A/N: okay if you wondering why this chapter is coming out so fast, well, i write two chapters at a time, and post one after the second one is done being typed...its to keep me from being stuck...working right? well i think this is the longest chapter i have written, anyways enjoy.
Chapter 7: a need for answers, end of day 2 beginning of day 3
Why are we waiting, I want to fight now, I want to get back my master, what are we waiting for!
"Seems like it's time for us to eat," Spaz noted as he saw Angel and Ahsoka walk in with some trays of food.
"Alright boys, din din, I hope you three are hungry," Angel sang.
"Starving, but I think I might be well enough to get up," Lucky smiled as he tried to get up, groaning in pain and falling back down.
"Yeah get up my ass," Doc rolled his eyes, and sat up. "You should try healing that fool before he does something stupid."
Angel giggled again. "Oh, this is Ahsoka; she's helping me take care of you three, till you're able to get out, alright?"
"No problem sis uh, I mean, commander….no uh since general Soo is gone, that makes you temp. General, so no problem general." Spaz smiled.
Ahsoka smiled at them, they were trying so hard to be professional, with the titles and all. But just looking at them she could tell it was taking everything they got to keep from laughing, and making jokes. She giggled and placed a tray in Doc's lap.
"Can you use your arms?"
"Trust me he can," Lucky glared at his brother who just chuckled at him. It seemed Lucky hadn't forgotten about the smacking he got from a while ago. "I know firsthand how well he can use his damn arms."
"You should keep your thoughts to yourself next time and you won't have to feel my strength in your arm," Doc replied taking a bite of whatever was on the tray.
"You didn't have to hit the place where I got shot though!"
"Shut up you two, we are in the presence of our general and the commander of this ship show some respect." Spaz said calmly as he was being fed by Angel, his arms not of much use since he got shot, and was still recovering from the deep damage.
"Oh stop being so damn proper, your being fed by our general," Lucky spat.
Ahsoka tried hard not to laugh as she placed the second tray on Lucky's lap. Angel was getting annoyed with the whole thing, she probably would be yelling at them and joking around to, but this was seriously the wrong time to do such things, and she wondered what in the world would make them act so…childish. She stood up and turned her head to Doc and Lucky and placed her hands on her hips, the two looked up at her and blinked, Doc smiled warmly and Lucky looked rather scared.
"You two need to behave yourselves, your brothers for crying out loud, now lucky say you're sorry to spaz, and meds say you're sorry to lucky for whacking him in his hurt arm."
"Thank you!" lucky breathed.
"I'm sure a quick smack across the back of the head would have sufficed," she added which got Doc to chuckle.
Ahsoka couldn't hold it in much longer and burst out laughing like a mad fool. The four looked at her cocked their heads to the side, same time, same way, it was hilarious, and Ahsoka laughed harder.
"Are you alright commander?" asked a very familiar voice; everyone looked up to see Rex walk in with his helmet to the side, an eyebrow raised and a light smile on his face.
Ahsoka turned around and cleared her throat. "y-yeah captain, I'm fine," she replied.
Angel turned to face him, expecting to be called to the council or to see Master Skywalker to get questioned again or to have her mind probed or something that was unpleasant and unwanted.
"Hello captain Rex, how are you this evening?" she asked, hoping that he wasn't going to give her directions.
"I'm fine commander Sada, general Skywalker wants to see you, said you should go as soon as you're done here," he said.
She let her head hang, "I knew it," she whispered then looked at her brothers. "Can the three of you behave long enough to finish eating or do I have to use the force to send you to sleep?" She turned to the three clones that looked at her then at each other and Lucky whistled innocently while Spaz sighed, and Doc rolled his eyes.
"I'll take that as a no, so rest," she smiled and lifted her hands sending calming warmth to them that engulfed their minds like a warm blanket. Slowly one by one, they began to grow tired and with a yawn, all three passed out. Angel smiled but that took a lot out of her, and Ahsoka could feel it.
"You didn't have to do that on your own," Ahsoka said walking to her.
