#Rex is slowly realizing that his kid/little brother just got adopted out from under him and he's not sure how to handle it

[archivewriter1ont]

I like to think this scene is the moment Crosshair decided they were keeping the reg (not Hunter -- Crosshair. Because he's the baby brother and he gets what he wants). Crosshair is highly skilled and extremely irritating at times but he values loyalty, competency, and valor, and I think he saw all three in Echo right off the bat.

Crosshair was kind of the one who stuck beside Echo and General Skywalker during this arc. (I would like to point out that he shot threats off of Mr. The-Chosen-One twice in these episodes, thus proving his cool factor and my belief that Anakin was always slightly overrated.) He got a front-row seat to watch this broken, malnourished POW get jerked straight out of cryo just to 1) goof off and snark to his captain and general, 2) jump on a living dragon thing and just wing it like "Sure I can fly this why not" and 3) start popping airborne droids with ZERO armor and a borrowed (stolen?) blaster.

Of course Crosshair looked at Echo, then to his brothers, then back to Echo and went "He's ours now, deal with it." Echo reminded him so much of himself and his squadmates that he imprinted on sight.

[eyayah-oya]

The Father You’ll Be

Boil/Waxer with a side of Cody/Rex

Rating: G

Warnings: there is brief mention of the cadets dying during the Battle of Kamino. Nothing graphic, but there are mentions.

for @clonehavensotm

Ao3 link

           Boil walked into the barracks and began stripping off his armor, desperately ready to go to sleep.  After a long day of fighting, the 212th and the 501st worked with Rancor to clear up the debris around Kamino, until they’d been awake for approximately two and a half day cycles.  Every step felt heavier than the last, until Boil felt like he was about to fall asleep where he was standing.

           At least, he felt that exhausted until he realized Waxer was no longer behind him.  Nor was he anywhere in the barracks.

           For several moments, Boil debated the merits of just falling into bed without Waxer, but the longer he stood there without knowing where he was, the more agitated he became.  With a heavy sigh and a silent curse, Boil put his armor back on and marched out into the hallways of Kamino.  Several other vod’e tried to reach out and stop him, to try and drag him to bed, but Boil just shrugged off their concerned hands and continued on to the mess hall.

           Boil sighed heavily when he couldn’t find Waxer in the mess hall, nor could he find him back in the area they had been cleaning up. He would not be able to settle down properly until he at least knew where Waxer was and what he was doing.

           There were many places on Kamino that Waxer could be hiding.  He tended to go for a run after a high-risk battle, just to help himself settle.  But he could also have gone to the training halls to work out his energy, as there were most likely plenty of brothers who he could spar against.  Boil really should have expected this kind of reaction from Waxer.  This battle was different from any other they’d fought in before.  There was more at stake, more at risk if they failed.  Worse casualties.  They’d lost far too many ikaade when the droids crashed through one of the domes, and several barracks were overrun by droids—

           Boil froze.

           He knew exactly where Waxer was.

           With a quick about-face, Boil marched towards the Littles’ barracks.  Waxer always had a bleeding heart for anyone who was in need of help, but especially animals and children.  Numa was a perfect example of that (Boil conveniently neglected to remember how enamored he had been by the sweet Twi’lek girl).  After the kind of loss all clones had experienced that day with the death of their vod’ikase and ikaade, Waxer would want to comfort the Littles.

           “Boil?  What are you still doing awake?”

           Commander Cody was leaning against the wall, guarding a doorway with Rex by his side.  They both looked exhausted, especially since they’d been working with Rancor command while Colt and Havoc were in the medbay getting patched up.  Boil did not envy their jobs.  The two of them were effectively coordinating three battalions in the cleanup efforts with the help of Commander Blitz and ARC Hammer.  They were also the ones dealing with the casualty reports.

           “Sir,” Boil snapped off a salute.  “Just going to find Waxer, sir.”

