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ahsokathegray · 1 year

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I Bleed the Same || Thirty-Four

Pairing: Rexsoka

Summary: Ahsoka and Rex try and make sense of who and what they are after Order 66 occurs. Figuring out what to do with themselves, they remain together for a period of time before parting in their own directions.

Warnings: slow burn, mentions of Order 66, ptsd, injury, death, and future nsfw situations

Word Count: 6,778

A/N: Hehe we are getting warmer and warmer!! no special warnings for this chapter except for excessively high sexual tension lmfao enjoy

read on ao3! / series masterlist

“Lux is listed as missing in action and they know Saw is alive, but his location is unknown at present,” Trace reported back, “We’re en route to their home planet now. Rafa says there was a siege happening when the war ended.”

Ahsoka sighed into her comm, the action causing the speaker to crackle, “I didn’t know that. The rest… sounds like good news at least. Thank you, Trace.” She pursed her lips and closed her eyes. All that back-breaking effort on Onderon for nothing. Steela’s sacrifice for nothing. “Once you wrap up on Onderon, I need the two of you to head somewhere else for us.”

R7 beeped questioningly from the other end of the comm and the familiar sound worked to lighten Ahsoka’s heart a little. “Where are we heading next?” Rafa asked, the passing of the device from Trace’s hand to hers causing a bit of interference.

“Kashyyyk,” Ahsoka responded simply, “Just recon. Nothing too heavy just yet. We’ll be heading there in a few days and want to be prepared for what we’re stepping into.”

“And to confirm if Saw’s contact really is as reliable as Bonteri says,” Rex added, the distaste evident in his tone over Lux’s earlier word-vomit. The burst of intel meant to win over their trust, did nothing but make Rex and Ahsoka more apprehensive.

Rafa clicked her tongue, “Alright. We’ll let you know what we find. I assume you’ll contact us and not the other way ar—”

But the connection was severed.

Ahsoka’s brow markings knit together and she moved her gaze up to meet Rex’s when the lights flickered back on. The power was up and running again. So Saw was jamming their signal. “I don’t like this,” she said quietly, as if someone might hear them.

The low humming of the aged light bulbs was unnerving.

“I don’t either,” Rex agreed, running a hand over the back of his neck. He sighed deeply and finally took a seat next to her on the foot of the bed. Her shoulders were slumped and the comm limp in her hand. “Hey,” he said, “We were successful. We got the message through to them and have a bit more intel to work with.”

The Togruta next to him met his eyes from under her lashes, “But we will still be going in blind, working with what limited information Saw has given us.” She was talking in a more hushed voice now, the ghostly sound sending a shiver through him.

Rex took hold of his legs above the knee, “That’s a very real possibility, but we’ve beaten worse odds. We knew less coming here. This was a win. Anything that doesn’t kill us is a win.”

“But don’t you want to know if there’s clones on Kashyyyk? If we have the opportunity to save them right out of the gate? To score an actual win?” She was hesitant to call Rex being thrown around by the fighters a win.

“I do,” he admitted, the desperation in her plea not going lost on him. “But I also know that my brothers have been on that planet ever since there’s been men available to send there. I know they’re there. And that we won’t be able to save them all,” he said, the hands on his thighs squeezing.

No matter how many times he gave himself the order to place one over her shoulder, his hands wouldn’t budge. Ahsoka remained silent and he could feel his heart climbing up into his throat. The previous night’s dream was making him question things again. It was exactly the reason he’d told himself back on Saleucami that he’d refrain from touching her.

He could sense how helpless she felt — How all Ahsoka wanted to do was offer him comfort, and closure, and help him achieve his end goals. But she had it all wrong. She needed it more than he did right now. Everything he’d lost didn’t begin to amount to what she had lost. Rex willed the muscles in his hands to move, stretching his fingers and flexing his bicep. He moved his arm and cupped her opposite shoulder, firm in his decision. Ahsoka’s only source of comfort was him. No matter the nature of his dreams, he was still her friend above all else.