Angel smiled. "I know, but, they are my responsibility, they may be older than me, but half the time I feel like I'm the older sibling," she huffed then, with help from Ahsoka, she left the med-bay. Rex chuckled as led the two to Anakin, who was waiting on the bridge.
He was having some kind of discussion with the others, when everyone fell silent and turned to Angel, who broke away from the Ahsoka and Rex. She walked forward and gave a slight bow of the head.
"You summoned me?" she asked.
"Yes, the council wanted to see you, they felt it would be best for them to see what you are before deciding your fate." Anakin said motioning with his right hand the holos of the other masters.
Angel stiffened, decide my fate? She thought, it was like she had heard this before, and just hearing this caused her head to hurt. She shook her head then walked up to the holos so they could see her. She gave a slight bow of the head and did her best smile.
"I have to admit, this is the first time I'm talking to you masters," she said with a light giggle.
"This is no time to giggle, master Soo is in trouble and Lance is demanding you, now we need to know what it is you have that he wants so bad, Skywalker informed us of what he believes is the truth, but we are here to see that for ourselves." Windu informed.
Angel nodded her head; she was getting a bit annoyed by the fact that she had to constantly repeat her story.
"From what I can remember, I was adopted at five years by master Kada, I had no name and I couldn't remember anything, I was raised and trained by my father until he died five years later, I don't remember how, but I do remember that during that night, master Soo found me and took me in, I continued my training with him, I am Angel Sada, commander of the 130th legion,"
Everyone was silent, she held herself up, confident, and at some point proud. She bowed again.
"This is all I have to off you, I'm sorry if this isn't the answer your looking for," she said.
"Interesting this is, hmm?" Yoda looked at the padawan before him, then the others. "Decide I have."
"What do you want to do with the child?" Windu asked.
"Master she seeks, find him she will," Yoda replied which was the beginning of a battle strategy for finding Master Soo. It lasted a while to, everyone putting in their own thoughts, everyone but Angel, she listened, playing the battle out in her mind, what would work and what would be to reckless, and suicidal, and what would be to defensive and too long.
"Master, if we split up, we would need more troops then what we have now, we can have two Jedi head over to get master Soo back, while the other two protect the nearest village, or city, town, anyways, if he plans on executing his plan it will be the closest one, to draw his attackers away from him while he escapes." She pointed out, but the feeling she got from Anakin was one of annoyance, as if she had stated the obvious.
"I see, then I shall join you and Anakin on this mission," Obi Wan smiled stroking his beard, like he always does for some reason.
Angle smiled and bowed a little to him. "Thank you."
If what I head was correct that day we came back from that desert planet of hell, then my master's ship and the people on it should be okay, it was only the ground troops that was attacked….
Angel returned to her room, she still didn't know what her fate was; she figured she was going to be tested for force knows what. She groaned and plopped onto her bed, burying her face in the pillow as she silently cried, she hated this, she hated thinking about what was going to happen to her, to her master, and now, now…she needed someone to be there for her tell her it was going to be okay, to take her mind off of what was going on, she sat up and took in a deep breath. Reaching for the button that opened the door, the door slid open; she forgot that she didn't lock it. Runt was on the other side; he had a cup of coco in one hand and his helmet in the other.
"Uh, thought you might need a little pick me up," he said with a shy smile.
Angle took the mug and tilted her head down, as if looking at the contents of the mug. "How did you know?" she asked.
"Know what?"
"That I drink hot coco when I'm depressed," she replied, a smile played at her lips as she waited for him to answer.
"Doc, he told me that, when you're upset, you drink coco, because you hate the taste of caf," he replied glad that she took the cup; he honestly didn't believe Doc till now.
"Thank you," she smiled she bit her bottom lip, she wanted him to stay with her, afraid that when the door close he would be gone. She looked up at him, and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Would you stay with me for a little bit?" she asked.
Runt blinked. "Is that such a good idea?" He asked. He was hoping that she would just shrug his question off, and let him in anyways, but Jedi aren't supposed to have attachments, and he could get her into a lot of trouble.
