It was an early morning for Hera. As a captain should, she had a list of to-do's for the maintenance for her ship to be done. She got dressed as Ahsoka still slept on the cot in her room and headed out to start on today's work.
When she finished the check-ups in the cockpit, she headed towards the kitchen for a quick cup of caf.
She froze in her tracks when she reached the common room.
Her lips broke out in a smile as she saw the sight before her.
Kanan had his head leaned back and resting on the back of the couch as Athena's head laid in the middle of the Dejarik table. Both sound asleep. The holograms were still up and running - Athena's head and arms on top of them.
She peaked over Athena's shoulder to see that Athena's side won - making Hera chuckle even more.
"So, the mighty Jedi got his butt handed to him by his little sister in Dejarik?" Hera chortled. "How adorable."
She turned to the closet Athena usually slept in to see frost erupting from the inside. The captain got concerned. Did this mean Athena got scared last night for some reason? Was it a bad dream?
Hera looked over Athena to see almost no frost or frostbite on the girl's body, prompting a sigh of relief. That meant she probably got calmed down once Kanan talked to her.
The cups sitting on the couch near Athena and Kanan told Hera that the two must've shared a drink of tea.
Kanan did that a lot. He would get people a drink of caf or tea and talk with them. Hera always did appreciate an occasional cup of caf and talk with him. Kanan was the kind of person you could really talk to. He helped lift that weight of worry of a person's chest.
Hera couldn't imagine the kind of worry this girl must be facing. Being ripped from everything she ever knew and thrown into a galactic war where she was a part of a group that was persecuted by the tyrannical government? That must've been hard.
She lightly petted the girl's messy hair after picking up the cup from beside her.
The captain jumped back when the girl sprung up. Hera yelped as she saw Athena whip out a small knife as her eyes seemed panicked beyond all belief.
The yell prompted Kanan to wake up as well.
When Athena finally realized it was Hera who had touched her, she dropped the knife and had wider eyes than before, hand trembling. "Oh my god! Hera, I-I'm sorry! I-..."
"Holy crap, do you sleep with a knife on you?" Hera was gobsmacked. No child should be that frightened by that light of a touch in their sleep. That kind of defensive reaction made Hera's stomach churn. To think what happened in this girl's life that she would see a simple touch as a threat...That's not a natural reaction. That's learned.
"I'm sorry!" Athena was panicked. It was like she was pleading now. Hera and Kanan could tell there was complete sincerity behind it. Her eyes were panicked. "I-I thought…"
"No, no, hun," Hera assured. "I didn't realize…"
What kind of life does a kid live to where keeping a knife on her body as she sleeps is natural to her? What horrors happened to her where she felt the need to have a knife by her as she slept?
"Do - do you always have a knife on you when you sleep?" Kanan asked, concerned.
Athena was absolutely petrified. She just pulled a knife on Hera - the woman who offered her a place to stay.
"I...yeah…"Athena started. "I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry. I-I-"
Hera spoke in a calming voice, "Athena, you didn't realize it was me. It's okay. You wouldn't have pulled it on me if you knew it was me, right?"
"I should just not sleep with a knife, oh my God," Athena gripped the side of her head. "I could have hurt you. Oh my Jesus. Damn it!"
"Did...did you sleep with a knife on you when you were on Earth?" Kanan asked. "When you were with foster families?"
"Yes, I - uh - I'm just going to do the dishes. Oh my God, I am so sorry," Athena scrambled to stand up. She grabbed the cup next to Kanan and from Hera's hands and quickly walked into the kitchen - head down in shame. The doors quickly closed behind her.
Hera let out a shaky breath before meeting eyes with Kanan. "Remind me to never wake her up like that again. That looked like she was about to have some kind of traumatic flash-back."
"We're going to need to be more careful with her, I could've been bad," Kanan sighed. "Should we make sure to keep weapons away from her until she's fully awake?"
Hera shook her head. She bent over and picked up the small pocket knife Athena had dropped in horror. "No. This thing is probably the only thing that made her feel safe some nights. I don't want her to feel unsafe on my ship."
