So, Ahsoka has set up Rex with Aayla, as she promised. But REx doesn't have the best of luck. Of course, we also have a few cute Obi/Asajj moments! also, thank you to clarinetlover21, Luka Rain, Terra Young, Luka Rain again, and suziepatricia for reveiwing the last chapter!

EDIT: I almost forgot a scene in this chapter, but I added it now. so there's something new to read here!

Chapter 9

Both Asajj and Obi-wan's flight back to the temple was embarrassing to say the least. Asajj thought back on her day and realized that things just about couldn't get worse. She'd been unable to kill Obi-wan, needed to be rescued by him twice, woken up in his arms, and then been taken prisoner. He, however, seemed not to notice, and she was quite pleased no one had decided to tease her about it. Asajj preferred not sitting in the main room with Skywalker, his Padawan, and his captain, as one would likely say something obnoxious, and she'd snap. Patience was not exactly her strong point, so she stalked into one of the smaller rooms used for storage and sat down on a spare chair. Obi-wan followed her in.

"Why are you sitting in here?" he asked her curiously.

"Skywalker is in there." Obi-wan seemed to find her answer amusing.

"So," he muttered. "I'd call today about a 8.7 on the near-death and danger scale."

"Yeah. For someone dedicated to life saving you seem to take quite a bit of joy in seeing me in mortal danger." She raised one eyebrow at him.

Obi-wan put on a look of mock offense. "Hey, I saved you, didn't I?" Asajj frowned. She didn't like being reminded of that little fact.

"You always seem eager to fight me."

"Fighting you is the only way I get to see you." he replied with all seriousness.

Asajj's answer was dripping with sarcasm. "Yes, and letting a wamp rat chew off my hand is the only way I can observe its interesting feeding habits."

Obi-wan looked as though he were actually considering her statement. "I suppose if one... particularly liked wamp rats." Startled, she glanced up at his face. The General was gazing down at her with a soft smile on his face.

"Well, who would? They're obnoxious, vicious pests...much like Jedi." She'd meant it as more teasing, but Obi-wan looked hurt. He turned around slowly and walked towards the door, and she had a sudden impulse to take it back. She fought with it for a second, then, as she had been doing so often lately, gave in.

"Although," she paused as Obi-wan turned to face her, "I suppose one might learn to like a particular wamp rat, if they were forced to put up with him enough." Asajj gave him the tiniest hint of a smile, and he beamed back.

"Master!" Skywalker's obnoxious voice interrupted whatever he might have said to her next, and as he left the room, she actually felt disappointed. She liked Kenobi. Wait! What was she thinking? She'd just admitted that she actually rather liked him, in a roundabout way, but still... Kenobi was the enemy. At this moment, she was his prisoner. She needed to hate Kenobi. It was her life, hatred. But somehow, hating him never felt right.

"What's the matter?" Obi-wan sighed as sat down across from Anakin. He'd been interrupted in the middle of a conversation, and he always hated that. Not to mention that he very rarely got to speak with her, and she'd just told him that she liked him...No. Jedi did not have attachments, at least they couldn't yet. But she'd always be banned, as she was with the dark side. And what did it matter? He didn't love her. She was a friend- well, sort of. He'd just have to ignore that rush of emotions she gave him.

"We want you to join in our bet." Ahsoka explained.

Obi-wan pushed his other problem from his mind to sort out this one. "What are you betting on?"

"Ahsoka bet me five credits that she could make Aayla and Rex kiss before we attack the ship in four days. I say that even if she gets them set up on a date, there's no way they'll kiss. And she's not allowed to tell either of them about the bet." Anakin glared at the young Tugrota, who was smiling at him smugly.

"And why do you want to make Jedi kiss?" Obi-wan raised an eyebrow at the Padawan.

"Because it's fun. And besides, I'll get five more credits this way!" she explained, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Anakin spoke before Obi-wan could. "Uh, who says you'll win?"

"Master, how much money do you currently owe me?"

"Thirty-five credits." muttered Anakin sullenly.

Obi-wan shook his head. Anakin and Ahsoka were quite the team. As much as they acted like the other was a nuisance, he knew both would be heartbroken if anything happened to the other. And, if he had to admit it, he would feel awful if he lost Anakin.

"What were you doing in there anyway?" Ahsoka asked suddenly.

"What? I was just talking to Asajj. Ventress. I was talking to Ventress."

"I think you like her master." Obi-wan had been headed back towards the door, but he whirled now. Maybe he'd been wrong about feeling awful. Maybe losing Anakin would make things a whole lot easier.

"I do not!"

