"Zeb!" Athena cheered as she entered the common room, Ezra next to her. "How've you been?"
"Ah, just beating this old bucket of rust at Dejarik," Zeb joked, gesturing to Chopper who sat on the other side of the Dejarik table. Zeb's hands were still wrapped in white bandages.
Athena sighed. She could see how careful the lasat had to be now just to press the buttons on the table, being sure not to irritate his burns. The burns caused by her irresponsibility. The girl knew how to heal but did she know how to heal others? And should the others even know about this power? She needed to find a way to heal him without making it obvious. Undo the damage she had dealt.
Ezra sat on the couch just beside where Chopper stood, curiously watching the game as it progressed.
Athena decided this was the most inconspicuous way of healing Zeb.
She put a hand on the lasat's shoulder as if watching the game from his side of the table. Her eyes locked onto the table as if she were watching the game with curiosity as well.
Her eyes blurred as she focused not on the physical world her eyes saw, but what her senses felt in the Force. The gold dots of life swirling around in the lasat. His hands looked like a bunch of static as the dots scrambled around the blisters, not exactly sure how to heal themselves just yet. She let out a soft breath as she guided the Force to flow in a more fluent way through the blisters and burns on his hands. The specks of life rejuvenating the dead skin on his fingers and palms.
It was difficult to focus at the time with all the beeps from Chopper and side commentary from Ezra, but Athena managed to realign the flow of life in Zeb's hands within a matter of seconds.
Though, to her, it felt like forever.
Zeb paused for a moment from the game and furrowed his eyebrows. The lasat picked up his hands and looked at them - feeling a tingly sensation in his fingers now.
Athena took away her hand as Zeb still looked at his hands.
"Zeb, what's wrong, man?" Ezra questioned. "It's your move."
"Yeah, yeah," Zeb shook his head, pushing aside the strange feeling in his hands for a moment. He turned back to the board and began to ponder his next move.
"Do your hands hurt?" Athena questioned.
Zeb sighed and picked up his wrapped up hand, "Actually, I was gonna say something about that. They actually do feel a little weird."
"Are they any better? I know you got burned pretty bad this morning because of me."
"Yeah, they should be okay. I-" Zeb paused as she took off the bandage on his left hand. He blinked a couple of times as the burns on his fingers seemed to have disappeared. He continued to unwrap his hand and saw a significant decrease in burns across his hands.
Chopper let out a confused beep as Athena and Ezra's eyes widened at the sight.
"Hey, they got all better!" Zeb chuckled, now unwrapping the other hand. "Would you look at that?"
"Hey, that's great," Ezra smiled. "Now, make your move and destroy Chopper already."
Zeb chuckled and rubbed his hands together as he eyed the Dejarik board. "Alright, you rustbucket. Prepare to lose."
"Womp womp!" Chopper threw his little arms up in protest.
Athena let out of relief, knowing she could undo the hurt she dealt. Zeb didn't have to suffer because of her dumb mistake and lack of control.
Now to find Ahsoka and heal her too.
About an hour later.
"Zeb, you wanna play some catch?" Ezra poked his head into his and Zeb's cabin. The boy tossed a ball between his hands as he looked at his cabin-mate with hopeful eyes.
Zeb sat on the bottom bunk, tweaking some parts on his bo-rifle. The lasat scoffed in annoyance. "Since when do we play 'catch'?"
"Ah I thought it'd be fun," Ezra shrugged. He tossed the ball to him.
Zeb looked up and just barely was able to react quick enough to catch the orange ball. He rolled his eyes. "Really, kid? Why do you gotta annoy me like this?"
"Come on!" Ezra begged. "It'll be fun."
Zeb sighed before he slung his bo-rifle back over his shoulder and stood. "Fine. As long as you don't bother me for the rest of the day."
Ezra smiled and nearly dashed out of the ship. Zeb begrudgingly followed the teenage boy outside, the little ball in the palm of his hand.
The boy turned to Zeb and held his hands up as a signal to Zeb to throw the ball.
The lasat grinned and wound up his arm to throw. The ball ripped through the air towards the boy at full force.
Ezra groaned.
Right in the gut.
Zeb laughed. "Come on, magic Jedi! You gotta have a better reaction than that!"
"You okay, Ezra?"
Zeb perked up his ear and turned his head. There on the other side of the clearing stood Athena and Ahsoka. Each held a stick.
So, Ahsoka's hands must've healed too, Zeb figured.
It was Athena who called out in concern for Ezra. Zeb groaned as he soon realized why Ezra was so excited to come outside.
Ezra let out a nervous chuckle and waved to the girl. A goofy grin on his face. "I'm okay! This is just how we play!"
"That's a stupid way to catch a ball," Athena raised her eyebrow. "You're gonna rupture an organ like that."
"Aw, it's fine," Ezra grinned, soon standing with his shoulders back. Ezra looked back to Zeb and threw the ball with all his might.
Zeb caught it with one hand and chuckled. "Ah, you gotta do better than that, kid."
