#man even rex believes in anakin

[fellthemarvelous]

How can you be on the council and not be a master?

I need to stop looking at Star Wars TikTok posts because I guess the concept of personal accountability is lost on so many people.

I love Anakin Skywalker. I do. I think he is one of the best fictional characters ever created because he is so fucking complex. I love him for all the good he did and in spite of all the bad things he did as Darth Vader. In the end, he sacrificed his own life to save his son.

That's the thing that's killing me right now.

People want to blame everyone else except for Anakin for the choices he made. They want to blame the Jedi because the Jedi don't strictly adhere to their vision of love and are therefore responsible for why Anakin fell to the dark side.

I saw a few comments where someone blamed the Jedi (specifically Obi-Wan), blamed the council, blamed Ahsoka because she left him, blamed Padme (because if we can't blame female characters for something then what are we even doing, right?), blamed the Jedi for not trusting him (and therefore somehow preventing him from believing in himself), and then at the end was like...oh and I guess Palpatine too since he groomed him for 13 years.

First of all, why is it a chore to blame Palpatine for Anakin's problems but so easy to blame the Jedi?

Imagine the heartbreak Anakin felt when he learned that the man who spent 13 years mentoring him turned out to be the Sith lord the Jedi had been searching for. That's reason enough to be angry at Palpatine because it was Palpatine who broke Anakin's spirit.

Secondly, not one of these people is responsible for Anakin's actions. Not one of them. Not even Palpatine. That's why it had to be Anakin's choice. Palpatine could not force him to fall, so he had to resort to manipulation and gaslighting to fuck with Anakin's head. He spent 13 years planting seeds of self-doubt and mistrust in the Jedi in Anakin's head. Because what happened when Palpatine assigned Anakin to the Jedi council despite having zero authority to do so??

"How can you be on the council and not be a master?"

The Jedi Council would like to ask Anakin the same question.

You have to be a Jedi master before you can be on the council.

Anakin became upset because he was denied the rank of master. It didn't occur to him at all that Palpatine intentionally placed him in that situation for that exact reason. Palpatine knew the Jedi well, and he knew how they would react. He knew it would lead the Jedi to asking Anakin to spy on him. He played the long game and it paid off.

The Jedi taught Anakin what they could, but they have no control over whether or not Anakin put the Jedi code into practice. The Jedi trusted Anakin. We saw them trust Anakin with their lives many many times during the Clone Wars.

They gave him a padawan for crying out loud. They looked at this 19-year-old, freshly knighted Jedi General and trusted him to mentor Ahsoka, a 14-year-old girl who was more advanced than everyone else her age. He's a vergence in the Force and they gave him a padawan who was already incredibly powerful. It's rare for Jedi to get their own padawans at such a young age, but Anakin was a Force prodigy and Ahsoka could have become a knight herself at 16 if she had not left the Order.

The Jedi trusted him. Until they didn't.

Anakin is the one who slaughtered an entire clan of Tusken Raiders in anger after the death of his mother. Even the women and the children. He killed all of them because he hated all of them and he was angry because he wasn't able to prevent his mother from dying in his arms. The only people who knew about that were Padme and Palpatine.

Anakin is the one who spent three years lying to the Jedi because he kept his relationship with Padme a secret from everyone (except Rex). He believed he could have it all if he tried hard enough, and trying to have it all is what lead to him losing everything when he chose to fall to the dark side, when he chose to sacrifice the galaxy for one person, only to lose her and his unborn child for good.

During the war, Ahsoka told Barriss that Anakin will always do what needs to be done, leaving out the part that includes the use of terror and torture. Barriss got to witness Anakin's rage personally when he figured out that she was the one who framed Ahsoka for treason.

We all saw how Luminara reacted to Ahsoka violently threatening Nute Gunray to get him to talk. She was horrified and immediately reprimanded Ahsoka because it is not the Jedi way to resort to terror. The Jedi were supposed to negotiate, not terrorize. And Anakin taught Ahsoka his version of aggressive negotiations. (And she hinted at the fact that she used aggressive negotiations against Morgan Elsbeth when Huyang questioned her about how she obtained the information to locate the map to Peridea and she told him that she did not follow Jedi protocol.)

When Anakin interrogated Poggle the Lesser during Brain Invaders, he physically hit Poggle before force choking him. He used brutality to get the answers he needed. Obi-Wan, Luminara and Ki-Adi all expressed concern over how he got Poggle to talk, and he wouldn't tell them what he did. What he did went against the Jedi code. He made that choice. No one else made it for him. He knows it was wrong. It's why he didn't answer their questions.

Yes, he was doing it because Ahsoka was in imminent danger and he needed to save her (and Barriss and the infected clones) and there wasn't enough time to negotiate with Poggle. Anakin did what an older brother would have done for his little sister, but she was also his padawan and he was her master. And it was very clear that Ahsoka was a lot like him.

It's not Anakin's fault that Ahsoka left the Jedi Order, but it is not Ahsoka's fault that Anakin fell. He was incapable of letting go of his padawan (he literally resurrected her from the dead on Mortis), which was an important part of the reason he was given a padawan in the first place. He had formed a strong attachment to her just as he had Padme and Obi-Wan and Rex and C-3PO and R2-D2.

His unwillingness to let go of his attachments is what caused him to fall. He was a Jedi, and Jedi are not supposed to form attachments. So when he betrayed the Jedi Order to save Padme's life, his fall to the dark side was a result of him giving into his hatred and his anger. He took his rage out on an entire galaxy for 25 years because he was unable to let go.

Attachment does not equal love.

Maul was attached to Obi-Wan and there was nothing loving about it. It was violent and many people died because of Maul's inability to let go of his anger and hatred for Obi-Wan.

The whole reason that Anakin gave into the dark side completely was because he fell for the trap. He believed he could use the dark side without letting it consume him, but the dark side is all about controlling others. He couldn't control Padme and he ended up force choking her. He couldn't control Ahsoka and she left. He couldn't control Obi-Wan and chose to fight against him instead of listening to Obi-Wan's pleas.

No one could save Anakin Skywalker from himself. He had to save himself from his own darkness.

Which he did, in the end, because he saw his son being tortured by Palpatine, and he realized what it meant to let go. He finally understood what he needed to do and accepted that he would have to give up his own life to do so.

It took him a long time to understand what it means to let go, because letting go isn't giving up. Letting go is about accepting that there are some things beyond his control.

The conversation he had with his mother on Mortis was key to helping him accept who he was in the end. "Your guilt does not define you. You define your guilt."

He knew he was going to die, but he died saving someone he loved, doing the right thing and ultimately returning balance to the Force. He accepted his destiny. He accepted responsibility for who he was as Anakin Skywalker and that Anakin Skywalker was also responsible for the actions of Darth Vader because they were one in the same.

It's the problem we see Ahsoka struggling with when she's with him in the World Between Worlds. She struggled with the knowledge that her master became a monster and worried about what that meant for her. She struggled to figure out who she would have become if she had not left the Order. She had to wrestle with her own darkness, and Anakin's final lesson to her also took a weight off her shoulders. It's why she's suddenly that same girl we saw at the beginning of the war. The one who always smiled and was always so sure of herself. She chose the light and it was reflected in the way she suddenly began wearing white, a contrast to what she'd been wearing decades.

It's understanding that she has control of her own destiny, whatever that might be, and that she gets to choose who she decides to be. Anakin chose to be a Jedi in the end, and he was able to pass a hard-learned lesson onto a padawan he loved like his own sister. He was still able to watch out for her in the end while teaching her one more time.

It's never too late to do the right thing, but it's Anakin who has to take responsibility for his actions instead of blaming everyone else for all of his problems.

Apparently that's a lesson a lot of fans need to learn too.

A question Star Wars has always asked us is "how far are you willing to go to save what you love?"

[masterjedilenawrites]

Hi!!! I listening to the Florence and the Machine song “girl with one eye” and it got me in a super angsty mood, and I had this idea that what if reader saves Rex from being tortured like a heroine and does the dramatic bridal carry and everything, instead of the usual reader being saved like a lot of fics end up writing in terms of super angst (absolutely no hate, I love those too) I just think it would be nice to see the reader being extremely capable!

You obviously do not have to write anything like this, I just had the idea and you are by far one of my favorite writers (my dyslexic ass cant write for shit)

Anyways, hope you have a wonderful day!

Saving Rex

Rex x reader | 4.4k words

Content: torture (not shown but discussed), injuries, general angst, reader with some physical strength/stamina, friends to lovers, hope and love prevail

Note: I'd really like to believe I could carry Rex down a flight of stairs if I needed to. Maybe I'll use that for motivation during my next workout 😝 (Also this got really emotional in some places, please don't hate me)

To say you were panicking was an understatement. Rex had never been this late to a rendezvous. And with comms jammed, there weren't many options to figure out what could be keeping him. It was one of your only nightmares coming true. Something happening to that noble, wonderful man you called a friend.

You paced restlessly between the walls of the bunker, an eye on the door at all times. Any noise, any howl of the wind or scrape of someone's boot on the concrete floor, made you twitch in alarm. You had never experienced the seconds ticking by so slowly. Kriff, where was he?

"You should get some rest."

While you watched the door, Anakin watched you. Normally he would tease over any emotion you showed for his Captain; no matter how much you tried to keep such feelings under wraps, the Jedi always seemed to sense the truth anyway. But now he put jokes aside and did what he could to quell your anxieties.

You only shook your head in response and continued your pacing.

Anakin sighed and fell back in his chair. The other men in the bunker were anxious, too. Even if he couldn't feel it, he could see it all around. Bouncing knees. Fiddling with random objects. Untouched food and unspoken words. No one was going to sleep, even though everyone needed it. It was going to be a long night. Unless Rex found his way back.

Anakin could admit he was worried for the clone, too. They had fought alongside each other for so long now, it didn't seem possible that there'd be a day where one of them was no longer standing. But what he couldn't admit, at least not to anyone else, was that he had a very bad feeling this time. He kept trying to reach out in the Force, find some trace of his comrade out there, and he kept coming back with an even worse feeling than before.

A sudden sound at the door caused everyone to sit up, tense and hopeful. Three knocks with a very specific rhythm. Someone from your team. You could barely breathe as you waited for Anakin to open the door.

Ahsoka hurried through, along with a gust of wind that fluttered some of the more lightweight objects around the room. Anakin quickly shut it behind her. You'd almost forgotten she had been out, too. Gone to look for Rex, help him get back. But she hadn't brought anyone back with her. Now you really couldn't breathe.

"What'd you find?" asked Anakin, noting the urgent expression on the young girl's face.

"They've taken him to the fortress across the south bridge. I followed a... trail," she quickly glanced over at you, omitting what the trail was composed of for your sake, though you could make an educated guess if you had to. "They have him in a tower. I couldn't get eyes on him, but... Well, I could hear him."

Her face screwed up in distress at the memory and everyone in the room knew exactly what she meant.

"Any way we can carry out an extraction?" asked Anakin.

"If not now, then when?" You marched forward, determined and resolute. You could breathe again, though just barely. "Nighttime. Storm. Now is the only time."

Anakin still looked to his padawan for confirmation. She'd seen the fortress and would know whether it was a risk worth taking, even for someone as dear to them as Rex.

To your satisfaction, Ahsoka didn't hesitate to nod quickly. "That's why I hurried back as fast as I could. I couldn't get to him on my own, but with a small team...."

"It'll have to be really small. We can't risk blowing our cover here," Anakin agreed and finally uncrossed his arms. He hadn't realized how tense he'd been holding himself this whole time. But now there was some hope, and all that was needed to reach it was a bit of daring action. Something he was never in short supply of, and something hew knew Rex wouldn't hesitate to do for him if the roles were reversed.

"You, me," you motioned to yourself and Anakin. "Ahsoka can keep guard here."

"And me," came a clone's voice by your side. All of them were intently listening to the conversation, and while any one of them would have been eager to volunteer to save their Captain, one knew he was needed more than any other. Kix.

"There may not be time to administer first aid on sight," Anakin cautioned.

Kix puffed himself up a bit. "I'll do what I can. You two focus on getting us out without a fuss."

Anakin smirked and you cast him a grateful smile of your own. This was not an ideal outcome, learning that Rex was in distress. But at least he wasn't dead yet, and you could work with that. Now his fate was in your hands. And with a burning fire in your heart, you knew you would save him.

- - -

Rex waited until the echoing of their footsteps was gone before allowing himself to collapse. His knees hit cold stone but the jolt was barely felt amongst the rest of the pain radiating throughout his body. He curled in on himself, arms gently folding around the worst of the injuries in his middle, and his head hung low in exhaustion.

He wasn't sure how much more he could take of this. He hated the thought, but it was true. An entire day of torment and torture, relentless and unforgiving. Even with all his training, this situation was proving difficult to bear.

There was only one thing keeping him alive, he was sure of it. You. The memories of your smile, your laughter, all the lovely things you somehow said at just the right times. The thought of you continuing on without ever knowing how he felt. You were strong and capable in your own right, but he still wanted to be there for you. To protect you. To love you.

Gods, how he loved you.

He couldn't be broken in this place. No, not before seeing you one more time. He would give you his heart, and then he could finally let go.

- - -

Your feet thunked against each step of the spiraling stone stairs. Anakin's and Kix's were not far behind. Only a few guards and droids had had to be taken care of thus far, done swiftly and discretely by the two soldiers while you focused on navigating through the labyrinth of the fortress to the tower that held Rex. But as soon as you'd reached the door leading upward, Anakin had voiced his unease. Worse was coming, he insisted. And if they proceeded, they'd be just as trapped in that tower as their Captain was.

You pushed forward without a second thought.

And they reluctantly followed.

You weren't dumb. You knew it was foolish to rush into an enemy's territory with no plan and no backup. You knew you could be condemning Rex with your impulsive actions rather than saving him. But somehow, those sensible thoughts were overwhelmed by a deep and desperate need to find him at any cost. If you could just see him, then everything would be okay.

Thunk, thunk, thunk. One step and then another and another. Your lungs heaved and your thighs burned but you kept climbing. You weren't sensitive to the Force, but you swear you could feel yourself getting closer to him.

The sudden sound of a lightsaber igniting behind you finally gave you pause. You stumbled on the next step as you slowed and turned. Anakin had stopped several steps below and was staring downward, waiting for something.

"What is it, sir?" Kix huffed beside him.

Anakin only held up a finger as if he were trying to listen. You were panting, too, and tried to hold in a breath so you could hear whatever he could. There was only the hum of a lightsaber and the wailing of the wind from the other side of stone walls.

And then suddenly there was pounding. The whole tower seemed to shake with the thunderous footsteps of soldiers making their way upward, blocking your only way back out. Anakin jerked his head toward you.

"Go. Find him. I'll push them back."

As Anakin rushed downward, Kix wavered in between. Rex would need his aid, but his aid would be worthless if they couldn't escape. He finally looked back at you, too.

"You've got this," he stated before raising his blaster and following General Skywalker.

You resumed your trek upward, your attention slipping back to its previous singular focus of finding Rex. Of seeing him again. Alive.

You finally reached the top of the tower and were met with a simple wooden door. Again, you knew you should slow down and think through a strategy. What if there were guards on the other side? What if their blades slipped because you startled them? But you couldn't help yourself. You'd come too far to not burst right through.

There were no guards. There were no blades. But there was, thankfully, distressingly, Rex.

He was slumped against the far wall. Motionless. You crossed the room with a few bounding strides and gently pulled him away from the wall.

You'd anticipated him being in bad shape, but not to this extent. His armor was stripped and the tattered clothes they had him in instead did nothing to hide his condition. Bruises along his arms. A sickly pallor to his skin. Dark circles beneath his eyes and cracks along his lips. His head swung toward you listlessly as you turned him. You quickly positioned his body against yours and your hand cradled his head in support.

"Rex," you coaxed, willing your voice to remain strong. Panic wouldn't help him like this. "Rex, it's okay. We're going to get you out of here. Okay?"

His eyelids fluttered but couldn't seem to stay open. He did turn toward your voice, and through a series of near-unintelligible mutters, you managed to make out your name.

"Yes," you smiled, moving your hand to cup the side of his head so you could run a soothing thumb along his cheek. "Yes, it's me. I'm here. I've got you. You're okay now."

He shifted his arms, and at first you thought he was ready to try standing. You made to move, too, but then noticed he was doing something else. He held his hand over his chest, on the side of his heart. And then slowly, his other hand reached out to rest onto your chest.

You shook your head at him, not understanding. Was he hurt there? Did they do something to his heart?

Then Rex's worn face contorted into what could only be a smile. A small but serene smile, like he'd finally found peace. The smile slowly slipped away and his body started to feel heavier in your arms.

Now you couldn't keep the panic at bay. It came out in full force, along with tears and desperate squeezing. 

"No no no. Rex. Wake up, Rex. Please. You can rest soon but we have to leave first. Okay? We have to go now. Please."

You didn't know what to do beyond pleading and shaking him. He couldn't slip away now, not when you'd just gotten here. A part of you had hoped that maybe, just by seeing you, his spirits would lift. That you would be that little kickstart to his heart that'd help him keep going. But sadly, it seemed your fantasies of him returning your affections were only that. In reality, you could have been anybody coming to his rescue, and you'd be too late either way.

No. You shook yourself now. No, it didn't matter how he felt or didn't feel. You loved him. That fire in your heart was still burning, and you were going to get him out of here alive.

You carefully but swiftly got your legs back under you, still keeping Rex's body supported as you maneuvered each other into the right position. You weren't a soldier. You didn't have the same build as the clones. But damn if you weren't just as determined and capable. So with a deep, steadying breath, you heaved his body across your back. One of your arms wrapped around his closest leg, keeping it tight against your side as you reached across to grab at his arm. He was heavy, but secure, and you knew you could carry him this way for as long as it'd take to escape. And as an added bonus, you'd heard a soft grunt from him as he'd bent over your shoulders. He was still alive.

You wasted no time standing around with the extra weight. You were back out the door and heading down the stairs faster than you could register. One hand running along the wall for balance and the other firmly grasped on Rex's forearm. Your thighs had done the most work to get you up the stairs; now it was your knees taking the brunt of effort going down. In your mind you alternated between prayers for your joints and prayers for Rex's life.

The sounds of your steps were drowned by the reverberating sounds of combat. The echoes made it hard to tell their distance away as you continued your descent. You braced yourself for the inevitable, feeling more and more grateful the further you went without sight of any blaster fire. You estimated only a quarter of the way left by the time you met some of the carnage on the stairs. Sizzling metal and blaster marks on the walls. It was another several of floors of picking your way between it all before you then came across Kix and Anakin. They'd made good progress pushing the onslaught back.

You hovered just beyond their reach so as to keep Rex away from the crossfire. Anakin's lightsaber did most of the work to keep the enemy at a distance, though occasionally a shot would ricochet onto the wall by your head. But slowly and surely, you were all able to make it down to the next step. Lower and lower. Closer and closer to the end.

Eventually Kix was able to pause in his help and scurry up to check on Rex. He nodded at you when he confirmed a pulse but was just as unsuccessful as you in his efforts to get the Captain to wake.

"Dehydration, possible blood loss from these wounds here," the medic chattered, more to himself than anyone, as he dug through his pack. He tore open a bacta patch and slapped it across an oozing mess of scabs on Rex's shoulder and then handed you a stim while he continued to rummage.

You jabbed the stim into the back of Rex's thigh, thrilled that you managed to elicit another groan from him. Any sign of life was a good one at this point.

