Family

The child

Mando'a translations in the end of the chapter.

Fox was sitting at the third court that week. Complete waste of his precious time. Almost. Only the cadet for whom he was fighting made it worth it.

He discovered the Yures were, along with the infamous doctor Royce Hemlock, trying to create clones of their own. They thought that if they got a hold of a clone, they will be able not only replicate him but also find out what it was that the Kaminoans used to manipulate their aging and enhance their ability to learn. 

Fortunately, they weren't successful. Unfortunately, the cadet was being experimented on for months, malnourished because they didn't think it a necessary expanse to feed him properly and they also helped the little clone to develop a pretty twisted image of what a normal life looked like.

Fortunately, for as much wealthy as the Yures were and as many elite lawyers they hired, Fox had evidence. It was enough to get even them behind bars for a while and most importantly to take away the child.

CT-6419 was a witness but more often then not, he wasn't at the court. He has developed a friendship with Thanh and Cody didn't seem to mind watching an additional kid. Riyo also insisted on taking CT-6419 for walks, for an ice cream or hoth chocolate. Fox joined them when his duties allowed him. He knew Riyo was fond of the cadet and honestly, he was too.

A few weeks later, when all the courts were done with, Riyo and Fox took CT-6419 with them for a dinner. A few months ago Riyo took the task of introducing Fox to different meals from across the galaxy upon herself. Now, she accepted the challenge of feeding CT-6419.

"Where are we going?" the little clone asked.

"To a restaurant," Riyo answered. "You've had tiingilar and uj'cake so now it's time for you to taste some pantoran food, don't you think?"

"You are a Pantoran."

Riyo chuckled. "You don't say," she ruffled the clone's hair affectionately.

"I want to know more about your culture."

"All you have to do is ask. The restaurant we are taking you to is pretty traditional, you will be able to tell a lot just by the decorations. Ah, here we are," Riyo put a gentle arm around CT-6419's waist as she led him inside. Fox was trailing a step behind them.

"Wow... this is all so... red."

Riyo chuckled at CT-6419's exclamation. "Red is a traditional pantoran color. All the traditional clothes is red, carpets tend to be red, curtains tend to be red... when you don't know which color of flowers give a Pantoran, just chose red."

"You could've told me that sooner," Fox grumbled, making Riyo laugh.

"I've never seen so many Pantorans on one place," CT-6419 said, looking around in awe. It was true, there weren't many Pantorans on Coruscant and save for him, Fox and a twi'lek woman at one of the tables, everyone in the restaurant were from Pantora.

"That would be because this is a pantoran restaurant," a waitress, also a Pantoran. The cold edge in her voice was clear, even though she was still polite. "Do you have a reservation."

"Yes, I have a reservation for table 10," Riyo told her and the waitress led them to the table. "What would you like today?"

"Order me something good, will you?" Fox asked. He always trusted Riyo with picking out his food, saying she had more experience.

"Okay. What would you like, CT-6419?" Riyo asked. She hated calling the boy by his designation number but she had to, at least until he picked out a name. The clone didn't seem to mind.

"Ummm... order me your favorite."

"Okay," Riyo smiled as she order their food.

"What did you order me?" Fox asked.

"It's a surprise," Riyo grinned in Fox's stoic commander face. She always found it amusing how he would be professional for the entire day and then in little moments like that, his eyes would soften and the subtle tension in his shoulders disappear.

"You are lucky you are cute," Fox growled but his expression was fond. Well, as fond as Fox's expression could get.

They all sank into comfortable silence after that.

"Is this a goodbye dinner?" CT-6419 asked suddenly.

"What? No, why would it be?"

"My guardians no longer have custody over me. I'm going to be send to Kamino."

"Do you want to be send back to Kamino?" Riyo raised a brow.

"It's not like I have a choice," CT-6419 shrugged.

"Actually..." Riyo started, gripping Fox's hand under the table. "We were thinking and... we decided that we are ready to start a family."

CT-6419 made a noise as he stared at them wide eyed. Riyo squeezed Fox's fingers tighter and Fox seemed to take the cue.

"We would like to adopt you," he finished. "If you will have us."

And in a moment, Riyo had her arms full of a little clone, with Fox embracing them both. Neither Fox nor her expected to get a family or at least not so soon. But now that she has gotten to know this child, she was sure this was what she wanted.

"Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad, CT-6419," Fox whispered.

"Sky," CT-6419 whispered so quietly it was barely audible. Then, a little louder: "My name is Sky."

"Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad, Sky," Fox repeated.

"I know your name as my child, Sky," Riyo repeated in basics. This might just be the happiest day of her life.

Mando'a translations:
Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad. - mandalorian adoption vows, lit. I know your name as my child.

So... this is it, the end. As always, I hope you enjoyed the story and I will be happy if you leave comments. I'm certainly planning on writing more foxiyo in the future so if you ship it, you can look forward to my future works. If you have any suggestions, either of ships I should try writing about or some prompts for a storyline, just comment. I'm always grateful for inspiration. Thank you for reading.

-Kote