'May be I should loosen up more' she thought to herself.

Reetha had now found herself in a rather uncomfortable position. She had agreed to meet Rex's brothers and she mentally wowed herself. What was she thinking!

First person point of view

I had stepped into the hangout room to see a group of clones just well.. hanging out. At that moment I froze. Rex and I had walked in, and Rex had started to call the attention of his brothers. Thankfully it was hard for the captain to get their attention, so I tried to sneak out of the room. I silently backed away towards the door. 

As soon as I reached the door I heard a hiss of the door opening. I quickly turned to run out when I bumped into a person, no, another clone. I recognized the armor. I slowly looked up to see a bald clone with the republic's cog tattooed on the side of his head. 

"Ahh... Heeey..... there.." I said with an awkward grin.

 Awh shebs!

Jesse's point of view

I was walking towards the hangout room. Rex had called me there. When I asked him why, all he said was,  "Just get your sheb here on time!" 

So, I grabed myself some caff before meeting him. Just as the door to the hangout room opened, I bumped into a tiny person. She had shoulder length curly black hair and quite a dark skin tone. "Ahh... Heeey..... there.." she said offering a sideways grin. I looked at her and it took me second to realize that this tiny person, was my new commander. 

"Oh, hey commander! Hey Rex. Guys."

Reetha's point of view

I moved in to let the tattooed clone walk in, but then the door closed behind him. I gave myself a mental facepalm. I couldn't back out now.. I turned around and faced the gang and smiled. I can do this!

Rex's point of view

I figured Reetha was quiet but, boy, was she sneaky. If it weren't for Jess, she'd probably ran off. "Hey Jess. Anyways, I wanted to introduce you guys to our new commander. Reetha Khan." 

"Hey..." Reetha gave a quiet reply and a small wave. 

Reetha's point of view

"Hey..." I smiled and gave a small wave. 

"Hello. The names Jesse. You kinda bumped into me earlier." he offered me his hand and I shook it. "Good to meet you and sorry I bumped into you." I smiled. "No problem commander. You can sneak around. Its a good skill." "Thanks.. umm Jesse. I'll take that as a compliment." He smile back. 

Then two other clones approached me. One with a blue lines tattooed to his head and the other with patterns in his hair.. or maybe... tattoos...? "Hey I'm Hardcase." The one with the blue tattoos said. "This here is Kix." Kix offered me his hand and I shook it. 

"Kix. Clone medic at your service." He gave me a small bow. "Hey. I'm Reetha." I replied with a giggle. The two clones exchanged a smile with each other as they looked back at me. 

Rex's point of view

So, about 30 minutes in the hangout room, Reetha had seemed to relax even more. After the four had introduced themselves, we sat together at the lounge. Reetha was quite but thankfully the boys could create some small talk with her.

 In fact, I'd say they were getting along quite well. Initially, she was nervous. I sat next to her and handed her my helmet, which she immediately started to pick at the old paint. Guess she lost her bet. 

She would reply small yes's and nods when the boys asked her some question, but eventuall she managed to loosen up. Now the four wouldn't stop talking. 

Third person point of view

After an exchange of pleasantries, the 5 found themselves laughing. Reetha was trying not to laugh but couldn't keep it in when Hardcase lost it, after loosing to a game of Dejarrik against Reetha.

Rex, Kix and Jesse had placed a bet on who would win the game. The looser had to make popcorn for the rest when it was movie time. The captain and medic placed bets on Reetha, while Jesse sided with Hardcase. 

Now, Rex, Reetha and Kix were pulling up bean bags to get ready to watch the movie, while Jesse and Hardcase made the popcorn.

Reetha's point of view

And there we were, snuggled in comfy bean bags. "Mind if I sit beside you?" Hardcase asked as he handed me a bowl of popcorn with extra butter. "Sure. Thanks for the popcorn by the way." "Not a problem. I'm just happy your having a good time. You are having a good time, right, commander?" 

I smiled at Hardcase's thoughtfulness "Hey, when its just us, you can call me Reetha." I looked around to the others who were listening in the conversation "You guys don't have to think about titles and stuff. I mean, we have names for a reason right." 

The guys smiled back at me and Jessy ruffled my hair. We turned on the tv and watched a comedy series together, The Hutt, The Jawa, and The Tusken Raider. Turns out, the clones really appreciated good humor. 

