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This was unfair, Rex thought. Nothing was ever fair with him. But, it’s not like he could stop her. He knows from experience that you better not tell Ahsoka Tano what to do. He just wished things were different.
They had only just been reunited. He still hates himself for never receiving her lost transmissions over the years. Did she stay up at night thinking he was dead? Did she try to find him? What did she do to survive?
“Rex?” She called from behind him. He forgot he was standing in the doorway to her room. “Everything alright?” She half-laughs, half-asks. He turns around, not used to her being slightly taller than him now. His eyes no longer glance down to meet hers. She’s grown so much.
“Uh-yes!” He says quickly, awkwardly giving her a smile. “I’m fine. Was just lookin’ for you.” Rex explains. Ahsoka’s raised brow drops and her face melts into a soft grin and she stepped passed him into her room.
“Alright. Does the Admiral need me or something?” She asks, walking over to the small cupboard by her bedside and pulling out the few personal items she owns.
“No.” Rex replies. “I actually need to talk to you.” She freezes, her hands hovering just above the cupboard. He watches silently as her eyes close and she exhales the breath she was holding in.
“I know you don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go to Malachor, Rex. But, it’s what I know is right, it’s what the Force is telling me to-” She began to explain, continuing her packing, throwing her belongings into the bag a little more aggressively now.
Rex stepped forward. “I know, I know. But don’t ya’ think it’s a bit dangerous going to that kinda planet right now?” He pauses. “Can’t it wait?”
Ahsoka ties off her satchel of supplies and sets it back onto her cot. Her head turns to look back at Rex. She looked so different now. But Rex noted her expression. She was calm, but her eyes were pleading with sympathy. The same look she had given him all those years ago when they went their separate ways. It was happening again.
“It’s going to be alright, Rex.” She mumbled. “You’re going to be alright.” Her hand went to his shoulder and she gently squeezed it. Almost in the same fashion that he would do to her back in the War. Everything has changed.
“Please just- be careful, kid .” Rex says, pulling her into a hug. She didn’t resist or playfully pull away like she did as a Padawan. Instead she hugged him tightly, and Rex never wanted to let her go.
“I always am.” Ahsoka reminds him. She sniffles and Rex could feel teardrops on his shoulder. “But, I don’t think you can call me, kid, anymore.” She laughs slightly, lightning her tone.
“Eh, you’ll always be my little ‘un.” He tells her, reaching his hand up and wiping at his eyes. They were silent for a moment. Standing there, each of them holding onto the last bit of their past lives.
“Rex?” Ahsoka croaks out, she begins pulling away from their embrace. He keeps his hands on her shoulders and she looks at him with a sad smile. “Rex, you have to let me go…” she paused, “on this mission. It’s the only way to stop these Inquisitors.” Rex stared at her again, those sympathetic eyes burning into his memory. He closed his own eyes and imagined her, still so young and inexperienced, cheering as they won another battle. His brothers alive and well, reveling in their win. It seemed so wrong to be nostalgic for war time, Rex thought. But then it dawned on him; war was all he knew.
His eyes opened again and she was still looking at him, awaiting for his approval. He didn’t want to let her go, he wanted to tell her to stay here, to stay safe. But she was right. This was the only way. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he would never see her again. He had felt the same way on that moon, years ago.
“I trust you, Ahsoka.” He tells her, nodding his head. “Always will.”
<<<>>>
Ezra told him what happened. But he wasn’t shocked. He wasn’t surprised. He should be, but for some reason he wasn’t. He just felt empty.
Alone
. She was gone. He spent all those years serving alongside her, surviving Order 66 with her, and the years in the Rebellion with her. But now, she was gone. Yet, despite knowing this fact, he knew he would see her again. He convinced himself it was the grief that convinced him of that. But Rex knew that he would see Commander Tano again.
Someday.