Chapter 52 – Back on Shili

I'm back with a new chapter. Now, this chapter is shorter as the previous one and not that much happens. Ahsoka and Aisha arrive back on Shili, catch up with their family a bit and really start with some lightsaber practice.

Hope you enjoy.

;-

Ahsoka Tano smiled as she landed her ship, The Radiant Eagle, in the hangars of the royal palace of Shili. She had just returned to Shili with Aisha after their journey to Ilum. It had been a very successful journey. Aisha now had her own lightsabers and she was incredibly happy about that. Ahsoka didn't doubt that they'd be doing a lot of training with their sabers.

She powered down the ship and turned to Aisha. "Come on sis, let's get back home," she said. "Let's see how Marina's wedding plans are coming along, shall we?"

Aisha nodded. "Alright, let's go," she replied with a smile. She was eager to show everyone her new lightsabers and even more excited to start practicing with Ahsoka. The two of them left Ahsoka's ship and prepared to leave the hangar, when princess Zaa Vashee walked up to them.

"There you two are," Zaa greeted them with a smile. "Well? How did it go? And what do you think of the ship?"

Ahsoka smiled at her. "The ship is amazing, I really love it," she replied. "It's very fast and at the same time it flies incredibly smooth. It was great to fly it." She looked at her ship for a moment before turning back to Zaa. "As for how it went, Aisha, why don't you show her?"

Aisha nodded eagerly and took her lightsabers off her belt. She held them out and activated them, the blue and green blades appearing. She smiled again at the sight.

Zaa looked on with wide eyes. "That's amazing," she said with a large smile. "It's been a very successful journey then, hasn't it?"

"That it sure has been," Ahsoka replied. Aisha nodded next to her and deactivated her lightsaber and clipped them back to her belt. "Well, we're all set to return home. I'm sure we'll see you soon."

Zaa nodded. "I have a few busy days coming up, so I don't know if I have the time unfortunately," she said. "But I'll definitely be there at my brother's and Marina's wedding. Nothing will keep me away from that."

"Sounds good to me," Ahsoka replied. Zaa waved a quick goodbye before she left. "Now, let's go home and show everyone, okay?" she then asked her sister. Aisha nodded eagerly and they left the hangars as well.

;-

A short time later Ahsoka and Aisha arrived back at home. As they walked into the hallway and set their bags down, their mother walked up to greet them.

"Ahsoka, Aisha, you're back. It's good to see you home again," Yuae said with happy smile. She immediately noticed the lightsabers that were now attached to Aisha's belt. "Well, it looks like you were successful, weren't you?"

Aisha nodded happily. "Yes, I did it," she replied with a big smile. "It was pretty difficult and really scary as well, but I passed the tests of the Force."

"That's right, you sure did," Ahsoka said as they walked into the living room. "She did really well and constructed some fine lightsabers."

"Hey, welcome back you two," Marina said when she spotted them walking in. "How did your trip go?"

"What did you think of the ship Ahsoka?" Lilo asked. "Does it fly as good as it looks?"

"Oh, definitely," Ahsoka replied with a smile. "It flies like a dream and it's incredibly fast. All of the rooms build in are great. It's truly one of the, if not the finest ship I've ever seen. But I'm going to throw those heart-shaped pillows out." The others in the room laughed a bit at that. "As for how the trip went, Aisha can show you."

Aisha nodded and took her lightsabers of her belt. She held them up and activated them, the blue and green blades appearing again. "It was pretty scary and challenging to get the crystals, but I was able to do it," she said happily. "And with Ahsoka's help and that kind droid professor, I was able to make these." She moved them around a bit. "I can use them like Ahsoka, but I can also put them together and fight like my dad did." As she said that, she put her blades together to show it. She then separated and deactivated them again, placing both sabers back on her belt.

"Oh wow, those are quite something," Lilo replied impressed.

"Yes, she did a really great job," Ahsoka said as they sat down. "Just about all of the younglings from the Temple only build one standard lightsaber at first. Considering that, as well as how nervous she was when we left, she build some very impressive lightsabers." Aisha smiled widely at that.

