Ashara wandered around the forest, no idea as to where she was. There was no sign of anyone or anything. She let out a frustrated yell and closed her eyes for a brief moment as she continued walking. She stumbled into something hard, fell backward on her bum.

For a brief moment, she remembered all the times she had run into Rex and fallen backward. She silently hoped it was him, but when she opened her eyes, she was disappointed when she saw it was just her ship.

Wait! Her ship! She could get off this blasted planet! With a grin, she hurried around to the open cargo bay, and inside to the cockpit. She was so ready to get off of this blasted planet. It barely crossed her mind that her ship hadn't been there a few seconds before. She was just so excited to get off of this rock.

She saw a flash of bright light go off in the distance, and tilted her head, wondering what it was. She started to panic however, when it suddenly got closer. When it completely surrounded her, she had to squeeze her eyes shut. It was like when she first found herself on this planet in the first place. Including her being knocked out.

When she woke, she was sitting in the spot she had been before they found the strange planet. Anakin and his ship was there, too, all in the same spots they were in before.

She quickly sent out a communications request, which they accepted.

"Ashara, you should come join us on the cruiser", Anakin immediately said as he started piloting away. The togruta hesitated, but she could sense the force telling her to go with him. She sighed softly.

"Okay", she murmured, and started to follow him.

"Wait, really?" Anakin asked, surprised. "I thought you would say no, what with Rex being there and all."

Ashara blushed, and got defensive. "What does Rex have to do with anything?! There's nothing going on between us. Nothing at all."

"It's fairly obvious, Ashara", Obi-Wan stated. "You both are dancing around your feelings for each other."

Ashara was quiet. "I don't know what feelings he may have for me other than seeing me as his commanding officer. He admitted it a while back that he didn't care for me the way I care for him."

"That's not what any of us have picked up, Ash", Anakin said gently. "But I understand if you don't believe us."

Ashara went stayed quiet this time, and instead turned off the communication unit. She let out a small smile as she found herself surrounded by the familiarity of the republic cruiser, and found a spot to let her ship rest in. She took a deep breath, knowing she would be surrounded by questions from the Jedi Council, and possibly from any military authority. She just disappeared one day, and then reappeared out of nowhere.

She saw Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka waiting nearby, and she almost hid when she saw a certain clone captain approaching the three, but she stayed where she was, heart leaping out of her chest. She took a deep breath, and took a brave step forward toward the four of them.

Anakin spotted her, and grinned, waving her over, giving away her position to the rest of them. She took another deep breath, and shoved all her nervous emotions into a deep pit and put on a façade of confidence, though it nearly broke when she saw Rex look at her. 

She reached the group, and gave them all a small smile. "It's been a while since I've been on board here."

Obi-Wan chuckled. "Your company was certainly missed. It's hard keeping these two out of trouble otherwise."

"Hey!" both Anakin and Ahsoka exclaimed, eliciting a laugh out of Ashara. She could feel Rex's amusement radiating off of him, as well as some fairly well concealed shock. She couldn't deduce if it was a good shock or a bad shock, and chose to assume to worst. She glanced at him, fighting back a blush when she noticed that he was staring at her. She turned her head away, and focused on Anakin.

Rex, however, was trying to slow down his racing thoughts. When Anakin had gone off the scopes for a brief moment, he hadn't expected him to return on the scopes with General Ki. Ashara. Rex internally groaned. He had been trying to practice calling her Ashara in his head so that when she finally returned, he wouldn't make the mistake of calling her General Ki, but of course when she returns, he fails to do so in his head. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, and he found himself just staring at her. She didn't look terribly different. She held herself virtually the same, confident, brave, and overall stunning. He briefly wished that he was Jedi so he could understand exactly what she was feeling. He wanted to know if she missed him as much as he missed her. In the months that she was away, he turned every corner expecting to run into her at some point. Quite literally, in fact. 

When she glanced him, he found he couldn't look away. She quickly turned her head away, a faint blush covering her cheeks. He smiled softly, before glancing over at Anakin and Ahsoka. Obi-Wan had already disappeared.

Anakin smirked. "Well, Ahsoka, I think I hear Obi-Wan calling for us. Something that he doesn't need Ash or Rex for."

