The Jola Moon, Ch. 3 "8-1-0-8" - A Rexsoka Fanfic
Ready for Ch. 3 now? YAY!
@lilrexsoka @wildhoneyprose @rexsoka @12-days-of-rexsoka@harpistindecember @hannah-schooler @icantlivewithoutdreaming
Thank you to @nottonyharrison for doing me the oh-so-rare, very exclusive favor & making a GIF for this one.
Word Count: 6,653 Here you go, enjoy!
8-1-0-8
"There's an access code," Rex was sure he knew the code, but part of him was still apprehensive about entering the lodge. They will be safe here; he knew it. Some instinct in him was cautious, though. Rex had no idea what was making him so nervous. Well, he had some idea but was trying to avoid thinking about what had ever taken place in this lodge. It was none of their business. He kept clocking Ahsoka for her facial expressions to give him some clue as to how to feel right now.
She was lost in the mystery of the lodge. Its simple A-frame structure had grand-sized windows, but the views of what was inside were being carefully guarded by the thickets of the surrounding trees. Ahsoka noticed the peak of a second smaller A-frame to the right. She was trying to gather more information before they entered, but everywhere she looked there were either trees, vines, mist, stone walls, or the larger main roof in the way. Her sense of this place was conflicted, but her montrails were soothed by the sound of the nearby waterfall that Rex mentioned earlier when they left the Tribunal crash site. She couldn’t see it, but she could hear its rushing waters hiss off its cliff as the soft explosions of water completed their one-way journey.
The pair of dark rooftops looked almost like the mountains that surrounded them, but up close, they were clearly imposters whose aim was to house the secret that made them. The larger one did not attempt to hide the black chimney coming out of it. The smaller A-frame rooftop probably bore most of the secrets locked within. Things done in smaller rooms seem to always have the largest impact.
Vines that grew on the covered entryway had crawled into a beautiful lush crown about the doorframe and hid the keypad. Ahsoka found it right away. “Hmmm…just a guess…8-1-0-8?” she asked as she entered Anakin’s code and successfully unlocked the entry door.
"Yup, that's the one. I mean, he could barely remember that code. He couldn't handle having to remember another one." Rex confessed his frustration out loud for the first time ever.
Ahsoka made a dead stop in the doorway and turned to Rex, "Barely? He never remembered his code! It was a four-digit sequence. And only three numbers at that! How could he screw up four digits and be one of the most gifted Jedi generals in the galaxy?"
They both entered the house. Rex followed Ahsoka as they let out exhausted laughs, relieved to share the same sentimental eye-roll over their beloved friend.
Rex then remembered, "Sorry…I brought him up," Rex closed the door behind him as he watched for Ahsoka's response.
"I think…I did it that time. It's okay. This is probably going to happen a lot here. I'll be okay." She gave him a hint of a smile to let him know it hadn't made things any worse.
Rex placed his helmet and DC-17s on the first surface he encountered. It was a glass top end table whose base was a sizable, gnarled piece of dark unfinished driftwood. The end table pleasantly attended a plush, deep crimson lounger. Then he slugged off his backpack on the lounger. He did a second look, reacting to his stuff blighting the beauty of this furniture pairing.
"I can put all that there, right?"
"Don't ask me. You're the one who said we were safe here. Should we be expecting anyone, Rex?"
"No. They haven't been here in months, actually. That...that would be good if the general showed up, though? Maybe...he survived Order 66, right?" Rex seriously miscalculated the attack of these constant thoughts of Skywalker.
"Dammit, sorry. I definitely did it that time."
"It's alright, Rex," Ahsoka felt better assuring him. Rex seemed more sensitive than she remembered. Ahsoka walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulder plates. Staring into his worried eyes, she calmly gave him a direct order, "Let's not go there again. About Anakin and Order66, got it?" At the mention of those two things, she felt her stomach turn sour, and it churned. The back of her throat had an awful taste that she had to swallow to get the following words out to Rex.
