Chapter Text
Their ship exited hyperspace, and Rex piloted them down onto the surface of Saleucami. Jahz relaxed in the co-pilot’s seat. Since dropping off Ahsoka on the secluded farm planet Thabeska, it meant they each had a seat in the Y-wing, and though it was nice to have the pilot seat to himself again, Rex privately preferred the option where Jahz was in his arms.
Saleucami was both lush and arid, with huge areas of excellent soil, and an equal number of areas where nothing would grow. Behind Rex, Jahz pressed his face against the glass and watched the rocks and trees fly by beneath them.
“You didn’t say Saleucami was so pretty,” he exclaimed. For the first time since the swing club, Jahz’s voice was empty of sadness, and for the first time since Rex had taken that life-changing message, he allowed himself to hope that maybe things would be okay.
They landed on the outskirts of a farm Rex hadn’t visited since the war’s early years. He helped Jahz disembark, and the padawan seemed to move easier after resting. Rex tucked his helmet under an arm and together they approached the farm’s front door.
The familiar pink Lekkus of Suu Lawquane appeared in the doorway. She smiled uncertainly.
“Captain Rex, is that you?”
“Hi, Suu,” Rex replied. “I’m sorry to get straight to the point, but is Cut around?”
“Cut is in town,” Suu said, “but he will be home soon.” She glanced behind him.
“This is Jahz Farussa.”
“Hi.” The padawan waved awkwardly, then winced and pressed his hand to his abdomen.
“Are you injured?” Suu gasped. “Come in, come in and I’ll take a look at you.”
“No, it’s okay. I have medicine.” Jahz glanced at Rex. “Would you mind grabbing my rucksack?”
“Not at all. You head inside.”
While Suu ushered Jahz inside, Rex crossed back to their ship, opened the storage compartment, and pulled Jahz’s rucksack loose. As it slid free, the ties loosened and Jahz’s lightsabre slipped free and landed on the dirt. Rex stared at the silver metal, in minds’ eye seeing Jahz leaping in front of him to deflect a plasma bolt, and Ahsoka dropping her lightsabre at the graves of his fallen brothers-
He shook his head, tucked the lightsabre back into the rucksack, and went back to the farmhouse.
Suu fussed over Jahz at the dining table and pulled away his bandages while little Shaeeah and Jek peppered him with questions.
“Where are you from?”
“What’s that thing in your hair?”
“Where did you get those scars?”
“Why are your eyes red?”
“My loves,” Suu chided, “the boy is injured.”
“Why are you hurt?”
“Did you get shot?”
“I was stabbed,” Jahz replied. Suu pulled the last of the bandages away and Rex’s heart jumped to his throat. Dried blood specked the skin around the wound, and the skin looked simultaneously burnt and raw. However, the damage seemed mostly surface-level. Jahz held out his hand for his rucksack. “I’ve got salve that’ll speed up the healing process,” he explained. “I’ll be fine in a day or so.”
“You will stay tonight,” Suu said. Rex raised his hand.
“That won’t be necessary,” he protested. “We just have something to tell Cut, and we’ll be on our way.”
“He needs rest.” Suu folded her arms. “You will stay tonight. I will make pie.”
“Pie!” Shaeeah and Jek cried.
“Vegetable pie?” Jahz asked hopefully. Suu shone down on him with a beautiful smile.
“If that’s what you would like.”
Jahz stared wide-eyed at Rex, who sighed in defeat and nodded.
“Just one night.”
Suu ushered the children outside and Rex sat beside Jahz. The padawan unscrewed the lid from a squat container, scooped a generous helping of the red salve onto his fingers, and began rubbing it into his wound. He closed his eyes and sighed.
“That already feels so much better.”
“Here,” Rex said, pulling a glove off, “I’ll do the back.” Rex scooped the salve with his fingers and lightly brushed the salve over the exit wound on Jahz’s back. The skin felt thick and papery. “Did the doctors fix you up inside?”
“Yes. It’s mostly healed, and Wan did what he could with the dermal regenerator.” Jahz grimaced. “I’m lucky it didn’t go any higher, otherwise it would’ve burst my lungs and they would’ve filled with blood, and I would’ve died.”
“Don’t,” Rex murmured, pain constricting his chest.
“Sorry. I just… I can’t believe how close we both came.”
Heaviness settled in the air around them, only broken when Suu came back inside with armfuls of native fruits and vegetables and set about preparing them in the kitchen. Rex helped Jahz rebandage his wound, and Jahz was able to pull on his Jedi robes with ease this time. They settled at the dining table, fatigue settling into their bones. Rex hadn’t slept since before the Siege of Mandalore. A glance at the dark circles underneath Jahz’s eyes made him wonder when the padawan last slept.
Shouts sounded outside, and moments later Cut entered, Shaeeah and Jek clinging to his hands. Cut smiled as he saw Rex.
“It’s been a while, Rex,” he said, crossing to the kitchen to kiss his wife. “Who’s your friend?”
“This is Jahz Farussa.” Rex gestured to the padawan, who waved more confidently this time. “I have something really important to tell you.”
