It had been a rough two weeks for the 501st. They had gone from battle to battle with little rest and too many casualties. They had been made to endure the stress (both physical and mental) but it only went so far and the strain was starting to show, especially in their Captain.

Captain Rex had been on the front lines for every battle, insisting that he had to be there with his men. Then after the battles ended he helped drag the wounded to their makeshift infirmary, doing whatever he could to help his troops at the expense of getting some well deserved rest. He had been to busy to think of all the bodies he was forced to leave behind, of all the brothers he would never see again, but now that the fighting was finally at an end and they were safely back on the Resolute, both the casualties and the exhaustion were hitting him hard.

He was not taking the losses well (it had been one of the most losses the 501st had taken since the start of the war), and the troops could tell. The Torrent company was determined to do something about that.

"Maybe we can have a game night?" Echo suggested.

"The men might like that but the Captain doesn't seem like he's in a gaming mood," Jesse said shaking his head.

"Maybe we can shine his armor?"

"There wouldn't be enough pieces of you for me to put back together if you touched his armor, Fives," Kix snorted.

"Maybe we can get him something," Jesse offered.

"Like what? A violin?" Hardcase half joked.

"Where'd you get violin from?" Fives asked, eyebrow raised.

"What? I've heard him listening to orchestras when he's trying to relax, so maybe he'd like to play the violin," Hardcase defended.

"That's... actually not a bad idea. Good job Hardcase," Kix praised.

"Thank- Hey! Why do you sound so surprised!"

"So how are we going to get a violin?" Jesse asked, ignoring Hardcase with practiced ease.

No one had an answer to that.

Surprisingly enough the answer presented itself during there leave in the form of an abandoned violin. It was beat up, scrapes and scratches covered the instrument, but it was in one piece.

"If this isn't a sign that this is the right gift then I don't know what is," Hardcase said with a grin.

"Well then let's take it back and get it fixed up," Fives agreed, then eyed the scratches. "And find something to keep it in too."

...

Rex walked into his office, let the door close, then slumped in exhaustion. He hadn't been able to sleep, his brothers dying screams echoing in his ears.

So many were dead. He kept going over each battle in his head, tormenting himself with what ifs. He couldn't help feeling like he failed, that each death was his fault, that he wasn't good enough.

Rex starred blankly down at the shaking data pad in his hands, feeling like he was seconds away from falling apart. He couldn't afford to have a breakdown, he had men that needed him to be strong.

"Get it together Rex," he muttered to himself.

Taking a few deep breaths, he walked to his desk only to stop in confusion. On his desk was a sniper rifle case with his name and number painted on it. Cautiously Rex moved forward and gently eased it open only to freeze in shock at what he saw.

Inside of the case was a blue and white violin, with his Jaig Eyes proudly display on the front. Rex gently trailed his fingers over the instrument in awe. None of the clones had been allowed to listen to music on Kamino, let alone see what made the music.

Slowly, he lifted the instrument up with the same care he would give an unstable bomb, then softly plucked at the strings. He closed his eyes as he listened to the sound cut through the silent room.

With a small up tilt of his lips, Rex went to put the violin back into the case when he noticed a data pad at the bottom. Putting the violin on his desk he picked up the pad and turned it on.

It was feeling a little gloomy over here Captain. We thought a little music would help lighten things up.

With a small but genuine smile, Rex looked at the rest of the data pad and found instructions on how to play the violin and sheet music.

Rex glanced at his desk again, maybe he could afford to take a small break? Just a few minutes. Mind made up he picked up the violin and turned to the instructions.

It wasn't until later that he noticed that while the screams hadn't stopped, they had quieted.