#rebels!rex x reader

Erie had a brow raised, her teasing tone managing to still keep its edge as she turned to give you her full attention now that you were safely inside. Your sigh did little to relieve your worries, but you used the exhale to release some of the tension in your stance.

“I just don’t-”

“No, you don’t. That’s the point,” she was firm without being harsh as she cut off your well-worn argument. “No one in the field ever has the full picture for everyone’s safety. You’re just going to have to trust me when I say this was our only option. Otherwise, you’d be staring at the inside of an imperial cell sooner rather than later. And you’ve grown on me too much to be left out there on your own.”

A not so small seed of affection squeezed at your scarred heart and you let the corner of your mouth tilt in the smallest smile.

“Fine. Just … Just put me to work soon, okay? I want to be useful.”

“Oh, honey!” Erie barked, her sharp laugh tinged with just enough steel to make you almost regret your request. “Don’t you worry. We’ll run you ragged soon enough. For now, though, there’s not much that needs doing that isn’t already getting done. You’re allowed to take a night to adjust.”

She passed you a slip of flimsy with a rough map of the base on it. Several of the rooms were circled with descriptions.

“If I knew you were short on datapads, I’d have lifted a few before leaving. Kriff, the Rebellion must be struggling more than I realized.” You teased, bringing the page closer to your face to make out the poor writing.

“Har har. You’re a riot. That’s for safety too, smartass. Datapads can be sliced.”

Erie took your wrist in her hand to bring the page between you and pointed to a circled room on the left. Your bunk. Private for now, but she warned that would likely change soon. Your eyes tracked the path on the page as you gave a nod. “Got it. I’m going to start unpacking. Wanna help?”

“I would, but I’m needed at a mission debrief in a few.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll see you later, then.”

“Definitely. I’ll grab you before dinner and introduce you to everyone.” She answered with a brilliant smile. “Ya know, there are a couple of real cuties here you should get to know.”

Your laugh came out easy enough — as easy as it should in a lighthearted conversation with a friend. But it was a little thing, all breath and tinged with bitterness. “Oh no, I’m far too old for that nonsense.”

“You’re not. And they’re going to come sniffing even without my interference.” Erie’s eyes swept down your figure pointedly.

You know she means well, but you can’t help that the thought of anyone looking at you that way again — the way he had — makes your breath catch in your throat. It threatened to choke you.

“I’m right and I’m not arguing this.” You force a lightness into your tone you don’t feel and grab for your bags before she can respond. “Have fun at your debrief!” You call over your shoulder, heading down the hall to your quarters.

Squeezing the strap in your hand, you took a deep breath, allowing the feel of the leather against your palm and the air expanding your lungs to ground you. It stopped you from spiraling, but it didn’t stop the heat from spreading across your cheeks.

It was embarrassing, after all. You could admit that objectively. It’s been years since he left. You understood his decision then, and you understood it now. You never actually agreed with him. But you remember his eyes when he gave you that last order, begging you to listen. And you couldn’t bear to tell him no.

And so he left. Left to go do whatever it was he felt he needed.

And left you alone.

Back then, you wanted to hate him, to burn away the phantom touch of his hands on your skin, to gnash your teeth at the whisper of his name and to curse the day he came into your life.

But even as the grief permeated your every cell, moving from your mind to morph into a physical shroud that mutated your body in its image, you couldn’t find the strength to hate him.

It wouldn’t have helped anyway. It would have only calcified your pain into a tool to hurt others.

So you let the years slip by, shrinking your world into something that you could manage — your apartment, the odd jobs you took to keep yourself fed — all the while shrinking your heart and closing it off. The numbness prickled at your consciousness, but you found it more bearable than the pain of loneliness.

Of wanting him and no one and nothing else.

That is, until you got a job stocking shelves at a mechanic’s shop. A boy came in one day looking for a new filter for his air circulation system. While your boss grumbled about the difficulty of procuring pre-imperial parts, you caught sight of the insignia on the inside of the boy’s jacket as he moved to grab a handful of credits.

For the first time in longer than you’d care to say, determination had flooded your veins. You couldn’t change the past. You couldn’t walk by his side.But you could help this boy, this new movement in their fight for their better tomorrow.

And maybe, even distantly, it would help him, too.

You still didn’t let too many people get close. It’s easier this way, you had rationalized. Easier to lie. To steal. To disappear in the dead of night and start your operations over on a new planet whenever Erie tipped you off to an upcoming raid.

Now, though, as part of the Rebellion proper, you’d likely find safe distance harder to maintain.

It hadn’t been too hard to relearn the rhythm of banter between friends when you opened up to Erie. Hopefully, that will be true for the others you meet. And it won’t be too hard to scoff off attempts by any young guns set on impressing you … if Erie was to be believed about their intentions, anyway. You had serious doubts considering you were at least a decade older than most of the contacts you’ve met.

What would be hard is if you saw any of them. You knew a few had joined the ranks, offering their expertise and lifetime of training to the cause. Of course some would. It’s in their DNA. It’s all they’ve known.

It isn’t fair to them, but you weren’t sure you could handle seeing their face. His face.

You still loved him. No matter how small you made your world, made yourself, you couldn’t change just how thoroughly he claimed your heart. Even now, with Erie’s comment rattling in your brain, you could feel your stomach gurgling, pushing you to pause as you come to the next turn.

Another deep breath. In. Out.

Pulling your shoulders back, you start again … only to run into what feels like a wall when you face makes contact with hard duraplast.

Oh, kriff.

“Dank ferrik! Watch where yer going!”

The growl was unfamiliar, the tone harsher than anything he ever directed at you. But your body reacted to that voice before you could gather a rational thought. Heat surged through your blood even as cold fear sent your stomach into a freefall.

“S-sorry.” Your eyes focused on his jaw, unwilling to look higher until you caught a glimpse of a small scar on his neck.

He didn’t have that.

Tilting your head back, you finally met the man’s gaze. Luck was on your side as your eyes traced over the raised scar bisecting one eye, the cybernetic beneath analyzing you.

He didn’t have that, either.

Wolffe. You had met, briefly, when you joined the boys at 79’s a lifetime ago. But it was just the once, and if luck continued smiling on you, he wouldn’t remember a thing.

“I’m, uh, new. I was just focusing on finding my way and wasn’t paying attention to much else. Sorry about that,” you said, forcing a small smile to ease the tension. From what you remember hearing among the guys, there wasn’t much that could ease the overwhelming aura of Commander Wolffe. But hey, it couldn’t hurt to try.

“Better learn to multitask, then.”

You tried to ignore the way his eyes narrowed at you. “Sure thing. Sorry again. See you around.” The words tripped off your tongue with less grace than your feet as you clumsily slipped past the clone commander to continue down the hall.

You could feel his intense glare burning your back all the way to your room.

*****************

Callused fingers slid back and forth across his forehead in a vain attempt to alleviate his headache. The mission had been a success, technically. It still took all his self control not to drill the crew of the Ghost for their sloppiness.

They were a solid bunch, but by the Maker they made things needlessly difficult. The debrief took far longer than necessary just cataloging all the supplies that didn’t make it home. It almost — almost — made him nostalgic for his more regimented days in the GAR.

He did miss assigning latrine duty to mouthy troopers. Too bad he enjoyed the freedom of the rebellion a little more.

Leaving the briefing room, Rex strode down the hall toward the mess, heavy footsteps rebounding down the durasteel as he checked his comm. Curiously, it had gone off during his meeting. Everyone who had his frequency was either in the room with him or had just returned and was settling in for their respective post-mission routines.

His curiosity only grew upon seeing the culprit was Wolffe. His brother never interrupted a meeting, the GAR indoctrination still proving pervasive in his mind. Slightly worried and even more curious, Rex hit the redial button.

“Finally,” Wolffe grumbled through the comm as his likeness was projected above Rex’s wrist.

“Remind me never to rely on you for patience, vod,” he teased, unable to resist riling up his brother even more. “What’s up?”

“New meat on base. I bumped into her earlier.”

“Knock it off,” Rex snapped. His small frustration from earlier immediately flared into pissed off. Wolffe knew better. “My answer is still no.”

“I have a feeling that’s gonna change this time.”

Rex’s nostrils flared and he could feel his anger spreading, tensing his muscles as if he were in the heat of battle. “Never.”

And he meant it. It didn’t help and never would.

He couldn’t regret the path he took. He had been the difference between life and death for so many brothers … and so many others since then. But with every breath he regretted what he had done to you. That last look you had given him still cut deep. Too deep to ever heal.

“When are you gonna learn that your ori’vod is always right?” The grin that curled over Wolffe’s face gave new meaning to the term wolfish.

Rex was about to tell him to shove it, but Wolffe beat him to it, silencing him with just two words.

“It’s her.”

*****************

Releasing one last breath, you sunk into the mattress beneath you, finally feeling the tension leech from your limbs.

Seeing Wolffe had shaken you, and you allowed yourself a few minutes to fall apart in the privacy of your room. You let the sting of what was lost crest over you. It passed through at a steady pace, neither rushing nor lingering, giving you time to refocus and recenter. Each inhale pushing it to the edges of your body, each exhale banishing it to the fringes of your mind. For now.

Roughly passing your palms over your eyes to dry them, you shifted your focus to your bags. The task at hand should distract you. Moving through the motions always helped you put the past back where it belonged. Besides, Erie would be done with her debrief soon and the Force alone knew how long she planned on dragging you around the base tonight.

A small smile unfurled on your lips a while later as a light knock reverberated through the door. You tossed the rest of your yet-to-be-folded clothes into the chest that lay at the food of the bed and began speaking as you walked over to the control panel, projecting so Erie could hear you on the other side.

