A/N: I am so sorry that it has been so long. School has started, and work has started piling up. I have many chapters already written up and in need of revision, so I should be updating regularly. Do leave a review please! They really do inspire me and push me to crank out more sentences. Thanks for reading! -ModernApple
Alexia woke up at the jolts of the small pod colliding with the moist soil of Uria. The kick was surprisingly not very intense, but hard enough to make her lurch forward. While she was stretching her sore limbs from sleeping in an uncomfortable position, she replayed the conversation with the man she had prior to her nap.
He warned her of internal battles, and she could not decide if she was afraid or excited. It was the first time she had heard a Sith lord who was in the Force, but he came with grave news. He told her not to be afraid, but change is one of the most mysterious, and unforgiving things. Darth Vader told her to be wary of it, and that it could destroy somebody from the inside.
However, the Sith lord had almost a comforting tone. He did not make it sound like a bad situation, but she trusted her own master more than anybody else.
She opened the hatch, and a gust of incredibly humid cool air hit her skin, making goosebumps form on her exposed arms.
The rebels had given her a grey shirt and dark brown pants the second day of her imprisonment. Her regular attire was covered with blackish red mud that had dried into the thread of her clothes. Although she refused, the rough grains and smell of swamp rubbing on her skin had made her switch into the cheap fabrics. The one thing she kept was the boots, and they served as her inspiration to escape and get back to her master.
He must be worried, she assumed. There was an orb of disappointment in her stomach when there were no Imperial battle ships or attempt to save her while she was in the rebel's custody. Alexia recalled that in order to make a rescue attempt, it took many soldiers, fuel, and money. It would have been a great hassle, and as much as she hated to admit it, the Rebel Fleet would have deemed it a very difficult and resource consuming mission.
Alexia smiled to herself, He had that much faith in me to escape for myself. Her ñescape" was something she was proud of, but when she took her mind to it, she was reminded that she in fact did not accomplish the feat by herself, but was helped. By a stranger who was a part of the Alliance.
The clone trooper's voice shouting her name echoed constantly in her mind. Once again, the persistent deja vu was annoyingly scratching her head, but she had no answers or memories to satisfy it.
She would not be surprised if it was because he was a clone, as her father happened to be one. They all had identical voices, and maybe that was why it was reminding her of an image she could not piece together. Frustratingly, though, Cody had never given that same feeling for her.
Was it possible that he was her father? She frowned when she flashbacked to a memory as a child. Commander Cody had told her that her real father died at the hands of a Jedi the day of Order 66, a couple days earlier than she was born, so there would be no way that he would know her name (or be alive).
Maybe I'll get some answers when I get back to Coruscant. Her effort to calm the mental panic and anxiety she had tamed the flames, but she knew it was going to bother her until she made sense of, well, everything. She did not want to think of Darth Vader lying to her.
Standing up, she walked and was taken aback at the absence of a bight sun to shield her sensitive eyes from. The lack of sunlight was due to the very thick groves of oval shaped turquoise leaves the size of her height at least twenty feet above her. The trees had thin deep green trunks wrapped with lines of smooth purple moss. The moss had a distinct pattern, and had the width of an inch; an organic ribbon the protected the weak bases of the insanely tall palms.
The ground was not visible under the wrinkled leaves that fell. Uniquely, the blue tint they had turned into a dark purple when shriveled up. It was clear of any other live plants or shrubs, as the lack of the light would prevent them from growing successfully, but clusters of orange and red fungi were perfectly adapted to the conditions. With a very rich moist soil, everlasting shade, and decaying leaves, it was the perfect breeding grounds for the mushrooms. They grew directly from the soil, with very wide and thick caps that were decorated with white spots. Their stalks were comically short in comparison to the rest of the fungus, but Alexia found the piece of nature beautiful.
She had never seen anything like it. The only place she had seen that had somewhat resembled the nature of Uria was Umbara- a very different planet with a very different environment.
Upon looking at the lack of openings to the blue sky, she turned around to try to find where exactly her escape pod was able to land with minimal disturbance for her. A couple feet behind it was a large dent in leaves, making her cringe. The large pocket of light it gave to the ground was mesmerizing, though. Her eyes were drawn to something she had never expected.