           Cody’s brow furrowed.  “He’s not with you?  I thought I assigned the two of you to the same work crews.”

           “You did, sir,” Boil answered.  “I got to the barracks and turned around and he wasn’t there.  I have a pretty good idea of where he disappeared to, though.”

           With a strained look in his eyes, Cody nodded.  It was likely that he, too, had guessed where Waxer was, and the Commander definitely wouldn’t get mad at either of them for being in the littlest cadet dorms.  “Make sure he gets some sleep tonight.  A pile of Littles will probably help more with that than anything else at this point. Hell, I might even join you later. We lost too many of them today, and it’ll be nice to see them and make sure they’re holding up well.”

           “I’m sure they’d love that,” Rex murmured.  “The Great Marshal Commander Cody coming to visit them and hug and hold them.  They’ll love you for that.”

           Cody sighed and thunked his head back against the wall. “You’re never gonna let me live the hero worship down, are you?”

           “Nope,” Rex huffed a weak attempt at a laugh.  He sounded exhausted, just as worn as the rest of them, and more since he was also dealing with a padawan commander who stumbled upon a bunch of cadets killed by Grievous.  Boil had heard the rumors, and he was so glad neither he nor Waxer had had to see any of the bodies of their little brothers.  That would have crushed them both.

           “Bring Commander Tano,” Boil said spontaneously.  He shifted back on his feet when both the Commander and the Captain looked at him in surprise.  “Well, I think it would do her good to see the cadets, too.  And I’m sure they’d like to meet a shiny Jedi. They probably have only ever seen General Ti from a distance.”

           “Ahsoka would like that, I think,” Cody answered, looking to Rex for confirmation.  Boil wasn’t sure why.  It was well-known among the 212th and the 501st that both Rex and Cody had adopted the young Jedi and loved her as fiercely as any nat-born loved their children.  Ahsoka looked up to Cody and probably spent just as much time with him as she did with Rex.

           “We have some a few tasks left to do before we can bunk down,” Rex said slowly.  “But then we should be free to come join you.  Ahsoka is debriefing with the Generals and checking on the injured in the medbay, but I’ll try to wrangle her into coming with us.”

           Boil nodded.  “I’ll go find Waxer and let you know which barracks he’s hid himself in. I’ll see you soon, sirs.”

           Cody and Rex waved him off, and Boil continued down the hallway, each step heavy with grief and exhaustion.  He counted off the doors until he reached the bunks for the youngest cadets decanted and poked his head into each one, looking for the tell-tale sign of a puppy-pile of vod’e flopped all over Waxer.

           It wasn’t until the fifth barracks he checked that Boil finally found him.  Waxer was telling a story about one of their many missions, watered down so that it was appropriate for little audio receptors.  He had a pair of Littles curled together under each arm, and two sitting on his lap while another dozen or so piled around his legs.  His armor was neatly stacked on a nearby pod, and it was clear that Waxer was planning on spending the rest of the night here with the little ones.

           “And then these great big, hungry monsters started chasing them through the streets of Nabat.  They were closing in on Commander Cody, and his blaster wasn’t working against their tough skins.  He was trapped, weaponless, and about to be eaten.  And do you know what happened?”

           One of the Littles on his lap perked up and grinned.  “He punched them?”

           “Or kicked them!”

           “Nah, he used his blaster to beat them up!”

           “You saved the day, Waxer!” a Little chirped from where he was practically buried underneath his brothers.

           “Thank you, 53, but no.  I was actually on my own adventure with Boil at the time.  I heard about all of this after it happened,” Waxer grinned.  He looked up, caught Boil’s eye, and shrugged apologetically.

           Boil found he couldn’t really be mad at Waxer.  Not when he was helping the little vod’ikase. With a heavy sigh, Boil stripped off his armor and set it next to Waxer’s while he distracted the little brothers.

