Chapter Text
So much death.
Ahsoka closed the eyes of the vod1 lying in the makeshift medical bay. There hadn't been anything Kix could do but make him comfortable as he passed, so Ahsoka had held his hand in his last moments, hoping to bring some peace to him. "Ghe vhee ta, sa'daar2. Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la3," she murmured, pressing a kiss to the vod's brow before signaling to a couple of other troopers to move the body to lie with his brothers.
Far too many had lost their lives on Umbara. Far too many were killed needlessly.
The myriad of pain swirled around her heart and mind. Regardless of her Shadow training and the additional instruction she’d gotten from Generals Skywalker and Kenobi, there was no way to prepare for this kind of pain and suffering. No mission had ever been this destructive and Ahsoka could admit that she could feel herself starting to crumble from the weight of the grief, fear, anger, and agony she’d siphoned off of her men to keep them alive. “Battlefield meditations are dangerous, Soka,” Master Sephjet had said.“Be wise and don’t let the emotions build up or you’ll struggle to control it all.” He was right. Ahsoka knew there was only so much more she could take before everything would explode out of her. Despite knowing that, she still siphoned off as much of the pain as she could manage, helping some of them march ahead in peace. She couldn’t give them much, but she could give them that at least.
"Come on, Ahsoka, keep going," she muttered to herself before she gathered her energy and forced herself to her feet. There were other troopers that needed to be treated, and Kix could use all the help he could get. Ahsoka wasn't the best at Force Healing, but she would do what she could to help ease her men's pain.
Weaving her way through the wounded, Ahsoka finally found Kix among the men, desperately trying to save a man's leg. "What can I do?" she asked.
"Put pressure here," he said, moving to give her space. "Thankfully the lightsaber cauterized the wound so he's not bleeding out, and it miraculously didn't nick an artery. The bone got cut a little, which might be a problem."
Ahsoka nodded along, absorbing the information Kix gave her as he worked. He’d been training her in basic medic protocols and treatments for which she was incredibly grateful. His lessons on anatomy had helped significantly with her Force Healing skills, rudimentary that they were. Teaching also kept Kix grounded in the moment rather than panicking or dissociating. Either one was dangerous for a field medic to do, and he prided himself on remaining cool-headed in a crisis.
"I could try healing the bone. I don't think I can do much for the actual cut, but with the bone fixed, that would be one less concern," Ahsoka offered.
"Sir, with all due respect, you're exhausted," Kix answered immediately. Even though she couldn’t see his face from this angle, Ahsoka was sure that he was glaring. "Using this much Force is dangerous and you know it."
"I have to try," Ahsoka whispered, squeezing her eyes shut and focusing on the vod. Master Kenobi had started teaching her Force Healing after Teth, after the first time she had watched a vod die. She wasn't nearly as good at it as her grandmaster or Barriss, but she could and would do this for the poor trooper so he didn't lose his leg.
Ahsoka ignored Kix's protests and focused on gathering the Force around her. Please. I know I've asked for a lot today, but please help me heal him? He doesn't deserve this pain, she begged silently. The usual warmth that she found in the Force was missing, cooled by the amount of death they had experienced on Umbara. But she did feel the familiar presence gathering in her and then flowing into the body of the vod, focusing on the femur where his leg had nearly been cut off. Ahsoka pictured the bone, each individual cell healing and multiplying until the bone was once again smooth and functioning. Heat crackled along her skin and burned at her soul; Ahsoka knew she was pushing her limits and the Force was hurting her as much as it was helping. She pushed aside the discomfort and focused on healing. With a gasp, Ahsoka fell back on her heels, her hands falling away from the trooper's leg before she remembered that Kix had told her to keep pressure on it.
"The bone is healed," she managed to say, her chest heaving from the effort. With hands that shook slightly, Ahsoka placed her hands on the man’s leg again just as Kix had asked.
"Di'kut4" Kix cursed. "You're going to kill yourself trying to heal everyone. You are already exhausted from marching and fighting with us and then fighting Krell. If you keep doing this, you'll burn up from the inside, sir."
"And how many men will die if I don't?" Ahsoka asked softly. "I have to do what I can to save them, just like you."
