Cody's Found!:
D200/4 ABY, Endor Moon
When Cody woke up with the galaxy's worst headache, he found that he was hanging from his hands and ankles on a pole with another trooper as a couple of youngling sized Ewoks carried him towards their village, their strength defying their size. As they chattered to themselves in high pitched voices, he thought this was a fitting end to his miserable life, because from what he could make out, it sounded an awful lot like they were planning to roast him and eat him.
Cody thought back over the years that had brought him to this point, not particularly sure if any of it had been worth it. The years he'd spent in training on Kamino had been hard, but not too bad, because he was with his brothers. The years he spent fighting beside said brothers during the war with the Seppies, though brutal, were probably the best if pointless in the end. At least then he'd been the Commander of his battalion, the 212th, and Marshal Commander of the 7th Sky Corps, with only General Kenobi to answer to, and the General had been a good friend. Almost as close as a brother. He'd also had a best friend; Captain Rex. They'd been so different from each other, personality wise, but they balanced each other out perfectly. And since his General and Rex's General almost always fought the same battles, he and Rex got to see each other a lot and work together. Those were definitely the best days that he could recall.
But then everything changed and Cody's life became filled with regrets and guilt. He'd listened to Rex when he said Fives had discovered bad controller chips in their brains, but he'd never removed his, being a good soldier like he'd been trained to be. How he wished he could do that one over again, for it had led to him becoming an unfeeling machine at the Emperor's Order 66. He'd ordered his men to fire on his General. In his nightmares, Cody still saw Kenobi fall hundreds of metres, over and over again. All he could do was pray that he survived the fall with some Jedi trick. Promptly after wrapping up the battle on Utapau, his unit had been assigned to find and execute any Jedi at all of the known Jedi temples across the galaxy before they had a chance to disappear into hiding. For that entire week of flying across space and flat out murdering peaceful Jedi, Cody had lived in a haze. His mind wasn't his own. His body wasn't his own. He'd felt like one of the kriffing Seppie droids.
When that mission was completed, adding to Cody's nightmares, the best of the 212th had been incorporated into what was left of the 501st and Cody was kept in command of Darth Vader's personal battalion, since Rex was listed as deceased on Mandalore, for a couple of years anyway. During that time, Cody had done as ordered, knowing no other way of life. He'd never been happy about it, though, feeling like everything he'd previously fought for had been for naught as the Emperor took control of planet after planet with brutal tactics. Cody didn't know where the cyborg Darth Vader had come from, but he had his suspicions that he never dared voice. It couldn't be a coincidence that General Skywalker's battalion was under the command of the magically appearing Darth Vader and that Skywalker was never seen again. There were rumours amongst the men that Skywalker had executed everyone in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant with a small unit of brothers at his back, but those brothers had also been executed to hide whatever proof there was of what Skywalker had done for the self appointed Emperor.
One day, Cody was injured in battle. By the time he recovered, he'd been callously replaced by an Imperial who was NOT a brother. As was the story with every other clone commanding officer that he spoke to. Within five years, they'd all been replaced and the clones were assigned positions as simple stormtroopers. Cody had remained in the elite 501st for another few years until his aging body had become apparent and he too had been kicked to the side, demoted again and again until he was also just another trooper amongst millions, forgotten.
He'd eventually been assigned to the boring duty of protecting the new Imperial facilities on this moon. That had been a couple years ago. He hadn't been transferred since. Then the Rebels showed up and everything went ballistic. The facilities had been blown up. The Death Star had been blown up. They'd lost the ground battle to a handful of rebels and some Ewoks. And now he was going to get eaten. It seemed like a perfect end to a perfect downward spiral of a life filled with bantha poodoo. Cody almost looked forward to it. He was going to end up 'decommissioned' soon anyway, based on how fast he was aging. Might as well fill someone's stomach and be useful one last time.