Kanan sighed, "You're probably right. We just got to work with her I guess."
Hera nodded. Pausing to think for a moment, Hera couldn't help but wonder just how much work they had in front of them with this girl.
At first, Hera wanted nothing to do with this human from Earth. She was just a strange kid who tried to mug Kanan, Ezra, and Sabine. Then, she became the kid who tried to protect them from an armed robber in a little Earthling store. Then, she helped Kanan get back home after being kidnapped by an old Inquisitor.
The girl already progressed from a scavenging smoking swearing Earthling to a Jedi Padawan willing to learn control over her powers.
Kanan stood up next to Hera, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"We got this. She will realize we're her family - not her enemy."
Hera smiled as she looked at him.
Kanan was confused as to why Hera laughed a little. "What?"
"It's just that I can't believe we got a tiny Jarrus running around our ship now."
"A tiny Jarrus?" Kanan chuckled. "Really, Hera?"
"She looks just like you and I can see a bit of the younger you in her," Hera said. "It's kinda like raising a young-version of you."
"Then we sure got a challenge ahead of us," Kanan said.
"We got this," Hera nodded, looking up into his eyes.
Both were startled when the door to the kitchen swished open.
Athena's head popped out.
"Hey...how do you start the dishwasher?" her voice was so meek.
"I'll show you," Hera assured, walking over to the teen.
When she approached the door, she saw Athena standing there - gripping her elbow as she looked towards the ground in shame.
Hera, out of instinct, wanted to put a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder but refrained. This girl's language didn't include touch.
"Athena...you don't need to feel sorry. I realize you weren't always around people who's touches were in kindness. I'm sorry if you felt frightened because of what I did."
"Hera, you shouldn't apologize. I pulled a knife on you in your own home, for God's sake."
"You were scared. You were scared and you wanted to protect yourself," Hera said. "I shouldn't touch you when you don't want me to."
"I...thank you…" Athena was a little choked up. "It's okay for you to touch my head. Just...make sure I know it's you...please?"
"Can I touch your shoulder?" Hera asked.
Athena nodded.
Hera placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder, "We respect each other in this family. I won't touch you if you don't feel comfortable with it."
Hera could see the girl's face scrunch up and her lips twist a little. To her surprise, the girl looked up and wrapped the twi'lek in a tight hug and buried her head in her shoulder.
"Thank you…" she let out a shaky breath. "No...no one's ever asked me before."
Hera froze there for a moment. The girl held on so tight.
Even with Ahsoka, the person Athena seemed to bond with the quickest, Athena never initiated a hug with her. Hera was beyond shocked.
The captain slowly completely completed the hug, holding the girl with tenderness and kindness.
Kanan made eye contact with Hera and they shared a sweet look of pride and tenderness. It felt so amazing. A beaten and traumatized child putting all of her trust in them.
Maybe they made more progress than they had even realized.
"Whomp whomp!" Chopper rolled into the common room. He looked to Kanan and then Hera and Athena in the kitchen. He'd never seen that tiny blonde human really hug someone like that. It was weird. He saved the photo of this moment in his memory bank.
Athena let go and looked at the droid, "Oh, hey Chopper…"
Hera lightly patted the girl's shoulder, "Alright, go get dressed. Ahsoka said she wanted to train you guys today when she gets up."
Athena nodded and headed off. She picked up her bag from her closet-room and headed towards the fresher.
Hera approached Kanan once Athena left the room and had stars in her eyes.
"Oh my Force, that was one of the most precious moments I have ever felt," she laughed in disbelief. "It...she was so…"
"She really likes you I guess," Kanan smiled.
"Has she even initiated a hug with anyone else? Oh my...I don't know why this feels so great," Hera was still in amazement.
"We kinda hugged once on Earth, but not like that. She really appreciated that - you asking for her consent," Kanan said.
"Holy...is that what it feels like to hold a baby or something? It felt so...special…" Hera questioned.
Kanan laughed, "Maybe."
"We are definitely keeping her, oh my Force," Hera chuckled. "That is probably going to be my high of the week."
"We are great space parents," Kanan chuckled.
