Part II: "Her New Boys Don't Like Me Much, and They're Happy To Tell Me So."
"You look excited Captain," Senator Emala said to the newly promoted Captain of her personal guard. Rex Jaig stood beside her chair facing the view port behind her dressed in a red sleeveless jacket trimmed with fur on one shoulder. He wore more armor and less ostentatious clothing compared to the traditional garb of her Togruta protectors but as a former clone and the only human member of her team she allowed it.
"I've never been to Shili, Senator," He said to her now.
"I hope you aren't disappointed. After your extensive travels in the Outer Rim I don't think you will find Shili notable for any particular beauty or adversity. Most of our planet is covered in grass. We are not a people motivated to build beyond our needs or to impress so there are no great sights in our cities. Our people value art and knowledge but our tastes are often lost on outsiders."
"No disrespect, my lady, but I'm not really interested in sight seeing," Rex replied, a soft smile on his face.
"Then perhaps it is the company you'll find on Shili that sparks your interest," the Senator said with a smile over her shoulder. Rex glanced her way before grinning.
"It will be good to see my old Commander again."
"I look forward to Ahsoka's company as well," Jaina said with a nod. "I would like to thank her in person for introducing us."
"I just do my job, Senator."
"You do your job very well," She corrected with a smirk. Rex had to smile back. He was truly happy to be working for Senator Jaina Emala. Ahsoka hadn't lied when she said the woman was worth admiring. She was a kind soul who loved with an open heart and accepted people without prejudice. He had to admit though, he found the formality she maintained on and off the job a bit stifling. He'd always found the upper levels of Coruscant where Jaina lived and worked stifling. He was looking forward to spending time with his old witty and down to earth friend.
The Senator's shuttle made it's final decent to the landing platform in the center of the Togruta capital of Shili-kai. Shili-kai was built on a rocky multi-leveled plateau that rose above the expansive grasslands that stretched nearly to the horizon, where jagged orange and umber mountains rose as small humps against the vast sky. Most of the buildings were low two story affairs, widely spaced and set far apart with paths, gardens and pavilions between them. Though sparsely adorned, they were of quality construction and barely showed the many year of care they had received. A few larger buildings, ten or more stories high were scattered across the city and rose like monoliths above the others. It was neither the most technologically advanced or developed city Rex had ever seen, it lacked the flashing signs, speeder traffic lanes and pervasive advertising of a place like Coruscant. But it was far from the most primitive. The predominance of neutral earth tones gave the place a naturalistic feel while the clear planning of the city gave it sophistication.
"I don't know what you were talking about, Senator," Rex said as they landed, "it's a beautiful city."
"I'm glad you like it," She replied, "perhaps you'll come visit me when I retire."
"That's not for a long time yet, my lady."
"Can you fault me for dwelling on the eventuality?" She asked, a small coy smile on her lips. Rex thought back to the metaphorical snake pit that was the Republic Senate and shook his head.
"No, I can't."
"Well, until then I will just have to make the most of my time. Shall we go, Captain?" She offered her hand. Rex put his helmet on before placing the offered hand on his arm.
Rex led the Senator down the boarding ramp, eyes alert behind the visor for any threats. There was a small delegation on the pad to meet the Senator. In the center was a tall portly Togruta male. He had greenish coloring and tall graceful montrals. Between the crooked, menacing looking horns of the guards around him, he looked almost effeminate, an effect that wasn't hindered by his elaborate dress. That, Rex assumed, was the king and traditional ruler of the most powerful Togruti clan. Though he was much more of a figurehead in modern Togruta society he carried a lot of respect and sway on Shili. Beside the king was a graceful woman with the most elaborate headdress Rex had ever seen on a Togruta. It wound up her teardrop shaped montrals to their gold covered tips and all the way down her sweeping lekku. Even as a human he could appreciate her beauty. Lady Emala is at least more refined, Rex thought to himself, comparing the Senator's pale orange and cream robes to the gold and cerulean robes of the Queen. The vivid blue was a color of power on Shili as the traditional source of the dye was rare and hard to extract.
