Rex's walk back to the barracks was much lighter than the walk to the medbay. There was still a sadness and grief that hung heavy in his heart. But his heart was no longer shattered from the loss of the most important person to him. He had lost many men in this battle, but he hadn't lost Dagger.

He let out a sigh of relief, in all honesty he didn't know if he would have been able to take the burden of accepting that Dagger was gone. He relished in the fact that he was still alive, with Kix taking care of him in the medbay.

Rex entered the barracks doors and his eye was caught by something stacked to his right. A small tower of trunks. Appo.

His head snapped over to the sergeant's bed. Appo was lounging back against the wall on the floor level bunk, he was writing on a small piece of paper. He grinned up at Rex as the Captain approached, "Did you want to talk to me, Captain?"

"Appo," he couldn't keep the exhaustion out of his voice, "I told you that you didn't have to do that."

Appo blinked up at him, "I don't know what you are talking about sir. I just did what I could to help you. The boys are getting ready for the Night of Songs."

Rex nodded, "I have a few things to do before then. Would you be able to go round the medbay and see who all wants to come who can. I'll meet you boys on the observation deck in a bit. Don't start without me."

"Of course, Captain. We will see you there."

~B~

Echo woke up with a start, his head was pounding with only one thought. Dagger. He sat up quickly, his head protested at the movement but he forced himself to look around.

Fives, who had been snoring softly in the chair next to Echo, was startled awake. The man shot up from his chair with a shout as if prepared for an attack. His eyes snapped around the room before landing on Echo. The injured trooper was sitting up on the medical cot, panting heavily.

Fives laid a hand on Echo's shoulder, he could feel his brother's shoulders trembling slightly, "Hey Vod. How are you feeling?"

"Dagger?" he asked, voice rough and strained.

"Kix said he is gonna be alright, in the bacta now. Said you got a mighty concussion too. Why didn't you say anything Echo? You know you shouldn't have come to the Capital with an injury like that. You could have been killed," Fives was trying to scold his brother, but his words held too much worry behind them to be effective.

Echo held his head in his hands, "I just- I just wasn't thinking. Fives, I can't believe what happened? Tell me it wasn't real, please. Tell me that they are still alive. Flicker, Dredge, anyone?"

His eyes were so pleading, begging Fives to tell him what he wanted to hear. Fives couldn't bear to look Echo in the eyes as he responded, "I'm sorry Echo. It's just you and Dagger that made it back."

Echo let out a loud breath, much like a balloon deflating. His shoulders sank and his head stayed low. Echo didn't move for a long moment and Fives seemed content to give him all the time he needed. Echo always took the deaths of his men, his brothers, exceptionally hard.

It was one of the traits he picked up from Captain Rex. None of them ever took the losses lightly, but those two always seemed to be that much more destroyed with every soul lost. All Fives wanted to do was help his brother. He knew that, for now, he just had to wait.

Sometimes Echo broke down, sometimes he got mad, and sometimes he just stayed quiet. Only time would tell what he would do to cope. Yet Fives still couldn't imagine how this wouldn't end in a breakdown. Echo had lost everyone, well almost. He had come so close to losing Dagger, someone he cared a lot about. He would need to keep a close eye on the man tonight.

Echo's silence was interrupted by the medbay door opening up and Appo striding in. All heads turned to the sergeant as he announced, "We are meeting on the observation deck for the songs. Anyone who wants to come should head over now."

With that he left, presumably to go to the observation deck. Fives looked back to Echo to ask if he wanted to go. He shouldn't have wasted even the little brain power required to wonder at the question as Echo was already swinging his legs over the side of the cot.

He was still in full armor, minus the helmet, and his boots clunked heavily on the duracrete floor. Fives stayed close by, ready to help if Echo needed it. The man did seem to be doing fine on his own.

Echo had a pounding headache but he would be damned if he was not going to honor his brother's tonight. After his failure they deserved at least that. Echo could feel Fives following him and he almost felt bad for not being able to vocalize what was going through his head.

He knew that Fives could be patient when he wanted to be, so he trusted that he would wait for Echo to talk to him.

Inside the observation deck there was a low light. The overhead lights were out and there were candles on a low table in the middle of the room. Almost all of Torrent Company was there, sitting in circles around the table. Fives and Echo found spots in the outermost circle and sat down quietly. Everyone's heads were bowed and the only sound was that of the soft breathing of the men.

Their own ceremony was nothing like the kote ky'ram, the traditional Mandalorian burial ritual. That was a loud ceremony that honored those who had died facing impossible odds. In a kote ky'ram the warrior was cremated while their tribe shouted all war cries and stories into the sky.