There was a small group of yellow mushrooms, and the sunlight made them sparkle; twinkling almost. The white dots reflected the rays like crystals, and it landed on the nearby leaves up above. She slowly walked to it, with a wave of tranquility coming over her.
A rustling made her head snap to the right. With fungi and stalks making up the area, she could see about fifty feet ahead of her before it got too dark to see beyond. Yet, she could not spot anything that could have broken the thin mat of violet foliage that went for miles.
"Hello?" she asked. Her voice, despite what she oddly expected, did not echo. The rustling came closer, and she grabbed her guns, aiming at the floor.
When the animals crawled into the new sunlight, she was finally able to spot them. The rodent like creatures resembled Tookas, but with less fur and shorter tails. The fur was a neutral violet, making them blend seamlessly into their habitat.
One was larger than the other, and she guessed the younger one to be a juvenile. They did not seem to mind Alexia's presence, so she observed the little creatures in awe.
The juvenile one stood on his back legs, resembling a weasel with a shorter midsection and larger ears, and turned to face Alexia. The mother did not seem to mind as she cautiously sniffed the reflective mushrooms.
Alexia smiled, once again thankful that she was free in nature, and no longer stuck in a cell being injected with chemicals. He seemed to take it like an invitation to come closer, and carefully crawled in her direction. He stopped about a foot away from her, and his large coal eyes bore into her's.
Immediately, Alexia's mind went blank. All of her thoughts were faded away and blurred. All she could think about was darkness. Then, a little blue light appeared out of it. It made her feel secure and safe; almost warm, too. She reached out her hand to grab it, making it come closer, and it got brighter and brighter.
Alexia was just about to have it in her reach, but it had started slipping away. Now, a red shade overtook it. It had the opposite effect of the blue; fear and anger. She could not do anything but merely watch the two fight over each other trying to completely devour the other.
When she tried to change the fight into the electric light's favor, she felt negative feelings of restriction and rules. The magenta side was displaying the comfort of emotions and passion. She felt torn between the two, until they did the most intriguing thing.
They blew out. No light, and no shade. Only, now, pure nothing. It made her feel hopeless, despite not knowing what she was imagining.
Then, a new color had emerged from the explosion. It was an almost white color, with a grey undertone. Alexia opened her eyes, which made her realize that they were closed to begin with, to see the little rodent almost touching her. "Woah!" she exclaimed.
He ran away at the sound, as did the mother, scuttling off into the shaded darkness of the grove. Alexia shuddered, and was wondering what the little animal did to her.
It felt like she was in a hypnotic trance, possibly a way for these rodents to distract predators so they could run away to safety. She imagined the little animal must have been curious about her, and used the tactic on her so that he could examine her.
Just as she was about to turn around, she grabbed her blaster and was about to pull the trigger, but a green ball of condensed energy waves hit her at the center of her back and she fell limp to the ground with a thud.
"Blast it," she muttered, angry that she could never have a single moment of peace. The last thing she saw were the shadows of people.
"That can't be," Hera muttered to herself. Kanan was next to her, and although he could not see the footage, he heard Rex's voice and Arya's. Or rather Alexia's, she corrected herself. The green twi'lek had been rewatching the film since the escape of the Sith apprentice that left everybody shocked. They had made it almost impossible for the girl to escape, but with the help of Rex, the young Sith made it out.
Kanan folded his arms, "Looks like we need to have a talk with Rex." It was a huge understatement.
"I don't understand why he would do this," Hera said, pinching the skin above her nose.
"He knows her," Kanan observed. "But how and from where is what we need to find out- now. He just cost the Alliance many opportunities that we could have used for supplies and maybe even defeating the Empire and Darth Vader. The higher ups are going to demand answers."
Hera's mouth twitched as she pressed a button to activate a signal to Rex's comm, "Since when did you care so much about the whole Alliance?"
Kanan, though not visibly but Hera could still see it, rolled his eyes. He heard Hera initiating the call, and scoffed, "Most likely he won't even pick up." The Jedi leaned on a table with his palms. "Why am I not surprised?"
