I couldn't help but put some fluff in this chapter. But on the other side, there will be more seriousness. (sorry if Rex seems a little OOC) P.S.- if something seems like it's going/supposed to be funny, it's not. Enjoy…


"I really appreciate you helping me with all of these books, Rex," Kanari said, her accent making her unintentionally roll her Rs.

"I'm glad to help," Rex said, a slight tingle running under his skin. He moved the heavy stack of books he held in his arms to a low table. Rex had never seen so many printed books before; he had only ever read off of data pads. He picked up a book while trying to look nonchalant, flipping open the back cover.

"If you read it from that side, silly, you'll spoil a great ending!" Kanari said, placing a hand lightly on Rex's hand.

Rex didn't—couldn't—say anything. He'd never read a book before, he didn't know what side to start from, plus, it varied between planets. There wasn't even a title on any of the covers, just gold lettering along the spine. Rex's face caught fire at the thought of making a ridiculous mistake such as this in front of Kanari. Right then, he wished he had decided to keep his helmet on.

Kanari gently turned Rex's hands so he could start at the beginning of the book. Rex's blush deepened as Kanari's warm hands basically burned through his gloves and sent tiny pins and needled through his fingers. "Here, it's like this," she said softly.

"Thanks," Rex barely managed to mutter. He swallowed and looked at the words, barely even making sense of them. He didn't realize she had left his side until he suddenly felt a little cold. Rex stepped carefully around the stacks of books in the small room to replace the book on its shelf attached to the wall. While he was there, Rex examined the other books on the small shelf.

"Hey Rex," Kanari said. Rex turned around.

"Yes?" He watched as she deftly stepped around the piles of books o the floor.

"Can you put this up there for me? You're pretty tall, I bet you coul—" Her voice cut off as her foot caught on a small pile of books she missed and she lurched toward Rex.

"Kanari!" Rex exclaimed. Kanari's body hit him full force, and he fell back onto the wall behind him, making the bookshelf above his head rattle. "Are you okay?!" Rex looked down at Kanari. It was then that he noticed how close they were.

Kanari was leaning against Rex, her hands braced against his chest, with his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Don't worry, I think I'm fine," she said, smiling softly. Rex's face heated as he looked into Kanari's bright green eyes. His heart jumped into his throat, and he subconsciously moved closer to Kanari, bending his head slightly—she was almost as tall as him.

Kanari also moved forward, barely even breathing.

Rex's stomach was starting to get jitters in it, as if thousands of over-eager demolitions shinies were setting off bombs inside him. His eyes began closing, the image of Kanari's lips the last thing in his memory. The world starting drowning out around him.

The door slammed open, revealing a slightly surprised Kiki, her look changing from that, to confusion, to finally settle on a devilish smile playing on her lips. "Oh, I didn't know you were busy, Captain," she said teasingly.

"N-no General! I-I was j-just…I mean we were only," Rex struggled to come up with an answer. What were they doing? Rex had no idea what was happening, only that he knew he had never experienced it before. A small voice in the back of mind hinted at what he and Kanari were going to do, but he shoved it down and ignored it.

Rex's face turned a strange shade of mottled dark red as he avoided the two women's eyes. Rex only meant to back up against the wall and put some distance between him and Kanari. When he placed his hands on her shoulders, he shoved too hard, and she fell back and tripped over another stack of books. Luckily she managed to catch herself on the arm of a chair, but her rear did hit the ground.

"Oh no! Kanari, I'm so sorry I—" Rex rushed to help Kanari up from the floor.

"Rex, knocking over women is not how you're supposed to get a girlfriend, you know," Anakin said from the doorway, standing beside Kiki.

"G-General Skywalker, I can assure you I wasn't—"

"It's okay, Rex," Anakin interrupted, waving a hand in the air. Rex was positive his face would be a permanent shade of bright red.

"Don't worry Rex. I'm fine," Kanari said, straightening out her knee-length skirt.

Anakin and Kiki's comms beeped. "Yet another meeting with the Council," Kiki said sourly. She moved to exit the doorway. "Bye you two," Kiki said, winking at Rex.