Beside the Royal Couple were two taller male togruta with collars of gold to denote their status and a young girl in the orange and red livery of the Royal house cradling a toddler swaddled in blue. There was a small party of court members in fancy clothing and uniformed guards in a lose formation around the whole affair. The guard closest to the king stood out. Not only was she female, but she was smaller than the others.
Ahsoka Tano stood proudly, stubborn chin lifted and a smirk on her full dark lips. Rex smiled behind his helmet. She's beautiful, he thought and for the first time didn't feel any guilt for thinking it. Her bronze skin glowed the sunlight and her white teeth flashed a smile when she caught sight of him.
The Royal party strode forward and greeted Jaina in the Togruti language. Rex understood most of it; he'd been studying. He'd found it was good to know what his men were saying about him when they thought he didn't understand. Formalities over with, the King had the taller and larger of his sons offer his arm to Jaina who left Rex with a quick, sorrowful glance. Rex glared at the prince behind his visor. At the typical dignitaries' pace, the procession started into the city. Rex walked at the side where he could keep watch on Jaina and her royal escort but also come up next to his old Commander.
"The colors look good on you, Rex," Ahsoka said with a smirk.
"They don't look so bad on you either, Commander," he replied.
"It's Captain now and since we're the same rank you have no excuse not to call me Ahsoka."
"Yes, sir." He grinned behind the helmet. She must have heard it in his voice because she poked him in the side, it hurt a lot more without his plastoid chest plate.
The Royal procession walked down what must have been the main boulevard, though it curved back and forth over the plateau. Twice they climbed large staircases cut into the rocky ground and finally approached the largest structure in Shili-kai. Though the lower levels, made of terraced walkways and covered colonnades, were built of the same natural materials as the common buildings, the upper levels were glittering glass domes. Four large wedge shaped spires dominated the center of the palace and reached up toward the vast cloudless sky.
"Quite a Royal Palace," Rex noted.
"It's more than that," Ahsoka said beside him. "It's the center of all Shili society, the Royal family does live there but it's also the meeting place for the Shili High Council, delegates, the trade guilds, and even the religious leaders. The National Library, State Records, and Military Headquarters are all in this one building."
Rex looked at the building again. It was bustling with activity in and around. Togrutans entered and left from every side.
"Looks like a security nightmare."
"It can be," Ahsoka laughed. "You'll probably want to get the Senator settled in her suite. She'll have a whole floor to herself, easily secured, and round the clock guards under Captain Taahsu." Ahsoka pointed. Rex followed her finger to the tall, older togruta male in Royal livery. He noted that, like Ahsoka, there was an orange-gold braid hanging around the fur cape of his uniform. He filed the information away.
"Thanks." Rex said to Ahsoka before turning his eyes to Senator Emala. Jaina looked incredibly board on the prince's arms and he seemed to be paying her no attention at all.
"You let me know if you have any trouble with the locals, ok."
"Trouble?"
"There are some di'kute who think a human clone isn't good enough protection for our Senator," Ahsoka grumbled.
"I think you'd call them taruuka," He said using the Togruti insult for one of little faith, closed minded and traditional. He left Ahsoka with her look of shock to rescue his lady from her unsavory company.
.
There was one great natural beauty of Shili that Jaina had overlooked and the best place to see it was the open walkways that ringed the lower levels of Shili-kai palace. From there Rex could see all the way across the planes of long white and red grasses to the setting sun, larger and redder than that of Coruscant as it lit up the multi layered atmosphere of Shili in a spectacular play of colors.
"That's probably the best thing about Shili," Ahsoka's voice shouldn't have surprised him. She was a Jedi, or former Jedi, and always had a way of finding him.
"It's quite a place."
"I like it," Ahsoka replied, coming to stand next to him by the open drop between the columns. Rex glanced over, eyes sliding up and down the familiar and yet new person beside him. She was taller, not by much, but still taller than he remembered. She had changed out of her uniform and opted for the more muted red colors she used to wear. She was even dressed in a similar outfit, a tight fitting top with an open back, but her skirt was separate fuller and longer. Her sash fell down to her knees and the skirt a little farther, spit down the middle and shorter in the back than the front. Despite the new attire, the concealed lightsabers, the fullness of her chest and her long lekku hanging to her elbows, she looked like the girl he remembered from his days in the army.
