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It was a day of celebration.
Another one of the Fetts was officially getting married, to the surprise that showed up recently, and turned out to be the brother of the man married to Fox.
It had only been a year, but everyone knew that Cody was meant to be with Obi-Wan.
It was obvious.
Obi-Wan gravitated towards him every time he wasn't hanging out with Quinlan.
Cody gave up fishing as soon as he met obi-Wan, and instead took up carpentry.
While it was always a shame to lose another one for fishing, they were in need of another carpenter, particularly one that specialized in making furniture.
Cody had proved himself far more talented at it than anyone realized.
In the meantime, Obi-Wan and Quinlan conspired to set up performances, whether they were concerts, talent shows, poetry readings, or even plays and musicals. Before Obi-Wan arrived, Quinlan had been the jack of all trades, filling in where needed, though he refused to go anywhere near the water.
Obi-Wan showed the same wariness of the sea, and the same ability to be good at everything he tried.
Both of them even took up babysitting to relieve the moms who were desperate for a break.
Cody paced around nervously ahead of the ceremony.
Fox watched him, amused. He looked around, making sure it was just them, then stopped Cody by grabbing his shoulders.
"Breathe. Remember, you're already married to him, because he trusted you with his coat. You've been married to him for a year. This is just a formality for everyone else's sake since they can't know the truth."
Cody took a few deep breaths. "You're right... You're right I just... I want this ceremony to be perfect. I worry that Obi rushed into this out of desperation, and I want to give him everything for choosing me, of all people. I don't want to let him down."
Fox rolled his eyes. "He adores you, Cody. You missed his fussing when he was making you that hat you adore, he wanted to get it perfect and kept asking which shade of yellow orange you would like best to go with the white."
"Really?" Cody asked hopefully.
Fox gave him a look that said that he thought Cody was being an idiot.
Cody was unfortunately very familiar with that look, though it was not often directed at him, but rather the latest member of their family that had decided to be stupid and dragged them into it.
He let out a breath. "Okay, okay, he does love me, how we got into this doesn't matter, we're happy now, and it's just going to be official for everyone else. ...though the ceremony is going to be overboard."
Fox snorted. "Everything our family does goes overboard, let's be glad we won't be having kids. I could not stand the fuss they'd make over us."
Cody grimaced. "Good point. Help me finish getting ready?"
"Of course."
.
Obi-Wan sat on the best cliff to watch the waves with Quinlan. He was basically ready for the ceremony. He had his best clothes on, his hair was as good as it was going to get with the wind, and he just wanted to feel the seabreeze before the ceremony.
It was the closest he could get to the ocean without feeling pain. It hurt to even dip a toe in the water without his coat, but it was too risky.
After all, he had only gone with Cody to ensure his family made it to safety. He hadn't known for certain that Quinlan had ended up in the same place years before.
He hoped their family had found a better place to make their home, safe from the fishermen who panicked at the sight of magic, who would use selkies to draw in more of their kind.
"Obes, what are you thinking about that gave you that melancholy expression on your face?" Quinlan asked, moving his hand so that it covered Obi-Wan's.
Obi-Wan sighed. His brother was far too perceptive sometimes. Quinlan likely already knew what it was.
"It's been a year... I don't regret my choice, I don't regret Cody. But I miss the ocean, and I miss our family. I'm wondering if they were able to find a safe place to live, or if they're still trying to find a place to settle. If more of our family has had to sacrifice themselves to get to safety."
Quinlan nodded. "I still feel the same way. I had the same thoughts when my official ceremony with Fox happened, when it was just us."
"You do?" Obi-Wan asked, surprised. "You're so happy."
"But I was lonely until you arrived. I love Fox, and I made the right choice in staying- if nothing else it means that you're not alone now- but it was so much harder when I was alone. I didn't know if I could ever be happy. Even now... You're here, and that makes things so much easier... but I wish you weren't here experiencing it like I did. It hurts not having my coat. It hurts not being able to swim. It hurts knowing that Fox has hidden it and that he can't tell me where it is or I will expose everything. I can still feel it calling to me but I don't know where to look."
Obi-Wan pulled Quinlan into a hug. "I'm sorry, I keep forgetting you've been at this longer than I have. Are the legends true, does the longing get worse?"
Quinlan returned the hug, leaning on Obi-Wan heavily. "Yes and no. You're used to it now, and it is far easier to ignore it after so much practice. But the longer you go without the coat, the more wrong it feels, the more you want your coat so that you can feel right again. But you can ignore it, thanks to the practice you have now."
"That sounds pleasant."
"But worth it." Quinlan gave him a smile. "Especially now that we're making our husbands happier. You do know that Cody is far happier with you than he ever was before you, right?"
"Really?"
Quinlan nodded. "I'm sure he told you that he never liked fishing but did it anyway. He had no reason to protest, he needed someone to make him happy, to encourage him to make the choices that would make him happy in the future. You."
"Me." Obi-Wan smiled. "I like the sound of it. Now... time for a wedding. At least the traditions are not miserable."
"There is that." Quinlan agreed. "I remember ours fondly. It really changes nothing, but it's important to them, and it was a lot of fun to celebrate."
