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Anakin, as it turns out, has no strong opinions about furniture.
He doesn’t get it, aesthetically speaking. Furniture is not for being nice to look at. Furniture is for being comfortable. He’ll die on this hill. Fortunately, though, he doesn’t have to, because Rex is on a similar wavelength. He wants it comfortable, and he wants to buy it new. Those are easy enough, so the house is packed full of modest, unassuming furniture that is extremely comfy for sitting and that nobody has ever owned before.
Anakin is sitting on their modest, unassuming, extremely comfy brand new couch reading a holo on woodworking when Rex sits down next to him.
“I’ve been thinking about it,” Rex declares. “And I think we should get married.”
Anakin looks up from the holo, blinking.
“Oh, yeah?” He asks. “Why’s that?”
“Well, I love you. Also tax benefits.”
Anakin perks up. There is no such thing as taxes on Tatooine, and despite what he and Luke (who is of the same feeling on the subject) have tried to argue, Leia is very insistent that it looks bad for two heroes of the Rebellion to say no thanks, I’m good about paying taxes. “Ooh.”
“Yeah, I thought that’d be up your alley.”
“It is.”
“Is that something you’d be okay with? Getting married again?”
Anakin shrugs. “I liked being a husband. I’d like to be yours.”
“Great.” Rex claps his hands together lightly. “I’ll get it set up. You want anybody there?”
Anakin considers it. He remembers how badly he would have liked Obi-Wan at his and Padmé’s wedding, back then, if it was a choice he ever would have understood. He doesn’t feel that this time. The idea of a big to do is… itchy.
“Honestly,” he answers slowly. “I would be happy just going down to town hall and getting in and out. If you don’t mind.”
Rex looks relieved. “Oh, thank gods.” Anakin laughs. “No, I mean- even if it was just Ahsoka and the kids, it’s all very… formal? I dunno.”
“I would have thought you might have liked to plan a wedding like a military operation.”
Rex pulls a face. “I’m done planning.”
Anakin laughs. “What, forever?”
“Yup. No more plans.”
“You’re a liar. If you don’t plan something, you’ll die.”
Rex sniffs. “Propose marriage to a man and he calls me a liar.”
Anakin ignores that. “It’s probably for the best. Anyone in the New Republic Senate catches wind of an Anakin Skywalker wedding, they’ll want to make a capital E Event out of it.”
Rex pulls another face. “Ugh.”
“You’d have to get dressed up.”
Rex looks down at his comfortable sweats and tee. “You know when we went to the inauguration on Coruscant they wanted me to wear a cummerbund?”
“I remember.” He had complained mightily. “Best to avoid the horror of the fancy dress.”
“Right.” Rex claps Anakin on the shoulder. “I’ll set it up.”
“Making a plan for that, are you?”
Rex gets up off the couch. “Yeah, yeah,” he mumbles, giving him a wave. “Go to hell.”
Anakin laughs, returning his attention to the holo, a little surprised to realize there’s butterflies in his stomach.
It really is pretty get in get out, at the end of the day.
They’ve been on Naboo for about nine months by now, and the locals in town are pretty used to seeing Anakin and Rex around, so nobody bats an eye when they approach the city hall, dressed only a little more formally than normal. The last time Anakin had done this, he had been in his Jedi robes, and he knew he didn’t want anything of the sort this time.
Anakin signs the holo with the stylus first. His handwriting’s always been clumsy, he thinks. Mom and then Obi-Wan had tried their best, but it still looks like chicken scratch to him. Still, he writes as precisely as he can. It’s important.
Rex steps up to sign the thing next. Anakin silently reaches out and takes his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Rex look at him, then smile slightly before he affixes his name to the document.
And that, in the end, is that.
“Do you know what I think would be funny?” Anakin says as they walk back into the house.
Rex kicks off his shoes. “Lots of things, most of which I presume aren’t that funny.”
“Don’t be mean to your husband.”
Rex sighs theatrically, presumably to cover up the grin on his face Anakin’s comment elicits. “What do you think would be funny?”
