TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE LIFE DAY

Anakin Skywalker walked into his quarters, the picture of a heroic, no-nonsense general.

And immediately collapsed on his bed.

Force, he was tired. It had been a long, difficult mission on another planet whose name he'd already forgotten. All Anakin remembered was that the wind smelled like rotten eggs, and always blew right into their faces. His whole legion was exhausted, why they had decided to go out to the clone bars that night was beyond Anakin.

Too tired to spar with Ahsoka. Too tired to talk with his friends. Too tired even to see Padme. He only needed to lie down…and go to sleep.

Anakin was just about to let out a deep, contented snore when his comlink rang with his signature ringtone.

"Oh no! It's your Master calling. What does he want? What does he want?"

Anakin used the Force to answer the comm.

"Erg, hello?"

"Hello, Anakin. I'm calling to wish you a very happy Life Day tomorrow."

"You too," Anakin mumbled, half-awake. "Happy Life…"

His eyes snapped open. "Life Day!"

"Yes," Obi-Wan said, a bit confused. "Life Day, Anakin."

Anakin, now wide awake, fixed his eyes on the calendar.

Yes, it was Life Day Eve.

Obi-Wan said something else, but Anakin hung up the comm. This was just too much to take in.

He glanced at his fridge. No food.

He looked around his room. No presents.

And he stared with horror at the clock. Nine o'clock at night.

Oh, no!

As fast as he could, Anakin put on his boots, grabbed his speeder keys, and raced out to the landing bay to get his speeder, all the while thinking madly. It's Life Day Eve. What stores are going to open on Life Day Eve at nine o'clock at night?

Galactic Mart! Galactic Mart is open until midnight. He realized, thanking the force for the superstore chain. He quickly turned on his speeder and raced to Galactic Mart, keeping his eyes peeled for police droids.

…

"Okay Anakin. Who do you need to get presents for?" he asks himself as he pushes his cart through the aisles of Galactic Mart.

Well there's Padme, of course. He thought to himself. And Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Admiral Yularen, Rex, Coric, I can't forget Fives, and…

Oh boy, what do they even want for Life Day? I don't want to get them something they won't like, he worried.

He closed his eyes for a half second and tried to think of something Padme would like.

Clothes? She wouldn't wear anything from Galactic Mart. Makeup? She had her own. Jewelry? She had tons. Books? She had no time to read them. Household decorations? Um…what color were Padme's walls again?

Anakin was almost ready to just write his wife a love note for Life Day when he saw it. A display of purple fuzzy slippers. Perfect. Hey, slippers are one-size-fits-all, right?

He used the force to pluck a pair from the shelf and was about to grab a second for Ahsoka when he hesitated. Ahsoka didn't like fuzzy slippers, she said they made her feet sweat.

Great. What to get Ahsoka, then?

Anakin shoved that problem to the back of his mind and instead chose to focus on Obi-Wan, who was easy. He had been hinting that he wanted butterscotch ever since Anakin failed to buy it for his birthday.

The candy aisle was on the other side of the store. That gave Anakin plenty of time to think about what to get the others as he went on a quest for butterscotch.

Rex hadn't mentioned much about Life Day or anything he'd like for a present. He and his batch mates went out drinking on the anniversary of the day they left their growth jars, but as far as Anakin knew they've never exchanged gifts. What did Rex like to do in his free time anyway? The clone bars didn't have gift cards, and he hadn't heard of Rex's other hobbies.

Anakin scoured his mind for every conversation he had with Rex. On the last mission, Rex was complaining to some of his brothers that his feet were cold, reprimanding shinies for acting stupid on the battlefield, and ordering Fives and Appo to scrub the barracks with their toothbrushes for playing a prank on said shinies.

Galactic Mart sells wool socks. He would probably appreciate those for his feet. And maybe I can get Fives a new toothbrush. Those are easy gifts, he figured.

He grabbed Obi-Wan's butterscotch, drifted toward the personal care department to pick up Fives' new toothbrush – and was almost run over by a runaway shopping cart.

"Target in sight! Full steam ahead!"

"No, go to the left you nimrod! Have you had that many drinks at 79's?"

Oh, Anakin knew that voice…

Very cautiously, he followed the shopping cart.

As far as he could tell, there were four men, clones. They were in the makeup aisle, by the lotion section. Strangely enough, they were next to the brands which were marketed towards women.

Oh, and Anakin knew them. The one pushing the cart was Fives. Echo and Coric were sitting in the basket, and Rex was next to them, simply running alongside his brothers.

