"General?" Came Cody's voice, "did you just growl?"

Obi-Wan blinked, his mind backtracking. He did growl. His cheeks flushed at his actions, eyes widening. "I-I got to go," he stuttered before running out of the room.

Cody looked at the shape of his running General and back at the holo table.

"Follow him, Commander," Anakin nodded.

Cody nodded before hurrying out after his General. The corridors were clear, leading him en route to the one place the General would go when he wants to get away-the man's quarters. Only two people knew the main code; three knew the override. He knew both the override and the main code. Might just come in useful.

From behind the thick doors, Cody could hear small grunts and whimpers-followed by what sounded like shuffling.

"Sir?" Cody asked, knocking on the door.

"Yes, Cody?" Came a muffled reply from Obi-Wan.

"Shall I come in, sir?" Cody asked, "or should I get Wrap?"

"Come in, Cody," Obi-Wan sighed through the door.

Cody walked in, not expecting to be able to see the General curled up under a bundle of blankets, shaking with small whimpers leaving his mouth. "Sir?" He asked, hurrying towards the man, his hand hovering over his shoulder.

"It wasn't meant to start yet," Obi-Wan whimpered.

"What wasn't meant to happen yet?" Cody asked, removing his glove to try and check the General's temperature by hand if he didn't want a medic present.

Obi-Wan could not help the whine that left his throat as Cody touched his forehead, his face flushing a vibrant red in embarrassment. "People from Stewjoni are not human, but humanoid. They have strong animal ancestors, some stronger than others. Hence, everyone at the age of thirty-five goes through what they call The Change. Until this happens, you are not classed as an adult of age." Obi-Wan knew he was blabbering on beyond what Cody needed to know. But he could not help it - he's blaming The Change.

"Is there anything that would normally be used to help, sir?" Cody asked.

"Everyone going through The Change would head down to these springs attached to the side of a volcano. The intense heat of the surroundings or the water itself would help the people going through The Change," Obi-Wan muttered, whimpering as he curled up into another ball.

"Alright, sir, I'm going to try sort something out for you," Cody mumbled before getting off the bed and straight on the comm to Wrap, only talking when the door had fully closed, "Wrap, what do you know on Stewjoni change?"

"Enough that I wish to never be in the vicinity of one going through The Change," Wraps voice crackled over the comm.

"Sorry to break that wish, but General Kenobi is from Stewjon and just started going through The Change," Cody answered.

"Kriff," Wrap swore, causing Cody's eyebrows to skyrocket, "where is he?"

"Locked in his quarters," Cody stated, "I nearly burned my hand when I touched him."

"You got close enough to be able to touch him?!"

Cody didn't wince at the screech that came over the comms - he did, he can not lie to himself - but instead, he asked, "is there a reason I should not be able to?"

"Apart from the fact that Stewjoni tends to attack those not family or those changing when they are in their vicinity during The Change, and shred those that touch them - even if they are family," Wrap stated, "no reason at all."

Cody paled, "is there any chance you have a tub large enough for the General to lay in when filled with boiling liquid?"

"That is an odd question, even from you and the General," Wrap stated.

"On Stewjon, they use hot springs connected to a volcano to help them," Cody sighed, "so I'm trying to mimic that to help."

"Well get the tub up, and send extra water your way," Wrap stated, "how are you going to keep it so hot?"

Cody was smirking when he answered, "Leave that to me."

-----

"Boys!" Cody roared, stepping into the general barrack, "what is the most potent alcohol you have - the one that is liquid c4 but you call alcohol - and the most flammable substances?"

The boys were left in enough shock that many remained saluting at Cody. Others were left spluttering.

"I don't know what you are talking about, sir?" Boil stated.

"Bull and you know it," Cody scoffed, grinning behind his mask as he was finally passed a bottle, "not strong enough."

"Not strong enough?"

"I can not smell it through my filters," Cody stated, "so not going to be good fire fuel."

"Fire fuel?!"

"I need to make a fire that will last a week," Cody shrugged, "I will inform you more at a later point. Now I need all the flammables. Time limit here."

"What's in it for us?"

"Apart from making sure that you are not murdered in your sleep?" Cody mused, secretly enjoying the horror that suddenly crossed every face, "you'll get fully reimbursed for everything that you don't get back after a week, and a trip to '79's with the first round on me."

"You heard the Commander!"