“If we didn’t tell anybody and see how long it takes them to figure it out.”
Rex considers as they sit on the couch. “You know.”
Anakin laughs. “Really?”
“Listen-“
“Only I expected you to completely shut me down.”
“Yeah, well.”
“Can’t believe you find me funny all of the sudden.”
“I must find you a little funny.” Rex leans back, closing his eyes. “Otherwise why would I have married you?”
“Tax benefits.”
“Right, of course.” Rex sighs. “We’re gonna need an accountant, aren’t we?”
“You certainly don’t want me doing them.”
Rex snorts. “I certainly don’t. Get me thrown in a debtor’s prison.”
“I don’t think they have those here.”
“They’ll build one, just for us, because of how monumentally badly you’ll kriff up our taxes.”
“Wow.” Anakin sighs. “About to present you with a gift and everything and instead you’re accusing me of tax fraud.”
“For one thing, if you thought you could get away with tax fraud, you would.”
“Quite frankly, even if I didn’t, I might.”
Rex rolls his eyes. “Show me your gift.”
Anakin reaches into his pocket, slightly nervous all of the sudden. He, slightly sheepishly, presents the two golden rings to Rex. “Um. If you want to.”
Rex looks a little startled, then beams like the suns have come out, then tries to pretend he isn’t. “Might as well. Don’t want people throwing themselves at me under the wrong impression.”
Anakin grins. “Get a lot of those, do you?”
“People love a war hero, I don’t know what to tell you.”
Anakin takes Rex’s hand and, gently, slides the ring onto it. Rex takes Anakin’s hand and does the same. They sit there for a moment, just looking at each other’s hands.
“I’m gonna try something,” Anakin declares suddenly.
Rex gives him a wary look. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. Don’t yell at me.”
“No promises.”
Anakin releases Rex’s hand to reach up and, carefully, take his face mask off.
It isn’t as bad he thought it would be. The surgeons on Coruscant have managed to work wonders on his lungs, and the breath Anakin takes, sans breathing apparatus, mostly just comes a little wheezy with a sore throat. It’s not the sort of thing that’s sustainable long term, but just a moment would be alright, wouldn’t it? Just a moment.
Anakin looks at Rex, who’s gaping at him.
“What in the name of Hell are you-“ Rex starts loudly.
Anakin swoops in and presses his lips to Rex’s.
Rex’s lips are still moving to shout at him for a second before he registers, freezing. Anakin doesn’t push the advantage, keeping a steady presence until Rex slides a hand to the back of his neck, this time moving his lips on purpose. It’s nice, Anakin thinks, hands coming up to cup Rex’s face. The beard’s a little scratchy, which is new, but it’s not even bad scratchy. It’s just… part of Rex, and every part of Rex is wonderful.
Eventually, too soon, Anakin does need to breathe, and he pulls back a little but not far, his nose resting against Rex’s. He opens his eyes to see, to his delight, that Rex has gone slightly pink, and he grins. Rex opens his eyes, too, and promptly narrows them at the sight of his grin, going a little pinker.
“Put that damn thing back on, General,” he tells Anakin, a little thickly. “Get yourself killed over a kiss. Damned silly.”
“It’s not gonna kill me,” Anakin answers, reveling a little at how his and Rex’s lips brush together when they talk.
The statement is, unfortunately, undercut a little by the wheeze in his voice.
“Put it on,” Rex repeats.
Anakin brushes their lips together one last time and pulls back, reaching for the mask. Putting it on is more of a relief than he’s willing to admit.
He has, though, as Rex reaches for the remote, looking for a holodrama to put on, no regrets.
“The thing about Ivier,” Ahsoka announces, looking considerably grumpy over the holocall. “Is that it is too kriffing rainy.”
“I’ve never been,” Anakin says. “What are you there for, anyway?”
“Small ex Imperial cell.”
“And you’re being careful?” Rex asks, arm resting over the back of where Anakin’s sitting in the couch, the holodevice sitting on their little coffee table.
