Part 2 - The Morning Buzz

Summary: Ahsoka returns to the 501st after a long absence away, and her arrival causes a commotion among the camp.

Rex rubbed the last bit of sleepiness from his eyes as he made his way to General Skywalker's tent. The 501st's encampment was buzzing with commotion this particular morning. Rex mingled through them with a puzzled look, passing several groups of shines huddled together and sharing whispers. He caught phrases of "did you see her?" and "wow and I thought twi'leks were good looking" and "do you think the general will let us paint her on the ship?"

The clone captain rolled his eyes. There must be a female in camp somewhere. Maybe a local. The new recruits always got gossipy when there was a lady around. For a lot of them it might be the first real-life humanoid female they've seen. "Stupid," Rex muttered to him. He had no patience for such nonsense. Helmet tucked under his arm, he threw a glare at a nearby group of chatty shinies, who snapped to attention and shut their mouths the moment they caught the clone captain's eyes. Rex shook his head when he heard them gabbing again once they thought he was out of range. He was glad his seasoned men weren't so easily distracted.

Or so he thought. Rex rounded the corner to the medic tent, where Kix, Jesse, and Hardcase were engaged in their own inappropriate conversation.

"But how could they have gotten so big in such a short amount of time?" whispered Hardcase.

"Is that always the first thing you notice?" interjected Jesse.

"Well, medically speaking," began Kix, tapping his chin. He was interrupted when Rex cleared his throat loudly in front of the trio.

"Not you guys too," Rex said with annoyance. "Can someone please tell me what has gotten the entire camp in such an uproar?"

"Err, well captain," Jesse ran a hand over his head awkwardly. "Commander Tano arrived back this morning to lead the campaign with General Skywalker."

Rex raised both eyebrows. "Did she?" That was good news - Ahsoka Tano had been absent from the 501st for nearly six months. She had several duties and missions involving the Jedi temple, and other engagements with Master Plo that had kept her off the front lines for a while. Rex felt a little better. He was excited to see the Togruta kid too after all this time. He hated to admit it, but he had missed her. She made this war a little more tolerable.

But that still didn't explain all the strange comments he's heard through camp. "...and?" Rex asked expectantly.

Jesse was at a lost for words and Kix put up his hands as if to say "oh no, I'm not touching that." Hardcase chimed in. "Well sir, it seems she has... umm... grown quite a bit the past few months."

"Grown quite a bit?" Rex repeated, his eyes narrowed. He didn't like where this conversation was going.

"Yeah, puberty has been good to her," blurted out Hardcase. "Or whatever it is Togrutas go through. Kix was just about to explain that." Jesse groaned in embarrassment next to him, a hand on his face, while Kix glared daggers at the clone. Hardcase stood there oblivious, grinning.

"Kix," Rex pinched the bridge of his nose, wavering on his last ounce of patience. "Why in the galaxy do you have any knowledge of Togrutan puberty, when you are a medic in an army of male human clones?" He emphasized each word.

"In my defense, captain, sir," Kix stuttered, "I'm also a medic for the Jedi, and Commander Tano is the only non-human and female member of the 501st... so I felt the need to do a bit of extra research."

"How exactly will extensive knowledge of Togrutan puberty assist Commander Tano if she gets injured on the battlefield?"

Kix shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I wanted to be prepared?" He said it more as a question than a response. Hardcase stifled a giggle next to him, and Jesse tried to hide his smirk behind his hand.

Before Rex could respond, his comlink started chirping. Knowing it was the general wondering where he was, Rex motioned to the trio of clones. "This conversation is not over. Behave yourselves until I get back." He answered the call and continued his path to the jedi's tent.

Anakin waved Rex inside the tent. "Morning Rex," chimed the Jedi. He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "There's a surprise for you inside."

"It wouldn't be Commander Tano, would it?" Rex gave the jedi a half smile. "The whole camp has been... err... buzzing about it all morning."

