Afterglow | The Clone Wars

61 | Rex

A/N: this is the final chapter of this book.
Afterglow II will be published soon. Secondly, a series of short stories will be published involving our character, inspired by Tales of the Jedi. Thank you all for sticking with me on this journey.

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Dakota Ky, Jedi of the Republic, General of the 501st, and a withholder of many secrets.

The secret she currently holds is one of the most precious. She held him, keeping him close to herself as she took in his familiar, soothing scent. Armor and skin, blood, sweat and tears. It reminded her of all the times he stood by her side, through thick and thin. His close proximity to her had become a priority during the course of the war. Without him, much seemed hopeless. Having been out in the cold expanse of space, she had forgotten the warmth that he carried. She tightened her grip around his shoulders, hugging him as if he might fade.

The battle had ended on Ord Mantell, the 501st returned to the Resolute, the ship that Dakota Ky and Anakin Skywalker shared. At times, the grey walls and holographic coordinate maps felt more familiar than the antique columns of the Jedi Temple. She was home amongst her soldiers. She was home with him.

His body was stiff, stunned beyond measure, but he made sure to hold her in return. His dark eyes pierced the wall behind her, hers stared the opposite way at the sealed medical door behind him. His fingers pressed into her skin "I was certain-" he said, eyebrows furrowing together in a mixture of utter confusion and relief, not one emotion he felt was stronger than the other "you-... there was nothing there" he recalled the devastation left behind after the separatist space battle a month ago. Her green star-fighter, blown to an oblivion "and here I thought death was permanent"

"I'm sorry" she rested her hand along his blonde hair line at the back of his neck.

"No" he shook his head "sorry for what? Making me believe in something again?" she wanted to protest, to communicate to him that the person who disappeared a month ago is not the same person in his arms this night. She continued to hold him.

"I've been careless, Rex. I haven't been the person that I should be to you... to everyone. I don't know why things are so complicated... I don't..." she sighed, closing her eyes as she pulled away gently "I don't even feel like a Jedi anymore, or at least... I don't feel like what the council expects a Jedi to be"

"Well, whatever you are-" he took her hands in his, looking down to her bionic fingers. It pained him momentarily to feel their cool, metallic presence through his gloves, and to know that one of her legs has been replaced with a shell, but he pushed that feeling away, choosing instead to rejoice at her homecoming "-it has shown me more about this galaxy, and who I am as a person living in it, than anything else ever has"

She shook her head, giving the slightest laugh of disbelief. In her mind, there not a chance that she could have the slightest bit of beneficial impact anywhere, or on anyone "No, listen, please" he caught her eyes again, his voice soft "So many of my brothers have died in my arms, right before my eyes" she listened to him, her hand still in his "When you... disappeared, I had lost the hope that I used to feel as a cadet. But then you came back..."

Her eyes dropped.

"You came back. You have brought me back" he tightened his grip on her hand "I have become more than just a man who shares the face of a million other men, because of you. For this, I will stand by your side, no matter what. I will follow you, no matter where the war takes us" she gave a broken smile as a tear began to well in her eye "I am with you" he leaned forward, hardly thinking as he was speaking "As your Captain, as your... as your..." he wanted to say the word that was lingering on the tip of his tongue.