Chapter Text
“Are you sure you can handle this?” Anakin asked Ahsoka for the fifth time as he dragged his feet on his way to the door.
Ahsoka huffed as she rearranged Obi-Wan in her arms and finally settled him on her hip. “Yes, I promise, Skyguy. I told you I had experience in the Creche. Now shoo, go to the hangar and let me have my Obi-Wan time.”
It was a surprise when Anakin received a holomessage requesting his help and expertise in astromech droids for a few hours in the hangar bay, despite having been assured by the Council that they would not have to worry about their usual duties in the Temple.
Anakin, of course, was reluctant to leave Obi-Wan. Ahsoka didn’t take offense to Anakin's hesitance to leave her and Obi-Wan in their quarters that became a safe haven the past few days. She knew her Master; Anakin was a worrywart, although he preferred to show it through snark and sarcasm.
But ever since baby Obi-Wan came into the picture, his mother-henning came out in full force that it was almost funny to witness - if one did not know the reasons behind it. Fortunately, Ahsoka knew.
Unfortunately, Ahsoka also knew.
Anakin glanced back once again, eyebrows forming mountains on his forehead with the severity of his frown.
“I can recommend someone else to do the job, though, it’s supposed to be really easy…”
“Easy for you, maybe, but not for anyone else,” Ahsoka pointed out. “You’re the best at astromechs, Skyguy. The Council knows it, the mechanics know it, Artoo himself would be singing your praises if he was active right now, which is why they never would have asked you to do this for them if it was something they could fix themselves.”
Anakin sighed. “Alright, you made a point. I’m going,” he surrendered. “But before that…”
He turned to properly face Obi-Wan, who had been quietly looking between them back and forth. There was a faint frown on his face, as if he could feel the tension from Anakin. He probably could, Ahsoka mused.
“I have to go somewhere, Obi, but I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can, alright? Be good for Ahsoka and keep her out of trouble for me.” He softly chucked Obi-Wan under his chin with a finger.
“Hey!” she protested.
Before she could rib Anakin further, however, Obi-Wan started to radiate sorrow at Anakin’s words, and his eyes slowly filled with tears. Anakin and Ahsoka panicked.
“It’s okay, Obi-Wan, it’s okay! Anakin will be back soon, and he’ll bring lots and lots of meiloorun. Right, Master?” Ahsoka widened her eyes meaningfully at Anakin.
Anakin quickly nodded. “Yeah, of course! I’ll bring as many meiloorun as I can hide in my tunic. See? How many do you think can I fit in here?” Anakin asked Obi-Wan animatedly as he showed off his baggy sleeves and twirled around.
Thankfully, Obi-Wan giggled at the display. “Um, three?”
Anakin gasped dramatically. “Three? So many! Then I better go and find those meiloorun as fast as I can, huh? Wouldn’t want to keep my baby waiting. I might come home to a hungry Obi and he might eat me!” His fingers descended on Obi-Wan’s sides and he wriggled them gently, tickling him and making the youngling laugh wetly.
Ahsoka sighed in relief. The tears have mostly disappeared. She hoped they wouldn't make another appearance as she said the next words.
“You really do have to go, Master,” she reminded Anakin. She hoped the regret was apparent in her voice.
Anakin grumbled. “I know, I know.” He met Obi-Wan’s eyes one more time and stroked his cheek with a finger, and it was a soft, lingering thing. “Bye-bye, Obi-Wan. See you later, okay?”
“Say bye-bye to Master Anakin, Obi-Wan!” Ahsoka waved at Anakin to make Obi-Wan copy her.
Her heart stuttered in her chest when Obi-Wan’s bottom lip wobbled dangerously, but still he imitated Ahsoka and bravely waved his hand in farewell. “Bye-bye, Mathter A’kin…”
Ahsoka could see Anakin’s attempt to purse his own lips into a firm line, but a quiver still made itself known. His grip on the doorway tightened for a few moments before he finally gathered the strength to let go and walk past the door, letting Ahsoka slide it closed behind him.
Obi-Wan stared at the closed door for a moment longer before tucking his head beneath Ahsoka’s chin, sighing forlornly. She rubbed his back in comfort. “Yeah, buddy. He’ll be back soon.”
