Cody had been injured. It wasn't too bad, just a blaster to the right shoulder… that was stinging like kriff. But Cody had seen worse and knew that he'd be fine… if he didn't bleed to death… and if he made it back to the medical tent before then. Even so, he had never seen his General so terrified in his whole life.

At the moment, the two were hunkered down behind a few rocks as clankers shot over their heads. Cody had a blaster in his right hand, his left hand pressing against the injury to stall the bleeding. General Kenobi was attempting to look at the wound, but the commander was being his stubborn self. Again.

"Just let me see-"

"General. I am fine."

"Cody, you're armor has gone from white to red in minutes. Let me see it."

"General, you must return with the others. I'll be fine."

"You will be fine? Cody, you'll die!"

The commander gritted his teeth in pain as he shifted to look at his general better, "Sir, I am a clone. You are a general. You need to get back before the droid army gets to this position. I will buy you some time-"

"Absolutely not!" Obi-Wan glared at clone. "I'm not leaving you here to die."

"General, there are thousands of me and one of you. You-"

"There is only one of you!" The Jedi growled.

Cody paused in his argument and cocked his head, trying to understand his general's logic. Only one of me? What does he mean? There are thousands of men identical to me… Out loud, he simply asked, "Sir?"

He saw the Jedi sigh, tiredly running a hand through his ginger hair. "There is only one of you, Cody." The Jedi repeated, softly this time. "I can feel each of you soldiers through the Force. You have unique signatures that cannot be replaced or replicated, no matter how alike you may look and act."

Cody tilted his head slightly, very confused. "General?"

"You. Are not. The same." Obi-Wan stressed the point again. "You are different in the Force even if you look the same."

"Sir, what does that mean?" Cody grunted slightly and he suddenly realized he had dropped his blaster. He attempted to grab it, but found that the feeling was gone from his arm.

Of course this is asked in the middle of a battle… Obi-Wan had to resist the urge to sigh and snapped his focus to the incoming clankers. "Cody, I need you to stay with me."

"General, no-" The clone began to cough and his breathing was becoming more haggard. Cody vaguely realized his wound must be worse than he previously thought.

"No more arguing, Commander," the Jedi insisted.

The last thing that Cody saw was his general drawing his saber and engaging the oncoming enemy. Then everything went dark.

XXX

Everything was fuzzy and strangely muted. Cody felt like someone had stabbed his shoulder with a vibro knife. Repeatedly. He moaned and cracked open his eyes then slammed them shut as the light blinded him.

A distant voice was mumbling something and the commander strained to make it out.

"...General… fast… clankers…"

Cody opened his eyes again, blinking to focus. His vision slowly cleared and he was slightly surprised to see Rex sitting next to him, muttering to himself. The captain glanced up, and his face immediately broke into a grin. "Cody! You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Like I got ran over by a Separatist Tank."

Rex nodded slowly, "You got pretty darn close to that, actually."

"...What?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

Cody scrambled his brain and remembered hunkering down behind a giant boulder… and General Kenobi falling out of the sky from nowhere landing next to him, probably using the Force… "I was pinned down with General Kenobi, trying to get him to leave."

The other clone nodded, patiently waiting for Cody to continue. The commander furrowed his brows, thinking. General Kenobi wouldn't leave, saying something about the Force… and everything was blurry after that. He shook his head. "The general was trying to convince me to get up, but I was determined to try and help him escape. He wouldn't budge and then… I think I passed out." His face went from confused to horrified in a split second. "Where's the General?"

Rex pushed the struggling Cody back onto his back. "Relax, he's fine. He went with General Skywalker to check in with General Windu."

Slowly, Cody laid back down and closed his eyes. "Thank goodness… Why does he have to be so stubborn?"

"Was it easier to deal with him when he used you as a pillow?"

Cody groaned and looked at his now smiling brother. "Rex, he did not-" he stopped, knowing it wouldn't help the situation.

Rex's grin faded slightly, "Seriously Cody, I have never been so terrified of General Kenobi when he came back with you slung over his shoulder. I was watching from the distance when you were shot down. I was going to go back before General Skywalker stopped me. The two of us watched through some binoculars as the General fended off the clankers, slung you up onto his back, and ran through enemy lines. A tank was right behind you at one point, but General Kenobi pushed it back. It. Was. Terrifying. I have never seen a Jedi move that fast..."

Cody frowned slightly at the image in his mind. He resisted the urge to groan aloud at his General's stubbornness. "Well, Rex, you should probably check in with your General before Kix has a fit and kicks you out."

The captain glanced behind him, obviously looking for the medic. "Yeah, I probably should. He was threatening me with a sedate earlier if I even tried to touch you…" Rex shuddered. "I swear, Kix's the scariest when he's in 'medic mode'."

Cody laughed softly before stopping abruptly as his shoulder throbbed. It wasn't a good idea to move at all right now...

Rex shot his older brother a sympathetic look before standing. "Get better soon, Pillow. Your General's probably going to need you to have a good shoulder so he can fall asleep on it."

Cody glared at the captain as he cheekily waved goodbye and grinned knowingly before leaving the tent.

He winced again as he shifted, trying to get comfortable on the cot.

Kix popped up out of nowhere and scowling, said, "Commander, if you don't lie still your shoulder will never get better! Don't make me sedate you!" the medic brandished a needle threateningly.

Cody resisted the urge to sigh. He almost wished Rex would come back and save him from the medic…

The commander silently endured Kix's check over and was just slipping into a doze when a familiar voice startled him awake.

"I don't care if he's resting, I want to see him!"

Cody nearly groaned with frustration. His general was fighting with Kix, obviously wanting to see if he was alright. Honestly, that man was too stubborn for his own good sometimes…

He could hear Kix reply back, equally stubborn. "General, if you want your commander to make a full recovery quickly, I must insist you let him get his rest."

