Goodbye
The flight back to the Temple was a grim one indeed.
After contacting the Council and making their report, the two Jedi Knights remained silent, rarely speaking a word or casting a glance behind them at the captive Padawan in the rear of the ship, or the two men who stood on either side of her. Which was just as well, as Captain Rex wasn't keen on either of the Generals' eyes being on the scene behind them.
Two clone officers, two genetically-identical men, yet who where lightyears apart in experience and in their points of view. And the battered form of a fallen Jedi, a lost friend, sitting as a disgraced captive between them.
Commander Tano was still unconscious, though the effects of the stun bolt were wearing off, and she occasionally stirred in her forced sleep. The sounds of her breathing and quiet groans were all but lost in the whistling of smoke-laced air as it rushed by the open fuselage of the gunship, and the brisk dusk winds caused the sleeping prisoner to tremble instinctively.
Watching her shiver was a torment all of its own.
Had the circumstances been different, Rex wouldn't have hesitated a second to take her in his arms and offer whatever warmth or comfort he could provide over the cold durasteel floor where she sat now. He might have even entertained wild and fanciful notions of how to arrange an escape, some way to free her from her wrongful imprisonment and get her away from this fiasco of justice gone wrong.
But there was no point in even pondering such outlandish action, regardless of whether Rex could ever see himself actually following through with it. In fact, even attempting to make Ahsoka more comfortable was not a feasible proposition, not with the Jedi Generals present who had been tasked with detaining Ahsoka. And certainly not when across from him, with his own gloved hand over her left shoulder, stood the commanding form of Commander Wolffe, with his one-eyed scowl alternating slowly between his captive and his 501st counterpart.
Rex's attention was torn between keeping his vigil over Ahsoka and returning the clone Commander's suspicious glare. After a long period of uneasy silence, he looked up, meeting Wolffe's cold gaze directly and staring down his fellow officer. The scarred clone's visage was only made more imposing by the cybernetic receptor that took the place of his left eye; it was an unsettling image, like looking into the face of a being that was both human and droid at once.
The two men stared hard for another moment, their concentration broken only briefly when the gunship bucked and strained against a turbulent air current as they gained altitude. Still Rex never relaxed his grip over Ahsoka's shoulder, and his hardened gaze refused to relent even against Wolffe's bitter expression.
Finally the 104th Commander broke the hostile silence, speaking for the first time since they had taken off from the warehouse. "You seem to place unreasonable confidence in your Jedi Commander, Captain," he warned, squinting his natural eye. "Your defense of her is distinctly illogical."
Rex felt his brow strain as he glared even harder at the other clone. He knew that Wolffe was baiting him, seeing whether he could lure Rex to say something imprudent, either to be used against the Captain or the captive Jedi. Commander Wolffe's reputation as an iron-fisted leader with a hatred of law-breakers and traitors was well known among the ranks of the GAR, and Rex knew that his own history would not endear him to such a by-the-books style of officer.
He chose his words carefully, but he could not let Wolffe's challenge go unanswered. "I've worked alongside Commander Tano from the first day she reached the front, Commander," he replied evenly. "I know her too well to simply assume her to be guilty of such uncharacteristic actions."
Commander Wolffe's scowl turned to a sneer. "Assume her guilt? What galaxy are you from anyway? You saw her with that Separatist witch only hours ago. Perhaps if it was your mighty 501st that had faced those two traitors you would have come away with a more sensible opinion."
Rex flinched inside, though he kept up a stubborn front against the Commander's accusation. He had seen the alleged Separatist terrorist with Ahsoka, fleeing deeper into the lower levels just as their gunships arrived. While initially he held out some hope that they had simply misidentified her accomplice, Commander Wolffe and his team had later confirmed Ventress's identity up close and personal. It was a blow, a deep, painful blow to Rex's tenacious belief in his Jedi Commander's innocence; he could propose a few possible reasons why the two fugitives had been together, but there was precious little good he could say for Ahsoka's decision to ally with a Sith woman.
