A/N: I’m back!! Had this finishes yesterday but never got the chance to post it, so happy late halloween everyone! And I’m planning to get some of my requests written since my motivation is back!
“Rex, I’ll be fine.” You assure him once again, hugging the werewolf around the waist and snuggling your head into his stomach. “We still have a month to go, and he’s perfectly healthy.”
“But he’s a werewolf, like me.” Rex says softly, kneeling down and hugging you gently, careful not to squish your large, 8 month baby bump. “What if he hurts you during labour?”
It was a surprise, finding out you were pregnant. You were on the pill and Rex used protecting but… you’re in that one percent. It’s been a tough pregnancy, especially with Rex and his werewolf instincts. But that’s not what’s happening here. You came home from a shopping spree and poor Rex was shivering on the floor, transformed and terrified. He had a nightmare, snd now the thought of the little werewolf you’re growing hurting you is stuck in his head.
“Rex, look at me.” You cup his furry cheek gently, and make sure he’s looking at you. “The baby and I are fine, and the labour will be fine. I know it.” You wince at a hard kick.
Rex frowns, gently rubbing at your belly. “You’re sure?” He asks softly, nuzzling your head. “I just get scared, I’m so excited for the baby to come. Force, you don’t know how excited. I just don’t want to lose you. I can’t, Cyare. I really can’t.”
“And you won’t, because I’m not going anywhere.” You promise, wincing at a kick. “We’re perfectly healthy, all the doctors have says so. Kix has said so, and we both know how much you trust him.”
“I do trust him.” Rex chuckles. “I really do.” He sighs. “And I trust you too, so… I’ll try to relax, it’s just hard.” He says. “So so hard.”
A small smile graces your face. “Then let our son and I help.” You lead Rex over to the little nest he’s made for you, part of his werewolf instincts. A big part of them actually. You nudge him to lay down, and he does.
“Cyare… what are you doing?” Rex asks gently, not sure what you’re planning.
“I want to cuddle with my husband.” You say, laying yourself heavily onto his chest, you have to move around to get comfy with your big belly but once you are, you sigh happily and sink into your husbands fur.
Rex gently wraps his large arms around you, smiling softly. “This is very much helping, my love.” He coos, voice a growl as usual with his werewolf form.
“I love you.”You kiss his chest gently. “I love you too, Rex.” You whisper to him, love present in your voice. You’re tired though, eyes drooping. You’ve gotten in the stage of pregnancy where sleep is hard to come by.
“You sleep, baby.” Rex says gently, licking your head and pulling a blanket over the both of you, cuddling you close and rubbing your belly. He knows what helps you sleep, has it all mentally written down. Rex loves to help whenever and wherever he can.
You yawn and snuggle closer, closing your eyes and letting yourself drift off. You completely relax and a peaceful look falls over your facial features.
Rex sighs. “Oh Cyare, my love.” He rubs your back, willing to lay there as long as it takes for you to get your rest.
Tags: @captainrexisboo @pro-fangirls-unsocial-life
Summary: Your boyfriend Rex has been gone for a month long campaign and you can’t wait to see him, but something has happened during the campaign that changes everything
A\N: The rewrite of fear of the unknown! Any feedback on this is greatly appreciated.
You and Rex both arrive back at his quarters, completely exhausted after the Council meeting. Rex was asked all kinds of questions about the mission, and the circumstances that lead to him becoming a werewolf. And everything that happened after. It was tiring for Rex, both physically and mentally, but you stayed with him the whole time, and he is grateful for that. You both learned that the Kaminoans wanted to experiment on him as soon as they heard, but they were quickly and harshly stopped by the Council.
The whole meeting ended up lasting a few hours, and it was late when you had arrived on the Resolute, so it’s way past supper time now, but you were supplied with food. Obi Wan was trying to figure out why Rex wouldn’t transform, so he went down to Coruscant earlier to go through the Jedi Archives. He’s hoping to get some answers.
One you’re in Rex’s quarters you turn to him. “Hey, would you mind if I borrowed one of your shirts? I didn’t bring anything to sleep in.” Rex looks at you with wide eyes. “Aren’t you going to head back to your apartment?” You raise an eyebrow, “This late?”
Rex blinks in confusion, then he looks sheepish. “Sorry, I forgot what time it was.” He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, making you chuckle. “That’s okay, but even if it was earlier. I would still stay with you, Rex.” Rex Smiles at you. “Thank you, Cyare, I just don’t know how you can sleep in the same bed as a monster.”
You frown with a sigh, walking over to Rex and placing a gentle hand on his arm. “For one, you are not a monster, Sweetheart. Nothing could ever make me change my mind about that fact. And two, You are the most handsome werewolf I’ve ever seen.” Rex snorts, then chuckles and pulls you close. “I’m the only werewolf you’ve ever seen, Cyare. But thank you.” You smile against him, pulling away only to press a kiss to his cheek. “I love you, Rex.” Rex smiles and hugs you close again, being careful of his new strength. He gently licks the top of your head again, nuzzling it as well.
“I love you too, and yes, you can wear one of my shirts." Rex lets go of you and walks over to the tiny dresser, he grabs a shirt and tosses it to you, and a pair of his shorts. You smile. “Thanks, Rex.” You turn around and Rex looks away to give you some privacy, you change out of your clothes and into the shirt and shorts Rex had given you. “I’m done, you can look now.” Rex turns around to see you walk towards him and set your clothes on his dresser.
You turn to him. “Ready for bed, Sweetheart?” Rex yawns a big yawn, showing off his sharp teeth. But you don’t care at all. “Yeah, I haven’t slept very well since I was turned into… this.” You frown, but offer Rex a comforting smile. You walk over to the bed in the corner and lay down, you squeeze yourself as close to the wall as you can. Rex is going to need lots of room. Rex stares at you with doubt for a moment, but you pat the bed and smile. “It’s okay, Rex.” He smiles and walks over, crawling into bed beside you. He’s very careful not to break the bed, or you, in the process.
Rex wraps his arms gently around you, then pulls you against his chest like he always does. You snuggle into him and get familiar with him, some things are the same. He’s still wearing the same pants that he always does during the day, the only difference is the rips in them that allow his fur through. It tickles your knees as you chuckle a little, Rex is usually one to wear shorts and a t-shirt to bed, but not tonight for obvious reasons.
He snuggles into you as well, letting out a sigh of longing and content. He hasn’t held you in his arms in a month, and he has missed you so much. “You smell amazing, Cyare! I missed you so much, Y\N.” You smile at him, moving up and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Well, I’m glad that you don’t think I stink.” Rex lets out a breathy chuckle, nuzzling your hair. “You could never stink to me, Cyar’ika.” You sigh as you sink into his fur, allowing your eyes to drift close. You listen as Rex’s breathing slowly evens out and he falls asleep, he still hugs you close, even in sleep. You smile as you slowly drift off as well, allowing the quiet hum of the ship and Rex’s quiet breathing lull you into a deep, peaceful sleep.
xxx
Your eyes flutter open and you breathe in deeply, sighing as you feel Rex gently nuzzle your neck. You smile until you realize that this feels too normal. Wasn't Rex a werewolf? You think to yourself, waking up a little more, you glance down at Rex's arm, he must've thrown it across your waist in his sleep, and found it much smaller, with no blonde fur in sight. You turn over and come nose to nose with Rex, human Rex, you gently cup his cheek as he lets out a little sigh. He's still asleep and has no idea what has happened.
You smile softly, happiness bubbles up in you. Although there's confusion with it, he's been trying to transform, but he only transformed now. It doesn't make any sense. Why would it happen while he was asleep? And he has slept in this form before, so why now? You look at Rex closely, there's nothing to indicate that Rex is a werewolf except for his torn, stretched out pants and the bite scar on his forearm.
You push the thoughts away, only wanting to think about Rex right now and how happy you are that he's human. You love him no matter what form he's in, but you know how unsure and scared he was when he was stuck as a werewolf. He's going to be so happy to know that he can be human again. You lean over and give him a soft, gentle kiss on his lips. Rex hums a little in his sleep, then you pull away and do it again. This time his eyes gently flutter open and he looks happily at you. “Mornin’ Cyare,” You smile and cup his cheek. “Rex? Have you looked at yourself yet?” you ask quietly, and his face twists to confusion, he raises an eyebrow then looks down at himself.
His eyes widen when he sees that he’s human again, a large smile appears on his face as he jumps out of bed and looks himself over. “How… I’m human again!! How did this happen! Y\N?” He looks over at you, but you frown and shake your head. “I have no idea, Rex. I woke up and you were human, I’m not sure why?” Rex gives you a soft smile and sits back down on the bed, hugging you close to him. He presses a soft kiss to your forehead. “Thank you.” he whispers gently as he hugs you tightly, you blink in confusion, unsure of why Rex would thank you.
“What are you thanking me for, Rex?” You gently pull away and cup his cheek, stroking it with your thumb. Rex sighs, closing his eyes and gently leaning into your hand. After a few seconds he opens them again. “You never left me, you stayed even when I was a monster. And you are still here even when I may turn back into that monster.” You pull him close, kissing his forehead, then his lips. “Again Rex! No more calling yourself a monster, and of course I stayed, you are still the man I fell in love with, just… Furrier. You always are no matter what you look like.” Rex smiles and nuzzles his forehead against yours, closing his eyes and sitting like that for a few minutes. When Rex pulls away he gently grabs your hand and laces his fingers with yours.
“We should probably go tell the General’s that I’m human again. Hopefully General Kenobi’s figured out why I couldn’t transform.” You smile at Rex and give him a quick kiss before standing up. “I’m sure he has, Sweetheart.” You grab your clothes and quickly change into them as Rex turns to stare at the wall after grabbing a new pair of blacks to change into. “I hope so, I don’t really want to get stuck like that again” you smile softly as you turn around to see Rex clipping his armor on while staring at the wall, you let out a little chuckle, prompting him to turn around. He smiles as he finishes up putting his arm pieces on. He walks by you and sits down on the bed to put his leg armor on. Once he’s finished he walks over to you and gives you a soft but quick kiss. “Ready to go, Cyare?”
You smile and give him a nod. “Yeah, I’m ready.” you grab his hand before pulling him towards the door, he comms General Kenobi as you punch his code into the door. No one answers, making you and Rex both raise an eyebrow. The door slides open and you both walk out into the hall. Rex turns to you as you walk. “I’ll call General Skywalker, he always knows what General Kenobi is up to.” Rex waits patiently as his Comlink tries to get through to General Skywalker, after a few seconds General Skywalker finally answers. "Hey, Rex. How are you feeling after everything that happened the past few days? " You smile softly, General Skywalker is one of the friendliest Jedi you've ever met, you should have known that he would ask how Rex was first. Rex smiles excitedly "I'm doing good, sir. I finally turned human." There’s an excited gasp from Anakin.
"That's great, Rex, I'm so glad you're okay now." Rex smiles as you chuckle. "Thanks General, do you by any chance know where General Kenobi is?" Anakin sharply breathes in, obviously annoyed. "How many times have I told you to call me Anakin, Rex? But yes. I know where Obi Wan is, he's sleeping in his quarters after I had to rip him away from the Jedi archives." You and Rex share a look, Of course General Kenobi would research all night instead of sleeping, from what Rex has told you he hardly ever sleeps. Rex sighs softly, but filled with annoyance. He hates that General Kenobi almost had a sleepless night because of him.
"Well, just let him sleep, force knows that he needs it. Just tell him to comm me when he's up, please." “Of course, Rex.I’ll talk to you later.” Rex hangs up the call and you both get going, walking through the halls of the Resolute as you run into Fives, you smile. The surprise and happiness on his face is evident when he sees that Rex is back to being human once again. He grabs Rex and hugs him close. “Rex!! You’re human again!!” Rex chuckles as he hugs Fives close. “Yeah, I am.” Fives pulls away and gives Rex a confused look. “How? We-- we tried so hard, how did you figure it out?” Rex sighs, looking at Fives. “I didn’t figure it out, I just woke up this morning and bam, I’m human. Neither me nor Y\N have any idea why.” Fives gives Rex the most comforting smile he can muster and pulls him close again. “Who cares, at least you’ll be able to go back to leading the boys. I seriously have no idea how you ever managed it Rex." Rex smirks as he hugs his brother back. “Lots of Caf, and I have Y\N here.” You roll your eyes and punch his arm as he pulls away from Fives, groaning when you realize you punched his armor.
