Hello everyone!

Just a quick note regarding Rexsoka week this year. I will be participating, but I'll have to delay posting them for around a week or so because the actual Rexsoka week falls directly on my finals week. I hope to get the blurbs out quickly, but we will see. Thanks for the understanding!

Kuiil: Lolol that made me laugh

OneLittleSpark18: I'm glad it's working out for you too! And thank you so much, I try my best!

Who's ready for some FIVES?

Mando'a Translations at the end!

Rex was back.

Sort of.

Fives watched his Captain endure hugs and mutter occasional responses to questions. Ahsoka watched it all with the air of a mother nuna hen. Jesse had set up a small party at the apartment. There weren't many people here: just Kix, Jesse, Rhys, Cody, the General and his family, and the Batch. Regardless, Ahsoka seemed worried that Rex would get overwhelmed. She had mentioned his new sensitivity in one of her messages.

Fives hadn't approached Rex yet. He didn't want to overstimulate his brother.

Why would you deserve to talk to him? You've been jealous of him for months. He has better brothers.

As Fives struggled to banish the intrusive thought, he was surprised to see Ahsoka making her way towards him.

"Hi." She said.

Fives tried to smile, but didn't quite manage it.

"Hi." He said back.

Why is she talking to you? You tried to take her from Rex. You scared her when you tried to kill yourself. She's better off without you.

"It was nice to hear from you." Ahsoka's voice drowned out the thoughts. "We've missed you."

Fives looked at her.

"Did he really?" He asked.

"Yes." Ahsoka said. "He'd brighten up whenever we'd get a message from you."

Fives felt guilty. It was likely that Rex remembered a far different brother in Fives' stead.

Ahsoka looked at him for a long time. Fives couldn't quite meet her gaze.

"Listen," Ahsoka finally said. "I need to run an errand. Why don't you come with me and after we can go down to Grif's. For old time's sake."

Fives stared at her, flabbergasted.

"You sure?" He asked. "You'd be okay with leaving Rex that long?"

Ahsoka glanced back at Rex, who was sitting quietly on the couch.

"I'm going to be leaving him for hours at a time regardless." She said. "Besides, Cody and Jesse are here already. It shouldn't be a bother."

She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"All right." Fives said and managed a smile.

Ahsoka smiled back and Fives felt a little better.

"I'll tell Tech." He said. "He'd have a heart attack if I snuck out again."

Tech was lingering on the edges of the room, brows furrowed as he scrolled through his datapad.

"Hey, Ahsoka's gonna take me down to Grif's tonight." Fives said. "I'll keep my comm on."

Tech looked up with mild surprise.

"I see." He said, and then paused. "Do you- trust yourself around Commander Tano?"

"What?" Fives asked.

"Will you follow her instructions?" Tech said. "You cannot deny that you have been erratic as of late.

Tech's fingers tightened on his datapad. With a guilt fueled lurch, Fives realized that Tech was scared. They'd only been down to the ring a few times since the incident and looking back, Fives saw how tense and nervous Tech had been.

"I will." Fives promised.

"Are you sure?" Tech said. "I am fond of you, Fives. I do not wish for you to be injured. We may not be as lucky as we were last time. Not to mention the last time you went with Commander Tano, you were stabbed."

Fives blinked at Tech's sudden admission. He didn't think he'd ever heard Tech admit his affection for someone to their face.

"I swear, Tech." Fives said quietly. "I'll do what Ahsoka says."

Tech took a deep breath.

"Thank you." He said. "I will see you when you return."

Fives worked up a smile for Tech, who nodded back. Fives turned and found Ahsoka sitting on the couch next to Rex. She was holding his hands and murmuring something in his ear. Rex only barely tilted his head towards her.

Fives felt a spike of pain at the sight. Not for any dormant unrequited love; he had let those feelings die around the time of his attempt. No, the sight pained Fives because he did not know if Rex truly understood how much Ahsoka loved him. It hurt to know that a brother was loved so deeply by someone so wonderful, but was barred from returning or even acknowledging that love.