"Need me to take over?" Kix asked once he'd found a breathing mask and stood back up. You shook your head, already heading back down the stairs. Anakin had managed to get through a good amount more of the droids. Kix shrugged and then rushed ahead to continue laying down blaster fire.

The fight to escape took far longer than anyone would have wanted. Even once you'd made it out of the stuffy tower, there was the maze of hallways to run back through, and more enemies to fight along the way. All hopes of a stealthy rescue were long gone. It made you nervous, wondering if you'd be able to make it out at all, at this point. The further you moved into the open, the harder it was to keep fighting. If you were lucky enough to make it outside the fortress of droids, then you'd be surrounded by a storm. You were but a Jedi, a medic, and a civilian staff member carrying a near-unconscious soldier. The path forward was looking rather grim.

You eventually got yourselves into what seemed to be a supply closet. You knew there was a service door leading outside down one end of the hall, and the front entrance to the fortress itself was only around another corner as well. But you were flanked by droids on either side. Anakin kept the door to the closet open so he could continue to pick off the droids, while you were finally able to take a break from carrying Rex as Kix more properly tended to some of his injuries.

"How's he looking?" Anakin asked over his shoulder. He wasn't sure what he wanted the answer to be. He was glad Rex was alive, but they were all running out of options. From his estimates, they'd either need to surrender and think through a better escape plan later, or barrel forward with a Hail Mary and hope for the best. Either option would be difficult with Rex in this state. If he was getting worse... if he wasn't going to make it... Anakin shuddered at the thought of having to make that call.

Kix didn't immediately answer. He'd removed the breathing mask which seemed to have sparked some energy back into Rex. He was groaning and huffing, clutching at his midsection and rolling his head back and forth restlessly. Kix tried getting his attention but the Captain only continued to fidget and groan.

"Was he like this when you found him?" Kix asked you.

"No, he was quieter. He knew who I was, though."

Kix motioned for you to come closer. "See if he'll respond to you again."

"Rex." You quickly saddled up by his side, ignoring the pain in your back and legs from crouching. "Rex, look at me. It's okay. Just breathe. You'll be okay."

Surprisingly, your voice seemed to work. Rex stilled, turning his head toward the sound. That weird little smile crept back on his face.

"Rex?"

He responded with your name, small and rasping, but clear all the same. You couldn't help but smile in return.

"Oh good, you are awake enough."

With lightning speed, Kix was back in view with a vial of... something. He tipped it into Rex's mouth and held his hand over to keep the Captain from spitting it back out. Rex sputtered and writhed against Kix's hand but eventually swallowed the liquid down with a hard, painful gulp. Rex's eyes had shot open in the process. They were red, but alert.

"It's okay," you tried soothing again. Rex relaxed against the wall he was propped against and locked his eyes with yours.

"You... came... for me?" he croaked out.

You nodded. For a second, you could have sworn tears were brimming in Rex's eyes. Maybe it was only the medicine.

"Hate to ruin the moment," Anakin called back out. The blaster fire from the hall had grown louder, closer. "But we're out of time here. Kix, anything in this closet we can fashion into a grenade?"

The medic scrambled up to look amongst the shelves.

"Rex, you able to stand? I need you both shooting blasters if you can manage it."

"I will try."

Rex was already trying to push himself off the wall. You wrapped an arm around his back and help hoist him up. His legs shook wildly from the sudden weight. You kept him leaning against you, one arm over your shoulder.

"It's okay, I've got you."

Rex smiled down at you, far too softly for what the situation allowed. You held his gaze with surprise.

Kix was pouring random bottles into each other, hoping they'd make the desired effect. Anakin was cursing as the droids drew nearer. Rex seemed to be trying to tell you something with his eyes. And just when you were about to suggest looking into the air vent situation of this place, there came a large and reverberating kaboom.

You all froze. Including the droids, who then appeared to have been given new orders as they neatly turned in the opposite direction and marched away. Something had happened by the entrance. After a few moments, you could hear their blasters firing again, along with the sounds of other weapons. Familiar weapons. Anakin grinned.

"Obi-Wan," he said before running after them.

You could've cried. Instead, you looked back up at Rex and smiled.

"Ready to go home?"

- - -

You hadn't left Rex's side for a second, much to Kix's chagrin. It was that much harder to heal a battered brother with a stubborn civvy sitting in the way. But, despite his many grumbling complaints, he still let you stay. He knew your heart. And Rex's. It'd be best for both of you to keep close, until you knew each other's.

Though when Rex did wake, you could barely get out one tearfully happy hello before seemingly everyone else on base came to his side, too.

"Thank the gods you're alive!"

"Glad you're okay, brother."

"Good to have you back."

"Can't keep a good man down."

Rex appreciated their words, he really did. He tried not to notice how silent you'd fallen amongst them. It was your words he wanted to hear most.

"How did we get out of there?" he instead asked Anakin. He remembered waking in a dark room, Kix shoving something down his throat, your voice as you sweetly called his name. Beyond that was a blur. He was pretty sure he'd passed out once he tried walking.

"I kept think about the storm," Ahsoka was the one to answer instead. "And how it would give them cover getting to the fortress. And then I thought if they happened to get caught, that'd provide just enough distraction for us to start with a good attack."

"And by us, she of course means the 212th," smirked Cody. Obi-Wan was busy sending word back to Coruscant on the mission, though they all owed it to the Jedi's decision to go looking for General Skywalker and the missing 501st. Without the added reinforcements, Ahsoka's plan wouldn't have stood a chance.

"We're just really glad you're alive, Rex," Ahsoka said softly.

"Yeah, we don't know what we would have done without you," said Anakin, though he was looking toward you as he said it. Everyone else followed his gaze, causing you to blush at the sudden attention.

"They carried you the whole way, you know," Anakin added, now directed toward Rex.

Rex's eyes grew wide, impressed.

"Don't you remember?" prompted Kix.

"I... remember you finding me," Rex told you. "In that cell. I remember feeling hope again."

Your ears were still hot from Anakin's obvious insinuations of your feelings, and now everyone was giving each other looks at Rex's words. You decided to deflect with some humor.

"Right before you tried to cop a feel," you smirked.

That did the trick. A chorus of salacious oohs and laughter rang through the rank of clones gathered. Fives went up and clapped Rex's shoulder, his bad one. Rex's wincing caused Kix to hastily shoo away Fives and everyone else making a ruckus. You remained, noticing that through it all, Rex had a blush rivaling your own.

"I... I didn't..." he stammered once most of his visitors had disappeared. Anakin gave you one last look before then coaxing Ahsoka to leave as well.

"It's okay," you reassured. "You were out of it."

"No, I wasn't, I... I was..." Rex huffed. He was having a hard time finding the right words. "Never mind, it's silly."

He fell back against the pillows with a sigh. You scooted your stool forward and rested your hands on the bedside.

"Please tell me, Rex. I feel like you've been trying to tell me something ever since I found you. But I was so focused on trying to keep you alive, I didn't understand. I'm sorry."

Rex smiled back at you, encouraged. "It's alright. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I would make it out alive. But I... well... I didn't want to let go without..." He paused, embarrassed again. This was going to sound ridiculous if you didn't feel the same.

"Without...?"

"Without giving you my heart first."

He looked at you hesitantly to find your lips had parted in surprise.

"I know. It was a silly thought--"

"No," you breathed. Your hands now slid from the blanket onto his. The memory of him in your arms, beaten and bruised, using what strength he had left to gesture between his heart and yours... you wished you'd understood then. You'd thought he hadn't cared for you in that way at all.

Rex's eyes watered along with yours as your hands clasped together and a newfound understanding settled in between.

"You can't ever disappear on me like that again," you said with a wobble in your voice. "Anakin's right, I don't know what I would have done without you. I... I love you too much to even think of it."

Rex brought your hands up to meet his lips. He kissed your knuckles softly.

"I love you, too. And... I think I'm going to need to reconsider some things, knowing that you love me back."

He gazed over your clasped hands and met the eyes of Anakin, on the other side of the medbay looking in on the other patients. He wasn't the only injured soldier from the mission. General Skywalker was a good man for checking on them, just as he would do once he could stand on his own feet again. The look he now shared with the Jedi was one of agreement. A lot had changed from this mission, and a lot would need to still change. Love, sometimes, took priority even in war. Anakin knew that better than most.

"I don't want you to--" you started to say as realization dawned. But Rex quickly shook his head.

"We have time to discuss it. Right now, just let me hold you."

You didn't need to be asked twice. Helping him carefully scoot over, you then slipped under the hospital blanket and tucked yourself in at his side. It felt right, like where you were always meant to be.

Your worst nightmare had played out in a harrowing day of panic and fear. And now your greatest dream was nestled at your side, safe and sound and alive. It had been a frightening price to pay, one you hoped you'd never have to spend again, but the heart you now held was surely a worthy reward.

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[i-really-love-cookies]

i love palpatine’s manipulation. not in the way that he hurt anakin and padme when all anakin wanted was to save his wife and child(ren) but in the way that it’s so good.

we already know that palpatine is the sith lord from return of the jedi, but the prequels show how really horrible he was. in the original trilogy we just saw him as this mysterious guy who was leading stuff behind the scenes, but most of our focus was on vader. in the prequels he becomes much more terrifying. he turns from a mysterious man to a cruel, manipulative being.

at the end of the phantom menace, when palpatine has been elected chancellor and comes to naboo, when he sees anakin he praises him for what he did and says “we will watch your career with great interest.” he is already implanting himself as an important figure with anakin. he’s known this kid for about two minutes, but he also knows about anakin. if the theory that palpatine is anakin’s father is correct, he would know that anakin was a slave. he would know about his mother, his friends, his situation. at the lack of a parental figure, palpatine became a father figure for anakin so that obi wan couldn’t.

throughout the ten year time skip between the phantom menace and attack of the clones, palpatine obviously becomes closer and closer to anakin. he becomes like a father figure to him. anakin even says that. i can’t remember when exactly but he does. the revenge of the sith book states that anakin and obi wan are like brothers, because as stated earlier, palpatine became a father figure before obi wan could.

when anakin goes to palpatine to convince him to talk to padme, he says “you are the most gifted jedi i have ever met.” and “i see you becoming the greatest of all the jedi, anakin. even more powerful than master yoda.” he is praising anakin on his skill, which we know is what he craves when he didn’t allow himself to smile at the start of episode iii until obi wan says “another happy landing.” however by saying that anakin could be greater than master yoda, he’s putting an idea in his mind that he is better than yoda. what if he is better than yoda? after the death of shmi he definitely wants to be. if he can be greater, more powerful than yoda, then he can save ahsoka. he can save padme. anakin’s obsession with power and controlling things after being controlled his whole childhood is part of the reason that palpatine was able to turn him.

i don’t believe that palpatine had anything to do with ahsoka’s trial, but if she hadn’t left the order then i believe he probably would’ve gotten dooku to get rid of her so that it would be easier to get anakin to kill him, and then manipulate the emotions he feels after it. when anakin says “i shouldn’t have done that” palpatine immediately gets in and explains it away. to get him to think of killing an unarmed man as easy as cake would turn him into the ruthless killing machine that vader is.

and then he turns obi wan against him. it’s just so good, how he gets to anakin when obi wan is away, he’s having bad dreams of his wife dying, he doesn’t know if rex and ahsoka are alright and the council is being… well the council. he tells him about darth plagueis, makes him think that he just needs to tap into the dark side for a bit to save padme, and then reveals himself to anakin knowing that he won’t say shit. if he does, his wife could die. anakin needs palpatine to tell him how to save padme. when anakin does actually turn he says that he’s only doing this to save padme’s life. that’s it.

like, palpatine’s an absolute arsehole, and i hate him with every bone in my body, but the way he manipulates anakin and everyone around him is just MMM

[slotmachines-fearofgod]

jsnnholy moly yes pls send the link to the codywan fic when its ready pretty pls

aghhhh so life update i broke my hand :( makes typing very hard so i'm not sure when it will be DONE done BUT i did make a WIP of the fic hehe so what i've got so far is below the cut

Cody sighed as he picked up the saber, giving it a perfunctory dust off. Really, Kenobi needed to stop throwing this thing around so much. He didn’t even know anything about the Jedi and he knew this was important. It was their one and only weapon, without it the general was -

Well, not defenseless. In their short time together Cody had to come to know his general was anything but defenseless. 

Cody tucked it into his belt, sure he’d have to readjust at some point. He really should just get a clip or holster and call it a day but the Jedi likely wouldn’t appreciate that. It wasn’t his saber after all. 

Cody strode through camp, his head high, as he scanned for Kenobi. Chances were the man was still off doing something insanely dangerous, but there was always hope. 

So far this war wasn’t what he thought it was going to be. For one, the Republic was overwhelmingly unprepared for them. Each commander had been brought before the Jedi Council the day of their assignments and had it very patiently explained to them that no, no one knew they existed before this. Before Geonosis. 

No one except Kenobi, that is. 

He’d gotten looks from his fellow commanders when he’d been given his assignment. Kenobi had been somewhat of a shock to them all the day he showed up on Kamino. A Jedi, dressed from head to toe in the exact robes they all used to giggle about because they simply couldn’t be real, showed up drenched in the Kamino rain and heralded the beginning of the end for them all. 

Some vode had whispered after Geonosis that Kenobi was a harbinger, a catalyst, a messenger of war. He was the first domino to fall and the clones would be the last. 

Cody largely dismissed this as stress-induced idiocy. Especially after the first three times the man lost his lightsaber. 

Cody made his way to the command tent, resolving to stop at the med tent if his general wasn’t there. They were holding their post well, waiting on the 501st forces to swoop in and give them a little back up. Christophsis was a busy place after all. 

“Cody!”

Cody stopped and sighed. Only one person refused to call him by rank in this shit show. 

“Yes, General?” Cody turned around, Kenobi’s lightsaber already held out toward him. 

Kenobi laughed at the obviously practiced motion, plucking the weapon from Cody’s hand without breaking his stride. Cody caught up after a few seconds, falling into lockstep with the man. 

“I have some excellent news,” Kenobi’s eyes glittered, “I believe my new padawan is arriving. Right now.”

Cody’s steps (and heart) stuttered, “Uh. Padawan? Sir?”

“Yes, yes, very exciting!” Kenobi did not seem to catch on to his panic, “You know, now that Anakin’s a knight I have no apprentice and the younglings can’t stay younglings forever. Someone has to step up and take charge.”

“And that’ll be you?” Came the sarcastic drawl from none other than Skywalker himself. 

Skywalker marched up to them, Rex in tow, and fell in on Kenobi’s other side. Cody took that as his cue to drop back, instead walking with Rex. Cody discreetly tapped his helmet and Rex nodded, making the switch to internal comms. 

“Captain,” Cody greeted while the Jedi talked.

“Commander,” came Rex’s tired reply, “Good to see you up and running.”

Cody huffed, “You have no idea.”

“He lose the lightsaber again?”

“Yup.”

“Great. Skywalker blew up another section of the street.”

Cody rolled his eyes, “Does he ever do anything that doesn’t involve explosions?”

“Not yet,” Rex grumbled, “You hear about the padawan?”

“Yeah,” Cody sighed, “Kenobi wants it to be his.”

“And you think it’s a good idea to leave it to Skywalker?” Rex pushed. Cody knew he had that stupid smirk on his face. 

“No,” Cody agreed, “I think a kid out here at all is a bad idea.”

“Yeah,” Rex sighed, “That we can agree on.”

They made it a ways further before reaching the landing platform. The two Jedi were still bickering with each other so Cody made himself busy with a few of the workers around the dock. By the time Kenobi called him back over he’d collected five new pieces of paperwork to sign off on later. 

Cody stood back with Rex, allowing the Jedi their space, as the ship touched down. He felt lightly nauseous. 

That became full blown vertigo when the child in a skirt and tube top stepped off the ship. He had never been more thankful for his helmet before because he was pretty sure his eyes were about to bug out of his head. 

She was tiny. And wearing no armor, let alone the robes that Kenobi and Skywalker seemed to favor. She couldn’t have been older than fourteen, her montrals not even grown into true horns. Cody could see one saber at her side but he doubted she was anywhere near as proficient as Kenobi. She likely had no field combat experience or medical training or -

“Breathe,” Rex reminded him with barely muffled laughter, “She’ll be fine.”

And then. 

And then. 

The best moment of Cody’s life happened. 

“Actually Master Kenobi, I’m supposed to be Knight Skywalker’s padawan.”

Cody almost pissed himself in relief. 

Rex, however, snapped up straight, his panic evident even without weird Force mind readers around. Kenobi cast an amused glance back at the two of them while Skywalker was too busy denying it. 

“Breathe,” Cody said, not bothering to hide his mirth, “You’ll be fine.”

Rex’s fist shot out before any of the three Jedi could catch it and smacked into Cody. When they turned to look at the pair there was nothing but staunch professionalism, but as soon as they turned back around Cody jabbed Rex in the armpit, right in the armor gap. Rex clutched at his shoulder, the nerve there flaring up, and gave Cody a seething look. Cody just shrugged. 

Brothers. 

Cody and Rex followed the motley trio back to inner camp. They melted into the background, allowing the Jedi to take the front on whatever needed doing. Honestly half of Cody’s job was listening and nodding and making sure whatever harebrained plan the Jedi came up with was at least doable for his men. That and checking the collateral damage. Jedi weren’t exactly masters of subtlety. 

There was still a lot to be done on Christophsis. With Ventress driven out and Separatist forces beginning to flee, it had calmed slightly, but other admirals had begun to press forward outside of the main horde. He was still directing troops all across the capital and the longer he was away the antsier he got. 

“Cody,” Kenobi called his name, grabbing his attention away from future battle plans and if Helix was still good to go on field medical supplies, “What do you think?”

“I think it’s an excellent idea sir,” came the automatic response. It was easier to just agree than have them repeat whatever it was they had said. Chances were they weren’t really asking him anyway.

As he expected, Kenobi nodded and turned back to Skywalker, “Right. Then you and Padawan Tano shall handle Rotta while we finish up here.”

Skywalker had a serious glower on his face but so long as it wasn’t directed at him Cody couldn’t find it in himself to care if the man liked his assignment or not. 

“Fine,” Skywalker bit out, “Come along Padawan,” he turned on his heel and left. 

The padawan - holy fuck she was so young - looked up at Kenobi with big eyes, “Does he hate me?”

Kenobi gave her a fond smile, “No. Anakin is just like that sometimes.”

She frowned and looked after her new master. Cody almost pitied her.

“Come along, Commander,” Rex stepped up and offered his arm, “We’ll track him down together.”

Yeah. Rex was going to be just fine with her. 

Then it was just him and Kenobi. 

Cody actually didn’t mind the other man. He was respectful enough, let Cody keep his distance, and operated with a decent amount of professionalism. That last bit fluctuated depending on the day but most of the time he behaved himself.

Cody grabbed a pad and flicked over to the bay reports he needed to wrap up. He’d go visit medical after this, check in with his medics and the wounded, and then make his way to the infantry barracks. He’d probably be out there with his men for the next big push so he’d need to clean his armor and guns as well. After that he’d go over battle plans with Kenobi, make sure everything was in order for them to seize the planet, especially now they had 501st backup. He wasn’t sure what the whole Rotta business was about but he’d read the report and figure it out on his own. 

Kenobi set his saber down gently on the tabletop. Cody glanced up, finding his general staring at him. 

“Is everything alright sir?”

“Hm?” Kenobi asked, his eyes seeming to actually focus on Cody this time, “Oh, yes of course. Thank you for getting my saber, by the way.”

