This is set in a Fives Lives AU just before Siege of Mandalore.
Friends to Lovers, Feelings Realisation, First Kiss
Fives had thought the day would never come, had believed her when she had said she was done with the Order and she would not be back. He had hoped that their paths would cross again, that perhaps after the war he and the other boys of Torrent could meet up with her in a bar and swap old stories, reminiscing about old times over a few glasses of whiskey.
Over the years they had served together, they had become friends. When you go through that much trauma together, it would be hard not to form some kind of bond. Fives had never been as close to her as Rex, but he guessed that made sense: the Captain was closer in rank and spent more time with her in command and strategy meetings, had known her longer. Plus once Fives had become an ARC he went on missions with the 501st less and less. But he had always looked forward to seeing her - it was nice sometimes to have a friend to talk to that wasn’t a brother.
He had missed her. All the boys had.
But now she was back with them, and not just that, she was leading them. Well, technically Rex was in charge, having been newly promoted to Commander, whilst Ahsoka’s rank had not been reinstated, but everyone knew, including Rex, who was calling the shots. They all looked to Ahsoka (or ‘The Commander’ as they all still called her), trusting her implicitly to lead them through.
She wasn’t the same Ahsoka he remembered though. She had grown older; her montrals standing taller, her lekku longer, and her face slightly less round - if Fives was being honest with himself, she had grown more beautiful, although he wasn’t going to admit that. But it was more than just her looks, she carried herself with a confidence he hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t the arrogance of youth like when she had first joined the 501st, it was a deep self belief, hard earned by years of experience. She carried herself differently because of it.
However, there was something else. It was like something had dulled within her, like she was carrying the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders. Despite the war and destruction and near death experiences they had faced near daily, Ahsoka had never let it get her down - her boundless energy and enthusiasm as a young padawan had almost been annoying, and although she had grown up a lot over her time with the 501st, her competitive, good natured banter with Skywalker and their positive (often reckless) attitude had kept the morale of the men up even in dark times. Ahsoka had always been quick to laugh, easy to smile. It struck Fives that she had barely smiled since she had returned to the 501st, only when she had seen the tribute to her on the men’s helmets.
Fives had wanted to try and cheer her up, or at least try and make it feel more like the good old days, so had suggested the only thing he could think of: a sparring session. A few of the other boys had agreed, Jesse, Kix and Vaughn among them. Ahsoka had jumped at the opportunity, which had slightly surprised him; he wondered if she’d had a chance to train much wherever she had been, perhaps she was happy for the opportunity to brush up her skills.
As Ahsoka began to spar with the others, Fives could see a little of the old Ahsoka returning; the cocky banter, the triumphant smiles when she put one of his brothers on their arse, the words of encouragement when someone pulled off a good move on her. As she fought, she visibly began to relax, the tension in her shoulders slowly draining away. Fives was happy to see it. He felt a warm feeling in his chest as he watched her, it was almost pride although he couldn’t explain it. He had always been impressed by her fighting skills, but something about the grace in which she almost danced around her opponent left him breathless, as if he was under a spell, unable to look away.
Then it was his turn. He paced around her on the training mat, exchanging a few playful taunts before they fell into the familiar rhythm of the fight. It was like no time had passed at all. He remembered all those training sessions they had shared together, when they had sparred alone late at night when neither of them could sleep or after a particularly bad mission and they both just needed to punch something. She had always been there for him when he needed someone, often when he hadn’t even realised he needed it.
Perhaps he had been too preoccupied reminiscing as he didn’t react quick enough when Ahsoka swiped his legs from under him. He landed flat on his back, the air knocked out of him as he hit the mat with a thud. Ahsoka was then suddenly above him, her legs straddling his waist as she put her weight lightly on his chest to keep him down.
‘I win,’ she announced, her signature cocky smirk spreading across her face.
Fives merely nodded in agreement. He found himself at a loss for words even after regaining his breath from the fall. All he could do was stare up at her dumbly, momentarily shocked at how close she was. Had her eyes always been that blue? How had he never noticed there were little flecks of green in them?
Ahsoka’s smirk slowly disappeared as she continued to stare down at him, a heavy tension growing between them as the moment lingered. Her gaze flickering to his lips which made his heart stutter. He suddenly had the urge to kiss her, to close the small gap between them. It was like an invisible string was trying to pull them together, as if he was helpless to resist.
A cough from somewhere in the room brought them both back to reality. Ahsoka quickly got up and brushed herself off. She looked a little flustered, her chevrons turning a darker shade of blue at the tips.
Fives swallowed hard, trying to shake off whatever lapse of judgement had just overtaken him. He couldn’t kiss his commander, what was he thinking? Well, she wasn’t technically a commander anymore but she was still his friend, it would still be wrong. Where had that thought even come from? He had always liked Ahsoka, had always felt easier in her presence, had often sought her out when he needed to talk things over and when things were on his mind, but he had only ever thought of her as a friend. Now it was suddenly like he was seeing her in a completely new way.
A shadow passed over him where he still lay on the mat. Jesse smirked down at him.
‘Don’t say anything,’ Fives muttered as he accepted the hand Jesse offered and hauled himself to his feet.
‘I wasn’t going to say anything,’ Jesse replied innocently, before adding with a snicker: ‘so, when’s the wedding?’
Fives smacked him over the back of his head.
He slightly avoided Ahsoka for the rest of the day, which was hard because they had invasion plans to go over and an endless number of meetings between him, Rex and Ahsoka. Rex kept looking between them with a frown, clearly picking up on the uneasy tension that had grown between them.
Rex left to update Skywalker, leaving Ahsoka and Fives alone.
‘Hey,’ she said a little awkwardly. ‘About earlier.’
‘What about earlier?’ he asked quickly, too quickly.
There was a tense pause, before they both cracked into smiles. Fives looked away, uncharacteristically shy all of a sudden.
‘Yeah?’ he prompted, turning back to look at her. ‘You know that’s dangerous when you do that.’
She rolled her eyes at him, stepping a little closer. ‘I was thinking that… maybe, after this is over, we could go get a drink sometime, or something - if you want, I dunno.’
‘I’d love that,’ he grinned. ‘You know… earlier, I thought you were going to kiss me,’ he laughed nervously.
‘Did you want me to?’ she asked, a teasing smile on her face but her tone serious.
‘Not in front of the others, no!’
‘And what about now we’re alone?’ She stepped forward again, now only a few inches away from him.
She was staring up at him intently, the same invisible string from earlier pulling him closer as he got lost in the depths of her eyes.
He slowly leant forward, watching her closely for her reaction. She gave a small smile before closing the remaining distance and pressing her lips against his. His eyes immediately fell closed, his hands moving to her waist. It was a short kiss, but it held the promise of more and still left Fives’ mind reeling.
Ahsoka laughed, looking down at her feet nervously. Fives grinned, lifting her chin slightly with his finger to make her meet his eyes before kissing her again.
