A/N: Much to my reluctance, I'm going to more or less stick with canon here and pretend that hyperspace is the next best thing to teleporting. In all of my other A.U. stories, I try and make space travel what I think is a more reasonable length of time, but because Obi-Wan specifically said that they could get from what I assume is the Mid or Outer Rims to Coruscant in less than an hour (taking into account prep time) I'm going to have stick with the magical method of nearly instant flight that we see in the movies and cartoons on a regular basis. (Blah) (And that's why Star Wars is Science Fantasy and not Science Fiction, in my humble opinion. :P)
Conscience War:
An hour after Ahsoka turned his world upside down, Rex was still reeling.
All he could think about was the feel of her lithe arms around his neck, the enticing curve of her narrow waist under his arm, the satin soft skin of her montral and lek, the beguiling scent of her, the addictive sound of her purr of approval, and most of all, the way her lusciously plump lips had felt against his cheek when she'd kissed him.
He still couldn't believe that he'd lost control and hugged her tighter and nuzzled her lek when she moved to leave him.
For so many years, he'd been reining in his feelings for her, no matter what the situation was; watching her face death over and over again with a laugh of pure joy, enduring the exquisite torture of letting her catch a nap on his thigh or shoulder, or even suffering through the blissful agony of the occasional hug she'd thrown his way when she was in one of her exuberant moods and hugging everyone after a successful battle.
But she'd never hugged him like THAT before. Never with her arms around his neck. Never with her head so close to his. Never with her entire front pressed to his entire front. He'd damn near had a heart attack and almost dropped the orange painted helmet under his arm. He'd also never been so grateful for his concealing armour (and that was saying something.)
Add in the look of approval in her big eyes when he called her by name, the subtle tooka-like purr, the whisper soft kiss, and the huskily murmured 'Good boy' that made him want to please her in every decadent and sinful way possible, and you have a recipe for a completely gone over the moon and lost to his latent instincts man/boy.
He hadn't wanted to ever let her go. Had only wanted to bask in the feel and scent of her. Could have happily explored even just her face and montrals and lekku with his lips for an eternity if she'd let him.
Somehow, his control had slipped and he'd indulged in his fantasies for a few precious seconds. Seconds that he'd relive over and over until he died if they were the only ones he got with her, no question.
But then he'd remembered who he was, and who she was, and that he wasn't allowed to love her in anything but his imagination and he'd panicked for a moment, ashamed and appalled that he'd taken advantage of her generous show of affection. She'd been startled, for sure, but then something had changed in her sky blue eyes – an awareness of him that went far beyond friendship - and suddenly he was captivated all over again.
And the way she'd told him that they were going to talk about what had happened had him both terrified and way past hopeful. He couldn't stand the wait for that talk about the same amount that he dreaded it.
What if she's going to tell me that we can only be friends?
Or… what if she wants to be more than friends now?
Both thoughts were stuck on repeat in his mind and both frightened him equally. He so desperately wanted to be her everything - mate, lover, protector, worshiper, husband, father of her children - but he didn't know how they could possibly make it work. Not in the long-term, at least.
Short-term... Okay, they could probably get away with a secret affair like Anakin did and Kenobi had, before his Duchess had died. (His brothers were excellent at discovering Jedi secrets, having nothing better to do in their downtime.) But he'd never be able to give her a happy future. He was a clone. He had almost no rights as a sentient being and he was going to grow old WAY before her, thanks to his accelerated aging gene.
Although… there were rumours back on Kamino that the gene could be reversed or turned off, if the Republic wanted their assets to live longer. It would probably be expensive, though. Especially if the Republic wanted to stop the rapid aging of all of their millions of clone troopers.
The brothers had long ago come to the conclusion that even if the rumours were true, the Republic wouldn't need them anymore after the war was over, so there was no reason for them to spend more money on the clones. They were all resigned to the fact that they would probably die of old age by the time they hit forty or fifty, IF they survived the war.
Ahsoka hadn't helped his state of my mind over the last hour, either, by staying by his side and smiling at him in that sweet yet knowing way that kept his heart pounding and his nerves in a state of awareness that was probably going to drive him mad sooner than later.
Somehow, with the enthusiastic input of Ahsoka and the begrudging assistance of Admiral Yularen (who kept shooting Rex disapproving looks for some reason), he'd managed to pretend to focus enough to cobble together a decent attack force to take to Mandalore.
Not wanting to deprive Anakin of all of his best men, Rex had only ordered Torrent Company, Carnivore Battalion, and Wildfire Company (the best of the jetpack using units) to pack up their kit and transfer from the Reckless to the Tribunal. Then he'd contacted Jesse over on the Dauntless and had him round up his small squad of Coruscant Guard troopers; clones that had shown an inclination towards being Arcies and had been shipped over to train with him about a month ago, since they kept annoying Commander Fox with their 'inventive' methods of completing their assignments. (So far, Jesse was very happy with them and Rex had a feeling that they would make fine additions to the 501st's elite teams.)
Also from the Dauntless, Rex had pulled a thousand troopers worth of the experienced infantry units, knowing he'd need to show up with an impressive show of force if they were going to earn any sort of respect from the Mandalorian citizens.
