Turns II

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Rhea glanced across the street as they waited for the traffic signal to change, the wind plucking her hair from the nape of her neck and ruffling the bottom of her dress. At her side Soru shifted small feet, colorful shoes scraping the permacrete with impatience. He had caught sight of the men in the red and white armor across the street and was eager to be among them. His small head moved in conjunction with his looks, swiveling between them all.

Rhea found herself doing the same. It was strange, seeing so many of them. Exactly alike in appearance, but she knew, different people entirely. She had only met two of them, but was assured the pattern was true of each. She looked for a familiar symbol on their armor, any mark she could latch onto by identity, but it was impossible to decipher such a small difference from that distance. Still, even knowing they were not people she knew, the familiarity of their appearance was enough to bring a feeling of warmth to her chest.

She looked down at Soru with a smile. "We'll be there soon."

They crossed the street and stepped up to two of the guards standing in front of the large security complex at the crossroads. They caught sight of her, their gazes intially passing over her as they did the rest of the crowd, but falling again and remaining on her and Soru as they recognized themselves as her destination. She saw them both shift slightly with surprise, then postured in polite inquiry.

"Ma'am? Is there something we can help you with?" The guard's helmeted gaze slipped over her and Soru, quick but thorough. Memorizing their appearance for a later report perhaps, or checking for signs of duress.

Now that she stood in front of them Rhea found herself fighting to form words, the man in front of her appearing so similar to someone so dear she was overwhelmed with the urge to wrap her arms around him on the spot, a reassurance that he was real and well against her.

But he wasn't Turns.

She had lapsed into silence for a long enough time that he had reached a hand up and removed his helmet, and tucked it under his elbow to regard her, perhaps feeling a a face would ignite her voice. The scar at his temple confirmed he wasn't either of the men she knew.

"Ma'am? Is something wrong?"

The other trooper had knelt and was running a hand over Soru's head, eliciting a giggle, before he tilted his head to regard her.

She blushed in embarrassment, her eyes falling on her feet.

"Sorry! Yes, I mean...no. We're just..." She looked back to the trooper watching her, concern visible without his helmet. "Is Turns here?"

He blinked at that in obvious surprise.

"Turns? He's..." He looked at her again strangely, eyes flitting between them. "You know him?"

"Yes," she smiled, bolstered by the fact that he sounded as though he knew Turns himself. "He hasn't been by in a while. We just wanted to..." She looked between them, "Lex said he was ok, but injured last week and we wanted to make sure he's doing ok. If that's alright?"

He peered intently at them for a moment, eyes dancing once more over them before he exchanged a conspiratorial glance with his companion and gave a wink and a grin.

"I think we can manage that Ma'am. Just let me ring the Sarge."

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Turns regretted not asking them to come sooner.

He had given them vague details over the years. A children's center that he volunteered at a few times a week. Just a place he went on the days he didn't go to the shop with them. For some reason he had felt that any description of it just wouldn't add up to the real thing, might make it seem trite. And that it wouldn't interest them. The warmth and the magic of the place wasn't entirely unlike the shop, but it also was, in subtle ways. It was a different kind of comfort, a place to nurture more than to be nurtured. Often loud and messy and silly, but also...simple. Maybe he had felt they might find it too simple. That they weren't possessive of the inner call it answered within himself.

Whether that was true or not, they seemed to be enjoying it in their own ways. And they had seemed proud when he had asked them to tag along. Proud to be a part of something that held interest and importance for him. Which made him smile, and also regret the keeping of it from them all the more.

He sat at the long table sipping another cup of tea that Rhea had slid into his hands before slicing some fruit and sitting down herself beside him. Ahsoka sat at his other side, a soft smile and glow. Fingers looping her own cup with one hand and the other cradling her chin. Her chair was angled in such a way that her knee rested against his beneath the table, the lightest touch but it spoke magnitudes. A posture of ease and comfort, a companionship she shared and was used to sharing often and freely.

Someone who was friend and leader and support to many. Unpresuming yet present. Soft, yet strong, as the Captain had said. Confident. A different kind of confidence than had been there back then, when he had first seen her.

When she had seemed so young and small and out of place.

When he'd all but abandoned her.

He looked across the table at Hatch and Surge, puling himself from those thoughts before they snagged him again.

Beside him Rhea had eyes on them also and she gave a giggle.

"Are you all this way?" She asked him, humor sparking her eyes.

Turns looked at her, confused.

She gestured to the two across from them, then the others. "Good with kids. You all naturally seem to be."

He snorted.

"I think you're misrembering mine and the Sarge's learning curve."

They both chuckled at those memories. Rhea looked to Lex, who had once believed himself unqualified to hold a baby, yet now scooped the same child who toddled about up easily, amid admonishing Ravi for telling a story inappropriately. Trust sat in a corner playing speeders with a lone child, a grin playing over his lips at whatever the other trooper had been saying.

Across from them another round of maniacal high pitched giggles erupted and they couldn't help but respond with matched titters of their own. Hatch had the current smallest baby of the center on his lap, and was pretending to eat the random things which the little one was trying to feed with repeated ramming into his face.

