly holds it to his heart before offering it to Obi-Wan, who takes it with a fond look.

“I’m glad it kept you safe, my love” the Jedi Master murmurs, and Kanan finally notices his vambraces match Cody’s.

Maybe it’s my guilt-addled brain. Master Kenobi would never-

“Welp, this is definitely worse than you two were during the war,” Rex states gruffly, though it is clear as day he’s happy about this development. Kanan noticed his eyes looked a little misty.

Neither The Commander nor the Jedi Master showed any sign of embarrassment as they turned to look at Rex with matching smiles.

“By the Force… I can’t believe it. Rex, we’ve finally found you! You look good, Captain,” said Obi-Wan as he crossed the distance to hug Rex, “I hear you suffered quite a bit due to us during the war, I apologize for Cody and I’s -um- lack of bravery, if you will,” he joked

Rex belted a laugh, “No need to apologize General, just happy you two finally got your shit together.”

“Well, I’m glad to have you back, Captain.”

“Me too, sir.”

Master Kenobi finally turned to the rest of the group, looking at each of them as if he were assessing something. Kanan felt the Force around him ripple as Kenobi met his eyes, then dissipate when he blinked and addressed the group.

“You all must be the Ghost Crew! I’m glad to finally meet you all and welcome you to the innermost circle of the Rebellion. We are honored to fight by your side. My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, but outside Headquarters I may only be addressed as Ben. I am both a Jedi Master and the General of The Rebellion.”

“You’re the guy from the Holocron…” said Ezra, “We thought you were dead!”

“Ah, I assume you mean my warning,” he said patiently, “I didn’t die, Ezra. Cody and I managed to fake my death. But that’s a story for another time.”

“Come on, we’ll show you around” motioned Cody.

----------------

They walked around the base following the Commander and Master Kenobi. From the outside, the base was old and worn, but it seemed like the Rebellion had done a good job of cleaning the inside of it and making it comfortable.

Kanan saw the Ghost crew scanning the place frantically, taking it all in with undisguised excitement. There were meeting rooms, kitchens, bunks, training rooms, and to his surprise: inside gardens.

The one they were in now was huge. Sunbeams came down from above, hitting mirrors and illuminating the whole place. A couple of fountains murmured, and the smell of greenery was a nice contrast to the recycled air of the ship.

“This is beautiful…” said Hera.

“Thank you. We made them so our people could have an outlet to decompress, and it’s been a resounding success. Normally, you would see a lot more people around here at this hour, but we had a long night yesterday and everyone needs some rest.”

“Which is why you are awake now, is it Ner Kar'ta?” Cody rolled his eyes.

Kanan grated his teeth. There was something wrong here. How could Master Kenobi be married? It went against the code! Maybe he gave up on the code, but he still called himself a Jedi. But he married the enemy. Worse, he married the man who killed their people, he couldn’t-

“Kanan,” said Master Kenobi warmly, startling him out of his thoughts, “I asked if you remember the Temple gardens.”

“Um,” he realized everyone was looking at him with concern, “I do, Master”

Kenobi smiled, then continued walking towards a door on the other side of the gardens, “I remember you were quite fond of them as a kid, Caleb.”

The entirety of the Ghost Crew stopped in their tracks, staring at Kanan. Hera looked back and forth from Master Kenobi to Kanan, a worried look on her face. She was the only one who knew.

“I- I didn’t think you would recognize me, Master.”

“Of course I do, Caleb,” he answered with a sad smile, “I always remember my pupils. I’m just sorry I couldn’t reach you sooner. It must have been a hard journey to get to this point.”

Rex had a look of realization on his face and was about to say something, but the Commander shook his head silently. He knew what he was about to say and Kanan hated that he was thankful to Cody for stopping him.

“This way.”

They walked in awkward silence until they came to an office. It seemed to be a meeting space for strategy meetings, and they all took a seat.

“Welcome to Yavin 4. I’m sure you all have questions, and we’ll try to answer all of them, but allow us to explain some things first,” Kenobi sat, his demeanor turning more military leader and less Jedi for a moment.

“As I said before, the Rebellion has many branches, but only their leaders know of the existence of a bigger rebellion. Captain Syndulla here was only made aware of us a couple of months ago,” affirmed Cody.

“Our Fulcrum agents are assigned different teams. Yours was Ahsoka, as you already know. However, we don’t maintain constant contact with them due to security protocols. This is why things take time,” continued Master Kenobi. “I need you all to understand the importance of secrecy. Yavin 4 isn’t home only to the rebellion, but to refugees and people with very big targets on their back. We have Jedi, rogue clones, ex-empire troops, children… I know everyone here has a different background and history, but we are all fighting for the same thing. I expect you to respect the histories of those who fight beside you.”

Kanan felt a pang of panic and guilt.

“You will have a couple of rotations to adjust to life on the Base and to your new assignments. You will be provided accommodation and a schedule shortly and we will debrief on your knowledge tomorrow 0700,” said Cody.

“Alright,” smiled Kenobi, his posture relaxing and going back into a more friendly demeanor, “now that the formalities are over, ask away.”

Notes:

Mando'a:

Cyare: beloved, loved
ner kar’ta: my heart

PS. Giving your weapon to your partner before they go into dangerous territory is a clone-specific tradition. It is meant as a symbol of "even when I cannot fight beside you and protect you, part of me does." It is a deep gesture of love and affection, only performed between romantic partners. It is treated as an amulet or last resort that is to be given back once you are safe and back with your partner.

Chapter 7

Summary:

Kanan and Obi-Wan have a much needed chat

The meeting was long; it was natural that the Specters needed a lot of answers from them, seeing as everything had been kept secret for so long.

 

“Wait, but- how long has this rebellion been running? How come you’ve not struck yet?” Asked Ezra. He had been becoming more and more frustrated with each question, appalled and feeling betrayed by said secrecy.

 

Obi-Wan took a breath and answered with infinite patience, “You are a good Jedi, Ezra. I understand how it must feel being in your position right now, with all this secrecy yet so much urgency. We have struck, Ezra. Several times, but we strike as silently as we can,” he smiles, “until we have the strength to do something big. You all have been part of said strikes in the past few months.”

 

“The Empire has too much power, Ezra. The blow must be definitive, or it will fail.” Cody added.

 

“You said there are ex-empire troops here,” said Sabine, “how do you know we don’t have snitches?”

 

“Good question,” Cody nodded. The kid definitely had a head for security, he took a mental note of that. “We have a lengthy process we cannot share, but rest assured it is thorough. You are here, after all. Are you not?”

 

Sabine threw him a satisfied smile, “You do your homework, Commander.”

 

“About the Jedi,” Kanan ventured haltingly, avoiding Cody’s gaze, “Is the Jedi Order… alive? Ahsoka said-”

 

Obi-Wan smiled sadly, “I’d like to talk to you privately, Kanan. You too, Ezra. Once I’m done with your Master.”

 

“I’ll show the rest of you to your rooms,” said Cody as he stood up and opened the door to the hallway.

 

 

Kanan watched as his crew walked out the door with a heavy feeling in his stomach. He felt as if a sinkhole had materialized at its pit. They were separated in unknown territory and his team was alone with a minimum of two clones. Who knows how many resided in the base, too?

 

He knew he was being irrational. Well, part of him knew. The other part, the majority of him, was full of red lights and warning signs.

 

“Caleb,” Master Kenobi caught his attention in a soft voice.

 

“Yes, Master?” he looked up at him and instantly regretted meeting his gaze. He felt exposed.

 

Could he see all the rules Kanan has broken? Could he see the doubt, the guilt? The terrible master he’s been to Ezra?

 

He had said he wanted to talk to Ezra privately-

 

“I’m really happy to see you safe again,” Obi-Wan said, “you’ve been really strong all these years.”

 

He’s always been patient with the younglings.

But Kanan wasn’t a youngling anymore.

 

“Master, if this is about Ezra, I- I know I shouldn’t be training him. I was never knighted, not by a living Master and I have broken many rules, but I was all he had. If… if another master residing at the base could take him…”

 

Kanan trailed off at Kenobi’s confused expression, then decided to clarify further.

 

“I asked Ahsoka to take him, but she said she wasn’t a Jedi anymore-”

 

Obi-Wan snorted at that, leaving Kanan frozen in place.

 

“Sometimes I forget just how much trouble Ahsoka can get herself into when she’s caught off-guard,” he rolls his eyes, an amused smile on his lips, “her lies tend to be effective in the moment, but tangle themselves afterward.”

 

“…Master?”

 

“Ahsoka is still a Jedi, Caleb. She returned to the order after Order 66. The reason why she didn’t take your padawan is that she already has one of her own. We keep our padawans secret, that’s why she was caught off-guard in trying to give you an answer.”

 

“Oh…” Kanan whispered, “Then, can you take him?”

Obi-Wan’s expression turned sad and pensive, he remembered it vaguely from his time in the creche when the war started and they asked him about it.

 

“Caleb, you are an excellent Jedi Knight. I can sense it in your signature, I can see it in how you protect and guide your padawan and your team. Your padawanship was cut short due to very traumatic circumstances and yet you still managed not only to survive but to rebuild your life while still being open to the Force. You have earned your knighting with every fiber of your being, Caleb. I hope you understand that.”

 

“But- I get angry and, what about attachment?” Kanan rebutted, before remembering something that had been nagging at him from the moment he stepped off the ship, “wait, are you even a Jedi?” Kanan felt like he was spiraling. Too many things, too fast.

 

Obi-Wan didn’t say anything, just cocked his head in confusion.

 

“Your vambraces. The Commander’s vambraces,” Kanan continued, noting a hint of recognition in Master Kenobi’s eyes, “Sabine said that’s a Mandalorian tradition for… for spouses.”

 

“It is,” Master Kenobi confirmed in a way that indicated he wanted Kanan to continue his train of thought.

 

“But, Jedi can’t marry. The law of attachments forbids it, you-” Kanan was definitely spiraling. What if this was actually a trap? What if Master Kenobi wasn’t a Jedi but a Sith, what if- “You married the enemy, you married a clone. They killed us, they wanted to end us!”

 

A deep silence filled the space, the only sound was Kanan’s agitated breathing. He realized he was standing; he didn’t remember getting up.

 

“Caleb,” Obi-Wan said quietly, patiently. Always too patient, “breathe.”

 

They remained in silence for a bit while Kanan got his breathing under control and sat again. His mind was still racing but he was so tired.

 

A wave of calm, safe, trust surrounded him and he let it pool around his shields.

 

“Caleb, I need you to trust in me. Let me explain, please”

 

Kanan nodded silently.

“Thank you. I know how difficult this must be for you. Beliefs based on trauma are deep-rooted, and they cause strong reactions to keep us safe. There is no shame in this, Caleb,” he offered a small smile, trying to catch Kanan’s gaze again, “The clones were as much victims as the Order were. The Sith lord used them, robbed them of their mind and free will, and treated them as nothing more than cannon fodder and weapons against us. The Sith implanted chips in them they didn’t even know about. We didn’t either. They are hurting too, Caleb.”

 

Kanan felt like a youngling again. He knew this. Rex had told him. So why couldn’t he let go?

 

“No use for guilt and shame here, Caleb. Your body is just trying to catch up with your mind,” Obi-Wan paused, thinking, “Who taught your class on attachment?”

 

Kanan wasn’t expecting that question.

 

“Master Skywalker, I think.”

 

The atmosphere of the room shifted instantly. It turned sad and cold and hurt and a little angry, but not at him.

 

Obi-Wan sighed, long and tired.

 

“I see why you have that perception of attachment, then.”

 

“Master?”