After 5 episodes, we were just laying in the hall, full of popcorn, when Hardcase started poking the side of my cheek. "Reetha..Hmm. Reets?" I just laid my head back, sinking into the bean bag. "ReeRee? Nah... Etha!" "What's an Etha?" Kix chimed in. "I know, ReeJeBuu" "Hardcase, what are you doing?" I giggled. 

"Ya, know vod, if your trying to nickname her, it should complement her. Not just morphing her name into something else." "Aww gee Rex, don't ruin  my creativity.." Hardcase pouted. Then, I got an idea. Hardcase was trying to find me a nickname, which was awfully sweet of him to do, so I came up with one for him. 

I propped myself on an elbow to look at him. "Well, you can call me ReeRee if you want." Hardcase's eyes gleamed and a grin slowly began to spread on his face. "Really?" "Sure thing... IF...I get to call you Casey" I said with my own growing grin. "Ca-casey?" Jesse laughed lightly. "I think it actually suits him." Rex stated. "Hey, whatever makes you happy ReeRee." Hardcase said with a dramatic head bow. "Why, thank you kind sir." I played along with his drama. 

"Well then, I guess this could be our little thing. Our own personal nicknames. Reetha, you okay with that?" I nodded in agreement. Hardcase stood up and spoke in a lavish slang, "So, in honor of our dear commander, Reetha, she will bestow upon us, our sacred nicknames.. " I giggled. "Well, if you guys are okay with it.." "Knock yourself out ReeRee." Jesse saluted. 

Third person point of view

"Alright, alright. Well, I'll start with..."  the padawan's eyes scanned the room and landed on Kix. "..Kix." The clones gave their attention to me. "Is the name Doc taken by any chance?" "Well, we do have a trooper named Doc. Unless, we can name him Nurse." The others tried to stifle a laugh as Kix lightly punched Rex's shoulder and pouted. After thinking for a minute, Reetha came up with Kix's nickname. 

"Do you guys remember the villain from episode 2 from the series we just watched?" "You mean the Kixa- ohhh I get it.." Jessy winked at Reetha. "Huh? what am I missing here? " Kix questioned.

 Reetha replied with mischevious narrowed eyes at Kix. "I heredy nickname you... The Kixalator!!!" "Common, I'm not a bad guy." Kix said. "Yeah but it rhymed. Kix, KIXalator..." I smiled back at him, only for Kix to smile back.

"Right, so Jesse " He turned his head to me "Bring it on Kiddo. By the way that's my nickname for you. " "Accepted, and my nickname to you is Chillbean. Cause you seem like a very chilled person." "Not to mention sarcastic" 

Rex joined in and laughed at his brother. "Rex, I take that as a complement, and the nickname is very much appreciated Kiddo. Thanks" Reetha nodded to Jesse and finally turned to face Rex.

 "So, what is it going to be, Reetha?" "Well, I thought well for this, and I came up with one. Rex, " she began. "First, I need to say, thank you for helping me fit in, taking the time to get me to meet Jesse, Kix and Hardcase. 

I just really hope its not sappy." The room was quiet, and Reetha hesitated. Rex caught up to it and gave her an encouraging nod. She sucked in her breath " I want to nickname you with the translation of older brother in my language, 'Ayiya'." 

The rooms silence felt heavy on Reetha's shoulders. She was looking down to her folder legs on her bean bag. Not wanting to see Rex's or the others reaction. "I c-can change it if you want. I-I understand if-" She blurted out and was cut of by a pair of arms pulling her into a hug. Reetha's eyes started to tear slightly, when she realized that it was Rex, who had hugged her. 

Rex had slowly let go of Reetha, and looked as her glossy eyes. He could he her shock and relief. "I love that nickname." He smiled. Reetha was speechless and smiled and hugged him back as she let out a laugh. "You really do? I-I mean, it was so s-sappy, and I j-just literally got to know you.. and I just felt to welcomed.. and-.." she sobbed out. 

Rex just hugged her even tightly. He had a growing protectiveness over Reetha. A want, to keep this precious person close to him. "Hey, Reetha, hey, look at me. I would not have had it any other way. I truly love my nickname." 

"And.." Jesse came to his brother's side. "..we want to to feel welcome here." "Yeah, when you feel alone or nervous just find anyone of us." "Yeah, what Casey said." Kix punched Hardcase's shoulder and smiled at Reetha,"We're her for you. Our vod'ika." "Our little sister." Rex translated.

Reetha looked at awe at her new found companions and was so thankful of how accepting they were. She broke a smile, as the four brothers, her new four brother got her in a group hug. Boy, was this a momentous day.