Ahsoka's errand took them to CoCo Town. Fives stuck close to her on the off chance he was recognized. While the clones were free, a lot of the citizens of Coruscant still looked down on them.

Ahsoka walked with a purpose through the first sections of the area, but as they got onto the smaller streets, her step faltered.

"You know where we're going?" Fives asked.

"Sort of." Ahsoka said. "I know the name of the shop and that it's on this street."

Fives looked around and realized they were on a street lined with antique stores and book shops.

"What's the name?" Fives asked.

"Words From Across the Galaxy." Ahsoka said.

Fives scanned the different signs up and down the street as they walked. Finally he saw the shop's name printed in white on a small, deep blue sign. He touched Ahsoka's shoulder and nodded towards the tiny shop.

"Good eye." Ahsoka said and they made their way towards it.

"So how'd you hear about this place?" Fives asked.

"Rex kept every receipt for every book he bought." Ahsoka said. "This is the store he bought Corellian Nights from. I'm hoping they have another copy."

"What do you need another copy for?" Fives asked.

Ahsoka frowned a little.

"It got burned."

Fives raised an eyebrow.

"How?" He asked.

Ahsoka's expression darkened further.

"Right before we left, someone tried to kidnap the twins." She said. "They caught Kal's home on fire in the process. The book was inside."

"Oh." Fives said. He opened the door for Ahsoka and stepped inside after her. "I guess you do need a new copy then."

"You're back! I was starting to get worried, son!"

Fives and Ahsoka blinked in surprise as they took in a wizened Quarren squinting at them from behind the counter.

"Er-" Fives started.

The Quarren placed a pair of spectacles on and his expression fell.

"Oh. My apologies." He said. "I heard your voice and I thought you were someone else."

Ahsoka glanced at Fives.

"Who?" She asked.

"An old regular customer, another clone."

"We know him." Ahsoka said. "Rex. In fact, he's why we're here."

The old Quarren's face brightened.

"You do? How is he? Why hasn't he come back?"

Fives felt Ahsoka tense next to him.

"He's- he went through a lot on Kamino." Ahsoka said. "He's still recovering."

"Oh." The shopkeeper said. "Well, tell him old Sepid sends his regards."

"We will." Ahsoka said.

Sepid cleared his throat and adjusted his spectacles.

"What can I help you with?" He asked.

"We're looking for a copy of Corellian Nights, by Diji Beekon." Ahsoka said.

"Corellian Nights, eh?" Sepid said. "Now, my memory isn't what it was, but I thought he'd already bought that one."

"He did." Ahsoka said. "Something- happened to his old copy."

"Hmm. Well, it's not the rarest book in the galaxy, but it's not exactly common either. I would have sworn-"

He broke off into muttering as he began moving around the shop. Fives took the chance to really look around. The store was meticulous and clean. The books seemed to be shelved not by title, but by the color of the cover. The result was a gradient that traveled across the store.

"I can see why Rex liked this place." Fives said. "It's tidy, like he likes things."

"I wouldn't sell to him if he wasn't!" Sepid called back to them. "I asked him, the first time he came in, if he took care of his books. Told me he'd never had a book before, never even read a book before, but he promised me he took good care of his armor and that he'd take care of the books like his armor."

The old man sounded happy as he recollected Rex's first time in the store.

"He'd only ever buy one book at a time." He went on. "And he'd never come back until he'd read the book. Only one exception, actually, after he bought Corellian Nights. Came back in two days later and said he needed a new book for his own reading. He was reading Corellian Nights with someone. Oh!"

He suddenly bustled across the store and pulled a book from the shelves.

"I remember now! He ordered another copy of the book!" He said. "Said the person he was reading the book with was very special and he wanted her to have a copy of her own. He asked me to find the nicest copy of the book I could find."

Sepid turned around with the book in his hands. He faltered when he saw Ahsoka with tears in her eyes.

