To say all this business with the Senate and the Jedi Temple was making him uneasy would've been the understatement of the millennia.

It was driving him positively mad.

Rex had never been good at politics to begin with, but he knew a corrupted official when he saw one—and Adjutant General Tarkin was exactly that.

His fist curled just thinking about the man.

How he ever came to power is beyond me.

The satisfaction Rex had felt when Tarkin lost the trial due to last minute evidence brought forth by Anakin was unlike any he'd ever felt.

And his relief was palpable. Because it was over now. All of it. The blame, the guilt, the deceit, and every shade of gray in between.

Over.

Now, all he had to do was wait patiently for word to arrive from his Commanding Officers. From Anakin and Ahsoka, who still had a lot of Jedi business to sort out at the Temple.

Soon, he told himself as he ran track exercises with Fives and Jesse. Any moment now.

But a moment turned into an hour, and an hour crawled into a day.

Then two.

And Rex only had so much patience stored away in his mental reserves. He wasn't Cody, for crying out loud.

As the morning dawned on the third day since the conclusion of the trial, Rex got ready as usual. But before he checked on his troops, he waited.

Any minute now…

After lingering in the mess hall of the GAR headquarters for the better part of twenty minutes, the captain heaved a sigh.

"They're probably still working things out." Rex looked up just in time to watch Fives sit down across from him, setting two trays on the table.

"I already ate," Rex said, pushing away his brother's offer of breakfast.

Fives shot him a look. "Nice try."

"Fine. I'm not hungry, then."

The ARC raised a skeptical brow and Rex sighed.

"I just… Don't you think someone would've contacted us by now? I'm sure even Cody's heard something from General Kenobi."

Fives shrugged. "Like I said, they're probably still working things out."

"For three days?"

Another shrug. "You know how the Jedi are, vod. They're very… thorough. Careful. Deliberate in the way they do things."

"Yeah." Rex glanced down at his food. The mere sight of it was enough to turn his already unstable stomach.

Ahsoka would've called if something was wrong.

Right…?

So, nothing's wrong. It can't be. She hasn't called yet.

She hasn't called…

"Yeah," he repeated, gazing back up at Fives. "Well, if I don't hear something from them in the next five minutes, I'm gonna comm the commander myself."

"I'd say, give them time."

"I've given them time, Fives! They've had plenty of time! You can only keep someone in the dark for so long before they start to worry."

"So, you're worried, then?"

"Aren't you?"

After a moment, Fives sighed and nodded. "So much for trying to raise your spirits."

Rex quirked a brow. "Is that what you were doing?"

"Well, you have been rather mopey these past few days." And before Rex could protest, Fives continued, "I just wanted to make sure you were all right."

"And I just want to make sure Ahsoka's all right."

Fives shook his head. "She never deserved any of it. Couldn't the Jedi sense that she was telling the truth? I mean, how did you and I know that she was in the right beyond a shadow of a doubt but the Jedi didn't? That doesn't make any sense to me."

"None of it makes sense," Rex agreed. "But it's over now. Everything will go back to normal soon. Well, as soon as I get word from the general."

"You really think so?"

And for the first time, a dark shadow passed over Rex's hope. Would everything go back to normal? He hadn't gotten to talk with Ahsoka very much since the whole conspiracy had begun, but he knew that tensions were still high between her and General Kenobi. Even between her and Skywalker…

No. They'll get past it. They have to.

Because he didn't know what he'd do if they didn't.

"Things seemed all right after General Kenobi faked his death," Rex pointed out, keeping his voice low just in case any of the 212th boys happened to be within earshot. Even now, it was still a sore subject.

"Yeah," Fives scoffed, "after six kriffing months."

"Six months is better than never, Fives."

"I guess."

Rex couldn't suppress the smirk that tugged at his lips. "Now who's being mopey? Look, why don't I just contact the general and put all our worries to rest?"

"What if he's in the middle of something?"

"Fives, we can't keep going on like this. It's not fair to the 501st—to his troops. I'm sure everything will be cleared up once I talk to General—"

"General Skywalker, sir!"