She exhaled and dropped a kiss on top of Obi-Wan’s head. Today would be a challenge, she could practically feel it in the tips of her montrals. She decided to first address the sniffling youngling in her arms.
“Hey, Obi-Wan. Wanna color with me?”
Obi-Wan raised his blotchy face to look at Ahsoka with unshed tears still clinging to his eyelashes. “Color?”
“Yeah! Master got us some flimsi and colored styluses the other day. I’d really like it if you would do them with me today,” she said, bouncing Obi-Wan a little. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”
Obi-Wan rubbed a fist over his eyes, and a determined glint took over. “Okay!”
Ahsoka cheered. “Alright!” She jogged towards the sofa and settled herself and Obi-Wan atop the cushions before summoning the coloring materials to them.
An hour or two passed in relative silence and comfort, Obi-Wan’s earlier sadness forgotten for the moment. When they got bored, they swept into the kitchen and pilfered some snacks - milk and fruit for Obi-Wan, and some greasy chips for Ahsoka. They spent the afternoon away like that, and it was peaceful.
***
She should have known that she was going to eat her words later.
***
Anakin almost ran down the hallway leading to his quarters but managed to keep his steps to a rapid walk. He nodded at fellow Jedi and clones passing by, and he could almost pretend he was just on a stroll and not on a mission to get back to the little sun in his rooms as fast as humanly possible.
He slid to a stop in front of his familiar door, boots squeaking on the floors. He bounced impatiently on his toes as he tapped in his code, and it barely slid open to admit him before he’s already through the doorway, calling out for Obi-Wan.
An excited screech of his name greeted him, followed by the sound of scrambling footsteps. Anakin was down on his knees before Obi-Wan’s grinning face made its appearance beside the couch, and his arms were already wide open to receive the toddler’s enthusiastic hug as he rammed into Anakin.
“A’kin, A’kin!”
“Obi-Wan! Hello, baby, how are you? Did you miss me?” He pressed smacking kisses on almost every inch of Obi-Wan’s face, making his small charge squirm in laughter. Anakin lifted him up in his arms and into the air, whooping with joy.
The phantom pain in his soul that accompanied him the past few hours disappeared with the twining of their Force signatures, and the golden threads of their bond shone as it rejoiced. He pressed Obi-Wan close to his chest as he swayed side to side, his body barely containing the relief that flooded him. He was home at last.
“I’m pretty sure it’s obvious who misses who more, Master.” Anakin froze at his padawan’s voice. He looked to his right and there she was, leaning on top of the couch’s backrest with her elbows, chin supported by cupped hands. A grin decorated her impish face.
“Oh, shut up, Snips.”
As they sniped at each other, a group of clones still wearing their armor passed by the open door.
“Good afternoon, General, Commander.”
“Hey, guys!”
As Anakin and Ahsoka greeted the soldiers, they both missed the fascination shining in Obi-Wan’s wide eyes at the sight of the clones. Anakin set Obi-Wan down on the floor, still talking, and his attention off of him for a moment.
After a bit of conversation, the clones moved on. Anakin turned to Ahsoka, his hands on his hips. “I hope Rex and the others are settling in alright in the Temple.”
“They are, don’t worry. I checked on them. Which you would know if you spent some time outside of our quarters for more than a few hours, Master,” Ahsoka teased, poking his shoulder.
“Har, har,” Anakin groused.”I’ll come by to talk with them soon, I promise. Maybe I’ll take Obi-Wan with me. They’ll love him, for sure.”
Silence. Anakin blinked at Ahsoka’s lack of response and looked at his padawan.
She was as pale as a sheet of flimsi, and Anakin’s heartbeat rocketed at her expression. “Ahsoka! What’s wrong?” He grabbed her biceps, his worry making his grip painfully tight on her arms.
She stared at the space behind him, her lekku fluttering.
“Obi-Wan?” She called with a tremor in her voice. Anakin’s eyes widened. He whirled around to look for Obi-Wan, and he felt his whole body go cold from terror.
The door was still open, and Obi-Wan was not where he put him down earlier.
“Obi-Wan!”
They ran outside the corridor and frantically looked in both directions. Ahsoka whimpered beside him when Obi-Wan was not in their immediate sights.
