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"What is she doing here?"
Rex violently gestured towards the young Togruta Jedi Padawan, who by all counts, shouldn’t be here. She was watching some of the very drunk 501st clones stacking shot glasses, using the Force to make sure their alarmingly tall tower wouldn't fall. The young girl had a wide grin on her face when one of the glasses fell and she floated it towards the ground gently, earning a cheering and roars of laughter from her peers.
“Aw, lighten up, captain!” Fives drawled, smacking him roughly on the back, already a little tipsy. “The little one wanted to come!”
"General Skywalker will have our necks for this!" He hissed, just imagining what fury Anakin would wrought knowing they brought his fourteen year old Padawan teenager to a bar.
"Look at'er! 'ssoka's havin' a blast!" he slurred, pointing at Ahsoka, who was grinning cheerfully. "Y'know she's just a part of the boys as much as you and me are!"
"Fives. She's fourteen."
"Older than us then!" Fives pointed out with laugh. He was right, technically at least.
"You know that's not how it works." Rex crossed his arms, shaking his head.
Fives just shrugged, sounding a little annoyed. "You can tell her and take her home then." He grabbed one of the half full bottles of booze and returned to the table.
Bringing his hands to his face, Rex took a deep breath, in an effort to not lose his temper with his men. He had been planning on spending a relaxing evening here with Cody with some drinks after he had spent the entire past few weeks with battle, protocols, and briefs. He only had a few days off before they were deployed again and he was honestly irked by the irresponsibility of his fellow troopers. As competent as Ahsoka was in battle and as their commander, how could they take a literal child to a bar? They should know better. How in the world did they even get her in?
This certainly was going to be a drag.
Giving himself a moment to rearrange his thoughts, Rex finally scrounged enough courage to approach the table of clones. He tried to exude some authority as their captain, though the partying clones didn’t pay him any mind. And to be honest, they never really did while they were in this club anyway. Ahsoka, on the other hand, had turned her head towards him even before he made it to the table. She had a cup of what he hoped wasn’t alcohol and was taking small sips, her knees drawn up to her chest as she just observed the chaos around her.
“Hey, Rex,” she greeted cheerfully, though she seemed to sense he didn’t come here just for pleasantries.
"Um...hey, young'un," he said to her carefully, trying to be as kind as he possibly could. "...We should get you back to the Jedi Temple. You really shouldn't be here."
This seemed to have caught the attention of some of the other clones. Hardcase scooted next to Ahsoka, hand on her shoulder, and spoke up. “Rex! You can’t make her leave! The night is still young!” There were several shouts and mumbles of agreement.
Rex stood his ground, crossing his arms and shaking his head. “You guys should know better than to take a youngling here.” He shot them with very stern looks. A couple of them seemed to understand and hung their heads though Fives and Hardcase looked quite defiant.
Before they could protest, Ahsoka was actually the one who spoke up. “No, it’s alright, guys. Thanks for sticking up for me,” she told them with a small smile. “He’s right.”
Rex was a little surprised. With how brash and brazen she normally was, Rex had fully expected her to argue back or even pull her rank in an effort to stay. But instead she actually agreed with him, looking fully willing to leave. She turned to Rex, putting her drink down on the table.
“Don’t get mad at them, Rex. I told them to take me here.” Her face was a mixture between disappointment and shame. “I was just… didn't want to be by myself.”
Ouch. Those words hit harder than a tanker. The other clones quieted down, listening to the talk between them. It was still a raring mess around them, but the table had settled into an eerie silence.
“What about the General?” he asked, breaking the odd silence. Surely, Anakin would be there for her right? He loved her like his own.
"He doesn't hang out with me all the time you know," she told him as a matter-of-factly, rolling her eyes. "Even he has stuff to do."
His words were starting to feel dry in his mouth. "Don’t you have friends?" She had mentioned having friends at the temple once or twice, but just looking at her expression… Rex was starting to understand why they took her here.
Ahsoka shrugged. "Not close ones." After a moment, she huffed to herself stretched out her legs, standing up. "Listen, I know I was wrong. I'll just go," she said, her voice tight with emotion as she brushed past the captain. “I can get myself back."
"Nice work, Rex," one of the clones grumbled as Rex turned to watch her leave in shock.
