LuxSoka: The True Cost of War

Chapter 11: Aftermath

Onderon, Lux's home planet. Ahsoka wasn't sure about the plan, but she was gonna go along with it anyways. "What about you Rex, you gonna stay with us or do something else?" Lux asked the ex captain of 501st clone army. "I don't know." Is all Rex had to say, lost in thoughts, mourning the loss of his brothers. Ahsoka hadn't seen the captain like this in her lifespan. She looked at Lux and Lux looked at her hoping for one to know what to do in this situation. Ahsoka had felt loss, but she was trained to put those feelings behind her no matter how difficult. Lux had felt loss too, but not on the scale that Rex had just felt.

"Well we gotta find a way off this rock, if we are to do anything." Ahsoka says breaking the silence. "A spaceports near by commander." Rex says quietly. "You don't have to call me commander anymore Rex, the wars over, we lost." Ahsoka says sadly, placing her hand on his shoulder. "You're right sir, but you'll always be commander to me. You risked your life for my men and I more than times then I can count. For nothing, so many lives lost, for nothing. The Sith Lord you Jedi seeked had us all wrapped around his finger, commanding our every move, with an endgame of deceit, he used us all as puppets for his own game. To weaken us. To make us feel safe, just to tear all hope in the galaxy apart. We lost, and so many others lost their lives, for nothing." Rex went on, his tone angry, as if he searched for what his purpose was. "I was born and bred to betray those I fought by. To commit such an act, I fought clankers believing I was different than them because I had free will, but in the end. The clones- my brothers and I were droids. We couldn't even fight against the protocol. We had no choice-" A single tear fell from Rex's eyes, as he thought of all his brothers he had lost throughout the years, if this how he felt he could only imagine how the rest of his brothers thought. As when he was given the Order he felt everything he was doing, but he had no control over what he was doing. He felt like a droid.

                                                                                        

"I know Rex, but now we have to move on. We have to find a way to be at peace, even in all the darkness, we can find a way. If this is how you feel I'm sure there are others like you in the clone army, they may be searching for a way to move past these feelings. Maybe your purpose is to find them and help them. The war may be over, but what you are feeling is what the Jedi feared." Ahsoka said comforting him in the best way she could. "And what is it that the Jedi feared Ahsoka?" Rex asked pleadingly. She took a moment, a deep breath. "The true cost of war. Losing things you love. Feeling as if everything you sacrifice, you did for nothing." She hugged him. "I'm sorry Rex, sorry I couldn't save them, sorry the Jedi failed. We cannot hold these feelings, we must move past them, for in the force there is always a light, there's always hope. We were the many, but now we are few. It's up to us to be the galaxy's last hope, but now we must live in the shadows. Take time to grieve, to accept everything we lost, learn from everything, feel everything you lost, take it with you, and teach others how to live with this new life." She gave him this speech doing her best to comfort, the Jedi weren't taught to have emotions, but she could feel every single emotion he radiated. Lux looked at her and smiled, he had never seen this side of her, she was always playful, and lighthearted, but this is a time where he understood, even after everything, she still was optimistic. "I must leave now. You're right commander there are others out there like me, looking for peace and purpose. I must find them and help them. Thank you for everything commander, I hope to see you again one day, even if it's not on the battlefield, you have been an amazing friend to me." Rex hugged her saying his goodbyes, wishing the two good luck. "Now you two be safe." Rex left off, on his own journey. 

"Just you and me Soka, so what now?" Lux said looking in her direction. "Well first Onderon, and we'll see where the force takes us from there. I'm going to need a new identity though, and you the same, people can't know we're alive, or they'll hunt for us. I may have lost a lot in this war but you are not going to be one of those things. You're stuck with me now Lux." She punched his shoulder playfully. "I'm stuck with you, is that a bad thing?" He responded flirting with the young torgruta. "Do you think it's a bad thing?" Ahsoka instantly replied inching closer to Lux. "I'd rather be stuck with you than anything else in the galaxy." Lux said romantically inching closer to her. "Even the prettiest being in the universe?" Ahsoka asked. "I thought that's who I was signing up to be stuck with-" He said lifting her chin with his finger. "Lu-" Ahsoka tried to respond, but she couldn't, as he had pressed his lips to hers, closing his eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He broke from the kiss to catch his breath. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that." She blushed, smiling at his comment, seeing his sparkle like they were in that moment. "Well I liked it, so we'll do it more often, but we gotta get off this rock, and I sense an empty ship right over there." Pointing northwest an unoccupied ship small enough to slip out of the port unnoticed.