A sheen of panicked calm took over Anakin’s head. He breathed in deep as he closed his eyes, focusing on the connection between him and Obi-Wan.
“I can’t locate him using the bond. His side is too open and there’s too many people here.” Anakin opened his eyes after a brief moment of concentration. Ahsoka cursed.
“You go left, and I go right,” Anakin ordered. “Comm me when you see him.”
“Yes, Master!”
Anakin ran.
He backtracked on the passageways he had gone through earlier, heart pounding, spreading his Force signature as far as he could all the while in search of Obi-Wan’s. Other people jumped away from his path as he barreled through, shouting apologies as he went.
“General! What’s wrong?”
Anakin skidded to a stop in front of Kix, who came out from one of the rooms. He must have heard the commotion outside. Anakin could cry.
“Please help me, Kix. Obi-Wan’s missing, and I can’t find him!”
The medic stood up straighter at his words. “Missing? Where could he have gone, General?”
“He probably passed by here earlier, but keep a lookout in case he comes back this way,” Anakin said as he started to run again. “Comm me when you find the baby!”
A baffled cry of “What baby?” fell into deaf ears as Anakin ran on and rounded the corner.
Obi-Wan couldn’t have gotten far. Anakin had to believe he couldn’t have gotten far or he’d have a breakdown right then and there.
But he was nearing the hangar and Obi-Wan was still not in his sights. He concentrated once more and sent out a strong surge of the Force and–There!
A blur of red and beige hurtled through the hangar doors before he could even call out Obi-Wan’s name.
***
“Rex! Don’t let him get away!”
Rex turned swiftly at his General’s voice, body conditioned to follow the commanding tone. “Who’s getting away, Gene–”
He stuttered on his words at the sight of Anakin Skywalker chasing after an ad’ika. A very small one, at that, who somehow had wheels for legs with how fast he was going.
Rex found himself blinking rapidly. The last person that had Skywalker sprinting that fast to catch up to was General Kenobi on the battlefield.
Despite his bafflement, Rex quickly bent his knees and spread his arms to better catch the lad, who was still running at full tilt towards his direction. At the sight of him, though, the ad'ika stumbled to a halt. Rex thought with regret that maybe it was fright that stopped him in his tracks, but when he straightened up and walked closer, he recognized the delight dancing in those frustratingly familiar eyes.
The child tilted his head up and backwards almost comically to meet his eyes. Rex cocked his head to the side. The toddler, amusingly, followed suit. He gave Rex a blinding smile, and Rex felt his own lips lift at the sides hesitantly in return underneath his helmet, charmed despite himself.
Skywalker finally caught up and slid on his knees in his haste to get to the child. Curiously, though, he didn’t grab the boy even in his apparent panic and just fluttered his hands up and down the tiny body as if to check for injuries.
“Are you okay, Obi-Wan? Are you hurt? Why did you run off like that? Ahsoka and I were so worried!”
Obi-Wan? Rex’s eyebrows jumped. The ad'ika was General Kenobi? That’s impossible.
“A’kin, shiny!”
Rex startled when he realized the child was pointing at him.
“Oh, no, you are not getting out of this just by being cute to me, no,” Skywalker complained, shaking a finger at the baby’s face.
Obi-Wan furiously shook his head. “No, shiny! I like it!”
Anakin and Rex blinked at each other, dumbfounded.
“You like the armor, Gen–Obi-Wan?” Rex haltingly asked.
Skywalker's face turned slack as a look of realization passed over him. “Did you follow those clones that walked by our quarters earlier?”
“Obi-Wan! Master!”
Rex turned at the Commander’s voice coming from the other side of the room. She was nearly bounding in her haste, lekku flying behind her in a blur of blue and white.
“There you are, Snips. He’s okay,” Skywalker said as she tumbled to a halt, adding to their little group. Rex patted her back as she bent at the waist, her hands on her knees as she panted for breath.
“Hey, Rex,” she breathlessly greeted before turning wide blue eyes at the baby beseechingly. “Kark, Obi-Wan, don’t scare us like that again!”
