Chapter 1 - Discovered

Plot: Found and rescued by Waxer and Boil, Din Djarin and Sae are taken aboard the cruiser. The two clones want to keep them safe and hidden, but they can't keep the duo a secret forever. And, unfortunately, they can't adopt them, either, since they're soldiers. But the children need a home, and there may be only one person who can give it to them.

Author's Note: I know everyone's probably going to want a continuation to this fic because it's pretty short and seems more like a beginning than an entire story, but I told the part I wanted to tell. :D

PS. This is a gift for L0stt33th on ao3. :)

~ Tirana Sorki

Waxer never interacts much with civilians. He would never have a reason to, but he's never forgotten the little Twi'lek girl on Ryloth that he and Boil rescued. Sometimes, he can't help thinking about Numa again, remembering when she called them her brother.

He hasn't seen any natborn children since then – not up close, anyway – until right now.

This time, there's two of them. A dark-haired human boy and a brown-haired humanoid girl that couldn't be human, at least not fully, judging from her white eye-color. But human or no, they look lost and terrified.

"Hey," Waxer greets, taking a cautious step towards them. Numa was skittish around them at first, and he expects the same to be true now.

Both of them instantly tense, especially the girl. She's standing unsteadily next to the boy, and he's fairly certain she's injured, even if he can't tell where.

"About to make some more friends?" Boil asks dryly, behind him.

"We always get the fun missions," Waxer shoots back, turning back to the children.

"You're clones?" the boy asks, warily. He sounds so young. For clones, he'd probably be four. Waxer's fairly certain that in natborn terms, that would be about eight. He really doesn't know, though – it's very hard for him to understand natborn growth patterns. Waxer himself is eleven or thereabouts.

"Yes," Waxer assures, "We're here to help you. Are you hurt?"

The girl doesn't reply, watching him distrustfully.

"Yeah, she is," the boy answers finally, "The droids were coming through and I... don't know where anyone else is."

Waxer can only guess. His family is probably dead. The droids always do that, though he doesn't quite have the heart to tell him so until it's confirmed. Probably, the boy already suspects it, anyway. "We'll find whoever's left," Waxer promises, "Come with us."

The children exchange a wordless glance before hesitantly approaching them.

"What's your name?" Waxer asks. That's always important to his brothers. He wouldn't know if it is for natborns too, but it might get them to loosen up a little.

"Din Djarin," the boy replies, "She's... Sae."

**w**

Sae doesn't know what she expected when the clones offered to take her and Din aboard their cruiser. Something bad, probably, but she didn't think it could be worse than what they've already been through. She's still wary, though. She doesn't know these people. How can they know this will be any better?

"It doesn't seem bad here," Din offers as they're curled up together on one of the bunks in the clone's barracks. There aren't that many people who know about them, thankfully, because she wouldn't be comfortable if many did. She wants their presence here to be hidden.

Sae doesn't remember much, but she knows enough about the galaxy not to trust anyone. She trusts Din because he's... young, and they were together before, and he's younger than her. She has to protect him. He's nine or so, and she's...

Twelve. It's hard to remember that. Din said she was twelve.

Whatever happened... before, she lost most of her memories. It makes her feel even more lost than she probably would otherwise. She hardly even knows who she is.

She freezes up instinctively when the door opens, but it's just the two clones who brought them here and had a medic look them over, so she relaxes a bit.

"Do you need anything?" one of them – is that Boil? They sound identical – asks.

Sae bites her lip. She's not good at answering in the positive, even if it's true. "We're fine."

Waxer climbs into his bunk opposite them.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, Din leaning lightly against her side.

"Can you show us how to use blasters?" Din queries, leaning forwards.

Sae doesn't remember what happened after they escaped. She knows Din lost his village, and that he was the only survivor, though. She might not know what happened to her, but to survive, she wants to know how to fight, too.

The clones freeze, looking at each other. "Sure," Waxer shrugs after what looks like a minute of silent contemplation.

"We could take you to the training area, but then... word will spread," Waxer says.

Sae can't help stiffening a little at that. She doesn't want to have to go anywhere near a bunch of people, especially not when they're all much older than her. Not after – after.

"Can we do it here?" Din asks, hopefully.

The clones exchange a glance, and Sae can't help thinking that sounds dangerous. But at least she'll have a way to defend herself if anything happens again. Or if they inevitably need to escape from here, which she's counting on happening eventually, just like... the last place she was at.

