#echo also has reserved hugs for ahsoka

[tending-the-hearth]

Fives and Rex give the best hugs out of the entire 501st.

Everyone, even Anakin and Ahsoka, knows that they do, so whenever something major happens in a battle, or someone's just not feeling 100%, they know exactly who to go to. Even if it's just a quick, one-armed hug during shift changes, or a tight, crushing embrace after a particularly nasty nightmare, they're the ones to go to.

Shinies just back from their very first mission? Everyone points them towards Fives and Rex, who are absolutely ready to hug their younger brothers.

However, if you ask Fives and Rex who gives the best hug, they'll both automatically respond with the same answer.

Echo.

Fives knows his twin gives the best hugs, and has known since their days on Kamino. Echo was safe, he was home, and Fives had very fond memories of sneaking into his twin's bunk and getting wrapped up in his arms.

Rex gets his first Echo Hug post-Rishi, when he finds the twins sitting together quietly in a hall. He sits beside them, and Echo latches onto him, and Rex can't help but hug him back.

Echo's hugs were grounding. He didn't let go until the person he was hugging made the move to let go. He didn't care about how long he spent hugging someone, he let them hold on as long as they needed to. Sometime's he'd say comforting things, but more often than not he'd be silent, offering his support and comfort.

When Fives found out about the chips, there was nothing more in the world that he wanted more than one of Echo's hugs. He needed that strength, the reassurance that everything would be okay, As Rex held him, the last thing Fives thought about was that he was finally going to be able to get an Echo Hug again.

Rex cried the first time he and Echo really, really hugged after Skako Minor. He couldn't bring himself to tell Echo what had really happened to Fives, and Echo could sense there was something bothering his older brother. He knew Rex, though, and knew how stubborn he could be, so he just walked over and pulled him into a hug, and the two stayed together until it was time to bid farewell to the Bad Batch.

Echo doesn't really hug someone until Omega comes along. He exchanges affectionate pats on the back, the occasional group hug that Wrecker pulled all his brothers into after a particularly successful mission, but Echo doesn't hug.

Until the night he wakes up to Omega padding across the floor of the Marauder after Hunter's taken. He follows her, and as soon as he sees her red eyes and wet cheeks, all he can do is open his arms to her. Omega's surprised, of course, since the only one of her brothers she's full-on hugged is Wrecker, but she wastes no time in throwing herself at Echo, clinging to him, and trying to burrow as close to him as possible. Echo's immediately reminded of his twin, in their cadet days, after a particularly difficult day of training, and he just pulls Omega as close as he can, wraps his arms tightly around her, and rocks her back and forth, tucking himself around the little blonde as if he can shield her from the world.

The next person who gets an Echo Hug is Crosshair, who resists for all of ten seconds before melting into his older brother.

When the Batch meets up with Rex once they rescue Crosshair, and he sees the sniper with them, standing close to Echo, he can't help but smile, because he knows better than anyone that Echo's hugs are the closest to magic healing that you can get.

#star wars #the clone wars #the bad batch #arc trooper echo #arc trooper fives #captain rex #the bad batch omega #the bad batch crosshair #if any of y'all tag this as clone/cest i'm taking your kneecaps #i just have a LOT of feelings about physical platonic affection between the 501st #echo also has reserved hugs for ahsoka

[marshthat-ships]

The jedi council scene from s02e09 clone wars but angsty otp version

Grievous let out a harsh laugh. The crimson-coloured hologram vanished, but before the image completely disappeared, another heart-tearing moan of his zabrak prisoner cut through the crackle of the electrical discharges.

As Ahsoka, accompanied by several yonger Jedi knights and a group of younglings, left the hall, the masters exchanged heavy glances.

"After engaging Grievous we lost contact with master Koth," Adi Gallia said, looking around at everyone present, voicing a common thought. “But we didn't expect it to turn out like... this." “Monster! He’s a monster!” gasped someone.

