A/N: My good friend, Ramage, sent me the bones of this in a series of PMs the other day and I just had to write it. It is his contribution to the first story of mine he ever read and turned him into a LoneRebel addict. :D

And fyi, I was already crying after writing just one paragraph, so you all might want a box of tissues for this.

Rex's Farewell and Reunion:

D78/17 ABY, Lothal

Despite everything they'd done to keep Rex healthy, including weekly and then daily infusions of Force energy from Ahsoka, his poor, overworked heart finally gave out on him when he was only forty-five and a half galactic standard years old.

But Rex was ready to move on.

He'd lived as full a life as a sterile clone could ever hope for. Fought with his brothers through one war he never asked to be part of and through a second one at the side of his friends because he refused to be left out. Found and loved a girl who didn't care that he couldn't give her children for a few blissful years until she was taken from him by a virus that wiped out half their village in a week. Found a couple of his brothers to grow old with until he lost them too. Then had the privilege of helping raise a whole new batch of Jedi younglings with Ahsoka, Luke, and Ezra and their ever-growing families.

He honestly couldn't ask for more than what the Galaxy had already given him.

Which is what he told the best friend he'd ever had when she came to his hospital room on this beautiful spring morning.

With a frail and gnarled hand that shook, Rex touched Ahsoka's as she rested it over his chest to revitalize him enough to make it through another day that he found he didn't want. Not when he was hooked up to machines that monitored his vitals without cease and kept his degenerating organs from quitting completely. Not when he could no longer walk on his own. Not if this was all he had left. "No," he whispered with what was left of his croaky voice. The Togrutan's beautiful sky blue eyes shot to his and widened in sudden understanding. "No more."

Tears welled in his little sister's eyes immediately, but she whispered back. "Okay, Rex. Okay."

He moved his arm to point vaguely at the wall of beeping machines. "Please. Can you turn them off? I don't want to hear them anymore."

She nodded mutely, and with a wave of her hand, every machine went silent. Without going to the great effort of turning his head, he didn't know if she'd actually turned them off or just disabled the beepers on them. He wasn't going to ask. He knew it wasn't actually the machines that he'd continued to breathe for for the last few weeks anyway. It was her. But he couldn't do it anymore.

Ahsoka grasped his hand gently in both of hers, tears trickling from her eyes and over the white markings on her cheeks. "You're sure, Rexi? This is what you want?"

"I'm sure." Rex was valiantly trying not to cry as well, but he knew he was failing as her precious image blurred to just a circle of orange with two tall points at the top. He hung on to her hand with as much strength as he could muster instead. "I've lived longer than any other clone my age and even outlived nearly all the ones made after me. There's nothing more that I can ask of this life. I'm ready to move on to your Force Heaven that the ghosts have said is wonderful."

"And you believe them?" she teased through a subtle sob.

Rex did his best to turn his mouth up in a smile for her, feeling as though the deep wrinkles in his face were cracking with the effort. "If it were only General Kenobi and Master Yoda, I'd be more inclined to think it a joke, but Kanan and Anakin both couldn't be lying to us as well, right?"

She laughed, again sounding more like a sob underneath, but it was a genuine laugh and that was enough to make Rex smile for real. "I should hope not, Rexi." Then she leaned down and kissed his forehead with soft lips that felt like heaven to his dry and fragile skin. "I'm going to get everyone who's on planet and holocomm the others okay? You just hang on until everyone gets here."

"Yes, Sir," he said with all seriousness.

He heard her huff softly, felt the whisper of a hand over his bald head, and then she was gone.

Rex let his heavy eyes close as he sagged into the hospital bed on a release of tension he hadn't realized he'd been feeling. With some effort, he turned his face towards the window where the morning sun was playing across his room. Enjoying the warmth of the sunrays on his face, Rex fell asleep.

Sometime later, he half woke to the sensation of his hand being held again, but he couldn't seem to make his eyes open. Nor could he make any part of his body move. There was a heavy weight on his chest that he eventually figured out was one of the younglings clinging to him. He couldn't tell which one though.

His ears still worked at least, but it wasn't exactly fun and games around him.

"Uncle Rex," he heard the child on his bed sob, identifying her as Mira. At nine, she was the youngest of his close family and he wasn't surprised that she'd finagled her way into the prime spot.

He heard murmurs from Hera, Ezra, and Sabine, but their voices were muffled like they were talking through cotton. Maybe my ears are going too.

That theory was kyboshed when he clearly heard Luke say, "Grogu, no! Rex doesn't want to be healed!"