The Jedi obviously didn't like this answer, because Cody could hear the tiniest bit of frustration creep into his voice. "I just want to see if he is alright! I'll let him rest, I promise."

There was a beat of silence. Kix sighed. "Alright. Five minutes, sir. But only five!"

General Kenobi probably didn't hear this or simply ignored the medic because suddenly he was next to Cody, the permission all he needed to slip past Kix.

"Cody." The Jedi sounded relieved when he caught sight of his commander and the clone saw the man's grey eyes sweep over him, looking for any signs of discomfort. Obi-Wan seemed satisfied with what he saw, at least for the moment, because he nodded slightly, eyes beginning to slowly turn slightly more green. He untensed and finally relaxed enough to sit down next to Cody, in the same place Rex had sat when the clone woke up.

The clone commander watched his general carefully, looking for any signs of injury on the Jedi too. He hadn't seen any signs of discomfort yet, but you never could know with a Jedi.

Rex had told him once that General Skywalker had collapsed six hours after a battle, only then revealing he was seriously injured.

He was brought back to the present as the Jedi calmly, yet a little worriedly, asked, "How is your shoulder?"

He shrugged slightly, careful not to move his injured shoulder. "I've had worse."

Obi-Wan nodded, yet didn't look too convinced. "Did Kix give you any meds for the pain?"

Cody blinked, slightly surprised that his general knew the medic's name. Kix was assigned to the 501st, and hadn't really been in contact much with Obi-Wan. He nodded nevertheless, resolving to ask his general about that on a later date.

"Good." The Jedi said, grey green eyes calmed at the knowledge of that. It was silent for a beat before Obi-Wan smiled gently and said, "You have questions."

It wasn't a question, nor an invitation. Cody blinked again. Sometimes he forgot how perceptive the Jedi could be.

He simply nodded, not wanting to say too much.

The Jedi's smile widened a fraction. "What would you like to know, Commander?" he asked.

This was an invitation, so Cody began to talk. "Sir, back at the battle, you said something about how you could feel each of us clones through the...Force."

Obi-Wan nodded encouragingly.

The clone continued. "What...what did you mean by that, General?"

The Jedi sighed lightly, but still held his gentle smile. "I had a feeling you might ask that, Cody."

The commander didn't say anything, waiting for Obi-Wan to collect his thoughts. "What do you know about the Force?" The general asked.

Cody wasn't expecting that question, nevertheless he did his best to try to answer it. "I know that the Jedi use it and that it is what makes a Jedi a...Jedi." He stopped to think for a second. "I know that it can move things invisibly and that it is not seen or heard." Obi-Wan's eyes twinkled with some amusement at those words, but he kept silent.

Cody thought again. "I know that it is a power very much unknown to us clones and that we can never really understand what it is…" He paused again. "That's all I can think of, sir."

The Jedi nodded. "Very good. That was more than most people can remember."

Cody stayed silent, not sure exactly what his general meant. Obi-Wan merely smiled again and said, "You were correct about all those things. The Force is indeed a mysterious power to most people and it is what makes a Jedi. It is invisible to most, but the Jedi are able to see and hear it through our training and discipline."

The clone wasn't sure how that worked, but he nodded anyways. His general got that amused look in his eyes again before he continued. "The Force is manifested in every living thing. It does not matter whether you are a Jedi or not. Those who are more in tune with it are those who are trained and raised as Jedi."

"Each living, organic thing has its own Force signature, its footprint if you will. That means that the Force 'footprint' or mark in a plant is different from that of a tooka or a person."

Cody furrowed his brows. "Then how can you tell my brothers and I apart from each other if we have the same...mark?"

His general grinned. "Ah, now you are getting to the interesting part. Even if a tooka looks the same as another tooka, they feel different. Each has their own...personality, of sorts."

Cody was starting to see where this was going, but he kept silent.

"This is the same for the soldiers. You, for instance, are always thinking outside of the box, ready for any sort of combat that may come your way. You like rules, and like to have structure in everything. You are also fiercely protective of those men under your command, loyal, and stubborn."

"Waxer, however, is different, though you two look the same. He is more care free, content to follow orders when he feels like it or when it is important. He likes to make others laugh, and is always thinking of new pranks to do so. He is more outwardly affectionate, liking to show that through touch and words."

Cody nodded, suddenly seeing why his general had reacted vehemently towards him when he expressed that he wasn't important. To the Jedi, each of his brothers were unique and there was only one of each of them.

Obi-Wan looked at the clone as he finished. "Do you see now, Cody?"

The commander nodded again. "Yes sir." The Jedi smiled contently. "Good." Just at that moment, Kix appeared and, frowning, said, "Sir, it's been well over 5 minutes." He narrowed his eyes to express his displeasure, and Obi-Wan stood up, obviously not wanting to cross swords again with the medic.

"I'm leaving, Kix. Don't worry." The medic nodded and walked off to help another annoyed medic.

Kix's voice could be heard yelling something to another patient who was evidently trying to escape. "Bozer, you better not be trying to leave again!"

Cody laughed softly, imagining another poor clone at the mercy of him. Obi-Wan chuckled, shaking his head amusedly, before turning back to the commander.

"Get well soon, Cody. I can't have the men getting out of control without their commander, now can I?"

"No sir. I'll make sure to give Waxer a whack upside the head when I see him next."

Obi-Wan chuckled again, before turning to leave after saying quietly, "May the Force be with you."

Cody smiled, and shook his head, slightly exasperated. He would never understand Jedi...especially his general. That man was nothing like any of the other Jedi the clone had ever met. He was glad, though. Obi-Wan Kenobi was a puzzle, but Cody did know one thing- he cared about his men.