“Oh,” Cody said, unused to actually being thanked, “You’re welcome. I actually just stumbled on it earlier.”

“Is that so?” Kenobi looked at him with mischief in his eyes, “How interesting. Where did you find it?”

Cody shrugged, “Just outside of base camp.”

“Curious,” Kenobi brought a hand up to stroke his beard and looked down at his saber, “I could have sworn I lost it at least five miles out. Funny how that happens.”

Cody resisted the urge to cock his head to the side and let his confusion show, “Yeah. Very funny.”

“Well,” Kenobi grinned back up at him, “Whatever the case, you’ve returned it to me safely and for that I cannot thank you enough.”

Cody hid a smile of his own under his helmet, thinking of all the past times he’d secretly put Kenobi’s saber somewhere he could find it or slipped it into his robe pocket while he wasn’t wearing said cloak. Maybe he should keep outright returning it. It was sort of nice to be thanked. 

“No worries General,” Cody assured him, “We all lose things sometimes.”

Funny how just a few minutes prior he’d been complaining to himself about what an irresponsible dumbass his general was. Now look at him. 

—

Cody was in the middle of a very exciting conversation about potential armor upgrades for the GAR when he felt himself get bodily dragged backwards. 

He immediately flung out an arm, glad their requisition officer, Fraud, was able to catch him. And then they both started moving backward. 

“What the hell?” Fraud yelled, letting go as fast as he’d grabbed on.

“I don’t know!” Cody waved his arms in panic, something pushing into his abdomen and sliding him across sleek steel floors, “Help me!”

Fraud and two other troopers, attracted by the fear coloring Cody’s tone, grabbed onto him. That, unfortunately, had absolutely no effect on whatever was pulling Cody along. Now there was a squad of four troopers, all panicking and yelling, being dragged across squeaky clean floors. 

“Cody, have you seen - oh my.”

The dragging suddenly stopped, the group yelling as they failed to stop pulling in time and all fell backwards

Cody groaned, having landed flat on his face, “What was that sir?”

“Never mind,” Kenobi was laughing, “I do believe I’ve found it. Would you like a hand?”

Cody turned his head to glare up at him, grateful for the cover of his helmet. Kenobi had a stupidly amused smile on his face as he stuck a hand out to both Cody and Fraud. 

Cody grumbled as he accepted it, standing with all the grace of a beached aiwha and taking off his bucket. His nose hurt like a motherfucker. 

Kenobi laughed as his expression was revealed, “My apologies boys, I was looking for this.” 

Next thing he knew Cody was bodily yanked toward Kenobi before the pressure was released. He stared in shock and betrayal as Kenobi’s saber flew to his hand out of Cody’s belt, pointing an accusing finger at his general. 

“You!”

“Me,” Kenobi grinned, “I’m afraid I was not aware it was attached to my good commander when I started searching but the show made it quite worth it.”

Cody was going to kill him. He was going to kill a Jedi. 

Cody turned to his men and dismissed them, thanking them for their ‘help.’ He could feel Kenobi laughing behind his back. When they’d filed out of the hallway Kenobi had pulled them all into Cody whirled around, furious. 

“What was that?” He asked, shoving his helmet back on.

“Fun,” Kenobi replied cheekily, placing both hands on Cody’s helmet and pulling it back off, “Accidental fun, but still fun. Let me see your face.”

Cody batted his hands away, “I’m fine. Just fell.”

Kenobi gave him a look and ran two fingers down his nose anyway. Cody’s face twisted into a scowl as he did so but he allowed it. Barely. If it was anyone else he would’ve bit their fingers off. 

That probably said more about him than Kenobi. 

Still, the pain disappeared in the wake of his hands and Cody had to admit it felt better.

“Thank you,” Cody said grumpily, still feeling the hit to his pride from skating across the floor for a solid thirty feet. 

“It was the least I could do,” Kenobi assured him, “I really have got to keep a better eye on this thing.” He sighed as he tucked his saber back into his robes, giving Cody an embarrassed grin. 

“You would think as a Jedi Master it wouldn’t be that hard,” Cody drawled, making Kenobi chuckle. 

“Yes, well these things seem to have a mind of their own sometimes,” Kenobi joked, “I put it down in the navigation room for two minutes and it was gone.”

Cody laughed, “I picked it up in the nav room, maybe you just didn’t look hard enough.”

Kenobi rolled his eyes, “And perhaps you stole it while I was turned away.”

Cody shook his head, smiling fondly. He liked Kenobi. More than was probably acceptable. But they spent nearly every minute of the day together, how was he supposed to avoid that?

“Come along General,” Cody tugged at his bicep, figuring if he could use the Force to drag Cody wherever he wanted Cody was well within his rights to do the same. Kenobi allowed it easily, laughing as Cody pulled him. 

“Where are we going?” Kenobi asked amusedly. 

“I’m getting you a weapons holster,” Cody released him once Kenobi began to follow of his own accord, “So you’ve got a better place to put it then your pocket.” Kenobi’s armor hadn’t automatically come equipped with a gun holster as he was a Jedi. He still preferred his cloak over his armor and base robes underneath, but neither of those were good options for tucking a lightsaber into. 

“Very well,” Kenobi sighed dramatically, “as my commander wishes.”

Cody, who was suddenly very glad he’d put his helmet back on as his cheeks flushed, scoffed, “This is for both our sakes.”

“I don’t know,” Kenobi pretended to stroke his beard in thought, “I quite like having the excuse to talk about something other than war with you.”

Cody didn’t really have a response to that one. Kenobi laughed at his obviously flustered form, saying, “You must admit it does get tiring after a bit.”

Cody shook his head and sighed, “You have no idea.”

Kenobi’s smile tightened then, his shoulder gently bumping Cody’s, “You know you are always welcome to come speak with me Cody. About anything. Not just battle plans and death tolls.”

Cody glanced over at him, seeing nothing but authenticity on his face, and said, “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Kenobi nodded, “I must admit, I do miss the companionship of my fellow Jedi. It would be nice to have a friend on board.”

Cody felt a weird warm feeling in his gut in that. He rolled his shoulders, trying to shake off the syrupy pleased part of himself and responded, “I thought we were already friends.”

Kenobi laughed, “Once you start calling me Obi-Wan I’ll say we’ve made it.”

Cody huffed, “But your rank -”

Kenobi waved his hand, effectively cutting him off, “Let’s not start that here, shall we?”

Cody frowned but let it slide. Kenobi could be weird about certain subjects and Cody had found it best to just smile and nod whenever that happened. 

Getting Kenobi his holster was a fairly quick process. A few pieces of flimsiwork, a waist measurement, and then it was handed over quickly. Cody showed him how to buckle it quickly on the armor, teasing him about his lack of knowledge for clothing outside Jedi robes, and stood back to admire his handiwork. 

It was just a little thing sitting at his hip, but at least now Cody could stop worrying every time he picked the saber off the battlefield that Kenobi was off bare knuckle brawling with Grievous somewhere. 

“What do you think?” Kenobi did a little spin like it was a brand new dress and not just a piece of equipment. 

Even so, Cody smiled and said, “Very nice. Hopefully this means you can keep better track of the thing now. And stop yanking me across the ship.”

Kenobi gave him a guilty smile, “As entertaining as it was for me, yes I think this should help.”

Cody chuckled, oblivious to the whispers of his brothers around them, “Glad to hear it sir.”

—

Cody cursed, taking another turn at top speed. He skidded around the corner, the sounds of combat growing closer. Ventress had found them and set a trap, luring Kenobi and Ghost onto her ship where she had the advantage. Of course Kenobi had sent Cody and the others to check for hostages or hostiles and he’d charged in, his saber blazing against the red light and black shadows of the ship. His cocky grin had been a bit slanted, the way it was whenever they went up against this particular acolyte, lit up in that familiar deep blue light. 

Kenobi’s call for backup had come just as they cleared out the last of the droids on board, sending Cody sprinting to his last known location. Kenobi rarely called for backup, much preferring to put himself in the line of fire instead of his men. A bad feeling churned in Cody’s gut. 

It only intensified as he spotted a small object in the center of the hall. Kenobi’s lightsaber rested innocently on the ground, making Cody push a little harder. He didn’t break his momentum as he sprinted forward, scooping the weapon up. He held it in his hand as he activated his comm. 

“Kenobi, come in. This is Commander Cody, I repeat General Kenobi come in.”

“Kenobi here,” Cody winced at the breathless voice over his comm, “How’s that backup looking?”

“I’m on my way sir, once I’ve found you the troops will track my position and move in behind. I’ve got your saber with me.”

“Excellent,” Kenobi said, the end turning into a shout as the sound of an opposing lightsaber came dangerously close to his audio input, “I’m in sector three hall fourteen.”

Cody let out a small breath of relief, “I’m one down sir. Hold on just a little longer. Cody out.”

It took him thirty seconds too long to find Kenobi. He turned the last corner to find Ventress standing over him, Kenobi flat on his back on the ground and her saber poised to strike. 

Cody grabbed for his pistol with his free hand, firing off a shot that was quickly deflected. He’d succeeded in capturing her attention though, her snarl now focused on him as he charged toward the pair. 

“Cody!” Kenobi yelled, “My saber!”

Cody tossed it, not sure what he was expecting, and watched in fascination as it shot toward Kenobi’s hand as though it was a magnet. In less then a second the two were fighting again, Kenobi having sprung up and blocked Ventress’ path to Cody. Cody called in backup, alerting the squad to their position, and fired over Kenobi’s shoulder when he had the chance. 

They fought like that, ducking around each other like they’d known one another for years, for what seemed like forever. Every time Kenobi closed in, Cody moved to the side and took a shot, creating an opening for him. They were fluid, aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and fought as a unit. 

It was the most fun Cody’s had on a battlefield in a while. 

Even Kenobi laughed as he ducked under Ventress’ swipe, calling over his shoulder, “We should do this more often!”

Cody emptied a pistol clip as Ventress attempted to take advantage of Kenobi’s brief distraction, yelling back, “Maybe without the murderous Sith next time.”

“I don’t know,” Kenobi teased, “It’s more fun with an audience.”

“Would you two get a room?” Ventress barked, “You’re making me nauseous.”

“My apologies darling,” Kenobi focused his attention back on her, “Were we not giving you enough attention?”

Ventress let out a wordless yell, apparently deciding she’d had her fun with them. She pushed her hands forward, Kenobi easily blocking the invisible wall of force with one of his own to buffet it, but Cody went crashing backwards. He slammed his head on the wall, unable to catch himself in time to not crumple to the ground. 

Cody groaned, automatically going up to prod the soft spot before realizing where he was and that he was wearing a full armor set. He shook his head, standing with only a slight wobble. When he looked up, he was surprised to see Kenobi attacking. 

Kenobi didn’t like to attack his opponents often. He preferred a more defensive style, instead using his enemies' mistakes against them in an effort to gain the upper hand. It was a style of fighting that was hard to pin down because it was so adaptable so Kenobi rarely diverted tactics. 

Cody frowned as took in Kenobi’s more aggressive stance, his back still toward the commander. It looked like he was really pressing Ventress now, backing her up to the opposite end of the corridor. 

Cody pulled out his rifle, breathing in deep as he peered down the sights. If he could time it just right then…

Kenobi did a complicated move that Cody didn’t quite follow, but it gave him the opening he needed to take the shot. 

Ventress, too busy blocking Kenobi’s sudden onset of aggression, wasn’t able to stop the bolt from connecting. She cried out in pain, dropping one of her sabers, and clutched at her shoulder. 

Feet thundered around the corner, signaling the arrival of their backup. In a matter of seconds she’d be outnumbered. 

Which was, of course, when she decided to make her convenient escape. Kenobi was just barely too slow to grab after her as she tore open one of the air vents and leapt upward and into it. Her little chuckle was taunting as it echoed around the hallway, but Cody could honestly care less. 

Longshot was the first to show, quickly followed by Boil and Wooley. Cody nodded at his men as they appeared one by one, now more focused on catching his breath. He didn’t even notice Kenobi’s approach until the man was practically on top of him. 

“Are you alright?”

Cody nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized Kenobi was standing next to him, making a few troopers laugh quietly, “Yes sir, not a scratch on me. And yourself?”

Kenobi frowned, “Are you sure? You hit the wall quite hard.”

Cody waved him off, “I’m fine, just got stunned in the moment.”

Kenobi relaxed a bit, allowing Cody’s men to secure the scene. He moved toward one of the side doors that opened up into what looked like the ship’s archives. 

“What’s this?” Cody asked as he entered behind him.

“The purpose of our mission,” Kenobi answered calmly, already inserting a drive into the main hub, “That being said, if Ventress knew it was a trap the data may be gone already.”

“What was the data?” Cody focused his attention on the screen in front of them, frowning as whatever algorithm Kenobi was using opened and closed windows too fast for him to read. 

“The Separatists are once again attempting to ally themselves with the Hutts. We are here to figure out what their offer is and what they want in return.” Kenobi’s forehead wrinkled right between his eyebrows. Cody got the sudden ridiculous urge to smooth it out. 

“Ah,” he said instead of embarrassing himself. Cody straightened, reminding himself he was on duty. He was always on duty around Kenobi. “And the Republic is planning a counter offer?”

“Force I hope not,” Kenobi looked at him with alarm and concern, “The Hutts are not the sort of folk we should want to ally with.”

Cody pursed his lips. He knew what the Hutts did and how they made their money. It was pure evil. But leaving a contract out in the open with an increasingly large chance the Seppies would give chase was almost worse. Who knew what Dooku would do with that power? 

When Cody glanced at Kenobi the man was frowning at him. 

“Something wrong?”

“No,” Kenobi said with a strange note in his voice, “I take it you don’t approve of our inaction?”

Cody blinked once. Twice. And then remembered the Jedi was pseudo-mind readers and wanted to slap himself. 

“Not at all sir,” Cody answered with a confidence he didn’t feel, “You are correct, as per usual.”

Kenobi didn’t seem to buy his assurances. He turned back to the monitor, quieting his voice a bit as he said, “We cannot stoop to their level. You understand that, yes?”

Cody bristled briefly before getting himself back under control, “Of course General.”

Kenobi shot a look over his shoulder like he knew Cody was holding back. Oh well. They would just have to disagree on some things. 

“Did you find it?” Cody asked impatiently, wanting to get out now that there was a weird tension in the room. 

“Not yet,” Kenobi hummed, “But it looks like Ventress has scrubbed most of this. I doubt we’ll find what we need aboard this ship.”

“Right,” Cody sighed, “And I assume no one’s pinned Ventress down yet?”

Kenobi shook his head, “She’s probably in an escape pod by now. I’ll have Republic forces do a sweep of the area but knowing her -”

“She’s gone,” Cody took off his helmet. He rubbed his temples with one hand as he mulled over potential escape routes she could’ve picked, what planet may be her next stop, and how best to triangulate the landing of her pod. 

Kenobi had a fond little smile on his face when Cody looked back up. 

“What?” Cody asked defensively, thinking maybe he’d been talking out loud or something else embarrassing.

“Nothing,” Kenobi replied, unplugging his device and pocketing it. “Come along. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

—

Obi-Wan had gotten him drunk. The bastard. 

It wasn’t that Cody was against being drunk. In fact, his liver complained every time they landed on Coruscant and Cody had an actual fucking break for once in his sith-damned life. He’d just never been drunk with a Jedi. 

It was pretty fun. 

They’d gone from talking about the odds of the next clone bill passing through the Senate to Cody laying flat on Obi-Wan’s bed and watching the Jedi make things fly around the room. Obi-wan was laughing as things whizzed around him in a flurry, like the eye of a strange and somewhat barren hurricane. 

Obi-Wan had a ruddy flush to his cheeks at this point in the night. They’d been together for a few hours, drinking for a good majority of that. Cody had tried to call him Kenobi once and gotten a very hurt look. He decided he could call him Obi-Wan just for tonight after that. 

“You can do better than that,” Cody goaded, “Lift something actually heavy.”

Obi-Wan cocked an eyebrow at him and the next thing Cody knew he was flying. He yelped, scrabbling to grab at the bed before he was lifted just a bit too high for that. Changing tactics he tried to turn himself to yell at Obi-Wan but only succeeded in pinwheeling his arms in the air like an idiot. 

“I do believe I win this round,” Obi-Wan chirped gleefully before dropping Cody and everything else he was lifting. Cody grunted as he fell into the mattress, feeling something else hit his back and roll off the side. His hand shot out to catch it before it hit the ground. 

Cody sighed as he sat up and rubbed one eye, blinking stupidly down at Obi-Wan’s lightsaber. Of course the man would make this death laser sword weapon fly around the room like it was no big deal. 

He was surprised when Obi-Wan flopped down on the bed with him, taking up the space vacated by Cody now that he was sitting. 

“Tire you out?” Cody asked teasingly.

“Not in the slightest,” Obi-Wan turned that lazy smile on him, making Cody’s stomach do weird things again, “You just looked very uncomfortable up there.”

Cody laughed, for once not fighting him or whipping up some smart ass comment. He liked this. Hanging out outside of military needs. It was fun. 

“So,” Obi-Wan drawled, “Tell me about yourself. I feel like I know very little compared to what you know about me.”

Cody snorted, “There isn’t much to tell. Raised on Kamino for ten years and then sent here to work for you. That’s about it.”

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, “Come now, there must be more. Who are you close to, what foods do you like, what’s your favorite show? Little things like that.”

“Well,” Cody shifted, unsure of the goal of this conversation, “I haven’t tried many new foods. I’d say juice is pretty good. I’m not used to having something so sweet. I don’t have a favorite show but sometimes I’ll join the men in the rec room and there will be something in the background. And I’m close to a lot of vode. Comes with the job.”

“I do like juice,” Obi-Wan said, the drink clearly getting to him, “Anakin never had any when he was growing up so I always kept some for him in our room. He drank nothing but ujj juice for a whole year, I swear.”

Cody laughed, “Apple juice. That’s my favorite.”

“Good choice,” Obi-Wan told him, “It’s one of the oldest juices in the galaxy. People have been farming and cultivating apples for as long as civilization has existed.”

Of course he knew juice history. Why wouldn’t he know juice history?

“You’re a nerd,” Cody said against his better judgment, poking Obi-Wan in the shoulder. 

Obi-Wan let loose a faux offended gasp, “How dare you? I’m a Jedi Master, I’ll have you know.”

“A nerdy Jedi Master,” Cody reminded him.

“Yes, yes,” Obi-Wan waved a hand in the air, “Whatever you say dearest.”

Cody scoffed, desperately trying to ignore his blush again. Stupid fucking Fett genes. 

“Where is - Cody, why do you have my saber?” Obi-Wan looked at him with genuine confusion.

Cody brought it to his chest, “You were flinging it around the room like an idiot. Did no one teach you all basic weapon safety?”

Obi-Wan held a hand out for Cody to give back his saber as he said, “It’s not going to turn on all of a sudden, it has to be activated.”

Cody, now sporting a sly grin of his own, did not return the saber, “Oh so no lightsaber accident has ever occurred during training?”

Obi-Wan sputtered, “Well - yes but - that’s not exactly - oh, would you just give me that back?”

Cody shook his head, laughing, “Not until you can be trusted not to throw it into a wall.”

Obi-Wan looked at him in shock, “It’s my lightsaber.”

Maybe Cody had a little too much to drink because he responded with, “Then why does it keep coming back to me?”