"Hell yeah, we are. She went from trying to stab me to hugging me within two minutes," Hera said. "We're hitting parenting highs I didn't know were possible."
"Whomp whomp!" Chopper whirred.
Hera rolled her eyes and looked down at the droid. "Alright, Chop. I'll be there in a second. Let me have my joy."
"Hey, hand me the syrup," Zeb pointed across the table. A hot bowl of waffles in front of him.
In the kitchen now, the crew gathered for breakfast. With the surplus of people on the ship now, an extra table and seats were propped up for the moment next to the original.
Zeb sat on the very end of the extra table. Him being the biggest person on the ship it was best for him to have no one box him in on both sides. Athena, being still a little skittish from that morning's knife incident, was given the other end seat just across from the lasat.
"Here," Kanan passed the bottle of syrup down the table.
"Don't you think you've had enough waffles yet, Zeb?" the blue-haired boy remarked. He sat next to Athena.
"Is that supposed to be a joke or something, eh?" Zeb glared at Ezra.
"If I wanted to make a joke, I'd start talking about your face," Ezra jabbed.
"Alright, that's it you little rat!" Zeb lunged his arm towards Ezra - causing a great disturbance amongst the contents of the wobbly temporary table.
"You two stop it!" Hera warned.
Athena dodged - not wanting to get in between the two's little squabble.
Zeb's cup of juice went flying, having taken a bump from his elbow's motion. The purple drink flying across the room and towards Chopper just beyond the table.
The rest of the crew was already groaning in disapproval and disappointment. Hera was almost standing up, knowing that juice would muck up her droid's circuits.
It was like everything went slow-motion for a split second. The juice still in the air, everyone's reactions still in motion, and Athena's hand reaching out.
Even after the cup clattered to the ground, no one knew whether or not they could move.
The liquid was still in the air. Frozen in its fall.
Athena laughed in disbelief as the juice began to move at her fingers' command. It was like playing with play-doh. She brought it just in front of her, morphing the liquid into a swirling ball of juice.
"She...she can do that now?" Sabine was wide-eyed as she looked to Ahsoka. "Since when could she control drinks?"
"This is crazy!" Athena's eyes were lit up like stars. She made the mass of liquid suspended in the air spin in a spiraling circle.
"Well...at least I don't need to get another glass of jogan juice," Zeb commented, raising an eye at the suspended drink swirling in the air.
"You could have shorted Chopper out with that drink! You know how sugar mucks up his circuits!" Hera berated.
Ezra was wide-eyed as well as he looked at the girl next to him, "Wait...so now you can do fire, ice, and liquids?"
"Well liquid is in between of the two," Rae pointed out.
Zeb chuckled and looked to Ezra, "Hey, why can't your Jedi stuff do any of that cool stuff?"
"Because I'm just better," Athena joked, a cocky smile on her lips as she looked at Ezra.
Ezra rolled his eyes. "Oh please. I can still beat you at lightsaber training and holo-pod racing."
"I won 3 out of five rounds with the pod racing, buddy," Athena retaliated.
"I let you win."
"Nuh-uh!" Athena complained.
"Just put the drink back in the cup, Athena," Kanan put an end to the bickering. "Please, I don't want that stuff all over the table."
Zeb picked the fallen cup from the ground and Athena twisted the drink into a stream and plopped most of it back into the cup. Remnants of the uncontrolled drink splashing their meals.
"I did my best," Athena shrugged.
"Hey, at least you saved C1-10P over there," Rex pointed out.
Chopper let out some begrudging beeps of thanks.
Zeb froze for a second when he looked back at Athena as if he had seen a ghost. He suddenly remembered yesterday.
"Hey kid, what happened with your busted lip? How'd you get it to heal so quick?"
Athena was startled too. She completely had forgotten about it. Now, it was healed to the point where it seemed as if it never happened.
Daughter sure worked in mysterious ways.
The girl traced her fingers around her upper lip, furrowing her eyebrows in contemplation. "Oh...I guess I heal quick."
"The same thing happened after you got shot on Earth," Sabine pointed out. "You just healed up in an instant."
