Chapter Text
Blaster fire flung to and fro in all directions. Sparks flew from wanton destruction. War raged. In the centre of it all stood Ahsoka - only 15 years of age.
But little Ahsoka was no ordinary girl. She never had been. Only 15 years of age - and yet, already a Jedi padawan.
There she stood, like a rock in the rapids; saber held aloft in a defensive pose. She batted one blaster bolt away, then parried another, hitting a B1-series battle droid squarely between the eyes. It dropped like a mannequin, no match against her incredible reflexes.
But for every droid to fall, ten more seemed to sprout in its place. Platoons advanced over the hill. Ahsoka sensed a blaster bolt aimed at her hip, and dropped her lightsaber to block it. But the blade dipped just a little too low-
-and Ahsoka was seared by burning plasma.
She cried out, dropping to one knee. Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed - there were too many enemies on all sides - and Ahsoka stared into their blank, black eyes as they prepared another barrage…
There was a flash of brown robes and blue blade in front of her, as her Jedi master Anakin Skywalker arrived. With a flick of his sword, he blocked the blasts effortlessly, giving her time to get to her feet.
“You okay, snips?” he yelled amid the raging gunfire.
Ahsoka shot him a grateful nod. She could always rely on her master.
Then, she turned back to the army before them - staring down the rapids once again.
Minutes later, it was all over.
After the relief had subsided, and the bodies of fallen clones collected, it was time for some quiet drinks around the camp site, beneath the cover of alien fauna. As Ahsoka sat on a munitions crate, waiting for Anakin to dress the burn on her leg, she thought: it all feels so normal.
The moon was Arstadt-9, a strategic military base for the separatists, on the edge of known space - now one of countless worlds ravaged, for the sake of the Clone Wars. Lately, it had felt like each new day brought another battle.
Ahsoka huddled into her fluffy coat, tailored specifically for togruta montrals. The night was settling in, and it was cold. She watched as Anakin struggled with the nozzle of a bacta-spray canister. “This stupid thing’s gotten stuck,” he growled.
“I’m fine, master,” Ahsoka said. “No need to rush.” This wasn’t quite true - the blistered flesh on her hip had been irritating her all evening, and the numbingly cold breeze didn’t help. But Anakin wasn’t listening - something had caught his attention.
“Hey, take a look at this,” he said, reaching towards some ground-level shrubbery.
“I don’t really feel like a lesson in botany right now…” she muttered, but she looked nevertheless.
In the centre of the heavy concave leaves, glowing sap had begun to bubble up. Anakin grabbed a handful of the sap and held it out to her.
“Take some of this and rub it on you,” he said.
“Are you nuts?” Ahsoka said.
“You don’t trust me?” Anakin smiled back.
Sighing, Ahsoka rubbed his hand. The gooey sap stuck to her, and she slathered it on her burn. There was a strange tingling sensation, and a fizzing sound… then suddenly, the pain - so dull she had almost forgotten it was there - began to subside.
“What was that?” Ahsoka marvelled.
“I forget the name,” Anakin shrugged. “But I read about it in the mission brief for the Arstadt system. Their plant sap has medicinal properties unlike anywhere in the galaxy - great for when your insides get a little cooked,” he grinned.
"Never been on a world like this one before," Ahsoka muttered, eyeing the strange sap. In the fading light of the evening, luminous veins had started spreading through the leaves. It was pretty, in a quiet sort of way.
"Well, this war takes us to all the interesting places," Anakin remarked - sarcastically, as usual. "When I was growing up, everything was sand and dirt. All the stories I heard of distant planets... never seemed fully real. Becoming a Jedi - it expands your horizons."
Ahsoka was taken aback - very rarely did Anakin ever mention his childhood.
He seemed to notice her bemusement, and chuckled. "Sorry - I’m oversharing."
"You can stop being a teacher for one night, you know," Ahsoka smirked. "Relax for once."
"Being a Jedi master is a full-time commitment, Snips - especially in your case."
"Riiiight. Thanks a bunch, master."
They sat for a moment - actually relaxing, for once. Ahsoka broke the silence.
"You're right, I guess," she said. "This war is awful - but in just a year, I've already explored more of the galaxy than I ever dreamed of. It's so much bigger than I imagined as a youngling."
"You are a youngling."
"When I was... youngling-er.”
Anakin sighed. “I wish you could explore it without war, like I did when I was your age. When we have peace and order again…”
“We could go on missions of our own, couldn’t we, master?” Ahsoka said.
“We could. We could try to map out the unknown regions, do the things Jedi have been too afraid to do for centuries…” He pointed to Arstadt-9’s atmosphere. “It’s right above us, beyond a few dwarf planets and empty space. Who knows how many other worlds are out there?” Ahsoka’s gaze followed his pointed finger upwards into the vastness of space. It was fully night-time now, and stars began to wink into view across the sky.
“I can’t wait to find out,” she said.