Afterglow II | The Clone Wars

6 | Betrayals and Devotion

It wasn't even five minutes before there was a light tap on her door from the outside, and she sat up slowly in her bed that was built into the shadows of the wall. She used the force to hit the button on the control panel, allowing for the door to open so that he could enter through. Light poured in from the narrow hallway ceiling, drenching his armored frame in a white hue and spreading across the floor of her murky quarters.

She sat up higher on the bed, tucking strands of her black hair behind her ear. He took a cautious step in, double-checking over his shoulder in case someone happened to walk by. They certainly couldn't risk being caught. In the off chance that someone does interrupt their solitude within her quarters, their scripted response was that they were strategizing for the upcoming endeavors.

With a swift movement, the doors sealed shut behind Rex and locked. She crossed the space between them and placed her hands to his cheeks, pulling him in for an immediate kiss. The action took him by surprise, but he didn't resist it as the moment curled around them like vines wrapping around a tree.

That rare, delicate moment that they had the capability of sharing together. He fumbled to set his helmet down on the nearest surface and secured his arms around her waist. His gloved fingers brushed her protruding hip bones and spine ridges, and felt the metal of her leg at the top of her thigh.

The urgency of her hypnotizing kiss nearly made him forget about what occurred in the hanger, about how Dakota had nearly fallen apart on the platform in front of the men "Wait-" he reluctantly took a step back, breathless and flushed. Despite his desperate desire to continue, to bring her as close as humanly possible, he knew deep down that there was something that need to be addressed "About earlier, in the hanger-"

"No, no, I don't want to talk about it" she shook her head, gliding her thumb across his cheek to feel his tanned skin, then she enclosed his lips in another kiss. The utter beauty of the Jedi, once again, was doing its best to will him to forget about the emotions that he knew she was hiding. Her body was against his, trying to get closer, and trying to be as far away from the emptiness as possible.

"Please, just, hear me out" he eased her back an inch, careful not to shatter her. Of course, he wanted this, to be with her in this way. However, he cherished her well-being more. He always had, long since before the beginning of this relationship. It's the whole reason he's remained a Captain despite the brutality of the war.

Dakota knew by his tone that he wasn't going to let this go, so she pulled away from the warmth of him and sat on the edge of her bed tiredly. She waved her hand at him, signaling that he could speak his mind "There is... too much that is going unsaid between us" he began, choosing his words cautiously as he stepped closer.

She looked to the floor, remaining silent.

"Dakota, I'll never be able to relate to what happened to you... and I wish every day that I could do something to change what happened" the star-fighter accident, the bodily damages that she received, the month of being dead in the eyes of the Republic "However... I do know what it's like to be helpless" he looked to her, dust particles floating between them in the dim light of her quarters.

She bit her cheek, realizing that she most certainly had been helpless up there in front of her soldiers. The great Jedi General, reduced to a stage-fright stricken fool "To watch so many of my brothers fall... to see Krell send them to their graves right before my own eyes and not have the power to stop him"