Cody was now being carried into the outskirts of a village, where he could sort of see through his stupid helmet that there was already a feast being prepared by multiple members of the furry little carnivores. Some of his fellow troopers were already tied up near a big pit with the makings of an epic bonfire in it and a frame over it. He bet they'd cook up real nice in their armour. Cody was so looking forward to that part. NOT. He hoped they knocked him out first.
Suddenly a pretty lady in green Rebel gear with braided brown hair appeared beside the ewok near Cody's head. "Please let them go. We must treat the enemy fairly," she implored. The nasty little creature responded to that by smacking Cody in the helmet with a big wooden spoon, making him see stars yet again. By the time he came to his senses again, he'd been deposited with the rest of the troopers waiting their turn to be cooked. The pretty lady was playing tug of war with an ewok over another trooper who obviously didn't relish the idea of being dinner. Or torn apart, judging by his cries. Poor idiot.
The lady pulled out a communicator with one hand while straddling the trooper's leg so he couldn't be pulled into the quickly growing fire, and made a couple of calls. "Han! You better get back here like yesterday. What's taking you so long?" she berated whoever she was talking to.
Cody could barely make out a reply that sounded a lot like 'Hera's blackmailing me into saying the Ghost is better than the Falcon for the ration bars you want, your Highness,' a man said in a very grumbled out voice.
The lady rolled her eyes. "Just say it. I'll make it up to you later."
"Yes, you will," came back the snarky but somewhat happier reply.
The lady huffed a sigh, but smiled a little too, indicating she wouldn't mind the making up part too much. Then she made another call that almost had Cody falling over. "Commander Rex?"
"What is it, General?" a very familiar voice replied.
"I could really use some help here, if you have a few people to spare. The natives are trying to cook our prisoners."
"I'll be there in five," Rex replied.
Cody had to call on a lot of training to sit still without squirming while he waited. He so desperately wanted to see if it actually was Rex. It had to be. It just had to.
Almost precisely five minutes later, a man, a wookie, and a VERY familiar droid he would swear was Skywalker's R2 unit, showed up with a couple of crates, the poor lady fighting the ewok over the trooper's protesting body the whole time. A few seconds later, from the other direction, a white bearded Rex jogged into camp with a small number of soldiers at his heels. Cody's heart almost stopped to see his brother. By now, it had been at least five years since he'd seen another brother in the Imperial ranks. He was afraid they'd all been decommissioned by now. And now here was Rex, looking every bit as old as Cody did, maybe even older since he was sporting the white beard, but he still had his pride, unlike Cody, who was just existing for the lack of anything else to do. Rex was a Commander now too. (For the Rebel side, but who cares?) Rex had finally gotten the title he deserved but had never been promoted to, after Commander Tano left Skywalker's side and the 501st, leaving behind a very sad bunch of brothers who'd adored her.
As Cody drank in the sight of his brother, dressed in green like all the Rebel ground troops, Cody couldn't help but laugh silently at the stupid helmet Rex was wearing. It looked even more useless than his own which didn't even have a HUD in it and the vision was severely limited. How he missed his old armour. He bet Rex did too. It was actually worth something, unlike this eye rolling stuff the Imperial's were passing off as armour these days. Poor Rex looked like he was hardly wearing any armour at all. It was a wonder he'd survived this long, if that's how the Rebels outfitted their troops.
Rex indicated to his soldiers that they should guard the prisoners while he talked to the Princess General for a minute. He jogged over to her and wrestled the poor trooper away from the surprisingly strong ewok and then gave the fellow a semi gentle shove in the direction of the other prisoners. The man went happily, probably relieved that he wasn't going to be roasted anytime soon. Rex wasn't actually sure WHAT they were going to do with all the prisoners they were accumulating, but for now, keeping them alive was good enough.
Rex turned to ask the Princess what she wanted done with the prisoners but she'd already gone over to talk to General Solo and the Ewoks were attacking the crates with great curiosity. Rex shrugged mentally and decided to just take the prisoners with him back to Hera's camp where most of the men were gathering for the night and many of the prisoners had already been rounded up. He'd been on his way there when the Princess had commed.
