Forty Two
The second he woke, Fives knew he wasn't alone in the room.
"Over here," Echo said as he watched his old war brother struggle to manoeuvre himself in the large bed. Echo ticked his tongue at the sight. Fives may have been a physical wreck, but there was nothing wrong with his hearing. He knew what Echo must have been thinking, fek, he'd thought it himself;
The tables had been turned.
"Copaani gaan?"
Fives cleared his throat.
"Nayc," he replied as he shimmied himself up on the pillows.
"Fives. C'mon - " Echo wanted him to stop.
"Thanks. I said I've got it." The exertion had triggered another coughing spasm.
Echo knew better than to interfere. So he waited, and when Fives was finished he offered him a glass filled with water.
Fives flicked his head in appreciation and looked away as he took a sip.
Echo now found himself in new territory. Once ridiculed as the awkward ARC, playing second fiddle to the suave Fives and his shenanigans where the war, woman and their brothers were concerned he had finally surpassed him.
Now, he was now the more dominate of the pair, the one in control.
For the first time in his life, he was the one with all the power.
He now knew how Fives must have spent his entire life, and it felt good.
But somehow it didn't matter. He only had to look at the family and life he had created for himself to feel the same sense of pride and accomplishment.
In his mind he had left the military long ago, when they turned their back on him at The Citadel.
"I've had a bad run," was all Fives said as he held onto the cup with both hands.
"Lek, I can see that. What happened?" He asked the question more out of propriety than care.
Why don't I feel anything?
"I don't know where to begin," he said finally looking up at Echo, his eyes still watery from the tussis.
He watched as Echo puffed up a cushion on a chair beside the bed and sat, ready to listen.
There was a conversation that had been a long time coming.
"Well," Echo said cautiously, "how about we start at Lola Sayu."
.
"So there you have it Stoyan. I knew once Rex showed me the lab on Oriis and the wall that Dr Boll had hit with her research that you could help. If we are correct, then your genetic material will be the same as Jango's, your identical twin. All we need is some to compare against the soldiers. Then, all the manipulations to the original template will become evident."
"Including this accelerated ageing?"
Ahsoka smiled, "that's what we're hoping." Stoyan couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. He had remembered the altercation with the clone and the young Jedi on Scillal all that time ago. He had felt bad that the soldier, now seated opposite him had been injured. But he was then in a fight for his life, all the questions had yet to be answered.
"But how will you know which is the altered gene?"
"Good question." Ashoka laughed, "and being a Jedi and not a geneticist, it's all gobbledy gook to me, but believe me Stoyan we will work that out. All we need is some of your DNA and we'll leave you alone. This time for good."
Stoyan stood, and outstretched his hand. His cane slammed into his fist with speed that it startled even the other Jedi in the room. Since leaving the Order Ahsoka had limited her use, so the open display of his power took both her and Rex a little by surprise. She had sensed that he had changed, his signature within the Force had altered since their last meeting.
The stroke had seen to that.
Stoyan went to the sink and placed his cup into the soapy water. "OK, you can whatever you want, but on one condition."
Ahsoka looked at Rex who wore a guarded expression.
"And that would be?"
"That you return when you are successful. To treat Echo."
It was a no brainer.
"Of course. You have my word Master Jedi."
"I am no more a Jedi these days than you. " She lowered her head and nodded. Ahsoka liked Stoyan. She had diligently researched him on return to Coruscant when she had been pulled from active service for her role in Rex being injured. Anakin was never the wiser as to the real reason his captain's thigh had been slashed open by a light sabre.
Stoyan then turned to Rex. "We're ok here, aren't we?"
Rex knew exactly what he was saying. A Jedi at Stoyan's level could have ended his life in a heart-beat but instead he had chosen to render him unconscious to the heated discussion that ensued with the then young commander.
"Right you are sir," was all he said as he too stood and extended his hand in peace.
.
Ahsoka could sense the change in Rex. She found him outside standing on the small porch watching Freya chase Marek around the clothes line, the sheets moving slightly in the breeze.
"You OK?"
He kept staring ahead at the two laughing in the distance, "just missing Piia, that's all."
"Is that really all?"
She knew him better than he thought.
Rex turned around to face her completely, leaning back against the balustrade.
"It's just, I don't know," he shook his head as he spoke, "seeing Echo again has brought back memories, lots of memories." Ahsoka stepped forward and placed her hand on his heart.
"Those memories Rex, in here, define you as a man. They define the person you have become, but they have the power to destroy you if you don't manage them."
"Like the General?" It wasn't the first time they had spoken about the Jedi Faith. They had philosophised about it on more than one occasion after making love in his small room back on Coruscant a lifetime ago.
Before his heart was stolen by another.
"Maybe. All I'm saying is draw upon these experiences, the bad as well as the good, no matter how hard they are. It wasn't the outcome we bargained for, but it's all we've got," she then slapped her hand hard against his chest to lighten the mood, "cut yourself some slack Rexter. Don't feel guilty, about feeling guilty. It's all part of the process."
He quickly grabbed her hand and covered it with his own, "how did I miss this?"
Another change of direction, one that caught her by surprise.
"Miss what?"
"You. Growing up? When did it happen?"
"The day I left you standing on the top of those stairs," the words spilled out on their own as she looked at his hand covering hers. "I knew then I had to grow up and do things on my own. How I wanted you to follow me down, but you had your own path to follow. I had to find mine Rex, and I did." She dropped her head and whispered, "it led me back to you."
Rex moving into her was as natural as breathing air. She was completely lost in the warmth of his body as his arms found the small of her back and pulled her in close. She could feel the stubble of his beard gently scrape across her cheek as his mouth sought out hers.
How could a kiss that heavy with emotion be so light?
Rex brushed a lekku aside gently and ran his face up against her neck, taking in the familiar scent that had always been solely, Ahsoka.
"Rex," she breathed as his lips finished on her forehead.
He couldn't talk, and there were no words that could convey everything that had led to that moment.
She was right.
As always.
It was perfectly normal to feel guilty.
Rex would allow that guilt to define him, shape him into a new person; father, lover and brother.
No more would it eat away at him and distort the memories of his past.
From that point on, all that mattered was he wouldn't be doing it alone.
.