You glare at him. "You're just sucking up." Rex smirks at you as Fives outright laughs, but then Rex frowns. “Just because I’m human again, doesn’t mean that I won’t transform again.” Rex is trying to be strong, but he can’t keep the tremble out of his voice, and both you and Fives notice.
“Hey, whatever happens, you are still my brother, my Ori’Vod. No amount of fur, claws or sharp teeth will ever change that.” Fives tells him, pulling Rex close again, he then pulls away only enough to place his forehead against Rex’s. You then place a hand on his shoulder as Fives pulls away. “He’s right, none of us are going to leave you, Rex.” Rex smiles, nodding at you both.
“Yeah, thanks. That made me feel better.” Fives smiles. “Well, it’s true. Now let’s head to the Mess, I’m starving.” Both you and Rex burst out laughing at Fives, who glares. “What? I am!” with that the three of you head to the Messhall, you agree with Fives, you are absolutely starving.
xxx
All the Troopers in the Mess pause their chatting to turn and look at you three, but mainly at their Captain. Some wave happily at Rex, and others yelling a welcome back at him. They are all definitely happy to have their Captain back. None of them mention a word about Rex being a werewolf, or being human again, your bet is that they are trying to keep Rex comfortable, and you are very thankful for that.
The three of you grab your food,then go and sit down with Jesse and Kix, who wave you three over. You sit between Fives and Rex on one side, while Kix and Jesse sit across from you. You try a bite of the food, making a face and deciding that you hate the food here, it tastes horribly bland. No flavor at all.
Rex must see the face you make, because he starts laughing, but quietly. “Now you see why I love your cooking so much, Cyare.” You give him a shy smile, you aren’t sure that your cooking is that good. And you tell Rex that. “It isn’t that good, Rex.” You tell him quietly as Jesse, Kix and Fives all widen their eyes, giving you a surprised look.
“Not that good!? Kriff, Y\N! We all fight over the leftovers Rex brings with him, even General Skywalker!” Fives tells you as he gestures around the room, your own eyes widen with surprise, you can’t believe that everyone loves your food enough to fight over, even General Skywalker! You don’t think your food is that good. Kix chuckles. “He’s right, Y\N! Fives, Jesse and even General Skywalker end up in the medbay because they’ve gotten injured fighting for your food. I can’t blame them though, it is delicious.”
You smile at them softly, happy to know they like your cooking. “Now that I know, I’ll definitely cook extra food for you guys to share.” Both Fives and Jesse’s smiles widen considerably, even Kix’s smile gets a tiny bit bigger.
Rex frowns slightly, he’s happy you want to do that for his brothers, but he doesn’t want you to have to do all that. “You don’t have to do all that, Cyare.” You smile, grabbing Rex’s hand and giving him a soft kiss, he hums but looks around, his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. You’ve only been dating for six months, so he’s still not used to kissing you in front of his brothers, who chuckle.
“It’s okay, Rex. I really don’t mind. I’ll just make bigger meals and send it with you.” Rex nods as you give him another kiss as his brothers chuckle, but don’t make any comments so as not to make him uncomfortable. You pull away then continue to eat, you do your best to ignore the bland taste of the food. Jesse, Fives and Kix do the same.
Then Rex’s Comm goes off, he raises an eyebrow and pauses his eating to answer it. He looks at the ID. “It’s General Kenobi!” He answers it. “General Kenobi.” “Rex, it’s very nice to what from you, Anakin has informed me that you’re human again?” Rex smiles happily as you and his brothers smile as well.
“Yessir. it somehow had happened while I was sleeping, I still haven’t figured out why.” You hear a hmm sound from the other side of the Comm. “Well, we’ll try to figure that out. Can you meet me in the meeting room, I think I've found some information about werewolves you should hear. It might help us figure out this… predicament." You sigh in relief, not believing that you and Rex might finally find some answers.
"Yes, Sir. We'll be right there." Rex tells General Kenobi, then You and Rex excuse yourself and head to the meeting room, you both hope to finally have more information about werewolves that might help Rex, maybe even a cure.
xxx
You both make it to the meeting room, General Kenobi and General Skywalker are already there, making you smile happily. Although he does look very tired, General Skywalker wasn’t kidding when he said he had to drag General Kenobi to bed, and that he needed rest. You both sit across from them, and you bounce your leg nervously as Rex squeezes your hand.
“Rex, I’m very happy to see that you are human again.” Obi Wan smiles and Rex returns it, but squeezes your hand again. “Not as happy as I am, General.” General Kenobi smiles. “I’m sure, and you can both just call me Obi Wan, no need for formalities, same with Anakin.” You nod, making a mental note to do that. General Sky-- er, Anakin looks over at Obi Wan.
“Master, what exactly did you find out about werewolves?” Obi Wan sighs, giving Anakin an annoyed look. “Be patient, Anakin. I’m getting to that.” Anakin sits back and pouts, making Obi Wan shake his head. You and Rex both chuckle. "So, I found out a few things. Pretty much there isn't much besides legends about werewolves. But I found out that one of our own Jedi padawans was bitten by one 300 years ago."
Your eyes widen significantly. Wait! What? There was a werewolf Jedi. You think to yourself, you almost can't believe it, Anakin and Rex both have surprised looks as well. “What? That's impossible, we would know about it? Wouldn’t we? Why were we never told this!”
Obi Wan sighs. “It wasn’t that we weren’t told about it Anakin, nobody knew. His Master had a journal where he had talked about it, that’s the only place I found any information about him, or anything else about werewolves.” You give Obi Wan a curious look, how could no one have known about this.
“Who… Who was he?” You ask, curious about who this Jedi was. You’d like to know everything you can about this so you can hopefully help Rex. Obi Wan gives you a sad look. “His name was Jak, Jak Evos. and he was only ten years old when he was bitten.” Everyone's eyes widen at hearing that, and Rex looks over at Obi Wan with a look of sadness. “H-He was only a youngling, I-Im an adult and I can hardly handle any of it, I can’t even begin to imagine being his age. The poor child.”
You grab Rex’s hand, giving it a squeeze, you agree with him, that boy was just a child, it’s absolutely horrible. Obi Wan nods as Anakin sighs with sadness. “Yes, what that poor child must have went through must have been horrible.” Obi Wan shakes his head, trying to clear his thoughts to no avail. “I asked Master Yoda about him, he knew the child, but he never had any idea that he was a werewolf. Him and his Master kept it a secret from everyone.” You look down at the floor in sadness, your heart goes out to that youngling, how afraid must him and his Master have been to never tell anyone, not even Master Yoda.
“What happened to him, Master?” Anakin asks softly, voice filled with sadness as he asks, he’s just as upset as you and Rex. Obi Wan turns to him. “Master Yoda said that Jak died in battle, he was in his forties.” Then he looks towards Rex. “I did find some useful information in the journal so far though.” Rex perks up at that, making you and Anakin both hold back chuckles. “Really? What is it?” Obi Wan gives a soft smile.
“Well, a werewolf's transformation is connected to their emotions, such as fear or anger. Which is probably why Rex couldn’t transform, he was much too afraid and nervous.” Your eyes widen as you think about it, that’s definitely not good. After a few seconds, Anakin pipes in. “So once Y\N arrived on the Resolute and spoke to Rex, he calmed down enough that when he fell asleep, he transformed back.” You smile, Anakin is definitely right, Rex had fear pretty much radiating off of him when you had arrived, but once you told him you still loved him, and that you would never leave him, he calmed down considerably.
Rex blinks in confusion. “So what does this mean, exactly? I'll transform whenever I get upset!?” Rex squeezes your hand hard, not hard enough to hurt, but still hard. You can tell he’s afraid, and you squeeze his hand back. “Hey, it’s okay.” You whisper to him, making Rex look at you and calm down a little.
Obi Wan smiles at the two of you, but then he frowns. “It’s not just then, if you’re on a planet during a full moon cycle, you will transform no matter what. Nothing will stop it, and to make matters worse, the journal says that transformation’s caused by the full moon are very, very painful.” Obi Wan has an upset look when he says that information, and you have the same kind of look. What’s going to happen now? Most planet’s have a full moon cycle, what will Rex do if he gets caught up in one?
Anakin sighs heavily with frustration. “What are we supposed to do, Master? What if Rex transforms during a mission and none of us can calm him down?” Rex looks down at the floor, knowing that his General will say he’s a liability, but-- “I won’t have him in a position where he could get hurt or killed, Master. He’s my friend and one of my men!”
Rex looks over at Anakin, who smiles softly at him, making Rex give a surprised look. It brings a smile to your face, but then you frown. Rex can be gone on missions for up to months at a time, although none of those have happened so far in the time you have been dating. But if he did transform and couldn’t transform back, he could jeopardize the mission. Or it could take a long time to get him back to you.
Obi Wan looks between the three of you before smiling. “There is a bright side, from what I read in the journal, Rex may be able to learn how to control it. Jak’s Master wrote that Jak couldn’t stop it completely when he was too upset or angry, but he could hold it off, although it was kind of painful too.” You squeeze Rex’s hand as worry fills you, so many things could happen if Rex couldn’t hold it back.
But Rex just smiles at you, then at Obi Wan and Anakin. “That could help, if I start to transform, I could hold it back until I get to better cover. Away from the battle.” You smile at Rex, that’s a good idea. It would keep him safe, and not jeopardize the mission at all. Then Anakin turns Obi Wan. “But we still have the problem of Rex transforming back to human.” your smile drops as you realize that, that's still a problem.
Obi Wan smirks. “That's where Miss Y\N comes in.” You look at him with surprise as Rex and Anakin both do the same. “Wait? What do you mean, me?” You ask, pointing at yourself as Rex nods. “Yeah, what do you mean, General?” Obi Wan looks between the two of you and smiles. “I was thinking of asking the Council to allow her to accompany you on missions, she is a Mechanic. And Anakin does need another mechanic on the Resolute, do you not, Anakin?”
Obi Wan gives Anakin a sly smile, who happily returns it. “He’s right, we do need another mechanic.” You smile as you see where they’re going with this, and you love it. This way you can be with Rex all the time and if he does transform, then you can help him turn back human. “I’m in!” You tell them excitedly. Making Rex turn to you, he has a worried look on his face. “Are you sure, Y\N? It’s going to be dangerous.”
You smile at him. “I’m sure.” You squeeze his hand reassuringly, you are absolutely sure that you want to go with him. You then turn to Obi Wan. “Is that all you learned, Obi Wan?” You ask as you glance at Rex, you can tell he’s ready to leave. He seems to be having a hard time processing everything. Obi Wan nods.
“I haven’t finished the journal yet, but that’s all I’ve learned so far. I’ll comm you two if I learn anything else. And Rex, you may take a break today, you deserve it.” Obi Wan looks at Rex, who nods. It worries you since Rex isn’t one to take breaks. You grab his hand gently, and you both leave the room. You turn to him and offer a comforting smile. “Where do you want to go, Rex?” He looks at you, a face full of fear and nervousness. “My quarters, please?” Rex whispers, making you nod and chuckle. “Okay, lead the way.” You tell him and he smiles, as he pulls your hand and gently starts leading you to his quarters.
It’s only a few minutes of walking through corridors, and you're there. Once you are both through the door, Rex closes it behind the two of you, and walks over to his bunk. He starts stripping off his armor, and you look away when he gets to his blacks, giving him some privacy. Rex chuckles sweetly at you, making you smile. “You can turn around now, Cyare.”
You do as he says, smiling when you realize he’s wearing the shirt and comfy pants you had bought him a few weeks ago. He then frowns, worry filling you as he starts pacing around the barracks, breathing heavily as his mood takes a complete turn for the worst. He hugs himself, and you can tell that he is freaking out over… everything that has happened in the last few days.
“What… What the kriff do we do!! I…” He takes a deep breath, and you walk a bit closer, only for him to start walking again. “I can’t be in the middle of a mission and just… just suddenly turn into a giant wolf!!! Do you know how bad that could end!!!” You look closely at your scared boyfriend as he paces around, seeing tiny bits of blonde fur starting to grow on his face and arms, as his ears grow a tiny bit longer and pointed. His eyes are a glowing yellow as well.
He seems so afraid, breaking your heart into a million tiny pieces. You know he’s scared… so so scared. And he has every right to be, this is a scary and new situation. One that is almost completely unknown. You walk over to him, he’s taller now, but you don’t care, not at all. You gently grab him so he stops pacing and looks down at you, eyes filled with fear. You gently wrap your arms around him, standing on your tip-toes and pressing a soft, sweet kiss to his lips.