           “I’ll tell you what happened,” Waxer continued his story with a wide grin.  “General Kenobi leaped in front of the charging monsters, without his lightsaber—“

           “No!” a Little cried.  He was curled up on his brother’s lap, tucked snugly under Waxer’s right arm, but when he shouted, he sat bolt upright, horror written on every tiny, adorable feature.

           That one is going to be Cody’s.  He’s going to adopt that Little next, Boil thought to himself. As he sat down, he and Waxer exchanged a knowing look, even as his lap was immediately overrun by Littles looking for a comfortable place to curl up.  If Cody managed to adopt this one, General Kenobi would stand no chance at ever running away from medical or losing his lightsaber in battle again.  The large, sad eyes pleading with him would be his downfall.  Boil made a note to tell Cody all about this one.

           “It’s alright, 2467,” Waxer soothed and kark, the kid even had Rex’s and Cody’s numbers combined into his.  “While it’s always a bad idea to go into a dangerous situation unarmed, the General had a few tricks up his sleeve.  So, there they were, cornered by starving beasts, when General Kenobi holds up his hand, just like this.”  Waxer demonstrates with arms raised in a decent imitation of the General when he was doing his Force magic stuff.

           “What happened then?  What happened to Commander Cody and General Kenobi?” a Little from the pile at Waxer’s knees piped up.

           “With the power of his mind,” Waxer said, “he spoke to the monsters and lured them away from Commander Cody and the rest of Ghost Company.  He led them deep into an alley, where there was only one exit.  And then he ordered Ghost to shoot at the walkways above him.”

           “NO!” 2467 shouted again.  “He can’t do that!  The General’s supposed to be safe!”

           Kriff it, Boil was going to help Cody sneak the whole squad onto the Negotiator, so he could adopt this one.  After all, they would never split up a batch.

           “Commander Cody was worried, but it all turned out okay. The General used the Force to leap high over the new blockade Ghost Company created, and he landed safely outside by Commander Cody, while the monsters were stuck.  And of course, Commander Cody handed the General his lightsaber and they went on to save Nabat.  The villagers were all safe and could move back into their homes without worrying about those awful clankers taking over their homes.”            “Wow!” one of the Littles in Boil’s lap whispered.

           “I’m gonna be just like Commander Cody when I grow big and strong!” another said, leaping up to demonstrate various kicks and punches. They weren’t very coordinated yet, and it was absolutely adorable to watch.

           “You better keep practicing, vod’ika,” Rex called from the doorway.  “Someday, you’ll be just as good as Cody.  I know it.”

           He slumped against the nearest pod and began taking off his armor.  Ahsoka slunk into the room behind him, and as soon as the top half of his armor was off, she attached herself to his back.  Her thin arms wrapped around his waist, and her face was pressed tightly in between his shoulder blades.  Boil would be willing to bet all the credits he never earned that she’d likely been crying as soon as she got away from the Generals.  But here among vod’e, she was safe to express all the awful emotions she had pent up in her heart.  Boil had learned over the course of the war that Jedi struggled with all the death far more than any vod.  They felt each death as if it were their own unless they shielded themselves so completely from the Force that it rendered them entirely useless.  To feel the lives of children slip away?  Boil couldn’t imagine.

           “Captain Rex, sir!” the Littles all shouted, and they tried to detangle themselves to salute, but Rex immediately waved them back down.

           “At ease, cadets.  Do you mind if we join you?  Commander Cody should also be coming soon.”

           “Really?”  The enormous eyes were filled with hope and disbelief that one of the greatest soldiers in the GAR would be coming to visit them.

           “Yes, really,” Boil answered.  “I invited him.  I hope you don’t mind?”

           Immediately, the little cadets were all wriggling around in excitement, talking loudly over one another about how cool and heroic Marshal Commander Cody was.  It was karking adorable.

