[captainwithnoship]

I'm on my second read through of DCC and have so many thoights! Would love to see a snapshot of li jun and zhang explaining to li na their interaction with Carl on the maestro show! Especially since later carl says they saved themselves when it's clear they don't feel the same. And/or what led to li jun checking in with carl during faction wars.

I love that! It's definitely gonna get written, thanks for the request :)

[captainwithnoship]

I have a request for the dungeon snapshots if that’s okay! Also this only applies if you’ve read Parade of Horribles, if you haven’t please just fill on delete the ask lmao 😭😂 I would hate to accidentally spoil

Is it possible to do a one shot where while driving through the apartment building the other crawlers go through one with Carl and Donut? Maybe something with his parents/asher or if he stayed with Bea? Idk take full free will lmao 😂 if you don’t feel like writing it it’s perfectly fine too

It is very much okay! I love getting requests and I actually love that idea. Keep your eyes open, that fic is definitely gonna be added to the collection on AO3. Possibly during the next week. No promises on that, though

Thank you so much for asking <3

[captainwithnoship]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, Game Changers | Heated Rivalry - All Media Types Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov Characters: Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, Fever, Common Cold, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Showering Together, Pining, Yearning, Soft Ilya Rozanov, Ilya Rozanov Loves Shane Hollander Summary:

“What is this, Hollander? You play hard to get? Let me stand in front of door for hours?” “S-sorry. Dozed off.” He tries to smile back, but his voice has caught in his throat and he has to pivot to the side to cough into his elbow instead. Another wave of fresh sweat prickles across his forehead with the effort of it. Back turned to Rozanov, he can't see his expression, but he imagines it has turned into something like disgust by now. It would make sense at least; Shane definitely sounds disgusting. ___

Shane doesn't realize that he's sick in time to cancel a post-game meeting with Ilya. But - much to his surprise - Ilya stays anyway.

[captainwithnoship]

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov Characters: Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov, Hayden Pike Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, Fever, Vomiting, Implied Sexual Content, Pining, Yearning, Shane Hollander Loves Ilya Rozanov Summary:

“I can’t believe they let you go on the ice like this” Shane whispers. Ilya shrugs, motion almost getting lost in the chills that are still running through him. “Team doctor said is just a bug. ‘S stupid word for being sick. I thought bug was, like, small animal.” _____

Shane and Ilya both struggle to navigate what is not quite their usual post game hookup when Ilya finds himself sick on the day of a Montreal vs Boston game.

[captainwithnoship]

I absolutely love your work and would love to see more of heated rivalry/ long game with Ilya and Shane taking care of each other because one of them is sick or not feeling well!

First of all, thank you so much <3

I am actually working on more right now. Can't make any promises as to when I'll post it, but there will be something eventually!

[captainwithnoship]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov Characters: Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov, Harris Drover Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, Fever, Crying, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Sharing Clothes, Pet Names, Soft Ilya Rozanov, Ilya Rozanov Loves Shane Hollander, Established Relationship, Post-Book 6: The Long Game (Game Changers), Spoilers for Book 6: The Long Game (Game Changers) Summary:

“Are you still cold, moya lazan'ya?” Ilya asks, gently touching his hand to Shane’s thigh to get his attention. “Your what?” He lifts his head from where he’d been resting it against the airplane window, blinking blearily. “Lasagna?” “Yes. Look at you, with all the, uh…” The English word he’s searching for eludes him, so he simply gestures at his husband, clad in a T-Shirt, a hoodie and two jackets, both his own and Ilya’s. The latter is slightly too big even on Shane’s muscular frame, and being wrapped up in it almost makes him look small. _____

While on the airplane on the way home after a series of games with the Ottawa team, Shane is hit hard by the flu. The fever makes him emotional, and Ilya has feelings about that. Incredibly soft feelings.