Clones did not get the luxury of being cremated. There were rarely even bodies to be buried. All that they had left were memories and aching hearts. The ceremony of the clones was a heavily modified one. They would pray to the universe that an afterlife would be more kind to their fallen brethren than life had been.

Clones did not get the luxury of believing in a creator of mythical proportions. They know exactly how they came into being, they knew exactly what their purpose was. But they did believe in an afterlife. It was one of the few comforts they had in times like these. It was something they couldn't prove, something they couldn't disprove. So they just believed.

The ceremony was a sad one, remembrance of their brothers. Men who fought and died for the Republic. Never again would they see another day. Never again would they see another battle.

One by one they all bowed their heads. All of the brothers sat in their own spot, close to the others but not touching. They all acknowledged that they grieved in different ways, but for tonight they were all alone together.

The silence stretched in the room, but the minds of the soldiers were loud. Thoughts of every name, every life that was lost. They re-lived moments of interaction in their mind's eye. Some held more pain than the others.

Even on the bridge of the ship, the Jedi could feel their grief. Ahsoka shared a look with her master. They both knew what was happening, they knew the pain that their loyal soldiers were feeling. The Jedi knew that there was nothing they could do to help, but they also did nothing to interfere.

No commands were given, no requests were made that night. No clone was asked to do anything at all by the Jedi. They were given this time to be on their own in hopes that maybe just for a moment they could forget about the war, forget about being soldiers, and just be individuals who were grieving.

The minutes stretched in the observation deck. The stars shone outside, stretched far away in the distance. No one knows how long later it was when the first voice was heard.

A low and small sound. Hardly a whisper. It was Mandoa. One shaky voice finally starting the song of remembrance. It came from near the center of the circles. Fives couldn't tell if it was Appo or Rex who had started it, but the other quickly joined in.

Two whispers became three which then became five. Growing exponentially, the amount of voices grew. Soon everyone was singing. Mandoa flowed through the air, sound ghosted over the faces over the brothers as if it were a touch.

We are born to die. We live to be remembered.

It was a promise. A promise that the fallen will always be remembered. If you listened hard enough you could hear the voices of the dead sing along. One last act to bring comfort to those they knew were left behind.

Life is a gift everyone cherishes but has to return.

Echo could hear them. He heard Flicker and Dredge. He could feel the weight of their hands on his shoulders. He could imagine turning around and seeing them behind him, reassuring him that it would all be ok, telling him that they were still with him.

All he wanted to do was look back and see his brothers behind him. He wanted to see their faces just one more time. He couldn't bring himself to turn. He knew better, he knew it would only make it harder.

Instead Echo raised his chin and sang louder, the first voice to raise. He sang to the universe of the bravery of his brothers. His voice was not the only one to raise. Others joined him, the volume of the room rising.

They sang of loss and wounds that would never heal. They sang of the unfairness of life and prayed to the universe for peace of soul for their brothers.

Echo pleaded for peace, his voice trembled and he refused to acknowledge the tears that streaked down his face. Secure in the notion that no one was looking at him, he let the tears fall. Everyone was alone tonight. They were together in this room, but they each grieved alone. No one would judge anyone for feeling the same thing that they were.

We start as nothing, we become something, then we return to nothing.

Echo cried, his voice wavered but never stopped. He had been the cause of his brother's deaths. He was the reason that they were not here with them. He had killed eight men and injured his best friend. He was the only one who had made it out relatively unscathed.

Why was it this hard to be the one that survived? He should be glad, he had been given another day to live. Why was it so painful to carry on?

All he wanted to do was howl into the night. Scream at the pain in his chest until it stopped. Instead, he closed his eyes and continued to sing. A repetition of words that were soothing to the soul.

The first time through the song was always the hardest. Talking of grief and feeling all of the pain. Then the second time it was of accepting the pain. Over and over the song was repeated.

There was no exact length of time that this would go on. They would sing until every single brother had accepted what had happened. They would sing together until everyone was finally numb to the pain. Stable enough to go on, until the lost had been honored properly.

One by one the voices quieted again. One last time through the song, as a whisper. A perfect reflection of the first time through the pain filled song.

Soon there was no noise in the room. No one dared to speak, no one dared to move. The stillness was suffocating. Breaths were shallow in an attempt to make them quieter.

As Captain of the unit, it was Rex's job to initiate the next part of their tradition. He stood from his spot in the center circle. He walked slowly, boots hardly making a sound on the duracrete floor, to the table in the middle. He was the only one of them who could walk that quietly, steps ghosting over the floor. He kneeled and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

The small piece of paper had lines of small writing on it. Last thoughts that he wanted to give to the dead. For Rex, it was always an apology. He said he was sorry to every single man he had failed as a leader and as a brother.

