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Rex had never wanted to part ways with Ahsoka. Given the choice he would be by her side at this very moment – and every moment after – until he took his final breath.
But she had made a compelling argument.
They were just too recognizable together.
Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex of the 501st. They had a reputation that spanned the systems.
And the Empire would be looking for them.
Faking their deaths could only last so long.
He had told himself that by parting ways, they were keeping each other safe.
She had been weary of war – the fighting, the death. Ahsoka just wanted to leave it all behind – to slip into an entirely new life. She hadn't said it, but he could tell. He couldn't really blame her.
Rex convinced himself that he had no right to argue that they stay together.
If he did, it would only be for his own selfish reasons.
So he had let her go.
************
Rex hadn't been done fighting yet. A part of him had to believe that the Republic could still be saved.
All their lives he and his brothers had been told they were created to fight for and protect the Republic. Instead they had been used to destroy it and enslave its citizens. He had to find a way to make that right.
He would find and free his brothers. Together they would restore the Republic. They could still fight for the Republic and create a safe galaxy again for Ahsoka and those like her.
But Rex had ignored one of the most important lessons he had learned during the years of fighting the kriffing war.
Things were always better when he and Ahsoka stayed together.
Things always went osik'la when they were apart.
And things had.
So many brothers lost!
It still made him sick when he thought about it.
It had broken him.
He had retreated to Seelos with two of the brothers he still had left and they had spent their days slinging for Joopa.
Many a night he had slipped out onto the deck of their modified AT-TE home as his vode slept. Rex would stare up at Seelos' night sky and ponder all the "What if's" . . .
What if he had refused to leave her?
What if together they could have made the difference?
What if together they could have saved his brothers?
What if he'd had the gett'se to tell her how he truly felt about her?
And the years slipped away -- more swiftly for him than most.
************
When the VCX auxiliary starfighter touched down outside their AT-TE, Rex wasn’t sure what to think. Seelos was not a place where one expects visitors.
He definitely was not expecting a young Mandalorian woman (in the most colorful armor he had ever seen) and a Lasat. Even more surprising were a Jedi and his young apprentice.
When this extraordinary little group had revealed they had been sent by Ahsoka herself, it wakened hopes he hadn’t let himself acknowledge for a long time.
After so many lost years, Rex was finally going to see her again.
He walked into the passage – trying to look like a confident and experienced Captain and not the nervous Shiny he felt like.
It really did feel liked butterflies flapping around madly in his stomach. He’d never understood the expression until this moment.
Hopefully none of them are Sheyash Kyrham.
Then again – if I kriff this up perhaps a touch from “The Yellow Death” would be preferable.
All thoughts of deadly Mandalorian swallowtails were swept from his mind as the tall figure with blue-striped montrals and elegantly swaying lekku came into view.
There Ahsoka Tano stood.
She was magnificent.
And he was a di'kut.
"You got old?!"
THAT'S your opening line?
Yep, send in the Sheyash Kyrham.
But Ahsoka took it in stride.
She launched herself into his arms and for a split second, Rex thought he might never let her go.
He released her, but he made himself a promise. This time would be different. He wouldn't hide his feelings and he would always be there to have her back.
He'd gotten a second chance, and he wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers.