In Command (#1 Post-Order 66 Series)

In Command - Part 20

He laughed softly, letting the thought hang between them for a few moments. "Would...would you want to get married?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Senna met his eyes, her azure irises boring into him. She leaned into his touch and nodded. "Yes, I suppose I would. If that's something you'd want as well when the time came."

Rex felt as if his entire body was humming with electricity at her answer. "That is very much something I'd want after this is over. Although...I'm sorry I have no surname to give you."

She laughed lightly, her eyes sparkling. "What makes you think I'd take your name anyway?"

He squeezed her, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Good point." He let his thumb run over her cheekbone, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "I...I'd have no issue taking yours. I kind of like the name 'Aven'."

Her smile faltered slightly. "I wouldn't want to keep that name. I'm no longer that person anymore. In my mind, Senna Aven didn't survive Order 66." Her teeth dug into her lip once more, and again, he soothed her with his thumb.

"If you don't stop doing that, I'm not going to have anything left to kiss."

She smiled. "Sorry. It's a habit when I'm thinking."

"When are you not thinking?"

She shrugged in silent agreement. Letting her hand drift to his hip, she met his eyes. "What if...what if we chose our own surname? Something that was meaningful to us and kind of symbolic of us starting over? A new beginning."

He thought for a moment. Rex had chosen his own name long ago, but somehow, this seemed even more significant, choosing a name he would share with the person he loved. His mind worked through all of the different names and words he'd heard in his life, and nothing seemed to be good enough. Finally, one word rose to the surface in his mind, and he moistened his lips to propose it.

"There's a word in Mando'a, atiniir. It means 'to endure' or 'to tough it out', and I think that kind of describes the both of us."

Senna turned the word over on her tongue, considering it. Atiniir. Endurance was definitely becoming their specialty. After a few moments, she grinned. "Well, then I wouldn't have to get new monogrammed pajamas," she joked. Leaning more into him, she captured his lips in a kiss, and he tangled his fingers in her hair, pulling her to him. Parting her lips from his, she rested her forehead against his. "I love it."

He smiled, stroking her cheek and breathing her scent in. "And I love you."

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The following morning, Rex awoke to an empty bed. Rolling over and opening his eyes, he noticed a metallic glint on the pillow next to him. Picking up the object, he turned it over in his hands. It was a piece of metallic tubing a few centimeters in length that had been bent. It had a small nozzle on either end and in the middle of the bent line, two spacers seated along the tubing that spun as he turned the piece over in his hands. He could see that they'd fused together. He slipped the object into his pocket as he dressed and stepped out into the hallway. Listening intently, he could hear a noise coming from further down the hall, so he followed the sound.

A hundred meters or so further, he came upon a wide open room with massive archways that opened to the outside. A cool morning breeze was blowing in and tugged at the corners of his shirt. There were targets at one end of the room, weight training equipment at the other, and in the wide open space in the middle was Senna, her lightsaber humming as she parried an invisible opponent. She wore a cerulean sleeveless tunic and dark blue trousers. The back of the tunic was soaked with sweat, and her hair was tied back in a long braid that whipped back and forth as she turned on her heel and struck another blow at her imaginary assailant. She grunted and yelled as she attacked, and he realized that was the sound that he'd been hearing from down the hall as she moved through the same sequence again. Rex leaned against the edge of the archway, watching her until a quiet voice next to him made him jump.