Farewell
Part III: Farewell
“I’m leaving tomorrow.”
Bo and Rex both turned quickly towards Ahsoka. The three of them were sitting in the cockpit of their shuttle, trying to busy themselves as they could while the sun was setting. Bo-Katan was trying to find the good frequency on the radio to listen to the news, Rex was repairing his pauldron and Ahsoka was watching them silently. At least until she had decided to drop the bomb.
“What do you mean?” Rex asked, frowning.
“I’ll find a new ship tomorrow in the morning; I’m going my own way.”
The other two remained silent for a moment before beginning to protest in a single voice.
“Wait a second, you can’t just decide to leave us like that!” Bo exclaimed.
“No! We’re in this together, I’m coming with you,” Rex added.
“You won’t change my mind,” the young Togruta answered calmly.
“There’s no need, because we’ve decided for you,” Bo stated. “You’re not going anywhere on your own.”
“You don’t understand…”
“You don’t understand. I owe you, Ahsoka. I won’t let you leave just like that,” the Mandalorian said. “I’ll fight you if I must.”
Ahsoka tried to lighten the mood with a joke.
“If you can beat me!”
“She’ll have me to help. There’s no way I’m not going with you,” Rex answered, visibly unamused.
The last trace of smile faded on Ahsoka’s face.
“Please, don’t make this more difficult than it already is. I wish I could stay with you…”
Bo interrupted her.
“You can.”
“No, I’m putting you in danger. It’s only a matter of time before the Empire arrives on Tahlar.”
“Then we’ll find somewhere else to go! There’s no need to split up,” Rex said.
Ahsoka shook her head.
“Sooner or later, we’ll be confronted to them, whether it’s here or not. And when that day comes, I don’t want to be around you.”
“Don’t worry for us. We can defend ourselves.”
“Not against the whole Empire, Rex. You’ve seen Palpatine’s speech, you’ve heard what he said about the Jedi. He a Sith lord, he won’t stop until the last of us is dead.”
“But you’re not a Jedi, not anymore!”
She could sense the despair in his voice.
“It doesn’t make a difference to him.”
Ahsoka closed her eyes, trying not to cry again. She had to appear confident, otherwise they would continue to argue with her. Maybe they really would fight her, after all.
“I don’t care,” Rex said. “I prefer getting caught with you than living on my own, not knowing where you are.”
She felt a tear roll on her cheek and cursed herself internally.
“Don’t say that! Even if it wasn’t for me, you’d be both wanted. If they catch you, they won’t just kill you. They might torture you!”
“I don’t care, I…”
“They’ll use you against your people,” Ahsoka said, turning to Bo-Katan. “Do you really want to become a bargaining chip for their freedom? Don’t you want to live to fight for Mandalore?”
Before the young woman could answer, Ahsoka turned to Rex.
“And they’ll use you against your brothers. They’ll know you removed your chip. They’ll want to know how you knew about it and if you told anyone else. And when you’ll tell them you haven’t, they won’t believe you. They’ll become paranoid; execute every clone they suspect…”
“Stop.”
“I’m sorry, but you have to understand. I represent a risk for you and for everyone that matters to you. By leaving, I give you a chance to survive. You’re my friends, I want you to survive.”
Nobody said a word for a long time. The sun was down, now.
“You’ve made up your mind, haven’t you? We’re not going to make you change it.”
Ahsoka looked at Bo. The young Mandalorian had spoken with a soft voice. She truly seemed saddened.
“No, you won’t.”
“Then I’ll help you find a good ship tomorrow. It’s the least I can do.”
“Thank you.”
She turned to Rex to see his reaction. His face was impassive but she could sense his pain through the Force.
“Rex…”
“I’m going for a walk,” he said, rising from his seat.
“No, please… Say something. I don’t want to leave you like that.”
He didn’t answer and left the ship. Bo put a hand on Ahsoka’s shoulder.
“He will understand. I’ll take the first watch, go get some sleep. I think you’ll need it.”
**********
Rex rolled over on his bunk. No matter how hard he was trying, he wasn’t able to close his eyes. He rose, sat on his bed — or whatever the hard mattress he was sleeping on was called — and looked around him. The interior of the Gauntlet was dark; the lights inside had been turned off and there were not so many lampposts to light up the night on Tahlar. But he was still able to see that only a few meters in front of him, Bo-Katan was quietly sleeping on her own bunk, which meant that it was Ahsoka’s turn to watch over the ship. Rex got out of bed and, trying not to wake up the Mandalorian, went outside. Just as he had expected, he found Ahsoka sitting on the landing ramp. She immediately turned her head in his direction.
