Green Eyes


The Kaminoans never purposely created it, and if they had given it any attention they would hardly have taken credit for it, either. Their most valuable creation yet, the clone army, had one unexpected by-product: they were a frighteningly accurate and efficient rumor mill. Private communication within the confines of their helmets helped the soldiers spread gossip, but they were also known to huddle in small groups about the ship, sharing bits and pieces of information they learned throughout their daily routines.

Ahsoka noticed one small group, helmets on their belts, gathered to one side of a corridor near the sleeping cabins as she headed to the bridge for the first time since boarding.

"Are you sure?" one clone whispered.

"Yeah, heard it from Nurv, who heard it from Appo, who said he saw her!"

"Appo's a reliable source," the third soldier agreed.

Closer to the bridge, more groups were huddled down different halls. The soldiers thought they were being quiet, but Tortugan montrals were much more sensitive than human ears. While attempting not to eavesdrop, the padawan caught whispers of, "Is she really here?" "How long is she with us?" and "I can't wait to see her!"

Since when was there another female among the 501st? It was obvious the soldiers weren't talking about Ahsoka. She walked by Jesse, Kix, and Hardcase in one corridor and their conversation immediately puttered out. The clones acknowledged her presence with only nods and friendly smiles instead of the cheery greetings and conversations they normally spared her at the start of a mission. Once she passed, they quickly sank back into their whispered gossip about that ambiguous, illustrious her. The Togruta squared her shoulders and quickened her pace.

Ahsoka stepped foot on the bridge and found her. Standing with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin and Admiral Yularen were Commander Bly and Aayla Secura. Ahsoka felt like running back through the corridors and smacking each gossiping clone upside the head. Were they really so enamored by a Twi'lek Jedi? Why? After all, most of them had served with General Secura before. Although it miffed Ahsoka that she was apparently the only one out of the loop, the clones' star-struck attitudes ate at her even more.

"Snips! There you are," Anakin called. He broke away from the high-ranking group at the navigation console to approach his padawan. Ahsoka's expression must have been clouded with more confusion than she realized, because her master explained, "The fleet is transporting General Secura and a handful of the 327th to Bothawui while we go to Taloraan." Skywalker and Kenobi's diplomatic mission to the Republic-leaning planet of Taloraan was to ensure continuation of the badly needed shipments of tibanna, an agent that maximized blaster weapon damage. It was only supposed to be the masters and Ahsoka landing on the planet, for which they would depart the fleet in a shuttle once they reached orbit.

Ahsoka looked at her master quizzically. "I'm not up-to-date on all my star charts, but I'm pretty sure Bothawui and Taloraan are nowhere near each other." She glanced at Secura and Bly, almost sizing them up, her shoulders tense. "And last I checked, Master Secura had her own fleet."

"Stow the attitude, young one," Anakin said. With no effort toward intimidation, he towered over his padawan, his arms folded across his chest. "Her fleet is occupied at the moment. We were the first to ship out since the Zillo beast incident shut down travel, so we're giving them a lift. Is this going to be a problem?" His hard gaze cowed the fight out of her. Anakin tossed his head towards the door. "You can work out your emotions in the training room."

The most gossip spread where the most clones gathered. The workout corner in the training room, always popular with the troopers, was teeming with talk of her. Most of the soldiers had completely given up the illusion of working out in favor of just sitting on the machines and prattling with each other. Luckily, their chatter didn't reach as far as the empty scrimmage ring, even for Ahsoka's montrals. As she stretched on the mat, a soldier entered her peripheral vision to lean against a corner post of the ring.

"Need a training partner?" he asked. Ahsoka looked over and smiled at Fives in his painted armor.

"My master says I need to 'work out my emotions.' How's your hand-to-hand fighting?"

Fives' right eye noticeably twitched. "Y'know, I think Echo's not busy..."

"Fives!"

The clone gave a quick roll of his eyes before ducking under the single perimeter fibra-rope, setting his helmet down in the corner. "The last time I helped you, I left with a concussion."

