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This Is So Perfectly Described - Blog Posts

midnightoncoruscant

7 months ago

*slides into your requests*

May I ask for another spell dear 🌙queen? 🥺

Here‘s my poison: labradorite (one of my fave MINERALS (lol @Z), how did you know 😏), Rosemary and Pendulum.

Thank you! 💜

WELCOME BACK KAMINOOOOO 🤣🎉 Absolutely you may have another!

Let's take this very pretty, shiny Labradorite as a pendulum and use some annoiting oil to stick these little pieces of Rosemary upon! As I ask it to give us clarity - it becomes this spell...!

Warnings: trope, trope, trope. Pretending to be married at a ball of sorts. Reader is female and is the daughter of a senator - and is friends with Chuchi! Or at least close enough to be trusted with the clone rebellion knowledge. Set during TBB season 2-3 as Howzer is with the Rebellion at this point but otherwise is vague. Lots of use of pet names and dancing - I'm a sucker for balls so i dont know how anyone could expect me to not write about them dancing at a ball 🤣

A Spell to Burst Fantasy and Face Reality

Howzer x Reader

You heard your name called out softly before he reached you. A hand sliding along your right hip while the other glided from your shoulder to your elbow then to your wrist and finally grasped your left hand gently. Your hand was then delicately pulled up and back so that a tenative kiss could be placed upon the back of it.

"Excuse me, I'll be cutting in here" your lover said smoothly before undoubtedly flashing a brilliant smile and guiding you away towards the dancefloor

The moment you were there, again, he'd spun you around so that the both of you were face to face.

Raising a brow, your eyes met his dark amber ones.

"Howzer...?" you questioned softly

"How much longer do we need to keep this up?" he mumbled, discreetly glancing to other dancers and their proximity to your conversation "Darling"

You rolled your eyes softly and tried to do a mental count

"I dunno...just a few weeks...or something like that." you mused aloud

"What?" he gawked, although your conversation was put on pause as he was seperated from your briefly because of the steps of the dance.

"It's alright, dear" you soothed, having returned to him and settling your hand within his own

But as you both began to dance in silence, a worry bubbled forth

"Not enjoying being my husband...?" you whispered

The clone captain faultered in his dance steps for a moment before he composed himself and watched you for a moment, surprised by the sudden vulnerable tone in your voice. His gaze softened as he held your hand a tad snugger

"That's...that's not what I meant" he said in a hushed voice, wary of eavesdroppers "This...mission is odd and...and it makes me uneasy"

You nodded gently at the information, seperating from him once more due to the dance movements before returning again

"I imagine Kamino doesn't train you boys in ettique, dance and deception"

At your words, Howzer gave you a sheepish lopsided grin

"That'd be a no" he confirmed "But they don't sound like terrible classes"

"Sometimes they're quite vile" you sighed "I was born to high society...individuals are no better than caged birds. There's little that one does that isn't seen as some sort of tell or exploitable weakness"

Howzer frowned as he took in the information, his mind conjuring up the idea of what a child version of you would have been like trying to navigate this maddening den of vipers.

"Sounds terrible"

"It was" you agreed quickly "but it's helpful for you all...so...I guess something good came out of it"

"You know...when Rex told me I was heading out for a mission on my own...I wasn't expecting to be thrown into fancy outfits and paraded about" He admitted with a slight smirk "Not exactly the life of a solider"

Your 'husband' gave you a lopsided smile as endearing as it made him look silly.

