Disclaimer: Star Wars: The Clone Wars belongs to Disney and is the intellectual property of George Lucas and Dave Filoni, the Destroyer of Canon. There is no money made off of this; I'm simply destroying the sandcastles.
Title: Journey of Revolution; Consequences
Original Author: emjalen, formerly Tahiri Veila Solo
Author who Adopted the Story: Jade_Max
Timeframe: During Season 3, about six months before The Citadel.
Prequel: Catalyst by Jade_Max
Summary: Rising tensions on a mission where a sixteen year old Ahsoka must act as a burlesque dancer and Rex her hustler push the two to the edge, and, when safe on the Resolute, the tension explodes into a passionate night between captain and commander. In the aftermath, however, serious misunderstandings between Ahsoka, Rex, and the other troopers of the 501st, threaten the two's relationship.
Author's note: Some of you have undoubtedly read this story before, and pieces will be familiar. Anything that is from the original Journey of Revolution written by emjalen will be used with permission. She is also the beta for this fic.
Background of the fic: Journey of Revolution was originally published in the late spring, early summer of 2012 by emjalen, formerly Tahiri Veila Solo. This was her first real story on FFN- the first story she really loved and got amazing feedback on. When she came up with a wild idea for a sequel, cause and effect led to the revision of this story.
In December of 2012, I engaged emjalen in a discussion as Journey of Revolution had spawned an idea for what had happened before, a prequel of sorts, and I asked her permission to write it - with her input and final say on the contents to ensure it would mesh.
Together, we came up for an outline of Catalyst, spawning multiple discussions, and a brainstorming session on a re-write of Journey of Revolution - which emjalen said she'd been thinking of doing. While I worked on Catalyst, emjalen began reworking Journey of Revolution.
While I finished Catalyst, the unfortunate canceling of TCW as a TV series combined with losing her outline and data on her computer when the hard drive died, led emjalen to abandon the Journey of Revolution revision.
In July 2013, she gave me permission to adopt it.
Catalyst was written as a prequel to this story. While both I and emjalen recommend reading it as it will be referenced, you won't need to in order to understand this story. The background knowledge within it, however, will enrich your read of Journey of Revolution; Consequences.
WARNING! This story is AU and deserves its rating due to mentions and/or insinuations, of prostitution, underage sex, rape, and violence. Please, if any of those topics will make you feel uncomfortable hit the back button now.
This prologue isn't intended to fit into the story timeline. It merely provides background for those who haven't read either the original version of JoR or Catalyst. The prologue is written by emjalen and used with permission.
Prologue
Interlude in CT-21-0408 a.k.a. ARC Trooper Echo's head
Not many people noticed Echo. Though he was an ARC trooper, he was quiet. The only brother quieter than Echo was Chopper, and Chopper wasn't a brother person. When Echo did speak, it was usually to spout some fact or regulation or, on rare occasions, the exact lyrics to a bawdy drinking song. He appeared to be nothing like his closest brother, Fives.
Echo, however, saw and heard a lot more than his brothers gave him credit for. He knew things no one else did.
He knew that General Kenobi kept a very illegal bottle of an alcoholic substance stashed under his bunk and drank it when Skywalker crashed yet another fighter or ended up in a bacta tank.
He knew that Jesse as angry at Gus because of something that happened on Kamino that had humiliated Jesse. Equally, he knew that Gus was angry at Jesse for what he thought was a complete overreaction and that the last time Gus had seen Jesse, he had spiked Jesse's caff with a laxative.
He knew that his General was far fonder of Senator Amidala than a Jedi should be. His eyes lit up whenever he saw the Senator, and he muttered a lot under his breath, usually swear words, when he heard she had taken larger risks than was expected of her station.
He knew that Kix had a serious disagreement with Coric on how to treat nerve injuries and the two hadn't spoken for three days because of it. He knew that it had stemmed from Coric treating a man from Torrent Company who hadn't healed right and was sent back to Kamino.
He knew that Fives had once killed a separatist agent by breaking his neck instead of shooting him and that, while the incident had shaken his brother, it hadn't shaken him near as much as it should have.
He knew that Commander Cody had been in the same training rotation as Sergeant Slick on Kamino and that the commander had been surly for a month after the sergeant was revealed as a traitor.
He knew that Gree admired his General more than he should and that she had cried once on his shoulder after she thought her Padwan, Barriss Offee, was dead.
He knew that the Resolute's cook, a brother named Jak, secretly spiked the caff for the third shift.
Despite not gossiping, Echo knew a lot more than anyone gave him credit for. What he didn't know though...
He didn't know what was going to happen to his Commander, Jedi Padwan Ahsoka Tano, the one female every man in Torrent Company would die for.
He didn't know what would happen when the Jedi found out how attached Ahsoka was not only to Torrent Company, but to their Captain.
He didn't know if she would die in battle, another too young Jedi casualty.
He didn't know how she would handle her ever growing anger at the Jedi Council.
He didn't know if General Skywalker would ever see his Padwan as the growing young woman she was. Or if General Kenobi would ever see her as anything but his former apprentice's Padwan.
He didn't know how his Captain and Commander were going to handle the relationship that was budding between them.
He didn't know how Ahsoka would react if Rex died in battle.
He didn't know if Rex would allow himself to ever truly enjoy Ahsoka's instinctive trust and fierce loyalty.
He didn't know if Ahsoka knew that Rex tried to see her as nothing else but a Jedi Padwan because if Rex let himself see her as a woman, he'd want her too much.
He didn't know if Ahsoka would let herself fall in love with Rex, or if Rex would ever admit to himself that he was in love with the Commander.
There was a lot Echo didn't know about his Commander and Captain, and the uncertainties woke him up at night.
Most of all, Echo didn't know what had happened on the secret mission that had resulted in a bleeding Ahsoka, dressed in nothing more than a skimpy stage outfit, showing up at the Resolute with huge eyes and a too quiet, overprotective Rex.
No. Echo knew none of this, but he was soon going to realize that something had deeply shaken the relationship between his Captain and Commander. Shaken it so deeply that Echo didn't know what would happen between the two of them.
A catalyst had changed the dynamic between them, changed them. Ahsoka and Rex - their persons, their relationship, what made them Captain and Commander - was visibly balanced on the edge of a knife.
One misstep in fixing it, whatever it was, well... an unknown, incomprehensible flame had already burnt them to ash.
Either those ashes would drift apart, thrown away by a cruel wind, or Ahoska and Rex would rise from the ashes together, a phoenix reborn.