"You did a great job Aisha," Marina replied. "I'm sure that you and Ahsoka are going to be an impressive sight to witness very soon."

"Thank you Marina," Aisha said as she giggled happily. "How is your wedding coming along?" she then asked her oldest sister.

"Everything is going fine," Marina replied eagerly. "I'm pretty sure that everything is ready."

Ahsoka aimed a teasing smirk at her sister. "And you're ready too?" she asked. "Not nervous for your big day? You are marrying your long time sweetheart after all."

Lilo burst into laughter as Marina's lekku suddenly darkened very noticeably. "She's right sis," she added in her own teasing tone. "You did practice the wedding enough, right? Do you think he'll like your dress? It might be too late to change anything now."

"S-shut up! Both of you!" Marina replied slightly embarrassed. "Everything will be fine, I'm sure of it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pick up Rosette." With that, she got up and quickly left the room, Lilo laughing hard at her victory over Marina.

Ahsoka and Aisha laughed as well. "Come on Aisha, let's go and put our things away, maybe we can do some Force practice after that," Ahsoka told her sister after they both calmed down again.

Aisha nodded instantly, a hint of excitement appearing on her face. "Okay, let's go," she replied quickly.

;-

The following day

Ahsoka and Aisha walked into the training area the H'Raani M'Kai barracks. Seeing as the two of them were going to do more lightsaber practice, Ahsoka figured that it might be safer to practice somewhere else than their backyard. Seeing as the training area of the royal guard had a few smaller sparring chambers as well, Ahsoka hoped they could use one of those from time to time.

As they walked into the area, they spotted Shaden Zadane, the leader of the band of warriors. They made their way towards him.

Shaden noticed them and moved up to join them. "Good morning, Ahsoka, Aisha," he greeted them. "What brings the two of you here today?"

"Good morning Shaden," Ahsoka replied with a smile. "I was hoping that we could use one of the sparring chambers today. Is that alright?"

Shaden chuckled a bit. "Looking to do some training hmm?" he asked in return. "The practice we have planned today doesn't require those rooms. Some of us might decide to do some sparring after that, but I doubt that all rooms will be used, so feel free to make use of one."

"Thank you!" Aisha replied eagerly before Ahsoka could.

Ahsoka smiled at her enthusiasm. "Yes, thank you Shaden," she told him. "We're looking to do practice with our lightsabers, so I wanted to do it someplace a bit safer than our home's garden."

Shaden nodded as he looked at the lightsabers on Aisha's belt. "Yes, we heard from Princess Vashee that you had successfully constructed your own lightsabers," he told her with a smile. "I remember seeing Ahsoka's skills in combat and during our training. Truly impressive for someone of her age. I'm sure that you'll make a fine warrior as well."

Aisha shyly looked down and fidgeted a bit. "Thanks," she replied a bit softer than before.

Shaden nodded again. "You know where to find the rooms, I'll leave you two to it," he said to Ahsoka. "I'm off to join the others for our training. See you later." He gave them both a short salute and left.

After Shaden left, Aisha turned to Ahsoka. "He looks and feels really strong," she said.

Ahsoka turned to Aisha and smiled. Her sister had met him once before, but that was a brief meeting in the halls of the palace. "He sure is. There's a reason he's the leader of the royal guard," she replied. "I saw him in action on Felucia. It was amazing to see him swing around that giant axe so easily. Without doubt, he's one of the strongest warriors I've encountered in all of my travels."

"Now then, let's get to practicing, shall we?" she then asked. Aisha nodded quickly and they made their way to the sparring room.

;-

"Now then, let's start with the basics of Form I, also called Shii-Cho," Ahsoka said as she stood in front of her sister. "Form I is the first form of lightsaber combat that the younglings in the Temple learn. It's one of the oldest forms and it makes a great basis to later learn other forms. A lot of the basic sword-fighting principles and blast-deflection skills are learned by studying this form. Any questions so far?"

Aisha nodded. "How many forms are there? And which ones did you study?" she asked.