She continued, "We can let hope reveal itself, but only when and where we can see it. We are here. We survived. My sense of him… it's…not clear. And I'm…well…not going to try to find him right now. Unfortunately, I've had some practice at this. While I was away from the war. But this is very different. There's too much darkness. And I need some time."
"Understood." He then started fidgeting with his stuff on the lounger to figure out where and how the hell to put it down and not ruin anything. He gave up and decided to keep his hoister belt on but left the DC-17s on the table.
Rex knew she was right, but his own disappointment and confusion about his general gutted him. He was no stranger to loss. He knew how to stay focused on the moment and shove the thoughts away. His last couple of months were filled with them too. Wherever he had put all those thoughts was getting messy and needed to get cleaned up and in order. Her mental defensive strategy was their best option if they—
Oh, shut up, Rex. He was annoying himself with the usual militant, strategic approach in his programmed thought process. He wanted to splash some water on his face, take a piss, and get it together. It was clear Ahsoka needed a moment to herself. They both did.
"I need to use the refresher if I can remember where it is." He started to walk towards the hallway, then turned back, "You need anything?"
"Not as bad as you do," she smiled with that snippy quirk in her eyes. He smiled back. There she is. Rex stood there happily dumb for a second.
Ahsoka was standing at the open threshold of the receiving room's large sitting area. This view. It was breathtaking. They both were thinking the same thing, and any breathing being would feel the same. "That is a gorgeous waterfall," Ahsoka declared. She was half talking to Rex, who was standing a steady distance behind her, also looking out the windowed walls, but mostly to no one at all, "I'm glad they had this."
"Did you know?" He waited for her response. Rex knew he shouldn't have asked. So in not getting one after a moment or two, he moved towards the hallway off to the right. Crap, he can't remember where the bathroom is, was there only the one? Ahsoka could hear his boots stop short and turn back.
"Bedroom?" she guessed. "Right! Got it," He hurriedly turned and shouted back.
Ahsoka wasn't ready to answer his question yet. It would invite a fear and dwelling she didn't have room for in her cluttered mind. She hoped Rex would understand and not ask again. So she thought about Rex. It's not terrible that he asked. He's the one who's been alone this whole time with this secret. By going along with this, Rex had all the risk and no reward. That seemed very outside of who she thought Rex was when it came to protocols and duty. Ahsoka had a random, amusing thought that was ridiculous and made her smile. What if Rex wasn't just a dutiful soldier obeying his general's orders but instead a big romantic? It made her laugh a little inside at how unfathomable a romantic side to Rex would be. If she had to look at him now, she'd start laughing, which would be terribly inappropriate. Good grief, she was tired.
She was now just exploring the haunting beauty of Anakin and Padme's secret second home. She was hoping to give each object its reverence without ultimately plunging her mind too far into sorrow. She inhaled a sense of wonder, which exhaled out the fear.
She looked around. This lodge was incredible. The walls of glass were framed in black steel. They didn't need to hide here. Accents of wooden rafters that buttressed the ceiling gave the receiving room a sweet natural aroma. She enjoyed the toasted scent. She noticed the fire pits both inside and out and realized it would get much colder at night. She needed to meet the soil of this strange place with her Togruta feet. It would tell her more than her other senses could learn.
The decor at first glance was muted and simple, but upon closer inspection, luxury was everywhere in the details. The choice to keep things modest meant they were not here to impress anyone except themselves. Little hints reminded Ahsoka that Padme was once nobility. It was easy to forget when spending time with her in her senatorial duties and the politics of Coruscant. This place, though. Clearly, Anakin wanted to remind Padme that she was once a queen, and he wanted to be her king consort. And this small lodge would be their hidden, humble palace.
The light fixture hanging over the kitchen island was certainly from artisans on Naboo. Its delicate structural design reminded Ahsoka of one she had seen with Padme once in a market on Coruscant. Padme delighted that day in telling Ahsoka an interesting series of facts about the design that she couldn't remember now. But she remembered the moment fondly. Could this be the same one? She couldn't remember if Padme bought it that day. These thoughts made Ahsoka realize that this meant Padme was okay somewhere…hopefully. She strangely had a Force sense of Padme? Was it Anakin? The darkness was heavy and clouded again. These feelings of the Force were so confusing.
