Chapter 11.
"hey," they spoke simultaneously.
Ahsoka couldn't help but stare into Anakin's eyes. They looked sad yet hopeful as the light bounced innocently off them.
"Ahsoka," Anakin's voice was soft and smooth yet round and masculine as he embraced her.
Ahsoka could sense that the balance within him had changed. It had shifted and it was different, enticing and almost seductive as she felt a rush of dopamine flood her veins.
The pair engaged in general conversation and caught up on everything that had been happening in their separate worlds they had created for themselves whilst they were apart. The more Anakin spoke the more Ahsoka fell in love with him all over again. She felt like she could finally forgive him for having hurt her. He asked about Lux without getting jealous and she spoke the truth of how they had engaged each other temporarily. Anakin had grown. She couldn't sense jealousy or envy just relief and love.
Anakin couldn't help but listen in pure wonder as he absorbed every word that left Ahsoka's lips. He couldn't even feel protective only proud as Ahsoka had been offered the charge of the royal Onderon militia however she gracefully turned it down in favour of sustaining herself from her past. She even apologised to him for playing coy in their shared mind space and for not coming to his aid sooner.
That night as they waited for Rex and the Bad Batch to rendezvous with them, Anakin and Ahsoka ate together, side by side, their legs touching. They had learnt to enjoy each other's company again in a matter of hours, their love for each other beginning to spiral out of control until they would be forced to box it back up again.
The younglings and Obi wan had retreated for the night and the two of them were left listening out for any open communication from Rex and the others. They had not heard from them since they had entered the atmosphere of Devaron.
Ahsoka playfully tousled Anakin's hair a small smile plastered across her face. Anakin pulled her towards him until their foreheads touched, swelling in his chest as he swallowed back his fears. He tilted his head and captured her lips with his, energy ebbing at his skin as he pulled away only to be brought back to raw intimacy of her lips trapping his in raw passion.
The morning shone brightly, waking the two of them. They had fallen asleep next to each other when they were supposed to be standing by on communications. Ahsoka rolled over lazily and looked up to meet Anakin's gaze. He smiled closing his eyes once again.
"Yesterday on the balcony, I saw you as if I had never met you before," she said, her voice low and husky.
"I could say the same, Snips," he chuckled.
"You've changed Anakin and I think I like it," she spoke, cautious of her words.
He chuffed, pulling Ahsoka closer to him and that was all the response Ahsoka needed.
Words unspoken that didn't need to be said. Actions spoke louder than words as the pair retreated to the privacy of the refresher and proceeded to undress each other. Words that were too painful to be said aloud disappeared for a later utterance as the hot, steamy water fogged up the glass. It was only the other on their mind as they connected deeper and harder than ever. Two bodies intertwined at the torso, chest to chest, intimate worship.
They joined the others for breakfast and created small talk among the table. Everyone seemed to know something that they didn't as Ahsoka stared Katooni down. Katooni seemed to back down and change the subject from 'how did everyone sleep?' to 'has anyone heard from Rex?'. The response turned into a more serious tone as Obi wan expressed concerns that it had been taking them too long to report. It concerned Anakin and Ahsoka that this was the case as they had meant to be on communications during the night and suggested that the group of them had uncovered trouble.
Just as the discussion turned sombre Anakin's commlink was triggered.
"Skywalker here," his voice was surprised and confused as he answered.
"Sir, its Rex, we've landed in the main hangar and are en route to your position," his voice was so formal and precise. It made Ahsoka smirk.
"We'll be waiting," Anakin replied cutting the transmission.
Rex and the bad batch walked through the main doors and joined them all at the dining table. There was a momentary silence as everyone waited for someone to speak.
"Troopers have begun re-appearing and not in a good way," Rex broke the silence.
His words hung in the air like stale bantha meat. Confusion sweeping the room. Obi wan furrowed his brow and Ahsoka's force energy spiked. She asked the younglings to take defensive positions around the residence in case Rex and the team had been followed. Truthfully it was to stop them from getting involved in matters that didn't concern them. They weren't Jedi anymore.
Tech proceeded to play a holo-recording of a clone breaking into the outpost to retrieve evidence. Evidence that was a modified blaster that belonged to CT-8742 also known to his brothers as 'Tric'.
"That is Tric, reported missing after the attack at the outpost. He managed to slip in and out without being detected. Alarms were only triggered because evidence had gone missing," Hunter explained.
Rex stayed quiet as the Bad Batch recounted the events on Devaron. Rex could not stop the overwhelming feeling of what had less than a year prior that had resulted in the untimely death of Tup and Fives. The discovery of a chip that could change a man demeanour in a split second. It brought unwanted memories to the forefront of his mind and it didn't go unnoticed.
"Rex," Obi wan prompted, "Is there something you would like to share?"
"I believed that the chip in Tric's brain may have been activated," Rex blurted out, "all clones have one, including myself. Problem is how do we stop it from being activated?"
Rex tried to remain calm and seemingly in control but truthfully his emotions were in turmoil. He was angry that his brothers were designed to be controlled. He was frustrated that someone was now taking advantage of his brothers who were now free from fighting a war that no longer existed. A war that they were bred to fight.
The question of how to stop the chips from being activated was a matter of galaxy-wide concern. Those who did not decide to stay in the military had spread throughout the galaxy to make their own life. How many of them had disappeared too?
Obi wan left to speak to Chancellor Organa about access to a medical facility and putting the call out from all clones to come forward for examination. Whilst Anakin and Ahsoka made an urgent transmission to Kamino. It wasn't long before they had received a response. The lead scientist of the Clone project had died after the death of Palpatine suggesting a more sinister intention for the clones.