Oh wow. One chapter late, but it's finally here! The first little segment from Rex's POV. It's not super exciting, but it lays a good foundation for fun stuff later on :P

Also, we're back to happy and shiny in this chapter. Enjoy!

Through the Eyes of Captain Rex

Captain Rex sighed softly through his nose. The new commander was, well, not exactly what he'd been taught a commander was. She was many things—loud, happy, curious, excitable, sassy—but she was definitely not a commander in the way he imagined one to be.

Currently, she was pacing up and down the small width of his make-shift office, lips pursed in a frustrated pout, forehead creased in thought. She came to an abrupt stop, spinning to face him. "Okay, but I don't understand why you can't just say it's a bad idea." Her voice was loud and exasperated, and he narrowed his eyes slightly. She pressed her lips together, chagrinned, and bowed her head slightly, less confident in her next sentence. "It is a bad idea, right?"

Rex took a steadying breath. He had never been great in dealing with younglings. When he'd been a senior cadet on Kamino and they'd talked to some of the younger ones, he'd let others do the interacting. Younglings just weren't his thing. But this youngling was a Jedi, and his new commander, and he knew he better make them his thing, and quickly.

"Commander Tano, would you mind taking a seat?" She hesitated and he arched an eyebrow. "Please, sit." She did, hearing and recognizing the order in his voice. He leaned forward resting his elbows on his desk. "I do believe the GAR chain of command has been explained to you?" It was a statement in the form of a question, and she nodded quickly.

"Yes, it has, but—"

"Then I don't understand what the confusion is." He could get a demerit for talking over a commanding officer, but somehow he knew that wouldn't happen. He doubted she knew what a demerit was or that it existed.

Her eyes narrowed, face hardening. So she knew he'd insulted her, then, but she didn't know she could punish him for it. He decided he wouldn't tell her right at the moment.

A frustrated huff of air escaped her. "Please, Rex, can you try to explain it to me?" He also doubted she knew that forgoing his rank indicated a familiarity that wasn't there. "Because I don't understand. It's simple logic! If it's a bad idea, say so."

Rex closed his eyes for a second and a half. This youngling might possibly be the death of him. Not literally, of course, that was just some civvie idiom he'd picked up.

"There is a way things are done in the military, commander. It is done that way specifically for a reason. Not following SOP causes issues to arise." He paused, trying to figure out any other way he could elaborate. One hand gestured to the outside. "If I were to march over to General Skywalker and tell him his plan a bad idea, that would indicate that I lack faith in his ability as a leader and as a general. It would then cause issues among the men, because if I don't trust the general, then there must be a reason, and that means they shouldn't trust him either."

Her mouth formed a soft O and she sank back in the chair slightly. Rex released a soft breath of relief. It wasn't that he had anything against her questions. He welcomed them, in fact, but sometimes it was exhausting trying to explain the same thing in so many different ways because she didn't understand.

It wasn't that he had anything against her as a person, either. She was, well, fun to have around. The men—the few he had left after Teth—laughed often because of her. She treated them as men, as friends, even though she didn't know them all that well. She was bright and happy and bouncy.

But she was a youngling, and younglings weren't his thing, and a part of him—a very large part—violently protested a youngling leading troops into battle, Jedi or not.

"Rex?" Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts, worryingly quiet and speculatory. Her gaze was fixed on an empty spot on his desk, so intense that he glanced down, too. If anything was there, it was something only she could see.

"Yes, commander?"

Sharp teeth worried small lips. "What if I were the one to tell Skyguy his plan was a bad idea?"

Shab. "I was not implying you do so when I said I couldn't, sir."

She looked up at him, face exasperated, eyes laughing. "I know that. But if I did it, you wouldn't get in trouble, right? And it wouldn't cause issues, because I'm just the clueless Padawan who likes to talk back anyways. Right?"

The kid was smart, clever in a way that could prove dangerous the more of the war she was exposed to. He suddenly realized that all his previous assumptions of her had to be amended. Smart the way she was, clever the way she was, he was almost certain she knew the affects her actions had on the men. She knew what she was doing when she left called him by name and not rank. She knew.

He made a small movement with his shoulders that might have been a shrug. "Possibly. I'm not in any way encouraging you to start trouble with General Skywalker, commander."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Course you're not, Rex. This is all my idea. I'm just respecting the GAR chain of command."