Ezra watched as Ahsoka and Athena soon resumed the basic lightsaber motions. Unfortunately, he should have been watching the ball.
Ezra got it in the groin this time.
Thankfully Athena was too busy actually learning lightsaber combat to see this embarrassment.
Zeb roared in laughter as Ezra held his knees together and held his hands over his crotch, whimpering in pain.
"Not cool, man!" Ezra's voice cracked at the shout. Water welled up in his eyes from the pain.
"Maybe you should keep your eyes on the ball," Zeb called back to the kid, a grin across his smug face.
It took Ezra a good moment or so to actually muster the ability to stand straight and not have to grip himself in pain. He picked up the ball and threw it back to Zeb.
He sighed as he realized that he actually had to keep his eyes on Zeb and the ball rather than something else…
Athena mirrored her Master by her side once more as Ahsoka continued to call out: "1...2...3...and 4." Each number, they would step into the next movement - a block or a strike.
Ahsoka glanced down to the girl, seeing the harsh look in her eyes as sweat dripped from her forehead. She had been working on the basics for so long, yet was still so blocky and slow with the motions.
The Master stopped her Padawan. "Athena, wait."
"Was I doing something wrong?" Athena questioned. "I got the-"
"How about you show me some of that baton twirling," Ahsoka said. "I want to see what it looks like. It might help us connect some dots with your form."
Athena sighed and rolled her eyes, "Okay…it's just a stupid dance thing, anyhow."
"So was your fire. Things can take many forms," Ahsoka said. "Fighting can be seen as a dance just as dance can be like a fight."
"Do you want me to have a little song playing too?" Athena sarcastically joked.
Ahsoka pondered that for a moment and shrugged. "Actually, I would prefer it. If that's what you did with baton twirling, it would be best to demonstrate it as a whole."
"Are you serious, Master?" Athena whined.
She nodded, "Yes. You have that little music device thing from Earth, correct? Bring that out here real quick and we can use that."
Athena sighed and followed Ahsoka's orders, soon running back into the ship to grab her MP3 player, grabbing Zeb's old radio as well, figuring that headphones would tangle up if she tried to wear those. Thankfully, Rae made her a little adapter cord so she could plug in her MP3 player into the speakers whenever.
The girl ran back out of the ship, her MP3 player and the speaker in hand.
Athena plugged the MP3 player in and sat the speakers and it on the ground. When she stood up, Ahsoka handed her the stick.
Athena frowned a little and nodded back towards Zeb and Ezra. "Do I have to do this in front of them? Baton twirling is embarrassing."
"It's an art - just like lightsaber training," she thrusted the stick into her Padawan's hands. It was a longer stick than the ones the others trained with - seeing that Athena was trained to use a double-bladed saber, she'd need more stick. So, Ahsoka had Athena find this stick in the woods and bring it back.
"This is embarrassing."
"If they make fun of you, just splash them with water," Ahsoka smiled. "Now come on. Show me some twirling."
Athena let out a sigh and complied. The girl bent down to her phone and searched for the old songs she used to have baton twirling routines to.
A song with strong drums and a fast beat. No other instruments. No other sounds. Just the sound of a drum.
She sighed once again as she stood, twirling the stick as if she were back on Earth for entertainment.
Knowing that she was practicing to one day hold a lightsaber, the girl made sure not to touch any of the stick that was outside of her 'saber hilt' zone - pretending as if she held a flaming baton now.
And so she twirled the baton with speed and grace, keeping her eyes carefully locked onto the stick as she twirled it and threw it in the air at the beat of the drum.
Her arm and stick flowed with the motions of the music, dipping and slowing when it did. Speeding up and becoming more aggressive as the music crescendoed. She became one with the music. The stick became one with her.
Ahsoka watched with curiosity as the girl skillfully twirled the stick in rhythm with the music. The flips in the air just stand up and catch the spinning stick, to the spins behind her back, were all in rhythm with the music. Her feet never missed a beat.
Athena hated doing baton routines to pop music with words in them back on Earth. That's why she always went with instrumental pieces with a strong drum.
The rhythm. The motion.
She could relate more to the beating of the drums with her heart than she could with any other type of sound. It echoed with the fire in her soul and the beating in her chest.
The ends of the stick soon lit up in flames as Athena threw it in the air with a twirl. The girl didn't mind. She was used to that.
Just as the music died to an end, Athena flew backward as her stick flew upwards. Once her feet hit the ground behind her, her arm stuck up and captured the flaming stick.
The display was maybe only two minutes long, but the others stared at her longer.
Athena shut off her MP3 player before it went onto the next song and looked up to Ahsoka, extinguishing the flames on the ends of her stick.
"Okay, so you saw what I can do with dancing with this stupid thing. How do I fight with that?"
Ahsoka thought for a moment before she spoke. "Turn that song back on."
"Okay then." Athena shrugged and pressed the buttons on her MP3 player to replay the song of drums over again. She stood up and had wide eyes as Ahsoka began to swing at the girl with her two sticks.