Obi-Wan sputtered, having no quick comeback to that, and flung a hand out. Cody was just barely fast enough to catch the lightsaber before it flew out of his hand, tightening his grip just as Obi-Wan pulled. 

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes, a smile beginning to dance on his lips, “So it’s like that then?”

Cody nodded, not sure what they were getting into but knowing that syrupy sweet feeling was back and quickly growing. He laughed as Obi-Wan pulled the lightsaber again, the weapon still not leaving Cody’s hand. Obi-Wan made a noise of complaint before he really tugged. 

Cody felt himself get bodily pulled forward, just like the day in requisitions, his hand leading his path. He laughed as he pulled against it, well aware there was no way he was winning this battle of wills. Obi-Wan shared in his giddiness, giving Cody just enough of a back and forth to make it seem like a real fight. Cody didn’t even care that Obi-Wan was letting him have it. 

The problem came when Obi-Wan tugged a little too hard. Cody, off balance and dizzy from the drink, couldn’t stop it when he fell forward if he wanted to hold on to the lightsaber at the same time. In his state he allowed it, entirely forgetting who the lightsaber was being pulled toward. 

Cody looked down, his cheeks certainly flushed now, as Obi-Wan sat wide eyed beneath him. The lightsaber rested innocently to the side of them, now forgotten as they stared at each other. 

Cody had a knee in Obi-Wan’s lap, effectively straddling the man. Obi-Wan, who had been leaning back on his hands, was forced to look up at Cody, the space between them very small. 

Neither moved for a precious few moments. 

Cody had never appreciated how blue Obi-Wan’s eyes were. They had a depth to them, yes, but also a lightness. A sparkle that he’d never bothered with before now. 

His gaze lowered automatically to his lips. He was very aware of how easy it would be. How Obi-Wan had gone still but not tense under him. How they could always blame the drink come morning. 

It was that thought that had Cody ripping himself away like he’d been burned. He stumbled, getting off the bed and grabbing for his helmet. 

“Cody -”

“My apologies General,” Cody defaulted, hearing A-17’s voice in his ears.

Anytime you fuck up, grovel until they can do nothing but pity you. It’s harder to punish the guilty than the arrogant.

“It’s been a long day,” Cody shoved his helmet back on, “And this has been lovely.” He moved toward the door, not putting his back to his general for a second, “but I really must be going now. Thank you for the drinks and the conversation, I’ll -”

“Cody,” Obi-Wan called to him again. Cody felt himself go a little weak. He was still in the exact position Cody left him, wide eyed and open on the bed. Cody could just walk right up and -

“Again, my lack of decorum cannot be excused,” Cody apologized again, “And I won’t let it happen again in the future. Goodnight General.”

Cody all but sprinted out the door, going straight to his room and locking himself inside it. He was an idiot. A giant, massive, humongous idiot. He’d ignored the little feelings in his gut because - because it was against the rules. It would go away because it was against the rules and Cody was excellent at following rules. Rules had gotten him to where he was now. Rules defined him, gave him clear structures to follow and guardrails to hold on to when things felt out of control. He could always default to the rules. 

So why couldn’t he now? 

—

Cody got the goddamn lightsaber clip.

Rather, Obi-Wa - Kenobi got him the lightsaber clip. 

The first few days after that night were awkward to say the least. He knew everyone around them noticed it too. The tension was thick between them, Cody avoiding any interaction outside of the professional and Kenobi getting more and more pushy each time they were in the room together. 

It culminated in Kenobi knocking on his door very loudly, dumping the lightsaber clip into Cody’s confused hands, and walking away without another word. The clip rested on his desk for a few days until he finally grew the balls to put it on his belt. He didn’t know why it was so difficult to make himself do that, it just felt…it felt like he was owning something that wasn’t his. 

The first day he’d worn the clip was the first day Kenobi smiled at him since Cody ran away that night. Cody had given him a nod in return and just like that they were back to normal. He wished he knew how Obi-Wan did it. 

They’d been invited to some gala celebrating the clones. Or raising money to make more. Or doing something else Cody probably would’ve hated so he tuned it out. Lucky for him they actually wanted clones in full armor this time. Something about showing them off to potential investors. Obi-Wan and a few other generals had made a lot of noise about that, but ultimately it was up to the senators throwing it. As far as he was aware this one was done by the Banking Clan and Kaminoans. 

Cody shifted uncomfortably from where he’d been directed to stand. Turns out they weren’t kidding about wanting clone troopers on display. He and Rex had been guided to their ‘seats’ for the night, aka spots for them to stand in and be pestered with questions. Kenobi and Skywalker both decided that was outrageous and had taken to standing next to them and fielding some of the stupider ones thrown their way. Cody was fairly sure Windu was off yelling at the senators to get the commanders proper seats.

Cody didn’t really care to be honest. He’d gone to plenty of military expos on Coruscant, just because they’d slapped a different label on this one didn’t mean it wouldn’t be the same. They’d probably even have them do a combat demonstration later, meaning Cody could fire his blaster at something. That always cheered him up. 

“I’m bored,” Rex complained over internal comms, “Skywalker keeps answering all my questions.”

“Yeah,” Cody agreed, “Less fun to stand here and answer questions when they won’t even let us answer questions.”

Kenobi had taken to standing in front of Cody, only allowing select people through to talk to him. It was a nice gesture but then Cody only had how uncomfortable he was to focus on. 

“What's the clip for?”

Cody looked down in confusion before remembering, “Kenobi keeps losing his lightsaber and I keep picking it up. Figured at least this way I’ll have a free hand.”

Rex snorted, “Hypocrite. Skywalker has to replace his at least once a month and Kenobi always fusses at him for it.”

“Kenobi doesn’t break his,” Cody rolled his eyes, having his own opinions about Skywalker, “Just loses it.”

“If I have to hear Kenobi tell him his weapon is his life one more time I’m going to lose it,” Rex griped, “I do not envy Skywalker.”

“His weapon is his life?” Cody questioned.

“Yeah,” Rex heaved a sigh, “Kenobi always talks about how a lightsaber is a symbol of your personhood in the Order and how it’s a symbol of the Jedi. Without it they’re just really cool diplomats.”

“Oh,” Cody said faintly, trying to ignore the implications of that, “Interesting.”

“Yeah,” Rex did not seem to catch on to Cody’s crisis, “If you’re a Jedi.”

Luckily a senator slipped past Skywalker’s defense and started asking Rex all kinds of questions. Cody was glad for the distraction, if only to let himself think over that. He was briefly distracted by Kenobi turning back to him.

“Well,” Kenobi said with an air of discontent, “I sincerely apologize to you to for the way this night has gone.”

Cody laughed softly before turning on his external vocorders, “It’s quite alright General. We’re not unused to military displays after all.”

Kenobi huffed, Cody’s words not doing anything to reassure him, “Well in the future I will see to it that you and your brothers are sat alongside us, not standing against the wall waiting to be prodded.”

Cody’s heart fluttered a little bit. He loved that Kenobi genuinely wanted better for them. 

Kenobi sighed, lifting a hand to run it through his hair before remembering where he was and what he was doing, “I’ll see if I can make an excuse for you to leave. It’s no good to have you lot standing around if Senator Burtoni can’t even say hello herself.”

Cody cracked a smile at that, thinking back to his few, very limited, interactions with the Kaminoan senator. She’d been a real dick every time. 

“Good luck sir,” Cody rumbled, “You know where to find me.”

Kenobi gave him a flat look before disappearing into the crowd. Cody shifted, feeling more eyes on him now that his assigned Jedi had left him to the wolves. 

He spent the next half hour answering probing questions from the Republic’s top socialites and political players. He enjoyed his quick conversation with Senator Organa, discussing how his men were doing on the front and yes, an order for a ration increase would go a long way aboard the Negotiator, thank you very much sir. Other than that he watched painfully obvious flirting between Skywalker and Senator Amidala and shared a miserable look with Rex. All in all it was shaping up to be a fairly boring night. 

Which, of course, was thwarted as soon as Cody thought it. 

The lights went out in the atrium, leading to shouts and gasps from senators. Burtoni was quick to grab a microphone and promise technical difficulties but it didn’t stop the clones from flicking on their headlamps and Jedi from drawing their sabers. 

The discovery that the doors were locked only led to more panic. Burtoni disappeared with one of her aids to fix the problem and the rest of the them went about the proper security protocols. High profile senators were evacuated by the Coruscant Guard using serving droid passageways while Cody and Rex helped corral the rest. At one point Kenobi handed his saber off to them after it became evident that the panic would not abate unless a Jedi came with them. Kenobi had simply rolled his eyes and passed his lightsaber to Cody before announcing the clones were very capable of taking care of everyone themselves. 

Cody gave him an inquisitive look, “Are you sure you don’t want this sir? What if you need to fight?”

Kenobi stroked his beard, his expression relaxed, “Myself and other Jedi don’t feel any malicious signatures near this area. My guess is this is a thief’s work, not an assassin’s.”

Cody relaxed a bit, “So we’re safe then?”

“Most likely,” Kenobi sighed and tucked his hands into his ceremonial robes, “And you won’t be far if I do need that back. At the very least it’ll help keep them calm.”

Cody nodded, keeping the weapon outstretched and unsheathed in front of him. Kenobi looked like he was trying not to laugh.

“What?”

“It’s not a bomb,” he said amusedly, “You can hold it like a normal weapon.”

Cody scoffed, “I’ve seen you cut through durasteel with this thing, “I’m not taking chances.”

“Very well,” Kenobi shook his head, his eyes shining with mirth, “Have it your way.”

Cody rejoined the others, receiving a strange look from Rex that he chose not to address. Instead he led them into the kitchen. Rex went around handing out knives and various utensils that could be used as weapons. They didn’t stand a chance if someone with blasters came in, but it helped ease the minds of the guests so Cody had no qualms with it. 

“So,” Rex muttered when he rejoined Cody by the doors, “He gave you his lightsaber.”

Cody shrugged, “The guests are calmer now at least.”

“Mhm. And how often does he do that exactly?”

Cody side-eyed Rex, the effect lost with his helmet on, and said, “I don’t know.”

“You know, I haven’t seen you with that belt clip before. What exactly is that for?”

Cody wanted to shrink into his armor, “...a lightsaber.”

“Yeah,” Rex laughed, “That’s what I thought.”

“Shut up,” Cody snapped, his cheeks positively on fire, “I see the way you look at Skywalker.”

Rex sputtered, “That - I do not - if you think even for one sec - he’s married!”

Cody’s head snapped over to him, “What?”

Rex went very very still, “I didn’t say that.”

“No, I’m not sure I heard properly,” Cody turned his full body to face Rex, “What did you say he was?”

“Nothing,” Rex faced the door stiffly, “I didn’t say anything. You didn’t hear anything. We’re doing our jobs normally like normal soldiers.”

“Rex.”

“Cody.”

“Are Skywalker and Amidala married?”

“Are you wearing a lightsaber clip on your belt?”

“I already admitted that, it’s your turn now.”

“...Yes. They’re married.” 

Cody stared in shock for a moment before turning back to face the door as well, “Well.”

“Well?”

“Well.” Cody struggled to come up with any reaction to that statement that wasn’t ‘what the fuck Jedi can get married and have lives and fall in love and if Skywalker can do it then -’

He wasn’t going to let himself finish that train of thought. 

Rex, of course, read it on him anyway, “Oh Kote, you don’t really think -”

“Shut up,” Cody said quickly, “Don’t want to talk about it.”

Rex sighed, “Just be careful. I get the feeling Skywalker and Amidala have plenty of their own issues.”

Cody didn’t respond. The saber in his hand suddenly felt ten times heavier. He couldn’t help but remember Kenobi’s face that night, open and earnest as Cody fell on top of him. 

He needed to shut this thing down. He needed to take the stupid clip off his belt. He needed to hand the lightsaber back and never pick it up again. 

The gentle blue glow of Kenobi’s kyber crystal was never meant for him and never would be.

[marvelstars]

I do like TWC cartoon because it felt like an oportunity for us fans to see more of our fave characters in a day to day basis and it gave great and individualized personalities to clone troopers to let us know they are people under their armor but I agree with some fellow fans that in some chapters the show takes shortcuts and instead of delving into Anakin´s character when he makes decisions which should by all rights affect him emotionally, they play it for a joke because he will be "Vader"so it doesn´t matter or the show adds extra trauma that should be explored, see the Queen of Zigerria or his rescue of Jabba´s Son or the microchip in clone soldiers heads(the only difference between them and child slave Anakin was that Anakin´s had a bomb while the troopers are forced to obey or the chip makes them more obedient to the Jedi or members in the military) but TCW only shows Anakin mad in general at all those events while the other characters act as if he didn´t had a reason to get mad or he is exagerating because he is a "bad Jedi" tm because aparently his main problem is that he "cares too much" but it isn´t wrong to care and he isn´t wrong that they probably should be doing more for those situations that they are currently doing but the show doesn´t show it and this flattens Anakin´s character and I believe it also flattens the characters around him.

For example Satine and Obi-Wan

This moment is played for laughs while Satine and Obi-Wan seem to have next to zero reaction to Anakin´s action because after all, the man killed was indeed ready to kill them and all the people on their ship with a bomb and if he keep himself hidden he probably would have tried to murder Satine until he managed to do it.

Still I am not a fan of "good guys" who don´t want to kill or have doubts about the idea of murder but are totally fine with other characters who are their allies doing it for them so they keep their hands "clean". In the show Obi-Wan does this with Rex and Anakin. Neither when shows use this trope as a joke.

That makes them hypocrites because they are involved in the murder by accepting or ordering it even if they didnt do the deed themselves. The fact this doesn´t bother them shows they didn´t personally care that much about the act of murder itself, just about the fact they had to do it because it´s distateful for their self image of being a "good person" it´s fine for their allies, already used to violence to do it for them, they are already "grey" but not for them because they are "good". So imo they are also in denial about their personal responsibility in the whole issue.

Obi-Wan didn´t have a problem to cut off a guy arms for speaking rude to Luke in ANH which is the first time we meet him as a character, I don´t think he would hesitate so much in this instance just because Satine is there, he is in canon a pretty pragmatic guy and Satine is a planetary leader who probably had to order the use of force to tackle security with death watch involved in many confrontations with her goverment and if we include the years in which Mandalore was under civil war it´s possible she had to use force to protect herself or her family.

I do understand this was done in jest and to involve Vader´s theme but this definitely wasn´t a Vader kind of situation imo and I believe its interesting to analyze the character deeper motivations and this scene deserved more depth than the one given.

This is also why I regret the show never showing Anakin´s first years as an active general in the war on Bespin, that was a formative moment for Anakin as a leader and warrior and it explains so much about his characterization later in the war but also his trauma over death, the reason why he is so protective of the clones, his master, Ahsoka, Rex, Padme, Palpatine, etc.

[seeking-elsewhither]

Currently woozy but guess who watched the Umbara Arc in one sitting

I'm in my Rex feels right now, because Anakin remarks that Rex used to be very uptight like Dogma which implies that it took Rex some time to ease up. And he's the only blonde in the GAR, a cosmetic "defect" sure but he's also a gen 1 clone. He must've struggled so hard to ensure he wouldn't get decommissioned, must have stuck to the rules and followed orders to the letter just so he'd survive.

And here comes Krell demanding about his insubordination. Threatening against it. Don't tell me Rex wasn't thinking of his cadet-hood when Krell called him by his CT number. My man was going through it.

Tangent!

Okay, see, the thing is, when I watch the clones, I can literally see the times their past life on Kamino and their cadet-hood bleed into their present behavior.

Take Hunter, for example, when he's quietly doing as Shand tells him to in s3. I wonder how many times he's had to comply as a cadet for the sake of his brothers' safety.

Take Crosshair on Tantiss, resisting torture at every step of the way. Maybe he was trained for it. Maybe he trained himself for it.

Take Omega on Tantiss, keeping herself busy, never once giving up hope. I wonder if that's how she lived in Nala Se's private lab, always hoping to reunite with her brothers and eagerly waiting for a chance.

Basically, I've always felt like tcw and tbb give us the past of the clones implicitly in their behavior. Or maybe that's just me reading too much into it.

Okay, back to Umbara

@margindoodles2407 from whatever I've seen of Fives so far, your analysis is spot-on.

Even Jesse's far more chill than him.

And HARDCASE MY BELOVED <333

Please, he's such an optimistic feller. He would've loved Hevy, Cutup, and Wrecker.

I was cheering every time Fives got to say a bad word on Krell.

Love how the episode moves from Rex bending under the weight of Krell's nature until he decided he could take it no longer and snapped upright. "It's Captain, sir."

Rex and Fives are such father-son, I swear. Such first and second-in-command, what with all the times Rex pulls Fives away to talk with him.

Okay, so Tup is officially the baby of the 501st, right? And by baby I don't mean he acts like one, I mean he's the vod'ika that every clone will coddle because he's new, even if he does murder in cold-blood.

Rex giving off huge eldest son vibes with his "I have a duty to protect these men."

Hate that Rex had to stoop that low and use the "They're not just clones. They're men!" rhetoric. As someone who firmly believes where you come from should have no effect on your worth as a person, this irked me as much as it must've irked Rex and the other clones.

Petition for Fives to deck Krell.

I mean, yeah Dogma gets him good at the end, but Fives should have got the chance. He knew just what Krell was going to be like from the first moment he saw him. Retribution would've been sweet (neither the Christian nor the Jedi way, but c'mon! we all hate this guy)

What sort of hologram is that? With cubes and stuff? It looks so cool, but why is it like that?

Is tcw just going to constantly test Rex's beliefs the entire time? First Cut, then Fives.

Hardcase and Fives laughing and giggling as they flew in those Umbaran ships and blasted the enemy had me crying because they're so happyyy :')

Sorry but Krell calling Rex by his CT number those first two times is hilarious, how do you keep a straight face and say it like that?

Rex, on the other hand, seemed like he was traumatized on so many levels.

Fives is just. So brave, so bold, so fearless. He stands for what he believes in, he will not bow down or cower in the face of adversities. He's got that touch of recklessness, but there's an air of sternness and cleverness about him. He knows what he's doing. He's the madness to his method.

And he's a poet. No take backsies. Some of the best speeches have been given by him. He literally used the word "ire".

He's like a knight of yore. He's got the chivalry, the nobility, the honor, the courage. He's unflinching, he will look death in the face and slay it with his bare hands.

Even at his end, the speech he gave was not with his life in mind but the lives of his brothers.

You've heard of great men, you've heard of good men. And then there are men of high valor like Fives.

Rex's uncertainty is obviously meant to stem from his awkward stance as the bridge between Jedi and clones, but I can't help but see him thinking of his time when he was another defective clone cadet trying his best to survive.

Hardcase why'd you have to gooooo

That reveal, that tear running down Waxer's face, the little Numa painted on his helmet, I'm gonna cry.

Dang, wouldn't want to cross Tup.

"You sound just like Krell." I'd rather be shot with a blaster than be accused of mirroring that demagolka.

When Krell refuses to call for Kenobi, I just knew Rex felt the sinking feeling that he was going to be on his own.

Krell's freaky because throughout the entire thing he never once shows the signs of being a Seppie. Sure, his hatred for the clones is as clear as day, but otherwise, you never realize it's him.

That's all I have for now. Margin, feel free to add on, because the last time you did, you managed to cover stuff I'd been thinking of but had forgotten.

[ithebookhoarder]

Hi love! Could I request an Anakin X reader where he comforts reader after a panic attack?