Rex hums, wrapping his arms around you, the kiss ends and he immediately shoves his face into your hair, and you feel him take a sniff. It makes you chuckle, but then you pull away, cupping his cheek and gently thumbing a bit of his fur with your thumb as he looks you in the eyes. “Rex, it’s going to be okay. Remember what Obi Wan said? You can hold it back if you have to, maybe long enough to hide.”
Rex looks down at you with so much love in his eyes, but there is still so much fear in them as well. “Y/N… I… Look at me. I’m partly transformed as we speak. If this happens, and the Separatists find out--” “Shhh.” You shush him, as tears fill his eyes and fall down his face. It isn’t often that your captain cries, but when he does, you know it’s bad. “I’m scared, Cyare. I’m so, so scared.” He lets out a heart shattering sob, as he breaks in your arms.
You pull him close, feeling him nuzzle and smelling your hair on the top of your head. “We’ll… We’ll figure this out, Rexy. I promise.” You tell him, trying not to cry. “But if you don’t want to transform right now, then you need to calm down. Try taking a few deep breaths for me, alright?” You ask softly, and Rex nods. He starts to breathe deeply, and you feel him relax in your arms. After a few minutes, he starts to shrink down to normal height, all his fur disappearing as his eyes and ears return to normal.
Rex pulls away from you, smiling softly at you as he wipes his tears away. “What would I ever do if I didn’t have you, Cyar’ika?” He asks softly, and you smile, but then tears flood your eyes, finally falling down your cheeks. Rex immediately frowns, pulling you close. “Hey, hey, hey. Don’t cry, Mesh’la. Please don’t cry.” He whispers, gently kissing your tears away, but more continue to fall.
“I… I’m scared too, Rex. I don’t want to lose you… I… I want to be strong for you, I shouldn’t be crying.” Rex’s eyes grow soft, and he pulls you into a hug. “You don’t have to be strong, we’re both scared. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.” He kisses the tip of your head, holding you close in his strong arms.
“You're going to have to grab your things from Coruscant soon, Cyare. We're probably going to have another mission in the next few days.” He tells you quietly, nuzzling the top of your head. You’re thankful Rex changed the subject, as your tears slow and you smile.
“I’m sure Fives will get a gunship ready for me tomorrow, he probably already has. Now, how about we spend today watching some holo-films and cuddling together? Just you and me?” You ask, earning a happy smile from your boyfriend. “Yes, please. I’d love to.” He presses a kiss to your lips, pulling you tight against him. Then Rex swings you up into his arms, carrying you over to his bed and setting you down on the bed.
Rex sets up the holo-player, and your favorite movie, then he lays in bed, pulling you on top of his chest. And that’s how the two of you stay, snuggled up to eachother, just relaxing and forgetting about the events of the past couple of days.
Summary: As punishment for his actions, young prince Rex was cursed to become a monster by a witch. The only thing that saved him from his fate was an enchantress, who gave him a condition. He has to find true love in order to redeem himself and he only has until the last petal of the enchanted rose falls. Rex's family helps you by guiding your way into his heart. Rex's fate now lies in your hands."
A/N: Hey, this is a collaborative fic between myself and @ahsokatano-thetogruta. We have created a star wars the clone wars fanfic based off the story Beauty and the Beast, so we both hope that you love reading this as much as we had fun writing it. Enjoy!
It's a crisp winter's day, the untouched snow was glistening, as more beautiful soft snowflakes danced through the air, swirling around each other in time as they waltzed their way to the ground. The slowly rising sun peers over the horizon, it feels magical as the sun shines over the sparkling snow, glistening and gleaming, creating a beautiful, breathtaking winter wonderland, and the inhabitants of the royal castle start to stir, the younger kids are already running around. They were waiting Impatiently to open the nicely wrapped presents under the tree. Christmas day is finally here again.
Rex was surrounded in peace until he was abruptly awoken to the sounds of exciting cheers and shouting of his younger brothers and cousins who are now running around the halls of the castle outside of his room.
Rex groans at the sound. He tries to go back to sleep, pressing his face tightly into the pillow. He had a late night, and is absolutely exhausted.
He almost growls when his door swings open and Fives, Echo and little Stutter run in. The ten year old twins and four year old kid run over to Rex, with Fives picking up Stutter, dropping him on top of his side. Rex almost growls again, but holds it back so as not to hurt his little brother's feelings.
He turns over, Stutter sitting on his stomach now, hands against his chest. The cute smile on his face makes Rex give him a small little smile.
"Come on, Rex. It's time to get up, right Stutter?" Stutter looks at Fives, nodding happily.
"Yeah! C-C-Come on, O-Ori'vod" Rex smiles tiredly.
"Okay! I'm up Vod'ika, can you three please leave so I can get dressed." They all nod, Echo walking over and grabbing little Stutter from Rex. They all walk out.
"Hurry up, Ori'vod." Echo yells back, causing Rex to huff a little. Rex rubs his face and yawns, trying to wake up more. He feels like he could go right back to sleep for the rest of the day, but that's not happening. He sits up, stretching his arms and legs out.
Once he's half woken himself up, he hops out of bed, padding over to the wardrobe slowly. He looks through his collection of clothes, finding his favorite shirt inside. He smiles, grabbing it and a nice brown pair of pants. Once fully dressed, he starts walking towards the door to leave his quarters.
On his way, Rex's vision goes slightly blurry and his eyes struggle to stay open from fatigue, so he yawns again, but because he couldn't see where he was walking, he clumsily stumbles into a small table making him curse as he snaps his eyes shut for a second. When he opens them again, he can see a vase wobbling around on its base, almost ready to topple over at any second. It all happens in slow motion and Rex is unable to move quickly enough to stop it from hitting the ground.
It makes a loud crash as it shatters into a thousand pieces. Rex feels his frustration earlier come rushing back to him, his annoyance growing with every passing second. A few moments later, he hears his door swing open. Without bothering to turn around to see who it is, his words come out snappy. "Don't you know how to knock?" He turns around to see Cody standing in the doorway. "Oh...sorry Cody. I didn't mean to lash out like that."
"It's alright, Vod'ika. I heard a loud noise so I just needed to make sure that you were okay, I was worried for you." Cody smiles knowing that Rex is okay, he saw the frustration on his face for a second after he turned around. "Are you okay?"
Rex feels a guilt wash over him like a ferocious wave, regretting being so rude, especially in front of his Ori'Vod. "I'm sorry, Cody. I accidentally bumped into it." Cody smiles kindly at Rex, he knows that it's not his fault.
"It's fine, Vod'ika. It was an accident. I'll clean it up, are you okay, you look frustrated." Rex nods, Cody's been here for him ever since their parents died two years ago. The reason Rex is crown prince is because Cody and his other brother Bly didn't want the crown.
"I didn't sleep well last night, and I was woken up by all of the noise." He mumbles a bit, still tired.
"I'm sure you'll feel throughout the day. We have a lot of fun things planned." He says with a big smile, hoping it will make Rex feel somewhat better.
"I'm sure I will too." He thanks him with a tired smile. Being thirteen and having hormones is not making his morning any better, but he tries to power through it the best he can and hopes he'll have a good time.
"I'll meet you in the ballroom to open presents once I've cleaned this up for you."
"Thanks, Ori'Vod."
"You're welcome, Vod'ika."
xxx
It's always very busy in the kitchen on Christmas. Many Chefs are preparing the vegetables and various foods for the Christmas dinner and snacks throughout the day. Gregor is a fifteen year old chef in training after being promoted from a dishwasher to a sous chef. He was given the day off today to spend with his brothers and cousins, but asked the head chef if he could make some cookies for everyone when they all open their presents. His boss is really nice, so he lets him do what he needs to do. Gregor gets up early to start making them. He hears the younger kids start running around upstairs, waking up the oldest of the family. He chuckles thinking of the kids running into his room to find an empty bed, he won't be woken up by someone jumping on him this year.
Gregor grabs all the ingredients he’ll need for the cookies, starting with the flour. He pours it into a bowl, there's a cloud of flour in the air after he pours but he just ignores it. He grabs the milk and eggs next, being careful to measure it correctly, the eggs are cracked in a separate bowl then, once checked for shells, are poured in with everything else. Next is Gregor's favorite ingredient, sugar.
He measures out a little more than the recipe calls for since his brothers and cousins love it when he adds extra into the mixture, because they all have a big sweet tooth. He mixes it in, giving the batter a quick taste. Once he finds that the taste is good he adds the baking powder and butter, checking the taste just to make sure it's still good.
Once the batter has reached the desired consistency and sweetness, he grabs a selection of Christmas spices from a cupboard and places them on the counter. He separates the batter into 3 different bowls, each one for a different flavour. He will make some cinnamon, ginger and vanilla cookies, though he makes about a batch more of cinnamon cookies because almost everyone goes crazy over those.
He mixes in the spices in and then puts the batter onto the counter. Gregor goes to get a rolling pin and some cookie cutters shaped like Christmas trees and stars to give them that extra Christmas feel to them. He rolls out the batter evenly and then cuts some out, placing them onto a tray ready to go into the oven. Once they are all cut out and placed on baking trays, he puts them into the oven that was preheated earlier on and then grabs a sand timer that will tell him in 20 minutes that the cookies will be baked and ready. He turns over the small timer and takes it with him so he can join everyone to start opening presents.
xxx
Rex sits in a circle with the kids, everyone between the ages of 2 to 15 is there. They all have presents in their laps, ready to be opened, the older kids and adults just have to give the say. Cody walks into the room, glancing around and smiling.
“Okay, you can all open your present now!” 99 calls out, he's the oldest among them and is everyone's uncle. All the kids start ripping open their presents, Rex feels a little bit of fear for Anakin's present when he starts to shake it.
“Be careful, ani. You’ll hurt him.” the twelve year old knight in training looks at Rex with wide eyes.
“Him?” he asks, setting the box down gently. He rips it open, hearing a bark when he opens it. He gasps loudly.
“A PUPPY!!!!” he yells, hugging the young dog to his chest. Rex smiles at his best friend's happiness, it was hard work keeping the puppy a secret. And getting it into the box a little while ago was tough, he had to ask Obi Wan for help. The older knight was surprised when Rex had asked him about getting Anakin a puppy, but agreed. He could see why Cody loved the guy. Anakin put the puppy down, pouncing on Rex.
“Thanks Rex, I love him!”
"Aw, he's so cute! What will you name him, Skyguy?" Anakin looks to his left to see Ahsoka petting his new dog gently on its head.
He smiles at her, she's only three years old but he finds her so enthusiastic and sweet "Hmm…" Anakin thinks for a moment, looking deeply into the puppy's eyes. "I'll call him Artoo!" He says, and the puppy lets out a little bark and wags his tail. Anakin feels tears of happiness well in his eyes as he hugs him close to his chest again, feeling Artoo snuggle into him.
After a few moments of admiring the adorable sight, Rex sees Stutter hand him a present. "Here y-y-you go R-R-Rex. T-T-This is f-for you."
Rex takes the wrapped up box from Stutter,smiling as he does so. "Thank you." He is only four years old, so the wrapping is a little bit untidy, but he is just so sweet and thoughtful. He peels back the paper to reveal a box with a lid. Discarding the wrapping paper on the floor, he carefully lifts off the lid to reveal a drawing inside. "Wow! This is so good, I love it. Thank you very much, Vod'ika!" Rex thanks Stutter, making him smile and then giving him a big hug. "Is that me and you that you've drawn?"
"Y-Yeah! We are p-p-playing t-t-together." He grins, happy that Rex loves his present. Stutter loves art so much, so any chance he gets to do something creative he will go and make more pieces of artwork.
While everyone is busy exchanging presents and making conversation with one another, the air is filled with a delightful and sweet aroma, making the ballroom feel even more Christmassy. Gregor notices that the sandtimer has almost run out, so he gets up and heads to the kitchen.
Rex watches as Hardcase rips into the wrapped present, he shakes his head. He swears that Hardcase is younger than him, not the same age. Hardcase finds a jigsaw puzzle inside, it's a puzzle of knights in shining armor, riding their horses into battle.
“This is awesome!”
“Did you remember to check who it's from?” Rex asks, Hardcase makes a sheepish expression.
“Oops!” he looks around. Finding the name tag, it says that it's from Jesse.
“Thanks Jesse!” hardcase yells to the twenty year old, who smiles.
“Your welcome, Vod’ika!” Hardcase laughs, he absolutely cannot wait to put it together.
Not a moment later, Gregor returns with some plates of his freshly baked cookies. Everyone's eyes go wide as he starts to hand them out to everyone. They always love his baking, especially his Christmas cookies, they are his speciality.