Ahsoka flashes him a grin. “You know me.”
“Exactly,” Anakin and Rex say at the same time.
Ahsoka throws up her hands. “Okay, listen, I’m not taking shit from either of you, but especially-“ She jabs a finger at Anakin. “You about being careful.”
Anakin gives her an affronted look. “Listen-“
“You did jump off a lot of shit during the wars,” Rex muses.
“So does everybody! Jumping is a prime battle plan.”
“No, it isn’t,” Rex answers at the same time Ahsoka says “it’s really not, Skyguy.”
“Well, it worked out for me!”
“That doesn’t make it a good plan,” Ahsoka says.
“Yeah,” Rex agrees. “Just means you survived it.”
“That makes it a good plan.”
“It does not.”
Ahsoka looks at Rex. “Can you believe this guy? Telling a decorated commander of the Rebel Alliance what a good plan is.”
“I am also decorated,” Anakin points out. “Several times over.”
“Only cause Luke and Leia twisted their arms, I bet.”
“Wouldn’t want to have Leia twist my arm,” Rex muses. “Seems like she’d twist hard.”
“True. Luke I think would try that sweet farmboy shtick about it.”
“Mm. The wide eyes.”
“Oh, the widest.”
Anakin watches Rex and Ahsoka lightly banter and feels, abruptly, an immense swell of love and contentment.
“Rex and I got married,” he blurts out.
“What?” Rex and Ahsoka yelp at the same time.
“Why the hell wasn’t I there?” Ahsoka demands at the same time Rex goes “we were gonna let them figure it out on their own!”
“Well-“ Anakin struggles. “Listen-“
“Don’t listen me-“
“You got married without me?”
“We got married without anybody,” Anakin says, holding up his hands to ward off any Force centric attacks Ahsoka might come up with in a burst of anger. He’s not actually sure if she can do that but he knows he doesn’t want to find out. “Just the two of us, which is how we wanted it.”
“And then you weren’t gonna tell me?”
“Uh. Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Well, we, uh.” Anakin glances at Rex. “We thought it’d be kinda funny to see how long it took everybody.”
Ahsoka gapes at them.
“Insufferable,” she finally manages. “You two are a couple of insufferable old men.”
“We’re not that insufferable,” Anakin says.
“And most of the insufferability comes from him,” Rex adds.
“Insufferable!” Ahsoka shouts.
“Are you happy for us or not?” Anakin demands.
“Of course I’m happy for you! I’m thrilled! Me being happy for you and the unavoidable fact that the two of you are jackasses are not mutually exclusive things!”
“We love you, too,” Rex says. “For the record.”
Ahsoka narrows her eyes. “Hmph. I’m getting you a gift.”
“You don’t have to-“ Anakin starts.
“I’m getting you a gift!” Ahsoka yells. “And you are going to love and appreciate it!”
“We’ll like anything you get us,” Rex tells her.
“You better.” It looks like she’s fighting a smile. “Congratulations. Or something.”
Anakin grins back, feeling light. “Thanks, Snips. Or something.”
The ring keeps sliding off Anakin’s prosthetic, and he’s about sick of it.
It’s been a week, and the damn thing keeps slipping off. He is fed up. He is making a plan.
Anakin and Rex have what has been designated The Garage. The Garage is not for storing the speeders in, but for Anakin to tinker. He tinkers a lot. He tinkers with his lightsaber, he builds little gadgets. He’s working on a hammer that hammers itself and is thoroughly ignoring any objections or concerns of safety that anybody has raised about it.
Today, he goes out to the Garage, heading for the welder.
When he walks back into the kitchen, Rex is making lunch.
“What’ve you been up to?” He asks as he assembles a sandwich.
“I soldered my wedding ring to my finger,” Anakin answers.
Rex looks up, amused, as he puts the mayo away. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yup. It keeps slipping off and I’m all set, and you’re only getting rid of me when I die, anyway, so I don’t see what it matters.”