He's alive, I think?. Where are you?
Ahsoka looked to Rex to bring her back to the present moment. When he returned, she was glad to see him and knew he deserved an answer to his question. If only for his sake.
"The answer to your question, Rex…is definitively... I'll never know if I did back then. It doesn't matter. But I absolutely do know now."
"That's a fair answer. Classic cryptic Jedi. Or...well, you certainly sounded like one. I should have thought before asking. I'll work on that."
He was standing in the kitchen looking at what food was there. It was strange to see his battered, battled clone armor in this quaint and still domestic setting. He looked back over at her, "Hope you like Corellian potatoes, yot bean, and ettle nutmeats, 'cause there's plenty of that."
"Well, we're lucky to have anything, I guess."
"There's fizz water, umm…wine? Or just regular water."
"Fizz water," she walked over, and he handed her the glass bottle as he peeked into the cabinets here and there investigating.
With the laziest of hand gestures, she popped off the cap using the Force, as her eyes were looking out at the majestic waterfall and lagoon just beyond the balcony. Rex snorted a laugh at the unnecessary move. "I could have opened that for you," as he grabbed the cap off the island counter and threw it away with a perfect shot to the bin at the far end of the counter. She swung her face reacting to his comment, and was looking straight into his eyes with her own tired eyes as she brought the bottle to her lips and drank the bottle down eagerly. He looked at her like she was crazy. She was. She was crazy thirsty. Wasn't he? Then she took a break to breathe. "Habit, I guess."
The flavor hit her tart and twisted. She looked at the bottle label, "Muja flavored…strange. Oh well." She went back to swigging as her tired feet sort of shuffled her armored boots to the large, but not-so-soft, golden silk sofa in the receiving room. She sat down and felt the firm, formal luxury of the cushions kept her more upright than she wanted to be right now. Placing the bottle on the floor, she began to unbuckle her boots. It felt so freeing to get them off and wiggle her toes. The aching pains in the arches of her feet were stinging now that they were no longer cramped in their confined space.
She watched as Rex looked for something to eat with. He had taken out the jar of ettle nutmeat paste and was trying to find the cutlery. He made two attempts looking in the drawers but eventually opted for using his now- ungloved hand. Rex stuck four fingers in the jar, smiling as he shrugged his shoulders. He devoured the sloppy scoop full of paste. He was heartily licking it off his fingers, oblivious to Ahsoka looking at him like he was crazy. She felt a lazy smile make an appearance on her face. They were a mess right now.
The kitchen was open to the receiving room to also enjoy the breathtaking view of the plunging waterfall veiling the cliff beneath its constant rush into the lagoon below. On the far left side of the house, at the end of the kitchen, the ceiling to floor roof slant hid an expansive glass skylight that was closer to its peak. The receiving room had a centered double glass door that led out to the open balcony that bridged over the lagoon's edge. She then looked back at the kitchen's strange wooden dining table for two. She recognized that wood, somehow.
Ahsoka walked over and traced the wood with her fingertips. This was a new sensation. It was small, lighter, and no match for the darkness that framed her thoughts, but it was something. A spark of who she was once, where she came from, and always will be. It felt warm and calming.
"This is from Shili. That's a Togruta feast table. For…binding ceremonies, I think? The couple sits at this table on a dais. I remember, barely, attending my mother's when she took her next warrior into her…circle."
"Circle? What happened to your father?"
"I assume he was there at the ceremony watching with the other warriors she had bound in partnership. All twelve of my brothers and sisters too."
Rex had no verbal response for this; instead, his jaw hung open, and he had the widest of eyes she had ever seen on his puzzled face.