Obi-Wan nodded. "I am looking forward to it."
The ceremony went off beautifully.
.
Cody stumbled, then jumped up, spotting Obi-Wan and Quinlan herding children away from the fighting and the fires.
The fires... the whole village was going to burn down.
Cody's eyes widened and he cursed. Obi-Wan's coat! That was the most important thing either of them had, and he could not leave it behind or let it get damaged.
Fox was right with him, a grim expression on his face. "We have to get out of here, our family is doomed... None of them have the sense to flee when we're being attacked, but we're outclassed."
"No kidding, besides their coats, is there anything I should be sure to grab?" Cody asked him.
Fox shook his head. "Whatever you can carry, it looks like we're taking at least a few of the kids with us too."
Cody nodded grimly. "Right." They split off to collect supplies.
Cody grabbed three bags. One for food, one for necessities such as clothes and blankets, and one for kits. The first aid kit, his carving kit, and Obi-Wan's kit for making clothes and blankets. He was thankful Obi-Wan had recently packed it all away again.
He grabbed the coat and folded it up as small as it could go (thanks to magic, that meant small) and slid it into a pendant he had been carving just for that purpose. He hadn't quite finished it, but it was finished enough. Hopefully that would keep it hidden enough until they could find a new home and settle in.
He'd only had to move it twice since Obi-Wan moved home, so at least he knew his hiding places were fairly effective combined with Obi-Wan's determination not to lose his mind searching.
Cody grabbed the survival pack that all Fetts had, though he had had little use for his ever since he gave up fishing. He added a saw to the pack and then he headed out.
Everything he wanted was packed. All sentimentals were stashed with the necessities. They had tools to begin anew if they wanted.
All that was left was actually escaping the fight and the inferno.
Cody stepped outside and winced. The fighting and fire progressed far too far while he was running around making sure he had everything.
He was sure he was missing some things, but there was no time left. It was time to go.
He raced across the village, Fox joining him shortly after.
He covered his mouth as the smoke started getting to him.
"Cody! Fox! Over here!" Quinlan yelled, waving his arms.
Cody sighed in relief and darted over there, narrowly avoiding getting hit by an arrow.
Quinlan grabbed Fox's hand and started dragging him down the hidden path, the path that the whole village knew was a safe evacuation route, though they had only ever used it to get to higher ground during dangerous storms.
They had never dreamed that they would be attacked and that they would need to use it to flee.
Cody sighed in relief when they caught up to Obi-Wan and the children they had gotten to safety. Obi-Wan was safe.
But the children were scared.
Obi-Wan gave him a smile and continued leading the group down the path.
Cody touched the pendant he had made and let out a sigh. Hopefully Obi-Wan wouldn't be able to sense it at all.
They arrived at the safe house, hidden by trees, they would be safe there, unless the attackers would be looking for survivors.
Cody set down all his bags and looked at the kids Obi-Wan had rounded up.
Glitch, the oldest at twelve and the clumsiest of them all. Everyone expected that he would not make it as a fisherman, and who knew what he actually could handle. He did well with the performances that Quinlan and Obi-Wan organized.
Fives and Echo, Rex's five year old twins. They looked terrified, but they were okay.
Tup and Dogma, Rex's three year old twins. They were more confused than anything, not understanding why everyone else was scared.
Cody still felt bad that Rex had two sets of twins to deal with.
There was Jesse, eleven, and Kix, ten, brothers, and Appo's kids. Jesse was already taking charge of the group of scared children while Kix started working on first aid.
That left just Wooley, who was Waxer's kid. He was a sweet eight year old.
Cody let out a sigh. Out of a whole village made up of most of his family, they only had eight of the children. They didn't even have the babies, who would have been with their parents, but Cody was pretty sure no one had thought of the evacuation trail in the chaos that followed the initial attack.
Fox came back in with Quinlan after securing the safe house. "We should be safe enough here for a day," Fox told them. "That'll give us time to wait for any survivors to come here, but after that, we'll have to find somewhere to go, to rebuild our lives."
Cody nodded. "There's a tunnel we can use, if necessary. This didn't just used to be the area for staying safe during storms, they wanted an escape just in case when they built this place.”
Obi-Wan looked through the supplies that Cody had brought from home. "With everything you've stored here in the past, we should have enough to allow us to travel to find a new home."
Fox slumped. "Good."
Quinlan rubbed his shoulders. "The kids seem okay... I wish we could have rounded up more of them but... if no one else shows up, eight is a lot for the four of us to take care of."
"No kidding." Cody agreed, glancing over the kids.
Kix wanted to be a doctor, and he was doing a good job of learning how to treat injuries.
The kids overall seemed scared, but they were exploring the house a bit.
It wasn't a big house, but it was meant to hold five families, just like the other safe houses. They'd have to cram together in the two bedrooms, but they could easily make it work.
Cody just hoped that everything would work out.
It took them a while to get everyone settled down. Thankfully, the oldest kids understood the circumstances and were willing to take the younger kids and cuddle them in a pile until everyone was asleep.
Obi-Wan wrapped his arms around Cody. "How are you feeling?"
