Rex awoke confused, startled to find himself in unfamiliar surroundings. A familiar scent permeated the space and eased his sense of high alert. Ahsoka's quarters. He was at the Jedi Temple.

"Rex?" Ahsoka's sleepy voice did things to him it had no right to do. "You alright?"

"I'm fine... I... uh... forgot where I was."

Ahsoka padded over to him, her steps so light and soft he could barely detect them even with his enhanced clone hearing. Without preamble, she lay down on the floor, curled up into him and tugged the blanket over both of them.

"Ahsoka, this isn't a good idea." Although, every part of his body begged to differ and told him this was a great idea.

"Go back to sleep, Rex," she shifted slightly, curling her backside more deeply into him.

He was never so grateful to be wearing armor. Still, there was something so incredible about the feel of her body weight pressed into him. It filled him with a sense of peace and contentment, like when he was with his brothers, yet also nothing like being with his brothers. He knew he should tell her to move, but then she looked up at him, a warm, sleepy smile that made his insides pool. He tucked her into the crook of his shoulder and settled his chin between her montrals.

Ahsoka emitted a contented sigh, another sound that made his insides pool. She settled in and fell asleep almost instantly, her breathing deep and even. He stayed awake, watching Ahsoka sleep by the city light coming in through the window. It cast different shadows over her face. She was beautiful, no matter the lighting. Her facial structure had changed since he'd first met her. Her features were getting more elongated and her cheekbones sharper. Her montrals were longer. She had gained considerable height and muscle. It seemed like a lifetime ago he was first laughing at the sassy upstart calling the General "SkyGuy" on Christophsis. Even though, she'd been a breath of fresh air amidst the gloom and stress of a difficult battle. Since then, she'd always been his light in his difficult times.

While nothing in their lives was ever certain, he hoped Ahsoka would always be a part of his life. No matter how many years (or months) he had left to live, he had no regrets as long as he could spend it with his brothers and Ahsoka.

The lighting changed turning a startling, almost disturbing shade of red before the dawn came again.

Rex let his vision blur, falling into almost a trancelike state as he thought about both of his Legions. He was doing his best not to dwell on his upcoming meeting with the Jedi Council, but "Contempt of Council" was a serious charge. As far as he knew, he was the only clone to ever be charged with it.

"Hey, didn't you sleep?" Ahsoka's voice was deep and husky when she first awoke. She stayed nestled in his arms, looking out into the slowly gathering rays of light.

"I'm alright. I... had a lot on my mind."

"Understandable." Ahsoka was pressed so intimately into him he felt it in his chest, and well, other parts of him. He forced himself not to respond. It was a skill he'd slowly mastered over the past year as his body became increasingly aware of Ahsoka's maturing form. "Are you thinking about the 501st, or those other brave troopers who helped rescue us? Or, are you worried about your upcoming Council meeting?"

Rex's jaw dropped, and he tilted his head to look down at her. The action caused his lips to fully brush her montrals and they both sucked in a breath. He took a moment to compose himself and then said: "Since I know you wouldn't read my mind without permission, I'll chalk that up to you being effin' brilliant. And, all three, actually."

Ahsoka chuckled and the action caused her to rumble against his chest, an action which was intensely pleasurable in a way he wanted to memorize so he could recall it during the darkest of times. He wanted to remember everything about these precious few hours as they seemed so rare and fleeting in a war that seemed filled with more harsh memories than sweet ones.

As the darkness lifted and dawn began to stream in, Rex gently stroked one of Ahsoka's montrals with the lightest of touches. He generally slept without his gloves. With his hands bare, he could feel everything. The shock of it when through him even with the lightest touch.

He could not lay claim to her. Not in the intimate way a man knew a woman. Not in the way he'd heard Travis and Karyn do so many times on Ando. Maybe he would never know that feeling. But, he wanted her to know how he felt. There was a good possibility he wouldn't survive this war. He was quite sure he wouldn't. But, at least Ahsoka would know.

Ahsoka rolled over and scooted up, so their shoulders were flush. She leaned in for the gentlest of kisses.

It was a kiss of promise. Of something more. For another life. Away from this war.

Rex didn't know if that life would ever become a reality. He leaned in and captured her lips, desperate for more. He kissed her with the intensity that had been locked up inside of him for so long. Everything that he wanted to say but did not have the words to express.

Ahsoka moaned and that sound hit him in his core. He deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue between her lips, needing to taste her. Ahsoka rolled over more, pressed on his shoulders and shimmied on top of him. Rex grabbed her buttocks, pulling her down closer to him. He needed her. So badly. She ground down into him and groaned again-

It was the second groan that brought him back to reality.

In what was probably the biggest act of self-control in his short life, he tore his lips away from the kiss. "Ahsoka. We have to stop."