“And here I was thinking you forgot about—”

But when the door slid open, your friend wasn’t on the other side. Where her eyes should have been stood a wall of muscle, evident even behind the chest plate. It was dingy, scuffed armor that had seen better days after too much fighting, flecks of blue paint hanging on for dear life as if determined not to fade into obscurity.

“Me.” The last word came out a whisper without your consent, your bold tease fizzling into insecurity.

If you had been hesitant to meet Wolffe’s eyes, you were obstinate in your determination to keep your gaze straight on that armor. You had never been strong, never claimed to be. But this was a new type of weakness, foreign as it flooded your bones. Your jaw trembled as all your effort was focused on holding back the surge you could feel coming.

“Oh, mesh’la.”

His sigh nearly undid you, and you could feel yourself blinking rapidly, your body fighting just to hold steady. You could. You just needed a moment.

But it seemed he had other plans. It was gentle; of course it was. He was always so kriffing gentle with you. Even when you had taunted him, teased him into being rough, it never lasted. He had spoken to you gently, guided you gently, held you gently, loved you gently.

He had broken you gently.

And now, as those damned fingers pressed under your chin to force your gaze upward, they were so heart-achingly gentle, opening the old wounds anew. He was a man built for battle. And yet you found his most brutal side in his gentleness.

Unable to resist — you never were good at denying him — you finally met his gaze.

“I could never forget you.”

Your heart squeezed painfully hearing the words you’d longed for as his rich brown eyes swept over you, taking you in. It stuttered at the thought of what he must be seeing. Mussed hair with so many more grays than before. Crow’s feet that spread from the corners of your eyes to your temples with various other lines crossing your face, interrupted only by the freckles and sunspots you’ve collected over the years.

You weren’t usually vain. But you wore the years plainly on your face … and on your body. At least if I’d been able to put on a clean shirt, you lamented.

The self-deprecation was like a jolt to your brain, bringing you back to yourself, to the present. Rex was here, in your doorway, fighting for the rebellion. It makes sense. That’s what he set off to do all those years ago. But you never let yourself wonder what he was actually doing for fear your wonderings would lead to knowledge you couldn’t survive: Him not being with you was painful; him not being was unimaginable.

But before you stood confirmation that he was alive and well.

And not once did he try to contact you.

Clearing your throat quietly, you plastered a smile on your face, the one you reserved for difficult customers and nosey neighbors, and prayed it didn’t look at stiff as it felt.

“Well, you’re not Erie.” Your tone was light and sounded artificial even to you.

Rex’s responding laugh was just as fake. “No, I’m definitely not.”

His hand dropped back to his side, but his eyes remained locked on yours, searching. For what, you couldn’t guess, and even if you could, you weren’t sure if it still existed. But you are sure that whatever is going to happen next won’t happen in the public hallway.

“Do you want to come in?” You asked, pulling back, pulling away, pivoting to let him pass to enter your room.

“Thank you.” He paused once he took a few steps in. No longer restricted to the GAR meal plan, he had filled out. His broad shoulders almost grazed the sides of the doorway as he passed through, and while his muscles were still evident, they were covered pleasantly by a layer of healthy fat that made him seem even larger than how he loomed in your memory.

As you glanced down, you caught sight of his hands, curling into fists only to unfurl and curl again. The thought that he could be just as unsettled in that moment as you felt was jarring … but welcome.

You moved to sit on your bed, gesturing to the other end for him lacking another option.

“Looks like you’re already settled in,” he noted, shifting to bend one leg to turn to face you. He wore his years, too. But they looked much better on him. His blonde hair was gone, shaved down to the skin. The full white beard was new, too, and rather impressive.

It helped that he looked different. Helped you feel like you could get through this without embarrassing yourself. And you wanted to. You wanted at least to be able to talk to him as a friend again. He may not want you the way he used to, but you could be cordial to a fellow rebel.

“Yeah, didn’t have much to unpack. I guess that’s the bright side of a last-minute extraction.” The tint of humor colored your voice a little more naturally. Confidence trickled slowly, but it was there. You clung to it like a lifeline.

“Extraction? What the kark were you up to that needed an extraction?”

Your eyes cut to his, challenging his sharp tone with your own. “What I could. What, did you think I’d be a good little citizen of the Empire?”

The hit landed better than any punch you could throw. He recoiled, if only slightly.

Guilt curdled your stomach. You didn’t want it to go this way, for the accusation to fill your voice even though you left it out of your words. But you couldn’t help that small, dark, nasty piece of who you used to be that wanted him to feel a fraction of what he put you through.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair. I didn’t … I didn’t want to be angry if we ever met again,” you confessed, catching the corner of your lip between your teeth. “And besides, I likely would have ended up here anyway.”

You moved to pick at your already threadbare sheet as the silence coagulated around you, thick and heavy.

“No, it was fair. More than.”

You found yourself mirroring his deep breath as he continued.

“You never were one to rest on your laurels. I just … I always liked imagining you on your home planet or somewhere in the Outer Rim, curating your library or working on your crafts. Something peaceful, on a peaceful planet far away from the mess of the Empire.”

The hint of a smile touched the corners of his mouth as the weight of his admission settled around you. You didn’t want it to comfort you.

And yet …

When Rex left, he said it was his duty to find and save his brothers. To do that, he needed to leave you behind. You always understood that to mean you couldn’t keep up. You would be a liability to his mission, one he couldn’t risk.

And yet …

“You thought about me?”

Rex’s eyes hardened, singularly focused on you as he reached out to grab your hand. Even now, as a fire you refused to name burned clearly in his eyes, he was still achingly gentle in his touch.

“I thought about you every day.” He spoke almost insultingly slowly, every word bursting with intention. “You were the thought that kept me going.”

“Then why-” You swallowed down the crack in your voice, hating how it revealed just how tenuous your control was. Rex moved closer to you, bringing his hand up to your cheek, but you leaned away and pushed it down. Gently.

“Why didn’t you come back? You never even commed.”

“I had to keep you safe-”

The speed with which he was ready to spit out the answer, like he had rehearsed it, fanned the flames licking up your spine, forging it to steel.

“That’s osik and you know it. No one is safe from the Empire, and-”

“And I realized that. Took longer than it should have to get through my thick skull, but it did. Wolffe and Gregor helped get that lesson in. So I went back to Coruscant. And you were gone.”

The shock from his admission kept you frozen so that when Rex reached for you again, you let his palm curve around your cheek. You had left Coruscant a few years after the fall of the Republic, unable to stay in the shadow of your lost life.

If you hadn’t ...

“When I couldn’t find you on planet, I convinced myself it was for the best. I had been a coward when I left. I hurt you. I thought it was to protect you, but I think even then I knew I was keeping myself safe more. Me leaving meant I would never have to see you in danger. So when I saw you also left, it meant you moved on. You weren’t hurting anymore. You were starting a new life … just like I told you to.”

His thumb moved back and forth across the dry skin of your cheek as he pulled you forward. You fell into him, your hands braced on his knees as he pressed his forehead against yours.

“But that was an excuse. I was still just a coward. I didn’t know what I could say to you that would do any good and … I didn’t want to see someone else next to you, living the life I wanted.” His eyes closed before he continued. “You deserve the galaxy, and I didn’t know how to give it to you. I still don’t.”

It was a confession saturated with guilt and shame. It crawled over you as your tears finally slipped past your control to pool against his thumb.

Safe from the weight of his gaze, you gave a confession of your own. “I never wanted the galaxy. I only ever wanted you.”

Rex’s eyes snapped open, and you could feel his heavy breaths matching yours. Before he had the chance to say anything, you pushed the words out of your mouth, letting the purest truth you knew pour out of you.

“I didn’t leave to start over. I left to escape. The opportunity to help the rebellion came to me, so I took it. It was my way of fighting against the thing that stole you from me. And … And if I did my job right, if I smuggled enough blasters, and med packs, and rations, then I wasn’t just helping the rebellion. I was keeping you safe, too.”

It wasn’t everything. It was barely enough. But you needed him to know, beyond a doubt, that your heart always had been and always will be only his.

“The thought that I could be helping you was what kept me going.”

His grip on you tightened, pulling you impossibly closer. “Can-” Now it was his voice that broke. “Can I kiss you? Please, sweetheart, can I-”

Maybe at one point, a younger you would have kept your composure, would have remained determined not to let Rex see just how desperate he could still make you.

But time had taught you well just how fleeting it could be. And you knew pride was nothing compared to the feeling of your love on your lips.

So, there was no hesitation as you closed the distance, answering the ache in his voice with the frantic press of your lips to his. The brush of his beard was foreign, the hair scraping and chafing your skin. But you couldn’t care when the familiar touch of his kiss grounded you, made you feel whole and alive in a way you forgot possible.

It hurt, feeling the small, shriveled thing you had allowed your heart to become taking up room in your chest once again, filling up with nothing but him — the feel of his skin on yours, the smell of his soap tickling your nose, the sound of the small noises that escaped his lips as he devoured yours in turn.

But it was a pain you’d welcome a thousand times over if it meant Rex’s mouth stayed on yours. This wasn’t just a kiss. It was a rebirth, the two of you breathing new life into one another.

You shivered as his tongue slid along your bottom lip. A whimper betrayed your need and you opened for him, letting him explore what has always been his. Blood roared in your ears, and you cursed it for drowning out the sound of his groan as his tongue danced along yours.

Pressing yourself ever closer, your hands slid up his impossibly thick thighs for balance as you leaned into him, needing to feel him everywhere. Thank the Force Rex understood. He always did, after all. He lifted you with ease to pull you into his lap, his arms wrapping securely around you to keep you in place as your legs slid around his waist.