           Boil slid into the newly freed space and wrapped an arm around Waxer.  Immediately, he felt him relax into his hold, some of the tension draining from his shoulders.  Rex plopped down against a wall, and immediately pulled Ahsoka into his lap, cradling her tightly against his chest.  She went almost desperately, needing the grounding contact of one of her adopted dads.  Boil knew that as soon as Cody arrived, she would somehow manage to wrap herself around both of them.  They’d probably end up buried beneath a pile of vod’ikase, but Boil sincerely doubted any of them would mind in the slightest.  He might not have the Force, but he could feel himself relaxing in the presence of such innocence and enthusiasm.  Waxer had made an excellent choice to come here.  Boil was glad that he had followed.

           He would always follow Waxer.  Whether it was on the battlefield or to a hoard of Littles that needed the comforting presence of their ori’vode, he would walk right beside him. Waxer was special.  Boil didn’t quite know the name of what he felt for Waxer, but he knew that it was enough to just be near him.  To press against each other tightly at night, and to shake apart together.  To be together for the rest of their lives.

           It was enough.

             (Cody nearly managed to sneak the entire squad onto the Negotiator undetected, but at the last minute, General Kenobi caught him. And then proceeded to help them set up a nursery perfect for the 212th’s newest squad of cadets.  No one could ever say their General didn’t have a bleeding heart, nor a soft spot for children.  And just as Boil had predicted, Cody adopted 2467 and helped pick out the name Dara.  They would be eternal, no matter what happened during the war.)

[writer1]

A regretful Wolf and his Beauty

Chapter Two

Beast!Rex x Fem!reader

Summary: As punishment for his actions, young prince Rex was cursed to become a monster by a witch. The only thing that saved him from his fate was an enchantress, who gave him a condition. He has to find true love in order to redeem himself and he only has until the last petal of the enchanted rose falls. Rex's family helps you by guiding your way into his heart. Rex's fate now lies in your hands."

A/N: Rex's brothers are Fives, Echo, Cody, Bly and Stutter. The rest of the clones are cousins and\or uncles. Credit to @suddenly-clones for Cody’s nickname “Bubby”. A collab fic made with @ahsokatano-thetogruta. We hope you enjoy this chapter. 

Warnings: mention of trauma, abuse and mental breakdowns.

After presents everyone gets breakfast, they all head to the main dining hall. Rex is so excited to have his breakfast. Cody already told him that he could have his favorite breakfast, strawberries and waffles, it's always been his favorite. Rex walks into the dining hall, seeing all his cousins. He chuckles at seeing his adopted one year old cousin, Numa eating her pancakes, sitting between his 17 year old cousins Waxer and Boil. The young twi’lek girl is covered from head to toe in syrup, so Waxer does his best to clean up any mess while Boil just chuckles and smiles. Rex runs up to Cody, excited for his breakfast.

“Hey Cody, is my breakfast ready yet?” Rex is smiling until he sees the frown on his brother's face.

“I’m sorry, Vodika. They're all out of strawberries and waffles.” Rex feels disappointment fill him, adding to the building pile of bad things today, he was so excited for his breakfast. Rex forces a smile, he knows that Cody tried his best.

“Its okay, Bubby. I know that you tried, can I have a pancake instead?” Rex uses his nickname for Cody that he's used ever since he was a baby. Cody chuckles, happy that Rex isn’t too upset. He feels bad for being unable to give him his favorite breakfast like promised.

“Of course you can, Rex’ika.” Cody heads into the kitchen, grabbing Rex a pancake.

xxx

After everyone has finished with their breakfast, some of the Knights are armoured up and ready to leave for a patrol around the village not too far away from the castle. 

Yoda is the oldest Knight and has had nearly nine hundred years of experience. His second in command, Mace Windu, is thirty seven years old, but he too has had experience in battle being a knight. Twenty seven year olds Luminara Unduli and Depa Billaba were knighted only a few weeks ago, so they are both hoping to get some action soon. Twelve year old Aayla Secura, thirteen year old Kit Fisto and seventeen year old Quinlan Vos are knights in training, so going out with the older knights will give them a taste of what their duties are as knights.

