War will reach an end one way or another. In this case, the Clone War had ended a while ago and Ahsoka was starting to fret, spilling everything out to Rex. "Should I do it now or later?" She said while pacing back and forth, hands clasped behind her back, "What if it's the wrong decision? What if I regret it? Will I be frowned upon? W—"
"Ahsoka! Relax, will you? It's not the end of time," Rex said. She had been ranting for a long time now. "Just go up to Skywalker, tell him you're leaving the Order now, and then it's over. It's that simple."
Ahsoka frowned. "...Geez. Can't I just get it out of my system? Unlike you, I actually struggle to keep things tucked away and inside of me. You should know that by now."
"Yeah, I do. But the more you stall, the more you'll freak out. You recommended this, remember?" Rex said and Ahsoka opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off again. "No. I will not go with you. This is a moment between you, Skywalker, and Kenobi... go."
"But—"
"Ah-ah, you always told me to push you to do your best, so..." he literally started to push her towards the door, "that's what I'm doing."
"Rex..."
"I'll be here when you get back. Promise. Now don't keep Skywalker waiting."
Ahsoka sighed, defeated. "...okay."
Rex smirked before giving a quick good luck kiss on her forehead and taking a step back. He nodded towards the door and Ahsoka pressed her lips together before walking over to the door and opening it. She stood in the door way, hand on the frame for a second, and she walked out.
While walking down the corridor, Ahsoka inhaled and tried to boost her confidence. Why was this hard? It seemed like it should be easy, but the Jedi Order had been her life since she was a little girl. Everyone there were her friends and family. She hoped they'd understand and wouldn't be disappointed. That was her biggest fear, disappointment. She didn't want to let anyone down by leaving, and she figured that was why she was having a hard time of it.
Ahsoka finally made it to a briefing room and she entered. Anakin and Obi-Wan were in there, talking quietly. "Okay," Ahsoka said as she walked over to them and they stopped their conversation. "I'm ready to leave the Jedi Order. What do I do?"
Anakin fully turned to face her. "Oh, uh, okay. Well, you can take off the Silka beads that mark you as a Padawan—good. Okay, there you go."
Ahsoka furrowed her brow. "What?"
"Yeah, there's not much to it."
"Really? So, do I keep my lightsaber and all that?" She asked.
"Yep. You made them, they're yours." He turned to face Obi-Wan. "And, uh, what would you say if I told you I was going to leave the Order, too?"
Obi-Wan started to stroke his beard. "I'd say to follow where the Force is guiding you and to be careful. All in all, I respect your decision. That's is what your saying, isn't it? That your following Ahsoka's footsteps?"
"...uh, yes. Yes, that's what I'm saying."
"I'm not that surprised if I'm being honest. We still have many Jedi and clones left to sustain the Republic, so missing a few Jedi and clones won't hurt. Your decisions won't affect much is what I'm trying to say. And... that I'm am proud of both of you."
Anakin grinned. "Thank you, Master."
"Any time, my friend."
"However... I will use that as an excuse. That you said you're proud of me."
"Of course you will. I would expect nothing less. And be sure not to break or lose your saber again."
Anakin narrowed his eyes. "Stop bringing that up."
"You once claimed someone had stolen your lightsaber when it was in fact on the floor in your quarters. That will never not bring joy to me."
"You're a terrible person."
"Everything I am you are, too, my old Padawan."
"Obi-Wan."
"Yes, that's my name, try not to overuse it. Oh wait, you already have."
"Okay, girls," Ahsoka intervened. "stop arguing, you're not ten."
Anakin put his hands on his hips. "You're one to talk. I'm not the one who has disagreements with my spouse about who would be a better loth-cat. Yes, I heard that heated conversation. It was quite entertaining to say the least."
"Okay, point taken..." Ahsoka chuckled.
Rex's comlink chirped so he opened it up, and before he could answer, Jesse's voice came through. "Sir, we have a situation in the mess hall."