 

“Caleb, love isn’t attachment. What- What Anakin taught you was wrong. Jedi are allowed to love. How could we not be? Love is an integral part of the Force, no matter its type. No, romantic love isn’t frowned upon, Caleb. It is celebrated. The thing is, it can be hard to walk the line between love and attachment for some people. Love is focused on the other, attachment is focused on the ego.”

 

“Then… why did Master Skywalker say that?”

 

Master Kenobi was quiet again for a moment, mulling something over.

 

“The next information remains secret. Do you know of the attack on the Temple? The one I warned about on the Holocron?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“The attacker used to be Anakin Skywalker,” Obi-Wan said, even sadder now, “the Chancellor and he had a very close relationship. I didn’t notice in time that the Chancellor was the Sith we had been fighting all along, and he corrupted Anakin. He modified his memories and twisted his thinking so he would harbor resentment towards the Order by making him believe his relationship with his wife would be frowned upon. He turned Anakin’s love for his wife into a fierce attachment. That’s why he taught you that. His memories had already been altered then, and we failed to notice. For that, I am deeply sorry, Caleb.”

 

Kanan took that in. All these years he thought he was doing something wrong. He thought he wasn’t worthy of calling himself a Jedi. He had looked up to Skywalker, such a bright supernova in the Force, and had found himself lacking only to discover he’d been wrong this whole time.

 

A light chuckle escaped his lips in shock.

 

“I thought I wasn’t worthy of being a Jedi for so long…”

 

“I hope this dissuades those thoughts, Caleb. Love is pure and bright in the Force. It will make you stronger. And don’t you dare say you aren’t worthy of your Padawan. I saw your bond, it is strong, Caleb. He’s found his master and you your padawan.”

 

“Thank you, Master. I apologize for doubting you, there are too many new things at once.”

 

“No need to apologize, Caleb. I will be by your side in this, even if it takes time. Healing isn’t linear, remember.”

 

“No joke, I thought I’d left anything to do with Order 66 behind… Sorry for doubting Cody too. I… may have taken your lightsaber from him when we met.”

 

Obi-Wan laughed and the tension dissipated.

 

“I can see how the man who supposedly killed me carrying my lightsaber might’ve been suspicious. At least it solidifies the lie if he were to be caught.”

 

“I guess so,” Kanan chuckled.

 

“Alright, I think you deserve some rest. Let’s get you back to your crew.”

Notes:

Thank you so so so much for all the comments and love! It inspires me to write more!

Chapter 8

Summary:

Cody has a surprise for Rex

“I’m actually surprised Kenobi didn’t make you co-general.”

 

Cody laughed, “Well, he did try! It was me who wouldn’t let him. We work well as General and Commander. But mostly, I just didn’t want the extra paperwork.”

 

“Liar,” Rex rolled his eyes, “I know you both do each other’s paperwork, pretty sure it’s your own little kriffed-up love language. It was the alliteration, wasn’t it?”

 

“I will not deign that with an answer,” Cody said, turning another corner.

 

They had left the Specters in their rooms in the same pyramid they’d had their meeting and were now heading to the next one over.

 

As they rounded the corner, the ceiling opened up into a beautiful canopy of trees sheltering from potential eyes in the sky. Several people were walking around, moving crates, enjoying the early morning air. Droids beeped cheerily as they rolled past them.

 

“So… where are you taking me?” Rex asked distractedly, “if this is a tour of the place, I’m sure the Specters would’ve appreciated coming with.”

 

“I have a surprise for you, just be patient Vodi’ka”

 

The next pyramid was similar to the first one. It was kind of humid, and cool air wafted through the old hallways, but it was loud. Where the first one made you feel like you had to whisper, this one felt vibrant and alive. Echoes of lively conversation and laughter reached them as they walked further in. The walls, Rex noticed, had started out blank but they were starting to fill up with names and numbers in different colors.

 

Comet, Mixx, Rain, Droidbait, Tracker, CT-2901, Wilco…

 

“Cody…”

 

“These are our halls, Rex,” Cody smiled, “Every trooper ever fallen is written on these walls”

 

Rex looked up at the ceiling and more names stared back at him.

 

Clanker, Appo, Tup, Dogma, Liob

 

Rex barked a laugh, “No way. Liob made it to the ceiling?”

 

“Believe me, the vote was unanimous. There’s even a holiday for him,” Cody rolled his eyes.

 

Rex chuckled, then a thought occurred to him.

 

“Am I here? Wolffe? Greggor?” He asked quietly. He’d told Cody about Wolffe and Greggor on their way here and they were planning on comming them once they were settled.

 

“No. Any trooper who is marked as MIA or has just disappeared off our radar is waited for. We keep our hope for those who are missing, wait for them until they come home,” Cody looked over with a fond smile and put an arm around Rex’s shoulders.

 

“Hm,” Rex smiled, “Thank you for waiting.”

 

They kept walking until they came to a door. Rex could hear muffled conversation inside, but even though he couldn’t make out anything, he held his breath.

 

“Welcome home, Rex’ika,” said Cody and opened the door.

 

Three almost identical heads turned immediately to him, and chaos exploded.

 

“REX?!” a blur of yellow pajamas hit him in the chest, almost making him stumble backwards.

 

“REX’IKA!” Another impact hit him, but this time he wasn’t quick enough to avoid crashing onto the floor.

 

He looked up to see an older version of Bly and Ponds, both in their pajamas.

 

Bly was still bald as always, not even a bit of a beard to be seen, but his face was older, warmer somehow. His tattoos wrinkled as he smiled and his eyes shone as they always did.

 

Ponds, on the other side, had let his hair grow slightly, but still no beard. He had a blaster scar on the side of his head, where his hair wouldn’t grow.

 

“Ponds….?” Rex whispered, “You died! You were executed, Skywalker saw the footage! I saw the footage!

 

“Nah vod, I’m fine. It’s a long story, but I’m here. Now, you! You, I thought I’d see sooner!”

 

Rex laughed wetly, “Long story, vod.”

 

“If you’re all done hogging the kid, I’d like to say hi,” grumbled a gruff voice from above them.

 

Rex looked up to see the imposing figure of his oldest vod. Fox had changed. His hair was white and gray, full beard, the bags under his eyes noticeable but nowhere near what they were during the war. He was also fuller than before, healthier even though he looked older than all the others. His frown, however, had never changed.

 

“Fox…” Rex took his brother’s offered hand and got pulled up into his arms.

 

Rex felt a spark of pride and nostalgia in his chest. After all these years, Fox still had space for him. He never let anyone near him, hugging him was a sure way to get your ass kicked, but when Rex was adopted into their Batch, he became the exception.

 

“It’s good to have you back, vod’ika.” He said as he pulled him into a keldabe, “I knew you couldn’t’ve died,” then cracked his head against his.

 

“Kind as always, vod.” Rex rubbed at his forehead, “I’m sure Wolffe will appreciate that too once he gets here.”

 

That had the effect Rex expected, his brothers jumped up from the floor with a hundred rapid questions, shaking his shoulders and whooping in joy.

 

“Command batch managed to survive the war!” exclaimed Bly, “I can’t believe we’re all alive!”

 

“A bantha up your ass, Palps! Suck it!” laughed Ponds.

 

“I know of some senators who might actually be into that, Ponds,” muttered Fox with a grim face, but Rex had long known how to read him. The man was enjoying the banter.

 

“There are some things that should be kept in your head, Fox,” Bly groaned.

 

“I’m contacting Wolffe and Gregor soon, but Rex tells me he’s grown suspicious of everything, so we might be looking at a little family bonding time to kidnap him,” said Cody.

 

“I’d like that,” Fox smiled maliciously.

 

After some more hugging an bickering, Fox brought some caf for Rex and Cody and they all sat around in cozy sofas.

 

“Get comfortable, Rex. This is your new home,” smiled Cody.

 

The apartment was spacious compared to the barracks on the venators and Kamino. There were trinkets and helmets on the little niches on the wall, some of which Rex recognized from his youth. A little kitchenette stood to the side and a hallway led to what seemed to be some rooms.

 

“Fox and I live here, but Bly sleeps over sometimes too,” Ponds explained around a bite of toast.

 

“You can take my room, Rex’ika. I’ll sleep on the couch whenever I come back. There’s an empty room Wolffe can use,” chirped Bly from where he was trying to push Cody off the sofa.

 

“It’s not empty,” deadpanned Fox.

 

“It will be when he gets here. Find another place for your weapons, vod,” Cody said through gritted teeth as he fought Bly, earning himself a middle finger from Fox.

 

“Where do you normally sleep, Bly?” Rex asked, but the rest of his brothers groaned in protest.

 

Bly’s struggle for the sofa ceased immediately and he stood up like a spring, smiling like a maniac.

 

“With my wife!” he exclaimed.

 

“Aaaand that was….. 16.3 minutes. Pay up, folks.” Said Ponds smugly.

 

“Kriff,” Fox muttered but stood up to give Ponds some credits.

 

“I never agreed to this, I’m not paying,” Cody crossed his arms.

 

“I married General Secura once we reunited here in Yavin! Rex, she’s soooo-”

 

“Shut the kriff up,” said Fox as he took a big swig of his coffee.

 

“Lovely?” Ponds batted his eyes at him in mockery.

 

“Beautiful?” Cody rolled his eyes.

 

“Strong?” Rex grinned, feeling mischievous. He’d heard this speech more than enough times already.

 

“…You are no fun” Bly sat down and pouted like a cadet, “Why do you never do that to Cody? He’s married too. Ha kids and everything.”

 

“Cody spared us the gushy talk for ages, Bly. He at least chooses different topics regarding Kenobi and Luke. Your gushing is just the same shit as always,” said Fox.

 

“Even Rex remembers how it went and he hasn’t seen you since the war,” Ponds kicked his leg.

 

“I think you guys are playing favorites. This is all cause you’re the Commander, Cody. They’re just bootlickers, unlike me, your favorite brother.”

 

Cody flipped him off silently while sipping his coffee.

 

“Anyway, since I’m your favorite, can I add to the requisition list a rabid wolf to put into Wolffe’s room as a home-warming gift?”

 

Fox sprung up way too fast at that, interest clear in his eyes, “I think you owe it to Bly for bullying him so much, a wolf is an excellent pet”

 

“No,” Cody pinched the bridge of his nose.

 

“Howzer can have Grizzer, why can’t we have a wolf?” Ponds pouted, “we’ll train him and everything!”

 

“For Force’s sake….”

 

Rex couldn’t stop beaming if he wanted to. He had missed them terribly.

 

Notes:

Mando'a
Kriff: fuck
Vod: brother, sister, sibling
Vod'ika: little brother, sister, sibling

Liob is not my character, it belongs to the brilliant Killbothtwins.
I highly, highly recommend reading their fic in order to understand why Rex found it so amusing: The Legend Of Liob

Chapter 9

Summary:

Codywan chapter let's goooooo

After it was clear Rex was in dire need of rest and processing, Cody headed to his apartment.

 

It wasn’t far from his batchmate’s place. After they built the base, they noticed that the Jedi who fought in the war much preferred the lively clone pyramids to those put aside for the Jedi. It put them at ease.

 

Obi-Wan certainly wasn’t the exception. He enjoyed peace tremendously, but he had repeatedly mentioned how vivid the Force was when he resided among the clones and how he felt comfort in their signatures. Cody, of course, wasn’t going to object either. He loved being near so many of his brothers after so much time spent between the ranks of mindless soldiers and then the sands of Tatooine. Besides, the children loved it.

 

He climbed the stairs to one of the Jedi floors which was just a bit quieter than the lower levels and found the door with the three smaller handprints and the two big ones and opened it.

 

“Nu-uh” piped Luke.

 

“Yea-uh” retorted Leia.

 

“NU-UH” Luke stuck out his tongue.