"You look happy," He said.
"You do too," She returned, sharp blue eyes inspecting his face, the remaining lines there and the day's worth of stubble on his chin. Overall Rex looked comfortable to her. In the Force he felt like a point of calm waters, deep and dark at its depths, but clear at the top. It was different from how he'd felt as a soldier, stagnant with deep undercurrents just below the surface, and from the turbulent clashing of waves he had been when she found him on Coruscant. He smirked, warm dark eyes promising laughter.
"Miss Tano," He said, arms crossed, "know any good places to get a drink in Shili-kai? I haven't been here before." He mirrored her words from almost a year ago on Coruscant.
"Mr. Jaig, as a mater of fact, I do."
.
Shili-kai was more beautiful at night. Togrutas seemed to like their night life because after the sun set half the city seemed to light up in every color of the spectrum. The dull earthen buildings were awash in varicolored lights strung between shops and restaurants along the market street that stretched from the Royal Palace to the second largest building in Shili-kai, the Bazaar. The Bazaar was a long low glass roofed building with a few spiraling glass turrets, now lit from the inside with multicolored fire. In the night the gently curving domes glowed invitingly as Rex and Ahsoka walked toward them. They wove through the crowds. Groups of elaborately dressed Togrutans passed them on every side, most were young, teenagers and young adults without a care in the world. The two Captains kept a slow pace and Ahsoka watched Rex's slight limp suspiciously.
"You sure you wouldn't have rather taken a speeder?" Ahsoka asked.
"Nah," Rex shook his head, "exercise is good for me. I've been on that ship all day. Don't worry about me."
She glanced at him sidelong.
"Really," Rex assured her. "I'm healed a lot from the last time I saw you. Keeping active with the Senator has been good for me."
"So, back to your old self?"
"Not entirely," He said with a small shrug. "I wouldn't be able to keep up with General Skywalker. Kenobi, probably."
"What about me?"
"I could never keep up with you, kid."
"Rex!" Ahsoka elbowed him lightly. "I thought you'd stopped calling me that!" He just chuckled. He had, and he'd stopped thinking of her as a kid too. The war had forced her to grow up on the inside, hard and fast. Now her maturity finally showed on the outside. Even if she was the same age as most of the party goers around them no one could mistake her for a carefree youth. She held herself proud and tall, walked with purpose and with confidence in her own power.
"Rex?" Ahsoka asked.
He realized he'd been staring and his mouth went dry as he swallowed. "Sorry, Ahsoka."
"It's alright." She said with one white lined brow raised. The dark marking of her montrals blushed. Rex was surprised he'd never noticed them do so before. Jaina had needed to explain to him what it meant in females of her species a few months ago.
"So where are we going?" He asked quickly.
"Oh just a little place I go on my off nights." Ahsoka said with a smile.
"The ones when you're not working?"
"No," She said, sharp teeth bared in a grin, "the ones when I'm not hunting."
"Hunting?" He was surprised despite himself. Most Togruta, even the city dwellers, were big hunters. It was part of their instincts and their culture. Even young women were encouraged to learn though Jaina said she'd found it distasteful. They didn't usually continue after they married and settled down but among men it was both a pastime and a necessity to earn respect in the culture. "You any good?" he asked Ahsoka. Her shoulders immediately slumped.
"No, not really," shaking it off she continued, "but it makes the boy's feel better after I sweep the training room floor with their shebs." Rex had to laugh at that. None of his men had ever been stupid enough to challenge her on the wrestling mat.
"I bet you keep them in shape."
"I do! I heard you've been getting the Senator's Guards into order."
"Sharal di'kut Hodahr let them get away with anything. You warned me about him. We were just lucky it didn't cost the Senator her life."