Rex runs over to Gregor, grabbing a handful of cookies. He runs them back over to the group, handing them to Anakin, Hardcase, Ahsoka, Stutter and everyone else in the group. Each person gets one for now to be fair, they'll have more once the presents are all done.
Ahsoka is next to open a present. She rummages through the various other presents under the tree until she finds one with her name on it. It's wrapped in silvery white paper with snowflakes and has a big blue ribbon tied around it. The tiny Togruta's eyes light up and the cutest smile graces her face. "Found mine!" Ahsoka exclaimed excitedly. She runs back over to her Ori'Vod.
Ahsoka lost her family about a year ago and Rex took her in, taking care of her and it wasn't long before everyone in the castle became her new family. She is so happy to have so many great brothers and cousins there for her. When they found out that she could use the force, Obi-Wan suggested that Anakin should be her mentor in her training to become a knight when she is old enough.
"Who's it from, Soka?" Anakin asks, still petting Artoo in his lap.
"It's from…" she searches the box for the label and then reads it out loud. "Rex."
Rex smiles at her kindly. "Go ahead, open it. But be careful with it."
Ahsoka nods and her eyes sparkle with excitement as she begins to peel back the paper, revealing a wooden box. She holds it and looks a bit confused at it for a moment.
"Here, you open it like this." Rex gets up from his chair and crouches down next to her, showing her how to open it. She then opens it all the way.
There's a little ballerina posing as if she was dancing. The lady is wearing a cute pink dress and has a pair of slipper silhouettes in the same colour as the dress. Her hair is tied up in a bun with a ribbon.
“I tried to get you a Togrutan one, but I couldn’t find one anywhere, sorry.” Rex says apologetically, he searched for one for weeks but they were always sold out or just didn't sell them.
"It's okay, I love it so much! Thank you, Ori'Vod!" She puts down the box and gives Rex a big hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. Rex chuckles and hugs her back.
"You're welcome, Soka. There is something else to it as well." Ahsoka looks at him puzzled, not sure about what he means. Rex picks up the box and shows her the little key on the back. "Turn this around a few times and see what happens."
"Okay!" She is excited to see what happens. When she lets go of the key, the ballerina starts to turn around as music from inside the box plays a beautiful song. Ahsoka is in love with this gift. "Wow! Thank you so much, I love it!"
"You're very welcome." Rex smiles at her and then she runs off to another room to carry on listening to the melody that the box produces, completely amazed with her present.
A/N: This is a little drabble I thought up, I hope you like it!
Warnings: None, maybe a pinch of angst but not much.
You nuzzle quietly into Rex's chest, feeling the fur that lies there. You chuckle when you think of the circumstances that caused this. It wasn't anything major, Ezra had pranked Rex, but it had startled him so much he transformed. It's been about six hours since then, you and Rex had decided to take a little nap, transforming takes a little bit more of his energy now that he's older. He's okay at first but once the adrenaline from transforming wears off he's so tired and extra cuddly.
That leads you to this situation, where you are trapped in your werewolf's large arms. But you don't mind, you love Rex more than anything, and you actually love him like this. He's so soft and fluffy, you absolutely love cuddling him. The only thing you hate is how unsure and almost scared he is sometimes. Even after all these years he still asks you if you love him like this... As a werewolf. You always reassure him that nothing could ever make you stop loving him.
Rex groans as he starts to stir, his eyelids fluttering open to show the yellow color. You smile and cup his cheek softly, pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose. Rex smiles lazily as he looks at you with so much love in his gaze. "Hey, did you have a good nap, Cyare?" You smile at the sweetness in his voice.
"Of course, I always sleep well with you cuddling me." Rex chuckles, the sound much deeper in this form. He nuzzles your forehead gently, giving you a toothy smile. "Good. m'glad you slept well, sweetheart." You smile, gently running your fingers through the white fur around Rex's chin and mouth. It's where his beard usually is, Rex hums, a deep rumble of content coming from deep in his chest. You smile and press a kiss to his cheek.
"Did you sleep good, Rex? You definitely needed it after transforming." Rex smiles at you, he still looks a little tired but much better than before. He gives you a quick lick on the top of the head, his way of kissing you in this form. You smile, letting out a tiny chuckle
"I slept well, I'm still tired though. The transformation takes a lot out of me sometime's. Especially when it's such a surprise like this one was." Rex frowns, ears pressing back, worry creeps up on you. You gently cup his cheek, turning his head so that he's looking at you. "Hey, what's wrong? Whatever it is you can tell me?" Rex sighs, letting out a little whine as he pulls you a little closer, nuzzling you gently.
"I... I just hate that I can't protect you as well, I-I'm so much weaker now. What if someone attacked us after my adrenaline ran out and I was too tired to protect you." Rex nuzzles you again, whining softly. A few tears escape his eyes as he thinks about what could happen. "Hey, you aren't weak, Rex. You are the strongest man I know."
You press a gentle kiss to his forehead, gently wiping the tears that wet his fur away with your thumb. "If you had to, I know that you would be able to protect me no matter how tired you were. I've seen it happen before after you got tired in your wolf form, you will always be able to protect me, and I'll always do my best to protect you." You press a soft kiss to his cheek, Rex sighs softly, smiling and pressing his forehead against yours. "Where did I ever find someone as amazing as you, Sweetheart?"
You smile and press another kiss to his forehead. "I could ask the same thing, Darling. Would you like to get a little more sleep? You still look tired." Rex let's out a big yawn, showing his sharp teeth. But you don't care at all as he cuddle's up to you and settles down, quickly drifting back to sleep. You smile and run your fingers through the fur on his chest before also falling back to sleep, the both of you feeling safe and happy in eachother arms.
This was requested by @ahsokatano-thetogruta who asked for prompt 15 from the Christmas prompts with wererex.
You feel a shiver travel through your body, you're on a mission with the 501st. The mission is on an ice planet, and you come from a more deserty planet, so you're more susceptible to the cold. This is when you hate being an intelligence officer, Rex brings you with him to help him if he transforms.
You think about asking your boyfriend, Rex, to transform into his Werewolf form but decide against it. You know that it's only been a few months since the Separatists turned him into a werewolf, and you don't want to make him uncomfortable.
You wrap your arms around yourself, then turn and see Rex walk into your tent. His smile turns to worry at the sight of you shivering, and his eyes widen in realisation when he remembers that you come from a desert planet.
"You're cold cyare. You should have called me." He tells you as he sits on the cot beside you.
"I'm fine Rex." You whisper but he just shakes his head, he starts stripping off his armor and you raise an eyebrow.
"What are you doing?" You ask him, and he just turns to you and smiles.
"I'm going to transform, my werewolf form should keep you warm." Your eyes widen, you don't want to make him do that.
"I'm fine Rex, you don't have to transform."
"Yes, I do. I'm not just going to sit here and let you freeze." You sigh but don't say anything else, you know how stubborn your boyfriend can be.
Rex pushes your shoulder to lay down, when you do he slides in beside you, wrapping you up in his arms. He's only wearing the bottom of his blacks, you hear him grunt then feel him start to transform.
He grows bigger, grey fur growing all over his body. His muscles grow larger and stronger, and his arms and legs grow longer. He lets out a little huff once it's done, it always feels weird when he transforms.
You turn over to look at him, his now yellow eyes stare at you once you pull away and move back a little.
"I love you, Cyare." He tells you, his voice much deeper than when he's human, but it still comforts you, even now. You smile and kiss his nose before laying down and cuddling into his chest. You love Rex, no matter what he looks like, and that will never change. He pulls you close, wrapping his arms tightly around you.
"I love you too, Rex. Thank you." You whisper quietly as you finally stop shivering and start to feel warm, you brush your hand through Rex's soft fur and he hums in satisfaction. He loves it when you brush your finger's through his fur, it's one of the few things he loves about being in this form.
He also loves cuddling with you, whether he's like this or not, it's his absolute favorite thing to do. It makes him happy to know for sure that you're safe in his arms, especially when theres so many dangers in this war.
You were with him when the Separatists turned him into this, and they were going to do the same to you, if it weren't for the 501st and 212th. They got there just in the nick of time.
He's greatful that they decided to transform him first, he would have never forgiven himself if you had to live with this curse. He doesn't care about being a werewolf now, as long as he has you and his brothers to help him through it, he'll be happy.
He looks down to see that you have fallen asleep, he feels relief when he notices that you aren't shivering anymore. He quickly gives you a keldabe kiss before laying down and cuddling you, he's ready to sleep now that he knows you're okay. His eyes flutter close as he drifts off to sleep, last thing he thinks about is how much he loves you.
You were a Jedi before the purge, you were reckless and broke the rules. But you broke a major one, you fell in love and later married a clone. Not just any clone but Anakin Skywalker's clone Captain, Captain Rex.
You and Rex loved eachother more than anything, but you lost him after the purge. It's been fifteen years and you miss him every day, you wish to see him again but you don't think that it's going to happen.
You met up with Ahsoka about ten years after the purge, and you've been helping her with fulcrum business ever since.
She's sent the ghost crew to find someone that can help with finding a new base, but for some reason she won't tell you who they are.
You've asked a few times but all she ever says is that it's a surprise and she gets excited, you don't understand what the surprise would be. Maybe it's an old friend from the clone wars. It's been two days and you have started getting impatient.
"Y/n, the ghost crew are back." You smile and follow Ahsoka to where the ghost attaches to the ship, you can't wait to find out who it is.
The ghost crew walks out, smiling you wonder what they're smiling about when an old man with a white fluffy beard walks out from behind them, freezing when he sees you. You can't believe it, it's Rex.
"Rex?" You walk closer to him when he looks down and pushes past you.
"I'm sorry, I have to talk to Commander Tano." You feel hurt encompass your heart, Rex just completely ignored you. He didn't even care that you both haven't seen eachother in fifteen long years, you stifle a sob as tears come to your eyes and Hera walks over to hug you.
She knows that Rex hurt you, she doesn't know your past but she can tell that you have a broken heart. You hug her and bury your face into her shoulder, you can't hold the tears back any more.
×××
It's been about two months since Rex joined the rebellion and he's been avoiding you the whole time, you should have known that he wouldn't love you anymore. You only dated for two years, he must have fallen out of love with you. You wonder if he maybe found someone else, but it seems that you aren't the only one he's avoiding.
He's hardly talked to Ahsoka as well and she's been feeling very hurt over it as well. You don't understand why he's acting like this, it's really pissing you off. So you and Ahsoka came up with a plan, she's asked Commander Sato to send both you and Captain Rex on a mission together.
Once you're on the planet, you will corner Rex and talk to him about what's happening. You and Ahsoka hope to find out why he's doing this.
You and Rex head out on a mission, heading to lothal to see how things with the empire is going. It's pretty bad when you search but then you lead Rex into a field, finally able to confront him.
"What's wrong with you." You ask him bluntly, and he turns around do fast you fear he might have whiplash.
"What?"
"Why have you been avoiding Ahsoka and I. Did we do something wrong, I understand if you don't love me anymore but to ignore Ahsoka. Your little sister, that's not right Rex." He stares at you with wide eyes, you stand there waiting for an answer.
"I... I don't hate you." What other reason does he have to avoid you then.
"Then why Rex!" You yell, completely pissed off now. You don't care what the Jedi taught you about controlling your feelings. You're done!
"Why have you been avoiding me! Why did you not even spare me another glance when you got to the rebellion! Why did you break my heart." The last part is whispered, Rex is looking at you with tears in his eyes. You don't understand. You suddenly see a blaster shot fly past your head and turn to see a large group of storm troopers running and shooting at you.
You and Rex start running, only to realize that there's another group of storm troopers running from the opposite direction.
You pull out your lightsaber and start deflecting shots as Rex starts shooting, you're fighting your hardest but it's to no avail as you get shot in the arm with a force inhibitor and pushed to the ground. Loosing your lightsaber, you're staring at the end of a blaster barrel.
You try to think of a solution when you hear a growl, you look up to a grey blur striking the storm troopers, they start running in fear, when the blur slows down you realize that it's a giant bipedal Wolf. You can tell that you would only reach the bottom of its chest when you're standing straight, it's gigantic.
You stare at it in fear, until you see the tattered remains of Rex's pants on it and look over to see Rex's armor on the ground. You put two and two together, realizing that this is Rex, your husband. You watch him run, standing up and following him, leaving your forgotten lightsaber behind.
You follow him into a cave, composing yourself outside for a few minutes before walking in. You see your husband's now large for sitting in the back, you walk over and realize that he still teaches your face while sitting.