Boil finally deflates.

"Yes," Waxer agrees, and Din jumps to his feet, eagerly.

Sae follows with a little less energy, though she's eager for this, too.

**w**

"Alright, out with it," Cody sighs, "What's with the blasterfire in your barracks?"

Waxer and Boil exchange glances. "Well –" Waxer starts.

"Target practice, sir," Boil supplies, and Cody raises a disbelieving eyebrow at him. Not that he doesn't believe that, exactly, but they do have some training areas aboard Star Destroyers for that, and whatever it is, it's far too secretive.

"Well," Cody replies, moving forwards, "Then there shouldn't be a problem with letting me in."

They exchange glances again, half panicking, which is a telltale sign that there's something far, far greater going on that they conveniently have been keeping under the radar somehow. Did they get a wild animal aboard? That sounds more like something Echo and Fives would do. That shouldn't be such a secret.

The door slides open when Cody steps inside, and he pauses just in the doorway. And stares. He does a double, triple take, but the sight in front of him is the same. "Why are there younglings aboard?" he asks.

"They were hurt," Waxer blurts out, "We offered them treatment."

"And you kept them here?" He's got no issue with offering treatment to random, injured civilians, but the fact that they're aboard the cruiser, and being hidden, is what tips him off.

"They wanted to stay," Boil says sullenly, like that's an excuse for hiding civilians aboard a military transport in direct line of fire.

"They're civilians," Cody replies flatly, "And this is entirely against protocol." He's touched by the fact that they were willing to go so out of the way to help people, but this isn't really the right time to mention it. They're soldiers, and he needs to put their wellbeing over everything else. That... includes even if their disregard for protocol is right under the circumstances or not. "They have family –"

"They don't," they chorus.

Cody pauses, throwing a glance at the two of them again. He has no idea how to handle this. It's... strange. Droids are easy. Civilians are not. The Separatists usually use them as shields, and Cody has no idea how to interact with them. Their presence has gotten so many of his men dead, and vice versa.

They look scared. He can tell that much. He needs someone who knows what to do, and they shouldn't have to worry.

"Let's take this outside," he says, nodding to the door.

Waxer gives the duo a guilty look before following Cody back outside.

"They're orphans?" he guesses.

"Yes, sir," Boil replies, "And they requested not to be handed back to authorities."

This is war, and there are people who deal with this type of thing. Not clones. "There's nothing we can do for them," Cody points out, "They deserve a family, a home. Not this."

"What if we adopted them?" Waxer blurts out, and Cody stares.

They – what?

"You're soldiers," Cody admonishes. "This is not something we can do."

"Whatever happened to them isn't something they want to talk about," Boil protests, "What if something bad happens to them if we give them up?"

"That isn't something we can control. What makes you think they're in danger?"

"They're afraid," Waxer answers hesitantly, "I think something or someone hurt them, but it wasn't Separatists. I don't think they trust the Republic."

That is... odd, and it does complicate things. But still, his point stands. Cody has no idea what to do, so he has to find someone who will. And he's not taking this to the General – He has no idea what General Kenobi would do, and he doesn't really want to. His General has never been opposed to helping people who need it – he's a Jedi – but he'll always put the mission first, and really? He's on the Council. He has far more important things to worry about than two random civilians. That's more...

"That does complicate it," Cody admits, "I don't know what to do with them, but I'll find someone who can help. Someone we trust."

**w**

"– and I don't know what to do with them," Cody is saying. He sounds mildly disturbed about the whole thing, and this is the 212th, so Anakin is a bit, too.

If it was his own boys, well, they pick up strays all the time.

Obi-Wan has never fond of 'pathetic life forms' though. These are younglings who lost their families to the war, much like Anakin lost his own mother – the only family he's ever had, and he understands. He knows how lost he felt after Qui-Gon freed him, but he had a purpose. He knew that Qui-Gon would look after him. He needs to talk to them, figure out what's wrong. Until then, they can't do anything.

"I'll talk to them," Anakin offers, "Until we know where they're from, or what they're afraid of, we can't make a decision."

"It's odd," Cody admits, "This is wartime, and I want to believe they're just... lost, but sometimes..."

"It's okay," Anakin assures, touching his shoulder, "If there's more to their presence here than we realize, I'll figure it out."

