#so when I first saw Ahsoka’s ending I was over the moon

[mayhw]

Star map inspired by Ahsoka’s ending credits

[writingforfun0714]

Hi all I wanna talk about the Star Wars Celebration 2023 so-

Warnings: Spoilers, long post, not a fic, idk what else

SPOILERS!!!! SPOILERS RELATED TO ANY/ALL NEW STAR WARS CONTENT!!!

So I wasn’t really aware of Star Wars Celebration this year cuz my b-day was Friday and this past Sunday was Easter so you can bet I was excited to see the live streamed videos on Youtube. After going through most videos available, I started going online and looking at different articles and whatnot (I also saw those vids of KK walking out on stage to quiet/shame applause lol).

I hate KK with a passion so I’ve been unsure about new Star Wars projects but from what little I’ve seen, I definitely feel a bit better about the future of Star Wars (and hope KK is on her way out).

I’d like to talk about Ahsoka (live action) first. I love the concept of continuing the Rebels story. I enjoy Rebels. Not as much as Clone Wars and is about tied with Tales of the Jedi, but I definitely enjoy Rebels more than Bad Batch (which I’ll get into later).

First off, the cast for Ahsoka. I think it’s great! We’ve seen Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka (and obviously Hayden Christensen as Anakin/Vader) so I was really only wanting to see the animated Rebels characters (Ezra, Sabine, Zeb, Chopper, Hera). While Zeb wasn’t shown in the Ahsoka trailer shown, we did get about 30secs from Mando when he talks to Paul Sun-Hyung Lee’s character (I forget his name). I thought Zeb looked great and loved they got Steve Blum (the original VA) to play him. The other Rebels that have been shown are Hera, Chopper, Sabine, Thrawn and a hologram image of Ezra. Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine looks amazing and Mary Elizabeth Winstead looks great as Hera. Chopper, being a droid, obviously looks great as well. Eman Esfandi as Ezra looks amazing as well. For a while, like lots of fans, I thought Mena Massoud would be Ezra (he was coming off his Aladdin success) but when Eman Esfandi got the role, I saw Massoud’s response and was put off from the guy. Massoud didn’t seem happy/polite, to me at least. Plus Esfandi looks more like Ezra than Massoud does (especially w/ the nose, eyebrows and chin). I also think Esfandi looks a lot like Ezra’s father Ephraim Bridger. Idk if Eman Esfandi’s been in anything else but I’m not put off by new actors. I think new actors can be amazing (the only disney example I can think of is Neel Sethi as Mowgli from the live action Junglebook remake from 2016).

Now for the main man, Thrawn. I know he’s a comic/Legends character but for the purpose of this post, he is animated first then shown in live action. Because he was shown in animation first, I’m always on the side of getting the VA to be their character in live action (James Sie is doing this in AtLA as the cabbage man). When I found out that Lars Mikkelsen is Thrawn I was over the fucking moon.

Controversial opinion?? Thrawn was done dirty in Rebels. I was 16 when I first watched Rebels and I definitely think he was overhyped. I know Rebels is more kid-oriented, but I’d say going into the 2nd half of S1 had a more CW-esque feel to it and definitely by the end of S2, I thought Rebels was gonna be CW 2.0. I learned that Thrawn is supposed to be cold, calculating and patient so I re-evaluated my feelings on S3 and realized that Thrawn was building up to the S3 finale. By S4 and with the introduction of the Loth Wolves, I definitely thought Thrawn should’ve made some waves at this point. I’d say that the only real damage he’s done was in the S4 finale, forcing Ezra to sacrifice himself.

I think Ahsoka is the perfect chance to show just how dangerous and lethal Thrawn can be. I HAVEN’T READ THE THRAWN TRILOGY BOOKS so everything I know about it is from wookieepedia and google. I’m wondering if they’ll bring in any Legends characters related to Thrawn (ELI VANTO!!! He’s right there c’mon).

Lastly I wanna talk about Huang, the lightsaber construction droid. We first see Huang in Clone Wars S5 with the Ahsoka/Younglings/Hondo arc. Huang definitely reminds me of the wand guy in Harry Potter, but sassier lol. I’d heard from leaks online that Huang was going to be in Ahsoka, but to actually see him was amazing. I immediately questioned if the other Younglings are still alive at this point (they’d probably be mid 30s?) We get confirmation that Gungi is alive in Bad Batch S2 E6 Tribe, so I wouldn’t say it’s impossible that the others are alive.

I know that bringing back familiar Jedi is controversial among lots of fans (feeling it takes away from O66). But I actually like it because it shows that even though O66 was planned from the beginning (w/ Sifo Dias/Dooku/Palpy), the plan wasn’t perfect (and then of course the retconning of brainwashing from prequel trilogy to inhibitor chips). I’m sure Palps never expected the inhibitor chips to degrade or that the clones would be independent thinkers. I actually like when they bring back familiar Jedi.

So, overall, I’m definitely stoked for Ahsoka. We haven’t gotten confirmation but I definitely wanna see Lothwolves, the World between Worlds, and Jacen Syndulla (Hera/Kanan’s son). I didn’t particularly like his design in Rebels (he should’ve had lekku w/ his green hair imo) so I wouldn’t be upset if he didn’t look exactly the same. I’d also like to see more clones. I’d like to see Ahsoka reunite with Wolffe, Cody, Rex and Gregor. I’d even be fine with unnamed clones.

I’m assuming Ahsoka takes place during Mando S2/3, maybe S1 was well but I’m focusing on the 2nd and 3rd season. That means the Empire has been gone for about ~7yrs (10 at most I think) and Vader is dead. I’d like to see Obiwan show up as a force ghost to Ahsoka as well. He was there for Luke after his death in ANH, but I’d argue that Obiwan loves Ahsoka just as much as Luke. I’d like to see Ahsoka using to Force to feel when Obiwan died in ANH like how she did in hyperspace, sensing Anakin’s fall in CW S7 finale. Make it painful, I wanna sob lol.

I also wouldn’t mind Ahsoka meeting Boba Fett again. They met once in S2 I believe when Boba tried to kill Mace w/ Aurra Sing and her crew. Plo Koon took Ahsoka with him to go face them and while Ahsoka and Boba argued pretty much the whole time, I think her words really got to him so I can see them starting out tense then as they get to know each other, Ahsoka would see similarities between Boba and the clones she served with and he’d be annoyed lol.

So yeah, I think those are my thoughts on Ahsoka and I don’t want this post to get super long (even though it kind of is).

The next show I wanna talk about is Skeleton Crew. I’m excited about this show but I’m more curious than excited. I love Jude Law and the idea that it takes place in some uncharted region in space is great (new planets/locations/people). I love the whole premise that Jude Law’s character protects a group of Younglings since it matches my own HC of Hondo protecting the Younglings he met. Idk who else is in this show, but I’m definitely looking forward to it. I can see them bringing in Cal Kestis in live action (with Cameron Monaghan obviously) for this show (then perhaps have him crossover with other shows like Mando/Ahsoka). I don’t know much about it so I don’t really have a lot to talk about with this show.

Now I’d like to talk about Acolyte. I saw the leaked teaser uploaded to Youtube (idk if it was taken down but I can’t find it—it was phone footage and had no commentary). I believe this show is supposed to be set during the High Republic era (350-50yrs before the Skywalker Saga). Love that timeline setting. We hardly have any canon info on that era so this is perfect. Also Acolyte is about the rise of the Sith (in a time that was considered prosperous for the Jedi) so I think that’s super interesting. I had heard that it could also have Palpatine’s origin story??? YES PLEASE!!! Given that the High Republic Era ended 50yrs before TPM, it’s possible Palps was alive at least during the end of the High Republic Era. I’d like to see his master Darth Plaguis as well and that whole story Palps tells Anakin in RotS during the bubble opera.

I saw that martial arts is going to be a major part of this show and I’m super excited. Jedi have been shown to fight hand-to-hand before but I hope martial arts connects somehow to the Force (like how AtLA uses different martial arts for the bending types). Speaking of AtLA, I’m wondering if SW is utilizing martial arts BECAUSE of AtLA’s success (the Netflix live action show, Avatar Studios). Dave Filoni (Felony) also worked on AtLA so I wouldn’t be surprised if that turned out to be true. But anyways, I’m also super excited for Acolyte as well.

Alright now for the animated shows.

Tales of the Jedi is confirmed for a 2nd season and reportedly there are more writers. I’m hoping that means we get either more episodes or longer episodes. I don’t believe anything else, story wise, is confirmed, but I’d love to see Jedi we didn’t quite see enough of. What I’d like to see:

—Quinlan Vos training Aayla Secura

—Mace Windu training Depa Bilaba

—Yoda/Yaddle relationship confirmation (I HC they are baby Yoda’s parents cuz obviously).

—Luminara/Barriss Offee bonding (I’ve seen so many people hate on Luminara for her treatment of Barriss and I definitely think they all miss the point but that’s a whole other post).

—Caleb/Kanan bonding w/ Younglings like Ahsoka did w/ Gungi and the others.

—Yoda making Shaak Ti in charge of the clones (and her being a mom to every single one of them). She would definitely be the one to bring Younglings/Padawans in to train with the cadets so they learn to work together.

—Plo Koon being a dad to Wolffe/Ahsoka/the 104th (I wouldn’t mind seeing Plo’s backstory either).

—Kit Fisto’s story (being discovered, training, meeting Monnk, meeting Nadar).

—Anything about Saesee Tiin, Eeth Koth, Adi Gallia, Stass Ali or Ki Adi Mundi

—I could also see Cal Kestis making his animated debut (outside of video games) in this show as well.

—Ahsoka getting her 2nd lime green saber/Ahsoka getting her white sabers/purifying kyber crystals.

If the show did stories about other characters besides Jedi:

—Tales of the Clones (obviously unwhitewashed—I can dream can’t I?)

—Grievous’s backstory. Seriously this would be amazing.

—Huang’s backstory. When was he created? Was he a droid belonging to a Jedi (like R2/3PO and Anakin) or was he made specifically by the Jedi to be the lightsaber constructor. Maybe have a scene w/ a Youngling/Padawan Yoda??

—Shmi Skywalker being happily married to Lars. Bonus points for being a mother figure to Owen and her feeling like she failed Anakin (Obiwan parallel). Idk just more Shmi Skywalker. TPM didn’t have enough Shmi content.

All of these ideas could potentially tie in Jedis so it could still fit ‘Tales of the Jedi’.

As for Visions Season 2, I have absolutely no idea what to expect (just like S1) but all the animation shown looked 🔥 so I’m definitely excited for this. I believe in S1 we saw Boba Fett make a cameo in one episode. I didn’t recognize any cameo appearances from what was shown but please let me know if I missed anything (I’m not good with Legends/Extended Universe characters). Again, like Skeleton Crew, I can’t talk much about Visions simply because I don’t know enough/not enough has been shown. But definitely excited for this.

Now for Bad Batch Season 3.

Those that follow/have seen my posts regarding Bad Batch know that I don’t particularly like the show. I never have. In short, THE WHITEWASHING, the writing, the animation (regarding Omega’s emotional intensity), and Cid are all subpar. You can definitely tell this is a Disney Star Wars show (like the 1st half of S1 of Rebels—Rebels was the first disney animated SW show).

I will say that there are particular ideas that I liked but I just don’t think they were executed well. Dooku’s warchest/Serrano, Cody, Gungi, Echo leaving, the Zillobeast, Mayday/Crosshair duo, family vs soldiers trope, and even one of CF99 making a sacrifice are all great ideas I just don’t think it was done justice.

Season 3 is the final season and I can’t express how happy I am. I know that we are just going to get more of the same. The clone model/Omega’s design will not change (fuck Jennifer Corbett, Brad Rau and Dave Felony honestly), Cid is technically still in the picture, and the story has changed from saving Crosshair to saving Omega. I think it’s important to note that Hunter has no reason to believe Omega and Crosshair are together. Omega isn’t like the group. That’s the whole point of S1 w/ the bounty hunters. So having Tech sacrifice himself FOR CROSSHAIR, then having Hunter at the end say they are going to rescue Omega instead just undermines Tech’s sacrifice. Also the way Cid looked somewhat remorseful when accepting payment from Hemlock in the finale got me nervous. PLEASE NO REDEMPTION ARC FOR CID!!! GET RID OF HER!

I think the only thing I’m looking forward to for S3 is the music and the scenery animation. I don’t think I’ll watch Wednesdays. I was in no hurry for S2 and the disappointment I have for both S1 and S2 has made me not want a S3 but at least it’s almost over and they can do a new show. I love the CW-style animation, just make POC look like POC!!! It isn’t hard. I’m still hoping for a more adult/Andor-style CW-animated show completely disconnected from the Skywalker Saga (IN THE KOTOR ERA PREFERABLY!!) That’s my dream.

So yeah, I guess that’s all my thoughts on Bad Batch S3.

Lastly I wanna talk about that new animated Young Jedi Adventures. It’s set in the High Republic Era and features new characters (along w/ Yoda) but it’s aimed for preschoolers. Honestly I’m actually kind of excited for this show. I’m wondering if we’ll see any familiar faces or not (and if we do, will they be changed from Legends?). I don’t know anything else except the names of the characters have been released. I’m assuming it’ll be a kind of basic toddler show about learning the basics like what to do when you feel sad, how to share, bullying maybe, idk basic little kid lessons you know? I’m assuming these lessons are the ‘core’ foundation of who a Jedi is supposed to be—selfless people who do good and builds the Younglings up and maybe will end with the main group becoming Padawans/getting assigned a Jedi Master. Idk that’s just my guess, I could be totally wrong.

So out of the whole Star Wars Celebration, I’m mostly excited for the live action stuff (I didn’t talk about it, but that mando movie sounds pretty cool), but I am looking forward to Tales of the Jedi S2 and SW Visions S2. I didn’t talk about this either, but I’m a bit on the fence about the new Rey Skywalker/sequel movie. Apparently it’s 15yrs from Episode 9 Rise of Skywalker and Rey is a Jedi Master building the New Jedi Order or something like that. I LIKE Daisy Ridley. I DO NOT like Rey Skywalker (like many fans). I agree with pretty much all of Rey criticisms (being instantly good at Jedi stuff, overpowered, Kylo Ren x Rey pairing, etc).

Thanks for reading and I hope you also enjoyed the Star Wars Celebration💕

—Maisy

[intergalactic-padawan]

inquisitor - Ezra Bridger

Requested: yes, by the beautiful @raganbridger! Sorry for the wait, it's finally here!

Warnings: angst, dark side!reader, confusion, mentions of bad injuries/blood, betrayal

A/N: You asked for le angst, so here it is! I've had this idea for a long while and this request was the motivation I needed to start. LOTS of alternative endings were written, this was mostly the reason it took so long.

Pronouns of reader: she/her

*ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE! I make mistakes just like everybody else 😉*

x

.

-"oh, good, you're awake"

You sit and inhale sharply, focusing back on the real world, startled at the strange voice.

Well, not so strange per se. You knew who was talking to you. What was strange was why he was talking to you.

Before you can adjust your vision to the unfamiliar environment, the memories from hours earlier instantly come flooding back.

Malachor. The place where jedi go to die.

An easy kill for you and your inquisitor colleagues.

That's what they had said on the ship, at least. You, on the other hand, knew better than to underestimate how slippery those jedi could be - especially if they fought side by side, like they always did.

You remember cornering the younger one during the fight. His skill was minimal compared to yours, which would give you an advantage against his master if he were to die first.

The boy and his friends go after the sith holocron. There had been a blinding light when it was placed at the altar.

And also, the jedi knight who was blinded by your former master, Maul.

Maul.

Not only had the cursed man left you for dead years before, he had come back from hiding to haunt you and join forces with your other enemies.

But you were an inquisitor. You wouldn't - you couldn't let him get the best of you, not this time.

You feel a light hand pressing your forehead and recoil in fear, reaching for your lightsaber, only to feel it was not there.

-"whoah, woah, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you" - it was the padawan you'd been fighting before - Ezra Bridger. He had placed you and his master inside a cave in a planet you were not familiar with when you'd escaped Malachor.

You'd escapd Malachor? But how?

You couldn't have, unless he'd carried you back to his ship.

-"hey, hey, it's alright."

-"what do you want, jedi?" - you wince in pain again.

-"a thank you would be nice, actually. I did just save your life"

-"a foolish mistake. One you will pay for with yours"

You reach out for your lightsaber, but can't feel it anywhere close. Scouring with the force for its presence, you quickly realize he must have hidden it outside the place.

-"Nope, absolutely not" - just as quickly, he slaps your outstreched hand - "I may be an idiot, but i'm not stupid. Your lightsaber's not here, it's caused enough damage already."

You rub the hand he pushed away, more shocked at his actions than anything. How DARE he?

-"Then what do you want from me, if not revenge? Why treat my wounds if not to finish the battle we started?"

-"Listen, I'm not sure if it's the adrnaline or something, but you're in no condition to fight anyone any time soon"

-"You underestimete me, Jedi. Even in these conditions you would be no match for me."

-"Like I wasn't a match for you at the sith temple?"

At the mention of the event, images of the fight start to come back.

Back at the sanctuary, you drew him away from the fight, knowing his strengh lied with his allies. Only, you hadn't imagined your former master to join his side - not until you'd seen the holocron in Ezra's hands, at least. You'd warned him: "he will use it and throw you away. Like he did to me". Needless to say, he didn't listen.

Your vision starts to lose focus at the intensity of your anger and you groan in pain, not able to sit anymore. Driven by instinct, the padawan holds your side so you won't fall completely, pressing your abdomen and making you hiss in pain.

-"ah, looks like I was right. You're conscious, but not healed" - you feel yourself be adjusted back on the ground, too weak to fight him.

-"where are we? Why did you save my life?"

He hesitates, eyes studying you, like you might attack him any second and he still knew it.

-"not so sure" - he finally answers - "maybe because now you owe me one?"

-"Did you hit your head or something?" You scoff - "Make no mistake, I WILL kill you when the opportunity rises!"

-"And that is why your lightsaber privileges have been revoked for now."

You lock eyes, studying him like he had you. It made no sense- you'd followed his group to the sith temple, tried to kill him several times, called for the man who had murdered his strongest ally, Ahsoak Tano. Why was he helping you?

With a shiver, you realize he's still holding your side, not as firmly as before but still providing support for your back. Inhaling sharply, you graze his hand and he lets go instantly, realizing how close the two of you had gotten.

Standing up just as quickly, he brushes a strand of unruly hair our of his forehead, while you you clean your throat, diverting your attention to the exit of the cave. The rain pours on the large trees outside, but you can't make out much except for the fact that you're in a forest planet (maybe a moon?) and his ship is in less than ideal conditions to get out of it.

-"here" - Ezra kneels down with two bacta patches and a piece of fabric from a medical kit -"i felt your back was pretty sore, but didn't want to take off your shirt while you were out. Your cuts need cleaning."

You hesitantly take the items, using the rocks behind you as support to lean your body on. He stands up, hands on hips, and chuckles when you sniff the gel, suspicious.

With the small bit of privacy he gives you by turning around to check on his master, you fumble with your shirt, deciding to take it off in order to see better.

-"Need some help over there?" - he asks, hearing you grunt in frustration at not being able to reach some spots

-"Not from you, thank you very much"

-"Oh, so she CAN say thank you! That's a welcome change"

You throw the rag at his direction, irritated out of your mind. Who does he think he is??

He must sense the harmless ball of soaked fabric coming his way, turning around to catch it mid-air. Now that he's turned, you see a glimpse of amusement in his eyes at your rage, giving you the answer you needed as to why he went through the trouble of saving you; it was merely to see you suffer and laugh at your expense, apparently.

His expression quickly changed when he saw your bruised torso, however.

- "who did this to you?" - he whispers, and you look down at you look down at your sore ~ well, everything~, covered only by a wrap in the bust area.

-"As you said, jedi. I may be better than you, but you still gave me a decent challenge"

"No. I didn't even hit you there." - his serious reaction to your injuries had caught you off guard, you had to admit. - "those are old and deep, you shouldn't even be able to walk!"

-"I'm not, remember?" - you motion at your debilitated situation, unable to even sit down or cross your legs properly -"But i will be, soon. And then it's over for you"

-"you know what? I think if you wanted to, you would have killed me by now." - he shoots back and you're impressed at his audacity once again.

But he had a point. Why hadn't you attacked him yet?

Sure, you had no lightsaber or phisical conditions to stand, but your force abilities were still as strong as ever. You were vulnerable, but so was he, and you weren't kidding when you said you could deal with him even at your worse.

-"you know what? " - you cross your arms. He was playing with fire now - "maybe I might"

-"and why haven't you?"

-"because I wouldn't enjoy it as much." - you snap back venomously - "I want to see you suffer before I bring you to Lord Vader"

His expression darkens at the mention of Ahsoka's murderer. His whole body stiffens as he balls his wrists and clearly struggles to control his anger at the recent loss. For a moment, you fear you've gone too far, but reprimand yourself for worrying about his feelings over yours. You're not supposed to be anything more than indifferent to the weak and ruthless to those who dare oppose you.

-"Yeah, no matter what you do, you're still imperial scum"

You're not prepared for those words to affect you so much. You're supposed to have a response, but nothing coherent seems to come out of your mouth, so you settle for an an uncomfortable silence.

It doesn't last for long, however, as his comlink goes off. It's his droid, asking - no, demanding - that he go help him with repairs on the ship. He hesitates, looking at you and contemplating how bad it would be to leave you unnatended in the company of his defenseless master.

-"Dont worry."- You reassure him. -"I won't make his situation worse. Maul is the worse you can get, and I refuse to step that low"

You can see he doesnt like it, but leaves for a few moments before returning with what must be the droid that talked to him before. It was a C1 series unit with an orange top and a bratty atitude, you could tell that much by just seeing him interact with the jedi.

-"Chopper will stay here, just in case"

-"I understand. It's fine."

-"I wasn't asking if you were fine with it. Behave" - you can't be sure if his command is directed at you or the droid, but you weren't about to ask.

The coldness he now had to his voice was understandable - you had worked to get him to that emotional state - ,but you felt hurt at the change. The droid didn't do much to help you think clearly about what just happened, and by the look of it, your frustration would only grow bigger in the many hours it would still take to repair the ship to a normal flying condition.

