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    Cody and Rex were waiting for their jedi when they returned from their meeting with the council. What they hadn't been expecting was Anakin Skywalker to storm past them with the look of a tooka being forced to take a bath. Usually, he would chat happily to Rex and (much to the the chagrin of his older brother) make suggestive faces at Cody whenever Obi-Wan was nearby. 

    But now, he blew past them as if they weren't there. Right onto the Negotiator and presumably into his quarters. A strange occurrence in itself. They weren't leaving for another three hours, and Genreral Skywalker liked to board last minute, soaking up the last feelings of home before shipping out.

    Kenobi was also on the landing pad, frowning after his padawan. Not with the frustration or impatience that was regularly warranted by a spat with Skywalker. But something less stern. Something more... heartbroken. He too went on the venator, leaving the captain and commander alone again. It only took a few moments for the vode to sigh and nod to each other, a silent agreement to meet for latemeal, before following their jedi. 

...

    Rex figured the quickest way with Skywalker was to just get right into it. Not try to coax or worm his way in, but be blunt and honest. It was one of the things his general liked about him. After they had gotten to know each other and the infuriating padawan had finally got the lieutenant's guard down, Anakin confided that he enjoyed Rex's brutal honesty. Even if it was sometimes (most of the time) at his expense. He made the soldier promise to never hold back on what he felt or thought. 

    "Expressing what you think is really important," Skywalker had said. "No matter what those cloners said to you back on Kamino, you should feel safe enough to be honest. Especially with me. So whenever I'm acting like a laserbrain, by doing something stupid or saying something that offends you or your brothers, speak up!"

    By the time Anakin had become a general, Rex a captain, and Ahsoka had entered the picture, he was very good at speaking up. With double the jedi trouble, he had to be.

    Stars, how he missed that kid. 

    It had been hard on everyone when she left. Kenobi, the 212th, the 501st. But especially Anakin. Sometimes, when it was much too late for any sensible person to be up, Rex would find himself on the observation deck. Staring into space. Too exhausted to do any work, but too awake to try and rest. And most of the time, his general would join him. He hadn't been sleeping well either. Murmered something about nightmares and sensing Rex was awake too. 

    Sometimes they barely spoke, simply happy that they weren't alone in whatever it was they were going through. Other times, they talked about all sorts of things. Ranging from the new shinies Rex had become close with, the latest date Anakin had taken Padmé on, and the budding relationship between Kenobi and Cody. To the nightmares, the number of vode they had lost in the latest battle, and how the end of the war still seemed so far out of their reach. 

    Without a vod'ika to shield (and sometimes, they weren't even able to do that,) the war went back to being what it always was. A war. 

    Not a training exercise, or a moment to learn from. Not a high score of how many clankers they had taken out. It was an ugly, terrible thing that continued to leech the lives out of the clones and the jedi alike. You didn't even have to die to feel like you were slowly losing yourself. All you needed was to watch someone you fought alongside, swore to protect, or even shared a face with to be struck down right in front of you.

    To be helpless to save anyone. 

    Without Ahsoka to protect, they were left with a more brutal truth than Rex was willing to admit.

    They tried not to talk about that as much. 

    Regardless, Rex and Anakin were closer than ever, which meant he might be the only one able to get to the bottom of this. He only hesitated for a moment before knocking and entering his general's quarters whether he wanted him there or not. 

    As usual, Skywalker's room was a mess. His desk was cluttered with unfinished flimsiwork and datapads and stray pieces of machinery. There were old clothes littering the floor, ration bar wrappings on the small table, and various scorch marks on the walls. 

    Anakin sat on his bed, eyes fixed on his lightsaber. He had deconstructed it in his lap, and was using a tiny toolkit to fiddle with it. Rex stayed quiet for a moment, worrying that if he interrupted, something might explode. But after about six minutes of standing there in awkward silence, he gave into impatience and cleared his throat. Anakin's gaze snapped up to him, before returning to his latest tinkering project. Giving no indication he was going to start the conversation himself, Rex bit the bolt. 

    "What happened this time?"

    "Hello to you too, Captain."

    "Was it the council or General Kenobi?"

    He huffed, using the Force to snap his saber back together, and got up off the bed. "Guess."

    "The general." Rex watched as the jedi began to get water cups out of the small cabinets, and resigned himself to the rant that was sure to come. Kicking off his boots and settling himself on the bed. At the beginning of the war, it would have been unthinkable. But they had gone through so much now, that Anakin was one of them. He was a brother of the 501st. Just as Ahsoka was a sister. Being a brother of Skywalker meant listening to whatever bugged him about the world. (Which was a lot.) And that meant Rex could disrespect trivial civilties such as personal space.