"She doesn't seem to think luck had anything to do with it. Jaina called me to her room personally after you went off duty today to thank me for finding you. It was your good aim that saved her life."
"I forgot, you don't believe in luck." Rex said, the back of his neck warm with a rush of hot blood.
"I didn't before; the Order doesn't," Ahsoka said and Rex was comforted to hear no bitter note in her voice when she spoke of the Jedi. "Now I'm not so sure," She went on thoughtfully, looking at him with the corners of her full lips turned upward.
"What changed your mind?"
"Well running into you on Coruscant was lucky for both of us."
"Me more than you." He stopped and looked straight at her with a serious expression on his face, not that of a soldier but no less somber. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, Ahsoka. You saved my life, just like you've been doing since the day I met you."
"Rex, don't be so dramatic," She said, clearly uncomfortable.
"I'm not," he insisted. "I wouldn't have lasted long the way that I was. You were right; it's not the life I was born for. Thank you."
Ahsoka opened her mouth from a frown as if to argue but paused. She reached out and took one of his hands, her skin cool against his, her lightsaber callouses brushing against his blaster callouses, and she smiled. "You're welcome, Rex."
"Drinks on me, then," He said with a weak chuckle to break the mood.
"If you insist, there are a few new drinks I'd like to try," She grinned playfully, letting the moment pass but keeping his hand. They walked on, hand in hand down the brightly lit Shili-kai streets.
The bar Ahsoka led him to was in a spherical building surrounded by a garden with high seats and tables under a canopy of lights that swayed in a slight breeze. Patrons stood or sat all round the building while waitresses in tight black uniforms moved between them. Ahsoka led him inside the domed building. It was dimmer there than in the fading twilight outside and each table was lit by a globe hovering overtop it. Ahsoka spotted an empty two-person table and snagged it as the waitress finished whipping down the countertop. Her hand slipped out of his as she sat down, Rex's skin felt cold without her touch.
"Seems like a nice enough place," Rex said as he sat down.
"Look up." He did. There on the ceiling hundreds of tinny dim lights sketched out familiar constellations. "The bar is called Bituin."
"Stars," he translated.
"Yeah, the atmosphere is too thick and turbulent here to see more than a handful even out on the plains," Ahsoka sounded wistful. "I come here just to look at them."
"You don't seem them much in Coruscant either," Rex said, "too much light."
"Growing up there I didn't see stars till I went to build my lightsaber."
"I didn't see stars until the First Battle of Geonosis. It never stopped raining long enough to see the sky where I was born. The Kaminoan's like it that way; they hate the sun."
"I guess we're not so different." Ahsoka said thoughtfully.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "Because we both grew up not seeing the stars?"
"No, the Jedi take younglings when they're little more than babies. I don't even remember my life before Master Plo found me." Ahsoka looked down at the table and traced patterns on the worn wood grain. "We were both raised for a purpose. Look at us now." She followed up her statement with a short humorless laugh.
Rex was looking though. Her eyelashes were casting shadows over her warm red-brown cheeks and her lips were even darker in the dim light, standing out, catching reflected light off the polished tabletop. Her blue eyes turned up to him, shadows of lashes disappearing. He swallowed, "I think we turned out alright."
It earned him a grin.
"Captain!" A voice called across the bar.
"Oh great," Ahsoka groaned before three men in a flurry of garish colors descended on their table. One dragged over a chair, spinning it around to sit backwards on it and grin at Ahsoka.
"Out for a night on the town?" One of them asked, his green skin looked sickly to Rex next to the bright yellow and purple tunic.
"With a special friend?" the sitting man asked in Togruti, his head inclined curving montrals twitching toward Rex. He had slanted eyes that Rex didn't like and bold markings on his face.
"Bit old for you isn't he?" The last boy asked, he was the tallest of the group, gangly and awkward looking with his large hands and feet. The vivid orange and saffron outfit he wore hung close to his bonny hips and chest.
"None of your business," Ahsoka growled back in the same language.
"I think it's good for you to have a little fun, Captain," Green-boy said.
