Claimed:

Only seconds after he'd been told to stay put, Rex heard the most beloved voice in his mind again. Technically, it had probably been only a few hours since he'd heard her in his head for the first time, but it felt like an eternity.

Being spat out through a wormhole and crashing on a strange planet would do that.

He was surprised enough that he accidentally responded with the endearment version of her name as he sprang to his feet, eyes going wide and drawing the attention of everyone else in the transport. Cody, Tezza, the cops, the yellow minions. Even the two tookas looked at him curiously.

"Yes, Rexi, it's me. I'm here."

She didn't comment on what he'd called her, but Rex had no doubt that he'd hear about it later. "Here where?" he asked back, confused. And then dawning realization filled him with horror. "Not on the wrong side of the wormhole?!"

She laughed in his mind, sounding like a beautiful bell, as always. "Seriously, Rex. Don't you know my Master and I at all yet?"

Rex groaned under his breath, because, yes, he did. Two people more reckless and uncaring of their own precious safety did not exist, he was absolutely positive. "He flew you through the wormhole, didn't he?"

"Yep." She sounded immensely proud of that fact.

Rex would have facepalmed if he didn't have a whole cargo hold full of eyes on him right now. "Where are you now?"

"Right outside your transport."

Rex gasped, his heart suddenly pounding, and he all but bounded towards the exit. A couple of the minions moved to stop him from leaving, but Rex was way faster, already sliding through the still opening door before they even half rose to their feet. They were fast enough to stop Cody, though, who he heard trying and failing to follow. "I'm coming out!"

"Good, because there's a man all dressed up in a yellow contamination suit not letting me in while simultaneously trying very hard not to pop his eyes out of his head as he stares at me in utter disbelief."

That statement only proved how sweet Ahsoka really was, because if she wanted to make the man (who was undoubtedly Smythe) move out of her way, Ahsoka could have done so with a flick of her fingers.

Rex ran through the back edge of the cockpit of the transport (bringing forth even more exclamations of alarm from the pilots), out the door, and halfway down the steps which were blocked at the bottom by Smythe in a set stance. A smirking Anakin was walking over across the roof with a rushing-to-catch-up General Kenobi only a couple steps behind him, making Rex do a split-second double take, but then he focused downwards again almost immediately, drawn to the light of his life, as always.

Rex paused his rush halfway down the steps as Ahsoka peered around Smythe and gave him a beaming smile and silly little finger wave. "Hi, Rexi."

Not willing to wait the time it would take to talk his temporary 'keeper' out of the way, Rex jumped off the edge of the stairwell, landing easily at the two metre drop from long practice of doing crazy stunts. Smythe wasn't even close to fast enough to stop Ahsoka from sidestepping him and meeting Rex beside the stairs in a blur of motion.

He heard Smythe curse and say Rex's name along with some other words that he flat out just tuned out, because all he could see or focus on was Ahsoka. Now right in front of him and looking up at him with beautiful sky blue eyes filling with tears of relief and happiness as she scanned his face for injuries and only finding the one bandage covered one on his temple that he hardly even felt anymore. "You're okay," she breathed, and then she was flinging herself up into his arms and wrapping all of her limbs around him in a fierce hug, her face buried in his neck.

After a moment of shock that he shared over her shoulder with the approaching Jedi Master (the Knight was outright grinning now), Rex hugged her back just as tight, careful to put his arms below her back lek so he didn't squish it. "Yeah. I'm okay. Generation One clone soldiers are tougher than your average wormhole," he joked.

Ahsoka sniffed a laugh into his neck before she pulled back enough so he could see her face again. It didn't go unnoticed that neither of them wanted to let go, not now that he finally had her in his arms where she belonged. She leveled him with a look somewhere between serious and teasing as she said, "I wish I could command you to never scare me like that again, but I know it would be pointless and awfully hypocritical."

Rex chuckled. "Yeah. It would."

If Obi-Wan thought he had been shocked when Ahsoka bolted out of the conference room, it was nothing compared to the bombshell of seeing her launch herself at Captain Rex like he was her long-lost mate.