You walk close to him, making your steps loud as not to startle him. You place a hand on the back of Rex's shoulder, feeling the grey fur underneath of it. You feel him flinch and he growls.
"Get away from me." He says quietly, his voice is so much different from the man you knew. But it's still Rex's voice, you don't know how you can tell with how deep and growly it's gotten but you somehow know. You try to ignore the feeling of hurt that comes from him growling at you.
"No. I'm not leaving you Rex." He grows again even louder.
"I SAID LEAVE! Please." The last part is whispered, almost a plea. You feel so bad for Rex, you start to softly run your hand up and down his shoulder, wondering how long he's been going through this alone when you suddenly realize.
"Is... Is this why you've been avoiding me? Why you completely ignored me when the ghost crew brought you?" Rex is shaking now and he nods, you feel tears come to your eyes as you realize that the past few months of him actively avoiding you wasn't because he hates you but the opposite. He wanted to protect you, and he was afraid of what you would think of him.
"Oh Rex." You exclaim, you can't believe that he's gone through this alone. You wonder if his brothers even know.
"Do Wolffe and Gregor know?" Rex shakes his head and you sigh, he's been going through something this big all alone. Not even telling his own brothers. You walk around his side slowly and he freezes, you can tell that he's terrified of you seeing him.
You reach the from of him and can finally fully see what's happened, he's changed so much. His head is a wolfs while his body is more human esque, you can see that his body is much more muscular than when he's human.
You look into his eyes and feel your heart clench, they're yellow and filled with fear. A tear falls down and into his fur, so you reach your hand over slowly, stopping when he flinches. You freeze, as soon as he looks at you once again you reach over and softly wipe the tear away.
You move your hand down to his snout, there's white fur where his beard is when he's human. You can see white fur speckled all over him, but theres quite a bit on his stomach. You hear him whimper in fear, so you lean down and kiss his forehead.
"Oh Rex, it's okay sweetheart. I'm not leaving you, I promise."
"You need to leave, cyare. I could hurt you." You sigh and lean your forehead against his, giving him a keldabe kiss. You try to put all your love for him into it.
"You'd never hurt me, Rex. You're still you, fur and all." You kiss his forehead again and he finally breaks, pulling you against him softly until you're sitting in his lap. He lays his chin on your shoulder since he's taller than you and starts crying softly.
He's trying to hide it from you, feeling embarrassed but he can't help it. He loves you more than anything and staying away from you these past few months has killed him.
"I'm so sorry, cyare. I know that I broke your heart, and hurt Ahsoka. I'm so sorry." You shush him, rubbing the back of his head softly.
"Shhh, I forgive you sweetheart. I'm not happy that you ignored and avoided me but I understand why, I still love you more than anything." Rex pulls you closer, you reach up and kiss his shoulder softly. You can't believe that the whole reason he was avoiding you was because he is a werewolf now.
"I love you so much, cyare. I was so scared of losing control and hurting you, or you being afraid of me." You wish that he had told you sooner, but you are going to fix this. You won't let anyone or anything hurt him.
"I'll never be afraid of you. Like I said, you're still Rex. Just fluffier." You run your fingers through his fur for emphasis, getting a little chuckle out of him. You smile but you have to get back to more serious matters.
"You're going to have to tell Ahsoka, and your brother's. When did this even happen, Rexter?" You ask him and he sighs, snuggling into you.
"It was only a month before the ghost crew came and got me, I was bitten by a strange creature. Next thing I know I'm hiding from my brothers who were shooting at me, I told them after I was human again that I was searching in another place for the monster."
"Oh, Rex. You should have never had to go through that, and you won't have to go through this alone anymore. Okay. I promise." Rex nods, he loves you so much. More than he could ever say in words. You kiss him on his shoulder again, you know that you and Rex will work through this. And neither of you will ever part again, no matter what happens. Even if this is permanent, he's still Rex. And that will never change.
Rex wakes up only minutes later, he's a little drowsy but okay. It seems that the drugs they use don't work as well on him, he suddenly hears something, he listens carefully.
His hearing is much better than when he's human, he hears the explosions. He sniffs the air, noticing that his sense of smell is also much better.
He smells smoke and burnt metal, there's another scent to its familiar. It takes him a few seconds to realize that it's his brothers, they've been found. He prays to the force that they get to you in time, he will never forgive himself if you're turned into a monster like him.
Suddenly there's an explosion right next to him, and his brothers run into the room. It seems that Fives is leading the 501st in his stead. As soon as they see him they freeze pointing their guns at him, Rex's ears press against his head but he ignores the hurt.
"Fives! You have to find y/n now!" Fives glares at Rex, not recognizing his Ori'vod.
"How do you know y/n, and where's my brother! Where's Rex." Rex feels fear and hurt strike him, they don't recognize him at all. Suddenly Stutter runs in with the female medic from before, she's in handcuffs and one Echo is escorting her.
"We f-found her trying t-to esca-ape." Stutter looks over at Rex, fear in his eyes seeing the monster that he has become.
"Good job, Vod'ika. Now tell me, where's Rex and y/n." The medic bursts out laughing, everyone is confused.
"W-what are you l-l-laughing about?" The medic smirks evily at Stutter, and Fives stands in front of the 16 year old protectively. Echo's hand tightens it's hold
"I'm laughing because I've turned Rex into such an ugly monster that you can't recognize him when he's standing right beside you." The troopers pale under their helmets, Fives pulls his off.
"Take her out of here, and bake sure she doesn't escape from a gunship." Echo hands her to a shiny who does as hes told.
"Okay, you four search for y/n. Rex said it was urgent, Hardcase you lead." The four troopers lead by Hardcase leave, and Fives now turns to Rex who's looking at him nervously.
"Rex? Is that you Vod." Rex nods slowly, he doesn't want to scare his brothers with his voice.
Fives walks up, rubbing Rex's arm comforting.
"What have they done to you." Fives says with disgust in his voice, Rex flinches. Fives eyes widen when he realizes what he must be thinking.
"Not you Rex, I'm disgusted with the Separatists." Rex nods. Stutter starts to walk slowly over followed by Echo, Rex kneels down, trying to make himself look smaller and less scary to his brothers. Especially Stutter.
"We'll get to y/n, Rex. General Skywalker is also searching the other half of the base."
"Fives, they plan to turn her into a monster like me." Stutter freezes when Rex says that, then he runs up, wrapping his arms around Rex.
"Y-you aren't a m-monster O-Ori'Vod. You're my b-brothet, and I l-love you." Rex wraps his arms around Stutter softly, he loves the Vod'ika so much, he's such a sweetheart.
"Fives!" They all turn to look at Echo, Stutter letting go of Rex.
"What is it?"
"They found y/n, a medic was trying to inject her with some sort of substance but they were stopped." Rex breathes a sigh of relief, he thanks the force that they didn't get her. Rex looks up but Echo doesn't look happy.
"Rex. The medic had some droids to fight the troopers and Anakin, while they were busy the medic destroyed all evidence of the serum." Rex's ears press against the back of his head, without any information for the serum they can't find a cure, but at least they can't use it on anyone else.
"Come on Rex, we have to go."
"They'll be scared of me." Rex whispers, he's scared. He feels an arm grab his and looks to see Stutter.
"D-Don't worry R-Rex, we'll help y-you." The other two nod.
"He's right Rex, you're our brother. You've protected us, now it's our turn." Rex nods, standing up to his full height. All three of their eyes widen, and Rex shrinks back down again. Stutter rubs his arm a little as Fives walks over and gives his shoulder a pat
"Its fine Rex, we just didn't expect you to be this tall." Rex nods and follow's them out, the see troopers and they a gape at Rex. Echo sends out a message telling everyone what happened but from the stares Rex is pretty sure that no one believed him.
They get to the gunship with y/n, some troopers point their guns at him but Anakin stops them, already able to sense Rex's force signature.
He runs up to you, grabbing your hand softly. You've been heavily drugged but should wake up soon, Kix has taken good care of you.
"She's going to be fine Rex." Rex startles a little, turning to look at Kix. He gives Rex an encouraging smile.
"She's a strong one." Rex nods, he definitely agrees. You're strong, he's glad he told his brothers about your relationship, they've helped him hide it a lot.
"Rex?" He looks down to see that you've woken up, he smiles at you. You smile back, lifting your hand up and stroking his cheek.
"Hey, it's good to see you awake. Cyare."
"It's good to see you too." Rex nuzzle's his forehead against yours, he hates that he can't kiss you, but it's too hard with a snout.
"I love you."
"I love you to, sweetheart. Well figure this out, I promise." Rex believe's every word you say, he's ready to face whatever's going to happen, as long as he has you.
Summary: As punishment for his actions, young prince Rex was cursed to become a monster by a witch. The only thing that saved him from his fate was an enchantress, who gave him a condition. He has to find true love in order to redeem himself and he only has until the last petal of the enchanted rose falls. Rex's family helps you by guiding your way into his heart. Rex's fate now lies in your hands.
Warnings: panic attack, slavery, self hatred.
A/N: This is a collaborative fic with @ahsokatano-thetogruta. This chapter is a long one.
“Stutter?”
Stutter jumps at the sound of his name, looking up towards exactly where the sound came from. It was your voice. You sit up and swing your legs over the edge of the bed. Stutter tries to float again, but he's too tired, so instead he shuffles himself away from you and leans up and presses back against the wall away from your bed, whimpering. “Hey, it's alright.” You tell him with a soothing voice.
“P-Please, don't h-h-hurt m-me.” He starts sobbing hard again, wanting to curl up, but being a paintbrush makes it difficult. “I'm not going to hurt you Stutter.”
His breathing rapidly increases as another one of his panic attacks hit him. Some time ago, you read a book on basic medical studies. You thought that if you want to be a great knight, you need to know the basic medical skills. “Stutter? Stutter, I need you to concentrate on your breathing, okay?” He gives you a tiny nod in response. “Here, breathe with me.” you take slow, deep breaths, noticing that he's trying his best to copy what you're doing.
You get out of bed, still feeling weak but not as bad as when Rex found you. You ate some soup a few minutes ago so you’re stronger. You walk over to the tiny paintbrush, sitting down against the wall beside Stutter. “There you go, keep breathing. It’s okay.” You reach your hands out, stopping right in front of Stutter. “Is it okay if I pick you up?”
“O-Ok.” As soon as Stutter says that you gently wrap your hands around him, picking him up and placing Stutter in your lap. He’s shaking like a leaf, but breathing better. “Shh, it’s okay Stutter. You’re okay, shh.” Stutter sobs, flying up and cuddling into your chest.
You softly rub his back with two of your fingers, doing your best to soothe him. You can tell just by his voice that he's young, and you hate to hear a kid cry. You both sit like that for a good twenty minutes until Stutter's sobs turn into whimpers and sniffles.
"Are you okay?" You ask quietly, trying not to startle him. Stutter looks up at you, nodding. "Y-Yeah."
You smile kindly at him. "Can you tell me what happened? Take as much time as you need." Stutter thinks about it, trying to figure out if he should trust you or not. You wait patiently for him to decide, you can sense the unease and fear around him.
"Okay, R-Rex y-y-yelled at m-me." Your eyebrows furrow, from what you've seen of Rex, he cares for his brothers. You've never seen or heard him yell at them. Ever. "Why would he yell at you?"
Stutter sniffles, he almost starts crying again. "I a-accidentally broke a p-picture f-f-frame w-with a p-p-painting of h-his p-parents. I d-d-didn't mean t-to, b-b-but he y-yelled at m-me."
“Oh Stutter, it's alright. If you didn't do it on purpose, he might not have meant to lash out at you like he did. You seem like a really nice person, I don't see why anyone would want to shout at you.” You give him a sympathetic smile, feeling a spark of happiness in the force coming from Stutter, but then he sighs a little. “A-After my m-m-mother d-died a few d-days after I-I was b-b-born, m-my father a-a-and b-b-brothers would a-a-abuse me, m-mentally a-and p-p-physically.” You feel fear at his words, thinking that they are the brothers that he lives within the castle now. “Your brothers here in the castle? But they all seem so kind.”
Stutter is confused for a moment, until he realises who you thought he was talking about. “O-Oh, no. Both R-Rex and h-h-his b-brothers are t-technically m-my c-c-cousins, but I t-think of R-Rex and h-his brothers a-as m-m-my brothers, because a-about thirteen years a-a-ago, they had r-rescued m-me from m-my p-p-previous family. I-It took m-me a-a-a while t-to trust e-everyone, though it's s-s-still difficult now, e-especially when I-I meet new p-p-people.”