-----

"What are you doing, Cody?"

"Setting up a makeshift hot spring," Cody mumbled from beneath the tub, before pulling himself out, looking at the hot water currently in the water, "now something to light it."

"Light it?"

"If you want to war to reach an adequate temperature and stay that temperature, then you need a fire beneath it for now," Cody stated, "this room is fireproof, right?"

"Yes, of course," Obi-Wan stated before holding out his lightsaber, "it works more than a lightstick."

"Thanks?" Cody asked as he took the hilt.

Whatever Obi-Wan might have been about to say as a loud groan escaped his lips as a crippling pain hit him in the stomach, calling him to curl in on himself.

"Sir!" Cody stated, "you need to go lay down again!"

"I'm fine," Obi-Wan said through gritted teeth.

"You are not fine, sir," Cody growled, pushing Obi-Wan until he was back in the nest of blankets he'd made.

Obi-Wan grumbled as he was made to go back into the blanket nest, but could not stop himself from nestling into it. And the whine that left his mouth when Cody pulled the rest of the blankets over him didn't happen.

"I'm going to raise the temperature of this room and the other rooms connected," Cody stated, "it should make you more comfortable, but tell me if I'm wrong."

Obi-Wan watched as Cody walked to the control panel, seeing the man debate what to change the temperature to. He also watched as he changed it to a full ten degrees hotter. "Are you not going to overheat?" He asked.

"The undersuits of the armour work to control our temperature for optimal fighting capabilities," Cody shrugged the General's answer off, "the tub should be ready in about ten minutes if that's ok?"

"That's fine, Cody, thank you," Obi-Wan said, looking at the clone through the slit in the bundle of blankets.

"No worries, General," Cody stated before walking back into the room where the tub is.

There, he resigned himself to crawling underneath again, the heat making his skin sweat already before flicking on the lightsaber he was passed. There, he tapped it lightly against the fluid covered materials, scrambling out as the flames roared to life.

While waiting for the fire to have a chance to increase the temperature of the water, he looked at this rooms control panel, fiddling until the weather read twice as hot as before.

Waiting a while, Cody removed his glove to test the temperature of the water, finding it to be boiling, yet not damaging and still willing for human to enter. Just like the hot springs, the General has taken the 212th to see before.

When Cody entered the other room, he was met by the sounds of whimpers and grunts of pain again. "Sir, I've got the tub ready," Cody stated, "do you need assistance in getting into the water?"

"No," Obi-Wan grunted, pushing himself to his feet, "thank you for your assistance already, I can not ask for more."

"It is no worries, sir, really," Cody stated, ready to spring forwards to catch the General if he even showed the signs of stumbling.

"I doubt you want to help your General get into a tub while they are naked," Obi-Wan muttered, "I don't have the correct clothing for this."

"If you need help, sir, do not be afraid to ask," Cody stated, watching Obi-Wan shuffle his way into the other room. He waited about five minutes before knocking on the door and entering, "I'm going to get you some food, is there something you need to eat?" He was looking just beyond the General as the man lay in the tub.

Obi-Wan thought for a moment before he remembered, "spicy food and drink is what is recommended when I asked them about it before."

"Alright, sir," Cody nodded before leaving the room to walk to the canteen.

-----

"What are you-" the chef asked before going green, "what is that smell?"

Cody smelled the air before shrugging, "probably me. Can I have a dish for myself and the General? One spicy, one extra spicy."

"Is the General forgetting to eat again?" The clone asked, preparing the food.

"Medical lockdown in his quarters," Cody stated, knowing that he just fed the rumour mill - hopefully making sure everyone knows not to go onto that level after that rumour.

"Alright," the clone nodded before passing over two carefully stacked tubs of food, "drinks?"

"Two flasks of hot water," Cody stated, "I've got the stuff for caff and tea already."

"Alright," the clone nodded, handing over the two large flasks, "is there anything else?"

"No," Cody shook, "just keep a few spice bars ready if I need to grab them."

"No worries, Commander," the clone nodded before moving on to serve the next clone.

-----

Cody detached one of the shelves from the wall and rested it over the tub as a table, "I have two meals here, spicy and extra spicy. Is there one you would prefer?"

Shuffling so that he was sitting upright in the tub, Obi-Wan answered nervously, "could I try the extra spicy?"