Reacting to Reader having a panic attack: (Anakin Skywalker x Reader)

A/N: Of course you can! Here you go. You can thank Ahsoka for breaking me and getting me back into my feels for this disaster of a human being 😅

Masterlist:

Anakin is much more a man of action rather than a man of words and will actively look for a practical solution for any problem, including panic attacks.

It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t fully understand them, or that there isn’t necessarily a physical threat that he can fight on your behalf, he will do whatever he can to best help you. 

That would include using his trademark sass and boyish jokes to distract you whenever he senses you’re feeling low (something you both love and hate in equal measure). 

“Hey, Y/N. I was thinking, how does a moon cut his hair?" 

“Anakin… I swear to the maker-"

“-Eclipse it."

It’s easy to see why Obi-Wan started to turn grey the day he took Anakin on as a Padawan. 

Then again, as much as you may protest against it, it’s hard to do anything other than laugh at his desperate attempts to cheer you up. 

Anakin also creates private rituals for you both to follow whenever you feel an attack creeping up on you. 

These include things like going to exercise together, as you find sparring or racing around a local park is a great way to burn off any pent up anxiety (and often leads to you both rolling around on the floor, sweaty and too busy being wrapped up in one another to feel anything other than pleasure). 

It also sometimes involves him taking you aside and helping you to ground yourself to him and your surroundings. 

It even sometimes involves him crawling into bed and holding you whilst you sleep, knowing his warmth and his presence helps to keep your worries at bay. 

On that note, we know he has no problem bending the rules when it comes to those he cares about and you’d be no exception. 

Nothing else in the universe matters more to him and your well-being comes before anything else, including the Jedi code. 

It doesn’t matter if the council will reprimand him later, if you need him he’ll be there. He’d find a ship and get to you the minute you called, or the minute he sensed your panic through the force. 

A smaller thing Anakin would do, is he starts carrying around sour candies for you, knowing how you like them and how they help distract your brain when it starts to feel overwhelmed. 

You almost couldn’t believe it the first time he handed one to you without so much as a word. Instead he simply unwrapped one for himself and winked. 

You also can’t tell me he wouldn’t be keeping a special eye on you, reaching out at the first sign of trouble, just as he sensed his mother’s distress before. It doesn’t matter if it’s the middle of the night, he’ll call you if he isn’t with you, just to make sure you’re alright. 

Even if it isn’t too bad an attack, he would still pull you from any duties you may have for the rest of your day, insisting you rest for a while even if he has to make you. 

He also strikes me as the kind of friend who tries to act like they’re less stressed out about your issues than you, but inside is panicking like crazy. So much so, he has to instruct Rex and Ahsoka to keep an eye out for you if he can’t, else he’ll be too worried to ever leave your side in case you need him.

He may or may not have written a very extensive list of things to do and not to do if you ever have one without him - something both privately tease him about...

[fanfic-obsessed]

Responding to the Talk Shop Tuesdays post!

Leverage x Star Wars. Thoughts?

(I've had vague wonderings of leverage-style clone wars shenanigans but can't really get past "someone talks them into wrecking Palpatine's shit and they do" so I'm just throwing this into the air).

Alternatively, if you also have no thoughts there, favorite way you've written Palpatine accidentally shooting himself in the foot?

Oooh, Leverage and Start wars. I had not had that thought before…now I do. It’s legally required. 

I know you said during the clone wars but post Order 66 immediately came to mind. Let's start with our cast.

Mastermind: Cody (initially this was going to be Obi Wan with Cody being the hitter, but bear with me I think this will be even better). Cody deserts the empire, a broken man, lost everything. He thinks everyone he ever loved is dead.  A few years after his desertion, he gets his chip removed through a series of unfortunate events (though he never actually finds out what it is or what it does). He is drifting through life, doing just enough work to get the money to keep drinking. An honest man. And a smart one. 

Grifter: Obi Wan. After the Order goes out. After Anakin. After the birth of the twins, Obi Wan does spend a year or two on Tatooine. But Owen Lars makes a very specific good point, even a single slip up (and there are always slip ups), will bring the Empires attention to Tatooine (They believe Anakin is dead, so it is the Emperor’s attention that Obi Wan fears) and with that to Luke. It is better if Obi Wan is anywhere else. Owen is gracious in victory and agrees to updates up to four times a year.  So Obi Wan, Ben, loses himself. A new name every night, a new planet, a new voice.  The galaxy is a large place and Ben knows how to slip through and around the cracks.  Though no one has made the connection yet, a number Ben’s alias’s are wanted by the Empire, the Hutts, and the remaining Mandalorians (current total bounty’s, in credits, for all of his other aliases almost reaches the Empire’s bounty for Obi Wan Kenobi).

Hitter:  Boba Fett. Bounty Hunter. The only clone who wasn’t (who was a son). Often underestimated because of his youth. Alone by both circumstances and choice (even with Pond's death, Boba would be welcomed by most clones had he been willing to see them as sentient).  He is a teen when our team comes together and is still one of the most dangerous people in the galaxy. At first he barely considers any of these people sentient and is not sure why he is sticking around, but this is also the safest he has felt since his father had died. 

Hacker: Echo. After Tech’s death Echo found that he could not stay with the Bad Batch.  The ghosts of everybody he had lost draped around him, weighing him down, leaving Echo feeling he could not go back to the Rebels or Rex either.  He skimmed enough credits from various Empire accounts that he was able to buy himself a ship, which he then modified. He decided he would find, no matter the firewalls, every scrap of video or information regarding his lost brothers (all of them). That they would not be forgotten. When he found information that was pertinent to the Rebels, or the Bad Batch  he would send it along, but he now worked alone.

Thief: Reva. After the purge Reva hid for hours under the bodies of her friends. Before it was dark enough that her movement would not immediately give her away. Then weeks creeping through the lower levels of the temple before she could find a way to escape (All the while the giggles of her friend echoed in her head- This part of the temple had always been off limits and they had all talked about being big and strong and facing what was waiting in the dark-Reva did not feel big and strong now, but there was nothing more in the dark she feared). She taught herself to step soundlessly, barely touching the ground. She taught herself how to make herself small, or just big enough (just enough to wedge herself into a small, high, space).  It is amazing what one can learn if survival is on the line. Those hours coveted in the blood of her friends, the Force echoing with the horror her family was experiencing, then the weeks in the dark tunnels changed Reva irrevocably. Before she can be found by the Empire, she is found by a Master thief who sees in her his chance to pass on his legacy (Reva is just the right kind of broken).

Now that we have our cast, let’s look at how they come together. 

I love the Leverage Pilot, so let’s use that as a Framework.

Cody is drinking on Ord Mantell, approximately 14 BBY or 985 AAR,  when he is approached a Falleen Noble, who wants to hire him to run a job (though I do not know what the Falleen noble would say, I do imagine Cody saying Nate’s line “You know that part of the conversation where I punch you in the neck nine or ten times? We’re coming up on that pretty quick”). The Noble has hired Boba, Echo, and Reva as the rest of the crew.  The job is to steal back some plans (let's be honest this job does not matter much).  

The Job goes well, but when Echo mentions how well it went, he gets the brush off. Due to the fact that Cody still does not know about the chips, every other member of the crew has issues with clones. We speed run through the Falleen noble gathering them together for one last betrayal and an explosion. 

They wake up in a med ward. All of their DNA is being run. This is bad news. Standard panel would show that Reva is Force Sensitive (though no one else in the room knows that). It would also mark the other three as clones (Even Boba). Though the Empire does not particularly care about employing Clones, they would still pay handsomely for escaped clones.

This is where we veer slightly.  

Reva’s panic in the Force draws the attention of Obi Wan, calling himself Ben right now.  Enough time has passed (and enough has happened that all of their Force signatures had changed) that Ben only just recognizes Echo, and no one else.   For a single moment Ben hesitates, they are not his business (Ben also does not know why he was shot at) and are possibly his enemies.  But there was Echo, familiar if only just, and with him someone who was Force sensitive. A young force sensitive (in Ben’s mind anyone who is the right age that they could have been in the council room that day was someone to protect, because he failed those initiates). 

Ben is very good at grifting, so is easily able to get the four out of there (They also do not recognize him) and get them to a safe house.  There are several moments of uncomfortable silence before Ben greets Echo with a teasing, “Hello There Echo” in his real accent and voice. 

Cody is the one who frowns and peers at Ben (clean shaven), because it couldn’t be…

Echo asks who Ben is, Ben smiles sadly and says “I suppose it has been many years since Skako”

This told Echo next to nothing (he’s been back to Skako Minor a couple of times since the war) but Cody just straight up sits on the floor in shock (Trying to say general and Obi Wan and you’re alive all at once-it is a little unintelligible). When Ben looks directly at Cody for the first time (Ben can’t quite let himself focus on any of the clones, for fear of what he would see)  he realizes exactly who it is.

Ben, by sheer happenstance, manages to sit in a chair. This is followed by Echo needing to explain about the chips and order 66 (“There was what in my head!?!”/”You all had what in your heads?!?”).

I picture them absentmindedly destroying Falleen Noble, in a similar way to the show. They do it because he tried to kill them/did not pay them (Ben took that personally for all of them- Cody: He tried to kill us, that is a bit more important than not paying up Ben<waving a hand>:Trying to kill you is nothing, but not paying you is just rude.) 

I picture that they decide they might as well stay together, and grow into a found family (with Codywan being the exhausted parents) traveling around to help people ala leverage. They cannot and do not start going after the empire immediately. None of them want to draw the attention of the Empire, but if some of their jobs do include liberating people and occasionally planets, well they just have to be careful to not bite off more than they can chew and not to leave any tracks. They also do stop at Tatooine every so often (It turns out Owen likes Ben an awful lot more when he is not camped out in their backyard) so Luke knows them.  

I imagine that when Leia is kidnapped, a few years later, Bail is still able to reach Ben. The Leverage crew immediately go to save her. It is during this that it becomes known that Reva had been in the Temple, had been in the council room. This is very swiftly followed by the realization that Anakin Skywalker was Darth Vader (which none of the crew had known).

This…This is what circles them back around to take on the Empire (a cross between Leverage Season 3 and Leverage Season 4). They still work to help people, but it becomes more pointed. Throughout their new self appointed mission, Ben starts to train Reva, to help her overcome the trauma of the Purge.  

As they are now acting more deliberately against the Empire they begin to come across more familiar faces. Rebels (including Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor). Bail reintroduces them to Fulcrum (Ahsoka has mixed feelings about Obi Wan in particular. He challenges the way she remembers Anakin with rosy glasses). 

It certainly ends with Palpatine staring in abject shock as his empire burns around him.  Vader is being escorted to get correctly fitting prosthetics, from which he will go to prison. Bail ends up taking the Emperor position to start working on turning the Empire back to a Republic. 

Our team keeps going on finding people who need…Leverage

My favorite way that Palpatine shot himself in the foot is in Read the Fine Print  where Palptines first domino was his last, because he did not pay attention to a sub clause in the treaty. 

That was fun. Thank you @somestorythoughts

[queenie-official]

Chapter Eleven: ‘The Murder Of A Monarch’ Bridgerton Au!Anakin

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

a/n: alright let’s go one more time guys, don’t forget to wear your seatbelts 🫡 and may the force be with you 💋

Anakin was a good person he’d shown you nothing to make you believe otherwise and that’s because it was true. however what you had forget to account for was how quick he might be to Anger.

“Anakin, slow down!” you huff as you chase him down the castle halls. you’d just finish telling him what happened the night before and he was furious. “slow down? you just found out this Man is responsible for your fathers death as well as possibly poisoned me and you want me to slow down?” he shouted over his shoulder as he continued speeding towards the exit of the castle.

you both had gotten ready for the day shortly after you’d explained the situation and now he was ready to take the first carriage over to the chancellors estate. “your legs are impossibly long and make it hard to keep up with your pace” you pant out, he was fast and you where in a dress and heels. Rex and Braeden were right behind you two, already having prepared the carriage for departure. when exactly Anakin had asked for them to do so you weren’t sure.

“you do not have to come you can stay” your brows furrowed at that, as if you’d let him go do this alone- in actuality you had no clue what exactly the ‘this’ was, he’d told you nothing but you were not about to leave him with Chancellor Valorum alone that’s for sure. “could you please just stop for a moment, what are you even planning on doing anyway?” you ask as he slows down just a little while the front doors are being opened, the carriage for you both right in eyes view now. technically speaking you weren’t supposed to be riding anywhere together, in the people’s eyes you were possibly with child and there is this whole safety protocol that follows that.

“i’ll know when i get there- and trust me you don’t want to be there when i do” he said pointedly and the tone of his voice honestly scared you. there was an edge to it and you knew he was serious too. “Anakin you cannot do anything rash” he laughed at that and you recoiled slightly when he spun to face you. “right like what he did wasn’t rash?” your mouth opened and closed unsure what to say. he was right and it wasn’t like you where trying to protect the Chancellor- no you hated him, you wanted him to die and suffer. but you where still both rulers and had an image to uphold, Alderaan was considered a Kingdom of peace. what a scandal it would be if its king and queen where caught and held responsible for the murder of a royal council member, especially when to them the Chancellor had done no wrong.

“Anakin we have to figure out a way to solve this without violence” you watched as his jaw clenched, both of his hands tightening into fists at his side. you knew he wasn’t mad at you, he was mad for you. if you were in his kingdom not a single person would bat an eye if the chancellor where to suddenly stop breathing.

“So what we just let him get away with it? let him continue to use and manipulate you like some sort of pawn.” he has to stop himself from shouting, not wanting to direct his anger at you. you look behind you towards Rex and Braeden waving them off and they take the hint. they didn’t leave you two completely but they put enough distance between you both so that there wasn’t a chance your conversation would be heard.

“maybe that’s exactly what we do” Anakin’s brows creased together in confusion at your suggestion. before he could ask for clarification you continue “i pretend to go along with him, act as a pawn and then when the time is right..” your voice is lowered as you speak and Anakin still doesn’t seem to convinced. “it’s the best chance we have Ani” well that was new, you weren’t even sure where the nickname came from as it left your mouth. but it seemed to have worked in your favor as his face softened completely, it was like a switch had been flicked.

“okay” he sighs, running a hand through his hair as he looks off to the side. he turns to the guards and gives them a nod, the wordless command to close the doors calling off his whole plan. he looks back at you “we’ll try your way but if it doesn’t work we’re doing it my way.” his arms where crossed and you knew wether you agreed or not he’d probably act on his own accord.

you where beginning to see why Obi-Wan had asked him not to say or do anything the first time they’d come.

the Chancellor came to the castle a lot over the next couple of days Anakin was by your side through it all. he refused to let you be alone and in all honesty it provided you just as much comfort as it did him. at your side you could make sure nothing was going to happen to him in addition to you having extra protection.

the official plan you both came up with that seemed most likely to work was to get a confession. a confession in front of all of parliament, that was the only way you could win. you’d both act like you where approving of the new bill and then when it came to announce it in front of parliament you’d blind side him. it would cause a scene for sure, but that’s what you wanted. to provoke him to anger, make him so angry he forgets where he is and who surrounds him.

today was the day, and Anakin was growing impatient you didn’t blame him after all you were in a similar position more so anxious that something would go wrong than anything.

you must of gone over the speech a hundred times at this point in your head. rereading what you’d written as if the words would suddenly change. the pit in your stomach continued to grow the closer you got. you really wish Anakin could of ridden with you, his absence was definitely not helping your increasing anxiety. the sound of his carriage directly behind yours was the only thing that remotely brought you comfort. you place the papers with your speech on it aside, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath as you twist the ring on your finger.

everything would be okay, and if not at the very least you’d have Anakin at your side to help you through it.

Anakin’s hand weigh heavy in yours as you walk through Hebury palace. it was silent both of you busy with your own thoughts, in just a few moments you’d be facing all of parliament and there was no room for a misstep.

the doors to the meeting hall swung open revealing a full room. “now presenting her majesty the queen, y/n Organa. and his majesty the king Anakin Skywalker” all eyes were on you in an instant, everybody standing from there seat in greeting as you walk to your seats. you felt out of place not just from the fear of what’s to come but because it almost felt as if nobody wanted you there. you could only hope that was your anxieties and not the truth else wise today would go a lot more messy than you anticipated.

Traditionally the meeting begins with the announcement of what’s going to be discussed by the king, however since you are the blood tie to Alderaan and not Anakin it is you who must make the announcement. you could feel your heart beat hard against your chest as you stand before everyone, suddenly grateful for how big the skirts of dresses where as it hid your shaky legs beneath all the layers. you look over to Anakin who gives you a reassuring nod, taking a deep breath and clearing your throat you redirect your attention to the Ton. “we are here today to discuss the motion of overturning our free education Law.”

you take a moment to let that sit with everyone, taking a look around the room to see the general consensus. it seemed divided, a few gasps of shock however stuck out the most amongst them. you could only hope your speech would help make the room more united once you got to it. “a bill has been drafted by a member of the royal council, Chancellor Valorum. as well as the royal council members in agreement, our treasurer Lord chamberlain. our War Marshall Aaron Bennett. and finally our Admiral of the Navy Kent Wells” pretty much the entire council excluding yourself, Anakin, and the royal secretary. “now the king and i have already made our decisions but we wanted you all to hear the reason why this bill was drafted to begin with.” you turn to face the Chancellor, he smiles thinking he’s won and that your going along with him. you could not wait to wipe that smile off his face. “We invite Chancellor Valorum to speak.” you finish.

taking a seat as he now stands turning to face the room, what a sorry excuse of a man. “Thank you your majesty. I think i speak for all of the royal council here when i say we are for overturning the free education law.” you sit back in your seat trying to hide the disgust in your face as he speaks, there are whispers beginning to spread throughout the room and the unknown of it all makes your stomach twist. silently you reach over from underneath the table, taking Anakin’s hand within yours. he gives your hand a small squeeze and rubs soothing circles with the pad of his thumb, he was there and everything was going smoothly thus far you just had to relax and allow the Chancellor to ruin things for himself.

“overturning the free education law would mean we’d get thousands of dollars back that we could place elsewhere.” the chancellor continues his speech and you see quite a few hands raise as soon as he makes that statement. “yes, yes i know what you all are probably wondering ‘what do we need the money for?’ am i correct” hands go down and there are collective nods from everyone around the room. “well it’s simple really, when the queen married our dear king here out of love- she agreed to help his kingdom. long story short they need the help of our military and unfortunately our military is now severely underfunded as the money that used to go directly towards it is now used towards educating the less fortunate.”

you wanted to scream, it was all utter bullshit. only one thing he said was true, you’d agreed to help Tatooine and yes that included help from your military but none of that required money that was used towards free education. and the military wasn’t even close to underfunded he was making this out to be something entirely else. not to mention everything he just said made you and Anakin look bad as if he was the problem and the reason they thought overturning the law was a good idea.

you know the plan, you knew what you where supposed to do. sit back and wait till the right moment but you where not about to let the chancellor turn all of parliament against Anakin- so against your better judgement you stood up quickly and all the murmurs you where hearing ceased. the chancellor turning to you with a raised brow, daring you to say something. god if the death penalty was still a thing you’d have him beheaded in an instant. “that’s enough Chancellor. i will not sit here and watch as you lie to every person in this room.” the smile on his face twitches, he was already on the verge of cracking and you’d hardly spoke. this might be easier then you thought. “The Chancellor tells you the funds for the free education law are from our military but even our treasurer who is in favor of overturning this law knows it to be untrue.” you begin, addressing the ton and abandoning your original planned speech.