Rex glanced back at his men, who were all giving either expectant looks, sad puppy faces, or ones of disdain. He sighed, feeling the pressure of what was happening. Rex knew better than to put Ahsoka in a place like this. He wasn’t sure if this whole thing was against the Jedi rules or something, but this place just wasn’t the place for young Padawans like Ahsoka. But she just sounded so sad…
“Hey kid, wait up!” Rex called out, taking a few steps towards her and stopping in her tracks. Ahsoka was surprised and looked back at him. Rex grimaced to himself. “I’m definitely going to regret this…” he whispered underneath his breath.
Ahsoka tilted her head, confused.
“As long as you head back before they miss you, I don’t see why you can’t stick around a while longer,” he said to her, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
There was a moment of disbelief on Ahsoka’s face before her face burst out into a grin. Before Rex could say anything more, she rushed to him and gave him a hug, surprising him. Several of his clone brothers started cheering as Ahsoka rejoined the table, releasing the surprised captain from the hug.
Rex looked after her, stunned, but feeling a small tug on his heartstrings as he realized he had just been hugged. Suddenly, he felt an arm hook around his neck and he turned to see that it was Fives again. “I knew you’d come around, captain.” He grinned.
“Let’s hope the General doesn’t find out,” Rex replied, shivering at the very thought. Skywalker always tended to get a little extra when it came to his padawan’s safety. He can’t imagine he’d be very pleased to know he had allowed her to stay.
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," assured Fives, giving him a hearty shove towards the group. "Now c'mon, cap, a night of drinkin' awaits!"
Even though Rex had come to drink and relax, he found himself abstaining from any alcohol in favor of staying sober and keeping an eye on Ahsoka. Jesse had already tried several times to get him to drink, but he refused, opting to just take his favorite soda instead. He just couldn’t in good conscience drink when Ahsoka was here.
It wasn’t that he thought Ahsoka wasn’t capable of taking care of herself. Rex has seen the young girl take out an entire squadron of droids singlehandedly with a series of jumps and swings, even killing when absolutely necessary; Ahsoka wasn’t to be trifled with. Even now, he noticed that she had her lightsaber on her. If the need rose, she would definitely be up at the front, blade out and all. Plus, she seemed to have been doing just fine here even before he came to the club.
But Rex just felt responsible. Someone had to look out for her. Just in case.
“Is it true that Togrutas eat live rats?” One of the troopers asked. Rex recognized it as one of the newer shinies of the group. Kix, who heard the comment, elbowed the rookie harshly, shaking his head in disappointment.
Instead of taking offense, Ahsoka didn’t seem phased, all too happy to answer the question. “Not live, of course. We kill them first.” She lifted her upper lip with her finger and showed off some frightening looking fangs, ones that Rex has never quite seen before. “With these. We sever their spines.”
“That’s pretty sick,” Hardcase commented, looking at the others with wide eyes. “You think I can do that?”
“I’d like to see you try,” chuckled Fives, downing another shot. Beside him, Echo and Tup were just laughing.
From his seat on the other side of the table, Rex watched her. Despite the chaotic atmosphere of the club, Ahsoka was being strangely responsible for herself. She had a pretty good grasp of her surroundings and was keeping an eye on everything that was happening around her. She didn’t participate in anything she wasn’t supposed to, other than actually being there of course. In fact, Ahsoka just seemed to be having a good time talking with them. She always loved talking with the clones, it’s one of the reasons why she was so likeable to them, but she seemed to be having an even better time now. Maybe it was because her Master wasn't around or she was just caught up in the mood, it was hard to tell; Ahsoka was just all smiles.
He had been against her being here, but seeing how happy she was… it made Rex feel a little fuzzy on the inside. He knew that kids her age usually don’t spend their time on the battlefield, risking their lives day by day. It was just nice seeing genuinely enjoying herself.
Rex was taking a sip from his drink before someone put a firm hand on his shoulder. He nearly spit out his drink, thinking it was Skywalker, before he turned to see that it was simply Cody. Looks like he just arrived.
“Hey Rex…” he said slowly, his eyes trailing slowly towards Ahsoka who was currently baring her fangs for the troops. “Sorry… I’m late…” He turned slowly to his friend. “Is that…your-”
“Yup.”