 

“Hello dear,” said Obi-Wan from the kitchen, “You’ve come just in time for the galaxy-class debate on whether or not an Eopie could swim”

 

Cody walked over to his husband and kissed him again, except now he took his time.

 

“EW!! Stop that!” Leia exclaimed and Luke dissolved into giggles behind her.

 

“Oh, so you don’t like kisses?” Cody said slyly, “Obi-Wan, our children don’t like kisses.”

 

“Appalling!” Obi-Wan feigned shock, “However will we cure them of this ailment?”

 

Luke and Leia, knowing what was coming, squealed in joy and started backing up slowly.

“I heard…” Cody whispered conspiratorially, “It can only be cured by a kiss attack!”

 

Both parents launched themselves at their children, grabbing them and tickling them while giving them loud kisses all over their faces.

 

“Cody! Do you think they’re cured, yet?” Obi-Wan asked while holding a giggling Leia upside down.

 

“Let me see!” Cody threw Luke onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and walked over to Obi-Wan to kiss him again.

 

“YUCK!!!!” yelled both children.

 

“They’re not!!!” Cody exclaimed dramatically.

 

“Maybe we’re curing the wrong child, switch! Quickly!”

 

They exchanged laughing children by their legs and continued to tickle them.

 

“Stop!” Luke gasped between laughs, “I’m cured! We’re cured!”

 

The four of them collapsed onto one of the couches gasping for air and trying to stop their giggling for a while.

 

Once they calmed down again, Leia sprung up and gasped.

 

“Luke! My parents sent you a present! I forgot!” she bolted to their room and opened her suitcase loudly, rummaging through.

 

Cody cupped Luke’s cheek and pressed a kiss to his hair.

 

“How was your training with Dad yesterday?”

 

“Good!! We went to the woods with blindfolds on! I could hear EVERYTHING, Buir!”

 

“Tell him about the holo-film,” Obi-Wan prodded gently.

 

“Oh! Yeah! The vode had a holo-film night for the younglings! We ate popcorn. The holo was cool, but I fell asleep, so I don’t know how it ended.”

 

Leia came back with a wrapped present in hand, “Here, Luke! Open it!”

 

Luke took the present and unwrapped it mercilessly, shredding the paper with excitement.

 

“No way!! Dad, Buir, look!” Luke held up a miniature but detailed version of a Venator-class starship, complete with cannons and an observation deck, “It’s The Negotiator!”

 

Leia jumped in place, “I knew you’d like it! I have one just like it in my room at home!”

 

“Thank you, Leia!” Luke stood to hug his sister.

 

“It’s beautiful Luke. Now, how about some lunch?” Obi-Wan stood up and ruffled both their heads before heading over to the kitchen again.

 

They ate for a bit, chatting about their days and the people they had met.

 

“Oh! Luke! Rex is my ba’vodu now!” Leia stood on her stool footrest in excitement.

 

Luke’s eyes went huge and Obi-Wan and Cody shared a panicked glance. They hadn’t had the chance to introduce Rex to Luke yet.

 

“You met Rex?” he asked, incredulous.

 

“Yep! He and the new crew picked me up! He said he’d be my ba’vodu,” Leia sat back down, satisfied.

 

Luke looked over at his parents, “Rex is here?”

 

“Yes, Ad'ika,” Obi-Wan started calmly, “He came in this morning with your Buir but he was so tired he had to rest before saying hi.”

 

“We can go see him tomorrow if you’d like,” Cody added. He knew he needed to pace himself with Rex. He wasn’t sure if he knew what came to be of his General, and once he met Luke, it was likely he noticed a resemblance. His brother had had too many surprises in a day.

 

“Oh… okay. I’d like that,” Luke said, sounding dejected.

 

They continued their meal in silence for a bit, before Leia piped up again.

 

“Where’s Cal?”

 

Luke brightened up again, proud to have something Leia didn’t know, “He’s in Illum! He’s getting his Kyber crystal!”

 

“That’s SO cool!” Leia yelled, her hands almost toppling her juice, "I want a Kyber crystal too!”

 

“We should get our crystals together!” the boy proposed.

 

“Yeah! We can help each other.”

 

“Cal will probably come back tomorrow afternoon, you can ask him about how it works,” Obi-Wan smiled.

 

….

 

They passed their rare day off together, playing with the twins and catching up. At night, they climbed up to the top of the pyramid with some pillows and blankets to watch the stars.

 

“Which one do you think Cal is in?” asked Luke softly. He’d been missing him quite a bit. The journey to Illum and back took about five days and he was getting impatient, even more when Cody had to leave too.

 

Leia thought for a second, then pointed at the brightest one, “That one! He’s shiny too, so it makes sense”

 

“Can you tell which one is Alderaan?” Obi-Wan asked.

 

“Mmm…” Leia focused really hard, “The blinking one, next to the moon?”

 

“Almost,” Obi-Wan guided her hand, “It’s…. that one.”

 

“Hi auntie, hi uncle!” Luke waved at the star and giggled.

 

The view from the pyramid was splendid. It was tall enough that no tree could cover it, and after lights out, you could see the stars so clearly that you’d think you were in space. They’d started doing this when Leia first started visiting the base and was unable to sleep far from her parents. Seeing Alderaan’s star far away gave her comfort and it’d become a tradition since then.

 

“Can you see the north star?” Cody asked.

 

“Yes! It’s that one!” Luke jumped up to point it out.

 

“That’s right, and what is it for?”

 

“You follow it when you are lost,” he said proudly, settling back down against Cody’s shoulder.

 

“Very good, Luke” Obi-Wan stroked his cheek.

 

They stayed until the twins began yawning and headed to their home. They’d long since learned the importance of getting them ready for bed before heading out to the roof, so they just needed to tuck them in once they got there.

 

They both wished them goodnight and headed to bed themselves.

 

“How was your trip?” Obi-Wan whispered as he cuddled close to Cody.

 

“Very fun,” Cody smiled, “I can’t believe I found him.”

 

Obi-Wan hummed, “I'm very happy you did," he said, "What is it Leia is saying about a fight?”

 

Cody laughed quietly, followed by his husband.

 

“I did always wonder what would happen if you mix a Mandalorian and a Jedi upbringing.”

 

“Feral children, apparently” Obi-Wan snickered.

 

Cody schooled his expression into his Commander face, “…Bly is sending us a requisition form for a wolf to put in Wolffe’s room for when he gets here”

 

Obi-Wan was caught off guard and ended up coughing up a lung while trying to stop laughing, “Do NOT let Master Koon know about that. I won’t hear the end of it until they get a wolf.”

 

Cody chuckled, then turned sober, “...How’s Kanan?”

 

Obi-Wan sighed, then held Cody tighter, “It’s gonna take time, but he understands a little better now.”

 

Cody hummed, he knew that wasn’t all Obi-Wan was holding, but he needed time to form his thoughts.

 

“… Anakin taught his class on attachment.”

 

“Kark… that explains a lot, actually,” Cody sighed heavily, “It’s not your fault, you know,” he said because he knows Obi-Wan and he knows how he carried the guilt.

 

Obi-Wan hums noncommittally, “Part of me knows that. It’s just… we were so blind.”

 

“You out of all people know how the Sith work. If it was easy to detect, we would’ve figured out who Palpatine really was faster.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“Hm, you don’t seem convinced, so I’ll keep on reminding you whenever you need it, Cyare,” Cody pressed a kiss to his husband’s temple.

 

They stayed like this until they started dozing off, the comforting dark taking over and relaxing their minds after a long day. Cody’s mind began swimming sluggishly, nonsense situations slowly seeping in and taking the form of dreams as his breath deepened more and more.

 

“Buir?” a little voice whispered from his side and Cody jumped awake.

 

His brain reeled, quickly taking note of the situation. Luke. It was just Luke. Cody sighed in relief.

 

His son was standing beside his bed in his pajamas, eyes watery and lip trembling.

 

“Buir, can I-” his little voice broke and Cody pulled him into his arms and onto the middle of the bed.

 

“What’s wrong?” Obi-Wan’s concerned voice came from the other side of Luke, who had started to hiccup and sob softly.

 

Cody pulled his son closer and started running soothing circles on his back.

 

“Did you have a nightmare, Luke?”

 

The boy shook his head and clung closer to Cody.

 

“...What if Rex doesn’t like me?” his broken voice whispered from Cody’s chest.

 

Cody shared a look of pity and relief with Obi-Wan.

 

“Why do you think he wouldn’t like you, Luke? You are a very special kid,” soothed Cody.

 

“B-but, Leia said he was-s already her ba’vodu and- and-” he hiccuped, getting more agitated.

 

“Oh, Luke… Rex has a reaaally big heart, did you know?” Cody whispered to him, “he can have more than one bu’vodu. I’m sure he’d love to be your uncle!”

 

“But what if he s-says no?” then another thought occurred to him, “what if- if he doesn’t have space for me or Cal?”

 

“Oh, Luke. You have a beautiful heart,” Obi-Wan hugged him close too, “Of course he’ll love Cal too.”

 

“You don’t kno-ow that! You’re not Rex!” Luke wailed.

 

Cody and Obi-Wan exchanged another look. That was a pretty hard fact to debate.

 

“Well, we’re not far from Rex’s room. Wanna go ask right now?” Cody ventured. Rex had woken him up way too many times when he was a cadet, waking him up just this once seemed only fair.

 

Luke stopped for a second and looked at his Buir with big, hopeful eyes, “Really?”

 

“Really, ad’ika. Come on, put some shoes on and a sweater,” Cody smiled reassuringly.

Notes:

Mando'a
Buir: Mother/Father
Vode: brothers/ sisters/ siblings (the clones call themselves Vode as a whole)
Ba'vodu: aunt/uncle
Ad'ika: little one, son, daughter, of any age
Bu'vodu: niece/nephew

Listen. Does it make sense that Cal is like 14/15? No. Does it matter? Nope!

Chapter 10

Summary:

Rex meets his nephew

Rex’s sleep was fitful. He tossed and turned despite how tired he was, visions of his brothers in danger and the feeling of the chip taking over flashing in his mind’s eye. He could hear Ahsoka screaming as a blaster fired, then going quiet. He could feel the cold of snow crunching under his feet, but when he looked down, it was all gruesome red. Looking back up, he found himself face-to-face with a red lightsaber.

 

He woke up with a start, opening his eyes to a quiet and dark room he couldn’t recognize. He fumbled for his helmet and quickly turned on the flashlight. It was a small room, his armor stacked on top of a desk and a yellow banner hanging from one of the walls.

 

Bly’s banner, he remembered. Yavin. The Rebellion. He was safe.

 

He stood up and stretched, changing his sweat-soaked pajamas for a new pair, and headed into the common room for a glass of water.

 

He was about to head back to bed when he heard a distinct knock on the door. He looked at the clock on the wall. It marked 2:03 am.

 

“Cody?” Rex muttered and opened the door.

 

On the other side stood his brother in sweatpants and a t-shirt, looking tired and apologetic.

 

“Everything ok, vod?” Rex asked, trying to figure out why he was at his door at such an hour. He noticed a small figure hiding behind him.

 

“Yeah, everything’s fine. It’s just that a special someone was very excited to meet you,” Cody smiled sleepily.

 

“Oh?” Rex said softly as he crouched, “Is that you, Luke?”

 

A small face with wide eyes and sandy sleep-tousled hair emerged from behind his brother and stared at Rex with awe.

 

“You know my name?” the kid asked softly.

 

Rex smiled, “Of course, Luke. I’ve heard a lot about you. I was looking forward to meeting you!”

 

Luke smiled a little bigger at that and looked up at his Buir as if to confirm what he was hearing.