'He thinks i'm imperial scum, huh?' - you think as you scour a pile of your belongings with the force, not too far away inside the cave.

Bad news, your lightsaber really wasn't there.

Good news, your wrist comm was.

'i'll show him imperial scum'

With a plan forming in mind, all you had to do now was be patient and wait for the right time. There's no exchange of words between the two of you when he gets back, which makes time fly by before he's betrayed by exaution and finally gives in to sleep. You take care of the droid easily after that.

Activating the tracking beacon, you start to leave the cave, but not before noticing the boy's lightsaber beside him. It was a bold move, he could easily wake up if you took it, but you knew that if he woke up to see you gone you'd need it to compensate for your injuries.

You were still on opposing sides, after all.

You knew there had to be an imperial ship near the planet, and they would pick up your signal in an instant when you called. Wallking to a less dense area of the forest, away from the crash site, you're proven right when, in a matter of minutes, a shuttle tripulated by four troopers and a senior lieutenant meet you on the ground.

-"and what of the jedi?" - the higher ranking woman asks when you finish your brief description of the events that led you there.

Well, not all events. You'd left out the part where Bridger had helped you recover.

You could just tell them to take the two jedi for excecution. You were supposed to do it, in fact.

-"it's just me. And the younger one's lightsaber" - you finally answer, not exactly knowing why you'd deliberately just saved them.

She nods curtly and escorts you back to the ship without a second glance. It was a good story so far, but you would have to work on it if your superiors were to believe it.

-"Wait- " - you start, second-guessing your motives for not giving away their location. One of the troopers turns to you expectantly.

-"yes, sir?"

You hesitate for a moment, ready to do what you'd beeen taught to do your whle life. Kill the jedi.

Kill the jedi.

A tingling crept up your sides, where the padawan had touched earlier to give you support. You try to betray the gut feeling pressing you to do your duty as an inquisitor, but it's stronger than you. Something is forcing your better judgement to be leaving your natural enemies alive.

-"nothing." - the tingle goes away as soon as it had come, leaving an unusual feeling of relief. - "Thought i'd sensed something. Let's leave"

'Perhaps it's for the best'. - you think as the shuttle's door closes. After all, you did owe him one for saving your life - whatever his reason was for doing so.

That was what you told yourself as you boarded the ship, at least. Now, the next time you saw him, there would be nothing to stop you from finishing him and his friends for good.

.

x

Hope you like it? I gave him a 'hands on hips' moment in honour of your videos for a more personalized touch hahahaha

[aenaxes]

one to ten

[jesse x gn!reader] there are ten things you remember about jesse.

warnings: tcw s7 spoilers, suggestive themes, mentions of death

w/c: 2.5k

a/n: sorry for the constant parentheticals lol. ishei is a spin on a biblical name/the hebrew name basis for jesse (yishai) as a kind of namesake (surprise, you've now adopted a togrutan).

01. Your first glimpse of beauty in war comes in the form of a clone trooper.

It doesn’t make sense. They all look the same, you groan to Uche, the one other civ enlistee who didn’t waste their breath (or your time) waxing poetic about galactic justice or pining after the out-of-touch idealogues holding rank in the jedi temple and Senate floor.

What’s so different about him? Uche asks, and you don’t have an answer.

You remember sneaking furtive looks from inventory protocol drills to the landing platform, seeing the unnamed soldier step off the dust-beaten hull of a gunship transport with a straight-backed swagger. Even from afar, he demands attention, presence, in ways the men with him cannot.

I don’t know, you mumble. Maybe it’s the tattoo on half his face.

02. You learn the name of this beautiful man when Uche ditches the buddy system to wander off with a trooper in red armor at 79’s.

Shitty friend, comes a voice you’ve heard a hundred times over. You turn your head, ready to shoo away a shiny eager to prove his mettle, but instead you are met with the beautiful soldier and his ridiculous face tattoo in Uche’s seat. He flashes you a grin, raising his brows at you in a way that oozes the same confidence you remember in the landing bay. Can I make it up to you with a drink?

Will it be worth my while? you shoot back. (It’s amazing how well you mask the excited tremor in your voice. The wonders of working in a military hierarchy.)

No promises, he shrugs as he flags down the barkeep. But I think you already know your answer.

Then fine, I guess, you fight the smile playing over your lips. And when he closes his eyes and laughs, you think it’s only fitting that your nameless soldier has a laugh as gorgeous as himself.

I’m y/n, you say.

Jesse.

03. You meet this beautiful man again (Jesse, you curl your tongue over his name), and it just so happens that you end up assigned to the same ship as him. You board the Resolute, your civ certification in hand and a drab uniform as your completion gift, and as you claim your quarters aboard the destroyer, a firm tap at your shoulder stops you at your door.

Fancy seeing you here, y/n.

You’re kidding me, you smile. When you turn around, Jesse’s grinning back at you, bucket tucked under one arm, the other propping him up against the hallway wall in the worst attempt to look even remotely flirtatious that you’ve ever seen.

I’m hard to resist, I know, Jesse laughs, and you do your best to muster the most irritated expression possible despite the elation in your chest. I guess 79’s wasn’t enough for you, huh?

Sure, I can’t get enough of me absolutely drinking you under the table, Jesse, you snort.

Okay, okay, I was off my game. But you can’t tell me I’m not a better kisser when I’m tipsy, he shrugs.

I haven’t kissed you sober, you deadpan.

You think I could change that by the end of this tour?

04. You’re in bed with this beautiful man for the nth time this month, and you’ve never been too good with pillowtalk, so you tell him what you have always thought since the day you first saw him. Your fingertips light over his cheeks, you tell him that he is beautiful.

Jesse laughs and leans in to kiss your wrist. Between kisses trailing up your arm, he tells you that he is one face of many; that he is all rough skin and scars; (that there is no beauty in war embodied, cemented in the flesh over and over and over); that you just might have poor taste.

You jab his arm (because fuck you, Jesse, this was supposed to be a romantic moment), and he yelps, cackling. But you’ve successfully stroked his ego, and he thanks you by pulling you down onto his bunk again.

05. You’re in love with this beautiful man.

The revelation is a long time coming and yet somehow the greatest surprise that shocks you awake one morning when Jesse is still asleep in his bunk with one heavy arm draped over your bare hips.

It’s more than simple beauty as you watch him sleep, his lips parted and brow slack. Done away with the bravado and big talk, with the tension lifted from his proud features, Jesse is terrifyingly vulnerable in the way that makes your heart ache (even if he might be drooling just a little bit).

And then the ship alarm blares, and Jesse’s scrambling awake, sleepy apologies and bleary eyes as he shuffles around you to fumble for his armour.

See you in a few, sweetheart, Jesse laughs, locking his vambrace in place before he leans close and presses a quick peck to your cheek. And then he’s gone, breaking into a jog down the hallway as you shrug on his GAR bomber and pull it close over your chin.

You tell yourself that you don’t breathe deep on purpose, that you don’t shiver when you catch Jesse’s scent, standard-issue aftershave and spritzes of the Corellian cologne you’d bought him planetside, saved for the nights you spent over in his quarters.

You’re in love. (Fuck.)

06. You’re in love with this beautiful man.

Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, he says softly, perched beside you on the stout nose of a laatie. You lift your head from his shoulder, meeting his unreadable gaze (all you know is that it is soft) with a furrowed brow.

When you ask him what it means, Jesse—smooth-talker, sly bastard, a snappy retort always a word away—sputters unintelligibly, forgoing any excuses or mistranslations for sliding down the gunship’s hull and breaking into a run across the dewy grass. And you forget that you haven’t run this fast in months when you take off close at his heels.

Tell me, asshole! you shout, sprinting after him.

Not on your life! he shouts with a grin thrown over his shoulder. But he is slowing, his run pacing down to a jog, then a funny little walk on the heels of his feet as you close his lead and tackle him to the cool grass underfoot.

You feel a bruise blooming over your knees, and you’re fairly certain he’ll have a worse bruise over his tailbone. But all you can do is laugh as Jesse traps you in his arms and wrestles you onto your back under the silver light of the Nemoidian moons. (When was the last time you had laughed so freely?)

And when you catch your breath, vision blurry with the best kind of tears, you look to the wonder in Jesse’s eyes as he kneels above you.

You think he might be in love, too.

07. You’re in love with your beautiful man, and when you call him yours (when he calls you his) between hushed breaths and soft moans, you savor the thrill that rushes up your spine every time.

General Skywalker’s married, Jesse says one night, his voice rumbling under your ear as you lie over his chest.

It’s kind of obvious, you respond, and he laughs.

No—I mean, I knew—we’ve all known. But what if we got married?

You lift your head, and something heavy and warm lurches alive in the spaces between your ribs when you meet Jesse’s eyes. There is no witty playfulness, no heckling rise—only yearning, deep and vast and held with bated breath when he reaches up to touch your cheek.

Just you, me, some peace and quiet. I’d make a hell of a mechanic. And kids, maybe, well, if you want, he says, and with each word, his voice grows softer and softer still until you can just barely make out the last sound that passes his lips.

You could be a realist, cruel and cold, listing some regulation manual clause and the twofold speed at which Jesse would live and love (and die). You could tell him that the chances of you both making it out of this seemingly endless war were slim to none. You could tell him that the grief of losing a husband would fester where the loss of a friend would heal. You could leave.

But normality is so, so sweet—the vague yet enchanting idea of life beyond a war for which your beautiful man was born, a war which has swallowed you whole.

Rules and probabilities be damned, it’s worth the risk.

I’d like that, you whisper, and Jesse’s incredulous, enthralled laugh sweeps you off your feet before he’s kissing you like it’s the first time all over again.

A week later, Fives officiates, Echo bears witness, and they shower you with handfuls of tiny blue flowers scrounged from the flaxen Lothal plains as Jesse kisses you breathless.

(Both of them are dead within the year.)

08. You’re in love with your beautiful man, and you don’t think yourself a fool when all you can wonder is whether he still loves you from behind the mirrored visor of his helmet, one pound of pressure away from two blaster bolts and twin wounds (one for Ahsoka, one for you).

It is not his voice you hear over the labored blare of the ship alarms. It shares the same breath and passes through the same lips, but it is not the cocksure charm in rank or the languorous warmth of leave you have come to call your own.

You’ll be demoted in rank from commander and subject to execution along with the traitors Ahsoka Tano and y/n l/n.

It is not Jesse’s voice. (The last time your full name found home over his tongue, Fives and Echo had been alive.)

And then you watch him fall.

The hangar is a flurry of blaster fire and gunsmoke, and it’s a wonder that through it all, only one shot manages to graze over your leg before Ahsoka hurls you onto the docked y-wing and into the gunner’s seat.

The thrusters rumble to life as you slam your viewport shut, and you hear Rex’s voice crackling over the intraship comm for you to strap in. But all you can do is search frantically for any flash of twin ARC pauldrons and a shock of royal blue in the violent sea of helmets paying forgotten homage. You press your palms to the glass because he was there, he was there, right where Ahsoka spears her lightsabers into the metal, he was there.

The floor drops from beneath your feet, and you tell yourself the smoke and ache in your lungs is from your head connecting hard with the domed viewport glass as you scramble for your controls.

(What goes through a man’s head when he knows he will not wake when he lands?)

09. And then your beautiful man is dead.

You will think later that you were lucky, blessed, even, that you were not the one to pull his mangled body from under the charred belly of a destroyer, but that fact makes uncovering his face no less difficult. The broad ink stretched over his skin does little to hide the blood dried over his brow, bled into glassy eyes unseeing.

Did he feel it when the ship tore apart? You slide his eyes shut. (You do not hear your own wailing.) Was he in pain?

His brother tells you to leave his helmet over his grave because you buried bodies, vessels, ghosts of who they had once been. Jesse was not himself when you ran. Why would you carry a marker of someone you no longer knew, someone who no longer knew you?

There won’t be space for it on the ship (leave the dead with the dead), and you pretend not to hear how young Rex sounds when his voice bows under the loss of everything he’s ever known.

You hang the bloody plastoid back onto its perch.

It feels like the death of a saint, not because Jesse was some paragon of virtue, but because it is cruel, uncaring and unjust and pulled out of your hands into a single divine lie. It’s a wordless eulogy come too soon, and you cannot seem to pull away from the scuff marks and chipped paint at your fingertips.

It’s time to go, Rex says.

We got married, you say.

I know, Rex replies.

I’m not ready, your voice cracks. I didn’t say goodbye.

You feel strong arms pull you close, and if you focus on the sound of the slowly groaning hull before you, you can pretend like you aren’t being pulled apart at the seams, crashed into some cold moon, dirt under your nails, blood on your knees, alone.

I know.

10. Sometimes, you see your beautiful man in fleeting glimpses over his brother’s face. They are only split-second visions blurred by sleep (denial, denial, denial). You see copper skin and a soldier’s eyes, but that is where the familiarity ends and reality begins.

Even if you took away the tattoo arcing over Jesse’s skin and placed them side by side, Rex does not have the slight curve in his nose from a sparring session kicked too high; he does not have the dark freckle just below his chin; he does not have the playful twinkle, the knowing gleam that lit up his eyes whenever he saw you. (Rex only looks to you with shared grief, pity, these days.)

Clone or not, he is not him.

So you sleep.

If only for a glimpse of Jesse, his face blurry and voice warped under the weight of memory (played, rewound, and played again), you treat your precious shifts of sleep when Rex takes the helm as nothing short of speaking to the divine itself. Even if your dreams are more often than not nightmares of staring down a blaster barrel, part of you thinks that it’s worth the shaky hands and uneven breaths as Rex shakes you awake, that you might try to say goodbye.

Tonight, you see him again. But this time, the hangar deck is silent, blasters raised but frozen in place, a snapshot frame of the day a part of you died with him. The script changes. He lowers his blasters, you step forward, and when you reach up to lift his helmet from his shoulders, it is the clearest you have ever seen his face since you laid him to rest.

I’m sorry, his voice floats, settling in the space between your ears, soft and strong. I love you.

Goodbye, Jesse.

And when you wake, for the first time in weeks, your eyes are dry.

You will heal.

—

00. Buir, a soft voice filters down from the top bunk as your ship hums around you.

Ishei, you call, lifting one hand to rub at your eyes. You catch your son’s little horned head peeking over the edge of his bunk, and he scampers down the ladder when you beckon him close.

I can’t sleep, he whispers as he crawls beside you and tucks his arms around your waist. Will you tell me about father?

(Jesse will never know the orphaned Togrutan boy who calls him buir. You wish he did.)

Every night, you laugh softly, gently rubbing between his budding white montrals. Every night, I tell you about Jesse’buir. You don’t tire of the same stories?

You feel Ishei shake his head against your chest. Jesse’buir is my hero! Did he really look just like Rex ba’vodu?

Not at all, you smile. Not at all.

[wisteriasxx]

Valentine’s Day HeadCanons!

A/N: Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!! I made a headcanon list of how I think some of my favorite characters would treat you on Valentine’s Day, hope you enjoy❤️

Also I think most of this is gender neutral, I think the Thrawn one may be more dictated to a Fem! Reader but it’s whatever you make of it!!

Requests are still open <3

Warnings: lil nsfw

———————————————————————

Anakin

Anakin is going to just give you all his love all day. He’s going to set everything aside to spend time with you, no matter how busy he is or where he is, his only priority is going to be you.

He’ll probably show up with a gift of some kind, not you’re typical roses or chocolates though, he’ll probably give you something he made by hand or something he saw in a shop that reminded him of you.

He’ll offer you over and over again to make dinner for the two of you, but in my mind, I feel like Anakin would probably not be that good at cooking so you’ll want to make dinner.

After dinner, the two of you would sit outside, wherever you may be, and watch the sun set while sipping on spotchka and talking about your favorite memories with one another.

LOTS of kisses. I mean it might even get to the point of too much, but Anakin just wants you to feel loved, especially this day of the year.

Anakin is 100% the guy that’s gonna offer to “just give you a massage”, and then it ✨conveniently✨ turns to sex. But the sex is amazing obviously.

After all of the love making, the two of you will cuddle the night away. Anakin always wants to be the big spoon, he wants to feel you curled up against him, and in his mind, it’s a way of him knowing your protected. If Anakin isn’t the big spoon on some off chance, he always has you pulled close to him, with you cuddled up next to him, arm draped tiredly over his chest.

Obi-wan

We all know that Obi-wan is going to be the sweetest man to ever exist on Valentine’s Day. In fact, it wasn’t until this day of the year that you believed he could get any sweeter, since he’s always so nice and chivalrous all the time to you.

Obi-wan is definitely walking through the door with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. The bouquet has all the workings in it, you’re favorite flowers and his, ribbons, jewels, maybe even some candy snuck in there.

He’s also a great cook some how. He makes the most delicious meals whenever he is able to cook. And for Valentine’s Day he’s going to make your favorite. He’s going to make breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and dessert. Obi-wan is a man of quality, so only the finest for his love.

After dinner, he’ll take you outside, along with a bottle of fine champagne and the two of you will star gaze all night. It’s one of your favorite things to do.

The two of you will gaze at the stars and talk about anything that comes to mind for hours.

He’ll have you wrapped up in his arms, your head against his chest, holding you close, telling you how much he loves you and how he’s lucky to have you. He’ll tell you that he’s convinced you’re some kind of angel sent from the heavans.

Obi-wan isn’t the type to press for sex, but if you want it, he’ll give it to you in the most intimate and passionate way you can think of. Obi-wan may come off as a sweet and timid man at first, but in bed it’s a different story, and on the one day of the year dedicated to your relationship he’s going to completely let loose, a side of him you’ve never seen ;)

Ahsoka

Ahsoka is one of the most fun and most kind characters in Star Wars. Valentine’s Day is going to have a special meaning to her for you and everyone she cares about.

She’s going to take you on some crazy wild adventure to some planet she’s over heard you wanting to travel to.

Intially, she’ll have some plan for the two of you, but it will fall apart in a good way and the two of you will stray from your set path to do something spontaneous, creating more memories with one another.

Ahsoka likes to go out to eat, she doesn’t much care for cooking. She’ll take the two of you to you’re favorite restaurant and indulge.

Lots of hand holding with her, she’s always guiding you to your next destination on this day, and doesn’t want you anywhere away from her.

She’s going to do everything in her power to make you consistently smile throughout the day, she’s in love with your smile.

Her gift to you would be taking the two of you somewhere like a concert, a movie, or sight seeing on a new planet.

Plenty of cheek kisses and quick pecks to go around, she wants to be as affectionate as she can!!

Luke

For the sake of the headcanon, we’re going to talk about ROTJ Luke here.

Luke loves Valentine’s Day, because it means he gets to spend an entire, uninterrupted day with the love of his life. No Jedi business, no fights, nothing. Just you, and that’s the way he likes it.

Luke will bring you something special, and expensive, like jewelry. It’ll most likely be a necklace made of some kind of precious metal and small glimmering stones, nothing too flashy.

He’ll have 3P0 or someone else prepare dinner for the two of you for the sole fact that he wants to spend all his time with you, he doesn’t even want to be away from you to make dinner. And get ready for a lovely dinner outside on Endor.

The forest will be strung up with small, glimmering lights, with a low standing table and comfortable cushions to sit on. After the two of you are done eating, he’ll walk you through the forest to one of the waterfalls. And as the moon light and the stars reflect off the water, he’ll present the necklace to you. He’ll put it on for you, and when you turn to face him he can’t help but smile and kiss you.

After your little moment, the two of you will head back to your encampment and spend the rest of the night cuddling and drinking and laughing. The night will end with your head resting on his chest with him holding you close, fast asleep.

Han

Han usually was never one for the gushy stuff, which is why he would fail spectacularly at Valentine’s Day, but in the goofy, cute way.

He would definitely forget at first, and then when you present him with a gift or are being extra affectionate, thats when he realizes. he’ll of course talk his way out of your suspicions of him forgetting.

“Relaaaax, I’ve got a nice dinner waiting for us later don’t worry” *proceeds to find chewy to have him have a nice dinner waiting for the two of you later*

And then the gift, he realizes he doesn’t have anything. Han definitely consults with every woman he knows on what you’re supposed to get a woman on Valentine’s Day. And when he gets multiple answers, he thinks that there’s only one right answer, and that he has to figure it out somehow.

Shockingly, he’ll remember you talking about something that you love and conveniently the only place to get that something is guarded by imperials. But for you, Han would steal and smuggle anything.

He returns back to home base for you to see the falcon landing in a mass of smoke and damaged. Resulting with you quirking a brow in suspicion and question when he comes strutting down the ramp with whatever important thing he just stole for you.

Later the two of you will be sipping on spotchka waiting for your dinner, of course you’ll ask him over and over again where he got your gift but he tells you not to worry about it.

Dinner is surprisingly decent for being made by a Wookiee. Han cleaned up the falcon nice for the two of you to eat in as well.

After dinner Han is going to apologize for the horrible Valentine’s Day but you don’t care, you love him exactly the way he is, and you wouldn’t change anything about him.

Of course there will be make up sex ;) this is the most common way for Han to apologize, but you’re not complaining.

Boba Fett

With boba, you sit there and wonder if he even knows it’s Valentine’s Day. Just because it’s a holiday meant for couples, doesn’t mean he’s going to stop bounty hunting for the day, he takes his work seriously.

You don’t bring it up to him because you don’t want to add more to his already full plate

But he knows what today is, he just wants you to think that he doesn’t know. He just wants to work first, he’ll celebrate with you later.

When he’s away looking for his bounty, you’ll find a gift box on your bed saying it’s from him, opening it to find a luxurious, burning red set of lingerie. This of course puts a smile on your face, relieved that he didn’t forget about today.

After freezing his bounty in carbonite, he comes to your shared room on the slave 1 to find you lounging on the bed in your newly purchased lingerie, waiting for him.

Normally boba is the dominating one in the bedroom, but since it’s Valentine’s Day he’ll let you take the reigns and do whatever you please to him, all though your actions may have consequences in the future ;)

Din Djarin

Much like boba, you sit there and wonder if he even knows it’s Valentine’s Day, except with Din, he doesn’t. He’s completely clueless, but that’s okay.

He’ll act completely normal to you all day, doing daily routines, hunting bounties, or taking care of the child, doesn’t mean he loves you any less. You actually find it adorable that he’s clueless about today.