Fives reached out and grabbed a lotion from the shelf.

"This one smells like flowers. Does she like flowers?" he asked.

Rex sniffed a second. "This one smells like fruit."

"This one smells like fresh rain." Coric said.

"And the one above it smells like cupcakes." Echo fretted. "Why are there so many?"

"Maybe we should get her something else." Coric said dejectedly. "I don't know anything about lotion."

Fives looked at his brother with horror. "But her hands crack because they're so chapped. She needs the lotion so they don't bleed."

"What if we just give her the money to buy her own lotion?"

"Commander Tano doesn't have time to buy her own lotion. And anyway, she'd just go give the money to charity instead of spending it on herself." Fives cried.

"But it's so confusing. I don't know what she wants!"

Rex spun around to face the shopping cart full of clones.

"Men!" He snapped. "We are the 501st legion. Do we back down from a task just because it's difficult?"

The others' training kicked in just in time, and they shouted "Sir, no sir!"

Rex was in full Captain mode. "Did we ask for credits from every single man in our legion, for nothing?"

"Sir no sir!"

"To get our Commander Tano some lotion, did we not sink so low as the scrub the 212th's toilets? Was that all for nothing?"

"Sir no sir!"

"Then after begging for credits, scrubbing toilets, and singing embarrassing songs for Commander Bly to post all over the HoloNet, are you backing out now?"

The other three stood up straighter. "We are not backing down, sir!"

"Good," Rex said. "Now we are going to pick out this lotion, and Commander Tano is going to be very pleased with it."

Fives scanned the shelf again. "Hey!" he said. "Here's one that smells like Life Day trees. She'll love that, right?"

"I think she will." Rex agreed, and Fives handed the bottle over to Echo and Coric in the shopping cart.

Anakin stepped out from around the endcap. "Rex?"

Rex froze. "General Skywalker, sir. I…didn't expect to see you here."

"I believe we're both out shopping." Anakin said.

Fives stammered. "We just noticed that Commander Tano's hands were always cracked and bleeding, and we thought she would like some lotion."

"She will, very much." Anakin confirmed, and he saw the men visibly relax. "I need to ask you a question. Was there anything else she wanted for Life Day, or that you think she needs?"

"She commented that her favorite singer was never on the HoloNet radio." Rex said. "What was her name again? Sy Snootles, or something like that?"

"She was some Cantina singer," Echo clarified.

That was probably Sy Snootles then. Why did Ahsoka even like that cantina garbage? Anakin had heard too much of it as a child.

"Thank you," Anakin said, the picture of calmness and professionalism.

That is, until the clones were out of sight. Then he booked it toward the music section.

An employee saw him coming. "Hi sir, can I help-?"

"I need a Sy Snootles holodisk." Anakin panted. "It's an emergency."

"Wife, mother, daughter, or sister?" The employee asked, looking through the holodisks.

"My padawan." Anakin replied grumpily. Fortunately, the employee didn't seem to notice.

"Do you want 'Sy Snootles' Greatest Hits', 'Sy Snootles at Life Day', or 'The Best of Sy Snootles'?"

"Uh…the last one." Anakin said, utterly defeated, and grabbed the holodisk.

All right, I've got Padme, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, my men, and … Admiral Yularen! I still have to get him something.

Anakin scanned the aisles and settled his gaze on the nearest display table. It was advertising sets of flannel pajamas.

He picked out a pair with teddy bears on it and raced to the checkout. Hopefully, Yularen liked teddy bears.

…

Anakin slogged back into his bedroom, laden down by packages. The clock which had formerly been at nine o'clock now read midnight.

He wanted to go to bed. He really wanted nothing more than to lie down and go to sleep for a good long time, but there was still work to be done. Presents had to be wrapped.

All right. I can do this. I just have to wrap the presents.

…..

Once again, Anakin forgot how long it actually takes to wrap Life Day presents.

When he looked up at the clock again, it was 2AM.

"Two A.M!" he cried in disbelief.

He had to be at the party at the clone barracks at eight!

Anakin wasted no time throwing himself onto his bed and falling asleep, his boots still on.

….

"Anakin? Anakin?

"Skyguy, wake up.

"Master?"

Anakin forced his eyes open.

Ahsoka was standing over him.

"Ah!" he cried, throwing his covers off. "Ah, what time is it?"

Ahsoka looked at him. "Eight thirty."

Eight thirty? That means the clone party started a half hour ago!