"I don't want to send them off to an orphanage someplace if they could be hurt," Cody admits, "But I don't know what else to do."

Yeah. Anakin doesn't, either. He's not... good with this, or at least it certainly doesn't feel like he's good with Ahsoka, but he's still a Jedi. He knows how to talk to civilians. He knows how to get information out of people – that's what they have to do when they investigate crime scenes. Most of the time, it's the most unlikely bystanders who noticed what they need.

"I'll see what I can find out."

The situation is still... it's a little different, to say the last. The last time Fives tried to have a pet, he got as far as getting it aboard before it got dropped off on the nearest planet. He hasn't tried since, but that was only a month ago, so it could change about any day now. But this? This is definitely new.

Anakin slowly enters the barracks where the younglings are allegedly being kept. He's a shred wary about this, but he knows how to be careful. He's good at fighting, at... he's alright with emotions. With people he knows, anyway, though Ahsoka often tells him he's far too blunt. Well. He doesn't have anyone else to ask. Obi-Wan is busy on Coruscant right now, and they can't wait.

There's two of them. A boy and a girl, and they're definitely not siblings, though that's still his first guess. From how they tense up when they see him, and how the girl takes a half-step in front of the boy, he instantly gets the feeling that's the nature of their relationship.

"Who are you?" the girl demands, tense.

"My name is Anakin Skywalker," he replies, crouching to be closer at eye-level with them, "I'm a Jedi."

The wariness in their expressions doesn't ease up at all. "What's that?" the boy asks.

They don't know what the Jedi are? They... must be far from most of society to not know that. "We help the people," Anakin tells them, "And we're fighting to end the war."

"You're with the Republic," she states more than asks, tensing even more.

There's definitely something to that – he can sense as much as see it. He'll have to approach it carefully, to keep them calm. "Yes, I am. You're safe now."

"Being with the Republic doesn't mean we're safe," she accuses. There's a heat in her eyes that reminds Anakin of what he's seen so many times years ago. It reminds him of Tatooine, of how on edge the children often were there, of how they never trusted anyone. Of how he himself never trusted anyone. They couldn't afford to on Tatooine – it was too dangerous.

"Did... someone from the Republic hurt you?" he asks.

That flicker in her eyes, a look that he recognizes of remembering something bad answers the question more than enough. "Why should we trust you?" she demands.

"You don't have to," Anakin answers, "But as a Jedi, it's my duty to make sure you get some place safe."

The children exchange glances, though they still look scared. "We want to stay," the boy replies. Anakin is hardly surprised by that, but it still breaks his heart a little to hear. They have no one, except the clones who picked them up and have been helping them. He can only imagine what happened to them before.

"I know, but the chances of you being caught in the crossfire here with us is too high. What are your names?" Anakin asks.

"I'm Sae," the girl replies, "This is Din." She's leaving off last names, and Anakin's not fully sure if it's to hide who they are, or to try hiding them from someone looking, he doesn't know.

"Are you from the Republic?" he queries. Anakin has to make sure of that, because if they're not, that could lead to... complications. It could easily happen that refugees from the Separatist side end up here, and while that doesn't change anything for Anakin or most Jedi, it changes how they're viewed and treated. And that would explain straight up why they're so afraid.

"We were," Sae answers, watching him closely. That's the first time Anakin senses how bright she is. It's something soft and light gently brushing against his mind. She's Force-sensitive. Untrained, but strong, and Anakin's first thought is how he needs to keep her away from the Sith. If Dooku – or Ventress – found her, they'd want her as an acolyte, or a Sith, and with her fear, he can only imagine how easy that would be.

"If someone hurt you," Anakin tells them, "We need to know so they can be dealt with."

"You'll just send us back," Sae snaps back.

They're trying to hide from someone. That much was clear from the start, but it's starting to seem more complicated than Anakin initially thought. They're afraid of something, and he needs to figure out their origins. He can guess, but there's nothing more than speculation right now.

"The Republic does make mistakes," Anakin says, because being blunt about it is probably the best chance he has at gaining their trust. "We do fail, and we often aren't able to help fast enough, but we do try. Right now, I need to get you to someone who has the resources and ability to take care of you, to give you a life."

"No," Sae snaps, crossing her arms and glaring, "We're not going anywhere."

Were they already at an orphanage, or somewhere that they were being hurt? They were injured when the clones found them, allegedly, and Anakin doesn't have a good feeling about that. They're so young.

