Welcome to the official Five Effect fanfiction! Created as a protest to the pain the Clone Wars caused, this is the world where most things are happy in the end. I unfortunately cannot write just happy and I do terrible things to characters I love, so things aren't going to go too smoothly. I'll keep everyone updated on the progress of the fic as we go. I hope to not have any hiatuses, but we can never know. Updates are every two weeks on Monday.
Quick Notes for the readers: One, Rex and Ahsoka are the stars here. There's a subplot surrounding Obi Wan, but those two and their relationship are the focus.
Two, Since is dumb sometimes, I can't tag every character involved. We've got a lot of Jedi, a lot of clones, a few Mandalorians, and some Rebels and Mandalorian characters.
Three: This is slowburn. Very slowburn. So slowburn even I want to scream 'JUST KISS ALREADY.' But alas, I chose this fate.
That's it for now!
Ahsoka hopped off the grimy transport and handed the dug driver some of her credits. She stowed the rest in the bag slung over her shoulder. She didn't have much, just a few changes of clothes. Buried underneath them was the holo Anakin had sent, asking her back.
She glanced around the upper Coruscant sidewalk. She was taken aback with how clean it was. Even the trash scattered around seemed less dirty. The air was cleaner, less heavy. Ahsoka took a glance over the side. It had been months since she'd been this high. She looked up. It was good to see the sky again. The constant stream of speeders rang out a perpetual drone. There was a line of speeders parked not too far away.
"Commander!" A voice cut through the city chatter.
Ahsoka looked around until she saw Captain Rex in his 501st armor waving his arm at her. She couldn't help but grin as she pushed past the tangled crowds to get to him.
Rex's amber eyes were bright as Ahsoka approached him. He looked the same as ever; broad shoulders, finely buzzed blonde hair, deeply tanned skin. His face had the same lines and scars. If anything there were more care worn lines cut into his face.
They didn't say anything at first. Ahsoka couldn't keep the silly grin off her face. He studied her carefully, as if making sure it was really her. Ahsoka felt a jolt of anxiety as his eyes lingered on a fresh bruise on her cheek. His brow furrowed slightly, but he didn't say anything. She was glad she was wearing her jacket to cover the other bruises on her arms.
"It's good to see you, Commander." Rex said after a moment.
"You too." Ahsoka said. "You know, you don't have to call me Commander anymore."
"Sure thing, Commander." He said with a smirk.
He snapped a salute at her. She laughed and returned it. It was if she had never left.
He gestured to a parked white speeder with bright blue markings painted on. His eyes moved up and down the lanes. Ahsoka noticed for the first time the odd looks the crowd was shooting their ways.
"We should get going, traffic's about to get bad."
Ahsoka nodded.
"You'd think they'd never seen a Togruta before." She said with a jerk of her head to the staring crowd.
Rex glanced their way.
"It's not you they're staring at." He said in a too-light tone.
Ahsoka frowned.
"Clones are everywhere, even down below. What's the big deal?"
"We really ought to go." Rex said.
His tone indicated he didn't want to continue the conversation.
Ahsoka suddenly felt nervous. The clones weren't exactly well liked in the undercity, but Ahsoka had assumed it was better up above. She realized many of the stares were hostile.
"Nice speeder." Ahsoka said in an effort to change the subject.
Rex gave his usual half smile.
"Fives and Jesse's idea." He said as they got in. "They wanted to make it unique."
Ahsoka looked over the dashboard to the hood of the speeder. She could make out Jaig eyes painted on and-
"Are those my markings?" She asked.
Rex cleared his throat..
"Yes." He admitted. "I -er, we, wanted a reminder of our Commander."
Ahsoka was touched. Even after abandoning them, they remembered her.
"I like it." Ahsoka said, running her hand over the side of the speeder. "This is a Rian-327, right? With engine modifications from the sound of it. What are they for?"
Rex blinked.
"I'm not sure." He said. "General Skywalker insisted on them, but I can't remember what they do."
Ahsoka rolled her eyes.
"I can take a look and let you know."