“I hope I don't intimate you Stutter. If I ever make you feel uncomfortable, you can always let me know.” You smile kindly at the paintbrush who snuggles into you a bit more, happy that you have listened to him get his worries off of his chest. “I-I feel t-t-that I c-can trust you. Y-You are v-very nice.”
His kind compliment makes you smile wider, your heart filled with happiness. You wouldn't get many compliments back at the village apart from your father and the librarian “That's... That's very kind of you to say. Thank you, Stutter.” Stutter hums a little in response, feeling a lot better than he was earlier. He no longer felt like he was going to break down. A moment later, the bedroom door swings open and you both look up, seeing Obi Wan and Cody who both look like they have been rushing around.
“Stutter, there you are. We’ve been looking everywhere for you, Vod’ika.” Cody tells him, sounding relieved. You smile. “It’s okay, he’s been with me for a while.” Cody shuffles over to you both, followed by Obi Wan. “You okay, Stutter?”
“Y-Yeah, I’m f-f-fine C-Cody. S-Shiny h-h-helped me.” Obi Wan turns his helmet towards you, and Cody shuffles around to look at you. “Thank you for helping him, you didn’t have to do that, especially after how we treated you and your father.” You smile kindly.
“It’s fine, you all have already apologized for what happened. And my father had hurt your brother, I can see where Rex would get protective. Besides, who could say no to such a cute little paintbrush.” You smile at Stutter, as Cody and Obi Wan chuckle, they’re happy that you bonded with Stutter.
“I’m s-s-sorry, Cody. I d-didn’t mean to m-make R-R-Rex mad.” Cody wishes that he could pull Stutter into a hug. “You don’t have to be sorry, Stutter. It was an accident. I’m sure that Rex’ika didn’t mean to yell at you.” You stifle a laugh, you don’t know very much mando’a, but you know that ‘Ika’ means little. “I-I know, w-w-where is h-he? I w-want to t-talk to h-h-him.”
Obi Wan sighs. “We don’t know, he ran after he yelled at you. He felt really bad for Stutter, I could feel it in the force.” You feel bad for them, and Rex. You are positive that it was an accident. You try to stand, wobbling a little, but Obi Wan grabs and steadies you. “Let’s go find him then.”
“What! Miss Shiny, you are still hurt.” You glare at the desk. “I’m fine, and it’s just Shiny. Now let’s go.” You walk out, carrying the paintbrush with you. Cody sighs. “Her and Rex are made for eachother.” Cody whispers to Obi Wan, making sure that you won’t hear him. “Definitely.” Obi Wan agrees, then they both follow you and Stutter out, moving as fast as they can to catch up to you.
xxx
“Rex, come on out please.” Kix has a worried face and so does Jesse. “NO!” Rex's response makes the two of them frown at each other.
“I have an idea.” Jesse whispers to Kix, who nods back at him. “Okay, what is it?” Without telling him, he unfolds himself out from a little man so he is now just a sheet of paper. Jesse slips through the slight gap underneath the door and into the room that Rex has locked himself into.
You, Stutter, Obi Wan and Cody all see Kix floating outside a door. “Kix, have you found Rex yet-”
“LEAVE ME ALONE!!” The loud, growly voice makes Stutter jump in your arms, but you can sense that he isn't as frightened when he is being held. Jesse slips back out from under the door, quickly folding himself back into a man and a slightly annoyed look. “No luck?” Kix asks?
Jesse shakes his head and sighs. “No…” You all feel slightly bad for him. His reaction was out of his control, and once he had yelled at Stutter, he knew that the damage had been done and could not be taken back. He hurt his Vod'ika, Stutter, so he'll never forgive himself.
Cody calls out to him comfortingly. “Rex'ika, it's alright. We know you didn't mean to yell at Stutter. You were angry and you weren't thinkin-”
“That doesn't matter! I still hurt his feelings…” Rex ends up whining at the end of his sentence, his ears pressing back at the thought of what happened. You feel bad for him, hearing the sadness in his voice “Rex, we're not mad. Even Stutter is here to make sure you are okay.”
“Shiny?” Rex is surprised to hear your voice. He didn't realize that you would be here, but instead thought that you'd be back in your room getting some rest. “Yes, could you come out please?” There's only silence as a response.
After some thought, you turn to the others. “Maybe I should talk to him alone.” You suggest quietly. They all nod. “That might be best, it might be because we were there when...you know.” Cody whispers and you nod, knowing what he means. Rex doesn't want anyone to see him that watched him yell at Stutter.
“Thank you, here Obi Wan. Could you take Stutter for me please?” You hold out the paintbrush towards the suit of armor. “Of course, Shiny.” Obi Wan nods as he gently takes Stutter into his arms. “We'll leave you to talk to him.”
“Thank you, Obi Wan. All of you as well, thank you.” They all nod at you as they leave until it's only you in the hallway standing just outside Rex's door. “Rex? It’s just me out here, can we talk?” You listen, but don’t hear anything. You sigh, walking over to the door and sitting with your back against it.
“I know that you didn’t mean to yell at Stutter, you were just frustrated right?” You still have no answer from him, making you sigh, again. “You know, I understand what it’s like to get frustrated and yell. Believe me, I’ve yelled at my Papa a few times from frustration.”
“You have?” You can barely hear the whisper, but you feel happy that he’s finally talking. “Yeah, a few times. It happens to everyone, now can you let me in so that we can talk face to face?” You wait, then hear footsteps come to the door and the click of the lock, then the footsteps walk away again.
You open the door, as soon as you walk in you see Rex sitting against the far wall. You walk towards him, sitting cross legged right beside him to his right. He turns to you with wide eyes full of surprise. You turn and offer him a comforting smile. “It's nice to talk to you face to face, Rex.”
"Why would it be nice?" Confusion fills you, you don't understand what he means. "Why wouldn't it be nice?" Rex's ears press back against his head tight, you don't know why you find it cute?
“Because... because I look like a monster. Isn't it obvious? And I yelled at Stutter too, he's probably feeling so scared right now.” You place a hand gently on his forearm. Rex flinches at the sudden touch as he looks down at you, seeing your comforting smile. “Stutter's okay, Rex. He had run to my room, so we talked for a little while, until Obi Wan and Cody had found us. That's when they told us that Kix and Jesse had gone to find you.”
“I see… was he talking about me?” a little whine escapes him as he thinks about the question, thinking that Stutter told you about how Rex yelled at him. You feel Rex's thoughts. “Yes, he told me about what happened earlier, but he was also saying about how you saved him from his abusive father and brothers.”
Rex's ears perk up. " He told you about that?" You nod. "Yeah, he told me about how he was abused. I'm happy that he has people like you and your brother's now."
Rex feels a small smile come to his face. "I remember the first time I ever saw Stutter, he was only about a day old. Me and my Aunt were close, she was one of the nicest people I had ever met. She invited my family over to her house to meet Stutter, I was the first one to go in. He was so tiny, and I held him in my arms, even then I felt that he was more of a brother then a cousin."
You listen to Rex's story, it's starting to change the way you thought about him. You originally thought that he was just a cruel monster, then a lonely cursed man. Now you aren't sure what to think, Rex continues on with the story. “Stutter would never have deserved to keep living with his horrible father and brothers, that's when me and my brothers took him in as our own brother, to give him a better and safer life. He…he would always get shouted at, and that's why I feel so horrible after what happened earlier, because I brought back to him all of those awful memories that cause him so much pain.” Rex takes a deep breath to hold back his tears. “I just want Stutter to be safe and feel loved, because that's what he deserves.”
“Oh Rex, Stutter knows that you want that for him, he truly does. He knows now that you didn't mean to yell at him like you did.” Rex smiles at your reassuring words, thankful for your help by talking to him. “Thank you, Shiny. I'm glad to hear that he's okay.” You nod and smile.
“You're welcome. What would you like to do now? Sitting here all by yourself may not help you, so I'm happy to stay with you if you'd like?” You let a minute of silence pass, allowing Rex to think clearly about what to do next. He breathes in quickly and deeply, letting it out slowly. “I think I'll go and see the others now.”
You nod as the both of you stand up, though your legs still feel a little weak. Rex notices and steadies you as you begin to wobble, afraid that you might fall otherwise. “Thank you, Rex. I guess I should rest some more, huh.” you let out a little nervous chuckle as he gives you a small smile. “That might do you more good than walking around. I'll help you there if you'd like?”
You appreciate the kind gesture “That would be great, thank you.” gently, he helps you off of the ground and you hold onto his right arm, securly. “Are you okay?” Rex's thoughtfulness warms your heart, making you grin a little.
“Yeah, I'm okay. Let's go.” You both walk out of the room and into the hallway. Thankfully your room isn't too far away, so at least it means that you get to rest sooner. Meeting everyone here, including Rex, has made you happy. They are all so kind to you. Even though the first few days here at the castle were rough, you've left those behind you and just enjoy talking to the others you've met, and of course helping Stutter.
“Um, Shiny? D-Do you like the feel of my fur?” You look up at Rex a little confused.
You realise that you've been playing with the fur on his arm. “Oh, sorry. I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable, I didn't mean to. I guess I got a bit lost in thought.”
“No need to be sorry, I don't mind at all. To be quite honest, it feels nice.” Rex shows a promising but nervous smile. He finds that he likes you, not love or anything of the sort, but as hopefully a… friend.
Rex knows that he treated you pretty badly the first few days, but he hopes that you could forgive him. Even if you're not the one to break the curse. You smile at Rex and continue to play with his fur a little, you then look at his arm and notice a patch of fur, as white as snow. “What’s this?”
Rex chuckles when he realises what you are asking about. “That’s from my brother Fives, it was a few hours after I was turned into… this. Fives, Echo, Stutter and Fives' friend Kiara all decided to do a group hug with me, but he had forgotten to put his candles out. So my fur lit on fire and I got burned, it healed quickly but when the fur grew back it was white.”
You chuckle at the story. “Fives must have felt bad, from what I’ve met of him he seems like a sweetheart.” Rex nods. “He is, but he’s also a prankster sometimes. Him and Echo have gotten into all kinds of trouble over the years.” You nod, smiling again as the two of you arrive at your room. Rex walks you in and helps you to your bed, you both sit down.
“I bet they thought it was worth it though?” you laugh, making Rex laugh too. “Yes, especially Fives. He loves to make trouble, but they are both my brothers, so I'll always love them for who they are.” Rex smiles, but he feels a stab at his heart, remembering the night of the curse, how he yelled at the two of them for pranking him. “You okay, Rex?” He feels your hand on his shoulder. You feel his pain in the force.
“Yeah, everything's fine.” You raise an eyebrow, you know that everything isn’t fine. “Do you want to talk about it?” Rex shakes his head no, and you don’t push. “Okay, you don’t have to. So are Fives and Echo twins? They act like it but it’s kind of hard to tell… “ Rex chuckles.
“Yeah, they don’t look very alike right now, but when we were human you could hardly tell the two apart. Although their personalities are vastly different.” You chuckle again. “They are both very sweet, and Fives is fun to talk to.”
“Yeah, I also have a younger sister, Ahsoka, she’s fourteen now. I’m sure you’d love her, she wants to be a knight someday, but it’s hard for her to train with what she was turned into.” You look at him, confused. “What was she turned into?”
“She was turned into a music box, or technically the figure on top. When we were all transformed for the first time, Ahsoka looked so much older than she actually was. She doesn't look like she's aged a day.” Rex frowns a little “It's been difficult for her with not being able to train to become a knight. On the night of the curse, Ahsoka had comforted me when I needed it most, despite how scary I looked to her. She's very brave and strong, willing to help others whenever she can.”
“She sounds like a wonderful girl, that's so kind of her to help you. I can't imagine how difficult it was for you and her, along with everyone else, on that day. I can't wait to meet her.” you give Rex a toothy smile, and he gives you one in return. “Y'know, you and your family are the most new people, who don’t call me odd, I’ve ever met.”
Rex frowns at that, you haven’t met that many of them. He doesn’t like how your village has treated you. “That’s not right, you’ll never be called odd here, Shiny.” a smile graces your face when Rex says that, you're happy that everyone here in the castle is so kind. Despite starting off on the wrong foot, you strongly believe that this is the start of a new friendship.
