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Back aboard the depression train!
Day 4: It Happened Once in a Dream:
The small home Ahsoka and Rex kept was quiet. It always was, but now the silence was oppressive. Ahsoka had to say something as Hera walked with her to Rex's room.
"Thank you for staying with him." She said.
"It was my pleasure." Hera said. "He's like family."
Ahsoka smiled a little. Rex had been practically adopted by the Ghost family for which Ahsoka was grateful. They had supported him while she was gone.
"How was Corvus?" Hera asked.
Ahsoka knew the true question. 'Is there news of Ezra?' Ahsoka hesitated. She didn't want to give Hera false hope.
"It might be something." Ahsoka admitted. "I'll ask Sabine to check it out with me."
Hera's eyes widened.
"Thank you, Ahsoka." She said.
"It's my pleasure." Ahsoka said. "I want to bring him home."
Then she was in front of Rex's door. The plain wood was daunting to her. Rex had deteriorated quickly after she had left for Corvus. She wasn't sure she wanted to see him in such a state.
"Go on." Hera said. "He's been waiting for you."
Ahsoka opened the door.
She had imagined Rex transformed into a skeletal, decrepit wretch. What she saw was just Rex, but a little thinner and paler than usual. A little more tired. He was sleeping peacefully in the neat bed.
"I hope he wakes up soon." Hera said. "He sleeps a lot these days."
"He'll wake for me." Ahsoka said.
"I'll- give you some privacy." Hera said, and left Ahsoka alone with Rex.
Ahsoka slowly approached his bedside. His face was placid. She hoped his nightmares had finally left him.
Ahsoka leaned down and pressed her lips to his head. His eyes flickered open as she pulled back. He smiled at her, eyes shining like they had twenty-eight years ago.
"'Soka." He said warmly.
He took her hand in both of his. His grip was weaker than it had ever been.
"Rex." Ahsoka said. "How are you?"
Rex chuckled.
"I'm hanging on." He said. His voice was soft. "I don't do much anymore. Hera and Jacen have been taking good care of me."
"What's the doctor saying?" Ahsoka asked.
Rex let out a long sigh.
"I'm just running out of steam, Ahsoka." He said. "Haven't been the same since the battle of Endor. And we weren't built to last long."
Fear bubbled in Ahsoka's chest. He spoke so casually of his death. Fitting for a soldier born to die.
"Isn't there anything they can do?" Ahsoka burst out. "Rex, you're only forty-one!"
"I don't feel it." Rex said with a smile. Then, seeing her face, squeezed her hand. "It's all right. I saw the end of the Empire. There's not much more I could wish for. And- I'll be with my brothers."
There was so much more Ahsoka could wish for, like a Rex who could stay by her side for years to come. A Rex who could give her what she had wanted since the Siege of Mandalore. Suddenly the words she'd kept in her heart for all the years couldn't stay silent any longer.
"I love you." She whispered.
Rex's eyes shimmered at her profession.
"I love you too, 'Soka." He said.
Ahsoka shook her head, unsure if he understood what she meant.
"No, Rex." She said. "I love you."
She leaned forward and kissed his lips for just a moment. He took a sharp breath.
"Like that." She said softly.
"Oh." Rex said. More tears threatened to overflow in his eyes. "Oh, Ahsoka."
He looked down at their entwined hands.
"I- I wanted that." He murmured. "For a long time, ever since the Siege of Mandalore."
Ahsoka felt a burning in her throat. She knew he had felt that way about her. The way he had acted during the siege and right after told all.
"If things were different-" Ahsoka said.
"If things were different." Rex agreed.
If things were different they could have had a life together. They could have stopped fighting. Rex could have lived a full life with her.
But because of the Empire, because of Palpatine, that life was forced to live only in their dreams.
Check it out and my ongoing Rexsoka fics on A03!
https://archiveofourown.org/works/34125910/chapters/85045030
https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExecutiveCucumber/works