Rex whipped his head up at the sudden cry.

And there was his general, standing at the front of the mess, Kix already at his side and conversing softly with him.

The general…

The sight of the Jedi should have reassured Rex, should've filled him with relief and joy. But he felt none of these things as his brain went on autopilot and drove him towards Anakin.

There was an expression on the general's face that Rex found he didn't want to decipher; a slump to his shoulders that sent shivers down the captain's spine.

When he finally stopped, standing a mere three feet away from Anakin, Rex studied the man.

And his stomach dropped.

"General Skywalker," he said finally, though he could feel his throat rapidly begin to dry out. "I was just about to comm you."

Anakin just nodded and Rex was acutely aware of all the brothers gathering around them. Curious, yet keeping their distance.

"I figured it was time to check in on you guys," Anakin responded, his tone laced with a tired bitterness Rex couldn't quite pinpoint. "Are you… You're all okay?"

"We're fine, sir." And Rex felt a wariness seep into his bones. Best to tread carefully… "Are you all right? It's been a rough week…"

"You can say that again," Anakin muttered.

And Rex didn't like how the man was avoiding his eyes. Why?

"Well… We're here for you, sir, if you need anything."

The Jedi just nodded.

While Anakin's gaze rested for a moment on the floor, Rex glanced at Kix. The medic shook his head ever so slightly, but the captain couldn't quite decipher its meaning.

It was only with the general's reaction to the next question that Kix's warning dawned on Rex.

"And Commander Tano?" Rex asked, shaken by the way Anakin's head whipped up in an instant. "Is she all right?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Rex noticed Kix trying to swallow a sigh. Regret began to eat him alive, clawing and gnawing at his heart and mind.

And not for the first time, Rex desperately wanted to take his words back. But something was clearly wrong here.

And I'm tired of being left in the dark.

Anakin's voice was that of a soldier utterly defeated by his worst enemy and it crushed Rex's chest. "I don't know."

"Sir…?" Rex prompted when it didn't look like Anakin was going to elaborate. "General, what's wrong?"

Silence.

"What happened?"

Anakin's eyes flickered, his hand flexing.

"Sir," Rex's voice was firm now, demanding a response, "where is Commander Tano?"

"She's gone," Anakin finally admitted, voice breaking as his fist curled.

And for one long, dreadful minute, Rex's world went dark, spinning seemingly out of control as the floor beneath his feet shifted. He couldn't catch a proper breath, couldn't fill his lungs.

Gone.

Gone…?

Where—?

"Where, sir?" He asked finally, trying to keep his voice steady.

Anakin shrugged helplessly, shaking his head. "I don't know."

There wasn't anything Rex wouldn't give to have his helmet on in that moment, to be able to hide his face away. To keep his torrent of emotions concealed from his troops—from his general.

"She…" Anakin cleared his throat and Rex noticed the way the Jedi wouldn't meet his eyes. "She left the Order."

What?

It was all he could do not to gasp openly, not to heave for air. For some form of relief from this pain.

A murmur of shocked curses and desperate questions filled the room, but Rex's voice seemed to be the only one Anakin heard.

"She left? Sir… why?"

Another shrug. "She said she had to figure things out on her own… Without us… Without me… She was hurting. Kriff, we hurt her so bad!"

Not we, sir, the Jedi hurt her.

"And I just let her go. Why did I just let her go?"

"Sir," Rex said, swallowing down his swirling emotions, "you can't force her to stay. You can't force her to do anything she doesn't want to." Anakin inhaled sharply. "You… Sir, as hard as this is, you made the right choice in letting her go."

"Did I really?"

I don't know. All he knew was that this was a wound that would be a long time in healing. But they would get through it. We will get through this. Together.

"So, she already left?" Fives' tone was the most sorrowful it had ever been since they lost Echo at the Citadel.

"I'm sorry, Fives, but yeah. She's gone."

"Without saying goodbye?" Tup stole the words right off Rex's tongue.

"She didn't come to say goodbye?" Anakin's confusion was all-too-real.

