Work Text:
18 BBY
Location: Classified
At the end of a delightful Life Day celebration, Ahsoka – curled up on a sofa next to Rex – closed her eyes and allowed the peaceful sounds of their sleepy household to roll over her montrals. She heard gentle snoring echo through halls that led off from the main living area where she sat in blissful contentment. Not so gentle snoring rumbled down others. The young togruta woman chuckled. A soft peeping emanated from the charging station where C3-P0 was recuperating from a long day of nursery duty. R2 would join him once he and R7 finished their perimeter security checks. R7 would take the night shift as nursery monitor.
Who knew droids made such wonderful nursery attendants?
Rex and Ahsoka each held one peacefully sleeping bundle. She listened to the rhythmic breathing of their two small charges. The sound mingled with the low reverberations of the man quietly singing next to her and she lost herself to the comforting enchantment it cast. Ahsoka didn’t know how a heart could be as full as hers was at that moment and not burst.
Her mind drifted back to Life Days past. During the war they were never able do a full-blown celebration, but Ahsoka had done her best to bring bits and pieces of the holiday traditions to her men. She was always looking for a chance to give them something fun to brighten their lives. It was one of the ways Ahsoka tried to show that she saw them as far more than just soldiers designed to fight and die. They were men who deserved a chance to live.
When they were on Coruscant during Life Day, Ahsoka enlisted Anakin and Obi Wan to help her sneak in extra portions of particularly delicious temple food. That was always a big hit with the boys. Getting anything besides the bland GAR rations was holiday enough for them whenever it could be managed.
Other times she would arrange secret gift exchanges. Each of the men would be randomly assigned someone they had to give a gift. Coming up with gift ideas in combat zones could be challenging. The results often ranged from ridiculous to heartwarming. One year Ridge had rigged a dismantled B1 battle droid with explosives as a gift for Hardcase. When Hardcase finally got to detonate it, he was able to take out a whole platoon of clankers at the same time. The blast was impressively destructive. Hardcase was very pleased.
On another occasion, Jesse asked Master Shaak Ti (who happened to be an excellent artist) to produce a sketch of each member of Domino Squad. This he gifted to Fives. Tears were shed.
But the times Ahsoka treasured the most were when they sang. She loved hearing her men sing. The way their resonant voices would join in perfect unison or blend in harmony was pure magic. Ahsoka had taught them a few traditional Life Day songs, but one day they had chosen to share with her some of the Mando’a songs they had been taught growing up. She had listened in breathless awe the first time she heard them sing “Vode An” and knew she had been given a precious gift.
It broke her heart knowing that so many of those beautiful voices had been silenced forever, but she would not trade the memory of their songs for the world.
As her mind returned to the present, she found in that moment that she could bear the sorrow of their loss a little easier as she remembered the beauty and joy of their gift. Even now Rex was tenderly singing “Vode An” into a tiny mop of sandy hued curls. Through the song and the love she sensed flowing from him through their bond, Ahsoka felt a profound connection to all his brothers – both the living and the lost. Vode An meant “Brothers All”. A heartfelt smile spread across Ahsoka’s face even as a tear slipped down her cheek.
She felt a single callused finger gently stroke her face and catch the droplet, Rex whispered, “What are you thinking about, cyar’ika?”
As Ahsoka opened her eyes and turned to him, her chin brushed against the waves of brunette locks resting on her chest. She tried to express all that she was feeling, but the words seemed to fail her. Rex understood anyway. He carefully nestled closer to her. One arm still cradled the sleeping boy, while the other arm curled around the togruta and caressed her arm. “They have a word for that in Mando’a, ‘Aay’han’,” Rex explained. “You remember those who are gone – and you grieve – but you celebrate their memory, too.”
“Aay’han” Ahsoka tried out the word for herself. Apparently, she hadn’t gotten the pronunciation quite right because Rex said it for her again.
“Aay’han.”
