Ahsoka
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"You sure you're up for this?" Anakin gave Obi-Wan a sly look out of the corner of his eyes, but his voice was mischief and affection.
The older jedi's eyes crinkled in response.
"Oh yes. I've been lazing about long enough to be fully capable of indulging myself with small talk and sweets..."
Ahsoka gave a soft snort and smile at the confession of laziness. The older jedi had taken only the minimum amount of time force healing before racing off with them on this self-imposed mission of sorts. After the attack at the clinic Obi-wan had been transported directly to the jedi-temple to be treated by the healers there, much to his chagrin of the whole scenario.
And, by proximity, so had Cody, who now walked a few paces behind them, astride with Rex. As usual they stayed quiet, enjoying the titters between their commanding officers before them.
"Sweets?" Ahsoka prompted from between the two masters. Her attempt at indifference was betrayed by hoisted eye markings and a hopeful gleam to her eyes. Although specialty foods were an extravagance more frequently enjoyed by jedi than their men, they were still an infrequent partaking while out in the field. The promise of such things tempered her apprehension of what was to come somewhat. The last social call she'd been a part of, while memorable, hadn't been the most enjoyable.
"Apparently tops, if Thorn's word is anything to go by, and that has been my experience." Anakin gave her a grin before extending an arm out before him, palm up. "A magical shop with good food and beautiful women. I confess, I'm curious to see for myself."
Ahsoka rolled her eyes but smiled and Anakin turned to regard Obi-wan directly. "And you somehow stumble into it all on your own. Either you've been keeping tabs on my conversations or our fates are somehow mystically aligned..."
"I shudder at either thought." Obi-wan ran a hand over his beard and peered over his shoulder at Cody briefly, who tilted his helmeted head in amusement. "Nothing more than circumstance, I assure you."
"Your circumstances sure become interesting quickly."
"As do yours, generally. How was dinner with the Senator?"
"To be honest, I don't remember much. From what I hear, I embarrassed myself by passing out very early." Anakin blinked at both Ahsoka and Rex, as though he didn't quite buy that story, but had no means of disputing it. "Must've been more tired than I thought. All I remember is eating, then waking up at P...the Senator's apartment the next morning."
"Ah." If the Captain's force signature behind them was anything to go by, there was a bit more to it than that, but Obi-wan decided it was one of those 'better left unspoken' things. It wasn't a sense of danger he was picking up. And Both Anakin and Ahsoka felt equally befuddled.
They walked through the halls of the temple quietly after that for a while, each lost in their own musings, thoughts tangled in the past and things to come.
Not too far from the entrance Anakin slowed slightly, casting Rex an ornery glance over a shoulder.
"Something happened Rex. What is it?"
Rex's stride slipped a little, but he kept pace. "Sir? If you're asking about that night-"
"No." Anakin waved the thought away. "Something's happened recently. Since you returned from the barracks this morning. You seem...different."
The others all cast glances the captain's way, curious.
Ahsoka tilted her head. "I felt it too. Something good, right? You seem...happy."
"Happy? Rex?" Cody narrowed his eyes at his companion and Anakin snorted while Obi-wan and Ahsoka had a grin of it.
Rex shifted, undoubtedly made uncomfortable by the scrutiny, but he gave a slow nod.
"I suppose...It was one of my men, sir. Well, he used to be one of ours." He paused for a moment before continuing. "He was transferred to the Coruscant Guard a good while back. After Teth."
A dark look passed over Anakin's face for a moment and sympathy colored the others. But the darkness faded from the young jedi master after a few moments, and was replaced by a mixture of curiosity and hope.
"He's here? That trooper? You spoke with him, then. How is he?"
"He's...good." A wry smile passed across the captain's face, and although the jedi couldn't see it they felt it. Rex pressed on, embarrassed perhaps, force signature tinging with uncertainty. "When he transferred, he was a broken man. He lost many of his original batch on Christophsis and was injured there himself. Had to stay behind when we left. After Teth, he'd lost everyone he'd trained with. He just..." Rex cut off, as though he was confessing a fault-kept secret.
"It's understandable," Obi-wan offered. "Such loss..." Whether he spoke of the trooper Rex decribed or the situation was unclear, but it was obvious he was sincere. Cody gave his friend a pat on the shoulder. Rex continued, verbal bravery spurred by the open acceptance.
"Well, he took part in your firefight, General. Kix informed me and I went to see him. Aside from his injruies, he's doing...well. Very well. "
He gave Anakin a pointed look. "And somehow, I think it has to do with your magic shop, sir."
"This gets more interesting by the minute." Anakin admitted, eyebrows raised. He gave Rex a nod and a smile that touched his eyes before turning his focus once more ahead and added with sincerity "I'm glad he's doing ok."
"Did I know him?" Ahsoka asked, falling back a little to ask Rex privately.
