Luke watched the four identical men with no small degree of interest. Another sat beside them, this one with an implant around his head.
"What are you looking at?" Leia asked.
Luke nodded to the five. "Who are they?"
Leia's eyes grew wide. "Kix!"
One of the men looked up as the princess rushed over. "Hey, ad'ika!"
Luke followed at a more reasonable pace.
"Luke!" Leia called cheerily. "This is Kix. He was responsible for me - my bodyguard - when I was little."
"It can't be."
Kix stood to the side as one of his look-alikes walked over.
"Who's your father, kid?" the man asked.
Luke stood tall. "Anakin Skywalker."
The man smiled and clasped Luke's arm the Mando way. "He was a good man. I served under him in the War - we all did at one point or another."
Suddenly, something clicked for Luke. "You're clones."
The clone laughed bitterly. "A Fett original. Your father taught us too well, and when the order went out, we stood for the Republic rather than the Chancellor. Captain Rex, CT-7567."
"Lieutenant Kix, CT-5936," Kix reintroduced himself.
The others stood.
"Chopper, CT-9523."
"Sergeant Jesse, CT-5597."
"Lieutenant Echo, ARC-0408," said the one with implants. "We were just about to say remembrance. Join us."
"Remembrance?" Luke echoed.
Rex gestured around. "We're the last of Torrent Company, 501st Legion, under direct command of General Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker. We owe it to our fallen brothers and comrades to carry on their legacy. Have a seat."
"Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum," the clones recited.
Echo leaned back and closed his eyes. "Droidbait, Cutup, Hevy, Fives..."
"Tup, Hardcase, Dogma...," Jesse continued.
"Boil, Waxer...," Kix murmured. "Numa..."
"Punch, Sketch, Jester, Gus, Jury, Kane, Sky, Watcher, Lion, Karth, Haven, Vested, Mantis, Shriek..."
Luke's eyes widened.
"Cody, Coric, Keeli, Aide, Jumper, DuRance, General Skywalker, Ahsoka...," Rex choked.
Kix looked up at Luke and Leia. "What about you, ad'ike?"
Leia thought for a moment. "Bail Organa, Raymus Antilles..."
Luke nodded. "Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, Biggs Darklighter, Obi-Wan Kenobi..."
The clones seemed shocked. "So..., the famous Negotiator finally met his end," Rex chuckled.
Luke clenched his fists. "Darth Vader killed him."
Echo nodded slowly. "Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la. He's not dead, merely marching far away."
"Echo's right," Rex said. "Ahsoka once told me that revenge is the surest path to the Dark Side. You don't want to end up like Vader? Fight to protect the galaxy, not to avenge the dead."
Luke looked down at his hands. "I don't know a whole lot about Jedi ways."
Rex barked out a laugh. "And you're asking a clone to teach you? We were trained to believe that the jetiise were gods - far above, never for us mortals to understand. No, we'll teach you how to fight; we'll teach you how to strategize; we'll teach you how to eat, drink, and cuss like a true Mando'ad! But the closest we can come to that mambo jambo is quoting back the Commander's lessons with all the infuriating repetition the General gave her, understand?"
Luke nodded.
"You still want to learn?"
"A Jedi... probably... learns wherever he can?"
Rex laughed loudly. "So be it, shiny. Meet me here at 0430 sharp. Let's see you earn your stripes!"
...oOo...
A/N: I have this headcanon where Luke learned a little more about the Jedi from clones between episodes IV and V, and thus this one-shot was born.
Read, review - tell me what you liked, tell me what you hated, but no flaming. Pointless criticism is just that - pointless. Constructive criticism helps people become better at their craft.
Apologies for any OOC-ness on the clones' part. That wasn't too terribly high on my list of priorities while writing this. I figure that at this point, these are grizzled old men who lived through Order 66. Their own brothers were most likely trying to kill them, and they most likely were forced to kill their own brothers at some point. And yet they are still fighting...
On that note, I will see you next time!
Namarie!
-River