Ahsoka sighed as his gloves finally made contact with her skin. It was as if all the muscles in her body could finally unsqueeze. They sat like that for a long while, staring at the floor while the light bulbs buzzed around them.

~~~

As they walked through the compound corridors, Rex matched her steps. He fell in line neatly beside her, as he used to do with Anakin, and she knew he had to shorten his strides so as to not get ahead of her. He fidgeted his bucket on his hip, observing the halls and memorizing them — scanning for alcoves someone could be hiding or somewhere they could potentially hide if things ever went south. There had been people in the training room when they passed by earlier, but the numbers waned dramatically as they descended further through the building.

“Rex,” Ahsoka called his name, grabbing his attention, “We’re fine. If they wanted to do something by now, they would have.”

Sighing, he responded, “Old habit. I don’t want to get too comfortable letting my guard down. And I don’t much like how Bonteri keeps sneaking up behind me.”

They continued on down another set of stairways with Rex continuing to create a mental map of the place. It was much larger than either of them had realized, but the view from Saw’s office should’ve clued them in on that fact. The hangar was underneath the compound, just one level below the surface of the city planet. All of Saw’s ships were kept there away from any prying eyes and had been where their ship was taken as well.

Neither one of them was willing to continue on with their stay until they were able to get eyes back on the recovered Y-wing. It was their only means of escape if the civil circumstances here took a turn. And although they could commandeer one of Saw’s other ships if they needed to, Rex and Ahsoka both had developed an irrational attachment to the Republic medical bomber. Connections to their past were in short supply, and even though the sight of the ship was painful, the thought of leaving it behind was even more so.

The layers of dust grew thicker the further down they went, with particles floating in the air and durasteel groaning louder with each floor they descended. Ahsoka wished she could rely on the Force to be able to determine the stability of the structure and the industrial sector as a whole, but the sixth sense still had yet to return to her. She pressed on anyway, hoping that Saw wouldn’t be so foolish as to allow foot traffic through here if the conditions weren’t reliable.

“I don’t think I’ve ever wished for a lift more in my life,” Rex commented light-heartedly as they reached the last of the stairs.

Ahsoka shot him a smile, “You’re not quitting on me now, are you?”

He couldn’t help but laugh, “Quit on you? Never.”

She rolled her eyes in amusement before turning away and biting her bottom lip to keep from smiling. They then reached the large doors that had been described to them and stopped. Pulling the scrap of flimsi from her belt, Ahsoka punched in the numbers scribbled onto it into the keypad.

The access code worked and a small green light turned on. With ease, the doors in front of them slid aside. It’s not what either of them had expected in a part of the building that was deteriorating at such a rapid rate. The space actually appeared to be in good condition.

A vehicle stacked high with crates then crossed their path and some of the noises they’d been hearing on the way down now had a more relieving source. They stepped through the doors and their eyes followed to where the vehicle operator went, but they quickly lost interest in him as the slew of ships came into view.

Lined up inside the underground hangar were all of Saw’s vessels. Rex knew the model, class, and damage capabilities of each and every ship present, and was busy looking for their Y-wing when Ahsoka spotted it first. Their ship was in the rearmost corner of the hangar and looked no different than it had when they’d left it back on the surface of Nar Shaddaa. They shared a look and began walking towards it.

The largest ship present — a UT-60D U-wing — was teeming with fighters that were loading it up with supplies. The vehicle operator was off-loading his crates into the U-wing. “Need a hand?” Rex asked as they came closer. He could see that the ship was in good condition, but was currently undergoing some minor repairs. Saw’s group had sustained heavy damage by the looks of some of the other ships. If this was going to be the one they’d take to Kashyyyk, Rex was glad for it, although he still would’ve preferred to pilot his and Ahsoka’s bomber instead.

Of course, they already knew that wasn’t on the table for this mission, if anytime soon at all.

“I think we got it, Captain. Thank you,” a young girl responded, giving him a cheery salute.

Ahsoka continued to walk beside him, “I think she might’ve been younger than I was my first year in the field.”

“Younger than any Padawan I ever saw. She looks more youngling aged to me,” Rex added, “This is a different war than the last one.” But even as he said the words, he still felt some discomfort with the situation. Ahsoka being on the field as a Padawan was bad enough. She was not wrong with what she’d said on the bridge… That all she’s ever been is a soldier. It was a sad reality that this had become so normal for their galaxy… That the age of fighting seemed to grow younger and younger as time went on.

Coming to the base of their ship, Ahsoka climbed up and lifted the transparisteel canopies that kept their seats enclosed. She reached in and presented both of their medical packs to Rex, holding them up and showing that they’d still been in the floorboards where they’d left them. “Still here,” she announced, climbing down to check the other compartments, “Will you take a look through them for me?”

She handed the packs off to Rex, who sat them on the ground with the intention of accounting for the rest of their items when a voice boomed behind them. “You wound me,” it called, making them turn their heads to find Saw himself walking towards them, “I’m not so desperate for supplies that I’d go taking what little you’ve found. We don’t do things around here the way the Empire does.”

