CHAPTER SIX – THE RING'S TALE

In the renovated shell of a Republic Walker on the planet Seelos, Wolffe and Gregor gave each other an odd look before directing their attention back to Rex.

"Rex," Gregor said, trying to lighten the mood. "It's great that you came to visit us, it really is. But instead of all this crazy talk, why don't we go slinging?"

Wolffe jumped on the opportunity. "Yeah, let's go slinging. It'll help take your mind off this."

But Captain Rex was in his own little world, one that did not involve slinging. He couldn't handle the distraction of slinging, especially with overexcited Gregor.

"This is too much," he fretted. "I heard her talking with her friends and she has a time limit. She says she's giving up if I don't propose in the next six months!"

Wolffe blinked. "What?"

Rex turned on his heels, slackjawed. "Have you been listening to me?"

"Eh, mostly." Gregor admitted. "Who's 'she'?"

Rex's eyes boggled. "'She' is Steela Gerrera, my girlfriend!"

"Rex, you're coming to us because you're having girlfriend problems?" Gregor said incredulously.

"Well who else am I going to bring them up with?"

Gregor was about to suggest any surviving members of Rex's legion or Steela herself, but Wolffe elbowed him into silence. He had briefly dated a few dancing girls, so he had the leg up on the situation. "Rex, how long have you been with this woman?"

Rex floundered for a minute. "Eighteen years."

"What?" Gregor and Wolffe cried in unison.

"You've been with this woman for eighteen years and you're shocked that she wants to get married?" Gregor asked.

"Rare is the woman who doesn't want to get married after eighteen years of being surrounded by married people." Wolffe had an idea. "How old is she?"

"Thirty-eight," Rex answered. "But no, it isn't about children. She can't have children; it would be too risky given her health."

"You could adopt," Gregor suggested. "But really, if you've been together as long as you have and you already live on the same ship, not much will change. You just have to ask."

"I'm just stressed," Rex sat down. "I never learned how to do any of this. I have to break up with her or I have to marry her and I don't know how to do either. I should have seen this coming; she agreed to get married after the Empire fell, and it just has!"

"Then why are you proposing?"

"Because when I did before, I was on drugs!"

Gregor picked up on the clue. "Wait. Rex, are you saying that you've never dated anyone before Steela? And you've been together for eighteen years?"

Rex nodded and Gregor sat back in his chair, shocked.

"That's incredible," Wolffe said in awe. "Really, it's incredible."

Rex puffed up a bit with pride.

"Do you love her?" Gregor prompted.

"Of course! I love her and I want to stay with her, but -." Rex sighed. "I can't put this in words."

But luckily for him, Gregor had seen his share of love-challenged customers at Borkus' diner, and this was the one skill he was happy to remember from his time on Abafar. "You can see yourself being married to her, but you're worried about the actual marriage ceremony."

"Exactly!"

"It's not that hard. You just ask."

"Rex?" Wolffe asked, realizing something. "Before the Empire, didn't your brother-in-law panic about marrying Ahsoka just like you're panicking right now?"

"If you think I'm panicking, you should have seen him." Rex snorted.

"Look," Wolffe continued. "This is supposed to be a happy decision, not a stressful one. Maybe you should wait."

"No, I can't sit on this." Rex shook his head. "I'm going to get some air," he said and climbed the ladder to reach the deck of the walker.

Gregor and Wolffe stared at each other.

"We need to call Ahsoka," Wolffe said, and grabbed the holoprojector.

…

Meanwhile, on the con men's ship…

Ahsoka gave herself one last look in the mirror, then smiled with satisfaction. She may not have been particularly inclined toward fashion, but she knew when she looked good. At last, she was ready for the women's annual Boonta Eve tradition.

She had just stopped to put on her shoes when her holoprojector buzzed and she reached to answer it. "Hello?"

"Ahsoka, we have a major problem."

Ahsoka raised her eyes from her shoes and settled them on the holoprojector. "Wolffe? Gregor? What's wrong?" she asked, her breath freezing in her lungs. Normally the men from Seelos didn't call unless it was an emergency, and considering they had Rex…

"It's Rex," Wolffe explained. "He's nervous about proposing to his girlfriend."