The clone captain heard a disappointed huff behind Anakin. "Darn! Some of the boys must have seen me when Master Plo and the Wolfpack dropped me off. I wanted to surprised everyone." Ahsoka stepped out from behind Anakin. "Hey Rex!" she waved cheerily.

Rex's eyes widened at the sight of her. The men weren't kidding. She had grown. Ahsoka stood a good 6 inches taller, half of which was her growing montrals. Her lekku had grown as well, the chevron marking stretched more dramatically across them. Her face was thinner, rid of some of the youthful chubbiness it has when he last saw her, and it somehow made her eyes looks bigger and bluer and her lips plumper and redder.

Then there was her outfit. Rex had never been a fan of Ahsoka's old clothes. He understand that she was a Jedi and prided herself on being extra agile, so she disliked wearing copious amounts of robes like some of her Jedi brethren. But the amount of bare skin she exposed stressed Rex out during every battle with the fear she would come out with cuts and burns and other bad injuries that could have been prevented if the kid wore decent armor. Not to mention he didn't think it was appropriate for a Jedi padawan to be running around in a tube top. The Togruta's new tunic and leggings at least covered the majority of her body, but Rex wondered how in the galaxy Ahsoka managed to wear more clothes than before but somehow look more provocative. It was probably the way the clothing fit so snugly to her newly developed and very curvy figure...

Rex snapped back to reality and pushed the inappropriate thoughts to the back of his mind. This new outfit was going to stress him out too. Maybe he should talk to General Skywalker again about getting Ahsoka some armor.

Ahsoka waved a hand in front of Rex's face. "Uh, hello? Is anyone in there?"

"Sorry!" Rex felt the back of his neck start to heat up in embarrassment. Realizing his helmet was still tucked beneath his arm, he quickly and awkwardly jammed it on his head to keep the two Jedi from seeing the flush creep on his face. "It's still early and I'm not fully awake yet... what were we talking about?"

"Umm, nothing." Ahsoka's hand went to her hip in her signature pose. "I said hello and you stood there staring at me for a good thirty seconds."

"Right, well, good to see you Commander," Rex fell into his typical captain stance, trying to dissipate the awkwardness. "You've definitely been missed here. How was your time at the Jedi temple?"

Ahsoka perked up and told a few short anecdotes as she and Rex joined Anakin, who had begun looking over information at the command table in the center of the tent. Anakin jumped right into the mission debrief, and it took all of Rex's will power not to stare at Ahsoka the entire time through the indiscreetness of his helmet. Looking at her was giving him a strange, fluttery feeling in his stomach, that was completely new and foreign to him. Yeah, he should definitely talk to the General about that armor.

Anakin dismissed him to prep the troops, and Rex removed his helmet as he exited the tent, feeling overwhelmingly stuffy inside of it. He passed the medic tent where Kix, Jesse, and Hardcase had not moved from their position or strayed from their conversation.

"Wait, so they," Hardcase cupped his hands and motioned to his chest. "Stop growing but the head tails still do? That's a damn shame-" He was cut off by a elbow to the ribs from Jesse as Rex approached them.

"We're moving out in two hours, so get ready," Rex stated almost too gruffly. Each of the three clones gave him an amused look. "What?" Rex implored impatiently.

"Sir, either you just completed an ARC trooper morning drill," quipped Jesse.

"Or you got a glimpse of the Commander," finished Hardcase with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "You're all red. And a bit sweaty."

Rex grunted in reply, not admitting to anything.

"Ooo, the commander's got the captain all hot and bothered," teased Hardcase, awarding himself with another jab in the gut from Jesse.

"It's okay, captain, it's a perfectly normal reaction," offered Kix apologetically.

Rex raised a finger to the trio, about to throw a comeback, then decided against it. "Two hours." He said through gritted teeth, then stormed away. Over his shoulder, he called, "And if I hear of anyone trying to paint nose art of Commander Tano on any of the ships, they'll be on latrine duty for the next month."

"Ooo! I gotta sketch that out." He heard Hardcase whisper excitedly to his two companions. Rex really needed to talk to General Skywalker about that armor as soon as possible.