 

“I like your PJ’s, Luke. That’s my favorite color,” Rex continued, trying to get Luke further out of his shell.

 

At that, Luke beamed, “That’s my favorite color too! It’s the color of the 501^st! And my dad’s saber!”

 

“It’s a good color, that’s for sure,” Rex stood up, his knees cracking, “do you guys wanna come in?”

 

“You sure? We don’t want to keep you up,” Cody asked apologetically, rubbing at his neck.

 

“Nah, I had a nightmare. I’d much rather have you two as company, come in!”

 

Luke’s courage seemed to grow at his permission, and he waltzed into the apartment and climbed onto one of the sofas to point at a flimsy drawing of what looked to be 6 clone troopers in varying colors.

 

“Rex, look! I made that! It’s your batch!”

 

Rex turned on the overhead lights to see the drawing better and stopped in his tracks. Luke was… familiar. The first time he saw him in the landing bay there were too many things going on to focus on the details, but now that he had time…

 

“That’s beautiful, adiik! I saw it this morning and wondered who made that masterpiece.”

 

Luke beamed and sat on the couch, satisfied with Rex’s answer. Cody, smiling like a fool, walked over and sat with him.

 

“You know, ad. Soon you’ll get to see your painting in real life! We found Wolffe too and he’s also coming to the base.”

 

“Really??” Luke gawked.

 

Rex watched this exchange from where he was standing in the middle of the room, trying to figure out exactly why the kid looked so familiar to him. The sandy hair, the nose, the eyebrows…

 

A picture of a laughing kid with bright eyes, freckles, and blonde hair waving from a speeder came to his mind. Ahsoka had shown him that picture one night when Torrent was helping her make a lineage tree for one of her classes. They’d both cooed and laughed at how cute the boy looked.

 

It couldn’t be…

 

“Why don’t you ask Rex?” Cody suggested, yanking Rex from his thoughts.

 

“Ask me what, adiik?” Rex immediately smiled kindly at Luke. He was a soldier bred by the Kaminoans, if there was anything he was good at, it was compartmentalizing on the spot.

 

“Um- I was wondering if you still had your bucket? I…” he looked at Cody with questioning eyes, who nodded encouragingly, “I’ve always wanted to see your Jaig Eyes.”

 

Rex’s chest glowed with a fondness for the kid, “Of course! Come on, I’ll show you my armor.”

 

He offered a hand to Luke, who took it eagerly and led him to his room, followed by Cody.

 

“It’s a little messy in here, Bly still has to get some of his things out,” Rex said sheepishly, but Luke only looked around with interest until he spotted Rex’s helmet on his bedside table.

 

“I’m claiming Ori’vod rights,” Cody announced as he promptly plopped himself down on Rex’s bed.

 

Luke walked closer to the helmet with great reverence for a ten-year-old, still holding onto Rex’s hand.

 

“Do you want to put it on, kid?” Rex beamed.

 

Luke whipped around to gawk at him, opening and closing his mouth like a fish.

 

“Really? Can I?”

 

Rex crouched again and gave the boy a reassuring smile. God, he loved this kid.

 

“Of course, bu’vodu! We’re family!”

 

Luke’s expression cracked open. His eyes shone bright and his smile threatened to take over his face as he jumped to give Rex a huge hug.

 

Rex gathered him in his arms and stood up to spin him around, hearing a soft sniff from the bed and choosing to ignore it.

 

“Alright,” he said, putting the kid down and placing the helmet on his head, “Let’s see my little trooper.”

 

The helmet was huge on him. Luke had to bring his hands up to hold it so he could actually look through the visor, but he was ecstatic.

 

“Buir!! Look!!” he giggled through the vocoder, and Rex had only seen Cody so openly besotted a couple of times in his life.

 

“It fits you, Luke. You look like a proper trooper in that.”

 

“Wanna try the range finder?” Rex asked.

 

“Yes, please!”

 

Rex chuckled and lowered the finder, earning a squeal of joy from Luke, “You’ve raised quite a polite kid, Cody.”

 

“Thank you, Rex,” Cody said from the bed while holding a holo-cam, smiling like a fool.

 

“Though I think I understand Bly a bit better now, you should definitely be bullied too” Rex raised an amused eyebrow at him.

 

After a bit, Luke gave back the helmet with a thank you followed by a big yawn.

 

“Ready for bed, kiddo?” Asked Cody.

 

“I think so…” he walked over to Rex and gave him a sleepy hug, “thank you, ba’vodu.”

 

“You are welcome, adiik,” Rex hugged him back.

 

“Oh!” Luke exclaimed suddenly, eyes awake again, “I almost forgot!”

 

“What is it, Luke?”

 

“Um, I just wanted to know if…” he looked at Cody for assurance again, who nodded fondly, “if you could be Cal’s uncle too.”

 

Who’s Cal, now?

 

Rex looked over at Cody with a raised eyebrow, to which Cody just shrugged with a fake innocent smile.

 

“He’s my brother,” Luke continued to explain, “but he’s getting his kyber so he’s not here to ask you, but I think he’d really like to call you uncle too.”

 

“Of course, kid! I’d love to meet my nephew once he comes back,” Rex ruffled the boy’s hair.

 

“Thank you!!” He hugged his uncle again and turned to Cody.

 

“I think I’m ready for bed now, Buir.”

 

“To bed it is, then!”

 

...

 

Obi-Wan woke slowly, the Force pulling him out of his dreams, soft but persistent, like an excited kid.

 

As he opened his eyes, he saw his husband crawling back into bed and could feel love pouring out of him like a river in the force.

 

“Cyare? How did it go?” Obi-Wan asked as he opened his arms, into which Cody slotted himself.

 

“It was so cute, Obi-Wan,” Cody whispered fervently and Obi-Wan noticed there were tears clinging to his eyes, “just look at this.”

 

Obi-Wan was met with the scorching glow of Cody’s datapad, blinking so his eyes would adjust.

 

On the datapad Cody scrolled through several images of Luke and Rex. Rex holding Luke’s hand and talking to him, a holovid of Luke’s face as he realized Rex considered him family, Luke attached to Rex like a Felucian koala while Rex spun him around, Luke wearing his uncle’s bucket, a holovid of Luke asking Rex to be Cal’s ba’vodu…

 

“Oh, Cody,” Obi-Wan whispered with fresh tears in his eyes and a grin he couldn’t contain, “He’s so happy. Both of them are…”

 

“We’re so lucky, Obi-Wan…”

 

“I know…” he answered as he brought his head close in a keldabe kiss.

 

“Wait, I’ve got a great picture,” Cody scrolled again and showed Obi-Wan a close-up of Rex’s bug-eyed expression looking directly at the camera, “I managed to get a picture of Rex as he realized we have another kid,” Cody snickered.

 

Obi-Wan snorted and tried to hold in his laughter so as not to wake the kids up, “Oh, I’m never letting him live that down. That’s going on the fridge.”

 

Notes:

Mando'a
Adiik: child aged 3 to 13
Ori'vod: older sibling
Bu'vodu: niece/nephew
Buir: father/mother/parent
Ba'vodu: uncle/aunt
Care: beloved

Chapter 11

Summary:

Briefings and welcomes

“Ok, so… what’s the plan now?” asked Ezra from where he was sprawled on the floor.

 

They were all in Kanan and Hera’s quarters, eating the breakfast that had been delivered to them by a droid. It was early in the morning, way too early to go to the debriefing meeting yet, but they’d gone to sleep so early the night before that they’d all woken up before their alarms.

 

“I don’t know about you guys, but I wanna see the base,” Sabine chewed through a donut.

 

“As much as I want that, I don’t think it’s a good idea to wander around this early without a guide. They might find it suspicious,” said Hera.

 

“I wonder where Rex slept,” yawned Zeb, “I thought he was gonna bunk with us.”

 

“Cody said there were other clones here, perhaps he knows some of them,” said Kanan. The thought of having Clones close and trusting them again still battled with his distrust, but the weight of the issue had become lighter since his conversation with Master Kenobi.

 

“Well, there are Jedi here too, no?” said Ezra, “How come he gets to see them and we have to wait to meet the Jedi?”

 

Everyone looked at Kanan, waiting for an answer. His skin prickled, and his distrust reared its head once again. Ezra did bring up a good point… they hadn’t seen a single Jedi other than Master Kenobi yet.

 

Kanan started panicking again, but a feeling like a blanket settled over his head, inviting him to close his eyes. In the Force, he could feel dozens of lights flickering nearby. There was even a cluster of them, young and old, not far from their quarters.

 

“I’m not sure why that is Ezra, but I can sense many Jedi nearby,” he said as he opened his eyes, “Maybe it wasn’t the right time yesterday.”

 

Ezra didn’t seem convinced, but Hera gave Kanan a proud smile before clapping her hands, “Right! How about a game of Sabbac before our meeting with the General?”

 

---

 

The meeting was going by relatively fast. Obi-wan and Cody already knew much about what the Ghost Crew was up to, thanks to Ahsoka’s work as Fulcrum. He knew about their plans with Lothal and agreed it would be a major move against the Empire to re-take it, but it would need careful planning. He listened and chuckled as Ezra bashfully recounted his encounters with Hondo Ohnaka, his old… “friend”. However, some things still took him by surprise.

 

“Oh yeah, and we found a dead Jedi,” said Ezra.

 

“Ezra, there really are more… tactful ways of putting that,” Hera groaned and looked at Obi-Wan apologetically.

 

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow and motioned them to continue. A dead Jedi, as sad as it was, wasn’t that uncommon these days.

 

“What my padawan means,” said Kanan, and Obi-Wan felt proud of his use of the title, “is that we were lured into a trap. The Empire made us think Master Unduli was alive and held in a high-security Imperial prison.”

 

“We tried to rescue her, but it was just her um-” Ezra hesitated and spoke more softly, “her body. They had her in carbonite, frozen.”

 

“We believe she was already dead when they froze her. She was being used as bait for other Jedi by the Inquisitors,” Finished Kanan.

 

Luminara… as bait.

 

Using carbonite…

 

Obi-wan looked at Cody, his husband’s expression of pain and anger no doubt mirroring his own.

 

“Bait,” whispered Cody, still holding his gaze.

 

“Bait,” Obi-wan repeated feeling empty.

 

There was a long silence as both General and Commander took in the information, the Ghost Crew shuffling awkwardly.

 

“General,” Rex stepped forward, breaking the silence. He’d had enough practice at keeping a debrief going to last him a lifetime, “there is another thing you should know.”

 

Rex looked at Ezra as if willing him to speak, but the kid just looked confused. Rex sighed, resigned that he wasn’t dealing with a shiny trooper.

 

“Maul, sir. He’s alive,” Rex reported, Ezra making a silent “ooh” as he understood what Rex had wanted.

 

Obi-wan stared at Rex, shocked for a moment, then sighed deeply.

 

“That man can’t seem to karking die,” he said tiredly.

 

The Specters all whipped their heads around in surprise, except for Rex. It wasn’t every day you heard a Master Jedi swear.

 

Cody was the picture of a perfectly serious commander, but Obi-wan could feel his amusement at his choice of words mixed with worry. He knew the Sabrak wouldn’t be an issue; it would just cause painful memories to bubble up.

 

“Well, Maul is not an issue to worry about now. As for the carbonite trap… that is most concerning. I will issue a warning.”

 

They made sure there wasn’t anything else that needed addressing, handed out titles and on-base duties, and assigned them a rebel to show them around HQ after the midday meal.

 

“Ezra, Kanan. Come with me, please,” smiled Obi-Wan as he led them out of the meeting room.

 

Ezra gasped excitedly, “Are you taking us to meet the other Jedi?”

 

Obi-Wan smiled, “Yes, Ezra. We’re going to the Jedi pyramid.”

