Hi! It's been a few days. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
The GAR Barracks were an intimidating set of buildings. Unwilling to pay the price of real estate in the higher levels, the Barracks were located in a seedy area - of pimps, drug deals and violence. This primarily was why a long, tall durasteel fence surrounded the compound - though Ahsoka, experienced with Senate mindsets, knew this was also partially due to their attempt to hide the "blemish" that was the clones from Coruscant.
For all that they needed the clones, the Galaxy still primarily maintained a sense of disdain for the men that fought with their lives for their safety.
Scanning his GAR pass to pass through the imposing gates, Obi-Wan was quickly overtaken by Ahsoka at first, mind retracing the familiar root to the 501's Barracks.
As she reached for the door, a figure quickly emerged from the shadows of the Barracks, spinning around at the motion, Ahsoka came face to face with the figure - Rex.
"Soka?" he asked, looking in her eyes, searching, searching for something to indicate that she was truly her.
"Rex" she whispered, throwing herself into his arms, hands flying around his back to rest on pauldron enclosed shoulders.
Smiling the soft smile that only Ahsoka had ever seen, he whispered her name again in pure awe, wrapping his arms around her much smaller frame. When they had begun a relationship Ahsoka had grown as tall as he had and it was slightly humorous the distance he now had to lean down to lay his head between her montrals.
Looking back into the face she hadn't seen in years, Ahsoka began to laugh joyfully, soon joined by Rex.
Laughing in each other's arms as tears rolled down their cheeks, they must have looked insane but neither could bring themself to care.
Rex could feel Anakin's eyes glaring into his back and jokingly whispered in Ahsoka's ear that she'd have to protect him from her jealous Master.
The tinkling laugh he'd missed vibrated against his chin, finally triggering Anakin enough to come and pull Ahsoka out of Rex's arms, much to her annoyance.
Now separated, she gestured to the door, leading them to the Captain's quarters for a private space to discuss.
Entering the sparse area, with just one chair and a bed, Ashoka sat on the bed, Rex quickly joined her as Anakin, scowling, refused to sit in the chair and hovered above the two of them.
Obi-Wan sighed deeply, long since accustomed to accommodating Anakin's lack of manners and sitting in the chair.
"What was the last thing you remember?" Ashoka asked, turning to Rex.
"The Death Troopers.." He hesitated, "You."
Neither wished to remember that moment. The decades they had spent together enduring countless near-death situations had not prepared either to lose the other. During their year long separation, before theft had been reunited, neither had been completely stable since the absence of the other but at that point neither had solid proof that the other had perished and the grain of hope that it had provided had kept both going.
But for Ahsoka there had been no more hope for the future - Togrutas mated for life and she knew without Rex her life carried little meaning apart from putting the rest of her life into the Rebellion.
She could admit if only to herself, that her demise at Vader's hand had been partially due to her reluctance to keep living.
She could feel the despair threatening to overtake her chest once again - the panicked despair that had overtaken each waking moment from the moment Rex had died in her arms until the relief she felt as Vader's red blade punctured her stomach.
Forcing herself to remain in the present, she tightly grasped Rex's hand to remind herself that he was now here with her, restored to the youth that had been stolen from him by the Kaminoans years before his time and prepared to face whatever the future held much more prepared than before.
"I think it's time we involved others. The task of removing the clones' chips is of monumental importance, and a task that cannot be done alone." Obi-Wan stated.
"Rex? Do you think Cody or Wolffe can be trusted to begin to chip their battalions without drawing notice?" Ahsoka asked.
"Cody, definitely." He replied, "Wolffe… Wolffe should noy be involved unless you believe General Koon should become involved as well, he won't be able to hide his knowledge for long."
"I don't believe it would be smart to involve another Jedi Council Member yet." Obi-Wan said.
Anakin nodded in agreement, long past the point of extreme distrust of the Council and their motives.
"Ahsoka believes that one of her Padawan friends should be involved, Luminara Unduli's Padawan." He continued.
Rex turned to Ahsoka in shock - He remembered exactly what she had done and had still not forgiven her for the pain and anguish it had caused both himself and Ahsoka.
The memory of the confliction of being tasked with taking down the young girl he had felt a protective duty towards had never truly left him and it had resulted in a stormy relationship with Fox - his older brother who had been starving for Ahsoka's blood, believing she had willingly harmed brothers.
"Barriss?" He asked incredulously.
Looking into his eyes, pleading with him to remain quiet she whispered back.
"She is the only Jedi we can trust to truly aid us without involving the Council - she distrusts them enough already that she'll be desperate to help, and," Lowering her voice further, "If she's given an outlet to resolve her frustration with teh actions of the Order then she wont turn to violence to make change."
He nodded, though still unhappy with involving a traitor. Loyalty and duty were what he prided himself most on and once one had betrayed their loved ones they never truly were reddemed in his eyes.
"Call Cody first, I think we have some planning to do."
Wrote this while listening to an audio recording of Animal Farm for an essay.. hope it doesn't reflect in my writing...