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There was something incredibly comforting about watching the clones who chose to settle on Ryloth go about their daily lives. Every time they visited the marketplace, fully rebuilt and bustling once more, Waxer couldn’t help but make a mental note of who all they saw. He and Boil weren’t the only former members of the 212th to choose to make their home on Ryloth, but others did too. Howzer and most of his men opted to stay. Considering the former captain’s relationship with Cham and Eleni Syndulla, Waxer didn’t blame him. It was just like with Cody and General Kenobi. With the war over and their proper rights given, the clones were now able to make their lives however they saw fit. For some, it involved a romantic partner, or partners, and figuring out what kind of life they wanted together. For others, it meant picking a planet and settling on it and sorting it out from there, whether they just found a job or pursued an education. And yet others were taking their time, seeing the galaxy in a time of peace before deciding what came next. Waxer was glad that all of his brothers who had survived had the chance to make those decisions for themselves.
So it was…bittersweet, in some ways. Waxer certainly didn’t miss the war, but sometimes he missed having all those he cared about so close. He was grateful they all got to make choices now. Every comm from Wooley, Longshot, or Crys made him smile as he read about their adventures. The comms from Cody, even the ones that still sounded too much like mission reports sometimes, made him snicker. Even without a war, General Kenobi found plenty of trouble and Cody was right there with him. Trapper and Gearshift had chosen to settle on Ryloth too, and Waxer looked forward to running into them at the market or a café or inviting them to dinner. But it still felt like the others were missing when that happened.
Arms slid around him and Waxer smiled.
“I can practically hear you thinking,” Boil murmured as he rested his chin on Waxer’s shoulder. “Everything ok?”
Setting down the dish he’d been drying, Waxer nodded.
“Second anniversary of the end of the war is coming up,” Waxer said quietly. “Guess it’s just making me introspective.”
Boil waited for him to continue.
“I still miss everyone sometimes,” Waxer admitted. “I’m happy they"re all happy! But I miss seeing them every day.”
Pressing a kiss to Waxer’s cheek, Boil offered, “We did get that invitation to Alderaan. Cody said that all members of the 212th got it. Benefit of the general being friends with Alderaan’s royalty, I suppose.”
It occurred to Waxer then that most of them still referred to the man as General Kenobi, even though it was no longer correct. They’d been able to shed rank even with Cody, but for some reason their Jedi General was another thing entirely.
Grinning, Waxer said, “Guard too, from what I heard.”
Boil snorted. “Fox always was an overachiever. Howzer fell for a General and his wife. Fox just had to pick a Senator and a Queen.”
Waxer snickered.
“Pretty sure they seduced him with the good caf, if Thorn and Thire are to be believed,” he teased.
Boil rolled his eyes.
“If the good caf was all it took, pretty sure Thorn would be pining over Senator Amidala,” he replied.
Laughing, Waxer nodded. His close call on Scipio had brought Thorn and Senator Amidala close. It didn’t surprise anyone when he accepted a job with her security detail after the end of the war. They were merely good friends, but Thorn took his job seriously.
“But back to my point,” Boil said. “Cody said a lot of the men were going to go. I’m up for it if you are.”
Waxer hummed thoughtfully.
“It would be nice to catch up with some people we haven’t seen or kept in good contact with,” Waxer admitted. “And it would be like a vacation! Our first actual vacation!!”
Boil smiled.
“Thought you’d like the idea,” he said.
Turning in his arms, Waxer pressed a quick kiss to Boil’s lips.
“I do!” he assured. “Where’s my comm. I need to send our RSVP!”
Boil laughed and stepped back. “You do that. I’ll start looking at our transport options.”
Waxer nodded, considering. “Depends on who all is going. If Longshot and Wooley are going, they have a ship. They’d probably be willing to pick us up.”
There were a few others from the 212th that had ships too, both ones living on Ryloth and ones that were on other worlds. He’d rather get transport from one of them than have to take public transport. That did not appeal at all and was very much a last resort in his mind.
Boil inclined his head.
“I’ll start with our boys,” he assured.
Waxer beamed.
“I always did want to visit Alderaan,” he admitted. “The holos make it look so pretty.”
Reaching out, Boil grabbed one of Waxer’s hands and squeezed it.
“They do,” he agreed. “And we can take trips, you know. Just because we chose to settle here on Ryloth doesn’t mean we can’t ever visit anyone or anywhere else. We don’t exactly have the funds to be cruising the galaxy in an ultra-luxury liner, but we have enough we could buy a small ship. We wouldn’t need much.”
Waxer swallowed hard a couple of times, pushing back the rising tide of emotions.
“We could,” he whispered softly.
Boil smiled.
“We can talk about it more after we get back from Alderaan, if you want,” he offered. “Or we can start looking at ships now.”
With a small smile, Waxer said, “After we get back. While we’re there we can talk to some of the men who know more about ships. Get some ideas from them.”
Boil nodded.
“Smart plan,” he agreed.
Waxer snickered. “Can’t go into an engagement without proper intel! We have to do our recon first.”
Rolling his eyes in fond exasperation, Boil agreed.
“It would be very negligent of us.”
Still snickering, Waxer went in search of his comm. They had a trip to plan.