“Wow.” Rex takes a bite of his sandwich. “You’re hardcore.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m not sure it was a compliment.”
“I’m pretending it was.”
“I’m hoooome,” Luke calls, dumping his duffel bag just inside the door to the house. “Father, you would not believe the traffic on Coruscant.”
“A nightmare,” Leia agrees.
Luke, Leia, and Han are coming for a visit. Lando is rebuilding Cloud City and Chewbacca is spending time on Kashyyk, so it’s just the three of them. Luke and Leia are getting here first, and Han is swinging by a little later after dropping Chewbacca off.
“It always has been,” Anakin agrees as Rex lightly ruffles Luke’s hair and kisses Leia on the cheek, taking her bag. “Trip was alright otherwise, though?”
“Yeah, it was fine.”
“Good.”
“Please tell me you have pickles,” Leia says, resting a hand on her swelling stomach.
“Of course.”
Leia bypasses them, gently patting Anakin on the arm as she goes. “Thank you. I finished a jar for breakfast.”
Anakin frowns. “Please tell me you’re eating something other than pickles.”
“She’s been staying with me for the week,” Luke tells him as Leia opens up the fridge. “And I can confirm it has been all sandwiches and pickles all the time. It is raining sandwiches and pickles over at the Organa-Skywalker apartment on Coruscant.”
“And Cayva juice,” Leia answers through a mouthful of pickle, which is either a sign that she’s hungry or that Luke’s rubbing off on her- that monarchical etiquette training runs deep.
“And Cayva juice,” Luke amends.
“Cayva juice is rich in nutrients at least,” Rex mumbles, returning from dropping Leia’s bag off in her and Han’s room.
“Tell me you’re eating vegetables that haven’t been pickled,” Anakin says.
“I’m eating fine.”
“Don’t let him lecture you on eating right,” Rex advises, leaning against the wall. “I witnessed this man eat caf for breakfast, lunch, and dinner during the Clone Wars.”
“Yeah, and look how I turned out.”
“You heard it here first, folks.” Luke opens up the fridge and pulls out a beer. “Excessive drinking of caf leads right into the Dark Side.”
“It could. You don’t know.”
“Maybe Ben will know. I’ll have to ask him.”
Anakin scowls. “You always go to Obi-Wan when you doubt me.”
“Father, I know exactly one Jedi.”
“You know three.”
Luke blinks, looking at Leia. “Since when?”
Leia counts off on the hand not holding the pickle jar. “Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Yoda.”
“Ahsoka has been very clear that she’s not a Jedi, first of all,” Luke counters. “And second of all, Yoda doesn’t talk to me. Obi-Wan says he’s done with Skywalker nonsense forever. So he doesn’t count. I can consult with one Jedi.”
“Yeah, but Obi-Wan always takes the side that isn’t mine,” Anakin points out. “Because he’s absolutely no fun.”
“That is true,” Rex muses. “The man is significantly lacking in fun.”
“He failed every class in fun at the Order. I know it in my soul.”
Leia fishes another pickle out of the jar. “Everything you have told me about the Jedi does not lead me to believe they had those.”
Anakin takes the pickle jar from her. “I’m liberating this from you for your own good.”
Leia narrows her eyes. “I’m fine.”
“You’ve plowed through six pickles since you’ve been standing there, Leia. That’s too many pickles in one sitting.”
“You trying to take the pickle jar from Leia?” Han asks, dumping his bag next to Luke’s as he waltzes into the house. “Let me tell you something, pal, that will not end well for you.”
Anakin puts the pickle jar back in the fridge. “I am not your pal.”
Han ignores him, giving Leia a kiss on the forehead as he navigates around Anakin, also reaching for a beer. He glances at Anakin’s hand as he retreats from the fridge, blinks, and looks over at Rex.
“Since when did you and Rev get married?” Han asks, popping the top on the beer.
“What?” Luke and Leia demand at the same time. Rex bursts out laughing.
“No,” Anakin says, flatly.
