'ello, peoples of the earth!

So first, I get to thank y'all for being so patient (again). You have no idea how much I appreciate that.

Next, I get to thank katierosefun, Zenkid100, Lux's Sister, StarwarsRulz, and CaylithTheGolden for their reviews. I've come to anticipate your reviews by now. XD

And lastly, I get to present Chapter 3 of Safe and Sound. Hope y'all enjoy! :)


Now that the danger had passed, the adrenaline rush that had kept Kira going dissipated, leaving the Padawan tired and drained. Right then, sitting in her fighter as it cruised through hyperspace, all Kira wanted to do was curl up somewhere and sleep. Never mind that she had been resting in her bunk not even an hour beforehand.

However, if one is piloting any sort of spacecraft, it is wise not to fall asleep. So Kira simply stretched her legs as far in front of her as she could, which wasn't much considering the small amount of room in the cockpit, and leaned back in her seat.

The communicator built into the fighter beeped. Kira glanced warily at the button before she pressed it.

Relief shot through Kira's veins when a hologram of Obi-Wan popped up on the small station. The transmission was shaky, but it was something. "Master!" she cried, sitting up.

Obi-Wan offered a tired smile. "Padawan," he greeted Kira. "It's good to see you safe."

"And you as well, Master." Kira relaxed a little. Obi-Wan would make things right. He always did. "What's happening? My troops turned on me; Trapper helped me escape. I don't-"

Obi-Wan interrupted. "I know you have questions, Kira, but they must wait for now. We cannot keep these signals active for long, or the clones may find us."

Kira shifted in her seat. "I understand."

"Good. Now, I need you to listen carefully," Obi-Wan began. "There is no clone presence on Onderon, so that is where we have decided to meet."

We. Obi-Wan wasn't alone. "Who else survived, Master?"

"Kira, we don't have time. When you reach Onderon, fly to the spaceport at Iziz. Jim has agreed to meet you there."

Cadena's husband. Kira briefly wondered if Cadena had also survived.

"Do not worry about your ring; the spaceport will retrieve it for you. I doubt you will be needing it again anyway."

Kira studied the hologram of her Master. "Is that all?"

"It is. I must shut down the signal-"

"Master, please! Did Cadena survive?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "She did survive, but she is not in good health. She has been comatose for a few hours."

Kira bit her lip. "And Master Skywalker? Did he survive as well?"

Even through the fuzzy hologram, Kira could see Obi-Wan stiffen at her inquiry. A pang rushed through her as she wondered if Anakin had indeed been killed along with so many other Jedi. "Forget I said anything, Master. I'm sorry."

"It's all right." But Obi-Wan's face said that the subject was not all right at all. "I will explain everything as best as I can when I get back to Iziz, Kira. Until then, may the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you, Master." Kira reached for the button to terminate the call. Only after Obi-Wan's hologram disappeared did she realize what he had said.

When I get back to Iziz.

That implied that Obi-Wan had already left. So where was he going?

Kira shook her head wearily and sighed as she dropped out of hyperspace to reprogram her coordinates. With a few clicks, she typed the coordinates for Onderon into her nav computer and once again jumped to lightspeed.

One less thing to worry about, Kira thought to herself, relieved at the news of Obi-Wan amd Cadena's survival. However, she did not bother to add that a hundred other things to fret over had been crammed into her brain at once to replace the one.

She hoped to go to sleep that night without dragging any more worries with her.


It was hard to find an empty bay in which to land the fighter. The Iziz spaceport was incredibly crowded, and Kira would prefer to have a minimal number of sentients see her land. She didn't know what news, if any, had reached Onderon yet. For all she knew, the people might already be turned against any Jedi they laid eyes on!

At last, Kira found an empty bay to land in, with only the attendant droid to greet her. When prompted for the landing fee, she produced the appropriate number of credits from the pouch at her waist and dropped them into the droid's metal hand.

"Good. You're here."

Kira turned to face the owner of the voice: Jim. The sandy-haired young man had appeared in the entrance to the bay while Kira had been paying the droid. "Well, I'm not somewhere else," she replied as she approached him, hoping to see one of Jim's winning smiles.

The joke didn't produce the result Kira had hoped for. Instead, Jim's face stayed grim. Kira looked away and made sure her cloak covered the lightsaber at her waist.

"Forgot something." Reaching up, Jim pushed Kira's Padawan braid behind her head. "You might want to put your hood up."