"Haar'chak 5!" Kix closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before he looked up and glared at her. "I hate that you are using my own arguments against me. I don't like it, but I can't stop you." At her smile, his glare intensified. "But, if you start overheating or feeling faint, you need to take a break. Take a nap for an hour and let yourself rest. We've seen too much death in the last few days for you to die on us too. Understand?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Ahsoka said seriously. This wasn't the time for jokes, and she knew Kix needed her to take his orders seriously. He was right, after all; there had been far too much death and she couldn't allow herself to add another life to the long list they would be mourning in the coming days and months. She was hovering on the edge of a terrible case of Force Exhaustion but Ahsoka knew she could push for a little longer before needing a nap.
"Good. I've got this vod. Blaster wound next cot over. Sterilize and bacta wrap it. If anything bad was harmed, shout and I'll come running." Kix went back to carefully bandaging the awful cut on this trooper's leg and Ahsoka obeyed her orders, moving to the next bed down.
She was tired, but there was still far too much to do.
Two hours later, Ahsoka awoke from her brief nap to a shout outside the makeshift medical bay. Her hands immediately went to her lightsabers, though she didn't draw them yet, even as she dashed outside, hot on the heels of several other vod’e who were functional. Drawing from energy she really didn't have, Ahsoka leapt over the heads of her men to place herself between them and the potential threat, her lightsabers in her hands, just in case she needed to defend her men. And then froze at the sight of a very angry General Skywalker shouting at a stubborn Rex. A surge of fear and anger rose up in Ahsoka, forcing her to take a breath and shove those emotions down with all the others. Her master hadn’t noticed that the men were reacting badly to his presence, nor did he realize that Ahsoka was marching towards him, lightsabers immediately clipped to her belt once again.
"—do you mean, you won't tell me? Torrent loses most of the men, and you won't even tell me how it happened?? Where's Krell? He should be here with the rest of you!" General Skywalker shouted and his hands clenched tightly into fists by his side. Oblivious of everyone else when her master was angry, he didn’t notice how stiff and upset Rex was. Ahsoka knew Rex, though, and could tell that he needed backup and a kriffing nap.
"GENERAL SKYWALKER!" she barked and shoved her way between the two men, facing down her master. "STAND DOWN!"
"Ahsoka?" Skywalker blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on the Resolute ?"
She ignored the question and turned to the men, signaling that she had this handled. Then she focused on Rex, careful to not turn her back completely on General Skywalker; she couldn’t trust him right now. Not with the awful betrayal they’d already suffered. "You need to get some rest," Ahsoka said to Rex in a low voice. She held a hand up, forestalling his protest, and continued, "I know there's a lot of work to be done, but right now, you can help all of us by getting an hour of sleep. I'll send someone to wake you up and if they report back that you weren't asleep, then I will find you and sit on you until you do sleep. Understood?"
"Yes, Commander," he grumbled, shuffling off, though the tightness in his posture didn't decrease in the slightest. She glanced around the base and found Fives nearby, comforting a panicking shiny. (They're not shiny anymore , Ahsoka thought grimly.) With a flick of her head and a returned nod, she knew he would go talk to Rex and make sure he actually relaxed enough to sleep, even if it ended up being fifteen minutes.
"What in the nine hells of Corellia happened here?" Skywalker spat, grabbing her shoulder and whirling her around to face him fully. Ahsoka's hand immediately grabbed her lightsaber, but she made a very conscious effort to relax her grip and instead of drawing it, she folded her arms across her chest.
"Do not touch me," Ahsoka hissed dangerously, eyes narrowing.
General Skywalker blinked in shock and quickly removed his hand from her shoulder. "What is going on?" he demanded, no longer yelling, which Ahsoka's montrals thanked him for. "Most of Torrent is dead, some of the 212th are here, Krell is nowhere to be found, and you're here instead of in space where I left you. What. Happened?"
Ahsoka frowned but didn't back down from his ferocious glare. "I will give my report, but not around the men. They've survived enough, they don't need to relive it, too," she finally said.
With a sigh, the general's shoulders dropped and his hands relaxed. "Alright, lead the way."