Surge was making sure the baby had a steady supply, plucking loose toys from the floor and tucking them with dedication into the chubby little fists. Each time a new toy connected with his face Hatch made a comical expression of it, stoking another giggle from the baby which brought another peal of laughter to the others. The game continued for a good while before Hatch finally turned to Turns, eyes crinkling with humor as the baby tried to shove anther toy into his mouth but ended up bumping his cheek instead.

"By the force... my face...is...so... sore, but I don't...want him to...stop laughing." He had difficulty getting the words out, he was laughing so hard.

The others lost themselves in chuckles of their own at the predicament.

Finally, wiping a hand over her eyes, Rhea rose and held her arms out to him. "Here, you can catch a break while I feed him." She took the baby to her shoulder and turned to Ahsoka with a smile. "Would you like to help? We'll feed him then lay him down for a nap."

Ahsoka looked more than a little unsure, but also eager to accept.

"I've...never done it before."

"First time for everything," Rhea gave her a cheeky grin, which the young commander returned and responded to with a hop. She flashed the others a sheepish smile before following the red-haired woman over to the sleeping area tucked away in the far corner.

They watched her go, and Hatch swiveled to face Turns. "So this is where you've been on the days you don't come to the shop. I have to admit, I suspected you had a lady friend, but I didn't anticipate all this." He swept an arm over the room, then thumbed in the direction Rhea and Ahsoka had taken the baby. His elbows rose to rest on the table and he pursed his lips playfully.

"Seems like everyone's beating me to it."

"To what?" Surge asked, stacking the toys on the table then pushing them tidily to the side.

"The whole deal. Girl and a kid. I can't believe it, all you lot..."

Turns gave a small smile. "Rhea's just a friend, Hatch. No secret relationship. And the children are...everyone's. You can visit them whenever you like."

"You're not too far behind, vod, " Surge reasoned. "Commander's the only one who meets that criteria."

"You do have a girl at least, though..." Hatch looked up as Ravi came to sit beside him.

Lex was giving his back a dark look from across the room, and he gave an air of innocent confusion as he sat.

"Apparently my versions of the stories are inappropriate for little ears."

"...Even this di'kut."

Ravi looked at Hatch. "What?"

"You have a girlfriend. Hatch hasn't procurred one yet," Turns answered helpfully, chin-in-hand.

Ravi gave Hatch a look, studying him for a second before snorting.

"That happened by accident-"

"Your flirting with Juni during interrogation was accidental?"

Ravi ignored him, lifting a finger, "And, I wasn't holding out for a certain Commander, so..."

Surge laughed.

Turns blinked, looking suddenly taken aback. "Are you referring to..." his eyes drifted in the direction Ahsoka had left and back to the others.

Hatch rolled his eyes and lifted palms ot the air. "I said she was cute...one time."

"But you meant it." Ravi grinned. He looked at Turns who was still giving Hatch a weird look. "Don't worry, Trust already promised to hurt him if he tries anything."

Turns broke of the stare with an amused shake of his head.

Hatch sighed, looking out over the room again. Ravi followed his gaze, his eyes passing over Lex and a sudden thought curled his lips.

"You know, if you're having lonesome feels...you could go for a walk at the University and pretend to be Sarge."

Lex, overhearing, looked up.

Ravi's grin widened. "Apparently quite a few ladies were taken with him when he made an appearance there, according to Juni." He gave the sergeant who was looking aghast a thumbs up. "You've got a little fan club going, mister tall, dark and brooding."

"Wh...I wasn't...brooding. I was...what? " The sergeant looked shocked, guilty and embarrassed all at once.

Turns couldn't help it, he laughed with the others, wrapping an arm around his middle to lessen the movement and the hitch of pain it brought. Hatch glanced at Lex when he'd stopped laughing, looked like he was considering it.

"What was he doing there? "

"Juni's plan. I told her Sarge had a thing for books, and the University has a great library. So we lured him there." He gave an exasperated sigh and looked at the ceiling. " All he had to do was meet us in the lobby and he would've walked right past it...Unfortunately we underestimated his complete lack of direction." He lifted an eyebrow. "We had to go looking for him...All that work and he never even made it to the library. We found him with wandering the halls with an idiot grin on his face and a stolen book, though, so I guess it wasn't a total bust."

"I didn't steal it." Lex looked offended for a moment, beofre astonishment took over. "You planned all that? How did you even know I like books? I never told any of you." He looked between them from across the room, his eyes even falling on Trust who still sat in the corner and shrugged at the glance.

"Uh, you're our Sarge. We know everything about you, whether you like it or not. That's what squads do. Even if it takes us a while," Ravi gave Turns a narrowed, pointed look, placing elbows on the table and tucking his chin on his fists. "Speaking of which...I couldn't help but notice you acting a little strangely around the Commander." Everyone turned to look at Turns, even Trust lifted his head briefly. "Nervous-like. And you're not the nervous type. The secret keeping-silent type, but not nervous. Anything you want to confess, vod?"