"Ah. You're that special someone, aren't you?" He said softly. "Well then. This is yours. He already paid back when he ordered it."

Fives watched Ahsoka take the book silently. It was a pretty tome. It was bound in some kind of leather, dyed a deep purple, and had silver stars embossed across the front.

"Thank you." Ahsoka said.

"Tell him to come back when he feels better, okay?" Sepid said.

"We will." Fives said when it was clear that Ahsoka couldn't say more. "Thanks again."

From the way Ahsoka cradled the book, Fives couldn't tell if it was a comfort or a pain.

They made their way to the shuttle down to 1313. Fives was surprised to find that Ahsoka was relaxed as they sat together. She had always been so tense with him following his- attempt. He let himself relax too.

"How are you feeling?" Ahsoka asked after a while.

Fives blinked.

"Can't you feel it?" He asked with a nervous chuckle.

"I didn't want to invade your privacy." Ahsoka said.

"I've been better." Fives said after a long moment. "But I've been a lot worse."

"You come down here pretty often to fight, right?" Ahsoka asked. "Is that helping?"

Fives felt a tightness form in his gut.

"I keep finding ways to hurt people." He said.

You hurt everyone you know.

"What do you mean?" Ahsoka asked with a furrowed brow.

Fives clenched his hands on his knees.

"Tech's done a lot to help me, to find out more about helping me. A while back I acted like a child. I ran away because we had an argument. And he- had a breakdown. It was my fault."

Ahsoka was quiet for a while.

"It was a pretty stupid thing to do." She finally said. "But you won't do it again, right?"
"I hope not." Fives said.

He didn't know if he could trust himself, though. He hadn't really meant to leave Tech behind. He just did.

"I'd be worried if you didn't feel bad about it, if you just didn't care. I'm assuming you didn't know how it'd affect him."Ahsoka said.

"I didn't." Fives said.

"It's easy to hurt other people when you're hurting. I hurt a lot of people when I came down here for the first time, because I was angry, scared, and alone." Ahsoka said. "But after a while I was able to be aware and control myself. You made a mistake. You'll learn from it."

They fell silent again, the only noise being the rumbling of the shuttle's engines.

"I'm sorry." Fives finally said. "For the trouble I caused."

Ahsoka looked at him with such sadness that he wanted to take it back. You made her feel worse, you idiot. Then she reached out and pulled him into a hug. He hesitated before returning it. It felt nice to be held like this. She eventually pulled away, but kept a hand on his shoulder.

"I- accept your apology." She said. "Though I don't think it's necessary."

Fives shrugged, feeling awkward.

"It's too bad that Rex can't get his books anymore." He said.

Ahsoka nodded.

"He's been through so much." She said quietly. "But he is getting better."

Fives gave a wan smile."

"Yeah. Compared to him, what do I have to complain about?"

Ahsoka looked sharply up at him, the sadness back in her eyes.

"Fives, what happened to you was just as bad as what happened to Rex. You both hit your limit. What more could you have done by yourself?"

Fives looked down.

"It always feels like I could be doing more." He said.

"I think Rex feels the same way." Ahsoka said. "He feels he could be trying more to be the way he was. But you both need to remember that you've been pushed too far. Whatever voice is telling you that you're not doing enough is wrong."

Fives let her words sink in. Was it true? Was he doing everything he could?

"Thanks, Ahsoka." He said.

"I'm sorry too." She said quietly.

"For what?"

"I focused on the wrong thing. I didn't know how to help you and I had so much to worry about. I'm sorry. I'm sure I wasn't helping you when I could have been."

"It was a hard time." Fives admitted. "But I had Tech. At the time, he was the best person to help me."

Ahsoka gave him a glance.

"Is he still now?"

Fives shrugged.

"I don't know. He got me to this point but we both don't know how to move forward."

"I know Kix is doing research with his studies." Ahsoka said. "Maybe he'll be able to provide some insight soon."

"I hope so."

"In the meantime," Ahsoka said with a smile. She took his hand. "Let's go kick some shebs."