"I don't care, Ahsoka and Rex come here sometimes, just the two of them, I don't know what they do, but I know that when they are together, and I'm passing by, the feelings that I get from the room, is that of peace and absolute joy." She paused and blushed, turning around quickly, so that he wouldn't see it. "y-you don't have to come in, I bet you have work to do," she said. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and she smiled.
"No, it's alright, besides, this way I can take the mug back to mess," he smiled and walked further into the room.
Angle sat down on the bed and Runt sat on the floor across from her. She played with her hair for a while, she hadn't put it up all day, and she was getting annoyed with the long wavy black hair. She sighed; this wasn't what she had expected. It was odd, she didn't know what to do, and this caused her to mess with her hair more.
"That's cute."
She looked up at him and cocked her head to the side. "What is?"
"You braid you hair when you're nervous." He pointed out.
She blushed and turned her head. "i-I guess I do," she responded. Her heart was beating so fast now, and her hands shook a little. She sort of bounced on the bed as Runt moved himself from the floor to the bed.
"You know, if you ever need someone to cry on, you can always cry on me," he said placing a hand on her back. She nodded her head.
"I'll keep that in mind, but," and she leaned on his arm and breathed at a steady pace.
"Do you mind, if I just stay here for a while?"
Runt's blush deepened and he quickly nodded his head, causing the padawan to bob up and down.
"I'm sorry."
"For what? No one is hurt," Angel smiled gripping his wrist in her small hands, and taking another deep breath.
"Do…do you do this often?" he asked.
She didn't say anything for a while, like she was trying to come up with something, or remember what the answer was. "Yes and no," she replied softly she wiggled herself closer to him, her head now on his chest. "When I was little, I had a series of nightmares, and I would run to my papa, he would always let me sleep with him, and I would listen to his heart, cause I felt safe there, just knowing that he was near me, made me happy," there was another long pause. "Not that I think of you like I did my papa, the feeling I have when I'm with you is…"
Runt waited for her to finish, but when the pause in her sentence was a little to long for him, he looked down at her and placed a hand on her back. "Is what?" he asked.
"Strength."
The room was silent then. Runt didn't know what to make of her words. Was she saying that she liked him, or was it that she was using him to get through the day, either way he didn't mind; just being close to her was enough to make him happy. Well now anyways.
"You're probably confused," Angel giggled lightly, as she sat back up. "Doc he is like the brother who can make me smile when I'm in pain, lucky makes me angry, but laugh when I don't want to, he also helps me with hand to hand combat, Spaz tells me what I need to hear, even if I don't want to hear it, you, you make me feel like I can take on the galaxy and nothing can keep me down."
A wide smile spread across his face just then. He was proud that he, a clone trooper, can make a Jedi, even a padawan, feel like this. He reached out a bit, to hug her, but paused, that wasn't right; it was taboo to even be in her room alone. He put his hands in his lap and stared down at them. Angel smiled, she knew how awkward this must be for him, and was thankful for his company, and the least she could do was let him leave before he got into trouble, before anyone finds him here.
"You can go if you want," she said, though what she thought was 'you can leave now'. She left the choice to him, to leave or stay.
Runt got up, and walked a few steps away from her. He turned to look at her; she looked like she was staring at the mug she had picked up, her finger tracing the rim. He walked back to her and held out his hand, his head turned away. Angel paused and looked up at him. She smiled and took his hand and was pulled up.
"I won't leave my commander alone to be sad," he said trying to sound as professional as possible for the current situation, trying not to show that he really wanted her to come with him, to stand by his side, instead of just another trooper thing.
"Alright," was her reply so simple and light hearted.
Again I can't sleep, maybe I can, just for tonight I might…I want…Rex…
Ahsoka woke up from another bad dream, again this was happening, and it only meant bad things for the future. She sat up, looked over to angel who was facing that wall, and wondered if she was having pleasant dreams, or if she was awake like her. Standing up, Ahsoka walked to the door, looking back only once before opening it.
"Can't sleep?"
Ahsoka froze. "No, not really had a bad dream," she replied a little shaky.
Angel didn't say anything for a moment, she didn't move, "I did to, come back early Ahsoka, so no one suspects you of having an attachment," Angel said waving one hand as if saying hurry and leave.