 

They walked out into the open jungle and through more people and droids than they had seen the day before, the base seemed to be in full swing.

 

“As I said yesterday, we had a rough night, all hands on deck. You’ll see a lot more movement today now that our day off is over.”

 

They walked into the Clone pyramid, the names along the walls greeting them and the smell of cookies welcoming them.

 

“Terror is hard at work, I see,” he smiled. Terror was their head cook, the scariest one of them all. Nevertheless, every once in a while, he would cave in and bake something sweet to bring up morale.

 

“These names,” murmured Kanan, unease oozing out of him sluggishly in the Force, as if he was trying to hold it back, “they’re clone names. Deceased?”

 

“That’s right, Caleb,” Obi-Wan looked up, spotting Gree, “they are marching on.”

 

“Why do you have Clone names on the Jedi pyramid?” Asked Ezra.

 

“We are not there yet,” Obi-Wan smiled at him, “Most of the Jedi that fought alongside the clones and survived prefer to live amongst them. We are making a stop here to say hi.”

 

They wound up the stairs and towards the meditation room on one of the Jedi floors. At this hour you were bound to find most of them here, drinking their morning tea between tasks and meetings.

 

Obi-Wan opened the door and stepped to the side, allowing both Knight and Padawan to step inside.

 

Four heads swiveled to look at them.

 

“Thank the Force! I was dying to see who it was!” Master Plo Koon clapped his hands and stood to greet the newcomers, “I am so glad to see you alive, young Caleb.”

 

“I see you have a Padawan now! Welcome, dude!” Vos clapped Ezra hard on his back, “What’s your name?”

 

Ezra gave him a cheeky grin, “Jabba the Hutt”

 

“HA!” Vos barked, “I like him, he’s cool.”

 

“His name is Ezra, Master Vos. Ezra Bridger,” Kanan said with exasperation, but he was beaming both physically and in the Force.

 

“Nice saber, Ezra,” Aalya admired, having stolen the weapon, “I like the blaster integration. I might copy it if you don’t mind, that way my husband will actually be able to use it.”

 

“Force, Aalya. You don’t even know the kid, have some decorum,” Kit said, faking indignity, “Ezra, can I have the design? Don’t let Aalya bully you into giving it to her.”

 

“So uncivilized of you both,” Obi-wan scrunched his nose in distaste.

 

---

 

After they said hi to the Masters living in the Clone pyramid, Obi-Wan and their new companions led them outside into the sunlight once again.

 

This side of the clone pyramid was more polished, as if someone had been diligently tending to the plants outside and carefully planning out a garden. There were a couple of fountains and no war equipment. Over to the left, he could see a closed-off patch of legumes, fruit trees, and vegetables watered by two young Aruzans in Jedi robes. They seemed almost old enough to become padawans.

 

When they came close to the other pyramid, two kids came crashing into Master Kenobi, hugging him tight. Luke and Leia, Kanan figured.

 

“Dad!! Master Ti is taking us to the hangar!” Luke jumped excitedly.

 

Behind them, Kanan saw Master Shaak Ti leading a mismatched group of kids: zabraks, humans, a couple of wookies, a twilek, and a handful of human and near-human kids with weirdly familiar faces.

 

Clone faces

 

“That’s very exciting, Luke!” Obi-wan ruffled his hair.

 

“Is Cal almost here?” Asked Leia, looking at the other Masters.

 

“No, kid. Still no sign of him, I’m afraid.”

 

“Caleb Dume,” Shaak Ti sounded surprised, “Oh, I’m so relieved to see you.”

 

“And you, Master,” it was true. Kanan was happy to see her alive and well, but a sharp pain made its way through his heart and a rock lodged itself in his throat.

 

Master Ti seemed to sense just that and stepped forward to hug him.

 

“She would’ve been proud to see you today, Caleb,” she whispered, “Anything you need, I am here. I know I’m not her and the war made it difficult to see each other often, but we are both here now.”

 

Kanan closed his eyes tightly, trying to keep his tears from falling. A wave of happy memories hit him. On his first evening with his Master, all her friends came over to their apartment to congratulate him, Ti hugging him tightly. Master Ti coming to watch Kanan’s exams while she sat beside his Master. The day Master Ti was sent to Kamino to keep an eye on the troops, the quickly suffused fear and sadness welling from his master as she realized the war might not allow them to see each other again.

 

“Thank you Shaak,” he whispered back and hung on tightly.

 

Shaak untangled herself, “Come on, children.”

 

“Master Ti, I can take them from here if you wish to accompany Caleb,” offered Mater Fisto.

 

“That would be a kindness, Kit. Thank you.”

 

The children cheered and grabbed onto Master Fisto’s robes, pulling him along.

 

“I hope he’s got it handled,” Plo Koon muttered.

 

The group continued their way into the Jedi pyramid and Kanan noticed a difference in the Force. The air was still but not stuffy, the ceilings taller, and the building felt almost alive.

 

“Woah, that feels weird,” said Ezra, then turning to admire the temple guard’s uniform by the door.

 

“It feels like the Temple at Coruscant…” whispered Kanan reverently, “but quieter in the Force.”

 

They kept walking by, but there were few Jedi in view, all of whom were hard at work. They passed what seemed to be a miniature version of the Temple’s archives, another inside garden, and a couple of training rooms where light filtered in from the ceiling, but it just seemed empty.

 

They walked up the stairs together and then came to a stop in front of a big set of beautiful wooden doors marked with the Jedi Order symbol.

 

Obi-Wan turned and smiled kindly at Kanan and Ezra, “Ready?”

 

Before either of them could answer, he turned around and used the Force to open the doors. Inside, there were dozens of Jedi and Padawans, who took their un-ignited sabers and held them high while they sang an ancient song. He half-remembered it from the day he was brought into the creche: it was a song of welcoming.

 

Obi-wan took the lead into the hall and Shaak Ti came to his side and led him with a gentle smile while Ezra was flanked by Plo Koon on the other, Aalya walking in behind them.

As they got to the front of the hall and onto the raised stage, their companions stepped forward and stood in front of each chair. One was left unoccupied, Kanan assumed it must be Master Fisto's.

 

The song died down and Master Kenobi spoke with a smile.

 

“Jedi Knight Caleb Dume and Padawan Ezra Bridger, today we rejoice with you, for you have found your way back to The Jedi Order. You honor the Force, and it rejoices with you. Welcome home.”

 

At this, the entire hall, including the council members, bowed deeply and the song began once again.

 

Two Padawans came forth from the sides and handed Kanan and Ezra their respective Jedi robes. Kanan’s eyes were misty again, and he bowed back in gratitude, followed a second later by Ezra.

 

He never thought he’d get to use a Jedi’s uniform again.

 

Notes:

Mando'a:
Kark: fuck

 

In my mind, Deppa and Shaak Ti were best friends and she became like an aunt to Kanan.

Chapter 12

Summary:

Realizations

Rex pulled Cody aside after the meeting as the rest of the Specters headed out for mid-day meal. His realization with Luke and the overall deal with the siblings and the Organas had him wide awake the entire night after they’d left.

 

“Cody, what aren’t you telling me? What’s going on with Luke and Leia?”

 

Cody sighed, but Rex could tell he knew this question was coming.

 

“Come on, let’s go somewhere more private.”

 

They walked into the Clone pyramid and up the stairs to Cody and Obi-Wan’s apartment and Rex clocked the three little handprints on the door.

 

“You two have been busy,” he snorted, “is that Cal’s?”

 

Cody smiled and touched the bigger of the three handprints as he opened the door, “Yeah, that’s our oldest. All Jedi too, you can imagine the trouble they can get into.”

 

“Can’t be worse than the Domino Twins, though. Can they?”

 

Cody chuckled, “No, they can’t beat them.”

 

His brother motioned for him to sit at the bar in the kitchen while he worked on making mid-day meal.

 

“Listen, Rex. There’s no easy way of saying this, and I think you already have your suspicions, so I’ll be blunt,” Cody stopped what he was doing to face him, “Luke and Leia are Skywalker’s kids.”

 

Rex blanched. It was one thing to have your suspicions and entirely another to have them confirmed with no room for doubt.

 

“But- Senator Amidala- I took Ahsoka to her funeral, there was never talk of any babies. Skywalker-”

 

“I know,” Cody stopped him, “Let me explain.”

 

Rex nodded silently.

 

“Okay. Rex, it turns out Jedi were allowed to have romantic partners.”

 

“But Skywalker-” Rex frowned

 

“Said otherwise, I know. That’s why you had to cover for them. Believe me, I know.” Cody gave him a knowing look as Rex opened his mouth to deny everything, mainly out of habit. He quickly closed it again.

 

“The Sith was manipulating him and Senator Amidala; he fueled Skywalker’s anger and distrust so that he would resent the Jedi Order. The easiest way was to make him think they wouldn’t accept his relationship,” Cody continued.

 

“But why didn’t he tell me, Cody? I’m no Jedi!” Rex felt hurt. He fought alongside his General for so long that he thought the man would trust him with something like that.

 

“The Sith work in strange ways, Rex. Don’t take it personally.”

 

“Wait, but-” Rex’s stomach dropped. A horrifying idea had started forming in his brain, “No. Cody- he wouldn’t.”

 

His brother watched him with pity in his eyes, which surprised him. Cody never showed his soldiers pity, he knew how terrible it felt.

 

“Rex, please let me finish,” he tried to soothe him. It wasn’t working, but Rex nodded minutely.

 

Cody sighed, “When Order 66 was issued, Skywalker turned to the Dark Side. He-” Cody hesitated and then pulled himself into the picture of a perfect Commander, voice turning to the one he always uses in debriefs, “Skywalker stormed the Temple at Coruscant along with the 501^st and massacred every Jedi, padawan, and youngling he could find.”

 

“No…” Rex’s cheeks were wet.

 

“Darth Sidius sent Skywalker, now Darth Vader, to kill the Separatist leaders on Mustafar. The Senator, General Yoda, and Obi-Wan went after him. She tried to confront him, but he was blinded by rage. He…” Cody closed his eyes, “He hurt her, Rex. Obi-Wan tried to protect her, to fight, but it was too late. She was badly injured but managed to survive long enough to give birth and name Luke and Leia.”

 

Rex was sobbing at this point, holding his head. He couldn’t believe his General had done that, that he hadn’t seen the signs, the manipulation.

 

“General Yoda killed Vader on Mustafar, then disappeared. We haven’t heard from him since. Organa and Obi-Wan vowed to care for the children. Darth Sidius knew of the existence of the twins, but as far as we know, he does not know they survived. If he did, he’d hunt them down. His chosen one is gone, but his children would be of great interest to him. They are both bright in the Force, so we had to separate them. They can’t be together for more than a few weeks, or they’ll attract attention.”

 

Rex tried to get a hold of himself but couldn’t. He cried until he felt exhausted, Cody coming to hug him like he did when they were both cadets.

 

“I’m sorry, Rex’ika. I’m so sorry.”

 

“Does Ahsoka know?” he whispered.

 

“Yes, vod’ika. She knows.”

 

“And the kids?” He didn’t know what was worse, that they knew or that they would eventually find out.

 

“They know who their parents were, but not of his fall. Skywalker died in the war and Amidala during childbirth. Only a handful of people know.”

 

“Kark… I’m sorry, Cody. I should’ve seen it coming. I should’ve alerted-”

 

“None of that bantha-shit Rex,” Cody’s voice turned Commander again, “that was not your fault nor your responsibility. No one saw it coming. Don’t you dare start acting like Obi-Wan.”

 

Rex chuckled brokenly, “Wouldn’t dream of it, Codes.”

 

Once Rex had recovered a bit, Cody kept cooking, and they went on to talk about less painful things.

