Building a house. That seemed simple enough, right? Wrong. It was very difficult, but it produced a wonderful result. Ahsoka and Rex's new home on Mandalore just got finished and they were adding the last minute furniture and decor. It was roughly a year after they left what they were affiliated with, and that was their happiest year so far... but now, they were a little lower than normal.
"Ahsoka," Rex said a bit firmly. "It is not that hard."
"Wha— Well I'm sorry this isn't my strong suit." She retorted.
They had to hammer a few nails into the wall by hand in order to add some finishing touches to the refresher room.
"See? It's not that hard. Just pound the nail into the wall." Rex explained, not with a very nice tone in his voice, as he demonstrated how to do it correctly.
Ahsoka let out a low, predatory growl from the back of her throat. "I'm going to pound you into the wall..." she threatened.
Rex nearly choked on air at that remark. He tried to keep down his grin, but he was failing miserably. "You know," he said. "I don't think you're strong enough to 'pound me into the wall'."
She glared at him. "Is that a challenge?"
"...maybe."
"Okay, listen here you—"
But Rex interrupted her. "Whelp, you leave me no choice."
"And what choice would that be?" She placed a hand on her hip.
Rex's eyes got this brilliant warmth to them suddenly and his lips curved into a small smile. Since that alone didn't work to make Ahsoka happy once more, he showed some of his teeth and that got her to break. She chuckled softly and got close to him, placing her hands on either side of his face. "Oh," she sighed happily. "What would I ever do without you, Mister Tano?"
Rex chuckled softly. "Mister Tano..." he repeated quietly.
"What?"
He shrugged. "Nothin'."
Ahsoka eyed him for a moment before locking her lips with his, pulling away after a second. She slid her hands down from his face until they were flat against his chest. She gave him an evil smirk before shoving him, making him hit the wall with a grunt. Ahsoka placed her hands on his hips and kept him pressed where he was. "Told ya I could pound you into the wall."
Rex shook his head. "I never doubted it for a second."
"Mmm." Ahsoka kissed her husband again and he deepened it. Her grip on his waist loosened as he cupped the side of her face.
"Hey," came a voice from outside the room. "I was wondering if— woah. You guys coulda chose another room."
Ahsoka broke the kiss and turned around. Anakin was standing there half-shielding his eyes from the sight.
"Anakin, we're married," Ahsoka said.
Anakin scoffed. "Yeah. Good thing... Okay, uh, I finished bringing everything in from outside, you guys done in here?"
"More or less," Rex shrugged.
Cody soon came over and stood next to Anakin, pressing his shoulder against the door frame, leaning on it. "Finished up in the dining room. Where's all your food?"
"...in the conservator?" Rex said slowly with an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, obviously. I meant the unhealthy stuff. Nothing in there is candy or cake related..."
"You and your sweet tooth. You'll get something sweet later as payment. Right now, we need to set things up outside before it gets dark."
"Deal," Cody said as he stepped aside and motioned with his arm. "After you."
Rex nodded as he and Ahsoka exited the room and headed out the door. Once out of earshot, Anakin leaned in close to Cody. "How long do you think it'll take for this place to be officially finished? It seems like a pretty big project."
"Mm, yeah. Starting a small farm from scratch certainly won't be easy, that's for sure. But they'll figure it out one way or another."
"Yeah. All right, let's go help them wrap up." Anakin said.
~
"Can you believe it?" Ahsoka asked.
Rex wrapped an arm around her waist and exhaled. "Well, it definitely hasn't sunk in yet."
They were standing in front of their finished house. Around them were some empty pens and paddocks, along with a small barn, shed, and garden. They hadn't started to raise or grow anything yet, that would come a little later.
"This is our home now." Ahsoka said. "And we have an actual bed."
"Yeah. But that bed is too soft for my comfort. I'd be better off sleeping on the floor." Rex chuckled.
"It's not that cushiony. It was the firmest one. You're still used to the military grade mattresses."
"Mm," he shrugged. "guess so."
Ahsoka stood up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek. "Come on. Let's go inside."
Rex smirked before taking a gentle hold of her hand and intertwining their fingers. They walked up the few outside stairs together and went onto the porch before opening up the door.
Inside, everything was in pristine condition and organized. It was the first time Ahsoka and Rex actually took in every little detail, and everything was astonishing. They were eternally grateful to those who helped build the house and everyone who put their input on it. They helped Ahsoka and Rex's dream come true.