Except…
"Commander," he suddenly replied, as an idea struck him that both filled him with dread and a burning brand of hope deep inside. "Tell me, when you encountered Commander Tano and Ventress… what were the casualties?"
Wolffe stared back at him, his face utterly motionless, and during that eternal instant Rex felt like his legs might give out at any second. His grip on Ahsoka became tighter than he'd ever grasped his blaster, his gloved fingers bracing against the cold, bare skin of her shoulder. It was as though he feared that, depending on the clone Commander's reply, she might be taken away from him forever; that every last bond of trust he still placed in her might be shattered beyond repair.
"There were none."
Wolffe's reply was forced, even stilted, and it was everything Rex could do to remain cool and stoic as a gravitational well vanished from within his chest. It was true, he knew it was true. He took a breath, willing himself to stay in control as he asked a follow up question. "None? Not even by the witch?"
The Commander's scarred brow creased in what Rex could only describe as frustration. "That is correct, Captain," he answered, his voice almost too low to be audible. "Commander Tano was… insistent that they - she and Ventress - was not to harm the men."
If Rex didn't believe in miracles before, he certainly couldn't credit anything else that he didn't throw his head back and break into a triumphant laugh at that moment. A thrill of relief, of affirmation coursed through his every vein, because he knew he was right. This was the Ahsoka Tano he knew, the brave warrior who would rather sacrifice her own life than harm another without just cause. Her heroic efforts to preserve rather than destroy the lives of her own pursuers - to the point convincing a Separatist terrorist to spare Wolffe and his defeated troopers - gave the lie to whatever circumstantial evidence was brought to near against her.
There was still no guarantee that the law would see it that way. Ahsoka was still a prisoner, and would stand trial as a criminal. Rex would do whatever he could to ensure that these facts were testified to by someone, but he knew better than to think that they alone would convince a disinterested - if not outright prejudiced - Senatorial court.
He could only hope that somehow, some way, justice would be served.
In the meantime, however, Rex had the satisfaction of knowing that Ahsoka was still the honorable, heroic young woman he knew so well, and that even now, bound and unconscious on the deck of a battered gunship, she managed to flummox the hardened, narrow-minded assumptions of men like Commander Wolffe.
"Well then," Rex began speaking again, a twist in the corner of his lips as he held Wolffe's gaze, "Perhaps my confidence isn't so illogical after all."
"She's a traitor, Captain," the Commander growled, leaning over Ahsoka to scowl into Rex's face. "Restraint after the fact does nothing to atone for her criminal acts."
"Except to prove wholly inconsistent with the crimes she's been accused of," Rex replied, without backing down. "You cannot deny it, Commander. Every time she's been engaged by our troops she has made every effort to avoid clone casualties. That is entirely fitting with her behavior ever since she joined the 501st. Your so-called 'traitor' has put her life on the line for men like you and me more times than I can recount."
"Past actions prove nothing."
"With respect, sir. Experience outweighs everything. And experience with Commander Tano is something you've clearly lacked until now." Rex's lips quirked into an outright smirk, and he leaned in towards the 104th Commander. "From your report, I take it you owe her your life. That's typical for Commander Tano, I can assure you." Removing his hand from Ahsoka's shoulder for a second, Rex extended it towards his fellow officer. "Welcome to the club."
Commander Wolffe drew back abruptly, his expression somewhere between disdain and surprise. He remained silent, and his own grip on Ahsoka's shoulder loosened to only a token hold, just enough to be within regulation parameters for a physically restrained prisoner. Just at that moment the gunship banked gently as it rounded one of Coruscant's glass towers, which blocked the setting sun and cast a shadow that hid the clone Commander's armored form, only the soft lights within his cybernetic eye remaining clearly visible.
