Ahsoka, Daughter of the Light (Book 6): Hero

Chapter 15: A Very Worried Husband

LUX BONTERI

Lux was sitting in the bed in his room reading something on a datapad, Aletta sleeping in the crib, when he heard a knock on the door.

He walked up to the door, and Captain Rex was standing there.

"Baby's sleeping," Lux whispered.

"Then come on out here," Rex whispered back in reply.

Lux nodded and walked out the door, which closed behind him.

"We've got a message from Ahsoka," Rex said, as they walked down the halls. "I... well, she's okay, but... I don't think you're gonna like it."

Lux felt like his heart had stopped.

"What is it?" He replied.

"I'll show you," Rex said.

He pulled up a holotransmitter, and he turned it on.

The holotransmitter displayed the Fulcrum symbol of two crooked lines and two diamonds beside them, a symbol that was part of Ahsoka's facial markings on her forehead.

"This is Fulcrum," said the transmission. "The Empire has invaded Mon Cala. I will not be able to return today. my objective is currently partially completed. Word is also going out there could be another survivor. I may try to contact them too if I can. I may update you soon, or I may not. I cannot say when I will be back. I cannot disclose any more information. Fulcrum out."

Lux felt fear jab right at his heart.

The Empire? On Mon Cala? Did they know she was there?

"I take it you know what all that means," Rex said.

"Yeah," Lux replied.

They always had to intentionally keep things vague whenever they where transmitting, lest the Empire manages to catch and decrypt one of their transmissions. Lux could tell that, from what it sounded like, Ahsoka currently had one of the children, and is still trying to find the other one. It seemed like there was news of another Jedi on Mon Cala, too, and that Ahsoka may try to contact them. Knowing his wife, that's probably what she'd try to do. Or perhaps fate would cause them to bump into each other. Either way, it looked like she wouldn't be back for a while.

"Who's gonna be in charge until she gets back?" Lux asked.

"Lyda and Eekar are taking it upon themselves to head some training sessions, but nobody's in charge, really."

"Well, that's not exactly the best situation, given a... 'worst-case scenario,'" Lux said.

He was always well aware that one day he could lose the one he loved the most.

"Let's hope it never comes to that. Ahsoka means about as much to you as she does to me. If I were to lose her..." Rex trailed off.

"Yeah, I get it," Lux said. "I... well, I'm her husband, so you can tell that I really don't want her to die."

Rex sighed.

"You know," he said, "I'm proud of you. For everything."

"Really?" Lux said.

"Yes," Rex said, stopping to put his hand on Lux's shoulder. "You're following right in the footsteps of someone I care quite a lot about, and you're learning fast with her. You've grown so much since I first met you when we helped you on Onderon."

"Well," Lux said, "I... didn't really expect such a comment like that from you..."

"Hey, kid, any friend of Ahsoka's is a friend of mine," Rex said.

"Well, I'm not Ahsoka's friend, I'm Ahsoka's husband," Lux joked.

Rex put his hand on his face, laughing.

"Oh, no wonder Ahsoka fell for you," Rex said. "Sometimes you sound a lot like she used to back when she first became a Padawan."

"So you're saying I have the maturity of a fourteen-year-old girl?" Lux said.

"You certainly have the corniness of one."

"Yeah, I knew that already," Lux said.

"You know, you're lucky with her," Rex said. "She's the strongest person out of everyone I know, and yet somehow she ended up falling for some silly Separatist boy from Onderon. And keep in mind you had to compete with the girls, too. She's... you know she's Bi, right?"

"Yes, actually," Lux replied. "She told me, like yesterday."

"It took you that long to figure that out!?" Rex said. "I caught on practically right when she started dropping hints on me."

"And when was that?" Lux asked.

"Towards the end of the war," Rex said. "After Onderon, but before she... y'know..."

"Hey," Lux said, "Do you think maybe she... did she ever have a thing for Barriss?"

"Well, at least you caught onto that," Rex said. "She never told me, but she acts like she really, really misses her, almost as much as her master. Don't get me wrong, I'd be pretty upset if my best friend went off and joined an agency of Jedi-hunting Imperial lapdogs. But if you told me that Ahsoka Tano was once in love with Barriss Offee, I'd believe you."

"Geez," Lux said, "I guess there's still a lot I need to learn about my wife."

"Well," Rex said, "I think she's just about starting to realize she needs to learn a bit more about herself."

"What do you mean?" Lux asked.

"Maybe you haven't realized, but... you know, that whole thing with the Daughter... some weird stuff keeps happening. Katooni and Zatt told me about some convor that keeps following her around earlier today. Not to mention the day she got new lightsabers. She told you everything about what happened on Mortis, right?"

"Yeah," Lux said. "At least I think she has, unless she's hiding something."

"You think..." Rex said, "You think something happened to her when the Daughter revived her?"