He doesn’t find out until later in the night when you present him with a small bracelet, forged from pure beskar. The bracelet has words in Mando’a engraved onto it. It reads “My protector, My light, My love, always”.

He’s so stunned by the gift he even takes off his helmet. Asking a bunch of questions like where you even got a pure beskar bracelet, or why you even got it in the first place, only for you to cut him off mid sentence with a kiss. And when you pull away, the phrase “Happy Valentine’s Day” slips gracefully from your mouth.

And that’s when he realizes he completely forgot. He would try apologizing a thousand times over but he would only get cut off again but the smooth feeling of your lips against his. He’ll promise you that he won’t ever forget again.

Grand Admiral Thrawn

Surprisingly, Thrawn is going to set aside his duties on the Chimera and spend the day and night with you. Being a grand admiral meant that he could go wherever he pleased whenever he wanted with no qiestions asked.

He’s going to take you to some huge Valentine’s soirée with Coruscants most elite political and military personal. He’ll buy you a whole new dress and jewelry for the occasion as well, this man has excellent taste.

He wants everyone to see you, he wants to show you off, he’s proud to have a gorgeous woman like you by his side.

After an evening filled with drinks and slow dancing, he’ll take you to the balcony of the venue. There you can see the Coruscant night skyline, filled with the gentle glow of all the buildings and the snow falling gracefully from the sky.

And here, Thrawn would definitely propose to you. The setting is perfect, you’re looking your best and he just can’t resist. He needs to make you his permanently, and what better day to do so then Valentine’s Day? The day committed to ones significant other and the love they share.

Thrawn is also definitely the type to ditch the party early to take you back to his place to have drinks and the best valentines sex of your life heheh

Kylo Ren

Kylo has a very strong and thick wall around his emotions, he doesn’t like showing them unless he’s alone with you. So for majority of the day, he’s going to act like Valentine’s Day doesn’t exist, he might even act like you don’t exist.

You can’t take it personally though, you know what he’s been through, besides, he’ll open up later when the two of you are alone.

And that’s exactly what he does. When the time comes for him to retire, he’ll find you waiting in his chambers for him. And you just stare at him, waiting. A more gentle side of him will come out and he’ll act like he’s totally not hiding a small gift box behind his back.

“What? Waiting for something are we?” He’ll ask, with a brow quirked.

You’ll flash him a small and bat your eyelashes at him. He’ll roll his eyes and with the smallest smile he’ll toss your gift to you. And yes, you can tell he wrapped it himself.

You’ll open the box to find a ring. Not a proposal ring, more of a promise ring, just a nice gift really. A small ring made of doonium, simple and elegant. And as you put it on, he can’t help his smile from growing a little bigger.

Plenty of hugs and kisses of thanks from you.

Kylo only wants one thing in return, which is you. You’re going to be taken for the ride of your life in the bed tonight ;)

Rey

Rey would give you the standard flowers and chocolate. She’s from Jakku and spent most of her life trying to survive and fighting to become a Jedi. She doesn’t know how to do anything beyond the bare minimum, you can’t blame her though.

You’ll take her somewhere she’s never been, which could be anywhere really. She’s surprised you’re going to such lengths to make this day more then sufficient for her.

You’re going to take her on some crazy adventure for her to enjoy as well. You’ll probably take her on a camping trip to multiple worlds, it’ll be more like a valentines weekend then just a day.

Something will happen along the way of course, whether it’s vicious creatures attacking you or first order stormtroopers, nothing the two of you can’t handle.

“Was this part of your plan to take me out?” She’ll ask as the two of you are fighting. “Is this not a fun Valentine’s Day festivity for you?” You’ll say to her, smiling. And Rey can’t help but smile back.

When the fighting is over and all is well again, a Valentine’s Day victory kiss is in store.

The two of you will spend your weekend nights watching the sunset over the ocean of wherever you may be. Since Rey is from jakku, you elected to take her to a few planets with beautiful oceans.

Since the two of you are camping, dinners consist of rations and a single bottle of fine wine you brought along for the journey. It’s nothing fancy but that doesn’t bother either of you, she’s just glad you thought of her, and took on this trip. She believes that she is truly lucky to have you, and is already planning something for you for next Valentine’s Day.

[hannah-schooler]

hi hannah!! “night swimming” for the summer vibes prompts please? perhaps with some sneaky anakin and ahsoka and a very, very d o n e rex who got dragged along on one of their outrageously dumb adventures *again*??

only if you want to, of course <33

Hey Ash! Thanks so much for this prompt! I'm not saying writing this might've broken me out of my writers block, but i'm not...not saying that either.

from these prompts

Pacing the rocks, staring out at the midnight sea

Dark stretches of shadow painted the floor of the Naboo lake house as Ahsoka made her way out of the kitchen. She cradled a mug of jasmine tea gingerly in her hands as she shouldered open the large glass doors leading to the balcony.

The war might be over but the nightmares never stopped. Even here, with the steady sound of waves lapping against the lakeshore filling the air—possibly the most at peace she’d ever been—they still haunted her.

She sighed, bracing her forearms against the cool stone railing. Padme’s lake house—though Ahsoka thought it looked more like a castle than anything—was far enough away from the city that no light pollution marred her view of the stars. Years of astronav classes and the flashcards she’d memorized had her reciting the visible planets and star systems. Almost rotely, she picked them out: Geonosis, Ryloth, Eriadu, Corellia; Naboo’s three moons; the other planets of the Chommell Sector.

They were just pinpoints of light to other people, worlds that maybe their favorite food came from, or that they heard about on the holonews. But Ahsoka had a history with each one. And each memory was steeped in blood.

“You told me the nightmares had gotten better.”

Ahsoka didn’t turn at Anakin’s approach, simply continuing to stare at the spot on the horizon where dark water turned into the amorphous black of nighttime.

“You told me the same thing.” With the twins consuming nearly his every waking moment, he was usually passing out the moment they were asleep. There were few other reasons that he’d be awake too.

He came to stand by her side, glancing down at her out of the corner of his eye. “Guess we’re both liars, then.”

She huffed a laugh, putting aside her now-cold tea.

Anakin nudged her shoulder with his own, drawing her attention back to him. His long hair—now long enough to braid, much to her own enjoyment—was sticking up in random places, and she was pretty sure he’d been wearing the same shirt for three days. But there was a lightness to his eyes and a soft set to his shoulders that she had not seen in far too long. If she’d ever seen it. She liked to think that there were moments during the war when she had been able to remove the weight for just a little while with dumb jokes and pranks, but it always came back in the end.

He was carrying his trauma a lot better than she was these days.

“You wanna talk about it?”

She shook her head.

His gaze softened and he settled his arm around her shoulders, tucking her into his side. “You’re home now, Snips. Don’t forget that.”

They stood in silence for a little while, the fear and weariness leftover from her nightmare steadily leaking out of her in the face of Anakin’s all consuming warmth.

“I stayed here with Padme for a couple weeks right before the war started,” he said. When she looked up at him, he was watching the waves lap against the sandy shore. “She tried so hard to get me to go swim with her but I didn’t want to cross the sand.” He chuckled. “First and last time I ever thought I could win an argument with her. I was in the water within the hour.”

Ahsoka shook her head. “I can’t believe you used to be a bigger idiot than you are now.”

“Hey!”

The combination of his affronted expression and his bedhead had her doubling over in laughter. He looked like a startled bantha.

Suddenly an impish grin overtook his face. Then he was grabbing her wrist and dragging her behind him with what she was sure was Force-assisted effort, and heading toward the elegant stairs that led down to the water.

“Oh no, no, no, no. Skyguy, it's too cold!”

“Never thought I’d see the day when you were the one saying that instead of me.”

“That’s because we could go sunbathing on Jakku and you’d bring a blanket.”

Anakin just glared at her over his shoulder.

Well, if he was going to be like that… “Race you!”

Anakin spluttered as Ahsoka leapt down the stairs, rolling into a crouch at the bottom.

He tore after her, gaining on her with every step. Their laughter floated across the lake, and before Ahsoka could dive in, a massive wave crested, drenching her from head to toe.

She gasped at the icy shock, then turned around to see Anakin a few yards behind her with his arms still raised.

Ahsoka bared her fangs in a playful growl, and then Anakin was landing in the water with a splash. She waded in, up to her waist, waiting for him to surface. A few moments passed and he hadn’t come up. She scanned the water, but it had gone still once more, and even with her superior night vision, there was no sign of him.

“Skyguy?” she called. “Anakin?!”

Ahsoka sucked in a breath as something grabbed her around the waist, dragging her under the water.

She broke the surface, gasping for air, only to be met with Anakin’s unapologetic grin.

“You nerfherder!”

“Language, Snips.” But the reprimand was broken up by laughter. Ahsoka rolled her eyes as her own grin broke out across her face, soon turning into a full blown smile at their combined ridiculousness. She hadn’t felt this young in a long time, just playing in the water with her older brother.

Anakin had gone quiet, and when she looked over, he was treading water with a gentle expression on his face. It was the same one she saw when he was holding Leia; watching her babble incoherently up at him like he would move mountains to make her smile. Like he would for you, a voice in her head whispered. “There she is,” he murmured.

He maneuvered to float on his back, and after a moment Ahsoka joined him. She was looking at the stars again. But instead of her bloody history and the deaths that hung heavily on her heart, she just saw pinpricks of light forming a tapestry of kyber across the sky. Worlds full of people who were hurting just like she was, and healing all the same.

“It still hurts,” she mumbled.

“I know,” Anakin replied. Soft ripples bumped against her from the steady movement of his arms. “I think it maybe always will. But I promise you Ahsoka, I’m always going to be here for you when it gets hard.”

She smiled back at him, pushing her gratitude across their bond. “Same here, Master.”

“Do I even want to know what you two are doing?”

Pushing herself upright, Ahsoka saw Rex standing at the edge of the lake. He was shirtless, with a towel thrown over his shoulder and a bottle of water in his hand. Probably ready for a morning run. There was no telling what time it was, but the sky was beginning to lighten. They had yet to break Rex of the soldier’s habit of waking before dawn.

Ahsoka slid her eyes to Anakin at her side, her sly, mischievous gaze mirrored in his own blue eyes.

In sync, they raised their hands. Their poor Captain had no time to react before he was being flung high through the air and landing in the lake.

They dissolved into giggling fits even before Rex came up, face red. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop throwing me?!”

A couple hours later they had dragged themselves up onto the beach, the Force glowing in contentment around them. Even Anakin didn’t complain about the grains of sand sticking to their wet skin.

Ahsoka leaned against Anakin’s shoulder, prompting him to rest his head on top of hers. She wrapped an arm around Rex, giving him a squeeze.

The three of them, relics of an unjust war and carriers of history, sat on that beach and watched the sun rise on a new day. So many laid out in front of them, offering hope. Offering peace. Ahsoka let the feeling fill her and carry the nightmares away.

[gffa]

THE MANDALORIAN - A TIMELINE Assumptions this post will make: - It’s possible that they’ll throw out canon/contradict something that’s been established up to this point (I’m hoping not, as Dave Filoni is one of the main people who oversaw the creation of that canon, but it’s still a possibility!), especially as Favreau has mentioned that he wants to recanonize some Legends stuff, but for now we’re assuming canon is canon and they’re going to work with that.  This is a post that is focused on what canon and creators of canon have said! - Din Djarin is ~44 years old, as a reflection of Pedro Pascal’s age. - Out-of-universe, Star Wars’ timeline is referred to by BBY / ABY (Before the Battle of Yavin / After the Battle of Yavin) because that’s when the Death Star was blown up/the Rebellion battled the Empire over Yavin IV, which was because A New Hope was the central compass point as the very first SW movie.  However, this timeline will focus on The Mandalorian season 1 as Year 0, as I think that’ll make it clearer how everything relates to this show. THE TIMELINE SO FAR: 50 Years Ago - The Child (Baby Yoda) was born, Anakin Skywalker was born in the same year 41 Years Ago - The Phantom Menace ?? Years Ago - The Mandalorian Civil War.  There was an insurgency against Satine Kryze’s rule of Mandalore, which eventually required the intervention of the Republic, by sending two Jedi (Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi) to protect her, causing them to go on the run for a year.       Obi-Wan later describes this as, "An extended mission when I was younger. Master Qui-Gon and I spent a year on Mandalore protecting the Duchess from insurgents who had threatened her world. They sent bounty hunters after us. We were always on the run, living hand-to-mouth, never sure what the next day would bring. A civil war killed most of Satine's people, hence her aversion to violence. When she returned, she took rebuilding her world alone."  Whether he means that the people loyal to Satine were killed or nearly all of Mandalore was killed, it’s hard to say.  (Presumably the latter?)

31 Years Ago - Attack of the Clones, the Clone Wars begin, Kamino’s clone army is discovered, they become part of the Republic, which may tie into Dr. Pershing’s arm patch symbol likely being the Kamino emblem.

~31-28 Years Ago - The flashbacks we see in The Mandalorian are likely to take place during the Clone Wars, that the people were attacked by Separatists (hence the Super Battle Droids we see being used) and were rescued by Mandalorians, adopting Din Djarin as a Foundling, raising him in the Fighting Corps.   Din would have likely been around 10+ years old?        At least one of the Mandalorians in the flashback was wearing a Death Watch symbol, but it’s unclear how the politics of this were going, since they’re fighting Separatists in the flashback and it’s unclear precisely when Pre Vizsla joined with Dooku and the Separatists.  (Separatist alliances shifted all the time, so this isn’t hard to work with!)

~31-28 Years Ago - Death Watch, a Mandalorian splinter group, publicly arises as a protest against Satine’s pacifist ways and determination that Mandalore leave behind its warrior past.  They bomb targets in the city of Sundari and work with the Separatists to try to kill Duchess Kryze and put their own leader into place on Mandalore proper.       Pre Vizsla of Clan Vizsla is the governor of Concordia (a moon of Mandalore), voiced by Jon Favreau, secretly leads the Death Watch and reveals that he has the darksaber when he fights against Obi-Wan Kenobi after its revealed that Pre is part of Death Watch.  (Clan Vizsla is one of the most central Clans of Mandalore.)       They are not successful in their plot (to have the Republic Senate forcefully invade Mandalore under the threat of Death Watch/the rumor of Mandalore joining the Separatists) and remain neutral in the Clone Wars.       It’s also later revealed (a few months later/a season later) that Bo-Katan Kryze, Satine’s sister, is a lieutenant in Death Watch.

28 Years Ago - Darth Maul creates his own Shadow Collective (an alliance of various criminal organizations) by allying with Death Watch and taking over Mandalore.  Duchess Satine Kryze is murdered by Maul as part of his takeover of Mandalore/his revenge against Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as Pre Vizsla is killed by Maul when they disagree over the direction/who is leading Mandalore.  Maul takes the darksaber. 28 Years Ago - Fenn Rau, as part of Skull Squadron of the Protectors (a group of Mandalorian royal guards), assisted the Jedi in the Clone Wars, including helping out in a fight with Jedi Master Depa Billaba and Padawan Caleb Dume (Kanan Jarrus). 28 Years Ago - The Clone Wars are nearing the end, the Siege of Mandalore happens at the same time as ROTS/Order 66, this is referenced as “The Night of a Thousand Tears” by Moff Gideon, “when gunships outfitted with similar ordnance (to the e-web cannon) laid waste to fields of Mandalorian recruits in the Night of a Thousand Tears”.  He doesn’t say who the gunships belonged to, if they were Republic gunships or Maul’s Shadow Collective gunships or something else.

     The Siege of Mandalore is basically:  Darth Maul has set himself up as leader of Mandalore, so Ahsoka Tano and a battalion of clones (including Captain Rex) lead a mission to retake the planet.  While they’re in the middle of this mission, Order 66 happens, where the clones’ inhibitor chips have them turning on the Jedi, including Ahsoka though she is no longer officially a Jedi. During/after this huge shitshow, Bo-Katan Kryze is appointed Regent of Mandalore. 28 Years Ago - Revenge of the Sith, the Republic fell, the Empire rose, the Jedi Order was genocided basically out of existence. 11 Years Ago - The Ghost crew discover Maul hiding out, who still has the darksaber, and they retrieve it.  Sabine Wren (of Clan Wren) briefly trains with it, but struggles to decide how to proceed with it and her contentious relationship with her family.     Fenn Rau (governor of Concord Dawn, as appointed by the Empire) explains the history behind the darksaber to Kanan Jarrus, that a thousand years ago (give or take) the first Mandalorian Jedi was named Tarre Vizsla who created it as his weapon, that it stayed with the Jedi until a few decades ago, Clan Vizsla stole into the Jedi Temple and took it back, as it was a symbol of House Vizsla and had the power to unite the Clans/Houses in the right hands.

10 Years Ago - Sabine Wren rallies her family into deciding to fight back against the Empire’s occupation of Mandalore and gives the darksaber to an initially reluctant Bo-Katan Kryze.  Leaders of several clans of Mandalore swear allegiance to her and they vow to fight the Empire, after many years of living under Imperial rule.

9 Years Ago - A New Hope, Alderaan was destroyed, the Death Star was destroyed, also the events of Rogue One happened. 6 Years Ago - The Empire Strikes Back 5 Years Ago - Return of the Jedi, the Second Death Star destroyed, Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader died, Yoda died, formation of the New Republic 4 Years Ago - The Battle of Jakku, which is the final giant battle between the New Republic and the Empire, where they officially lost (see: Star Wars Battlefront II for the story) 0 Years Ago - The Mandalorian, season 1 THINGS I’M NOT SURE WHERE TO PLACE ON THE TIMELINE: - Din and the other Mandalorians have cultural differences from the Mandalorians we’ve seen up to this point.  The tradition of being unable to take their helmet off, lest they cannot put it back on, doesn’t match up with what we see of Pre Vizsla in The Clone Wars, who was the leader of Death Watch, rather than Satine’s New Mandalorians who were pacifists.  This also strongly contrasts what we see of Bo-Katan Kryze (who was affiliated with Death Watch) and Sabine Wren (along with her family, who all took off/put on their helmets).  Is this a splinter group?  Is it different for people who were born Mandalorian vs Foundlings who must prove themselves? Something else? - Satine says that Jango Fett was not Mandalorian, but a regular bounty hunter and she didn’t know how he acquired the armor.  Out of universe, Pablo Hidalgo has supported this, but that was years ago and canon evolves over time.  Dave Filoni has also talked about how, as far back as Attack of the Clones, George Lucas intended for Jango to not actually be Mandalorian. THE BIG QUESTION MARKS: - Paz Vizla’s name is spelled without the “s” in the credits, is this a reference to the different spelling as used in SWTOR?  Or is it a typo?  Favreau has been re-canonizing some Legends things, but also the credits for Chapter 5 have “Tuskan Raider”, which is a typo of “Tusken”, so typos are a thing in the credits. - The Great Purge isn’t clearly set within the timeline yet.  It does not seem to be the same thing as the Siege of Mandalore or Order 66, because it’s too significantly tied to the Empire.  

      While the Empire was being created during those moments and it’s possible that Paz Vizla was referring to something that happened in the aftermath of the Siege of Mandalore, something big enough to referred to separately, it might also very well refer to something that happened after Bo-Katan Kryze received the darksaber and united Mandalore against the Empire, as we don’t know how that fight happened, and may little comments in The Mandalorian indicate that seeing Mandalorians is very rare these days.  Last we saw them, when Sabine talks about the Imperial Academy on Mandalore or when we see House Wren’s interaction with the other Clans, they don’t seem to be that rare.        Paz Vizla says, “Our strength was once in our numbers. Now we live in the shadows and only come above ground one at a time. Our world was shattered by the Empire, with whom this coward shares tables.”  and “These were cast in an Imperial smelter.  These are the spoils of the Great Purge.  The reason that we live hidden like sand rats.“   Unless they are a splinter group, Mandalorians didn’t live hidden away 10 years ago in the events of Rebels.

[katierosefun]

rest now

or five times people used obi-wan kenobi as a pillow, and the one time everyone let themselves be obi-wan’s pillow. based on this post i made a little while back. 

read on ao3 | read on ff 

wc: 6732

1.      Commander Cody

They were exhausted and battle worn, their armor cracked and coated with the dirt and dust of the battleground, but still, Obi-Wan and Cody stayed standing until the rest of the 212th were evacuated from the site. A bug buzzed somewhere near Obi-Wan’s neck, and he batted it away. The bugs were probably attracted to the sweat and the blood—not his—still dipping into the collar of his tunic.

He couldn’t wait to get off this planet.

He knew he wasn’t the only one.

Obi-Wan had only been working with Cody for a few weeks now, but already, he had grown accustomed to the commander’s demeanor. Quiet and steady, Cody hadn’t so much as faltered at the battles that they had gone into. A part of Obi-Wan worried at that—grew wary at the case with which Cody, along with so many other men, could go into war seemingly without a second thought.

Or maybe not completely without a second thought, Obi-Wan thought now as the last shuttle dropped in front of Cody and himself. Now that all the 212th had left, Obi-Wan sensed the fractures in Cody’s own mask of calm.

They wordlessly got on the shuttle, the doors shutting out the heat and the bugs. For a moment, all Obi-Wan saw was darkness—and then the lights inside the shuttle flickered on, and then they were taking off, leaving the blasted dusty planet behind.

Obi-Wan let out a breath as the shuttle ascended into the atmosphere. Somewhere up there, he knew that they would get into the cruiser, and then Obi-Wan would probably find Anakin and Ahsoka, probably just as batter-worn from their own share of the fight. Obi-Wan would have to go to the debriefing after checking with his men—his men, something he still couldn’t quite get used to.

A burst of cool air from the shuttle’s ventilation system dried the remaining sweat on Obi-Wan’s face. He swiped an arm over his forehead. A shower. He wouldn’t mind a shower right after the meeting, either, even if the idea of staying awake and upright for any longer than he had to felt like another battle on its own.

But he would bear it, just as he had everything in the last few weeks.

He had only just completed that thought when he felt something drop against his shoulder. Obi-Wan looked down and made out the top of his commander’s helmet. He paused, unsure what exactly to—how exactly would he—

Obi-Wan half-expected Cody to bolt awake, and he angled his head slightly away to avoid the oncoming jerk against his chin—but Cody stayed fast asleep, his breathing deep and even within the helmet.