The only thing Rex could think to do was snap to attention. After the two Jedi left, Rex looked to Kanari. "So…do you want me to help you with these books still?" Rex asked, hoping against hope she wasn't angry with him.

"Sure, that would be great," Kanari said. To Rex, it seemed as if she had completely forgotten about their almost-something. Rex couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed about that, although he didn't know exactly why.

Rex picked up another stack of books and placed it in a small closet. He tried to ignore the pounding of his heart and the rushing in his ears. What they almost did kept replaying over and over in his mind. Rex's body began to feel warm at the memory, and his face flushed. He swallowed and wordlessly put the many books away.

Kanari looked up to Rex, a worried frown on her face. What was wrong with him? Why was he being so quiet? Kanari's eyes widened. I hope I didn't offend him I any way! she thought, distraught. She wanted to ask him if he was okay, but she was afraid he would give her a concise answer and avoid eye contact, the way he normally did. Is it because I'm only a servant? Kanari thought glumly. It couldn't be that, he seemed happy enough when she was around—unless he was faking it. A cold knot formed in Kanari's stomach.


Edger looked down at the datapad in his hands, scrubbing a gloved palm over his face tiredly. The door to his left opened, and little Ri walked in, holding a small tooka doll in her hands.

At first, he was surprised; she was barely up to his knee and the door had opened anyway. Then he remembered that she was Force-sensitive—she would be able to get almost anything she wanted. "Hey, kid," Edger said, not expecting her to climb up onto his lap. He groaned as she made herself as comfortable as possible on hard armor.

She swung her legs, kicking the undersides of his thigh. She looked up at him almost expectantly.

Edger didn't do anything but raise an eyebrow at her.

Ri went back to swinging her legs, bracing her small hands on his leg. Edger was about to tell her to quit it when she suddenly stopped and craned her neck to look at what was on the screen of the data-pad.

Edger brought it down a little so she could look at it. "Not much to see here. Just taking notes," he said to her.

Ri glanced up at him again, reaching with her forefinger to poke one of the dark circles under his eye.

"Ow!" Edger cried when she poked his eye. "What are you—" Edger was about to berate her for jabbing his eye, but her next statement made him pause.

"Bad dweam?" she asked. She gave Edger an almost pitying look.

"Yeah, just a bad dream, kid. No need to worry yourself about it," Edger said, astounded. He knew she was Force-sensitive. Marik wouldn't stop blabbing about it when they first touched down on Verocia and he spent a little time with her.

Ri hung her head for a moment, then leaned it against Edger's chest. Edger groaned and looked back at the datapad, the small words beginning to swim in his eyes.

Suddenly, Ri shot up, steadying herself on Edger's leg.

"What? What is it?" Edger asked, surprised at her sudden movement.

Ri put her head carefully to Edger's chest again, narrowing her eyes slightly. She smiled. "Ba-bum!" she said, pointing to Edger's chest plate. Edger understood what she was talking about.

"Yeah," he said softly. "That's my heart."

Ri giggled and put her head to Edger's chest, listening to his heartbeat again. "Ba-bum. Ba-bum," she said in time with it. A small smile lit up her entire face.

Edger couldn't help but smile as well. Gingerly, he pet Ri's head, trying not to ruffle her soft black hair too much. Ri stopped saying "ba-bum" long enough to look up at Edger.

She smiled brightly, her eyes crinkling around the corners. She laid her head against Edger's chest, this time keeping it there. Eventually, she fell asleep, listening to the steady thrum of Edger's heartbeat.

And eventually, Edger followed.


Bliz pulled the black undershirt over his head, trying not to disturb his sore shoulder. "I can't wait till we get off this rock," he muttered under his breath. He—along with everyone else—had not gotten a single night's worth of good sleep. And it was starting to affect his performance when he was on duty.

"Me neither. The kids aren't all that bad, though," Edger said, rubbing a scar on his shoulder absently. He'd taken a liking to Ri. She seemed to know when he was feeling upset over the most recent nightmare, and she comforted him in the way only a Force-sensitive two-year-old could. Plus, she didn't talk much.

Around the room, the others in various states of dress and undress muttered their own agreements.

"I keep seeing those monsters from three years back, during the Lizard War," Marik said, looking down at his shirt. Everybody froze.

