It's for FossilQueen1984 and inspired by MAR (Since it was this guest's idea for the whole thing).
My first time writing scenes from the Star Wars Clone Wars (off-script, of course). Wish me luck!
Sequel/Connected to "Are You Single?" Enjoy!
X
"You sure you'll be okay here by yourself, Kanan?"
"Yeah, I will," Kanan nodded as he sat down in the common room. "Besides, Rex will be here soon to keep me company,"
"Alright, alright," Hera sighed and waved him off, turning to the direction of the Phantom, where Ezra and Zeb were already waiting for her with Chopper. "But just remember that we'll be out for two days. Ezra's going to be your nearest contact since I'm going to drop him off in Krownest for the weekend. If you need anything, just call him up, okay?"
"Don't think I should," Kanan shook his head. "I don't want to disturb Ezra's date with Tristan,"
Hera chuckled. "Right. Well, you can still call him. See ya in two days,"
Kanan waited until he couldn't feel her presence. After he heard the Phantom detach, he slumped back on the chair with a sigh.
He thought back to a few days ago, when he, Ursa, Rau, and Sabine witnessed Tristan and Ezra first got together. Ursa questioning the rule of the Jedi when it came to attachments was a question that he was prepared of, but Rau's question caught him off-guard, yet it gave him a good laugh too.
He and Hera were close, yes, but their Twi'lek Captain had lost interest in men when her father kept arranging her to other males. Needless to say, their relationship status were diminished from possible couple to just friends.
Kanan let out another sigh, placing his hands on his stomach as he leaned back and rested his head.
Even if he and Hera never got together, he still remembered when he broke the rule of the Jedi Council when it came to attachments. At first, he didn't know he had, but, honestly, it was difficult to know…
{FLASHBACK}
13-year old Jedi Padawan Caleb Dume was outside, shadow-sparring with his lightsaber. His small Padawan braid waved through the air as he sparred with the wind. His long, dark brown robe was getting in the way of his sparring, but he didn't let that bother him as he continued without a word.
Suddenly, the sound of a shuttle's engines caught his attention, and he looked up to see one of the Republic's shuttles preparing to land.
"Caleb!" He turned to see his Jedi Master, Depa Billaba, walking towards him.
"Master," He kept his lightsaber and bowed. "Who's arriving?"
"Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi," Depa replied, setting a hand on his shoulder. "I want you to stay here while I talk to them, okay?"
"Yes, Master," Caleb nodded before watching Depa turn and walk off towards the shuttle.
The ramp opened to reveal Master Anakin Skywalker and Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Caleb watched them talk from afar before his attention was turned to the two creatures that stood behind them. Skywalker motioned the two to Depa, who then motioned towards Caleb, calling him over with a hand, so he rushed to her side immediately.
"This is my Padawan, Caleb Dume," Depa proudly spoke, wrapping an arm around him. "Caleb, this is Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi. And this," She motioned to the young orange Togruta, who looked at least 15 years of age. "is Master Skywalker's Padawan, Ahsoka Tano,"
"And this is the Captain of my Clone Battalion," Anakin added as he pointed over to the blonde man behind him with cleanly-cut hair and wearing blue-tinted clone armor. "CT-7567; Captain Rex,"
"Of course, of course," Depa smiled and bowed, causing Caleb to bow with her. "Hello, Captain,"
"Master Billaba," Rex returned the bow.
"Depa, it is urgent that we speak to the Jedi Council," Obi-wan interrupted.
"Alright then," Depa nodded then she turned to her Padawan. "Caleb, stay here and keep Ahsoka and Captain Rex company, understood?"
"Yes, Master," Caleb gave a nod and bowed in reply.
"Behave yourself, Snips," Anakin chuckled at his Padawan then he looked over at the clone. "Keep an eye on the younglings, Rex,"
"Yes, sir," Rex saluted with a nod.
'Who is he calling a youngling?' Caleb had to keep himself from pouting as he watched the Jedi Masters take their leave.
Once the trio were far, he turned to see the Togruta, Ahsoka, approaching him with a smile.
"Hi there," she greeted with a wave.
"Um… hi," Caleb waved back awkwardly.
"Caleb, right?"
"Y-Yeah… Ahsoka, if I'm not mistaken?"
"Yep, I'm Ahsoka, Ahsoka Tano," she grinned.
"Caleb, Caleb Dume," They reached out and shook hands.
"Nice to meet you," Ahsoka said. "Nice robe,"
"Thanks," Caleb gave a shy smile. "I like your two lightsabers,"
"Thanks, I earned them," Ahsoka puffed out her chest proudly.
"Say… aren't you… too old to be a Padawan?"
