The sun had barely started rising when Commander Rex woke up in a cold sweat. Though he did his best to steady his breathing as his wide eyes glanced around the room, he could still feel his heart thundering against his ribcage. It was just a dream, he tried to convince himself. But the sound of cannibalistic screams still rang in his ears; he could still taste the coppery flavor of blood in the air.

Despite it being early, the clone noticed he was the only person left in bed and was thankful; he'd sweat so much that he'd left wet marks on his pillow and on areas of the bed-sheets where his bare skin had been exposed. His leather armor stuck to him like glue, leaving him with no other option than to take a shower to wash the remnants of the nightmare away.

"Hey, good morning."

He nearly leaped off the mattress from surprise at the sound of her voice, despite how calming and gentle it actually was. Rex's eyes flitted over to the doorway where Molindi's form stood, her shoulder pressed against the door-frame and her arms hanging at her sides. She was back in most of her own leather armor, though she'd left off the chest piece to expose her shirt beneath; he remembered her physical trauma from the day before and felt a wave of sympathy for her remaining pain.

"Oh uh, yeah, good morning," He stuttered through the sentence in an attempt to regain his composure. Although it wasn't hard for the woman to notice just how on edge he looked. Her expression changed from one of kindness to a slight scowl of concern.

"You okay?" She questioned and started walking towards the bed.

"No no- I mean, yes. I am," He spluttered once more and quickly got to his feet. But the man must've been sleeping harder than he'd originally thought; the minute he tried to stand, he collapsed to his hands and knees onto the hard ground as stars danced around the corners of his vision.

"Woah, easy there," Lindi quickly made her way across the room and knelt down in front of him, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. "You sure you're alright? You look kinda sick, maybe you should lay back down-"

Her hand was on his shoulder- he couldn't explain it, but something in him had shifted. Rex had been aware of the subtle touches since they'd met, the elbow-nudges and occasional brush of fingertips. But now instead experiencing of the usual giddiness that came with such contact, it was drowned out by a blaring alarm going off in his mind. It was as if her fingers were glowing metal brands, each one sending a terrifying image from his dream only hours prior of her drenched in blood, fear running rampant through her eyes. He jerked his body away from hers, involuntarily but it still left a somewhat hurt glimmer in her eyes.

"I'm fine," He tried to assure her, clearing his throat, forcing a smile and doing his best to act nonchalant. Lindi's only response was a nod in understanding, though the concern in her expression had shifted into a stoic feature.

"Right," She responded, avoiding eye-contact and rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Sorry, just making sure," The woman spoke, then began to walk back towards the door. "Axel and the General went out to grab us some breakfast. They should be back in a few minutes." Without even a glance over her shoulder or waiting for his response, she left the bedroom as Rex watched her walk away.

Even as she was speaking, the clone could already feel the regret turning into a ball inside his stomach.

It wasn't her fault that he'd had that dream, at least he didn't think it was her fault. Though he hadn't known her too long, he knew for a fact that she wasn't a malicious type. There was no way she'd somehow forced that dream onto him, it just wasn't in her nature. According to record, this was also only her second mission since recovering mentally from that traumatic experience; there was no possibility that Molindi was ready to touch that memory, let alone share it so vividly with someone like him.

Yes, they had a connection. There was no denying it. But something gave Rex the feeling of pause. Not a feeling of complete abandonment; he still wanted to pursue something of potential with her (if he could sneak it past Axel). Just a feeling of hesitation. He needed to process what he'd witnessed, and who had spoken to him in his mind through his vision.

Bren needed his attention. He didn't know how or why, but something in Rex's gut told him that this wouldn't be the last of such visits.

***

The Chitauris' hospitality wasn't something to be trifled with.

When General Skywalker and Axel went to grab breakfast for Rex and Molindi, the elephantine people insisted on giving them the the best of everything: the fluffiest eggs, ripest fruit, most savory meats. Upon arrival back to the guest house, Molindi was shocked by the bounty they'd returned with.