“Should she-”
“Nope.”
“Right…” Cody shook his head, still bewildered. “Yeah, I’m not going near this one. You have fun with that.”
Rex stopped him, grabbing his arm. "You're not going to tell General Kenobi are you?" If he found out, he would tell Skywalker and they’d all be in hot water.
"Don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t see anything," his friend responded firmly before waving him off and leaving, probably determined not to get involved with inviting the fourteen year old Jedi Padawan to a club. Rex huffed, a little amused. There goes his drinking buddy.
Suddenly, there was movement next to him and he saw that Ahsoka had moved to sit next to him. He looked up to see that the other clones were preoccupied with chatting up some of the waitresses. Probably not up Ahsoka’s alley, that activity.
"Sorry, Rex…" Ahsoka apologized, hugging her knees again. Her default position in this club it seems.
"What for?"
"I know you had plans and I kinda... ruined it by being here." Ahsoka traced her fingers in a vague shape on the table in front of her. "If I wasn't here, you could go with Cody."
“Don’t worry about it, I can drink with Cody anytime,” Rex countered, patting her gently on the shoulder. He took a sip of his soda. Not quite the same as a drink, but it’ll do.
“The Jedi are…” Ahsoka started. It looked like she wanted to explain herself. “Really serious. Most of the time I just study and train. I don’t see things like this a lot.” She gestured to the clones who were babbling about something incoherent. “I heard the guys talking about 79’s, it just seemed like a lot of fun, and…I just wanted to come and see for myself. And now that I've seen it, compared to this, back there it's just..."
“No fun?” He raised his eyebrows. Despite all his time serving the Jedi, he hasn’t really once thought about what life was like for them. He knew there were a lot of rules, but he didn’t know to what extent. A pretty stuffy life probably.
“Well, I read books. And sometimes we play games. We Padawans do,” she replied a little defensively, using the Force to pick up one of the empty glasses, twirling in the air as she talked. “But they’re mostly just another form of training.” But then she perked up a little, as if she was remembering something fond. “But Skyguy sometimes plays holo-games with me.”
“Holo-games? The General?” The clone chuckled, trying to imagine what it might look like. Well, it didn’t seem too out of his character actually.
“Yeah, his favorite is a podracing game. You know, the one with the Tookas with the big heads.” Ahsoka continued, smirking to herself. “I always beat him…most of the time anyway.” Her expression suddenly changed and she hugged her legs a little closer, looking crestfallen.
“What’s up?” he asked, noticing the drop in her mood.
Ahsoka paused, looking conflicted. “Sometimes, Anakin goes somewhere. And I’m not allowed to come. It’s just a little... quiet when he does.”
Rex nodded in sympathy before he paused. It couldn’t be that right. The thing with…Rex shook his head, realizing that it’s probably not something he should be telling Ahsoka about. “If you feel that way, y'should talk to ‘im about it.”
“No way,” she replied stubbornly, dropping the glass she had been playing with, making it land on the table with a slight clatter.
“Why not?”
The young girl wrinkled her nose. “If he does, he’s never going to leave me alone.” She sniffed indignantly. “I'm a Jedi, not a youngling. I don’t need him to be with me all the time.” Despite what she said, Rex could tell otherwise from the way she gripped her knees.
Ahsoka just missed him. She was lonely.
And instead of admitting it, she decided it was better to sneak away to a clone bar. Interesting solution, to say the least.
“I dunno much about being a youngling myself, but I don’t think being lonely has anything to do with that.” Rex told her honestly. “No one likes being lonely.”
Ahsoka looked thoughtful as she took this in. “Do you get lonely, Rex?”
“Sometimes.” He gestured to the rowdy clones at the table, who were now currently competing on who had the best ‘guns’. “These yaks make it hard to though.”
“Aww, you know you love us!” Jesse grinned, slapping the Rex on the back of the neck, causing a bit of his drink to splash on his nose. Ahsoka giggled.
“Watch it, guys,” he threatened, though his tone was light. “Bar or not, I’m still your captain.”
“Watch out, Rexster’s gonna make us run drills again.” Fives put up his hands in defeat. He genuinely seemed scared. “I’m not taking the fall this time.”
“But... more drills mean bigger guns…” Echo rambled thoughtfully, though he wobbled in seat, clearly drunk.