Ahsoka froze. "Really?" Rex got the idea to get married the same time Steela wanted to? How romantic!

"He says she told the rest of you she was giving up if he didn't in the next six months."

Ahsoka's romantic notions popped like a soap bubble. "Okay. Is he sick?"

"No, he's not like your husband was. He's just nervous and unsure of himself."

Ahsoka sat on her bed and sighed. "I worried this would happen. When they started dating she didn't want to get married until after the Empire fell, and now that it has – well, I guess she got tired of waiting. I never really know when it comes to Steela."

"What are you dressed up for?" Gregor asked, switching the topic.

Ahsoka looked down at her outfit. "It's Boonta Eve, so the women in our crew go clubbing, the men go pubbing, and Mina goes to the spa." She had offered to bring Mina along with the other ladies, but her mother-in-law couldn't turn the offer down fast enough. When one has seven children and three grandchildren then one needs solitude, a deep-tissue massage, and some eye cucumbers once a year.

"You're going out? Great! There's a bar on the other side of Seelos we would go to sometimes, but not so much anymore."

An idea formed in Ahsoka's mind. "Wolffe, Gregor, can you get to Nar Shaada?"

"Nar Shaada? It shouldn't be a problem. Why?"

"I have a plan," Ahsoka said. "I'll have to get the rest of the family on board, but I have a plan. Just get Rex to Nar Shaada and I'll give you more directions." She snapped off the holoprojector without saying goodbye, stuck her head into the hallway and motioned for Katooni, Hero, and Sierra to come into her room.

"Forget clubbing ladies, we have preparations to make."

"Preparations? For what?" Sierra asked, disappointed about losing out on the yearly tradition.

Ahsoka's voice dropped to a whisper. "Because if we pull this off, Stee-Rex is so getting married."

Katooni squealed. "Really?"

"Yes. Hero, get Steela out of the ship. Sierra, I need you to make a call. Katooni, once Steela's gone you're helping me. We're going to make this happen."

…

"I'm confused. Why aren't you coming with Hero and me? it's Boonta Eve!" Steela cried.

Sierra cleared her throat. "Yeah, I think I got food poisoning or something because I don't feel too good. I'm staying home."

"You were fine a half hour ago."

"It just hit now. Go have fun; we can go clubbing later."

Steela wasn't buying it. "But why are Ahsoka and Katooni also staying?"

"I'm not in the mood for it and neither is Ahsoka," Katooni explained. "We're gonna have a The Young and the Rascals marathon."

The Young and the Rascals was Steela's least favorite show, and Katooni knew it.

"Come on," Hero tugged on her friend's arm. "I already booked an appointment with the salon to get our nails done.

Steela eyed the women suspiciously. "All right, I guess," she relented and walked down the boarding ramp with Hero. "Wait, are we crashing Mina's spa day?"

Hero snorted. "No worries! We're going to a different salon, one she says is more popular with the younger crowd."

Sierra shut the boarding ramp behind the two of them.

"Let's get this wedding started."

…

"I don't see why we had to come here," Rex said sourly, glowering at the bright lights of the Nar Shaada cantina.

"Because it'll be fun," Gregor baited. "Come on brother, it's just like the old days in 79's!"

"Why did we have to leave the planet to go out drinking?"

Good point. Gregor floundered for a minute before coming up with "Because this place is the only place that mixes juma just like 79's."

"Let's get some," Wolffe suggested and steered Rex over to the bar, plunking him down in a stool. "Hey barkeep! Three jumas, straight up!"

The bartender slid the men's glasses across the bar and Wolffe raised his.

"A toast to Rex!" he cheered, tapped his glass with his friends' and took a sip of juma.

Rex cleared his throat and plunked his glass back onto the table when someone plopped down in the seat next to him.

"I'll have a dirty martini," a red Togruta woman with circular markings on her cheeks said and swiveled around in her chair. "Happy Boonta Eve! I'm Gini, and it's nice to meet you."