Rex lifted his chin and made sure Ahsoka was on her feet before receiving Saw. He crossed his arms and held his tongue, wanting to make a comment on how Saw’s words didn’t reflect his actions. All it took was one look into Ahsoka’s patient, calming eyes to bring him back down from that bubbling rage.

“Captain,” Saw spoke, addressing him formally for the first time without a hint of disrespect, “Would you excuse us for a moment?” The authoritative tone in his voice made Rex’s skin crawl. Every fiber of his being rebelled against what the man was asking. His jaw tightened and his neck grew hot, but he looked at Ahsoka again to clock her reaction. She was apprehensive, that much he could tell based off of her body language alone, but she gave him a curt nod anyway.

“We’ll be fine, Rex,” she said.

Throwing the medical bags over his shoulder, he returned the nod and walked past Saw, ignoring the man and looking at only Ahsoka, “I’ll be just over there helping with crates.”

When Rex left them, Ahsoka crossed her arms and all but glared at the man in front of her. “What did you need to talk to me about that Rex couldn’t be present for?”

“You just strike me as the more open-minded of the… pair,” he eyed her curiously and in a way she couldn’t read, “You’ll forgive me, but I don’t think your friend likes me very much.”

She scoffed, “I don’t remember you giving him any reason to.”

But Saw just ignored her response and used her choice of words to continue with his own thoughts, “I remember you trying to save my sister from my mistake… from the Separatists. For that, I am indebted to you, but it’s not the only reason I let you stay.”

Ahsoka’s nostrils flared in annoyance, not falling for his pained expression, “Please enlighten me then as to why we’ve been allowed to stay with you.”

“Your Master,” he responded simply, watching as her features softened. “After the usurper on Onderon was removed, Skywalker and I formed an alliance of sorts. He had a private subspace frequency where we could communicate. I was his eyes in the Outer Rim if he ensured the protection of my home and the worlds that surround it. Didn’t get to do much, but what we were doing was good. We went by the codename—”

“Fulcrum,” Ahsoka finished for him, her voice not sounding like her own. It was the private channel she’d used to contact Anakin when she was still drifting in space with the Nite Owls.

“I take it you’re familiar then,” he gathered, stepping closer towards the medical bomber and running a hand along the red sigil, “It could’ve been something great. I was disappointed to find the channel had gone dark in the aftermath of the war ending, but then you show up a few weeks later and I don’t know what to make of it.”

She pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth and looked over Saw’s head at where Rex was helping the young girl load crates into the U-wing’s cargo hold. The other fighters had scattered and left her to finish the job alone. And Ahsoka thought she couldn’t adore him anymore… Rex caught her eye and his Force signature increased slightly in temperature. His pulse became her own. And not for the first time, they seemed to communicate with no words at all. It was different now — not just intuition or familiarity with her partner on the battlefield. It was two streams of the same consciousness, a Force Bond more powerful than the one she shared with her Master.

And Rex had just become aware of it.

His eyes widened a fraction, feeling her wrap around his nerves and intertwine herself in him, before he looked away — knowing that she was okay and that she didn’t need him to intervene just yet.

“Is he…” Saw trailed, pulling her attention once more.

“He’s gone,” Ahsoka confirmed, the coldness in her voice disappearing.

His demeanor was noticeably more pleasant as he offered his apologies, “I’m sorry to hear that. We’ve all lost more than we ever should’ve had to in such a short time.” Saw looked back towards Rex and seemed to weigh what was going on between them. He may have the personality of a moof-milker, but he wasn’t stupid. “Just keep that one out of trouble.”

Ahsoka crossed her arms again, unwilling to fall for Saw’s brief moment of compassion. “He’ll only be a problem if you make him one.”

The freedom leader chuckled, “Well then, Ahsoka Tano, welcome to the Partisans Insurgent Group.” He threw the words over his shoulder and walked back towards the entrance.

She blinked quickly and did a thorough check of the remaining Y-wing compartments. Surprisingly, Saw had been true to his word. Not a single possession or item was out of place. She almost wished that it hadn’t been the case. The shovels they’d used to dig the graves sat exactly where Rex had stored them… Dirt from that moon still lingering on their ends. Securing the compartment once more, Ahsoka inhaled deeply and picked up her shoulders, walking to where Rex sat conversing with the kid.

“…also dropped me off a cliff when she wasn’t much older than you are now,” her Captain said, speaking in a voice she’d never heard him use. It was endearing actually.

The kid lit up with excitement when Ahsoka approached the pair, “Did she really?” Rex’s helmet was in her lap and she was toying with the rangefinder. He was much more relaxed now than he’d been during the war and much more so than he had been as of late. The Rex she knew as a Padawan would’ve never let her play with his helmet besides fitting it over her once, shorter montrals. Missions like the ones on Lola Sayu and Umbara had worked to change him, chipping away at the soldier he used to be. The things he’d endured… He shouldn’t have had to endure them, but it made him the man she knew today. He’d survived the crash because of those experiences and because of the way he began to question orders.

He was just as much of a reason for her being alive as Anakin was, if not more so.

Rex laughed and she took a seat beside them on the stacked crates. “Why don’t you ask her yourself,” he gestured towards Ahsoka, giving her a toothy half-smile.

“Were you really able to pick him up and throw him off a cliff?” the girl asked her, her knowledge of the Jedi obviously quite limited.

She tossed Rex a smirk and then began to answer the kid’s many questions about that mission, the Jedi, and the war as a whole. There was even enough of the Force flowing throughout her that she could lift Rex’s helmet and settle it over the girl’s head, the bucket nearly coming down to touch her shoulders.