Kira looked back up at Jim. "Yeah, I guess so," she said, following his advice. She gestured towards the bay outside. "Shall we?"

Jim nodded.

After that, all conversation between them ceased. Jim led Kira out of the spaceport and into the bright Onderon sunlight. The two soon disappeared into the sentients that choked the streets of Iziz, Jim walking ahead of Kira. The younger girl had to trot to keep up with his fast pace, for she did not wish to lose him in the crowd.

Kira sensed a mixture of irritation, impatience, and worry in Jim's Force signature as they walked. It was not a long way to the residential area of the city, but the crowds blocked the streets and made their journey a bit more difficult. She could tell he was worried about Cadena and wished to get back to her as soon as possible.

She knew the feeling. She was worried, too.

At last, Jim led Kira onto a quieter street that was not so crowded. Modest homes lined the street on both sides, and only a few sentients were out and about. Jim all but broke into a sprint, startling Kira, who took off after him. "Jim, wait!"

The man did not listen. Instead, he raced up the street to a small beige-colored house. Kira caught up with him at the door, where he fumbled in his pocket for a keycard. Then, as he attempted to unlock the door, he dropped the card to the ground, where it slid into the yard and out of sight.

It took Kira a moment to find the card, but when she did, she held it firmly in her closed hand as she returned to the door. "Let me," she said quietly, sliding the card into the slot.

Jim was patient enough to allow Kira to enter ahead of him. However, when the door shut behind them, he made his way into the hall, leaving Kira in the foyer. She heard the sounds of an opening door and quiet voices before the door shut again. From the extra voice, Kira could only assume that Jim had gotten someone to watch over Cadena while he was gone.

Footsteps approached, and Kira looked up from the hook on which she'd just hung her cloak. She was not expecting to see the familiar Togruta that emerged from the hall. "Ahsoka!"

Ahsoka grinned. "That would be me," she said, clasping her hands behind her back. She gave Kira a quick once-over as she stepped forward. "Look how you've grown!"

Kira laughed. "You act as if I was a little kid when you last saw me," she said. She threw her arms around Ahsoka for a quick hug. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too," Ahsoka said as the girls separated, "although I wish it was under slightly different circumstances."

Kira stepped back. "How's Cadena?"

Ahsoka sighed. "Not well, as I'm sure Obi-Wan told you."

"No improvement?"

"No change at all." Ahsoka laid a hand on Kira's shoulder. "At least she hasn't gotten worse."

"Can I see her?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "Perhaps tomorrow morning," she said. "By then, she will hopefully have woken up."

"Hopefully." Kira shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"Now, I'll bet you're feeling pretty beat up, right?" Ahsoka gestured for Kira to follow her into the hall. "The refresher is the first door on the left, and your room is the last one on the right. You can get cleaned up, then you can go to bed, or you can eat dinner with Jim and me. I'm making some spiced nuna."

Kira couldn't deny that she was feeling rather tired. "One question," she said.

"And what might that be?"

Kira gestured to herself. "I didn't bring a spare change."

"I've thought of that. There are some things I have that don't fit me, but looking at you now, I'd say they'd fit you like a glove. I'll leave them on your bed."

"Thanks, Ahsoka." Kira started for the refresher, then turned back around. "One other question."

"You already asked a question."

Both girls giggled, but then Kira turned serious. "Where's Master Kenobi?"

Ahsoka's grin faded, and a dark look crossed her face. "We'll talk about that later," was all she said.


In the end, Kira opted to eat dinner with Ahsoka and Jim. Delicious scents wafted into the refresher from the kitchen, and by the time Kira exited the shower, she was anxious to taste whatever it was that smelled so savory.

Kira quickly dressed in the light tunic and leggings Ahsoka had left for her, then made her way to the kitchen. She found Ahsoka crouching in front of a high chair, in which the baby boy sat, clapping his hands together. Kira grinned at the sight.

"Alright, sweetums. Got some yum-yum for ya," Ahsoka cooed as she unscrewed the lid of a jar of baby food. "It's gonna be delicious, isn't it, little guy?"

The baby chattered in baby talk.

Ahsoka laughed. "Yeah, it's your dinner. Now open up."

Ahsoka continued to talk to the baby while she fed him. Kira walked around the kitchen and straightened it up a bit, putting away the spices and wiping the counter. She found a stack of mugs in the cabinet and filled three of them with blue milk.