"But, Master, he's…" the tiny being said sadly as Rex felt a clawed hand brush over his arm.

"I know, sweetie," Ahsoka interrupted softly, joining the conversation. Rex was sure now that she was the one holding his hand again. "But not everyone wants to live forever. We have to respect that."

Grogu made a whimpering sound that almost had Rex changing his mind about moving on to the next stage of his existence.

"I'm sorry," Din said next. "He got away from me."

"That's okay," Ahsoka murmured as Rex heard shuffling sounds around him that faded out along with the heartbreaking sound of children openly crying and adults pretending that they weren't. He even thought he heard the familiar sad beeps of Chopper and Artoo, in agreement for once.

At that point, Rex made the bleary realization that he hadn't taken a breath in a while. He thought maybe he should try, but a sense of weariness beyond anything he'd ever felt made it more than even his formidable willpower could accomplish. So he just went with it and used the last vestiges of his consciousness to concentrate on the feeling of Ahsoka's hand holding his. He heard her say solemnly, "He's fading," followed by a unified cry of protest from the assembled. And then in only moments, an uncountable number of hands of different sizes were touching his head, chest, and arms, and Ahsoka's beloved voice was whispering in his ear, "Goodbye, my dear friend. Your battle is over now. Go on and be with your brothers and may the Force be with you. I'll see you on the other side one day and you can tell me all over again that experience outranks everything."

Rex so badly wanted to answer, 'Love you too, kid,' but everything went black and numb before he could.

When he opened his eyes again, Rex was standing in a vast expanse of white nothingness. Hunh. I was expecting something a little better than this.

And more occupied.

Pivoting on the spot, Rex scanned in all directions. "Hello?!" he called out. When no response came right away, he decided to examine himself. A little grin of relief grew on his face as he saw that his hands were straight and strong again, his forearms and calves thick with muscle from where they poked out from the hospital gown he was still wearing. Patting himself, his grin increased as he felt strong thighs, the impressive manhood of his younger self, flat and ripped stomach, and a chest to be proud of. Reaching up, he laughed when he found his old buzz cut growing on top of his head and his jaw whisker free. Bet it's even dyed blond.

And if my body can be the way I want it to, then I bet I can change my clothes too.

Rex closed his eyes for a moment and pictured what he wanted. When he opened them again, he was decked out in his modified Phase 2 armour and his helmet was tucked under his arm. "Much better." (As more and more pieces of his armour were lost, broken, or deliberately left behind over the years, Rex had felt less and less like himself. Having it back made him feel like a missing limb had been returned.)

Now, to get out of here. Cause there's no way I'm staying in this bland plane of nothingness.

Suiting action to thought, the clone started walking in the direction he was currently facing, figuring it was as good as any. Not even three steps later, Anakin appeared beside him, looking slightly out of breath. (Ironic, for a ghost that didn't need to breathe.) "Sorry I'm late, Rexter. Got delayed talking to Ahsoka."

Rex glanced up at his General, smiling. "Don't worry about it. Didn't know you were there for the farewell party too."

Anakin clapped him on the shoulder, bringing them to a stop. "Of course I was, buddy. Wouldn't miss out on such an important moment in my family's lives."

Rex smiled, eyes stinging a little. "Thank you, Sir."

The Jedi ghost rolled his eyes. "Anakin, Rex. How many times do I have to tell you?"

He grinned. "Only a few hundred thousand more, probably. I'm stubborn like that."

Anakin laughed. "Yeah, buddy, you are." His eyes swept over Rex's chosen outfit and then he was shaking his head. "Why am I not surprised? You know there are no wars to fight in Force Heaven. It's your turn to rest and be at peace. You've more than earned it." Anakin shook his head. "Truth be told, old buddy, you've accomplished and sacrificed more than any one person should ever have had to."

Rex smiled a little ruefully and shrugged. "Just doing my duty, Sir. And as for the rest and peace, I'm looking forward to that. In my armour."

Anakin laughed. "You'll be in good company then."

As Rex raised an eyebrow, the Jedi waved a hand and a door appeared. Rex looked at it with cautious hope. "What will I find in there?"

Anakin just smirked, the nerf. He squeezed his shoulder in farewell. "Have fun, my friend. I'll be around to visit sometime later with Obi-Wan, I'm sure."

Rex blinked as the ghost blinked away, and then he looked at the faintly blue glowing door. Only one way to find out…

He stepped forward and pushed open the door.