[captainwithnoship]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Critical Role: Aramán (Web Series) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Thaisha Lloy & Occtis Tachonis, Thaisha Lloy & Vaelus, Thaisha Lloy/Vaelus, Julien Davinos & Aranessa Royce Characters: Thaisha Lloy, Occtis Tachonis, Vaelus (Critical Role), Julien Davinos, Aranessa Royce, Pincushion (Critical Role) Additional Tags: Episode: c04e004 Stone-Faced (Critical Role), Spoilers, Character Death, Missing Scene, Character Study, Blood, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Thaisha is a Good Mom Summary:

Though the body itself isn't heavy, it does feel that way in her heart. No parent should witness their child passing before them. Occtis is not her son, and Thaisha is not his mother. Still, she should have protected him from this. She wanted to, she tried and she failed, and now his blood is running over her bare skin, wet and cold, too cold, mingling with her own before dripping onto the ground, leaving a red dotted trail behind them. ___

For better or for worse, Thaisha is not alone as she carries Occtis' body the entire way from the Palazzo Davinos to the Lloy estate. A missing scene as they did not play out this part at the table.

[captainwithnoship]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Disco Elysium (Video Game) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Harry Du Bois/Kim Kitsuragi, Harry Du Bois & Kim Kitsuragi Characters: Harry Du Bois, Kim Kitsuragi, Jean Vicquemare Additional Tags: Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alcohol Withdrawal, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Crying, Pining, Vomiting, Sickfic Series: Part 1 of Sunrise, Parabellum: Life after Martinaise Summary:

Esprit de Corps [easy: success] - Kim has every intention to see you through this. And it’s not just him. While the rest of your colleagues aren’t here physically, they are rooting for you to get sober as well. Volition [medium: success] - With Kim’s help you can totally get sober. With Kim’s help you can do anything.

---

After the events in Martinaise, Harry decides to finally quit drinking. It's not an easy choice, though, and he has to make it through withdrawal first. Luckily, he doesn't have to do it alone.

---

I’ve gotten unreasonably obsessed with Disco Elysium and written a bunch of fanfiction about it. This is the first part of a series, check it out on AO3!

[captainwithnoship]

Parallels

Leia takes his hand, the same way someone else did years ago.

-----

The heat of the pyre is almost too much for him to bear. Sparks burn little holes into his robes.

Still, Obi-Wan doesn't move away.

He's frozen in place, can't take his eyes off the body that's being consumed by the flames.

He can't stop thinking that this is the last time he'll ever see his master. Once the fire has burned out, there will be nothing left of him but ashes.

So he tries to memorize how Qui-Gon Jinn looked, how serene his face is even as the flames flicker around it.

It's that peaceful expression Obi-Wan wants to remember, not the pained grimace Qui-Gon had worn when he had died in his arms. Not the scene that has been haunting both his dreams and every waking second in the past days since it happened. Not the way his voice had faded away and his body had gone limp in his grasp.

If he'd only been there sooner. If he hadn't been trapped behind the force field, he might have been able to save him.

But he hadn't been, and now his master is dead.

A sob shakes his shoulders before he can control himself. Obi-Wan lowers his head to hide his tears. His hands clench into fists at his side, gripping at the fabric of his robes because he needs to hold onto something. Anything.

Attachments are forbidden, but he cannot not grief.

He stands there for a long time, even after the flames have gone out and Qui-Gon's body has vanished. He cannot find the will to move on.

Then a small hand tugs at his.

Obi-Wan looks down to find Anakin standing next to him. He can feel in the force that the boy is as terrified as he is himself, yet he looks up at him with so much hope in his eyes. Like Obi-Wan is going to be the one that will make everything right again.

He can't find it in himself to disappoint him. He takes Anakin's hand into his own and prepares himself for whatever he has to do to train him.

-----

It's all too much. He is meant to be on Tatooine, working at the sand whaling station and watching over Luke.

He is meant to keep him safe. Instead he's neglecting his responsibilities and putting other people in danger.

Leia was kidnapped to lure him out. If it wasn't for him, she'd never been taken from her home. She'd never have to suffer, never have to be scared like this.

But she had been taken, and he had struggled more to rescue her than he should have. If he'd done a better job at it, that pilot wouldn't have had to die to help them escape.

Obi-Wan sits in the spaceship. He watches numbly as Tala offers the remaining pilot alcohol and comforting words, knowing that neither of those things will soothe the grief of loosing a loved one.

He remembers the feeling as if it had been yesterday, though it has been ages since he had lost someone. First Qui-Gon, then Anakin. The grief never goes away.

Even now that he knows that Anakin still lives - no, that is not Anakin. The Anakin he remembers was good. Stubborn, cocky and reckless, but also loyal, brave and determined. He always wanted to protect the people dear to him. He always had Obi-Wan's back.