"I didn't know which one was my father. I may have known him. He may have known me. My mother had eight warriors in her circle by then. It could have been any of those men. Sorry, 'circle' is a weird term, the actual word doesn't translate in Basic. I can't even remember how to say it exactly. Master Plo was kind enough to give me that small amount of information about where I came from, but nothing more. Master Shaak Ti was very guarded about our culture. So I stopped asking. But Master Jocasta let me read some books about Togruta, but most of them were not allowed. She seemed to always have one hidden away in her desk though." She continued to study the craftsmanship with her fingers.
"Wonder why they were forbidden? Togruta aren't dangerous from what I can recall."
Ahsoka had a guess. It was a memory of when Master Jocasta hurriedly closed off entire sections of one book about Kiros, but not just before Ahsoka caught an illustration that has confused her ever since the age of nine.
"Togruta culture is nothing like the Jedi order, Rex. Their only similarity is that they each are…suspicious of the other's beliefs and practices. And then there was me. I was proud to be both. But I could only be one and not the other."
"I don't think we've ever talked about your...family. You know, your life before the Jedi Temple."
Ahsoka looked at him,
"Family. That's not something either of us got to experience, is it? Jedi Togrutas aren't really acceptable on Shili. As for the Jedi, well…."
Rex could see that she was processing a wave of grief, "You alright?" Ahsoka nodded yes, staring at the table. She looked up at the skylight with warm rays beaming through down to the table and then looked at Rex. More honestly, she shook her head to say no. Oh no, Rex thought, she's going to start crying again. This was one of the numbers of reasons he was afraid of them coming here. He shifted focus to reroute the conversation's direction.
"Well, I have a very different memory of that table. I'll keep that one to myself. I had to help get this thing here. And I never want to think about that mission again." Ahsoka chuckled at how animated Rex became. She grabbed her fizz bottle from the floor where she had left it by the gold sofa and her boots, "Oh, Rex, that must have been some mission." She finally finished what was left in the bottle to wet her dry mouth.
"It was! You wouldn't believe what we did to get this thing here. Oh, here. I'll take that over for ya, hand it here." She walked over and gave him her empty bottle, "Thanks."
He waved off her over appreciation as he turned to rinse the bottle and place it on the counter to get rid of or reuse it later.
Oh yes, Rex remembered that damned stupid table. That was a mission he was not trained for on Kamino. He'd put that whole ordeal right behind Umbara. He was sure they would get caught, and he'd get thrown out of the GAR.
Skywalker told Rex he had to find a second crate large enough to hold the table's original cargo crate that it came in. That way, the table's container could be hidden as any other cargo when they loaded it onto Padme's personal shuttle ship with the other furniture and things they wanted in the lodge. The first thing was getting around as to why the 501st was helping with this. Jesse kept asking too many questions, so Rex eventually dismissed him before he screwed up and gave anything away. He opted for some rookies that could easily be convinced to follow orders without question. Still, they never followed them precisely the way Jesse, Kix, and Hardcase would have. What was just as awful was the faking of all the manifests. That is where Rex started to truly grasp the difficulty of what Skywalker was attempting to do by moving this stuff and by trying to hide his marriage.
The timing and trickery had to be perfect or else, which was typical in battle. But this? The general was going to rendezvous with the shuttle. Then he'd transfer the containers so he could hyperspace them onto a republic ship with a freighter. With its tow cables, he could get it here and somehow land everything. And they had to do it all in one trip.
Then, after all that coordinating, he and the general had to get it in the house. Rex told him even before they did that crazy landing, "You're going to need to use the Force for this, General." But Anakin was determined not to use it and that they could get the table through the front door. After their few strained attempts, Rex ended up being right and won their friendly bet. The wager won was that Rex could take the rest of the day off. So Rex got to go for a swim in the waterfall's lagoon while Skywalker dealt with moving the table and all the other furniture.
He enjoyed that part of the day now that he thought about it. He was AWOL that day and didn't have a care in the galaxy swimming in that lagoon watching Skywalker dealing with everything stacked up on the back balcony. There were even some builder droids still working on the roof and outdoor lighting. It wasn't Rex's problem anymore, though. They just needed to be done before the call came in to brief the upcoming mission on Christophsis.