His brow furrowed slightly and he made a small noise in the back of his throat. "You aren't, quite, sir." Would she ever understand?

She just grinned impishly and stood up. "Thanks, Rexster. You've been a great help. I'll be back when I have more questions."

He just stared after her. Rexster? What the kriff?

It was near sundown when he saw the little commander again. She was with the general a ways away, obviously trying to convince him of something. Rex had the niggling suspicion he knew what they were talking about.

She caught sight of him and paused in the conversation, waving him over eagerly. Rex paused for a moment, wishing for just an instant he had somewhere to hide, a place to escape to. This was not a discussion he was happy to be part of. Then he straightened his shoulders and changed directions, moving towards his COs.

The general turned towards him at his approach. "Ahsoka was just expressing how passionately she disagrees with my plan." He shot the younger Jedi a slanted look, and she grinned sheepishly.

Rex watched the interaction closely, curiously. The youngling was reckless and careless, but she wasn't stupid. She was, it seemed, well-versed in manipulation, subtle or not, and Rex amended his judgements of her yet again, adding this new discernment to his view of her. Young and reckless, but clever and manipulative, yet with good intentions. It was… odd.

And, if he were reading her body-language right, she wasn't the least bit apologetic for questioning her master's methods. Stubborn and determined—new adjectives to add, also.

Rex cleared his throat softly. "What's she saying, sir?"

Skywalker glanced at his Padawan again, but her face had gone blank, and she just blinked up at him. "She's saying, and I'll give the compressed version, that my plan is stupid and will get a lot of our new replacements killed."

Rex felt his eyebrow creeping up his forehead for just an instant before he remembered to keep his visible emotions in check. "The commander said that?"

A soft huff came from beside them, and a small russet body just about forced its way between them. "I am right here, you know."

The general's lips twitched slightly in a hidden smile, and Rex bit back one of his own. It seemed that Skywalker was just as adept at manipulation and games as his Padawan was. "Yes, Rex, the commander said that. Now, my question is, do you agree?"

Rex pulled his shoulders back instinctively, straightening as much as he could, unsure of when he'd relaxed his posture. "It is, sir, in my opinion that a less obvious approach would be better. For this particular planet, I believe that guerilla tactics would have a better outcome than a traditional military advance."

Skywalker nodded slowly, thoughtful, his expression similar to the one the commander had worn earlier in his office. Rex wondered absently if she was already picking up on some of the general's gestures.

"Alright, Rex, I'll see what we can do." He turned to walk away and a large smile broke out across the commander's face, disappearing quickly when Skywalker turned around. "Next time, just come to me, Rex. I'd much rather get military advice from you than from this clueless youngling." Another hidden smile pulled on his lips as her face morphed into a look of annoyed outrage.

"I'm a Padawan."

She didn't get a response from either man, and let out another small huff, shoulders slumping slightly in defeat. Rex smothered a chuckle. "Come on, commander, I'll show you a few things about fighting guerilla style. I doubt it was something they taught you at the Temple."

She perked up immediately, happily falling into step with him as they made their way back to his office. "Hey, Rex?"

"Yes, commander?"

She pursed her lips slightly. "Why could you say something then, but not before?"

He paused by his office doorway, gesturing she enter first. She did, settling in the same chair as before. He sat in his own, across from her. "It's one thing to disagree outright with my general, and another entirely to give my opinion to a question asked."

The white marks above her eyes pulled together. "That's… complicated."

"It's politics."

Her face scrunched up in an expression of disgust that made him smile. She really was a youngling. Young and naïve and in need of experience. But she was a quick learner, bright and curious. She was strong and smart, and knew how to turn a situation to her advantage. A few months, and he had no doubt she'd be one of the best COs in the GAR.

Seeing his smile, she returned it with one of her own. He hoped suddenly—an odd, random hope with an origin he couldn't figure out—that no matter how much experience she gained, how much of the war she saw, how good an officer she became, that she'd never lost those radiant smiles.

Really sweet, kinda cheesy, but it's bright and shiny and that's what I need right now haha

For timeline's sake, this takes place soon after Teth, so Ahsoka is still relatively new to Torrent. Hope this made you smile as much as it did me.

Read, review.

Kisses!