The conversation faded into comfortable silence as they flew through the Coruscant lanes. Ahsoka had forgotten how it was being up in the upper city. She looked out over the lights twinkling in the dusk air. She could see the Jedi temple from here, lit up. It was as gorgeous as ever.
"You alright, Commander?" Rex asked.
"Yeah. It's just been a while." Ahsoka said.
Rex glanced over at her.
"We've missed you." He said.
There was a slight reproach in his voice. She winced at all the worry she must have put him and the other clones through. Anakin could at least sense her through the Force. The clones didn't have that luxury.
"I've missed you too." Ahsoka said carefully. "But I'm back now."
He nodded.
"We're nearly there."
A few minutes later Rex parked in front of a fairly nice looking apartment building. It was far above where she'd been staying, anyway.
"We're on the sixth floor." He told her. "I can take your bag, if you want."
Ahsoka raised an eyebrow at him.
"I think I can manage."
He shrugged and led the way to the lift. They were at the sixth floor within a few seconds.
"Here we are, home sweet home." Rex announced as he opened the door.
Ahsoka followed him a bit shyly. This was the first time she'd lived with any roommates. She wasn't quite sure what to expect.
What she found was Fives passed out on the couch, surrounded by clutter.
"Fives!" Rex barked.
Fives started awake.
"Huh?" He slurred. "What?"
"I told you to get this place cleaned up before Commander Tano arrived!" Rex scolded.
"You can call me Ahsoka now. " Ahsoka piped up.
Rex ignored the comment.
"Give me a break, Rex!" Fives moaned. "I've been on the night shift for four days now!"
"That doesn't excuse this mess!" Rex snapped. "Now where's Jesse?"
Right on cue Jesse wandered out from the back with only a towel wrapped around his waist.
"What's going on?" He grumbled. "I'm trying to-"
He stopped short as he caught sight of Ahsoka. Ahsoka, who was trying to look anywhere else, caught a glimpse of his beet red face as he marched back out of sight.
Rex coughed. His face was scarlet too.
"Did you at least get your stuff out of Commander Tano's room?" He asked Fives.
"Uh, give me a minute." Fives said.
He dashed through the same door Jesse had gone. Rex sighed.
"Civilian life has not been kind to those two." He muttered.
"Rex, what do you mean my room?" Ahsoka asked. "I thought I'd be staying on your couch or something."
Rex raised an eyebrow at her.
"You thought we were going to invite you into our home and have you sleep on the couch?" He asked. "Come on, Commander. We're fine sharing rooms."
He looked to where Jesse and Fives had gone.
"We'll give Fives a few minutes before we get you settled." Rex said. "And I'll talk to Jesse about wandering around like that. At least he had a towel on this time."
He looked down at her and gave her an embarrassed smile.
"It's not much, but you're welcome to stay as long as you like, Commander."
Ahsoka returned the smile.
"I really appreciate it, Rex." She said. "As soon as I can, I'll help out with rent and food and stuff."
Rex's posture straightened and he glared at her in his most captain like way.
"Sir! You are our guest and I won't have you worrying about helping us make ends meet!"
"Okay, okay!" Ahsoka muttered.
She gave an internal roll of the eyes. She'd have to figure out a way to help out without bruising his pride.
He showed her the kitchen and living room.
"Help yourself to anything in the fridger." He told her. "Except if it has one of our names on it. Fives especially."
He paused, then opened up the fridger. He scooped up something and tossed it to her. She caught it, surprised. It was an ice pack.
Ahsoka pressed it to her cheek. There was a question in his eyes, but he didn't voice it.
She avoided that question by looking around the living room. It was spartan, as she expected, save Fives' mess and a few books scattered around. Ahsoka picked one up and checked the title.
"Lost Tribe of the Rodians." She read aloud. "Who's the reader?"
"Me." Rex said. His face had colored slightly.
"You know that holo books are way less expensive." Ahsoka said. "And have bigger selections."
Rex rubbed the back of his neck.
"I like to have the real thing." He admitted. "Couldn't have much in the GAR. It's nice to have a few things."
Ahsoka nodded and flicked through the book. It seemed to be an adventure novel, which Ahsoka was a little surprised to see from Rex.