And Obi-Wan could feel the weariness radiating off his commander, the bone-deep kind of weariness that came with perhaps too many days of fighting and not enough rest.

So Obi-Wan turned back towards to the viewport. He inhaled slowly, so as to not even let his breath disturb Cody’s rest. They would get into the cruiser in a few minutes, anyways. Obi-Wan decided, with a slight, wistful smile on his face, that he would grant his commander these few minutes of peace before the next storm.

2.      Padmé Amidala

“Thank you for the meal, Bail,” Obi-Wan said as he helped the senator move the dishes into the kitchen.

“You’re welcome,” Bail replied. He took the plates from Obi-Wan’s hands and jerked his head into the sitting room. “You sit down. Guests aren’t allowed to do the dishes.”

“You know I don’t—”

“Doesn’t matter if you don’t mind—go.”

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, but he lifted his hands in mock surrender before walking out of the kitchen. He found Padmé and Anakin already in the sitting room, their heads bent low near each other’s—and then quickly parting as Obi-Wan made his steps heard.

“Obi-Wan,” Anakin said loudly, his face flushed with either the alcohol or something else, Obi-Wan wasn’t entirely sure. Watching Anakin’s eyes dart quickly over to Padmé, Obi-Wan changed his mind. He decided the faint pink in his former apprentice’s face was definitley due to something other than alcohol.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan only replied, sitting down on the couch beside Padmé.

The senator and he exchanged a brief smile, and though Padmé’s face, too, was just a tad brighter than a few minutes before, the senator’s face remained neutral as she said, “I see that Bail finally managed to get you out of the kitchen.”

“He practically chased me out,” Obi-Wan said, ignoring the bark of laughter from the kitchen.

“Well, given your track record, I would think that chasing was a bit necessary,” Padmé replied. “Don’t you think, Anakin?”

“Absolutely,” Anakin replied, and though the color in his face was dying down, Obi-Wan still noticed the shine in Anakin’s eyes as he fixed his attention back on Padmé. It was almost enough for Obi-Wan to start shaking his head right there—really, Anakin was terrible at keeping secrets. Padmé and Anakin both were, but Obi-Wan had neither the capacity nor the desire to protest against their manners.

He briefly wondered if that made him a bad Jedi, quietly turning blind in this moment—but he quickly shoved those thoughts away.

Obi-Wan was relieved when Bail finally walked into the sitting room, glasses in hand. He set them down on the table and passed one automatically to Obi-Wan, and then the conversation slowly turned to talk of politics and home worlds and speeder models and a holodrama that Bail and Padmé had apparently started watching.

Obi-Wan was glad to let the conversation wash over him, glad to just smile and offer the occasional quip or question. He leaned back against the couch, leaving his glass three-quarters of the way drained, his head only slightly buzzing with the alcohol. His whole body felt comfortably warm otherwise, and through his own haze, he noticed that Anakin had only taken a few sips from his own glass. When Anakin caught Obi-Wan looking, he only grinned and mouthed, driving.

Obi-Wan smiled and let his head fall back against the couch cushions as the conversation dulled down further, until it was just Bail and Anakin talking—Bail, still very much awake and cheerfully carrying conversation with Anakin about the latest updates on whatever new speeder model had come out.

While Padmé…at some point, Padmé had gone quiet, and only when her head fell on his shoulder did Obi-Wan realize that the senator had fallen asleep. Obi-Wan lifted his head to look first at Anakin and then Bail in silent question, but without even breaking from the conversation, Bail reached over for one of the throw blankets on one of the couches and tossed it to Anakin.

And Anakin, still not breaking from conversation, only heaped the blanket over Padmé’s sleeping form. Obi-Wan managed to catch Anakin’s eyes a second time—and found, with some curiosity, that he felt some strange relief in the smirk Anakin tossed Obi-Wan’s way.

Deciding that he didn’t want to decipher that smirk, Obi-Wan slowly, carefully re-settled back on the couch and only re-adjusted the blanket around Padmé’s shoulders before leaving her to sleep on his shoulder.

3.      Satine Kryze

“I should have known you’d be here.”  

Satine lifted her head from her book. Night had completely fallen over Mandalore, the distant lights of the city and the moon being the only source of brightness in the otherwise sleeping planet. A small pool of moonlight encircled Satine now as she stood up, closing her book.

“Obi-Wan,” she said. “I thought you would be sleeping by now.”

Obi-Wan dipped his head towards Satine. “The excitements of the day haven’t quite worn me out, I’m afraid.”

“Ah.” Satine settled the book against her front. She sat back down on the grass. “Care to join me?”

Obi-Wan glanced around the courtyard. He had been in this place before, in the last few days he had on Mandalore, back those years ago. Satine and he had explored some of the courtyards, and this one had been one of their favorites. Smaller than the others, a little more secluded. A pond was somewhere nearby, bubbling with only some of the fish that dared flick their tails above water. A tree swaying with a warm breeze that could only somehow be carried in this section of the palace. With the breeze, Obi-Wan caught the scents of the courtyard: grass, some nighttime flowers, and Satine.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” Obi-Wan only asked, walking into the courtyard. He sat down next to Satine, who only gave him a brief smile. “What are you reading?”

She lifted the book. “A childhood favorite of mine,” she replied somewhat wistfully. “Although I’m afraid the story isn’t quite as captivating as it once was. A consequence of no longer being a child, I suppose.”

“Different times, different tastes,” Obi-Wan replied conversationally. He tilted his head towards the book. “I would still like to know what it’s about.”

“Well,” Satine said, handing the book to Obi-Wan, “it’s all rather dramatic, if you must know.”

“Is it now,” Obi-Wan said, amused. The book was lighter than Obi-Wan expected. He could feel the slight wear on the spine, the cover as he flipped it open. The pages were slightly curled with age and years of use.

“It’s about two eventual lovers,” Satine said, a smile curling over her lips. “Separated by a conflict between their own families, although we never learn what exactly that conflict was.” She shrugged, leaning back down against the grass. “An unhappy tale, really.”

Obi-Wan looked down at Satine, at those clear eyes of hers reflecting back the night sky. “How so?”

“Well,” Satine murmured, folding her hands against her stomach, “the lovers both die in the end, although neither had to.” She nodded to the volume in Obi-Wan’s hand. “The girl fakes her death, and thinking that she truly is dead, the boy kills himself. The girl wakes, and upon seeing her lover dead, she kills herself as well.” She turned back up to the sky. “Truly horrible.”

Obi-Wan looked down at the book. “And this was a childhood favorite?”

“Don’t laugh,” Satine said. “I used to think it was romantic. Used to.”

“And now?”

Satine looked at Obi-Wan and laughed. “Now I think it’s rather silly,” she replied. “A tutor of mine once explained that the author might have written this story as a mockery of love rather than a true expression of it. I’m rather inclined to agree.”

“An interesting interpretation,” Obi-Wan said. He flipped over to the first page and, clearing his throat, read, “Two households, both alike in dignity—”

“What are you doing?” Satine asked, propping herself up on an elbow.

“Well, you said this was a childhood favorite,” Obi-Wan replied lightly. “I might as well see why.”

“Obi-Wan—”

“As I was saying—in fair Verona, where we lay our scene…”

Satine only huffed and settled back down on the grass. “Impossible,” she said. “That’s what you are.”

“Now, don’t interrupt Duchess, I’m already rather intrigued.”

Satine laughed again, and Obi-Wan made it through the entire prologue before he, too, settled down on the grass beside the duchess. He was aware of how their heads were brushing against each other, the rise and fall of Satine’s chest, the occasional sigh as he read on. He read until his voice was little more than a murmur, and he had read up until the fifth scene of the first act before he felt Satine’s head nestle against the crook between his shoulder and neck.

Obi-Wan’s voice stuttered for a moment, and he looked down to find Satine’s face buried against him, her expression content. She let out a soft sigh, and Obi-Wan took that as a signal to keep reading, his voice growing softer and softer until he was doing little more than just mouthing the words.

But he had completely forgotten about what he was reading, and only when he actually got to the ending did he remember where they were.

Obi-Wan looked down at Satine, still asleep.

He brushed a strand of her hair back. She shivered a little, the rest of her face disappearing into Obi-Wan’s neck.

Obi-Wan smiled. “You’re right, my dear,” he said quietly. “That was a horrible ending.”

4.      Ahsoka Tano

“I just don’t understand,” Ahsoka huffed from across the table. She was clicking through documents on the computer, her eyes already glazed from the screen. “Master Skywalker agrees that I learn better on the field than I do with these lessons.”

“I’m sure he does,” Obi-Wan murmured, adjusting the brightness on the computer screen. The Archives had gotten considerably darker, and though the lights adjusted accordingly, the computers unfortunately did not. Obi-Wan’s eyesight wasn’t getting any better, either. He swiped a hand across his eyes before re-focusing on the screen.

“I just don’t understand,” Ahsoka repeated. “We’re fighting a war. Why do I need to know about this stuff? It’s not like a droid is going to ask me to recite philosophy before shooting me.”

“Padawan.”

“Yes, Master Kenobi?” Ahsoka asked, ducking her head around the computer. She blinked with comical innocence at Obi-Wan. And Obi-Wan only shook his head. A part of him wanted to smile—Ahsoka reminded him so much of Anakin in some ways, especially with that cheerful look she gave him now. But another part of him couldn’t help but feel a kick to his chest—there was something so incredibly strange and wrong about hearing a child so casually talk of being targeted on the battlefield.

Then again, the war had changed what childhood meant for so many, and the Jedi were not exempt from such changes.

“Focus on your studies,” Obi-Wan only said, looking back at his computer. Ignoring Ahsoka’s groan, Obi-Wan added, “You may not need to recite philosophy for a droid, but you will need to sharpen all parts of your mind.”

“My mind’s already sharpened,” Ahsoka mumbled.

“Then sharpen it more.”

Ahsoka groaned again, but she didn’t argue. The evening sounds of the Archives slowly filled the long room: the rustle of robes and cloaks, the scrape of chairs being pushed out or pushed in, the buzz of the lamps, the whir of a droid somewhere down the hall.

Obi-Wan had lost himself in the near-silence of the Archives before he suddenly became aware that Ahsoka was no longer clicking or typing on her computer.

“Ahsoka?” Obi-Wan called, ducking around the computer.

And he found Ahsoka with her head resting against a propped-up hand, lips slightly parted against her palm.

Obi-Wan smiled to himself. He glanced out the windows, knowing even before he found the dark sky that night had completely fallen. They had been in the Archives for many hours now, and frankly, despite Ahsoka’s complaining, the girl had lasted longer than Obi-Wan had figured she would. That would be something Obi-Wan would have to tell Anakin once he got back from his mission.

Obi-Wan pushed himself out of his chair and after shutting off his own computer, made his way around to Ahsoka’s side.

A few books were still scattered around the computer, some half-open, others with pages still fluttering against some phantom breeze. Obi-Wan closed those books and pushed them to the side, stacking them neatly by the organization system the Archives called for. Then he leaned across the desk to shut down Ahsoka’s computer. He found the philosophy text still up on the screen. Ahsoka had gotten through perhaps three-quarters of the way before falling asleep. Which was impressive, Obi-Wan figured, for someone who so clearly hated philosophy.

Obi-Wan shut off the computer and looked down at Ahsoka. She was still asleep, her hand still holding up her head.

“Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan said quietly, resting a hand on her shoulder. He shook it once, just enough for Ahsoka to stir. “Perhaps you should sleep in a more comfortable place.”

Ahsoka, her eyes glazed over with sleep, only blinked owlishly at Obi-Wan. She rubbed a fist over her eyes, and Obi-Wan became painfully aware of how young she truly was. Fourteen years old—still a little older than most younglings who became Padawans, but still unbearably young for someone about to be launched into a war.

“Okay,” Ahsoka murmured, and she started up from her chair, only to plop right back down, eyes already fluttering shut. “’m tired.” Her voice was small, plaintive—a tone that Obi-Wan had not heard Ahsoka use ever.

“Here,” Obi-Wan said, and gently, he tugged Ahsoka up by the wrists. “To your quarters now.” He directed themselves away from the desks, but before he could fully get them to the main corridor of the Archives, Ahsoka’s head bumped against Obi-Wan’s chest, her eyes still closed.

“Ahsoka—”

“Sorry, sorry,” Ahsoka mumbled, stepping backwards. She blinked a few more times, crashing against the back of one of the chairs. “Sorry.”

Obi-Wan wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be concerned. “Are you alright?”

“’m fine,” Ahsoka said, rubbing her fist over her eyes again. “Just…” She took a small step away from the chair, towards Obi-Wan—and stumbled again.

Tired—she must have been more tired than she had been letting on, Obi-Wan noted as Ahsoka sat back down on the chair, her head resting against its back. Another pang went through Obi-Wan’s chest. The girl held much of her strength like a shield around herself everyone carried a shield around themselves these days, Jedi and non-Jedi alike—and now, apparently, the young as well as the old.

Obi-Wan sighed. Then, sinking down in front of Ahsoka, he guided her arms around his shoulders, found the back of her legs and hoisted themselves up.

Ahsoka’s head bobbed against Obi-Wan’s shoulder, her hands dangling in front of him.

“Master?” Ahsoka mumbled, her feet knocking lightly against the sides of Obi-Wan’s legs. “What’re you…”

“We can’t have you stumbling around the halls, now, can we?” Obi-Wan only said. He swiveled his back just enough to give Ahsoka a small smile. “Rest, young one.”

Ahsoka hummed a little, her head falling against Obi-Wan’s shoulder once more.

And Obi-Wan carried Ahsoka all the way back to her quarters.

5.      Anakin Skywalker

“Have you seen Anakin?”

“He was by the cliffs, sir,” Rex replied, gesturing back to where a cluster of troopers still stood. Obi-Wan stood up and, narrowing his eyes, he indeed spotted the one spot of black clothing, and then the bright flash of a blue saber.

“What is he doing?” Obi-Wan asked, more to himself than to Rex.

“Leading the sweep on the last few droids,” Rex replied. “I only just came back from my half of the sweep.”

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes at that still-swinging slash of blue. “He’s hurt,” he said.

“I tried to tell him,” Rex said.

Obi-Wan gave Rex a dry smile. “I’m sure you did, Captain,” he replied. “Not to worry—Anakin tends to be stubborn.”

Rex smiled back, but it quickly faded as the two men turned their attention back on Anakin. “If he’s hurt, then—”

“Not to worry,” Obi-Wan repeated, already swinging down from the low platform. He looked up to Rex. “Just be prepared when I finally bring him back. Make sure Kix is available.”

“Yes, sir,” Rex replied, and he hurried off in a flash of white and blue.

Which left Obi-Wan to Anakin.

He turned around and made his way through the battle-worn grounds, pointedly walking around droid parts and fallen blasters. The closer he walked, the louder Anakin’s lightsaber and the other troopers’ blaster fire became until even the sounds of the bugs and the other critters of the planet were drowned out by the action.

Obi-Wan found Anakin quickly. Hair plastered to the back of his neck, face pale but eyes and cheeks bright, a confident swagger in his step even when clearly injured—Anakin was the glowing image of the Hero with No Fear that Chancellor Palpatine had instilled for the Republic. The image and the title didn’t sit well with Obi-Wan—he barely liked the title instilled on him (The Negotiator, as though he were a character in a story), but looking at Anakin’s bold movements and bright smile, Obi-Wan could understand where at least his former apprentice’s new title came from.

“That’s the last of them, boys!” Anakin said now, just as Obi-Wan heard the dull clatter of what he could have only assumed was the destroyed battle droids. Obi-Wan felt both relief and pride radiating off the cluster of troopers, off Anakin.

And then Anakin’s eyes found Obi-Wan’s, and he grinned, shutting off his lightsaber. “You’re a little late for the party, Master,” he said. “We’ve taken care of it.”

“Yes, I can tell,” Obi-Wan said. “Well done.” He weaved through the troopers until he reached Anakin at last. Up this close, Obi-Wan could make out the individual beads of sweat rolling down the side of Anakin’s face, his neck. The slight heave of his chest as he tried to keep his breathing even. Obi-Wan flicked his gaze down to Anakin’s side. Even without touching him, he could sense the damage done.

Anakin’s eyes followed Obi-Wan’s, the smile fading from his face. He subtly moved away, clipping his lightsaber to his side. “Right,” he said loudly. “Back to the ships, men.”

“Sir, yes sir!”

Obi-Wan waited until the troopers had all left before saying, “You should know better.”

“I’m fine,” Anakin said automatically, but now that the troopers were gone, Obi-Wan could hear the slight strain in his friend’s voice. “It’s not even that bad.” He took a few steps forward—shuffled, more like, and that was when Obi-Wan knew that the situation was much worse than he had originally thought.

“Anakin, wait—”

But Anakin was sliding down from the ledge, and for a moment, he stayed upright.

Obi-Wan slipped down the ledge next to Anakin just as he started swaying, one hand reaching for his side.

“Anakin—”

Anakin’s face tightened as he leaned back against the rock ledge. Obi-Wan reached for Anakin automatically, catching him by the arm just as Anakin started to slide down. “Probably shouldn’t have…done that,” Anakin ground out through clenched teeth.

“You shouldn’t have,” Obi-Wan agreed, winding an arm gingerly around Anakin’s side. Though he kept his own touches light, he felt the flare of pain underneath—fractured ribs. Multiple. Obi-Wan inhaled sharply.

“It’s not that bad,” Anakin mumbled, but the reediness in his voice suggested otherwise. “I can walk back.”

“Clearly, you can’t,” Obi-Wan replied. “I can call Kix—he’ll bring a stretcher.”

Anakin let out a breath, sinking directly into Obi-Wan’s side—which was another sure sign that the injuries must have been more painful than usual, because Anakin never gave himself away, not like this. So Obi-Wan only re-adjusted his grip on Anakin and suggested, “We should sit down first.”

Anakin nodded mutely, and with that, the two settled back down on the dirt.

“Kix,” Obi-Wan said into his comm.

“Yes, General.”

“General Skywalker is injured,” Obi-Wan said as Anakin’s head lolled against his shoulder. Obi-Wan glanced over at Anakin. His eyes were drifting shut, whether from the pain or exhaustion, Obi-Wan wasn’t sure. All the same, Obi-Wan’s chest tightened as a shudder ran through Anakin’s body. “We will need a stretcher.”

“Yes, General.”

With that, Obi-Wan turned towards Anakin. His former apprentice’s eyes were completely closed now, his chest rising and falling unevenly. Obi-Wan could feel the damp of Anakin’s hair, his warm breath against his skin.

And then Anakin’s head rolled past Obi-Wan’s shoulder, causing both Obi-Wan and Anakin to startle.

“Sorry,” Anakin mumbled, opening his eyes. “I didn’t—” He started to move upright but stopped mid-motion, a low groan leaving his lips.

“Don’t,” Obi-Wan said, setting a hand on Anakin’s shoulder. Anakin relaxed under Obi-Wan’s hand. “Rest.”

Anakin huffed out a breath. “You’re never going to let me hear the end of this, are you?”

“Never,” Obi-Wan replied with a brief smile. He guided Anakin towards himself. “It might do you better to lie down with your ribs the way they are. It’ll make getting on the stretcher easier as well.”

Anakin huffed out another breath—one that sounded more like a laugh, but he managed a small nod. He started to lower himself to the ground, wincing at even that slight movement. Obi-Wan kept his hand on Anakin’s shoulder, murmuring encouragements until Anakin’s head was right on Obi-Wan’s lap.

“You’re definitley not going to let me hear the end of this,” Anakin mumbled, his eyes already closing.

“No,” Obi-Wan agreed, resting his head against the rock ledge. He saw troopers still hustling on the platform in the distance, and above that, the now darkening sky. Obi-Wan saw some stars glimmer into existence—just the earliest, brightest ones as the sun’s last yellow rays hushed themselves over the horizon.

Obi-Wan heard a small sigh, and when he looked down, he found that Anakin’s eyes had closed completely.

Obi-Wan smiled to himself, brushing back a strand of still-damp hair from Anakin’s forehead. And then he looked back up at the darkening sky, where he found two bright stars winking down at him.

+1.

It was a universally known fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi needed sleep.

Which was why today, everyone was staring at Obi-Wan Kenobi like he had just grown a pair of wings, because he was asleep. And sleeping on Commander Cody’s shoulder, no less.

Cody only stared at the rest of the troopers in front of him in silent panic. But they only watched with mild amusement as the gunship landed down on Coruscant. The flight had been smooth, thankfully, and perhaps it being too smooth had been the reason why the general of the 212th had chosen that specific time to doze off.

Not that Cody necessarily minded. It was no secret that Kenobi was exhausted, and they had been running operations for seemingly weeks on end. This temporary leave had come as a relief to all.

Still, Cody wasn’t sure what exactly he was supposed to do, now that Obi-Wan was at his shoulder. Cody expected that the man would wake soon, probably jerk up the minute the gunship doors opened, but he did nothing of the sort. Cody wasn’t sure if that made him relieved or not. Because on the one hand, the general truly did need his sleep, but on the other—

“Got something there, Cody?”

Cody only gestured a finger to his lips as a signal to keep Rex’s voice down.

But the captain only grinned. “How’d that happen?” he asked, nodding at Obi-Wan, still fast asleep.

“I don’t know,” Cody replied quietly, not trusting himself to raise his voice any louder without waking the general. “Should I…” He glanced down at Obi-Wan, and then glanced back at Rex. “I don’t know if I should wake him.”

“I wouldn’t either,” Rex replied. “He probably needs the rest.” He looked over his shoulder, and Cody followed the captain’s gaze to where a few senators were speaking amongst each other. They technically didn’t have to be there—Cody knew that they only came to boost morale, but still, he saw a semi-familiar face amongst that small group.

“Senator Amidala is a friend of his,” Rex said. “I’m sure she could help.”

Before Cody could say anything else, Rex walked away and returned with the warm-eyed senator.

“Commander,” Padmé said, tilting her head in a nod.

“Senator,” Cody replied. He didn’t really know the senator, but the minute Padmé smiled at Obi-Wan, Cody decided that he trusted her.

“I see you’re in a bit of a situation,” Padmé said.