"No worries, sir," Cody nodded, placing the tub of extra spicy in front of the General, "its only meat from the hunting trips on the previous planet."

"No worries, Cody," Obi-Wan nodded, taking a bite of the meat, "most turn carnivorous through The Change."

Cody nodded, filling that for later as he started his food. He kept one eye locked on the General in case the man began to choke on his food.

Obi-Wan only got about half-way through the food before his stomach heavily protested. He pushed the food away from himself, moving to lay back down in the tub, "thank you, Cody," he stated, nodding as the clone moved the food away again.

"Do you want a drink, sir?" Cody asked.

"In my tea cupboard, top right corner, there should be a Mandalorian Tea," Obi-Wan mumbled, "could I have that, please."

"Alright, sir," Cody nodded.

"You are welcome to try some as well; I know you're curious," Obi-Wan mumbled, looking at Cody through one eye.

Cody turned, hiding his red cheeks, "thank you, sir." He left the room, only returning with two cups of tea, placing one on the General's make-shift table. "There you go, sir."

"Thank you, Cody," Obi-Wan nodded, shuffling so that he would be able to drink the tea.

-----

It was on the third day that Obi-Wan excited the tub, his limbs shaky from lack of use and requiring Cody to help him up. He wasn't ready to leave his quarters, but his body had started to protest being in the water all of a sudden. When he got out of the water, it was clear as to why his body was rejecting the water, across his skin was a short layer of fur the same colour as his hair. His face seemed clear of it, but strange hard parts were forming around his eyes, on his cheeks and in loops around the rest of his body.

When Obi-Wan was entirely clear of the tub, Cody noticed the extra appendage. "Sir? Did you always have a tail?"

Looking behind him at the tail, Obi-Wan chuckled, "I guess my family have strong animal ancestors."

Looking closely, they could see the tail almost looked like that of a tooka if it wasn't for the base of it being furless and the tip being sodden.

Cody turned and grabbed the towel he'd put onto the heating, resting it over the General before starting to rub him dry.

Obi-Wan melted against Cody, loud purrs leaving his throat subconsciously, causing his cheeks to flush - but not stop purring.

Cody tried to ignore how the rumbles echoed through armour, strong enough could almost feel his bones shaking slightly. But this failed as the General practically melted against him, his head resting on Cody's shoulder. "Sir, do you want your tail dried?"

"Yes, please," Obi-Wan mumbled, "it feels heavy and wrong."

"Alright, sir," Cody nodded slowly moving the towel so that he could start to dry the General's tail.

Obi-Wan whined, his tail flicking slightly as Cody dried it. His hands clutched onto Cody's forearms.

"Are you alright, sir?" Cody asked, slightly panicking.

"It's alright, Cody, please dry it," Obi-Wan mumbled.

"I don't want to if it hurts you, sir," Cody stated.

"It's not hurting, trust me, Cody," Obi-Wan stated, "just surprised me that's all."

"Alright, sir," Cody stated, continuing to dry the tail as quick as he could but making sure not to hurt the General. "The tails dry," he started.

"Thank you, Cody," Obi-Wan nodded, before throwing on one of his robes. He dragged himself into the other room before curling up in the blanket nest again.

Cody nodded before making way for the door. If the General was out of the water, he felt safe enough that he could leave for longer than a few minutes without the risk of the General falling asleep in the tub and drowning.

-----

Walking into his quarters, he looked around before pulling out his spare blacks to get changed into. Stepping out of his armour, he realised just what the chef had talked about two days ago. The stench was now strong enough that he felt green to the gills.

After he was finished with the sonic, he threw his armour in there hoping it might help somewhat with the smell before he has to put it back on. Leaving the sonic running on a timer, he got dressed into his officers uniform so that he could exit his quarters to get some work done.

Just when he was reaching the offices, Wrap flagged him down. "Yes, Wrap?"

"I'm asking on the General's health," Wrap stated, "is there anything I need to know as of current?"

"He's left the tub, but moved to his blanket nest instead, so it's not over yet," Cody stated, "and he's covered from the neck down in fur the same colour as his hair. He also has a tail."

To be fair, Wrap didn't let that faze him as he asked, "anything else?"

"Some spots of his skin have gone stiff and solid," Cody sighed, "I'll keep an eye on them and tell you if anything has or hasn't changed tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir," Wrap nodded, before turning to leave towards the infirmary again.

