Everything was working out just fine, until the day that a tiny youngling ran smack into Fives' legs, and Rex realized he had a new panic on his hands in his ARC trooper.
the attack hugs started earlySpecifically, said tiny youngling was a Togruta, with tiny buds where montrals would one day grow, the tiniest of nubs at the base of her head, with a blue and white pattern standing out as vividly as the 'wings' on her cheeks.
"Captain?!"
Fives' yelp was not entirely too unpredictable, as Rex's recognition had kicked in slightly faster and he'd been mentally preparing himself since Kamino. He doubted, given the fascination they all had for tiny little open-hearted Anakin Skywalker that any of the others had really made the logic leap about their even-younger Commander. Well, other than Cody.
"Calm down, Fives," Rex said before he knelt down to not tower over his future Commander. "Hello little one," he said softly before pulling at his memory to whistle the simple greeting Ahsoka had taught him from her culture.
The youngling's face lit up with so much joy at that, even as he saw her take in his species, that he'd used the simplest greeting, and make the effort to use Basic to reply.
"Ko -- no, wrong word. Hello!" She smiled brilliantly at him, and he found himself being pulled into her charm all over again. "Who?" As she asked it, her hand came up to rest on his chest, and the smile suddenly broke with a whimper and high-pitched whistle-chirp of distress in her native language.
"Kriff!" Rex growled, even as Fives dropped down to try and help, not knowing any more than Rex what to do. Luckily for them both, Plo Koon and his padawan Lissarkh appeared from the nearby corridor, having come with some haste in response to the youngling's cries. Rex and Fives moved so Plo could reach down, and the tiny Togruta scrambled into his arms, holding on tightly as she spoke rapidly in Togruti.
"Shh, shh, little 'Soka, shh," Plo soothed, a small mental 'stay' aimed at both men as he tried to get the child to calm. "Ahsoka, I need you to use Basic," he said when her distress had mostly petered out and the bird-sounds were fewer. She looked from his masked face to the two men and back, her small lekku both twitching.
And then she made Fives' heart fall out all over again with one of those too-bendy, fearless twists that small younglings did, reaching from Plo's arms for Rex in such a way that the Jedi Master had to support her with the Force and Rex was instinctively reaching out to steady her. This time when the contact happened, Rex could see her eyes flare wider (impossibly huge as they already were) and go darker than the usual shade of blue.
"Big water. Sad. Hurt."
The four words sliced through Rex even as he accepted the transfer of the youngling to his hip, and Fives soon paled beside him as he caught up to what had just happened.
"That… is your nightmare, little 'Soka," Plo mused softly, getting a solid nod from the small girl before she made firm eye contact with Rex.
"Bad place?"
"Home, 'Soka," Rex told her. "Not always bad." She looked exceptionally dubious at that, then wrapped her arms around his neck tightly.
"So the attack hugs started early," Fives said in a very quiet voice, but Plo heard, given that his species normally vocalized at those lower levels.