CODA: ONE HAND, ONE HEART

"I, Rex, take thee, Steela"

"I, Steela, take thee, Rex."

"To be my wife."

"Make of us one hand, one heart, and one soul."

"I am yours,"

"And you are mine."

"For this day,"

"For all of my days,"

"Until death do us part."

"With this ring, I thee wed."

The holy man looked on serenely at the couple who didn't need to be prompted for their vows. They had said them so many times in their heads over so many years, they knew them by heart. The man in a suit he clearly wasn't used to, smiling through his whiskers. The woman with flowers in her hair, eyes wrinkled in joy. Their faces shone with adoration for each other, the wedding vows only adding new sparks to the glowing embers of an old, time-tested love.

He had only seen a few couples like this, and he hoped he would see more.

But the reverence was broken by the sounds of loud, ugly sobbing from the middle of the church. All eyes went to the aged clone, a former member of the 501st named Cupid, bawling into a handkerchief.

"I'm sorry!" Cupid wailed. "But it's so beautiful!"

Rex rolled his eyes.

The holy man re-composed himself. "By the power vested in me by Unifar and the planet of Onderon, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

The people in the audience burst into cheers and applause, except for Cupid. Cupid kept sobbing in his seat.

Ezra and Sabine stood up on the pew and shouted "KISS THE BRIDE!" Hera grabbed their legs and yanked them down into their seats. The clones and Talia's partisans whooped. Tav, Kiara, and Molly cheered.

"Saw, are you crying?" Lux asked from his place with the groomsmen.

"No, I'm not!" Saw bareface lied as tears streamed down his cheeks like waterfalls.

Rex and Steela weren't listening to any of them. They laced their fingers together and leaned in to kiss.

The cheering intensified and they separated.

"Are we actually married?" Steela asked, almost unable to believe they really were.

Rex was on the same page. "I guess we are."

…

The crew of the Ghost waited in the reception hall for the newlyweds to arrive.

"Did you see the decorations in the hall?" Sabine gushed. "Those flower garlands hanging from the trim were beautiful, even if they were all white." She frowned. "There was a lot of white."

"What about Steela's wedding dress?" Kanan asked. "Sabine, would you describe it?"

Sabine lit up again. "It was a white satin ball gown," she said, "And it had off-the shoulder sleeves. She wore her hair in a bun on top of her head, and there were white flowers in the bun. Her veil was attached to the back of her head."

Kanan paused. "I can picture it perfectly, Sabine. Thank you."

"I wonder when they're getting here," Hera wondered aloud. "Zeb and Ezra are getting antsy, and if we don't feed them soon there's going to be a problem."

"We aren't getting antsy!" Ezra protested, squirming in his seat.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Molly called from the DJ stand, "Please stand for the arrival of the bridal party!"

Their banter forgotten, the entire hall got to their feet. They applauded at the entrance of the bridesmaids and groomsmen: Lux, Sierra, Katooni, Hutch, and Hero. The matron of honor (Ahsoka) and the best man (Saw) came next, followed by Mina and Tandin. Tav escorted Kiara into the hall, and Molly teased the speakers at the DJ stand to build the music into an excitement-inducing crescendo.

"And now," she announced into the mic. "The moment you've all been waiting for, everyone give it up for the bride and groom, Mr. and Mrs. Rex and Steela Gerrera!"

Rex and Steela walked in arm and arm, and the hall went wild. The happy couple took a lap around the hall so everyone could see them before taking a seat at the head table.

"Look at everyone who showed up," Rex marveled, for the first time being able to see the guests all at once. "I didn't think they were all going to make it."

"Of course they made it," Ahsoka said. "They made time to come. Who wouldn't want to see you two get married?"

"Besides Tarkin, of course," Sierra said, returning from the open bar with a glass of red wine for her and one for her mother. "And he's dead, dead, dead."

Steela lifted her water glass to Rex's. "To annoying the living hell out of Tarkin's and Palpatine's ghosts by getting married?"

"To getting married," Rex clinked his glass with hers and took a sip. "We'd better start making the rounds at the guest tables before the food comes out or Molly starts the dance music. We have a lot of people to greet."

"Do we ever," Steela agreed. "Let's start with Talia; she's pretty close to our table anyway."

…

The guests blurred together in Rex's mind. Talia, some partisans, some rebels, members of his old legion – at one point he completely zoned out and let Steela do the talking. She seemed to know most of the people better than he did, anyway.

"Thank you so much for coming," he and Steela said and moved on to the next table, Table 10. Rex was starting to wonder how many more were left; he really wanted to be done with the rounds so they could eat their dinner and dance in peace.

On their way, Steela squeezed his hand. "These look like some of your friends."

Rex perked up a little. His friends? He had already met all of his brothers, who could be left except…

"Lawquane!"

Cut Lawquane got out of his seat, arms outstretched. "Rex, congratulations!"

They hugged and Rex pulled back. "Steela, this is Cut Lawquane, the first clone to get married, and his wife Suu, among the best with a Bluurg rifle I've ever seen."

"You men must be attracted to women with weapons." Steela shook Suu's and Cut's hands. "It's good to meet you both."