He'd almost caught up to Anakin, who'd rushed after Ahsoka without even glancing at their hosts (Obi-Wan had at least sent Administer Champilo a quick look of apology before he rushed after his two rude Padawans to find out what the kriff was going on), when the girl attached herself to the Captain like a many-tentacled sea creature. Obi-Wan nearly stumbled over his own feet. What the shab is she doing? I know we came here to get the clones because they're our very good friends, but that… looks like more. Waaaaay more.

Anakin paused and looked over his shoulder at Obi-Wan, waiting for him to catch up with the most epic, poodoo-eating grin on his face. "That's because it is way more, Master. She's doing her version of the Togruta claiming thing."

Obi-Wan's eyebrows climbed up to his hairline. "Well then... I'd be rather stupid to admonish her for that, wouldn't I?"

Anakin sniggered as he hooked an arm around Obi-Wan's shoulders in a move of warm friendship that he hadn't used in what felt like forever. "Yeah. Unless you want to go back to your Duchess looking like a piece of abstract art."

The elder Jedi snorted elegantly. "I'd rather not. Satine already grumbles about how often new scars appear on my body thanks to this stupid war."

"Ha!" Anakin crowed. "You do have a romantic relationship with her!"

"I didn't say…" Obi-Wan cut himself off as he replayed his own words and sighed at Anakin's raised eyebrow. "Fine. I admit I'm breaking the code too. I'm also married, and to make it even worse, we have a kid that we have to keep secret so her people don't revolt."

Anakin stopped them and stared at Obi-Wan with huge eyes for a moment, and then he was bent over, clinging to Obi-Wan's waist to hold himself up as he wheezed with laughter so bad he couldn't speak. Unfortunately, the tall, heavy brat could still think. "It's that Korkie kid, isn't it? The one about the same age as Ahsoka and looks a little too much like you to be a coincidence?"

"Yes." Obi-Wan admitted, pushing Anakin off him when his guffaws became ridiculous.

The beloved bane of his existence just laughed harder, only a step away from actually rolling around on the duracrete surface of the roof.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and then smiled as if absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary at the man dressed in a yellow contamination suit (why?) who appeared to be guarding (badly) the entrance to the transport ship that still contained his already-missed clone Commander. (He could feel him in there. And Cody, at least, was a sane rock in the swirling storm of insanity known as secret families, wars, obstinate Councils, and crazy Padawans.) Even knowing the endeavour was probably fruitless, Obi-Wan asked the suited man in Basic, "Hello, I don't suppose you'd let Cody out now, would you? I could really use him down here."

Rex and his beautiful girl stared at each other for who knows how long, ignoring the interactions between Smythe and Kenobi (which was mostly hand gestures and contrasting languages), and his somehow-not-surprising cackling General who may have lost it. (But Rex had been waiting for that to happen for a while now, so…. Yep. Ignoring them all.)

And then Ahsoka raised a white eye marking at him. "Soooooo, Ahso'ika?"

Rex blushed. Vividly, judging by the heat in his face. "Knew you'd catch that."

"Did." She hugged his neck tighter, bringing their faces close enough together so that their noses almost touched. Her eyes… the hope in them made his lungs stop functioning. "Did you mean it?" she whispered. Practically begged, in fact.

He knew that it would be better for her in the long run if he called it a mistake. Knew that he was already living his life on borrowed time. Knew that if she became too attached to him, she'd hurt all the more when he did die, either in the war or in a couple decades when his body failed. And he didn't ever want her to hurt like that. But Rex gave in to a moment of weakness and told the truth. "With every beat of my foolish heart," he whispered back, incapable of lying to those huge, begging eyes despite how much he knew he should. "You stole it the day I met you and it's been yours ever since."

A sweet smile dawned on her face as she tilted her forehead to rest on his in a move she had to know meant a great deal to a Mandalorian, and even more so to the clones who clung to their heritage the way they were never able cling to the traitor of a man who should have been a father to them all. The Keldabe Kiss (not the helmeted headbutt version done in combat) was for family. For clan. For brothers in arms. And most important, for one's cyar'ika. Which she proved as she stared straight into his eyes and breathed out, "I love you too, Rex'ika. For just as long. I've wanted to ask you something forever, but didn't know if I should. Now I don't care about that anymore. I can't bear to be parted from you any longer. I need my mate. I need you. Please?"