As the pair walked through the base, Ahsoka noted what work still needed to be done and sent a couple of messages to the Lieutenants and Sergeants currently on duty. Torrent and Ghost worked together to search the jungle for vod’e, carrying dead and wounded vod’e that had been left behind during the mad suicide marches Krell had forced them to do. There were far more dead than wounded, and Ahsoka's heart shattered more with every new body they saw. There was so much pain and grief in the Force, even with how much she had taken on herself. It ached like a physical weight was slowly crushing her soul.
As they marched through the base, more than a few of her vod’e subtly asked if Ahsoka needed backup, but she shook her head every time, even gently pointing and shoving Tup back towards the barracks with the firm order to "rest your sorry shebs6". He ducked his head sheepishly but obeyed. Ahsoka eventually led Anakin to the far side of the base where there weren't any vod’e within earshot or line of sight and turned to face her master.
"Where do you want me to start?" she asked, keeping her tone clipped and short to hide how very exhausted she was.
"Why are you down here instead of on the Resolute? I told you this mission would be too dangerous for you," Skywalker snapped, his glare returning full-force.
"Because my men were dying and they needed someone to protect them," Ahsoka retorted. "They were massacred, and no one was there to keep them safe."
"What about Krell? He was here, he would have protected them, and he would have done a better job than you. He's a Jedi Master!"
"E chu tal7!" Ahsoka snarled, barely keeping herself from punching her master in the face. "Neh neh nara dahmar dar'jetii!8" The mix of languages snapped out faster than she could control them, her entire body vibrating with rage. "Te demagolka dar'manda9!"
"Woah, Snips, take it easy! I'm sorry I implied that you couldn't protect our men, but he is a Jedi Master," Anakin attempted to placate, though his frustration bled into his voice.
The names of dozens of vod’e that had been murdered by a Jedi Master flashed through Ahsoka’s mind. The ones that had been killed when they were forced up the main road and slaughtered. The ones that had died of injuries on the torturous march. The gorge filled with the bodies of her vod’e, the base where men were wounded and dying long before Krell turned his lightsabers on them, and the ones who had been killed by their own vod’e. Hundreds were dead now, and all because of Krell.
Killed by the same Jedi Master that Skywalker was so certain would protect them.
A cry of pure rage, frustration, and grief tore from her lips, and Ahsoka whirled away from Anakin, unable to even look at him at the moment. She stalked to the edge of the wild and attacked a tree, kicking and punching and screaming at it, until she fell to her knees, sobbing hysterically.
Every ache, every death, every second of pain and terror that her men felt ripped at her mind and her soul, screaming to be released in a hurricane of destruction. Ahsoka was almost overwhelmed with the amount of pain—physical, mental, and spiritual—crashing over her in ever-increasing waves. It took every ounce of will within her to attempt to funnel some of the agony into the Force, releasing microscopic amounts until she felt she could shove it all back behind her shields to deal with when they were all safe.
Ahsoka wasn’t sure how long she knelt there, the storm inside of her raging and beating at her mind, but finally, she managed to push it all away to deal with later. It was then that she realized she could feel both General Skywalker and General Kenobi attempting to calm her and soothe her through their bonds, as well as the weaker bonds stretched across the galaxy. Her many friends and mentors within the Order tugged on the bonds, reassuring her that she was not alone and offering to help siphon off some of the pain in her mind. General Skywalker was the loudest, almost frantic in his desperation to help. Any other time, Ahsoka might have welcomed the help of so many, but it was her duty to protect her men, especially after the horrors they’d experienced.
With great effort and recalling the quiet lessons in the middle of dangerous missions with Master Sephjet, Ahsoka closed off her connection to the Force, locking out Skywalker, Kenobi, and even her adopted father. She could not trust them again. Not yet.
Not with the information she’d discovered. The patterns pointed to a high-ranking officer giving the Separatists valuable information on the movements of the GAR. And especially not when Krell’s betrayal proved some of her theories right. The only ones who were ranked high enough to have access to the kind of information that was being leaked were members of the Jedi High Council and the Chancellor himself.
Consciously unclenching her fists and her jaw, Ahsoka made sure her shields were tight enough that not a single bit of emotion leaked out into the Force, nor could she feel the weight of her master’s own emotions. It was only then that she turned her attention back to the world around her.