Hera turned to Kanan with annoyance etched into her face, "What do you mean by that?"
The Jedi Knight responded in a tone that was half victorious and half disappointment, "I told you clones are not to be trust-"
The door slid open, interrupting Kanan, "Yes sir?" Rex walked in without hesitation.
He knew why Hera had called him, and he was not going to try and deny it; he helped his daughter. There was not an ounce inside him that regretted his actions. Did they cost the Rebels their first very important prisoner and the closest link to Vader after Ahsoka? The answer is yes, but Rex cared more about saving Alexia. It would be the best and most important thing he could ever do for her. After letting her be on her own at the orphanage, he knew he had to make it up. It was his parental duty as as a father; something he knew nothing about being grown on Kamino. Any consequence that came with his actions he would accept full heartedly.
When he entered, Kanan, although blind and with a large patch that covered his eyes, had an obvious scowl. "Rex you better start explaining," he started, the anger in his voice coming out in waves, "before we try you for treason and crimes against the Rebel Alliance." Rex crossed his arms, and kept his eyes at the same level as Kanan's accusing stare (or where he imagined it would be).
Hera was going to tell Kanan to calm down, but he had roughly said what she was going to ask Rex- albeit more aggressive. She cleared her throat, "I don't even know where to start Rex, so I am going to let you try to help us understand."
As Rex was under the expectant look of the Jedi and pilot, he realized he hadn't planned any of what he was going to say. He was so caught up in his emotions of seeing his daughter as an Imperial prisoner, that he had no idea where he was going to start. His past hours were spent writhing in self induced guilt and hope that he could one day make it up for her. By not taking her with him that day on Coruscant, he basically handed her over to Darth Vader.
There was one thing for certain; he needed to tell them the truth. There was no point in keeping it secret, and hopefully she could gain some sort of protections being his daughter.
He took a deep breath, "I did help her escape. It was my full intention do so. This girl was raised by Darth Vader, being taught that the Empire was the Republic it took over years ago." Guilt had weighed in on his chest when the words came out of his mouth.
Kanan noticed, and made a mental note. Rex continued after the stone weight eventually dissolved, "She needs to find out for herself how the Empire is, realistically. Keeping her hostage and injecting drugs into her system is not the way to convince her that the Rebel Alliance is the one fighting against evil."
Hera shook her head, her lekku swaying as she did so, "You do not get to decide that, Rex. I agree with you, I really do. But this is a group decision, and you can't just decide these things on you're own. She was a prisoner to the Rebel Alliance, and her future was to be decided by all of us." He shook his head, and his sight bounced off the floor back to Hera.
"They would have never agreed to letting her go," Rex pointed out. "All they wanted to do was use her for information, and possibly as bait." His hands formed knuckles, "It would have taken forever for anything to be decided so I took the initiative."
"This does not sound like you," Hera said, starting to worry. She was slightly taken aback by his actions. Rex was a relatively centered person, and even though he was sensitive, he always toned it down.
Ahsoka's death hit him very hard, and it was very obvious. He would stay in his room, which they used to quietly share, for hours at a time and only emerging when he desperately needed to.
Everybody was grieving over Ahsoka, but Rex would never try to participate in squad training sessions or dinners. Any attempts to talk to him were meant with a a bittersweet smile or a curt nod. It had began to get a little better, as he started going along on missions and getting his personality back. But, he had bursts of anger that nobody had seen. Losing countless amount of soldiers in the Clone Wars during his time as a captain, having gone through another trusted friend due to war must had been a sick reminder to him at the true cost. Hera wondered if this was clouding his judgement.
"And how would you know what was best for her?" she added. "You talked to her once for ten minutes."
Kanan entered the conversation again before Rex could respond, "You knew her," he stated. "In the recording, you called her Alexia and her reaction proved it to be her real name; something we could never get out of her. How did you know?"
Jedi will notice everything but anything they don't want to believe. "Because," his gaze went to the floor before returning up to Hera and Kanan, "I named her that."
It took a moment for the other two to comprehend what he said. The silence was pregnant with shock and disbelief until Kanan broke it after clicking his tongue and awkwardly commented, "I thought all clones were sterile... or?"