"The Order knows seven different forms. Each one has their own focus in techniques," Ahsoka replied. "I studied Form I, of course. Later I began studying Form V, especially the Shien variant. Form V has two forms, Djem So which is focused more on higher level lightsaber dueling and Shien, which focused on blaster deflection. I also studied Shien because I really liked and felt comfortable with the reverse Shien hold you've seen me use." She took one of her lightsabers of her belt, activated it and held it in a reverse Shien hold, showing it to her sister. She then deactivated her blade again and placed it back on her belt.

"When I became Anakin's Padawan, he taught me a great deal about the other style of Form V, Djem So," she continued. "Like I said, it focusses more on lightsaber combat. It's a very effective style that relies on strong attacks. I also learned an incredible lot about Form III Soresu, mainly from Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and my friend Barriss Offee. Soresu is a very defensive Form when compared to the other styles, but it's not to be underestimated because of that."

"As I became older, I also studied Form VI Niman on my own. Niman combines a number of techniques of the other Forms, making it a very effective style," Ahsoka continued to explain. "It's also the main Form for dual wielding, otherwise known as Jar'Kai, which was the main reason for my decision to start studying it. It was a little difficult at first, but I really succeeded in learning how to dual wield, as well as combining it with my preferred reverse Shien hold. For this, I also studied several parts of Form IV Ataru. This Form relies on speed and agility, using fast athletic moves like backflips and somersaults. It can be a very difficult style, requiring you to stay on the move all the time, but a true Master of Ataru is very difficult to overcome. Master Yoda is a true Master of this Form and it's truly incredible to see him move like that."

"Wow, you've studied almost all of the Forms!" Aisha replied excitedly. "But what about the other two forms?"

"Form II Makashi," Ahsoka replied, "focuses on lightsaber dueling most of all. It's considered a very refined and elegant form. I've never done that much with it. It always seemed a bit too fancy for my taste. Anakin also just preferred the focus on strength of Form V. Also, Form II lost quite some popularity after Count Dooku became a Sith Lord. He favored Makashi above all and still uses it. Many in the Order choose not to use it because they don't want to be associated with him at all."

"The last form, Vaapad, is not really open for general study," she explained. "It's a form created only recently by Master Mace Windu. I don't know that much about it. The style uses elements of the Dark Side. It's powerful, but it's also very dangerous. A few that have studied this Form succumbed to madness. After that, it was decided that only a very select few were allowed to study it."

"There's so much to using lightsabers," Aisha said in awe. "Shien, Niman and Jar'Kai sound really interesting. I want to learn about those later on."

Ahsoka smiled at hearing that. "I'd be happy to teach them to you," she replied. "But first, let's get started with Form I now, shall we?" Aisha nodded eagerly at that. "Okay, let's start with the basics." She took one of her sabers of her belt again. "Just a reminder, make sure that you point the blade emitter away from you before you activate the blade. Also, make sure that you have it on the practice setting. We'll use the basic hold that I showed you the last time we practiced, alright?"

"Okay," Aisha said as she nodded again. She checked the setting on her saber and made sure that she held her saber correctly. She then activated it, the blue blade appearing brought a smile to her face.

Ahsoka nodded and activated her own lightsaber, the cyan blade materializing. "Good, do you still remember the moves we practiced last time?" she asked.

"Yes, I do," Aisha replied, thinking back to their practice session before their trip to Ilum.

"Alright, let's see you go through them," Ahsoka said.

Aisha nodded. She moved her feet so that she stood in the opening stance that Ahsoka had shown her. She then went through the basic swings that they had practiced. After she went through them all, she moved back into the neutral stance.

Ahsoka smiled at her. "Very good, you remembered all of it," she told her. "Now, let's go and step things up a bit." She moved her own saber into the starting hold of Form I. "It's a little bit more difficult without having a different partner to demonstrate it with, but I'm going to show you a series of attacks that we learned first in the Temple. The idea is to strike at your opponent and try to knock their lightsaber out of their hands. I'll show the attack pattern to you and then you can try it out on me."

Ahsoka went through the sequence of attacks as Aisha watched intently. "…and if you land a good hit, follow up with another one and try to disarm your opponent," she finished explaining. "Ready to give it a shot?" She moved into the basic defensive stance of Form I, using a standard two-handed grip.

