His Commander:

Rex had never been more nervous in his life.

None of his training exercises on Kamino, falling off whatever high place his Jedi had chosen to toss him off of without warning, nor facing down a thousand battle droids in real life came even close to making him sweat in his bodysuit like this endless period of waiting did.

Even though his brothers had jumped all over it with much enthusiasm, it had been his idea to paint their helmets orange and white in a show of tribute to their (finally) returning Commander. Now, as the minutes dragged by, he was second guessing himself bigtime.

What if she hates it?

What if she's offended?

Shab, I'm a sentimental di'kut. This is sooooo going to come back and bite me on the shebs isn't it?

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other before he remembered himself and stood equally again. He wasn't willing to show any obvious signs of nervousness in front of his brothers. Not when he knew they would rib him unmercifully when they were back in the barracks and he wasn't necessarily the Captain anymore but their big brother.

What if she doesn't even show up and we went to all this work for nothing? What if Anakin can't get her here?

No, that's stupid. Of course he'll get her here. I have her lightsabres, after all. I know she'd go through the seven Corellian hells to get them back, cause she said so once.

I wonder how she's been all this time without them?

I bet she misses them like hell.

Maybe even as much as I miss her.

Did she miss me?

Please, please, let her have missed me too. I don't know if I could stand knowing that she only thought of me as just another clone. She was friendly with all of us, so maybe I was mistaken about how close we were.

Rex was pulled from his maudlin thoughts as the door they were facing in eager anticipation finally –FINALLY! – opened.

And there she was, standing beside the General just like before. Where she belonged.

Ahsoka.

His Commander.

His everything.

Shab! She's grown up even more! Maybe not a fully mature female yet, but certainly not that itty bitty thing I first met.

He'd caught a glimpse of her from afar when she'd arrived in the Kom'rk fighter with the Mandalorians, but now he could drink in her new appearance without being impeded by various people and ships in his way. He absolutely adored her new outfit. It was like a perfect mix between her old fighting clothes and Mandalorian armour. And the slate blue and grey colour of it suited her much better than her original burgundy had, in his humble opinion.

Even her new headband was no-nonsense durasteel and looked like it had a built in communicator. His only problem with it was that it covered up some of her forehead markings. But on the plus side, it seemed to emphasize her beautiful sky blue eyes even more than he remembered.

She's so karking gorgeous. He had to stifle the sigh of adoration that almost escaped, forcing his posture to remain proud and stationary. His inner thirteen year old boy was doing cartwheels to see her again and it took him a few seconds longer than it should have to call the squad of his brothers to attention for ceremonial inspection. (A squad of brothers who'd literally drawn straws to be here because so many of them had wanted the honour of being one of the few who got to see her first and wear the helmet painted with her markings.)

But he did, and she finally walked in after Anakin gave her a little encouragement. Rex didn't know what her wide-eyed and shocked look meant, but he sincerely hoped it was a good thing and not disgust at the orange helmeted display he and his brothers had put on.

Trying to calm his racing heart and keep his expression properly neutral was one of the hardest things he'd had to do in recent memory. And considering that near catastrophe of a battle on Cato Neimoidia that had almost lost them General Kenobi, that was saying something. (Thank the Force for Anakin's faster than light reflexes.)

After she'd walked past him, Rex moved to stand beside Anakin, who gave him a proud grin and a quick nod to indicate that Ahsoka was surprised but not displeased. Thank kriff, Rex thought with relief, some of the tension easing from his muscles. Anakin had had to approve their new helmet design, of course, and had thankfully been very enthusiastic about the idea. (His Jedi General had missed Ahsoka just as much as Rex had, no question.)

"Soon as Rex and the boys heard you were coming back, they got to work," Anakin said, causing Ahsoka to turn around and come back towards them. Her gaze shot to his and he gave her a little shrug and a half-assed grin. What can I say? I'm a sap.

Knowing his body language like she did, and probably reading his emotions, a hint of a smile settled on those plush burgundy lips that he'd dreamed of kissing so many times he'd lost count years ago. She came to a stop in front of him and he presented the helmet in his hand for closer inspection. "Paint job's a little crude, but we think it gets the idea across."

She touched the helmet with gentle, caressing fingers only a shade lighter than the paint they'd chosen. Rex was so invested in every one of her movements, he could almost imagine that she was touching his own skin that way. Heart skipping with joy and just a little bit of ill-timed lust, he said, with every ounce of said organ behind the words, "Glad to have you back, Commander."

She looked up at him, and those trusting, beautiful, grateful eyes got to him again, exactly the way they had the first time he'd met her almost three years ago. And he knew in that moment, with that look, that she'd missed him too and he wasn't just another clone to her. "Rex, thank you." My name! I missed hearing her say my name! "But you don't have to call me Commander anymore."

Oh, her voice. It isn't the same. She sounded almost... defeated. And that just won't do. Not at all. So he did what he'd always done when she needed a moral boast, he gave her his full support. And the best way he knew to do that in this instance was to reassure her that she would always be his Commander, whether she officially held the title or not.

He smiled at her gently and said, "Sure thing... Commander."

The look of gratitude and a hint of amusement in her eyes made the last few – very long and miserable - months without her disappear as if they'd never happened.

Rex finally had his Ahsoka back.