"We met Rex at our home on Saleucami and offered for him to stay with us, but of course he had to go back off to war," Cut smirked. "Though I bet if you had walked onto the farm, Rex's answer would have been very different."

"It was one of the best decisions I ever made, Cut. If I hadn't gone back into the army I never would have met her."

Suu rolled her eyes at the men. "You look gorgeous, Mrs. Gerrera. My husband says you're good with a rifle?"

"I was a sniper," Steela admitted. "And then I was an intergalactic thief. You know your way around weapons as well?"

"We should meet up sometime and go to the target range," Suu suggested. "We'll give our husbands a run for their money!"

"Sounds like a definite plan."

Meanwhile Cut and Rex continued their conversation, sneaking glances over to the women.

"You finally understand how I felt when I met Suu, huh?" Cut snickered. He was enjoying this way, way too much. Last time he'd seen Rex the man positively stiffened at the thought of marriage or a family of his own. "What'd you think when you saw her the first time?"

"I thought I was having a cardiac event."

"I almost choked on my drink."

Cut gently elbowed him. "You know, we have a lot to talk about. You and your wife should stop by on Saleucami sometime. Jek and Shaeeah would love to see you."

"We'll have to make an appointment," Steela broke back in. "Thank you both for coming."

"Congratulations, you -."

There was a crash on the other side of the venue followed by a shout of "Chopper!" and Lux's vaulting over a table to run to the scene.

Rex froze and turned to look. "What's going -?"

Suu grabbed them both and ushered them on their way. "Don't mind that. Go enjoy your wedding. You both deserve it!"

…

Dinner had been served and the plates cleared away. In the kitchen the staff was no doubt working on cutting the cake.

Steela didn't miss the sly look on her bridesmaids' faces.

"What is it?" she asked. "What did you do that I don't know about?"

Without further ado, Saw stood up on his chair and cued Molly, who ducked down at the DJ stand and started up a happy dancing tune.

Steela and Rex understood. "Please tell me we're doing the modern version," he groaned as Wolffe and Gregor closed in on the head table.

"Sorry, vod," Gregor snickered, pulling out Steela's chair. "But we're stealing your bride!"

Rex was about to reply with something witty, but it was too late. The women from his crew swarmed around him and lifted him from his chair, dragging him down to the dance floor and the waiting women.

"What's this all about?" Ezra asked Kiara, who was walking past the Ghost crew's table to get to Rex.

"It's a toned-down version of an old custom," she explained. "In the old days the guests would dance the bride and groom right out the door and into their honeymoon suite and make jokes about starting a family. We don't do the honeymoon suite thing anymore because it's weird, but the dancing part is fun."

"Oh," Ezra said as he watched Ahsoka spin Rex in a circle before slinging him off to the next woman in line, Sierra.

Sabine locked step with her. "Can I dance with Rex?"

"Everyone should!" Kiara agreed and the two rushed over to the dance floor.

Ezra was about to sit down when he felt a hand on his back.

"It would be rude not to go," Kanan chided. "Come along, Ezra."

"Yes, and it would be a shame not to go," a new voice said, and its owner slung an arm around Ezra and Kanan. "She's such a beautiful bride, and I will not turn down my last opportunity to dance with my favorite spice!"

Kanan bit back a groan. "Don't bother Steela, Hondo."

Hondo clutched his chest with his free hand, affronted. "Bother her? Master Jedi, I am her friend! I would never bother the lovely bride."

"Yeah, right." Ezra rolled his eyes as the three men joined the lineup.

…

"Well," Rex said as he and Steela swayed to the much slower, more romantic music. "That was exhausting."

"I don't even know how many of your brothers I danced with," Steela admitted.

"A lot of them," he agreed. "I couldn't count all the women either, and I still can't believe Hondo showed up."

"You weren't the one who had to dance with him," she leaned closer. "You took a few of the ladies for quite the spin."

"It was more like they spun me," he admitted. "Sabine Wren has a lot of energy."

"I think you were with her the same time I was with Hondo."

Rex spun her around. "Forget all that. We had fun and now we're dancing together."

"And soon we can have the wedding cake."

"Do you remember what Hero wrote on it? 'Stee-Rex Reigns Supreme'?"

"I think so," They turned again, and Rex looked around at the room and the smiling faces of the guests, his family watching with pride, and the glowing face of his beautiful bride.

Hands-down, this was the happiest day of his life.

There was just one more thing that had to be said.

"You realize they stole the temple for us, right?"

"I've been a thief too long not to."

"And you've probably guessed that Sierra didn't really get our criminal records expunged."

"I'm positive she didn't get them expunged. Sierra never does anything on time."

"And you know we're dancing to the theme song of a dinosaur holo?"

"I know," she confirmed and rose on her toes to peck his lips. "And I don't care at all. You're finally my husband and I'm finally your wife, and that's all that matters."

Katooni always said the two of them would have a dinosaur-themed wedding. Even if it is just the first dance music. And after such a long and eventful relationship, a peaceful ceremony is the least they deserve.

Thank you to Starwarshobbitfics and McAwsome for your reviews. And speaking of which, please review!

Until next time,

LS