He took the paper and held the corner into one of the flames at the table. He watched as the paper burned in his grasp until the flames drew so close to his fingertips that he could feel the heat. When he couldn't hold onto the paper any longer he dropped the remains onto the metal table and returned to his seat.

Echo was the next to stand. He mirrored Rex's actions, pulling out the paper that he had written before he had passed out in the medbay. He burned it in the fire of the largest candle before dropping it on the table.

Jesse was the next to go, followed by Appo, then Cricket and Oddball. One by one anyone who wanted to send a last message to their brothers stood. When everyone was seated again there was more of the same silence.

Echo twitched, he knew what came next. He knew that it was a prayer for the living to keep fighting. A prayer for Dagger to survive the injuries that he had caused. Whether intentionally or not it was still his fault.

His stomach rolled and he lurched to his feet. He couldn't stay, he couldn't do it. He knew it was odd to leave early, but he couldn't be here. He made his way to the door, quick bootsteps disturbing the quiet of the observation deck.

Fives watched him leave with concern in his eyes, then his gaze jumped to Rex. The Captain locked eyes with the Arc trooper with a look that told him to do as he wished.

No one had to come to this, no one was forced to stay. Fives could follow Echo if he wanted to. The Arc frowned, he wanted to go help Echo, but he wanted to stay. In the end he stayed where he was seated, he would go after Echo as soon as he was done.

~B~

Echo walked down the hallway. Head drooping, feet dragging, he practically stumbled on his way to the barracks. He felt like he had been put through an emotional meat grinder. How much more would he have to go through before he felt ok again?

Echo entered the empty barracks and a feeling of numbness washed over him. He gathered a pair of extra clothes and made his way to the showers.

Once inside, he started unbuckling his armor piece by piece. He was just undoing the buckle behind his left shoulder when his memory flashed back to yesterday morning when he was securing that very buckle on Dagger's armor.

Slipping on his bicep guard he saw Dagger reaching up and holding Rex's arm on the way down to the planet. She had talked to Echo the whole ride down to the planet through the internal helmet comms.

Rex had huffed at them for clogging up the comms and told them to switch to a private frequency so the rest of them could get a moment of peace. Dagger had laughed at that.

He took off his chest plate. When they landed he had turned to watch the rest of his brothers disembark. Dagger got bumped as she jumped down and ended up tripping. Echo had laughed and made a joke about being clumsy. Dagger had immediately punched him in the chestplate. He let the armor fall to the floor.

Sliding off his gloves, he watched his hands raise. He snapped the mechanical neck of a commando coming right at Dagger. The tinny fell, but Dagger was still on the ground.

His vision flashed back and forth between the empty bathroom and the events of the day. The memories were getting darker and darker as the day streamed through his head.

A crashing fighter jet. The explosion. Waking up to a strange voice. Finding out that Dagger is a girl. How was that even possible? He didn't understand. Droids closing in on them. The bodies of the brothers he wished he could have saved.

Running as fast as he could, carrying an injured Dagger in his arms. The agonizing wait for the med ship to get her the medical attention she desperately needed. The panic trying to figure out if she was going to be ok. Being thrown back into battle.

Now there was nothing. A silent room, he was alone. Ears ringing, he looked down at his hands. It was a mistake.

There was blood coating every part of his hands, it must have soaked through the gloves and dried on his skin. Dagger's blood from when he was trying to clean up her injuries or stop the bleeding in her abdomen.

His hands shook as the red took over his vision. Tears streamed down his face, he couldn't handle his emotions, they were too strong to just push down anymore.

He scrubbed his hands in the sink desperate to get the blood off of them. He couldn't stand the reminder of how close he was to failing every single person in his team. Sadness was turning to guilt and anger.

Echo should have done more. He should have been paying more attention. If he had been better at his job he wouldn't have lost so many brothers today.

Echo looked up at the mirror, his face speckled in blood, not even his blood. The blood from Dagger's body. She had coughed up blood and it was still splattered on the side of his face.

He saw something in that reflection looking back at him, but he wasn't seeing his face anymore. The thing about having the same face as your brothers is that it haunts you. He saw the broken and bloody faces of those lost, those that he had failed. Bodies left on a battlefield covered in dust and rubble.

Everything was his fault. He let out a scream that was true to his name, echoing out the barracks and into the hall. He lashed out, swiping everything off of the counter.

Echo looked into his reflection and screamed at it. Throwing his fist into the glass over and over again until it was in shattered pieces all around him. He couldn't look at himself anymore. Had to get rid of the face that had failed so many today.

Not even knowing what he was saying, he just kept screaming questions of why and cursing every deity he knew. He cursed the Separatists, the Republic, the Kaminoans, even himself.

