Cejanr (A Rexsoka SWTCW Fanfic)

26

Rex was regretting this with every passing minute, and Kix was having waaaaaayyyy too much fun with this. He sat cross legged on the floor with his eyes closed so he could focus on not dropping the very heavy weights that Kix had given. He hadn't let Rex see them, so he had no idea how much they weighed as he held them above his head.

"Ok, next." Kix said gleefully, and Rex heard the rapid tapping of his stylus against the datapad as he scribbled down notes. Rex sighed and let the weight fall before picking up the next. That one turned out to be his limit, as he had to drop it before Kix called. He opened his eyes and wiped sweat from his brows.

"What now?" He panted slightly. Kix just grinned.

"Now, we work on your accuracy with deflecting the bolts from the drones." A new voice said evilly from the door. Rex swallowed thickly with a wince. The general.

"Yes sir." He said meekly. Kix's smile widened even more. He moved out of the way as Anakin powered on a drone and set it in the middle of the floor. Rex flicked on his blade and brought it up to the familiar Djem-So starting position. The drone whirred to life and began it's first volly. Rex blocked them easily, sending the shots away from him and his friends. THe same thing happened with the second volly. And the third. It was getting increasingly harder to block them in time.

He instinctively settled a little deeper into the force, letting the power pour through him like he had when he was putting his hilt together. He felt a hum settle around him, a raw torrent of energy that he dared not try to control, grimacing as it controlled him instead. He hated that feeling with a passion, but he allowed it nonetheless.

Dimly he shivered, feeling like icy water had been dumped on him. Something that was definitely not a blaster bolt hit his blade. His eyes snapped open to see the cerulean blade locked with his. He frowned and disengaged, powering down his golden blade. Anakin backed up as well.

As soon as Rex let go of the power around and in him, his knees buckled. Anakin gripped him by the arm and helped him kneel. He was laughing a little to himself.

"That'll teach you not to overdo it, huh." Anakin chided. Kix was hovering nervously like an anxious mother convor.

"What happened, again?" He asked. Anakin smirked a little.

"The force has no human limitations. Rex's task was to defend himself, so the force helped him do that. Unfortunately, he also wouldn't know if he was on the edge of collapse or not, and would keep doing until he ended up killing himself. It rarely gets that far, though." He said. Rex tipped his head back and just focused on sucking in air. If Ahsoka was here she'd probably smack him and yell at him for being stupid and not maintaining awareness of his physical state. She'd chew him out for scaring her and then hug him, probably knocking him over in the process.

But she wasn't here. She was a million lightyears away on Corascant. Probably already freaking out about him. He gingerly brushed the thin bond between them, willing it to be stronger. Willing to be able to tell her that he was ok. To feel her own mind and know she was ok.

Rex tested his muscles again and winced. He was definitely going to be sore tomorrow. He didn't notice Skywalker trying to get his attention until he rapped on Rex's head with the back of his metal knuckle. Rex belatedly jerked away and rubbed his head with shaky hands.

"Sorry, I spaced out. What?" He asked. Anakin shook his head with a laugh.

"Don't I remember my first times overdoing it. I said that I needed you for a private meeting regarding the upcoming siege on Kashykk. If you can walk, that is." He grinned ruefully. Rex nodded and shoved himself into a crouch before shakily standing up.

"Yep, I can walk." He said, only after he had taken a few steps to learn for himself if his wet noodle legs could indeed hold his weight. Anakin nodded.

"Good. Armor up and meet me at my quarters in twenty minutes. Understood?" He said. Rex gave a small smile.

"I'll be there in ten, sir." He said. Kix rolled his eyes at him from behind the general and gave him a pointed glare.

He staggered over to his pile of armor and kitted up fast. Kix walked briskly over to him to check him over anyways, but there was a slight bounce in his step that Rex hadn't seen in a long while.

"Get some good notes?" Rex rasped, taking a couple of slow drinks from a water canteen that Kix handed him.

"Yes." He said smugly. "And I cannot wait to analyze them either. But you look like you just ran twenty klicks uphill. Are you really not aware of how tired you are?" He berated.

Rex sighed and snapped his gauntlets and vambraces into place, his fingers hovering over the polished beskar on the inside of his arm for a moment longer than necessary out of habit.

"Feel like I ran thirty. No, you're really not aware of how tired you are. I'd've set a timer if I knew I would be doing that." He grunted, settling his command pauldron into place.

"Ah. Got it. One more question, how do your eyes feel?" Kix asked, his stylus hovering at the ready. Rex frowned, sliding his 17's into place and the hilt of his blade into it's pouch.

"My eyes? Normal, I guess. Why?" He grabbed his helmet from the floor and straightened.

"Because they were glowing."

Rex paused, and was silent for a moment. "What?"

"Not a lot, but enough to be noticeable." Kix rattled on, scribbling away on his datapad. "What's the word... Backlit. You irises appear backlit. Probably something to do with..." He waved his hand at the air around them. "At the very least, it looks cool."

"Huh. Nope. My eyes are fine. Can I go now?" He asked after thinking it over for a second. Kix looked up from his notes.

"Wha... Oh! Yeah. You can go." He chattered, still excited. He reminded Rex of Di'atiryi a little bit.

Rex made his way to his general's rooms, only having to push off the walls once or twice on the way. The door was closed and he hesitated before knocking gently.

"Sir?"

The door slid open and Anakin practically pulled him inside. "There you are. Come on."

His rooms were much bigger than Ahsoka's had been, nearly the size of the apartment on Corascant. "Anakin, what is it? Are we still going to Kashykk?" He asked anxiously. Anakin frowned, then seemed to see Rex's concern.

"That? Yes. We're still going to Kashykk. I needed you here for another reason." He pulled out two odd shaped disks, studied them for a second, then passed one to Rex. He took it and looked a little closer.

"What's this for, sir. I already have a holocomm." Rex asked, confused. Anakin shook his head, bouncing on the balls of his feet like a gleeful child. Rex guessed he had made this comm himself.

"Not like that one. It's long range but compact, and coded to Ahsoka's comm number specifically. Only her comm can decipher the encryption." He grinned and slipped his own comm back into his pocket. "It only works outside of hyperspace, mind." He said as it dawned on Rex what it was.

It was a way to talk to Ahsoka.

Rex opened his mouth, then shut it. "I... I don't know what to say." He said. "This is contraband bad enough to get us both courtmarshaled." He noted, turning the small thing over and over in his hands. "Thank you, sir."

Anakin smiled. "I figured if I was going to risk getting in trouble for something like this I may as well drag you with me." He grinned. Rex rolled his eyes. Typical. Though his exasperation didn't last long. He made a note to himself to call her as soon as they were back in real space.