“Aay’han,” she attempted once more.
“Better, but give a little more breath to the beten. Aay’han.”
They traded the word back and forth as Ahsoka tried to improve her pronunciation.
“Aay’han.”
“Aay’han.”
“Aay’han.”
“Aay’han.”
Rex and Ahsoka drew closer with each repetition of the word till Rex was speaking into her montrals – his lips nearly brushing against her blue and white stripes. He planted three feather-light kisses on her togruta horns and she moaned softly. Ahsoka turned to face him and their foreheads touched and held in a gentle kov’nyn.
“We’ll have you talking like a proper Mando’ad, yet, cyar’ika,” Rex said with a satisfied grin.
“Maybe,” Ahsoka purred, “but you’ll never speak proper Shili.”
Rex rolled his eyes. “Well, forgive me for not having vocal cords that are half loth-cat.”
Ahsoka turned away with a playful huff that blended with a little togruta trill. When she looked back, Rex was staring into the lighted orbs on the miniature wroshyr tree set in the middle of the karyai. Shifting the little girl in her arms to free her lekku from the baby’s weight, Ahsoka sat back observing the man next to her.
Rex and his brothers had been expected by their creators to be soldiers and nothing more. Every moment of their carefully structured lives had been designed to prepare them for war. Their childhoods had been stolen from them twice over – first by accelerated aging and second by a training process that spent every moment of their shortened youths training them to be perfect warriors. Rex had described to her the flash training he and his brothers had undergone from the time they were toddlers – training their minds to think and their bodies to move like soldiers in combat. He had once told her he’d learned how to dodge live ordnance from the time he’d first been able to walk. The babies were just beginning to take their first wobbly steps. Imagining Rex at that age already training for combat horrified her.
Ahsoka’s own childhood had not exactly been what some would consider normal, but she’d still had one. Her first memories were of chasing butterflies through the grasses of Shili not learning how to dodge bombs and blaster fire. From her earliest days she had experienced the simple joys of discovering the world around her – the colors of a butterfly’s wing, the wonders of the Jedi temple’s meditation gardens, the lights in trees on Life Day.
Rex’ childhood had none of that. His adult life hadn’t left him much time to appreciate the beauty of the galaxy either. Most of it had been spent blasting droids and trying not to be blasted by them. But every now and then, when they had a few minutes to spare from battle (and the preparations for battle) she had caught him studying his surroundings with the same look of childlike wonder he had on his face now.
“It’s pretty isn’t it?” Ahsoka asked in a voice barely above of whisper.
Rex didn’t respond. His eyes traced the colors the orbs cast across the room. He gazed at the splashes of luminous color on the ceiling, the walls, the floor. He watched the light play across the sleeping babes in their arms. The warm and loving expression that spread across his face as he looked at the children melted Ahsoka's heart. Then his eyes slowly drew to hers. When he was looking directly into Ahsoka eyes, he breathed one single word, “Mesh’la.” Mando’a for “beautiful”.
An electric shiver raced through Ahsoka from her toes to the tips of her montrals. She knew he wasn’t talking about wroshyr trees or colored orbs.
Rex sat back and sighed, “Part of me could sit here like this with you and babies forever. The other part of me is quickly going numb. I think it’s time we put the ad’ika to bed properly.”
“Luke is getting kind of heavy isn’t he?” Ahsoka laughed – as quietly as she could so she didn’t wake Leia.
“He’s a growing boy,” Rex carefully shifted the child to one arm as he stood up. He gazed fondly at the sleeping Luke, “bal kaysh guur’ skran.” Rex offered his free hand to Ahsoka to help her up off the sofa and she accepted it.
“He might be a little bigger now,” Ahsoka grinned and showed off her fangs “but Leia could still take him in a fight.”
“Oh, no doubt!” Rex agreed with a chuckle. He reached over and tenderly stroked a dark strand of hair. “Nehutyc, this one!”