But then he pulled his face away, holding you firm as your hands curled around his shoulders and your lips tried to chase him.

“I’m sorry, sweet girl.” His eyes pierced into you, and you could see how determined he was for his apology to reach you. “So, so sorry.”

“It’s-”

“Don’t say it’s okay. It’s not.” There was the captain you remembered, his tone curtailing any argument before you could even raise one. “But if you’ll let me, I plan on spending every spare moment I have making things right.”

He softened, but his eyes were just as intense. “You don’t have to answer right away. I want you to be sure; no regrets. Because if you say yes, mesh’la …” His arms tighten around you, the pressure of his strength sparking delightfully across your torso as every ounce of insecurity melted from your body and his lips moved to graze your ear. “I’m never letting you go again.”

“Please don’t,” You beg, barely letting him finish. “Please don’t ever let me go. Hold me, claim me, make me yours. Build a future with me so I never have to live without you again. Choose me ... the way I never stopped choosing you.”

The silence in the wake of your plea lasted only as long as a single heartbeat. Then, something in Rex shattered.

He may have broken you gently, but he was going to rebuild you roughly.

Coarse hands lifted you again as if you weighed nothing, throwing you onto your bed and knocking the breath from your lungs. Before you could even think, Rex was on you, his hips pressing you into the mattress as his hands slid up and down your sides.

“I do choose you.” You shiver at the growl in his throat as the words slide down your spine to pool deep in your belly. His hands slide under the thin fabric of your tunic, and you preen as his fingertips dance along your skin. “And I’ll keep choosing you. Let me prove it. Can I show you, pretty girl? Show you how I can take care of you?” 

Your eyes slipped closed as his indulgent tone; your core fluttered at the dark promises dripping from his lips. But a quick, sharp sting on your neck pulls you back.

“Eyes on me,” he reprimanded, though his smirk as he licked the skin red from his nip betrayed his amusement. “I need an answer, mesh’la.”

“Yes! Yes, please. Stars, Rex, show me!”

You should be embarrassed by how quickly you cave for him. But how can you be when Rex wasted even less time in claiming your mouth again, all tongue and teeth as he left no part untouched. You reveled in the attention, undulating hips demanding even more as your hands trailed along the broad curve of his shoulders. You followed the line of muscle down his arms, feeling as they shifted with the movements of his own hands.

Hands that locked around your hips and forced them to still. “Not yet.”

His admonishment wasn’t quite enough to dissuade you from challenging him. You pushed your core against his length, leaving you breathless at how perfectly it pressed against where you needed most.

Rex’s responding moan reverberated through you pleasantly. His dark chuckle, however, gave you pause. You’d heard it maybe once or twice, and you knew it meant trouble.

“I said …” He moved so his legs straddled yours, his full weight holding you still as he held both your wrists in one hand above your head. “Not. Yet.”

You pushed against his grip, needing to put your hands on him again, to feel him. Every inch of you needed to be touching every inch of him now.

“Please, Rex. Please, I need …” Your desperation stole your words and turned them to whines. This wasn’t the first time you felt carnal desire since he left. But you had always just taken care of yourself, quick and efficient, turning pleasure into a task like any other.

Now, you were consumed by your need.

A sweet kiss graced your lips lightly before Rex hushed you.

“I know, sweetheart. I know. But I’m going to take my time with you. It’s been so long, and I wanna take care of you right. You’re going to come undone on my tongue …” At this, his tongue made itself known as he licked a steady stripe up the side of your next, pouring fuel on the inferno raging just under your skin.

“On my fingers …” His free hand trailed over the wet skin, continuing past your neck, over your collarbone to tease mercilessly at the top of your breast.

“And once I feel you’re ready, you’ll come all over my cock.” Rex brought one of your hands down to the front of his pants, letting you feel his hardness through his trousers. “But you’ll need to be good and listen. Can you do that?”

You nod, whipping your head up and down, willing him to give you exactly what he promised now but groaning when he moves your hand away from him.

“Wound up this bad already? I believe that’s a new record. You need to use your words, pretty girl.”

You wanted to slap him for his teasing, but your pointed glare would have to suffice. “No shit it’s a record. I’ve been waiting,” you huffed.

Rex stilled. “Have…Have you not …?”

You could feel the heat returning to your cheeks so you answered before he could find his words if only to cut your own embarrassment short.

“No. I mean I took care of myself, but…”

Unbridled lust was the only thing you saw when you met Rex’s eyes again. “Then I won’t make you wait any longer.”

Using his grip on your wrists, he pulled you up and with a speed you didn’t realize he had, he stripped your tunic from your body. Before you could even register the cold pebbling your nipples, he moved to your waistband, peeling your underwear and leggings down in one move, pausing only to pull your shoes off before you’re completely bare before him.

“Kriff, Rex,” you huffed, impressed as Rex cast off his chest piece with as little regard as possible.

But the man above you focused only on your newly revealed form. You moved to touch him in return, hoping to hide a few of the new rolls of your abdomen against his.

You should have realized by now tonight was going his way.

“Let me see you, ner mesh’la karta,” he commanded. You didn’t want to, but since you never thought you’d ever get to hear another order from your captain, you obeyed, laying back and following his eyes with yours as they took you in.

He leaned down, dragging his lips over your stomach to graze the bottom of your breast with his teeth. Gently, but with the threat of rough just under the surface.

You wanted both … everything … anything he would give you.

“Perfect.” You keened at the praise, lifting and offering yourself to his mouth and earning a smile in return. “Oh yes, I remember …”

His tongue ran across your nipple before he blew softly, sending a shudder through you. You didn’t suffer long before he wrapped his lips around your peak and sucked hard. Nothing could have stopped the cry that spilled out of you as your back arched, your body mindlessly giving him even more access.

And he took every inch you gave. Releasing you with a satisfying pop, Rex reached up to turn you to face him with one hand as the other moved down your body to rest just at your mound.

“Spread your legs for me. Be a good girl and show me that pretty little pussy of yours.”

You pulled your knees up and wrapped your hands around them to pull them apart and hide how he made you tremble. The cool air, made colder from your slick, tickled your sensitive skin. But it was the reverent hunger on Rex’s face that made your cunt clench around nothing.

“Please, Rex. I—”

He didn’t let you finish your pathetic plea, instead diving forward, his movements just as desperate as you felt. His hands encircled your thighs, pushing them even further apart as he buried his face into your core and let his tongue sink into your wet hole with a satisfied moan.

His tongue laved against you, determined to touch every inch of you before gliding up to circle your clit. As your breathy whimpers turned into full-fledged cries, you absentmindedly hoped that the walls around you were thicker than they looked before Rex wrapped his lips around your nub and sucked.

A moan erupted from deep within you as your muscles contracted and sent a gush of arousal spilling out of you, leaving you unable to care who heard.

“Stars, already so wet for me. You taste like a dream.” His eyes pierced you from where he lay between your legs. “Keep your hands where they are and hold yourself open for me.”

You mewled in response as he returned to his task with his fingers now aiding in the effort, finding your clit with ease as his tongue entered you once again. His free hand slides up to rest on your tummy, pressing down but not enough to keep you still. But just enough so you can feel him as your hips kept their frantic undulation going, your body demanding the release he promised.

“That’s it,” he groaned to himself more than to you. “Good girl, taking what you need.”

Picking up the pace, Rex kept his fingers moving in tighter and tighter circles, keeping pace with your frenzied keening as he fucked you with his tongue.

“Kriff, Rex … so close … so … S-shit shit shit shit-”

He pushed down harder on your pelvis, amplifying every spark he ignited at your core as his fingers moved ever faster. “Let go, mesh’la. Let go and don’t you dare fucking hold back. Give it to me!”

Your captain gave an order. What else could you do but obey?

You shattered around him, your scream echoing against his satisfied groan as he drank from your cunt with a fierce intensity. His fingers and tongue never stopped as he forced your orgasm out of you, working you well past overstimulation into boneless compliance as you gave everything he demanded.

Eventually, the aftershocks faded. Rex’s ministrations eased, though he never took his hands off you, letting his fingers trail gently along your lips and restoking the fire in you that burned only for him.

“I love you, Rex,” you sighed, relief flooding you as the words finally escaped you after years locked away.

Rex smiled with only a tinge of sadness in his eyes speaking to lost time before he rest his head against the softness of your thigh, pressing a kiss to your skin.

“I love you, too, sweetheart.”

“Don’t leave me again?” You meant it as a command, but you had none of Rex’s natural authority. Well, that and your post-orgasmic state hindered what strength your voice could have had, leaving the order sounding more like a needy whine.

“Never.” Rex slid his hand back down, gathering your slick to sink two thick fingers deep into you. “Now, I believe I said something about you coming on my fingers next.”

Thankfully for you, Rex was a man of his word. He never left your side again. He kept the rest of his promises, too.

“Cody, do not try to take the guns from the ground. If you look here,” again he zoomed the map out and then back in towards a towering rock face, “This is a promontory on the south side with a pathway in, that is far more dangerous and will cost an unnecessary amount of our men’s lives if you go in that way on foot. It might look appealing, but it will lead to certain death. Focus on the enemy lines here and here, with our gunships. I believe if we attack from two sides, and break their ranks, we will have a better chance of taking Sarrish back.” 

