The Path of a Jedi Book 2 (The Bad Batch x Reader)

Chapter 39

Rex walked up to your side, "general," he said, testing the waters of your mood.

"Are you okay, Rex?" you asked, giving him a sad smile.

Rex shuffled his feet, "physically, yes."

You nodded, placing a hand on his shoulder, "yea, me too."

Rex held his hand out, offering you a dark robe, "I figured you might be cold." You nodded to him in thanks, and wrapped the cloak around your shoulders and pulled the hood up over your head. Rex coughed, "actually, I attended a few Jedi pyres in my day, I had always saw the Jedi wear the robes, I just wanted-"

You smiled, cutting him off, "thank you, the hood is a symbol of respect and grief for our fallen friends," you explained, "it is much appreciated."

Rex nodded and walked over to where Echo, Cut and Sue stood, overlooking the rest of the masses gathered there. You moved to stand by Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, both with their hoods up, overlooking the pyres and the people moving their dead to the wood.

Neither of them said a word at first, until things were winding down, then Ahsoka broke the silence, "I had your clones moved, but not placed on the pyre, I thought you would want to do the honors yourself."

Ahsoka looked down at her feet, unsure if you appreciated the gesture or would have rather she done it herself. You looked on distantly, hearing her but not quite listening. In this moment, the events of the past few hours descended on you, suffocating you. Suddenly, everything that happened was real, and it was like someone was squeezing your heart until it would just break. But you managed a small nod to Ahsoka and slowly walked towards Rex and Echo, who were still standing on the edge.

They both looked at you as you approached, "we need to move Wrecker, Tech and Crosshair to the pyre, would you both help me?"

You were fighting back tears, and they could tell. They both nodded and followed you without question, stopping at the bodies of your friends. Silently, you knelt down and picked up Wrecker's body, motioning for Rex and Echo to take the others. You gently carried them through a throng of people, all of them moving aside in respect as you took your friends to their final resting place.

You set Wrecker down on top of a large pile of oil soaked wood, motioning for the others to place Crosshair and Tech on either side. Echo stayed behind you, but Rex pulled on his shoulder, allowing you some more space as he moved aside. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan moved to stand next to them, both placing comforting hands on the clones' shoulders.

The weight came crushing down again, you were unable to hold back the tears that now spilled down your face. You dropped to both knees in front of them, letting the tears spill as you choked out sobs. It wasn't just for the lives of your friends, the pain was for the lives of all that died, because you had called them there, because you had encouraged them to fight, because you refused to hand over a little girl. Now your friends were dead, and the love of your life was on the run, and you would never see any of them again.

Your sobs continued, Rex took a step towards you, but Obi-Wan pulled him back, shaking his head. He knew you needed to be allowed to grieve and you had to do it alone.

Several minutes passed by, your sobs came out quieter and your tears eventually ran dry. You closed your eyes, silently thanking your friends for their love and their sacrifice, coming to terms with their deaths and knowing that they are now in a place of peace, a place no one can now take from them.

You stood up, but continued to overlook them, stretching these last moments into hundreds - knowing it was time, but not quite ready for it to be goodbye. As difficult as it was, you pulled out your saber, taking a deep breath while looking at your friends for the last time. You took another breath and let a final tear fall, before igniting the saber into the oil soaked wood, watching it quickly catch flame.

You stood for as long as you could, watching the flames lap over the bodies, before the heat got too intense and you had to retreat several steps, standing alongside Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Rex and Echo.

Many people stood there for quite some time, watching the flames devore their friends and loved ones. But most moved on, starting to divy up supplies and load their ships. But you refused to leave, you were still standing overlooking the pyre as the flames became embers and the embers became nothing.

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It was Echo who finally stood behind you, breaking you out of your trance. "Hrm... general," he coughed.

You turned around to him, your face still swollen and red. "Yes, Echo."

He looked nervous as he stared at the floor, shuffling his feet, "I was talking to Rex... and... umm..."

You chuckled slightly, "it's okay, Echo, what is on your mind?"

Echo sighed, "I think I am going to go off with Rex," he finally said, "him and a few other clones he's kept in contact with are planning on living off the grid for a while, finally having a little bit of peace..." he trailed off.

You could tell he was nervous, but you smiled at him, nodding slightly, "I think that is a good idea, you always wanted a more relaxing life than this."

Echo sighed in relief, a weight lifting off his shoulders, "we're heading out soon."

You nodded, happiness and sadness at losing another friend mixed together, but to your surprise, Echo turned around, closing the distance between you and wrapping you in a tight hug. You were shocked for a moment, but quickly returned the gesture. "Are you going to be okay, general?" He asked after finally pulling away.

You put on your best smile and shrugged, "I'll be alright, Echo, don't you worry about me."

Echo smiled at you, like he wanted to say something else, but then he just turned around and walked towards Rex's ship, which he had moved to the main hangar to load supplies more easily. Rex stood on the entrance ramp, waving a few more people carrying supplies into the cargo bay.

You slowly walked back into the main cavern, your cloak still wrapped tightly around your shoulders as you took small careful steps. Rex stopped when he locked eyes with you, he shouted a few more orders to the others, before exiting the ship and walking to where you stood.

Rex rubbed the back of his head, "I figured Echo would chicken out telling you," he said equally nervous.

You chuckled and shook your head, "I'm glad he is going with you, even during the war, he always wished for a peaceful life."

Rex sighed, "I don't know how long it'll be peaceful, but I think we clones deserve a bit of a vacation."

You smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder, "you certainly do." You looked on as the few remaining soldiers loaded supplies into the ship at Echo's direction. "Where will you go?"

"Well, we're stopping at Rebel command on Yavin to drop off some supplies and the soldiers that want to go back," he explained, "Cut and Sue left their children on Yavin to be looked after, but I imagine they will head back to Gurrel pretty quickly. After that I'm swinging by Abafar to pick up Gregor and Wolf and then we are on our way to a random remote planet, we really don't need anything else."

You nodded, "Sounds like a good plan."

Rex fidgeted next to you, "you could come with us, General," he said, turning to you, "you could finally have peace too."

You smiled gratefully at Rex, but shook your head, "unfortunately, I don't think peace is in the cards for me, Rex, at least not right now."

Rex nodded in understanding. He looked on as Echo waved to him, letting him know the ship was ready for take off. "You better get going," you said, gesturing to the ship, "peace awaits you."

Rex wrapped you in a small hug before turning and walking towards the ship. Echo and Rex stood on the edge of the cargo bay as the doors slowly closed. "If you ever change your mind, general," Echo shouted above the engines.

"You are always welcome to find us." Rex finished.

You smiled at both of them, waving as the ship began to ascend, "have fun boys," you shouted.

Echo and Rex looked at you, throwing up a respectful salute and a smile just as the cargo doors closed and the ship ascended out of the base.