Ahsoka didn't know if she knew of her relationship with Rex, or if she assumed something else. But she didn't wait to ask, and quickly and quietly she left the room, and headed for Rex's room. Angel smiled a bit, and then snuggled up to the pillow pulling the covers tighter over her thin body.
As the padawan opened the door, she wasn't surprised to see a few of the men inside to be up, it was only three out of the six that was there, one smiled and went back to bed, as if knowing that this was going to happen, Runt was one of the men who sat up in their bunks, he looked confused, and was ready to stand at attention for orders or something, but Rex, the third one up, held his hand out at Runt, telling him to go back to bed. The others in the room was also awake, they were trained to be light sleepers, they just chose to ignore the intrusion of their room, seeing it being only right on time for the young Togruta to be coming in, especially when she had nightmares, which was the only reason why she was here. One of the men counted down on his fingers.
"Nightmare?" Rex asked, standing up to comfort the girl.
"Yeah, like always," Ahsoka sighed.
The clone that was counting down made a sudden jerking motion as he moved his arms in victory, seeing as he was counting down to the famous question Rex asks when Ahsoka comes in, in the middle of the night.
"Want to talk about it?"
Ahsoka thought for a moment, talking would be great, but she really needed him to hold her, and tell her that everything will be alright, that it was just a dream, and it won't come true. She shook her head. "Can I stay with you tonight?" she asked.
Rex scratched his head. "I don't know, I wouldn't want Runt here to get the wrong idea," he said seriously not wanting Runt to know, about his love life.
Ahsoka nodded her head, turning away to leave.
"Captain, I think that she should stay, sometimes all anyone needs to get through the night after a nightmare, is a warm body and a beating heart, letting her know that she is safe," Runt interrupted, sure it wasn't his place, but this situation reminded him of what Angel told him a few hours ago.
The two looked at him, a little baffled at his words. Rex nodded his head, and Ahsoka was truly thankful to him. She climbed into the bunk and laid down on the farthest side, her back pressed against the cold wall. Rex went in after her, though he was much bigger then she, she found herself scooting closer to him, her head on his chest, listening to the beating of her beloved's heart, overjoyed that he was still breathing, still with her.
"Get some sleep commander," Rex whispered kissing her head softly as he closed his eyes, his arms wrapped securely around her small form.
Runt looked down at them, him being on the top bunk across from Rex's bunk, and smiled. But his heart ached, he wanted Angel, he wanted to be there for her, like he was yesterday. He wanted to make her smile, and laugh; he wanted to make her happy. As Runt heard their synchronized snoring, which he thought was funny; he softly got out of bed and headed for the door. When it slid open he cursed silently to himself forgetting how light of sleepers his brothers were.
"Going for a walk Runt?" Asked Coric.
"Yeah, I'm just a little jumpy can't go back to sleep," he lied.
"Kay, just try and get some sleep, you'll need it."
Runt smiled and gave his brother one wave of his hand before leaving. The door closed behind him and he ran off to Angel's room.
Ahsoka looked up at Rex who was suspecting something else. She placed her hand on his face and smiled up at him. She could feel his worry and she wanted to calm him, or distract him, either one worked. She pulled herself up a little and lightly pecked his cheek. He looked down at her a little bit shocked and a little bit happy. Cradling her cheek in his free hand, he smiled and kissed her, closing their eyes, they dove into their kiss, filled with passion, sleepy as they were. Breaking it off when one of the other men coughed, snapping them back to reality, Rex blushed hard and resumed his previous position.
"You should sleep Ahsoka," he whispered.
She readjusted herself to where she was in the beginning, and smiled. "Alright Rexter," she giggled then closed her eyes, falling asleep to the lullaby of Rex's heart.
I'm afraid that if I leave you for too long, you would disappear and I would never see you again, I can't sleep at night anymore, you're the only thing I think about during the day, and your smile gives me strength. ~Runt
In a different place, and a different time, maybe in a different life, I could enjoy this, and love you without worry of what everyone else thinks. ~Ahsoka