Cody studied the battle plans, nodding along to what Obi-Wan said. You all knew this was going to be much more dangerous than any battle so far. “Hey Adi’ka,” Gregor leaned in and whispered in your ear, “wanna bet Cody is going to roundhouse a few clankers and have the medbay up in arms about it...again?” You covered your face when a giggle threatened to break out. “Only if you take a bet that Master Kenobi is going to pretend that the 20 cups of caf he’s downed in the last six hours isn’t going to make him vibrate through a wall.” You and Gregor were so busy giggling and cracking jokes that you missed the annoyed look from Cody. “Captain Gregor, Commander, is there anything you would like to add to the briefing? Or are you two finished?” Cody glared at both of you, far too tired and stressed to entertain your joking attitude. Gregor stood up straighter and leaned away from you. “Uh, no. No Marshall Commander. Just, uh, just ready to get in there and break some clankers, is all.” Cody didn’t answer, only raised his eyebrow at you with a glare, detached resentment clear on his face. Though he loved you, there were times you weren't sure he actually liked you. Sometimes you wondered if he would eventually tire of you and move on. The look in his eye and slight sneer of his lip wasn't helping.

   You glanced away, biting your lip, but soon caught the gaze of your Master. “Sorry, Master.” your eyes fell away from the tired look Obi-Wan was giving you and started studying the leather ties on your shoes. “This mission is far more dangerous than what we have dealt with before, my young Padawan. I want you to be as prepared as you can be. One wrong move can cost us our lives.” If there was one thing that could get you to feel like you weren’t doing your best, it was that tone of voice from Obi-Wan Kenobi.

“Yes, Master.”

Obi-Wan and Cody went back to discussing the upcoming battle, going over every inch of the map. You swallowed thickly, trying to fight off the sting of tears in your eyes. You hated disappointing them. But lately it seemed as if that's all you did. Everything you did was wrong and you didn’t know why. You tried to do right, but you were beginning to crack and you were too afraid to ask for help. You were just tired. You just needed a break. All of Foxtrot did. Hopefully, after the campaign, you and your men could get some shore leave. Maybe then you could fix things. Maybe Cody and you could find some common ground. Maybe you wouldn't be such a disappointment to him. Maybe he'd start to like you again.  It also wouldn't hurt to see Rex once more. You missed him.

Gregor glanced at you sideways, eyes soft at your crestfallen look. He knew how much the General and Marshal Commander cared for you, but he also hated how often they forgot that you were only 18. You were just a kid.  They expected too much from you. He was the Clone Commando, not you. Very slowly, trying not to be detected, he scootched towards you, attempting to get close enough to whisper in your ear again without having to lean over. “First one to 500 clankers destroyed wins. Loser buys a round of Fried Endorian Tip-yip?” Your eyes dart to him, but he’s staring straight ahead, feigning interest in whatever Cody is arguing about for drop points. “Ye...yeah.” “Don’t let them be too hard on you Ad’ika. And don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re stronger than you know. And the next time those two make you frown like that, I’m going to call Boss and Sev. We’ll have a conversation with them.” “Thanks, Gregor.” “Of course Ad’ika. I’ll always be in your corner.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Gregor! On me! We have to get back to the ships! Fall Back! Fall Back!” There were explosions all around you, bombs throwing dark sand and shrapnel everywhere, hitting your men. You could taste the burning powder from the shots mix with blood in your mouth and feel the electric ozone dancing on your skin. The dirt and sweat burned your eyes, but still you fought, swinging your saber around, trying to volley blaster bolt after blaster bolt away from your men.  You had made the order to retreat towards the mountain range, but your men were still getting hit, still dying.You could hear the screams and cries, bodies littered across the ground, your heart hurting as you ran past them, unable to help. 

"Mayday! Mayday! This is the Jedi Commander of the 212th, I need immediate evac! West side of the trenches! We're getting killed out here!!" You were screaming into your comm, trying to get some sort of support for your men, trying to get them out. Each breath burned your lungs, making you choke on your words. Gregor caught up and stood behind you, back to back, shooting at the droids who just kept coming. 

You had never seen anything like it, so many spider droids, it was like staring out into the ocean, wave after wave of droids beating against the rocky grounds.Gregor looked over his shoulder at you with sad eyes and made his decision. He grabbed another Clone running by, by the pauldron, and shoved him towards you, “Chopper, get the Commander to the Evac ships! Go, that’s an order!” 

"No!” you screamed, eyes wide and jaw slacked, “No, no, no no! No Gregor, I'm not leaving you!" You tried to argue, he was your best man, your best friend, you were not going to leave him there to die. “Please don’t do this! Please! You have to come with us! You have to come with me! Please, Gregor! Stay with me!”

There was another explosion close to you, causing you all to flinch as dirt was thrown over you. Gregor turned and pulled your forehead to his, pressing you against the plastoid of his bucket. The dirt on your face smeared down as you sobbed, tears falling from your eyes.  You choked on your words, begging him to not leave you, begging him to keep going. 

"It's okay, Ad'ika. It's okay. I'll always be with you." 

He pulled away and pushed you towards Chopper, "Chopper, Go! Get her to safety! That's an order!" 

Then he was gone. You watched helplessly, pulled away towards the retreat, screaming and fighting to be let go so you could go after him. But Gregor ran towards the droids, commando blaster in one hand, vibroblade in the other.

Something shifted, suddenly it was hot, too hot, it ripped the air from your lungs, burning your eyes and nose. You saw them, you saw your Master standing on that ridge, saber drawn crying out to Anakin. “It’s over Anakin! I have the high ground!!....You were the Chosen One!” 

You gasped, shallow breaths unable to get air, trying to beg them to stop. You tried to scream, tried to yell out, but no sound came. Everything played out worse than you remembered, distorted in your fear. “I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!” You had to get away, you turned to run, but that angry presence just kept following you. You ran as fast as you could, but it chased you at every corner. It was so malevolent, shrouded in darkness and hatred. “I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!” You couldn’t get away, it was too fast, too vile, it was going to catch you, it was going to catch you and kill you. Your big brother was going to kill you. You looked around you, trying to find a way out, but everywhere was inky blackness, closing in to suffocate you.You tripped on something as you ran and began to fall. You kept falling, plummeting downwards as the voice got louder and closer, screaming for your demise. You couldn’t escape, you couldn’t escape, you were going to die and you couldn’t escape.

"Nnno….nng...Gre….nnoo...need….need….evac….nnnggh….fall….fallback….may….day....Gre...gor…..nnno...Capta….captains...orders….nnnnggh...Ana….nnno….Chose….chosen one…." You were slowly tossing your head back and forth, eyes squeezed shut, hands fisted in the blanket on top of you.

Rex stirred awake, hearing you call out in your sleep. He sat up a bit, watching you fight the old phantoms that still haunted your dreams. His heart clenched. He didn't catch what you said at the end, but he remembered that battle, the horrors of Sarrish, and what they did to you. Cody had called him from the medbay, panicked and distraught, while you were floating in a bacta tank, having taken heavy shrapnel to your entire torso and both legs. He was beside himself in grief, terrified at the possibility that the last thing he ever got to say to you was in irritation at the debrief. That you'd die thinking he was disappointed in you, that he was angry with you. That you'd die not knowing how much he loved you and how sorry he was for how cruel he acted. That you'd die and Cody would be all alone, left to explain to Rex how it was all his fault and that his stupidity and cold attitude killed you.

    They did almost lose you that day. You were almost gone when the evacuation team found you; a barely conscious Chopper cradling you in his arms, trying to shield the both of you from the bombs raining down. You lost all your men in that terrible campaign and were inconsolable for weeks when you finally woke up. That's when the nightmares started. At first, your Master would wake you, sensing your distress over your shared Force bond, but later Cody was always there, always waking you before Obi-Wan could get to you. When Obi-Wan noticed how much calmer you were when you saw Cody first, he would only check on you when the nightmares got to be too much to handle.

 The last time you had this nightmare with Rex, Cody was also there to hold you and wake you up with gentle whispers. He couldn't remember the exact way Cody did it, but he was going to try at least.

"Jed'ika, shhh, it's alright. You're here, you're safe. Sarrish is over. You're safe now Mesh’la. I have you. I'm not letting you go. I'm never letting you go again. You're okay. I promise." Rex ran his fingers through your hair, gently pressed at the furrow of your brow, and slowly opened your clenched fists, trying to get you to relax.

"I have you, my sweet girl. I'm never going to let anything happen to you. Never again. It's okay. It's just a nightmare. It's okay.."

He was waiting for you to shoot awake, like you always did, fear etched on your features and eyes wild. But you didn't. Slowly your breathing calmed and your fists opened up, and you seemed to leave the dream, falling back into a peaceful slumber. Rex smiled at you and kissed your head, laying back down again.

You rolled over and curled up closer to him, just like you used to when in your private quarters. Tomorrow, when the sun was shining and your nightmares were just a figment of the past, he would ask you to accompany him to Seelos. As he cuddled closer and started to fall back asleep, he couldn’t help but smile about the surprise that awaited you there. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You awoke with a start in the middle of the night to the sound of noise in your apartment. The entrance slid open and closed again, and you recognized the soft beep of the lock function on the door panel being activated. Your hand automatically reached out for the blaster in the top drawer of your side table as you wrapped the sheets tighter around your body. Footsteps slowly stalked around your living space. You could hear the sound of fabric rustling and what sounded like durasteel being placed down on your countertop. A heady cocktail of confusion and fear swirled in your veins as your mind raced at all the possibilities of who the intruder could be and what they could want from you.  

The footsteps suddenly began to travel closer, echoing louder and louder as they moved down the hallway directly toward your room. Your hand snapped upward, aiming your blaster directly at your bedroom door. You willed your wrist to stop shaking as your finger flexed on the trigger.  

All noise ceased as soon as the footfalls approached your door and you held your breath. The door panel trilled loudly in the deathly silence, signaling its activation before the entrance slid open. Before you could react, a low chuckle emanated from the darkness. A large figure stepped into view, hands raised in surrender. 