"Ahsoka?" Skywalker called, his voice betraying his worry and fear.
Ahsoka stood up and turned to face her master and all of his questions, starting with the one he’d already asked.
"Krell killed them," she said; her voice was as calm and even as deep waters harboring ancient nightmares within its depths. In her peripheral vision, she could see several troopers hovering nearby, most likely drawn over to this side of the base by her breakdown. She hadn’t wanted them to overhear, but she couldn’t help but be grateful for their support and their loyalty to her.
"What?" Skywalker asked, shocked and horrified. His eyes were wide and anger and guilt warred across his features.
"Krell ordered them to engage in a full-frontal assault on the city from the main road—ignoring your tactics and the advice of both Rex and Fives. He forced my men to march to their deaths, withholding half of the company so there were no reinforcements. Then he forced them to march for twelve hours without a single break. Rex and Fives called me at that point to see what I could do to change Krell's mind. I got here just as he ordered Torrent to march through that gorge to try to take this base. They were being slaughtered and Krell ordered Kix to leave the wounded behind and to keep pushing forward. I helped them as best as I could from my fighter, until I was shot down. I sent Fives and Hardcase to the base to steal two of their fighters to use their own technology against them while I protected the men on the ground. Krell was furious that I was even on the planet, let alone giving orders that contradicted his. He refused to send Appo with reinforcements and stayed far from the front lines. We took the base, and he allowed the men to rest for a while. General Kenobi got a signal through and informed us that the 212th were forced from their positions by missiles and that they needed reinforcements. Krell decided that the 501st would march down the main road in another frontal assault, directly into the path of those missiles. It would have been a suicide march."
Ahsoka carefully edited the real story to make it seem like she was the one giving contradictory orders. The last thing she wanted was for Rex or Fives or any of the other men to be court-martialed for ignoring Krell’s orders. But Ahsoka was better protected as a Jedi. She would protect her men.
"What happened after that?" Skywalker asked. His fingers twitched like he was trying to keep himself from grabbing his lightsaber and slashing up the nearest plants or finding Krell and beheading him. He was furious, and carefully controlled that anger, at least for the moment.
"Fives and Hardcase came up with a plan to take the fighters up to the Umbaran supply ship and blow it up. I approved the mission,” Ahsoka said. It was the truth, partially. They had come up with the idea, and she did approve of it, though she hadn’t given the approval until after they’d already taken off. “They succeeded, along with Jesse, blowing up the supply ship just like you did when you were a kid. Hardcase—” Ahsoka swallowed hard and shoved down the pounding ache. If she thought about her friend’s death, she might crumble. “Hardcase died in the explosion. When Jesse and Fives returned, Krell court-martialed them on charges of mutiny. I tried to explain that I ordered them to go and he changed the court-martial to an execution. Krell ordered that I was the one to execute them. I refused. He attempted to kill them himself and I stopped him."
Skywalker stumbled backwards. "Execution?"
"He would have executed her, too, if Krell hadn't received a communication at that moment," Fives interjected as he walked over. He tapped a sly signal on his thigh—bastardized Mandalorian dadita—to confirm that he had her back. Fives stood next to her at attention, bumping her arm as he did so. Ahsoka bumped back in gratitude and relief.
"Where is he?" Skywalker growled, grabbing his lightsaber and turning towards the tower. "I'll kill him myself!"
"General!" Ahsoka snapped, and she grabbed his arm and physically dragged him back around to face her. Her other hand hovered over her lightsaber, just in case. Behind Skywalker, she saw the troops flinch backwards, and some of them even turned and ran away. At her side, Ahsoka felt Fives’s aborted twitch, whether in fear or reacting to a threat, she wasn’t sure. “That is enough," Ahsoka growled. "You will let me finish so I can go back to taking care of my men while you go meet General Kenobi."
They glared at each other, silently daring the other to back down. Something shifted in Skywalker's eyes, turning them a pale yellow as darkness crossed his face in a shadow of a second. The moment passed and he softened as he clipped his lightsaber back to his belt.
"Okay, tell me what happened."