You suddenly start to feel sleepy again. “I'm going to rest some more now, if that's okay?” Rex gives you a smile “Of course, I'll leave you to rest up.” You nod and yawn in response, making him quietly hum happily. He stands and waits a moment more to make sure that you'll be okay on your own, then he turns and leaves your room. Something deep inside of him makes him want to stay with you, but he buries that feeling a little further down to conceal his feelings.
You stay sitting for a little while until you want to lie down for a bit. As you shuffle around on the edge of the bed, you hear a barking sound coming from the hallway. A dog? You think to yourself, but all that appears at your doorway is a small footstool prancing around. “Artoo! Come back here, Buddy!” You instantly recognize that voice as metal footsteps jog down the corridor. The footstool pads its way across the floor to you, then sniffs by your feet near the ground, yapping happily and jumping up onto the bed. Artoo pants and climbs onto your lap, lying down instantly. You chuckle. “Why hello there, little one.”
A suit of armor suddenly appears by the door, huffing out a sigh as he's finally able to catch up with Artoo. “Artoo, how are you so fast?” Anakin shakes his head, chuckling a little to see his dog lying in your lap while you pet him. “Anakin, it's good to see you. I'm guessing he's yours?”
“Yeah, I'm sorry if he's being a bother. Sometimes I wonder if he's still actually a puppy because of how fast and energetic he is. It's unbelievable.” Anakin sighs, Artoo just seems to have so much energy. You chuckle, petting the dog in your lap “He's no problem at all, he's so adorable. How old is he?”
“He is twelve now, but he'll be thirteen in December.” You smile as you continue to pet Artoo. “Well, he’s absolutely adorable.” Artoo barks, making you chuckle. Anakin walks over to you. “Do you mind if I sit beside you?”
You smile. “No, go ahead.” Anakin sits down beside you, you can hear the creak of his metal joints. “Do you mind if I ask a question about Rex?” Anakin turns to you. “Not at all, go ahead.”
“Has he always been the way he is, not him being a wolf, but I noticed that he has a little bit of a temper?” Anakin feels a little sad, remembering back to the times before the curse. “No, not always. It was ever since the curse happened. It changed him, not just physically, but he had gained a slight temper and been a little more... distant from us all.” Anakin doesn't really know how to describe the way that Rex has been feeling for the past twelve and a half years, but it has been rough. “Most days, he'll still blame himself for what happened, what we have all become. Everything that he did on Christmas day, Rex regrets it all. He says how it's his fault that everything happened, happened because of his behavior. Despite how Rex was kind enough to allow Ventress to take shelter from the cold, she still had the audacity to use her magic on him. On all of us.”
“I'm so sorry that this happened to all of you, none of you deserved this. Not even Rex.” Artoo whines a little, nuzzling Anakin's leg a little. “From what Stutter told me about his past as well, I can tell that Rex was kind. It's awful that someone could even want to do this to you all.”
“There are some very bad people out there, I know…” You can feel his sadness and some fear in the force coming from Anakin, noticing that he spaced out for a moment. “You alright, Anakin?”
“Yeah...yeah I'm okay. Just...remembering things is all.” without realizing it, Artoo had climbed over onto his lap, allowing Anakin to pet him. Anakin is glad that he's got his buddy with him to keep him calm and make him feel better through the difficult times. “Would you like to talk about it?”
Anakin freezes for a second, but then pushes his fear aside. “I...I was a slave as a child.” You look at Anakin. You knew that slavery existed in some places. “I’m so sorry, that must have been terrible.”
Anakin nods. “It was, my mother and I were both slaves. I was saved when I was nine by a knight, his name was Qui Gon Jinn. My mom wasn’t so lucky, I don’t even know if she’s still alive.” You can’t believe that Anakin went through that. “I’m sorry, I lost my mom when I was younger too. The plague had come to my old village, and my mother caught it. Me and my Papa had to leave her because of how contagious she was, we couldn’t even be there for her final days. I was six.”
“I’m so sorry, that must have been tough. The plague is such a horrible disease, I’m so sorry that you had to lose a loved one from that.” You smile at Anakin, and even though he doesn’t have a face, you can tell that he’s smiling as well. “You and Rex must be close, with the way you talk about him.”
Anakin nods, chuckling. “Yeah, we’re best friends. But it wasn’t always that way, I actually hated him when I was first brought to the castle.”
Sixteen and a half years earlier...
The blood and sweat stains his body. Images still flashing behind his eyelids when he tries to sleep. The torture leaving him with scars all over his body, especially his back, from the dreadful punishments that he deserved if he wasn't doing his job efficiently enough. Everyday would be a challenge, every second being on edge, losing sleep at night from the fear and terror. Him and his mother huddle together as close they can in their small cell, trying their best to ignore the restraints, chaining them to the wall.
Screams of dying men could be heard outside of the cell. Anakin squeezes his eyes shut at the sound of whipping and a sword clattering around. Anakin's mother holds him close as he sniffles and whimpers, scared of what has just happened. Suddenly, a suit of armor appears at the cell door. They hilt their sword and remove their helmet, crouching down to look closer at the fearful, unfortunate souls, who quake as they huddle impossibly closer together. They have shock collars around their necks, most likely used as punishment.
“It's alright now, I'm here to rescue you. My name is Qui Gon Jinn, I mean you no harm.” he sees the woman shoot a glare at him, unsure of whether to trust him or not. Qui Gon holds a hand out to the young boy. “I promise that I won’t hurt you, now how old are you, Little one?”
“I-I’m nine, my name is Anakin.” Qui Gon smiles, looking Anakin over. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you Anakin, and I’m guessing that this is your mother?” Anakin nods, and so does his mother. “I’m here to get the two of you out of here, now we have to move quickly, understand?”
Anakin and his mother nod. “We understand, you are really here to rescue us?” Anakin’s mother asks, she doesn’t dare to hope. Qui Gon nods. “Yes, I’m here to get you and your son away from here, miss…?”
“Shmi, Shmi Skywalker. And my son is Anakin Skywalker.” Qui Gon nods, smiling. Then he frowns. “Is there anyone else I need to get? Anakin’s father perhaps?” Shmi shakes her head with a frown, and Qui Gon can feel her unease in the force. “What is it?”
Shmi looks down at Anakin, then back up at the knight that was going to rescue them. “There was no father. I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him. I can't explain what happened.” Qui Gon looks inquisitively at Anakin. “Hm, interesting indeed. We’ll talk more about this once it’s safe, now we need to go.” Shmi nods, and both her and Anakin follow Qui Gon out of their cell. Neither of the two slaves can believe that they’re being rescued. It’s hard to traverse the small alley’s of their town once they get out of the small prison where slaves are kept, they all have to be quiet. Anyone who lives in the town of Tatooine is certainly a slaver.
“What are you doing!” Shmi, Anakin and Qui Gon turn to see a slaver coming towards them, both Anakin and Shmi cower, with Shmi wrapping her body protectively around Anakin. Qui Gon jumps into action, slicing the slaver down with his sword before he could warn anybody of their escape. He turns back to Shmi and Anakin. “I’m sorry that you had to see that, but I couldn’t have the slaver alerting anyone of our presence.”
Shmi nods. “We understand, thank you.” Qui Gon nods to her with a smile, and the three continue on their way, Shmi covers Anakin's eyes as they walk by the body.
A little further on, the alleyways of the town are quiet and give good cover for the three of them to stay out of sight as much as they can. Qui Gon looks back to see Shmi getting tired and struggling to keep going while carrying Anakin. She is so exhausted from protecting her son on her own the best she could for all these years.
Qui Gon stops and looks at her. “Would you like me to carry Anakin for you?” Shmi's embrace around Anakin tightens around him protectively, but after a moment of thought, she nods and gently hands over the small boy. “Thank You, Qui Gon. Sorry for the trouble.”
Qui Gon shakes his head and smiles “Not at all, I'm here to help you, Miss Shmi.” They all continue to walk, entering the open areas of the street. They'll have to move quickly if they are to escape without any trouble. “Stay close to me.” Qui Gon says quietly to Shmi, who nods understandingly.
Slavers are everywhere, making sure that their slaves are working efficiently. Cracks of whips and sound of cries fill the air. Shmi can't wait to get out of here with her son, to finally live a safer and happier life-
Suddenly, a whip wraps around her leg and pulls her to the ground, making her shout in pain as she hits the floor. “Mama!!” Anakin screams as he sees his mother on the ground, making Qui Gon turn around to see her. The Zygerrian slaver only smirks as he grabs her by her hair, pulling her up and locking her arms behind her so she can't move. Her struggling only makes the slaver angry, so he puts a number into his wrist device and then presses a button, activating Shmi's collar and electrifying her. Screaming out in pain, Anakin starts to cry as he watches her struggle in the slaver's grasp.
Qui Gon takes a few paces towards the Zygerrian, but he's stopped when a few other slavers get in the way, pointing their weapons towards him. The electric collar is deactivated, leaving Shmi gasping for air. “Q-Qui Gon, get Anakin out of here, please!”
“No, Mama!” Anakin screams while holding out a desperate hand towards her, wanting her to hold him. “I love you, Ani. You're going to be safe now, this man will take good care of you.” Shmi looks pleadingly towards Qui Gon, who nods in return.
As the other slavers start walking towards him, Qui Gon turns and runs away with the wailing young boy in his arms. Tears stream down Shmi's face, being dragged away to another dark cell, this time with a guard there to ensure she won't escape again.
Qui Gon runs as fast as he can, feeling in the force that the slavers are catching up. Almost effortlessly, he jumps up onto a building and over the wall of the town, finally escaping. Qui Gon sighs, able to catch his breath. Anakin sobs into his armour, tears making it shine brightly in the light.
“Qui Gon!” a deep voice calls out from a carriage. He looks to see Plo Koon waving him over, so Qui Gon swiftly moves to go and sit down. Once in, Plo grabs the reins and commands the horses to gallop as fast as they can down the pathway and back to the castle.
xxx
Qui Gon helps Anakin out of the carriage when they arrive at the castle. “This is your new home, Anakin. I hope that you will like living here.” Anakin nods, he doesn’t want to speak at the moment, his mother is gone and there's a good chance that he’ll never see her again. Qui Gon walks Anakin in as Plo follows, both men can feel the sadness in the force from the boy. They walk to the throne room and see the king and queen immediately along with a few of their sons. The six year old twins, Echo and Fives are on the floor playing with their older brother Rex. “My king and queen. We only managed to save one slave from the town of tatooine. This is Anakin Skywalker, he’s nine years old.”
Qui Gon gently pulls Anakin forward from where he was hiding, Anakin doesn’t look up at them. He hates royals, they have everything while people like him and his mother get absolutely nothing.
“Oh, the poor boy. We’ll have to get that collar off of him as soon as possible.” Queen Daria tells them, her heart goes out to the young child standing before her. He’s only a year younger than her son Rex, it’s not right that he had to go through this. “Daria is right Qui Gon, the young lad can stay in the guest room next to Rex for tonight, so that we can be close by to help him out. Then we can find a more permanent placement tomorrow.”
Qui Gon nods. “It shall be done, king Rélíar. Why doesn’t young Rex show Anakin around, they are close in age, it might do them some good.” Rex looks at Anakin, offering a kind smile, but Anakin gives Rex a glare that makes Rex flinch. None of the adults notice at the moment. “That is a great idea, and remember that you don’t have to call me and my husband king and queen all the time, you can call us by our names. Now, go ahead and show young Anakin around, Rex.”
Rex nods at his mother. “Come along, Anakin.” Anakin huffs but follows Rex, he’s too scared of repercussions to say no. Rex shows Anakin all over the castle but Anakin remains silent, once they get to the room that is Anakins for the night, Rex turns to him. “Do you have a problem with me? Because I don’t think that I did anything to you, but if I did then please tell me. I promise that you won’t get in trouble.” Anakin growls. “Do you want to know what you did, you royals get everything while people like me get nothing. You’re probably a spoiled brat.”
Rex frowns. “I’m sorry that you feel that way, Anakin. But you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, me and my family haven’t gone through what you have, but we have had bad things happen to us.” Rex turns and leaves after that, leaving Anakin to his thoughts. He doesn’t believe Rex, Anakin has been lied to before.
A little while later Qui Gon walks in with some fresh clothes for Anakin. “Here you go, I thought that you might rather sleep in some fresh clothes. They are Rex’s so they might be a little big, but they should work for now. Tomorrow you can meet some of my fellow knights.” Anakin nods while Qui Gon sets the clothes on the bed. “You better get some sleep now Anakin, you have a big day tomorrow. Goodnight.” With that, Qui Gon closes the door, Anakin sighs and goes and changes his clothes. It’s been a while since he’s had clean ones to wear, once he finishes changing Anakin turns the light off and lays in bed.