Then they'd done what everyone was calling 'The Great Ship Shuffle' as all of the small starfighters and their pilots were moved off of the Tribunal and were replaced with gunships carrying the new transfers, a few more walkers, and Lady Kryze's Kom'rk (which had to sit in the middle of the hangar because it was too tall to fit in one of the side bays).
The rest of the troops on the Tribunal consisted almost entirely of the shinier brothers who hadn't earned their way into one of the named Companies yet, but they'd survived the last five months of war, so Rex figured they must have something going for them, and there was no time like the present to really test their skills.
All of that had been accomplished in twenty minutes flat, thanks to their training and their lack of personal possessions to move, allowing the three Venators to finally jump to hyperspace; two towards Coruscant, less than an hour away by the Perlemian Trade Route Hyperlane, which they had been parked beside, and the Tribunal towards Mandalore, six hours away via a couple of more obscure hyperlanes and a three hour flight through an obstacle-ridden section of space that made lightspeed impossible. (The Mandalorians considered it an excellent preliminary defence shield for their Capital planet.)
Rex's next official move as Commander was to promote Vaughn to Captain of Torrent Company and Jesse to Lieutenant as his second in command to help keep order in the chaos of the newly formed 332nd Legion.
The next thirty-eight minutes of Ahsoka induced torment were spent in the command center of the Tribunal, memorizing the domed city of Sundari with Lady Kryze, going over her battle ideas, and planning their initial attack; all while his little Togrutan Commander stayed close to his side and beamed at him like he was the smartest male in the galaxy, and Jesse, Vaughn, Surge (Captain of Wildfire), and Broker (Captain of Carnivore) laughed at him silently with their eyes, promising endless teasing later when they caught him alone.
Rex vowed to not be caught alone for the next month or more until they got over it.
Even if it means tying a certain Togrutan tease to my side indefinitely. Ha. As if that would be a hardship.
Okay. Something would be permanently hard to accommodate, but whatever.
Rex glanced over at Ahsoka, who'd FINALLY moved away from his side to talk to Lady Kryze quietly for a minute, now that their meeting was over and he'd sent his sniggering brothers away to prep the rest of the men and get some much needed rest before things went to hell. Shab, she looks good in that new battle outfit of hers. Is it bad that all I want to do is strip it off of her and explore her curvier, more womanly body in minute detail?
Probably.
Thank kark Anakin's not here to pick up on my thoughts in that freaky way of his or I'd be skewered below the belt in about two seconds flat. He may have more or less given his approval of my feelings for her a long time ago, but I doubt he'd appreciate my lurid imagination. And he did say that I had to wait until she was Knighted first before making any sort of move on her.
How am I supposed to wait for that if she's no longer a Jedi?
Short answer, Rex old boy, is that you don't. She's close to seventeen now, that has to be old enough, right? Technically, she's more legal than I am.
And technically, you'll be a shrivelled up old prune when she's thirty. You should stop this before it even starts.
I know! he growled at his conscience. I've already thought of that a hundred thousand times! But how am I supposed to say no to her if she decides she wants me, which, to all appearances, she has?
That's the million credit question, isn't it?
Ahsoka said goodbye to Lady Kryze and suddenly they were alone in the command center together.
She turned to him. The look in her eyes turned him to stone. His lungs forgot how to work. His heart pounded in his ears. And a fine sweat broke out under his bodysuit.
She walked up to him like a nexu stalking its prey, deliberately and slowly. What blood was left in his already befuddled brain stampeded southwards.
"Are you ready to talk now, Rexi?" she purred, coming to a stop in his personal space and looking up at him with those mind-blowingly beautiful big blue eyes, a thousand promises hidden in their sparkling depths.
He gulped. "Ummmm. Sure. Yeah. I guess… we could do that?"
"Good," she said the same way she had back on Kenobi's Flagship, in a husky whisper, all but killing him. And then she turned and walked away. He'd swear upside and down her hips swayed more than normal. "But not here, where anyone can walk in. Let's go see what the dignitary's guest quarters look like, shall we, since I sort of qualify now?"
"Uhhhhhhh…" Oh kark, oh kark, oh kark! His feet followed her like he was attached to her by an invisible and unbreakable wire.
"I've always wondered what it would be like to sleep on a super soft bed that was big enough for two people," she said, shooting him a grin over her shoulder. "Haven't you?"
Oh. My. Frag.
"Uhhhhhhh…" Rex said again, unable to get anything else out past the thundering organ that had relocated to his throat, his feet freezing despite the invisible bond that drew him to her. Too fast! Too fast! Can't think!
Ahsoka laughed as the door slid open for her. "That's what I thought."
Consequences! There are consequences! Bad consequences if you go with her!
She raised a white brow marking when he didn't move. "Don't worry, Rex, I don't bite." She walked through the door.
And then, "Much," floated back to him.
He almost literally fainted as he was assaulted by images of her adorable, sharp little canine teeth making love bites all over his naked form. And with those white weapons being framed by her plush burgundy lips... Shabla hell.
His conscience lost the war with his heart and body.
He followed.