The accusation and implications were heavy, but Ravi had a way of speaking which seemed to render anything ridiculous, believing himself capable of coaxing truth to improbable scenarios with wiggling eyebrows and animated nodding.

Turns snorted, lacing his fingers together against the placemat and staring at them.

"I suppose I have to remain severely disappointing for you in the romance department."

"Really? Because you seem a bit...protective of the Commander. Practically gave Hatch the stink eye. How long have you known her?"

Turns blinked. He hadn't realized he had given that impression. He had honestly been more surprised than anything.

"A good while now. But I've only met her once before," He admitted. "I was there when she first arrived on Christophsis, and in her presence only briefly. I was keeping eyes on the other buildings when she was discussing things with the general. I didn't mean to be listening in, but honestly we all were...When she called him 'Skyguy' I was so shocked I turned. And the lot of us laughed. Even Rex, though he didn't have a helmet on to hide it." He chuckled at the memory before continuing.

"I heard she and the General took out the shield generator after the battle, when I was in med-bay. Then they shipped out and I didn't see her again. I thought about her, though..." his eyes drifted to where she had gone "Especially when I first came here. How young and small she looked. " A feeling of remorse welled up inside him.

"In a way, I feel like I failed her. I abandoned her, when I came here. Checked out and walked out on a kid. Maybe that's why... I keep coming here." He placed his chin on a hand with a sad smile.

"That's not what happened at all."

Lex had walked over and stooped over to pluck the bowl of fruit from the table. "You didn't have a choice in being assigned here." He offered a piece to the child in his arms. "From what I remember you weren't thrilled with the idea back then, either." He let his eyes pass slowly over each of the others before rolling them heavily as he walked back to where a throng of children were playing and he sat down among them, passing out the fruit to hungry fingers that swarmed him. "Not that I blame you..."

"Love you, Sarge," Ravi cajoled.

Hatch chuckled.

"Well, since the Commander's out, " he poked a tongue at Turns, "Maybe I will take you up on that University visit..."

He tossed a glance at Trust, giving a dismissive gesture with a hand. "Because I need to find someone or something before that guy. If he ends up in a relationship before me..."

"Trust? In a...relationship?" Ravi blinked.

Surge looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "He's good with kids."

"Yeah, but...can you imagine him with a girl?"

"The...immense...awkwardness..."

"I can hear you all."

The timer on the oven behind them dinged and Turns made to rise to get it but Ahsoka and Rhea had returned, and they both pressed hands to his shoulders.

"Nope." Ahsoka said, bright eyes and smile and retaking her seat.

"I've got it. You take it easy..." Rhea said as she stepped over to remove the tray from within. The smell hit them all and the others jumped up to help her, laying down a pad for the tray and unstacking dishes.

They were just finishing prepping the snack when there was a soft rap at the door and Rhea left the room to answer it. The others began ushering the children to the table, washing each pair of hands before getting everyone seated. Ahsoka was following Turns' example, adding helpings to each plate and piecing them out with a devotion that made him smile.

A minute later small hands looped his waist lightly from behind and he gave a grin over his shoulder. "Miss Fay." The little girl looked up at him with a goofy grin before returning her attention to the others at the table, eyes darting among them, face growing suddenly timid and serious.

Although this would make her second visit, Turns knew she was shy in the presence of so many. He gave her a smile and reached out a hand.

"Want to sit with me for a bit?"

She nodded and climbed into his lap, the weight against his abdomen smarting a little and he fought a grimace, but once she settled the heat of her back was soothing to the dull ache there. Her small hands found one of his right away, her fingers automatically pressing small paths across his palm, reminiscent of how Aiya massaged hers. It was a cute thing to mimic and something Turns knew she did self-consiously when nervous. He smiled and rested his chin on top of her head.

There was a laugh from behind, and thin arms encircled them both for a moment. The weight of a cheek pressed softly to the top of his head and a light sweet familiar smell, before Aiya pulled away and took a seat on the other side of Ahsoka with a warm smile at him, and then the others.

Fox approached after, stepping forward to sit with them, giving everyone a nod, eyes panning the many faces at the table, the few familiar and many new and small.

"Commander." He acknowledged Ahsoka as his gaze fell on her and she gave him a bright smile in return. He looked to the others again before glancing back at her with amusement. "I can only imagine the image you have of the Coruscant Guard, having spent a day with this lot."

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Sorry for the lateness! Painting rooms this week before we get some new furniture in. :) Should be back to normal next week, and the next TOK chapter should be out Sunday or Monday.

*I received a pm question this week that I wanted to answer here in the notes, just in case anyone else is wondering (probably getting way ahead of myself here lol, but just in case): It's completely cool to write about or include any of my OCs in a story if you like!

I'd be honored, actually. ~_~ Feel free to use them or any place I've written about, just let me know, because I'd love to read it if you do!

OwlFur and Cozzizzie and CaptainReb and TGP. You guys are my review heroes :) Thank you.

And...TGP made me another super cool cover for TOC so I updated it.

Isn't it awesome?! I love it. (Love you too TGP! )

Man, I'm spoiled rotten XD