“Not this again. I thought we settled this. Everyone knows I have the biggest guns,” drawled Hardcase, lifting up his arm again to show everyone once more. Several of the other clones rolled their eyes.
“Your head is made out of a gun.” Tup punched the man in the head lightly, earning some laughter.
“I think Rex has the biggest guns.”
Everyone turned to stare at the one who said it. Little Ahsoka, rolling her eyes, clearly playing up the ‘I don’t really care’ vibe. Rex couldn’t help but smile behind his drink as the other clones looked completely aghast at the revelation.
“Commander, you can’t be serious!” protested Fives, standing up.
Ahsoka shrugged. “Sorry, boys, I’m just saying it how it is.”
“You didn’t hear it from me,” Rex chuckled. He wasn’t sure if Ahsoka really meant it or was saying it to antagonize them. She seemed to be having fun getting a reaction out of them regardless. After this, the clones began erupting in chaos, trying to drunkenly prove to their fourteen year old Commander who was the best among them. Ahsoka just shot him a smile.
He hadn’t been so keen on keeping Ahsoka here at first, but he realized that having her here was pretty fun. While clones had always been loyal to the Jedi, the way the boys acted around Ahsoka was different. Maybe it was because of her friendly demeanor or maybe it was because she was just so obviously ‘younger’ than them. But having her here obviously put everyone in good spirits, including Ahsoka. And Rex had to admit…he liked having her here too.
Seems like this night won’t be such a drag after all.
-~*~-
It was very early in the morning when Rex noticed Ahsoka getting drowsy. By then, most of the clones at the table had passed out. Those who didn’t looked almost ready to. Without the booze, Rex found himself the only one awake enough to understand that it’s probably time for Ahsoka to head back.
“Hey, kid,” he said gently reaching for her shoulder. She was currently curled up against Kix, who was already fast asleep and leaning against Jesse who looked ready to pass out. “Time to head back.”
As soon as he touched her shoulder, Ahsoka jerked awake and was on her feet, startled by the touch. She had a sharp look in her eyes as she studied her surroundings, but calmed down seeing it was Rex who woken her up. He’s seen this behavior before. She had done the exact same thing when they had to wake her up when she camped out in the field.
Sometimes he forgot that she was just as much a soldier as he was.
“Okay…” she yawned. She glanced at the sleeping troopers, looking concerned. “Will they be okay?” It just occurred to Rex that she’s probably never ever seen anyone drunk out of their mind with a hangover before.
“They’ll make it back to the barracks by noon. They always do,” Rex assured her. “And if they don’t, I’ll be the one who drags them back.”
Ahsoka huffed lightly, amused, as she followed Rex outside the bar, which had more or less quieted down by now. Rex hailed a taxi and the two headed back to the temple. The cab driver had given him an odd look when he saw the obviously younger Ahsoka, but didn’t question it when Rex gave him a look back.
“I had fun,” Ahsoka stated as they got underway. Though she looked sleepy, she was grinning, her fangs out and all.
Rex smiled, but he spoke in a serious tone. “Let’s not make this an every time thing," he warned. “Skywalker’s gonna miss you.”
At his name, Ahsoka lapsed into that gaze she made when she was thinking about something really hard. “You know, Rex. I’ve been thinking about what you said.” She paused, before looking at him. “Maybe I’ll talk to him about it.”
“You do that,” he encouraged with a nod.
Eventually they made it to the landing platform that led up to the Jedi temple. Rex paid for the cab and followed for a bit, just to make sure Ahsoka made it to the entrance okay. As he approached the line where he could not follow, Ahsoka turned to him.
“Thanks, Rex.” She smiled.
Footsteps.
“Thanks for what?”
The two of them froze, turning slowly to the direction of the voice. At the top of the stairs was a very angry looking Jedi Knight. His arms were crossed and he looked very displeased. He eyed the two very carefully. Even though Rex wasn’t Force-sensitive, he could practically feel the anger wafting off his being.
“Uh oh,” Ahsoka breathed.
“General…” the clone greeted his superior, trying his best not to appear nervous, but Anakin didn’t even acknowledge him. Instead, he was staring directly at the young Padawan, who was doing her best to avoid his gaze.
