A returning Echo

Chapter Three

**Anakin and Padmé**
"Hello beautiful," Anakin said as he entered Padmé's room.
"Hello, Ani," she responded, turning around to greet him. He pulled her into a gentle hold, leaning down to kiss her.
"How was the mission," she asked, wanting to know that her worry was for nothing.
"It went well, not too much happened. Just the normal, take out some droids, throw a few grenades, minimal losses, nothing special."
"Well, that's good to hear at least," she said relieved, going to sit on her couch.
"Actually, something interesting did happen. Echo asked me about what he could get y/n as a gift," Anakin said, joining her.
"Oh, and what did you tell him?"
"I told him about that deqish candy she mention-"
"Wait, what did you tell him?!"
"What? She said she loves deqish, didn't she?" Anakin asked, fear suddenly running through him.
"No, Anakin! She said she HATES deqish!" Padmé said, putting her face in her hands.
"Oh no," he said, quickly turning on his comm link. "Echo, Echo can you hear me?" He said into it, waiting for a response.
"Damnit! He must have turned it off already!" Anakin said, panicking, unsure of what to do.
"Well, we can't tell her, it'll ruin the surprise," Padmé said while trying to come up with something. "Do you think you could stop him before he gets to her room?"
Anakin shook his head, "he's probably almost there by now."
"Well," she said, sounding defeated, "I guess we'll just have to find out what happens later."
"I feel awful."
"It's not your fault, Ani," she said while gently placing her hand on his shoulder.
"If I would have actually listened to her, this wouldn't be happening," he countered.
"Well, I can't exactly argue with that," Padmé mumbled.
"Hey! You're supposed to be reassuring me, not agreeing with me."
"Sorry," she giggled, shrugging her shoulders.
"I just hope she doesn't get upset by it."
"I'm sure when he explains the mix up, that she'll understand."
"Yeah, let's hope so," Anakin said before pulling his wife into his arms.

"So," Echo said, studying you from the opposite end of the small couch you had, "why all the ear piercings?"
"Oh," you said, bring you hand up to your ear and smiling, "each piercing stands for something, and the patterns they're in represent different things. It's Dohbarian tradition to get them."
He cocked his head to the side, before asking, "what do yours mean?"
"Well, these three," you said while touching three of them in a row, "these represent my training as a Jedi. I got the first one when I became a padawan, and then when I was knighted, and again when I was given the rank of master."
"Ah, and what about this one," he said, motioning to a spot on his own ear.
"That's my royal status piercing, indicating that I was coronated and took the throne. The one below it was given to me when the king and queen adopted me, indicating that I was a princess."
"Oh, and the last one?"
"That one shows my military training. As a part of my Jedi training, Codo had me also go to the military academy so that I would be able to learn more fighting skills. This was also during the time before the war, so there wasn't much Jedi fighting that he could take me along on. He wanted me to be able to learn combat, and he wasn't much of a fighter himself, so this is how he thought I could best learn."
Echo nodded his head, thinking of his own training as a clone trooper.
"Are there any other piercings you'll get?"
You shook your head, saying "I don't think there are anymore that I could get. The only ones would be the ones representing marriage and being a mother, both of which I won't have."
Echo's expression saddened for a second before he regained his composure. "Well, we'll just have to see about that," he said confidently. You raised an eyebrow at him, a slight smirk coming to your lips.
"You think you'll change that?" You questioned, leaning forward slightly.
"I'll certainly do my best to try," he responded.
"Okay, well then if you really want to," you said, reaching over to the two bowls that held the deqish, "then you first have to finish your bowl."
He looked despisingly at the bowl before groaning and grabbing one. You laughed as he put it in his mouth and made a disgusted face as he ate it.