Huh. It never occurred to Rex before. All this getaway lodge business was just before Ahsoka joined the 501st. He now remembered it was Padme who thought it was no coincidence that the "new padawan" and that damn table she bought were Togrutan and convinced him to give her a chance. "The Force was at work, or something," the general had reluctantly declared.
It's a shame. Rex wished he could tell her the story now. He was still in the kitchen; she was over by the doors to the balcony as a drizzle of rain started to come down through the sunshine. He looked out past her at the waterfall. Rex never thought he'd end up here on the run with Ahsoka.
Punctuating the story's end in his mind, Rex looked at her, staring out the window, eyeing the far edges of the lagoon.
"The lagoon out there is pretty great to swim in. You could go tomorrow."
"You don't want to swim? We both should...if it's not raining."
"Yeah. Sounds good," Rex had no idea why he said it like that. If they were here, they might as well spend the downtime together. He missed his brothers. He didn't know how to...relax without being around one or twenty of them. Now he was starting to get a sense of what Ahsoka was feeling. He did think of an immediate issue they needed to address as soon as possible.
"Tonight, you take the bedroom,"
As he said his next sentence, Ahsoka echoed him by responding to his last one.
"I can sleep on the floor."
"I can sleep on the floor."
They both smirked at each other and did it again.
"No, you should take the—"
"No, you should sleep in a bed, Rex."
"Me? Why?" He was flummoxed.
"Have you ever even slept in a real bed that wasn't a barracks or ship bunk?" she correctly pointed out.
"No. But I'm not sleeping in that bed," Rex declared, hoping this would be the end of it. "First reason is the obvious. Which we won't go into. Second, that thing is huge. It's too much. I can't sleep in it…and…you—well, you should sleep in it. That's more appropriate."
Ahsoka was not as exasperated and enjoyed watching Rex struggle with this, "How big is this bed?" Rex started to head down the hallway, and Ahsoka followed. She was trying to study the connecting hallway's design when she arrived at the open door of the bedroom,
"Oh wow. That…is…something." They both stood there staring at it. It was enormous.
"See what I mean. I'm serious. I can sleep on the floor or the couch out there. I've never slept on a gold couch either."
"Rex. It's just a bed." Ahsoka didn't want to tell him how uncomfortable that couch was.
Rex was now insisting and didn't want to have to say what he was thinking, but out it came, "It's not just a bed, but it's…you know…their… it's...their love-making bed. There I said it!" Ahsoka covered her mouth as she burst out laughing at him. She hadn't laughed that hard in days. Maybe weeks.
"Love-making bed?" Ahsoka did a goofy, terrible impression of Rex.
"Alright, you. I'm trying to be respectful. And what was that?! Was that supposed to be me?" They were both laughing now; the fact that they shouldn't be only made them goofier. Rex was trying to stop laughing but couldn't stop thinking of that bizarre way she attempted to imitate him, hunched and dopey looking, trying to look like a man.
"That…that…was a horrible impression of me."
Ahsoka was laughing and could barely catch her breath, "The way you said that…love-making bed!," she did it again, even sillier, "Are you okay, Rex? That seemed like it was really tough to say," she was amused and always put her hand on her hip when she was making fun of him. That habit of hers snapped Rex back to control, and he got it together again.
"Seriously, Don't make fun of me, I'm also having a hard time here. This is… it's weird, okay?" Rex was going to have to take off his ab plate if she did it again. He would lose it. Ahsoka had finally calmed her laughing fit down, thankfully.
"Okay. I do understand. Still, it's only weird if you keep making it weird. It is just a bed. We can both sleep in this bed. There's room for ten people to sleep in this bed. You on that side, me over here. You've certainly slept in more dangerous places, I'm sure. Nothing to be afraid of."
"Afraid?! I'm not afraid."
He was. But he wasn't sure if it was the bed, its previous occupants, or how weird it would be sleeping in the same bed, even this big, as Ahsoka. It most likely was the combination of all three.