Rex internally groaned. Of course there was a problem. "What kind of situation?"
"We may or may not have blown up a hole in a table..."
He facepalmed. "Of course you did. So take care of it. I'm not a maid, you sort it out."
There was a long pause before Jesse said, "Hardcase is going to plant firecrackers in Wolffe's quarters and blame it on you if you don't come down. That's what he said, so don't make me get in trouble..."
Rex let out an irritated huff. "I swear, you lot are gonna be the death of me." And he signed off.
He left his quarters and headed down to the mess hall. Once there, he saw a huge hole in a table and a large grin from Hardcase. Hardcase rushed over to the captain. "Oh, you shoulda seen it, sir. It was magnificent!" He said excitedly.
"Mm-Hmm," Rex deadpanned as he put a hand on his hip. "I believe you. I do."
Jesse let out a soft snicker. "It was pretty great. Lots of colors, but it was small."
"C'mon, Jesse. You're supposed to be the mature one in the group."
"Where'd you get that idea?"
"I don't know. I guess it was wishful thinking. Anyway, why don't you get Fives? He's on designated cleanup duty."
"He's... busy."
Rex narrowed his eyes. "Busy doing what exactly?" He asked slowly.
"Cleaning."
Rex scoffed. "Yeah, right. He doesn't clean."
"Stang. Didn't think this through enough." Jesse muttered.
"Hmm? What didn't you think through?"
"Uhh, nothing. You know what? Why don't I make you a cup of caf while Hardcase fixes this stuff."
"What, no. You're being oddly nice. Stop it."
"Fine. You really wanna know why you're here? Well, we're distracting you because Fives is busy planting a prank in Commander Tano's quarters."
Rex started to back away. "If you're lying, you're in trouble. Hardcase, fix all this. That's an order." He then turned and jogged out the door.
Ahsoka gasped as she rounded the corner because Rex would've trampled her over if it hadn't been for their sharp reflexes. "Woah!" She said as she came to a sharp halt. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
"Uh, Jesse said Fives is planning on doing something to your quarters and—"
"No, I just came back from there. Everything was where it was and nothing seemed changed."
"Oh. Okay. ButI don't understand why they would— Oh, for the love of— it was a distractions. It's gonna be my quarters." Rex turned on his heel and headed down to his room with Ahsoka right behind him.
At his door, Ahsoka was about to open it when he seized her wrist. She looked at him confused before he shook his head. She rolled her eyes and opened up the door. Rex was prepared for something to jump out or be dumped on him, but nothing came. However, the whole space was littered with glass figurines of Loth-cats, all varying in size. The largest one was about a life-like size of the cats, and there were several tiny ones surrounding it as if they were worshiping it. Some were in his bed, the small beside table, basically anywhere there was a flat surface.
Rex let out a long exhale of disappointment and Ahsoka stifled a laugh. "At least..." she started to snicker. "At least it's not a glitter bomb."
Rex shot her a glare. "Don't remind me." He said as he took a few tentative steps into his room and sighed. "Ni cetar'narir kay'shebs..."
Ahsoka slapped him upside the head. "No. We do not talk about brothers like that."
Rex rubbed the back of his head. "Ow. When did you start doing that?"
"Since right now."
"Fair enough. So," he said as he and Ahsoka walked into the room and shut the door. "How'd it go?"
Ahsoka bent down and picked up a glass Loth-cat figurine. "Less stressful than I thought it was going to be. And don't say 'I told you so' or I will hit you again." She added quickly. "Also, why weren't you here?"
"Hardcase and Jesse blew up a table in the mess hall..."
"Ah. Wait, again?"
"Mm-Hmm," Rex said as cleared a path with his feet to his bed and sat down on it, careful not to sit on the glass cats. "...I guess, now that your no longer a Jedi, that I should leave the army, huh?"
Ahsoka slowly strode over and sat down next to him. "Yeah," she said softly. "You should."