“Not a situation, Senator,” Cody replied. “Not too much trouble.”

“Yes,” Padmé said, amused. “I see.” She looked backwards, nodding to where a speeder waited. “I’m about to head back to the Senate Building—and that’s a bit closer to the Temple from here. I would be glad to take him there.”

“We wouldn’t want to trouble—”

“It’s no trouble, Commander,” Padmé said, that smile of hers returning.

Cody exchanged a look with Rex, who just shrugged.

“If you say so, Senator,” Cody said, and with that, Padmé came around to Obi-Wan’s other side. Again, Cody expected Obi-Wan to wake, but he didn’t so much as stir as Padmé wrapped an arm around Obi-Wan’s waist. The warm weight of Obi-Wan’s head left Cody’s shoulder, and Padmé nodded once again to Cody and Rex.

“Have a nice day, gentlemen,” she said, and then she turned, supporting Obi-Wan to the speeder.

And Padmé, like Cody, didn’t terribly mind the fact that Obi-Wan was leaning against her, nor did she terribly mind Obi-Wan’s head on her shoulder as she started up the speeder. He only stirred awake at the grumble of the speeder, his eyes blinking open briefly.

“Where…” he started to murmur, but then he blinked at his surroundings: the blurring skyscrapers of Coruscant, the glow of the lights both above and below. And then, clearly reassured that there was no danger, Obi-Wan dropped his head back against Padmé’s shoulder.

Padmé only laughed quietly to herself, mentally noting the moment as something to tell Anakin later. He probably wouldn’t believe her even if she told him. So Padmé pressed on, taking care not to run into any of the rougher-trafficked lanes. She technically could have been escorted, and that might have made being in a speeder easier, but Padmé had wanted the freedom. And besides, she was grateful for that now.

Only just as the Senate Building came into view, Padmé’s speeder blinked a light to warn her that its fuel was running out.

She murmured a soft curse at the alert. She should have probably checked before taking this speeder out to begin with. She looked up to the Senate Building and then back to the little alert. She probably had just enough fuel to get her to the Senate, but then—

Padmé sighed. She felt Obi-Wan stir at her side, and she stilled, hoping that the man didn’t sense any of her own annoyance at the speeder. So she steered her speeder all the way to the platform of the Senate Building, her mind already running with possibilities of exactly who to notify about the empty fuel tank when she saw a familiar flash of blue from the distance.

“Duchess,” Padmé said, lifting her head, careful to still not wake Obi-Wan.

“Senator,” Satine said, stopping short in front of the speeder. If the guards behind Satine or the duchess herself found something strange about the fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi was sleeping on Padmé’s shoulder, they didn’t show it. Well—the guards didn’t show it. Padmé didn’t miss the way Satine’s eyes softened at the sight of Obi-Wan, nor did Padmé miss the slight flicker of concern across the duchess’ face. “Did something—”

“He’s fine,” Padmé said quickly. “Just tired. He fell asleep.” She gave Satine an embarrassed smile. “I meant to return him to the Temple, but it seems my speeder’s not quite up for the challenge.” She gave her speeder a rueful pat on the controls before asking, “Would you mind…”

“Of course not,” Satine said. “I was just about to go for a drive around the city, anyways.”

“Wonderful,” Padmé said, relieved. She started to rise from the speeder, but this time, Obi-Wan awoke, his eyes prying open fully.

A few awkward moments passed before Obi-Wan asked, “What happened?”

“You fell asleep,” Padmé said simply. “You were with Cody, and I offered to take you to the Temple, only my speeder…” She grimaced and turned to Satine. “Luckily, Duchess Satine was willing to help.”

Obi-Wan only blinked a few times, still clearly trying to escape the throes of a deep sleep. “I wouldn’t want to trouble anyone,” he said, swiping a hand over his eyes. “Really, I’m…” He started to get out of the speeder, but not before his foot got caught on something. Padmé pulled him back before he could fall on his face.

“Yes, of course, Master Jedi,” Padmé said, ignoring the wounded look Obi-Wan threw her way. “Duchess?”

“Of course,” Satine said, and she stepped forward, extending a hand towards Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan looked down at Satine’s hand warily and then, taking it, he stepped out of the speeder. Padmé didn’t miss the slight flush creeping up Obi-Wan’s cheeks, nor did she miss the identical shade of pink creeping up Satine’s own face. Padmé happily decided that perhaps the speeder running out of fuel was a good thing instead.

“Good night, Duchess, Master Kenobi!” Padmé called.

Satine only tossed Padmé a smile over her shoulder, and then Padmé watched Obi-Wan and Satine start for their own speeder. Satisfied, Padmé hopped down from her speeder and decided to make a call about refilling the fuel tank.

In the meantime, Satine guided Obi-Wan to the speeder, and the two settled in the backseat as the guards settled in the front. For a few minutes, neither of them spoke, not as the speeder rumbled to life. Satine kept her eyes ahead, focusing instead on the glint of the skyscrapers against the setting sun. As the speeder picked up into the air, a warm breeze swept over them.

And then they were off, taking for the Jedi Temple on the other side of the city. Satine let her gaze drift from the skyscrapers to the lines of speeders below her, and then to the sun setting over the horizon. She was all too aware of Obi-Wan’s warmth beside her, the calm of his presence.

Still—Satine needed to be still, even though a part of her was overwhelmingly relieved that he had returned. A senseless war: that was what had somehow tied their paths together again, and Satine wished that the circumstances were different, but at the same time—

She would be returning to Mandalore in a while yet, and she supposed she was grateful for the time they had still.

And suddenly, Satine felt a weight settle on her shoulder.

Satine didn’t dare look down at Obi-Wan as he shifted against her, a soft sigh leaving his lips. Satine only kept her eyes straight ahead, daring her guards to say anything. But they didn’t react, didn’t so much as blink as Obi-Wan turned his face into Satine’s shoulder, his forehead bumping against the base of Satine’s neck.

Satine was selfishly glad that the speeder ride was smooth. A part of her knew that she should probably wake Obi-Wan, probably gently direct him away, but—

Well, that selfish part of her remained.

And only when the speeder landed in front of the Temple did Satine bring herself to stir. She was sorry for it, but then she heard—

“Master Kenobi?”

Satine looked up to find a young girl standing up from the Temple steps, her brows furrowing. The girl looked from Obi-Wan to Satine, her brows furrowing even more, but she ducked her head into a quick bow. “Duchess Kryze.”

Ahsoka Tano, Satine remembered. She had seen the girl only a few times, mostly accompanying Anakin Skywalker. She couldn’t have been much older than fourteen, fifteen, but she was yet another one of the children involved in the war. But she was a friend of Obi-Wan’s—that much, Satine also knew.

“Good evening,” Satine said, bowing her head. She gestured to Obi-Wan. “Would you know where his quarters are? I was only helping him get to the Temple.”

“Of course,” Ahsoka said, the girl’s lips twitching into a smile. “Is he…” She nodded at Obi-Wan, whose head was starting to slip from Satine’s shoulder.

“He was only sleeping,” Satine replied, gently bringing Obi-Wan’s head up to keep him from slipping entirely. “Nothing more than that.”

“Master Kenobi, sleeping?” Ahsoka asked, eyes widening. Then, quieter, “That’s a first.”

Satine decided that she liked this girl. She smiled, and Ahsoka smiled back.

“Don’t worry, Duchess,” she said. “I’ll make sure he gets his way around.”

“Thank you,” Satine replied, as the guard opened the speeder door. And with careful hands, Satine guided Obi-Wan over to Ahsoka. For one so small, the girl surprisingly kept both Obi-Wan and herself steady, even as she stepped themselves away from the speeder.

“I’m Ahsoka, by the way,” the girl said. “Ahsoka Tano.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ahsoka Tano,” Satine replied. “Thank you.”

“Of course, Duchess,” Ahsoka said cheerfully. And then she waved as the speeder started up, and Satine waved back until the Temple was out of her line of vision.

And when the speeder had disappeared, Ahsoka, too, turned around. She readjusted her grip around Obi-Wan’s side. She looked over at the man’s face and couldn’t help but laugh to herself. She wished she could take a picture. But she supposed she would just have to settle with memorizing this moment instead, everything from the nearly-darkened sky to the rustle of their clothes to Obi-Wan’s quiet sounds of protest as they walked through the halls.

The cool of air from the Temple rushed over them both, and Obi-Wan shivered slightly beside Ahsoka. She only adjusted his cloak around himself before walking on, nodding casually to some passing younglings. She couldn’t help but smile at their temporary awe and also disbelief at seeing Ahsoka supporting Obi-Wan through the halls. A sight, she was sure.

Ahsoka guided Obi-Wan’s arm over her shoulders for better support as they rounded a corner. Obi-Wan stirred lightly then, mumbling, “’soka—”

“That’s right,” Ahsoka said, rolling her shoulders. “You’re a lot heavier than you look, Master Kenobi.”

Obi-Wan started to shift against Ahsoka, but she only said, “We’re almost to your quarters, though.”

A small sound of disbelief. “When…”

“Just a little while ago,” Ahsoka replied, keeping her voice nonchalant. “Duchess Kryze dropped you off.” She paused, giving her next words only a second of consideration before adding, “You were sleeping on her shoulder.”

Obi-Wan’s eyes fluttered open at that. “Was…”

“Oh, she didn’t seem to mind,” Ahsoka replied. She saw Obi-Wan’s door in the distance. She patted Obi-Wan’s arm twice in some reassurance as she added, “I think she was actually smiling. I think she’s nice.”

Obi-Wan only mumbled something that Ahsoka couldn’t quite make out—which was impressive, considering she was right under Obi-Wan’s mouth. “Anyways,” Ahsoka continued as they came closer to the door, “I’m glad that you got some sleep, Master. You looked exhausted.” She managed to break her hand away enough to wave open the door.

They ducked into Obi-Wan’s quarters—only it wasn’t empty.

“Is he okay?” Anakin asked, jumping up from the desk. “I got a call from Rex that—”

“He’s just tired,” Ahsoka said, disentangling Obi-Wan’s arm from her shoulder. Obi-Wan swayed a little, but then Anakin was at Obi-Wan’s other side, catching him by the shoulder. “Really tired. I don’t even think he’s actually awake right now.”

Anakin looked down at Obi-Wan, who only blinked wearily up at him.

Anakin smiled. “Well, look at that,” he said, and Obi-Wan sighed, resting his head against Anakin’s shoulder.

“I’ve got it from here, Snips,” Anakin said, looking at Ahsoka. “I’ll make sure he actually stays asleep.”

“Sounds good,” Ahsoka said, grinning. Then, whispering, she added, “Good night, Master Kenobi!”

And then she was gone, the door sliding shut behind her.

So Anakin settled both Obi-Wan and himself on the bed. Careful not to let Obi-Wan slide forward, Anakin slipped off Obi-Wan’s boots, unfastened the armor. All the while, Obi-Wan remained asleep, only mumbling only the occasional complaint.

Anakin only smiled to himself, setting the boots and the armor down on the ground. “Look at that,” he repeated. “You can sleep.”

“I can hear you,” Obi-Wan mumbled against Anakin’s shoulder.

Anakin settled an arm around Obi-Wan’s shoulder. “I was counting on it,” he said quietly. He gave Obi-Wan’s shoulder a quick squeeze, and then he slid away, guiding Obi-Wan’s head back to an actual pillow. He heard a sigh, and then Anakin brought the blankets over his former master, letting it settle right over Obi-Wan’s shoulders.

Obi-Wan’s eyes opened just a little, the deep grey-blue shining up at Anakin in the otherwise dim room. “I should finish the reports,” he only mumbled.

“Don’t even think about it,” Anakin said, settling down on the floor next to Obi-Wan’s bed. He rested his head back against the mattress. “Just go to sleep, Obi-Wan.”

--

Obi-Wan slept.

[always-on-tatooine]

A MaulxReader part 1: Shooting Stars

Woo-wee! First time posting something like this. I’m still a little new to Tumblr, so if I need to fix something please let me know.

Also, big shout out to @justalittlecloud and @a-dorin for being so kind and giving me courage to post this :)

Masterlist link: https://always-on-tatooine.tumblr.com/post/640968824459526144/shooting-stars-maulxreader-masterlist

1454 word count.

Takes place RIGHT at the end of Clone Wars, so spoilers may be present. Enjoy!

Released from the Jedi's grasp, and the orbital pull of the moon that drew closer to the condemned ship by the second; the now-former Darth Maul believed he had finally made his escape inside the stolen shuttle. After his battle with Ahsoka Tano on Mandalore, and the amount of force that was used to destroy the ship's engines, the Zabrak knew he would have to find somewhere to rest if he were to regain his strength. With the fall of the republic, the new order, designed by his former master would now have complete control over the galaxy. This would be a new challenge he would have to survive if he were to exact his revenge.

            Sending his spacecraft into hyperdrive, he was certain of his freedom from the chaos he created. Though he rarely underestimated his opponents, he did however neglect to calculate how much damage he had caused to the main ship. As metal and debris scattered across space, not even a Sith as skilled as Maul could avoid what happened next. A large chunk of metal shrapnel carved straight into the shuttle engine. A light show of emergency signals illuminated the cockpit. Frantically, Maul did his best to take control of the craft as it dropped out of its attempt of hyperspace. With his ship now spinning through space, it became clear to him that there was very little he could do to stop his fate as Maul lunged towards the nearby planet. The only hope for him now was to land his ship as smoothly as he could.

                                                        **********

            The night sky was brightened by a series of explosions over (y/n)’s planet. Though it was hard to see whether it was Republic or a Separatist ship from this distance, only a large warship would have been able to ignite the bright colors that followed as it fell out of hyperdrive. Though the destruction was being pulled into the gravitational force of one of the nearby moons, plenty of the explosion made its way to its neighboring planet. Parts of the chaos could be seen flying through the atmosphere. Like shooting stars, some of the metal debris burned even brighter they came colliding with the planet's surface.

            For (y/n), this was a nice addition to the already beautiful night sky that spanned over the great plains. As of late, she had been struggling to get a good night's rest. Something in the air had been unsettling, an unexplained shift that kept her up in the late hours. So, a beautiful occurrence like this was a nice accompaniment to what was already a restless evening. Most of the time it was fairly quiet in these parts, as their planet often orbited away from the happenings of the waring galaxy beyond. She watched as bits of the destruction above burned up in the atmosphere, cascading down like brightly lit shooting stars. (Y/n) made herself comfortable petting the little loth-cat that sat on her windowsill, which served as an observatory to the arial spectacle. For years now, the two had been living alone in their small hut, one of the very few that have been scattered out across this open valley. With no neighbors in sight, (y/n) used her space to spread out her farm as far as she saw fit, making it just big enough that she could tend to it herself. The closest town from here was an hour or so ride on her jump speeder; longer when carrying her cart of produce to sell to the locals. This arrangement made her a decent living. Sure, it was lonely out here, but it was the price she had paid to ensure her freedom.

One of the “shooting stars” looked especially bright as it encountered the atmosphere. At first just a shimmer in the sky, only slightly more distinct than the shimmering stars above. As it fell, it emanated bright colors of fiery reds and burning yellows. A beautiful spectacle, the burning ball appeared to grow brighter by the second… and closer.

            Once (y/n) finally realized this piece of sharp metal was not burning up in the atmosphere, but rather was coming straight for her home, she only had a mere few seconds to prepare for impact. Grabbing her little loth-cat she slid under one of the counters in her home and braced for impact.

            The planet shook, sending vibrations throughout the house, threatening to knock everything in her home about. Holding the scared ball of fur tight, it took (y/n) a moment to loosen her grip and take in the damage. Things in the house did in fact become shuffled about. A few things knocked off shelves and the lighter of her furniture push aside. It added a slight atmosphere of disaster to her usually cozy home. When the trimmers were finished (y/n) shot to her feet. The crash did not feel too far away, and if the impact had destroyed her crop then she would certainly be damned for the growing season. In a rapped fashion, she slipped on her shoes, grabbed her staff, and went outside to investigate the damage that had been gifted by the heavens above.

            As the smoke cleared, she could see to her relief, the plummeting debris did not destroy her season’s hard work. The damage ended about 30 meters outside the small field of crops. With the dust settling more, it became clear to (y/n) that this was not just a simply discarded part of a ship. A space shuttle, fuming from the flames now sat in front of the young women, a distinguishable new addition to the dark and open landscape. At closer inspection, she could see a silhouette of a body sitting in the cockpit. Quick to act, she knew that if this person were still alive, it would not be much longer until the smoke from the flames would ensure that there were no survivors in this crash.

            The heat coming from the shuttle was more than hot enough to tell her that touching the ship would possibly lead to burning off her entire hands. With some very precise shimming between the latch of the capsule and the windshield, she manages to leverage her staff and release the seal, getting fresh air to the perhaps deceased driver. A distinguishable pop, followed by a rolling hiss, smoke released from the opening, creating a large burst into the air, only to dissipate, leaving the body hunched over the wheel, barely breathing.

            (Y/n) had never seen a Zabrak before. She had only heard of them in stories; horned beings with bright skin that was vibrant as they were fierce. Yet in that moment, legends became true, falling from the sky from a heap of fire. He became even more real, as (y/r) reached into the ship to drag out the single survivor. Heavy, she did her best to lift the creature from his confines. She draped the muscled body over her back as she used all her might to bring the unconscious man back to her small home, the sound of metal scraping the rough terrain as his legs dragged in the back.

            Attempts to lay the man down on the couch in a way that secured his safety was limited, as the heap of dead weight slinked from her body and onto the limited resting space. In the dim light of her small hut, she was able to see more features of her unexpected guest. Under the mix of ash and buses, bright crimson skin painted over his face; a contorted expression from the pain he was enduring. Dressed in black, his agile body clumped onto the couch was misleading to its muscular strength; only known to (y/n) after carrying the stranger from the ship aflame.

            Her furry companion, still hiding under the counter, peering out, just to let out her hisses and groans of distrust. “Zuzu, you behave now,” (y/n) said scolding yet oh-so casually. “I had to do all the heavy lifting, so you don’t get to say who we have as a guest.”

            The one-way conversation continued as she reached for the med-kit, “What else was I supposed to do? Any longer in there, and he would have been done for.” Due to the limited lantern lighting, she was only able to apply bacta cream to the most evident of wounds. “This will have to do for now,” she proclaimed, looking over the depleted horned being. “Anything else that needs to be examined will have to wait till tomorrow.” After coving the stranger’s body with a spare blanket, she swept up the still cautious Zuzu, carrying her small companion off to the bedroom for rest.

[littlespaceporgs]

i have a need for more soft plo my dear 💕 how abt “i wanted to say ‘i love you’ for the first time without stuttering, but that failed” with everyone’s fave kel dor? also i love you to the moon and back and am super proud of you

A/N: Yeah that’s right, I’m back mostly fully now and yes I am writing the requests I have! JJ - I hope you like this! I LOVE U TOO! It’s funny to start off with and then goes angsty and then goes super fluffy and is an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. I was aiming for a little 500 word blurb... it stands at 1.7ish i think 💀

So if you haven’t been reading my Clone Wars Reacts series, you probably aren’t aware that I am a massive simp for Plo Koon (and others characters 🤦‍♀️)and if this is you deciding to read them here’s the link to my masterlist, which has all the parts posted already.   

Glimpse

Word Count: 1.7k Pairing: Plo Koon x Jedi!Reader Summary: Anakin running late, an awful sense of foreboding, and one thing that you were yet to say, mixed with a glimpse of a future you couldn’t have. What could possibly go wrong?

Tags for my loves: @peacelandbread @clonewarslover55 @libradusk @catsnkooks @mcu-padawan

The reasons why you agreed to go on a mission on Skywalker seemed to escape you at the moment. His plans, though working occasionally, had the reputation of heavy damage and being absurdly reckless. You did however, enjoy working with Ahsoka, though she could be just as bull-headed as Anakin on occasion. Maybe it was for her sake that you joined the mission?

The plan had originally been for you to lead a small troop of men in quietly, retrieve the data you needed, and then Skywalker would swoop in and distract them so that you could escape. The entry went well, and collecting the data happened without a hitch, but you were spotted on the way out and Skywalker was late. Again. And to make things worse, your comms stopped working a very long time ago.

“If you concentrated on getting out instead of what you’re thinking, we might just survive.”

Ah, that’s why you came on this blasted trip.

“Well maybe if you focused on this, instead of your sarcasm, we may live past the next 10 minutes, Plo.”

You’d known the Kel-dor for many years, almost as long as you’d been a Jedi, but the feelings you had for him were only a few years old, and started shortly after you began going on regular missions with him. He always had put the wellbeing of others ahead of his own, which was frustrating to no end, but endearing all the same. He knew that you had a way of overthinking every situation and very quickly becoming a ‘stress head’, so he always simplified the instructions and looked for the tell-tale signs of you steadily becoming unstuck. Always waiting for the clones to get on board an escape pod, making sure there were enough supplies, somehow always having all the answers and a witty response. It was the little things at any rate.

Like now for example, as you both knelt behind a box, trying to catch your breath, and he was trying to use humour as a way of distracting you from the very real possibility of dying by the hands of a droid.

You stretched up from your crouch and turned to look over the box. Oh shit, there’s an entire battalion of droids just a few meters – oh, and that one’s pointing- oh.

With a sharp tug, Plo pulled you back down, the blaster bolt whizzing past where your eyes had been only half a second ago. Despite not being able to see his eyes and mouth, he still gave you an exasperated expression.

“Be more-”

“I was fine! I saw it coming and I was going to move!” The Kel-dor ran a hand across his forehead, although, at this point he should be used to this type of behaviour from you.

Despite the joking and poking fun, your stomach was sinking further by the minute. As you just realised, if you stepped out, you would surely be shot instantly. A vast majority of the clone troopers had long since been torn apart. Swallowing, you closed your eyes, and leaned back resting your head on the box. There is no way either of you are going to surrender and get captured, but you both were aware of the fact that you likely weren’t making it out of this either.

Your shoulder was burning, and your ribs and abdomen ached, and there was a blaster burn on your leg. Another hand wrapped around your own, and squeezed it tight. Trying to stop shaking, you spoke.

“I – we’re not getting out of this one…” You turned your head and opened your eyes, finding his face. His eyes were turned down at the edges, and his shoulders were slumped the smallest bit. “Are we?”