"Krell threw me in the brig along with Jesse and Fives, but he told me that Umbarans were headed towards the base, dressed in 212th armor before he left us there. We didn’t hear anything for a long time, and then Rex came back to let us out and told us what happened with the "Umbarans". Krell commed Lieutenant Waxer with a set of coordinates and intel about Umbarans in 501st armor. Rex figured out that it was a set-up, but too many vod’e had already died from friendly fire. Krell was the one who orchestrated it all. Rex explained it all and I decided to confront Krell myself. I sent everyone else outside, though a few stubborn di’kute refused to let me confront him alone."
Fives shifted his weight slightly and Ahsoka quickly tapped out an I have Mission Lead. Follow. She was confident that he would follow her, even if he wasn’t sure what her plan was.
"I confronted Krell and have a recorded confession from him. He admitted to sabotaging the campaign in the hope that Dooku would take him as an apprentice. Krell resisted arrest and we fought in the tower before he leapt out. By the time I caught up to him, he’d killed several dozen men. We followed him into the jungle and thanks to an ingenious plan from Tup, he was captured. We received word from General Kenobi that a large number of Umbarans were heading towards this base. We knew that we wouldn't be able to hold out against them for very long with the numbers we had left." Ahsoka paused and looked directly into Skywalker's eyes. "So, I made the decision to execute him and I killed him myself. The 212th and a squadron of bombers took care of the Umbarans and we began treating what wounded we could here."
General Skywalker's jaw opened and closed several times, but when no words came from him for several minutes, Ahsoka turned away from him and towards the men gathered nearby.
"If you'll excuse me, I need to attend to my men. When General Kenobi gets here, you'll find me at the medical tent with Kix and I will go willingly."
"Go? Go where?" her master finally asked.
"I killed a General of the GAR. Technically, I committed treason, as I didn't follow the proper protocols in place. Protocol requires you to arrest me, but I'm requesting that you wait until General Kenobi arrives so a member of the Council will be here. You should go meet him," Ahsoka answered.
Ahsoka ignored his spluttering and protests and marched towards her men, Fives right beside her. Once they were out of earshot and eyesight, Fives stepped in front of her, the rest of the troops gathering around.
"What are you doing?" he demanded, glaring down at her.
Ahsoka glared right back. "I'm saving more lives, Fives. If the GAR finds out what really went on here, you all could be court-martialed and we all know they wouldn’t hesitate to execute you. I refuse to allow that to happen."
"We can't let you do that, sir," a trooper from the 212th said.
She turned to look him in the eye, softening her gaze a little. "What's your name?"
"Ona10, sir."
A real smile broke across her face, the first since the whole campaign had begun. "Happy. You'd get along with Brii11, then." Ahsoka sobered and turned to make sure she was addressing all of the vod’e. "The Republic has not given you any rights and refuses to even acknowledge your sentiency. As a Jedi, I have more freedoms and rights. They won't kill me for killing Krell, while Dogma would be court-martialed and likely executed. I refuse to allow that to happen if I can prevent it. I might be kicked from the Order and court-martialed, but I won't be killed. You'll still be serving under good Generals who care about you and will do whatever they can to make sure as many of you survive as possible. Spread the word to everyone else. Make sure everyone's stories reflect the one that I just told General Skywalker." She gave them a small weary smile. "It's my job to protect you and I didn't do a good enough job the last few days. Let me do this for you."
"Plus, I don't think General Skywalker will allow the Council to kick you out or the GAR to court-martial you, sir," added Sock.
"And General Kenobi's a really fair man," added another trooper from the 212th.
"We're all agreed then?" Ahsoka asked. "Keep to my story and we all might make it through this."
The men nodded and Fives stepped forward. "Alright men, let's get back to work. Spread the word and make sure everyone knows the right story. If you don't think you can hold up under questioning with this story, tell them that Commander Tano, Captain Rex, and I will give the report."
A murmur of agreement and they all dispersed. Ahsoka slumped as soon as her men were far enough away and Fives pulled her into a hug. They both leaned on each other for a moment, sharing their pain and drawing strength from the support of an unbreakable bond.
"I got worried when we all heard the screaming," Fives murmured against her montrals. "Are you okay now?"
She nodded against his chest plate. "General Skywalker insinuated that Krell, as a Jedi Master, would have been able to protect you all better than I could and I lost control."