 

“So… have you said the Gai Bal Manda?” Rex asked with a small smile.

 

“We both have, for the three of them,” Cody grinned. Rex had never seen Cody like this, he looked so joyful and proud.

 

So, not Skywalker’s children anymore.

 

“I’m happy for you, Codes. I’m happy for the kids and The General, too.”

 

“Thank you, Rex.”

 

Cody finished plating the food and placed one bowl of delicious-smelling soup in front of him, then sat down to eat.

 

“Kenobi and the kids, they’re not eating with us?” Rex said as he tried the soup, it was delicious.

 

“No, the kids almost always have mid-meal with the creche and Obi-Wan is eating with the Jedi. They are welcoming Ezra and Kanan back into the Order.”

 

Rex hummed, “And Cal?”

 

Cody laughed, “I knew you wouldn’t resist asking about him, too.”

 

“Well, I keep hearing about him, I was bound to ask,” he chuckled, “I did hear he has red hair…” he put on an innocent face.

 

Cody shoved at him, rolling his eyes, “He’s a survivor of Order 66, we took him in as our own. He just began his padawanship with Ahsoka,” Cody explained.

 

Rex brightened at this, “Ahsoka has a padawan?” He barked a laugh, “I bet they’re trouble!”

 

Cody snorted, “At least Cal is a bit level-headed.”

 

---

 

The Specters were halfway through the tour of HQ when Kanan and Ezra re-joined them, both dressed in their new robes.

 

“Looking spiffy, Kanan!” whistled Zeb.

 

“What about me?” demanded Ezra.

 

“You look like a nerd,” Sabine smiled and crossed her arms, “almost confused you for someone who can actually read.”

 

“Oi!”

 

“You both look fantastic! The robes suit you,” beamed Hera.

 

“Ah, so you are Kanan and Ezra,” said their Twi’lek guide, “Nice to meet you, I’m Numa.”

 

“Hey, Numa. Sorry we missed part of your tour,” Kanan said.

 

“No need to apologize, we are headed to the hangar now.”

 

The base was huge. There were several different pyramids full of rebels and trails leading into the jungle. Sentinels stood watch at the edges of the base, and the training areas were full. Kanan noticed several clones leading sparring and shooting practice and Jedi practicing Katas beside them.

 

As they came into the hangars, he spotted Master Fisto and the creche children surrounding an X-Wing. The kids were begging him for a chance to sit at the cockpit and he seemed to be losing the fight.

 

“Oh, this is paradise,” gawked Hera. She had a wistful smile, and her eyes darted between each fighter jet. Kanan couldn’t stop himself from smiling and taking her hand.

 

Hera turned to him in surprise; then, her expression turned soft.

 

“The paint job on these is so boring,” Sabine scrunched up her nose, no doubt already sketching new designs in her mind.

 

“You know how to paint?” Numa asked.

 

“Oh, she’s an artist,” Zeb nodded vigorously.

 

Numa looked excited, “Could you paint my helmet? I’ve asked the clones, but they act all weird when I do.”

 

A snort came from behind them, “That makes sense. Painting someone else’s armor means you are in a very committed relationship with said person,” Rex said.

 

Numa turned a deeper shade of blue, “Oh, that’s so embarrassing. Thank you for letting me know…”

 

“Rex,” he smiled.

 

A look of recognition settled on her face, “Numa. Pleased to meet you, sir.”

 

“Numa! You are Waxer and Boil’s protégée!” Rex exclaimed and put his hands on his hips.

 

“That’s right, Captain. I’m alive thanks to them. It’s good to have them back.”

 

“You ok, Rex? You seem tired” Sabine asked.

 

“I’m fine. Just… a lot of information to take in,” he gave her a small smile, “thanks for checking in.”

 

They kept walking around the hangar for a while, getting familiar with each style of fighter the Rebellion had to offer and finding the space the Ghost had been assigned to. The place was huge. The ships were so vastly different from each other that it was clear they were working with whatever they could get their hands on.

 

Kanan jumped as an alarm went off, hand going to his saber, but no one seemed to rush or move to get their weapons. On the other side of the hangar, Kanan could see Luke and Leia running towards the tarmac and a couple of engineers following them.

 

“Ah, I think Master Tano is back,” said Numa.

 

“Can we go greet her?” Rex asked.

 

“Of course! Right this way,” Numa led them outside, where a T-6 Jedi shuttle was landing. Not far away from them stood Master Kenobi and Cody holding Luke and Leia’s hands. The kids looked ready to run towards the ship at any moment.

 

The ship landed, the ramp lowered, and three figures walked out: a tall Jedi in white robes, a humanoid droid, and a smaller figure in a padawan uniform.

 

The padawan, Kanan saw, had freckles all over his face, coppery hair, and wore his braid proudly. He seemed to be around 14 but a little short for his age.

 

“CAL!!!” Yelled the twins as they launched themselves toward the kid.

 

Cal beamed and opened his arms to receive them, only to be tackled to the ground in a giggling heap.

 

Wait- Cal…

 

Cal Kestis? But- he’s too young to be Cal Kestis.

 

“Did you get your kyber?! Can I see!?” jumped Leia.

 

Cal stood up and held out a brand new lightsaber, then ignited it in a flash of bright orange light.

 

The twins squealed in joy and Luke whirled around to take his buir’s hand, “IT’S ORANGE BUIR! ITS ORANGE!”

 

The Commander seemed to be out of words, but his eyes became misty. Master Kenobi looked absolutely besotted at his family and stepped forward to hug Cal, who had extinguished his saber.

 

“Congratulations, Cal. It’s a beautiful saber you’ve gotten. Very rare Kyber as well,” Obi-Wan said.

 

“Thanks, Dad!” the kid beamed and hugged his father tightly.

 

Dad...

 

Cody stepped forward and hugged them both, “I’m so proud of you, Cal. I love you,” he said wetly.

 

Cal laughed and hung onto Cody tightly, “Don’t cry, buir. Every Jedi has to get a kyber!”

 

“I think the color caught your buir off-guard, adika,” Obi-Wan stroked his padawan braid fondly.

 

“He was in there for a while,” Ahsoka stepped towards them, smiling and placing a hand on his padawan’s shoulder, “took a lot of effort, didn’t it Cal?”

 

The kid nodded, his mind wandering elsewhere while the twins bombarded him with questions.

 

Ahsoka looked around and spotted their little group, her smile widening as she saw Rex.

 

Rex walked over with open arms and spun her around as he had done the first time they saw each other again, “Look at you, vod’ika. You’ve got a padawan and everything,” he said, voice still a little nostalgic as he looked at her and Cal.

 

Luke gasped and pulled Cal towards Rex, “Cal!! This is Rex, he’s my ba’vodu and Leia’s too but he said he’ll be your ba’vodu too! It’s ok, I already asked him and he said yes,” he rambled with big earnest eyes.

 

Cal looked from Luke to Rex with wide eyes, scanning his armor and blasters before meeting his eyes as if to confirm it was him.

 

“Hey, kid! That’s a nice saber you got there. You know, I think you are as old as when I first met your master. You’ll make a great Jedi with her tutelage, Cal.”

 

Cal smiled at him shyly, “Thank you, um, sir.”

 

“Hey, no need for titles,” he said softly, “we’re family, verd-ika.”

 

“Is it ok if I hug you?” Cal asked.

 

Rex opened his arms and Cal let himself fall into them happily, giving Kanan a chance to see his face more clearly.

 

That was definitely Cal Kestis ...

 

Notes:

Mando'a:

Vod-ika: little sibling
Kark: fuck
Gai Bal Manda: traditional Mandalorian adoption vow and ritual. "I know your name as my child"—followed by the name of the individual to be adopted.

Does Cody cry too much? Absolutely not. This man adopted his children and it changed his brain chemistry

Chapter 13

Summary:

Mando'a:

Vodka: little sibling
Buir: parent
Ad'ika: little one, son, daughter, of any age

Cal noticed the group further away on the Tarmac as he hugged Rex. He’d been working on it, but letting his guard down completely around new people just didn’t come naturally to him anymore; even if it was one of his childhood heroes.

 

“You’ve got your dad’s hair,” Rex laughed as they pulled apart, “you sure you’re adopted?”

 

Cal faked shock at that, lots of people commented on that around the base and he enjoyed messing with them, “I’m not adopted…” he put on a more distressed face, “what do you mean?”

 

Rex sent a panicked look at Cody and Obi-Wan, who just shook their heads, mirth in their faces.

 

“Stop lying, Cal. You’re scaring Rex,” Luke whined, worried for his favorite uncle, but Leia was clearly enjoying this.

 

Rex’s wide eyes turned to Cal again, who was grinning, satisfied with himself. He then looked at Ahsoka, “You’re a bad influence on him, ‘Soka.”

 

“It wasn’t easy,” she crossed her arms and smirked, “but I do my best.”

 

Cal tuned out of their conversation again, happy to let them take the lead on the conversation while he tuned into his surroundings.

 

The forest behind him felt as rich as always, it was a welcome warmth and freshness after some time in the vacuum of space and the frigid air of Illum. The base was full of life as well, it felt calm and well-rested. Nothing big had happened while they were away, it seemed. Then, the group standing together caught his attention again. New signatures, new recruits, except- he snapped his head towards the man with the beard. That signature… he hasn’t sensed it since months before Order 66…

 

“Caleb?”

 

The conversation died immediately, everyone’s eyes suddenly upon him or Caleb.

 

Cal remembered Caleb in bits and pieces from before the war. They had both been in the creche at the same time for a while before Caleb was chosen by Master Billaba. He had been a handful of years older, but he had played with Cal and his creche-mates plenty of times. The gap had never been big enough for there to be a significant difference, but now... Now Caleb was standing before him, all grown up and old. He looked close to Ahsoka’s age now.

 

Cal felt lightheaded. A figure by Caleb’s side shifted, a strong force presence suffused by confusion, and he noticed a braid falling over one of his shoulders. A padawan. Caleb even had a padawan now.

 

“Cal…” a soft voice came from his side, but his ears were stuffed with cotton, acid crept up his throat.

 

“Cal, breathe with me,” another voice, a touch on his shoulder. He couldn’t breathe.

 

He saw the man Caleb Dume had grown into walking towards him with concern in his eyes.

 

“Cal? Are you ok?” He asked. Cal couldn’t move.

 

“Alright, Cal. We’re going into a light sleep, ok?” his dad soothed. They’d done this many times before, and Cal trusted his judgment.

 

A soft touch on his forehead plunged him into darkness and he finally felt his lungs expand again.

 

---

 

Cal wakes up slowly to small hands running through his hair. As he opened his eyes, he noticed they were Leia’s, who smiled down at him.

 

“Hi Cal,” she whispered, which he was grateful for. Everything was too loud, too bright; though the only source of light was a thin sunbeam sneaking though the drawn drapes.

 

Someone warm was pressed against his side and he looked down, unwilling to try his luck with the Force right now. Luke was dozing against him, his arm thrown over him. The touch of both his siblings grounded him in the physical world.

 

After a few minutes of finding his footing in the Force, he sat up slowly. His Master was sitting in a chair at the foot of his bed, and his dad was meditating on his mat.

 

“Good afternoon, sleeping beauty,” Ahsoka smiled, “how are you feeling?”

 

“Like I was hit by a train,” he whispered back and smiled ruefully, “it’s been a while since I’ve frozen twice in the same day.”

 

His dad stood up from the mat and walked over to kiss his hair, “Welcome back, Cal. I’m gonna tell your buir you’re awake. He’s been toiling away in the kitchen trying to find a way to make himself useful.”

 

Warmth filled Cal’s empty stomach; he’d always woken up extra hungry after being frozen.