You continued talking with Echo and eventually ended up putting on a holovideo. You moved to sit next to him, getting more comfortable. You had finished your own bowl of deqish, but Echo was still miserably eating his, as slowly as possible.
"Y'now," he said, "they're not that bad after a while."
You laughed turning to look at him. "You know that's complete bantha shit," you joked.
"Yeah, but maybe if I say it out loud, it'll make it taste better," he said, clearly trying to help himself.
"Big baby," you joked, starting to help him eat them. You turned back to the screen and rested your head on his shoulder. He looked down at you for a second, a slight blush coming to his own cheeks. He cautiously wrapped his arm around you, after which you cuddled closer to him. He smiled to himself as you continued to watch the screen.
"I'm glad you came to visit me tonight, Echo," you said quietly.
"I'm glad you didn't kick me out for bringing these horrid candies," he laughed back.
"I'd never kick you out," you replied. "Well, unless you deserved it."
"I guess I'll just have be careful to never do anything to deserve it then," he said, turning to look at the screen himself.
"I told you about me, you should tell me about you," you said.
"There's not much to tell," he replied, feeling slightly upset that he didn't have much to share with you.
"I'm sure there is, you're more than just a clone," you replied, looking up at him for a second.
"Well," he said, trying to think of something interesting. "I can tell you something, but it's kind of sad."
"That's alright, if it's apart of you, I'd love to know."
"Well, back on Kamino, I was placed in a squad called the Domino squad. We didn't really get along much, and towards the end of our training, we had a hard time passing," he explained. "My brothers, Fives, Hevy, Cutup, and Droidbait were some of the best men I fought with. On our first mission, however, we were sent to the base on the Rishi Moon, and when we were there..." his voice trailed off, and you felt him take a shuddering breath. "When we were there, Droidbait was killed by commando droids, and Cutup was eaten by this giant eel thing. Hevy sacrificed himself to save us. Fives was the only other member of Domino squad to make it out alive that night."
"I'm so sorry that you lost your squad," you said. "I don't know what it feels like to lose that many close to you. It hurts any time I see any one of my clones in the 17th die, but knowing them like brothers is different. I'm sure they'd be proud of how far you've gotten. I mean, you're an ARC Trooper now."
"Yeah," he said, "Hevy always wanted to be one too."
"Well, I'm sure he would have been alongside you and Fives."
Echo was quiet for a minute, before he laughed.
"Y'know, if he saw me now, with you," he said, chuckling again, "I think he would slap himself as hard as possible."
"What? Why would he do that?" You questioned, sitting up to look at him fully.
Echo laughed again before he said, "because, I don't think he ever saw me as anyone but a clone who loved the quiet and following orders and rules. He would think he was dreaming, or going crazy."
"Following rules?" You had a look of utter disbelief on your face before you laughed as well. "Flirting with a Jedi is quite far from following the rules, I suppose."
"At least I picked the best one," he said, making you blush again.
You settled back down, putting your head back on his shoulder.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with you," you joked, watching the screen.
"We'll just have to find out, won't we?" He said back.
He continued to tell you what little and interesting stories he had, most of them about the Domino squad and how they would either be best buds or enemies. The last story he told was a funny one about how 99 helped him, Cutup, Hevy, and Droidbait prank Fives, embarrassing him in front of Shaak Ti.
"Echo!" You said, amusement lacing your tone, "that's so mean!"
"Ah, no it's not," he joked, "Shaak Ti actually thought the look of him being a mumbling mess was adorable."
"Maybe she just felt bad," you countered.
"Either way, it landed him a date with her. Kind of like how me embarrassing myself with the deqish surprise landed me another dinner with you," he pointed out.
"Yeah, but yours was intentional."
"Getting you a bad gift was not my intention," he replied.
"No, but getting me something that you thought I would enjoy was."
"You are right there," he said. "And next time, I'll make sure to get your actual favorite candy. I'll just have to ask Padmé. That is, if she can keep a secret."
You watched the holovideo quietly for a few minutes before Echo spoke again.
"So, when can I see you again?"
"Whenever you like, if we're both free," you replied. "You already have my holotransceiver information from Anakin, and I can give you my comm link information as well."
"Perfect. I intend on seeing you every day for the rest of my life," he said, almost a whisper.
You smiled again, thinking about the wild possibility of a future with him. He certainly has his charm, and tonight helped bring him closer to you. You both got to know more about each other, and had seen one another attempt to consume the worst candy possible, something you might consider slightly intimate. You were vulnerable with each other as well, sharing stories of your past that weren't something you would share with just anyone.
You let out a quiet sigh, content with the relationship and bond that was forming between you and this clone. You felt yourself drifting off to sleep, and as you did, you closed your eyes and opened up with the force to show him a little bit of how you felt.
Echo's eyes widened slightly as he felt the flowing emotions. He knew right away that they were coming from you, and a wide grin split across his face as he realized that this was how you felt with him.
"Do you feel that?" You mumbled, eyes still closed as you were on the edge of sleep.
"Yes, I do. Is this how you always feel? Is this what it's like to feel the force?"
"Only with you," you responded.
"I'm honored then, darling," he said quietly, still basking in the wonderful sensations that you projected onto him.