Cody learns to love

The one (and only) chapter where Cody has time to reflect

  The ride back home was spent in silence. Fox made a point of staring out of the window and Cody had the time to reflect.

  It's been, what, half a year since the last time Fox had an outburst like that. The first one was when Fox was just about three years old. Cody was often politely informed by caretakers and teachers alike that Fox was 'a very special boy' and has been given contacts for mind healers.

  He has been worried about Fox too. The boy was smart, he learned to talk when he was barely a year old. But he rarely talked and even when he was a little older, he only talked at home. He had no friends, he wouldn't interact with the other children. Cody tried to set him up with some children outside of day care, just one kid at a time, but Fox wouldn't talk to them either way. He did, eventually, take Fox to see a mind healer when he was almost five and still hasn't spoken to anyone outside of family. It didn't go well. Fox didn't speak to the mind healer, had an emotional outburst afterwards, worse than ever before, and refused to step inside the mind healer's office and Cody decided it was for the best if he didn't take Fox there again.

  Teachers kept calling Cody into their offices to talk about Fox. Cody continued being worried about Fox. But while Fox still didn'tseem to be making a lot of friends and still had troubles expressing emotions, he finally started interacting with the outside world at least a little. So Cody dropped the issue.

  That was until one day he was called to pick Fox up from school because he 'wasn't behaving'. It turned out Fox didn't cooperate on art class, he refused to draw anything other than foxes at the time, so the teacher sent him to mind healer who was forcing Fox into drawing random pictures with 'non-invasive' methods. It took Cody two weeks to convince Fox to go back to school and he had to pick him up not even two hours after he left him there because Fox was having a seizure.

  He had Fox transfered to the mandalorian school in Little Keldabe, cursing himself for ever thinking that maybe the standart school few levels higher would be better for the boy. He was worried because first, Fox wasn't exactly raised as a mandalorian in the traditional sense and he didn't want him to get singled out because of that, and second, because mandalorians tended to be loud and friendly which was not something Fox was good at handling. He underestimated the mandalorian love for children. Fox's needs were met much better there.

  Cody knew there was a problem. He suspected Fox might be autistic or whatever other disabilities there were. A mind healer could tell him for sure but Fox would need to communicate with them first and honestly, how would it help them to know Fox's full diagnose? He's learned how to treat Fox and it wasn't like he would treat him any different.

  "I'm sorry," Fox said out of nowhere.

  "You have nothing to apologize for. I know emotions can be a lot. And if someone should apologize here, it's me. For making you feel as if I didn't love you."

  "But I- I overreacted again. And you certainly have better things to do than dealing with my seizures. And I bit you."

  "It's fine, Fox. You just needed to get that out."

  For a moment, none of them spoke.

  "Cody," Fox started. "Did you mean that- that you love me?"

  "Of course I did," Cody reassured him. Where was all that uncertainty coming from? He always made sure to give the kids all the affection needed.

  "But why? I'm just- I'm just- I-"

"Calm down, Fox'ika," Cody said in his best soothing tone. Fox looked like he was about to start crying again and Cody couldn't have him experiencing another seizure. The only time he experienced a seizure so soon after the last one, he passed out.

  "I'm sorry," Fox whined as he shifted to rest his forehead against the cool glass of the window.

  "It's okay, Fox. You are fine. You did nothing wrong Fox'ika."

  Fox hummed. "I like it when you call me that."

  "What? Fox'ika?" Cody asked and got a sound of approval from Fox. To be honest, he didn't even realize he has been calling him that. Cody rarely ever spoke mando'a. He knew mando'a, of course, but Jango didn't exactly raise him to be a mandalorian therefore he couldn't really raise his siblings into mandalorians either. They didn't speak mando'a at home, that was just the way it was. Jango didn't speak mando'a either except for swearing, if Cody remembered right. The gentle nicknames with the mandalorian diminutive 'ika were more instinctive than anything. It was what he used when someone needed to feel loved and safe. It was what had made him feeling love and safe. It was odd, really. Jango was never affectionate with him. But someone had called him 'Kot'ika'. He didn't remember who it was or when. But he remembered gentle fingers cradling through his hair, soft whispers.

***

  Kote was curled up under a soft blanket. He was warm and comfortable and someone was humming an old mandalorian lullaby. Kote let himself close his eyes and sink into the welcoming darkness of sleep.

  He felt someone brushing fingers through his hair, drawing small circles on his scalp as they finished the lullaby. Then there was a gentle press of lips against his temple.

  "Jate ca, ner ver'dika," gentle fingers cradled through his hair for the last time. "Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, Kot'ika."

***

  Fox nodded. "Why do you never speak mando'a at home?"

  "Honestly? I don't know. Probably because Jango mostly spoke in basics, so while I'm fluent in mando'a, it's more of a second language to me."

  "I like mando'a."

  "Maybe you will become a mandalorian one day."

  "And what's next? I will become the mand'alor?"

  "Over Kryze's dead body."

  "That could be easily arranged," Fox shrugged and Cody snorted. Yes, his brat of a brother was officially back.

  Mando'a translations:
  Jate ca, ner verd'ika. - Good night, my little warrior.
  Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, Kot'ika. - I love you, little Kote.