When Stars Align

Chapter 12 - Fives

Author's Note: Would've been so nice for Disney to be considerate enough to release the third Bad Batch season earlier, but well. I had to write this based on guesses since idk what happens about Tantiss. ^-^ But. I figured Kamino's destruction might've been slightly later, since not everything in the galaxy was at the same place it was in the future, AKA in Canon.

~ Rivana Rita

It's been five years since the Empire formed.

Anakin's twenty-three now. That's still hard to believe. Oh, and married, because he and Kolara thought that was a perfectly okay thing to do on the run from the Empire. I mean, why not? They can't stop living their lives, just because they're on the run like this.

It feels more like they're chasing, sometimes.

Anakin named the ship Twilight in memory of the one he lost so, so long ago. He and Rex picked up Kolara not long after the excursion on Bracca. The Empire came to her planet, and it... They were virtually destroying it. Carnelion IV refused to give in – they were former Separatists, and willing to fight to the death to maintain their beliefs.

Kolara ordered her supporters to evacuate. It killed her to do it, but hey, didn't have a choice. If they fled, they could reorganize, and they'd be able to fight.

She's still bitter about it, but here, she has hope. They all have hope, and they live by it.

Anakin picked up Cody almost by accident, but he couldn't be happier to have him here, and they've gotten far closer than they ever were during the war.

Artoo stays with them most of the time now.

Rafa and Trace are still running missions here and there, though Rafa prefers to keep them out of trouble. For the most part, they work from their base on Jabi'im.

And... Echo is the last member of their little crew. Anakin is grateful to have him here, though he still feels a little bad for taking him from his brothers, his squad. They've settled down now, on a planet called Pabu, and they seem happy there. He can't say they're unreasonably restless – because he would be, too, if he tried to settle down – but they still here, and Rex calls them in every now and then. It's not something they like doing, but the Batch seems to prefer it to constantly idling.

Something's been... nagging at him lately. It's not the restlessness of being away from Obi-Wan so long – that faded long ago, even if it still hurts sometimes. It's something far more significant, though for some reason, his mind keeps wandering back to his former master. Anakin doesn't want to hope that means he'll see him again. He doesn't want to hope for that. That could mean something bad as much as good.

Anakin can't say when it is that he just knows, but he moves up to the cockpit to see Echo glaring at the control panel like it just personally offended him. "This doesn't make any sense!" he says fiercely before Anakin can get a word out. "I know this frequency."

"What's wrong?" Anakin asks, "Who is it?"

Rex appears behind him, takes one look at the dashboard and just freezes.

Anakin looks at it himself, blinks at it, then blinks again, but nothing changes. No, he's not hallucinating. Hopefully. Maybe. No, he doesn't want to hope.

Fives died six years ago. It's just... that someone else wound up with the same comm frequency means nothing. Nothing – it can't – he's gone.

What if he's not?

Anakin had wanted to ask Rex that. Didn't dare to. He's glad he didn't, but now, somehow – he mourned Echo once, and thought he'd never see him again. How can he truly know the same isn't happening now?