Rex strode over to where most of the troopers had been tied together and started untying the lot. "C'mon, Imps. We're getting out of here before the nasty little critters get bored with the ration bars."
They troopers all stood, most mumbling gratitudes for saving them. Rex grabbed a trooper who was swaying alarmingly as he stood and steadied him on his feet. Even though these guys were the enemy, they still looked too much like his brothers in their white armour for him to be anything but sympathetic to them. "You okay there?"
The trooper nodded slightly, raising a hand to his helmet that had a signifagant dent in it. Poor sod must of gotten a good whack to the head recently. Rex nodded back in understanding and decided to stay close to that one just in case he keeled over. With a barked, "Let's move!" Rex, his troops, and the prisoners all jogged out of the base of the ewok's tree village, making for the main Rebel camp a quarter of a kilometre away through the dense forest. Rex was pleased to see the injured trooper held his own and maintained the jog without any further signs of weakness. Rex thought he'd make a good brother, for they were tough like that too.
As they passed the Princess and Solo, Rex heard her say, "Don't worry, everyone knows the Falcon is better than the Ghost." Rex chuckled a little to himself at her placating tone. Hera must have finally gotten Solo to say the words she'd been trying to wrangle out of the ex smuggler for years. The fun part was that there was not a single pilot in the Rebellion who'd pick the Falcon over the Ghost. Everyone knew which ship was actually better and more reliable. The Millennium Falcon might possibly be faster, but it was just as likely to break down as get you anywhere.
Once they'd reached the bustling camp, somewhere near dinnertime (it was hard to believe they'd been on this moon for a whole cycle already), Rex sent the captured troopers to hang out with the rest who were under guard. Not that they looked like they were inclined to go anywhere. Their Imperial ships were all destroyed or had flown the area with their tails between their legs. Their Death Star was floating around in space in tiny pieces and bouncing off the hastily erected shields that the Rebels had cobbled together up in space to stop the fragments from falling to the surface of the moon. And their Emperor and his chief enforcer were dead. These stormtroopers had absolutely no good reason to try to run. Especially with the nasty little ewoks perfectly happy to turn them into dinner if they caught them. Rex figured the troopers felt safer right where they were. He would too, if he was them. With any luck, they might even get a few new recruits from their ranks, saving them the hassle of trying to imprison the whole lot.
Hera walked up to Rex pushing an antigrav crate with a datapad sitting on top of it. "Here, Rex. You might as well distribute the ration bars to the prisoners while you take down their IDs. Kallus wants them for the records. And if you can get any of them to change sides, go for it. The Rebellion might have won this one, but I can guarantee the battles aren't quite over yet. You'll want every soldier you can get your hands on."
"Got it, Hera. Already thought of that," Rex said as he took the crate with a smile.
Hera smiled warmly back. "Of course you have, Rex. I should know better by now that you've got more experience fighting real wars than most of us combined."
Rex snorted. "Don't worry about it. You're a General. It's your job to give orders."
Hera leaned against a tree and crossed her arms, suddenly feeling very tired. "Not for much longer, Rex. I don't know how you've done it all these years, but I'm going to recommend that they promote you to General to take my place when I leave."
Rex stared at Hera with wide eyes for a moment before remembering his manners. "Thank you, Hera. It's not necessary, but I wouldn't say no if High Command agreed. I would be the first ever clone General and that would really make my day and all of my deceased brothers' too."
Hera smiled sadly at the thought that the clones had never really gotten the recognition they deserved. "Well, you deserve the title, Rex. And when you're done with war, you know you have a home with Sabine and I on Lothal. Last time I talked to her, she said the house is almost finished and just needs everyone's personal touch to complete their spaces." Hera's wrist comm chose that moment to chime. She glanced down at it and smiled wider. "Speaking of... Sabine's calling. I'm sure she wants an update on how things went." She nodded towards the group of about fifty stormtroopers all huddled together. "Good luck with them."