"We are just sleeping, which we both terribly need to do."
"I guess so. You're right, but I still feel weird about it."
"Well, that's because you are a good and decent person. But try not to think too much about it, okay? Once you sleep in a real bed, you'll thank me. How about this, I'll flip the mattress, does that help?"
"A little," Rex shrugged his shoulders. He looked at the bed again, "Who needs that many pillows?"
"You can take them off. I think they are mostly for decoration. Who knows? You may enjoy having lots of pillows. Never know until you try it, Rex."
"Bah...whatever" Yup, there she is. Great. He remembered she was usually at her snippiest when she was right.
Ahsoka gave him a pat on the back as she moved to start taking the pillows and sheets off. "We just need rest and we definitely need to get cleaned up. We both stink like that crash and something else that I can't think of."
"The sewers of Mandalore. Yeah, I feel like we're stinking up this whole place."
"I had forgotten about Mandalore..." Ahsoka stood there dumbfounded.
In her hands, she mindlessly held two dark green throw pillows made of thick luxe yarn and woven into large knotted shapes. "That was yesterday? I can't believe that was yesterday." She was staring out at nothing.
"You've been out of the game, huh? You should know better than to think of days and nights when it comes to battles and space travel," he started to unhitch his gauntlets revealing the filthy liner underneath.
"Wha?" she was letting the exhaustion hit her. The fight with Maul, Bo Katan, and The Tribunal escape. Her months away had softened her edges to this life she once knew.
"Here. Ahsoka. I'll help," dismissing his reluctance to have anything to do with that bed. He walked over and grabbed the pillows from her hands. Then he tossed them on the floor, where they unceremoniously landed and rolled to the wall. The pile of bedding and pillows was going to be a small mountain soon. He elbowed gingerly at her good arm to snap out of it. She looked at him and gave a subtle sigh. "Thanks, it will be easier to flip without the sheets and stuff on it."
She moved to start pulling off the covers and sheets as Rex sat looking at her earnest struggle to yank just one corner loose. She looked so tired, and he pitied her quietly. He also thought about the next step, getting all this junk back on the bed. He'd probably help her with that too. He absolutely did not want to, but he did not know how to indulge that kind of selfishness that could walk away and not help her. Once he caught a glimpse of the irritated skin on her arm under the wound's bandages, he went over towards her. He grabbed the layers that were in the stubbornly tucked corner, yanking it in one go. She slumped her shoulders with a mix of defeat and gratitude.
"Ah...before you bleed on the bed's fancy pillows and sheets, I want to clean that wound on your arm again. I'm pretty sure you still have small shards of debris in that cut. Hopefully, they have something here I can use to clean and redress it."
Ahsoka stood up and found her will to carry on again, "You're probably right. Should we do it in the bathroom or the kitchen?"
"Let's see what's in the bathroom here," Rex was moving a little quicker than her and headed in first, "You see this giant bathtub too? Right there next to a giant window?! And it continues under the window to the outside in the...little...what is that called?" In her daze, Ahsoka was struck now with the calming beauty of the bathroom. "A patio. It's beautiful. You can soak outside. Hmmm...the stone wall right out there hides everything, Rex. Besides, no one is here to see anything, I guess," she shrugged her shoulders.
Now she was looking at the simple glass-enclosed shower that was also perfectly designed, but nothing like its neighbor: the sunken garden bath. The bathroom's colors matched the rest of the lodge with black trim, glass, and wooden accents on the shower's floor and sitting bench. But the walls and bathtub introduced a white subtly marbled stone material that made you feel cleaner just by looking at it.
Rex was carefully inspecting the cabinet for some kind of kit or supplies he could work with. The towels in the cabinet were folded; some looked never used. Rex was moving them here and there in the hidden cabinet as he shifted stuff around to look for a kit. "Rex, I assume you've only ever used barrack showers?"
"That's right. Oh, wait in the medical bay, I've done a bacta bath a few times. But that one is more like a tube shape to stand in, not like that thing."