"It's been said once but I'm going to say it again: This mission has been off-the-walls bat-shit crazy, but I have never had such great food in my life before," Axel groaned through a mouthful of blue fruit, the juice dripping down his chin. He wasn't wrong; the group had been spoiled with food from the Twarans only a couple nights beforehand, and were now feasting once more at the hands of the Chitauri. If there wasn't a constant cloud of danger looming over their heads, this would've been the vacation they'd always wanted.

About half an hour later, that same little girl from the night before, Yenti, arrived at their doorstep and beckoned them to come out into the square to join the Chitauri in their festivities. Music poured from every windowsill, Chitauri women in celebratory garments sang cheerful melodies while the rest of the elephantine people danced throughout the streets. Despite Axel's protests, there was nothing he could do to stop the little girl from taking his hand and playfully pulling the clone into the fray, leaving Molindi, Rex, and Anakin to watch with amused smirks from the doorway of their temporary home.

"These people really know how to throw a party," The woman chuckled, her eyes on her best friend as he clumsily tried to match Yenti's steps, or at least keep up with the child's foreign movements among the clusters of giant dancing creatures. She didn't know for sure if it was the merry mood spread throughout the village, or if it was Rex's reaction to her earlier that morning, but something inside Molindi wanted to join in on the fun as well. She wanted to feel good, to feel free, and she hadn't truly felt that way since before Bren's death. As painful as the past was, she couldn't fight the urge to hop into the chaos too. "Well," She started with a sigh, then smirked over her shoulder at the remaining two men. "Wish me luck."

***

Both the general and clone commander felt a wave of surprise rush through their spines when they witnessed Molindi step out of the guest house and into the hustle and bustle of the square. They shouldn't have been shocked; it had already been established at this point that she was a tad bit crazy. But they did find it charming how she asked one of the other Chitauri children to dance and, sheepishly, they accepted her invitation before the commander whisked them away into the dancing not too far from where Axel and Yenti were.

"Spill it."

Rex raised an eyebrow at the Jedi general's sudden words, but let out a sigh of defeat when he realized there was no point in denying it; Rex knew what Anakin was getting at and he didn't need to be a jedi to figure it out.

"How did you-"

"Because if you hadn't done something, she would've asked you to dance instead of leaving us in the dust," Anakin smirked, although his words struck Rex a little harder than they'd been intended to. The jedi noticed it when Rex averted his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Hey man, I'm just messing with you. Come on, tell me what happened so I can fix it like the love-doctor that I am." Anakin assured as he lifted a glass of water to his lips and began to drink. Rex rolled his eyes, but chuckled at his friend's statement before taking a deep breath, glancing up at the crowd to make sure Molindi hadn't waltzed into ear-shot, and diving into his story.

"I had an...interesting dream about her last night." The general nearly choked as he quickly set down his drink and began to cough. Rex's eyes widened and his cheeks flushed. "Not like that!" He exclaimed in a panic and shook his head for emphasis while the Jedi's hacking turned into laughter.

"I-" cough "-didn't say anything," the choking sounds evaporated and the Jedi wiped the excess liquid from his lips with the back of his hand. "Although that would explain the awkwardness a lot better."

"It wasn't like that," Rex huffed. He leaned his back against the wall and ran a stressed hand over his scalp, his eyes finding their way back to the floor and he folded his arms over his chest. "It didn't even feel like a dream, it was like I'd been sucked into a memory that wasn't my own." All joking had left the room; Anakin was already intrigued by the words Rex was telling him.

"What kind of memory?"

Rex took another deep breath and glanced out the doorway at Molindi, at the cheerful woman who currently looked nothing like the horrified prey he'd seen in his mind's eye only hours ago. Here among a crowd of strangers, she'd opened up like a flower finally receiving sunlight for the first time in years. Here she danced, leaped, threw her head back and laughed in delight despite her injuries. Her face showed nothing but freedom, nothing but a joy Rex had only dreamed of obtaining someday. She wasn't having a good time, Molindi was the good time. She'd absorbed it like a sponge til all her pain disappeared and she was one with the gleeful sensation around her. Rex's heart ached in his chest.

"One from when she was on Ganta-Nego."

Anakin was silent; Rex lifted his gaze, the expression on his face turning to one of pure sympathy for the beautiful, damaged woman.

"And I feel like it's only a matter of time before I witness another."