 

“Can you make me some tea as well? Yours is better,” then hastily added, “Don’t tell buir.”

 

“Of course, adika,” his dad grinned walked out his door.

 

“You froze on Illum too?” asked Luke who was groggily lounging now, having been woken up by Cal’s movement.

 

“Yeah, but I managed to snap out on my own,” Cal laid down again.

 

“You’re getting stronger, Cal. I’m very proud of how far you’ve come,” said Ahsoka.

 

Cal stayed silent for a bit, thinking about that. He was getting better, but it had taken years of practice and here he was, freezing twice in a day again. It felt like a step backwards.

 

“But what if I freeze mid-battle, Master? I can’t control-” his throat closed, “I don’t want- I don’t want people to get hurt because of me.”

 

Ahsoka moved to sit beside him on the bed, gently pushing Luke over to get some space but he ended up crawling onto her lap instead, “Cal, you had a bad day. You are in no way a liability and I do not expect you to fight at such a young age.”

 

“But you-“

 

“I was forced to be a child soldier out of necessity, Cal. That’s not a good thing. I will not see you go through the same thing your parents and I had to go through, not while I can help it.”

 

Luke and Leia were staring at Ahsoka in silence. They knew her late Master was their father, and they’d heard her war stories, of how hard her training was.

 

“But how will I be prepared, Master?” Caleb swiped harshly at his eyes, “Everyone on the base has either fought before, is fighting now, or both. I’m just sitting around, freezing every once in a while because I can’t even control the Force within me.”

 

“Cal,” she said with infinite patience as she absentmindedly petted Luke’s hair, “People fight because they must. The Jedi have made a conscious decision to keep our younglings and padawans off the frontlines while we can, and the rest of the base agrees. Even then, you know how rare it is for Jedi to go on missions nowadays, even the Masters. We can’t risk any more losses right now, Cal,” she smiles a bit and pokes his arm, “besides, you are insulting all my hard work by saying you’re just sitting around unprepared. If your training is so easy…”

 

Cal huffed a laugh, “No, I’m sorry Master. My training is hard enough. Though… I kind of do want to try to go against Rex, if that’s ok.”

 

Ahsoka smiled down at him and nodded. Ever since she told him the story of her training with Rex’s men, Cal has dreamed of training with him as well. He’s trained with his buire enough that he feels like he might have a chance against him.

 

The door to his room opened and the smell of fresh stew and roasted vegetables and tea filled the room. His parents walked in and his buir set the tray in front of him.

 

“Made your favorite, kid. Eat up,” he ruffled his hair. He made a concerned face as he realized Cal had been crying but just wiped a stray tear away and smiled reassuringly.

 

“If Cal can train against Rex, can we do that too?” Leia jumped out of the bed, almost spilling the contents of Cal’s tray.

 

“When you’re older, ad’ika,” Obi-Wan said, inviting her to sit with him on the mat.

 

Cal tried the stew. Just how he liked it, “Thanks, buir.”

Chapter 14

Summary:

A new mission

To say that Kanan was confused was an understatement. The man was outright shocked, struck dumb, out of his element.

“But that’s impossible, though,” said Sabine, hanging upside down from her bunkbed.

“Maybe he just looks like Cal?” asked Hera, coming to sit by his side on the floor but sounding completely unconvinced, “and has the same name?”

Kanan shook his head slowly, hands and eyes focused on the holocube he was fiddling with, but his mind was completely absent.

“Why did he freeze like that?” Ezra said, ignoring Hera’s question, “He felt all weird in The Force… slow. Like… bacta?”

“So eloquent,” grunted Zeb, then paused to think, “maybe a changeling?”

Kanan scoffed, “I don’t think Obiwan and Cody would fail to notice that their child is a changeling in disguise.”

Sabine righted herself and took out a pouch of markers from her belt, turning to add a new art piece to her already full wall. “Well, we can just wait and ask, right?”

“Right,” Zeb snorted, “Hey, general? Commander? What the kriff is up with your kid, huh? Kinda weird vibes he’s giving off.”

Everyone went quiet for a bit, thinking of how to ask such a question.

“… I thought he’d died. None of the younglings at the temple survived. …And he’s so young,” Kanan said.

“Ahsoka said he just got his Kyber,” Ezra said as he waved around the hilt of his saber, “don’t you guys do that super early?”

“Don’t say ‘you guys’ like you’re not a Padawan, Ezra,” Kanan said absentmindedly as he tried to get rid of an incoming headache. “The tradition is that a youngling is given a Kyber at a young age, but the war makes everything fall apart.”

“What if he’s not- you know- human?” yawned Zeb, “or like, same lifespan as you, Kanan.”

Everyone went quiet again for a while, until Ezra gasped loudly.

“KANAN! WHAT THE KRIFF IS UP WITH YOUR NAME?!”

“Riiiiight. Or should we say…. Caleb, huh?” pushed Zeb, all traces of sleepiness leaving his face.

Everyone in the room was looking at him expectantly now, except for Hera.

Kanan rubbed his face roughly. He was way too tired to beat around the bush for something so trivial.

“That was my name as a Padawan. Before the order.”

Ezra stood up too fast on the bunk bed, hitting his head on the ceiling.

“Kriff-“

“Language Ezra,” sighed Hera halfheartedly.

“Ow…” Ezra held his head as Sabine and Zeb cackled, “Do I have to change my name when I become a knight?”

“No, Ezra,” Kanan found it in himself to smile a bit at the absurdity of the question, “I changed my name so I wouldn’t be targeted. The Jedi Archives have my real name; if the Empire heard it around, they would find me.”

“Oh-“ Ezra sat down again, looking torn, “I guess that’s fine.”

“What, were you going to go by Jabba the Hutt again?” Sabine snorted.

“You don’t know that!”

“Right. Zeb, enjoy the fight.” Kanan stood, taking Hera’s hand. “Imma go hit the bunk.”

 

---

 

The next day, Cal woke up feeling normal again. He showered and got ready, clipping his brand-new lightsaber to his belt with the special hook his Buir had made him weeks ago.

“So you don’t lose it, adika. Your dad is amazing at pretty much everything, except for keeping his saber on him during a fight. Don’t learn that from him,” he had said with an amused smile.

He reveled in the buzzing feeling of the kyber crystal, a sensation unlike anything he’d felt before. His master was right: it’s like an extension of his soul.

He opened the door to the voices of his family, already awake and the twins’ feet running around.

“FINALLY,” yelled Leia as she ran over to him, space buns already askew, “You took FOREVER, I’m HUNGRY.”

Cal chuckled at that. Hungry Leia was always bossy, “I’m sorry, Leia. Good morning to you, too.”

Leia blew him a raspberry and pulled on his hand to make him move faster.

“Morning, Cal.” his dad smiled at him from the couch, where he was drinking his tea. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good! I feel rested,” he shrugged back with a smile as he felt a certain someone attach to his leg silently. Twins or no, Luke and Leia were still polar opposites.

“How’s your appetite, adika?” his Buir asked as he pressed a kiss to his hair on the way to open the door.

“As big as a bantha’s” he giggled as Leia dropped his hand and started pushing him from behind to no avail.

“Good! Cause we got some hungry feral tookas out here,” his dad stood from the couch and bent to pick Leia up by the legs, finally getting a laugh out of her. “This one here almost took a bite out of me!”

Cal felt a tug from the hem of his pants and looked down to see a pleading Luke, “Can you carry me?”

“If Cal carries you, you won’t be able to win the race, Luke!” their Buir called from the door, saving Cal as Luke detached in record time.

They usually ate breakfast together in the common dining hall. Their parents said it was to get a lay of the mood of the base before the day began. Cal secretly thought it was because Terror’s waffles were unmatched, and he wouldn’t share the recipe even under torture.

As they walked, Cal breathed in the scent of the base and basked in its sounds. The force was bright around him. The colorful and loud notes of the Clones mixing and dancing around the calmer melody of the Jedi. He closed his eyes, mind wandering through the force signatures as he navigated the base blindly but confidently. It was an exercise he found comfort in after particularly bad episodes.

As they neared the dining hall, Cal opened his eyes, quickly searching the room. Caleb. He was here.

“Dad…” Cal touched his elbow, slowing him down to walk behind the others, “The Jedi in the Tarmac yesterday. Is he Caleb Dume?”

His dad raised his head, quickly spotting the man in question, then looked back at Cal. “He is. He goes by Kanan Jarrus now.”

Cal nodded silently, not looking Obi-Wan in the eyes.

“Is that what set you off yesterday?” he asked quietly, patiently.

“…He’s old,” Cal nearly whispered instead of answering the question.

Obi-Wan chuckled softly, “If he’s old to you, I can’t imagine what your Buir and I are.” He looked at Cal again, his expression now deeply understanding. “You didn’t lose any time, my dear. It just got postponed. Though I know that’s easy for me to say. It’s ok to feel it, ner’karta.”

Cal looked over at Kanan, who was seated with his crew. It was so strange. His signature was the same, but the man… The man he barely recognized. He would be near his age if he hadn’t…

“Do you want to talk to him?”

Cal felt the familiar freezing panic pulse in his stomach and immediately shook his head, taking a step back.

“That’s ok, Cal. You don’t have to.”

“But-“ Cal opened and closed his mouth like a fish. “I-I think I want to. But-“

“My dear, you had a bad freeze yesterday. You don’t have to push yourself if you are not ready,” he said, squeezing his shoulder, smiling. “How about some waffles instead, huh?”

That made Cal smirk, “Are you still trying to figure out the recipe from the way they taste?”

Obi-wan faked a tired and defeated sigh, “One day, adika. One day, I’ll figure it out.”

 

---

 

By the time they finished breakfast, the base seemed to organize itself for the day. Groups of people in varying uniforms exited the hall in different directions, chatting and making plans, their boots hitting the stone floor in comforting rhythms. The force was buzzing with busy anticipation and diligent focus.

The Ghost crew stood from the table they had commandeered for the past few days and headed toward the command wing, the kids still yawning. Hera had received a comm early that morning, bidding them to meet the General and Commander at the briefing room with no explanation as to what was going on.

As they walked, Kanan felt eyes on him and turned. Only to see two small sets of eyes unabashedly staring at them from one of the tables, and another set quickly turning away.

“So he does remember me…” he muttered to himself.

“What, love?” whispered Hera.

“Cal. He was watching me,” he responded absentmindedly.

“Well, we are newcomers,” Sabine commented casually from behind them, making them jump.

“Sabine, what did we say about private conversations?” sighed Hera, only getting a playful smirk and a shrug out of the girl.

As they neared the briefing room, they heard voices already inside. The General and the Commander were standing around the holo-table, Ahsoka fiddling with the controls.

“Ah, good morning, everyone,” smiled the General. “I’m terribly sorry to pull you into a mission this quickly. I know you must still be getting the lay of the land around the base.”

“No worries, sir. We are honestly itching to get back in the fight,” Hera smiled easily.

“Well, it’s not really a fight, per se,” said Ahsoka, “or we hope it isn’t.

Cody tapped the holo-map, pulling up a cluster of planets and asteroids with a starship in the middle. “Intel from our scouts shows an imperial convoy here, headed toward deep space. The transport seems to be alone, but it’s running with tighter encryption than we usually see. We think it’s carrying more than rations.”

“Like what?” asked Zeb, setting his bo-rifle by the wall and walking over to the holo-table.

Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Cody looked at each other uneasily. “It’s hard to ascertain for sure, but we think it may be live cargo,” said Obi-Wan.

“Live cargo…” Hera frowned.

Cody sighed, but his face was determined and focused. “We will have to be careful. The signal profile is a close match to secure transports I’ve encountered before.”