"Rex," Rex admitted awkwardly. "Ma'am, if you're looking for companionship I'm sorry, but -."

"Oh, no. Nothing like that," Gini grabbed her martini from the bartender and stirred it with her finger. "I just like talking with people. So, are you here for Boonta Eve too?"

"My brothers and I are, yes." He tried to signal Wolffe and Gregor, but the two others were absorbed with a dancing Twi'lek. "But the rest of my family and my girlfriend are also out celebrating somewhere else."

…..

"Okay, we've gathered all the white fabric in the house," Katooni said, admiring the heap of cloth on her bed.

"And I've got all the tissue paper to make tissue-paper flowers," Kiara announced and twisted a piece of red tissue onto a green-wrapped wire.

"I've put together the best wedding playlist from pirated music, including the highest-quality rendition of 'Here Comes the Bride'." Molly bragged. "It's going to sound like there's an orchestra in the speakers."

"Who should we invite? Should we invite Mon Mothma?" Sierra asked.

Ahsoka blinked. "Of course! She's one of our closest friends. And make sure to invite the girls from Phi Kappa Lambda too."

"I'm not sure about this," Katooni hemmed. "Compiling their guest list?"

"We can't let them get away with doing a quickie wedding," Ahsoka announced. "And we have bigger problems than a guest list. I hope we still have the sewing machine."

…

Something was afoot. How else could Wolffe and Gregor mysteriously disappear when his back was turned for one second, leaving him alone with Gini?

He'd considered ditching, but he didn't want to leave a woman alone in a bar on Nar Shaada. He just had to wait for the others to appear and then tell her he had to go, nice meeting you, but it's time to go.

"I have something to admit." Gini took a sip of her martini. "I'm not here by accident."

His hackles went up.

"I sometimes work for your friends Ahsoka and Sierra."

Rex blinked. He'd expected all sorts of things on Nar Shaada, but not this! "You're a shill?"

She nodded. "Yes. Your crew pays well enough and the grifters are nice; I think it's cute that they're brother and sister. So when Ahsoka called me and said she'd give me fifty credits to talk to you at the bar, how could I say no?"

Rex was speechless. Suddenly he knew what the conversation was: the technique grifters used to get marks to fall in love with them. "Have you been soul-gazing me?"

"Yes, and that's what I want to talk to you about." Gini took one of his hands in hers. "I have been tailoring this conversation to make myself the center of attention, and the whole time you were completely devoted to her." She smiled. "She must be some woman."

Rex didn't need to ask who "she" was. "She is."

"You love her. I can tell just by looking at you," she nodded to him. "Get back to your brothers and then go to her. You know what to do."

For the first time since he'd overheard Steela and Ahsoka's conversation, Rex did.

"Thank you, Gini," he said. "Let me escort you outside; no woman should be left alone in a place like this."

"What a gentleman. But don't worry about it," Gini scoffed, sliding off her stool. "This is where I do my best business. I'm probably safer in here than anyone else."

…

"It's done!"

Ahsoka, Katooni, and Sierra draped the white dress over the common room table, beaming with pride. It was simple in design: allover lace with a straight neckline and three-quarter sleeves.

It was also sewn with remarkably terrible workmanship. The hem was at a terrible slant, and the lace looked like it had been tacked on by a five-year-old. Kiara doubted it would fit on Steela in her wildest dreams.

"It's pretty," Molly lied.

"Thank you," Ahsoka beamed. "Thank God for the HoloNet sewing tutorials, or else we'd never get it done."

"Okay, so we have the dress. I have those tissue paper flowers done," Kiara gestured to the pile beside her. "Molly has the playlist, and we called everybody. Are we done?" Her cousin opened her mouth to answer, but Kiara wasn't finished. "No, we're not, because Uncle Rex hasn't even proposed!"

"Give him time," Ahsoka admonished. "It's not easy proposing to someone. I've told you about your father's jitters."

Kiara snorted. "Oh, yeah. I wish I was there."