Breathing heavily, she rested her forehead down against his and sighed heavily. "I know. I wish we didn't though."

Rex chuckled, and Ahsoka joined in a moment later. Feeling her laugh, while still nestled against him in such an intimate position, was another amazing feeling he never wanted to forget. She looked at him with sparkling eyes and it was all there in her expression. Everything they felt for each other, but couldn't find the words to express. Or, couldn't say because of the separate oaths they'd taken that kept them apart.

They both drew back.

She took a deep breath and then turned her face away, breaking the spell of the moment. Although, she made no attempt to roll off his chest, and he wasn't about to move her any sooner than necessary. "Since we haven't heard from the Council yet, how about we get out of here for a while? Get a bite to eat?"

Rex actually liked the Jedi Temple a lot better now than he did a day ago, but he would not say no to food. "Alright. But, am I allowed to leave?"

"The Council specified Anakin, and I suppose by extension his padawan, had to watch over you until the meeting. There was nothing in their instructions that dictated the place where this supervision was to take place. I think they are mainly concerned you show up for your hearing. I know a place close by. The Council will summon us when it is time for you to appear. Anakin says they serve the best breakfast on Coruscant.

At the second mention of food, Rex's stomach responded with a noticeable growl. Ahsoka laughed. "Come on, I know the back way out of the Temple."

Rex didn't doubt Ahsoka knew all of the ways to sneak out of the Temple. They left the room, passing through corridors Rex had never seen and out a back door he'd never used before. They passed only a few service droids on their way out and then they emerged at street level. He walked by Ahsoka's side, trying to keep the appropriate distance like he would when he was on guard duty for any Jedi. As usual, no one paid them the slightest attention. Coruscanti were great about only noticing what they wished to notice and only being concerned about their lives. They walked at a brisk pace from street to street, surrounded by the early morning sights, sounds, and smells of people heading to work.

"This is it," Ahsoka said. She pushed her way inside a crowded tapcaf cafe. Rex's nose was assaulted with the flowery, nutty, herby, scent of good caf, followed by the overwhelming smell of grease. He inhaled deeply trying to identify more of the scents. If he wasn't mistaken, they were serving topatoes mingled with fried peppers and spices. Very greasy topatoes. His stomach growled again. He stuck to Ahsoka's side, but his gaze swept back and forth taking it all in. The place was packed with lifeforms from across the galaxy. Twi'leks. Mirilians. Zeltrons. Rodians. Neimoidians. Keshiri. Iktochi. Trandoshans. Bothans. Mon Calamari. Zabraks. Wookies. Humans. He followed Ahsoka through the packed eatery until they found a space in the back of the large establishment.

As they sat down, the table lit up with an overwhelming array of food items available for order. Rex down at the touch-screen menu in puzzlement. He'd always eaten what had been shoved toward him by the serving droid at the mess hall. The only variety had been when Ahsoka or Fives had managed to reprogram the droids to mix up the ingredients into something a little more appetizing. He'd eaten an array of hardy winter roots and sea plants when he'd lived on the Andoan moon. But, none of it was anything like what he saw speeding by him on the arms of the servie-droids. He tried not to stare, wide-eyed and lost, like a shiny on his first day of an actual battle.

"What will you have?" Ahsoka asked.

Rex stared at her, dumbfounded by the question. What will I have?

He stared down at all of the choices again. He stared down at the tapcaf menu, trying not to reveal how lost he was, but pride quickly gave way to hunger. "Half this stuff here I don't know whether I am supposed to eat it or polish my blaster with it." Rex grumbled. He was surprised by Ahsoka's easy burst of laughter. He smiled, too, despite his hunger and feeling out of his comfort zone. Making Ahsoka laugh always felt right to him. He jabbed a finger at the men. "Alright then, what is Qrikki? That sounds like a Separatist weapon."

Ahsoka laughed again. "Some kind of bread, I think."

"And, Cushnip? That sounds like a disease you pick up on Faleen if you don't get your shots."

Ahsoka rewarded him with another laugh. "I believe it's where the food is stuffed inside the bread and fried."

"I'm seeing a theme here with frying and bread."

"Yes, there's a lot of that here. I always stick to the basics."

"The basics sound good." He glanced around the tapcaf, and lowered his voice, leaning into Ahsoka. "I'm not sure I could stomach what the Wookies are eating over there. What is that disturbingly blue food?"

Ahsoka glanced over her shoulder. "Blophsi extract, I believe. Wookies have a love-hate relationship with the stuff."

"Wookies have a love-hate relationship with everyone." It was so easy to talk to Ahsoka and he loved their easy banter.

"Try my favorite." She pointed to an item on the table menu.

He scanned it. "That's all for one person?"