Valorum’s smile falls, he looks neutral but you could tell he was mad. livid actually. “our Military is perfectly funded, the real reason he wishes to overturn this law is to overly fund it- to prepare for a war that doesn’t even exist. one he wants to start. he tried to convince me but i must make it clear I am against this motion.” there’s a collective gasp from every person in the room besides Anakin. “The king and i do not approve of this bill and therefore it will not be passed. we are for the people not against. we want peace not war. to suggest otherwise is treason” you say this while looking directly at the Chancellor, waiting for him to say something. for once he remains silent. ordinarily this would be a pleasant surprise, unfortunately you needed to get that confession out of him. you needed him to snap and show he wasn’t fit for the council then you could call for his removal without a single person wondering why. but would could you say to set him off if all of this hadn’t already. you turn back to the rest of parliament, you knew what you could say but would they believe you. would he confess to it if you brought it up.

“This is not the only thing the Chancellor has lied to you about. To all of us.” you feel like your heart is about to beat out of your chest, you already started you just had to go for it now. “My Father, The former king did not die from illness.” as you begin you see the faces of a few members of the council darken. of course it wasn’t just Valorum, you had a feeling but this confirmed it. no wonder they where in favor of this bill.

you force the next words out of your mouth, doing your best not to cry. “He was Poisoned” it felt like a wound had reopened, all that time mourning the loss of him from one thing just to find out he hadn’t even died in that way and now to state it out loud for all of parliament to know. the reality of it cut deep. “as it so happens I also have reason to believe those very same people who killed my father have tried to do the same to your new king… isn’t that right Valorum?” you turn to him, biting your tongue to hold your emotions back. the entire room erupts into chaos at your words, people shouting over one another in order to be heard. screams of ‘is this true’ and ‘it can’t be’.

you didn’t care, the only persons reaction that matter was the Chancellor’s.

“Fine. if that is how you would like to play this then so be it Your majesty.” the whole room goes quiet everybody listening for what he has to say, the tension was suffocating. “The queen is right, his majesty did not die from illness. He was killed. Poisoned. I was in on it- but it was not just me.” if he was going down he was taking everyone with him it seemed.

you felt like you were going to vomit the more he confessed. “It was my idea, i’d jokingly brought it up to our fellow members of the council over a drink. Lord Chamberlain was the one who suggested we make it a reality. we knew something like killing a king was too dangerous, to much could go wrong. that’s where the Marshall and Admiral came in. they where friends with the royal physician.” he sounded deranged, explaining it all so simply, so casually. The murder of your father laid out like casual gossip.

your ears began to ring, no longer able to hear the words coming out of his mouth or the rest of the Ton. you stumble slightly and feel yourself tugged down into your chair. a warm hand placed over your own, the usual comfort Anakin provided was failing. But at the very least you’d gotten the confession. The sounds of the room began to fade back in, shouts of anger and disgust at Chancellor Valorum and the rest of the councils expense as they where each carried out of the room by royal guards. Anakin was the one Standing now, it seems like he was the one to make the command. you where grateful for him as he took control of the room and called the meeting to an end.

pulling you to your feet and guiding you out of Hebury palace. this wasn’t the end of your troubles, now word would spread. soon everyone in Alderaan and the neighboring kingdoms would know of how your father truly died, as well as the attempt on the new kings life. it was going to be an uproar and to think all of this started over a law giving the poor free education. greedy bastards the lot of them.

part 12

Tag list: @luvvfromme @gatekeepingirlboss @bimbo-baggins86 @iluvanakinskywalker @bby-imasociopath @curlycarley @burnthecheshirewitch @misscaller06 @sweetcheesecakesblog

okay that was a lot, but we’re making good progress now 🤭 we still have quite a few milestones that are going to happen so stay prepared 💪💪 unfortunately i finished this chapter later then i thought i would so chapter 12 will be out tomorrow instead of today😅 anyways love you all 💋💋 hope you huns enjoyed and as usual don’t be shy share your thoughts Xx<3

[thoroq]

no because anakin was never dealt with a winning anything, my dude spent years as a slave’s kid working in the junk shop building droids as a form of fun.

i always enjoy the whole “Anakin just expected Obi-wan and Padmé to trust and listen to him?? Asshole” discourse because like… yeah??

not trying to self insert here but as a mentally I’ll individual 🫡 who in a fit of mania sometimes believes they are absolutely, 100% right and has the irrational thinking of; “im right, and you love me, you’re the person I love most, you should get it” & is totally irrationally emotional when they DONT, yeah… I GET THAT SIR!!

Even if it’s completely understandable, deep down I know they’re not at fault for not getting my own emotions, I’m in control of those — not others. I know this. Still, when my partner says something that goes against me it’s like nails against chalkboards sometimes

Again, when looking at Anakin he had nothing. He was a slave all his life, just to a different master each time. on Tatooine, to the Jedi/code, Palpatine and even to the Darth vader suit, he is never of his own free will. It was Qui-gon’s choice to win Anakin, to take him from his mother and home to what he thought would be a better life. granted it is, but he also finds himself isolated from what is imo what is supposed to be his “placeholder family”

MORE IMPORTANTLY Padmé is the love of his life, telling him that what he thinks they need, what he’s done for her and their family etc to be at peace/alive was actually WRONG!! BAD!! All meanwhile he doesn’t have any of his support at his side; Rex is off with ahsoka, obi-wan is fighting grievous on utpau meanwhile Palpatine has puppy Anakin at his every whim and call ((lets not forget that Palpatine had to have been grooming Anakin from a relatively young age)) They don’t get it, they didn’t see Padmé die before their very eyes, they don’t know what’s waiting them. Anakin is trying to save his family. Obi-Wan going against him is salt in the wound, even if Anakin himself knows it’s wrong and against the code and just completely evil.

I mean, Padmé FORGAVE him for the whole tusken massacre smh is it such a stretch to believe she would stand by his side as he waged war against the galaxy? i mean… isn’t that what love is…..? selfish, passionate, narcissistic, messy? she herself is a politician who often prioritized Anakin over her own duties I bet my man expected some “if you have a body in your trunk I’ll bring the shovel” type beat which also, i reiterate, WHY WOULDN’T HE when his wife forgave him for mass genocide, children included?,

he is emotionally/mentally fragile, he just recently slew younglings and killed Mace — you think this mf is thinking logically? Stop giving him the benefit of the doubt; he was a mess throughout the series, not once did he ever have his feet on the ground. He isn’t suddenly going to make the “right” decision, especially if it means sacrificing his loved ones. He’s an extremely flawed character, stop expecting him to make the right call.

The blocks of Anakin’s character have been set up to fall, Obi-Wan and Padmé are two of his most beloved relationships aside from his MOTHER that are completely dogging on his only hope of SAVING THEM. Anakin was never simply, “you have to do what I say or else I’ll get upset!” that’s a disrespect to his character — he can think logically. He isn’t a child. He is strategic, effective, in tcw he is the most efficient victorious warrior making Palpatine’s efforts look even better as leader of the republic. He builds droids from the time he is a young child all throughout his formative - adult years to the extent where knows how to understand their bleep bloops.

Anakin is flawed deeply, he was doomed from the get-go, never had a chance. His feelings are complex and deep and he questions the faith he swore to follow/protect. His character is so interesting to me and I have such a difficult time depicting the raw duality of man he wears on his shoulders everyday. Our desire to do good, yet to be evil; our desire to be unselfish, yet we are selfish.

This beautiful, scarred, monstrous mosaic of a man who from the very beginning, had a huge amount of pressure on him was meant to be so horribly dismantled. What other choice did he have? He is the chosen one, how could he be wrong? How could his idea of saving his family be any less honourable than the Jedi of the Galaxy?

He isn’t simply angry at them for not agreeing with him/falling with him, he feels betrayed. Personally. Obi-Wan and Padmé are pieces of Anakin, people that he loved so fiercely he labeled them as his enemies once they hurt him, he is too far gone to give them any semblance of second chances

anyways yep happy Thursday guys

[liopleurodean]

Counter question: What exactly could the Jedi have done that falls under "done more for clone rights"? They're in the middle of fighting a massive war, spread thin as it is. Sad fact is lobbying for policy change, even for important stuff like this, is pretty low on the priority list when Dooku and his ilk are pillaging systems left and right. If Yoda and Mace and the others have choose between discussing military strategy and pushing for legislation in the Senate (which isn't even their job to do), 9 times out of 10 their priority is the former. Not to mention by the time the war had simmered down to a point where they could start advocating for clone rights, Order 66 was literally a phone call away.

hey, thanks for the question! and you're absolutely right, there wasn't a lot the Jedi could do in the realm of politics. in my post I mention the Jedi struggled with "limitations of the war and their contracts with the Senate and Kaminoans" which definitely affected what they were able to do for the clones. however, I was talking less about political value and more about public opinion -- by the end of the war, most civilians resented or even hated the clones and what they represents. while there was some backlash against Jedi, as well, for the most part the Jedi generals were seen as heroes and paraded across the Holonet. the Jedi could have done more using their influence of public opinion toward the clones, especially those more commonly in the spotlight like Obi-Wan and Anakin (both of whom are considered to have the best treatment towards their troops in the first place).

another realm of their influence is the ranking system. take, for instance, Rex and Tarkin: during the Citadel mission both were Captains, but Tarkin automatically held a higher rank by virtue of being nat-born (something Anakin inadvertently encouraged in his encounters with the man). while the Jedi Commanders were better about recognizing their inexperience in battle and letting the clone commanders take the lead, the Generals could have done more to crack down on clone racism (speciesism? clonism?) within the Republic Navy. not only is that their duty as Generals and therefore the top of the command chain regarding their men, but also the Jedi are the legal owners of the clones and are responsible then for their treatment.

which does come to my last point, if we want to talk politically. the Jedi own the clones. legally. (we're not even going to touch the slavery part of this, that's a problem for another day.) the Kaminoans talk big about "their product", but in the end the Jedi (and the Senate) are paying customers and therefore what happens to the clones outside of Tipoca City is none of their concern. yes, there is an existing contract that the Jedi have to honor, but considering that none of the Jedi knew it existed and the Jedi who initiated it is dead, there should have been a reevaluation of the contract terms and what kind of influence Kamino could have. a big part of the issue is that Senator Burtoni, a representative of a Republic system, would speak out to the Senate about clone issues when the clones no longer belonged to Kamino. the Jedi should have done more to crack down on that kind of behavior and reestablish their control over clone treatment. Shaak-Ti obviously did some work in that department during her time on Kamino, but it's truly depressing how much slid by her.

Anyway, I'd love to hear more thoughts on this! this was mostly just me rambling off the top of my head, so if someone has a more clear and concise point that they want to share, I'd love to hear it. I totally agree that the Jedi were cornered into an awful position and were limited in choices, but I do still believe that more could have been done for their men.

[miseries-mistress]

THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT | COMMANDER CODY

This fic is for the @cloneficgiftexchange , my story is too @chicknstripz based of the prompt "Do you think they saw us sneak off?"

Synopsis: Galas have never interested you. Dressing up, smothering makeup on, and entertaining people who attended for appearances alone is pitiful as well as painful, but an unexpected guest turns the dreadful night around. 

Warnings: female reader, fluff, kissing, no spice, happy fucking ending bc he deserves one. W/C: 1225

Notes: i know you said fluff, but i had to add a pinch of sadness. i actually can't help myself! I hope you like it!

star wars masterlist

You'd rather be anywhere but here. No matter how the senators framed this gala, it was nothing but an excuse to garner support for the Republic and funds despite the invite plastering "charity" over the heading. Being an advisor to the Republic, you often attend such events in a dress worth more than most Corosants residents' paychecks. It's a requirement for someone working so in-depth with Jedi and clones alike, no matter how entitled you feel and far from the comfort of your uniform when you step into the building.

Soft classical music floats out the grand doors, and the troopers you pass by nod respectfully after noticing you from your many appearances through different battalions. You could easily be picked out among the rest, whether it was how uncomfortable you looked or the dress that didn't fit quite right, you didn't know. You offer them a smile before turning back to polite chatter barely above the melody. Maybe you would have enjoyed this more and soaked in these rare pleasantries if tomorrow's work hadn't hung over your head so dauntingly. Working with the 501st never bothered you. In fact, you got along well with Rex and his men, but pursuing any diplomacy with Anakin present is nothing short of exasperating, so much so that you find it hard to believe he holds the rank of a Jedi.

"Well, don't you look lonely?" the man behind you asks. An unmistakable husk to the teasing lilt in his voice prompts your head to jerk in surprise. You turn, caught in Cody's gaze, while the confidence slowly drains from his eyes the longer you hold it, finally noticing the front of your dress dripping down your curves. There's something inexplicable in his stare, the way it slowly slides down your body, an emotion you could only compare to ravenous enlarging his pupils. 

"You look…" he trails off, his Adam's apple bobbing as his irises find their way back to yours in an attempt to formulate the words congealed in his throat. "Really nice."

He bites back a wince. That's not what he wanted to say. 

Your chuckle does little to settle him, his mind rushing with possibilities of how you interpreted his complement as your hands run down his suit lapel, and he tries to straighten himself, maybe to seem presentable in front of you. Even after all the battles you've witnessed together, Cody still makes an effort to look like what he feels is a "real man." As if there was such a thing. 

"And you cleaned up nicely." He did. He really did. Cody looked almost...regal in the tailored black suit, rippling with lean muscle accentuated by the hugging fabric. Heat rises to your cheeks the longer you stare, and you clear your throat, forcing yourself to concentrate on what you're saying. "Well, I didn't expect you to show up tonight, not that it's unwelcome." 

You offer him a smile, understanding his flushed expression as thinly veiled embarrassment, removing your hands from his chest. A look of longing flashes across his honeyed irises before he clears his throat, his hand rubbing sheepishly at his nape. 

"Yeah, well, I usually see you before you're sent elsewhere. Besides, certain clone commanders were invited to showcase ourselves to members of the Senate…something about seeing us in person." He huffs, clearly disgruntled. "Not that it matters. It won't change their opinions of us."

You nodded. You've been around your fair share of senators throughout your career. But, being one of many ambassadors in the military and traveling across star systems to quell conflict in the people, senators often discarded them. Tossing their opinions forged from many years of training aside from the preconception that comes with the name. Seeing the hatred clones face is one thing, but witnessing how deeply it affects them is another. 

Cody avoids your regard, searching for anything else to latch onto besides the raw emotions crackling in the air. 

"Hey." A finger taps against his prominent jawbone, drawing him away from his thoughts. "Not right now. Let's just make the most of this time."

You reach for his hand, lacing your fingers and giving the rough skin a squeeze, calluses digging into yours. Loud laughter slices through the air, and your attention shifts to the group of aristocrats loudly talking among themselves, glasses of alcohol swinging loosely in their hands. You wince, the environment you created fleeting from your grasp just as Cody leans in, his mouth a hairsbreadth away from your ear, and a raspy breath accompanied by a hum is enough to have you hanging off every single word. "Let's get out of here, yeah? Make the most of our time?"

You can only nod, the words caught in your throat as the familiar warmth ignites in your stomach, spreading throughout your limbs until you're giddy with the implications of what comes next.

Knowing the layout better than you, he leads you by hand down the hall, passing guards in a hazy blur, your head reeling at the point of contact. The mysteriousness, the longing, the desire to be closer than you could have ever imagined has your breaths coming in shallow pants, desperate for some reprieve from the shared ache between you two. 

Finally, the door slides open, the night air kissing your cheeks with a chilliness you feel under your skin. The soft shut of the door behind you and his face in front of yours allows an unprompted giggle to slide past your lips, stealing a glimpse of the door before peeking back at him. 

"Do you think they saw us sneak off?" His lips twitch into a ghost of a grin, stepping towards you. You feel like teenagers, too wrapped in the moment to consider the consequences and everything that could crush what you've constructed into thousands of pieces, absorbed in the thrill of secrecy to consider your lives outside this instance. Not Republic members fighting for a better tomorrow, just lovers.

"You worry too much for your own good." Cody slides a hand up your cheek, and you can feel the pulse in his fingertips, the quickness of his breath. He seems nervous, debating the action before pressing his lips to yours in a tender cling. It's cliché the way it steals your breath away as you melt into him, and the hands that shift from your cheeks to shoulders and then slide painstakingly down your back are filled with tender warmth. You feel aware of everything at once, the pressure of his mouth, the taste of your kiss, the ardor of his hand cascading down the knobs of your spine, and the texture of his slightly cracked lips.

He holds your mouth captive so he can feel every place where they touch and every place when they pull away. You can't help but savor the air you share in seconds afterwards as you slip your nose across his, the instant too intimate to be painted by words. Even your breaths sync together while you stand there. 

Cody's fingers drift to your hips, pulling you flush to his chest in a swift movement. Gentle hands draw circles along your covered skin, pressing a kiss next to your ear. His voice is husker than usual, mysterious, and inviting. 

"But I wouldn't have it any other way." 

[fangirlforeversthings]

On todays episode of:

the clones are far not getting payed enough

Ahsoka had been told by fives that you have to swallow a seed to get pregnant. Ahsoka, who is not dumb, questions that and asks her master to have him test that theory.

Anakin: ugh snips not now i'm busy....go ask rex.

Ahsoka excited: *Runs out* yaaaay

Obi wan: *side eye*

Anakin: What? You said this is important right?

An hour later

The door opens and rex suddenly stands in the room deadsilent like🧍🏻‍♂️

Anakin: ?

Obi wan: ?

Rex walks up to obi wan and anakin and smashes datas on the table

Rex:..........if theres gonna be a clone jedi mutant growing in me now, you two pay.

Anakin tries to stop the laugh breaking out while obi wan just sighs.

Obi wan: i believe theres far more we have to pay you up for isn't it rex?

Rex: i'll send you a bill.

Anakin while rex is walking out: hey hold on, how did she even try?

Rex: She fed me an entire bag of sunflower seeds that she "impregnated" by holding her hands over it and using the force on them.

Anakin cracks up a laugh obi just frowns done with everybody (yet again like always))

Switch to view of him telling the same story to cody

Cody: so either you'll pop a mutant out there or shit sunflowers.

The other clones working on the Hangar bay laughing: eheheheheh

Which is appruptly stopped by a murder stare of cody and rex, who then goes back to placing his head in his hands elbows on his knees.

Cody: *standing next to rex, petting his shoulder* Man rex ol'boy they pay us far too less for dealing with their shenanigans all day.

Rex: they don't pay us at all

Cody: exatly

[ahsokathegray]

A Remedy for Memory || Part Two

Pairing: Rexsoka

Prompt: Rexsoka Monthly Jan. ‘24 - Accidental First Kiss

Summary: One simple fall causes a certain commander to fall in love with his co-commander all over again. Rex expresses his gratitude to his lover rather affectionately — unaware that he's never done so before, unaware that he and Ahsoka aren't together.

Tags: order 66 didn't happen, temporary amnesia, whump kinda, fake dating kinda, protective brotherly Anakin

Word Count: 5,713

A/N: if you saw the rom com this was inspired by, no you didn't. but fr go watch it, it's called the other zoey! (@rexsoka-monthly)

read on ao3! / masterlist

Three Months Ago

“Commander Rex, the latest briefing has come in.”

Her Commander turned to face the officer on the bridge before focusing his attention back to her, “Want to have a look? It might have an update on General Kenobi’s efforts.”

That kind smile flashed upon his lips and reached his bright eyes. Ahsoka found that she was incapable of refusing. Being at his side in these few days since her return felt almost magnetic and she didn’t desire to part with that anytime soon. She followed the officer and Rex waited for her to fall in line before he let himself move his feet. 