Plo turned and took a similar position to you, not letting go of your hand.

“We must not think like-”

“Be realistic we-”

“It’s going to be-”

“Don’t- don’t you dare say it’ll be fine-”

“Skywalker-”

“isn’t coming! Or- or if he is, he’ll be too late!” you couldn’t stop your voice from shaking now, stuttering more with every word that came out.  Plo’s head hung and you could see the weight of your words hanging on him.

“At um – at least we’ll go out as we are, teasing the s-shit out of each other, you old man.” He let a laugh drift out of the mask.

“Don’t call me old, youngling.” You laughed back, smirking all the while. If you’re going to die here – if technically you wouldn’t be jedi – your heart raced at the thought. The code was – well if you’re dead you can’t very well follow the code, now can you?

“I- I um I love you.” As soon as it was out, you felt lighter and heavier all at once. His back straightened so fast the back of his head nearly whacked the crate. When he finally turned to you, his brows were sitting much further up on his face than what they had been before, so you traced every corner on his face with your eyes, just in case. His hand squeezed yours tighter.

“I- well I wanted to say it without stuttering, and preferably when we weren’t a few minutes from death, but well- I guess there’s really no time like the present?” He still hadn’t moved, frozen and staring at you. Oh, no. You waved your free hand in front of his face, trying to break his stupor.

“Plo? Are you-”

“I love you too.”

You couldn’t help but smile, your hand moving to his face instead, moving your thumb across his cheekbone. Idly, you noticed that he hadn’t let go of your other hand yet. His hand moved the hair from your face, smudging the ash and dirt also. With a hand on the back of your head, he gently pulled so your foreheads pressed together. Your eyes slid shut, and you concentrated on the feeling of warmth and light that this brought. If this was the last thing you remembered before death, then you would die happily. For now, you savoured the few seconds you had sitting there. You sighed, and opened your eyes.

“I – just-”

“I know.” You pulled away, and despite the happiness of a few seconds before, a sense of foreboding sat heavily in your chest. You swallowed harder, and moved to grab your lightsaber. You grasped it tight, and ignited the glowing blade. Next to you, you heard his blade reveal itself. Your muscles in your legs tensed, and you braced your shoulders. One more time. When you turned to him, he was still looking at you, with a sad expression that rivalled your own. You shuffled so you were instead in a crouch, ready to fight. Might as well go out swinging.

You took a deep breath and steeled your nerves. For a second before you stood, you couldn’t hear anything. When you thought back and remembered it, there was the sound of droid’s legs and chatter, of occasional blaster fire of those who were left, and your lightsaber humming in your ear. At the time, there was nothing. You just kept staring at Plo, hoping that somehow, you’d get more of this, more than 5 seconds.

Faster than a blink, you got a glimpse of a future that could have been. Cold nights on Coruscant, wrapped up in blankets, watching the night sky past by. Daybreak, curled up in each other’s arms, feeling the glow of sun come in. On missions with small troops of trusted clones, being able to be open with your relationship. Sneaking around before council meetings, trying to savour what moments you could before missions. Feeling like young padawan’s again, running around quietly. Visions of you leaving the order, years from now, quoting being unable to stick to the code, Plo following shortly after. Of you building a home, your stomach steadily growing outwards.

And just like that it was over, and you were stuck with a reality of death.

Your throat burned and your vision blurred. Now.

And then Plo’s hand desperately grabbing yours and pulling you down again, a shrill beeping coming from his wrist. Your heart pulsed in your ears and you looked to the sky. Of course.

“Sorry, we were busy dealing with Ventress! How are you holding up?” A scathing laugh burst out of your throat. The droids were falling back, away from your position at the sight of the sheer number of Republic soldiers. You laid back on the dirt, feeling the sun on your skin, soaking up whatever light you could. It was only now that you felt the weight lift, where the light feeling of relief took its place. Plo begun to answer Anakin. You cut him off with a venomous tone.

“We’re a-”

“We’re alive, you’re late, and I am going to kill you, Skywalker.” There was an audible sigh that sounded suspiciously amused from Plo as he made to stand.

“I wasn’t that la-”

“Don’t even finish that sentence.”

Plo’s hand reached down and hovered near your face, though you ignored it and shot up on your own, winding your arms around his neck. He softly grunted as you laughed and the realisations began to sink in. Maker, we nearly died. We were very nearly dead. You nearly had to watch the man you fell in love with die.

Whilst your mind rambled, he pulled apart, and was still brushing the hair from your forehead again. You hadn’t noticed, but he was taking in every freckle, wrinkle and scar you had, like you had been doing to him not too long ago.

You nearly died. Plo nearly died. You almost didn’t get to say – oh, no. You told him. You thought you were going to die and you told him. But now you’re not going to die. And he said it back.

He said your name and whisked you from the spiral. His leathery forehead leant down and pressed against yours.

“I love you.”

Maker, he said it again. You grinned, and pulled him closer. You wanted to say it one thousand times at the top of your lungs, and suddenly the glimpse didn’t seem as far out of reach as it had a few minutes ago.

“I love you too.”

[nimsajlove]

road to recovery (II/?)

Second part, I dont really know WHAT this is. But it still ended up here, so you jugde it.

Ao3     Brothers-AU          Part I , Part III

*~*

„That's it for today, let's set up the camp.“, Cody instructed over the com, general relief and approval got back to him and the men crashed down, right where they were standing. The few shinys they had with them were careful to set up the tents immediately. The older clones watched them for a few seconds, amused, and Cody finally took pity on them. „Put that stuff away and sit down for a moment. This is not going to be rated by anyone.“, he instructed the younger ones and reluctantly they let go of their tasks.

Cody watched with a smile as the men gathered in groups to take a few minutes to breath, he was about to do the same and had just put his backpack down when his communicator flashed. Huh, so was the cruiser back? Unusual, the Admiral had planned to stay away for at least two more rotations. He took the call, an unexpected voice greeted him. „Commander Cody, I hope it's going well with the new men.“ It sounded like Plo Koon was smiling. Cody was never quite sure about that, the General rarely sounded worried or restless. He always seemed to be at peace. „General Plo Koon, what can I do for you?“, Cody answered and decided that he could sit down despite the conversation. „Nothing for me Commander, but I'm here to do a favor for Ahsoka.“, Plo Koon admitted. Ah, things got a little clearer now. Cody didn't know much about what Ahsoka had to do in the Jedi Temple. But he knew she hadn't left the temple walls in weeks. A message from Rex, full of concern for the young woman, had also made Cody thoughtful. „She convinced the council to send Kenobi back to you. The shuttle is just getting ready to take off.“, Plo Koon explained when Cody didn't react immediately.

That was good! Even if this was more of an enjoyable hunt than a battlefield, the presence of the General would lift the spirits of the men even further. Hardly thought through, a fine drizzle set in and sullenly Cody glanced up at the darkening sky, which peered through the canopy of leaves. In a short period of time, the rain would continue to pick up and guaranteed not to stop at night. It made the nights on that moon surprisingly cold. The men around him began to pitch the tents and Cody remembered the blank look General Kenobi had had when he left a few days ago. „Is there anything I and the men should watch out for?“, Cody asked and he heard a low murmur on the other end, was that Wolffe? „I think you will know best how to handle him, that is all.“, Plo Koon replied. „Got it, General.“, Cody muttered thoughtfully and cut the connection. That was... not particularly helpful. So was Kenobi's condition unchanged?

Cody was about to take off his helmet when a message appeared. Cody fixed the little icon and it opened.

‚The General is not sure himself. Tano seems to be the only one to know whats going on.‘

So Wolffe was there after all! It was disturbing that the Jedi could not assess the condition of one of their own. On the other hand, it was kind of nothing new after so many suicide missions they had sent Kenobi on... If Kenobi was still as moody and slow as he was a few days ago, then Cody had to keep as much stress away from him as possible . He looked around, took off his helmet and put it next to his backpack. Then he went to help with the tents.

*~*

The last tent was up, the rain had gotten heavier and pattered relentlessly on Cody's helmet. Even though he was leaning directly against a tree. He wondered briefly if he should wait outside any longer, when a noise caught his attention. He looked up hastily and took a few steps away from the tree, a shuttle flew over the camp and landed in the small clearing on the edge of which Cody was standing. As soon as it touched down, the door opened and the ramp extended.

Kenobi wasn't the first figure Cody saw. In fact, it was a different, familiar face. Echo took a step forward on the ramp before waiting and looking back. The Jedi appeared behind him, Cody saw at first glance that his condition had only worsened. He moved slowly, his shoulders pulled forward and his hands hanging limply by his sides. Kenobi followed Echo and as he approached, Cody saw the deep shadows under the Jedi's eyes. „General.“, Cody greeted him carefully and Kenobi nodded once. Echo approached Cody and handed him a datapad, so was he just a messenger? „Wolffe had asked me to accompany him, and on the occasion Ahsoka thought I would give you all the information about the enemy positions that she could find here.“, the ARC explainedand although his calm voice sounded forced. There was deep concern in his eyes. It was clear that Kenobi's condition had caught his eye too. „Thanks, I'll take care of everything.“, Cody muttered, taking another look at his General, Echo nodded and turned back. Cody waited until he disappeared into the shuttle and took off again. Only then did he fully turn to Kenobi.

On closer inspection, the General didn't just look tired. His cheeks looked thinner than a few weeks ago. A development that he had been watching concerned for some time. And nothing seemed to have improved in his absence! The reddish hair stuck close to Kenobis skull, the rain had soaked the General in no time. An annoying quirk of the place, Cody liked it less and less. Maybe he should just make sure that Kenobi got dry as soon as possible... „Sir, we've set up a place to sleep for you.“, Cody started carefully and when the Jedi slowly nodded, he waited. But instead of answering, he just pulled a stiff hand from the folds of his cloak and told Cody to go ahead. He did so hesitantly, every few steps he glanced over his shoulder. The General didn't walk right next to him, as usual. No, he trudged a few steps behind Cody, placing his feet so unevenly that Cody feared he would fall. Where was the great General Kenobi? This was worse than any injury, any period of insomnia Kenobi had had during the war. And Cody knew exactly when the Jedi was sleeping and when not! He had spent an eternity studying Obi Wan Kenobi and knew the difference between a wakeful look and the soft shadows that did not disappear even after long meditation.

Kenobi didn't even look like he was meditating at the moment. He was just... empty. From the glassy gaze that was dull on the floor to the sagging shoulders. Oh, thank the maker that the men were already in their tents. Cody himself probably wouldn't sleep that night, he had sacrificed his tent for his General and would just make sure that the Jedi would actually sleep. Then he would find a nice tree for himself, hide from the rain, and study Ahsoka's plans. This was exactly how the evening would go and no different!

Cody quickly threw these plans overboard when he opend the entry of the tent and Kenobi looked at him confused. „This is not my tent.“, stated the Jedi, so he was still mentally present after all. Impressive. „Right Sir, this is mine. We don't have yours with us, so you will stay here.“, Cody explained and when Kenobi still looked at him confused, without moving, he reconsidered his judgment on the General's condition. His eyes seemed even more glassy than a few moments ago. And he was still wet. Sighing, Cody put a hand on the Jedi's shoulder and pushed him into the tent, then locked the entrance behind him. There was a soft splash and Cody whirled around, Kenobi was sitting on the floor in his wet clothes and didn't seem to notice that he was shaking.

Great, Plo Koon could have mentioned that Kenobi's condition had gotten worse. A little uncertainly, Cody took off his helmet and put it on the floor next to the entrance so that he wouldn't forget it later. Kenobi shifted a bit and whatever he was trying to do, it seemed to cost energy. The tremors got worse, if Cody didn't intervene... „Sir, we put a set of Blacks aside for you.“, Cody muttered and approached his General, he had noticed that Kenobi was traveling without luggage. Again. Cody would contact the Admiral at the earliest opportunity to get some things from Kenobi's quarters. Kenobi didn't react, so he put a hand on the Jedi's shoulder and squeezed lightly, he looked up. At least something! „It's okay, I just have to keep an eye on her...“, the Jedi muttered. Cody didn't understand any of it. Wow, something new. Couldn't the Jedi speak clearly? But this was HIS Jedi, so it would be worth a try… „Her?“, Cody asked carefully and crouched down so he brought himself to Kenobi's eye level. The General's gaze seemed far away. „Ahsoka.“ So that was the simple answer, Kenobi wanted to keep protecting her despite the huge distance between him and Ahsoka Tano? There was no longer any reason to do so, the war was over and Ahsoka was bound to new duties in the temple. At least for now. Besides, the girl was great at taking care of herself!

Cody sent a quick prayer to whoever and asked for a little more patience, this would probably be his job for quite some time. Taking care of his lost Jedi. He had to admit there were worse things than getting your own General back on his feet. But there was something in him that didn't like it when Kenobi looked at him blankly. It almost hurt. He knew the feeling, mostly it occurred when Kenobi was floating in a bacta tank for more than 24 hours and Cody had no choice but to trust the technology and medics. Maybe it was the helplessness that always came over him. Maybe not. There were more important puzzles to be solved now. For example, whether the death of Skywalker really had grown such strong fear of loss in Kenobi. Cody eyed his General one more time and decided, yes. „She is in the temple, safe. As soon as she moves, Rex knows it.“, Cody tried to get rid of the fear. Chaos in his head, infinite calm in his voice. He had always been able to do that. Kenobi still didn't move, okay. Fine. Then Cody would have to resort to good old trooper methods now. “I'm sorry Sir, you are not a shiny. But you act like one, so…”, Cody muttered, reaching with his hands under Kenobi's arms, heaving him back onto his feet. The Jedi swayed briefly, then caught himself and rubbed his face with one hand. That was still soaking wet! Kriff.

With one hand, Cody supported Kenobi at the elbow, he didn't trust the Jedi's legs, with the other he grabbed the clothes that he had put aside for the General. Ah, a medic had been so free to contribute a towel. Very nice. "Change, now.", instructed Cody and indeed his command tone seemed to get through to Kenobi. With still stiff hands the Jedi tried to open the outer robe, no chance. Cody knew that since an injury on such a stupid chunk of ice of planet, Kenobi's hands had been reluctant to cooperate on bad days. Today was a bad day, and Cody dared to say the worst of them all. Sighing, he put the things on the nearby bunk before he began to help the Jedi with quick fingers. If another member of the Order entered this tent now, he would find himself in serious need of explanation as a Commander. But, luckily for him, Kenobi was the only Jedi around in the system. So it was easy to get him out of his layered robes quickly. Hey, the undershirt was dry. That was at least something. Cody quickly took the black top from the bunk, held it open with his hands and held it so that Kenobi only had to stick his arms and head into it. He looked up briefly and when he met the confused and tired gaze of the Jedi, Cody's thoughts suddenly smoothed out. How many of his men had looked at him like that at least once? He never thought that it would be his own General's turn at some point. Even though he was taller than Cody, he looked so small and confused. „It's okay, I'll help you. Okay?“, Cody muttered, this time his gentle tone echoing the tenor of his thoughts. This was perhaps more familiar to him than he had initially thought. Kenobi slowly reached out his hands and Cody helped him into the top with a gentle smile. Well, that looked a lot better than the wet robes. Cody was glad that Kenobi wasn't that much bigger than the clones, otherwise they would have had serious problems finding clothes.

When Kenobi's head came back into his visual he blinked a few times and his eyes seemed clearer. „I am sorry Commander.“, he muttered, and Cody felt a small flicker of pride. He had made part of the way, Kenobi sought contact with him on his own initiative. That was good, for Cody it was a sign that the initial shock had been overcome. Well, better late than never. Right? „It's okay.“, he muttered and directed Kenobi to the bunk, there he pressed the black pants into the Jedi's hand. „You can do that?“, he asked and couldn't hide the slightly teasing tone. Kenobi nodded, satisfied Cody straightened up again and began to dispose of all weapons, carefully stacking them next to his helmet. Because no matter how calm and familiar the whole thing was, watching his General was definitely not appropriate. Only when Kenobi sat down again with a sigh, Cody glanced back and smiled contentedly, he came back over to the bunk and grabbed the towel. And while Kenobi stared a little annoyed at his unruly hands, Cody began carefully to dry the Jedi's wet hair. Well, as good as possible with a towel. „Cody?“, Kenobi asked softly. „Mhm?“ „Why did that happen?“ Ah, at this point they have been allready a few weeks ago, the Jedi seemed to keep spinning in circles. And Cody followed, of course, and was ready to have that conversation again. Until Kenobi would break out of this cycle. „Because Sidius planned it that way.“, he muttered his answer, waiting and knowing Kenobi would ponder Sidius now. About the failure of the Jedi. He had done that the last couple of times. „Was I a bad master?“ Cody paused, that was a different question than usual. He had no pre-planned answer for this one! Kriff. His pause seemed to prompt Kenobi to just keep babbling. „I should have saved him...“ „Sir...“ „Why was I so blind?“ „General?“ „I was his master and I betrayed him, like I left down Ahsoka before.“ „General Kenobi.“ „It was my fau-“ „Obi Wan!“

Cody grumpily took the towel down and stared at the Jedi, he had finally managed to break through Kenobi's senseless talk. He looked up at Cody with sad blue eyes. Cody wasn't exactly sure what he was up to. But gently straightening Obi Wan Kenobi's head seemed like a good option. „You are an excellent master. Ahsoka survived this war because she watched you just like she watched Skywalker. It's not your fault that your padawan chose a path, where you can't follow him.” Obi Wan blinked slowly, then looked down. Had Cody ruined today's little progress? He hoped not, to start all over again might get his patience to snap for today. But well... had there ever been anything Cody hadn't done for his General? Okay, maybe he would be able to start all over again, should it be necessary.

„Sorry.“, Obi Wan muttered into his beard and sighing, Cody put the towel aside. „It's okay, neither you nor I can help it.“, he tried to calm down and although Obi Wan nodded, Cody could not fail to see that he had started to shiver again. However, this could also come from the cold and exhaustion. Because Cody was sure Obi Wan wasn't crying. Not yet at least, this phase would definitely come. „How about some sleep?“, Cody suggested, sitting on the bunk next to Obi Wan. He had never dropped formality with his General. But tonight was sure to be okay, Obi Wan needed a friend, not a Commander.

„Can‘t.“ Obi Wan sounded as exhausted and empty as he looked. The Jedi tapped his temple with one hand. „Too loud.“ Then he let his head fall to one side, landing on Cody's shoulder. That was okay too. Reluctantly, he raised a hand and ran his fingers through Obi Wan's hair, slid up to the inclined temple and began to massage it in gentle circular movements. Despite the armor, he could feel the tension leaving Obi Wan's body. „Better?“, he asked anyway and got a weak sound of approval. Well then, he probably wouldn't leave this tent today after all. „Sleep, I'll stay here.“

*~*

The rain outside was pounding heavily on the tent, the temperature was cool and the air was uncomfortably wet. But Cody made no move to at least keep the cold away. Instead, he wrapped the thin blanket from his backpack a little tighter around his shoulders, reached into his helmet, which was lying next to him, and found the regulator for the usually very helpful warming function of his armor. That would keep his legs warm, the upper part of the armor he had piled next to the bunk.

Like that he sat slightly bent forward on the foot end of the bunk and while his left hand rested on Obi Wan's lower leg, he used the data pad on his knees with his right. Beside him Obi Wan was shaking, despite the thick blanket and insulating blacks, and Cody Thumb ran reassuring circles over the Jedi's lower leg. They urgently needed to get rations, preferably the red ones for high energy needs. If his body was supplied with enough energy, Obi Wan wouldn't suffer from the cold too much... For a moment he heard the footsteps of the two troopers on guard outside, then they fell silent again. He turned his attention to the datapad, a file at the top of the list could only have been written by Ahsoka. It was handwritten, kriff that girl had a bad hand. Sighing, he concentrated to decipher the sentences.

A brief account of how she organized Kenobi's trip. That she had personally chosen Echo to go with him. That she hoped it would help the Jedi.

‚He's very attached to you and if I'm right and you reciprocate those feelings, then I'm confident things will turn out better. I entrust you with its wellbeing.

P.S. Ask your men about the red ration bars. I gave them a few more shortly before you left. I had the feeling that they could be unsefull.‘

Well done, Ahs‘ika. She must have been one step ahead of him then. Maybe two. Cody glanced at the sleeping figure of Obi Wan, the light from the datapad just enough to see his face. Cody leaned forward carefully and pulled the covers a little higher until they almost touched Obi Wan's chin. The Sith should get him if he wouldn't help his Jedi. Ahsoka could rely on Cody.

[hungrywhovianjedi]

Twin Moons

read also on my AO3 and my FF.net read the rest here prologue chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Premise of the story:  Obi-Wan never took Luke to Tatooine in fact they overshot the force forsaken dustball completely and instead Luke grew up on the planet Lothal being trained to become a Jedi like his father before him. Ezra Bridger is an orphan loner who only makes an exception to his solitude for one boy. The boy who helped him out when he was seven, and that Ezra always seems to get into trouble.

NOW FOR THE BIG REVEAL The cover of Twin Moons art is by the amazingly talented @sunflova​ 

He took it all back, when he said Luke was more like his mother he took it back, as he looked through the wreckage that was a speeder bike and tie fighter he admitted it. He raised another Anakin. Yet another Skywalker with a reckless streak that caused chaos wherever he went. This level of Reckless he hadn't seen in fifteen years!

He knew Luke was alive, despite his initial panic, he could still feel the steady if dull connection between them, and had felt the fear when Luke noticed he was starting to lose his sense of his mentor in the force.

More concerning was still the cold weight that had settled over Lothal, only that coldness made him glad Luke was not on this planet right now, a shadow had come to land on this planet, and it was better that Luke not encounter it. 

Feeling this darkness was like being pushed back in time, the worst night of his life. He was suddenly facing Anakin on Mustafar. He didn't know what brought him here, but Vader was on Lothal, and Ben was prepared for the worst. 

