It hadn't been a surprise when for the few months after the clone wars, the clone troopers and their commanding officers remained on the planet whilst they removed all their equipment and helped the twi'leks rebuild their home world. It was almost expected. Eventually all the clones left but some of the officers remained on the planet. Cham wasn't particularly pleased about that but they mostly stayed away from everyone else in a small building they'd commandeered or their ship, so he left them alone for a while.

Those few years after the war had been good to the people of Ryloth and especially to Gobi. He had time to write more songs that did more than keep morale high during bombing raids and thanks to the influx of food he soon forgot the feeling of constant hunger. Although when he woke up one morning to realise his stomach was now rotund he realised he'd probably eaten a bit too much. Still, he'd rather that then be starving again.

It had been good for Hera too. Unlike him she was still on the slim side but her cheeks were now rounded with health instead of gaunt with starvation. She also finally had a permanent place to live and could go to an actual school. Gobi couldn't even begin to describe how happy it made him when she babbled about all the interesting things she had learned that day.

However, Gobi wasn't sure if the same could be said about Cham. Although he had always strived for peace once he'd actually achieved it he didn't seem to know what to do with himself. He tried to return back to life he'd had before the war but he was constantly uneasy. He might not have trusted or even liked the Jedi that had helped them during the clone wars, but he knew that he had their best interests at heart, he couldn't believe that they would betray them. And he might not have been the biggest supporter of the Republic either but at least he knew what they were. Like the rest of them he had no idea what The Empire had planned for the galaxy. So he made plans upon plans upon plans, just in case The Empire became like the Separatists. Gobi told him to relax and spend more time Hera, claiming that he was being paranoid. But of course Cham wouldn't listen and dedicated his time to planning for an attack that Gobi thought would never come.

He sometimes hated it when Cham was right.

Eventually, the officers that had remained on Ryloth were joined by even more soldiers, some wearing a strange white armour that reminded Gobi of what the clones use to wear. It wasn't long until these soldiers spread across the planet like an infestation of loth-rats, causing Gobi to realise that a new war had just begun. And when Cham ordered them to leave Ryloth willingly before he removed them from his planet by force, they responded by taking over his ancestral home.

That was how Gobi found himself fighting alongside Cham and a few members of the newly formed 'Free Ryloth' movement in an attemot to try and reclaim his home. They were pinned down by the crevasse a few metres from the house. They were secure here with decent cover and an escape route but they couldn't move any distance forward thanks to a blockade of the soldiers in white armour that Gobi had only just come to learn were called Stormtroopers. He looked over the rocks they were using for cover, looking for any way around them when he noticed a section on the left side of the crevasse just above the Stormtroopers that was covered in fishers and loose rocks.

He aimed his rocket launcher at the crevasse. He only had one shot so he had to make it count. Luckily he hit it perfectly and a huge chunk of the wall came down, smothering most of the Stormtroopers. He grinned. It was a beautiful explosion.

"Great idea." Cham said proudly, clasping him on the shoulder making Gobi blush. He then turned to face the rest of their fighters screaming "Charge!"

They jumped over the rocks, running towards the few remaining Stormtroopers that hadn't been taken out by the wall collapse. As they fought, Gobi found that he missed the thrill and rush of adrenalin as he fought for his life amidst the ever present explosions with Cham by his side.

At the thought, he glanced at Cham, only to find that a Stormtrooper had snuck up unnoticed behind him with a blaster aimed directly at his back. Gobi didn't think twice before shoving him out of the way to take the blaster shot himself. As the laser burned a hole through his chest, he locked eyes with Cham to find unbridled anger and terror reflected in them that he hadn't seen since Athena had been gunned down all those years ago.

Once he fell to the ground, he heard Cham unleash an almost unnatural snarl before attacking the one who had been holding the blaster. Gobi didn't see it but he heard the snap of the man's neck.