   "He's doing it again." Anakin muttered. 

    Rex arched a brow. "What?"

    "Treating me like a child! Nagging and worrying and telling me off! He hasn't done this since before Ahsoka! Since I became a knight, and it's making me kriffing crazy!" 

    He threw his hands out to the side (because he was nothing if not dramatic,) sloshing water out of the cups in each hand. He just sighed, handing a (now half empty) cup of water to Rex. "It's like he doesn't trust me to not mess up. To not slip up and fall. Like I'm a charge set to go off. He knows I'm better than that, but he won't treat me like it. Not anymore." He frowned at his own cup. Some of the anger seemed to have burned up, leaving disappointment and regret in its wake.

    Rex considered his friend. Anakin was stubborn. In all things. His strategies, his choices, his morals, and most of all, his feelings. The love he held for his family and friends, the fear of losing them, anger towards injustice, fear he couldn't fix it. (They were all scared. But Anakin seemed to hold so much more than he ever showed.)

     He was just as stubborn about what he felt his job was. To save everyone, fix everything, fulfill some Force-damned prophecy. And that made him wreckless. Rex didn't know if it was pride, if he thought that nothing bad could happen to him because he wasnt finished saving the galaxy. Or if he didn't care how much danger he was in as long as he could help. Maybe it was both. 

     But it had always worried everyone close to him. The 501st gave Rex sideways glances whenever their general gave an order that put himself in the line of fire. Ahsoka told him whenever she snuck into the barracks to watch a holofilm late at night. Padmé mentioned it when they got together for lunches. (Because you can't hide someone's secret marriage without becoming close to both of its participants. Not to mention she was much easier to talk to than her husband.) 

    Not to mention the times when he went to see Cody, only to find Obi-Wan curled up asleep next to him. Dark circles under his eyes visible after Skywalker landed himself unconscious in medbay.

    And Rex... well. Ahsoka's absence wasn't the only reason he couldn't sleep most nights.

    But he wasn't comforting them or himself. He was here to help Anakin. So he knew what he needed to hear.

    "Did you know I was defective?" The general's head snapped up in surprise. Rex had to hold in a chuckle at the shocked look on his face. "Yep. By Kaminoan standards, at least."

    "But... you're one of the best in the GAR!" Anakin sputtered. "What could possibly be defective about you?"

    He pointed to his head, where his distinguishing trait was buzzed close to his scalp. The jedi's look of bewilderment morphed quickly to a scowl. "You've got to be kidding me."

    "Mhmm," Rex hummed. "One thing the Kaminoans hate is individuality. A speck on their white walls. Which is why most of us, after we get put in the field for a while, get tattoos and different hairstyles. It's like our own teenage rebellion."

     "I went through one of those phases." Anakin grinned. "Dyed my hair red. Obi-Wan was... not as angry as I thought he would be. He just stared, said he was going to meditate, and I didn't see him until the next day." 

    "Sounds about right." He could imagine this easily. A young padawan Anakin, with hair the color of Dathomir, maybe black nails and some piercings. And it was even easier to imagine a younger Kenobi, exhausted by the boy under his charge. 

    "So... defying cloners' beauty standards?"

    "I was part of generation one, and I was the first with my... alteration. Which meant I was looked down on." Rex frowned. "When other clones messed up, they were reprimanded, maybe put in solitary. If I failed, my entire existence was questioned. I was almost decommissioned four times.

    "On my fourth go, I thought it was over. That's when Cody found me. He had just become a cadet, while I was supposed to be moving out of the youth brigade. He advocated for me, and then took full responsibility for my training. Got into a hell of an argument with the cloners. Which was a first. Even my own batchers hadn't stuck up for me." Rex swallowed. He remembered the looks on their faces when he was dragged away by a Kaminoian for what felt like the millionth time. They had been resigned to never seeing him again. They had already given up. He also remembered their faces when he walked past them again, a clone commander-in-training pulling him away by the hand. 

     "But he did. He and Fox and Wolffe made sure I was strong enough, fast enough, ready enough to pass and make it to the rank of cadet. Cody worked me the hardest. And there were times where I just wished he would kriff off. I thought I could do it myself, and all his hovering put me more on edge. I knew I was lucky that he had stuck out for me at all, but sometimes, it felt like too much. I didn't realize until after I had passed how much he really cared. I almost didn't make it, but last minute, I pulled through. I passed the test. And after it was over, Cody snuck into our barracks and pulled me into the tightest hug I'd ever had." He smiled at the memory. "I wasn't even part of his batch, but he treated me like one of his own. He was hard on me because he was worried."