Ahsoka came up behind him and fixed the towels back into their folded stack. Then she decided she needed to get some out for them to use anyway, "Well I think you should take advantage of a bathroom like this while you can."
Half listening to her, "Huh, maybe? I guess I should."
Success! He finally found a decent medical kit in the back of the top shelf. He was beaming a huge smile with his accomplishment as he looked to Ahsoka and then down to her arm to size up what supplies he would need on her arm. He was talking to be polite, but he was more focused on his task at hand, "So...do...you...wanna take a bath?"
Ahsoka was struck dumb for a moment with what Rex just asked her so nonchalantly. "Ummm…I...," she felt her eyes look up and go side to side in thought, perhaps to signal her brain to start working again.
In her frozen moment there, Rex seemed perfectly comfortable as he started laying out his simple tools to fix her up. "You keep going on about taking a bath, I figured…," he shrugged. He was attentively arranging the roll of bandage cloths, med tweezers, bacta solution, and his utility knife, just pulled from his right calf armor. She quirked her head at an angle to respond to him continuing with this suggestion. Her body was fluttering now as she was silently surprised with the possible images of this completely unexpected invitation and did not know what to say.
"Uh, yeah, sure. If you want me to...wait, what are you asking?" Her sense of him was so calm, but for her, her heart started to race, and she felt her cheeks flush.
He repeated his simple question slowly this time. "I asked… if you wanted to take a bath?" Rex looked at her intently to make sure she was okay. What's with her?
Ahsoka, you know how to answer this, "Yes. That's not what I ever expected, but that would be…nice actually."
Rex was laying out the bandages when he realized the tone of the last thing she said, and now he was struck dumb with the images of her bizarre suggestion, "What?!"
"I said 'yes', Rex! What is happening right now?"
Rex was exasperated. How tired was Ahsoka? Is she nuts?! "I was asking if you wanted to take a bath for sure because then I'll take a shower first real quick---"
"Ohhhhh! Oh I... uh...," she was horribly embarrassed now, which might be revealing some disappointment. Oh boy. She knew her face was betraying her because Rex's face was all twisted up in confusion. He continued his explanation, "That way you could take as long as you want in the tub thing... wait! Did you think I was asking you to take a bath with me?!"
Ahsoka knew she was a terrible liar to people she cared about, so this was going to be tough, "I didn't understand, well, I mean you were talking about giving it a try, then you---"
"Ahsoka! I didn't ask that? Wait, did I misspeak? No, I definitely didn't ask that,"
Now Rex felt like he was way too tired. Maybe he was the one who was nuts? Hold on!
"Did...did you say…you would?!" Rex's expression was now a red fury of embarrassment.
She couldn't tell if he was mad or making fun of her, but her sense of him wasn't negative. Oh, he was definitely fearful but not angry. He was looking at her with the wildest look on his clone face. She thought it was going to jump off his head. He'll be fine. She knew they could laugh this off later. Couldn't they? It was just a bizarre misunderstanding from their exhaustion. This conversation needed to end as soon as possible, though.
"Okay, Rex. Clearly, I misunderstood and we'll just leave it at that. You can fix my arm up, and we each will take our own separate time in the bathroom and just—"
"Ahsoka? You said 'YES' twice. No, wait, three times!"
"Well! I mean, I was standing here shocked thinking you just asked me to…you know. And I wasn't thinking…or, I was...and just thought, 'Okay, why not?'"
"Why not?!" He repeated her words back to her. How could she just nonchalantly drop that reasoning into this conversation? "I'll tell you why not…because..." Uh oh, Rex hadn't gotten this far yet in his argument, and now he's silently slammed with images of this completely unexpected, now lost, possible outcome, "…you know…" He was getting the words together but had to stop looking at her. Rex fixed his eyes on the glass shower behind her. Nope, that is making his thoughts even more incoherent. He was back to looking at her wound, the whole reason they came in here. It's Ahsoka, don't be ridiculous or mean. Get it together, soldier. "Because…"
Ahsoka stood there waiting for him to finally deliver his actual follow-up with a look of slight hurt and defeat on her face. Then she whipped out her weapon of choice: perfectly clever snips.