He wants to keep remembering him that way, even as every fiber of his being aches. Even as his damaged skin burns as if he's still engulfed in flames.

Obi-Wan closes his eyes to steel himself against the pain.

That is when a small hand tugs at his.

He looks down to find Leia's fingers wrapping around his own. They are so tiny in comparison, and there is so much trust in her eyes as she looks up at him.

Obi-Wan takes her hand in his. He will make sure that this trust is not broken. Not this time. He will do whatever he has to do to protect her.

[captainwithnoship]

After all the shit he went through, it’s a miracle Obi-Wan never fell to the dark side.

-----

It pulls at him whenever he cannot push back the flood of bad memories, when he wakes up sweating and shaking from the nightmares.

It pulls at him in the quiet moments, when he's sitting alone in his cave with nothing but sand around him.

It even pulls at him when he's doing the most mundane tasks, when he's working at the sand whaling station or cooking his dinner.

It's tempting him with the promise of power. Power to undo all that has gone wrong. Power to end the evil reign of the Sith. Power to protect Luke and Leia.

It also leaves a bitter taste in his mouth that he cannot seem to swallow.

Obi-Wan knows very well that even the power of the dark side can't win a war that is already lost. It can't bring his friends and loved ones back to life. It can't bring back the one person who was the most important to him - his Padawan, his brother. He's seen what he has become now, and he knows he won't return.

Obi-Wan doesn't want to turn to the dark side.

It doesn't matter what it will tempt him with; he has a promise to keep. He has to watch over Luke.

He's already broken one promise - the one he made to Qui-Gon as he was dying in his arms all those years ago. He had failed to train Anakin.

He had failed Anakin.

Had the pull of the dark side felt the same to Anakin as it felt to him? No, it must have been a lot stronger to break him. He had always been so stubborn.

Obi-Wan wondered what those whispered voices in the back of his head had offered him. The power to protect Padme and the twins, surely. He must have feared loosing them. He had lost so much already, at that point. Obi-Wan knew Anakin had tried to save his mother. He knew that Ahsoka leaving had hurt him badly. He knew he had been scared.

He'd be lying if he told himself that he hadn't seen how much Anakin had been struggling. He simply hadn't known how to help.

If he could go back in time and do better, he would. But even the dark side can't give him that sort of power. Obi-Wan endures it's pull on him. It's hard, after everything that has happened, but he won't give in.

He belongs to the light.

[captainwithnoship]

He looks at the young Jedi hanging in the street. Obi-Wan briefly remembers his face, a child from the Temple he might have passed in the halls.

He didn't even know his name, yet he deeply regrets his death. He wishes he'd helped him. He wishes he hadn't given that useless piece of advice - you can bury your lightsaber in the desert, but you can't bury your connection to the force, your morals, everything you believe in and every part of your being.

Obi-Wan doesn't know how much longer he can keep ignoring the injustice around him. Even if it's a lost cause, he wants to fight it.

He imagines the people who once were dear to him hanging there. Every student he ever taught, like bright Caleb Dume who'd never stop asking questions.

Like Ahsoka, who was his Padawan almost as much as she was Anakin's. He can see her, still a scrawny teenager in his mind's eye. She used to be so full of life, just as much trouble as her master was. He doesn't know what became of her, but in his imagination she's hanging dead in a street the same way this one does.

He tries not to think of Anakin. There are enough pictures of his dead body in his memory, tormenting him. But Obi-Wan knows that the Anakin he remembers, the one that hadn't fallen to the dark side yet, would have never hidden cowardly like he is doing.

He thinks of Luke, and how he would want him to stand up for what is right. How he will train him to do so, when the day comes. He wouldn't want Luke to die like this, with no one helping him.

No, Obi-Wan can't keep ignoring what is happening around him.

He'll dig up his lightsaber. He'll save Leia Organa when Bail asks him to. And he'll fight.

[captainwithnoship]

Luke and Ahsoka meet for the very first time.

-----

The war has ended, the last remnants of the empire are crushed, the Sith defeated.

The resistance has taken control, and Leia is one of their leaders. She's busy establishing a new government and providing relief for those who suffered under the empire's reigns.

