Better Left Hidden
Chapter 1: Morning
Ahsoka rose from her bed with a yawn. The sun shone brightly through the windows, making little motes of dust dance in its cheerful rays. The young Padawan slowly blinked the sleep from her eyes. It was rare to have time to just relax in the Jedi Temple, so often were she and her Master sent on missions to fight on the front lines of the war that she relished any time to herself that she had. Well, it really wasn't time all to herself. There was almost always something to be done at the temple, whether it was sparring or studying or something else, a moment of peace was rare. But seeing as she and her Master had just returned from a rather difficult mission in the Mid Rim, the perky Padawan wasn't very inclined to dwell on the negatives, but that task grew harder with each passing day. People were fighting and dying, and nothing seemed sure anymore, but if she wasn't around to cheer the troops, who would?
Casting the dark thoughts from her mind, Ahsoka softly padded from her room. As she entered the main living quarters, she cast a lazy glance around the room. Machine parts and tools were strewn around the room in a disorganized mess, giving testament to who she shared her rooms with. Skyguy was always tinkering with something or other, well, when he was actually in their rooms that was. A cursory search with the Force revealed that said-Master was indeed in their shared living quarters. Ahsoka nonchalantly flicked a head-tail off of her shoulder, behind her head. What a rarity.
When they were back at the Jedi Temple from missions, he always went somewhere. "Out exploring Coruscant" her boot, she didn't know exactly what he was up to, but she knew it wasn't that. However, since he always returned cheered up and less gloomy, she wasn't going to begrudge him his happiness. Force knows, they need all the happiness they can get.
No sooner than the thought had crossed her mind than her Master emerged from his quarters.
"Morning, Snips."
"Morning, Skyguy. So, you actually spent the night here. What? Did your hot date cancel on you?" Ahsoka jokingly replied with a wry smile.
"Haha, very funny, Padawan," Anakin shot back, scratching his head semi-nervously, Ahsoka noticed. "But I thought you would have been happy to see me here, Snips, after all, I am your biggest role model." Anakin teasingly smiled.
"Heh, as if," Ahsoka scoffed, barely able to suppress a smile. "Actually since you've been away so often, I just haven't had anyone to look up to. It's just so distressing, so Master Kenobi has filled your spot as my role model." At this point the young Togruta just couldn't hold in her grin any longer, and it spread wide across her face.
"Ow, that hurts, Snips." Anakin clutched a hand to his heart in mock pain. "I haven't gone anywhere when we've been on missions. Well, I just suppose that means that Obi-Wan will have to take over your training from now on, but, if that's what you want…" Anakin trailed off menacingly. He sauntered over to the couch and sat down with a confident smile plastered on his face.
Long gone were the days when Ahsoka feared that her Master would refuse her as his Padawan and return her to the Jedi Temple, but the thought of Master Kenobi as her Master… She shuddered at the thought. It wasn't that she wasn't fond of the elder Jedi, it was impossible not to be. Skyguy would deny it at any chance he got, but he looked up to the older man as a brother. Seeing as Ahsoka thought of her Master as her older brother, that made Master Kenobi family by extension. However, that didn't mean that she wanted to have to sit through one of his lectures on the value of negotiating versus fighting. The Jedi Council had definitely done right when they made Skyguy her Master. She just couldn't imagine it any other way.
"Alright, Skyguy, you got me," Ahsoka teased, waving her hands in the air in an over-exaggerated display of defeat as she followed him towards the sofa. "You know no matter how stubborn, annoying, reckless, overconfident, bossy-"
"Now hold it right there, Snips. You should be speaking to your Master with more respect," Anakin said with a smug grin. "Besides you're not exactly perfect either, and I'm none of those things." He put his feet up on the table in front of the couch.
"Yeah. Right. And I'm a Kowakian monkey-lizard," Ahsoka jabbed with a chuckle.
"Of course you are, Snips. I can just see the resemblance." Anakin held his hands up to form a frame around her face.
"Yeah," was Ahsoka's dry reply.
Anakin started chuckling. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll grow out of your monkey-lizard looks."
"Says the man who looks like a wampa," Ahsoka chortled.
"Hey." Anakin's hand flew to his hair, frantically trying to smooth the wampa-like mess.
Ahsoka laughed. "I'll see you later, Skyguy. I heard Master Unduli and Barriss got back from a mission yesterday, and I want to see if I can find her."
"Go on, Snips, you'll do what you want whether or not I give you permission to." Anakin wryly grinned at his now vanishing Padawan. He knew how close she was to Barriss, and it was important that she have friends. He himself hadn't had very many friends among his peers when he was Obi-Wan's Padawan, and it was nice to see Ahsoka and Barriss together. It really was quite amazing how the two very different girls could form such a strong bond of friendship. Anakin smiled to himself once more and ventured out into the spacious hallway to see if he could find himself some breakfast in a certain Senator's apartment.
Ahsoka stepped out of the turbolift as the doors opened. After failing to find Barriss in a timely manner, her stomach had called her to a quick meal at the Mess Hall. Now she strode down the tall-pillared corridor, the bright sunlight shining in through the high windows. Outside the boundaries of the temple, speeders rushed to and fro in the morning traffic as citizens of Coruscant scurried to where they needed to be. The young Padawan reached out her senses in the Force, searching for the familiar presence of her Mirialan best friend.
"Hey there, youngling."
