𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗝𝗘𝗗𝗜

𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗘

I should just apologize in advance for this one. For all you Rex lovers, I am so sorry.

TW for vomiting (it isnt too descriptive, don't worry)

Rex clenched his jaw as he climbed up the threateningly tall hill. His strength was fading fast. He could already feel an infection coming in, if it wasn't there already. He was surprised it became clear and active so quickly, but it was there, and there wasn't much of a way to stop it at the moment. He couldn't tell the rest of the group, though. They'd slow down to help him and they'd all die.

"How far are we from the Temple?" He asked.

"We're about two klicks Northeast of the Separatist base." Anakin replied. "I decided to lead us around it, so there'd be less trouble. And a few hours ago, I sent the Jedi Order their Temple's coordinates. We'll be rescued."

Obi-Wan sighed. "Don't you mean I led us here and I sent the coordinates?"

"It's my comlink and my idea." Anakin argued.

"Not going around the base." Obi-Wan said.

Cody stepped in between the two and out his hand on their cloaked shoulders. "Generals, let's stop fighting, and actually get to the Temple."

Rex nodded, agreeing with his brother, even though if he had to walk anymore, his injury would act up some more. As would the infection.

Anakin rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Fine." He said. "But I get to lead us."

"Nope." Obi-Wan walked in front of his former Padawan, not even giving him a chance to get ahead.

Rex reluctantly followed.

After a few hours of silence, Cody spoke up.

"It'll be dark soon." He said. "We should set up camp."

"I think this is a good plan, Generals." Rex agreed. It would put a lot less strain on his arm. About an hour beforehand he put on his helmet to hide the beads of sweat dripping down his all-too-pale face. No one could know about the infection.

An hour later, camp was set up, and Rex had passed out for multiple reasons.

...

Anakin woke up early for once to the sound of vomiting. Curiosity sparked inside of him, so he followed the noise. It was so weird. Who would be vomiting this early in the morning? The sound led to Rex's tent.

Anakin peeked inside. Rex was sitting up on his bed with Cody right beside him. The Commander seemed to be comforting Rex and was holding a bucket filled with puke in front of his brother. He seemed really uncomfortable.

"Sorry, Anakin." Rex apologized. "It's ju-ustttt an inf-infection." His words were slurred all too much.

"He'll slow us down, but we won't leave him behind." Cody said sternly.

"I never said we would." Anakin reassured him. "But if we want to be on time, we'll need to rest less and walk more."

Cody opened his mouth to answer, but Rex threw up again and he had to help him.

"M'srry." Rex apologized.

"You don't have to apologize." Anakin decided. "Do you think you can make it to the Jedi Temple?"

Rex flopped his arms and head around.

"Really unsure answer, isn't it?" Anakin joked, but his entire face fell into a more serious one when Cody glared at him.

Anakin smiled nervously. "I'll just get Obi-Wan."

He left and missed Cody trying to tell him something.

Obi-Wan was already awake when Anakin entered the tent. He was meditating.

"Obi-Wan," Anakin waved his hand in front of his old Master's face.

"Yes?" Obi-Wan replied with his eyes open. "Is this about Rex's infection? I heard about it an hour ago. I wanted to wait for you to wake up before doing anything."

Anakin rubbed the back of his head. "I think we should be faster and try to get there sooner."

"Do you really think Rex will be able to survive that long in his condition?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin hesitated unwillingly. "No. But it's the only way we can all get to safety in time."

"Let's go talk to Cody." Obi-Wan decided.

As they left the tent, Cody left Rex's.

"He finally fell asleep." Cody announced. "I'm going to be honest with you two. The only way for Rex to survive is if one of us stays behind and tries to keep him alive until the other two can get rescued and then come back."

Anakin freezed. "Rex is one of us, though. We can't leave him behind. Leaving him behind would be like letting him fall off of a moving train. We can't let that happen aga—"

Obi-Wan placed his hand on Anakin's shoulder. "If that's really what it takes to get all of us to safety, I believe we should do it."

"I'll do it!" Cody volunteered. "Rex is my brother, and I can take care of him."

Obi-Wan nodded. "We'll leave some of our supplies here."

Anakin didn't get the chance to talk.

Two hours later, Anakin and Obi-Wan were about to leave.

"Say bye to Rex for me." Anakin said to Cody.

"I'll tell him when he wakes up." Cody promised.

Obi-Wan smiled. "Good. And that's from the both of us."

"I know." Cody confirmed. "You two should get going if you're going to make it soon."

Anakin took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Bye, Cody. Keep my Captain alive for me."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Cody said.

Obi-Wan and Cody leaned in for a hug, then the two Jedi left without looking back.

...

That was one of the longest days of Anakin's life. There wasn't a single break taken and they walked through the night. His muscles burned with exhaustion, and he felt like he could pass out. At that moment, it was just past sunrise.

Anakin's head dipped in tiredness, but he quickly raised it. "Almost fell asleep there." He muttered to himself.

"Don't worry, we'll be there soon." Obi-Wan reassured him. "Walking through the night really helped us make more progress."

Anakin grunted in agreement. "I wish a little more progress came with a little more sleep."

If Obi-Wan heard him, he made no signal that he did.

A few minutes later, Anakin still felt about ready to pass out. When he looked past the bushes and leaves, there was the Jedi Temple.

But there was a familiar enemy in the middle of it. The Winter Jedi.

Like I said, I am sorry. But you guys got a chapter so yay!

If you are reading this on any other website other than Wattpad, the first 8 chapters on fanfiction.net, or Ao3, then someone is pretending to me. My Wattpad and ao3 username is Ahsoka_Fan12, while my fanfiction.net one is Moonpetal1. I am no longer active on fanfiction.net, and am in the process of uploading this whole story onto ao3. This story will still be updated on Wattpad

Have a good day/night or time on an alien planet