Chapter Text
„Seelos huh? Are you sure?“, asked a tired voice and all heads turned to the door. The Ghost, the Marauders, and Ahsoka's little freighter stood around a campfire, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Two crews sat opposite each other in the glow of the fire. Omega, who was sitting between Hera and Echo, looked briefly at Ahsoka Tano, the togruta she had only met a few rotations ago. Her keen gaze slid over the group once before she pushed away from her ship, came down the ramp and plopped onto the floor next to Echo.
Omega had never seen her brother so relaxed. Almost happy! He smiled when Tano thoughtfully ran a hand through his gray curls. Nobody else was allowed to do that! Tech lowered his datapad and took off his glasses, massaging the bridge of his nose with two fingers with a sigh. He looked tired but replied, „Of course. After all, the other clones are not too difficult to track down.“ „Mhm…“, Tano replied, leaning her head back. Her blue eyes blinked thoughtfully, Omega had never seen such a intense colour in her life before! Echo next to her grinned a little further and poked her on the side with his artificial hand. „Don't blame him, he's too old to change.“, he joked, it made Omega incredibly happy. The agent suddenly snorted, everyone looked up with surprise in their eyes. The sound of her bright laugh was unexpected, it sounded beautiful. Echo's grin widened, if it was possible at all.
Omega let her gaze wander, it came to rest on her father. Hunter sat between Tech and Crosshair, also watching Echo and Tano. He seemed satisfied with what he saw, his scarred hands rested open and relaxed on his knees and a faint smile curled his lips. When he felt Omega's gaze on him he returned her small smile, even if there was a concerned shadow in his eyes. Omega wasn't sure why, and her stomach jumped at the thought that Hunter might once again know more than she did.
Crosshair, on the other hand, didn't seem like laughing at all, he sat close to Hunter's side and watched the Jedi Hera had brought over. Every little laugh or the raise of a hand made him grumble and show his teeth. The latter only made Omega grin. He might be in a bad mood, but wasn't really looking for trouble. But Kanan... Omega knew Kanan and she had made the careful decision not to tell him anything about her homeworld. Or her brothers and her father, who helped her out every now and then. He seemed to see it as an act of treason, for hours he stared in silence and ignored every attempt of the others to improve his mood. How would he react if he knew, that Boba Fett and Omega were also something like siblings?
„Kriff! Kanan, pull yourself together.“, Hera growled after Kanan gave the clones another particularly sharp and cold look. Omega knew he didn't like clones, but for some reason he seemed particularly disapproving of her family. Omega kept sliding one hand to her blaster pistol, even if she didn't believe that there would actually be an argument... „Kanan, just a word with you.“, Tano growled suddenly and Omega automatically slipped her weapon into her hand. The woman in front of them suddenly had a dangerous twinkle in her eyes and when Kanan stood up stiffly, she stalked around the ship and disappeared from view.
Omega slid up to Echo, he stared at the ship with furrowed eyebrows. Hunter came closer too. „Should we go?“, he asked softly and Echo shook his head, that was answer enough for Hunter and he sank down on the floor next to them. Echo, however, didn't seem to relax and Omega followed his gaze while her fingers checked the position of her vibro knife without having to think about it. „What's wrong with her?“, she asked softly and Hunter raised a hand in a vague gesture of uncertainty, Echo didn't seem too sure either. „She is very tense, I think the behavior of the other Jedi has just snapped her patience.“, he muttered and Omega raised an eyebrow. Even if Tano had obviously cried herself to sleep on the first night they had spent on the same ship, Omega would never have taken the older woman for someone who just snapped at others.
„Kanan, these are our friends!“ „They killed my master! And then they tried to kill me too!“, growled the younger Jedi and Ahsoka massaged her temples, she had to stay calm. She was older, she was more sensible. She had to be like a rock in a fast river. „They don't deserve to be here.“ And there went the stone. Ahsoka felt as if lightning had struck her, split her open and exposed all that forgotten anger and fear. She pulled her lips back, revealing two rows of snow-white teeth, and let out a growl. „They saved my brother and met Rex.“, she insisted and Kanan stubbornly pushed his chin out. She had no energy for this! „And you would just trust them like that?“ Tears welled up in her eyes without her permission, it was all too much! She had been looking for Rex for YEARS, for any sign if he was still alive! And then instead she stumbled upon Echo as if he had simply risen from the dead. „With my life!“ The campfire suddenly fell silent and Ahsoka realized that she hadn't been particularly quiet. She and Kanan froze and waited until the others quietly resumed their conversations.
Ahsoka sighed deeply, all of this was giving her a headache. „Please, Kanan. Give them a chance, they're all that's left of my family.“, she asked quietly and Kanan thawed, he noticed that Ahsoka looked incredibly old. He hadn't remembered the responsible but cheeky girl like that. Even if he had met her just a couple of times. „But you are part of the rebellion. A part of us.“, he took to a soothing path, to his horror Ahsoka's shoulders sagged even further and she rubbed her face with one hand, the back of her hand running suspiciously close under her eye. She was a warrior, her scars and armor proved it, and yet she kept her shoulders curled up. Deep sadness and loneliness rolled from her towards him in waves and Kanan had the feeling of drowning in it. That was not fair! Ahsoka was the older of them, she was the leader. The one with a cool head and sharp mind!
Someone tapped the hull of the ship gently and Kanan winced while Ahsoka just took a deep breath and straightened her back. Before his eyes she brushed off all the pain and loneliness, her gaze hardened. Unyielding. This argument was over and Kanan sensed that further contradictions from him would not be tolerated. Then he glanced over at the clone that had joined them. It was the one with the prostheses all over his body, Echo? His gaze was so immensely calm it almost scared Kanan. He just wanted a reason to be angry! Because without that spark of anger, he was actually just terrified!
„I'll be leaving at dawn.“, Ahsoka decided and fixed her gaze resolutely forward, Echo let out a hum. Somewhere between worried and content, it made Ahsoka's heart skip a beat. Damn it, she was an adult and an agent, and very capable of handling stress in a healthy and sensible way. No need to react like a child as soon as someone seemed to offer her some comfort! „Hera is asking for you.“, Echo informed Kanan, his voice emphasized calm, and watched as the other Jedi marched around the ship. As soon as the observer was gone, Ahsoka held out the loneliness and the panicked pounding of her heart no longer than the blink of an eye. She rushed forward and wrapped her long arms around Echo's center, smelling his familiar scent, and giving up fighting the tears. She was so damn tired.
„Oh vod’ika, it's okay.“, Echo mumbled softly and wrapped his arms around Ahsoka's shoulders. When he put a hand between her montrals she shuddered and buried her nose in the back of his neck, somewhere in the back of his mind Echo registered that she was almost taller than him. He felt as thick drops dripped from her chin onto his neck and his heart contracted convulsively. He had been right, that had been too much in such a short time. „I got you...“ He hadn't had a little padawan with him in years, who clung to his side after the battle and trembled and waited for the others to return as well. But that didn't matter, it was like muscle memory to gently stroke with his artificial hand over her back and waiting until the heavy breaths against his throat calmed down. He rocked them both gently back and forth while standing and Ahsoka let out a small, tired sigh. Relief flooded him, almost as violent as the second he first saw her a few rotations ago. His sister was still beneath the sharp look, the gleaming teeth, and the scars. „I'll bring him back.“, she muttered hoarsely and Echo smiled and leaned his cheek against one of her montrals, she was too big to put his chin in the hollow between. „Of course you will. Who else would?“