“Is this how you greet me after not seeing me for a week cyare? With a blaster in my face?” You gasped, dropping your weapon as all of your previous fear melted into excited relief. 

“Rex!” You exclaimed as you tossed your sheets away and bound across the room so you could throw your arms around him.  

He laughed softly as he wound his arms around your waist, his beard tickling your skin where he rested his chin on your shoulder. Rex had been off world for the last week on a covert mission for the rebellion. You unfortunately couldn’t accompany him like you normally did since you had work to do on base helping to strategize your sector’s next moves against the empire. It had been one of the longest weeks that you had had in a long time. You and the former clone captain had been attached at the hip since the fall of the republic when you could finally be together without fear of losing your respective careers. Having to work apart was not typical, and no longer something that you were used to. It wasn’t like the old days where you would sometimes have to go weeks if not months without more than a quick comm call to check in. To say that you were relieved to be back in his arms again was an understatement.  

“On second thought, if you’re going to greet me by pointing a blaster in my face naked, maybe I should go away more often.” Rex’s warm calloused hands smoothed down your back to your ass, which he gave a good natured squeeze. You shivered in response. With all the excitement, you’d forgotten that you’d chosen to forego your usual pajamas tonight. 

“I hope you were expecting me cyare and not someone else,” He teased, pressing your bodies closer so your chest brushed up against the rough fabric of his shirt. The feeling was tantalizing, but nowhere near as good as that of his skin. You gave him your sweetest smile, batting your eyelashes as you stared up into his handsome face. 

“I wasn’t expecting you, but I was hoping you’d come back Captain.” You knew him well enough to see the slight change in his demeanor at the use of his title. Even after all these years it was still a sure way to rile him up. Without missing a beat one of his hands came up to grasp your chin between his thumb and forefinger. 

“I’ll always come back to you cyare,” Rex growled before crashing his lips to yours.  

His kiss was all consuming as he gripped the flesh of your hips in his large hands and began backing you toward the bed. You immediately melted into him, wanting nothing else in that moment then to feel the warmth of his skin and the softness of his lips as they descended from your mouth down the column of your throat to nip gently at where your collarbones poked upward from beneath flushed skin. Your hands grasped at the hem of his shirt as you attempted to lift the offending fabric away. Rex took pity on your efforts, backing away briefly to remove his remaining clothing before surging forward once more.  

The weight of his broad form lying atop your own felt like coming home as your back arched, pressing your body against his with an unconscious ease, like a gravitational pull. You’d been here, beneath him more times than you could count and yet, the feeling of his calloused palms traversing across your skin still made you shiver. If anything, your frequent practice of this particular dance only made Rex better at it with time as each experience revealed more of what made your skin flush and your eyes role back in your head. Your body spoke its own language of seduction and at this point, Rex was more than fluent. It didn’t matter exactly how much time had passed, your bodies always knew their way back to one another.  

Rex laved kisses from your neck down your chest, taking time to suck red marks onto the undersides of your breasts. His fingers, calloused from years of handling weaponry, slid up your ribcage to tweak your nipples. You gasped and arched off the mattress. 

“Rex please!” You cried out. “Please don’t tease me.” 

When you opened your eyes to finally meet his, you found him to be smirking up at you with a familiar youthful glint in his stare.  

“Meshla I would never tease you,” The gruff timbre of his voice only further stoked the fire beginning to crackle and burn in your gut. “Let me appreciate you the way you deserve.” 

The sincerity of his statement caught you off guard. It made your heart beat faster and your blood begin to rush in your ears. You simply nodded down at him in surrender, unable to form a proper reply.  

You could’ve sworn that you heard him chuckle softly against your skin before his lips resumed their descent down your stomach. Your body bloomed beneath his touch, a light pink flush spreading up your chest and neck as you heaved and squirmed in anticipation. One of his strong arms moved upward to rest across your abdomen, effectively pinning you to the bed.  

“Stay still for me pretty thing,” He spoke, his warm breath puffing against the plush skin of your inner thighs. “Stay still and let me make you feel good.” 

You couldn’t help but whine in response as you fisted the sheets, trying in vain to anchor yourself. After a few more gentle kisses and nips to the inside of your thighs, he finally pressed forward to lick a long strip up the length of your center. You gasped as your eyes screwed shut and your back lifted of its own accord against the heavy weight of his arm.  

Rex let out a loud groan at the taste of you on his tongue. The vibrations only electrified his movements as he pushed his tongue into you, the bridge of his nose bumped deliciously against your clit with each thrust.  

“Oh gods Rex, please!” As soon as his mouth had met your center, you knew that you were already a goner. It had been a long week without him and your body was even more responsive to his touch than usual. The familiar fire had already begun to build in your gut as you cried out his name in warning.  

Rex seemed to only heed your pleas as a cue to double his efforts. Before you could fully comprehend what was happening, his mouth had already moved upward to latch onto your clit and suck hard. You let out an embarrassingly loud moan and your eyes snapped open as your head jolted off the pillow. His golden brown eyes were already boring into your own, watching intently as he brought you closer to your end. The heat of his gaze was enough to push you over the edge as you came with a shout. Rex allowed a bit more room for your hips to flex as you rode out your orgasm. He greedily lapped up every bit of your release, singing your praises against your dampened skin.  

“Missed you so much meshla. You look so gorgeous when you cum for me.”  

He pressed a few more gentle kisses to your stomach before climbing back up your body. Your legs parted for him of their own volition and he slotted himself between them with a practiced ease. Gentle hands made their way down your sides to hook under your knees and bring your legs up to wrap around his hips. He leaned down to kiss you then, and you groaned when you tasted yourself on his tongue.

“Will you let me fuck you pretty girl?” He whispered the question, facial hair brushing against your face with every movement of his lips. “Let me make up for not being here to take care of you this past week?” 

You whined again and rolled your hips in an attempt to further entice him. “Yes gods Rex, please fuck me. I need you!” 

Rex smirked, his chest rumbling with a low chuckle.“Your wish is my command cyare.”  

He pressed a final gentle kiss to your lips before sitting back upright. One large hand gripped the meat of your hip while the other went to your center, gathering some of your slick on fingers so he could spread it down his length. He rubbed the tip up and down your outer lips, tapping your clit a few times to watch you jolt off the bed. You were about to beg for him to hurry up, but the words died on your tongue as he finally sank into you.  

There was no sexier sound in the universe than the way Rex moaned when he first entered you. It was a gruff, deep sound that came from deep in his chest. His eyes fluttered closed and his mouth hung slightly open as he attempted to tether himself back to the present moment. You swore that he never looked more handsome than when he was lost in the moment like this; lost in you.  

He finally opened his eyes again when he began to experimentally rock his hips into yours. “You feel so good around me meshla. Always so perfect.” 

You whined at the praise. “Rex! Faster. Please.” Words were quickly escaping you as you began to grow desperate. You wanted him to fuck you so hard you couldn’t remember your own name.

His soft laughter broke you from your frantic thoughts. Your eyes met his once more to find him gazing down at you with a look that could only be described as pure adoration.  

“Oh don’t you worry cyare, I’ll give you what you need.”  

He fell forward so his strong arms caged you in on either side of your head. His hips receded so only his trip remained inside you only to snap forward so they were flush with yours again in one swift motion. Your hands immediately flew up to grasp onto his shoulders, nails clawing down his back in a futile effort to gain stability. All you could do was wrap your limbs around him and hold on for dear life as his hips began to piston into yours.  

His pace was immediately bruising as he fucked you within an inch of your life. It was as pleasurable as it was overwhelming. You could practically feel him in your throat you were so full. All other trains of thought were wiped from your consciousness until only he remained. The feeling of his cock brushing against the most intimate parts of you was intoxicating. You couldn’t count how many times he’d had you like this and yet, he never once disappointed.  

Rex drew back for a moment to lower his hips so he could drive up into you, seeking out the soft spot within your walls that he knew was there; the one that made you scream. You did not disappoint in your reaction. You cried out to him as all the muscles in your body pulled taut. Your walls began to flutter around him as the familiar fires of your impending release began to rise in your gut. 

“Yes Meshla, that’s it. Wanna feel you cum hard on my cock.” You had no choice but to obey him as the relentless pounding of his cock combined with the gruff timbre of his voice whispering the filthiest things in your ear sent you hurtling over the edge. Your vision whited out as you writhed and shook in his arms. All the while you screamed salvation to the ceiling of your dark bedroom, crying his name like it was the only one you knew. Once you began to drift back down, you could immediately tell that Rex was not far behind. 

“Fuck pretty girl you get so tight when you cum.” His pace began to falter as you pulsed around him. He drove his length into you a few more times before finally pushing in as far as he could and spilling inside you. You moaned at the feeling of his hot release painting your walls, shuddering at the sensation of being so utterly full of him.  

After a few moments Rex carefully slid out of you before rolling onto his back and bringing you along with him, wrapping his strong arms around you so he could press you against his chest. You drew patterns in the curly salt and pepper smattering of chest hair and waited for both your breathing to return to normal.  

“Definitely going away more often if you greet me like this again,” Rex teased you, breaking the silence. You snorted, lifting your head up out of the crook of his shoulder to meet his gaze. 

“Or you could just bring me with you next time and we could take this show on the road,” you countered, your lips curling into a mischievous smile. 

Rex laughed aloud at that, his warm belly laugh that always made your heart skip a beat.  

“I think you’ve got yourself a deal cyare.”  