Although preferably he would avoid his former apprentice completely, and find a ship to follow Luke off the planet.  He knew the boy was frightened, could feel it in their bond. He sent a wordless reassurance through the force, and only hoped Luke would receive it. 

~~~~~~~

Anger burned through him, a red hot flame cutting through everything. The first thing he gets told upon landing is of incompetence. An entire shipment of arms lost to, as the reports and security footage said, two smugglers and children. He watched again the footage showed two young boys jumping a median on a stolen speeder. His eyes were drawn again to the boy driving a halo of golden hair, and a stern set to his mouth. There was something deeply familiar about the boy, but he couldn't place it. 

"Get me agent Kallus" He ordered, then after a moment of thought, "and bring me the sorry excuse of a commander that claims to be in charge of this battalion"

"Yes sir!" The trooper by the door saluted, and marched through the door. 

Stormtroopers, he sneered at the thought, he missed the Clones, he never had mishaps like this when he commanded the 501st. The Clones would have deftly handled the thieves, and he wouldn't have to get ISB involved. However the Clones were made dispensable, their advanced aging process taking its toll, and they were all but broken down shells now. They kept a few on to train legions of troopers, but otherwise they were dead or AWOL. One of these was his once Captain and Friend CT7567 Rex. He was disappointed when he heard that Rex's ship went down. 

To this day he still got the pang in his chest about the reality of that day. Ahsoka… Rex wasn't the only friend he lost then. 

"Good luck" the last words spoken between them,  he would never forget the pain of finding her saber in the wreckage of that venator, knowing that he inadvertently caused her demise. 

He clenched his fist, what was wrong with him? Why was he being haunted by the past of Anakin Skywalker after all these years, it was like something on this planet was pulling all of the things that he had buried to the surface. It all began with that presence, like a light in the darkness so much like Padmè it hurt. 

"My lord" the voice pulled the sith lord from his thoughts.

He turned to face the men who entered,  "Agent Kallus, Commander Arescko. It has been brought to my attention that the afternoon's fiasco, was in fact not the first of such disturbances to happen under your watchful eye, and yet these thieves, remain unapprehended" 

Arescko swallowed, visibly uncomfortable with facing Vader. "My Lord, these brigands knew our protocol, and were waiting in position" 

Vader folded his arms, "so it was your protocol to have a secured imperial comm unit stolen? Or was it your protocol that caused several casualties, and the loss of thousands of credits worth of stolen firepower? The fact is Commander, if you had been diligent in your duties these brigands would not have had the chance to ambush your troops. Reports across Lothal have spoken of this crew, and yet you did nothing to prepare your men for the inevitable attack"

The commander shook, trying to remain calm. He knew of Vader's reputation, and what usually happened to those who dissatisfied him. "I assure you my lord-"his words cut off sharply into choking gasps.

"I will not abide incompetence commander"

Kallus shifted uncomfortably as the commander's choked breathing faded, and Vader dropped the man to the ground. Kallus did not check if the man was still alive, he was certain that Vader would not have released him if that was the case. 

"Agent Kallus, do you know what these attacks suggest?"

"Yes My Lord. The Imperial security bureau pays attention to patterns, and this is shaping to form a spark of rebellion" he stood at attention, not wavering under the gaze of Darth Vader, "I assure you, since being deployed here, I have made preparations for the next strike these would be rebels make. I have set up a trap for them. We will crush this spark of rebellion"

"See that you do" Vader replied tersely, "and when you do, the boy on those tapes, bring him to me alive. There is something familiar about him"

Kallus saluted and walked out.

 ~~~~~~~

Space… they were in space, force knows how far away from Lothal, Luke could barely sense Ben in his mind, and it unnerved him. Ben was the constant in his life. Since as long as he remembered it was him and Ben. Going to the market, meditation training together, exploring the mountains of Lothal, training with his saber, each time Ben was there. His absence was like a cold dark spot in his mind. After watching the hyperspace jump, the man, who finally introduced himself as Kanan, had taken him to the cockpit where he met the pilot, Hera. 

He had to admit, he admired Hera's courage, facing down the Empire in an old freighter, and he was set slightly at ease when the Twilek told him they would be returning to Lothal as soon as she could calculate the next jump. 

"Let me go! You can't keep me here, take us back to Lothal!" Ezra bellowed as Zeb hauled him into the cockpit. 

Luke looked back to his friend and saw the noted relief the other boy showed. 

"Relax, that's exactly what we're doing" Hera's voice held an edge of humor.

Ezra looked panicked, "wait, now? With the Empire chasing us?"

Luke spoke up then, "it's okay Ez, she lost the fighters" he looked up at Hera, "she's an amazing pilot"

The woman seemed pleased with his praise, "like the kid said, we lost the fighters when we jumped and the ghost can scramble its signature so they can't track us when we return"

"Oh, that's pretty cool" Ezra looked stunned, but like always shook it off, and smirked, "alright, so just drop me, Luke and our blasters off outside of capital city"

The door slid open, Kanan and Sabine walking in

"They're not your blasters" Sabine stated, brushing past Ezra, shooting Luke a quick smile.

"And we're not going back to Capital City, jobs not done." Kanan finished. 

Luke bit his lip, Hera hadn't mentioned that they weren't being taken back home, "We're not?"

Hera shook her head, "we have a deadline to meet, then we'll get both of you back where you belong if that's still what you want"

Luke nodded, he really did, he missed his uncle, and he only hoped where they landed was close enough for him to reach Ben again. 

~~~~~~ 

Ezra was fuming, how dare these people refuse to bring them home! He didn't care about their job, he wanted his blasters so he could sell them on the black market and have a little cash to live off of, then there was the fact that Luke was acting weird. 

The blonde was usually so happy and talkative, he had barely said a word since they jumped onto this ship seeming almost fearful of the crew. 

Then there were these people they treated Luke like some lost little kid, and him? They treated him like a common Loth-rat he hated it. Ezra wanted to go home, wanted his best friend back, and never wanted to see this ship again!

He sat in one of the bucket seats in the cockpit, Luke in the other, legs pulled to his chest, head bowed and eyes closed. Ezra wondered if he was sleeping. 

"We're coming for a landing, you boys want to stretch your legs? We'll be here for a while" 

Ezra glanced again at Luke who hadn't even stirred, but he saw a smile on the other boy's face  that hadn't been there before. He always marveled at the way Luke could do that, just drop into total relaxation at the drop of a hat, he had seen the boy do it many times, at times it was almost like he was seeing nothing and everything at the same time. Ezra envied the ease with which Luke found peace, and sometimes wished he could be more like him. He knew he was brash and abrasive, but he couldn’t help it. Being the way he was, it was the only thing that allowed him to live on his own. It gave him the aura that kept people from messing with him. Be abrasive and they left you alone. It worked on everyone.

Everyone except Luke it seemed. 

~~~~~~

The force surrounded him, he gathered his fear and uncertainty and released it to the force. It took longer this time than usual to find his center and drop into a meditative trance, the alien sounds of the ship invading his thoughts. In the end, he latched onto the familiar. He reached out in the force and found Ezra, the other boys presence, a soothing balm. 

Luke breathed in, and out steadily, looking to lose himself in the force. Take his anger release it, his fear release it, his uncertainty release it. He took in a deep breath, and silently repeated the words Ben would tell him as the older man taught Luke to find his place in the force. 

Emotion, yet peace

He took the emotions that had been at war in him and pushed them away, they belonged to the force.

Ignorance, yet knowledge 

He released the questions that had been hounding him, force willing someday they would be answered, they also belonged to the force. 

Passion, yet serenity 

He pulled on the peace he found in the force, allowing it to swallow him whole, his passion now belonged to the force.

Chaos, yet harmony 

Chaos surrounded him, burning through Zeb and Ezra, Chopper the droid was certainly a character of chaos, but he wouldn't allow it to touch him, his chaos belonged to the force.

Death, yet the force 

Like many times he felt the caress of a woman's hand on his cheek, people didn't keep themselves in the force Ben said, but Luke knew he was wrong, in his meditation, he felt his mother, her hand on his skin, her voice in his ear. When he realized what it was, he sought also the touch of his father, but the force had stopped him, a black vortex before him, that threatened to swallow him. He turned from the vortex and released his mothers touch to the force. His life belonged to the force. 

Emotion, yet peace

Ignorance, yet knowledge 

Passion, yet serenity 

Chaos, yet harmony 

Death, yet the force 

This time like many as he moved through the force, he found a dormant tether, one that neither held taught nor hung loosely, it was formed much like his and Ben's, yet somehow deeper, he tried to follow it once when he was younger, but had only been shown a vision of a young girl looking around in a panic. He tried to speak through the tether once, like he did with Ben, only to be cut off from the bond completely with the force of a psychic scream. 

He once asked Ben, who told him it was a connection in the force that he was not yet meant to learn. Luke always wondered who the girl at the other end was, and why she never reached back, but after being cast out, he left it alone. 

Finally he reached for the bond that was always there and pulled lightly, almost crying with joy, when he was answered almost instantly. 

Luke! Where are you, what happened, are you safe?

I'm safe Ben, I'm in a ship heading back to Lothal, Ezra had a bad plan, we ended up getting chased by Stormtroopers the only way out was to jump on a ship with some smugglers, but I think they're okay…

We will talk about all of that soon, but for now I need you to promise me something Luke, stay where you are. If you are safe with these people, stay with them. Someone has come to Lothal, and it is safer for you to stay away from Capital City.

Ben, I don't understand, why wouldn't you want me to come home?

Luke. I promise, I will explain everything soon. For right now however, I need you to stay there. I will find you it is no longer safe here. 

Luke froze, and could feel a stab of ice into his heart, making him lose part of his grasp on the force. It almost felt like somehow someone was probing the bond. No not probing the bond almost consuming it a cold force that reminded him of the swirling darkness that surrounded the spot in the force his father should have been. It was terrifying he had never felt anything like it. The cold threatening to swallow him whole. It blanketed the force around them, and Luke almost pulled away, being calmed only when Ben once more spoke through their bond.

Calm down Luke, remember your training, the force will be with you, and no matter what or however far you stray I will be with you always

Ben I'm frightened 

The force has a plan for us Luke, and something tells me it doesn't end here. Remember Luke. I love you as though you are my own son, and I will see you soon, this I promise.

Luke was pulled from his meditation then, a rough hand on his shoulder

"Wake up kid, time to move, grab a crate, pull your weight" Zeb instructed, before he stomped out of the room. Luke looked outside and saw Lothal's twin moons shining through the front window of the ship.

[renegadeontherunn]

happiness by taylor swift is a disaster lineage song, sorry I don’t make the rules

okay so yes I should be writing or doing homework instead of making this extremely rambly, slightly incoherent post but it’s friday so I’m vibing and you lovely people get to join me!

this is the ultimate star wars grief song for our tcw trio and I see it in three different contexts:

Ahsoka’s POV to Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the Order after she leaves in the season 5 finale

Ahsoka & Rex during/after Order 66

Obi-Wan & Ahsoka to Vader (Obi-Wan on Tatooine and (REBELS SPOILERS) Ahsoka after her duel with him in The Twilight of the Apprentice—for reference, I’ve only seen parts of Rebels so if some of that stuff is inaccurate, let me know!)

so we go . . .

honey when I’m above the trees / I see this for what it is

on a ship, in the Force, in hindsight

but now I’m right down in it / all the years I’ve given / is just shit we’re dividing up / showed you all of my hiding spots

#1: Ahsoka’s years learning in the Order, being a Padawan, her dedication to the Jedi and her faith to their teachings (”the values of the Jedi are sacred to me”), all the years she’s given are just completely thrown away as soon as there’s suspicion against her (in the unfinished episodes, Anakin says “well what choice did we give her? the moment there were any suspicions about her loyalty the Council turned their back on her.”) they both share this anger about her expulsion, and Ahsoka brings it up later during the Siege of Mandalore when she says “and what? defend the Council’s actions? I hardly think I’m the best person for that.” 

#2: again, Ahsoka’s years fighting alongside the 501st, growing close with Rex and Jesse and everyone else to suddenly find them turning on her (this is before she knows about the chips, of course). she could also be feeling this in tandem with Rex—“those soldiers, my brothers, are willing to die and take you and me along with them!” all the years Rex has given in the 501st, with his brothers, fighting for the Republic, having to watch his brothers be killed and not be able to do anything, all his hardship just means nothing. their attempts to be themselves, to be unique, to not just be “another number,” were useless in the end. the “showed you all of my hiding spots” line points to the closeness and friendship that they had with each other

#3: again again, pretty self-explanatory, all the years Ahsoka and Obi-Wan have given to teaching and learning from and loving Anakin are just completely thrown away by his fall to the Dark Side and him ultimately trying to kill them. the same for the last line applies here, they were brothers, they were sister and brother, they were a family and then it was all ruined.

I was dancing when the music stopped

In each of the scenarios, they were preoccupied, in the middle of something else (the war, capturing Maul, defeating Grievous, helping Ezra, etc.) when everything stopped and collapsed. each situation was completely unexpected and each time, their worlds fell apart.

and in the disbelief / I can’t face reinvention

#1: all Ahsoka’s ever known is the Jedi, and now without them (without anyone to help her or any connections or support), she has to completely change her way of life, as well as lie or invent a new background for herself (”Skywalker Academy,” “my older brother taught me,” “I used to live on the upper levels of Coruscant,” etc.)

also—Ahsoka becomes Ashla, and then Fulcrum (reinventing herself over and over again) and Obi-Wan becomes Ben. obviously, they don’t want to have to change, and again with “in the disbelief,” each of these events was unexpected and a complete gut punch.

there’ll be happiness after you / but there was happiness because of you / both of these things can be true there is happiness / past the blood and bruise / past the curses and cries / beyond the terror in the nightfall

I don’t think this line needs any explanation, but I’ll give some anyway! In a meta-sense, the audience started Star Wars with the happiness after all three events, but especially Vader. the Original Trilogy showed the end of the Empire, the Rebellion, the happy endings of Luke, Leia, Han, etc. in-universe, both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan hold this sense of bittersweet nostalgia (because how can you not?), both with Obi-Wan training/looking after Luke and Ahsoka joining the Rebellion and helping the characters in Rebels. they’re both trying to ensure happiness after Anakin. 

but, of course, of course there was happiness because of Anakin, that’s what The Clone Wars shows us! we see them happy (or, at least, somewhat) in tcw, which obviously makes everything much sadder, but still. they were happy. and Obi-Wan and Ahsoka both know it—we see it explicitly with Ahsoka meditating to Anakin’s holo and reminiscing in Rebels. they found happiness and love and family in the war, where there was so much death, so much destruction, so much darkness and terror. they found each other, they found happiness anyway. this can also apply to the OT, since that trio also found family and happiness in the midst of the Empire.

it’s this inherent optimism that both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan share that Anakin doesn’t (or didn’t) that’s keeping them afloat. it’s the adherence to the light, to kindness, to compassion. 

haunted by the look in my eyes

#1: going back to our three scenarios, you could say Ahsoka was probably haunted by the look in the Council members’ eyes—especially Yoda, Plo, Obi-Wan—when they expelled her. as well as, of course, the look in Anakin’s eyes when he begs her to stay and she says no. the ending image of season 5, the last image we ever saw of tcw for years—with Anakin’s sad, wide eyes—yeah. that look.

#2: overall, this context has less to it, but I’ll still argue that the look in Rex’s eyes, in the clones’ eyes haunted both Ahsoka and Rex, probably especially Rex. or even, not seeing his brothers’ eyes and instead seeing their blasters pointed at him. their final scene, with the eyes of the helmets (Ahsoka’s eyes painted on) stuck on sticks. yeah, that definitely haunted them both.

#3: Obi-Wan and Ahsoka both get horrifyingly clear images of Anakin’s gold eyes. Anakin’s look when he shouts “I hate you!” surely haunted Obi-Wan, as well as Anakin saying “Ahsoka” and “then you will die” with a very clear, obvious image of Anakin’s gold, scarred eye through his mask. 

that would’ve loved you for a lifetime

#1: Ahsoka was prepared to be a Jedi forever, for a lifetime

#2: Rex, more in this case, but both he and Ahsoka did and would’ve loved the clones forever. those were Rex’s brothers and it’s so clear, especially with the scene of him crying in the hangar bay, that this is killing him

#3: Obi-Wan and Ahsoka would’ve loved Anakin for a lifetime—and I’d argue they did, despite everything (”you were my brother, Anakin! I loved you!” and “my Master could never be as vile as you” and “to the best of us”)

leave it all behind

#1: sorry if this is getting repetitive, but yeah, Ahsoka left everything, her entire life, everything and everyone she’s ever known behind

#2: Rex and Ahsoka leave everything on that moon, including her lightsabers that she just got back and then had to give up a second time

#3: Obi-Wan leaves everything behind and flees to Tatooine. Ahsoka tells Ezra this—to let Kanan go, essentially leave the past behind him. And she can’t “save her Master” either. she too must let him go. 

tell me when did your winning smile / begin to look like a smirk?

this is just so Anakin slowly falling to madness and the Dark Side. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan thinking about the signs they’d missed, if there was some way they could’ve stopped it, if just one thing had been different, if they’d just noticed. trying to figure out where it all went wrong. 

when did all our lessons start to look like weapons pointed at my deepest hurt?

#1: “the values of the Jedi are sacred to me”—and then she’s expelled and told that it was part of her great trial in becoming a Knight. a foundation of the Jedi Order and its process gets turned against her.

#3: this line becomes literal—Padawan lessons, sparring, suddenly became dueling Anakin to death, for both Obi-Wan and Ahsoka

no I didn’t mean that / sorry, I can’t see facts through all of my fury

#1: you could argue that Obi-Wan is right when he said Ahsoka let her feelings cloud her judgement in leaving; that she couldn’t see the facts through the pain of being betrayed by the Council. and then, when she comes back in the Siege of Mandalore, immediately, she and Obi-Wan start arguing, and then both of them are clouded by their feelings, both feeling hurt by the other and lashing out.

#3: again, this is just so Anakin turning to the Dark Side. he obviously doesn’t realize that he’s being blinded by fury (or maybe he does and just doesn’t care, or probably, thinks that is the only way). but he is. he’s completely blinded to logic, to reality by the fury that Sidious has spent years amping up and harvesting and Anakin himself has spent years bottling.

you haven’t met the new me yet

this line is really painful if you view it from Anakin’s perspective. they both believed he was dead, but no, turns out he’s a Sith Lord, in fact the Sith Lord that’s been the Emperor’s tool in causing immense pain and destruction across the galaxy. it’s this evil, excited little line from his POV (think that ROTS comic: “please say it’s Kenobi. Lord Vader gets such a thrill from killing people who care for him”)

there’ll be happiness after me / but there was happiness because of me / both of these things I believe

again, there’s that optimism, that desire to help people, to do good in the world, and this faith that Obi-Wan and Ahsoka both have. that’s why Obi-Wan helps Luke, that’s why Ahsoka joins the Rebellion. it’s all to ensure that there will be some happiness, some light after them (and maybe a little because of them. again, see the first chorus. they were happy once, and they both know it. “we’ll be fine, as long as we stay together.”)

there is happiness / in our history / across our great divide

I see this mostly as Ahsoka and Anakin (and Obi-Wan) during season 7. there’s still a connection, of course, love and happiness between them, despite the ending that’s right on their heels, as well as the great divide of Ahsoka leaving the Order.

there is a glorious sunrise / dappled with the flickers of light

Anakin does end up returning to the Light Side and his reunion with Obi-Wan is surely like a “glorious sunrise” that ended the darkness of the past twenty+ years. the second part I just see as a fun, literal line—flickers of light are lightsabers, blaster fire, the Light Side

I can’t make it go away by making you a villain

in short, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka can’t make the pain or the past happiness go away because Anakin’s now Vader. they still both remember Anakin fondly and with love, despite his fall. they loved him, still. in ROTS, when Anakin says “from my point of view, the Jedi are evil!” Obi-Wan doesn’t say “then you are evil,” or even “you are wrong,” he says “then you are lost.” lost. as in, can be found again. not evil, not unworthy, not wrong. just lost. there’s this goodness that Anakin has that he is ignoring and straying from (”there is good in him”). and in the context of Order 66, Ahsoka can’t and doesn’t make the clones villains because she knows they’re actually the victims. as much pain as it causes, they’re not the villains and she can’t act like they are. 

so I know there’s a lot of discourse about Anakin apologists or whatever, so all I’ll say is that George Lucas has said that the prequels are to show how a “nice little kind kid, who has good intentions” turns into Darth Vader. the whole point of the PT is this line—while Anakin/Vader is no doubt the villain in the OT and in ROTS to a degree, that doesn’t make everything else go away. the other stuff doesn’t excuse what he did, all the pain he caused, but we can’t make it go away, just because he’s a villain. that’s one of the beauties of the prequels, that we get this extremely fleshed out, torn and struggling kid who ends up making all the wrong choices and becoming the terrible villain we see in the OT. 

I guess it’s the price I pay for seven years in heaven

while none of these scenarios is seven years exactly, it does continue to drive the point of “all the years I’ve given is just shit we’re dividing up.” everything these characters had, individually and with each other, just gets utterly, completely ruined. 

in a more meta-sense, the ending of The Clone Wars is the price we, the fans, pay for seven seasons of the show. 

no one teaches you what to do / when a good man hurts you / and you know you hurt him too

this could point again to Ahsoka and Anakin, but also Ahsoka and Obi-Wan after she leaves the Order. when she comes back, none of them really know what to say, what to do, how to act around each other. this obviously comes out as arguments and words that are so close to what they really want to say, but just short. they’ve all been hurt and none of them know what to do about it. 

and, of course, Obi-Wan and Anakin in ROTS. Obi-Wan doesn’t want to believe that Anakin’s fallen to the Dark Side, and later on Tatooine, knowing he’s hurt and been hurt by Anakin, doesn’t know what to do

after giving you the best I had / tell me what to give after that

again again, all the years they’ve given. all the love they had. everyone they knew & loved. gone. 

leave it all behind / and there is happiness

[meandmyechoes]

Popsicle

 — a Feral/Ahsoka drabble

Dedicated to @scuttlebuttin and inspired by the unlikely encounter. Part of Shinnichi AU.

*****

It was a sunny day. And fortunately so. Feral enjoyed the predictability. His week on the matsuri installation team had been rewarding, good pay and lovely bento. Through the lingering sweat and the small callus round his knuckles, he's giving back to a home. He couldn't have love this work more, however temporary it is.

