"What do you mean they marched on the temple?" Rex asks.
"It was just a normal night, then there were explosions. When I came out of my room I was told me to get in a ship and fly far away. All I saw as I ran for the hangar were blue-marked clones killing everyone," Macy says, her voice cracking.
"What happened after that?" Ahsoka asks.
"I was in hyperspace, but something was damaged, I dropped out of hyperspace and crash landed here," Macy answers.
"What's going to happen to me now?" The girl asks.
"You're going to stay with us. We don't really know any specifics yet, but in time we'll have a plan. You're safe here," Ahsoka replies.
Ahsoka snaps awake, Macy screaming in her sleep. She crutches over to her bed, pulling her into her arms, gently waking her.
"Shh, it's okay. They can't hurt you. It's okay," Ahsoka says.
Macy cries herself back to sleep in Ahsoka's arms, her soul forever scarred by Order 66.
Just as Ahsoka lays her back down, she hears the door crack open.
"She alright?" James whispers.
"Honestly? No, she's not," Ahsoka replies, pointing to the door. James gets the idea and helps her to the living room.
"I'm still struggling with the facts of Order 66 myself, and I'm nineteen. Macy is nine," Ahsoka says.
"It's okay Ahsoka, it just takes time. She'll get through it, you both will. She may leave with bigger scars because of her age, but she'll get past it. She just needs love and support, a lot of it." James explains.
Ahsoka nods, snuggling up to James, "Thank you James."
"Remember Macy, you don't need to pick clothes like a Jedi. Just pick some that are comfortable, clothes that you like." Ahsoka explains.
James sneezes out of the blue, appearing perfectly healthy.
"What was that about?" Ahsoka asks, Macy wandering through the racks of clothes.
"Nothing, just had the smell of B.S. up my nose." James replies.
Ahsoka raises an eyebrow.
"It was months before you finally accepted the clothes the military gave you," James states.
"I'm not used to needing armor, back home we could just deflect the bullets. Supersonic lead bullets are a bit more… Problematic." Ahsoka says.
Macy comes back with a few shirts, some pants, and some shorts.
"There's a room right over there if you want to try them on," Ahsoka states.
James suddenly starts chuckling, a smile breaking out.
"What is it now, chuckle butt?" Ahsoka asks.
"Oh, just a bit of irony."
At Ahsoka's silence, "We took Macy to Macy's to get clothes," James explains.
"That's not that funny."
Macy steps out of the dressing room, showing off her new shorts and shirt, her hand across her chest gripping her arm, eyes on the floor.
"You look great," James says, Macy's head snapping up, a smile growing on her lips.
"Really? You think so?" She asks.
James nods, Ahsoka saying, "I know it's weird at first, not wearing Jedi clothes. But you'll come to love shorts and a T-shirt."
"And who might this be?" Darla asks as Ahsoka shows up for her physical therapy appointment.
"I'm Macy,"
"Hi Macy, I'm Darla. I'm a physical therapist, I'm helping Ahsoka learn how to walk again," Darla says, noticing Ahsoka's crutches, "And she's making remarkable progress."
Ahsoka notices Darla mentally counting heads as James walks in.
"Rex will be here in a few minutes," Ahsoka says with a sly grin.
Darla slowly nods, James and Macy taking a seat.
"Well, let's get started then, shall we?" Darla says.
Darla looks up from her position moving Ahsoka's legs, seeing Rex walk in holding two coffees.
"Special delivery for Darla?" Rex says, handing her the coffee.
Trying to hide her smile, Darla says, "Thank you, Rex. I needed a coffee."
Ahsoka senses the feelings between them blooming, James helping her up.
"They like each other," Macy says.
"They really do, don't they?" James says.
Ahsoka watches in fascination as her Captain tries his best to flirt, failing miserably. He probably doesn't even know what flirting is.
Darla laughs, both of them turning toward Ahsoka.
"You should mind your own business, you know," Rex says.
"Well, I can't just turn a blind eye when my esteemed captain is flirting," Ahsoka replies.
Darla gives Ahsoka the stinkeye, "Okay schoolgirl, you ready to continue?"
"You take that back," Ahsoka says, glaring at Darla.
"Come over here and make me," Darla states.
Rex and James get on both sides of Ahsoka, ready to catch her.
Ahsoka carefully moves one leg forward, her arms out wide.
She plants her foot in front of her, slowly shifting her weight forward, bringing the other foot to meet the first one.
Ahsoka furrows her eyebrows, her goal clear in her mind. Her adrenaline surges as she almost loses her balance, James's arms moving to catch her.
"It's okay, I've got this. She's going to pay for what she said," Ahsoka says.
Darla can't help but smile at Ahsoka's amazing recovery.
A few minutes later Ahsoka practically falls forward, grabbing Darla's outstretched arms.
"Amazing job, Ahsoka. I take back what I said. You're not a schoolgirl, even if you were as giddy as one," Darla states.
Ahsoka glares at her, taking a seat, panting.
Fire. Flames roar as shattered glass flies all around them.
"You could have saved him. If only you had listened," The shadowy figure of Maul states.
"No, you lied to me. Anakin would never—" Ahsoka stops, dread filling her heart.
Ahsoka awakes in a cold sweat, running her hand across her face, feeling the scar across her eye. She lays her head back down, running her hand down her lek, feeling the missing section. As she closes her eyes again, a single tear makes its way down her cheek.
She hears a whisper, "Ahsoka?"
Sitting up, she sees James kneeling next to her.
"What is it?" She asks.
"Who is the horned man in black and red?" James asks.
Author's Note:
I apologize for the lack of updates. Things went from zero to 100 real quick. To start, I found a quick side gig helping run professional firework shows for four days in early July. We call it Hell week, even though it's only four days. Four days of seventeen hour shifts with about four hours of sleep per day. Then I had a midterm for my eight-week engineering analysis class, then exam three, and now we're here. On top of all of that, I spent a lot of time working on an original writing project. But I did finally find the time to throw in another chapter of *Checks notes because it's been so long* To Look Into the Eyes of Death.
If you would like to support me and my writing endeavors, I have a T-shirt store (remove the #s):
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