The doors to the briefing room swept aside and encased them in the small space, the holotable glowing with the waiting figure of Commander Cody. “Rex, are you and Commander Tano en route to Coruscant?”

Ahsoka smiled at the man’s use of her former title. No one was seemingly able to drop it either out of habit or respect or both. Even outside of her former legion, the clones continued to refer to her as their Commander. She smiled and Cody greeted her as well. 

“We are. Just departed from Mandalore and had entered hyperspace right before you called. Maul is in custody below,” Rex answered. “Any update on your end?”

“Yes. My men are retrieving the body of General Grievous as we speak… what’s left of him, that is. General Kenobi was successful in his efforts against the pile of scrap. I shouldn’t speak too soon on such matters brother, but, with the death of Grievous comes the end of the war — rendering the Seperatist’s forces without orders and therefore… ineffective,” Cody said, his voice sounding as if he didn’t believe the words he spoke. 

The words sounded wrong to everyone. 

Rex’s eyes narrowed and he had to sit his helmet down, “You’re positive?”

Cody laughed, “I had to confirm three times myself. My medics declared him dead. Proceed en route to the capital, Rex. Commanders. We’ll join you shortly. Cody out.”

His blue form fizzled and the holotable went dark. 

Ahsoka’s mouth hung open and she searched Rex for his reaction. His eyebrows were high on his forehead, a similar expression of shock painting his face. They stood there in a weighted silence. Neither of them knew what or how to feel. 

It went without saying that this war had been their only real purpose in life, each of them growing up in it and knowing nothing other than to be a soldier. All they knew was the mission, the field, the fight, the reports, the lack of sleep. They only ever knew the hurt and pain of war — the never ending loss amidst small victories. It wasn’t an endless cycle, it was just their life. 

Neither she nor Rex remembered a life without the war or life without the other person in it. 

What did they do now if it was all over? How did they proceed after the people they were on Mandalore? 

He was the first to speak, cutting through the loud and suffocating silence, “Well, in the theme of good things resulting from war.” A half-hearted chuckle rumbled in his chest, referencing their earlier conversation on the bridge. “They end.”

“What will you do now?” she blurted, the words leaving her mouth as soon as he finished. 

He put his tongue in the pocket of his cheek, scanning the empty room. No… not here. Such honesties weren’t appropriate in this location — not that said honesties were appropriate in any scenario. “Whatever the Republic asks of me, I suppose. My loyalty remains with it. The fight won’t end overnight,” he said. 

“And if it does?” Ahsoka prompted, not satisfied with his answer and knowing well that he was right. 

She should’ve felt more shame with the way her focus rested on his lips, watching them part in anticipation of his response, far too hopeful that he’d mention the gundark in the room. Rex’s tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip and she hung desperately onto each torturous movement. His tongue rose behind his teeth as he prepared to speak, but his response never came.

The door opposite of the bridge slid open and Jesse and a squad of clones stepped in. Rex’s attention fell from her to his brothers. 

Jesse was out of breath. “Commander Rex, I just got an update from Cody.”

“We just got off with him,” Rex said. “What he says is true, but don’t go telling the men just yet. We want them to finish up with everything before they start producing flasks and alcohol out of thin air.”

Jesse laughed guilty and patted a pouch on his waist, “You got it, Commander.” He saluted Rex and faced Ahsoka, doing the same, “Commander.”

The doors didn’t close behind him as his small squad left, allowing air into the tense little room and allowing the Commander and Advisor to catch their breath, but stripping them of their criminally short bit of privacy. 

Rex fought with his decision not to tell her. He’d waved the opportunity by as it passed him yet now intensely wanted it back. They’d unfortunately rejoined reality, but it was nowhere close to feeling as real as the reality they’d been a part of when the briefing room had been theirs alone. The tight, charged bubble of air that had encapsulated them on Mandalore followed them on the bridge of the Tribunal, shrinking steadily all the while and pushing them further together. It had reached a point of suffocating smallness, but one that Rex and Ahsoka both had welcomed — only for it to suddenly burst. 

Ahsoka stepped away from him and he could physically feel the distance growing between them in the pit of his stomach. It was then that he realized the end of the war didn’t quell his fear of losing her again — now in more ways than one. 

“You coming?” she asked, moving toward the exit. His stomach lightened. “The sooner things get done, the sooner we can tell everyone the good news.”

Rex picked his helmet up and his shoulders along with it. The soft curve of her full lips made his entire body feel lighter. There was not a thing in the galaxy to feel so mournful about just yet. 

“We could check up on how far along the men are with the post-mission checklists again,” Rex suggested. 

Ahsoka bit her lip midway through his sentence, suppressing a curious grin and shutting off her datapad. 

“What?” he asked, his own lips curving upwards. They’d been doing that frequently since her return. 

“We can only check the status of the gear so many times, Rex,” she laughed. “It’s been four years. Your men have it under control. They could probably do it in their sleep, I’d wager.”

That pulled a laugh from his lungs, “I reckon’ you’re right. The boys would start thinking I’ve come down with something if I start hovering again. Besides, the corries being on board are enough to do a lot of it for me.”

“I think I’ll have to confer with Jesse on that one. A relaxed Captain Rex is not something I can picture,” she teased, bypassing the final set of ships in the hangar.

“I’ve told you. It’s true. More than just Jesse can attest.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Ahsoka kept on, giving him a wink and that smirk of hers as he jogged up to catch her. “We’ve seen to our duties three times over now—”

“Two and a half,” he corrected, winking back at her, the blood in his ears pumping furiously.

That earned him a mocking eye roll, squeezing at his heart. “So far, you’re not proving your case. And as your advisor, I’d advise you to turn in early and get caught up on lost sleep. You should take every opportunity you get. I hear the war will be over soon,” Ahsoka jested. It’s all the men were talking about. Word had spread more quickly than even the Blue Shadow Virus had. 

He shrugged his shoulders, a loose smile playing at his lips, “Which doesn’t exactly mean the end of reports.”

“Vaughn has them covered as Captain,” she countered, crossing her arms and foiling his one and only excuse to remain in her presence for just a little while longer. 

Blast it. 

The last thing Rex wanted to do was turn in early. He very much wanted to finish overseeing the men, and he wanted to fill out the various mission reports from the siege… not that it necessarily needed to be done now or by him specifically. It was something that gave him purpose and perhaps a bit of joy. Did he still experience that same joy from said tasks when Ahsoka wasn’t around as he did them? 

Well, not exactly, but that has nothing to do with anything. And how many more opportunities would he get to do those things with her if the war truly was ending?

Even though it was still unclear, Rex felt a mass settle in his chest that told him their time together was limited. Did they just not address all that banter? The absence of appropriate distance between the two of them? The shortness of breath where they got perhaps too close? 

They were running out of time and he knew it. Everything was about to change. 

Rex wasn’t Force sensitive by any means, but he could feel that Ahsoka knew it too — just as he could somehow sense that she felt everything he felt. 

They came to a lift adjacent to the hangar and Rex stepped in after her, something like the wings of keeradacks brushing against the walls of his stomach. Had these things always been so narrow? 

He swore they were bigger on the Resolute. The Tribunal had to be an updated model of the Jedi cruiser. 

Their arms touched. 

Ahsoka cut her eyes up at him from under her lashes. He smiled but didn’t move. She didn’t either. Her gaze fell to his throat, watching it bob as he swallowed. The confines of the lift were having a physical effect on him and it was not going unnoticed. Ahsoka smoothed her dress. It was doing the same thing to her. 

A sharp ding then filled the thick air between them and Rex cleared his throat, hanging behind to allow her to exit first — because he was a gentleman and also because he wasn’t.

He bit his tongue at the way her short dress hugged her backside.

Ahsoka led the way through the corridor, passing the men’s empty barracks and heading toward the wing reserved for commanding officers and other such superiors. She was taking the long way and didn’t think he’d notice. 

It shouldn’t have, but the air felt thick up here as well. There was no one around but the two of them — their forces still cleaning weaponry and finalizing tasks for their return to Coruscant. These halls wouldn’t be so deserted soon, but for now, they echoed.

Commander’s quarters were within sight all too soon and Ahsoka leaned against the wall opposite of his door. Rex stopped suddenly, not approaching the door. It had been on his mind since they departed for this mission and he’d not gotten the opportunity to offer beforehand.

“Ahsoka,” he said, earning her curious eye. “You can have my quarters if you’d like. I know they used to be yours and it’s something that would feel familiar. You shouldn't have to sleep in a guest room.”

She smiled softly, “I wouldn’t ask that of you, Rex. Besides, I am technically a guest as an advisor. I appreciate it, but it’s quite alright.”

“I know you’d never ask it of me, which is why I’m offering it to you.”

“Rex, I’m not taking your bed from you.”

He swallowed, that specific string of words lighting his insides on fire.

“Then sleep in the General’s quarters at least,” he suggested. “If the Council hadn’t done what they did to you… that’s the room you’d be in right now anyway.”

Her brow markings dipped questioningly, an amused yet honest expression decorating her features. “What’s this about, Rex?”

If she said his name one more time, it would be the medic he’d have to seek out.

The closer she stepped, the more his throat seemed to close. “General Skywalker promoted me and, well, your bed is worlds more comfortable than mine — the Commander’s bed, I mean,” he corrected himself, cursing the blush that was blooming under his collar. “It’s worlds better than the Captain’s ever was and I deduced that the guest beds must be about the same as the barracks.”

Ahsoka raised her brows and nodded, confirming his suspicions, a little laugh punctuating her words, “You’d be right on the credits with that assumption. Always seeing between the lines.”

“Skywalker didn’t assign me to you for no reason,” he said, half joking. She laughed. Kriff, he loved it when she laughed. He loved even more than he could be the reason she laughed.

“You wouldn’t tell if I hijacked the General’s quarters, then?”

“Not a soul, General,” he playfully saluted. 

She rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the wall, approaching the door beside his. Her door whooshed open and his followed. 

Slender sienna fingers gripped the door and they drowned in one another’s eyes, staying quiet for too long and staring longer than was acceptable. If the war wasn’t coming to an end and there were more scenarios like this one, Rex wasn’t so sure either of them could keep a leash on their self control. That pull was back — that gravitational force between them — the bubble shrinking around them. 

She finally broke eye contact and glanced away, skin tinged with a blush. Her goodbye was reluctant. “Good night, Rex,” she whispered.

There was no no remaining moisture in his mouth and a frightened love in his “Good night, Ahsoka,” tugging back on itself, trying to keep itself a secret.

He waited until her rear lek disappeared through the door and it slid closed, the distance and the wall between them a heartache. Rex ran a hand over the back of his head and looked at the cold door. 

He loved her. It was in every word spoken to her, in the crossing of blaster under saber, in longing stares, in the lingering behind after everyone else had gone, the accidental touching, the knowing what they were doing with all that banter. He loved her. She made him understand the word in a way he never thought possible. 

At no point in the war had Rex paced so karking much. He did it until he thought maybe he was keeping Ahsoka awake with it, as they shared a wall. One wall. One fucking, miserable, mocking wall. He sat on the bed. His knee bounced incessantly. He didn’t even try to shed his armor and get the shut eye she’d advised. Sleep would not be coming any time soon. Rex knew well that her being an advisor had meant the war variety, not in the sleep variety. She had only been half teasing when she’d suggested it, of that he was aware, but he didn’t want to let her down.

She plagued him. She infected his every cell. He ought to find the medic and get him to run a diagnostic. He was sure the monitors would beep with a high amount of ‘A-count’ over that of the normal M-count he heard talk of all those times Kix had seen to Ahsoka’s injuries. 

Ahsoka had invaded his body and mind and he didn’t want to get her out. She reigned over all of his senses.

He checked the chrono and released a huff of air. It had only been an hour since they’d both confined themselves to their quarters. His mouth was void of all moisture, knees bringing him to stand from the bed and approach the door. With a sharp inhale and a setting of the jaw, he pressed the button to open it and the brightly lit hallway greeted him.

Roaring laughter could be heard to the right, pouring from the barracks. A drink was what he really needed, a bit of Tihaar to numb his nerves. Jesse would no doubt have a separate stash he could borrow from, with no fear of running low. But he didn’t turn to the right. Rex took one step to the left and found the door to the General’s quarters open — Ahsoka’s door. 

It was dark inside and he peered in, finding the sheets awry and no one in bed. No one was in the room at all. Where had she gone?

For a fleeting moment, Rex reconsidered the barracks, wondering if Ahsoka had joined the men in celebrations. But he shook his head, walking in the opposite direction. Rex had no destination in mind. Like his future, his current path was undetermined, leaving him aimlessly wandering about the cruiser. 

Most sections of the ship were completely untouched, indicating that the Tribunal had only recently been released from the Kuat Drive Yards. He wondered if Mandalore had been its maiden voyage — if it had been constructed for a war it would never see. 

After all, the siege had not officially been a part of the war. 

He sighed, trying with proven difficulty not to think about the time that had already passed and the time that still would. They were all waiting like sitting convors as one era quietly bled into the next. He didn’t expect to ever be so… unsettling. 

The rambunctious chatter in his helmet did nothing to lift his mood or ease his mind, moving him to switch his comms off entirely. No one was looking for him at this time of night, all under the impression he’d gone to bed. Hell, if a drunken trooper came face to face with him in the corridors, they’d look even more so like a kybuck in headlights than they did when sober. 

At any rate, Jesse was with them and doing an excellent job of being both the babysitter and the drinking buddy.

Their laughter echoed down the halls even this far away from the barracks. Ahsoka had to know what they were all doing, but either didn’t mind or had gone somewhere else to sleep. Between her not being on this mission as a Jedi as well as the war’s status being up in the air, she wasn’t there to bust any codpieces.

His face flushed furiously under his bucket at the thought. 

Rex had no idea how all this had managed to happen in just a few days' time. She was never not on his mind. If he took a left up ahead, it would lead him on the path to the medbay. It might be worth going to sort this thing out. He had to have breathed in some kind of pollen or intoxicant that made him feel this way about Ahsoka…

But deep in his heart he knew that nothing had gotten into his airways — nothing except her. 

Rex took said left and found himself walking above the hangar. The lights had been shut off, meaning the men had properly finished their assigned tasks without him going behind them to ensure it. He spoke too soon, however, as there was one light still on.

Without the comm chatter of the boys in his helmet, Rex’s own thoughts filled the bucket and suffocated him. Completing that earlier two and a half rounds of inspections would do well to clear it. He sighed and made for the lift in the hall to take care of the light when he passed by the hangar control center, catching sight of sharp movement from within through his periphery. 

The room was completely dark. 

“Hey,” he called, walking into the small room, his tone taking on that of reprimanding a loitering shiny. “No one should be in here, it’s after hour—”

His pauldron caught the edge of the wall and he lost his footing, catching himself with ease but not before bumping into someone.

Ahsoka. 

She was leaned up against a panel, smirking up at him as if she’d been waiting for him to get here, backlit by the one light in the hangar and the glow of the control panels. More importantly, she was flush against him and hadn’t moved despite his misstep. 

He had never been more regretful in his own steps as he backed away. Kriff, she was angelic. 

“After hours? Even for advisors?” she asked playfully, crossing her arms. 

He’d done nothing but smile like a fool since her return and now was no exception. Rex stood there admiring her, transfixed with her beauty and out of breath at the way she shone in the dim light. It was difficult to swallow, but he managed, thankful she couldn’t see his lopsided grin under the helmet. “I distinctly recall you infamously never abiding to the rule anyway,” he said, adding, “Some things never change.”

Even in the dark he could see her knee-weakening curve of the lips, smiling at his second use of the phrase, referencing a slice of their amorous interactions on Mandalore. Karking hells. This had taken the top spot of most beautiful things he’d ever seen — and everything on the list was Ahsoka.

Rex didn’t smile so genuinely very often, yet her return had broken new records. Seeing her face for the first time again, her reaction to the helmets, his handiwork had swelled in his chest and engorged his heart. He didn’t anticipate her being so beautiful, so perfect. As soon as those doors had opened and she’d walked in with Skywalker, Rex had been done for. And once they were on their way to Mandore — once they were alone — the banter began, but not ever how it had been before. His heart fluttered and his stomach flipped, that muscle behind his navel coiling. It was charged, magnetic, and only increased over the past few days. 

His poor heart hammered against his chest plate, threatening the integrity of the armor. 

“Don’t tell me you’re up because you were going to triple check the men’s efforts in the hangar,” Ahsoka taunted. 

He pressed his lips together and chuckled softly, “Well, if I told you I couldn’t sleep, that would be a lie.”

And a lie it would be. As much as he hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself, his path tonight was never undetermined — it was always going to lead him to her. 

Ahsoka stepped forward and yet again they were nearly flush together, the distance between them now so small that it would raise all sorts of concern and probably broke several protocols. She studied his helmet and tilted her head, offering him a sweet smile. Rex knew better than to think she was merely taking stock of the armor, looking instead past it at the man underneath.

Ungloved hands closed around the bottom half of the bucket and lifted, all of Rex’s suffocating thoughts and feelings dissolving into the air. 

That had to be a protocol violation — but it would be one he never filed and his heart wasn’t complaining. 

And he was past letting it. 

Ahsoka hummed, “You didn’t even try, did you?” Rex offered her a guilty raise of the hands and purse of the lips and she laughed. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. And,” she said, running a finger along the rangefinder on his helmet, her words tickling his lips. His entire body came alight with electricity. “You’ll be pleased to know that the men did a perfect job with the ships in the hangar, like I said they would.”

His brows knit together and his mouth fell slightly agape, their breaths mingling. They were probably the only two people on board not drunk off their shebs, but Rex swore that was changing. He was becoming intoxicated just being this close to her, his mind struggling to work past the haze. 

Thankfully, his reserves kicked in and her meaning fell into place. “And you called me unrelaxed,” he heard himself say.

Shrugging, Ahsoka mirrored his earlier words, “Old habits and all. Like you said, some things never change, right?” He swore she winked at him but couldn’t be sure, the haze fogging his brain could’ve seen what it wanted to. “I did save you one though.”

A single brown eyebrow raised and he mirrored her smug little smirk, “Oh yeah?”

“I had a feeling I’d find you wandering this way at some point tonight,” she said, turning to exit the room, still holding his helmet and casting a soft, unreadable smile over her shoulder. 

Rex followed her again into a tiny lift and made a point to purposefully graze her arm with his, not that it wouldn’t have happened naturally if he didn’t try. He watched her lips raise out of the corner of his eye. 

The ding sounded all too soon and he decided that there was very little in this universe he wouldn’t give to be able to get stuck in this lift with her. 

She led him down the dim hallway towards the main doors, walking in comfortable silence and feeling his heart inch further up his throat with every step. This was where he had to tell her. They were quite literally walking into the opportunity. It was quiet all around them, but his thoughts were loud, so loud in fact that he was sure they’d start echoing in the hangar along with his and Ahsoka’s combined footsteps. 

The ship in question was a small shuttle tucked away to the left. It was the only thing in the hangar that was lit — the overhead light above it buzzing. 

“I can practically hear the gears turning in there,” Ahsoka commented softly, glancing back at him. 

“Just on edge a bit,” he said truthfully. “Guess we all are with the rumors that are circulating,” he said less truthfully. 

She pressed a button that lowered the ramp of the shuttle, nodding in agreement. “Whatever happens, I’m looking forward to not being a soldier with you, whether it's now or later.”