"Riyo was the one that asked me to do this for her" you confessed "She wanted to go herself...but there's too many eyes on her"

The captain before you nodded before he spun you gently, only to recapture your form in the static embrace

"She was pretty hesitant on agreeing - but being a senator's daughter...I have quite a bit of wiggle room that others do not"

"So if it wasn't for you, I'd be out here with Riyo...?" he asked with a raised brow

"Disappointed?" you asked in return, looking more guarded than before

with a tint coating his cheeks, Howzer shook his head in response

"To be honest...I asked Rex myself who was used to being near officials...you were one of the few names - and well..." you let out a self-depricating laugh "I saw you and picked you"

"You..." the gears seemed to whirr wildly in his mind as the song ended

"Maybe we should get some air, my love" you suggested quietly, holding his hand and gently tugging him away from the dancefloor "We can talk better there"

"Come, sit" you urged gently

With little struggle, the two of you departed from the dancefloor and retreated to the small terrace. You guided him to one of the stone benches and then sat, patting the spot next to you

Your 'husband' gave you a gauging look but nestled himself beside you, hands on his thighs and staring straight a head for a moment or two in the silence that surrounded you both. But then he swiveled to face you, letting your name drop from his lips in a dangerously endearing tone

"- what...what did you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said" you answered softly "I saw you and knew you had to be the one to come with me. It's...it's a little hard to put into words the feeling that washed over me...but it did and it told me you were the one. I was only pretending to be your wife"

His brows creased as he listened to your words, trying to sort them out for himself

"All us clones look the same" he mumbled "That...doesn't really make sense"

"Not looks" you mused "Feeling...just... something clicked"

"Clicked" he repeated as if it were a puzzle piece to be examined

with a sigh you shook your head

"You know, maybe it's best you just forget about what I said." you plaatered a smile on your lips "Just the silly ramblings of a silly girl"

Your name dropped again from his lips this time in a more dejected tone - almost...scolding...?

"-wait..."

You stood up in a hurry and smoothed out you dress, flashed that smile and began to walk to the door

"Maybe we've had enough outside tim-"

"Would you just wait a minute!"

Your back was flush against him and only as you'd let out a soft gasp did his hand snake around you and settle on the opposing hips - keeping you snug against him

In the flash if a heartbeat, Howzer had leapy forward and grasped you wrist before pulling you back to his chest.

"Are you telling me...I've been stuck here...with you...and only after getting me to play pretend, are you going to admit you-"

"D-don't" you squeaked as heat enveloped your face "I..."

With a soft huff, Howzer turned you in his hold to gaze down at you, his arms holding you snugly against him

"Maybe it's time to stop pretending...if I'm reading this right" he whispered "Hmmm...? My dear...?"

He watched with a growing grin.as your cheeks grew darker and darker

"If I stop...pretending...then it's scary" you whispered, looking to the side instead of at him

Your 'lover' frowned and gently tilted your chin up so that your gaze would meet his own - only to watch you continue to advert your gaze

"Mesh'la..." he called softly "Please look at me"

Your heart pounded in your chest with wild abandon as your lashes flicked up and your eyes met his deep and heavy ones

"I don't like pretending to be your husband..." he confessed gently "Because ...it's hard to dance that line. You're wonderful and...talented and playful - and I care a lot for you. I can't wait for this mission to be over...because I don't want to pretend to feel a way that I dont"

"I get it" you mumbled feeling a bit numb

"You're misunderstanding me" he whispered leaning towards you

"I'm not, you just want me out of your way so you can wo-"

"I want a do over. I want, the second this is over to meet you - properly." he explained sweetly "I want to learn everything about you from you, not from a datapad file you and chuchi concocted to give me a run down how to act with you. And I want you to learn about me the same way"

Howzer gave you a look at suddenly turned your tongue to lead and left you feeling breathless

"Are you asking me out, captain...?" you asked cheekily

"Ah...y-yeah..." he chuckled sheepish suddenly "I a-"

Howzer let you a strangled noise as you suddenly leant in and kissed his exposed flesh of his neck, sucking softly on it and leaving a small bruise.

"Wh-" he gasped breathlessly

"Deal" you grinned innocently "Can't wait to seduce you and make you my real husband"

Howzer stared at you for a moment in utter shock but then let out a breathy laugh and nodded

"Alright...alright" he smiled, then added in a teasing tone "I'll eagerly await your wooing then"

"Back to the dancefloor while we wait?" you asked sweetly "Husband to be?"