"Overwhelmed... An attack, on the day of our wedding... We've never been attacked before, not like that. I don't know why they did that this time... I don't know if we can handle the kids without their parents, I don't know how we can ever hope to find a good place to settle down... this changes everything and I..."
Cody didn't realize he was crying until Obi-Wan gently wiped away his tears.
"It's okay, Cody. You lost your whole family. That is incredibly hard. And there's no way to know if there's survivors. But we're here, we're alive. We have eight kids who are alive that we can protect and raise, even if no one shows up here."
"I can't grieve yet... not until I'm sure we're all safe," Cody murmured. "But thank you, my Gentle Wave."
Obi-Wan hummed and gave him a kiss. "Let's go see how Quin and Fox are, and if they're ready to plan?"
"Good idea... can't go to bed without a plan... shouldn't go to bed without at least one of us staying awake, either."
Obi-Wan nodded. "That is very true."
Cody sighed. "This is a nightmare."
"I know, Sunshine. I know."
Cody gave him a small smile before they joined Fox and Quinlan at the table.
Fox had his head in his hands while Quinlan rubbed his back.
Quinlan looked up. "Time to plan?"
"Yes." Cody dropped into a chair and rubbed his face. "First things first... we need to take watch shifts, just to be sure we're safe. There's no telling if we're going to be found here or not."
"Right, that's a good point." Fox took in a deep breath and let it out. "I'll go first. You two should spend some time together... it was your wedding that was interrupted."
"True, though we all know we've been married far longer than today." Cody let out a breath. "We need to move soon. I want to stay and wait to see if anyone comes here, but I don't think we should wait more than a day. Spend one more night here, and leave early in the morning. If they don't show up in a day, then there's not much of a chance anyone will ever show up."
"Staying a day will give us time to prepare for the journey," Quinlan added quietly. He had grown fond of many of the Fetts and everyone else who lived in the village, though he kept his distance from the fishermen.
Fox nodded slowly. "Good point. We're going to be traveling with eight kids, two of them toddlers... It's going to be hard. We need supplies."
"Shouldn't be hard, this place gets restocked regularly just in case there's a bad storm," Obi-Wan pointed out. "We saved most of our basics, and there's supplies here that we can use to make more. The hardest part is walking on foot... we might have to take turns carrying the younger children. They won't be able to handle a lot of walking."
Fox grimaced. "You're right. That will be the hardest part. Keeping them safe while still moving quickly. I don't know where we'll settle or how we'll figure it out..."
"But we can get supplies from the first village we come across," Quinlan assured him. "We should have enough to make it that far, and even if we have nothing to trade, I think we can work for what we need."
Cody nodded thoughtfully. "That probably is the best course of action. And then we will keep traveling until we find somewhere we feel comfortable and the kids are happy with."
Obi-Wan nodded. "That does sound good."
They discussed it for a while longer until they decided to get some sleep.
Cody wrapped his arms around Obi-Wan as soon as they were laying down and started crying.
He may have his differences with his family, but he still loved them. Losing them like that? That was just too much for him.
Obi-Wan rubbed his back and hummed one of the lullabys that he knew Cody adored.
Cody cried himself to sleep.
Obi-Wan watched him sleep for a moment, then sighed. He was worried about the long term effects of what happened. He was worried about Cody.
But... he was quietly relieved to get away from the people that had chased his family away from where he had been born.
He didn't think he would ever reunite with his family, but it had been hard being around the very people that had tried to kill him, and he knew that Quinlan would be similarly relieved.
But he loved Cody, as much as Quinlan loved Fox, and it had been worth it to keep their family safe.
Now they were approaching a new life together.
It was still going to be difficult.
But they would face it together and none of them were alone. That would have to be enough.
.
The next day it took a lot to keep the kids occupied and entertained.
They tried to keep some semblance of a routine for the younger ones, but everyone was upset and grieving.
They had no idea who survived, if everyone else had died. They didn't know if anyone would arrive.
It was a long shot that anyone would show up after that first night, but it was apparent that they all needed that day to gather themselves and prepare for the journey ahead.
Fox had an idea on where the village would be along the route they took, but he didn't know exactly where and therefore, how far they would have to walk. Or even the most efficient route.
They spent all day taking turns packing and planning, and talking the kids through all of their plans in a kid friendly way.
Obi-Wan and Cody took turns staying up the second night, before they woke everyone up just before dawn.
A quick breakfast for everyone later, and they were on the trail, starting to walk to the future.
Cody and Fox carried Echo and Fives on their backs.
Obi-Wan and Quinlan had Tup and Dogma on their backs.
The oldest (Glitch and Jesse) were holding the hands of the youngest who could walk (Kix and Wooley), with Fox and Cody leading the way, and Quinlan and Obi-Wan at the back.
Cody resisted the urge to look back at the smoke that was still rising from the ruins of their village. He had no idea what was going to happen, but it was best to keep moving forward.
The kids needed them to keep going, not fall apart.
Obi-Wan and Quinlan were at their backs, so Cody knew they were in good hands.
The situation wasn't the greatest, but they would pull each other through, until they were safe, and could relax.
One step at a time.