Eventually the scrambling noises from the back stopped and Rex knocked.
"You decent, Jesse?" He called.
"Yeah, yeah." Jesse replied.
The door slid open and Jesse slipped past them. He was in civilian clothes, which looked odd to Ahsoka. Rex was still in his armor and Fives had been in his blacks.
"I'll be back by curfew." Jesse called to them.
He paused and turned around.
"It's good to have you back, Commander." He said with a grin. Then he was gone.
"I need to break you guys of that habit." Ahsoka said.
"Good luck." Rex replied. "Fives! Are you done?"
"Yep!" Fives called back.
"Safe to proceed then." Rex said. "Come on."
They entered the back hallway.
"'Fresher." Rex nodded at a door. "Closet, Jesse's room, and that's Fives and mine." He pointed to each room in turn.
"This is yours." He opened the final door and ushered her in.
Ahsoka blinked as she walked into the seemingly enormous room. Her entire last apartment had been the size of this room, not to mention her room at the Jedi Temple.
"It's the smallest room." Rex said apologetically. "But it's the only one with a decent view. We'll have to get you some furniture too."
"It's great, Rex. It really is." Ahsoka said softly. "Thank you."
"Well, I'll leave you to get settled." Rex said. "Dinner'll be soon. It's Fives' night for it."
He paused
"We're glad to have you back Commander."
Ahsoka shot him a grateful grin as he retreated. She set her bag on her bed and flopped down next to it. Only this morning she'd been struggling in the lower district. Now she was home.
Anakin opened the door to his and Padme's apartment. He glanced back at his wife, who looked just as mad as she had when leaving the Senate building. He decided to not say anything; she needed time to let off steam.
She paced in front of their window overlooking the city while he went to make her a cup of tea. He placed the cup on the side table and sat to watch her from the couch.
"What do you want for dinner?" He finally tried after the steam had cooled from the cup.
"I'm not hungry." Padme snapped.
"Padme, you've been on your feet all day." Anakin insisted. "Don't pretend you didn't skip lunch. I was there."
He got up and placed a hand on her back. She was stiff under his touch.
"Starving yourself isn't gonna fix things." He said. "Especially-"
"Nothing else seems to be working." Padme interrupted. "Maybe if I starved myself, Representative Burtoni would see that this is serious."
Anakin grimaced at the mention of the Kaminoan.
"You can't let her get to you."
"It's hard not to, Ani!" Padme said. "You've heard her; she treats everyone like they're beneath her!"
Padme broke away from Anakin and continued her pacing.
"And the way she talks about the clones-"
"I know, I know." Anakin soothed.
It was odd being the one calming the other down.
"That's the thing, Ani!" Padme exploded. "She's right! Technically the clones do belong to the Kaminoans! We can't stop them from taking them"
Anakin drew a hand down his face. It was a gesture he learned from Obi Wan.
"I'd like to see them try. The men won't go willingly."
Padme shook her head.
"That's the problem." She went on. "The clones have no rights, even under the old rules. If they fight back, we can't do anything for them. And public perception of them is bad enough without more violent outbreaks."
She was rubbing her hands over her shoulders over and over.
"We could try for new legislation, but only a few worlds would listen."
Padme stopped pacing and stared at the window.
"What we need is the Jedi." She muttered. "If they would just agree to enforce the New Republic's laws."
She gave Anakin a hopeful glance at this.
"If Master Plo can't convince them, why do you think they'd listen to an ex-Jedi?" Anakin asked.
Padme looked down.
"I'm sorry." She said. "It's just frustrating when they're being so-"
"Asinine." Anakin finished.
Padme smiled a little.
"I was going to say 'difficult.'"
Anakin shrugged and went back over to her. This time she relaxed into his embrace. She rested her head on his chest.
"I'm scared for the clones, Ani." She whispered. "The Kaminoans are so insistent and without the Jedi, we won't be able to protect our men. After all they've done!"
Anakin squeezed her harder.
"If you want, I could go talk to Burtoni." He said half-seriously.
"Anakin!"
He grinned down at her.
"We'll figure it out." He said.
Their holo chirped.