Ashara opened her mouth to protest, but they had already disappeared. An awkward silence fell over the two of them. Ashara took a step back, her confidence faltering now that Anakin and Ahsoka had left. 

"I'm... um... going to go see if the Ghost needs any repairs."

Rex nodded stiffly, and Ashara hurried away. She could feel him watching her, and she silently wished he would follow her. Little did she know, he was debating it, rolling it around in his head, and considering all the outcomes. Finally he made up his mind, and took a step in a direction unbeknownst to Ashara. She found she couldn't sense him anymore, and she frowned softly as she made it to the ramp that led up to the cargo bay. She glanced behind her, shocked to see that Rex had indeed followed her.

"Do you need help?" he asked softly. She could feel his emotions again, and she could sense his nervousness. She bit her lip, nodding, even though she knew she could handle repairs all on her own. She jerked her head up the ramp, indicating to Rex to follow her as she made her way up.

She led him up to the cockpit, and started to run a diagnostic check. The silence was even more awkward than before as they both waited for results to come back.

"Ashara-" "Rex-"

They both started to speak at the same time, and both cut themselves off. They stared at each other before both laughed. 

"It's been a while", Rex said. Ashara nodded.

"Yeah", she agreed. Nothing else was said for a bit, they just waited in a somewhat less awkward silence.

"I missed you", Ashara finally blurted out, but she quickly covered her mouth. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Ugh, I'm such an awkward Jedi, I don't know how the others do it."

She continued rambling on, and Rex bit back a smile as he watched her stress out over one simple sentence. Eventually, he pressed a finger against her lips, catching her attention.

"I missed you too", he murmured. "You're my best friend. And I messed that up."

Ashara opened her mouth to argue with him, but then closed it again, knowing whatever she said wouldn't be true. "I admit... it hurt. Because I do really like you, Rex. So finding out that you trying to kiss me was a mistake, and then when we were with Cut and you said that you hoped that maybe one day you would find her... the woman you would want to settle down with... it really hurt. And that messed things up between us. So it's partially my fault because I let myself get attached to you and as a Jedi, I should not have attachments. If I didn't have this attachment, I wouldn't have gotten hurt, and we would still have our friendship."

Rex smiled sadly, and she could feel his hesitation about something, but the hesitation disappeared. "Do you want to try to be friends again? Start over?"

Ashara smiled, and she looked at Rex. "Of course. I'm not going to lose my best friend over some feelings I'm not even supposed to have."

Rex chuckled and stuck out his hand. "Captain Rex of the 501st battalion in the Grand Army of the Republic. But you can just call me Rex."

Ashara smiled, and shook his hand. "Ashara Ki, Co-General of the 501st battalion in the Grand Army of the Republic, and Jedi Knight."

Rex smiled and sat next to her. "So, Ashara- can I call you Ashara?"

"Only if I can call you Rex", the togruta smirked. He chuckled and nodded.

"Tell me about yourself, Ashara", he said. Ashara rolled her eyes, and shoved him playfully.

"Psh! As if you want to know more about me."

"I do", Rex said sincerely. "I want to know about your entire life."

Ashara froze as memories came flooding back. "I don't have the happiest childhood."

"How much worse can it be than being raised for war your entire life?"

Ashara gave him a pained smile as more and more memories filled her head. "I was born on Kiros. That's about all I remember up until I was four. I don't remember my parents very much. I sometimes wonder about them, but I'm sure they've moved on."

"What happened when you were four?" Rex pressed. Ashara flinched as that memory came back.

"I was kidnapped, and taken to Tatooine, where I was sold into slavery" she muttered. "The only good thing that came out of being on Tatooine was meeting Anakin."

"I didn't realize the General grew up on Tatooine", Rex said. Ashara shrugged.

"He doesn't like talking about it, so don't ever bring it up", she threatened. Rex raised his arms in defense. 

"I won't", he promised. "Secret is safe with me."

"Good." The machine next to her beeped, indicating that the diagnostic check was complete. There was nothing out of the ordinary with the ship, but Ashara didn't feel like going anywhere. Not when she and Rex were still talking.

"You want to know more?" she asked softly. Rex nodded. She smiled softly. "Alright. It's a long story, and might take multiple days to tell, what with missions and all."

"I'm willing to wait as long as I need to to get to know who exactly I'm claiming as my best friend."

Ashara laughed and continued her story.