"Sir?"

Cody sighed, turning to face where Boil and Waxer were, "how much?"

"Why does the General have a tail?" Waxer asked, "did something cause it on the previous planet?"

"No, it's not my place to explain," Cody sighed, "but I can say that the General is a humanoid, not a human."

"Oh," Boil said before asking, "do you know when the General will be up and about again?"

"No," Cody sighed again, "but I can hope that it will be before our next stop."

"Alright," both stated before turning and leaving.

Looking around with suspicious squinted stares, Cody finally entered his offices, seeing that his datapad looked to have about a thousand different parts needing doing. With a groan, he sat down and opened up the most urgent, zoning out and set to work for a few hours before returning to his armour, getting into it and settling back with babysitting the General all with the datapad in his hand.

-----

It was the fourth day that Cody decided that General Skywalker did have a death wish.

Cody noted that as he tried to push General Kenobi away from attacking General Skywalker that those hard patches of skin were not skin anymore. He had scales like the leaves of autumn trees decorating him.

And the General had fangs or at least very sharp pointy teeth.

"Sir, eyes on me," Cody ordered, snapping his fingers in Obi-Wan's face to grab the mans attention before he kills Skywalker, "that's it, keep looking at me. You are still in pain; I can see that. How about I deal with the di'kut and you go back to your blanket nest? Does that sound good?"

"Yes, ok, you deal with besoms," Obi-Wan looked down at Cody, gunmetal eyes changing from slits to round, nodding before groaning as a swarm of pain decided to kick him in the stomach.

Cody rubbed him on the shoulders as he led the General back to his nest, helping bury beneath the blankets before turning on his heels and stormed out the door. He waited until it was entirely closed to activate the soundproofing, the control panel flashing to say it was started.

"Everybody in front of me now!" Cody boomed out in a growl.

Everyone scrambled from their places until most of Ghost Company and Anakin Skywalker was standing in front of Cody.

"Of all the idiotic, foolish things you could have done," he growled, before suddenly asking, "do you, you fahla'ada besom know how close you got to being torn limb from limb like laandur sarad?"

They went to open their mouths but quickly realised that he wasn't yet done. Their skin was pale as they realised just how furious he was if he was slipping into Mandalorian as he swore and insulted them.

"And you had the audacity to hid like hut'uun when Skywalker was being attacked?!" Cody then rounded on Skywalker as he opened his mouth, "no, you lost the privilege of being a General when you showed that you couldn't read the words 'lockdown, danger, do not enter!' And when you proved alongside the di'kutla utreekove that you had no logic when red didn't spell danger!"

"I'm sure-," Anakin started only to be cut off again.

"Haar'chak!" Cody swore, "you do not understand this at all, don't you?! Imagine if I had not been here and he had attacked, potentially killed all of you. How would the General feel when he finally wakes up at the end of this to know he's the reason that most of Ghost Company and his Padawan are dead?!"

Yet again, they tried to butt in.

Cody slammed his foot down, stomping hard enough that the plastoid had the risk of cracking, his hand pointing to the floor in a harsh sign, "I would rather lose my rank and be reconditioned then face commanding anyone or have to remember that in the ship I am second-in-command to, I inadvertently caused the death of my General, my boys that are under my control and Skywalker!" Cody's chest was heaving as he stood red-faced in front of the people he just saved the lives of.

Even Anakin and the bravest members of Ghost Company were shaking like the newest shinies as they stared fearfully at Cody.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Sight." Cody growled through gritted teeth.

That was all that was needed for all of them to sprint down the corridor, almost bashing into each other and falling over in their haste to get away from Cody.

Cody stared them down until they were out of his vision. When he was sure they were all gone, he turned on his heels and let himself back into the General's room.

Obi-Wan watched as Cody started to pace around the room, his hands grabbing at his short hair as he muttered to himself. "Are you ok, Cody?" The devastated and broken whisper that left his Commander's mouth shattered him.

"I'm going to be reconditioned, maybe decommissioned," Cody whispered, turning to face Obi-Wan, tears streaming down his face as he pulled at his hair more, "I did something stupid, and I'm going to have to go for it; leave you to pick up the pieces."

Obi-Wan was up on his feet instantly, purring quietly as he pulled him in for a hug. "I'm sure that it's not as bad as you think," he tried to soothe the man that was almost having a breakdown in his arms.