"That's not possible," Rex said, trying to convince himself more than the others. They'd all seen it, though; the fleeting movement of something large and scaly.

Bliz was not the most modest person of the group, so when he heard a knock at the door, glad for the distraction, Bliz called out, "It's open!" Unfortunately, he was the only one on full armor.

"No don't—!" The others cried, but it was too late. The door opened and Ahsoka and Danda walked in, chattering happily. They had gotten a few steps before they realized that the men were not fully dressed.

"Oh my—I'm so sorry! I thought I heard someone say to—" Danda cut herself off as her eyes fell on Edger—or more specifically—the numerous scars that lined his chest, back, and shoulders. "Edger…what happened…"

Edger's jaw tightened, but he didn't say anything. "They're just scars, Danda," he said stiffly, avoiding her eyes.

Danda's face paled slightly as she reached forward and gingerly traced a scar on his chest. The shortest ones were about as long as her little finger, while the longest would reach from the top of his shoulder to his navel. Each scar was long, pale, and slightly raised—something a knife or vibro blade would have done. "Were these from…the Lizard War?" she asked hesitantly. She ran her fingers along another scar as long as her hand. She gently, she rested her palm on his chest.

"…Some of them…" Edger said. His body went rigid at Danda's close examination of his scars. He closed his hand around Danda's, moving it away from his chest.

Danda seemed to snap out of it long enough to say, "Master wants us in the briefing room in a few minutes." She stepped back from Edger and walked through the door, Ahsoka following silently. Nobody spoke.

"Edger—" Bliz started.

"Next time," said Edger, cutting him off, "don't answer for the entire group." He lapsed into a stony, cold silence, discouraging Bliz from saying anything more. If it had been a different situation, with a different Commander in a different place, Edger would have gotten a berating.

Bliz knew better than to say anything, but he honestly did feel guilty about it. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again.

A few hours later, in the afternoon, Crusade Squad and Rex were off-duty, and since there wasn't anywhere they could go (Kanari hadn't started making lunch yet) they stayed in the barracks.

Ridge examined the tattoo on his left arm; thin bar on top, thorns a few inches below it. He still had to put something in the center, though.

"Something meaningful to you", Kiki had said.

Something meaningful, Ridge thought. At the moment, he didn't have anything meaningful enough to tattoo onto his skin. He looked up at Bliz. Bliz had his tattoo all filled out, they all did, they were matching except for what was in the center. The tattoos weren't required, but Ridge didn't want to seem like the pain of the group, so he got it.

Bliz had tattooed a small pair of hands on his skin. Ridge thought it would be a good idea to ask about what it meant. "Commander," he started quietly. "How come you have the pair of hands on your tattoo?"

Bliz had not been having the best of days that day. He was tired, cranky, and sick of seeing Kanari fawn over Rex all the time, so his answer came out a little dark. "It's for a kid—a little boy— who died during the Lizard War."

Ridge noticed how Rex stiffened slightly. "How'd he die? " he asked, curiosity overtaking his better judgment.

"Rex wouldn't answer some simple question, so they burned him," Bliz said, his tone low and dark.

"What do you mean, 'simple questions'?" Rex asked, turning around to face Bliz. His entire body was stiffer than new armor, and his eyes seemed to have a darker tone to them.

"Simple questions," said Bliz, not elaborating. "If you had answered those questions, the kid wouldn't be dead right now. Maybe he'd be alive with his mother."

Rex's jaw tightened even more than before. His voice was dangerously low. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it means," Bliz said icily.

Something in Rex snapped, and he lashed out at Bliz, hitting his jaw squarely. Bliz tried to block most Rex's attacks, but he was too fast for him. Bliz fell back against the floor, Rex following.

"You know I would never have hurt the kid on purpose!" Rex said panting heavily, still hitting Bliz. "If I could have answered those questions, I would have!"

"You could have made something up!" Bliz yelled. "It's your fault that he's dead, Rex!"