"All ready to leave now, are you?" Yoda asks. The knights in front of him, wearing shiny silver armour, nod attentively as they all begin to march towards the main entrance of the castle. Yoda sees Rex walking out of the main dining hall. "Back soon, we will be, Prince Rex."

"Of course. Everything will be ready for when you arrive back." Rex smiles as he watches the knights walk out of the entrance, closing the doors behind them as they set out to go to the village. 

Rex turns away from the entrance just in time to see Anakin run into the room, followed by Artoo, he runs over to Rex.

“Come on, Rex. Let's go find Obi Wan and Cody, I don't know where they went.” Anakin doesn't wait for an answer and starts pulling Rex with him, who rolls his eyes and follows.

“Okay Ani, lets go.” He pulls his arm out of Anakin's grip, and they both head out to find their brothers. Artoo yips as he follows behind them, he nips at their feet a few times, wanting them to play.

They both walk into another room, freezing when they see the sight of 

Obi Wan and Cody kissing.

They had their arms wrapped around each other's bodies, Obi Wan cupping the left side of Cody's face, lightly tracing the scar with his thumb. It was love at first sight for the two of them. They met each other a few years ago, when Obi Wan arrived at the castle to be trained to become a knight. Now both at seventeen years old, they plan to get married at some point in the near future. Cody stroked Obi Wan’s cheek, feeling the stubble of a beard that had started growing there. 

Anakin and Rex just stood there, feeling a little grossed out and embarrassed that they walked in on them kissing like this. Being kids, they don't really understand love yet and what people do in a relationship, but they think that love is a bit gross being only thirteen and twelve years old. 

Cody and Obi Wan pulled away from each other to see the two of them just stood in the doorway, feeling their cheeks heat up a little. "Hello there you two." Obi Wan chuckles. Both the kids look grossed out, making both Obi Wan and Cody chuckle at them.

“Don’t look like that Anakin, once you’re older you’ll find someone you will want to kiss.” Obi Wan rolls his eyes when Anakin makes a fake gagging noise.

“EW!!! I’ll never want to kiss anyone, that's so gross!” Both Cody and Obi Wan laugh.

“You say that now, but you’ll change your mind once you’re older.” Anakin just shakes his head, not believing a word Obi Wan had said. Rex is standing there, laughing quietly. Cody turns to him.

“What are you laughing at Rex’ika, you’ll want to kiss too when you’re older.” Rex stops laughing and glares at Cody.

“That will never happen! Kissing is so gross.” Both Cody and Obi Wan can't stop laughing at the two young boys.

“Sure! You come to me in four years and tell me that.” Rex rolls his eyes at his brother, knowing that he’ll never want to kiss anyone. Ever. 

"Yeah right, it's never gonna happen." Rex can't hold back a smirk any longer.

"Okay. I'll hold you to that one, Rex'ika." Cody teases Rex. He then feels Obi Wan's hand take his and holds it gently, making the both of them smile lovingly at each other. 

"Quick Rex, let's go! They're gonna kiss again!" Anakin pulls Rex by his arm again and they both dart out of the room with Artoo following just behind them.

Obi Wan and Cody can't help but laugh out loud uncontrollably as the pair run out of the room. After regaining their breath, they look at one another again and lean in for a more intimate kiss, just wanting to stay here forever with each other.

xxx

Anakin and Rex ran for a while, both laughing and racing around the castle with each other down different halls. They stop when they see a fourteen year old girl looking out of a big window, enjoying the sight of the frozen lake as the snow gently falls past the window. Padmé turns to look at the two boys who just caught their breath after running around the castle. "Hello Prince Rex. Hello Anakin."

Anakin's heart skips a beat when she says his name. Rex can see that his cheeks have turned a little red, so he decides to give the both of them some alone time. Rex is very aware of their feelings for each other "I've just remembered, I promised to go and help Fives and Echo with something. I'll see you two later." He waves at the both of them, making Anakin glare at him as if to say don't leave me alone. 