He'd just finish hammering the first stall for the morning. Climbing down to sip his fruit tea, something fuzzy brushed pass his ankle.

He held up the white tooka, wincing in bewilderment. Its soft fur was very different from the scaly serpents on Dathomir, like a slice of the silver moon. But the creature returned his stare with malice.

"Kenshi!" A cry startled them both.

Nyaah! The cat's claw was between his eyes before he knew it. A powerful kick from its meaty drumstick followed next. It knocked him right across the forehead and might have tucked at one or two of his horns too hard. He fell on his back and woke up to the best surprise.

"Hello."

He looked up to the moon. Sparks fly from her silver laugh.

The tooka had hopped casually back to the girl's arms. His owner shared the same curious stare, but with clear blue eyes. She stood in a comfortable yukata, blue and white lekku resting casually on the shimmering silk, watching over him in the sun's halo.

"Sorry about my tooka, is that scratch bad?" she said to the boy.

"N…No, I'm fine," Feral realized his lips may be parted a little to far from each other to consider elegance. He rubbed his wound and sat up straight, "His name is Kenshi? He certainly picks fights." He couldn't help but let the shy smile escaped.

"I guess he owes you an apology still," the Togruta replied. Her gaze continued beyond him. She pointed at the spilled cup and grimaced, "We are going to buy you a popsicle for that." She took off wiggling the tooka's paw, "Come on!"

He didn't think people can run so agile in the constricted dress, but her steps were sounds of a wind chime he could only follow.

She led him to the store at street's end. Knight Tano hadn't met the newcomer before, but she'd certainly made it her business to keep an eye on the trouble-making Sith. The young man next to her gasped as he caught up. His navy jinbei looked innocent enough covering most of his physique. She wondered how much hardships his soft features hide.

Feral recognized the dancing cranes. She wore the crest of the Jedi. He was no fool to be captivated by the reds and greens and golds, but it struck him that she was a flurry of white and blue — colors he rarely saw in his motherland. Except when he looked to the stars and thought he'd found a new home.

In front of the store, they stood under petals of goldenrain. She tore the packet open for them and split the twin popsicles. Its sweet chemical melted on Feral's tongue, but he didn't think the heat on his cheeks diminished any.

"What were you doing this early in the Temple park?" She asked casually.

"I do what I know best, build," he breathed, "Not fight." He gestured at the distant stalls, "I want to be part of this town. The Temple was kind enough to offer me a job for now."

Ahsoka mused at his reply, then rattled her popsicle gently. "Here's to your help making tonight a success," she winked, "And to the best part of fruit popsicles." She sank her teeth right into the ice's mid-section.

Feral smiled and raised his own. His grin stayed with him watching her bite fondly into the dessert.

"So I'll see you tonight at the matsuri?" She turned just in time to catch the amazed Zabark's golden pupils.

He quickly redirected his gaze."I don't know, the construction isn't quite all done and all I have is Nii-san's old clothes…" His stammer trailed off to his missing listener, who ran off to chase a wild tooka again.

"Wait! Who's my reckless cat owner?" He couldn't let it slip away.

She turned to wave and shouted from several steps afar, "Ahsoka!" Her sleeves slid down in her earnest farewell, revealing a glance of her olive elbow. And she left him the brightest smile that outshines the sun.

Feral looked down at the dripping popsicle stick, iku yo, it said.

*****

glossary. just in case.

matsuri :festival; kenshi :swordsman; Nii-san :older brother; iku yo :go for it !

[kyberphilosopher]

ᴛʜᴇ ᴊᴇʀᴇᴍɪᴀᴅ

“Anakin knew he had to set her free, this beautiful Sith of a woman.”

word count: 2731

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

jer·e·mi·ad/ˌjerəˈmīəd/  jeremiad

a long, mournful complaint or lamentation; a list of woes."the jeremiads of puritan preachers warning of moral decay"

Anakin couldn’t remember when he first started loving you. He only knew that he had seen you at some point, and at some point became so infatuated, he kept an eye out for you at every turn. If you happened to be passing by while he was speaking to Obi-Wan, Anakin’s eyes were trained on you. If you fought together in battle, he would look to see you on the other side. Curiously enough, when he would get glimpses of you, you were always twirling your lightsaber after a kill. 

Anakin felt an enormous amount of guilt about this. He had been entangled with Padme for some time now, and had even married her after the Battle of Geonosis. He would’ve been foolish not to. Padme was beautiful and kind and diligent, and she would sometimes appear to Anakin in dreams like an angel. He felt an enormous wave of relief wash over him when he would meet his wife at the end of a long mission. 

But he didn’t love her. Not really. He loved you. He wanted to be with you, to snake his hands around your waist in the night. He always made an attempt to spar with you in the temple, or ask about any mission you might’ve been on. Anakin felt like a magnet around you, even though you hadn’t shown much of a mutual pattern in return. Anakin didn’t mind that much though- you were a busy person, he understood. If anything, it only made his desire for you stronger. A woman of few words, Anakin only further imagined what your moans would sound like in place. 

Eventually, however, you were gone. 

As clear and distant as the rising sun, and as quiet and hushed as the moon, you disappeared from the temple and the Jedi alike. There were no more glances to steal at you, no more glimpses of your elegant training to behold. The corner of the archives Anakin often saw you in now seemed empty and incomplete with your form. Even the Jedi council seemed like it was missing something, even though you had refused to be a part of it some years before. 

There were whispers, but none that Anakin ever got the opportunity to fully hear. Part of him knew that if he did hear them, he probably wouldn’t have accepted them. In truth, he refused to think that you were even dead, even though it was the far more likely answer to his questions. Anakin believed that you had suffered from some injury in your endeavors and had most likely become immobilized, instead. He didn’t want to know the truth. 

But did he have some semblance of it? Yes. He was the most powerful, in tune Jedi in the galaxy- he would’ve felt what had happened to you. He just refused to believe it. 

◇─◇──◇─────◇──◇─◇

Sometimes, you would appear in Anakin’s dreams. 

Your two blue lightsabers would be at the ready in your cunning hands. Your most trusted trooper- Commander Nyx- would be at your side, awaiting instructions. Your dark Jedi robes would stand in contrast to the scene ahead of you, which consisted of crystalline buildings falling and gunships falling with green streaks. 

In dreams, Anakin would suddenly get confidence he could never muster in real life. He didn’t know it, but this was out of desperation. He wanted so badly to see you, to feel you if he could, that he wouldn’t mind risking how he appeared to you anymore. He just wanted you to turn around and face him. 

Tentatively, Anakin’s gloved, mechanical fingers would reach out to you. “Y/N?” he’d call out. You would give no reply. Your robes would stay swaying slowly in the wind, offering only a view of your back. Not even Commander Nyx would answer Anakin’s prayer of a whisper. But when the sky of the scene would darken when he drew closer to you, he had received a sort of response. Anakin didn’t care enough to acknowledge it. “Y/N...” 

This prompted you to turn to him. Like poetry, he caught your eyes. Even in sleep, he still felt weak and woozy in his stomach (in the best way, of course) and he couldn’t help but get lost in your orbs like a maze. 

You were still just as beautiful as he remembered, but different. Something was oozing, sinking, blackening your veins like tar and poison. Anakin could see this in the way you held your sabers. He wasn’t sure how, but your fingers seemed more hungry. Your lips were chapped and slightly paler, but no less attractive than he’d always thought. Jaw sharp, skin glowing faintly- your eyes were the main piece. They were so much brighter and more intelligent than he’d thought, although not in a good way. 

You were always a powerful Jedi, and this was common knowledge. You had specialized in the seventh and most deadly form of combat, taken your time to study ancient texts, and had gone head to head with several enemy forces during the War. Anakin could even recall a report of you surviving an encounter with General Grievous and emerging unscathed. But this was different. This was pure and untamed energy, an ultimate corruption as sweet as fine wine. 

In this dream, Anakin was too stunned to say anything. He could only stare in a mix of awe and disbelief. You, however, did not take too long to react. Your hand shoots out. Anakin trips forward, gasping at his own throat as he watches your lightsaber come closer and closer to him. 

And then he wakes up. 

◇─◇──◇─────◇──◇─◇

The day of Kamino’s attack takes everyone by surprise. It had already happened recently, and nobody had fathomed the possibility of the Separatists forming such a similar attack so soon. Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and trusted Captain Rex all rushed to the scene in a gunship, with anxiety drumming in their hearts. 

Anakin’s hand tightened around the rope above. His grip became a hot, white, vice as he stared at the crashing waves below. The storm overhead was unending and surreal, but it did nothing to calm the warning in his heart. 

He hadn’t dreamed about you in a month by this point. He thought about you often, however. Even more so when he was laying by Padme who had her hand placed directly over his heart. He wondered if you were still out there in the galaxy, fighting monsters and exercising a patience he could only imagine. On good days, he could trick himself into believing that you were taking a long term holiday on some distant world. 

But now, it didn’t feel like you were on a distant world. It felt like you were on this one. You felt so impossibly close. Like the universe was shrinking up around the two of you and making his chest feel closed up. 

“Are you alright, Anakin?” Obi-Wan spoke out. His free hand came to rest on Anakin’s shoulder comfortingly, like he was about to pull Anakin out of something. 

“Yes Master,” Anakin promised in return, even though it was a blatant lie. Still, he managed to keep his voice steady, and that had impressed him enough. “I just worry what Commander Nyx will tell us when we meet him.”

Anakin knew Obi-Wan was unconvinced. He could feel it in the air and see it in the older man’s eyes. Regardless, Obi-Wan removed his palm from Anakin’s form and opened his mouth to spit the normal analytical nonsense. “Nyx and his men are already inside the main structure. They’re searching for our intruder while clearing a way.”

“I thought you said Grievous had already been seen,” Ahsoka questioned. 

“I did,” said Obi-Wan. “But that does nothing to help confirmed reports of a second party present.”

Anakin squinted at the water. Determination filled him up like it always did before a battle, but there was also an unquenchable need to make sure you weren’t this ‘second party’. He knew it would’ve been ridiculous to even consider that possibility- you were off on holiday! But something inside of him just wanted see it. It was probably just that witch, Ventress again. She did have the hobby of inconveniencing Anakin’s life more than you  ever had. 

◇─◇──◇─────◇──◇─◇

Anakin was wrong. 

He rounded the corner with his lightsaber in his hand. His breathing came out evenly, just as he had trained it to do. Raising his right wrist to his mouth, he said the magic words. “Obi-Wan, I’m locking in on the targets location. No signs of Nyx anywhere.”

After a high pitched beep, blaster fire could be heard in the background of Obi-Wan’s scene. “Be ready, Anakin.”

With that, Anakin doubled down his speed and spurred himself forward. His brown eyebrows furrowed together, his fingers clutching the hilt of his weapon selfishly. There were people counting on him- the Clones and snips and Obi-Wan, even Padme. But more than anyone, he felt that you were counting on him. He just wanted to silence the anguish he was feeling. It was eating him alive. 

Anakin stumbled into a dark, circular room. It was empty, except for the bodies in white armor that littered the floor. He could sense other things too- two presences in the middle. He didn’t need to be so gifted in the ways of the force to know that, though. He could hear the little whimpers from the center in a voice he had heard thousands of times. It was identical to that of Rex and Cody and Bly, and that scared him somewhat. 

“Y-you can’t!” the voice pleaded. Anakin would’ve surged forward and saved the clone, if not for the silencing of him all together. With the swiftest of movements, the figure pulled both of their arms to their sides, and something heavy dropped to the floor.  The Crimson color of the blades answered a few of the Jedi’s questions. The face of the mystery killer, however, created more. 

It was you, in all of your glory. Your eyes piercing and calm, your features were striking. You, as always, were immensely beautiful to Anakin. You were like something that he would never see again if he looked away, and the fact that it was all too true was saddening. Although your skin had paled somewhat, you were entirely recognizable. The thing that had changed the most about you was your lightsabers, which had of course transitioned from pale blue to blood red. 

Anakin’s eyes widened as he looked at you. You. What kind of sick, twisted joke was the Maker bestowing upon him? This was the thing he had wished against more than anything else. It was terrible enough imagining himself fighting Obi-Wan, but this wasn’t Obi-Wan. This was the woman he had watched from afar, silently admiring and memorizing. And now the woman was a Sith- the thing he had sworn to fight against. 

“Master Skywalker,” you said coolly. You twirled one of the sabers in your palms just as Obi-Wan and other Jedi had done to loosen up their grips. It felt distant. “I had hoped you’d be the one to execute me.”

Anakin swallowed, but it didn’t help the feeling in his throat. “Y/N?” he asked hoarsely, almost like a beg. He wished so badly that you were Ventress, or even Count Dooku for that matter. 

You didn’t give him a straight answer, you were never known for that. “If you want me to be.” You looked the man up and down, taking him in. You could recall seeing him around the temple, fighting along side him. You couldn’t place any real conversations or formal meetings, although you would be damned before letting yourself forget the name Anakin Skywalker. He always had been the most fascinating specimen. “Shall we fight, then?” 

You poised yourselves on your toes. Your prey could never see when you did this, which gave you the element of surprise in combat. You knew that you were better than many of the Jedi in the Order. You had bested Luminara Unduli on multiple occasions, along with that Kenobi and Kit Fisto. You were never one to flash this, however, instead choosing to mask your growing contempt further and further. But Anakin Skywalker was not any of those Jedi. He was the most powerful force user alive. You were not entirely sure you could beat him. 

“What are you doing here?” Anakin asked. His question partially caught you off guard, but you were polite. 

“I’d like to think that defeats the point,” you quipped. 

Anakin opens and closes his mouth multiple times. Like a glitch, he can’t seem to find or form the words. “We- you were a peacekeeper! And now look at you!”

Your eyes narrowed at him. Anakin noticed this, but you were too much of a demanding sight to ruin his current view of you. He didn’t want to fight you. What if he killed you? What if you killed him? 

“Look at yourself,” you challenged. Anakin’s heart broke in his chest. You could see his eyes widen, and immediately a pang ran through you. It was the most of any emotion you had felt in a while- years, maybe. You didn’t know what it was, because it seemed to be a mix of guilt and anguish and longing. 

Slowly, like a scared child, Anakin presses the switch on his emitter and takes his fighting stance. His blue streak of light roars to life softly. The shade reminds you of your own weapons, before you had made them bleed and turned them red. The shade reminds you of many other things, however, like Anakin’s brilliant eyes and all the neon planets you had traveled to. 

Anakin doesn’t want to fight you. He doesn’t know if you can tell, because your demeanor is just as cold as always. His insides feel unnecessarily hot, and the hair on his arms stand on end with electricity. He’s only felt this way when he’s becoming intimate with Padme, but never like this. This is unsettling, uncomfortable, and he would even dare to describe it as traumatic. 

“I’d always hoped you’d be the one to come here,” you said. In that moment, Anakin jabbed his blade forward cleanly. The sky blue glow extended across the room, even shadowing itself onto your face and created purple against the red. You positioned yourself back on instinct, waiting for the weapon to enter through your chest cleanly. 

But it didn’t. 

Anakin tried to keep his face stern and angry, but he couldn’t. It kept falling short and returning to one of heartbreak. This made your eyes features fall. Anakin wasn’t going to kill you, and you weren’t going to kill him. You had never wanted to. 

“I have to take you into...” Anakin’s breath fell short. You had the opportunity to kill him right then, and you were doing nothing. How incredibly foolish of you. 

You pressed the switch on your blades. Both of them came to a close, leaving both of you drowned in the blue light and the blue light only. There was no competition anymore. You truly weren’t going to kill Anakin. 

Anakin lowered his own weapon as he looked at your face. You looked so much softer now. He memorized everything he could about you again, like he was seeing you for the first time, whenever that may have been. 

You took a single step backwards. Anakin did nothing. Another step followed. You had been ordered to kill both Anakin and Kenobi, should you stumble across them. Instead, you would cover for the man. You would tell Dooku and the other Separatists you had not encountered Skywalker. 

Similarly, Anakin did not follow you in your steps. He did not chase you as you turned and left the room. He only watched your form, wondering if he was truly going to let you go again. The answer, of course, was that he would. He would tell Obi-Wan he had no conception of this hidden enemy, and that by the time he had located Commander Nyx’s squad, they had already been dead. 

Still, the both of you dissipated into your respective nights, knowing your debt was settled, and wondering if it would ever return. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Taglist: @omg-we-really-doo​

[glimmerglanger]

Whumptober 2020 - Day 23

Today is a shorter little piece that’s pretty much all feelings, so I’m going to post it over here, instead of on ao3. I wrote it for:

No 19. BROKEN HEARTS 

Grief | Mourning Loved One | Survivor’s Guilt

Post-Order 66, Rex and Ahsoka on the run fic. Gen. Angst. Rex considers everything they both lost.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once, Rex was one of many. He’d grown up surrounded by brothers wearing the same face he had, seeing his own features reflected and copied endlessly. There’d been very few variations, during those early years. The Kaminoans had not appreciated what they considered aberrations.

Rex knew, well enough, now, that his upbringing had not been exactly normal, even if the cruelties they’d survived had only registered as such later, out in the galaxy. At the time, it had been the only normal he’d known.

The war had held new horrors for all of them, but… but even still, fighting desperately against odds that seemed impossible to conquer, his brothers had been there. They’d been able to hold onto each other, as they mourned their dead, to huddle close for warmth in the cold Republic cruisers, to tell stories and sing and--

Rex was one of many, once.

He still dreamed he was, sometimes, and then he woke to a cold, empty room, nothing but silence echoing around him.

#

On Kamino, they’d been taught that they were only useful as units, as groups, as battalions. One trooper could kill a few droids, sure, but in a war with untold millions of the karking things, dismantling only a few of them was less than useful.

Their strength came from their ability to coordinate on a battlefield, to work cohesively together, and to, if worse came to worse, overwhelm an enemy with sheer numbers. Sometimes the only way to climb high enough to achieve victory was on the bodies of their brothers.

Rex stepped over the body of a fallen trooper - he didn’t know who it was, the man had scrubbed his armor clean of all color and all markings - on his way into the little store Ahsoka had disappeared into a few clicks ago.

They’d only needed supplies, food to eat in the dark of space. They’d stopped at the little moon, hoping it was too far out and too small for the new Empire to care about. And for a while, it had seemed they were right; they’d walked through the streets amongst a crowd, no one looking too hard at two hooded figures.

Rex had seen the troopers too late to call a warning to Ahsoka, and he’d heard the blaster fire and shouting only seconds later.

He raised his blaster as he entered the store, Ahsoka a blur of movement, dodging back from blaster fire, and Rex had been one of many, once.

He pulled the trigger, once, twice, thrice, and smoke curled from the barrel as the last trooper fell, just crumpled to the ground. Ahsoka rose from her crouch, breathing hard, a hand wrapped around her upper arm, and Rex walked over the bodies of his brothers to get to her, grabbed her other arm, and said, “We need to get out of here.”

She nodded, snatched the bag of supplies off of the ground, and said, “I know, come on.”

Once, he’d have taken the time to kneel by his brothers, to close their eyes and grip their hands if they weren’t yet dead, so they weren’t alone when the time came. They still deserved that, he knew. He could remember the feeling of being caught in his own head, of pounding at the inside of his mind while his body went on doing things he didn’t want to do. 

Rex remembered, all too well, Ahsoka’s face on the other side of his blaster, railing against the confines of his bones and blood and failing.

His brothers were still in their heads. Somewhere. They deserved, if nothing else, some comfort in the moments of their death.

He couldn’t give it to them. “This way,” he said, past the ragged edges inside his throat, tugging Ahsoka out through the back of the shop. They ran, headlong and desperate, back to their little ship - they’d gotten rid of the one they’d taken after...everything, it was far too recognizable - and they fled, back into the stars.

#

Sometimes, Rex dreamed that things were as they once were. He dreamed about walking through the halls of the Resolute or the Peacemaker, brothers around him, cracking jokes and discussing their plans for leave.

Sometimes, in his dreams, he just stood there, looking at them, not even interacting. Sometimes, Ahsoka was there, too, smiling and laughing. He no longer heard her laugh, in the waking world. No longer saw her smile.

He’d lost all his brothers, even though they still lived, a terrible half-life, caught in their heads, caged in their bones. She’d lost her entire people. They didn’t talk about it, the message she’d picked up from the Temple, but General Kenobi’s words still echoed in Rex’s head.

The Jedi had been as steady a presence in his life as his brothers. They were always there, bright sparks of light on a battlefield or in the ships, after a fight. At first, in the early days, Rex had assumed they were nigh unkillable, different from he and his brothers.

He’d watched too many of them die over the course of the war to go on believing that. He’d read reports about them falling, one after another, out amongst the stars, and there weren’t many of them to begin with, only a few thousand, across all of the galaxy.

Most of those thousands hadn’t been warriors. They’d been farmers. Teachers. Doctors.

They’d died anyway.

All of them. 

Rex stared at the ceiling, sometimes, in his quarters, and thought about the little younglings he’d met at the Temple, the way they’d tugged and pulled at him, insisting on teaching him little games they played and songs, climbing over him with happy smiles. One of them had fallen asleep, sprawled across his lap, the last time he’d visited the Temple.

The child had been small, covered in pale scales, with a ridge of spines down her forehead.

And she’d died, likely terrified, when his brothers walked into the Temple and--

And sometimes Rex ended up curled over the toilet in the fresher, the acid burn of vomit in his throat as he retched and retched, until there was nothing left to come out of him. He hadn’t pulled the trigger on the younglings, hadn’t betrayed that trust, but it had been his brothers, men with his genetic code, and he knew, perfectly well, that they’d been trapped in their heads, watching it happen.

Sometimes, he thought that the Jedi were the lucky ones. They’d been killed, wiped away, an entire people eradicated on the whims of some dark lord. But the way Ahsoka talked, they’d all been welcomed into the Force. They’d… gone somewhere else. 

Somewhere better, Rex hoped.

His brothers lived, still, in a way. Days turned to weeks turned to months and they continued on, incarcerated inside their own heads, turned into things and used to wreak terrible harm across a galaxy they’d all been trained to protect and defend and--

Rex had not considered that there were things worse than death, during the war.

He thought about the younglings at the Temple, thought about his brothers, pulling the trigger and unable to stop themselves, and wondered if he’d been wrong.