Rex put a guilty had behind his neck, "We are. How she even exists right now is something I've never figured out."
Hera took another deep breath, trying to wrap her mind around what he was saying, "So Darth Arya, or shall I say, Alexia, is your biological daughter?"
"Yes," Rex sighed, sitting down on the chair that was next to him. "It is proven. She shares half of her DNA structure with me, and the only other person with mine who was not altered in any way was Jango Fett. He died at the beginning of the Clone Wars."
"Her mother, who was she?" Kanan asked, trying to form a theory to how an infertile clone fathered a child.
"I met her at a bar. All I know is that she was from Mandalore," he admitted. "She was an ordinary person from what she told me. Her sister was a biologist and ran the tests along with Kix, who was the senior medic of the 501st. Neither could find answers, and all check ups resulted the same thing; I was still infertile."
Kanan held his chin with his forefinger and the tip of his thumb, "I've heard of a similar situation, with Master Skywalker."
"What do you mean?" Rex inquired, trying to remember anything that his old general told him about his life prior to becoming a Jedi. Skywalker seldom talked about his upcoming or anything before arriving at the Jedi Temple and becoming General Kenobi's padawan learner.
Kanan said, "He, from what I've heard, had no father at all. But yet his mother had still fallen pregnant. It is possible that the Force made it for Alexia to be born as well."
"The Force does work in mysterious ways," Hera commented. Her head seemed to spin to how complicated the whole situation just became. "But Rex, did you know that your daughter was Vader's apprentice from the start-"
A trigger went off in the retired soldier, and he snapped, "No, I did not know my daughter was going kidnapped and trained by Vader to become his assasin." He bit his lip when he was aware of how aggressive and loud his voice was and apologized, "I'm sorry."
He closed his eyes, and spoke softly, "I had nothing to give her. Irene had left her in a very rich community on the higher level of Coruscant. When I picked her up from there, I... I had a feeling that she should stay as far away from the grand Republic as I could.
"So I decided to place her in an orphanage in the slums of Coruscant. It was a couple days after Order 66 was initiated. I knew that anywhere near Jedi or changes in government would be dangerous for her. So, I went to a place that was never touched before or during the war. I regret it, knowing it did no good for her in the end." Kanan opened his mouth to say something, but no words came to his head.
The clones had nothing, he remembered. They did not have houses other than the barracks built for them. Income for the clones was one of the subjects the Senate would have gotten to if they did not spend as much time debating over moral arguments. There was no way a clone could possibly raise a family during service, and he was sure the Kaminoans did not want them doing anything but blasting away at droids.
Hera put a hand on Rex's shoulder, "It wasn't your fault. Darth Vader and his Imperials went through all the orphanages everywhere; taking children to recruit for the Academy. Hunting for Force sensitive children to butcher. But... Rex, what you did was something that the Alliance will want an explanation for. They are not going to be forgiving at the loss of their most important prisoner."
Rex shrugged, "I don't care what happens to me. Alexia has a chance now of finding out what the Empire really is."
Kanan placed his palm on his forehead, still getting used to the smooth durasteel cover he strapped on, "Rex. I know what you are thinking. Ahsoka ran away from the Order and became a grey Jedi. This girl, and I am sorry to say, grew up an Imperial. What makes you think she will have the same mindset for change? This type of thing will flip her mind over; everything. Not everybody will accept the truth."
"She is my kid," Rex said as he stood. "There is good in her; I know it. I talked to her, and that was the confirmation that she needed to be let go.
"I saw myself in her; her stubbornness and loyalty. If I were her, I would not begin to see different perspectives if the Separatists captured me and the same thing we were."
Kanan chuckled, "That would explain her a lot, actually." Hera bumped Kanan's arm with her elbow. "What? He said it himself, Hera."
"Rex," she started, placing a hand at his shoulder. She kept eye to eye contact, emphasizing her next words, "You are going to need to tell the rest of Phoenix Squadron first. I doubt they will be as... calm about as we are."
"I know," he said. "I don't look forward to it, but breaking their, and you two's, trust was worth it for the very chance that my daughter can learn to come back to the light."