Rex’s heart twinged when the ad'ika bowed his head. “I’m sorry…”
“Oh, no, Obi-Wan, come here,” Skywalker said as he finally lifted the child into his arms and got to his feet. “We’re not mad, okay? We were just worried, honest. It was my fault for not closing the door and keeping an eye on you earlier,” he assured, gently bunting his forehead against Obi-Wan’s.
“Yeah, little guy, you don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Ahsoka supplied, gently poking his soft cheek. “But please, please don’t run off again, I don’t think my heart can take another shock like that,” she jokingly added and mimed a fainting episode, making the child erupt into giggles. His eyes were still a little watery from remorse, however, and somehow Rex found himself scrambling for something to take away those tears.
“Would you like to try on my bucket, Obi-Wan?” He blurted out. The three Jedi turned their heads to him, unerringly so in sync that Rex had to hold in his laughter. They hadn’t changed at all.
Skywalker looked at Obi-Wan, raising his eyebrows. “Do you wanna?”
A shy smile slowly grew on Obi-Wan’s lips. He nodded and turned to Rex hopefully. “Pleath?”
Rex bit his tongue to stop himself from cooing at the lisp. He brought his hands up to the release buttons of his helmet, clicking it open before taking the whole thing off his head. He held it out towards Obi-Wan, who stared at his bare face with something like fascination shining in his eyes. It almost made Rex duck his head in bashfulness, unused to such interest in his features that looked the same as millions of others.
Skywalker received the offered head gear and bent down to let Obi-Wan stand on his own. Carefully, he eased it down Obi-Wan’s head until it covered his whole face. Tiny hands shot up to grab onto the sides, and from within the confines of the bucket, a hearty giggle echoed.
“Careful, Obi-Wan. It’s a little heavy,” the General reminded the child, his own hands still holding on to the helmet to help Obi-Wan take the weight. He smiled down softly at the covered head, and somehow Rex felt like he was intruding in a private moment.
A few minutes passed in companionable silence between the adults as they let Obi-Wan play with the bucket to his heart’s content. Random babble and laughter would leak out of the helmet, making the three of them smile at each other in shared joy. When Obi-Wan started to make fussy noises, however, Ahsoka helped Skywalker remove the gear off his head, revealing a red-cheeked Obi-Wan, eyes gleaming with happiness.
Ahsoka passed the helmet back to Rex and he replaced it on his own head. Skywalker picked the child up and bounced him in his arms.
“You enjoyed that, huh? Now what do we say to Rex?” he asked Obi-Wan, tilting his body towards Rex.
Obi-Wan grinned widely at Rex. “Thank you, Rek!”
Rex’s heart swelled with affection as he gave him a jaunty salute. “No problem, Tiny General!”
A chirp interrupted their bubble. Skywalker rummaged into his tunic and brought out his comm. He winced at the message. “Force, I forgot about Kix. Rex, can you find him and tell him we found Obi-Wan? I passed him by earlier and roped him into looking out for Obi, too,” he asked sheepishly.
“Of course, Sir,” Rex assured him. He saluted once more before he turned to find his brother.
“I’ll come with you! I wanna find Cody,” Ahsoka volunteered, striding up to his side.
Rex side-eyed her. “He doesn’t know the General got turned into a baby, does he?”
Ahsoka grinned. “Nope. I wanna see his face when he finds out.”
“You and Skywalker won’t get in trouble, will you?”
Ahsoka winked. “Don’t worry. We won’t, as long as we keep an eye on him. Besides, Obi-Wan needs to see other people no matter what Anakin says, the jealous bantha,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Rex huffed a laugh at that and looked back once more at Skywalker and the small Kenobi. He still thought it was impossible that the mighty Negotiator was the toddler in Anakin’s arms, but as he watched the man fuss over the child, eyes impossibly tender, Rex could believe it.
Anakin Skywalker never looked at anyone like that but his Master, in moments when he thought no one else would notice. And those moments had been practically nonexistent ever since that day months ago that changed everything.
Rex thought back to last week as he and Ahsoka continued on. Since they’ve been unexpectedly told that they had official leave for an undetermined amount of time, the 212th and 501st used the chance for themselves to relax. They were allowed to move freely about the Temple, where they were given plenty of rooms to use in the meantime.