Ahsoka piped in now. "Oooo, denial! That means you must really like her!"

"I do not like her! Not that way." Obi-wan could feel himself starting to blush.

"After all," Anakin ignored him, "you saved her life, and you call her Asajj, and you always call her your darling, and of course you don't want her dead..."

"Anakin, I want to bring her back to our side! I don't love her!"

"Now he's blushing!" Ahsoka gushed.

"I am not!" Obi-wan practically yelled, knowing full well he was. Both Anakin and Ahsoka were cracking up, and they both took one look at him and laughed harder still. Finally Anakin regained his senses.

"Alright, Snips, lets leave him alone." Seeing his master's scowl, he added, "Come on Master, you know I'm just kidding. We all know you want her back on our side. I mean, Obi-wan and Ventress, really?"

"I know, right? They're so totally not compatible. I should know, I'm a doctor of love."

"You are not."

"Am so." Anakin and Ahsoka, still arguing, headed back towards Rex, who was reclined on the sofa.

That was when Obi-wan turned around and saw why they had laughed so hard. Leaning in the doorway, behind him the whole time, was Ventress. She was smirking.

Poor Obi-wan winced. "Just don't say anything." he muttered weakly.

When the gunship landed several minutes later, a pair of clones took Ventress from him and led her away in the direction of the prison cells. Obi-wan headed back to his room, and Anakin followed him. Ahsoka took Rex by the arm as he was trying to head back to the mess.

"What? I'm trying to get some food."

"Follow me." She practically dragged him down a hallway and stopped outside an empty room with a forcefield for a door.

"What are we here for?" growled Rex. He literally growled as he spoke, because his empty stomach was apparently trying to tell him something. Although he didn't speak stomach, he knew it wanted food.

"Just wait here. I'll be right back. And by the way, there's food in there." Ahsoka darted off down the hall, and Rex didn't need any further persuasion. He entered the room and found that, sure enough, a cheese sandwich had been placed on a table in the corner. It was cold, but the hungry clone didn't care. Once he had wolfed down the sandwich, he noticed a small note lying on the table. 'Wear these' was scrawled on it in Ahsoka's handwriting. Did she mean the sandwiches? Had Ahsoka finally gone off the deep end? No. On the floor was a pair of dark sunglasses. Written on the other side of the note was: 'I know you don't want to, but do it anyway. It'll make you look cool on your date with Aayla. By the way, unless you want her to know this is a date, eat this note.' Rex frowned, picked up the glasses, and put them on. He stuffed the note in his pocket right before he heard the Padawan's voice outside.

"Here we are Master Secura. Just go right in here."

"I don't think so Padawan."

"Why not?"

"Because I heard what happened to Master Luminara. She said you locked her up for over an hour." Aayla certainly wasn't going to walk into that trap. She was, however, going to be pushed into that trap.

Ahsoka turned as if to leave. "Well, then I guess...YAH!" She shoved the Twi'lik Jedi into the room before Aayla could protest and turned on the forcefield. "Now you're stuck. Enjoy your date!" Ahsoka winked at her before she walked away.

Aayla let out a frustrated growl and then noticed Rex for the first time. "I supposed we're supposed to sit here and pretend we're on a date?"

Rex nodded, wondering what Aayla thought of all this. Was her heart pounding like his was? "Yeah. Crazy kid." he muttered.

"What's with the shades?"

"I...uh...got them as a gift. From Ahsoka. I thought if I wore them, she'd let me out early." Rex hated the glasses. He could barely see Aayla, only a dim outline of where she must be.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not going to be a guinea pig for her experiments in love." She grabbed her lightsaber from her belt and ignited it.

"Exactly." Blast! There went his chances of some alone time with Aayla. He started to cross the room towards her, but he couldn't see much in his glasses. So he tripped on a box. Not the kind of thing he wanted to do in front of the pretty Twi'lik. But he did. "Ooooof!" Rex let out a loud breath as he hit the floor.

"Are you alright Rex?"

"Yeah, I, I'm fine." He scrambled to his feet.

"How about you take these off?" Suddenly she was right next to him, pulling the glasses off his face. And there were her pretty eyes, a pale brown with a hint of amber.

"Thanks." he managed to mutter. Aayla had walked back over to the door, drawn her blue blade, and thrust it into the forcefield mechanism.

"See you around Rex!" she called back to the lovestruck clone as she strode down the hall. The captain liked her. Aayla could tell, and the poor guy had been locked up with her- probably not what he wanted at all. She wasn't sure if she liked him or not. He seemed nice, but she didn't know him very well. Of course, he was cute... But no matter what, the code prevented- forget the code. It was going to be changed anyway, and she hadn't always been one to keep all the rules. Attachments were natural, and the attachment ban was completely stupid.