     Anakin frowned, pulling at a loose string on his robes. Rex withheld a smile. It was working. "General," he started tentatively, and when he didn't look up, Rex changed tactics. "Anakin." That got his attention. "He's not worried about you. He's worried for you. It's not a lack of trust, or faith. He knows that you're capable, that you're good. But he also knows how many risks you take. That's what worries him."

     "But that's what we do! We have to take risks! If I-- if we don't at least try, we could lose more men." Anakin's impassioned voice lowered. He curled both his hands into fists before letting them fall flat on the bed. "I can't lose another Echo. Or Hardcase. Or Tup. Or Fives. And I can't lose you."

    Rex had to plow through the warm feeling that left in his chest. "We've already lost so many brothers. Even a sister." His general's face crumpled at the implication. Ahsoka was alive. But they had failed her. All of them. They hadn't been able to help when she needed them the most. And now, she was gone. "We can't lose you either, sir. And neither can General Kenobi."

    Anakin sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I should go apologize then, huh?"

    "Probably so." Rex nodded, relieved he had gotten through to him.

    "Do I really worry you guys that much?" He asked, a slight smile playing on his lips. 

    "Everyday, sir. What'd you even do this time to set General Kenobi off?"

    The jedi avoided eye contact, chuckling weakly. "I might've... sort of... crashed a ship. On purpose. Again."

     Rex stared. "You what?"

     "There was a droid fighter doing a ground assault, and it was getting too close to Obi-Wan and the 212th, but then the stupid clanker shot my cannons, so... I had to improvise." Anakin shrugged. 

    "By crashing your ship?!" Rex fumed. "Sir, what in the actual kriff were you thinking?" He thought maybe, just maybe, it would have been something tame. But he should have known, even without the Dominoes, Skywalker would never give him a break. Even when the 501st finally got leave to Coruscant, and he was persuaded to go to 79s with Jesse and Kix, his general was still off causing trouble. 

     He threw up his hands in indignation. "It was the best I could do!"

     Rex took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Then, as evenly as he could manage, spoke. "Best pilot in the galaxy my shebs."

     "I did it on purpose!" At his captain's glare, he relented. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I'll try not to do it again."

    "What's that thing General Yoda always says? Something about do or do not? There is no try?" He asked sarcastically.

     "Yeah, yeah." Anakin smirked. He stood up, stretched, and headed for the door. Rex followed him out, and as he turned to head for the mess hall, his jedi set a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Rex. For coming to talk some sense into me."

    "Someone had to, sir," he cast a warm smile to Skywalker, before pointing over his shoulder. "You heading to latemeal?"

    He shook his head, still grinning. "Maybe later. Right now, I think I have an older brother to talk to. Meet you there?"

     Rex nodded, content he had done well. "Meet you there, vod."

...

    Rex sat down in the messhall, his tray of food in front of him. He was glad that one of the new shinies, Spice, was not only an excellent shot, but a great cook. While anything was better than the flavorless mush on Kamino, one more week of Ridge's cooking might have done him in. Better to leave it to Gregor or someone from his platoon. 

    Cody settled across from him only a couple minutes later. "How'd it go with Kenobi?"

    "Well, I think. Skywalker showed up when I was on my way out. Which means you must have gotten through to him. Congratulations." His ori'vod shot him a quick smile before digging in.

    "It wasn't easy. But you helped, actually."

    "Really?" Cody raised a brow, suspicious. 

    Rex hummed in affirmation. "I just told him how difficult and protective you are and he stopped feeling sorry for himself."

    Cody huffed, rolling his eyes. "Of course." His attention was drawn across the room, and Rex followed his gaze. Where the door had slid open and both Skywalker and Kenobi walked in. Anakin spoke about something animatedly, and Kenobi grinned fondly, listening intently to whatever nonsense his former padawan seemed to have an endless supply of. They looked happy. Happier then they had been in a while. Maybe since Ahsoka had left. 

    Rex went back to his meal. "I'm just glad he figured it out. I think he needed to hear that Kenobi was just looking out for him." Rex paused. "I needed to hear that once, too."

     Cody blinked, his half-hearted pout replaced by a soft, if not small upturn of lips. "You and Skywalker both should know we're always going to be there for you. Even if you don't want us to be sometimes."

     Rex shook his head. "I'll always want you there."