Rex gave a jaunty salute and left Hera behind as she answered the comm, a happy, "Sabine! Good timing. I was just talking about you," coming from behind him as he walked away. Rex smiled to himself a little. He may not have any of his brothers anymore, but he did have a family. One he was truly content with and felt privileged to be a part of. It was way beyond good enough.
As Rex walked up to the prisoners, he called. "Okay troops! Line up! We've got rations and roll call. Nothing too exciting, but it'll keep you going. There's a stream just though the trees behind you for anyone who needs to fill up their canteen. Just indicate to one of the guards that you need water and they'll accompany you, but really, who would want to leave these wonderful accommodations?" Rex said with a laughing glance at the forest floor that was going to be almost everyone's beds for the second night in a row. Rex almost felt bad that he got to sleep in his nice bunk in the Ghost. Almost. He got a few chuckles from the prisoners as they dutifully formed two orderly, long, as straight as possible lines around the trees. Rex continued with his little impromptu speech. "Now, I don't know if any of you actually liked serving the Empire, but as I see it, you are now on the losing side. Over here on the Rebel side, we don't make judgement calls on who you were or what your reasons were for being an Imp, or maybe you were forced to be one, but if you want to switch to the winning side, we'd be glad to take you. Otherwise, you'll be spending your days in a cell once we get off this moon. If you want to switch just let me know quietly when I take your ID and you won't be stuck in the prisoner section for too much longer. All you have to do is clear the debriefing and if you're seen as fit for active duty, you'll be assigned a new unit in the Rebellion." Rex met the helmeted eyes of every single man as he spoke, letting them know he was sincere. "And one last thing before we get started. Please feel free to take off your buckets. Here in Rebel land, soldiers are people, not droids. That's all."
Rex picked up the datapad and opened the lid of the crate, grabbing a handful of ration bars. The first soldier in line took a step forward and gave his ID number and took the ration bars and also nodded slightly, indicating he would be willing to change sides. Rex nodded in return with his eyes, letting the soldier know he got the message. Rex wanted to keep the ones who wanted to change sides on the downlow as much as possible so they didn't get any grief from the fellow troopers who weren't going to switch, as they would still be living together for another day or so until things got sorted out. The first soldier left the line and took a seat against a tree, taking off his helmet and opening a ration bar, eating hungrily.
Rex went through the whole line of troopers, almost half of them wanting to change sides, making him happy with the better than expected result, until there was only one left. The trooper with the dented helmet took the last step forward and Rex gave him a friendly smile. "You doin' alright?" he asked as he handed over some ration bars.
The trooper nodded, mumbling out a barely discernable, "Yah. Thanks."
Rex raised a brow, but let it slide. "ID?" he asked.
Inside his armour, Cody was basically trembling. He couldn't lie, but he didn't want to say it either. What if Rex wasn't happy to see him? What if Rex was disappointed that Cody hadn't removed his chip too and fell victim to the evil plot of Order 66? Cody had personally murdered twenty-seven Jedi because of that order, and his men even more. Cody could barely live with what he'd been forced to do, how could Rex ever forgive him for it?
Rex stared at the trooper when he didn't answer. "Do you need a medic? Can you not remember?" Rex knew head wounds could be nasty things, having seen more than his fair share amongst his brothers during the wars. Gregor had lost his memories for months because of one, and another explosion after that had left him a little bit 'special.'
Cody sucked in a breath for courage and finally spoke. "No, I remember. I'll never forget. It's currently CT-2224."
Rex stopped breathing and very nearly dropped the datapad. Despite being distorted by the bucket, he KNEW that voice. Knew it to his very bones. Because it was just like thousands of others, but distinct in its own way. And it was just like his. Rex finally sucked in air when his vision started to blur and he gasped out the original ID. "CC-2224?"
Cody nodded stiltedly, still not sure what to make of Rex's reaction. Then he was suddenly enveloped in a breath stealing hug.