Anakin hears Rex chuckles subtly behind him as he turns to look at Padmé who smiles at him kindly, so he returns the smile back to her.

Rex walks down the hall, heading to a room close by, he smirks when he finds mistletoe inside of a drawer, ready to put his plan into action. He plans to set up the mistletoe, then call Anakin and Padme into the room right under it.

Rex walks over to the doorway, grabbing a chair to stand on, he hangs up the plant. It's in the perfect place for Anakin and Padme to get stuck under it. He hops down, setting the chair back and walking out. The two aren't very far away so he calls them.

“Hey, do you mind helping us you two. We need more than three people!!” Both Anakin and Padme glance at each other, wondering what the three could be doing that could need five people. But they shrug and head out to help their friend and his younger brothers, they walk into the room, looking around to find it empty except for Rex.

“What did you need Prince Rex? And where are the twins?” Padmé asks, confused.

“Yeah Rex, where's Fives and Echo?” Rex smirks a mischievous smirk, pointing up. The two look up to see the mistletoe, blushing as they realize what this means.

“You both know what mistletoe means.” He tells them as they glance at each other, Anakin is a deep shade of red.

“Umm, you… you don't have to kiss me if-!!!” Padme presses a kiss to his lips mid sentence, it's a quick one, but sweet all the same. She pulls away, leaving a flustered Anakin looking an even darker shade of red. Padmé giggles.

“You okay, Ani?” Anakin nods, not knowing what to say. Rex holds back laughter at his friend's reaction, Padme turns to Rex.

“Do you think that he's going to be okay?” She asks,and Rex nods.

“Yeah, i'm sure that he’s going to be fine.” Rex reassures her, walking out of the room and down the hall towards the ballroom. Rex is happy that he finally got the two of them to kiss. He's known about their secret feelings for a long time, so he found this to be the best time to get them to confess their feelings to each other. 

“HEY, REX!!!!!” Rex jumps with a scream at his two younger brothers jumping out from behind one of the doors to the ballroom to scare him, Fives has Echo on his shoulders, making them

look bigger. Rex falls to the floor, feeling anger rise up in him.

Echo climbs off of Fives' shoulders as they both laugh at Rex, who is now sitting up on the floor and he does not look happy in the slightest. 

"AHAHA, Rex! You should have seen your face!" Fives wipes some tears of laughter from the corner of his eye. He is enjoying it all too much and so is his twin Echo.

Rex clearly looks annoyed as he finally reaches his breaking point. He stares down towards the floor, trying so hard to hide his frustration from everyone else in the room but he thinks now that he has finally lost it. 

Fives walks closer to him and holds his hand out to help Rex up. "Sorry, Vod. Here I'll help you-" Rex swats his hand away, causing Fives to flinch and making his smile disappear. Echo's smiling soon turns into worry too.

"You think this is funny?" He scowls a little as he gets up slowly by himself. "Y'know...I really don't need this stupid behavior right now!" Rex finally snaps at the both of them, making them feel hurt because it was only meant to be a funny joke. 

Everyone in the room goes silent as they watch Rex's anger rise with every passing moment as he continues to get angry at Fives and Echo.

A few moments later, Obi Wan and Cody are holding hands as they walk past Cody's cousins Heavy, Droidbait and Cutup, then into the ballroom to see Rex yelling at the Twins.

Cody gives Obi Wan's hand a slight squeeze, letting him know that he needs to go and sort out whatever is going on.

"Rex, what's going on?" Concern washes over Cody's face when he sees Fives' and Echo's hurt expressions. 

"Mind your own business, Cody." Rex snaps at his Ori'Vod. Cody doesn't take his tone lightly.

"What's up with you? Is something bothering you?"

"Just leave us alone…" Rex warns Cody, still keeping piercing, direct eye contact with the twins. 