"Happy Life Day, master," she finished sweetly

"Uh, happy Life Day to you too, Snips." Anakin remembered to say as he frantically combed his hair and brushed his teeth in the refresher. "Oh yeah, I got you a present. It's wrapped on the table over there."

Ahsoka grabbed her present off the table and ripped the paper off.

"Oh, thank you. The HoloNet radio never plays Sy Snootles." She said, reading the back of the holodisk to see which songs were included. "You know, I've never gotten such nice presents before. Rex, Fives, Echo, and Coric got me a bottle of lotion that smells like Life Day trees, and Kix and the rest of the legion chipped in with Riyo Chuchi and Barriss to get me a box of candles for my meditation."

She pulled a package out from behind her back. A red package, with a gold ribbon.

For Master Skywalker was written on the tag in Ahsoka's loopy handwriting.

Anakin felt his heart a-flutter with gratitude. "You got me a present?"

"You got one for me," she said, holding it out.

Anakin grabbed the package and tore through the paper.

"Ahsoka, you shouldn't have."

Inside was a small toolkit, mainly wrenches and screwdrivers. Anakin could see the different bits: three-quarters, one half, five-eights…

"Do you like it?" Ahsoka asks.

"I love it," Anakin said, smiling. "But you know what we're both really going to love?"

"What?"

"The look on Admiral Yularen's face when he opens his gift and finds teddy bear pajamas."

Ahsoka's laugh clued him in that maybe, just maybe, late night runs to Galactic Mart on Life Day Eve had a silver lining.

…..

The clone barracks was awash in light.

Inside, the smell of a roaring wood fire punctuated by Moonsine's GAR-famous peppermint schnapps tickled Anakin's nose.

It was no surprise. It was well-known across the galaxy that the clones adored Life Day. Tabloids speculated that it was because of all the food. The Jedi knew the real reason: when you've barely known love all your life, a festival of love is nothing less than a miracle.

Anakin handed out his last-minute gifts; watching as Rex put on his new wool socks, at the light in the shinies' eyes when their superior officers handed them each a candy cane.

"Sir, is this for me?"

"Yes. Happy Life Day, soldier."

The shiny would take the treat with wide eyes and unbelieving hands, barely able to utter gratitude for their first Life Day present.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you! Happy Life Day!"

And filled with cheer, the shinies would turn to their brothers with hands outstretched, and give each other their candy canes, wishing each other a happy Life Day as they swapped their gifts.

Anakin stood shocked as a pile of presents with his name on it grew. A can of oil from Rex. A photo of the legion from Domino Squad. A handmade model Starfighter from Hawk.

When everyone had finished handing out gifts, Rex called the room to silence.

He pulled out a piece of paper and began to read.

"Today," Rex began, "Is a day of giving, and a day of joy. For some of you, it's the first Life Day you've celebrated, the first one that really matters."

He nodded to the shinies staring in awe at their candy canes.

"For others, we've shared this day many, many years."

The veterans nodded at Rex.

"But this day never grows old," he continued. "We never tire of the spirit of giving, of light, and most of all, of love.

"Love for our brothers, love for your friends, and a love beyond words which none of us could earn, but was given to everyone just the same."

Ahsoka rested her head on Anakin's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around his padawan, bringing her close and thinking If only Padme were here, then our family would be complete.

"And so," Rex read, joy shining out of his face. "With brotherly love and friendly love, let us do our best to model the ultimate love, the universe's greatest gift, every day of our lives."

….

Later that night, while the party was dying down and the once-roaring fire was nothing but a bunch of glowing coals, Captain Rex ducked out of his barracks and pulled his holoprojector from his pocket.

The image of a young woman popped up.

"Hello, Rex. How was your Life Day speech?"

"They loved it," Rex reported. "Thank you so much for writing it for me, Senator Amidala."

"It's the least I could do," Padme said, smiling. "You all deserved at least one nice thing this holiday season."

Rex beamed internally. While he was good at yelling at his underlings, true motivational speeches were next to impossible. He was so grateful Padme had volunteered to write his, and that it was a speech which truly blew everyone away.

She had given him the gift of his brothers' and his superiors' eternal love and respect.

And quite possibly, that was the greatest gift of all.

Happy Life Day.

A/N: Because our favorite characters simply can't be left out of the holiday cheer. Consider this story my gift to you.

Merry Christmas to you all. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, then happy holidays and good tidings to everyone.

Until next time,

Lux's Sister