"Just don't break him," Lanky added with a snicker.
Rex decided it was time to end his charade of ignorance.
"Compared to the Female Zabrak I met on Teth Ahsoka is practically tame," he said smoothly. All four Togrutas looked at him in surprise. Squinty rose from his chair growling while Lanky's jaw dropped and Green-boy looked between the two Captains worriedly.
"Rex." Ahsoka growled, apparently she didn't appreciate being compared to the 'hairless harpy' Ventress.
"This is Rex?" Green-boy asked in surprise. The other's seemed equally shocked.
"Yes, Di'kute," She growled.
"Oh," Lanky said in shock, "he's shorter than I expected."
"You didn't say that's who he was," Squinty said.
"You didn't give me a chance!" Ahsoka replied.
"Sorry about that," Squinty turned to Rex and offered a hand. "Nice to meet you."
"You told them about me?" Rex asked his old Commander shaking the offered hand somewhat hesitantly.
"Of course," she said, looking down at the table, her montrals quickly blushing to a deep black.
"Oh yeah!" Green-boy chimed in. "She never hesitates to remind us how much better Clones are. 'Rex and his men would be over that wall in half the time.' 'Rex would have you swabbing decks for a week.' 'Rex would kick your sharal shebs all the way back to Cori.'" The boys disintegrated into laughter at Greenie's imitations of Ahsoka while her blush spread down her lekku and across her cheeks. Rex found himself chuckling as well. She'd apparently said those things enough to pass on a few Manado'a phrases too.
"Welcome to Stars," A waitress had arrived at their table. "Would you like to pull some tables together?" She asked, looking at the standing boys.
"No," Ahsoka said quickly. "They were just leaving." There was a pointed look at the boys, who were still sharing snickers.
"Yeah, we'll leave you to your special night, Captain," Lanky said grinning.
"Nice meeting you, Rex," Greenie added.
"Make him squirm, Captain Stubs," Squinty stage whispered over his shoulder in Togruti as the three walked toward a table across the room where men and women in similar dress were already drinking and laughing loudly.
"So just the two of you?" The waitress asked.
"Yes," Rex told her. He and Ahsoka ordered, choosing hastily from the menu.
"Stubs?" Rex asked when the waitress was gone.
"Ugh," Ahsoka blushed again, he was finding that he enjoyed seeing her do so. "It was a nickname I got when I first arrived and my… montrals were… short." Rex held back a snicker. "It just never went away," She huffed. "They're not that bad… mostly. They're better when they're sober."
"I'll take your word for it," He said, holding back a grin. "The Generals would frown though, if they knew you were teaching rookies bad language."
"Hey! Anakin said much worse things!"
"Yeah he did. I wonder where he picked up all those words, some of them I don't even know."
"Probably Tattooine, that's where he grew up."
"Huh, he never mentioned it."
"No, Master—Anakin never liked to talk about his past. I kind of understand now. The curiosity is annoying when you'd rather leave it all behind."
"You get a lot of questions about the Jedi?"
"Well they don't come here much so they're even more of a mystery than they are other places."
"I've worked side by side with Jedi for years and I think you're—they're a mystery." Inwardly Rex kicked himself for the slip up. Ahsoka took it with a flinch but moved on.
"Honestly when I arrived, Shili culture was as much a mystery to me as the Jedi are to them. I still feel like an outsider some days."
"I know that feeling." He continued in response to her questioning look. "I've grown up surrounded by people just like me, even if we're individuals, we are all brothers. Now I work for an entirely different species and I'm surrounded by cultures I don't understand every day in the Senate."
"Is that why you started learning Togruti?" She asked.
"Yeah, partly. Mostly I needed to know what my men were saying behind my back. They didn't like me being promoted over them any more than your Royal Guard likes it."
She gave him a sympathetic look. "I know you're the right man for the job."
"So do I, half of my new men are lazy and the other half are too headstrong to be reasoned with. What I wouldn't give for half a dozen vode behind me," he shook his head but he was smiling. "I'll get them together soon enough."
"I'm sure you will."