Ahsoka blinked at him before he let out a laugh. "Really, now? And Skyguy told me when I first him that I was too young to be a Padawan,"
"Uh… Skyguy?" Caleb raises an eyebrow.
"Oh, Master Skywalker," Ahsoka snickered. "I nicknamed him Skyguy to piss him off while he nicknamed me Snips because I was snippy at him at our first meeting,"
"You get to call your Master by a nickname?" Caleb stared at her with surprise. "That's… actually pretty cool,"
"Eh," Ahsoka shrugged smugly. "it is cool, especially when it comes to pissing him off,"
Caleb nodded and looked up to see Rex glancing down at a data-pad.
He and his master have a clone battalion of their own. He, however, wasn't close with clones, but he considered them as friends of his and his master. The only thing he knew about the clones were that their age and their physical appearances didn't match. Their clones were only 20 years old, but they looked like they were at their mid-30s already.
"Hey, Ahsoka?"
"Yeah?"
"How… old is your clone Captain?"
Ahsoka gave it a thought before giving a shrug. "Don't know. Maybe mid-20s?"
"You don't ask?" Caleb tilted his head.
"No, not yet…" Ahsoka grinned then he grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the clone. "Let's go and ask him then!"
"W-Wait," Caleb had never truly interacted with the clones before. He had only asked them questions when his master tells him to, and he only answers questions they ask to him, but a true conversation? The clones looked a little intimidating for his liking, so he never got the chance. "I… I didn't mean—"
"Hey, Rex!"
"Yeah?" Rex looked up from his data-pad to eye the two younglings.
"How old are you?" Ahsoka asked.
"Why do you ask?" Rex raised an eyebrow, setting his pad down.
"Caleb was curious, and I didn't know," the Togruta shrugged.
Rex blinked at her before glancing down at the boy, who gulped and looked away to avoid eye contact while his cheeks puffed with redness.
Caleb had no idea why, but this clone felt… different from the rest. Through the Force and just from his gut feeling, he could immediately sense that Rex was not just an ordinary clone to Master Skywalker and to Ahsoka.
And certainly not an ordinary clone to him.
"Well…" Rex sighed. "how old do you think I am?"
"25-ish," Ahsoka chuckled. "Well, you LOOK like you're 25-ish,"
"Clones are designed to age faster and to look older than normal creatures," Rex clarified with a grin.
Ahsoka's smile faltered into a look of shock. Caleb rolled his eyes at her reaction.
It was getting too obvious that she hadn't been a Skywalker's Padawan for very long, especially if she hadn't studied that much on clones yet.
"O-Oh…" After a while, Ahsoka finally recovered from her shock. "So… how old are you then?"
"16,"
Ahsoka soon choked on her own breath as shock came back to her. Caleb himself was taken back.
He expected Rex to be younger than 20, but he didn't expect him to only be 3 years older than him.
"16???" his jaw dropped in amazement.
"Yeah, I'm one of the late clones," Rex grinned at them. "I lead the 501st Battalion, after all,"
That grin was incredibly infectious, and before Caleb knew it, he was smiling back, the red on his cheeks never fading.
"The 501st? Master Billaba's battalion is 135th," he spoke, attempting to make his first conversation with a clone that was near his age (no matter how adult-looking he looked).
"Ah, yes, the 135th Battalion, led by Commander Equine," Rex nodded, recalling all the battalions and their leaders. "A bit reckless, but loyal and trustworthy. He's won plenty of battles. Where is he now, anyway?"
"Master sent him off to scout the Southern part of Coruscant after the Jedi Council received a distress signal from there," Caleb replied. "That's all the info I know,"
"And how about you, kid?" Rex went on. "How old are you?"
"First of all, my name's Caleb, Caleb Dume, not kid," Caleb frowned. So much for a good conversation. He wanted to not be upset about it, but the clone had started to annoy him with the nickname 'kid'. "Secondly, I'm not a kid. I'm 13 years old, so I'm a teen,"
"That's cool. I'm 15," Ahsoka smiled as she recovered from her second shock joined in the conversation.
"You two are still younglings to me," Rex teased.
"You're only a few years older than me, Rex," Caleb huffed, crossing arms. "Looks can be deceiving,"
"You're an adorable kid, Caleb," Rex chuckled as he ruffled the boy's hair.
"H-Hey!" Caleb's face now burnt. Either in embarrassment or annoyance, he couldn't tell. How this clone managed to make him blush while either frustrating or flattering him was another thing he couldn't process. "I'm not adorable, and I'm not a kid!"
"With the braid and the robe, you sure are adorable," Rex snickered. "And with that voice, you sure sound like a kid,"
"And with that tone, you sound like you're flirting, Rex," Ahsoka giggled.
"Flirting? What's that?" Rex turned to her, confused.