Rex had known from their first battle together on Christophsis that the spunky little Togrutan girl was meant to be his beloved soulmate, but because of her status as a Jedi and his as a replaceable clone, he'd resigned himself to knowing only her friendship for as long as he could. But now… Now she was giving him so much more. And there wasn't a single thing in the galaxy that could stop him from accepting her emphatically murmured proposal. Rex would spacewalk back through that wormhole if she asked him to at this point. His answer came out nearly as breathless as her question, but no less enthusiastic. "Yes! Forever yes! I've always been yours and I always will be."

Cody glared at the two minions who'd dared to get in his way and stop him from following Rex out of the transport. "Move," he growled.

Despite the language barrier, it didn't take a genius to understand him. The minions were certainly smart enough to shake their heads inside their suits and look even more stubborn despite the fact that each barely held a squiggling tooka who'd also tried to follow Rex out the door.

Cody had more than half a mind to toss them out of his way – he knew he could – but he knew that wouldn't leave a good impression with Tezza, considering the tookas and all. And… the cops were now standing as well with their hands on their weapons in a clear order not to cause any trouble.

To make his decision to stand down even easier, Tezza put her hand on his arm. All the tension flowed out of his body before he even heard her say, "Cody. No." (It felt like the negative Earth word was the first one he'd learned.)

Cody turned back to the young woman who'd somehow stolen his heart in less than an hour and smiled ruefully, feeling a little like a misbehaving puppy as he sat down again beside her. "Okay. I suppose I can always beat them up later," he joked. Mostly.

"What?" Tezza looked confused, of course, because she didn't speak Basic, and he didn't know more than a few handfuls of words so far of her language. (Including that one.) But he was learning. His eidetic memory would give him time later to go over all the conversations they had so far via computer translations, plus what he'd seen/heard on the cartoon show, heard from others around them, and so on, until he could puzzle out everything into more words that she would understand. He just needed an hour or two to sit in his own head and then he could surprise her. Cody really wanted to do that. Really.

He hoped he got the chance.

Ahsoka stared into the most stunning set of golden amber eyes ever created, reading the promise in them that came with his words. She felt her heart soar at the devotion and love he was letting her see as the Force all but swirled around them in a dance of euphoria that echoed the one currently playing in her bloodstream.

They were bonded in the Force forevermore just as much as they would be bonded in body, heart, and soul. (The body part, she would get to as soon as possible, considering the situation.)

Not even the formidable Jedi Order would dare get between a Togrutan and their claimed mate, whether she was supposed to follow their rules or not. She'd be much like a pissed off nexu with lightsabres if they tried to keep them apart, no question.

"My Rexi," she purred, rubbing her nose against his lightly, her lips curved up in smile that felt like it would never leave. His armour covered body was unwavering under her weight and felt amazing between her arms and legs, like the pillar of reliable strength he'd always been. But… she wanted to strip him down to just skin so she could taste him and learn him and mark him with her teeth (just a little) and finally satiate her curiosity about what lay beneath the black bodysuits the clones never stripped fully out of in her sight. (Technically, she'd probably seen a nearly whole man a hundred times over if you put together all the times she'd helped bandage injuries after each battle, but it just wasn't the same as getting the entire unbloodied and nonbruised package.)

"Yours," he agreed as one of his hands rose to cup the back of her head. "And you're mine," he added, his soft lips brushing over the wing mark on her cheek.

"Yesssss," she breathed as she kissed his cheek in return. And then Ahsoka let her head turn, lips sliding along his stubble-roughened skin in tiny kisses, until her mouth met his and she pressed them together.

"Ahso'ika. Mine. Mine. Mine." Rex chanted in her mind as they discovered how to move together to make their mouths fit like electrified puzzle pieces.

Touching him like this - arms wrapped around his neck, hands on his soft, short hair, thighs gripping his utility belt, chest pressed to his, lips plastered to his, and his hands on her head and lekku in return – was something she'd dreamed of doing for a very long time. She'd actually spent many hours lying in bed at night, imagining just this moment, and the reality was even better than her fantasies. (Except for the small factor that his hard, lumpy belt was probably going to leave bruises on her legs, but she didn't care.)

"My Rexi. My Rexi," she chanted right back, determined that she was going to keep kissing him for as long as she could.

Into eternity would be preferable.