Chapter Text
Ahsoka was starting to get frustrated. She got rid of the rubbish already, she looked under the kitchen counter; took every single thing from the conservator, threw out everything that smelled off , which was practically everything at this point, and cleaned the bedroom. She went to check the spare room too, yet she could still smell some unpleasant odour.
She went to the refresher, probably the tenth time that day, her bladder was really at it and while she was there, she smelled every single thing: the small bin, the laundry basket, the drain holes. She caught a whiff, and was determined to find the cause, but she couldn't locate the source.
There was some stuff lately in their apartment that just disagreed with her nose, but she was a Nexu on a hunting spree and wouldn't rest until she found every single thing that bothered her, destroyed them and avenged her poor olfactory sensors.
She spotted Rex's blacks neatly folded on the window sill. Why he leaves it there, she will never understand… Why he even still wears them, she will also never understand. The war ended 3 years ago, the times were relatively peaceful. He very seldomly wore his armor, only when he accompanied one of the Jedi or some senator on diplomatic missions. The war had become history, but his blacks didn't. He had a whole collection of them neatly arranged in their wardrobe and wore them every now and then. He even kept them on at night sometimes, when she couldn't convince him to sleep naked. He said it was like a second skin to him.
No, no, it wasn't. Ahsoka clearly remembered every single inch of his skin, every scar, every muscle, every hair on his body. No, they were definitely not like his skin. His skin was like a magical landscape that she liked to explore over and over again. She loved to run her fingers on the slopes and hills of his torso, trace that evil looking scar in the middle of his chest, find his nipples, tease them, play with them, kiss and suck on them with her lips. Then taste his neck, kissing all the way up to his earlobes, where she would give him a hint of what was the next thing that she would do with her mouth. She would cup his face and feel his prickly stubble tickling her palm and then just bury her nose in the crook of his neck and inhale his...
Blacks, his blacks. She was inspecting his blacks.
"Focus, Ahsoka, focus!"
She got very tired from all the running around and was slightly panting. "What is wrong with me?"
She grabbed her temple, massaging the frustration away, she took the blacks and smelled them. A sardonic smile appeared on her lips. Of course it's not the blacks. They smelled just like him. That man smelled...he always smelled...oh Force...he smelled so so good, how he did that, she had no clue. Day and night he smelled like…
"Focus!!" She shook her head trying to snap out of her daydreaming. "Where is this smell coming from?!"
It wasn't necessarily bad, but it was driving her insane. She turned around and suddenly she spotted it. It was just resting there on the shelf, mocking her. A candle. Jesmin, said the intricate writing on it. Quite heavy. So she needed to find another way to get rid of it, instead of opening a window and releasing it back to the wild with a carefully planned force throw, or it might end up killing someone. She remembered finding it in a lovely little shop on one of the levels on Coruscant. She entered the shop and she could instantly smell this divine scent made from that beautiful rare flower. Oh well, guess she was wrong. She took it, hurried into the kitchen, opened the lid on the garbage compactor and fixed her day with one smooth throw.
It had been a few standard weeks since she had last meditated ; so after all this misery, she felt the need to calm down and reconnect with the Force. She lit some other candles that were not giving her a headache and positioned herself on a huge, soft pillow in the middle of the main room's floor. It took time to slowly come to sync with the living force around her; she felt guilty and sad that this ritual was not that frequent part of her life anymore. She didn't use the force too much, she had a relatively comfortable life, with the love of her life fulfilling all her wants and needs. Rex was an eternally generous partner, he treasured her and carried her in the palms of his hands, especially since the day their lips had been joined together for the first time. There was no war, and her days were mostly filled with different activities than back then.
She felt incredibly tired after chasing that strong-smelling wax-block & co. all morning, so she was eager to refill herself with energy again.
She breathed in, held it and let the air and all her problems leave her body. Repeated it a few times and then she let herself be immersed and joined her consciousness with the universe. All her senses were alight. She felt every being around her; humanoids and alien species walking on the streets nearby, bugs, creatures all over the planet and beyond. She missed this feeling.
Then she became aware of something that she has never felt before. A tiny orb, a little pulsing energy ball with a very strong force presence hidden deep inside her belly. She smiled fondly to herself.
-"Hello, little one. Never seen you here before."