Rex froze, breathing heavily. He aimed a punch at Bliz's jaw again, and this time, Bliz didn't try to block it. Rex narrowed his eyes, shaking his head slightly. Bliz saw the deep hurt that flicked over Rex's eyes, just under the surface. "I…I can't believe you would actually say something like that," Rex said, his pain almost evident in his voice. "That's a new low for you, Bliz." He got up off of him and stalked through the door.

Bliz wiped away the blood that had sprung up on his open lip. He could feel the glares of the rest of Crusade Squad on him, but he didn't care. Bliz got up off of the floor and walked through the doorway, taking a left instead of the right Rex had taken.

Marik moved to go after one of them, but Cord held him back. "Leave them, they need some time to themselves."

Ridge couldn't help but feel guilty for asking the question in the first place. He sighed. Once again, I've found a grand way to prevent myself from making any real friends, he thought dismally.


Rex walked through the massive gardens, trying to calm his mind. He took a deep breath and took a left. What Bliz had said hurt him, although he tried not to let it get tom him. Why would he think he had purposely wanted the child to die with his mother? Rex sighed and turned another random corner. He stopped short at the sight before him.

Kanari was doing stretches in a pair of form fitting pants and tank top. She had her eyes closed and was humming a song softly to herself. She went to another position, her flexibility amazing Rex. Her voice was soft, but he could tell she was hitting every correct note. Rex felt transfixed for a moment, before he softly cleared his throat. Kanari paused and opened her eyes.

"Hello Rex," she said, smiling brightly. She looked as she wanted to take a step forward, then rethought it. Rex found it strange that she was being so reserved, but shook it off.

"I…didn't mean to disturb you," Rex said, making to move past her.

"No, it's okay. I was—" Kanari stopped speaking. Her eyes fell down to an area of Rex's face.

He was suddenly worried. "What is it Kanari?" he asked her.

She carefully walked forward, her bare feet making soft padding sounds on the stone path. "What happened to you?" Her hand reached out to touch a bruise blooming over his jaw. Rex flinched. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, don't worry. I…I fell," Rex said. Kanari gave him a look that said she didn't believe him. "Well," he began, but stopped. How was he going to say this without bringing up too many sour memories? "Bliz was…blaming me for something I had no control over. He said it was my fault that a little boy died, even though I had no power to stop it—" Rex stopped when his voice suddenly felt thick. Kanari's image in front of him blurred for a moment, and his eyes stung.

"Rex…" Kanari said sadly.

"No, I'm fine." He moved away from Kanari, towards the bench by a bush. He didn't sit on it, though. He didn't want Kanari to see him like this, so weak and hurt like a wounded animal.

Kanari's hand wrapped slowly around Rex's, squeezing gently. "Rex, it's okay…"

"No, it's not okay!" Rex said, not meaning to raise his voice at her. Kanari winced and started to pull her hand away from Rex's. "I didn't kill the kid! I tried so hard to..." He saw the look on Kanari's face. "I'm sorry, Kanari. I…I didn't mean to speak to you like that." He gripped her hand before she could fully pull away.

"I know about the boy, Rex. Marik told me," she said quietly. Rex looked at her, an astounded expression on his face. "It was before today. Tell me what happened," she said in answer to his look.

"I…attacked Bliz because of what he said to me. That's how I got the bruise," Rex said after a moment. He bit his inner lip. Rex replayed the memory in his head. Rex had hit Bliz first, but Bliz only ever hit him back once, all of the other times Bliz tried to block his attacks. And then there was the last time Rex punched Bliz, he made no move to block it. He just took the punch and most of the punches before that. Rex was confused for a moment.

Kanari wrapped her arms around Rex's waist. She was almost as tall as him, her temple pressing against his cheekbone. Rex's body began to warm up, and his chest started swelling. "You can make it through this, Rex," she said comfortingly. "Don't let what happened at the Lizard War affect you."

Rex thought back to earlier in the morning, when he was helping Kanari put books away. He thought of their almost-something, and his face started heating again, along with his ears and neck. Hesitantly, he put his arms around her narrow waist, hugging her back, uncertain of what would happen next, or whether it was right.

They stood like that for a moment, holding each other. Rex let Kanari's warmth pervade his armor. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, letting her smell of fruits and flowers overtake him. He made the mistake of opening his eyes.