"Yeah." Fives said, managing to give her a small grin back.

The silence that followed wasn't grating or uncomfortable. Fives was grateful for it. Things could go back to normal, it seemed. At least in some ways.

"Ashla!"

Fives was relieved he was not the recipient of Grif's bone crushing hug that Ahsoka was now enduring. The huge Besalisk set her down and brushed off her shoulders.

"Good to see you too, Grif." Ahsoka managed.

"How are you doing? Where've you been?" Grif said as he looked her over.

"I've been busy." Ahsoka said. "Been off-world for a while."

"Sinko here says you've been helping a friend." Grif said.

Ahsoka's face fell a little.

"Yeah."

"He doing better?"

"Some."

"So, you wanna fight?"

"Do you have four arms?"

"Last I checked!" Grif said with a roar of laughter.

Fives froze as he looked around the room. There were a lot of familiar faces. Even the opponents were a group they'd fought multiple times.

But in one corner there was a familiar tall Mandalorian woman in orange armor. She was looking at him.

"What's wrong?" Ahsoka asked as Grif moved away.

Fives nodded towards the Mandalorian.

"She helped Tech find me after- our incident." He said.

Ahsoka glanced at the woman.

"She's called Woor." Fives supplied.

"Huh." Ahsoka said. "I've never seen her here before, and I've been here longer than you."

"I think she's here because of me." Fives said. "She just kind of found me when Tech and I were separated. She knew that Tech needed to get to me."

"Do you think she has any problems with you?" Ahsoka asked.

"I don't think so. She was nothing but helpful when we crossed paths before."

"Well, we'll just keep an eye on her." Ahsoka said.

"Right." Fives said.

He was uneasy again, now because of the gaze of this random Mandalorian. He went to sit on the sidelines. She had to be here as a fighter. The audience wasn't being let in yet. Fives watched as she made her way to Grif and began speaking quietly to him. Grif's eyes flicked over to Fives. Then Grif headed towards Fives, leaving the woman behind.

"Hey Sinko!" Grif's call was overly cheerful. Fives felt himself tense. "That Mando over there wants to go a round with you!"

Grif's eyes were worried as he lowered his voice.

"She asked for you by name." He said. "Your- other name."

So she did know who Fives was and she knew him from somewhere other than the fighting ring.

"Do you want me to tell her to scram?" Grif continued in a whisper.

Fives glanced at the woman, who was watching the fighters warm up.

"No." He finally said. "I can take her."

Maybe giving her what she wanted would reveal how she knew him.

Grif gave a nervous shrug.

"If that's what you want-"

"Hey! Sinko!"

Fives turned to see Pez bounding towards him and Ahsoka. Fives returned the kid's infectious grin before he realized that Pez was being followed by two familiar faces.

"Hey, Pez." Fives said, trying to keep his voice casual. "Who are your friends?"

Pez's smile grew wider.

"These are Leaf and Bits!" He announced, shoving the two clones forward.

"Hey there." Fives said.

They both glanced his way and their eyes widened.

Fives was immediately worried by these two brothers. These two were young. They were probably shinies at the end of the war. They were in neat, but shabby and nearly identical clothes. Their hair was standard issue and they had no discerning tattoos. Fives' clone eyes quickly saw that Leaf's eyes had flecks of green in them, but otherwise they were identical. There was a nervousness in them.

They merely nodded at Fives.

"Where'd you find these two?" Fives asked Pez.

Pez gave his normal chuckle.

"They live near Pol's place!" He said. "Me and her have been keeping an eye on them. They work up at one of the factories in the industrial sector."

"Then what are you doing down here?" Fives asked the clones. "You know they've opened the barracks back up for clones. I'm sure it's nicer than any place you found down here."

Bits and Leaf shared a glance.

"We know." Leaf finally said.

That made Fives frown.

"What legion did you serve in?" He asked.

"The 41st." Leaf mumbled.

"Under General Unduli?" Fives prompted.