Anakin reluctantly let Padme go and went to answer it. She was in no mood to deal with whatever senator was bugging her.
To his surprise, it was Rex who popped up.
"What can I do for you, Rex?" Anakin asked.
Even through the flickering holo he could tell the captain was excited.
"She's back, sir."
Anakin's jaw dropped.
"When?" He croaked.
"This evening. She contacted me this afternoon, said she got our message and that she wanted to come back." Rex said in a rush.
"I'm coming over."
"Please do, sir. I think she'll be glad to see you."
The holo clicked off and Anakin whirled around to meet Padme's glowing eyes.
"Dinner can definitely wait." She said.
Anakin had to resist breaking down the clones' door when they didn't answer right away. It took an eternity of 30 seconds before Rex opened the door.
"Come in General, Chancellor." Rex's demeanor was brighter than it had been in weeks. "Commander Tano's in the back; I'll go get her."
He hurried off. Anakin and Padme didn't sit down. They just stared together at the spot where Rex had disappeared. Within a few seconds Ahsoka popped into view. Her eyes lit up, but she only took a few steps forward. Rex followed her with a spring in his step.
"Hello, Master." She said. "Padme, it's good to see you."
She walked forward a little more. Anakin realized with a jolt she had gotten taller. Kriff, he hadn't seen her in person since he'd left the Jedi Order a few months before she had.
"Ahsoka." Anakin managed. "We've missed you."
His throat was tightening.
Ahsoka's smile brightened her face and she moved closer.
"Don't be dramatic, we've been in the same city this whole time."
Padme opened her arms and Ahsoka walked into them. Anakin stepped forward and hugged both of them. He relished her presence. It was one thing to be able to sense her from afar and something completely else to have her right here.
"Wait a minute!" Ahsoka gasped and untangled herself from their embrace. She stared at Padme's round belly. "You're pregnant?"
Padme smiled and Anakin felt his cheeks get a little warm.
"With twins." Padme said. "They're almost here."
"I can see that!" Ahsoka said. "When I saw you, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but kriff, I can even feel them through the Force!"
Ahsoka hugged Padme again.
"This is wonderful! Congratulations!"
Anakin glanced over at Rex and had to choke back a laugh. The captain was staring at Padme with wide, round eyes. His mouth was slightly open.
"Rex, you didn't know?" Anakin asked. "I know we haven't announced it yet, but it's kind of obvious."
"No, sir." Rex stammered. "We all thought, we thought-"
He cleared his throat.
"Never mind what we thought. Congratulations, sir!"
Despite his reddening face, Rex's eyes were shining. Anakin was touched at his captain's obvious excitement. Well, obvious for Rex.
Anakin noticed a slight strain around Padme's eyes. He quickly checked on her emotional state. As he expected, she was barely staying on her feet.
"Let's sit down." He suggested.
He didn't miss Padme's obvious relief at the words. He was surprised she was still keeping her chipper facade up. The hours she spent in the Senate on top of being very pregnant wore at her more than she liked to admit.
When they all settled down, Ahsoka and Padme on the couch, Rex and Anakin on the two armchairs, Ahsoka looked at Anakin.
"So are the future Skyguys or gals the reason you needed me so badly? I'd think the original Skyguy would be plenty as far as bodyguards go."
Anakin grimaced at the nickname.
"Partially. We will need someone with Padme while I'm home with the twins."
Ahsoka raised an eyebrow.
"You're going to stay home?" She asked.
"That so surprising?" Anakin challenged.
"Master, you could hardly sit still through mission briefings. How are you going to handle being at home all day?"
"I'll have to deal."
Ahsoka looked at Padme, who nodded.
"What's happening right now is too important for me to be away from the Senate for long." She said briskly.
She sounded aloof about the situation but Anakin knew how much the idea hurt her.
"What is happening right now?" Ahsoka asked.
Anakin shared looks with Rex and Padme.
"You don't know?" Padme asked.
Ahsoka shrugged.
"Where I was, people didn't care much about politics. I barely found out that the war's over."
Anakin felt a knot form in his stomach. Places that didn't care about the huge happenings in their government right now were not places he would want to be. Places like Tatooine.