Fives snorted. "I don't blame you, sir. Without you, a lot more vod'e would have been killed. Jesse and I probably would have been executed."
Ahsoka pulled back and lightly punched his shoulder. "You would have pulled off a last-minute daring escape or come up with some kind of moving speech. Besides, I could never execute any of you."
"Nice to know you have so much faith in me."
"Always, Fives. Always," she said with a smile.
He smiled back and bumped his forehead against hers, snickering when she winced. "Rex passed out shortly after I talked to him. Since he didn't come running when you started screaming, I assume he slept right through it. You'd better go tell him the new story and make sure he won't try to pull any self-sacrificial osik12. We need him as much as we need you, Commander."
"I'll go talk to him," Ahsoka said softly and pulled out of the hug. "Go see if you can help Kix. The sooner the wounded are treated, the sooner he can get some sleep."
"Yes, sir!" Fives snapped off a sharp salute and gave her a weak grin before he turned and marched towards the makeshift med-bay. "And make sure you clean up your hands before Kix sees or he might actually murder you. Punching trees tends to leave pretty bad scrapes on your knuckles."
Ahsoka looked down at her hands and let out a stream of curses in Togruti, Mando'a, and—for extra flavor—Huttese.
Rex wasn't happy, but he did eventually agree to stick to the story so long as he was able to tell Cody the truth. Ahsoka had no qualms with Cody knowing; his highest priority was the well-being of the Vod'e as their Vod’alor13. She’d already trusted him with the information she’d gathered about the spy.
In addition, Cody was an ori’vod14. He could take care of Rex and help him heal in a way no one else in Torrent would be able to. For Rex’s sake, Cody needed to know.
Of course, once he was awake, Rex refused to go back to sleep, and instead trekked off into the jungle to help retrieve bodies and wounded vod’e. Ahsoka loved him for it, but at the same time, was absolutely furious that he wouldn't stop to take care of himself. As that thought occurred to her, she immediately realized that Kix must feel the same way about her and decided to ignore it in favor of getting back to work.
The most immediate injuries were all taken care of by the time Ahsoka got back to the tent, but there were plenty of walking wounded who needed medical attention. Some of the injuries were worse than those on the cots—primarily due to infection and lack of immediate treatment. But none were life-threatening, thankfully. Ahsoka held hands and wrapped wounds with whatever bandages they could scavenge, treating for infections as best she could without the Force. In the back of her mind, where her connection was walled off, she could feel the intense burn and grief, reminding her that she couldn’t use the Force, despite wanting to with so many of her men needing her still. Between Kix, Fives, Jesse, and herself, they were able to get everyone settled until gunships arrived to evacuate the wounded back up to the Resolute.
Kix and Jesse found a spot close to the med tent to curl up and fall asleep together, close enough for Kix to act immediately if one of the men took a turn for the worse. Tup and Dogma, who was still shaken over Krell’s betrayal, watched over Kix’s patients, ready to call for the senior medic if needed. Rex and the rest of the troopers finally trickled back once no new bodies had been found.
Ahsoka found herself leaning against the Brii’s cot, holding her friend's hand. He’d been hit with a blaster bolt to his shoulder that had gotten a bad infection. Brii was one of the ones that Kix had been forced to leave behind; they hadn’t been sure if he would live or not at first, but Brii had stabilized enough that Kix felt comfortable taking a quick nap. Ahsoka watched the slow rise and fall of his chest, scared that if she turned away, he would stop breathing again.
"You should get some rest, 'Soka," a voice murmured from a couple of feet away. Fives stood there, still in full ARC gear and just as exhausted as everyone else. "You're going to collapse if you keep going like this."
She snorted and shook her head slightly. "I'll be fine, Fives. Besides, General Kenobi and General Skywalker will probably be coming back soon. I don't want to be found sleeping on the job when they arrive."
"They're not going to hurt you," he said softly, sitting down next to her.
"I know," Ahsoka murmured back. And she really did. She knew General Skywalker would never hurt her and he would defend her. General Kenobi was also one of the most compassionate men in the whole galaxy and her grandmaster. He cared about her in his own quiet way. Ahsoka tilted her head and glanced at Fives out of the corner of her eye. "Just because I know they won't hurt me doesn't stop me from being scared. I think we all are a little scared to have full-grown Jedi wandering around."