A streak of red ran down the side of a partly hidden path, the streak about as wide as him. With frozen limbs, he slowly let go of Kanari, not taking his eyes off of the offensive color on the clean light gray stone path way.

"Rex?" Kanari asked, following his line of sight. She paled when she saw what he was looking at. Kanari shot forward before Rex could anticipate her move.

"Kanari wait! It could be dangerous!" Rex yelled, racing after her. He found her kneeling down by a thin woman, lying in a pool of her own blood.

"H-help…me…please…" she said, cracking her eyes open. She stretched a bloody hand toward Rex. The dark shade of the trees didn't hide the long cuts and dark bruises on her face. "They're coming back…" she said, her voice raspy. She coughed, blood covering her chest.

"Lino, stay awake!" Kanari said, wiping some of the blood off of her face.

"K-Kanari? Is…is that you?" Lino smiled, her cracked lip spilling more blood. She coughed again.

"Lino! I'm right here, Lino," Kanari said, her voice cracking. Tears gathered in her eyes, but she blinked them back.

Rex knew there was nothing they could do to save her, she had already lost too much blood. "Can you tell me who did this to you?" Rex asked, kneeling beside Kanari.

"It…it was the…the monsters…they…" She coughed, spilling more blood onto her chest. "Message…" Her head fell to the side, her eyes staring blankly at nothing.

Kanari didn't say anything for a few minutes. "She said she left a message," she said, her voice completely lacking emotion. Rex had never seen anyone so concise before, let alone someone as bright and cheery as Kanari.

Rex carefully flipped over Lino's body, Kanari watching silently. Rex looked at the crude writing on her bare back, the amount of blood and dirt caked into the wounds making it almost impossible to read.

We're back.

Kanari started hyperventilating. "No…no no no! This…this can't be happening! This can't be—!"

"Kanari!" Rex took her shoulders firmly. "Listen to me! We need to find out who did this. Do you know this woman's family?" Even as he said it, he knew who—what—killed the woman, but he didn't want to believe it.

"She was one of my best friends. I've known her since I was little," Kanari said, her breathing slowing down.

Rex slowly stood up, pulling Kanari with him. She wobbled on her feet for a moment, then stood rigidly in the center of the path. Rex examined her carefully. Her skin had paled considerably, and her clothes were covered in blood from Lino's body. His own armor had blood on it, but he would be able to wash it off later.

They went back to the palace, Kanari staying silent the entire time. "Are you sure you're okay?" Rex asked placing his hands gently on Kanari's shoulders. Kanari only nodded. She swallowed and rubbed her arms.

Rex took her arm and led her quickly through the halls to her room, stopping just in front of the door, careful to avoid people. "I'll…tell the general about what's happened," he said softly. Kanari nodded, but avoided Rex's eyes.

Rex then made a split-second decision. Kanari had always helped him when he was dealing with the nightmares since their first day on Verocia; the least he could do was return the favor. Rex pulled Kanari into a quick, tight hug, pressing his hands into the small of her back. Their cheeks pressed together, and Kanari gasped.

"Thank you, Rex," she said, her voice cracking slightly.

Rex pulled away and nodded curtly, turning to walk away. Kanari closed the door to her room.


Kiki leaned against the table they had placed against the wall. She pressed a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Are you okay General?" Bliz asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little nauseous, is all," she said, removing her hand from her forehead.

"We called you here because of…the deaths of the gardeners," Anakin said, crossing his arms and sitting against the table. "We have a clue of what could have caused them, but…" His voice trailed off.

"Was it something from the Lizard War, Master?" Danda asked, raising her hand slightly.

Everyone stiffened, but didn't answer her question.

"Master, what happened at the Lizard War?" Ahsoka asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Nothing Ahsoka, it was just a—" Anakin started, but Kiki's look silenced him.

A silent agreement seemed to pass between the Jedi masters and Crusade Squad. Kiki spoke.

"We were supposed to land by our first rendezvous point…"


What in have in store for you guys next is a flashback that will take a few chapters. I will have to take down the poll, so vote before I replace it with another one (this time, it's about what fan fiction will be released next) You will finally hear about what happened at the Lizard War, and what exactly those "monsters" are.

~AAx