Han is staying by her side. Mostly, at least - nothing can keep him and Chewbacca from flying the Falcon for long, but they always return sooner or later.

Luke doesn't quite know what to do with himself at first. He lacks the interest in politics his sister has. And though he can fight, there is no one to fight anymore.

Eventually, he takes to travel as well. Before he had learned of the force and the events that had led to the point they're at unfolded in what felt like barely a few weeks, he had never left Tatooine. There is so much of the galaxy he hasn't seen yet.

It feels like part of his Jedi training - visiting different planets, exploring them and learning more about their inhabitants. There is no Jedi left to teach him, no one he knows of, so he'll have to find his own way, just like this.

The swampy greens of the planet he's currently on remind him of Dagobah. Luke finds a quiet spot to sit and meditate.

That's when he feels someone approach.

He had been sure there had been no people on the planet when he had arrived, but the presence in the force is unmistakable. It's powerful, a shining white light. And whoever it is is coming right at him.

Luke opens his eyes, hand reaching for the lightsaber at his side. He wonders if he's in for a fight after all. The presence doesn't feel like a Sith though. It's not dark, not threatening. Only for a brief moment he considers running, yet something makes him stay.

He watches as the figure comes closer. It's a togruta woman, with long, blue-striped headtails. There are two lightsabers hanging at her sides, but she doesn't seem intent on using them. Her pace is slow and calm as she walks toward his position.

"You're Luke Skywalker" she states simply, in lieu of a greeting, when she reaches him.

"And who are you?"

He musters her again, trying to figure out why she knows him because he certainly doesn't know her. She chuckles a bit at his question, mostly to herself.

"My name is Ahsoka Tano. You could say I'm an old family friend."

Luke's brow furrows as he thinks of who she might mean - it seems unlikely that she's speaking of the Lars family and Leia never mentioned anyone like her.

"You look so much like your father" Ahsoka interrupts his thoughts then, with the fondest look on her face. That's when he knows that she doesn't speak of Darth Vader, but of Anakin Skywalker.

"You're a Jedi like him."

"So are you" she replies, lowering herself to the ground to sit across from him.

"How did you know him?"

"I used to be his Padawan once - but I couldn't do what you did. I couldn't bring him back from the dark side."

"You know he came back in his last moments?" Luke asks. He can't quite make sense of her. In a way, she's just as mysterious and confusing as Yoda was.

"I could feel it in the force. Thank you for doing so. I'm glad he didn't die a Sith."

Ahsoka's expression has turned solemn, almost unreadable, though he thinks he hears grief hidden in her voice.

"I wish he didn't die at all" Luke says. "I tried to save him."

She leans forward, reaching out to gently squeeze his hand. The gesture is as unexpected as it is comforting.

"You did. I cannot claim to truly understand about prophecies, but maybe this was meant to happen all along."

"Can you tell me about him?"

A minute passes as Ahsoka thinks, eyes closed. Then another one. He almost doesn't expect her to answer anymore when she finally does.

"Anakin was determined. Brave. Loyal. He always tried to protect everyone. He was reckless, too, and our missions usually ended up in chaos, but he always pulled through. I know why the Jedi forbid attachment - it was his undoing after all - but I loved him. He was my family."

Though the time Luke had with his father had been brief, he knows he would have loved him too. He can tell just from hearing about him.

"He sounds like he was a good man."

"He was. It's a relief to see his son is taking after him."

There is a pause in the conversation as Luke thinks on this. Ahsoka stands back up. She's smiling again now, softly, and dusts off her clothes.

"I did what I could with the training I received" he finally says, getting to his feet as well. He wants to add more, but she interrupts him.

"Please don't ask me to teach you. I couldn't."

She offers no explanation. Somehow Luke doubts he'd get one even if he asked, so he simply nods.

"Will I at least see you again?"

"Perhaps."

Ahsoka turns and starts walking away, hesitates as if she realized she'd forgotten something, then looks back at him.

"May the force be with you, Luke Skywalker."

"And also with you" he replies, a little too late, as she's already resumed walking. He's left standing there, watching as Ahsoka slowly fades out of view.

[captainwithnoship]

Anakin was convinced he’d never teach a padawan. Life - and Obi-Wan - prove him wrong.