Athena yelped as she jumped away from the togruta.
"What are you doing? I wasn't ready!"
"The Empire won't wait until you're ready," Ahsoka smiled before she lunged at her Padawan again.
To Athena's amazement, her feet planted into the ground and her arms held true and strong. Her stick clashed with Ahsoka's.
And again. And again.
Athena kept stepping away from Ahsoka, continuing to clank sticks with her Master. Blocking every strike the Master threw at her.
Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!
Like the beating of the drums.
The rhythm of the fight.
It began to click for her.
She smiled as she blocked Ahsoka's next strike. Soon pressing against it with all her might, forcing the togruta and her into a momentary lock.
"You're starting to get it," Ahsoka smirked.
"I got a Master who knows what she's doing," Athena said.
To Ahsoka's surprise, she felt a stomp against the top of her foot and stumbled back. Soon, she was forced to block from Athena's first offensive strike.
Seeing that Ahsoka was too strong in this block, Athena spun her double-sided staff and the other side swung upwards at Ahsoka for her to block.
Ezra held the ball as he had wide eyes, glancing over to Zeb to see a similar look of surprise from the lasat.
"Welp, this is an interesting turn of events," Ezra stated.
Zeb let out a chuckle of disbelief, "I'd say. First, the kid was dancing, next, she's actually making progress with that saber training of hers?"
Ezra puffed out his chest as he proudly proclaimed to Zeb, "I think I could still beat her though. She looks a little weak on her defense."
"Aw come on now. Why would you wanna do that? I thought you liked her~" Zeb teased, walking over to Ezra to give him a playful shove.
"Shut it," Ezra complained.
"Aw, somebody's got a little crush," Zeb ruffled his hair.
"Shut it, Zeb!" Ezra shoved his hand off his head. "I don't have a chance anyway."
He playfully nudged his shoulder, "Ah, ya never know. Your ugly face may have an ounce of hope."
Ahsoka grunted as she blocked another one of Athena's spinning swings. A smile on her face.
Athena ducked once more as Ahsoka's stick swung at her head. Though this kid made some connections in her head on how to do this stuff - she was merely but a learner.
Ahsoka's second stick swung around from the side and hit the left side of Athena's torso.
The girl plopped onto the ground as she grunted in slight pain.
The Master extended her hand to Athena and she took it, soon to be stood up next to the togruta.
"You learn quick," Ahsoka smiled. "That was some of the best progress I've seen in a while from you, my Padawan."
Athena had a little bit of an embarrassed smile on her face, "Thanks, Ahsoka."
"You were more focused on your attack rather than your…" Ahsoka began to lecture. Athena didn't mind. She wanted to learn. Ahsoka was a good teacher and a great mentor.
Ezra turned to Zeb, "You really think I actually have a chance with her?"
Zeb shrugged as he smiled a little. "Ey, you two seem to get along as friends pretty well. Maybe it'll happen, maybe it won't."
"Kanan isn't too happy about the idea," Ezra said.
"Is he ever?" Zeb jabbed.
"It is his sister."
"And you are his Padawan," Zeb reminded. "He cares about whether or not you get hurt or not."
Ezra bit the side of his lip and looked back to Athena across the camp.
She was reckless. Young. Fierce.
She had darkness with her.
But that darkness was so intoxicating.
Her background. A child orphaned by the Empire and growing up on the streets of their respective planets. A kid just like him.
Different galaxies, same story.
Ezra was shaky as he thought about it.
What would happen if she really rejected him? Like really rejected him? Would she be in a fiery rage? Would she never talk to him again? Would they even play virtual pod racing together again?
The world rocked around him.
After a second, Ezra saw it wasn't just his world rocking around him. Athena and Ahsoka gripped each other for stability as the ground violently shook. Zeb gripped his shoulder for stability. The leaves on the trees shook violently.
It was maybe a full ten seconds before the shaking stopped.
The four shared a tense stare with each other.
"Was that an Earthquake?" Athena questioned.
"We call them planetquakes," Ahsoka said, letting out a tense breath as she looked over to Zeb and Ezra. "Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah." the two responded.
Ahsoka looked to her Padawan who still held onto her. Her eyes filled with worry.
"What's wrong, Athena?"
"The magma…" she mumbled. "It feels weird now."
"It must be the shaking - that would cause the magma to move as well. That's what you must be feeling."
Athena accepted that theory and nodded.
Hera soon came running out of the ship, worried eyes looking over the four of them. "Did you guys feel that? Is anyone hurt?"
"We're good, Hera," Zeb assured. "Just a little planetquake."
Hera sighed in momentary relief before looking back at her ship, "Now we gotta check to see if the landing pads are still positioned correctly."
"I'll help," Ezra offered before following his captain to the side of the ship.
Athena couldn't help but stand there for a moment longer than she should have. Maybe it was the souls of her shoes messing with her senses now, but the magma beneath her feet seemed to fizzle like a soda.
She shrugged it off after a moment - figuring sodas fizzle after being shaken too.