They nodded.

That explained some things. General Unduli had abandoned her troops at the Jedi Council's orders. The stress had killed Gree, but like the other legions deserted by their Jedi, other legions had absorbed the members of the 41st. Of course there'd be stragglers.

"This is their first time!" Pez said. "They need some extra cash, and I thought, well, if they're as good as you-"

He laughed again. Bits and Leaf both seemed to shrink at his words.

Fives doubted that these two shinies would be as good as him. He was an ARC and had fought for most of the war. But even the most average clone was a formidable fighter. He was sure these two could hold their own.

"They'll be fine." Ahsoka said.

The two glanced at Ahsoka with confusion. They wouldn't know her, if they were deployed after she had left the Jedi Order.

"Yup!" Pez agreed. "Give us a sec, gotta get them to Grif."

Fives watched them go.

"Did you get anything from them?" He asked Ahsoka in a mutter.

"They're nervous and guarded." Ahsoka said. "Though that's obvious. I think it's been a while since they've seen a brother."

"That's- odd." Fives said. "Why aren't they at the barracks?"

"I don't know." Ahsoka said. "It's good that they've come here. You can keep an eye on them."

Fives nodded. He would.

The crowds began trickling in soon after. It was a busy night. By the time Fives had finished giving Echo and Tech a quick comm to let them know that he was safely at Grif's, the place was full.

"Ashla, you're up!" Grif called. "Normal handicap!"

Fives helped Ahsoka tie her hands behind her back and she jumped into the ring. Her opponent was a bulky Zabrak with orangey skin.

"Well kriff, that bloke sharpens his horns!"

Pez had returned with Bits and Leaf in tow. Fives looked closer at Ahsoka's opponent. His horns did look wickedly sharp compared to Pez's.

"What's that mean?" Fives asked.

"That's he's a preening nuna." Pez said with a scoff. "Pol always said that any laser brain who feels the need to sharpen his horns has more of them than brains."

That made Fives smirk. The Zabrak Ahsoka was facing did seem cocky. He grinned and beckoned at Ahsoka.

"I'm surprised he didn't ask Ah- Ashla to fight him full on." Fives said.

"Grif probably talked him out of it." Pez said.

Fives felt- okay as he watched Ahsoka exchange blows with her opponent. It was good to have her back. And he realized with a jolt that he hadn't had one of his hateful thoughts since they had gotten here.

Ahsoka ended the match with a harsh knee to the groin and the crowd collectively winced as the Zabrak fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

"Good job!" Pez said to her as she lightly leapt out of the ring.

"Thanks." Ahsoka said. "I wish they'd bring back that Martok guy. He was actually fun to fight."

The next fights passed quickly, boring Fives until Pez's turn. The young Zabrack managed a daring victory against a hulking Nikto. Leaf and Bits had their turns. Leaf won. Bits didn't.

"Hey, good try!" Fives said as Bits limped down the ring steps. "You can't win them all!"

Bits merely looked away.

Fives put a hand on his shoulder. He would have bugged him more about it, but Grif had approached.

"Not bad, kid!" Grif boomed. "That human may not have looked like much, but they're a veteran fighter. Don't feel bad about it."

Bits shrugged.

"We'll both do better next time." Leaf said.

Fives frowned. He sounded like a cadet pleading with a trainer. Fives didn't like that tone.

"You're up, Sinko." Grif said. "If you're still sure."

"Yeah, it's no problem." Fives said.

Ahsoka gave him a firm pat on the shoulder as he climbed into the ring.

"Sinko vs. Woor!" The referee called.

"So." Fives said as the bell rang. "We meet again."

"Yes." Woor said.

Before Fives could think of a response, she lashed out with a clumsy fist. Fives easily parried the blow.

From that blow and her slightly wobbly stance, Fives could tell this woman hadn't been fighting hand to hand long. He raised an eyebrow. She had been so confident in their last meeting. She had given off a far more capable air then.

He'd make this quick.