"I understand," Anakin tells them, "I know there are people that the Republic overlook. They did it for me once. Before I became a Jedi, I used to live on Tatooine. I... used to be a slave, until one of the Jedi found and freed me." He doesn't care about people knowing his past. It's a part of him, and he's not... ashamed of it, exactly. What it means is that he can understand people in a way that most other Jedi can't. "I wanted to do everything I could to help, so no one would have to go through what I did."

"We were at an orphanage," Din blurts out, "They were gonna sell us as slaves."

Force. That explains everything. Padme told him there were rumors of things like that happening, and Anakin hadn't been remotely surprised by it. Of course, slavers are taking advantage of this. They don't have many opportunities to do that anymore, but with the war, the Jedi and all authorities are distracted.

Crimes are running rampant in the underworld.

Pirates are taking this to their advantage, too. It's easy to frame the Separatists and just leave. There have been many examples of that, and Anakin has been ordered not to dig deeper, because they don't have the resources.

That definitely answers whether Anakin's going to just let 'proper' authorities get charge of these children. That's what happened to them in the first place, and they deserve a better life than that.

"I'll find someone who can give you a home," Anakin replies finally. He doesn't know how to, but he has to do something. "I promise." He suspected this already, but hearing it is still – how many people have been lost and no one will ever ask questions about, because they don't have families anymore?

They're so, so lucky they made it out, and Anakin wonders how they did it. It couldn't have been easy. Did they know anyone else there who was lost? Were there others, and they were the only ones who made it out? That certainly explains how jittery they are, and how they don't trust anyone.

The duo exchange glances again, and they don't look significantly less worried, but they don't say anything else.

"Until then, I'll let you stay," Anakin assures, standing, "And... I'll send someone in you might want to see."

**w**

Ahsoka's had to deal with getting civilians to safety countless times in the past, but she's never had to watch over any of it personally. Especially not ones who are right around her age.

The girl is close to her height, and the boy is a bit shorter, though he is several years younger.

It's... been a long time since she has been around anyone her age. There was her entire Initiate clan at the Temple, but they were separated once they started becoming padawans, and she hasn't seen any of them since she became a padawan. And since then, she's hardly had time to interact with any other padawans, thanks to the war.

"Here to keep an eye on us?" Sae asks, right off. It's not hostile, but she's obviously wary. They both are, but they'll probably be more relaxed around her, when she's about their age, than they would be around anyone else.

"I'm Ahsoka," she replies, going for casual, "The boys are otherwise occupied right now, and I can't imagine staying in here all alone is too interesting."

"We don't have anything else to do," Din answers, though from his tone she thinks he agrees.

She can't imagine what it took to make them want to hide in a room like this. She wouldn't have been able to stand that when she was eight. "Would you like to look around?"

"Could we?" Sae objects, "Everyone would see."

... Good point. They're on a 212th cruiser and not even Master Kenobi knows about them yet. "What if... I showed you around through the vents?" Ahsoka asks, smothering a laugh. It would work, and she and Anakin do it for reasonable reasons all the time. It also sounds like a good way to keep two children younger than her occupied.

"The vents?" Din asks, a little incredulously.

"Yeah," she agrees, smirking, "My master and I crawl around in there all the time. So do the boys."

Din perks up a little, looking hopefully at Sae.

"... Sure," the girl concurs finally, clearly curious even if she's cautious. She obviously feels responsible for Din, and Ahsoka doesn't doubt she'll do whatever she has to, to take care of him.

"Come on," Ahsoka urges, moving to the door. She pauses in the entrance listening to make sure no one is coming before gesturing for them to follow.

They dart after her, until they reach a vent port in the middle of the hall, and she reaches up, detaching it.

"How do we get up there?" Sae asks.

"Want me to throw you up there with the Force?" she suggests. Which... is not exactly how she ought to be using the Force, but she and Anakin throw Rex – to safety – all the time, and it's fun. Besides, it'll probably keep them distracted.

Sae nods, a little eagerly, and Ahsoka reaches out, lifting her first, until she's far enough that she can pull herself into the opening. She does the same for Din, before soundlessly jumping into the vents after them.

"It's cool up here," the girl breathes, looking around.

"Can we go everywhere?" Din asks, hopefully.

"That's why we're up here," Ahsoka agrees, cheerfully. Maybe this is lightly illegal, but Anakin did say she was supposed to babysit them, and that's what she's doing.