Letting out another breathy laugh, and wIth a more relaxed look to his form, your soon-to-be-beloved nodded

"It would be my pleasure, darling*"

Build-a-spell event

Build-a-spell Masterlist

Divider by me

Reblog divider by dystopicjumpsuit 💜

A spell for warmth and protection

Wrecker x reader

Black Moonstone-patchouli-chime Candle 🖤

You usually didn't go with the batch on missions. Usually, you'd meet the squad of essentric commandos at the location designated for your joint mission then continue from there. Even on the mission you rarely stuck right next to them, opting to camp at the far side of their encircling bedrolls and tents. There was no real reason for it - it was just what you had always done. You'd never though much past such a fact...until tonight-

You stared at the hotel bed before you, pain still shooting through your side from where the blaster bolt had struck you. Beside you, the biggest of the four towered as he too looked at the singular bed

"Ah...I....I can sleep on the floor" he dragged out with a touch of embaressment in his tone

"That's not fair" you sighed

"You're hurt" he insisted

"You're hurt more" you countered, gesturing to the binded bandages across his torso - some peeking from between his armour

Wrecker huffed, a childish looking pout crossing his features as he tried to think of another point to make

"This is nonsense" you shook your head and turned your gaze back to the offending furniture.

It wasn't a nice bed by any means, but would do the job for the night and appeared relatively clean. And it was definitely bigger than you needed - probably bigger than Wrecker was used to as well.

"I can call Hunter, he can fi-"

"We're not exactly on home turf here" you pointed out softly

Wrecker deflated a bit at the reminder.

"Right...getting the staff mad will cause a scene we cant afford..." the commando mumbled with his ever growing pout

"We're both adults..." you sat down on the mattress then patted the other side of the bed "we can sleep in the one bed"

"Together..." Wrecker's tone questioned your idea, though he still did as you non-verbally asked and rounded to the other side

"Yes" you nodded

"It...won't get you in trouble...right?" he asked as he settled himself down, the mattress shifting with his weight

"In trouble..." you mused in confusion "Why would it get me in trouble?"

"Well..." he nervously chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck instinctually but winced as it pulled at tender muscles "C-Cross said that Jedi can't touch clones at bedtime - that's why you never sleep with us"

You couldn't help the silly grin that pulled at your cheeks

"He said that?"

"Yeah!" Wrecker nodded "Said the teachin's why you won't fly with us either...!"

You let out a soft snort at the idea

"...he lied, didn't he...?" the large clone groaned, putting a hand to his face "I knew it sounded like...well not right!"

You swiveled in your spot beside him and began tugging softly at the latches of his armour

"There's no rules against where I sleep, with whom I sleep next to or whom I fly with" you explained as you continued

Wrecker let you undo his armour, piece by piece, glad to have it off him and set to the side.

Your gaze quickly tracked the wounds across his chest whre bacta had been applied - as each location had darkened the bandages.

"So why not?"

"huh?" you blinked, tilting your gaze up to meet his

"Why didn't you?"

You could see the confusion and vague hurt eminating from his form at the idea you willingly wouldn't join him and his brothers.

"I...just didn't" you shrugged, the question leaving you void of an answer for him

"But its dangerous!" he protested "I know you have the saber and the force..." he wiggled his fingers as if that is what made the force work "but!"

You watched as he paused and glanced at his lap, looking sheepish

"But...?"

"Well, I was worried...'bout you" Wrecker confessed softly "Every time..."

Wrecker peeked at you, then grabbed the hem of your robe - not daring to formally grab at you during such a vulnerable exchange but seeking that physical connection as he always did.