"Oh I don't think so. I'm sure that whatever they did wasn't harmful enough to-"

"Shut up!!" Rex isn't having any of what Cody has to say.

Anakin and Padmé then walk into the ballroom, seeing what was going on, the tension rising with each passing moment.

"Rex, you need to chill out, now." Cody tells him sternly.

"NO!" Rex's yell echoes around the room and Cody gets fed up with his Vod's behavior. 

"That's it!" Cody tackles Rex against a wall as they both start to fight.

Rex ducks down and around Cody to pull him into a headlock from behind. Cody grabs onto the arm around his neck and throws Rex over his shoulder and onto the floor. The air is knocked out of his lungs as he sees Cody go to punch him. Rex uses a block technique to protect himself. He tries his best to counter attack with punches to Cody's side. They yell over each other, so it's difficult to tell what they are saying, but Rex curses a few times towards his brother. 

Everyone watches and gasps at the sight. Anakin looks around the room to see Stutter standing not too far away with a frightened look on his face as he struggles to keep his tears back. Anakin runs over to him to comfort him, holding him close and making him look away from the fight. 

He is only four years old and arrived at the castle a year ago. He was abused by his Father and older brothers for three years. They were all ten years old, so they always looked bigger and scarier in Stutters eyes as they yelled nasty and hurtful things at him. 

Anakin feels Stutter start to shake with fear and anxiety as he starts to remember the trauma from his past. Anakin can't stand this anymore, someone has to do something to stop Rex and Cody from fighting. "Obi Wan!" 

Obi Wan hears Anakin call out his name, knowing too that this has to be stopped. He runs over to try his best to break up the fight by pulling his boyfriend off of Rex. Cody struggles in Obi Wan's grasp that he has around him. Obi Wan decides to get in the middle of the two fighting brothers "Enough!! Both of you, just stop! You're scaring Stutter."

Rex and Cody pause and then look towards Anakin who is still holding onto the trembling four year old. Rex feels so bad now for things getting so out of hand. "I…" Rex decides to walk over to Stutter who doesn't seem to be calming down. Anakin uses his eyes to gesture down at Stutter, who is pressing his little body into him, and then back up to Rex, making Rex crouch down in front of them both. "I'm so, so sorry, Stutter." He says quietly so as not to scare him any more than he already has.

Stutter sniffles some, still pressing himself into Anakin. Rex rubs the back of his neck in guilt over what he has done.

Anakin decides to try and calm Stutter down. "Hey, it's alright. You're safe here. No one is going to hurt you. We're all here for you, including Rex." There was no movement for a moment until Stutter pulled away to look up at Anakin who smiles reassuringly down at him. 

Stutter sniffles in response and turns around to see Rex with a nervous smile, hoping that Stutter understands that he is in a safe environment now and that Rex hadn’t meant to scare him. Stutter walks towards Rex and gives him a hug. Rex wraps his arms around his little brother. "I'm sorry, Vod'ika."

"I-It's okay, O-O-Ori'Vod." He can't help but cry a little bit more into Rex, creating a little damp patch on his shirt, but he doesn't mind it one bit. All that matters is that Stutter is safe now. Rex still feels so bad for scaring his Vod’ika, especially knowing about his past. Rex and his family absolutely hate Stutter's “Family”, they promised that they won't let them hurt him anymore, and that's a promise they intend to keep. 

"Shh, it's okay now. It's okay…" Rex whispers as he places a kiss on top of Stutter's head, holding him close to him. Rex swears that he will never hurt Stutter like this ever again, he can’t stand to hurt his Vod’ika.

Obi Wan has calmed Cody down now too, giving him a quick, loving kiss on the lips before they walk over towards the crowd.

