"General Skywalker?" Rex called out as he spotted just the man he wanted to talk to.
The man in question turned around with a bright smile on his face, in his arms were four large bags. Rex assumed they were groceries or possibly baby supplies so he rushed over and took two off of him to help. "I've told you before Rex that you don't need to call me that anymore," Anakin chuckled lightly as he let Rex lighten the load he was carrying. "How have you been? It's been a while."
They began walking again as Rex answered, "Speaking of which, what are you doing back on Coruscant?"
"Oh, Padmé's got some work here that's going to take several weeks and she didn't want to be away from us for too long so we decided to all come to Coruscant with her."
"It'll be good to have you around again, the boys have been missing you."
"I've been missing all of you as well, though the twins keep me fairly occupied."
"I bet."
They chatted about various things, the twins, the rest of the 501st boys, and so on as they made their way back to Padmé's apartment. When they entered Anakin called out, "I'm back! You'll never guess who I ran into?"
Soon enough Padmé appeared around the corner and also smiled wide at seeing him. "Rex, it's so lovely to see you."
"You as well, Senator."
"Rex, please, it's Padmé."
"Sorry, habit."
"It's alright, Rex. Come in and sit down." Rex set down the two bags he had on the counter before he was directed by Padmé into the main lounge. Anakin stayed behind presumably to put away what he'd gotten.
"I'm afraid I can't stay and chat, the work of a Senator is never done."
"No, I expect not."
"It has been lovely seeing you again, Rex, even if for so short of a time."
"As you, Sena-Padmé," Rex quickly corrected. Padmé smiled at him again before quickly heading into what was presumably her at-home office to grab what she needed for work then into the kitchen.
"I'll see you later, Ani." Rex heard Padmé say.
"Don't work yourself too hard, angel." Came Anakin's reply followed by what sounded like a kiss before Padmé came back out and headed for the door.
Several minutes after that Anakin came into the lounge with two steaming cups. "Here." He handed Rex a mug. "I remembered how much you liked my tea recipe."
"That's very kind of you." Rex lifted the mug to his lips and took a tentative sip. Just how he remembered it, he hadn't had it since before the war ended, the recipe was secret after all.
"Have you been talking with Ahsoka lately?"
"I haven't been in contact with her for a bit, last time I was talking to her she'd said something about a pair of sisters who are farmers that she'd made friends with."
"Ah, well, you'll enjoy this story then." Anakin smiled as he took a sip from his own mug. "She called me just the other day, and she was so frazzled I thought something was terribly wrong. But, it turns out that one of the farmer girls, Kaeden, that one, got herself in a little bit of trouble. When Ahsoka helped her out she apparently blurted out 'I could kiss you'. And apparently, Ahsoka just froze up for a few moments and then replied 'Well, thanks.'"
"No, she didn't." Rex sighed. Ahsoka was his best friend and she was brilliant at many things but flirting and relationships were apparently not one of them. He'd say it was a Jedi thing but he'd seen General Kenobi in action and safe to say it was not a Jedi thing to be bad at flirting.
"So, she called me saying she really liked this girl and what she was supposed to do now and I was like well kiss her or at the very least tell her you'd like to." Anakin laughed. "I can't believe it she's worse at this stuff than me and that's saying something. Now, I'm anxiously waiting for an update on the situation. I can't wait to hear if my little sister's got herself a girlfriend."
"I plan on talking to her later this week, so I'll let you know if anything's changed."
"That would-" Anakin started to reply but was cut off by a high-pitched cry. "That will be Leia wakening from her nap. I'll be right back, Rex."
Anakin returned a bit later with both twins in his arms. He sat down on the sofa and Luke immediately started wriggling, Anakin sighed and set Luke down on the floor. "He just loves moving, he can't stand being still for more than a few seconds." Luke cooed as he wriggled about by his father's legs.
"Takes after his father then." Rex smiled and looked up from Luke to Leia who was contentedly remaining in her father's arms, her little fingers were tangled in his hair.
"Maybe, so." Anakin looked fondly down at Luke.
"There is something I would like to talk with you about?" Rex asked after a few minutes. "Other than just catching up, I mean."
"Of course, anything, Rex, you know that."
"A lot of the clones have been choosing last names for themselves to help us integrate into civilian life."
"Oh, and have you decided what yours will be?"
"I was thinking, with your permission, of course, that I might use Skywalker."
There were several beats of silence as Rex averted his gaze from Anakin's but a quiet almost gasp from Anakin made him look up. Anakin's eyes were shining with tears. "Oh, Rex." When he spoke his voice wavered. Luke stopped in his wiggling and looked up concerned his hand grabbing onto Anakin's trouser leg, Leia's little hand patted at his cheek, also concerned about her father. "Of course, Rex. Yes, you can use Skywalker, I'd be honoured." Anakin wiped at his eyes, wiping away the few tears that did spill over. "Oh, goodness, you shouldn't see me like this." He made to turn away before changing his mind. "Oh, screw it, give me a hug, Force damn it."
Rex's heart filled with warmth as Anakin enveloped him in a hug, Leia still on his hip. "Thank you, sir."
"You're family now, Rex. No more of that."
"Thought I'd use it one more time, for old time's sake."
The next day, Anakin went with Rex to the old GAR base which was where the Jedi were currently overseeing the clone's transition to full citizens. There when they arrived was Master Yoda and Master Plo Koon.
"Skywalker," Plo greeted. "It's good to see you."
"And you Master Koon, I trust you're taking care of Obi-Wan for me."
"As best we can. We have discovered that he's just as impulsive and reckless as you are, it seems you were just distracting us from his...tendencies."
"Indeed." Master Yoda agreed, chuckling.
"Captain Rex, I assume you are here for more than just a visit."
"Yes, Sir. I've actually chosen a surname."
"Oh, very good, come this way and we'll get it in the documentation." Plo gestured for Rex to follow, Rex nodded as he did so, leaving Anakin alone with Yoda.
Yoda was the one to break the silence, smiling up at Anakin he asked, "Happy you are, Skywalker?"
"I am, Master Yoda, I don't honestly think I can remember a time I was this happy."
"Good. Though your time with Jedi, not all miserable, I hope."
"No, it wasn't. I was happy for many years, but just with the war and the prophecy it all became a little too much. I don't regret ever becoming a Jedi, and I'm grateful for everything the Order did for me."
"Happy for you, I am."
"Thank you, Master Yoda."
"Meet your children, I hope to someday."
"I think they'd very much like to someday."
They fell into a comfortable silence. Anakin had felt much more comfortable around any Jedi since he'd left the order. They remained in companionable silence until Rex and Plo returned.
"All went well I trust," Anakin said.
"It did."
"Picked what name, did you?"
Rex smiled brightly as he proudly said, "Skywalker."