He lay there on the ground as the battle continued raging around them. He couldn't speak, he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe. He couldn't even feel his body, all he felt was pain. Gobi had no idea how long he had been lying there. He couldn't even pick out any blaster fire over the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears. He wondered if they'd reclaimed the house yet. All he could do was look up at the smoky sky and watch as the occasional rogue laser passed over him

He didn't even know that Cham was holding his hand until the man leaned into the line of sight, the determination clear on his face.

"Don't worry, you will be fine. I'll get you to safety. I will save you." Cham told him as he pressed his other hand to his wound to try and stop the bleeding. But Gobi knew that even Cham's stubbornness couldn't save him now.

Despite the blood choking up his throat, he summoned all the remaining energy he had left to try to say the words he'd wanted to say for a life time.

"Cham I-"

But he never got the chance to tell him, as involuntary shivers tortured his entire body while his vision turned a searing white from the pain.

When he could see again he didn't recognise his surroundings. He found he had regained the ability to move his head as he glanced around to find that he was in a sterile looking room with a bacta tank in the corner. The damp sensation of his skin that reminded him of the dew that clung to his body when he and Cham used to sleep outside in their youth, and made him think that he had been the one to use the tank. Gobi started to wonder how the hell Cham got his hands on a bacta tank and how much it had cost him. But thanks to his drowsy state, he didn't dwell on it for long. His thoughts drifted to focus on the sensations from his hand. He glanced down to see Cham sat in a chair beside the bed where he was lying down, his head lolled forward in sleep and his right hand clasped tightly around his own as though he hadn't let go of it since…yesterday? Last week? Last month? Gobi suddenly realised that he had no idea how much time had passed.

"Ch-Cham?" He croaked, happy that at least he could still speak.

Cham immediately woke up at the sound of his voice. Gobi tried to keep his focus on Cham's eyes as they searched his own as though not quite believing that he was still alive. He soon settled however as he looked down at him with a smug smile.

"I told you I would keep you alive."

Gobi was even happier when he found he had the energy to roll his eyes.

But the humour in the air was quickly drained when Gobi's eyes settled to notice the bandage covering a large bump on his friend's head.

"What happened to your head? Are you alright?" If he still wasn't drowsy from the bacta tank, he probably wouldn't have been bold enough to reach up and gently touched the bump. Thankfully Cham wasn't offended by the gesture. In fact if Gobi was of a stable mind, he'd probably say that he leaned into it.

"Even after everything you've been through, you're still worrying about me?" Cham responded, his expression one of disbelief and humour.

"Well, somebody has too." He told him truthfully, tucking in a loose strap of the bandage.

"My head was hit a falling rock from your rocket launcher. Perhaps next time you could warn me before setting off one of your explosions."

"I don't know. You are pretty big headed. Taking out a chunk of it would probably do you good."

Cham chuckled softly, lowering his hand. However his expression hardened as the mood become serious.

"I thought I might lose you." He confessed.

"You will never lose me." Gobi said, giving his hand a comforting squeeze. "I will always be by your side."

"I know just... promise me you will never try to give your life for mine again."

Gobi sighed, expecting the request. "You know I can't do that. You're my best friend. What kind of friend would I be if I let you die? And besides you are the leader of our people. They need you."

"You're our second in command Gobi. If I were to die then you would have to take my place. They need you too. And-"

Cham looked away for a moment, a light blush appearing on his cheeks. If Gobi didn't know any better he'd say he was bashful. But after a moment Cham turned to face him again, his eyes full of emotions that Gobi never expected to be addressed to him.

"I need you."

His free hand came to stroke his lekku. Still slightly drowsy, Gobi leaned into his touch. Touching someone's lekku was one of the most precious displays of intimacy between twi'leks. As best friends Cham had touched Gobi's lekku before but never with such delicate strokes as this.

"After Athena… I never thought that I would find love again but…"

Cham trailed off as he moved his hand from his lekku to cup the side of his face. Time seemed to freeze, and all Gobi could experience was the sensation of his sharp nails resting gently on his jaw.