Fives swung his fist in a left hook. He aimed for the shoulder, a gap between her armor. She stumbled back. Fives swept her legs easily. She landed on her back with a gasp.

"Stay down." He said.

Her visor tilted up towards him.

"No." She said.

"You helped me and Tech. I don't want to humiliate you." Fives said.

"No." Woor said again.

Fives blinked and let her get to her feet. Then he lunged forward, aiming for the bottom of her helmet. She tilted her head forward. Fives rammed his fist straight into the middle of her bucket.

He felt something crack.

"Shab!" Fives hissed, drawing back.

Woor landed a blow on his jaw, making him stumble further.

He caught her next punch. She strained against him, but it was like a cadet coming at a full grown trooper.

"Come on." Fives said. "I don't want to hurt you too bad."

Woor shook her head.

"Ne'tok'kad." She said in limping Mando'a.

Kriff! Fives thought. She really won't give up.

"Very Mandalorian of you." Fives said. "If it's what you want-"

He released her fist and tackled her to the ground. With a sharp clang, Woor's helmet bashed onto the floor. Fives stood up. It was a common tactic to win a fight against brothers. She wouldn't be unconscious, but she'd be badly dazed. And she was, long enough for the referee to call out "Ten!" and Fives to win.

No one came to help her up, so Fives held out a hand. Her visor bored into him a moment before she accepted his help. Fives waited until he had gotten her out of the ring before raising an eyebrow at her.

"So, you want to tell me why you wanted to fight me?" He asked.

Woor took off her gauntlets, stretching her bruised fingers. It took her a moment to respond.

"I-" She finally said. "I wanted to be friends."

Friends? Fives thought. She had turned out so differently than he had believed from their first meeting. She had been confident and sure, threatening the bartender so smoothly. He hadn't expected her to be so awkward.

"Friends." Fives repeated. "So you challenged me to a fight?"

Woor shrugged.

"It seemed like the Mandalorian thing to do."

Fives couldn't help but laugh.

"You're the oddest-sounding Mandalorian I've ever met." He said.

"I haven't been a Mandalorian long." Woor confessed.

That explained a few things, mainly her lack of fighting expertise.

"Hey, Sinko!"

Pez had bounded up to him with Bits and Leaf following behind.

"I was gonna take these two back to Pol's for a drink, to celebrate their first matches!" He said. "You wanna come?"

Fives hesitated.

"Let me grab Ashla and see what she thinks."

Ahsoka was talking to Grif nearby. Fives waved her over.

"Do you want to grab a drink at Pol's with this lot?" He asked as she approached.

Ahsoka frowned thoughtfully.

"One drink." She said. "I need to get back to Rex soon."

On a whim Fives turned to Woor.

"You wanna come?" He asked.

"I would." Woor said. She seemed to hesitate before punching Fives solidly on the shoulder. It didn't hurt, but Fives still blinked at her. "Will you be ordering another Fuzzy Tauntaun?"

Fives felt himself grin. He was actually excited to go. The intrusive thoughts had fled, at least for now.

"You'll have to find out." He said with a wink.

Mando'a:

shebs: butt

shab: basically the eff word

ne'tok'kad: no retreat

Rex had his progress last chapter, so it's Fives' turn. He and Ahsoka finally get to reconcile, he gets to punch someone, he has less intrusive thoughts, he gets to worry about someone else, it's great! Obviously he has a ways to go, but he gets to look up.

Another cameo of my sister's amazing OC Pez! She works so hard to write, but she has four kids and she's been stuck on a particular part for a long time. Hopefully she'll be back to posting soon.

Reminder that Fives is seeing Rex as he remembers. He doesn't quite know how much Rex has improved, so that's why he's so sad about him.

This chapter pretty much squashes any ideas you guys had about Woor being Arla. Sorry... I didn't even realize people would make that connection. We will learn more about Woor soon! And yes, she's supposed to be WAY awkward here.

I think that's everything for now.

Stay safe, remember to review, and have a great week!