He looked closer at Ahsoka. There was a bruise on her cheek. She was skinnier than he remembered. Her hands bore the marks of hard work, at least more than they had before. Dark shadows hid under her eyes. Her clothes were neat but Anakin could see their rough quality.
The knot in Anakin's gut tightened. He had left her to this. He had left her on her own to survive and deal with the world. He clenched his fist. He'd make it right.
"What do you know?" Padme prompted.
Ahsoka furrowed her brow.
"The war is over." She said again. "And the Chancellor was a traitor. Something about Fives, too."
Anakin leaned forward into his hands.
"Let's start from after you left." He said. "Fives was involved in an incident that led to him discovering a plot by the Chancellor to destroy the Jedi."
"What? How?" Ahsoka interrupted. "How did Fives of all people find out?"
Anakin hesitated. He didn't want to tell Ahsoka about the chips. She shouldn't have to know that her men had been programmed to kill her at a moments notice. Rex took the choice away from him.
"All of us clones were implanted with an organic chip while in development." Rex said. He spoke as if giving a mission report: little emotion and just the facts. "When activated, the chips would force us to carry out the order to kill all the Jedi."
Ahsoka stared at Rex with her blue eyes wide. Anakin noticed the captain wasn't meeting her gaze.
"Please tell me the chips are out." Ahsoka whispered.
Rex nodded.
"We developed a chemical agent that destroyed the chips." He said.
Ahsoka leaned forward and covered her face with her hands. Anakin could see she was trembling. Padme put an arm around her.
"As to how we found out," Rex paused. "Well, that's Fives' story to tell."
"And Palpatine did this." Ahsoka said, slightly muffled.
"Yeah." Anakin said.
"How?"
"He wasn't only a traitor, Ahsoka." Anakin said. "He was the Sith Lord."
Ahsoka made a choking noise and Anakin half stood up to go to her. Rex looked about ready to do the same. No, Padme had her.
"He couldn't have!" She finally whispered. "We- we would have known!"
Anakin closed his eyes as he recalled the snarl on Palpatine's face. The overwhelming frigid darkness that had swept over Anakin when the Chancellor had finally dropped his mask.
"He was very powerful." Anakin admitted. "Powerful enough to fool us all. Powerful enough to be controlling things for a long, long time."
It was quiet. When Ahsoka didn't say anything, Anakin decided to go on.
"He was killed during the arrest." He said. "After that, it wasn't long before we were able to negotiate peace."
"Even with Dooku and Grievous?" Ahsoka asked.
Rex snorted.
"Sir, Dooku was the one who confirmed that Palpatine was a Sith." He said. "We made a deal."
"He'd tell us who the Sith was and encourage peace talks. In exchange, he'd get to live and the CIS would be recognized."
Anakin elaborated.
Ahsoka looked up.
"The CIS wasn't disbanded? We lost?"
"No." Padme said firmly. "We created peace."
"They were right in the end." Anakin said with a bitter laugh. "The Republic was corrupt."
At that moment Rex caught Anakin's eye. The captain nodded at Ahsoka. She was slumped in her seat, a hand still at her head. Anakin didn't have to focus hard to feel how overwhelmed she was.
"We should get going." Anakin said. "We can all fill you in on the details tomorrow at dinner."
Ahsoka looked up. She suddenly looked like the padawan Anakin had met on Christophis.
"It's all right now, Snips." Anakin soothed. "He's gone. The clones are fine."
She nodded. Anakin got up, Rex popping up next to him. Padme gave Ahsoka another hug before Anakin helped her up.
"Thank you for asking me back." Ahsoka said.
Anakin could hear the unsaid words underneath what she said. Thank you for still caring.
"We were going to have you start tomorrow." Padme said. "But if you need a few days-"
"No!" Ahsoka said. "I want-I want to get busy."
While Padme gave Ahsoka details, Anakin edged over to Rex.
"Keep an eye on her, Rex. Find out where she's been." Anakin whispered.
"Yes sir." Rex agreed. "I'll make sure she's all right."
Here we go! And yes, all the clones just thought Padme was getting fat.
Wear your masks, remember to review, and have a great two weeks!