Their drinks arrived moments later; the local brew for Rex and something vivid green and bubbly in a small slender glass for Ahsoka.
"What is that?" Rex asked.
"I don't know. I just wanted to try it because it's the same color as my lightsabers," She answered honestly.
"That's ridiculous."
"Oh live a little," She replied and took the first sip. Her eyes went wide.
"Bad?" He asked.
"Strong," She replied and put it down. He just chuckled.
"Remind me not to order one. Anything you say is strong will probably knock a human on his back."
"If only you'd told Fives that before he challenged me to a drinking game."
"I did." Rex grinned, remembering that night (because unlike the rest of his brothers he was sober.) He and Ahsoka were probably the only ones who remembered more than the painful morning after. They had stayed up after the others crashed talking and making jokes, swapping stories of the early war in Rex's case and her missions with Anakin in Ahsoka's. He'd been the one to walk her back to her cabin, preventing her from making a wrong turn more than once. She'd mumbled a good night and a thank you at her door. When he asked what for she said for letting her drink Fives under the table, with a wicked mischievous smile. Fives' face flashed before his eyes more vivid then the hazy happy memories and sharp with pain. His friend looked up at Rex in the memory, delirious and babbling, dying in his arms. Rex frowned and drank.
"What?" She'd caught the look, or perhaps just felt the shift in his thoughts. She was still a Jedi in that at least.
"Fives is dead." He didn't bother denying it, he'd always been straight with her before.
"What? When?"
"After you… left. You remember Tup?"
"Yeah. I didn't know him well but I remember him."
"Well, just after you left we were fighting on Ringo Vinda. General Skywalker, General Tiplar, and General Tiplee were leading the attack. We were finally making progress when Tup turned on General Tiplar and… executed her."
"What? Why would Tup do something like that?"
"I don't know. The Kaminoans said it was some kind of virus, messed with something in our brains."
"Clone brains?" She asked. Rex nodded.
"Anyway, Fives went with Tup to Kamino to get him fixed, they were friends so I sent them together. Next thing I know Fives is on the run in Coruscant after an attempt on the Chancellor's life. Somehow he got in touch with Kix and asked General Skywalker and I to meet him. He locked us inside a Ray Shield and started babbling nonsense. Republic Trooper Guards showed up before we could convince him to let us out." Rex shook his head. "I don't know what Fives was thinking, raising his weapon against a brother. Par vode kyr'amur vode, cuyi nu'staabi." (For brothers to kill brothers, it's wrong.)
"I'm so sorry, Rex." Ahsoka reached across the table and slid her hand into his. He gripped her slender calloused fingers in his own.
"I'm glad you didn't have to see it, Fives wouldn't have wanted that."
With her free hand Ahsoka lifted her drink. "To your brothers," she said.
"Oya, ner vode," Rex raised his own glass then drank. Ahsoka downed hers entirely.
"You know what," she said with a grin, "I think this is my new favorite."
He smiled a little. "So, tell me about Shili."
"What do you want to know?"
"What do you do for fun around here?"
"Besides hunt?"
"Yeah, though that sounds like fun if I can bring my DCs?"
"Don't know how the boys would feel about that." Ahsoka said chuckling.
"Please tell me you don't go out with those shabla di'kute," He said motioning toward the younger boys in the middle of the louder group across the bar.
"No! The other Captains and I go together. Prince Jaccar comes every now and then."
"Which one is that?"
"The older one," Ahsoka's face scrunched up a little.
"What? You don't like him or he doesn't like you?" Rex asked.
"I wish he didn't like me," she said, waving to the waitress and pointing at her empty cup. "I'm just different and he's board."
"Hmm," Rex frowned.
"But it's alright, usually they have me working with Prince Sulkahn. He's much easier to deal with."
"He ever go hunting with you?" Rex asked, telling himself the curiosity was not jealousy.
"Sulkahn? No." The idea made Ahsoka laugh. "He'd rather stay in the library, all day… and night." The waitress returned with another green drink for Ahsoka.