"You really don't," Sierra corrected her. "It wasn't pretty, and there was nothing we could do about it."

Just then, the boarding ramp opened and the girls froze.

"Hide it!" Katooni hissed, sweeping the tissue paper flowers off the table and stuffing them into a box while Ahsoka scrambled around looking for a place to stash the dress, mentally cursing Hero for not warning them that Steela was coming home.

The kitchen door opened, and the girls froze.

Mina stood in the doorway.

"Oh, hi Mom." Sierra said, her blood pressure dropping with every instant.

Mina looked at the chaos, and mentally tried to return to the happy place she had been in at the spa. Yes, there was definitely a reason she needed a day of pampering every year.

"I don't want to know," she announced and walked back to her room to take a nap.

….

The rest of his crew was going to be on Seelos within the hour to pick him up.

Rex nervously glanced at the piece of copper wire he had twisted into a ring. Maybe it would be better to just pitch it; it was a horrible ring! Steela would never say yes to such shoddy workmanship.

"For the love of the force Rex, it looks fine," Wolffe growled and Rex realized he'd spoken his thoughts aloud. "You spent three hours curling the ends into a nice little circle for her. She'll love it."

Rex fidgeted with the ring held in both hands. "She's a thief. She sees and holds the galaxy's most valuable jewels in her hands, and I'm about to give her a ring made of copper wire."

Wolffe put a hand on his shoulder. "Then I think she'd get tired of all those splendid jewels."

Rex was floored. This was probably the kindest thing Wolffe had done for him, ever.

But there was no time for thank yous, because immediately after Wolffe spoke there was the sound of a ship landing.

Gregor popped his head in. "Here she comes!"

Rex swallowed hard and stuffed the ring into his pocket. "Thank you Gregor. Please try not to do anything that might scare her off."

Gregor just laughed and said something about going slinging before popping the hatch open for the others.

Ahsoka waved to him from the ground. "Hey, Rex!"

"Hello, everyone," Rex said, swallowing the giant lump in his throat when he saw Steela coming off the boarding ramp. "How was your Boonta Eve?"

"Uncle Saw let me have sip of his beer at the pub," Tav boasted.

"Steela and I got our nails done," Hero said, gently pushing Steela to the front of the group. "It was nice."

"It sounds like it would be. Ah, Steela?"

Steela perked up. "Yes?"

Flushing from nervousness and embarrassment, Rex pulled the wire ring from his pocket. "I swear I'll get you a better ring, but –."

"Yes!"

And that was it. No dramatic speech, no sweeping drop to a knee, just a nervous offer of a ring and suddenly Steela was hugging him, beaming and letting him slip the ring onto her finger.

"I can get you a better ring," he said dumbly. "I have credits. I can get you a better ring."

Steela grabbed his head in her hands, the cool of her new ring a shock against his cheek.

"I don't want another ring," she said. "I don't even like diamonds."

The nervousness evaporated from Rex. Because he had done it. He'd bridged the deadly gap between being Steela's long-term boyfriend and having the marriage he'd never dreamed he'd have.

"Okay," he nodded. "Okay. We can keep this one."

She kissed him, hard and fast and just like she did the first time after they had gone to Pancake World all those years ago.

"Let's just do it," she said when they separated, oblivious to the rest of her family's cheers. "We don't need a big wedding; let's just get it done and get on with our lives."

Tandin cleared his throat. "Steela, if you think you're going to get out of me walking you down the aisle you are gravely mistaken. There's no way I'm letting you get a quickie wedding – even if you are a grown woman."

"Don't worry, Tandin." Ahsoka dismissed. "We got everything ready for these two lovebirds. Now get in the ship, everybody. Wolffe and Gregor, I hope you have suits. Tav, call ahead to Talia and tell her the good news. We're going to have a wedding!"

And here it is, the first of the oneshots you all requested regarding Rex and Steela's agreement to get married after the fall of the Empire. For reference, these oneshots take place shortly after "Return of the Jedi."

Thank you to everyone who requested this continuation of "Dating In the Dark Times," and speaking of which please review!

Until next time,

LS