Rex walked out of the room, feeling an odd mixture of daze and embarrassment. Her fingers had brushed the side of his face, and it had felt nice. He had fallen on his face, but still, it hadn't been bad. He sighed and headed towards the cafeteria. The sandwich hadn't been very big at all.

Obi-wan was in his own quarters, doing a bit of pacing. Anakin had just given him news on the high counsel's decision regarding Ventress. She was to be executed tomorrow. Executed. He couldn't let her die, not after he'd saved her so many times. But it was more then not letting his efforts go to waste. He honestly liked her. She could be brought back, he knew it. And of course those pesky feelings he felt whenever he saw her. Not the rush of adrenaline he got when he faced other opponents, but something else that he didn't even want to identify.

Through his thoughts, he had walked down to her cell, and now he stared. Ventress was being held here? It was far too low-security. She would laugh at the idea of being held in a place like this. Her lightsabers were laying on a rack outside the cell door, and the forcefield mechanism was a simple push-button. Easy to escape, but yet she hadn't. Why? Obi-wan had to find out, naturally, so he pressed the button and stepped inside. Asajj was standing in the back of the cell, looking downcast and angry.

Her master had contacted her. Upon hearing of her capture, he had not been pleased. "Such a simple mission, and yet you screw up. And at one time you had him defenseless?" "I told you master, Skywalker got in the way." "I don't care if you come back or not. You're obviously not good for anything." The conversation flashed through her mind over and over again. Why even bother? No one wanted her. He'd see how useful she was once she was dead. Then he'd realize exactly how useful she'd been alive.

Kenobi entered. And his teasing was not what she wanted right now. Asajj just wanted to die. Die alone, preferably. And now he was here. "What do you want?" she snarled.

Obi-wan decided to just tell her the whole truth. Well, most of it anyway. "I was wondering why you haven't escaped yet."

"Why Kenobi? Why would I bother to escape?"

Obi-wan seemed genuinely surprised by her lack of interest. "Won't Dooku be expecting you?"

"Dooku doesn't care." She didn't sound upset or tearful, just angry. "No one does."

Obi-wan smiled slightly. It was rather ironic of her to say no one cared, when he was here. He'd cared enough to come. "No one?" he asked her, raising his eyebrow slightly.

That was the last straw. She certainly didn't need him to come here and mock her. "Yes Kenobi I said no one!" she snarled. "No one cares!"

For a second, Obi-wan was silent. When he did speak, it was hesitantly and quietly. "Well then, Asajj, I guess you've forgotten what it means to care." The Jedi drew in a breath, then stepped towards her, leaned in, and pressed his lips to her cheek. The kiss lasted for less then a second, but Asajj's eyes widened at the gesture. He walked towards the door without another word, but stopped at the threshold and turned around. "Goodbye then darling." he said simply, his face flushed slightly. Then he walked out.

Asajj's mind mulled this over for a second. Why had he kissed her? Perhaps it was his way of saying goodbye. But something about what he had said made it sound like he knew. He knew he couldn't get rid of her that easily. It took a lot to kill Asajj Ventress, as Anakin had discovered after several failed attempts. Perhaps he liked her? No. No! She scowled at the thought. But on the other hand, what did she care if he had some affections for her? She didn't care about him. Not at all. But still, she'd show him. The next time they met, Obi-wan Kenobi would be quite embarrassed to find he'd kissed her goodbye, only to have her now pointing a lightsaber right in his face. Her scowl had dissolved into a smile, a slightly evil one. The next thing Obi-wan knew, she had force-pulled her lightsaber to hit the button, and leaped right over his head.

"See you around Kenobi!" he heard her call back as she stabbed the forcefield mechanism to shut down the window and stepped out, falling a few stories to the streets of Corusant. Obi-wan watched her. The clones certainly wouldn't be pleased, and neither would the counsel. He wouldn't be pleased either, on the outside at least. Inside, he felt a glimmer of pleasure. She got away. And of course the matter of that kiss...well, his plan had worked. But he sure had set himself up for quite a bit of awkward next time they met. The next time he saw her...hopefully it would be soon.

Up next: the much awaited gunship battle! Obi-wan will get his wish, but of course the tables might be turned this time... and Aayla is plunged into mortal danger! who can save her? Captain rex! at least he hopes... and we meet Padme for the first time, AND Ahsoka begins to reconsider her career...please review!