   “_________,” Kanan said gently.  He stood at the doorway to your quarters, eyes full of concern.  “I know this is hard for you.  Believe me, I don’t like it any more than you do, but...you can’t hide forever.  The others are worried about you.”  You materialized in the middle of the room, eyes downcast and arms wrapped around your form in an attempt for comfort.  Kanan stepped inside the room, allowing the door to slide shut behind him.  “The clones took everything from us.  They betrayed the jedi and killed so many…” The bridge of his nose crinkled as the rest of his face twisted with pain at the memories.  Bitterness came off him in waves.

   “Kanan, you misunderstand,” you whispered, walking over to take a seat at the edge of your bunk.  “That’s not why I’m hesitant to reveal myself to the men who we’ve teamed up with.  The truth is...I don’t entirely blame them.”

   “What?” he asked in disbelief.  “How could you not?”  

   “Remember, Kanan, I was a jedi knight when Order 66 went through.  You only remember part of the story because you were so young.  The men were under Sidious’ control.  We can’t hold that against them.”

   He folded his arms, as if his point still stood.  “Then why are you hiding?”

   At that, your eyes returned to the floor.  “Because I know those men.  I knew Captain Rex quite well back in the day.”

   Kanan’s eyes widened.  “You mean…”

   “I know.  It was against my code and his regulations, but we were together.  I...I loved him.  I was off on another mission when Order 66 was given.  The troops I was working with fired at me, and that’s when the accident happened.”

   “The accident that left you a ghost.  But it wasn’t an accident, _________.  Your soldiers betrayed you and shot at the energy field behind you.  They-”

   You sighed.  “Kanan, I’m not a force ghost.”  When he gave you a skeptical look, you continued, “I can walk through walls and vanis, but think about it.  Have you ever seen a ghost stick around this long?  Or actually have the ability to materialize a physical form like I do?”

   “Can’t say I’ve had too many encounters with them in the first place,” he mumbled.

   “The accident turned my body into energy.  They didn’t take my life.”

   “__________.”  He closed his eyes and shook his head.  “That doesn’t excuse what they did, and I don’t blame you for not wanting to face them.”

   “Rex didn’t do this to me anyway.  He’s a good man, and I never stopped loving him.  I just don’t want him to see me this way.  He has probably been moved on for some time now, and he’s going to be upset.”

   “He should.”

   “Kanan!” you scolded.  “That’s enough.  I get that you’re still hurting.  I understand.  Really, I do.  I just don’t need to hear this right now.”

   He released a sigh, resting a hand on your shoulder.  “You’re right.  I’m sorry.”

    Just then, the door to your quarters slid open.  You vanished on instinct, but it appeared that you hadn’t gone quickly enough.  A familiar pair of eyes stared wide at the spot you had previously sat beside Kanan.  Though you recognized them instantly, they belonged to an aged face.

   “___________?  I knew it.  It is you.”

   Kanan glanced around awkwardly while you remained invisible.  “Um…”

   “I thought I saw ___________ earlier.  I thought that maybe it was just all in my head, but she’s here, isn’t she?”

   “Look, Rex…”

   “Please,” Rex pleaded.  “Please tell me where I can find her.  I never knew what happened to her after the Republic fell.  I know you don’t like me but-”

   “I’m right here,” you said, materializing.  Rex’s eyes widened and  mouth fell open.  “I didn’t want you to see me this way.”

   “___________, what happened to you?”

   The sympathy and in his voice caused you to feel a familiar ache in your chest.  It was overwhelming.  For years you had wondered, just as he did, what happened.  For years you tried to come to terms with never seeing him again.  But there he was standing in front of you.  In fact, he was walking over.

   “Wait,” you said quickly.  “I...I can’t.”  You vanished again, this time hearing him call out,

   “No!”  You hurried past him and ran straight through the closed door.  You heard him on the other side.  “I’m going to find her.”

   - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

   “___________,” you heard Rex’s voice pant.  “There you are.”

   “Rex, I’m sorry about earlier.”

   “Don’t worry about it.”  A strained groan escaped his lips as he lowered himself to sit beside you.  “I just don’t want to lose you again.”

   You hugged your knees to your chest as you gazed out at the setting sun from the roof of the ship.  The sky glowed a variety of lovely colors; orange, pink, and even a little purple.  For the first time since seeing Rex again, you felt at peace.  Sitting beside him felt normal even after all that time.  “What do you mean?”

   “After Order 66 was given, I had quite the adventure.  Ahsoka helped me get the chip out of my head so that I would no longer carry out the order.”  He sighed.  “I looked everywhere for you after that.  Even some of my brothers told me that the worst may have happened, but I always had hope.  I never stopped looking.  I never stopped- I never stopped loving you.”

   “Rex,” you whispered.  “What we had was great, but it was a long time ago.  So much has changed since then.  We were young, and we had no idea what the galaxy would become.”

   “What are you talking about?” He gave a hearty laugh.  “We’re still young, and there’s a new hope.”

   You looked over at him, meeting those eyes that held so much warmth in them.  Even with the crinkles around his eyes and the white beard, in your eyes he was the same Rex you knew back then.  Memories began to flash across your mind like a holovid playing in front of you.  Memories of stolen glances across the strategy meetings and debriefings, secret kisses when no one was looking, and many battles fought side-by-side.

   “What happened to the serious captain I knew?” you smiled.

   “He lightened up a bit.”  Rex chuckled.  You ventured to reach out a hand to rest its palm on his cheek, and he instinctively relaxed into the touch, closing his eyes and exhaling.  “__________, do you still love me?”

   “Of course I do.”

   “Then we can make this work.  Like I said, I don’t want to lose you again.  Ever.”  He reached up to gently place his hand over yours, opening his eyes to gaze at you with determination.  Your breath caught in your throat.

   “A-alright.”

   His eyes glinted then, the same way they used to when you’d look at him from across a briefing, and he leaned in to wrap his arm around your form and pull you against him.  He tipped your chin up and captured your lips in a kiss.  You giggled, and he pulled away.  “What?”

   “Nothing, it’s just,” you giggled again, tears spilling from your eyes.  “The beard.  It tickles.”

   “Oh yeah?” he laughed, leaning in to playfully swipe his beard across your cheek, sending you into a fit of giggles as you tried to break free from his embrace.  Then, he let you catch your breath.  “I missed you.”

You felt him stiffen at your words before both of his arms came to grip you tight. He held you against him for a few moments, content to hold you as close as he could.

You sunk in closer to him, reveling in the contact. It had been so long, so very long. And you never wanted to lose this. Neither did he.

"Cyare, if it is, I'm never waking up."

You smiled, placing small, sleepy kisses on his skin.

"I missed you so much, Rex. I never thought...I never thought I'd ever see you again. I thought I lost you like...like..." You couldn’t bring yourself to say Cody’s name. Thoughts of him started playing in your mind, memories of his kiss, his laugh, his touch; but then your treacherous mind brought up the memory of him ordering your death and how cold and heartless he sounded as he tried to kill you.

You rolled over slowly and rubbed your eyes, waking a bit before sitting up. The happiness you had from earlier suddenly turns to melancholy - thick and sticky in your throat; you move away from him, trying to force yourself to not go to those dark places. Your knees come up to your chest and you lean against them, head in your hands, fingers tangled in your hair. You try to remember your meditations, try to ground yourself in your breathing to let this moment of fear pass.

Rex, unsure what caused the change, sits up as well, back against the small wall and head ducked so he didn't hit the ceiling and your little trinkets.

"Talk to me, Jed'ika. Don't block me out.'

He leans forward to put a tentative kiss on your shoulder, before rubbing his hand up and down your back. It's an awkward position, the bed and cubby much too small for him, but he doesn't mind.

You're quiet. A moment passes, and then another, and he feels small tremors in your shoulders, letting him know you've started crying.

He sighs through his nose, eyes full of concern. He hates that he can’t comfort you now like he used too. When you got like this, it wasn’t uncommon for him and Cody to just hold you at night. You had done the same for them countless times.

Softly he whispers your name and tries to bring you back to reality.

"Sweetheart, please, talk to me. Don't go where I can't follow."

"I went to Mandalore." You whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear, but he did.

Rex felt the blood drain from his face and his stomach drop. His hand fell away from you, unsure of what he should do now.

"I went there to look for you. After...after Master Kenobi and I went to the temple. After we escaped. After he...after he tried to stop that...monster, that thing, that took Anakin, that killed him, on Mustafar. I went there and searched for you. I searched for all of you. I knew it'd get me killed, but I had to see you, just once more, even if you were the one who killed me. I looked everywhere. But it was just....it was ash. And dust. And blood. But there was no sign of you, of Jesse, of Ahsoka, of any 501st soldier. You were all gone. And I couldn't find you. And I couldn't find Cody. And then I couldn't find anyone in the Force. They were all gone, everyone, just gone. I was alone. I was so alone. And Hondo, he tried to help, he did, he tried so hard, but I didn't, I didn't know what to do, Obi-Wan was gone, Ahsoka was gone, everyone was gone and Maker Rex, there was so much blood. Everywhere I went there was blood. So, so much blood and death in the Temple, in the halls, in the rooms, bodies everywhere, my friends, my family, they were all dead, strewn across the grounds like they were garbage, bodies of, of, of younglings!

"Younglings, Rex, they, they, they were just slaughtered like, like animals, scattered in the council chamber, and the Halls of Healing...I can still smell it, I can still smell that burning, fetid, sweet stench... and The Corrie, oh Maker the Corrie...they locked it up, Rex, they locked it up and, and, and burned it down. Everything that was important or precious to The Order was burned. Everything was destroyed. And the Clones, it wasn’t their fault, it wasn’t them, they never would have done this, but it happened and we were hunted down like wild animals by men we trusted; Fox he, he killed so many of us and he loved it, he laughed, Rex, he laughed and he was my friend....and Padme, gods she tried, she tried Rex and ...she...she died...in, in, in my…"

You were sobbing out, choking on your words and breaths, crying at the memories you endured... Finally, you swallowed down a deep, shuddering breath, cutting off your ramblings.