"Cody!" Rex cried into his brother's shoulder. "Oh shabla, am I glad to see you're still alive. I thought I was the last one."
Cody patted Rex on the back comfortingly, struggling to hold back the tears because Rex still didn't know, but he soaked in the affection while he could. "I'm glad to see you too, Rex," Cody said softly.
Rex pulled back and stared at Cody's bucket. "Please take it off."
Cody hesitantly reached up and pulled off his helmet, tucking it under his arm, to the sound of a few gasps and whispers of 'they're twins!' from some of the observers who'd noticed the spectacle the two brothers were making. Someone else corrected with, 'no, I think they're old clones. Those used to be a thing.'
Rex and Cody barely noticed the murmurs around them as they stared at each other in fascination. Cody had a white buzz cut and no facial hair, and Rex had the beard but no hair on his head. But their faces were still identical except for the scar by Cody's left eye, and their golden brown eyes were still the same.
Pushing the crate in front him, Rex grabbed Cody's free arm and dragged him towards the Ghost. "C'mon. We have some catching up to do and we don't need to do it in front of everybody."
Cody gave Rex a tight smile and gently pulled his arm free. "Sure, Rex. That sounds good." Rex led him past a beat up Corellian freighter and up the ramp of a well kept Corellian freighter of a different model. Cody wondered if these were the aforementioned Ghost and Falcon and which one was which. Rex left the crate in the cargo hold and they climbed a ladder into a bridge where the light green twi'lek Rex had been talking to earlier was talking animatedly to a hologram of a young hybrid boy, a pretty human female, and a lasat of all things.
Hera glanced up when Rex climbed the ladder then did a double take when a second Rex climbed the ladder. "Oh, Force, Rex, you found a brother!" she exclaimed, happy for him.
Rex nodded eagerly, his eyes alight with elation. "Not just any brother, Hera. This is Cody, my best brother. You might remember him as General Kenobi's Commander when they fought with your father on Ryloth."
Hera gasped. "I do remember Father mentioning a Commander Cody. He spoke highly of you." She beamed at Cody. "I'll have to tell him you're still alive. I'm sure he'll want to meet you and thank you personally for your efforts to help free my planet."
Cody glanced from Rex to the twi'lek, not quite following the conversation.
Rex sensed his confusion and cleared it up. "Hera is General Cham Syndulla's daughter. She's a General herself now."
Cody smiled as he made the connection. "I'd be pleased to see your father again. I remember the battles on Ryloth quite clearly and your father was a very brave leader. And I doubt you remember it, but I think I did meet you once, when you were little. Your father was carrying you and you were pretty much asleep. He should be proud of how you've grown up."
Hera smiled mistily at the painful memories of a life torn by war where food was scarce and everyone spent most of their time hiding in underground caves. If it hadn't been for the Republic sending help, a lot more of her people would have died and been taken as slaves.
Jacen did a great job of cheering up her mood when he jumped into the conversation. "Mama! You were little too?"
Hera laughed and looked back at the hologram of her son. "Yes, baby. I was. Everyone is little to start with."
Jacen glanced up at Zeb. "Even Uncle Zeb? Cause he's HUGE!"
The lasat chuckled and picked up the little boy, tossing him in the air once, to Jacen's enjoyment. "Yes, little J. I was a kit once too."
Jacen's eyes went super wide. "Whoa. I just can't picture it." He shrugged his little shoulders and jumped down from Zeb's arms effortlessly. "So when ARE you coming home, Mama?"
Rex and Cody quietly left the bridge as Hera became engrossed in her conversation again, Rex leading the way down the hallway to the common room. Just as they entered, a faintly glowing blue man came out of the galley carrying a steaming bowl of soup. The man was tall with piercing teal eyes, long, tied back auburn hair, and a goatee.
Rex smiled at the man. "Hey, Kanan. Hera forgetting to feed herself again?"
Kanan returned the smile, rolling his eyes slightly. "I swear that woman would starve if we didn't put food in front of her a few times a day, or only eat ration bars," he said making a comical grimace.