Rex straightened his shoulders, “I’m not sure what will happen to all of us clones, but it would be the highest honor to assist you in being a keeper of the peace. There’s nothing I’d rather do.”

He half thought she’d salute him again as she did on the bridge, but Ahsoka only boarded the ramp and set his helmet down on a nearby surface. 

“So… you’re rejoining the Order, then?” he asked, feeling the available air around them diminish.

Her lips flattened in thought and she nodded. “I think so, yes, but I'm not without my conditions. Besides, how else am I supposed to see you all the time?” she added, pretending like she was only joking. 

Something in the way she wet her lips told Rex otherwise. 

They’d barely made it two steps inside the shuttle’s narrow entryway and his heart already threatened to short out. He could control his breathing in any and all other situations, except for those that involved her. And for the first time, he noticed that her breathing pattern was the same. If not even the use of the Force could help her with regulating it, then he was fighting a battle he was destined to lose. 

By some miracle of the universe, his voice didn’t betray him as he spoke. “Did you really save this ship for my inspection?”

Ahsoka didn’t miss a beat and took a step forward. “You do have the better eyes,” she said, searching him far beyond that of the surface level. She seeped into his very pores.

Not another missed opportunity would pass him by, not when she was this close again, not when she was looking at him like that.

Rex pushed away from the surface behind him and matched her forward step, entering her space and turning her steps into reverse, backing her into the opposite wall. 

He was careful not to crowd her and she pressed herself into the durasteel behind her, looking up and finding his intense gaze. “I’d wager a fair amount of credits that yours are better,” he drawled, not at all in reference to her inspection abilities. One of his hands raised and settled on the wall next to Ahsoka’s head. Her left montral grazed the inside of his wrist and the breath in both of their throats hitched. 

The blue of her eyes felt like home and not just because they were the blue of Kamino’s waters on a day without rain. He would gladly sink to the depths for her if she asked it of him. Her wide eyes searched his, full lips parting as the inches between their faces dwindled. His knee ran along the outside of hers, that bubble around them tightening — constricting the air around them, forcing them to share the same breath. 

Whether or not Ahsoka had truly left this shuttle for his inspection or not was irrelevant. He’d figured out her unreadable smile and sleight of hand. She wanted to see if he truly had relaxed, if he could allow himself something like this despite his duty and despite his title — if he could love her. 

He did. 

He did and he was tired of not admitting it. Both to himself and to her. 

The backs of his knuckles slowly swept up her inner arm, gliding along her bicep. His fingers shook and his breath trembled, but he refused to look away from her, ready for any sign or signal that she wanted him to stop.

She swallowed visibly, tucking her bottom lip between her teeth and tilting her head just so, exposing her neck to him. The subtle movement was almost imperceptible, but Rex caught it, journeying to the skin and grazing her lekku with his knuckles along the way.

Ahsoka sucked in a heavy breath, heart pounding mercilessly. Rex continued, sliding his fingers over her neck and pressing over her very rapid, very visible pulse. She let out a breath of air as if to laugh at herself, but it became trapped in her throat as he leaned down, eyes on her. The ‘no’ never came.

His lips were soft as they pressed to her pulse point, kissing with the utmost delicacy and lingering not nearly long enough. 

Her eyes were blown wide when he pulled away, chest pushed forward and heaving. 

“‘Soka, I—”

She whimpered and cut him off, bringing both of her hands to his face and pulling him close, desperate to share his air again and feel his lips on hers this time. Rex’s hand fell to her waist and she wiggled to where his leg was situated between her legs. Ahsoka inhaled with quivering lips into his mouth and Rex did the same, lips touching briefly. His other hand cradled her face, thumb stroking the marking on her cheek, watching as her brow markings couldn’t settle on what to do.

Rex smiled into her mouth, sighing in relief as he closed his eyes and—

“Who left this light on? Someone turn that off before Commander Rex shuts the party down,” a voice echoed in the hangar. 

Ahsoka’s forehead pressed against Rex’s, the both of them out of breath and looking desperately into the other’s eyes as the footsteps drew nearer.

Another voice joined the first, “I saw Sterling turn all these off. Must’ve been an accident.”

Two orange fingers were held up and Rex nodded. Two troopers were coming this way and the ramp to the shuttle was still lowered. Fek, he hoped she had a plan. 

He wasn’t disappointed. Ahsoka closed her eyes and lifted her hand into the air, her nose scrunching as slightly as she navigated the Force. Rex watched on as the light from outside flickered a few times, repeating a few times and sparking before shutting off completely. The dark blanketed them completely. 

“Keep going,” she whispered breathily.

A blush blossomed over Rex’s entire body. Those men were still out there. 

“What the—” he heard one of them say.

“Must be a bad fuse. Tell a droid and let’s wipe our hands with it. I’d like to return to my drink,” the other giggled.

“Good with me.”

Karking hells they had to be right by the shuttle, with no idea that their Commanders were inside. 

His lips found that spot on her neck he’d kissed before, pressing his lips to it and deepening the kiss, one hand cradling her neck as the other found the tip of her right lek. Ahsoka sucked in a sharp breath and clenched her teeth to keep from making any noise. He bravely swiped his tongue along the tender skin and her body jerked, hands wrapping around his neck. 

“Rex,” she whispered, panting.

He hummed against her feverish skin, squeezing her lek and running it through his fist. 

She sighed, trying to control her reactions, “I think, I’d like to— I’d like to amend my statement from earlier.”

Rex sucked at the spot he’d been stimulating, right where her jaw met her neck, drawing the most delicious sound past her wavering lips. “Yeah? Which one is that, ‘Soka?”

He felt her swallow and catch her breath, antsy hands falling to his belt, “Whe— When I called you my friend,” she gasped.

All he could do was chuckle against her, pressing one final kiss to her neck. “I think we both knew what you meant,” he breathed. 

A small bit of light bled through the hangar as the two troopers vacated the area. She glanced towards the door and straightened despite the return of their privacy. “Linger back a bit,” she whispered. “Meet me in the General’s quarters.”

“Ahsoka,” Rex said, being sure to use her name properly. “Are you sure?” 

Her wrist was taken between his fingers and her other hand rubbed his shoulder in response. “I’ve never been more sure of anything, Rex. I’ve been sure for… how many days has it been?”

Rex expelled a bit of air from his nose and leant down to peck her cheek, “I’ve lost count by now, because of you.”

[renlyslittlerose]

Another Moonlight Serenade ‘B Side’. Based off the prompts that @ghostlingpupskywalker and @kittonafoxgirl suggested, regarding Obi-Wan’s reaction to finding out that Anakin was more grievously wounded than he first let on!

All’s Fair in Love and War (2k)

‘1944/05/23 Skywalker Queen Victoria Hospital East Grinstead, England

Dear Kenobi,

I hope all is well. Still stuck at the hospital, but I can’t complain too much. The food is warm, the beds soft, and the nurses are pretty. Did I mention we get free beer on tap whenever we want? I guess there are some perks to being wounded. But I can’t wait to get back out in the field. I miss the skies. I also feel like I’m not doing my part like I should. Rex keeps telling me that he can win the war without me, but I beg to differ.

My arm is still on the mend, as I am sure you can tell from the different handwriting. One of the new nursing sister’s has volunteered her time today, in exchange for a game of bridge later on. The RAF boys have been playing “Shove Ha’Penny” in the mess the last couple of nights. I still don’t find it all that appealing, but it’s the only thing going on, so I find myself learning the game despite my best efforts.

Well, there isn’t much doing. I’m due in for another surgery but rumour has it I’ll be discharged soon. Can’t wait. I’m getting sick of the smell here - too clean and sterile.

Wishing you well. Stay safe, and leave some fighting for me.

Skywalker.’

Obi-Wan fiddled with the edges of the letter, running the thin blue paper against the pad of his thumb. Anakin’s words stared up at him in unfamiliar, feminine handwriting. He’d been through six different nurses so far, each with their own particular way of spelling and writing, though their penmanship was universally legible and neat - unlike most of the officers’ who wrote as if they were being chased by a herd of wildebeest. Obi-Wan wondered when he’d get to see Anakin’s again - all sharp angles and the occasional misspelled word.

Anakin kept promising in his letters that there would be one more surgery - just one more - and he’d be right as rain again, but after three different hospitals and numerous surgeries later, Obi-Wan was beginning to suspect that something more grievous had happened. The facts didn’t add up, Anakin’s assurances sounding less and less comforting each time Obi-Wan opened a letter only to be greeted with the sight of another person’s handwriting.

He loathed to pry; he had no right, really. He knew he ought to take Anakin’s word as it was given, and believe him despite it all, and yet…

Worry sat in Obi-Wan’s guts, tangling deep in with all the other anxieties he’d swallowed at the start of the war. Though he’d only known Anakin a short while he already knew his habits, the little ways in which he carried himself bleeding through the letters he dictated. He was scared - scared and grieving and so terribly sad. It made Obi-Wan want to weep; to ask if he could help; to pack his bags and swim across the channel to see Anakin with his own two eyes - touch the scar on his cheek and kiss away whatever it was that had hurt him so. He wanted to hold him in his arms and tell him that it would all be okay, even though Obi-Wan wasn’t sure it would, or could, ever be right again.  

Folding the letter up, he slipped it in the front pocket of his shirt before leaving the mess tent. It was early afternoon beneath the hot Italian sun, the stink of petrol and oil thick in the muggy air. Most of the men had taken shelter beneath the trees that sprouted up in the hills, the tents far too hot to spend any time in unless you absolutely had to. Squinting back the sun he headed toward the tent at the end of the camp next to the freshwater source.

He found the field medic, Captain Buck, sat at a table, sweat beading down his forehead as he filled out a form in front of him. Next to him were a stack of other such sheets along with an opened water canteen, the contents probably long since dredged. Behind him a man lounged on a cot, bandages thick and white wrapped around his skull and his knee - a victim of an early morning motorcycle accident awaiting transport to a nearby field hospital.

Buck smiled when Obi-Wan stepped inside and sat back in his chair, the wood creaking beneath him.

“I’m sure one of the boys would share his shady spot with you outside if you asked,” Obi-Wan said.

“Why?”

“It’s rather hot in here, isn’t it?”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” He smiled despite the beads of sweat that dripped along his temple.

“I suppose it’s a state of mind,” Obi-Wan remarked. He resisted the urge to tug at the collar of his shirt. “How’s our Lieutenant doing?”

“He’s fine; just a little banged up. Probably more embarrassed than anything - I guess he got spooked by a passing goat and swerved into a ditch trying to avoid it.”

“Did the goat survive?”

“It’s who alerted the locals to his presence!”

“Perhaps we should take the goat with us - have it aid us as an early detection alert.”

Buck chuckled before sitting forward again, his hands locked together on the table. “Not that I don’t appreciate the visit, but is there something I can help you with, Major?”

Obi-Wan hesitated a moment. It really wasn’t his business - Anakin had kept whatever it was from him for a reason. And yet…

“Queen Victoria Hospital back in the UK - have you heard of it?”

Buck nodded. “They’re known for their plastics unit - specialize in burn trauma and recovery.”

“Is that all they do?”

“No, but that’s why they send our men over there. Why? Do you know someone who’s there?”

“Yes - a fellow with the R.C.A.F. He was shot down a few months ago, but has been rather tight lipped about the extent of his injuries.”

“Stands to reason he was burned in the crash. It’s common for airmen to suffer from burns due to the fuel tanks in those things. They tend to… explode when filled with bullets.”

Obi-Wan had seen burn victims before. During his first year of service in the war he’d help drag a man from a burning Blenheim, a memory he’d tried to forget. He could still smell the scorched fabric of his uniform and hear his screams as their commander tried to put out the fire, touch brutal as he beat back the flames in an attempt to stall its quick creep up his legs and across his chest.  

The smell of his burning flesh reminded Obi-Wan of grilled pork, and he felt mildly sick for weeks any time he caught a whiff of cooked meat.

Obi-Wan’s gut twisted. Anakin was such a near perfect creature, youthful skin marred only by nicks and cuts caused by the errors of youth. The thought of his skin, bronzed and dotted with freckles and beauty marks, being twisted and torn and warped by the heat of flames made Obi-Wan want to be sick.  

“If he’s up and talking and walking, he’s going to be fine,” Buck said, his voice creeping back into Obi-Wan’s consciousness. “They’re doing some fabulous work over there; best of the best. He’d in good hands.”

“Yes, of course,” he said quickly. Swallowing the sour spit in the back of his throat, Obi-Wan smiled tightly as Buck. “I have one more question, if I may.”

“Of course.”

“Your typical arm fracture wouldn’t require multiple surgeries, would it?”

“Not if it’s just a regular break. Maybe one or two, if the surgeon didn’t know what he was doing, but setting the bone and casting it is typically good enough.” Buck sat back again and rested his hands on his stomach. “Did your friend hurt his arm?”

“Yes.”

“How many surgeries?”

“A fair few, though I’m doubtful they were all for his arm, if what you say about Queen Victoria is true.”

“Would I lie?”

“No,” Obi-Wan replied. “Though I wish you would right now.”

Buck’s smile tensed, sympathy flashing across his eyes. “I’m sorry, Kenobi, I wish I could offer you more reassurances.”

Obi-Wan nodded and tugged at the bottom of his shirt, pulling the fabric of his shirt off of his sweaty chest. “It’s as you say - he’s receiving the best care available.”

“He is.”

“Thank you for lending me your ear.” Buck nodded, smile once again softening. “And let me know if you need any help when the truck comes for the Lieutenant.”

“I will.”

Obi-Wan slipped out of the tent into the marginally cooler air. As he walked back to his tent the letter in his pocket sat heavier.

XXX

‘I think I owe you a proper explanation for that. When I said that I was recovering, I wasn’t being entirely truthful. I’m fine, but there were complications with my arm. They had to amputate it.’

“Oh, darling…”

“You alright?”

Obi-Wan glanced up from his letter to peer at one of the men from across the table. It was late at night, the tent buzzing with men and moths as they congregated around the kerosene lamps that dotted the tables in the mess tent. Off in the distance Obi-Wan could hear the distant rumble of aircraft engines a few short miles away as night fighters took advantage of the cloudless skies.

“Fine,” Obi-Wan said, his breathing catching on his throat.

“You sure? You look a little piqued.”

“I’m fine.”

Folding the letter up he stood and left the tent with haste. It wasn’t until he was in his tent, sat on his cot, with a flashlight pointed at the letter did Obi-Wan read the rest of it. Anakin’s assurances he was alright and the photograph he’d sent of his garden did little to reassure Obi-Wan that he truly was okay. Losing an arm was traumatizing enough, but losing the ability to fly was like asking Anakin to breath without air, or sing without a voice, or love without a heart. Flying was everything to him.

And Obi-Wan couldn’t reassure him; couldn’t be there to help him in the ways he knew he needed help.

Instead he was stuck in the middle of Palestine, constrained by his duties, beaten down by grief and misery, made to stay and fight in a war that had already taken so much from him, and had stripped what little left Anakin had from him. All he could do for Anakin was write useless words of encouragement on blank sheets of paper while censors held him back from declaring his foolish, delirious love for him.

Anakin deserved better; they both deserved better.

It wasn’t fair. It was all so unfair.

Those who didn’t know loss and fear like a soldier did would remark that life wasn’t fair; that life was filled with ups and downs and we were powerless to stop them. Those religious would even state that things always happened for a reason, as if to make it sting a little bit more; as if to make you feel more inadequate, more powerless. But things didn’t just happen, and life should be fair. It was easy to say that it wasn’t because then it absolved humanity from even trying - for striving for something better.

Anakin wouldn’t have lost his arm, been burned, been tortured, stripped of his life’s goals and aspirations because there should have been no war - no conflict, no death, no misery. And if there had to be conflict then let the old fight’ the men in their suits in their offices who signed the papers and made the choices. Let them take up arms and come to blows while the youth lived in peace and security.

Life wasn’t fair because they made it so.

Obi-Wan was sick of it.

Standing, Obi-Wan kicked over his cot, watching the sleeping bag fall on to the sand covered floor as the wooden frame clattered in the quiet space. Next he kicked his side table, sending documents and a compass down on to the floor next to the bag, the two creating a mess that was satisfying for only a moment. It wasn’t often he acted out in such a way - not any more - but the anger came through him, hot and sudden and biting, making him want to scream and tear, to rage and cry. It was almost overwhelming, the sudden build up of grief, like a torrent of rain and waves against the hull of an already battered ship, continual and never-ending.

But the release only lasted a moment - a sudden violence followed by a calm that Obi-Wan wasn’t sure what to do with. It was almost easier to remain angry.

Taking a deep breath he looked down at the chaos he’d created, the light from his flashlight flickering off the turned over cot and messy sheets. As far as temper-tantrums went it wasn’t very impressive. The sheets could be cleaned up in moments, the bed righted in much the same amount of time. But at least it could be fixed, unlike everything else in the world.

He cleaned up the mess in the relative dark, his flashlight waving about the tent walls as he righted the bed and sorted through the papers. Once finished he kicked off his boots and collapsed on top of the sleeping bag, head cushioned by his arm. The letter sat in his free hand, the paper crinkled and worn. If he tried hard enough he could almost smell Anakin’s cologne on the sheet - cinnamon and something else, something that made Obi-Wan nostalgic for soft embraces and laughter against his neck.

He’d write a letter tomorrow, when the sun had risen and the crush of Anakin’s loss wasn’t felt as deeply. For now, Obi-Wan would wallow in his sorrow. He knew Anakin wouldn’t begrudge him for that.

[crispyjenkins]

Prompt Fill sneak peek

a continuation of the past jangobi + obi's padawan ahsoka prompt from oh god two and a half years ago. altho to be fair most of what i'm sharing here was also written two and a half years ago

  She holds her wrist behind her back as she stops next to Fett, the man startling at her sudden presence, and he must have been truly distracted to not have heard her approach. “He still has the holo, you know,” she says without preamble, because it’s easy to see who Fett is watching across the camp.

  “Excuse me?”

  His accent is a little thicker than the clones’, she notes with a small smile, like he’s never quite let go of Concord Dawn. “The one from Tatooine, after Naboo.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Fett winces. “He’s told you, then?”

  “Hardly.” Wrinkling her nose, she watches her master embrace both Anakin and Captain Rex. “But I’ve pieced a lot together, and Master Windu said Anakin’s aunt took the holo.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because you make him sad, which makes me angry. Master Obi-Wan says you had a good reason, even if you haven’t told him all of it, and you better have had a kriffing good reason.” She glances at him, pleased to see him looking appropriately guilty as he follows her gaze to the object of both their affections. “So. Fess up.”

  “I don’t owe you banthashit, kid,” he growls, but he’s not walking away either. “If Windu thought to tell you anything, surely he explained the expiration of my contract.”

  Ahsoka snorts. “No, not why you didn’t speak to him for ten years; why you’re not speaking to him now. Even Wupi has picked up on the tension, and he's as romantic as a sarlacc pit.”

  At the very least, it gets him to pause, and she quickly takes advantage of his waver in surety,

  “Fett, if you knew anything about my master, you know he’d never force himself at someone. You were gone for almost a decade, but he didn’t see anyone else; that means something, doesn’t it?” She raises a brow at him, but he still isn’t looking at her.

  “I can’t believe I’m getting romantic advice from a child,” Fett seethes, knuckles white around the edge of the gold helmet in his hands. Yet, he still does not walk away.

  “If you think Master Obi-Wan took your apology to mean you still wanted him, you’re actually as stupid as Cody thinks you are.”

.