Caleb was dumbstruck. He didn't know what had left him speechless more; the fact that Rex sounded like he was actually flirting, or the fact that Rex didn't KNOW what flirting was. He wanted to laugh, but at the same time, he wanted to run to his master and hide.
But he still had one question on his mind; why was he reacting like he was flattered yet annoyed by the clone's words?
He snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed Ahsoka and Rex a distance from him, talking and whispering. He couldn't hear them, but he assumed that the Togruta was explaining to the clone what 'flirting' was. He didn't want to interrupt them, so he just watched them awkwardly, biting his bottom lip and fidgeting with his small braid…
{END OF FLASHBACK}
Kanan sighed, shaking his head.
If he had to admit, Rex wasn't too bad to look at. He knew that clones were well-built, and he had to guess that Rex was more… muscular under all that armor.
'Damn it, why?' Kanan had to slap a hand on his face to hide as he felt the blood rush back to his face. 'No, no, no, no, no…!'
He shook his head repeatedly. Master Billaba had that he was not to be closely attached to anyone because it would interfere with his focus and how he used the Force. Even Master Yoda had repeatedly taught him and his other fellow Jedi Padawans that attachments would interfere with their training. He didn't get how, and he still didn't.
Even up to now.
Kanan's thoughts soon returned to memory lane.
He had only seen Rex and Ahsoka once before the Clone Wars. After that was all blood, war and death. He was 14 when his master had been killed by Commander Equine, and he had ran off to hide as the other Clones came after him. He had hidden to the hanger and had met Hera when she was 13. They took her old freighter, the Ghost, and they flew off as far as possible.
He had changed his name from Caleb Dume to Kanan Jarrus, but no one knew that. Not even Hera. It was a surprise that they had gotten in contact with Ahsoka a month after picking up Ezra, but even if she didn't know who he was. Not until he had told her and Rex at least a year ago…
{FLASHBACK}
"It's great that you came, Kanan," Ahsoka had told him as she led him to the lounge of Phoenix Home, where Rex was waiting for them on the couch with a beer bottle and three small glass cups on the short table in the middle. "It's a shame that Captain Syndulla couldn't come,"
"Hera's got some stuff to do, and she's got to take care of the 'kids' while she's at it," Kanan grinned with a shrug before he caught sight of the clone. "Rex,"
"Commander Jarrus," Rex chuckled, motioning the two beside him.
"I'm no Commander," Kanan frowned as he sat beside him but with a little distance.
"I told him and my Master that once in the past after I left the Jedi Order," Ahsoka sat on the other side of the clone. "But It seems that clones are programmed to pay respect to the Jedi,"
"Then explain Order 66," Kanan gave them a dark glare.
"I told you before. It was the chips that were implanted on us that made us kill the Jedi," Rex sighed, pouring each of them a glass of liquor. "I even tried to kill Ahsoka myself,"
Kanan stared at him in disbelief. He turned and glanced over at the older Jedi with a raised eyebrow. Ahsoka returned a smile.
"It's true," she confirmed as she picked up her glass and took a sip. "but I was able to rescue him and remove his chip before he could do anything else or hurt anyone else,"
"You were able to remove his chip but not remove the other clones' chips?" Kanan frowned.
"It was harder than we make it sound," Rex grumbled, taking hold of his glass to drink. "I mean, getting Wolffe and Gregor's chips was already difficult. What else for all of the clones in all of the battalions?"
Kanan growled as he picked up his glass to take a sip. The clone Captain was the same as before. Serious-looking and very annoying. The only difference was that he looked older, his blonde hair had gone away and a snowy white beard had taken it's place. Old or not, for some reason, Rex was still well-built. Shorter, but still muscular.
As attractive as before? THAT Kanan had no idea.
"Order 66 aside," Rex spoke up, snapping Kanan from his thoughts. "say, Kanan, how'd you become a Jedi?"
"Excuse me?" Kanan blinked at him with confusion.
"I mean… well… eh…" Rex hissed, trying to find the right words to say but failing, so he just shrugged it off and turned to Ahsoka for help.
The Togruta chuckled and spoke for the clone. "I have never heard of your name at the Jedi Order before. Not even in the list of Padawans. If you had trained in the Clone Wars then we both trained at the same time, but I've never even once heard or seen your name, Kanan,"
Kanan was surprised before realization dawned upon him a second too late. He had been drinking while he listened, and his shot had nearly gone the wrong way when he realized that they had no idea who the hell he was with his name changed. He was soon choking on his own drink, so he forced it down his throat, coughing to catch his breath.
Ahsoka and Rex were immediately alert and set down their cups down to help the man out. The older Jedi took the cup and placed it down on the table while the clone repeatedly patted his back.
"Woah, take it easy there," Rex chuckled as the coughing ceased.