When you closed your eyes, you could see Padme’s face, so serene in death after struggling to birth her children. You pushed the heels of your hands into your eyes, pushing in hard until little bursts of light lit up the darkness, trying to stop the memories. But you could still feel the weight of her lifeless body in your arms. You could see the bloodied corpses littering the floors of the temple; children, friends, teachers, people you knew and loved.

You could see Anakin, still just as handsome as always, but those horrific, yellow eyes that now haunt your nightmares, glowing; that evil that had taken over, clawing at you. You could see him slaughtering the younglings hiding in the Council Chamber, scared and crying, praying for a Master to save them. You could feel the heat of Mustafar and hear him screaming his hatred at Obi-Wan and could smell the putrid, burning flesh of his body as you helped your broken Master up the rocky incline.

And you could see Cody, see him smiling at you, full of love and happiness, hear him whispering his love to you as he handed Obi-Wan his saber with a laugh and you could feel his hands on you as he helped you up onto the varactyl.

You could hear him give the order to shoot you down.

The blanket that pooled in your lap had a growing wet spot from the tears that slipped around the heels of your hands. You took a moment, fingers digging into your hairline and scratching hard, hoping the pain you caused yourself would give you something to purchase on better than meditation did. You took a breath, and another, and another, swallowing down air.

"I've done things, Rex. Things I'm not proud of. Things no Jedi should ever do. I've killed people. I've slaughtered them. I'm no Jedi. Not anymore. That young girl died with Kenobi."

You fell quiet again, eyes closed and head slumped forward with your hands once again tangled in your hair, trying to control your ragged breathing and emotional spiral.

Rex reached out again, slowly, gently. He pulled his hand back for only a moment before gripping your shoulder with a firm touch and pulling you to him. He knew you better than anyone. He knew you didn't need feather-soft touches that dance on the skin. He knew you didn't need to be treated like delicate glass, you needed a firm, strong touch, something to ground you in reality. As soon as your cheek hit his shoulder, you crumbled into sobs, horrible, open-mouthed cries that threw spit and tears all over his tanned skin. He pulled you closer and positioned you to sit in his lap, wrapping one arm around your waist and the other with his hand on your head.

Gently he rocked you, humming some nonsense tune that he made up on the spot. He held you as you cried. Everything you had held in since that night came rushing back. Everything you stopped yourself from feeling as you watched your Master grow smaller and every nightmare you had where you felt Cody fire at you to kill you, everything came out. And Rex was there to hold you through it.

As you finished the docking sequence and began to enter his ship, you mulled over what he would want to show you. Something he was either desperate to have or knew you would want immediately. Something he wouldn’t risk saying over a commed link, even if it was secure.   Honestly if this was another wild goose chase he put you on for something he could find at any market stall on any of the core planets...well you wouldn’t do anything except grumble while you went and got it. You should hate the power Hondo had over you, but you didn’t. He never did anything to you out of ill will or because he could. Hondo was just eccentric. 

‘But…,’you couldn’t help think. But what if? What if? What if he finally found something you truly needed? 

     Could it finally be Cody’s helm? Or could it be a piece of Rex? You knew in your heart it wasn’t either of those, it never was, but still you hoped. Still you held on and asked the Force to give you just this one win. Just this once, let you have something of Rex. Anything would do. A pauldron, his Kama, a piece off of his belt, something, anything. You just wanted some piece of him to hold onto. You missed him so much. You missed them both, but where Cody could be hard and demanding and strict, Rex was soft and loving. He would hold your fingers in secret where Cody would just stand. Rex would let his hand linger on your shoulder a few seconds longer than need be, while Cody would just grunt in acknowledgement. Rex would praise you after training; Cody would demand perfection, pushing you harder than Obi-Wan ever would.  But when he would show you his love, Cody would love with the brilliance of a burning sun.

Hondo waved at you from the otherside of his door, giving you a flourished bow before opening the airlock. But as you walked in, your mind wandered, thinking to your lovers. 

You missed them both so much and you could use a few of their pep-talks, especially now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obi-Wan and Anakin stood on the Training Observation Deck of the Negotiator, watching their Padawans work through a strenuous series of obstacles and training droids.

Cody and Rex stood on the sides of their respective Generals, watching as well.

Ashoka did well, flipping, moving, and swinging her saber with ease. Each of her targets went down with raw power, showing how strong she was getting. You, on the other hand, were tired and sore and not moving as quickly as you usually do. But, that was because Ashoka just came back off a week's leave from Coruscant and you had recently gotten shipside from a long and drawn out campaign with Foxtrot Group. You were exhausted when she was refreshed. But that didn't mean you could slack off in your training. You had to be stronger, you had to be better. You were Jedi, you would not fail.

Ashoka finished the trial a few seconds before you did, landing at the finish line on one foot. Just as you were about to execute your final flip, the training block shifted underneath you, causing your foot to slip. Before you could right yourself, a stun bolt hit you square in the back, knocking you down. You landed on the ground with a hard and loud thud, ending the exercise.

Obi-Wan watched as Ashoka went to help you up, feeling guilty for having you train. He knew you were tired and drained, but you had insisted on working with the other Padawan. He should have put his foot down and told you to get some sleep. But he didn't and here you all were. 

Anakin walked forward to the console and stopped the exercise, reseting it.

"Good job Snips, finally getting that barrel flip down.” He called over the comm. “Thank you, Master.” 

You were standing behind Ashoka as she spoke to her Master, dusting off your robes and massaging your neck, disappointed in yourself. You should have sensed that bolt coming, you should have been able to right yourself and finish the test. You stood there, mentally berating yourself so much that you didn't realize Obi-Wan had started to address you.

"It's alright Young One, you did excellent, but I fear your exhaustion has hindered your training for today. Why don't you go and eat and get some much needed rest and we can revisit this at a later time."

Obi-Wan, ever the loving caretaker, cursed himself for even allowing you to work in your state. You could have gotten seriously injured and where would that have put you? He knew in all honesty you should be in the medbay getting checked out and possibly doing a little time in a bacta tank.

But, Marshal Commander Cody thought differently. Ever the perfectionist, he would not accept this as the end of your session. With his bucket under his left arm, he walked up to the console and pressed the comm, calling you.

"No Jed'ika. Start over."

You looked up into the window of the viewing deck and saw him staring at you, eyes hard. The others looked on in mild concern and irritation. Obi-Wan was about to chastise his second, when he noticed you move to the beginning and prepare for another assault. You knew he was right, he always was. You could do better, you should be doing better, but you let your exhaustion lie to you. You weren’t so tired that you couldn’t finish this level. You’ve done this countless times, late in the evening, with Cody at your side. There was absolutely no reason you couldn’t finish it now.

Cody looked back to his General for a split second, as if looking for permission, before restarting the training exercise. This time, as you went though the course, you only made it halfway before failing again. There was a trick shot the training droids took that you weren’t prepared for and you took another bolt to your upper thigh. You were going to have an ugly bruise in a few hours.

Gingerly you stood, favoring your leg for a few seconds before shaking it off. Just another color added to your already mottled and scarred skin. 

As you went to stand, you saw the course reset once more and heard Cody’s voice over the comms, “Again.”

Rex didn’t like this, but he knew what Cody was doing. He knew if you were just pushed harder, if you were taken to your limit, you would not fail. He also knew that if you left the course without succeeding you would beat yourself up for days, feeling weak and useless. Rex didn’t like it, but he agreed. Obi-Wan watched on, focusing on your resilience and strength in the Force, humbled by his young Padawan. Anakin, on the other hand, didn’t like what was happening and felt that the Commander of the 212th was being too careless with your safety. This went on for some time, Cody would call for you to restart, you would fail, you would get up, and he would call again. Over and over and over. 

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Anakin had enough. “This is absurd! She’s clearly tired and needs rest. Hells, she needs time in the Medbay!” He walked up to the console and used his shoulder to push Cody out of the way, calling to you, “Padawan, you’re done now. Go straight to the Medbay. I want Kix to look you over.” He turned to Rex, “See she gets there, I don’t trust the Commander at the moment.”

Ashoka looked visibly uncomfortable from where she stood on the viewing deck and gazed up at Obi-Wan for any kind of reaction. He said nothing, just watching his Padawan try to get up off of the mat while pulling at the hairs in his beard. Before he could give the order for Cody to help take you to the medbay, Cody unceremoniously stomped over to the lift door and went down into the training room. They watched as he approached you and pulled you up, speaking harshly in a hushed tone to you.

You watched as Cody barreled towards you and crouched down at your eyelevel to look at you sternly. “Get up, Jed’ika. Get up. You don’t have time to wallow in your self pity. You don’t have time to lay here. You don’t have time to fail! Get up!” You listened to his words and tried to stand, but your knee where you had just taken a bolt gave out and you fell. Cody wrapped his hand around your bicep firmly and pulled you up.

“Each time you fail, another one of your men dies! You get up and you do it again! Each failure is another soldiers life gone! The men you swore to protect! Get up!” You nodded and stood on your own feet, albeit wearily. He was right. “You are a Jedi. You are not some clanker who falls over with the slightest push. You are better than this! You are better than your failure. You are Jedi. Do better. What is it that you’re always quoting from General Yoda? There is no try. You either do it, or you fail. And I do not accept failure! AGAIN.” Once he knew you were on stable legs, he stalked off to the sideline and prepared to yell at you more as you went through the program.