Rex and the others in the 501st especially were relieved. They were only supposed to stop in Coruscant for a night to refuel and resupply after a string of back-to-back missions. Everyone was tired, Rex knew, but none more so than his General and Commander.
They’d been doing off-planet jobs for months by then, which was unusual. Skywalker used to make sure to wheedle for an on-planet job after every other mission. But ever since flying off Coruscant months ago with a blank-faced General and a worried Commander, they hadn’t set foot on the planet for anything until that much-needed restocking.
He knew something else plagued the two Jedi, however, other than physical weariness. Rex was willing to bet his bucket that it had something to do with the conspicuous absence of a certain auburn-haired man, of whom he had not seen neither hide nor hair for months before today, albeit in the form of a tiny ad'ika.
Rex winced internally. The atmosphere in the ship was usually dependent on their two leaders, and for the first few days had ranged between tense and melancholic. The troops had picked up on the mood and tiptoed around their Jedis, not wanting to add more to whatever afflicted them.
On that day, when the 201st suddenly arrived in Coruscant, Rex had been confused. He’d been in the Temple hangar that time, waiting for Skywalker to come back from the Senate Halls after he ordered Rex to take command for the moment. But then Cody had commed him, voice in a harsh whisper, to call the other clones in Coruscant back to the Temple. When they finally landed and Kenobi stormed off in a whirl of contained fury without a word, Cody had immediately ordered everyone to stay in the hangar and relayed to them with a blank face the reality and true purpose of their cloning in Kamino.
Manda, the chips. Even now, months later, Rex would still run trembling fingers across the scar on his scalp where the microchip was removed by nervous Healers. He would also see his siblings do it, too–a reassurance that the worst had not come to pass, that their Jedis were still alive and not peppered with burning holes from their blasters.
The fact that the Council still trusted the battalion enough to let them stay in the Temple for the moment, where it was full of vulnerable Jedi, both young and old, spoke volumes of how they did not blame the clones one bit for anything. Their compassion and empathy further cemented the fact that every single soldier in the entire Garrison would follow their Jedis until they couldn’t anymore, wherever this galaxy may lead them.
But it didn’t answer why suddenly Skywalker and Kenobi could not exist in one room comfortably anymore afterwards. The events that lead to the death of the former Chancellor probably had something to do with it, however, especially since Kenobi had been the one to discover his deeds while they were on the planet Sorenno.
He'd gone down on the planet alone. Cody had confided in Rex, eyes haunted and face dark, that when Kenobi came back to their cruiser, he had never seen the General so angry before that moment. And he didn’t shout nor scream - no, his voice was so soft instead when he’d ordered Cody to turn the ship back to Coruscant, but his blue-gray eyes, normally so warm and alive, were like flints of ice, and his usually steady hands had trembled finely by his sides. When he’d walked towards the bridge to watch over command control, every soldier that met him ducked their heads not in fear for themselves, but for whoever would be on the receiving end of his wrath.
“Kix!”
Rex was startled out of his thoughts by Ahsoka’s voice. Kix walked towards them, helmet carried between his hip and arm. He gave the Commander a salute and Rex a pat on the shoulder. “How are the Generals?”
“Rex can fill you in. I’ll go ahead and find Cody.” Ahsoka rubbed her hands together, a manic grin on her face. She ran off and left Rex and Kix behind, who could only shake their heads in exasperation.
Kix jerked his head towards the Jedi pair some ways away from them. “From the context clues I’ve gathered, the ad'ika is Sir Kenobi, then?”
“Yep.”
Kix took one look at the two and shrugged. “Yeah, figured.”
They gave each other meaningful glances, amusement running through them. It really was strange for those under the command of Kenobi and Skywalker to see them like this after months of nary a glimpse of each other’s cruisers in the great expanse of space, and it was the hot topic among the 212th and 501st in the Temple rooms whenever they met, gossiping like elderly matrons. Cody and Rex did try to put a stop to it, but it gave their ansty brothers something to focus on, so in the end they let it be.
“Do you think they’ll be alright? Kenobi and Skywalker?”
Rex looked back at the two, still lost in their own little world in the middle of the large hangar, eyes only focused on each other.
He smiled. “Yeah. I think they’ll be.”