Comfort and complete bliss surrounds him as he sinks into the soft mattress, pulling the comfy duvet over himself. He takes in a deep breath through his nose, smelling the freshness of the linen cover. As a slave, Anakin has never had any luxuries whatsoever. He never even knew anything like this even existed. It's like a dream. He lets out a yawn and feels his eyes begin to drift close, letting the comfort from the bed soothe him to sleep. Once his eyes are shut, he falls asleep almost instantly...
The shouting of orders and screaming of unfortunate slaves, heard throughout the town, filled Anakin's ears, leaving them painfully ringing. His mother is being taken away, so Anakin screams. When he does, not a single sound comes out. He tries again and again to scream for them to stop, but nothing's working. Shmi just smiles at him, being dragged away, blood covering her face and body, the scars from whips show in a bright red.
The final time he attempts to shout, his voice can be heard this time. Everything goes black and his eyes snap wide open, still screaming out. “Mama!!” Anakin sits up quickly, breathing rapid, fear consuming him.
His vision is slightly blurry, so he vigorously rubs at them, trying to rid his mind of the awful memories and pain he was put through. His face feels wet as he wipes his face, pulling his hand away to see some tears glistening in his palm. Light from the hallway seeps through the ajar door.
Anakin turns his head around to see a figure standing in the doorway. As the door opens more, it's clear to see who it is. A boy with short, blonde hair looks at Anakin with concern and worry clearly showing across his face.
Anakin turns back round, staring down at the sheets, his expression full of sadness and fear filling his heart that's still racing at a hundred miles an hour “What do you want?” Anakin snaps, trying to hide his sniffles and face the best he can. He wants so badly to cry, but he doesn't want to. Not in front of the prince anyway.
Rex winces slightly at the tone of voice, but he tries to ignore it and walks a little closer to Anakin. “Are you okay? You were screaming in your sleep.”
“I wasn't-” Anakin remembers the nightmare he had, he now just furrows his eyebrows with confusion. “But, I-I couldn't scream. I couldn't do anything…” Anakin shakes a little.
Rex frowns, sitting next to the boy and gently, hesitantly, places a hand on Anakin's back “Could you not hear yourself? You were screaming for someone to stop. You shouted "Mama" out as well. Was it a nightmare?”
Anakin faces the prince now sitting next to him, his eyes welling up with tears, eventually spilling out and rolling down his face. Anakin sobs again, shocks of pain and fear coursing all through Anakin's small body. Rex worries for him and pulls Anakin gently into him. The small boy falls defeatedly into Rex, feeling like his whole world is crumbling down around him.
He lost his Mother, got rescued from the slavers and now he's in a royal castle. It's been a lot to take in during such a short period of time, he's not sure he can handle it alone, but how do you ask someone for help? Especially when they are royalty. All Anakin can think about is how much Rex and his family wouldn't care for him, he's only a slave after all.
“Shh. It’s okay, Anakin. I’m here, you can tell me about your nightmare.” Rex does his best to comfort Anakin, he had heard his mom and dad talking about what had happened to Anakin. Rex hates slavers.
“I… I don’t want to talk about it.” Anakin whispers, and Rex nods in understanding. He lets go of Anakin now, the two boys sitting on the edge of the bed. “Okay, do you want to talk about something else? What were your friends like from where you’re from?” Anakin looks down at the ground. “I… I don’t have any friends.”
Rex frowns, then he smiles at Anakin. “Well, you do now.” Anakin looks up at Rex, eyes wide with surprise. “What? But I'm just a slave.” Rex looks at Anakin, confusion evident in his expression. “So, what does that matter?”
Anakin looks at Rex. “But I was mean to you, I called you a spoiled brat.” Rex gives Anakin another comforting smile. “Yeah, but I don’t blame you. Some royals are spoiled brats, but not all of us, and I think that we could be good friends. If you want to be my friend.” Anakin nods shyly, making Rex shine a bright smile. Anakin then frowns.
“I… I’ve never slept alone before, Rex. I’ve always had my mom, can I maybe sleep with you?” Rex smiles kindly at Anakin, then a thought hits him. “Yeah, of course. But I was thinking that we could go cuddle in with my older brother Cody, and his boyfriend Obi Wan. They are the best at offering comfort after a nightmare, if you’re okay with that?” Anakin nods shyly. “If Obi Wan and Cody don’t mind.”
“I’ll go ask them, you wait here Anakin.” Anakin nods, and Rex runs out of the room. He runs down the hall to Cody’s room, Rex already knows that Obi Wan will be in there, he sneaks in so much that he pretty much lives there. Rex knocks on his older brother's door. The door opens and a grumpy looking Cody looks down at Rex. “What do you need, Rex’ika? It’s the middle of the night.” Rex looks up at Cody. “Anakin, the kid that knight Qui Gon saved, he had a nightmare and needs comfort. And I told him that you and Obi Wan are the best at providing comfort.”
Rex hears a groan as Obi Wan pads over. “What’s going on?” He asks, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Well, Rex’ika said that the new kid, Anakin, had a nightmare and needs comfort. Seems that we were recommended as being the best at that.” Obi Wan chuckles, looking down at Rex. “Why don’t you go get him, Rex. I’ve been wanting to meet young Anakin since Qui Gon told me about him. And we do give the best comfort in the castle.” Obi Wan coos, nuzzling Cody's cheek with his nose lovingly. Rex smiles, running back to Anakin’s room to grab him.
Anakin is still sitting on his bed where Rex left him, waiting patiently for the older boy to return. His sobs had subsided, now there are only quiet sniffles. “Hey Anakin.” The young boy looks a little anxious at Rex, afraid that he won't be allowed to cuddle and sleep with them. “Can we go and sleep with them?” Anakin clenches the bed sheets in his hand softly, trying to keep himself calm.
Rex nods, smiling. “Yes, of course we can. Obi Wan can't wait to meet you either.” Anakin looks surprised “R-Really? No one's ever really wanted to see me, unless it was a slaver who-- nevermind, I-I look forward to meeting him too. And your brother, Cody.” Anakin feels a spark of relief, happy that he won't have to sleep alone.
“Would you like a piggy back ride to their room?” Rex offers kindly, helping Anakin stand up, who looks at him confused. “What's a piggy back ride?”
Rex internally face palms, not thinking that Anakin may not have known what it is. “Well, it's like how it sounds. I'll carry you on my back and we'll ride around different places. Would you like to do that?” Anakin nods “Yes please.”
Rex smiles crouching down “Okay, here. Wrap your arms gently over my shoulders and around my neck. Then you'll jump up and I'll hook my arms under your legs, okay?” Anakin nods again and does as he's told, feeling a little nervous about what it is he's about to do. “Alright, ready? One, two, three.” Rex catches Anakin's legs and shuffles the small boy into his back more.
“Woah, ah.” Anakin panicked a little at first. “You okay, Ani?” The small giggle escaping Anakin gives Rex all the confirmation he needs to know he is okay.
Anakin no longer feels nervous, Rex starts speed walking down the hall, making Anakin squeal with delight. He loves it! Once they get to the end of the hall Rex slows down, stopping outside of Cody’s door. He opens it and walks in, still carrying Anakin. Obi Wan and Cody are sitting on the bed, and look up when Rex and Anakin come in. Obi Wan stands up with a smile. "You must be Anakin, it's very nice to meet you." Anakin hides behind Rex a little bit, making Obi Wan frown.
"It's okay, you can trust me. I promise." Obi Wan gives Anakin a comforting smile, walking towards him. I'm Obi Wan." Obi Wan holds out a hand to Anakin, waiting patiently for the nine year old to come out of hiding. It takes a few minutes and Rex has to tell him that Obi Wan is nice, but Anakin eventually comes out and shakes Obi Wan's hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Obi Wan." Anakin tells him quietly, making Obi Wan smile. Cody walks over beside them, smiling at Anakin. "It's very nice to meet you, I'm Cody, Rex's older brother." Anakin shakes Cody's hand as well, Rex then pulls him over to the bed while Obi Wan and Cody talk quietly to eachother.
“He seems like a very sweet young boy.” Cody smiles, stifling a yawn. Obi Wan nods in agreement. “He does, but there's...something about him. In the force I feel that...”
Cody slightly raises an eyebrow “What are you saying?” The two of them look over at the bed to see Anakin shuffling towards Rex, who wraps his arms around the nine year old comfortingly. “I feel that Anakin is strong with the force.”
“So he could train to be a knight?” Obi Wan nods “Yes, though it is his choice to become one or not.”
“Of course. I can remember when we were ten years old and you decided to become a knight, so we could be together.” Cody says lovingly, walking closer to Obi Wan and cups his face, looking into his eyes. “I'm happy that you stayed here. Happy that I can be with you, to spend everyday with you. I love you so much, Sweetheart.”
Obi Wan smiles, his gaze lost in Cody's honey eyes. “I love you too, Cyare.” The two of them share a loving kiss before going over to the bed and joining Rex and Anakin, who look cozy and warm. Cody climbs in first, followed by Obi Wan who wraps his arms around Cody's waist, letting one of his arms drape over to Rex's side, who gently holds Anakin between himself and Cody.
The four of them all snuggle together, Anakin, feeling much better now, hums quietly in content, feeling safe. He soon drifts off into a much nicer sleep, thankful that the nightmare didn't come back.
He does dream a very weird dream, he's playing in the snow with Obi Wan and Cody, but they are both older than they were before. Then a giant wolf appears. It stands like a human, arms and legs a bit longer, but Anakin still finds it scary. He whimpers in fear of the wolf, but Obi Wan and Cody crouch down next to him. “It's okay, Ani. It's just Rex.” Cody explains to Anakin, soon making him notice that the wolf has blonde fur.
“Rex?” Anakin's voice quivers slightly, but Rex nods his head, ears pressed back, crouching down to make himself seem smaller so as to not scare the nine year old boy. “Y-Yeah, it's me.” He sounds older too.
Anakin walks up closer and pets Rex's fur, giggling. “So fluffy.” Rex chuckles at that and his tail starts wagging, making Anakin giggle even more. Anakin runs through the snow as Rex pounces in it on all fours, playing tag with Anakin. He's going easy on him due to his size, so he let's Anakin win.
Cody whispers something into Obi Wan's ear, a smirk spread wide across his face. Using the force, Obi Wan forms some snow into a snowball, lifting it up in the air and then launching it at Rex. The snow sticks to Rex's fur, so he shakes himself off. Cody and Obi Wan both burst out laughing.
Rex shows a toothy playful grin as he gathers some snow, forming it into a snowball and throwing at the two of them, knocking the both of them over. The two of them laugh as they lie in the snow before cuddling and kissing one another.
Anakin giggles as he feels Rex pick him up and put him on his back, standing on all fours “Hold on okay?” Anakin nods and holds onto Rex, not too tightly though as to pull on his fur. Rex runs around in the snow, making Anakin shout out joyfully.
“Rex! Dinner's ready!” Anakin hears someone calling for Rex, making him slow down and eventually stop. It sounds like a female's voice. Anakin looks in the direction the voice came from, seeing someone he has never met before.
Anakin feels Rex's happiness, when he responds with “Okay, Shiny. We'll come in now.” Obi Wan and Cody get up from where they were lying in the snow, holding hands as they walk into the castle. Rex walks with Anakin still on his back. Before Anakin gets to the castle, he hears a squawk, making him look up to see a green feathered Convor circling around in the sky, then everything goes dark.
“Anakin. Anakin, you okay?” You ask as he has been sitting on the edge of your bed for some time now. He looks at you. “Uh, yeah sorry. Just remembering things is all.” Anakin can’t believe it, he had forgotten all about that dream until now. He always wondered why Rex’s wolf form looked so familiar. He’s going to have to bring this up to him later.
“What was it?” Anakin turns to you, he wonders if he should tell you, but decides against it. He doesn’t know what the dream meant, or why he didn’t remember it until now. Anakin thinks that it may have something to do with Ventress, or the Enchantress. But Anakin won’t know for sure until he could talk to the Enchantress again.
Anakin can’t believe that you were in it, he wants to tell Rex about that but the force is telling him not to, it gives him a bad feeling just thinking about it. Anakin doesn’t like not being able to tell Rex, he always tells Rex everything. “It’s just the memory about how I came to the castle and met Rex. I’ll tell you about it another time.” You nod, smiling at Anakin, you can feel that there’s something he’s not telling you, but you leave it be. Besides, he'll tell you some other time.