~~~

It was dark on the moon when they returned to the upper levels of the compound. Nar Shaddaa’s city sparkled brightly in the distance through the large viewports, but Ahsoka had to look away. It was ironic how a city so overflowing with corruption could appear so inviting. But Ahsoka was no longer naive enough to believe in that. She supposed that it was her own mistake in her view of Coruscant, believing that the more shifty individuals didn’t only dwell in the lower levels.

Dinner lasted much longer than breakfast. The kid from the hangar had found them again inside the mess and sat with Rex and Ahsoka as they ate their only other allotted meal for the day. There wasn’t enough food or rations on hand to offer lunch to everyone. So together, they explained midi-chlorians and cloning just on the surface level. Ahsoka was even happy to be able to show the girl, who they learned was named Lilla, Rex’s trick to make the food easier to get down.

The number of people in the mess hall slowly dwindled over the course of the meal and Lilla finally left for bed shortly thereafter. Rex placed Ahsoka’s tray on top of his own and they left the room as the lights were being shut off and the last tables wiped down. They passed through the empty corridors in silence, making their way back towards their assigned quarters when Ahsoka slowed.

“Ahsoka?” he asked, her name vibrating on his tongue.

“I need to train,” she thought aloud. As eager as she had been to get back to the room, now that the time was upon them, she delayed it. Ahsoka kicked herself, wondering how she could be so ready but also not all at the same time. “We’re going out there blind, Rex. I don’t have my lightsabers and I don’t have enough of the Force…” Ahsoka trailed and winced, ”Right now, I don’t have half the confidence I normally do when preparing for a mission. I need to remedy that.”

Rex knew that determination all too well. His heart swelled in awe of her. Her strength and skill was always admirable, and he considered it a beautiful thing to have been present for that progression. The warrior and woman she’s become had all but put him on his knees. As confident in his own abilities as he was, Rex had zero doubt that she could terminate him without issue and without her lightsabers. But he also knew how it felt to be in the field without his weapon of choice. As did she.

They turned one more corner to find the training room now empty, the lights just half on, and the targets put neatly away. Rex raised a brow at her, but Ahsoka pressed the panel button anyway. The door slid open. “I guess it doesn’t close during the evenings,” she wondered aloud, to which Rex furrowed his brows and checked his chrono. It was well past midnight.

He closed the door behind them and flicked on another set of lights, creating an echo throughout the empty room as each set of fluorescents came alive once more. Ahsoka went to stand in the middle of the many stalls and Rex gathered some old battle droid targets. “It’s not how things operated on Kamino or in the Republic — usually there were set hours for this kind of thing. I just assumed it was the same way up in the Temple, too,” he responded.

She patted the belt around her waist and then turned towards the weapons cabinet in search of a blaster. There wasn’t a single rack with a weapon hanging on it. Her arms crossed and she turned to him, “No. We had set hours… but you know Anakin.”

Rex gave a short laugh as he went to set up the targets, “Yeah, the General’s methods were… questionable at times, but he could always see what we couldn’t. There was an adjustment period on my end for sure in the beginning — in trusting him that is. The boys and I didn’t know what to think when he asked us to help with your Jedi training.”

Ahsoka closed the cabinets and let her hands linger on the handles, not willing to remember exactly how Anakin’s training was the very reason she was standing here with Rex now. It was, at least somewhat, easier to talk about her Master now, even if it was in the past tense. “Cabinet’s empty,” she stated, watching him walk towards her with the range now primed for shooting.

“Use my blasters,” he said, as if it weren’t even a question that she’d be using them. Even if other weapons had been available to them, he’d probably still offer.

“Rex, I should probably learn with the weapon I’ll actually be using out there. We can poke around and see if anyone has a spare or we can come back tomorrow.”

“Just one of my blasters then,” he insisted, stepping into her space and standing before her just as he had in her dream. It was something she couldn’t argue with in such close proximity to him, though a more teasing side of her did want to. He unholstered the same gun he’d let her use last time and held it between them, filling the small amount of space that still separated their midsections. “I know the both of us prefer dual-wielding, but I’d feel more comfortable knowing you’d have a weapon out there that wasn’t going to fail you.”

His voice was more gravelly now and it caused her breath to become trapped in her throat. Her brow markings pinched together again and her head shook slightly, wanting to refuse the offer but unable to do so.

“I don’t trust the team, nor any second-rate weapon they might try to throw your way. If somehow we aren’t able to stick together, this is how I’ll keep you safe,” he spoke lowly.

Ahsoka swallowed, trying to rid herself of the lump in her throat. An ounce of that fiery spirit returned to her, “And if we were on a mission with a team you trusted?”

There was no hesitation as he gave his answer, “I’d do the exact same thing.”

It took a great deal of strength to tear her eyes away from his and down to the blaster he still held out to her. She could no longer ignore what everyone had been commenting on about his eyes. It was there. She’s seen it for herself. Everything they saw was there, but it made her that much more aware that her own eyes might be showing a similar secret. Rex didn’t let go when she put her hand on the hilt of the gun. His grip merely loosened, but that was it. Her heart began to pound, resuming a rhythm that had been her new normal as of late. She knew he wanted her to look back up to him before he handed it over.