"Every time you didn't come with us, i'd worry about you. I'd peek out of my tent just to make sure you were right where i saw you had bene when you went to bed. I tried to stay close as i could...but I didn't want to get you in trouble - or make you uncomfortable"

You could feel your chest grow warm as your heart swelled at his sweet admissions and caring nature.

"Thank you" you whispered as you felt heat gather in your cheeks

"Ahw...it's...it's nothin'" he mumbled looking embaressed

You peeked at his crude bandages then fished out the spare aid kit you kept with you

"Alright, let me take better care of those wounds" you resettled beside him and reached for the first bandage's tie

"Uh...its alright" The sweet commando insisted "Really, I've survived worse"

You gave him a look

"Wrecker, whether you have or not isn't in question. The fact is, I can't just let you stew in barely dressed wounds. I may not be a healer - but I know how to clean and dress injuries..."

Wrecker fussed a bit but inevitably let you take care of him. Let you delicately pry the bandages from his blacks and gingerly over the holes that exposed his skin and clotted wounds. Let you pull his shirt from him and then let you clean each painful location across his torso.

Wrecker hissed as you put the last patch on, it happened to cover the most painful looking one out of the group, but you could tell by how taut his muscles were he was trying his best to stay still for you.

Suddenly feeling an overwhelming urge, you leaned in and kissed next to this particular wound.

"There, now it won't hurt - promise"

Wrecker stared at you wide-eyed and jaw ajar as you pulled back and fished out more patches

"Uh- but..." his voice called your attention to return to his confused face "you got em all"

You stifled a giggle as he gesutred to his new bandages - he thought you were fishing more out for him.

"I need your help" you explained softly as you handed him the sterile patch and the bacta solution.

You then hicked up the side of your robes to expose your upper thigh and hip - where you'd been shot earlier

"I can't see it very well, so...you'll have to help me"

"ah....okay...." he paused looking a bit unsure "I don't usually do this part"

You then walked Wrecker through cleaning and banadging your wound properly - well as proper as you two could manage without being medics.

To his credit, he was very good with his hands and the fine motor abilities needed to do so as painlessly as possible. He didn't mess up placing the banadge nor secured it too tightly - both which you did accidentally to him only a short time ago.

The moment he was done, Wrecker looked at you then at the bandage, then back again as if waiting for something - or perhaps debating something...it was hard to tell

But then he leaned over and pressed a delicate peck against your skin before pulling up quickly and mumbling "so it won't hurt anymore" just as you'd done for him.

Both your faces were hot but with the bandaging complete, you both set to fixing the bed up for the night. Ensuring the door was locked tight and all grimy parts of your attire set to the side until tomorrow, the two of you settled into the bed to go to sleep.

Only sleep wasn't coming to either of you - no matter how hard you tried.

You heard your name whispered as heated breath fanned across your shoulder

"Mmm?"

"I can't sleep" Your bedtime buddy mumbled "uh...can...can I hold you?"

You felt that heat rise back to your cheeks at the ask but remembering your past words on how you both could sleep in bed with one another and have no problems arise...

"Alright" you whispered back

Not even a moment passed before his thick, warm arms wrapped around you and pulled you back into his chest. The heat from his form enveloped you like sheets coming fresh from the dryer and you felt your eyelids droop at the sudden comforting aura.

"This is better" he insisted with a yawn punctuating his words

You nodded, feeling yourself dozing off already.

Wrecker held you a little tighter and pressed his face to your shoulder. Nuzzling against it breifly as he relaxed and felt himself get heavy. As if merely having you in his arms would protect you this night from all that lingered beyond, as if it were a simple spell to keep you safe from all that wished to harm you.

Build-a-spell Masterlist (wip)

Dividers by me

Reblog divider by dystopicjumpsuit 💜

Working Parts

Pairing: Echo x F!Reader

Summary: There was always something about Echo that drew you to him, you had no idea that he'd feel the same way. But when he shares his past with you, you know you want to be there to comfort him in the future.