"We haven't heard anything from her since the trial, sir," Rex clarified, then watched as his general's frown deepened.

"Maybe there's still time?" And there was Fives, always the optimist. "If she just left, maybe we can catch her and—"

The way Anakin shook his head this time around made Rex wish had hadn't gotten out of bed that morning.

"She left the day of the trial. She's long gone by now. I can't—" Anakin sucked in a breath. "I can't even feel her. She's closed herself off to me, to Obi-Wan…"

But Rex wasn't listening anymore. He was too busy trying to wrap his head around his general's latest confession.

She's been gone for two days…?

Two kriffing days?

And no one said anything about it?

No one told us…?

"Sir," Rex began carefully, trying in vain to keep his tone under control, "you mean to tell me that our commander left two days ago and you didn't think to tell us?"

The shock in Anakin's eyes, the sudden realization made it clear that he hadn't thought of this until now. And that should've made Rex feel a bit better, that the Jedi had simply forgotten in his grief.

But it only stoked the fire rising inside of him.

Because Anakin had forgotten about them.

He'd forgotten.

"Rex," he began, his sorrow and regret palpable, "I… Kriff, things have been so chaotic and stressful lately. I didn't… I didn't think…"

"You didn't think that maybe we would want to know that our commander left us, for good? That maybe she means more to all of us than you originally thought?"

"No, Rex, I know how much she means to you—"

"And yet, you didn't think to come to us the minute—even the day—she left? Not even a quick comm call or a short comm message telling us what happened? A simple 'Ahsoka's left the Order and she won't be coming back or saying goodbye, just thought I'd let you know' would've been better than nothing!"

"Rex…" Kix's voice was laced with warning.

"I know! All right?" Anakin exclaimed. "I know I messed up! Believe me, I know! Do you think I wanted this to happen?"

"I don't care about what you wanted to happen, sir, I care about what you did. You can't control Commander Tano, but you are in control of your own actions. And right now, you have a lot to account for."

"I don't have to account for anything!" Anakin snapped suddenly, flinging his hands into the air. "I didn't ask for this! I was grieving, Rex! I still am!"

"And I'm not?"

"Rex!" Kix hissed and Rex felt a restraining hand latch onto his wrist.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"

He was breaking so many rules, but he couldn't bring himself to care—couldn't make himself stop.

He was spiraling, caught in a void of grief that refused to let him go.

"No, sir, I don't, because someone didn't think it necessary to share this heartache with his troops. We count, sir. We matter. And we deserve to know when our commander packs up and leaves right out of the blue because you and your Jedi couldn't get their act together."

His world was crumbling before him and he was helpless to stop it. Kix said something else, but he couldn't hear, couldn't see. All he knew was Skywalker.

The man who trusted his captain with his deepest secrets. The man he thought he knew, thought he could trust…

"Well, sue me for trying to have a moment to myself, a moment to grieve my lost Padawan!" Anakin shot back, his infamous temper matching Rex's blow for blow.

"If I wasn't so kriffing sick of the messed up justice system we're all fighting and dying to defend, I would take you up on that offer! Maybe it would get you to see the world beyond yourself and your own needs!"

A dark veil fell over the Jedi's eyes. "No wonder she didn't come to say goodbye."

Pain was exploding through his knuckles before Rex could even take a moment to consider the consequences of his actions.

Because how dare he?

How dare he?

It was only when Anakin stumbled back into the wall, clutching his face… When Kix shouted both their names—Anakin's in concern, Rex's in anger—that Rex realized exactly what he'd just done.

Serves him right.

This was his first thought, followed almost immediately by: What have I done…?

What have I done?

Fives was shouting something at him, but Rex couldn't hear, couldn't think. His mind was reeling, his chest constricting the point that if he didn't find some reprieve soon, he would suffocate on his own foolish actions.

Strong hands grabbed at his arms, but Rex shoved them away with a strength he didn't quite feel.

Then he was running. Running from the mess hall like Ahsoka had from the Republic Military Base. Though he knew what he was feeling now was just a fraction of the desperation his little sister had felt less than a week ago.

What have I done?

What have I done?