"Only briefly, Commander. But he remembers you." He looked at her, long but kindly. "He asked after you, actually."
"Oh? What'd you say?"
Rex pulled a blank face and Cody snorted. She gave him a smack on the arm.
"Hey!" But she laughed. And her eyes were the bright blue fire which was so purely and wonderfully and endearingly her. Rex watched her secretly from behind the visor, his gaze taking in the young woman beside him, picturing her once again as the sassy, bright-eyed and gangly youngling she'd been back then, for a moment.
She had changed. As much as he didn't want to admit it, it also made him proud-he really couldn't consider her anything other than a young woman now, although he'd have a hard time giving up calling her 'kid'. She was no longer a child, thin arms and imperious looks, brash words and impulse. She was still all of those things at times, yes, but it had been tempered by wisdom and experience. The war had taken it's toll on her innocence, but had given her a practiced grace and a ferocious battle-soul beauty in return.
Back in the med-bay he had struggled to put words to what she had become, although he had mentioned her strength and wisodm. Her courage and tenacity. How she was at once both soft and fierce.
She had grown. Not just aged, as he and his brothers now did, but matured. In a beautiful and feminine way that made him feel both awed and protective.
Sister. Friend. Commander, by actions and heart, no longer just by title.
Ahsoka.
He gave her a smile she didn't see, but the grin she gave him let him know she felt it.
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Ahsoka sat a short while later, tucking into her second pastry, cup of caf steaming frothed cream atop a painted cup, humorous gaze on the group across the room. The little girl she had been introduced to earlier was making rounds of the laps of the men sitting at the counter, each taking a turn catching her attention with a bounce or game or joke, swapping gossip over the flyaway curls. They were all a play in delight, and Ahsoka smiled to feel their laughter and light in the force.
At the table beside her Obi-wan and Anakin were discussing something with Aiya and Loreen, the two who had turned out to be very much the fairy-women of their reputation, hugs and smiles and sweet smells and forbidden unchecked kindness. Ahsoka envied them that, it seemed there lay no restriction on the attachment they bestowed upon everyone, a glow of the force that lingered after their footsteps, that hovered on their fingertips and was caught by the strands of their hair and tinted their eyes. After an apology from the older jedi and Cody, which had been waved away with a smile, they had been discussing things drizzled with laughter for the last hour.
Beside her Rex had eyes drifting between the other table and his men, a tinge of moderated amusement and satisfaction curling his lips. An outsider playing the sidelines as he usually was, maintaining the role of captain although it the force spoke true, he was possessed of a small desire to join in. He chose to bypass that calling so often and Ahsoka mused on it. Many times she'd wondered what an unrestrained Rex would be like. He was a man bound deeply to his sense of duty, which she understood, although she wished for a loosening within him now and then. A hint of the care-free attitude his men had, which brought that shine to his eyes. He was one so often charged with the care and keeping of others, she wondered why he so easily forgot to include himself.
Earlier there had been a brief splintering of the wall he so dutifully tended. A mistaken grab of his kama by Fayna, expecting someone familiar. Fox, she had cried with the untamed decibals and delight of a child. And then, upon realizing the mix-up, the small girl had stepped back to peer up at Rex for a short while, a cute statue of surprise and wonder. When she had raised arms out to him at last, he had taken a step back in surprise and blinked at her, frozen himself in response.
Jesse had interjected at that point, scooping her up with a shake of his head and a soft "Captain, oh captain. She doesn't bite." With a grin. And Fayna had pointed at him proudly, curls bouncing and beaming from Jesse's arms.
"Captain oh Captain. Hold me, please."
And he had, then. Amid laughter and with deeply tinted cheeks, but also an honest, and decidedly bemused grin.
Ahsoka chuckled into her cup as she took another sip of the dark, sweet drink. She had the urge to wrap her arms around Rex and goad him to join the others. Encourage him to be goofy and to take part in that which seemed to bring him light. Order it, or influence it perhaps. But he was a friend, close as her own heart, and she respected him too much to attempt to alter him from who he was. Still there were days she just...wished.
Cody seemed to have a small affect on him in that direction, and she gave the Commander a smile of gratitude across the table. Whether he recognized the emotion behind it or not wasn't clear, but he returned the gesture. He gave Rex a companionable swat to the pauldron, eyes back on the troopers across the room.
As though they sensed they were being watched, a few of them turned and gestured for Ahsoka to join them. The padawan placed a finger to her chest, raised eye markings. She received a few nods in return and rose with a curious air.
Rex watched her pad over and as one of the coruscant guards hopped down from his stool to offer it to her. No sooner had she sat than she was leaning over the counter, engaging in an inspection of the contents of Kix's med-kit with the medic himself and the child on his lap. The troopers who weren't Rex's rose together and made their way to the table across the room with nods to Rex and Cody, who returned them.