Warnings: Hurt/Comfort, pregnancy mention, lots of angst, but it's also so soft

Notes: This was written for the @cloneficgiftexchange run by @ghostofskywalker and this fic was written for @jedipoodoo , I hope you enjoy!!

Prompts: "You're okay, I'm right here." ||"I won't leave you." - and you also included that you love stories about parenthood and pregnancy, so I did my best!

Word Count: 3.4k

Read on AO3 Here

Taglist: None, let me know if you'd like to be added!

Masterlist

The first time you saw Echo, he had just disembarked from his ship, visiting his brothers and his sister. You happened to be near the landing port, and you looked over just as he descended the ramp, and from there you knew that you wanted to meet him, to get to know him.

But you also knew that you weren't really the type to walk up to someone new, especially here. You were new enough to Pabu, the idea of putting yourself out there when you had just come here to hide from the Empire just seemed counter intuitive. It wasn't as if you were in any kind of trouble, after all, you were a mechanic and if anything would be an asset to them, but it seemed safer to stay out of sight, you could think of only a few things worse than being forced into the Empire.

“His name is Echo.” You heard a voice ring out from beside you, making you jump. You turned to your right, the voice had come from another one of the new arrivals, you had only learned that his name was Tech a few weeks prior when he walked into your shop looking for parts for his ship.

“W-What?” Your voice was still flustered from the sudden scare.

“I assumed you would want the name of the person you were so obviously staring at.”

“No, I–” You began to protest before sighing, knowing it was pointless to argue.

Tech waited for you to continue your sentence, but when you didn't, he adjusted his goggles and walked over to greet his brother.

“Like he'd want to meet me..” You muttered to yourself, but almost as soon as Tech made it over to Echo, the latter had turned his head to face you. That was your cue to turn and leave, not wanting to make him uncomfortable with your apparent staring.

~ ~ ~

The second time you saw Echo was a few months following the initial visit. He and his brothers had all come by your shop. Tech had placed another order for his seemingly never-ending tinkering, and the others - whose names you had finally learned - decided to accompany him.

You were surprised to see them all there in your little shop, but especially surprised to see Echo. It seemed that his visits to Pabu were few and far between.

You did absolutely everything you could to avoid staring.

When you were busying yourself with re-organizing drawers of miscellaneous parts, you heard your name being called out from behind you. It caused you to jump and knock over a pile of bolts onto the ground.

“Oh kriff, sorry about that.”

You turned around slowly, trying not to let the embarrassment show in your face, only to be faced with the one you were internally trying to avoid.

“Don’t worry about it.” You said, a bit too shakily..

“That is your name though, right?” He asked, and when you nodded, he smiled. “Good to know, I’m Echo.”

“Nice to meet you.” You forced a smile back.

The tallest of them, Wrecker, wandered up to the front counter to join the two of you, and slapped a hand across Echo’s shoulder.

“Weird you two have never met!” He laughed, “I mean, Echo always just stares at you whenever he sees you, so it’s nice you finally have a chance to talk!”

“...Thanks, Wreck.” Echo sighed, and looked at you with a slightly guilty expression.

You smiled and shook your head in reassurance to his unspoken apology, knowing you were guilty of the same thing. This almost gave you hope that your desire to get to know him was mutual. Almost.

Before long, the others approached the counter to collect their order and purchase the additional parts they had gathered in your shop.

As they left, Echo took one last look toward you before ducking out of the building, and you got to work cleaning up the bolts you had knocked over.

Kriff. You sighed to yourself.

~ ~ ~

The time between Echo’s visits seemed longer and longer the more you eventually started getting to know him. You would never admit it out loud, but you even began to miss him when he wasn’t around.

He was kind, and he was quick-witted; he definitely matched his brothers' sarcasm and humour. And when the evening sun shone on him, his eyes almost appeared to glow gold.

It didn't take long for you to completely fall for him, he had a way of speaking that invited you in, he was charming and confident, certainly the type who could have any girl he wanted.