-----

"So, I take it you're keeping her as your padawan?" Obi-Wan asks as he sits down next to him. Anakin rolls his eyes at the barely concealed amusement in his former master’s tone, at the smugness, at the unspoken "I told you so" in his words.

They're on their way back to the Temple on Coruscant after his first mission with new his Padawan. A mission that brought them to Tatooine, no less - Anakin thinks with great annoyance of how he will most likely find sand stuck in his stuff for the next few weeks.

Contrary to him, Ahsoka's mood doesn't seem to have worsened at their stay on the desert planet. She's across the transport ship right now, chatting with Captain Rex and some of the other clone troopers like she’s always been part of their battalion.

Anakin is impressed with how quickly she has adapted to the situation and how well she is able to keep up with him, but he's not about to admit that to Obi-Wan.

"I don't have any idea on how to take care of a youngling" he grumbles instead. Obi-Wan raises his eyebrows, giving him an incredulous look.

"I believe that 'youngling' you're talking about is far better educated and trained than you were when I took you on."

Anakin crosses his arms scowls back at him. Obi-Wan might have been joking yet the comparison isn't fair - he hasn't been raised at the Temple, after all.

That's what the members of the Jedi council liked to blame his shortcomings on, his attachments, his anger, his struggles to follow their nonsense rules...

He actually still can't believe they would agree to let him take a Padawan.

Though Ahsoka doesn't exactly come across as the rule abiding type either. She's not afraid to speak her mind or take risks in battle. One one hand, Anakin likes that. On the other, he worries he won't be able to keep her safe if she's always rushing ahead.

Only now he realizes that he must have cost Obi-Wan quite a lot of nerve during his time as a Padawan – and that he probably still does.

"I didn't know they taught them to be this reckless at the temple" he says.

"See, she'll fit right in with you, then."

Obi-Wan places his hand on Anakin's shoulder in a familiar and reassuring gesture, as if he has been able to sense the doubts in his former student's thoughts.

"I told you before that you'd be a good teacher, and I still stand by that statement."

Anakin leans into his touch. There is no sarcasm or teasing as there often is between them, and for once, he too is serious when he replies.

"Will you help me with her, when I need it?"

“Of course” Obi-Wan tells him without a heartbeat of hesitation. He sounds so certain in his answer that Anakin doesn’t even know why he asked anymore – he can’t imagine Obi-Wan not having his back.

He looks at his padawan, who notices his gaze and grins at him, then back at his former master, and he knows that they’ll manage whatever the war throws at them.

They’ll be fine as long as they stay together.

[captainwithnoship]

Fennec might be a sarcastic asshole, but that doesn't mean she doesn't care.

---

The man looks peaceful as he sleeps in his bacta pod. He's entirely unaware of her presence in the room. Unprotected. If he were one of her targets, the bounty hunter could have ended him within the blink of an eye. One well-placed shot. He wouldn't even know what happened.

But Fennec has no intentions of harming Boba Fett. The way she looks at him could almost be described as fond, if one knew her well enough to see behind the stoic mask of her face.

She owes him her life, but she would have stayed with him even if she didn't.

He has a good heart, under his gruff exterior - good enough that he wants to rule with respect instead of fear, good enough that he rescued her sorry ass and nursed her back to health when he found her half-dead in the desert.

Fennec appreciates that. There aren't many good people in their shared line of work. She can't even remember the last time she had someone she could trust by her side. It's nice to have a friend to watch her back.

Also, this is the best her life has ever been.

Instead of tracking through the galaxy, working job after job, she has a place to return to. Lounging on the armrest of Fett's throne while his subjects bring them gifts, being treated like celebrities when they enter an establishment, leaving with helmets full of credits - she doesn't know what more one could ask for and she's pretty sure Fett feels the same.

He's finally waking up by now. Fennec observes as he emerges from the bacta, grinning to herself when he notices her presence with a slight delay and startles visibly.

"How long have you been standing there?"

Fennec shrugs, checking her chronometer before answering.

"A while. There are people waiting for an audience with you, by the way."

Boba Fett stills in his efforts to dress himself, blinks at her, then starts hurrying. He almost looses his balance as he tugs on his boots; it's amusing to watch.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"I was mulling over whether I should murder you in your sleep and take the throne for myself."