He couldn't even hear the banging on the bathroom door over his pained rampage. Within seconds the door was kicked open.

Rex hesitated, he hadn't known who was yelling from the barracks bathroom, but when he had heard the glass shatter he knew it couldn't have been good. When he saw Echo, screaming bloody murder, half undressed, and bleeding he was stunned. He had thought that the Arc trooper had gone back to the medbay.

Even in the roughest of battles Echo had never lost his composure so severely. The man looked like he was imploding in on himself. Quickly, Rex shook himself out of his shock and saw Echo pounding on the counter with a bloody fist.

Running at him, he grabbed the man around the waist, ducking under the fists. He pushed him back until he rammed into the wall. Echo let out a grunt of surprise and tried to escape.

Before he could get far Rex pressed forward, pinning him against the wall. His hands holding Echo's wrists above his head. Knees on the outside of Echo's legs effectively trapping him there. The wall they had slammed into was evidently inside one of the shower stalls because all of a sudden they were both soaked. Cold water rained down on the two and Echo slowly started to calm down.

He took a shuddering breath and looked at Rex. For being the same size he felt so much smaller at that moment. Rex's eyes were calm, but filled with concern. Their chests panted against each other, heat seeping through the now doused fabric.

"We all have bad days Echo. You did everything you could. I know you are angry and hurt, we all are. Don't you think that we have lost enough today? I can't let you add yourself to the list."

When Echo spoke, his voice was cracked and filled with a desperate kind of anger, "I couldn't do a damn thing to protect Dagger. I couldn't do anything but watch 'em get blown to bits. I couldn't protect anyone. Only reason we are still here is 'cause I was further from that fuckin' door that was blow into Dagger's face."

"I know it's hard Echo, but I also know that you did everything you could for those boys. They don't blame you and neither does Dagger. Please don't do this to yourself."

"I'm sorry sir," Echo said looking down.

Rex relaxed his grip slightly, giving the trooper room to breath but not room enough to leave. He pulled down Echo's hand to examine it. The man let out a hiss as the cold water ran over the broken and bloody skin. Rex quickly picked out the visible glass shards in the hand.

"I can get that myself sir," Echo protests.

"I know."

They were silent as Rex finished what his self assigned task. Soon enough the Captain left, a trail of water following him out of the bathroom. Echo took his time slowly undressing the rest of the way. His blacks fell to the ground with a wet plop. He washed himself off, dirt and grime ran down the drain taking the rest of his negative thoughts with them.

When he finally exited, Echo felt better than he had before. He wasn't great, but at least he wasn't going psychotic anymore. Dressed in his off duty trousers and shirt he finally went back to the barracks. Rex was sitting on his bunk looking down at Dagger's broken helmet which he held in his lap.

He didn't even remember putting the helmet down. Echo sat on Commander Cody's old bunk, across from Rex. Watching and waiting for the Captain to say something. The silence wasn't as suffocating as Echo would have thought, it was peaceful. Rex knew he was there and he would talk to him if he wanted.

The minutes stretched on, Echo wasn't expecting Rex to speak. Just as he was deciding to leave Rex spoke up, "What happens now is not up to us. We do our work on the battlefield. Now it is our turn to watch, you can't blame yourself for what happens. Dagger is going to need someone with him when he wakes up."

"Thank you Captain," the trooper stood and walked out, leaving Rex alone in the barracks.

The Captain knew he should be doing something more productive, reports or files, but he couldn't get himself to move.

Still examining the broken helmet he had to admit Dagger was lucky to be alive. That blast had to have been strong to rip apart armor like this. He would go down to the armory and get a new one before Dagger was out of the Medbay.

A small part of Rex wanted to not get a new helmet, not letting the kid hide behind it any longer. He knew it was a bad idea, and he would never force one of his men into a situation they were uncomfortable with. Especially not now, after all the trauma that Dagger had suffered.

He laid back on his bed, holding the helmet up to his face looking into the remains of the eye visor. As if looking into the helmet would give him some sort of clue of how Dagger was doing. Rex pressed his forehead into the broken armor, trying to draw any comfort he could from the once familiar face of Dagger. The only face that he knew the man by.

He itched to go to the Medbay and check on his trooper. He hated the feeling of not knowing, he had to trust that the medical staff knew what they were doing. Kix would do everything he could to save a brother.

Soon enough all of the energy had left Rex's body. Laying down, still holding the helmet, he fell asleep. It had been a long day for all of them, he had faith that Dagger would make it through. He had never known the trooper to give up on anything, he knew he wouldn't start now.

(Long chapter for you guys today, I hope you enjoyed it! Please consider leaving a comment to let me know what you think.)