For that reason, in addition to his frequent trips off-world, you decided not to say anything to him about your feelings. At least you wouldn't pine after him when you didn't have to see him every day, you had figured.

You had put the kettle on one evening and began sorting through your to-do list for the next day, getting lost in your thoughts when a loud knock on the door startled you out of them.

Cautiously, you walked to the front window, peering out to see who could possibly be visiting, when you saw Echo standing on your front steps, looking around nervously, with his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

You unlocked the door and opened it.

"Echo? What are you doing here?" You didn’t even realize he was on-world.

"I uh.. was just nearby and wanted to say hi." He was shuffling his feet a little, and his tone was hesitant.

Everything you had thought of his confidence seemed to fizzle away with his words, but still you smiled.

"Hi," you repeated in greeting.

"Right well.. I should just.." He sighed, "I had a whole idea of what I was going to say but..."

You shook your head, still smiling. "I just put the kettle on, would you like to come in for some tea?"

He breathed a sigh of relief, "I'd love to."

Echo entered your house slowly, as if he wasn't fully sure if he was actually welcome.

"Make yourself at home," you told him, reassuringly. "Tea should be ready soon."

"Thank you." He sat down on the sofa, taking in his surroundings.

Your living room was warm and inviting, it certainly felt like you. He smiled, eying some of the photos on the wall.

He knew fairly early on how he felt about you, the fact that you seemed just as nervous as he was when you had first met gave him courage that you might even feel the same way. You were smart, you knew your way around all the working parts of any droid or ship on the planet. Something that he almost felt was humourous, given the fact that it made up most of him too. But more than that, his own darker thoughts figured that meant you’d want nothing to do with him. For that reason, he could never be open about his feelings toward you, but he had enough of hiding it. This revelation was what brought him to your door.

You returned to the living room holding two tea cups, and you set his down in front of him before sitting down on a nearby armchair.

"So what did you have to say?" You asked when you were settled.

"I'm sorry?" He asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"You said you had an idea of something you wanted to say."

"Oh, right I-..."

He looked down at the teacup.

"I guess I just wanted to talk to you. We’ve been getting to know each other, but I feel like I still don’t know much about you."

You smiled, "Well there's not much to know. I came to Pabu after the Empire began occupying Lothal, opened up my shop, and have been here ever since."

"I see. Not the worst place to escape to," He noted. "Do you er... Anyone special?"

You could feel blood rise to your cheeks at his question.

"N-No, not really. Do.. you?"

"Nah, me neither." His admission brought a feeling of relief to you. He had a sad look as he continued. “Not really sure it’s in my cards. Part of me always kinda wanted a family, especially after meeting Cut and Suu, knowing that some clones out there are living comfortably, but..” He trailed off.

You wanted so badly to comfort him in some way, but you didn’t know how. Anything you thought of saying would only reveal your feelings toward him, and you weren’t really ready to do that.

It grew silent with neither of you knowing what to say.

Eventually, you spoke up, figuring the best thing to do was to change the subject.

"What do you think of Pabu?" You asked him.

He thought about his answer, then he looked at you earnestly, with a spark in his eye that you couldn't quite place.

"Honestly? I know I’m gone for long periods of time, but… It's getting harder and harder to leave."

"You could stay." You blurted out without thinking, and you quickly tried to recover, "I mean, since the others live here and all.."

You mentally facepalmed at your outburst.

But instead of poking fun at you, you heard a quiet chuckle.

"Maybe I will, after my job out there is done."

Your curiosity got the better of you. “What is it that you do when you’re away?”

“We help lost clones find places where they can be safe and comfortable, and above all, free.”

You smiled, “That’s really noble.”

“It’s the least we can do. Rex and I both feel like we’re only alive today because of the blood our brothers spilled for us, so it’s only fair that we use that to help the ones still out there.”

“What was the war like for you?”