The orb seemed to have jumped a bit and it grew a bit bigger that instant. She quickly got overwhelmed by happiness and wanted to stay with it a bit longer, but she just got too excited and lost focus. She suddenly came out of her meditation and stood up. She felt relieved when she recognized that she could still connect to it anytime she wanted and it kept responding to her.
How was she going to tell Rex? He's going to be overjoyed for sure, every night he was working very hard to make this happen. This will be their first child, so she wanted to make sure that he will remember this moment forever. She will definitely have to come up with something that he won't ever forget.
*
It was well in the evening when she heard the door open and saw Rex enter, bouncing a big bag of food in one hand and a smaller one in the other.
Her face lit up and she ran up to him to take one of the bags.
-"No, take this one, there are things in it for you." He handed her the smaller bag. He smiled at her enthusiasm at tearing it open and quickly taking out three boxes.
-"I stopped by the market and there was a lovely lady selling these pastries and they all looked so delicious, I couldn't pick only one of them; I knew you would like them all". He put down the other bag, had a sweet smile on his face as he lifted his hand to caress her face, tracing those delicate white patterns. If it was possible, she looked even more beautiful than ever; she was the center of his whole existence and he could just never get enough of her.
She stepped close to him and folded herself into his arms, resting her face on his chest. She closed her eyes and with a satisfied humm, she inhaled deeply in his scent.
"Hmm. Missed you sooo much." Then after a contented sigh her breathing slowed down and her lips slowly parted a bit. Rex was standing there hugging her, savouring the moment, but finally realized that she had dozed off. He was completely baffled, but he waited patiently for a minute.
-"Ahsoka."
-"Hmm?" She answered drowsily.
-"Did you just fall asleep on my chest? Standing up?"
-"Hmmm...Nooo..."
-"Ahsoka." A bit of pause.
-"Hmm?"
-"Are you okay?" He was suspicious and worried now; what could have gotten into her.
She seemed to snap out of it and she slowly released him.
-"Yeah, I was just cleaning all day, and I got very tired. What did you bring me?"
-"Uhm...the sweets?" He looked at her with an eyebrow raised.
She opened the boxes, but she frowned at one of them.
-"Uh, kriff no, not that one." She pushed the box away with disgust on her face. "But these...Ohh, Rex, they look soo good."
He put the contents of the other bag in their place, and told her about how his day went. He turned around back to her and watched her devour almost everything from the other two boxes, picking up crumbs, licking her fingers; finding the sight somewhat shocking, but arousing. He scratched the back of his head, and had a bit of an embarrassed smile on his face.
-"Uhm, can I at least get a kiss now, so I would know the taste of them as well?"
Ahsoka, realizing what she did, -this sweet man spoiling her, the father of her child and she wouldn't even share his findings with him-, looked at him, her eyes grew wide and were shining from the almost-tears that threatened to fall.
-"Rex, I...I am soo sorry. I...They were just so delicious, I couldn't stop myself...You are so nice to me and I don't even deserve you!!"
She turned her face away from him, but he walked up to her and pulled her in a tight hug. He sneaked a hand under her back lek and traced circles on her skin, trying to soothe her, for she looked so distressed.
-"Ahsoka, it is okay. You know I would rather starve, just to know that you have everything."
She stiffened in his arms and she gently pushed him away with a cry.
-"Aw, why are you doing this to me..."
She ran into the refresher and closed the door, leaving Rex standing there shocked in the middle of the kitchen. She didn't lock herself in, but he felt that he needed to give her a bit of space and time. Although he considered going back outside as well just to check if he came into the right apartment and if he did, then trying to find out who this woman was and what she did to his lovely wife.
He was sitting in the kitchen alone for a while, having the other slice of treat for himself, but he was just tossing the pieces around in the box. His mind was calculating; thinking about the possibilities of him having done something wrong, but upon realizing that already an hour passed, he got worried about her. He walked up to the fresher door and leaned close to it, not hearing any noise from inside, actually nothing for quite a while now.
He gently knocked on the door, calling out her name, but getting no response, he opened it and found her curled up in the empty bathtub, sleeping. He scooped her up into his arms and carried her into their bedroom, just like he did on the day when they said their wedding vows. Laid her on their bed and tucked her in, planting a kiss on her forehead. She looked so peaceful, not showing any signs of her earlier distress, but he was worried about her.
This wasn't normal Ahsoka behavior - not at all - and he needed to find out where all this was coming from. The captain in him found a new mission: to find out what was wrong with her and he would complete that mission whatever it takes.