"Are you alright, Kanan?" Ahsoka asked, her eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"Y… Yeah…" Kanan took a deep breath before letting out a final cough. "I guess… I guess after all these years, I kinda forgot who I am. Or who I WAS, at least…"
Realization dawned upon the Togruta, her ocean blue eyes widening in surprise.
"You… You changed your name to Kanan Jarrus to hide out from the Empire…"
"Yes, I did," Kanan nodded. "I had to, anyway, so they could never find out I was a Jedi Padawan,"
"So… who were you back then?" Rex raised an eyebrow.
"Well…" Kanan shrugged, letting a small smile escape his lips. "to you, Rex, I was what you called a 'kid', no matter how annoying it was since I was technically a teenager and since we were only 3 years apart since you were 16 and I was 13…"
Ahsoka blinked at the younger Jedi in confusion. She tilted her head and turned to the clone with a questioning look.
Rex himself was trying to process what the man had said until he recalled where he had heard those words before. He took a step back, his eyes wide as he narrowed his eyes at Kanan, studying him and analyzing him for a moment before the truth was dumped over him like water.
"…Caleb…?"
Kanan's smile widened before nodding in approval.
Ahsoka gasped, her eyes widening in realization. She held her hand up and closed her eyes to focus.
Kanan could feel her looking into him and his mind through the Force. It was a little discomforting, but he let her do as she pleased, knowing that resisting would result to suspicion.
"It… It is you, Caleb…" Ahsoka opened her eyes and smiled. "I can't believe you're still alive…"
"I couldn't believe it when I realized you were alive, Ahsoka," Kanan chuckled. "I didn't even want to believe it since I thought I was the only Padawan who survived,"
"What happened to you?" Rex asked. "How'd you escape Commander Equine and the 135th Clone Battalion?"
"And… what happened to Master Depa Billaba?" Ahsoka added.
"I ran." Kanan let out a shaky breath. "Ran as fast and as far away as I could. Commander Equine shot Master Billaba dead, so I ran. I met Hera at the hanger, and we left Coruscant on the Ghost. That… That was the first time I used the name Kanan Jarrus…"
"Captain Syndulla doesn't know who you were?" Rex raised an eyebrow.
"No one does," Kanan sighed. "well, no one except you guys now,"
"Better safe than sorry, I guess," Ahsoka grinned.
"Please don't tell the others," Kanan's eyebrows furrowed with plead. "None of my crew members know about me, and I don't want to risk it,"
"Don't worry about it, Caleb, er, Kanan," Rex corrected with a snicker, wrapping an around the Jedi. "Secret's safe with us,"
"Thanks…" Kanan smiled over at the clone before they dismissed the topic and returned to their drinks…
{END OF FLASHBACK}
That was probably one of the times he and Rex got along.
After that were just series of adventures and long talks either in the clone's room back in Phoenix Home or his room in the Ghost. Visits had turned into one-night sleepovers, and those sleepovers soon turned into temporary week-long stays in the ship.
Sparks just had to fly all over them during their interactions, and they both found themselves attached, much to Kanan's misfortune and self-recklessness.
Suddenly, he felt another ship's presence nearby, snapping him from his memories and thoughts. He sat up straight and heard the ship attach to the Ghost. He let out a sigh of relief as he heard footsteps approaching him. He immediately recognized the footsteps and leaned back to hear the door to the common room slide open then a familiar voice spoke up.
"Looks like you're home alone,"
Kanan chuckled.
"Hi, Rex,"
"Hey, kid," Kanan snorted at the nickname as he heard the clone walk and sit beside him, an arm stretched behind and over Kanan's shoulders.
"Kid? Really? I'm 31, Rex,"
"Yeah, but compared to how I look, you're a child," Rex grinned before reaching over to stroke the Jedi's beard. "Well, except for this, but hey, at least we match,"
"Eh, at least," Kanan smiled and leaned his head on the clone's shoulder.
The two stayed like that for a while, staring up at the ceiling (well, Rex was at least) in peace and quiet. Kanan sighed and removed his mask, setting it down on the table.
"I really wish I could see you," he finally said as he leaned forward and crossed his arms.
Rex frowned and sat up straight. He cupped the man's chin before yanking it gently and pulling the Jedi into a brief kiss.
"I think it's better if you don't see me as an old man," he chuckled. "All I care is that I see you, Caleb,"
"I'll always be Caleb to you, aren't I?" Kanan smiled.
"To me, you'll always be that adorable and flustered kid I met in Coruscant," Rex snickered. "And the Commander I fell for,"
"And you'll always be the Captain I got attached to," Kanan leaned forward, pressing his forehead on the other's.
Maybe breaking the rule about the whole 'attachment thing' wasn't a bad idea, and it surely didn't give him karma.