“Commander…” Kanan stepped forward warily. “Why were we chosen for the mission?”

Cody straightened, “We believe this situation might be familiar to your crew. We cannot be certain due to heavy interference, but there seems to be a slight trace of midichlorians. We don’t know what we’re about to be dealing with, but if it is a Jedi trap, I want you all on the team.”

“The ideal is that this ends up being a stealth mission. In and out. Find out what you can, then report. We are hoping this is a false lead,” said Obi-Wan.

“Hear that, Ezra?” Zeb lightly slapped Ezra over the head, “stealth. Rings a bell?”

“Yes, sir. When do we leave?” asked Hera, ignoring the small slap fight behind her.

“You leave in three hours. The preparations for the Ghost are already underway. Cody will be accompanying you instead of Rex; we need him here for now.”

Kanan sighed internally. Sure, he had tamed most of his distrust, but it was still tender.

“Alright, guys, let’s go get ready.”

The Ghost crew parted ways in order to get ready for the mission, each of them doing their own thing before meeting at the hangar for final preparations. Kanan got there first, antsy to take a look at the Ghost before everyone else and check if everything was alright. He didn’t particularly like this mission, the image of Luminara’s frozen face still etched into his memory, making him shudder. He really hoped the intel was wrong. Or that at least the Jedi was alive.

As he came closer to their ship, he noticed the three kids crouching by one of the supply crates, organizing rations and medical supplies. Well, at least Cal was. The twins seemed to be more interested in stacking the rations to make towers and little houses, and Luke seemed especially interested in eyeing the sweeter ones.

“How much is 10 credits?” asked Luke, giving up on his tower with a big sigh and flopping onto the ground.

“I don’t know,” shrugged Leia, who was now leaning over the crate to look at Cal’s work.

“It’s enough to buy you a nerf burger, I think,” Cal said absent-mindedly while swatting at Leia’s hand, who was trying to grab a smoke flare gun from the emergency kit. “Why?”

Kanan snickered softly while checking the outside of the Ghost. That was definitely not enough for a nerf burger now. Maybe during the war but-

“Ian told me he would give me 10 credits if I gave him my microswitch.”

Cal stopped what he was doing and frowned, “Isn’t that what you use to make your mini-droids?”

“Yeah. But he said I could buy a booster coil with those credits.”

“Ian’s lying, Luke,” Cal shook his head. “Besides, you can’t even buy anything. Those credits are Empire, and you can’t even leave Yavin.”

“How many credits would he need?” asked Leia.

Kanan tuned out their conversation as he moved further down the Ghost’s exterior and away from them. He thought about that. About how these kids lived in a world so far away from what most people lived in, and it was just normal for them. He supposed that’s kind of what being a Jedi was during the war. Or being a Jedi at all-

“How much money did Ba’vodu Cody buy you for, Cal?” Leia asked innocently, unknowingly sending Kanan’s brain into a screeching, painful halt.

“I don’t remember… but I know he got me for a bargain,” answered Cal, way too calmly for such a statement.

Kanan’s thoughts exploded, his heart pounding with anger and bewilderment. Bought. For a bargain?!

“I think it was three credits,” said Leia with arms crossed and nose upturned, but it was clear there was a small taunting smirk there.

“No way! Cal is worth more than three credits!” exclaimed an indignant Luke.

“Well, Buir did threaten that smuggler, so-” Cal shrugged. “You’re stuck with me, Leia, the guy said no returns,” smiled Cal.

Smuggler, Kanan thought. The Commander bought Cal off a smuggler.

Leia giggled, “Maybe he bought Luke with an eopie.”

“Nu-UH, Leia!”

Kanan became deaf to the rest of their conversation. Distrust and indignation, and anger boiled out of him in the force so violently, he distantly heard the three kids fall silent. He needed to calm down, shut his walls tight. These poor kids clearly didn’t understand the gravity of what happened to Cal, of what The Commander did, and they didn't deserve to feel his anger. They called him their father, for force’s sake.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the same man walking toward the kids, arms outstretched. Kanan couldn’t take seeing that right now; he couldn’t believe he had even begun to trust that man. He boarded the Ghost and stomped over to his room. He needed to meditate.

 

 

Notes:

Sorry for being gone for so long! Your comments mean everything to me, I re-read them often to make myself write the next chapter!

Mando'a:

Kriff: fuck
Adika: little one, son, daughter, of any age
Buir: dad/mom/parent
Ner'karta: my heart

Chapter 15

“Alright. Take us up, Captain,” Cody commanded, taking the seat beside Hera.

“Sir, yes, sir!” she said excitedly as she maneuvered them out of the hangar.

Kanan forcefully unclenched his jaw, remembering that only he knew of this new information. He’d come out of his room feeling slightly less irate as he heard his crew get on the ship, but it was hard to keep his feelings off his face when the man was right in front of him. He stayed in the cockpit until they hit the moon’s stratosphere. There were no more necessary preparations on board, but staying there was just torture.

He walked the entirety of the ship, trying to calm himself. He checked the supplies and the weapons twice, even tried to give Chopper a clean-up, which just ended up with him getting slapped.

He was walking the living quarters hallway when the door to Ezra and Zeb’s room whooshed open.

“Kanan- your vibes are rancid.” Ezra frowned while looking him up and down, “Who died?!”

Kanan just stood there in silence, mind too busy grappling with his mental walls.

“Wait, did someone actually die?” he added quickly, horrified.

Kanan let out a long sigh, “I’m fine, Ezra,” he clipped.

“…Right,” Ezra squinted, “and all that anger is just ‘cause of the lovely weather outside, yeah?”

Kanan stayed silent. He didn’t want to say anything to make his feelings explode again. Besides, he thought this might be something Cal wished to keep to himself.

“I’m fine.”

Ezra was about to retort when the ship-wide comms went off, Hera’s voice crackling through, “Everyone to the cockpit, we’re almost there.”

Kanan’s footsteps were heavier as they made their way back, Ezra glancing at him suspiciously the whole time.

The crew was already gathered in the small cockpit, the imperial convoy a pinprick in the distance. Cody stood as he heard them come in and began readying his gear and pistols.

“Minimal guard,” he spoke, “just like the intel promised.”

“Which means it’s either a trap or they’re cocky,” Hera huffed.

Kanan glanced at The Commander. His jaw was set, and his brows were furrowed. The man’s force signature was muddled, the feeling of heavy rain obscuring his feelings, but there was clear concern in there. It made Kanan’s stomach twist in fear.

“This is a trap. You know that. Right, Commander?” Kanan’s words came out a little harsher than he expected, drawing all the eyes in the room.

The Commander stared at him with an unreadable expression, “I know as much as you do, Kanan. But yes. It does look like one.”

Kanan’s emotions bubbled and stirred again, threatening to overflow. Rational thought was quickly abandoning him. “With all due respect, Commander. I am not putting my crew in danger over a hunch.”

“Uh, Kanan. That’s kind of our whole job?” said Zeb from the back of the cockpit, “has been for-”

Kanan sent Zeb a withering look, shutting him up.

“Look,” Cody sighed. “I understand this is risky, but we are relying on intel, not a hunch. I know this is hardly ideal, but you knew what we could find when we debriefed you this morning.”

Kanan stared at him, faltering. He felt Hera’s gaze on the side of his face, almost burning him. He was right, he did know the risks. He also knew the rewards. If this were really a Jedi trap, then he would be there to destroy it.

Kanan huffed and took a step back but refused to say anything. He felt the Force around him tense with the uneasiness of everyone around him.

“Alright, people,” Hera stood and clapped her hands as if to dispel the awkwardness. “You’ve got 15 minutes. Any more time and I’m coming in, guns blazing. Zeb, you’re staying with me to man the turret.”

“Aye aye, cap,” Zeb said with a mock salute.

“We’ll keep silent on Comms unless there is an emergency. Rendezvous point is at the eastern airlock,” commanded Cody.

-----

The Specter’s docking clamps thudded into place with a shudder that was felt through the shuttle’s deck plates.

“Minimal heat signatures,” Sabine announced as they entered the transport. “Midichlorian traces are picking up.”

“I feel it,” Ezra said with a shudder. Kanan made a mental note to keep a close eye on his padawan.

The Commander’s boots were nearly silent on the deck, leading the little boarding party. He swept the place with calculated movements, checking doorways and never once lowering his blaster. A familiar saber glinted from his belt, making Kanan’s blood boil once again.

“What is up with you, Kanan?” Ezra hissed in his ear, earning himself a strong shushing from Sabine.

They followed both the midichlorian count and Ezra’s senses through several doors, all of which opened without issue, until they came to a long corridor. No doors could be seen on the sides, just a sealed bulkhead with a reinforced control panel at the very end of it. Sabine crouched beside it, already pulling tools from her belt. “Encrypted, but nothing I can’t slice through.”

 “Good. Make it quick,” Cody said and covered her back.

As she worked, Kanan came up to the door, pressing a hand to the cold durasteel. His breath caught. Through the force, barely there in the mess that were his feelings, he could sense it: a faint spark. Flickering, but there.

He looked at his padawan, only to find his panicked face already staring back at him. He never admitted to it, but their encounter with Luminara had shaken him pretty badly. Zeb had told him how Ezra’s night terrors had raged on for weeks after that.

The bulkhead clicked, but the familiar hiss of opening doors didn’t come.

“Kanan, Ezra. Think you can give me a hand?” said the Commander.

Kanan eyed him, then nodded to Ezra. Together, they pushed it open with the Force as Cody and Sabine stood with their blasters at the ready.

The room beyond was pitch dark and eerily silent. The air was stale and musty.

Sabine took a canister from her belt and removed the safety, spewing gas into the room. Kanan had seen this before; she was checking for laser triggers.

“Nothing,” whispered Sabine.

“Too easy,” Cody frowned. “Ezra, Kanan. I want you two out here. Do not come in unless it is absolutely necessary.”

Kanan visibly bristled, about to argue, but Cody put up his hand.

“If this is a Jedi trap, I want you both out of it. Get reinforcements if anything happens.”

Kanan gritted his teeth but nodded. That made sense, even if he didn’t like it.

Turning on all flashlights, Sabine and The Commander crept in. Kanan was surprised to see that the room wasn’t as big as he expected. In fact, he could easily see the solid slab of carbonite in the center of the room.

“Oh Force-” Ezra whispered. Kanan put an arm around him, but was unable to tear his eyes away.

He’d seen carbonite in use just once in his life, when he insisted on helping in the Venator’s kitchens. He saw Apple unfreeze a slab of fresh produce that his master had managed to beg off of some senators for the men.

This, however. This looked like a person. He couldn’t make out the features at all, but the shape was there: two arms, two legs, a head.

The Commander circled the slab slowly, eyeing the controls carefully and shaking his head.

He looks like he’s appraising a karking product.

“Kuat Systems, Series-7… Kark,” he huffed to himself and looked around the room. “We can’t defrost them here.”

“Commander?” Sabine prodded.

“This series has a faulty coolant cycle. The carbon will collapse the lungs if we don’t reroute the secondary intake.”

Kanan’s blood almost evaporated. Of course he knew what this was.

“You’d know, wouldn’t you, Commander?” He boomed, taking a step forward. “You karking know how to pick your bounties,” his feet took him a step further.

“Kanan-” Ezra squeaked, but Kanan was deaf.

“How can you even-” another step.

CLANG

The bulkhead snapped shut behind him, trapping them inside. Bright red lights came on, and the familiar shudder of the motors reverberated through their feet.

“KARK!” Sabine swore.

“Transport’s on the move. EZRA!” The Commander banged on the door, “GO GET HERA.”

All they got for confirmation that Ezra had heard them was a muffled shout through the door, but that was all they were gonna get for now.