He doesn't even flinch at that, just keeps putting on his armor. Finishes it, though his head is still bare as he steps into the direction of the door.

"And? What did you decide?"

She hands him the helmet. "You're still alive, aren't you?"

Fett nods. "Let's go then."

He starts walking towards the throne room and Fennec easily falls into pace behind him. There is no place in the universe she'd rather be.

[captainwithnoship]

Every Book of Boba Fett episode is just him getting beaten up by sand people in various ways

[captainwithnoship]

She is beauty, she is grace, she will shoot you in the face

[captainwithnoship]

In the aftermath of Order 66, Rex and Ahsoka count their losses.

-----

A campfire is burning on the barren ground in front of him, low enough that it won't be visible from afar. Rex wishes he could stoke it any higher. He's shivering from the chill deep inside his bones.

Yet, he knows no amount of flames will remedy it. It's not the cold night air that's causing it, but the horror he's seen that day.

They have wandered from the Venator's crashsite far enough that he can't make out the wreckage or the sea of graves they dug for his brothers, but he keeps remembering, images flashing in front of his eyes.

Rows of helmets, the only memorial they could built for the fallen. Jesse's body, limp in his hands as he drags it into a hole in the earth. His brothers pointing their arms at him and Ahsoka. Ahsoka standing in front of him while he points his own blaster at her.

It's like he can still feel the trigger underneath his finger. He doesn't want to pull it, but his body is moving against his will.

He shoots her.

Rex forces his mind back into the present. He pulled the trigger, yet he never hit his target. Ahsoka is sitting across the fire, alive.

He focuses on her deep, rhythmic breathing to calm his own. Her legs are crossed as she's sitting on the ground, her hands resting on her knees with the palms facing up.

He has seen her meditate like this countless times before. Usually, she looks serene as she does it. Today, her brow is furrowed.

He doesn't know how long it takes; unable to keep track of time. Rex watches until her eyes open, a sheen of tears glistening in them.

"I can't sense him" she whispers. "Anakin."

The sheer pain in her voice cuts through the cold that has been numbing his own emotions. He stands up, slowly, every single muscle in his body sore, and steps over to sit beside her.

"What do you mean?"

The tears roll down her cheeks, dripping from her face. Ahsoka doesn't wipe them away.

"I could always sense him in the force, ever since I became his padawan. Even when we were apart. Even after I left. But he's gone now."

"Do you think he's...?"

Rex doesn't finish the question. He doesn't want to. He doesn't want to know the answer either.

They have lost so many loved ones already.

"He's gone" Ahsoka repeats.

Her body slumps forwards like a puppet that had its strings cut, and Rex has to catch her by the shoulders to stop her from tumbling into the glowing embers.

Ahsoka's form is tiny against his chest. She fights so skillfully that it's easy to forget how young she is - only seventeen, a teenager. He was bred for this, but she isn't supposed to be in the middle of a war.

If only he could have protected her. If only he knew how to comfort her now. The grief is too heavy in his own heart and all he can come up with are empty words.

If the General is dead, then it might have been one of his brothers who did it.

"I was so rude to him before we left - I thought we would have time to talk after the battle" Ahsoka says, voice hoarse.

"I didn't even tell him goodbye."

"The general understood that. He was just glad to see you again, even if it was short. And he cared too much about you to hold anything against you."

Rex can't say he always understood what was going on in General Skywalker's head, but he can say that for sure - that he had loved Ahsoka.

She makes an uncertain noise and he can tell she's thinking about his words. Eventually, she straightens up, pulling at his grip.

"We both need to rest. I'll take first watch, you sleep."

She still sounds sad and just as exhausted as he feels himself - but a little less like she'll break apart any second. Rex gently squeezes her shoulders before letting go.

"No, I'll take first watch" he decides. He doesn't think he can sleep, anyway. Too many things that will surely haunt his dreams once he does.

To his surprise, Ahsoka doesn't protest. She beds down on the ground with nothing but her cloak for comfort, still close to him.

Rex thought she had passed out when she speaks up again a bit later, quietly.

"Thank you for saying that about Anakin."

He fumbles for a response, but she's already curling up tighter, eyes closed, breath evening out.

Rex is left sitting there, silently keeping watch as she sleeps, and thinks that after all they have lost today, at least they still have got each other.