In the main living space, Rex sat down on the couch and patted the top of his thighs. "Sit," he said.
Ahsoka grinned before plopping down gently onto his lap. Rex wrapped his arms around her middle as he placed a feather-light kiss to her shoulder before resting his chin on it. "What should we do first?" He asked.
She leaned into him and let out a relaxed sigh. "I don't know..." Ahsoka then managed to turn around in his lap so that she was straddling him. She leaned in close and said, "Maybe we could..." she trailed off as she passionately kissed Rex.
Rex was taken by surprise for a split second, but he soon caught on and kissed her back.
~
Later that night, Rex and Ahsoka where in bed. Ahsoka was asleep, but Rex wasn't. He was about to doze off though when his body let him know he needed to go relieve himself. He internally groaned. Of course it was just as he was about to sleep. Rex carefully, slowly, got out from under the blanket. Ahsoka stirred and he paused for a moment. Don't wake up, don't wake up, he thought. Once she settled back down, he strode quietly to the refresher.
A few moments later, as he was washing his hands, he heard someone say his name. Rex turned around, but no one was there. He dried his hands and that's when he heard Ahsoka shout his name. "Rex!" He heard her call out. "Rex, where are you!?"
He jogged out of the 'fresher and when he got into the room, he turned on the lamp on the beside table. Ahsoka was starting to take gasping breaths. She was sitting up and hugging herself tightly. Rex sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm right here, 'Soka. What's going on?" He asked.
Ahsoka leaned into him and held onto him like he was a lifeline. "I—" she took a hiccuping breath. "I had—I had a nightmare—"
Rex could tell she was trying to keep her tears down, but she was failing. A tear rolled down her cheeks and he tighten his grip around her. "Hey," he said softly. "It was just a dream. You're okay. You're safe. I'm right here."
Ahsoka covered her face with her hand as a few more tears drops rolled down her face. She took calming breaths as Rex started to hum a song softly. When his brothers would have nightmares, his melodic voice would more often than not help them relax. It was working for Ahsoka too.
The tension in her started to dissolve and her breathing went from erratic to steady. Once Rex figured she could have a conversation about it, he stopped humming and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Ahsoka swallowed the lump of emotion in her throat and wondered if she should trust her voice. He had seen her at her very worst, so she could trust him. She dropped her hand from her face. "I..." she inhaled shakily. "We were in a collapsing building. Something or someone bombed it. My leg was trapped under a metal support or something. You were fully trapped under the debris. Men in masks stormed in, not caring that the building was unstable. And they... they went around shooting those who were still alive.
"I tried to stop them, Rex, but I couldn't use the Force. I tried and I tried and I tried. But I just couldn't stop them. They came to us and I fought as much as I could but it was useless. I couldn't help you and they—" she let out a stressed exhale and was about to continue when Rex stopped her.
"I think I know how it ended," he said. "Something happened to me, huh?" Ahsoka nodded at what he said. "Well, I've got news for you. I am never going to leave you, okay? I will be here whenever you need me. I don't care if there are a hundred million reasons for me to leave... you're the only reason I'll ever need to stay. I love you, Ahsoka. Nobody can drag me away from you. Nobody."
Ahsoka sniffed hard and looked up at him with unshed tears clinging to her eyelashes. "You mean it?"
"Of course I do. I will be here tomorrow morning and the morning after that. We'll go through rough patches and scary times. But that's life. No one can stop us when we're together. And I promise you, no matter what, we will get through it." Rex gave her an affective smile.
Ahsoka rubbed her eyes. "As one?" She asked him.
His eyes and smile said everything words couldn't. I love you. You're my one and only. My soulmate, my best friend... my love. Rex nodded. "As one."
———————
Okay. So. There it is. Last chapter of this book. Next book will be out in a week? Maybe? Still unsure about it. But don't worry because I will add one more chapter thingy to alert y'all when it is out. Hopefully all the questions that you have (if any) will be answered in the first few chapters of the next book.
So my thoughts about everything: If you are here, and made it from the beginning to the end, I congratulate you. You stuck with it through all my grammar mistakes, plot holes, and the chapters where I didn't have much inspiration for them. And thank you for that.
All your votes, comments, and reads really make my day, so keep it up for the next book ;).
I also kinda wanna look at the very first chapter and see how far we've come, but I know it's gonna be cringey as crap. But that's the fun part, right? Lol.
Anywho, thanks so much and I'll see you all in... well, it's still tbd. I'll see you next book, how about that? Have a good day/night everyone.