“And she has quite the grip, too,” Ahsoka added through gritted teeth. The little girl had grabbed securely onto the end of the togruta’s lek.
Rex reached out a finger and pried the baby’s hand loose. Ahsoka used the Force to retrieve a plush rattle shaped like a loth-cat and gave it to the sleeping girl to hold onto instead.
Ahsoka and Rex carried the babies to the nursery.
“E'daark'a mig. Meht ke aht, tazi tungu,” Ahsoka softly trilled in her native tongue as they laid Luke and Leia into their cribs.
Stepping back, Ahsoka wrapped her arms around Rex’ waist and leaned into him as they both kept a watchful eye on the sleeping younglings. Rex rested his chin on her montrals. He reached up one hand to gently stroke her back lek. Ahsoka trilled with pleasure and snuggled closer still as she pondered the road that had led them here.
The past several weeks had been a blur – a whirlwind that had brought them these two precious souls to raise and protect. Not even two years old and their lives had been filled with more tragedy than many faced in a lifetime. Orphaned and separated at birth, they each had been orphaned yet again by the inscrutable purposes of a monster.
A monster that I’m responsible for setting loose. So much death and pain that could have been avoided if I –
“’Soka, enough.” Rex’ tone was firm, but kind. She looked up into his loving amber eyes. Rex must have sensed her dark thoughts through their bond. He reached up a hand a to caress her cheek. “No more of that, cyare. What is past is past. Our concern is the future now.” His eyes shifted to Luke and Leia.
Ahsoka followed his gaze. Luke and Leia – the children of Anakin and Padme. They changed everything.
Rex was right. For now their focus needed to be on keeping Luke and Leia safe and hidden – and loved.
The last one was going to be the easy part. In just the short time the younglings had been in her life, she had come to love them with a fierceness that astonished her. Rex was equally as devoted to the children. It was obvious watching them that the bond he shared with both little ones was strong. They adored him and the feeling was clearly mutual.
“Rex?”
“Hmm? What is it cyar’ika?” With his throat pressed to her montrals, the vibration of his vocal cords created an intoxicatingly distracting tingle. It took her a moment to recover enough to ask her question.
“I asked you once what you would want to be if you could be anything besides a soldier. Do you remember what you said?” She pulled back to look at him.
“I said I’d be a farmer.”
With a tilt of her head, Ahsoka gave him a skeptical grin. “Even then I knew that was a load of osik.”
“Really?” Rex look at her, surprised.
“Absolutely, but I figured you had your reasons for keeping your secrets.” She was silent for a moment. “It was this wasn’t it?” She indicated the cribs with a nod of her head. “This is what you really wanted. What your heart wanted to say, even if your head couldn’t allow you to, yet. You wanted to be a father.”
“Yes.” Rex breathed. His voice was strained and hushed. “I hadn’t even realized it until that moment. I’d thought about Cut and his family a lot since I’d met them. How could I not? But when you made me face the question, I suddenly realized what had truly haunted me ever since Saleucami. The connection between Cut and the children. I wanted that. I wanted to be a father.”
She took his face in her hands. Force! She loved this man! “So be one, Rex. Adopt Luke and Leia officially – in the Mando way. I know you’ve thought about it. Life Day is all about family. I can’t think of a better time.”
Rex looked at her with shining eyes. Then he turned to Luke and Leia and stepped forward. He gently placed one hand on each slumbering head.
Ahsoka touched a hesitant hand to his shoulder. “Rex? Could I – Do you think it would be – Can I do it, too? Adopt them, I mean?”
He turned to her with a tender smile full of love. Rex took her by the arm and guided her over to the cribs where Luke and Leia slept. Standing behind her, he took one of her hands in each of his before setting them on each of the babies’ heads.
“Repeat the words after me, Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad.”
“Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad.”
“I know your name as my child, Luke, Leia.” Rex' voice was thick with emotion.