Aisha nodded and moved to stand as Ahsoka had just demonstrated. She was a little hesitant to attack her sister though, which Ahsoka could sense.

"Don't worry Aisha, everything will be fine," Ahsoka reassured her sister. "Our sabers are at a training setting so they won't hurt. Apart from that, I've had enough practice. Don't worry, you won't hurt me."

"O-okay," Aisha replied a bit nervous. She hesitated a moment before taking a swing at her sister. Ahsoka easily blocked the strike.

"See? It'll be alright," Ahsoka said again. Aisha smiled, a lot more relieved now. Her sister would be able to block her attacks easily. "Ready to try again? Just go through the moves I just showed you. Practice them a few times."

Aisha nodded and moved back into the opening stance. She then struck at Ahsoka, going through the sequence of attacks her sister had just demonstrated. Ahsoka blocked everything easily, but that didn't discourage her. This was practice after all.

"Nicely done Aisha," Ahsoka said after she had completed the series of attacks. "Come on, let's do it again." Aisha nodded and set to repeat the exercise.

;-

Ahsoka and Aisha continued their practice for another hour. After Aisha had gotten the first basic combo down, Ahsoka had shown her two more attack sequences. Aisha had already gotten the hang of it a bit, so once she had memorized the attack patterns, they had done a simple spar, just to try the techniques out in a slightly different setting.

Ahsoka could tell that Aisha had really enjoyed their spar, despite the fact that she knew she had no chance to win. It had just been a way to practice the techniques for now.

"You did pretty good Aisha," Ahsoka told her with a smile. "You just have to work a bit more on your footwork, but don't worry, everyone has that at first. I know I did."

Aisha smiled as well. "That was really exciting," she replied happily. "I can't wait to practice more. I really want to learn more soon."

"Don't worry, we'll do more practice soon, but we also have to get ready for Marina's wedding. I'm sure there'll still be plenty of things to do for it this week," she said.

Aisha giggled a bit. "She's really nervous, I can tell," she replied. "She's getting so worried, but I'm sure it will all go fine."

Ahsoka laughed as well. "Yes, she really is," she said amused. "But I think Lilo is having the time of her life. She's really enjoying all of the time she can spend teasing Marina."

Aisha burst into a fit of laughter as well at that. "Yeah, she's messing with Marina every chance she gets," she replied. "But I think Marina will have her payback once Lilo finds someone."

Ahsoka gave her sister a wicked smirk. "Oh, you can bet on it. She definitely will and so will I, for all her teasing about me and Lux," she said as Aisha laughed again. "Now come on, let's go home. We'll see if we can do another practice session before the wedding."

"I really hope we can, there's still so much to learn," Aisha replied as she walked up to join Ahsoka.

"That's true, but you're picking up the techniques pretty quickly," Ahsoka said. "I'm sure that you'll master your lightsabers in no time. You may even be able to help me with something else later."

"Really? With what?" Aisha asked almost immediately.

Ahsoka smiled. "I've been studying our people's traditional fighting styles with Shaden and the others for some time now," she told her sister. "Once I learn more of them, I want to try and create a new form of lightsaber combat that combines the Forms of the Jedi with our people's styles. I think it can make for a very powerful and effective style. What do you think? Would you like to help with that?"

Aisha nodded excitedly. "Yes, that sounds great! I hope I can learn enough soon to help you with that," she replied.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will," Ahsoka said with a smile as they left the training room to head back home.

;-

That's it for this chapter.

Like I said, this chapter was a bit shorter. The next one, however, will be Marina's wedding with the prince. After that chapter this story will go into its own timeskip, just like Barriss' story.

Once this story enters the timeskip, I will be writing a small story that will take place about two months after the wedding. I won't reveal what it is about yet, but it will be an exciting time for Aisha.

I'm going to work on a new chapter for Gift of Light next. Ahsoka will learn quite a bit about herself, her family and Shili from Silara. It will be some quite some mixed news and she'll be left with quite the decision.

Until next time.