“Upstairs.” Cut rubbed his palms against his children’s heads and moved upstairs. Rex reached out to squeeze Jahz’s hand, then followed, closing the door to the upper level behind him. Cut leant against the wall, arms folded, and eyed Rex curiously. “So, does this important thing you have to tell me have something to do with the Jedi being executed for treason?” At Rex’s alarmed jolt, Cut waved his hands. “It’s okay, you really should cut his braid off, though. It’s a dead giveaway.”
“We’ll make sure to do that,” Rex said gruffly. “It does have to do with the Jedi, anyway.”
And he told Cut about Order 66 and the inhibitor chips. He told him about what the chips made clones do, and why it was imperative they took them out. By the time he finished, Cut nodded seriously.
“I see. It’s not safe for us here anymore, is it?”
“You need to get that inhibitor chip removed and get out before whoever ordered the massacre finds you.”
“Thank you for the warning.” Cut held out his hand, and Rex clasped his forearm. “Did you help the Jedi escape?”
“I got him off Coruscant. He…” Rex felt his body relaxing at the thought of Jahz, safe downstairs. “He’s my Suu.”
“Nice.” Cut released his arm and grinned wolfishly. “It’s nice to see that you didn’t stay an uptight rule-follower.”
“You taught me that we must always protect family,” Rex said quietly, “and Jahz is the only family I have.”
Cut grinned, and together they went back downstairs. Suu was the only one inside, and at their questioning glances, she pointed them outside. The clones went outside, and Rex stared at the scene before him.
Jahz, Shaeeah, and Jek all held long sticks and the two children danced around, Jahz moving more sedately, as they traced patterns in the dirt. The shapes were nonsensical, the reasoning behind creating them non-existent, but as Rex watched, Jahz glanced over at him, and he was blessed with the most powerful sunshine smile he’d ever seen.
He fell for Jahz even harder.
“How does being in a relationship with someone work?” he ventured. Cut chuckled.
“I only have one rule: if it makes them smile like that, do it.” He watched his children fondly. “I love Suu, and I love her children like they’re my own. All I want is to see them smiling.”
As the sun began to set, the children each took one of Jahz’s hand and showed him around the farm. Cut and Rex went to an empty stable in the barn and set up a bed on piles of straw. The eopies didn’t smell great, but it was better than sleeping outside.
As darkness fell, Rex and Jahz joined the family for vegetable pie. The children adored Jahz and begged him to show them some Force tricks. Jahz made cups float and the children were delighted. When Jahz smiled at the children, Rex felt like he was seeing a future that shouldn’t be possible for a clone like him.
He understood why Cut had deserted now, he truly did.
After dinner, Jahz made tea for the adults and they sat, talking quietly, while the children played in the living room. After finishing their tea, Cut and Suu went to put the children to bed. Rex and Jahz cleaned up the utensils, then stepped outside.
“Would you mind if we walked for a bit?” Jahz asked.
“Not at all.” Rex held out his hand and Jahz laced their fingers together.
They didn’t walk far, only to the edges of the fields. This far away from the house, they only had moonlight to illuminate their way. When they reached the edge of the field, Jahz released his hand, reached into his robes, and pulled out his lightsabre.
“I want you to cut off my braid,” he said, “and I want you to help me bury this.”
“Are you sure?” Rex hesitated. Lightsabres were handy.
“I’m sure. I was never meant to be a Jedi.” Jahz smiled, a light in the darkness. “I was meant to go to Coruscant so I could meet you.”
“That’s very sappy,” Rex said, but he took the lightsabre anyway. He held it away from them, suddenly nervous, and pressed the button. Blue light flickered in the air between them, and Jahz held his braid out. In one motion, Rex sliced through the braid. Blue beads pattered against the dirt. Rex turned off the lightsabre, then he and Jahz knelt and began digging with their hands.
“I’m meant to be a healer,” Jahz murmured. “My destiny is to help the world through medicine, not fighting. Fighting is your destiny.”
“What if I don’t want to fight anymore?” A deep sense of longing panged in Rex’s stomach. “What if I want to run away somewhere with you and start a family?”
“Do you really think you can do that knowing that there isn’t peace and people are suffering?”
“…No.”
They’d dug enough, and Rex and Jahz placed their hands on the lightsabre and lowered it into the ground. They pulled their hands away and Jahz dropped his braid on top of it. Wordlessly, they pushed the dirt over the top and patted it down.
“I thought burying my lightsabre would feel more final,” Jahz admitted.
“You might feel different in the morning.” Rex stood, brushed his knees, and held out his hand. Jahz accepted, and together they walked back to the barn.
After the barn door closed behind them, Jahz helped Rex take off his armour. Then, to his surprise, Jahz reached forward and began peeling off his underclothes.
“What are you doing?” He grasped his wrists.
“I want to have sex.”
“But you’re injured.” Rex had hardened at Jahz’s admission, but he’d never admit that to the Mirialan.
“Then we’ll be careful.” Jahz chewed his lip. “I want to do this, to feel this with you and wash away everything that’s happened.”