“Ahsoka.” She flinched at the sound of her name. Anakin was not happy. “Where have you been?”
“I was... taking a morning walk,” the young Togruta lied. “Rex was with me.” She glanced at him, like she was asking for him to back her up, but Rex only offered her a sympathetic blink.
Anakin marched down the stairs towards Ahsoka, who looked just about ready to hide. As sorry as he was for the little tyke, he was not going to intervene. He knew better than to stand between a Jedi master and apprentice, the many dead Seppies and droids could attest to that. In fact, Rex took a few measured steps back, to give them even more space.
“You weren’t in your quarters last night. Or this morning. Care to explain, my young Padawan?” The Jedi placed a hand on his apprentice, who just continued to migrate her gaze elsewhere any time Anakin tried to meet her eyes. The way the general was acting reminded Rex of a disgruntled mother Tooka holding her wily kitten by the scruff. Rex would have laughed if he wasn’t so deeply concerned about what was going to happen next.
“I was really hanging out with Rex,” she insisted. The half truth.
Anakin sighed, running a hand through his hair. It was then that Rex noticed how haggard he was. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all. “Snips, I told you. If you want to leave the temple, you have to let someone know.” He must have been looking for her.
Ahsoka shifted her weight. “Sorry… I was just...” Suddenly a fiery spark lighted up in her eyes, like she just remembered she wasn’t meek. “You weren’t at the temple. Why should I be?” There’s her iconic spunk, an obvious front for her sensitive emotions.
Rex huffed, a little amused. Some talk, kiddo.
The man looked genuinely shocked at Ahsoka’s statement. Several emotions flitted over his face as he rubbed a hand across his face. “Go to your room. We will talk about this after you get some sleep.” Anakin pointed up the stairs towards the temple.
Without another word, Ahsoka nodded, not before glancing back at Rex. She had an apologetic look on her face as she scuttled out of view. Now that she was gone, Anakin turned his attention to his very nervous captain.
“Rex, where was she?” he questioned, looking very, very suspicious of Rex’s demeanor.
The captain swallowed, running the many options through his head. Rex could tell the truth, but he might court-martial the entire 501st for this. And he was sure Anakin would be able to sniff out a lie if he told one. He had always been pretty perceptive when it came to his apprentice. So he decided to follow Ahsoka’s lead.
“With the 501st.” A half truth it is. “She was with us the entire night.”
The Jedi eyed him very carefully. Anakin knew very well that clones liked to hang out at 79’s. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the boys might’ve taken her there, it was really the only place they liked to hang out. For a moment, it looked like his general had figured him out and was about to keep grilling him for answers, but instead Anakin took a deep breath. “Next time, just bring her back.”
“Yessir,” Rex agreed with him on that one.
With a wave of his hand, Anakin dismissed his captain, ready to turn back up the stairs himself, probably to make sure that Ahsoka actually made it back to her room this time. But before he could turn completely, Rex called out to him, compelled to say something. Ahsoka was a great soldier and competent commander, one that the 501st would readily stand behind. But she was also a kid, one that needed companionship, Jedi or not.
“General, if I may speak freely…” Rex started as Anakin turned to look at him.
“What is it, Rex?” He looked a little confused, maybe concerned.
Rex paused for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly to say. But then an idea popped into his head. “You should play some more holo-games with her, sir. She likes those.”
At this, Anakin’s eyes widened, his mouth opening slightly, clearly surprised that Rex knew of such a thing. His gaze wandered around for a moment as he furrowed his brows as a look of understanding appeared on his face.
“I’ll… keep that in mind,” he finally said, the rage he had been feeling had all but faded away by this point. He smiled at Rex. “Thanks for keeping her out of trouble.”
“Anytime, General.”
Rex watched his general walk up the stairs, wishing him and his apprentice both luck. He had a feeling that Skywalker knew exactly where Ahsoka had been, but seemed willing to let it go. He supposed that he should feel grateful that Anakin didn’t try to confirm his suspicions, but it could very well be a silent warning not to do it again.
Even though Rex had allowed Ahsoka to stay this time, he was definitely going to have to make sure that men do not do this again. It worked out this time, but Rex was sure that their general wasn’t going to be so lenient the next. No more sneaking into late night bars.
Not until Ahsoka was a little older anyway.