GAR-perfected disarmed fighting favored using elbows and knees against an opponent's weak points. It required almost constant close contact, utterly different from Ahsoka's training in the temple, which relied on evasion more than anything else. It was challenging for her in its disparity, but the Togruta was adamant about learning as many styles of fighting as possible. The two started slow, practicing the forms Ahsoka was least familiar with first as she recalled the motions. Even if she were hitting hard, the armored clone felt little of it. There was much instruction from Fives, one of the better grapplers in the 501st, but hardly any conversation. Their movement steadily picked up speed.

"Fives, have you heard about anyone new onboard?" the Togruta asked finally, tapping her elbow to his sternum. It hit his chestplate with a dull thump. Fives trapped her in an arm bar within two moves.

"You mean the rumor that there's a woman on the ship?" he returned. Ahsoka straightened, disentangling herself and backing away from her partner a pace. In answer to Fives' uncomprehending expression, Ahsoka gestured to her own body.

"I meant a real woman, kid."

She crossed her arms; her white eye markings fell into a straight line. A laugh came from over Fives' shoulder as Echo approached the scrimmage ring, his helmet nestled under one arm. He propped an elbow on a corner post and let his arm rest along the fibra-rope.

"You need to give him a minute to remove the foot from his mouth, sir," Echo said, smiling at his glaring brother.

"Don't get all offended!" Fives retorted. "You know what I'm trying to say. How did we even get on this topic?"

"Why is everyone so excited about this? I've never seen so many secretive huddles on the ship before," Ahsoka huffed. Despite her childish pout, there was a belligerent slant to her eye markings. Fives and Echo exchanged irresolute stares before the former muddled through an answer.

"She has this..." he paused to think, his hands bouncing at chest level, palms facing his body and fingers splayed, "presence. A prominent... strength of character." Echo hid his laugh in a snort. Ahsoka's eye markings sunk to a dangerous angle.

A group of clones in full kit entered the training room then, preoccupied with their own conversations. Ahsoka couldn't help thinking they reminded her of younglings enamored with sharing new secrets on their way to lessons in the Temple. Echo, watching them curiously, slipped his helmet on, only to chuckle through the vents moments later.

"Looks like we're going to be graced with the general's presence soon enough."

Fives' immediate smile was forced off his face when Ahsoka's elbow caught him hard in the side of his jaw. The clone stumbled away from her, swearing into his hand.

"Oh, thought you were paying attention," she scoffed over her shoulder, ambling to the opposite side of the ring. Her unrepentant air earned a scowl from him. The Togruta put her hands on her hips and tossed her gaze from one soldier to the other. "Since when is everyone like this about a woman?" Ahsoka asked.

"What do you mean 'since when?'" Fives wiggled his chin with his hand to ensure it still worked. "Oh right," he said distractedly, "you're not allowed at the clubs."

"Don't antagonize her," Echo quickly interceded. It was surprising he was paying any attention to the conversation; with his visor angled downward, it appeared he was preoccupied with the information sharing happening inside his helmet.

"Gonna stay in there all day?" Fives asked his brother. He started circling the ring cautiously, keeping Ahsoka in his sights at all times now.

"What? This is good intel."

Not long after the two began scrimmaging again, General Secura, flanked by Commander Bly and Captain Rex, entered the training room. The Twi'lek gave the area a quick inspection from near the door before conferring with her second in command. Noticeably, a majority of the 501st clones stopped what they were doing to watch the Jedi, including Fives and Echo; the latter spun around to view her. Moments later, a swinging kick to Fives' calves knocked him flat on his back.

"Blast it, kid, if I'm not lookin' at you, I'm not ready!" He slowly got to his feet, muttering, "You're gonna be the death of me." Ahsoka paced territorially at the opposite side of the ring. Despite the flare of his temper, she could feel his anger dwindle away when he looked back at the Twi'lek.