He paused and looked down at his cup. “It’s kind of hard to say.”

You waited to see if he would continue.

“It took me and my squad a long time to even pass the training drill to leave Kamino. They used to call us the Domino squad because we always seemed to fall one after the other. When we did finally get deployed, we were sent to an outpost on the Rishi moon and in our first real battle, we lost three of our men.”

“I see…”

“After that though, Fives and I were taken into the 501st under Captain Rex, where we eventually were made ARC Troopers, but after that was the Citadel.”

“What happened?”

“I got blown up.” He stated, his tone was laced with almost dry humour but he wasn’t laughing. “Seps got me and turned me into, well, this. And now I’m here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful that Rex and the boys found me on Skako Minor, but I still get nightmares about it sometimes.”

He looked over at you, and his expression turned sympathetic after he saw how upset you looked.

“I guess I unloaded there, sorry.”

“Don’t be, I’m glad you told me. I just wish I knew what to say.”

He smiled a half smile at you, “I appreciate you listening.”

Without really thinking, you moved closer to him, wrapping your arms around his neck in a tight embrace. You stayed there for a moment, and soon you felt his arm reach around you, holding you there.

~ ~ ~

After that night, your relationship with Echo changed. He trusted you, you knew that just from the fact that he was willing to tell you everything about his past.

When he’d arrive on Pabu, he always met you with an embrace, and more times than not, he’d show up at your house to discuss his missions and any news you had over a cup of tea.

And one of those nights, he had finally confessed his feelings for you.

He didn’t work up to it in any sense. Instead, when you opened the door to let him inside, he stood on the doorstep, holding a bouquet of flowers out to you.

“What’s this?” You said smiling at the gift.

“I love you.” He announced, a faint blush growing across his cheeks, he was slightly shaking, but his eyes were serious.

“You- What?” Was all you could manage to say in reply. You heard him, but you couldn’t believe what you were hearing.

“I have for a while now. I knew from the start that I had feelings for you, but.. Ever since the night where I told you about, well, everything, I knew how deep those feelings were. If you don’t… Feel the same way, that’s okay, but I needed you to know.”

“Echo…” You managed to say, quietly. “I do feel the same.”

“What?” Echo was surprised, and he immediately believed he misheard you.

“Come in, please.” You said, and all but pulled him into your house. “I love you too.”

“But why? I.. Since when?”

“The same time as you.” You sighed and stood closer to him. “I’ve always had feelings for you, since we met. And when you opened up to me, when you trusted me with your past, I couldn’t ignore it anymore, but I always thought I was alone in it, so I couldn’t bring myself to tell you.”

He smiled softly and placed his hand on your cheek, drawing your face closer to his.

“You’re not alone. I’m right here with you.” He told you before he closed the distance, pressing his lips to yours, and you wrapped your arms around him, smiling into the kiss.

Echo broke the kiss before you both ran out of air, but still he held you close to him, pressing his forehead against yours.

“I’m relieved that you feel the same way, but I would understand if you didn’t, with me being this.”

“Oh shush,” you told him. “You’ll need a mechanic to keep everything in order.”

He smiled at you before placing a kiss against your lips once again.

~ ~ ~

You felt him tossing in the bed next to you. Another nightmare, you thought to yourself.

He was getting them more frequently, and it worried you. It had been some time since he was rescued from Skako Minor, but the memories he had of his life before that had never quite faded. Memories of a life he could never quite return to. And you knew that something else was causing him stress. His nightmares grew more frequent ever since you had told him that you were pregnant.

He was happy to be on Pabu with you, to start a family with you. But you knew it was still a hard adjustment for him. Not just living on Pabu, but everything since waking up from the stasis chamber he was put in. Everything that he had told you about all those years ago still haunted him to this day, and you wished that there was some way that you could help, but he had always told you that just being there with him was enough.

All you could really do in these moments was to try and calm him down, gently ease him out of his nightmares, try to get him to talk to you about them when he woke up, but sometimes it was easier said than done.