“‘Soka,” he croaked, his voice skipping the ‘A’ in her name. Whether it was intentional or not, it made her mouth dry up. It was not lost on her, the implication that was made by both of their hands touching the same weapon — his weapon. She tried to swallow again, but the action was unable to be completed this time around. She looked up and met his soft gaze.

Rex made a small noise and opened his mouth to speak again before closing it and rethinking his words. “Let’s move over this way.” He let go of the deecee and moved to stand behind her, waiting until she centered herself in the farthest shooting stall before planting his feet at a spot where he could still see the center of the target.

She raised her arms, both hands on the grip of the blaster, and held it out like he’d shown her and how she’d seen many times before. He had his leg ready to separate her feet, but she caught the mistake before he did and assumed the proper stance. Rex smiled to himself, impressed with how quick of a learner she was. There wasn’t much of anything he could still teach her.

If he was being honest with himself, she didn’t need him hovering nearby now either. It was something his mind convinced him was an old habit of being a Captain, but really that was the excuse he’d crafted to ignore what this really was. Being this close to her only occurred at night, or when they were too exhausted to keep their eyes open, or terrified that something had happened to the other when a certain unhinged freedom fighter locked them in separate rooms.

Rex’s jaw flexed and his ears perked up. Ahsoka’s eyes flicked to the side to get a better view of him. “What?” he asked, putting together that he’d missed the words being spoken to him.

“I asked if this looked alright,” she repeated, nodding her head towards the range and replanting her feet on the ground.

He nodded his head quickly to confirm. “Yes. Uh…Well, wait.” he corrected, realizing he’d spoken too soon. Ahsoka straightened her head again and faced forward. His heart rate picked up impossibly faster at what he was going to have to ask her to fix. “Your hips— Your um, pelvis needs to be turned downward more.”

Even without seeing Ahsoka’s face, he knew the expression she wore. Rex swallowed and focused his attention on the targets as she adjusted, summoning the willpower that rivaled the size of a gundark to keep himself from looking down.

“Good?” she asked, standing still yet again.

He took a quick glance and inhaled sharply, “No. You need to bend slightly at the knees and lean forward.”

She tried yet again to correct her posture, but still managed not to get it right. Rex swallowed again, remembering how long it took her to get comfortable with her sabers and how adding a second one had made her more graceful on the field, but had also come with some challenge at first. As natural as she was with a firearm in the Martez garage, being in the midst of the action would be another story.

Rex could keep describing to her how he needed her to stand, but squeezed his eyes and freed himself of the nerves. “More like…” he started, lifting his hands and putting them in the air on either side of her, “Is it alright if I just show you?”

A short nod and the bob of her throat told him the answer, but she followed it up anyway with a breathy, “Yes.”

He’d never wished more that he’d removed his gloves as his hands came to rest over her sides. His palms and fingertips buzzed as he found her hips, the action making his entire body feel lighter and heavier than what it really was. The same feeling from earlier returned, spreading throughout him and making him feel that much more like he was part of her.

“You want to point your hips downward,” he instructed, his fingers resting over the small bones and pushing gently on them until he grazed the tops of her thighs. Rex looked down to analyze her new stance and her backside brushed against his codpiece. Heat gathered in his cheeks and he gave her the go ahead, “Now you’re good. Whenever you’re ready.”

Ahsoka squared her shoulders yet again and double-checked the safety before firing, the sizzle of the blast sounding exactly like the energy that ran through both of their veins. Again and again Ahsoka shot and Rex’s hands never moved. He meant to move away when she’d corrected her posture and he meant to move away after the first round of fire. Kriff, he meant to move away now but didn’t. He didn’t want to move and he didn’t want her to run out of ammo either so that they could remain this way.

But all too soon, his borrowed blaster was drained and she was standing up straight again. Her rear lek brushed against his chestplate and he cleared his throat, removing his hands finally and rummaging through his belt compartment for more ammo. She’d have to learn how to reload.

Rex passed the gas cartridge into one of her palms but kept his feet where they were. Still with the deecee in her dominant hand, Rex moved his hand over Ahsoka’s and titled. His voice was soft and wavered slightly, “You shouldn’t have to reload at any point during the mission. These typically hold several hundred rounds of fire, but it’s better for you to learn now just in case. You never know if it can get jammed or fail, but the probability of those things happening is very low. I’ve yet to have an issue with either and these have been the only blasters I’ve ever owned.”

The rumble of his voice vibrated against her lek and nestled around her ribcage. Just from where she was backed into his chest, Ahsoka could feel every shaky breath he took. How she’d been able to hit the target every time with this level of distraction, she had no idea. Her naturally cool skin held a bit more heat now than was usual and for reasons she was well aware of. She thought that just by having Rex’s hands on her hips that the blaster could continue to shoot even with an empty power pack.