They start crawling, with Ahsoka pointing out the various places in the ship as they pass them. It lasts a while, until a group of clones passes directly under them, pausing at the voices.

"Did you hear something?" one of them asks.

Ahsoka and the other two freeze, carefully scooting back from the opening. It reminds her sharply of hiding from Barriss and the clones in the worm incident, but this is so not serious, unlike then, that it's all she can do to suppress her laughter.

"Don't see anything," one of the clones decides, and they linger a moment longer before they keep moving.

"That was close," Sae murmurs.

"Don't worry. We can't get in trouble for being up here," she chirps, and they keep moving.

Until they pass over another area where several clones are talking, but Ahsoka instantly spots Cody as one of them.

"Waxer and Boil are there," Din hiss-whispers, pointing.

Sae perks up a little, at that.

"Shhh, let's listen," Ahsoka advises. Though chances are, they're probably talking about something important. Hopefully not classified, because that... probably wouldn't be good.

"Alright boys, we need to have the transport ready to leave within the hour," Cody is saying, "General Kenobi is bringing the Duchess from Mandalore to Coruscant. There isn't supposed to be any trouble, but there's rumors of her involvement with the Separatists, so we'll have to stay sharp."

Everyone's heard the rumors that Mandalore might be about to enter the war. Last she heard, Anakin was leaving to pick up Obi-Wan. So, it's... nothing too classified.

Sae quietly scoots some feet back down the tunnel, waving at the others to follow her. "What do Jedi normally do?" she asks Ahsoka once they're far enough from an opening that they can actually talk.

Ahsoka genuinely wishes she had a hands-on answer to that, because she's never done anything but fight, no matter how much she wishes she could be doing something other than that. Yes, she's adjusting, but that doesn't mean it's what she wants to be doing. "Before the war we went on missions to settle disputes on planets and keep people from fighting each other. Now, we're trying to bring this war to an end, and help everyone we can who get caught in the middle. Master Kenobi is trying to keep the war from spreading. It will be... bad if Mandalore enters."

"Why?" Din asks, eyes widening a little.

"The Mandalorians are... skilled warriors, unlike the droids." She doesn't miss his wince at the mention of 'droids'. "If they join the war against us, it will be bad."

"Are you going, too?" Sae asks.

"I wasn't on the mission. But my master is going to, and they should have it handled." She can hope. She is worried about it, but she knows Anakin and Master Kenobi are more than capable of handling whatever's going to happen there. Her mission is here.

"What if we came, too?" she suggests, hesitantly, "Waxer and Boil are gonna be there and if it's not supposed to be dangerous..."

They've... definitely loosened up a lot, in the long trip through the vents. "I... don't know if that's a good idea," Ahsoka objects, trying to ignore her sudden, ridiculous urge to agree, "It shouldn't be dangerous, but –"

"I wanna see what the Jedi do, too," Din agrees, hopefully.

What if taking them actually helped make the children trust them more? That would be a good thing, and the notion of sneaking along on a trip like that for no reason at all sounds... a lot more fun than constantly leading the boys in fights to the death.

... Why is she even considering this? To be fair, this is hardly the most bizarre thing she's ever done. "Fine, we can do it," Ahsoka agrees, deflating, "But we'll have to be very careful to make sure no one sees us, and you have to stay close to me at all times."

Both of them nod, eagerly.

"What do we do?" Sae asks.

"Follow me," Ahsoka advises, mind running over all the ways she can manage to sneak onto a ship for a diplomatic mission. Right now, she'll try not to think about all the ways this can backfire very badly. It feels more like the kind of adventure she'd like to be on. She thought the war would be fun, until after the first battle. "We need to find the right moment to get on that ship."

Final Notes: Reviews are always appreciated! ^-^

Come hang out on Discord (delete spaces), discord . gg / nqSxuz2 or find us on tumblr at fanfictasia (our more serious blog which does have controversial posts on it; I won't be offended if you choose to block it, promise), and disastertriowriting (which is our fun blog with crack posts or incorrect SW quotes)

We've got a YT channel for tributes! (delete the spaces) youtube channel / UC_g1M5rSCxJUzQCRS29B6pA

ALSO: We have SW gift request forms for General, Anakin-Clones-centric, and Bad Batch fics. :D (delete spaces) bit . ly / CourtesyTrefflinFicRequests