A glance over his shoulder confirmed that they were entering the approach pattern for the Temple landing platform. The satisfaction Rex had felt at Wolffe's unease quickly fled as he faced the prospect of being separated once again from Ahsoka, this time by lawful and legal forces rather than the depths of the undercity. His hand had already returned to her shoulder, but the rigid contact did nothing to alleviate the ache in his gut, the sense of finality, of inevitability - that soon she would be gone from his life, perhaps forever.
And he couldn't so much as tell her goodbye.
Could he?
The Jedi still had their backs turned to them, and seemed to be wrapped in their own muted conversation. The shadows from the surrounding towers now blocked most of the remaining rays of daylight, making a some degree of movement possible without drawing undue attention. It was almost certainly against regulation, and might earn him a reprimand or worse if reported, but as dusk continued to settle and the open cabin was shrouded in the gathering darkness, Rex felt a deep conviction that this might be his last opportunity.
He decided he would take the risk while he still had the chance.
He dropped to one knee, releasing his hold on the handrail above him and settling down in a kneeling position beside Ahsoka. Extending his left arm, he encircled both her shoulders - despite the dimness he could just make out Wolffe's gloved fingers now barely touching the Padawan's left shoulder. Just as well. Rex felt confident that their previous discussion had unnerved and shaken the clone Commander enough that he'd let him be, even if the 104th officer must have felt appalled at the scene at his feet.
Rex shifted towards her, letting his torso shield Ahsoka from the gusts rushing through the cabin while his arm covered some of the exposed skin of her shoulders. It might have been his imagination, or perhaps wishful thinking, but he thought he felt her lean into his armored embrace, and within a few moments he could feel a faint warmth under his arm as her body regained some of its heat. He heard a soft sigh escape her lips as her head lolled over, and the crown of her montrals rested against his neck.
It was not the first time he had held her like this, but Rex knew it could very well be the last. He pulled her close, watching over his right shoulder as the massive form of the Jedi Temple rose and began to block out the darkening horizon. Soon, the prison guards would be meeting them, ready to tear Ahsoka from his arms and lead her to an uncertain, and likely undeserved, fate.
There was nothing - or precious little - that Rex could do to affect that future.
He looked down at her again, her face faintly illuminated by the landing beacons that crowned the outboard wings. Her eyes were shut, her lips pressed tightly together, yet her expression seemed otherwise relaxed, almost serene. To Rex, the marks and bruises she had sustained couldn't detract from the simple… "perfectness" of her complexion, no more than the accusations of men like Commander Wolffe and Admiral Tarkin could tarnish her honor.
"You'll make it," he murmured under his breath, wishing she could hear him and yet strangely grateful she could not. "You'll get through this one, kid. I know you will."
The engines whined as thrust reversers kicked in and began to slow down the gunship in preparation for landing. The sun had all but disappeared completely by now, a faint wash of reddish light over the horizon the only sign of its presence. Rex's throat seemed to tighten into a knot as the craft began its descent; they didn't have much more time.
He glanced down at her one more time, and somehow everything else seemed to vanish from his consciousness. Commander Wolffe, the Jedi, the Temple, even the harrowing chase and the memories of Ventress and the prison chaos suddenly felt lightyears away.
He pulled her tightly against his side, and leaned his head towards her, pressing the side of his face against the cool, dust-encrusted skin of her right cheek. She sighed, her breath flitted across his face, and Rex closed his eyes.
In a few minutes, it would be over. He would stand as Captain alongside his superiors and stoically hand over the captive Padawan to strangers, and return to the barracks as though nothing had happened. But for now, for an instant, he wasn't a Captain, and she wasn't a captive. They were only friends.
And this was goodbye.
This is the last part of this series, for now at least. Thanks to all for reading, and please leave a review if you can. :)
EDIT: Believe it or not, I posted this part early by accident. :P I'm not going to pull it since I don't want to spam folks with duplicate alert emails, so... enjoy. :)