Hatch took his seat, although his eyes were on the commander's back at the counter.
"She's really grown."
"Who? Fay?" Surge asked, biting into the pastry he'd brought with him.
"No, the Commander."
"How could you possibly know that?" Trust followed his gaze.
"I've seen her a few times over the years. She was just a kid the first time, but now...she's really grown up hasn't she?"
The others turned to look at him and Trust shot him a side-glance through narrowed eyes. "She's still a kid. Don't make me hurt you."
Hatch threw up his hands. "Whoah. Wasn't going there, vod." He shook his head at them all, a picture of innocence. "I was just noticing."
"Well, don't."
"She's not that young...technically she's older than us," Ravi wheedled, chin in hand.
Trust gave him a dark look and Surge shook his head. After another wide grin Hatch conceded.
"Joking aside, she's lovely. And good with Fay. It's cute."
"Hardcase is good with Fay, too. You should tell him he's cute."
"If you insist." Hatch plucked his helmet from his hip and patched a comm with the new brother. At the bar Hardcase looked down at the crackle from his helmet and lifted it to listen.
"Ravi thinks you're cute, Hardcase. He asked me to tell you."
The heavy gunner lifted an eyebrow from across the room, and Ravi snoeted but gave him a wink and a salute. Hardcase shook his head, chuckling.
"Afraid you'll have to get in line, bud. I'm already got a dress-up date with the little lady next time we're planet side." Fayna looked up at him as he spoke and gave him a grin, then turned to look at Hatch across the room. He gave her a pout, which she gave back with the dramatic flair of a four year old.
Ahsoka laughed, having heard the whole exchange. She gave the girl's head a ruffle and rose to step over to the table where the four red-marked troopers sat.
"Mind if I join you?"
"Definitely not, Commander." Surge answered. He pulled out the chair beside him and she sat.
Ahsoka took a moment to feel them all quickly and gently through the force. It was something she had always done as a child, whether it originated as a safety precaution or just from a pronounced and ingrained need-to-know trait, it had become a habit over the years. A way for her to feel like she had some small form of control in situations she felt unsure of. A safety mechanism of sorts. A comfort of honesty in a galaxy which so often wasn't as it seemed.
But the troopers beside her turned out to be exactly as they presented themselves, as most of their brothers so often were. As with any individual, they had the inner clouding of passions and fears, hopes, humor and sadness, desires, dreams.
The one called Trust had a faint yet deep darkness within, an echo of past trauma or something of the kind. Not something too uncommon for anyone, let alone a being born and bred for war. But there was a healing that she felt there also, something which had overriden that discord like a blanket softening the cool of a dark night. Instinctually she delved slightly deeper, expecting the common subconcious pushing away of his mind which would present her with a stopping point to her pressing. It was normally triggered before anyone she probed would take notice of her force-inquiry.
But there was no rebuke, although Trust lifted an eyebrow at her. It was clear he'd felt what she was doing, but seemed open to her doing it as she liked. That was so foreign to her, she broke off with a blink, but gave him a smile of affection and gratitude before moving on to the others. Ravi and Surge had similar tangled strings of darkness tucked within, albeit much fainter. Their blankets providing more coverage to darkness, for some reason. They had found something fuller than Trust had over time. She wondered what it was. Hatch seemed non-possessed of inner turmoil at all, which she found quite strange. But he also had small, light-hearted crush on her, which made her smile. The other's regard for her was something of a wisp of what she sensed they all felt deeply for Fayna.
Overall, they were warmth and fun and kind and safe. The same feeling she got from her own men. She gave them all a grin.
"Alright boys, don't go easy on me because I'm a girl." She gave them all a playful wink. "I want the down and dirty about Coruscant. My men like to pass tales, and I not only like to be in the know, I like to have the best."
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*Sorry for the all the update pings per chapter if you guys use the fanfiction app. I'm so embarrassed. I post a chapter and notice mistakes, then update and notice more. For some reason I don't catch them when I read through the first time. I kind of go blind to them from overviewing. But I want to give you guys the best revised version I can before I forget. Thank you for your patience with that.
Thank you for the reviews, guys! Cozzizzie, TGP, CaptainReb, OwlFur...I'm glad you enjoyed the last one, and I hope you liked this one. Byakugansharinganweaponhottie: I was rereading reviews, and I realized I hadn't thanked you personally for yours yet. I don't know why I forgot, I think my brain takes vacation some times. Thank you :)
I felt like a few small Rex and Ahsoka moments. I have a half-written one-shot about them after order 66, which I'm fiddling with. Not sure which direction its going to go yet. Trying to work up to future things. Ahsoka's fall from grace is coming soon.
Next chapter will be Rex. This chapter takes place right before they head out to Umbara, so it will take place when he gets back. Ive gone easy on Fox lately, but he's going to be prominent in upcoming tales.