On the other side, he found a living area big enough to hold a few million people. There were couches and armchairs and movie screens. Buffet tables filled with drinks of all sorts, delicious looking food, snacks, and candy. Game tables. Dining tables. Exercise mats. Shooting ranges. Gym equipment. And that was just what he could see near the door.

It's a giant bachelor pad.

And filling up that bachelor pad were millions of his brothers, almost all of which were in their armour of various colours, their body suits, or some mix of the two.

All of the clones closest to the door were in 501st blue with some 212th orange and 104th grey mixed in as the next two closest legions mingled with their friends.

I'm home, he thought as tears once again stung his eyes.

Rex had only been standing in the doorway for a few seconds when one of the clones noticed him. Jesse did a comic double take as he walked towards a buffet table and then he yelled, "He's finally here!" loud enough to even catch the attention of the people back on Lothal, Rex would swear it. Nearly as one, thousands of Rex's brothers cheered fit to wake the dead (haha) and scrambled to line up in orderly rows as the furniture magically moved out of the way even before Jesse could add, "Ten-hut!"

In the first row of saluting men, Cody, Wollfe, and Gregor had parked themselves front and center. And fanning out to either side were Jesse, Fives, Echo, Tup, Vaughn, Hardcase, and so many more of his dearly missed favourite brothers that Rex's eyes got literally blurry as he was trying to see them. (Though the distinctive shapes and armour of Clone Force 99 stood out even through the mist.)

Shaking his head, Rex dropped his helmet on the plush carpet and stepped up to a Cody who'd chosen to keep his distinctive eye scar. (Wollfe had not.) "Vod," he choked out.

Cody smiled through his own misty eyes and then they were hugging each other hard enough it was a good thing they didn't actually need to breathe anymore.

From there, Rex was passed into so many hugging arms, he literally lost track of how many brothers tried to suffocate him with affection. At one point, he did manage to ask Jesse where Kix was, sure that his medic would have been one of the first to greet him.

Jesse had shaken his head. "He's not here. He's the only one left to show up from the original 501st as far as we can tell."

"Weird," Rex had said back before Fives and Echo were dragging him to meet the rest of Domino squad. The mystery of the missing Kix continues…

Oh well. Vod's bound to show up one day. He can't live forever.

Right?

And with that thought, Rex became lost in laughter and more hugs and cheers as his men and brothers celebrated his return to where he belonged; with his blood family.

Back on Lothal, Rex's heart family was gathered around his funeral pyre.

Sabine leaned back against Ezra as he hugged her from behind, his chin resting on top of her head, firelight reflecting from the slow tears trickling down their faces, and their children on either side of her. Rowan and Alora stood beside them in a similar pose and Ketsu and her family were on the other side.

Hera, Kanan, Jacen, Chopper, Zeb, and Kallus formed another little group on the other side of the fire.

Leia and Han hadn't been able to make it on such short notice, but Ben stood with Luke, Mara Jade, and the twins.

Near the head of the pyre, Din held Grogu as the green child stared at the fire with massive, sorrow-filled eyes. Omera's arms were around her husband and her children, holding her family tight.

Closest to the flames, Ahsoka stood with her mate and daughter, Lux's arm around her waist as she leaned on him and her arm around Minxha's shoulders as the girl leaned on her. And on Ahsoka's shoulders, she could feel Anakin's hands as he dropped a gentle kiss between her montrals. She raised one hand and squeezed her Master's in gratitude. "I'm going to miss him," she thought to the ghost.

He squeezed her shoulders a little. "And he'll miss you. His last thought was, 'Love you too, kid', in case you didn't catch it."

"I did, but thank you. You'll have to give me updates on how he's doing up there."

"I will. Right now, I think his adoring brothers are STILL passing him around for hugs. He has a lot of brothers," Anakin added wryly.

Ahsoka laughed back in her mind as they watched Rex's jaig eyed helmet finally start to melt in the heat of the flames. In her montrals, she swore she could hear the echo of clones laughing and cheering, chanting, Rex, Rex, Rex.

Across from them, Zeb stepped forward and tossed a deck of Sabacc cards into the fire. "So he doesn't get bored," he said gruffly. And as he stepped back, Ahsoka heard the strong Lasat whisper under his breath, "Save us a seat, my friend. We'll play again." More tears welled in her eyes as a result.

She looked up at the stars and echoed Zeb. Yes, we will.

On one of the gaming tables closest to Rex, where his distinctive helmet had decided to rest when he let go of it, a deck of cards appeared, ready to be played with friends and family.