By that time, Ahsoka had finished feeding the baby and proceeded to make a mess while doing so. Well, it wasn't totally Ahsoka's fault. It was the baby's fault, too.

Kira sighed to herself. She really did hate calling Cadena's son "the baby".

"Thanks for cleaning up." Ahsoka's voice brought Kira out of her thoughts, and the younger girl looked up to see the Togruta rinsing the rag she'd used to clean the baby, herself, and the high chair. "Can you go knock on Jim's door and tell him that dinner is ready?"

"Sure. Third on the left, correct?"

"Third on the right."

"Ah." With that, Kira made her way out of the kitchen and into the hall to the correct door. She knocked gently on the door three times. "Jim?" she called quietly. "Dinner's ready."

No answer came from within. Kira frowned and considered trying again, but Ahsoka called from the kitchen. "Just leave him for now, Kira. He'll be out in a minute."

"Okay." Kira turned around and headed back to the kitchen, where Ahsoka had just finished setting down the plates of nuna. She sat down across from the Togruta and took a sip of blue milk, but she felt as if she would burst if her questions were not answered. "Ahsoka, when Master Kenobi contacted me, he'd already left Onderon. Where did he go?"

Ahsoka took her time chewing and swallowing her nuna. Kira didn't take a bite until her friend spoke. "Obi-Wan went back to Coruscant," Ahsoka explained, holding up a hand when Kira opened her mouth to express disbelief. "You remember the 'come home' signal from your initial training?"

Kira nodded, silent for the moment.

"I suspect you didn't receive it, since you didn't have your comlink with you when you arrived." Ahsoka sipped her own blue milk. "But Obi-Wan went to reverse the signal. He'll be back as soon as possible."

Kira's throat was dry. "That's it?"

Ahsoka looked up. Her tone was serious when she spoke. "No," she said slowly. "The Council...Kira, they found Darth Sidious. It was Chancellor Palpatine."

Kira put down her fork, having lost her appetite. "Master Kenobi went to confront him, didn't he?"

Ahsoka nodded. "There's more. There are rumors of a new Sith apprentice, one that Darth Sidious took on after Count Dooku died. Obi-Wan also went to find out if the rumors are true."

Kira bit her lip. "And if so?"

"Then he'll confront that Sith as well."

Kira pushed her chair back and stood. "I think I should go get some sleep," she said quietly. "Thank you for dinner. It...it was delicious."

Neither girl mentioned the fact that Kira hadn't taken but a few small bites of her food, and Kira added her growling stomach to her growing list of worries as she crawled into bed that night.


So I may or may not have made Jim a little OOC - I probably should've let katierosefun look at the chapter before I posted it. After all, she was the one who originally created Jim, so Caroline, I am so, so sorry if I got him out of character.

Kira: So when are you going to tell the readers what you've been doing for the past week?

Me: Er...lots of things, Kira. There's been youth group, the farmer's market gig-

Kira: The OTHER thing.

Me: ...you've been going through my browser history again, haven't you?

Kira: Yep.

Me: *facepalm* Tumblr is a rabbit hole, you guys, even for those who do not officially have a blog.

Kira: And now she's making plans to make one of her own.

Me: Two, in fact. Oh, and if anyone has any info on Dawn Syndulla or the writer that created her, can you please tell me in your review or a PM? I've been driving myself nuts looking for her. I don't ship Kanera, honest I don't, but curiosity killed the cat about this human/Twi'lek that has seemed to cause quite a stir in the Rebels fandom.

Kira: Can I pick a song now?

Me: You interrupted me!

Kira: Too bad. Can I pick a song or not?

Me: NO.

Tablet: California nights make me feel so happy I could die, but I try to stay alive...

Me: You're kidding, right?

Kira: Heh.

Me: For that, you can do the review notice.

Kira: You were going to make me do it anyway. Please review if you liked it, hated it, or wanted to light it up and watch it burn. Thanks in advance, readers.

Me: You're mad at me again, aren't you?

Kira: Yep.

Me: Well, that's that. Thanks for clicking in, peoples, and may the Force be with you always! Now! *slides into chair* Time to write some whump! Let me think...Kanan or Obi?

Kira: WHAT THE KRIFF!? *snatches tablet*

Me: Hey, get back here! Give that back!

*wrestling match ensues*