She laughed. "Yes, although it's likely enough kcals for an entire day, and enough sugar for three days."

"Sounds perfect for a clone metabolism." He pressed the button she'd indicated. Ahsoka entered her order and the table lit in confirmation with a pleasing shade of green. They were subjected to 30 seconds of ads before the screen cleared and the surface looked just like a table again. A droid whirled as soon as the ads were done and collected a credit chip from Ahsoka. It bleeped in confirmation as the payment was received, and returned a moment later with two oversized mugs of steaming caf.

"Ahsoka," Rex objected. He had no way to pay for the meal, but it still bothered him he could not pay his own way. All he did was work, but he could not buy himself breakfast.

Ahsoka shook her head, waving off his objections, and lifted up her cup of caf in salute to him. "Enjoy your breakfast. It's nice to have you back. We never did get to have a proper celebration, did we?"

Rex looked over at Ahsoka and saw her already sipping at her mug. "I suppose not," he conceded.

He peered at her mug. "Since when do you drink caf?"

Ahsoka lifted her giant mug. "I drink tea around other Jedi. But in here, I drink caf. Cheers."

They clinked mugs like two old friends out for drinks. It was nice. Everything about this felt... normal.

Nothing about their lives was normal, but for the moment, Rex didn't care.

The aroma of the caf was wafting up into his senses. He took a long dreg. It was overly hot and burned his throat. It was good. Fek. It was damned good. A far sight better than the Republic caf, which looked and smelled like blaster grease. He drained the rest of his cup without pausing for air. The servi-droid appeared out of nowhere and refilled the cup before he'd even set it down on the overly cheerful design projected onto the table. He blinked in surprise. He'd always had to refill his own caf cup in the mess hall. He took an appreciative sniff of the steam rising off the mug before drinking the second cup, savoring each sip. The servi-droid whirled over and instantly refilled his mug again.

"Is it going to keep doing that?" he asked, as the droid disappeared away again into the busy restaurant.

Ahsoka laughed, the sound light and carefree. She fidgeted with a control by the wall of their booth and the design on the table changed. She flicked through a number of designs until she found one with deep green hues, and hints of forest trees. "I like this one. It always reminds me of Shili." She stared down at the trees, her voice a little melancholy. "I was born there, you know. I hope to go back and visit again, maybe when the war is over." She sighed, reaching across the table to grip his hand not holding his caf. It was a completely inappropriate gesture for a public place. And, no one in the place paid them the slightest attention. Ahsoka's expression sobered. "You saved my life."

Rex flushed slightly. "You saved my life plenty of times."

"That doesn't diminish what you did. I'd still be there, or dead, if it wasn't for you."

And, Cody, Rex wanted to insist. But, there was more he wanted to say to Ahsoka. "You saved my life on TriLuna."

Ahsoka turned her face away, her voice filled with pain and regret. "I didn't do enough. None of us did. You never should have been sent away."

"It's alright. I found my way back. I regret nothing."

The droid returned and set down enough food to feed a squad. He wasn't sure where to start. There was a plate overloaded with fried werris eggs, thickly cut slices of nuna bacon, a heaping bowl of sweetened anoat oats generously topped with berries, a platter of cream chipped Bantha beef on Mustafarian toast and a stack of oversized Pantoran panni-cakes.

Rex stared at the food in befuddlement, unsure of where to begin. He poked cautiously at the bacon and then at the Bantha beef. "Is this..."

Ahsoka shook her head. "No. Don't worry. It's synth meat. The eggs are made with munga beans." She gave Rex a fond smile. "I wouldn't take you to one of those places, Rex."

Rex nodded with relief. He'd heard of places on Coruscant that served the flesh of animals. The real deal. They actually killed animals, carved them up and served them to people. Some Coruscantis were apparently into eating that stuff. Rex had only ever eaten synthmeat growing up on Kamino and the GAR served synthmeat as a matter of practicality. Synthmeat had a much longer shelf life, it was far superior in nutritional content, and the waste products from it did have that awful stench. The smell factor made a big difference when storing food for long missions. It also made a difference when thousands of men were living together in very tight quarters. Those who ate synthmeat smelled different. It was yet anther strategic advantage for the clones out in the field.

Reassured he wasn't eating some weird Coruscanti fare, he tucked into his food. The panni-cakes were one of the best things he'd ever tasted.

Ahsoka watched him eat with a smile, eating only her oats and berries. She pushed the remainder of her food toward Rex.

"But, that's yours-"

'It's a lot more fun watching you eat it."

Rex's brow furrowed and he slid his bowl of oats and berries toward her.

Ahsoka smiled and accepted the offering with a gracious tilt of her head.

"Thank you for this, Ahsoka," Rex said, as he polished off the nuna bacon, "everything tastes better here than in the mess."