"Sounds like an easy job," he replied. "Sometimes I wish the Senator would stay in one place for more than four hours. Some nights she doesn't even sleep longer than that."
"I remember," She nodded. "Jaina's dedicated to her people and the Republic. She'll fight the existence of the war until it ends."
"Even when the Sepie fleet is over our heads," Rex grumbled.
"You were on Coruscant when it was under siege weren't you," Ahsoka realized.
"Yeah, the whole fekking mess. After the Chancellor was kidnapped she spent the whole time debating with Senators about who might be his successor."
"The Chancellorship has become a very powerful position," Ahsoka said softly. She could still remember staring up at him in her trial. The image made her shudder.
"Too powerful if you ask the Senator and her friends. I worry sometimes she's getting into something dangerous and out of her depth with Senators Organa and Amidala."
"I don't think Senator Amidala would be involved in anything inappropriate."
"She might not be," Rex shrugged. "I haven't seen her recently, no one has. Rumor was she left Coruscant. Jaina tried to figure out where she went but couldn't find anything."
"That's odd." Ahsoka frowned.
"Yeah, lots of odd things are happening in the Republic nowadays." He agreed. They sat in a serious thoughtful silence for a moment before Ahsoka shook herself out of it with a motion that twisted her dangling lekku from side to side.
"Enough with unhappy subjects, I haven't seen you in a year and I intent to have a good time," She picked up her drink, "even if I have to resort to…" She trailed off.
Rex saw the change in her face, her eyes widened and her jaw went slack. Her skin and lekku paled as blood drained from her face and she froze. The slender glass tumbled from her fingers onto the table as she pitched forward, trying to stand. Her hand slid across the smooth surface and knocked her empty glass and his over. Her knees gave out and she crumpled to the floor, shaking from the tips of her montrals to her feet. She curled in on herself and tears tumbled down her ashen cheeks. "M-master," she gasped, "master, no."
"Ahsoka!" Rex knelt beside her and reached out for her shoulder, shaking her lightly, "Ahsoka." She didn't seem to hear him or even register his voice.
"Master," she moaned and clamped her hands over her mouth, eyes focused far away.
"Ahsoka," Rex felt panic like he'd never known, it wasn't the resigned fear he'd felt, cornered on Teth, or the mad furious self-loathing he'd felt on Umbara, or even the breath stealing uncertainty lying half paralyzed in the Med Bay. It was a panic of utter helplessness. "Ahsoka," he called her name again desperately.
"What have you done?" Lanky had come over in the commotion and accused Rex loudly.
"Nothing! I didn't do anything," Rex said in Togruti then repeated the words in Basic and looked back Ahsoka who was shaking, her lips moving soundlessly.
"What's wrong with the Captain?" Greenie asked.
"Was it something she drank?" one of the girls asked but Squinty silenced her.
"The Captain's no lightweight."
"We should take her to the Palace, she could be sick," Greenie suggested. That was the most sensible suggestion Rex had heard and it was something he could do.
"Ahsoka," he said to her, for what it was worth. "I'm taking you back to the Palace, Ok? Come on, Commander." He bent down, wrapping his arms around her, but before he could lift she jump violently, pulling away and screaming.
"NO!"
"A-ahsoka…"
"R-rex?" She finally looked at him, still sprawled on the floor, leaning on her chair, eyes wide. She looked at him in a way he'd never seen before, like she was afraid of him. It made him sick but no more so then her words that followed.
"Why? Why are you killing them? W-why…" she trailed off breathlessly and her body went slack. Her eyes rolled up in her head before she slumped completely.
Rex lunged and caught her, dragging her into his arms and off the ground. She lolled in his grip lifelessly and it terrified him. It was like they were trapped in the crazy scientist's laboratory again and she was dying, there in his arms. Then at least, he had been dying with her.
"I'm going to take care of you, kid," he whispered, "just hold on."
Author's Note: So this chapter was messed up (it was like pasted in twice or something weird) and none of you told me :( I would have fixed it earlier. Anyway, it's fixed now. Hope you enjoyed it. -Ember