Captain Rex x Reader

Morality

Rex slumped down in the corner of a gunship the two of you and a few other clones had just jumped into in an effort to retreat a battle. He was breathing heavily and put his head in his hands, clearly distressed.

This battle had been heavy with casualties, and you could tell it was wearing on him. It had been almost three years of the clone wars, and you had witnessed so much death.

But it was different for the clones. Sure, they were made to be soldiers who fought and died for the republic, but that didn't make them feel any better when they watched their brothers die every day. Rex seemed more bothered by this as time went on, and you were beginning to let it bother you as well.

Being a Jedi, you were trained to not have any attachments. It was never really explained exactly why attachment was forbidden, but it sort of made sense to you. Things would be a lot easier if you could just forget all of the lives you lost, but people don't work that way. It's impossible to avoid forming attachments, especially when you are supplied with a group of soldiers as memorable as the 501st, and a captain as special as Rex.

You had started feeling new emotions ever since you met Rex in the beginning of the war when you were still a Padawan under Jedi Master Plo Koon, but now that you are knighted and serving as a general with the 501st, you are able to spend a lot of time with him. This means during the good times and the bad.

Ever since the battle of Geonosis the clones have been a blessing to the republic, but recently you have been questioning the morality of using a clone army. Sure, they are created in a lab unnaturally, but that doesn't make any of them less of a person than anyone else. Perhaps if you were far away from the war and had never met any clones you would see them as merely organic droids. But your time with the 501st and other legions has shown you a cacophony of different people who all look the same. Every day you lose so many clones who were their own distinct people.

Heavy with these thoughts, you walked over to Rex and sat down next to him, closing your eyes and crossing your legs in an attempt to meditate. The gunship rattled as you were still escaping a warzone, but you tried to find the peace in the situation. Rex's heavy breathing turned into regulated, consistent breaths, and through the force you could feel him relax and let his arms drop to the floor.

You felt it was right to offer him a bit of comfort, since you seemed to be the only one noticing his distress. You reached your hand towards his on the floor, and brought his hand to your lap so you could hold it with both of your hands. Even without opening your eyes you could tell that Rex was surprised by your action, but he didn't try to pull his arm away. He curled his fingers around your hand that was under his and he gave you a little squeeze of appreciation.

You could tell now that a few of the other clones had noticed the two of you on the floor, but they were too tired and battle-worn to say anything.

Soon enough the gunship was sailing smooth, and you reached the large carrier waiting outside the planet.

As the gunships landed your men gathered and awaited instruction. You could see the loss your battalion had taken by just seeing how small the group had gotten. All of your troops were weak and weighed down by the loss so you reminded them they fought well and announced that they may retire and take a well-deserved rest. All of them eventually wandered out of the hangar into the body of the ship and the barracks.

As you walked through the hangar inspecting the returned gunships, you noticed a presence behind you. Turning around, you were met by a concerned captain.

"Hello, Captain." You said. These were the first words you had really spoke to Rex since the retreat of the battle.

"General (Y/L/N), may I speak to you in private?" He said, nodding to the maintenance workers in the hangar. You nodded and walked with him to an empty control room.