“What did you mean, since when did Father and Rex get married?” Luke asks, a little strident.
“Well-“ Han gestures between the two of them. “They’re both wearing wedding rings.” He squints at Anakin’s hand. “Did you weld yours to your finger? Seems a little much.”
“No,” Anakin repeats, with a dawning, steady horror.
“You-“ Leia cranes her neck to look at Rex. “You got married?” Rex grins and shrugs. “Since when?”
“A few weeks ago.”
“Han cannot be the one to figure it out first,” Anakin thunders. “I rebuke it.”
“Was anybody there?” Luke asks.
“Just the two of us. Which is how we wanted it.”
“I have to crawl into the desert and die,” Anakin mumbles. “It’s the only option. I have to get eaten by a krayt dragon.”
“You’re mostly metal,” Rex points out. “Krayt dragon’s gonna have a hard time digesting you.”
“Yeah, but it’s the principle of the-“
“When,” Leia demands, one hand on her hip, the other still holding a pickle. “Were you planning on telling us, exactly?”
“Well. We thought it’d be kinda funny to see how long it took everybody to figure it out.”
Leia and Luke stare.
Luke reaches up and smacks Anakin up the back of the head at the same time Leia hurls the pickle at Anakin’s face. It lands with an ungainly splat on his face mask. She marches up to him, yanks the pickle off his mask, and takes a bite out of it.
“Aw, gross, Leia,” Luke complains. “He breathes through that.”
“I don’t care. I’m not wasting a perfectly good pickle because he’s an idiot.”
“Congratulations, also,” Luke adds thoughtfully. “But Leia’s right. You are an idiot.”
“Why isn’t Rex getting any of this acrimony?”
“Because we like Rex.” Leia kisses Rex lightly on the cheek. “Obviously. Congrats, Rex.”
“Everything smells like pickle now,” Anakin says.
“Good.” Leia grabs a dish towel and wipes off his face mask anyway. “You deserve it.”
“Is nobody gonna address what an asshole he’s being about me figuring it out first?” Han asks, a little sullenly.
“Han, Dad’s an asshole to you on days ending in Y,” Leia says, cramming the rest of the pickle in her mouth and dropping the dish towel on the counter. “It’s not noteworthy.”
“Unbelievable.”
“If it makes you feel any better,” Rex tells him. “I did think you stood a good chance at figuring it out first.”
Han brightens. “Oh, yeah?”
“Well, if you figured out he was Anakin Skywalker, it seems like a rung below that.”
“We’ll get you something nice,” Luke tells Anakin.
“You don’t have to-“
“We’ll get you something nice,” Luke and Leia say in unison.
“Does Ahsoka know?” Leia asks.
Rex nods at Anakin. “He told her. Cause he can’t commit to a bit to save his life.”
Anakin frowns. “I pretended to be single and celibate for years during which I fathered two children and was somebody’s husband.”
“That’s not really a bit. That’s a lie. There’s a difference.”
“It was a lie by omission! Nobody would have known, Commander-“
“Everybody knew, General-“
“I need to sit down,” Leia cuts in, heading for the couch. “You’re both morons. But I love you. And am happy you’re happy.”
Luke and Han sit down on either side of Leia. “I am also happy for you, for what it’s worth.”
“I’m not getting you anything,” Han tells Anakin. “So assume whatever Leia gets you just has my name on it.”
“Don’t I always?”
“Don’t let him fool you.” Leia eases her shoes off, tucking her legs underneath her. “Outside of the child that’s currently making me require a bathroom every time I turn around, Han gives surprisingly thoughtful gifts.”
Han gives Leia an offended look. “Surprisingly?”
Luke cackles. Han turns his ire on him by smacking the back of his head. Leia starts to raise objections to being in between the two of them. Anakin leans back against the bar of the kitchen, watching them contentedly.
Rex comes up next to him, watching Han threaten to give Luke noogies.
“You good?” He asks.
Anakin smiles.
“Yeah,” he answers, taking Rex’s hand. “I’m good.”