Ahsoka spun around to see Wylhen Terr, a young Jedi Knight, taking long graceful strides toward her. He had silky, chin-length black hair and dark brown eyes. Many of the girls at the Jedi Temple swooned over him. They thought he was handsome. Ahsoka thought he was repulsive. Wylhen, or "Wyl" as he was often called, was a pompous, overconfident, arrogant jerk, who often leaned toward the theatrical. She remembered from her time as a youngling, overhearing the Masters discussing how they feared that he would never be chosen as a Padawan. He was too hotheaded, too rash, and too un-Jedi like they said. Eventually Jedi Knight Tral had taken him on as a Padawan. Tral claimed that the boy had much potential and showed great dedication to becoming a Jedi, he only needed the opportunity. Wyl had passed the Trials of Knighthood quite recently, and enjoyed acting like he was better than everyone and bossing people around when his Padawan braid was not yet two months gone.
Ahsoka turned around reluctantly. Her Master wouldn't like it if she started a fight not yet one day back at the Jedi Temple. "Wylhen," Ahsoka acknowledged coolly, her head held a bit higher than usual in the air.
"What are you up to, youngling?" Wylhen sneered. "Shouldn't you be, oh I don't know, chasing after your oh-so-precious Chosen One?"
The Togruta Padawan bit her lip. She could've sworn that he was deliberately goading her. Master Tral always spoke highly of Wylhen's dedication to the Jedi and to the Jedi Code, but now she wasn't so sure. "Well, Wyl, you see, I decided to get breakfast a bit earlier this morning. My Master decided to catch up later. Have you seen Barriss around? I've been looking for her, but I haven't been able to find her," Ahsoka could barely keep a civil tone of voice as she stiffly replied.
"Barriss? How would you expect me to know of the whereabouts of such an insignificant youngling?" Wylhen replied scathingly, a dark glint in his eyes.
He must not have liked me calling him Wyl, Ahsoka thought. After all, she was just a Padawan. "Well, I appreciate the chat, goodbye now." Ahsoka marched away, her back ramrod straight. He and his pompous attitude made her want to do some very un-Jedi like things, and giving in to her reckless nature wouldn't at all be wise. As much as she wanted to go back there and slap the sneer off of Wylhen's face, it wouldn't do to disappoint Skyguy and, more importantly, be left behind at the Temple on guard duty in the Jedi Archives while Skyguy went off on some dangerous mission without her to watch his back. Quite frankly, she didn't know how he had gotten along without her. A small smile graced Ahsoka's features as she thought about her impulsive Master. Her musings were interrupted by the blinking of the comlink that she carried with her on her belt. She answered the transmission, recognizing the incoming signal as that of her Master.
"What do you need, Skyguy?" Ahsoka said, letting a smile break out across her face as the small blue form of her Master appeared in the palm of her hand.
"The Jedi Council has requested our presence," Anakin said solemnly.
"Another assignment? Already? We haven't even been back for a full day!" Ahsoka exclaimed, a look of disbelief on her face.
"I know, Snips, I was hoping for more time too," Anakin replied. Ahsoka noticed that Skyguy had a bitter expression on his face. "But this war requires us all to make sacrifices. Look at it this way, the sooner we get out there, the sooner we can bring this war to an end." Anakin's face was set in a determined expression.
Ahsoka sighed, and then smiled. "Let's go scrap some tinnies, Master. I'll meet you outside the Council Chambers."
"I'll see you there."
"Wait, Master, are you in a speeder right now?" Ahsoka asked slyly.
The Jedi Knight's image fizzled and disappeared as he ended the transmission.
Ahsoka grinned, immediately cheered. Oh, that Skyguy, what ever would she do without him? She turned around the way she had come and began briskly walking back down the wide corridor. She smiled wider and then began to lightly jog, determined to beat her Master to the Council Chambers.
A/N: Hello, again readers. I'm taking advantage of the temporarily low level of homework to update now. This week I have four huge tests, two of them midterms, so don't expect the next update until next weekend at the earliest. I hope you liked the chapter. There wasn't much action, but I wanted to try to get the character interactions down and introduce one of my OCs before I really jumped into the thick of things. By the way, the way I imagined Wylhen's name to be pronounced is "Will-en." I tried to base Wylhen off of a conversation that Obi-Wan and Yoda had in Episode II. Now, onto my reviewers, as of this update:
Alijoe13 - I read your story and loved it, so getting a compliment from you is way awesome. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. And thanks for your support of the slow updates. :)
LoveLasey - Thanks for the compliment and for taking the time to review. :)
Evil Tree - Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate the constructive criticism as well. What I was trying to do was put emphasis on her trying to talk herself out of it, but I understand if it came off kind of repetitive. But, like I said thanks for the advice, it makes me a better writer. :)
Christina - Thanks, and thanks for reviewing. I do love my cliffhangers. :)
You should know that when I saw that I got reviews I danced around my room like a deranged madman singing "I got reviews," over and over again. Those of you who read the story and didn't review, don't you feel so bad knowing that you didn't contribute to my euphoria? Well, review this chapter and make up for it! I won't impose a "I won't update unit I get x amount of reviews" because 1) I hate it when writers do that, and 2) I would never be able to have the will power to hold off updating until I got so many reviews. However, reviews are my motivation, and they do hold some sway on how quickly I update because if I know that there are people out there who like my story and are waiting for an update, it will put more pressure on me to update. So please review.
~JediRunnerGirl