“I know your name as my child, Luke, Leia.”
Ahsoka closed her eyes and let herself sink into the scared beauty of this moment. She felt the love she shared with Rex and with the children, swell around her like a warm glow. The Force gathered around her and flowed through her, through the bond she shared with this remarkable man – and through the bond she now shared with these children. From the sudden gasp that escaped Rex, Ahsoka suspected he felt it, too.
They stepped back and Ahsoka turned and buried herself in Rex’ chest, wrapping her arms around him. He held her, kissing her lightly between the montrals before saying, “Well, that was – something.” They stayed like that for several minutes until Rex broke the silence. “Ahsoka, I have one last Life Day gift to give – if you’ll accept it.”
“Why wouldn’t I accept it Rex?” the togruta asked with a puzzled tilt to her head.
Rex stepped back. Suddenly he was very nervous. Anxiety rolled off him in waves. “Well, I’m pretty sure you will, but I –” He rubbed the back of his neck and released a slow breath before pulling a dark blue velvet pouch from his pocket. He dropped the contents into the palm of his hand. A single gleaming object. Ahsoka gasped.
It was a ring. Silver colored with a series of ocean blue stones embedded along the side.
“Ahsoka Tano, will you marry me? Will you be my wife?” Rex held the ring out to her.
She looked from the ring to his face – his beautiful, expectant face and amber eyes full of love and warmth.
Slowly she began nodding her head until the words finally exploded from her mouth and her heart. The words and phrases -- an enthusiastic mixture of Mando'a and Shili -- tumbled over each other as she threw her arms around Rex’ neck. “ ’lek. Ku – ku, mi ghem! Elek!” She covered her mouth and glanced at Luke and Leia. The last thing they wanted to do was wake the babies. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the children still slept soundly.
Rex put his arms around her waist and whispered “So that’s a yes?”
“Yes, Rex. I will marry you,” she whispered back and pulled him into a passionate kiss.
Once Rex had recovered enough from the kiss to think again, he placed the ring on the third finger of her left hand.
The pair slipped quietly out of the nursery. Ahsoka led Rex back into the karyai and sat on the floor next to the wroshyr tree. Rex set himself down next to her and she leaned into him as she admired the ring in the light of the Life Day tree. He began planting a line of gentle kisses down her montrals and lekku. The togruta trilled and purred with pleasure. She repaid the favor, kissing him on the jaw and working her way slowly down to the hollow of his neck and back up the other side. She placed one final lingering kiss on lips.
Rex drew her into his lap and pressed his forehead to hers. They sat quietly for some time until Ahsoka asked, “What is a Mandalorian wedding like, Rex?”
“Well, cyar’ika, it’s actually quite simple. When two people decide to commit their lives to one other, they each recite the words of the Riduurok – the Mandalorian marriage agreement – and they’re officially married.”
“Rex, teach me the words.”
He backed away and look into those big blue eyes. “Ahsoka, are you trying to tell me you want to recite the vows now? Tonight?”
“Yes, Rex. I want to marry you tonight.”
“OK, ‘Soka.” He raised one hand, his palm facing inward toward himself. “Take my hand.” She placed the hand that now bore his ring in the one he offered. He took a deep breath and began to recite the pledge.
“Mhi solus tome, We are one when together,
mhi solus dar'tome, we are one when parted,
mhi me'dinui an, we will share all
mhi ba'juri verde, we will raise warriors."
It was Ahsoka’s turn now. Her ocean blue eyes gazed into his as she spoke the words.
“Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde.”
She had barely gotten the last word out of her mouth before she surged forward and claimed his lips in a hungry kiss.
After they broke the kiss – laughing and gasping for air – Ahsoka collapsed in Rex’ arms. She leaned her head against his shoulder and whispered into his ear, “Happy Life Day, husband.”
Rex looked into her beautiful sienna face and whispered back, “Happy Life Day, wife.”