Rex chuckled. "Too true. Kanan, I'd like you to meet my brother Cody. I just found him with the other prisoners."
Kanan smiled and then something clicked in his memories. "THE Commander Cody? Master Kenobi's Commander Cody?"
Cody nodded, a little reluctantly, not sure where this was going. The fact that he was talking to an apparent ghost was something of a shock, but Rex acted like it was a normal thing, so Cody followed his lead.
Kanan almost dropped the bowl of soup, he was so surprised. "Kriff, man. You're a legend. I heard so many stories about you from my Master's clones when we were fighting the tail end of the war." Kanan's enthusiasm faded a bit as he remembered exactly what had happened with the clones at the end of it all.
Cody caught the change in expression, guessing where Kanan's mind had gone. He tried to stall for a minute, just wanting another moment of relative normal before the poodoo hit the fan. "Who was your Master?" he asked, correctly assuming that this man was a padawan during the war.
Kanan smiled tightly. "Depa Billaba. She worked with Master Kenobi a few times before I became her padawan. You would have met her then."
Cody nodded, relieved his distraction had worked for the moment. "Yes. I did meet her. She was a very nice Jedi. Nicer than most. And her clones had nothing but good things to say about her." Rex and Cody looked at each other as they remembered the times they'd encountered Jedi who treated their clones like nothing more than expendable battle droids.
Kanan's smile turned a little more real again. "My Master was the best," he said proudly. "And the clones were my friends. At least, they were until they turned on us." He pinned Cody in a somewhat accusing gaze, trying not to let all of his old resentment show. He'd worked things out with Rex years agp, and they'd become solid friends, but this man... Rex never said that Cody had removed his control chip, which meant that he was probably still a servant of the Empire.
Cody closed his eyes and bowed his head as shame filled him. He couldn't meet those teal eyes any more. He felt like they saw right through him to his very soul where all of the guilt resided. "Before you ask, yes I did execute Order 66," Cody said, finding the guts somewhere within him to look Kanan in the eyes. "I told my men to shoot down General Kenobi. He was my friend, almost a brother, and I told them to shoot him. And they listened. Every single one of us respected him and would have gladly died for him, but we shot at him in cold blood like he was just an object." Cody glanced at Rex as his brother gasped in dismay, his eyes full of pain for his brother's torment. "I should have listened to you when you told me to remove the chip in my head. It turned me into a machine. All of us were machines. Those shabla bedamned chips turned us into droids. I had no control of my actions, but they haunted me at night. They still haunt me. Every single night I see the faces of the Jedi that I hunted down across the galaxy. I hate myself because of it. I know I wasn't the only one either. Almost every brother I met after that had the same look of utter defeat that I felt. When we fought at the sides of our Generals, we thought we had our own minds, but it was just an illusion. We were bred to be killing machines, just like the droids. We were carefully monitored after that. Any clone showing signs of rebellion at becoming an Imperial drone was swiftly sent back to Kamino for decommissioning. So many times I thought about just throwing my life away and doing something that would get me sent back. I never could go past just being stupidly reckless in battle though. I got injured. A lot. But even that was never enough to send me back. All it ever did was get me demoted as someone else took over my positions of command. And now here I am, near the end of my lifespan, a stupid stormtrooper, wearing a bucket that I hate, but I still go on, because I always hoped I could at least say I was sorry." Cody looked from Rex to Kanan and back, both wearing stricken expressions. "Sorry that I didn't listen to you, Rex. And sorry to my General that I had my men shoot him down and that I didn't want to murder twenty-seven more Jedi. Ninety-eight, if you count the one's my men caught as well." Cody shuddered in a breath as tears freely fell from his eyes as he looked at Kanan. "Can you please tell him for me? Tell him I'm sorry? Since you're all... whatever?"