"'Kay. Right now?" Rex asked and Ahsoka nodded so he stood back up. "Get it done and over with, right? Do you think others will join? Like, will others leave too?"
"I would say so, yeah. Clones in a relationship will most likely leave to start a family, and some probably can't take being in the Grand Army, so you won't be alone. Don't worry."
" 'M not worried."
"Then go. You're acting like I was." She crossed her arms.
"Okay, okay... I'll be right back." Rex said before Ahsoka blew him a kiss as he exited the room.
~
"So where are you guys gonna live?" Tup asked after Rex and Ahsoka told most of the 501st about their plans. It was a week after Ahsoka left the Order and Rex the Grand Army.
"We were thinking about going to
Mandalore," Ahsoka explained.
"Ah. Well, when are you leaving?"
"Soon," Rex said. "We've still got some things to take care of."
The couple said a few see you laters to some clones, but they'd say proper goodbyes to the others. The ones that were there from the very beginning like Jesse, Kix, and Hardcase to name a few. It was a bittersweet moment, and they wanted it to last longer, but Ahsoka and Rex had a few more preparations to make before they could head to Mandalore and start their new life. As exciting as it was, it was scary too.
Back at Rex's quarters, Ahsoka made a small lap around the room when something crunched and cracked loudly under the sole of her boot. She took a step back and saw it was one of the Loth-cat figures Fives planted throughout the room, but it was now a pile of shards. They had cleaned up most of them, but some would pop up now and then.
She grimaced and carefully picked up the fragments and tossed them into a little bin. Ahsoka brushed her hands together and she inhaled as she felt a pair of strong arms hug her from behind and a chin rested on her shoulder. "Rex..." she said softly.
He let out a noncommittal grunt. "Hmm?"
"You need to focus."
"I am focused." His voice rumbled through her montrals.
"Yeah, I believe you. You're totally not doing the opposite of what you're supposed to..." she turned around and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You are such a cuddle bug."
"I am not." Rex frowned.
"Fine. But we need to finish up here and go see Anakin and Obi-Wan."
"I just wanna stay here with you."
"I'm flattered. But—" she stood on her tip toes and brushed her nose against his, "—you'll get all the time in the galaxy soon enough. Did you get what you needed?"
"Yeah..." Rex grumbled.
She chuckled softly and prodded him the chest with her index finger. "That's the spirit. Now come on."
Once Ahsoka managed to coax and pry Rex away from her, they went to the room Skywalker and Kenobi were in. When the door opened, Ahsoka saw that Anakin was beaming and Obi-Wan had a smile spread across his face. She walked over to them and asked, "What's so exciting?"
"Well," Anakin started. "You know how I wasn't here the past few days? Yeah, well, that was because Padmé went into labor. Guess what? You two have a niece and nephew!"
Ahsoka gasped. "Wait, really?" Anakin nodded. "Ahh, I'm so happy for you! What're their names?"
"Luke and Leia."
"Aww, I love that."
"Congratulations, General," Rex said.
"Rex, you don't have to call me general anymore," explained Anakin.
"Right. Sorry. That habit has been drilled into my mind I don't think I'll stop using 'general' or 'sir'."
"Yeah, that's okay. But oh my goodness I'm a father."
Ahsoka smiled. "And I'm an aunt. Come here," she took a hold of Rex and Anakin's arms and pulled them towards her. "Family group hug." She said.
Rex, Ahsoka, and Anakin embraced and Rex took one arm away and held it out to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan walked over and Rex grabbed the Jedi's wrist and pulled him into the hug. "Aliit ori'shya tal'din." he said.
Obi-Wan joined it and be rose an eyebrow. "I know Mando'a," he said, "but I'm not very fluent. What does that mean?"
Rex smirked. "Family is more than blood."
———————
All righty, last "chapter" I guess you could say. Epilogue is next, so I'll see y'all then.