“Master, this is ridiculous! Cody has lost his mind! She’s too tired and needs medical attention.” Anakin was almost shaking; he was so upset. Who did Cody think he was? You were going to get seriously injured if you continued on. You needed rest and bacta, not constant berating and training. This wasn’t the way one taught a Padawan. This wasn’t the way Obi-Wan taught him.

 Obi-Wan quirked an eyebrow at Anakin and breathed loudly out his nose, removing his hand from his beard. “Yes, I do believe you are right, Anakin. It seems I have let this get out of hand.” He stood closer to the control panel, hand hovering over the comms, but instead of turning off the program, he restarted it and turned it to a higher level of intensity. Anakin balked.

 “Master! She’s going to get killed!” Ashoka cried out, looked to her Master and back to Obi-Wan, a strange feeling of anxiety sitting in her throat. It seemed through all the arguing and annoyances the Jedi were currently engaged in, they forgot about the Captain standing there, bucket under his arm, watching his brother and his Jed’ika. In his mind he kept a chant of ‘Come on, come on, you can do this.’ Over and over he thought, urging you to finish it. He wanted nothing more than in that moment to run down there and do as Cody was doing. He wanted to push you further, to push you to where he knew you could go. But he couldn’t, he was made to stand at ease and watch everything from the viewing deck. But, everything in him was down there on the mat with you, his most beloved, urging you to be better. The only thing on his mind was watching you finish this training exercise, going to your quarters to help you bathe, wrap your wounds, and finally making sure you ate a good meal. If he knew his brother, which he did, Cody was thinking the same thing.

You stood at the beginning once more and took a deep breath, hearing the mechanical beep signaling the beginning of the exercise. ‘Do better,’ you thought, before starting. You moved quickly through, dodging each blast, flipping and jumping higher and higher onto different ledges, using your saber to volley away bolts you could not dodge on your own, until you got to the point where you kept failing. Through the course, you could hear Cody yelling at you to keep going, keep moving, to not stop. You could hear him demanding excellence from you, he wanted more than what you thought you could give. He wanted perfection. It pushed you to go further, to work harder, to be better. You wouldn't fail your men and you wouldn't fail Cody. You dug deep into yourself and thought back to the training your former Master gave you, to that harsh and dangerous form. You could do it, you just had to concentrate. If you could find your center, you could toe that line made of shadows while still holding onto the light. You breathed deep, ‘allow your emotions to guide your strikes...feel that bubbling of anger and frustration, grab onto it to push you further. But do not give in. Just use it to fuel your power.’ Your old Master’s voice rang in your head, their training at the forefront of your mind. Multiple bolts fired at once, but instead of one landing a hit, you switched into Form VII, into Juyo. The most difficult saber form, Juyo was dark and dangerous, only used by those skillful Masters equipped with the knowledge of what it means to touch the Darkside and still stand in the Light. Used by your old Master.. taught to you by them in the shadows of Malachor… You shook your muscles out before jumping up against a wall structure, running its length with ease as more bolts were blocked. As you reached its end, you bounced over to the other wall and repeated the pattern, running and blocking, before twisting up onto its ledge. You stood, saber drawn across your body, balancing on the balls of your left foot as your right sat crossed on your thigh. You waited, breathing in and feeling the pulse of the machines across the Force. 

THERE. 

You flipped up, saber swinging around you in a figure eight, blocking each bolt back, volleying them towards the mechanical guns that sprang from the walls.

You landed once more in your previous spot before swan diving to the ground, landing with practiced grace and ease at the end, having finally completed the exercise. “Kark yeah!” Cody grunted, quickly walking to you. You had a tired smile on your face when he reached you.  He reached out to grab your shoulder, squeezing it gently, before letting his hand fall away just as quickly. You looked up at him with adoration. 

“I knew you could do it, Cyare,” he whispered, praising you, before taking a respectful stance, remembering that you were a superior and that you both were not alone. You nodded your thanks and tried to give him a look that said, "I love you". Hopefully he understood. He did.

Cody went to get you a towel to wipe your face as the others joined you on the mat. There were praises and excitement from the other Padawan, but both Obi-Wan and Anakin shared a look; they knew those moves. Knew that stance. A dangerous form like Juyo left unchecked could cause irreparable damage. It might be time for you to study a little under Master Windu if you are to continue in that form. Either way, Obi-Wan could feel the relief and happiness rolling off you, it could wait for another day. He also noticed a few feelings not very Jedi-like, aimed at the Marshall Commander and the Jaig-eyed Captain of the 501st. He quirked an eyebrow, but still he smiled his dazzling smile at you.

Obi-Wan was so proud of you, you felt giddy.  It was all you ever wanted, and you knew you had it. He was proud of you.You proved to yourself and your Master that you weren’t some weak kid playing at being a Jedi. You truly were one and no matter how tired or weary you were, you could finish what you started. 

Later that evening, after getting off duty, Rex made his way to your quarters, a tray of food in hand and a few bandages in the other. He hadn't even stopped at his bunk to change out of his armor. He went straight to the mess hall and then to you, wanting to check in.

When he approached your door, he knocked once before punching in your code, knowing he'd always be welcomed in. When the door slid open, he couldn't help but smile under his helmet at the sight. 

You were sitting on the edge of your desk, freshly showered, robes put away, wearing loose, grey, linen pants and a black smallshirt. Cody was also freshly showered and in clean blacks, his armor stacked neatly by your bed. He sat in your chair, positioned between your legs, wrapping scrapes and cuts from the campaign and the training from earlier in fresh bandages, rubbing bacta on your bruises, and whispering words of praise and love to you.

Beside you both were 3 trays of untouched food, waiting to be consumed; one for you, one for Cody, and one for Rex. 

Rex entered, letting the door slide closed behind him, a soft smile on his lips. He placed the extra tray of food next to the others, took off his bucket, and dropped a kiss to the top of your head before heading to your small refresher. When he exited, loose towel around his waist, Cody’s head was already buried between your naked thighs.

 You groaned, leaning your arms across your knees, your small, threadbare blanket pooling in your lap.

It seemed like such a lifetime ago, that dream. A memory from before when everything was still normal, still happy.

Your brought a shaky hand to your face and wiped your brow. What was going on with you?  How many nights was it now? How many times did those faces haunt you? It didn't matter, they had to be dead. But it didn't stop your heart from hurting. They turned against you, but you couldn't stop that clenching in your chest, that feeling of emptiness clawing up your throat.

In your frustration, you wretched your small pillow from behind you and threw it across the hull, screaming and raking your fingers through your hair.

You were so tired of seeing their faces, of hearing their voices, of feeling their touch. You just wanted it to stop.

But you guessed this was your penance. This was the Force punishing you for breaking your most sacred code, for surviving when better Jedi had fallen, for walking away and becoming a bounty hunter. 

You leaned your head back; eyes closed as you felt your tears fall into your hairline. But they were gone. Your heart was ripped away. Your Master was gone too, on some back water planet, probably dead as well. Your sister was dead too, gone with your beloved. You hated to think he killed her. That your most beloved killed his vod'ika. And worst of all, your big brother was the most vile thing in the galaxy, hunting everyone down. Everything you knew or loved or were was buried under the Empire.

There was a beeping. A loud, irritating sound coming from the front of your ship. It cut through the silence of space and your thoughts like an angry rancor. You brought your head forward and let it loll onto your shoulder, staring at the red light that accompanied the trill sound. Someone was calling you. You thought about ignoring it, it could be someone looking to hire you, or Senator Organa checking up on you, or even Fett. You hate him the most. He looked just like them. He sounded like them. When he whispered your name at night...no. It was probably one of them and kark em. You hated them all. You hated how they used you, how they feigned their worry, how they looked at you, knowing you'd always keep their bed warm, even if you hated them.  

  But that light kept blinking and that sound kept beeping and soon you were out of your bed, grumbling into your chair and hitting your console.

"Whoever this is, you better have a good kriffing reason. And I swear to Maker if this is you Fett, I'm hanging up now."

"PRETTY LADY!" 

Hondo. That idiot pirate king now smuggler pushed his face into his receiver, the fish eye lense on his console warping him features in the blue light that was shown from yours.

You sighed and curled up into your chair, the collar of your old, faded, black shirt falling over your shoulder. The long necklace you always wore with two scored pieces of duriplast, fell from your shirt and got caught in the fabric.

You absent-mindedly played with it, the blue and gold colors flashing between your fingers. "What do you want Hondo?"

"Oh?! Is that how you treat your oldest friend? Pretty Lady, I am hurt. You have fired a bolt right into my heart. I am nothing but anguish as my last breath leaves my chest at your cruel words. I..."

"Hondo. It's late, I'm tired."

"No one ever appreciates me or my sweet words anymore." 

"Hondo." You cut him off of his grumbling, running a hand down your face. An act he didn't miss.

"Pretty Lady, when was the last time you ate a meal that wasn't a ration bar? Or when you slept for more than an hour?"

You looked away chewing on your cheek and breathing out your nose. 

"You know I worry about you. I made a promise to our dear Kenobi..."

"I know Hondo. I'm sorry for snapping."

"It's alright, Pretty Lady. But! I didn't just call you for pleasantries! I have a new lead! One I think you'll really love."

You perked up at that and sat up straighter in your chair. 

"Hondo, don't you mess with me."

"When have I ever messed with you?"

Your eyebrow raised up and you leveled him with a look.

"Okay okay, when have I ever messed with you when it comes to these matters?"

You looked over your shoulder at a door against your wall, before turning back to Hondo.