“Where to find Grievous the question remains,” the Grand Master Yoda raised his head, as if trying to listen to the Force. “Help master Koth we should.” The others also concentrated, searching for answers in it. But to no avail. Koth's presense in the Force was so faint that there was no way to define it properly, let alone state the Jedi master’s current location. "See master Koth do you, master Windu?" Yoda asked, turning to Mace Windu, who was standing by his side. “A stronger bond with him than the rest of us you have. In a Concordance of Fealty you two did engage.” “No, master.” For a split second in the eyes of the korun there was almost physical pain, but then he quickly pulled himself together and returned his usual reserved expression to his face. If a lie could be defined by the color of a lightsaber, Windu's blade at this moment would have turned so pure scarlet that no Sith could match it. But the hilt of his saber was still at his belt. Only in the master's mind, secretly to anyone else, there was a whirl of emotions. Not his feelings — his own thoughts now seemed to him only a faint breeze against the raising storm. Mace’s mind was full of muffled but still painful emotions of Eeth Koth. Master Yoda was certainly right about the Concordance — this unique Force-bond between the zabrak and the korun, created along with the traditional exchage of the lightsabers, was even tighter than the one of a master and his apprentice. And now, even despite the mental shield that Windu had thoughtfully shut to keep himself from shouting out loud in fron of the Council, this Force-bond was bleeding tears and vibrating with the vague echo of Eeth’s burning pain. And as Mace slightly lifted the shields to slide his mind along their connection towards the captive Jedi, their bond literally burst in subtle sobbing waves, making Windu’s heart ache. Somewhere far away, the zabrak hung limp in the humming energy cuffs, barely holding on to the edge of fainting. His presence in the Force was so dim that even when straining all his senses, Windu could only feel a vague silhouette of Eeth. Mace took a deep breath, so as not to betray his emotions in front of the others, and sent along their connection the warmest wave he could, hoping that it would reach its goal. He could see Eeth. But there was nothing he could do to help. Not him, not even the masters who all were looking at him now. The korun couldn't tell where master Koth was being held. All he got were some confused images of Grievous's metal claws on the cream-coloured tunics, the blue flashes of MagnaGuard's electric staff, Eeth struggling to breese under the steel grip, his eyes wide open and wet with tears... All he felt was emotions. And emotions like that were not greeted by the Jedi teachings. And so he had to evade the question, feeling doubly disgusted with himself — first, because he, Mace Windu, a role model for many members of the Order, allowed himself to lie straight to Yoda's face. And second — for the fact that the one for whom he sacrificed his honor and his honesty, his fragile, tender lover, this lie wasn’t helping in any way. "The Force is too weak around master Koth," the korun muttered. “That's all I can say.” "Happy to hear that we’re not”, the green Grand Master leaned on his cane again, frowning. Suddenly, next to master Plo Koon one of his clone troopers appeared and whispered something to him, pointing at the holoprojector table. With a nod from the kel-dor, the clone disappeared, and master Koon voiced his observation. “Commander Wolffe has noticed a signal in the holotransmission. Play back the message.” Once again, the zabrak's face, twisted with agony, appeared right in front of master Windu's eyes. His sharp gaze could not help noticing every detail that ruined Eeth’s long familiar and loved features: the way the zabrak's eyes rolled up when he craned his neck as the MagnaGuard’s staff hit his back; how he clenched his teeth, but moans still escaped from his lips; how his once neatly braided dark hair was now sweeping the floor under the feet of his tormentor; how swollen and darkened his left eyelid was; how the blood glistened on his upper lip — Grievous must have punched him in the face right before recording this message… “Look, hand signals!” Anakin exclaimed. They all looked where he was pointing — the fingers of master Koth's left hand were rapidly moving, forming some shapes. What somebody could mistake for convulsive spasms after the electrocution, and what was actually a code in an old sign language. As master Kenobi leaned forward to the hologram, Mace sent a wave of his sincere pride for the zabrak into the Force, and then — another one of a reassuring determination. "Hold on, Eeth. We'll save you," pushed Windu gently along their bond. "Just a little longer, my love," he added after a moment, looking around warily to see if anyone had noticed anything. In response, something very, very pale and almost undefinable came back to the Jedi master. Obi-Wan had just decoded the coordinates. And was the first to volunteer to Saleucami system, where, apparently, general Grievous’ flagship was located. Skywalker Immediately joined his decision, willing to finish off Grievous once and for all. The participation of master Gallia was less predictable — but Windu didn't object. He had a feeling that this time the battle with the Separatist General would not be an easy one. The korun would have so liked to leave everything and go with them to where master Koth — his dear Eeth — was desperately calling for help. The Force-bond was still silently crying. Eeth was in terrible pain and no matter how good a Jedi he was, it took a truly titanic effort of will and increadible strength to endure what the zabrak had been subjected to. Master Koth didn’t show his weaknesses to Grievous — but he let go all the emotions in the Force, where only Windu could hear him, the only one to whom Eeth trusted his real feelings. And Mace, experiencing along with the zabrak every electrical discharge that went through his body, wanted so so much to put Eeth out of his misery, to hug him, to comfort him, to kiss away all his pain, to promise that he would never again let something so awful to happen again... But he couldn’t. Unfinished buisness in the Temple here, on Coruscant, required his personal presence, and the korun, with a heavy heart, had to push away Eeth’s muffled sobs to the back of his mind and to accept himself being incapable of doing anything right now. Attachments were forbiden — as was the desire to put one’s feelings over the needs of the Order and the Republic. “So be it,” Yoda concluded, approving the members of the rescue party. “Go, you now may.” Mace also bowed stiffly, trying his best to keep his face expressionless. But deep inside he was silently pleading the Force, the stars, anything to make the rescue mission succeed. “May the Force be with you.“

#fanfiction #drabble #star wars #clone wars #grievous intrigue #eeth koth #mace windu #yoda #adi gallia #plo koon #obi-wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #scene retelling #angst #macekoth #eeth koth needs a hug #VERY MUCH needs a hug