His thumb prodded the bottom of the weapon. “You want to remove this by flicking the lever,” he explained, his breath fanning hotly against the curve between her montral and lek. Ahsoka began to focus on her breathing as Rex continued, bringing his other arm around her to open the chamber. The empty cartridge fell to their feet and he took her other hand in his. Rex was impossibly close now. “And then you just fit this piece perfectly inside,” he whispered, his bottom lip grazing the base of her montral.

Ahsoka nearly melted into his armor as he helped her insert the new cartridge. “Like this?” she asked, swallowing before her voice could crack.

“Just like that,” he confirmed, pushing all the way until the blaster clicked closed. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Rex’s hands returned to her hips and they both relaxed into one another. “Again,” he said softly.

She got just one more shot out before a sound came from the other end of the room.

Lux stood awkwardly by the door, “Hey. The training room is closed for the night.”

Much too soon, Ahsoka felt Rex’s fingers slip from her hips. His brow quirked upward and he shrugged, “Tell that to whoever was supposed to lock up.”

Bonteri ran a hand through his greasy hair before retorting, “Nevermind that. Put it all back up. I’ll wait.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes where only Rex could see, drawing a private laugh past his lips and handing the deecee back to him. As he went to clean up the range, he shot an irritated look towards their unwanted company to find the kid scowling, no doubt more bothered with how he’d found them rather than just finding them here at all. Good. Scum like him didn’t deserve to be comfortable around a woman he once so grossly disrespected.

He took his time gathering the targets with the B1 battle droid silhouettes and was greatly impressed with Ahsoka’s precision. In fact, that was an understatement. He’d only been able to see so far from the stall. There really wasn’t anything that she couldn’t do. Rolling them up to show her in the room, Rex joined Ahsoka back at the stalls and walked her to the door. Pride swirled inside his chest at the fact that she’d refused to stand by Lux in his absence and that she’d done so well at target practice with just him as an instructor.

Before they reached the exit, Rex gave the blaster she’d been using a once-over before finding her thigh holster and slipping it through the straps. Ahsoka stopped momentarily to allow him to get it snug before giving him a shy smile. Lux didn’t miss the display either. Hastily, he flicked all of the lights off and locked the door behind them.

As Ahsoka and Rex walked away, their envious third party attempted to make more conversation. “I can’t help but notice you don’t have your lightsabers,” he said.

Rex clenched his teeth, but Ahsoka had more patience than he did. “And what gave that away?” she asked.

“Just… Why don’t you have them? Where are they?”

“I can’t exactly brandish one and hope to stay alive,” she retorted, the annoyance in her voice more than evident, “And I don’t know where they are.” Half of that statement was true. Ahsoka knew exactly where they were, just not the name of the moon she’d left them behind on.

Lux stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Oh. Well, you should come back tomorrow. You’re a pretty good shot. I’ll even let you shoot my rifle if you’re trying out different blasters.”

“Thanks,” Ahsoka quipped, a hand coming to rest on the blaster than Rex had placed into her holster. “I think I’ve made my choice, though. Goodnight, Lux.”

Rex took one more glance back at the defeated kid and gave him a mock salute, before following Ahsoka back to their quarters.

The door hissed shut behind them and Ahsoka whipped around to face him, their encounter with Lux having yet to roll off her back. “What makes him think he has the right to ask something like that? I don’t understand. That just wasn’t a question that you ask after everything that’s happened,” she said, holding her arms and searching Rex’s face for answers.

Although he knew what she meant, Rex could only unroll the targets and ask her, “About your lightsabers or about trying out another weapon?”

Her mouth fell agape as she saw clearly just how accurate of an aim she had without much assistance from the Force. Suddenly, her irritation with Lux was all but forgotten. Tentative, orange fingers came up to touch where her blaster fire had hit the center of the target each and every time. “I— I didn’t even think to check while we were…” Ahsoka trailed, not knowing how to describe what they’d been doing in the training room.

“Neither did I,” Rex said, allowing her to take the targets and prop them up against the dresser. It was out of the way, but still in a place where she could see them. She stood in front of the drawers, admiring her work but also staring through the holes at nothing at the same time. They were back in the bedroom now. Ahsoka could see Rex step closer to her through the mirror above the dresser. He stepped slightly behind her, almost mimicking the way they’d stood in the shooting range stall.

With less nerves than earlier, Rex brought a hand up to cup her opposite shoulder. Somehow… he knew that she would welcome to touch. It was as if their souls had been torn and then melded together.

Ahsoka chanced a look up at their reflection, finding that her Captain wasn’t doing the same, but rather looking at her instead. His tongue darted out and swiped over his bottom lip and even in the dim lighting of the bedroom, she could see how it glistened. The hand over her shoulder moved down her arm, toying at the hem of her jumpsuit sleeve before settling over her bicep. Rex ran his fingers over the skin, “You never fail to surprise me.”