Kanan nodded mutely, stuck dumb at the other side of the story. All of his resentment and hate for Styles and Commander Grey that he'd been harbouring in a corner of his mind for years faded away. It wasn't their fault. It had never been their fault. The only one at fault had been the Emperor, and he was dead now. Kanan handed the not so hot bowl of soup to Rex. "Give this to Hera, please." He looked at the weeping clone. "Don't move. I'll be right back."
Cody nodded and did exactly as ordered, like he always had. He stood in his spot and watched wide eyed as Kanan disappeared. Rex clasped his shoulder comfortingly for a moment, before walking out of the room with the soup. Cody wiped his tears away absently, feeling kind of empty, but at the same time, free. More free than he ever had in his life. The Emperor was dead and he was a Rebel now. He could finally get the chip removed from his head, even if it was just for the principle of the thing. He doubted there were too many Imperials left who actually cared what an old clone was doing.
Cody only had to wait a couple of minutes, during which time Rex came back, sans soup, lending his silent support as they both stood at parade rest, side by side, just like old times. It healed a little corner of his heart to have his brother stand beside him and not judge his past actions.
The Jedi ghost called Kanan reappeared, but this time he had another ghost at his side, looking at Kanan with mild bemusement. "What is it you wanted to show me, Kanan?"
Cody drank in the sight of his General, looking young and healthy, if a little glowy. Another piece of his heart healed to see it. Thank the Ashla, or the Force, or whatever, that the Jedi could continue their lives in some fashion after death. It helped a lot to see it.
Kanan nodded towards the clones and Obi-Wan followed his gaze with his own. Obi-Wan's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! Oh my. Now THAT I did not see coming." Obi-Wan smiled briefly in greeting to Rex, having already renewed their friendship a few years ago during another such surprise, but his eyes immediately fell back on Cody, who's eyes were tearing up again in a face showing clear signs of already crying. "Cody," he said before stepping forward, reading the man's fears and guilt easily. He clasped his shoulders and smiled at him. "It's okay, Cody. I don't blame you. I never have. And the others understand as well. You can let it all go now, Cody. Let it go."
Cody raised a trembling hand to clasp around Obi-Wan's arm, absently noting that he felt solid enough, for a vaguely transparent being. His eyes searched his General's, seeking the forgiveness he needed, but seeing just gentle acceptance and sympathy. "General," he whispered forlornly, still feeling all of the guilt piled on him. It had been there so long, he didn't know how to let it go.
Obi-Wan nodded slightly as if in understanding. He closed his eyes and moved one of his hands to the top of Cody's head. "Forgive yourself, Cody." he whispered.
Cody felt a wave of warmth sweep through him, taking all of his guilt with it, leaving him feeling cleansed and whole once more. He met Obi-Wan's eyes as they looked at him again, the same warmth in the Jedi's gaze. "Thank you, General. Thank you."
Obi-Wan gave the top of Cody's head a fond stroke, almost like a pat. "You're welcome, Cody." He drew back. "Now. I'm going to go back to spying on Anakin. His talk with Ahsoka is QUITE fascinating." Obi-Wan smirked slightly with a twinkle in his eyes as he disappeared.
Rex and Cody glanced at each other then looked at Kanan curiously, hoping for an explanation.
Kanan grinned a little, knowing he got to be the first to break the news to Rex. "Anakin Skywalker was redeemed when Darth Vader died. He's now in the process of begging his own forgiveness from everyone he wronged. I'm sure you'll see him sooner or later."
Rex gaped like a fish while his brain processed. Then he blurted out, "Darth Vader was Anakin?!" He staggered over to the couch and fell on it. "Holy mother of a kriffing Hutt, my General turned into Darth Vader!" he whispered in shock to himself. He barely registered it as Cody was now the one to put a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. Rex sat on the couch for a long time in stunned silence, unable to believe it.
Kanan wandered out of the common room and towards the bridge, chuckling like mad at the expression on Rex's face. He was going to savour that one for a very long time. It wasn't often he got to shock the old, been there, done that, got the scar to prove it, clone.