“I can’t sleep,” he said.
“I couldn’t either,” she answered with a little smile.
He stood silently by her side for a moment before she finally spoke.
“Rex, I… I’m so sorry to…”
“It’s okay, kid. Don’t bother.” He paused. “I trust you more than anyone else in this galaxy. If you think that’s the right thing to do, then… I won’t try to stop you.”
She glanced at him sadly.
“I really wish I could have stayed with you.”
“I know.”
Ahsoka looked up to the sky and silently watched the stars. After a while, she pointed to a constellation.
“Anakin once told me that’s where his name was coming from.”
“Do you reckon that’s true?”
“I don’t know. He also told me master Obi-Wan’s name came from a very famous grassland on Stewjon. He said that particular grass was well known for its nutritional properties for falumpasets.”
Rex chuckled.
“I see…”
They laughed quietly before Rex became serious again.
“Promise me you won’t go back to Coruscant to find out what happened to him.”
Ahsoka didn’t answer right away. The thought had definitively crossed her mind.
“He was my general but he was my friend too,” Rex continued. “No one would like to believe he is alive more than I would. But you said yourself you couldn’t sense his presence anymore, and I’m not ready to lose my last friend only to… To verify something we just don’t want to believe is true.” He took a breath. “And if he is alive, then our paths will cross again someday. I’m certain of that.”
She looked at him. He was sincere and it moved her.
“I promise.”
He seemed relieved.
“So… You never told us how you ended up on Oba Diah before meeting our Mandalorian friend.”
“Oh Force! That’s a looong story.”
“Well,” he said sitting at her side. “We have the rest of the night.”
**********
The following morning, Bo-Katan found them on the landing ramp, sleeping on each other’s shoulder. She woke them up so they could start looking for a ship for Ahsoka. They searched for a while but eventually found an old Theta-class shuttle. It wasn’t in particularly good condition, but the price was low and the salesman not too curious. They brought it back to the Gauntlet and Ahsoka proceeded to pack the few things she had saved from the crash. When she finally finished, the sun was high in the sky but it felt like only a second had passed since her talk with Rex on the landing ramp. It was already time to say goodbye. Bo-Katan made a step towards Ahsoka.
“It was an honor to fight alongside you, Ahsoka. I’ll never forget what you did for Mandalore… and for me. Had the rest of the Jedi been like you…”
She stopped herself just in time. Now was maybe not the right time to criticize the friends Ahsoka had just lost. The young Togruta smiled sadly.
“We have not always been on the same side but I know you love your people. I’m sure you’ll retake Mandalore when the time comes.”
Bo-Katan nodded and gave her a grateful look. Ahsoka then turned to Rex but her words suddenly died in her throat. Noticing her emotion, he offered her a kind smile.
“I’ll miss you Ahsoka.”
“I’ll miss you too.”
She hesitated for a moment before hugging him.
“When all of this is done, I’ll find you, I promise.”
“I know you will, kid. I’ve never doubted you.”
Ahsoka broke free from the embrace and took a step back. For a split second, she read all the sadness and the vulnerability in her friend’s eyes and saw the thirteen years old boy he really was. It took her all her strength to turn her back on them and climb into her ship.
Bo-Katan and Rex looked at her until the Theta shuttle disappeared from their sight.
“So… What will you do now? Go back to Mandalore?” Rex asked Bo-Katan.
“Not yet. Ursa was right; I can’t fight Saxon alone. I’ll need a place to hide and to gather allies as the dust settles.”
She sighed
“The only problem is… I don’t know where.”
He seemed to think.
“Well… I thought about where I’d go after Ahsoka told us she wanted to leave and I might’ve had an idea. Of course, now that she is gone, nothing forces us to stay together but if you’re looking for a place, I can take you there with me. Plus, I could use the skills of a Mandalorian in case we cross paths with the Empire…”
“From what I’ve seen, I think you could put up a good fight,” she said with a small grin. “But… why not? I’m hardly in a position to be picky with my choice of hideouts.”
She gave him a small nod.
“Thank you.”
He shrugged.
“Yeah, well… It’s not like there are a lot of people out there that you can trust, now. I guess we need to stick together.”
“So,” she said as they were going back to the Gauntlet. “What coordinates do I enter?”
“Saleucami”