She stood silent for a moment, then turned her head slightly to face him. “Are you saying you doubted me, Rex?” she asked him, the corners of her lips turning up playfully.

“Not for a moment,” he answered, his voice barely above a whisper. His hand continued its soothing motions on her arm, stopping only when she faced him fully. The corners of her eyes crinkled and she lifted a hand to touch where his chip had been removed, her fingertips tracing around the incision and feeling the tiny hairs that were growing back. Rex swallowed, his gentle touch on her becoming ever so slightly more firm as an invitation to bring her in closer. Ahsoka accepted, her feet coming to stand in between his.

She ran her hand down the length of his face, gentle fingers tracing his jaw before moving to pull away. Rex caught her hand in his and squeezed, bringing it to his lips and pressing a chaste kiss to her open palm. His eyes remained open, watching her the entire time. Her throat bobbed and her breathing picked up, but Rex could read her better now than ever before. Their hearts quickened in unison and her bottom lip quivered. All of the air in the room seemed to vanish and the buzzing of the light fixtures couldn’t be heard over the intensity of the moment.

He returned her hand to her and cleared his throat, blinking down at the floor and wondering if this all had only been brought about because of Bonteri. “I’m sorry,” he said, speaking louder than before and moving to his side of the bed. Not another word was said between them as he retreated into the ‘fresher to dekit and kick himself mentally for going as far as he did.

Rex slipped into bed and kept to the edge — both of them wanting nothing but to be as close as their skin would allow, but neither one willing to take it as far as sleeping on the cot. Rex stared up at the old ceiling, wishing that he’d kissed her in the way he wanted to… the way he could feel through something in his bones that she wanted him to. It was easy to forget in her presence about the Sith Lord, or the chips, or how this was only the beginning of a long and treacherous path that only promised more death and loss before it would be over. He couldn’t allow himself to willingly add complication to the one thing in their lives that was uncomplicated.

Or, at least, that’s what he told himself as he rolled over and pulled Ahsoka to his chest, pressing yet another kiss to her skin tonight at the base of her montral.

#rexsoka #rexsoka fic #my fic #I bleed the same #ahsokathegray

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quipxotic · 4 years

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I’m sure someone somewhere has created something like this before, but I love the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels so writing about them is a joy. So here's my list of suggested episodes for fans of The Mandalorian who don’t want to watch or don’t have time to watch every episode of those two animated shows.

Since I’m going to try to briefly describe why these episodes are relevant, there will be spoilers below the cut. I’ll try to keep them to a minimum as much as possible.

First, the obligatory comment that you will hear from most fans of these series: if you have the time and the means to watch all of both Rebels and the Clone Wars, you should and not just because they’re good. Anything from either of these shows could potentially show up as a reference or major plot point in The Mandalorian. If you want to maximize your chances of understanding what’s going on, you’ll need to watch it all.

That said, the two series have a lot of episodes and with everything going on in the world it’s sometimes hard to find time or the headspace to take on new content. If that describes you, you may want to prioritize the episodes I’ve listed below. This isn’t a comprehensive list of all the good episodes in these shows or even the most important episodes, just those that I think relate most closely to The Mandalorian.

I’ll try to update the list as the show goes on.

The Clone Wars

The Clone Wars was released out of chronological order, so while I’m listing things in mostly release order you can also find chronological episode lists online if that’s something you feel strongly about.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 movie) - Introduction of Ahsoka Tano.

Episode 01x05 and 03x01 - "Rookies" and "Clone Cadets" - Introduces Domino Squad and gives some early glimpses of Captain Rex and Commander Cody. Watch "Clone Cadets" first since it’s chronologically the earlier episode.

Episode 01x09 - "Cloak of Darkness" - This is a good Ahsoka, Asajj Ventress, and Luminara Unduli episode and they all feature prominently in future episodes.

Episodes 02x12-14 - "The Mandalore Plot," "Voyage of Temptation, and "Duchess of Mandalore" - Introduction of Satine Kyrze, politics on the planet Mandalore, and Death Watch.

Episode 2x17 - "Bounty Hunters" - If you enjoyed Mandalorian Chapter 4, this is a similar story.

Episodes 2x20-22 - "Death Trap," "R2 Come Home," and "Lethal Trackdown" - Boba Fett!

Episodes 03x05-6 - "Corruption" and "The Academy" - More Mandalorian politics and fallout from the Clone Wars.

Episode 03x10 - "Heroes on Both Sides" - Mostly about negotiations between the Separatists and the Galactic Republic, this episode also introduces Lux Bonteri who will show up later in a Mandalorian related episode.

Episodes 03x12-14 - "Nightsisters," "Monster," and "Witches of the Mist" - Introduces the Nightsisters of Dathomir, Mother Talzin, and Savage Opress.