Everyone is glad that everything has calmed down now. Rex lets go of Stutter, looking around to see everyone staring at him. He feels so bad and embarrassed that he runs out of the room, heading up the stairs and into his room. He jumps on his bed and presses his face into his pillow, hot tears of embarrassment and regret wetting it.

xxx

It's been an hour since the fight and Cody is sitting in a chair, quietly thinking. He doesn’t know what to do, he tried talking to his older cousins, Fox and Thorn, both two years older than him. They told him that the way he had handled the situation was wrong and so did his uncle 99, his uncle said that he should go talk to Rex, but Cody doesn’t know if Rex would want to talk to him.

“Cody?” He turns to see Obi Wan and Knight Plo, Wolffe, Sinker, Boost and Comet’s adopted father, walk in.

“Obi Wan, Knight Plo. do you two need something?” They both look at eachother.

“You do know that you have to talk to him at some point, right Cody?” Cody sighs in frustration.

“I know, but what do I even say. I don’t know what to do this time Obi Wan, I’ve really messed things up. My dad would have handled the situation so much better than me.” Plo places a hand on Cody’s shoulder, who looks up at him.

“I know that it's hard Cody, you’re only a young man yourself. But Rex needs you right now, I can feel it in the force. Take it from me, even grown adults make mistakes.” Cody nods, and Obi Wan walks over. He grabs Cody’s hand, pressing his lips to his fingers, then to Cody’s forehead.

“He needs you, he’s hurting and he needs his big brother.”

 Cody sighs nodding again, he stands up out of his chair. “You’re right, thanks sweetheart. Knight Plo.” Plo nods, Cody thinks he’s smiling, but can’t be sure because of the mask.

“You can just call me Plo, we’re family after all.” Cody nods, heading to try to make amends with his Vod’ika.

When he reaches Rex's room, he's about to knock on the door when he hears a few sniffles from the other side. "Rex?" It suddenly goes quiet on the other side and there's no response. "Rex'ika, it's me...can I please come in?" 

He's about to walk away, but he finally gets a response. "Come in." Rex's voice was slightly muffled, but it was clear enough for Cody to understand and enters his little Brother's room. 

Cody sees Rex laying down on his back on his bed, his right arm draped over his eyes, not wanting to even spare a glance at Cody. "I've come to apologise for my actions earlier. I shouldn't have started that fight. I'm sorry." He apologises, sitting down on the bed. Nothing. "Please, Rex. Just look at me."

Reluctantly, Rex removes his arm from his face and sits up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He looks a mess. His eyes are red and his nose is a little runny from crying regretful tears into his pillow. Cody goes to fetch Rex a tissue and brings it back, handing it to him. "Thank you." He wipes his nose, still a bit sniffly. "I'm sorry too, it was my fault. My day just got worse and worse, then it was all too much to handle anymore and now I've ruined Christmas. And I made Stutter cry. After all he went through before we took him in, I brought back all of those traumatic memories and-" he chokes back a sob. "And I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for being so selfish." He puts his head in his hands, huffing a deep breath out trying to stop the tears from coming back.

"Oh Rex'ika. It's alright, you haven't ruined Christmas. We all have bad days, so I understand now that you were probably just stressed, right?" Rex nods in response, not wanting to look up. "C'mere."

Rex gets pulled into a hug, feeling Cody trap him in a comforting embrace. He relaxes into his Ori'vod's arms, still having regretful thoughts racing throughout his mind. "I'm so sorry, Bubby."

"It's alright. I love you, Rex'ika. No matter what, I'll always be here for you."

"Thank you. I love you too." Rex smiles as he sits up a little, giving Cody a Keldabe kiss.

"Are you ready to go back down now?" Cody doesn't want to force Rex to do something he doesn't want to, but he also knows that staying in his room for the rest of the night isn't going to do him any good.

Rex sits quietly for a few moments, thinking quietly to himself. "Yeah. Could you go down with me?" 

"Of course." Cody smiles at his Vod'ika.

"Thank you, Bubby." Rex smiles in return.

"You're welcome. That's what brothers are for." He gives Rex a little nudge and a playful wink as they both stand up and head out of his room into the corridor, walking towards the ballroom to meet again with everyone else.

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