AN: Hello again Dear Readers! This story is inspired by a short story I wrote and then adapted for this. I hope you guys like it as much as I do! I'm sorry I'm not updating as much but I injured my wrist and thumb and it makes typing difficult and longer because I have to take breaks more often than I would like. Please bear with me; I'm trying to write as much as possible!
What do you do when you can't find them? When the battle fades and you're left standing alone without your other half? When the fear of losing them grips your heart? When in a sea of white armor you can't find that familiar dented and scratched armor? When you can see the usual flash of green and sienna in the midst of white? When you spin and turn, frantic to find the one person you care most about?
Ahsoka stood on a small rugged ridge watching as the remaining clone troopers dragged and half-carried each other back to the medical evac location and the extraction point for remaining troops. There were lots of blue paint decorating the armor but the familiar pattern of blue on white was nowhere to be found. Ahsoka drew a deep breath and tried to release it slowly but it caught as there was no familiar, well worn, kama and Jaig eyes painted on the helmet. The battle was over in a military sense but not within Ahsoka. Her duty was to wait for all of her troops to return to the fold of the camp, either to rest, for treatment, or to have the funeral rites performed over them. The sun continued to fall below the horizon but Ahsoka did not move from her perch unless to pace back and forth when the tension and anxiety become too much. Hours had now passed since the end of the battle, the council were being debriefed by Anakin while Appo and Ahsoka took care of the post-battle clean up. Ahsoka issued orders through Appo so she could remain on watch. None of the men seemed to mind, knowing that her sharp eyes would be best to find the remaining lost troopers.
When the sun finally had set and only two troopers remained lost, including one captain, Ahsoka gave into the warring inside of her and hardly waiting for permission left alone on a speeder bike to fly over the scape of the battlefield looking for the lost troopers. Her night vision goggles helped identify any obstacles or pitted areas. With each passing minutes Ahsoka found it harder and harder to swallow down her anxiety and many times she stopped just to breathe and recenter herself and release her emotions into the force. Two hours later and her goggles picked up something on the horizon and she turned her speeder in that direction. Smoke was coming from a small fire, barely enough for heat or light and two hunched figures huddled near it. Ahsoka stopped the speeder aways away and crept up low to the shadows beyond the firelight.
"Sir, how are we supposed to get back to camp?" An obvious shinny asked his companion, clutching tightly to his ribs
Ahsoka nearly gave away her position when she heard the tired voice of her Captain respond. "We'll wait until daybreak and try and move towards camp and we'll hopefully meet a search party." Rex poked at the fire.
Ahsoka stood to her full height once again and stepped into the weak light. "Or the search party can come to you."
Rex startled up halfway with his pistol in one hand and the other gripping his leg. The other trooper followed suit and both relaxed when they saw who it was. Ahsoka dropped next to Rex and gripped his arm tightly.
"We've been wondering where you'd been off to. Glad to see you weren't just goofing off out here."
Rex patted her hand. "I'm just glad we can get back sooner and quit everyone's worries."
Ahsoka helped the wounded shiny onto the side stretcher and Rex slid behind Ahsoka on the bike, wrapped one arm around her middle, the other gripping his injured leg. The three of them speed off back towards camp, safety, and friends.
Anakin had told Rex not to worry about Ahsoka and her side mission when he originally sent her off with a pack of explosives and the two residential ARC's. There was a small tightening of fear in Rex's chest but brushed it off and only warned the ARC's to be careful and watch over the commander. They knew the mission had been a success when the communications tower and supply depot exploded in spectacular color and fire. The men cheered and rushed once again into the battle to finish off the remaining droids and end the battle. Things settled quickly after the dust settled and the men regrouped and started on the post-battle clean up. Rex was slightly concerned when there was no sign of the strike party but brushed it off as them needing more time to come back from enemy lines rather than trouble. When Fives and Echo appeared, jogging back to camp, looking a little worse for wear, Rex's heart clenched because there was no springy, grinning figure between the two like there should have been. Flagging the troopers down he kept watching behind them least the figure he was searching for be right behind them.
"Where is the commander?" He asked brusquely.
Both soldiers shifted in surprise.
"We thought she was right behind us. We set the charges and the commander told us to start heading back while she finished her charges and set them off once we were all away." Fives informed him
"We thought since the charges went off without any unexpected delay that the commander was headed back to." Echo added
"I'm sure she's right behind us, Sir." Fives reassured "You know her, she probably stopped to make sure all the droids had been properly scrapped before coming back."
"Or she's counting them so she can claim more kills than the General." Echo joked lightly
Rex nodded at his brothers and sent them off to camp, pretending that their word reassured him and calm his worries. They had not, even though Fives and Echo may have been right about Ahsoka circling back to make sure the mission was finished or to help in clean up was definitely something she would do but intuition told him this was not the case and that something was wrong.
Once things were calm, Rex had still not seen his friend and his worries only mounted every minute the young togruta was not beside him, safe, and laughing with her master. He decided to sweep the mission site once more, even though it had been cleared by other troopers, just in case. Rex was impressed with the destruction the explosion had wrought, briefly grinning at what the three could accomplish with a few well placed charges, pity the droids that were inside these buildings when the three came charging in. Rex started along the path that they had mapped, looking for any signs of Ahsoka that they had missed before. When the neared the entrance and exit point of the mission Rex slowed down and used the HUD in his helmet to scan the rubble and enhanced the audio to pick up any sounds of movement. After about an hour of searching his audio picked up weak sounds amongst the rubble. Moving swiftly towards the sound, Rex picked up weak groans and the sounds of struggle. He threw debris and rubble off to the sides with a frenzy, nearly tearing his gloves off in his haste. A sienna hand pushed away some of the rubble and Rex was looking down as Ahsoka's scratched and dirty face and body. Shoving away more rubble, he pulled her up and held her steady while she caught her breath and steadied herself against him.
"I knew you would come when I didn't show up in time." Ahsoka laughed joyfully
"Hey, I couldn't just leave you behind. That would mean I would have to listen to General Skywalker brag about his kills alone." Rex helped her down and back towards camp
"I think I creamed him; I got two whole buildings full of droids to my name this time!" Ahsoka laughed again
What do you do when you can't find them? When the battle fades and you're left standing alone without your other half? When the fear of losing them grips your heart? When in a sea of white armor you can't find that familiar dented and scratched armor? When you can see the usual flash of green and sienna in the midst of white? When you spin and turn, frantic to find the one person you care most about?
You wait patiently, trusting their skills and luck. You wait until all other options have been exhausted. The you take initiative and head out to find them because the thought of losing them is too much and it's the one remaining chance to find them. If only to reassure yourself that all and every option has been fully exhausted. And then you bring them home, to safety, to friends, to lovers.
AN: I hope you guys like it! This is set before Rex and Ahsoka acknowledge their feelings but are still expressing more concern for each other than usual. I'll continue to update as much as possible! I am working on some requests as well, so if you haven't seen your requested chapters yet, don't worry, I am working on them and have plans for them! Please do send me ideas and reviews too, I love to hear what you, my Dear Readers think and suggest!