Episodes 03x15-17 - "Overlords," "Altar of Mortis," and "Ghosts of Mortis" - Aka The Mortis Trilogy, one of the more trippy stories in this series. At this point these episodes don’t directly relate to The Mandalorian but they do relate to content I’m going to recommend from the end of Rebels. They’re also interesting episodes for further information about Ahsoka, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker.

Episodes 04x01-03 - "Water War," "Gungan Attack," and "Prisoners" - Background on two of the species depicted in Mandalorian Chapter 11.

Episode 04x14 - "A Friend in Need" - More on Lux Bonteri, Ahsoka, Death Watch, and Bo-Katan Kryze.

Episodes 04x19-22 - "Massacre," "Bounty," "Brothers," and "Revenge” - More on Asajj Ventress, the Nightsisters, Savage Opress, Darth Maul, and Boba Fett.

Episodes 05x01, 05x-14-16 - "Revival," "Eminence," "Shades of Reason," and "The Lawless" - More about Darth Maul, Savage Opress, Death Watch, Bo-Katan Kryze, Mandalorian politics, and the Darksaber.

Episodes 05x17-20 - "Sabotage," "The Jedi Who Knew Too Much," "To Catch a Jedi," and "The Wrong Jedi" - An important series of episodes relating to Ahsoka Tano and the Jedi.

Episodes 06x01-04 - "The Unknown," "Conspiracy," "Fugitive," and "Orders" - More information about the clones, particularly Fives (formerly of Domino Squad) and Captain Rex.

Episodes 07x09-12 - "Old Friends Not Forgotten," "The Phantom Apprentice," "Shattered," and "Victory and Death" - The Siege of Mandalore which heavily features Ahsoka, Rex, Darth Maul, and Bo-Katan Kryze.

Star Wars Rebels

Unlike The Clone Wars, Rebels is chronological and the episodes are more connected to each other. That makes it harder to jump around to individual episodes without also including the stories before and after them to help them make sense. For that reason, if you were going to watch only one of these two series completely, I’d suggest Rebels. It’s also closer to The Mandalorian in the timeline of Star Wars and the events in it may be a bit more relevant.

Episodes 01x01-02 - "Spark of Rebellion" - Introduction to the Ghost Crew.

Episode 01x05 - "Rise of the Old Masters" - The Ghost crew stages a rescue of Luminara Unduli.

Episodes 01x07-10 - "Out of Darkness," "Empire Day," "Gathering Forces," and "Path of the Jedi" - The Jedi, Fulcrum, and the rebellion on Lothal.

Episodes 01x13-15 and 02x01-02 - "Call to Action," "Rebel Resolve," "Fire Across the Galaxy," and "The Siege of Lothal" - The rebellion on Lothal, the Imperial Inquisition, and fallout from Order 66.

Episodes 02x03-04 - "The Lost Commanders" and "Relics of the Old Republic" - Clone troopers reenter the chat.

Episode 02x05 - "Always Two There Are" - More on the Imperial Inquisitors.

Episode 02x08 - "Blood Sisters" - Background on Sabine Wren.

Episode 02x09-11 - "Stealth Strike,” "The Future of the Force," and "Legacy" - Important episodes for Ezra, Kanan, Rex, and Ahsoka.

Episode 02x13 - "The Protector of Concord Dawn" - Mandalorian politics during the Empire.

Episode 02x18 - "Shroud of Darkness" - More information about the surviving Jedi.

Episode 02x20 - "The Mystery of Chopper Base" - If the spiders from Mandalorian Chapter 10 are your thing, similar creatures feature in this episode.

Episodes 02x21-22 and 03x01-03 - "Twilight of the Apprentice," "Steps into Shadow," and "The Holocrons of Fate"- Important Jedi storyline.

Episode 03x07 - "Imperial Supercommandos" - More Mandalorian politics during the Empire.

Episode 03x11 - "Visions and Voices" - Reappearance of the Darksaber.

Episode 03x15-16 - "Trials of the Darksaber" and "Legacy of Mandalore" - More Mandalorian politics, Sabine Wren, and Bo-Katan Kryze.

Episode 03x20 - "Twin Suns" - I can’t tell you why you need to watch this without major spoilers, so just trust me and watch it.

Episode 03x21-22, 04x01-02 - "Zero Hour" and "Heroes of Mandalore" - Connections between the Mandalorians and the early Rebel Alliance.

Episodes 04x05-07 - "The Occupation," "Flight of the Defender," and "Kindred" - The beginning of the fight to liberate Lothal. The latter half of the season likely won’t make much sense unless you’ve also seen these.

Episodes 04x09-16 - "Rebel Assault," "Jedi Night," "DUME," "Wolves and a Door," "A World Between Worlds," "A Fool's Hope," and "Family Reunion and Farewell" - The end of the series and an important Jedi-related storyline. It’s also trippy enough in parts that you’re going to need all the episodes to be able to follow what’s going on.

Hope this helps!

#quipxotic stuff #The Mandalorian #the clone wars #Star Wars Rebels #lists #fan theories

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