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Cody can't sleep. He's restless and jittery, resisting the urge to toss and turn while Obi-Wan is sleeping next to him. Glancing at the chrono, he sighs. He slips out from under their blanket. Might as well do anything other than stare at the ceiling.
Obi-Wan turns toward the noise, grabbing Cody's pillow and burying his face. Cody chuckles and kisses his shoulder. Obi-Wan stays asleep as the door hisses shut behind him.
They've been in hyperspace all day, randomly jumping through the Outer Rim. There's no one currently on their trail, but it's better to be safe.
He does a few chores, hoping for a tiredness that doesn’t come. He sits down with a datapad in the cockpit to read the work Obi-Wan completed earlier in the day on his Jedi preservation project. Most of the information is still unfamiliar to Cody, but he enjoys reading his writing. Even when he attempts a formality in the text, his love and pain are easy for Cody to parse out.
"Uncle Cody?"
He doesn't jump, doesn't even flinch, too battle hardened for things like that, but she does surprise him. He was lost in the text and missed the pad of tiny feet entering the cockpit.
He glances at the time— he’s been reading for almost an hour. "Little General? What are you doing up?"
Leia rubs her eyes with one hand, the other clutching a stuffed bantha to her chest. "Nightmare," she says.
Cody sweeps her into his arms without hesitation, sitting back down in the pilot's seat. She tucks her face against his chest, sniffling.
"I've got you. No nightmare can get you now."
He hopes that isn't a lie. Tonight, it's just a nightmare. But they live a dangerous life. And Cody would do anything for Luke and Leia. Holding them when they cry or are scared because of a bad dream is easy. It's a privilege.
"It's cold," Leia says.
Cody rubs a hand on her back. "Do you want a blanket?"
Leia shakes her head. "No. I like it. It was hot in my dream. I felt like I was burning. There was lava everywhere."
"Do you want to tell me about it?" Cody asks.
"There was ash in the sky and it got in my hair. I was so scared," she says in a small voice. "I couldn't find you or Uncle Ben anywhere." Cody squeezes her tight. "And I looked really hard!"
"It's alright," he says, kissing the top of her head. "I'm right here. Ben is asleep in our room. We're right here."
"I called for you and someone screamed ‘I hate you’ at me," she says, looking up at him with tears on her face. "But you don't hate me, right?"
Cody frowns. He's heard about this nightmare before, but it's not Leia's. He curses internally. "Oh, Leia, of course I don't hate you." He brushes away her tears with his thumb. "I love you very much."
She drops her head onto his shoulder. "I love you too."
Rubbing circles on her back, Cody hums the same song he's sung to the twins since they were babies. Leia slumps against him, falling back asleep.
Normally, Cody would take Leia to their bed and let her sleep in between them, but Obi-Wan must have had his own nightmare tonight. He doesn't understand the Force the way his family does. He doesn't want the closer proximity to cause a feedback loop. He's already cringing at the prospect of telling his partner he unintentionally hurt Leia. There's no way around it. It's not his fault, but Obi-Wan will react as though it is, as if he brought the end of the galaxy on himself and is responsible for all the burdens within.
Not for the first time, Cody wishes Skywalker were here, so he could give him a piece of his mind.
"Come on, Little General. Let's get you back to bed." Her bantha, Butter, tucked carefully in his arms, Cody carries them both back to the twins’ room. He lays Leia in her bunk, placing the bantha at her side. She wraps her arms around Butter immediately. "Love you, Cody," she mumbles.
Cody kisses her forehead. "I love you too, little one."
In his bunk on the opposite wall, Luke opens his eyes. He clutches his stuffed tooka (lovingly named Red in spite of its sparkly blue color) to his chest. "'Ody?"" he says.
Cody leans down and brushes a kiss on his forehead too. "Go back to sleep, Luke," he says softly. Luke closes his eyes, head falling to the side.
At their door, Cody stops and leans on the frame. Luke and Leia's chests rise and fall in unison. In another life, this never would have happened. For all the loss and grief and horrific happenstance that brought Cody here, with Obi-Wan and the twins, he can't help but feel grateful. Selfish, almost. He loves them so much. There wasn't this much love in the world until he was holding two sleeping toddlers, charged with their care. Not until Obi-Wan came back from the dead. Three miracles in one fell swoop.
They remind him of his brothers. It only makes him love them more, both the brothers he will never see again and the sleeping kids he sees now.
Rex would love them so much.
Cody sighs. He doesn't want to think about Rex today.
Luke and Leia extend matching hands on their beds, like they want to hold hands in their sleep. Cody smiles. He leaves quietly, pausing outside of the closed door to listen for any rustling.
Satisfied that the twins are asleep soundly, Cody heads to the kitchen. He makes two cups of tea and carries them back to his room.
Obi-Wan is already awake, sitting on the edge of their bed with his head in his hands. He doesn't react when Cody puts the cups down on the bedside table. He barely moves when Cody sits next to him.
Cautiously, telegraphing his movements, Cody wraps his arms around Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan comes easily, letting Cody move and hold him. Cody kisses the top of his head.
And then Obi-Wan starts to cry. Not little sniffles like Leia, but big, ugly sobs that shake his shoulders.
Cody just waits. Sits in it with him. Obi-Wan muffles his sobs by pressing his face against Cody's chest, cognizant of the twins even now.
Cody scratches Obi-Wan's scalp. "I'm here," he says softly. "I'm here." Obi-Wan clings to him until he stops crying.
"I'm sorry," he says.
"This is nothing you haven't done for me. Don't apologize for leaning on me."
Obi-Wan says nothing, just wipes his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Are they alright?"
"Leia woke up and found me, but Luke stayed asleep."
Obi-Wan tenses. "Did Leia…"
There's no point in sugar coating. "Yes. But she's alright."
Obi-Wan pushes off the bed and out of Cody's arms. He paces back and forth with his arms wrapped tight around his chest.
"It's not your fault, Obi-Wan."
"But it is my responsibility to protect them. And I can't even protect them from my own nightmares."
Cody frowns. "How many times have you told me how powerful they are? You're trying your best. Leia loves you, and is in tune with your distress. You aren't purposefully hurting her."
Obi-Wan huffs a breath.
"They're five now. You can keep working with them on their shields. This is going to be okay."
Obi-Wan looks at him with tears in his eyes. "I already failed one Skywalker. Am I just doing it all over again?"
Cody pushes away the spike of rage. Trying to convince Obi-Wan that Skywalker's fall was his own doing and not Obi-Wan's fault would just make him defensive. "The twins are safer with you than they would be in most places. We aren't failing them."
Obi-Wan drops his head to his chest. He doesn't believe Cody, not entirely. Not on this. Not when they both know part of what fuels this life is a mutually selfish desire to see the twins grow up, to share a bed at night. Even if it's hard and dangerous and important, Obi-Wan wants it. And that makes him selfish in his own eyes. They aren't going to process or assuage that feeling in one night.
Cody stands, taking Obi-Wan's hands. "I love you. They love you. I know the truth even if you cannot see it."
Obi-Wan gives him a watery smile. "I love you too, my dear."
Cody pulls him back to the bed and hands him his tea. Obi-Wan tugs him close and kisses him, long and gentle. "Thank you," he says.
"We will figure it out. That's what families do," Cody says.
Obi-Wan leans against him as he drinks his tea. Cody leans back.
When they lay back down, Obi-Wan tucks his face into Cody's neck. They fall asleep together this time, the hum of their ship lulling them into dreamless sleep.