In the End {1}

~ A Close Call ~

~months earlier, in hyperspace~

After the campaign on Scarif, Ahsoka was relieved to return to Coruscant. The battle was short, just as she anticipated, but she didn't expect to be as tired as she was.

She stood on the bridge beside her master, studying a star chart. The hunt for General Grievous never ended, and Anakin was determined to be the one to catch him. He hadn't slept since they the last battle had concluded, which was over 48 standard hours ago. His relentlessness had always been something Ahsoka admired.

Ahsoka, on the other hand, had slept a normal amount. Regardless, she was still sore from all the fighting, and she was mentally spent. The only thing more boring than studying star charts with her master was studying star charts in the Temple Archive Library.

"Master, you should really get some rest," she said.

"Obi-Wan's gonna expect me to have made some progress on this by the time we get back. I'll sleep when I find something I can report."

Ahsoka shrugged. There wasn't much she could do for him if he didn't want to help himself. "I'm going to the mess, then. And I think I'll take a nap." She expected a sarcastic reply from him, but he remained silent. "Do you want me to bring you anything on my way back? When's the last time you ate?"

"Food sounds nice. I'll take a plate of whatever they're serving today, if you don't mind."

"'Course not, Skyguy," she smiled. "I'll be back soon."

As she walked to the mess hall, her thoughts dwelled on Lux. It was almost time for their daily call, and Ahsoka wanted to make sure she was back in her room with plenty of time to spare so that she could make herself look presentable first. She knew Lux probably wouldn't care about how she looked, especially since she was still on duty, but it felt nice to freshen up.

After serving herself a plate, Ahsoka sat down by herself at a table near the door. She was quite used to eating by herself. It wasn't that the clones were afraid of her, at least she hoped they weren't. She was the commander of the 501st. It was the same reason she would feel uncomfortable eating a meal with some of the members of the Jedi Council.

This time, however, Rex sat down across from her with a platter of food almost identical to her own.

"Hey, Rex," she said, picking at her food. "Do I look as tired as I feel?"

He chuckled. "I bet we all look worse than we feel, kid. This job is demanding, physically and mentally."

"You got that one right," she said jokingly. "Sometimes I wonder where I'd be if we weren't at war. I'd probably still be studying the archive texts at the Jedi Temple." She shuddered at the thought.

"Yeah, I can't say I haven't thought about it. Without the war, though, I wouldn't be here. None of us clones would be here."

"That's true, I suppose. What happens when this war ends? What do we do then?"

Rex shrugged. "I dunno. Being a soldier is the only thing I've ever known."

"Me too, I guess. It's all I've been since the battle of Christophsis, anyway. I wonder what it would be like to settle down. Start a family. That's definitely not in my future, but maybe for you, it is." Though secretly, as much as she knew her and Lux could never be anything serious, she hoped to start a family with him one day.

"I don't know about that one, Ahsoka. I have this family. What else could I possibly need?"

She smiled. Rex was a good friend. She was lucky to have him.

As she was finishing up her meal, Fives sat down beside Rex. That was as good an opportunity as any to head back to her quarters. "I'm going to go sleep before General Skywalker calls me back up to the bridge to stare at that map some more. Wake me up if something interesting happens," she said as she stood up. She cleared her tray and hurried back to her room.

Once the door was closed, she washed her face and changed out of her uniform into a fresh pair of shorts and one of Lux's t-shirts. It smelled like him, which comforted her.

She sat down on her bed and made a call to Lux's apartment. He picked up almost immediately.

"Ahsoka!" he said, smiling. "It's good to see you. How's everything going today?"

"Nothing too eventful, thankfully," she responded. "I've been studying star charts all day."

"That sounds boring."

"Trust me, it is," she laughed.

"Are you still planning on coming back to Onderon with me for the ball?"

"I wouldn't miss it." She was really looking forward to a break, and a break with Lux sounded absolutely fantastic. "I don't have anything to wear, though. Do you think we'll have time to fix that?"

He blushed. "I'm sure I can find the time in my super busy schedule to accommodate that request."

Had they been in person, he would've earned a playful hit for that comment. They both knew the only thing he really did was sit through the senate sessions and read paperwork. He had plenty of time to do whatever he wanted most days.

"And you're sure you're not going to get in trouble for this, I mean if someone finds out that you and I are together, especially about the fact that we hooked up that one particular night, then–"

As Lux spoke, the door to her room opened, and Ahsoka froze. She could sense Rex's presence behind her.

He turned his head away from her and closed his eyes. "Um, sorry, Commander. I didn't mean to interrupt anything." He still wouldn't open his eyes. Lux's shirt was long on her and covered her shorts completely, so she guessed that might've had something to do with it. "General Skywalker told me that you were probably asleep and that I should just come in and wake you up. I didn't mean to–"

"No, it's okay," she said, standing up. What else was there to say? "And yes, I am wearing pants." Rex glanced back and forth between her and Lux's holographic form. She should've just cut the call when she heard the door. Now, Rex knew exactly who she'd been talking to and what they were talking about.

"How much of the conversation did you hear?" Ahsoka asked.

He took another step inside and closed the door behind him. "I'm sorry, I really wasn't trying to listen in on anything. I heard enough, though."

Great. She thought to herself. I can't even keep the secret for a few days. Why did I ever think this was plausible for the long term?

"When are you going to tell Master Skywalker?" she asked, dreading the response. She knew Rex would tell him, not because he didn't like her, but because it was his duty as a commanding officer. With any luck, he would wait until after they landed on Coruscant to give Ahsoka a head start.

"I... Look, I don't want to be the bad guy here. I clearly wasn't supposed to hear that, so as far as I know, there's nothing to tell the general."

Ahsoka breathed a sigh of relief.

"Really?" Lux asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Rex said. "It's the least I can do for a friend. In fact, if you ever need some assistance doing this in the future, I'm happy to cover for you."

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow. "Who are you and what have you done with Rex?" she joked. "This isn't like you at all!"

"I'm not going to get in the middle of Jedi rules. That's not my business to enforce, so I'm not going to. Especially if it puts you in danger of getting thrown out of the army. It's like I said before; this family comes first."

"Thank you, Captain," Lux said.

"I owe you big time for this one, Rex," Ahsoka added.

Rex put his helmet on. "Don't mention it. As far as I'm concerned, you were asleep." He turned around and walked to the door. Before he left, he turned his head over his shoulder. "Oh, and one more thing: the general wanted me to remind you that he's still waiting on that meal."