"If you say it's because this is their 'love-making' bathtub…" she imitated him again. He couldn't help it. Rex started cracking up as Ahsoka continued, "...then I'm going to throw you over the balcony and into the lagoon! And you know I can," she barely got the words out as she was now laughing too.
Rex looked like he was about to start crying from laughter and could barely speak.
"I - I told you...to never….do that imitation...of...whew! Hold on. Stop. Give me a second—" don't...do… that again." He wiped his eyes and caught his breath, "Seriously, that's not funny."
He shook his head and started laughing again because it was so funny when she tried to make fun of him. This is terrible. Rex was somehow trying to use the cabinet door to hide his laughter as if that would do anything. Ahsoka was in worse shape sitting on the edge of the sunken tub practically on the floor, hunched over her knees because her sides hurt from laughing so hard.
They were delirious. Thankfully, they knew each other too well. Only a true pair of friends like this can laugh this hard. Especially at a time like this, in a place such as this. Grief is wicked and dark, but the light has strange ways of gaining power over it. And it always does.
They eventually got it together.
"Rex, can we just forget that whole mix-up about the bath just happened?"
"Uh, that's a negative."
"Oh come on!" She threw a towel at him, and it hit his kama, falling to the floor. Rex shot her a screwy look and shook his head.
"Why are you throwing fancy towels at me? Hey, if I ever need a good laugh I'll think of that conversation. I'm sure I'll need it."
"Fine! I regret nothing. Now let's clean up my arm. It actually hurt when I threw the towel at you."
"Okay you, sit over here and let's get this over with. By the way, I know you were joking, but since you mentioned it, don't ever throw me anywhere unless I give the okay. I always hated that."
"Ha, okay," she snickered a little and looked at him, going right back to his small, perfectly arranged attempt at a medical station, "Oh wow. You are serious."
"I am." Rex was finally ready to fix her up. He stood sternly, ready to work, and then decided last minute that he should unhitch his chest, ab, and shoulder pads to take them off. His upper body was just in his blacks. He felt better to get them off.
Rex felt even better that he spoke up. He knew she would keep her word. It was silly and small, but he really hated it when Skywalker would do that without asking. And he remembered Ahsoka had picked up her former Master's habit when she was Commander. So he had to be ready to be flung anywhere at any moment.
"I know you were joking before. But I just like knowing where I'm going to land," he shrugged his shoulders.
"It's a good reason. I'm glad you told me."
Ahsoka held the now-folded towel and looked at him. "I understand. I won't do that without your okay."
She took the pieces of armor from the counter and arranged them in a way that made sense. "Here, I'll take those for you. Where do you want them?"
"On that seat thing there. Thanks. That is a seat right?"
"Yup. Adds some warmth to the bathroom, I guess." Rex shook his head; he didn't get it. The chair was a rust-orange toned leather tall back chair. The grommets and leather looked as battered and worn as Rex's armor. It had a strange dignified look of importance. Maybe once, it sat with many other chairs that looked exactly like it in some grand hall of leadership, but now it was just here, by itself, next to the tub. Never getting sat on, leading nothing, supporting nothing, and nobody sitting in it to watch someone else bathe. Now it was simply being occupied by Captain Rex of the GAR 501st Battalion's shoulder, ab, and chest plates, and Ahsoka's attempt to re-normalize her and Rex's dear friendship with some basic kindness.
She walked over towards the bathroom counter and looked at Rex's reflection in the mirror. He looked up at her reflection in the mirror.
"You ready? This is going to hurt," he warned her.
Ahsoka shrugged her shoulders, "I know. What doesn't these days?"
There they were—reflections of Rex and Ahsoka, standing there with Rex and Ahsoka.
NEXT CHAPTER...
Chapter 4: Free & Clear
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