“I want that too,” Rex moaned, and he couldn’t help it. He drew Jahz into a kiss, and the Mirialan moaned into his mouth.
Rex took his time removing Jahz’s clothes, careful not to disturb his injury. As Jahz settled onto their makeshift bed, Rex pulled off his boots and underclothes. Rex dropped his clothes, climbed on top of Jahz, and licked and sucked his neck.
“There’s lubricant in my rucksack,” Jahz groaned.
Rex had far less patience than last time. He retrieved the lubricant sachets, opened one into his hand, and set about preparing Jahz. The Mirialan mewled beneath him as Rex massaged his ass with one hand and pumped his dick with the other. When Jahz was stretched, Rex positioned himself and began to press. Jahz cracked open his eyes.
“Hey, Rex,” he murmured, “I love you.”
Rex pushed inside, groaning, then reached down and stroked Jahz’s scarred cheeks.
“I love you, too, Jahz.”
He began moving, slowly at first, but as Jahz reassured him it was okay and he wasn’t hurting, his tenuous grip snapped.
I love you…
Rex thrusted and groaned.
I love you…
Faster. Harder.
I love you…
Jahz moaned and pulled him down for a kiss.
I love you…
They released together, panting.
I love you…
Rex and Jahz curled into each other, closed their eyes, and for the first time since the war began, they felt peace.
o.O.o
In Jahz’s dream, Rex was old.
His face had dozens more lines, his beard white, his body thicker, but those were still Rex’s eyes. They stood across from each other on a planet where the forests reached for space, on platforms made of wood, surrounded by people cheering, drinking, and dancing.
In Jahz’s dream, he and Rex joined hands, and they began to dance.
They moved around each other, eyes and hands locked, firelight glinting off the silver bands on the third finger of their left hands. Their feet moved of their own accord, reminiscent of a time when they were younger, when everything was new and uncertain. Rex spun him out and brought him back into his chest. As the song ended, Jahz cupped Rex’s face and brought him down into a kiss-
“Daddy! Papa! Look out!”
In Jahz’s dream, three children rushed over: two human boys, and one Twi’lek girl. None bore resemblance to he or Rex, but Jahz somehow knew that these were their children. Names echoed through his mind: Jesse, Anakin, Soka.
A blue Tooka leapt onto Jahz’s head, then Rex’s shoulders. The children wound between their legs, trying, and failing to reach the Tooka.
“Fives!” Jesse yelled. The tallest of the three, his fingers brushed Fives’ tail.
“Stop running away,” Anakin wailed.
“You’re scaring him, Nerra,” little Soka exclaimed.
“Careful!” Rex exclaimed. Fives leapt off his shoulders and bolted into the crowd of dancers.
“Sorry, Papa!” Jesse raced after the Tooka, Anakin and Soka hot on his heels. Rex chuckled and shook his head.
“I love those kids.” Brown eyes met red.
“I love them, too.” Jahz sashayed closer, trailing his fingers up Rex’s arms, and settling around his neck. “Where were we?” he murmured.
And as fireworks exploded in the distance, they kissed.
o.O.o
Jahz woke suddenly, the children’s faces dancing in minds’ eye. He stared at the ceiling of Cut’s barn, willing the vision to return, but the more he focused, the more the images slipped away, leaving nothing but brown eyes and a child’s giggle.
He rolled to face his lover. Rex’s face was slack and peaceful, and as he dreamt, a small smile formed, a shining beacon that warmed his soul. Jahz smiled and closed his eyes.
While the specifics faded from memory, the Force had gifted him with the knowledge that he and Rex would be okay. Their future was good.
o.O.o
“Are you sure those clothes fit alright?” Suu asked uncertainly. Jahz looked down at the tunic, trousers, and leg wraps that Cut had gifted him.
“They’re a little big, but they’ll be fine for the time being.”
“We’ll burn these for you.” Cut patted the pile of Jedi robes that Jek held.
“Thank you.” Rex stepped forward and clasped Cut’s arm. Suu moved forward and pulled him into a hug, and the children followed suit. He stepped back and it was Jahz’s turn. He put an arm around each child.
“Be good for your parents,” he whispered.
“We will,” they replied. He then embraced Suu.
“Thank you for welcoming us into your home,” he said.
“You’re welcome.” Jahz then turned to Cut and drew the farmer into a hug.
“I hope you and your family find somewhere safe.”
“As do I.”
Jahz and Rex walked to their Y-wing and Rex slipped Jahz’s rucksack into the storage compartment. The Mirialan eyed the rucksack fondly. Inside was everything he needed to start creating another garden, and to support Rex in his fight against the evil behind Order 66.
They climbed into the ship and Rex primed the engines. They waved goodbye to the family as they took off and sailed into the stars.
“I’m not going to stop fighting,” Rex said.
“Me neither.” Jahz pressed his palm against the glass, the wooden bracelet Ayla had gifted him swinging on his wrist. “Let’s heal the world together.” Rex glanced back and smiled.
“Together.”