"I shouted, and blatantly was disrespectful to General Skywalker and most of Ghost Company," Cody stuttered, "I called General Skywalker 'Skywalker', telling him he'd lost the privilege of being a General."

Obi-Wan pulled him in tighter, feeling Cody grip onto his chest as he buried his head into his neck, "Anakin needs to be told that. I used to try, but he started to ignore me."

Cody's headshot backwards to look down at Obi-Wan so that he could look him in the face. "Why would he ignore you?" He asked, not understanding why someone would do that.

"Sometimes people stop listening if they think someone is over the top," Obi-Wan stated, "he thinks I'm not telling the truth sometimes when I tell him off because I'm always the one doing it. So when you did it, he would take a moment and process it. You did ok."

"But I shouted, swore, disrespected General Skywalker and over half of Ghost Company," Cody stated, his head resting in the crook of Obi-Wan's shoulder as the man rocked him back and forth reassuringly. Taking a stuttery breath, Cody continued, "I almost emotional blackmailed them into keeping them away."

Resting his head against the taller man's head, he asked, "did you feel it was necessary to keeping everyone safe and alive?" When he felt Cody nod, he mumbled, "then you did good and were doing your job."

"Even when bringing up that their deaths would do to both of us?" Cody asked, tears still running down his cheeks.

"Yes," Obi-Wan answered, "you reminded them that there are consequences to their actions, no matter how innocent those actions might first seem."

Cody went to move his head away, but Obi-Wan's head kept him from moving, "you'll need to get back to your nest or the tub," he mumbled against the General's neck.

Obi-Wan hummed, already feeling a phantom of the pain coming back. Without releasing his grip on Cody, he slowly walked back to the nest, pulling the fighting Cody in with him. Ignoring the squeak, he curled up around him, before burying both of them beneath the other blankets.

Cody knew his body had tensed up rock solid, but he had every right to do that. He has never been prepared to be pulled into his General's 'nest' while said General curled up around him.

"Relax, Cody," Obi-Wan mumbled against his skin, "this will help."

"My armour surely isn't comfortable for you," Cody stated, "and I need to deal with what happened."

"It's fine, I'm used to it," Obi-Wan mumbled before whispering, "sleep, the happenings can wait until later."

Cody was stiff for some time after before the gentle lull of sleep and the calmed breathing of his General relaxed him as his head dove into the dark realm of sleep.

-----

"Are you sure you are ready?" Cody asked as Obi-Wan finished getting on his newly adjusted Jesi uniform.

"Yes, Cody," Obi-Wan nodded.

"Just yesterday I was stopping an attack," Cody pointed out.

"I feel fine now," Obi-Wan stated.

"Do not hesitate to leave if needed," Cody stated.

"Done mothering me?" Obi-Wan asked.

Not trusting his voice, Cody resorted to glaring and crossing his arms over his chest at Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan merely smiled before exiting his quarters. He could hear Cody following behind him, helmet in place as they walked in silence towards the elevators and the bridge.

-----

The welcome back was warm as the clones clapped him as they walked there, smiling behind their buckets.

"Thank you, it is good to be back," Obi-Wan smiled when he reached the bridge, "how long until we reach Coruscant?"

"Estimated at one day, sir."

"Good," Obi-Wan nodded before stating, "I believe Cody and myself owe you all a trip to '79s."

A loud cheer went through the bridge, bring a soft smile to Obi-Wan's face.

"You back with us now, Obi-Wan?"

"Yes, Anakin," Obi-Wan nodded, "I am back."

"If you don't mind me asking," Anakin started.

'This can never end good,' Obi-Wan thought.

"We know that you are Stewjoni, but what are you?"

"You mean my animal ancestors?" Obi-Wan questioned, "since I've not had the chance to meet my family, I can not say for sure, but I believe it's part tooka and part lizard."

"Do you?"

"I am unable to say for sure whether there is anything other than the tail and a few instincts and noise," Obi-Wan sighed, "but at least one side of my family does have strong animal ancestors, shown by the new tail."

"Have you finished all... This?" Anakin asked.

"Yes," Obi-Wan sighed, "there should not be anything else."

"Will it change anything?"

"No, except I might eat more meat," Obi-Wan stated.

"You already did, Obi-Wan."

"Not the point."

"Yes, the point."

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