He could scarcely believe it when Cham leaned down to place his lips against his own. They were as thin and as strong and as perfect as Gobi had imagined. Hoping this wasn't some sort of strange fever dream, he pressed firmly back and brought his free hand up to hold the back of Cham's head to pull him closer. Encouraged by this, Cham opened his mouth, allowing Gobi's tongue to run along his pointed teeth. He was about to open his own when a loud smashing sound startled them both causing them to break apart.

Gobi turned to the source of the sound to find Hera standing in the doorway to the room, a broken bowl and spilt gutkurr stew at her feet. Time seemed to freeze once again but this time for a different reason as she stared at the pair with open shock. She then ran away in a panic down the corridor.

"Hera!" Cham called after her but she ignored him. Gobi couldn't really blame her. If he'd suddenly come across his father kissing someone else, even years after the death of his mother, he'd probably had a similar reaction.

Cham sighed, turning his attention back to him. "I'm sorry. She took the loss of Athena badly and-"

"It's alright. I completely understand." Gobi reassured him. If this was how Hera reacted then he wondered how hard it had been for Cham to let himself love someone else after losing Athena. He supposed they would have plenty of time to talk about that later. "You should go and talk to her."

"Why?"

"Because, you need to remind her that this doesn't change how much you loved her mother, and that even though you may love me, as your daughter, you will always love her the most."

Gobi was a little nervous about using the word love but the sight of Cham's eyes lighting up when he used it quelled any fears.

He also seemed to agree with him about needing to talk to Hera but at the same time was reluctant to go. Possibly because explaining why you were kissing your best friend would be a very awkward conversation to have with your teenage daughter. However, he appeared to resign himself to leave but he still tried one last time to come up with an excuse not to go.

"Or, I could stay here with you." He said, leaning back down towards him with a suggestive smile.

"As much as I would like that," Gobi replied, smiling up at him. "You need to speak with her."

Cham sighed fondly. "As usual, you are right."

He then placed his forehead against his own so that their air bladders rubbed against one another. Gobi relished the feeling.

"I'll be back soon."

"I'll be waiting."

Gobi watched him go with a wistful eye, still not entirely convinced the past few minutes had been a bacta induced hallucination.

He lay his head back down and closed his eyes. Most likely exhausted from everything that had just happened, he fell asleep within minutes.

When he woke up, the room was still technically empty, although a small shadow stood in the doorway.

He wasn't surprised to find that it belonged to Hera, who walked over to him once she realised that he was awake.

"Hi." She said, awkwardly perching on the end of the table where he lay.

"Hello eoh uru."

The term of endearment seemed to dispose some of the tension in the room. She smiled sweetly before shuffling closer so that she was sitting by his hip. After a few moments of comfortable silence, Gobi spoke.

"I can't even begin to imagine what emotions are going through your mind right now. It must have been quite a shock." He said kindly.

He was surprised however when she fiddled with the hem of her dress in embarrassment. "Actually, I kind of suspected that there was something going on between you for a while. It just was still bit of a shock actually seeing it."

Hera then looked up so that she could meet his eyes. "But that doesn't excuse me for running away. That was rude. I'm sorry."

"Hera." Gobi said gently. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You weren't being rude at all, you were just shocked. I completely understand your reaction."

She shrugged.

"Yeah well, father told me that I should to apologise so I did."

"I take it Cham's talk went well then?"

"Yeah, he actually didn't do too badly."

"That's good to hear." Gobi said with a warm chuckle. His expression became serious however when he took her green hand in his blue palm.

"Hera, I want you to know that I would never try to replace your mother. She was an amazing woman."

She looked up at him with her strong green eyes that remined him of her father.

"You're pretty amazing too. And you've always been like another parent to me anyway."

She then wrapped her arms around his neck, careful not aggravate his injuries. Smiling, Gobi put his arms around the girl whom he had always seen as a daughter.

A/N Yeah so I am the only person on the planet who ships Cham and Gobi...

To FossilQueen1984: Awwwww thank you! I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying it! And thank you so much for the offer!! I'll be sure to ask you! Xxxxxxxxx