Ahsoka folded her arms across her chest as three clones in their workout uniforms joined Echo at the perimeter of the ring, having migrated from the far-off exercise corner. The sniper team, Gamma and Longshot, and one of the newer faces in the 501st, Tup, took this opportunity of their well-positioned teammates to better watch General Secura. They all leaned on the perimeter fibra-rope, not one interested in the fighters inside.

"Think the 327th needs a sniper? I volunteer," Longshot intoned to his brother. Devious grins broke across both their faces. A second later, Secura spun on her heel and marched out of the training room, Bly and Rex right behind her. A significant pause settled on the room until the doors closed, then each soldier seemed to remember what he had been doing before the Twi'lek entered. The three newcomers to the ring immediately grew interested in leaving.

"Wait," Echo said to no one in particular, his helmeted head tilted to the side. "Sounds like the general is rounding up the 327th and coming back to practice with them." The three newcomers suddenly grew interested in staying.

Ahsoka and Fives resumed their sparring. This time, the whacks that emanated from limbs meeting armor could plainly be heard throughout most of the open room. Although Fives was clearly the better scrimmager, there was something to be said for the passion with which Ahsoka fought. A small, curious crowd had formed around the scrimmage ring by the time Aayla Secura and her troopers returned to the training room. The majority of the crowd's attention was instantly diverted; their spectrum of nonchalance ranged from casual glances to slack-jaw staring. When even Fives became distracted, Ahsoka vented a perturbed growl and ducked under the perimeter rope. It was very possible that not one clone noticed her leave.

If Ahsoka concentrated, she could feel her master's presence focused around the bridge, so the padawan decided to travel in the opposite direction. She didn't particularly care where she ended up as long as it was nowhere near Anakin. On her way to this yet unknown destination, she passed Rex's office door. And she returned to Rex's office door. The Togruta knocked, waited about half a second, then entered to find the captain standing in only his lower undersuit. He was facing his bunk, his back to her, and Ahsoka tried not to stare at the maroon scar from an old blaster wound just to the right of his spine.

"Oh... um," she stammered as the door closed behind her. Rex swiveled around, his body immediately locking into an aggressive stance only to loosen when he saw his commander fidgeting there.

"W-when did– do you even knock, kid?" With a chiding stare, Rex snatched up his undersuit top from his bunk and pulled it over his head.

"Sorry, got a little ahead of myself, I guess," she said. The Togruta attempted a placating grin with shoulders raised ruefully. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Training room to work out."

Ahsoka's hand flew to check the chrono on her wrist. "You never work out this early," she challenged, eye markings sinking into a dubious expression.

"Bly invited me along." The captain began the quick task of stacking his armor inside the wall panel at the head of his bunk. His movements were well-practiced and fluid. Ahsoka's long silence eventually earned her a curious glance from Rex.

"Everything okay, littl'un?"

She first answered with a hesitant shrug before exclaiming, "Your soldiers are being completely unprofessional out there!"

"My soldiers?" he repeated, closing the panel on his stowed armor. The captain leaned a shoulder against the wall, folding his arms across his chest. "Sorry, have you met the 501st before?"

Ahsoka glared at him. "This isn't funny! The soldiers are being... just... completely childish!" She flung a hand towards the door before mirroring his folded arms. Her scowl deepened when Rex grinned.

"That's the last complaint I'd expect to hear from you."

"Then control them. They're fawning over Master Secura every time they see her! It's embarrassing. She has to notice it." Her expression was a mix of offended and pleading.

"They don't really know social propriety. After all, we clones don't have much interaction with females."

Ahsoka's arms fell limp at her side. "What am I, a Wookiee?!"

"Our commander," Rex replied evenly.

"She's a general!" cried Ahsoka, grabbing her montrals with both hands in frustration.

"She's a new face and the men are just curious. Give it a day, kid, and their interest will wane. They need time to get used to her."

"Back in the training room, I'm pretty sure it wasn't her face they were all looking at!" To her surprise, Rex burst out laughing with such enthusiasm that he almost doubled over. The Togruta would've been indignant if she wasn't trying to recall how long it had been since she'd actually heard him laugh. Rex walked to within arm's reach of her, still grinning, and leaned down to eye level. His searching her gaze caused a dark flush to spread across Ahsoka's cheeks and lekku.

