SWTCW Oneshots (Mainly Clones) part 2

Sleep Struggles

Rex was struggling to fall asleep after a rough campaign. The men were worn and exhausted. They had all fell asleep immediately, not even bothering to take off their armor.

The Captain didn't blame them. He was exhausted too. Except for some reason, he couldn't sleep. The only thing he was capable of doing was staring up at the ceiling of the barracks.

So after a few minutes of sitting there, deciding, he got to his feet, stretching his arms with an audible crack.

Force, was he exhausted.

Perhaps a walk around the ship would help. It didn't really matter to him whether or not he was in his armor. He didn't bother to put anything back on.

He was walking for a while. At least that's what he thought. It was hard to tell for him. Besides, he never keeps track of how long he's out for.

That's not much of a surprise. Despite his commanding tone sometimes and his strange personality, he could most certainly be lazy and extremely forgetful.

Hell, sometimes he forgot something they did only a few hours ago. That doesn't happen often, but it still happens. Fives, Jesse, and Hardcase have all made fun of him for it at some point.

A faint whimper caught his attention. He came to a standstill, listening intently to the direction of the sounds. He turned, cautiously entering another hallway.

"Hello?" He asked. Whoever this was was clearly in some sort of distress.

Another whimper, this time a small sob. They may not have thought he heard or noticed, but he did.

He turned the corner, and was utterly surprised to see the familiar small Togruta figure curled up on the floor in an apparent nightmare.

At first, he stood there, unsure of whether or not he should do something. But within a few moments, his brotherly instincts kicked in and he let himself slide to his knees.

"Commander?" He asked softly, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Ahsoka."

She whimpered again, fists clenching, before she cried out in terror and lunged forward into Rex's arms.

"Ahsoka?" He asked carefully. His hand landed on her back. "Hey, are you okay?"

She sniffled, shaking her head against his chest.

"Nightmare?" He asked, rubbing his hand around her back. When she nodded her head, he sighed. He had nightmares a lot. So often they he was completely used to them.

Most of the time.

Some times he didn't get so lucky and woke up screaming or in tears.

"I-It was scary.." She whispered hoarsely. "I-I don't know what happened, but you and Master Skywalker and e-everyone else were dead."

Rex's eyes partially widened. While battles do that to people, she was far too young to be fighting. Although that was just his opinion. Apparently a lot of other people thought otherwise.

She still had a whole life ahead of her. This isn't what she needed.

"Oh, vod'ika," He whispered. "I know. I've had nightmares like that too."

Ahsoka lifted her head. "Y-You have?"

"The war does that, unfortunately. I have a lot of different nightmares that I've grown used to it at this point."

The Togruta sniffled, burying herself into his arms. Small sobs racked her body, and god he felt so terribly bad for her. No child deserves this.

"I'm sorry.." He whispered. "You really don't deserve this."

She held onto him, sobbing into his blacks. Usually, he'd mind, but not with her. He could just grab new ones later.

Her head tilted so that she was looking up at him. When he looked down, he could see the tear tracks lining her cheeks.

He managed a small smile, reaching over and squeezing her hand.

Ahsoka sniffled, laying her head against his chest. Apparently, she was more tired than Rex thought, because she was only laying there for about 5 minutes before he took notice of her soft snores.

And he damn well wasn't letting her sleep on the floor.

He tightened his grip, swinging an arm underneath her knees and hoisting her into his arms.

After readjusting a few times, he walked back toward the barracks, ignoring the disbelieving looks his brothers gave him on the way.

He passed Jesse, who just smiled at him knowingly and pat his shoulder.

Once he reached the barracks, he made his way over to his own bunk, gently lowering the Commander down onto it and pulling the spare blanket he had up to her shoulders.

He'd be fine sleeping somewhere else.

Before he even thought about going anywhere, Ahsoka reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Get over here."

"Alright..alright," He muttered. He knew that Ahsoka wouldn't give in anyway, so he let her slide over, then climbed in beside her.

He saw the sly smile that crossed her face before she slid back over to curl up against him.

Even though he sometimes pretended that he minded, he really didn't, and let her latch onto his arm.

"You're the best.." He heard her mutter quietly.

Once she closed her eyes, he let himself smile before eventually falling asleep himself.