"That's Coruscanti food for you. I should take you out more often," Ahsoka teased and then stopped. They looked at each other awkwardly, and there was a sad, silent pause. Rex stopped eating. They were caught in limbo at the moment, and this moment wasn't going to last. They both knew it. Rex would be called before the Council, and either he went back to being a Captain, or things went badly. But either way, they didn't get to have meals together like normal Coruscanti. Rex's wide-eyed wonder at every bite was a testament to the bubble they were currently in.

Rex turned his attention back to his food, but his enthusiasm had dampened. The two ate silently, an awkward silence ensuing between them.

"Where were you for all that time, Rex?"

Rex chewed slowly on his Mustafarian toast as he considered his answer. He took a long dreg from his caf cup. The ever-enthusiastic servi-droid reappeared before he'd even set the cup down. He sighed, and blew across the steaming cup of fresh caf. "You saw them Ahsoka, almost a hundred men. I was with them."

"The ones who helped with the rescue."

"Yes. I introduced you to Travis."

"You're protecting them. Travis, and all the others."

He nodded, releasing a deep breath.

She squeezed his hand in support. "Alright. That sounds like you. Fair enough. I won't ask again. Now, finish eating." She glanced at her chrono. "It's early enough yet we can stop by the barracks and do a surprise inspection."

His jaw dropped. He'd always assumed it was accidental timing on her part when she came by first thing in the morning and caught the men half-dressed. He stared at her perplexed.

"Life in the Temple is very dull at times, Rex," Ahsoka said, catching his look. Rex didn't doubt Temple life lacked its' appeal, but he failed to see what could be so fascinating about clones coming out of the refresher dripping wet and wearing nothing but a towel, (or no towel, in the case of Fives and Hardcase.)

"Ahsoka," he protested, "surely you can conduct your inspections later in the day." Not that the men minded. Clones knew nothing about modesty. Rex had to remind them repeatedly to cover up when Ahsoka was around. Wearing clothes during their off-duty time did not come naturally to them.

A bleep from Ahsoka's comlink interrupted what promised to be a heated argument about naked Fives.

"This is Ahsoka," she said into her comm and then listened to the reply carefully for a few minutes, a look of concentration on her face. "Alright, we'll be there. See you this afternoon." Before they could resume their conversation, her comm rang again. This time, he recognized Skywalker's cheerful tones on the other end, even if he couldn't make out all of the words. "Yes... no... we're fine. We're just getting something to eat. Yes... The Chancellor?.. Oh. Alright. OK. We'll see you then. We're just heading over to the barracks to check on the men. Right. Okay, see you soon."

Rex's stomach dropped at the mention of the Chancellor. He couldn't say exactly why but he was always uncomfortable around the man.

Ahsoka tucked her comm back into her belt. "The Council confirmed your meeting for this afternoon at 1630. Anakin wants us to meet him at the Senate Building at 1000. He said the Chancellor wants to see you." Her brow furrowed. "Do you know what that is all about?"

"Not really, but the General did mention something about it yesterday." Rex poked at the remainder of his eggs, not sure if he could eat anymore. Perhaps he could make room to finish up the second plate of panni-cakes Ahsoka had given him. He turned his attention to the light fluffy cakes drenched in Endorian maple syrup. He looked up, startled, as Ahsoka ran her fingers across his chin.

"Syrup," she teased and followed up by dabbing his chin with a serviette.

He flushed. "Uh... thank you. Do you... uh... want some? They're very good." On impulse, he held up a heaping forkful of the cakes, dripping with syrup, and offered it up to Ahsoka. She leaned over and her lips gently slid the food off of his fork. Whoa. How did sharing a bite of food with Ahsoka suddenly make the temperature of the room seem so much hotter?

By unspoken consent, they didn't speak anymore about the Chancellor or the upcoming Council meeting. For the rest of the meal, they shared memories of past missions and the antics of the men in Torrent Squadron. Rex laughed, and ate, somehow managing to polish off all of the food in front of him. They slipped out of the crowded tapcaf, ignored and unnoticed, just like when they came in. Rex reveled in the anonymity.

They were swallowed up by the crowds as they walked, and that, too, create a kind of safe bubble. Ahsoka brushed her fingers against Rex's hand as they walked. Rex savored the light touch. He knew none of this was going to last, so he committed every feel of it to memory.

# # #

Revision history:

1/1/20: Added a bit more romance to the scene. I was tempted to cut the rest of the scene with the breakfast in the tapcaf. Many thanks to Adam (Huntsman) for convincing me this bit of normalcy adds a lot to the story.
12/22/19: Shortened the scene and added in the imagery of light and dark.
12/2016: Revised August 2016 to make the scene more constrained.