You lay next to him, rubbing his back gently guiding your hand up and down next to the cybernetics, attempting to soothe him from his nightmare without waking him. He stirred gently under your touch before his eyes fluttered open.

"Fives!" He yelled as he lifted himself up off the bed.

He took a moment to look around, eyes adjusting to the dark room.

"Shh.. You're okay." You whispered to him.

He fell back onto the bed, turning to look at the ceiling before turning to face you.

"You should be sleeping." He said quietly, "I didn't wake you, did I?"

You shook your head, "No, I was already awake."

He sighed and pulled you close to him, you adjusted yourself so you could rest your back against his chest, and he held you there, with a hand rubbing your belly gently.

"I dreamt about the Citadel." He began. "Only instead of me getting hurt, it was Fives."

You could feel his breath get shakier, and you intertwined your fingers with his.

"I couldn't protect him. I couldn't protect any of them. Fives, Cutup, Droidbait, Hevy... I'm the only one left."

You could tell from his voice that this wasn't entirely about his nightmare, and you turned back around to face him.

"Echo.." You gently reached your hand up to rest it on the side of his face.

He wouldn't meet your gaze, his eyes became fixed on your belly.

"What if I can't protect our child?" He asked quietly.

"You can't think like that, I know you'll do anything for them."

"But what if I can't?" He sighed, "You deserve someone you can rely on, someone strong to stand beside you. A good father for your children."

"And I have him." You reassured him. "Echo, everything you've described is you. I know you're afraid, and it's okay to be. In a couple months, we'll have someone else to look out for, but I know we'll be able to do this together. I didn't know them, but I know that Fives, Hevy, everyone would be so proud of you, for everything you've made it through, and everything that is coming our way."

He sighed in frustration, clearly not hearing your words. “I won’t even be able to hold them properly without hurting them. How am I supposed to take care of a child?”

“Because you’re not doing it alone. Echo, I’m still here. I’ll always be here, we’ll be in this together, just like we always have.”

You pressed your forehead against his. "I'm right here with you."

Echo nudged his forehead into yours gently, and pressed a kiss against your lips.

"Thank you, mesh'la. You always know what I need to hear. I'm.. sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry. Anytime you need to hear it, I'll be here. I won't leave you."

~ ~ ~

If there was one thing Echo didn’t need to worry about, it was whether or not he would be a good father.

He was nervous about it, of course. His nerves couldn’t be calmed until the moment he looked into the big brown eyes, his eyes, on this tiny person. His insecurities and worries all melted away from that moment onward.

He had a bit of practice with Omega, but fatherhood really came naturally to him. You remembered hearing a joke once that it was the Mandalorian genes, but to you, it was just how Echo was. He was always kind, gentle, and caring, and these traits became even stronger once your child was born.

He was a perfect father, perhaps a little overly cautious at times, but caring all the same. You remembered laughing at his idea to wrap a soft blanket around his scomp link so that it didn’t dig into your child’s skin, but he did it anyway.

And he was proud that his child had such a loving family, the other batchers became the best uncles overnight. Hunter and Wrecker immediately took to doting on and fawning over your child, Tech took to adding all kinds of child safety measures to the Marauder, and Omega was ecstatic to finally be an aunt.

You knew that there was still a part of Echo that he tried his best to keep hidden that longed to see the other members of the Domino squad be part of your little loving family, to watch your child grow up, to play games with them, to teach them to fly, to tell them stories about their dad that even you haven’t heard, to just be there, to be alive, but all you could do was reassure him that, wherever they are, they were looking out for him, and the new addition.

From there, everything seemed to fall into place. Everything made sense.

Echo had told you once, all that time ago that he had wanted a family of his own, a dream of his and yours that became reality with you by his side.

The two of you were working parts, you helped each other move and grow, and you would continue to do so for as long as you could.