"Trauma does fun things to our brains," Fives agreed. He leaned his back against Brii's cot and shuffled a little to get into a more comfortable position. They were silent for several long minutes, listening to the soft groans and breathing from the troopers around them. "Thank you," he said eventually.
At this, Ahsoka turned to look at him fully. "Thank you for what?"
"For coming when Rex and I called you. For protecting us. For standing up to Krell. For taking responsibility for his execution. For helping Kix with the wounded. Everything, I guess," Fives shrugged. "You didn't have to do any of it. You could have stayed up on the Resolute and none of us would have blamed you in the slightest. Just . . . Thank you for treating us like human beings, I guess."
Ahsoka squeezed Fives’s hand with her free one and tugged him closer until they were sitting as close as they could in between the narrow rows of cots. She didn’t want to let go of Brii’s hand, at least not yet, and the only way she could hold both comfortably was if she sat facing Fives, their thighs pressed tightly against each other and their legs under the cots to fit them both into the small space. Ahsoka squeezed Fives’s hand again and leaned her forehead against his shoulder guard. "Of course, Fives. You and your brothers are my aliit15. You're my tribe. I would do anything for you just as I know you would do anything for me."
"We would," Rex rumbled and Ahsoka startled. She must be more exhausted than she had thought—he’d somehow sat down on her other side without her noticing. Rex tugged her against his side in a loose hug. "These past few days have been awful, but every single one of us has appreciated having you here. Thank you for coming when we asked, Al’verde Kar'ta16.”
Ahsoka smiled and laid her head against Rex's shoulder. "Kar’ta? What does that one mean?” she murmured, finally feeling safe, completely surrounded by her vod'e.
Fives knocked his knee against hers. "Kar'ta means heart. You came when we called, and you fought to keep as many of us alive. You were our beacon of hope and you gave us courage to keep going. For us, you're our heart."
"Smooth-talker," she teased as she squeezed his hand in thanks. "You haven’t earned a kiss from me yet."
Rex snorted beside her and Ahsoka giggled at Fives’s playful pouting. It felt good to laugh. And it was nice to indulge in an inside joke developed back when Fives and Echo were shinies. Nax, one of the older veterans, had bet a very drunk Fives that he wouldn’t kiss the Commander and he’d taken the bet. Unfortunately, drunk Fives assumed that “the Commander” meant Commander Cody and hungover Fives had confessed to Ahsoka, swearing that he would never have taken the bet if he’d realized which commander Nax had meant. From that moment, Ahsoka became good friends with Fives and Echo, and over time, it became a joke between them for Fives to ask for a kiss.
"Someday, I'll get that kiss," he moaned pathetically, and she kicked him in the hip as she stretched out her legs under the cot. "You'll fall for my charms eventually."
"Keep dreaming, vod," Ahsoka snickered before settling back down to watch Brii breathe.
"Rest, vod'ika17," Rex murmured, slipping an arm around her waist to hold her upright against him. "They'll still be here when you wake up."
"Only if you both sleep, as well," Ahsoka countered.
Fives snickered as he tilted his head back onto the cot. "Sir, yes sir," he answered and was soon snoring as he slept the sleep of the extremely exhausted.
"You too, Rex," Ahsoka murmured as they listened to other vod’e settling down and dropping off to sleep.
He shifted slightly and shook his head. "I can't go back to sleep. If I do right now, I'll just have nightmares. I'll sleep when we get back to the Resolute and everyone's off this damn planet."
Ahsoka let out a half-snort, half-sigh. "You mean, you'll wait until you have your own ori'vode around you so they can help you deal with everything that's happened."
Rex's fingers dug into her side in retort. "Someone has to be the ori'vod for all of these crazy boys and until we’re all safe and reunited with some of the other battalions, I’ll be that ori’vod."
With soft and sleepy hum, Ahsoka wriggled a little to make herself more comfortable and gently squeezed Brii's hand, just in case the young trooper could feel her there. She wasn't going to let go of him yet. "Kar'tayl darasuum18," she murmured as her eyes slowly slid shut, her exhaustion finally overtaking her.
"Kar'tayli gar darasuum, ner19 vod'ika."