"Yep," he said decisively. "Don't know why I didn't see it before."

"...What?"

"Green eyes."

Ahsoka's expression melted into a confused pout as the captain straightened. "Noo... my eyes are blue." Rex's chuckle was interrupted by a knock at the door. The door slid open to reveal Anakin standing there, his eyes fixed on Ahsoka before she was even fully revealed. The two Jedi stared at each other silently for a moment, seemingly communicating just as much as they could with words, leaving the captain to stand irrelevantly off to the side.

Finally, Anakin spoke: "I can feel your vexation all the way on the other side of the ship." Rex snuck out of his own office, squeezing past Anakin into the freedom beyond.

"What's got you all bothered, Snips?" her master asked, entering the cabin.

"I'm not bothered." But Anakin's astute stare made her reevaluate her answer. "I'm just... concerned that the troopers are way too infatuated with Master Secura. It's interfering with their routines."

"We're not flying into battle; you can afford them time to slack off every now and then. Force knows they've earned it."

Ahsoka lowered her eyes at that. It was nice to think that the clones wouldn't have to see combat on this trip, considering they had last been involved in defeating the Zillo beast twice in the last standard week alone. And yet, they chose to spend their free time by stalking Master Secura, of all things.

"Are you sure it's just the soldier's perceptions that you're upset about?" Anakin continued. "Maybe having another female on board makes it feel a little competitive?"

Ahsoka kept her eyes down, preferring not to answer because she didn't want to hear herself admit to that. One frustrating quality Anakin had inherited from Obi-Wan was asking questions he already knew the answers to.

"I know it's sometimes easy to react with your emotions, but you can't let them control you. As Jedi, we can't take the easy route, Ahsoka." Anakin laid a reassuring hand on his padawan's shoulder. "Now that we've hit hyperspace, I'm going to be meditating in the next hour if you'd like to join me."

Ahsoka thought it over. "I should go back to the training room where I left the guys–"

"That's not a suggestion."


Hours later as Ahsoka roamed the halls, she noticed the clones were already back to their normal routines. There were no more huddles with troopers acting like they had a scandalous secret to share. There were just clones bustling to and fro, moving with a purpose as they were trained. She ran into Echo and Charger in full armor and momentarily wondered if gossip was still making its rounds inside their helmets. However, unlike the reactions earlier that day, the clones greeted Ahsoka and asked if she wanted to accompany them to the main hangar as they completed pre-flight diagnostics on the shuttle bound for Taloraan.

Fives, in full gear, was already inspecting the shuttle exterior when the three approached. He gave them a nod, saying, "There you are, commander. Thought we lost you." He handed her a datapad displaying the shuttle's information. Echo and Charger found an extra datapad to share. "Sorry 'bout earlier, sir. We had no idea. The captain had to tell us you were jealous in order for us to realize."

"W-what?" stammered the Togruta. She almost dropped the datapad in her surprise. "I... no! I just... I wanted to spend time with you guys and you were all preoccupied with her and..." She could feel the embarrassment dancing across her face and down into her lekku. She could also practically feel the soldiers' indulgent smirks, but at least those were hidden.

"So, almost exactly like when Commander Offee was on board and you never gave us the time of day, sir?" asked Echo. He was the first to stop distractedly fiddling with a datapad; Fives gave a valiant attempt at still looking somewhat busy.

"But... Barriss was only on the ship once, guys. I've always got time together with you!" Ahsoka responded. The clones, even Charger, forgot the shuttle and stared at her, with their stupid, obvious smirks she just knew were there.

"Wait, that and this are totally different!" she added. A couple of the clones chuckled.

"No, they're not, sir," said Fives. "But it's okay, we'll spend time with you until you have to depart."


A.N. The Taloraan mission takes place in the comics, or so the internet tells me.

Bah, I couldn't get the flow of this chapter down. Hope y'all liked it regardless!