Rae raised her eyebrows, "Wait, you can control fire, ice, liquids, storms, and you can heal yourself?"
Athena shrugged, unsure of how to answer. "I guess it's an Earth thing."
"Padawans, finish up your meals soon. Kanan and I wanted to try some lightsaber techniques with you this morning," Ahsoka reminded, trying to get off this topic.
"Yay!" Rae and Ezra cheered.
Athena sighed. It was obvious she much rather work on her powers.
It was even more preeminent when they got outside and Athena kept getting whacked with the end of the wooden staffs.
"Athena, come on! Keep your guard up!" Kanan instructed as he watched his little sister get whacked once more by Rae's stick.
"I think we should go back to the basics," Rae stopped, looking at Ahsoka and Kanan. "She doesn't seem to have any of the movements down yet."
"Thank you, Rae, for being the only one who can see that," Athena groaned as she rolled her eyes. "I know I suck at this. Just keep swinging and I'll get a hit in eventually."
"I really don't like hitting you with a stick," Rae admitted.
"It's fine. If you haven't noticed, I'm the Jedi pinata," Athena sarcastically joked.
"What's a pinata?" Ezra asked.
Athena sighed. She kept forgetting she was the outsider from another galaxy to these guys. Her world was alien to them all.
"It's an Earth thing." she would respond.
"Hey, how about you show up some of the techniques you learned from your 'baton twirling' from Earth," Ahsoka suggested
"Ahsoka, that's a stupid dancing thing I did when I was little," Athena said. "It's completely different from this stuff."
"There's no hurt in at least-"
Athena shook her head and walked away from Rae, soon standing next to the Masters who overwatched the training. "I'm just going to watch. Maybe I can pick up something from watching people who know what they're doing."
Kanan sighed. Ezra looked up to him and he nodded in the direction of Rae, telling the Padawan it was his turn to spar.
Ezra approached Rae and Ahsoka spoke.
"Alright, put down the staffs. You two can use the real things."
The two teens nodded with a smile and tossed aside the wooden staffs. Their real lightsabers now in hand. One blue saber for Ezra, twin purple sabers for Rae.
Athena crossed her arms and sighed a little.
She realized how far behind she was just with wooden sticks - now it was even more evident once she saw Ezra and Rae's sabers clash.
Not only was she taking up Ahsoka and Kanan's time with trying to teach her simple blocks and strikes - she was holding Rae and Ezra back from realizing their full potential in training with their real lightsabers.
The girl did her best to observe what those two did differently with their blocking and striking...but she couldn't even focus on it.
A buzz in the back of her head kept pulling her attention away. She wanted to play with fire. With ice. With water. With anything she knew she had power over. Ahsoka and Kanan didn't even notice when the little Padawan ran off. It was like she vanished into thin air.
The wind in her hair. The sound of her feet thumping onto the dirt. The fire in her soul. It felt exhilarating. She wasn't running out of fear. She wasn't running away from something. She was just running. This planet. It was so green. So fresh. So alive. When she finally stopped to look around, she could barely even believe any of it. Trees as big as buildings and bark as dark as coal. Grass a deeper green than what she had ever seen. Fresh fog that dampened everything in its path.
She had never been on another planet.
This was the first planet she had ever been on other than Earth.
The birds above her head and in the trees were a royal blue and sang a song she had never heard. The bugs buzzed by in an unfamiliar and fascinating way. Large protrusions from the dirt could be found here and there. They were cylindrical formations with a bubble of moss on top of them. Ground bubbles. Big enough to where the top of the bubble would be to her eye. The air was warm and humid - but not enough to cause discomfort. The sun was blocked by dark grey clouds and thick fog.
She laughed once she looked to her feet. The dirt was just as dark as the bark on those trees. Little pebbles the color of ash from a fire.
No wonder this was a farming planet. The conditions were just about perfect for something to grow.
Looking at one of the giant ground bubbles, Athena got curious. What could cause these strange protrusions from the ground?
She pushed against the bubble and felt it wobble. Water sloshed inside.
Towards the bottom of the bubble was the hard, cylindrical base that came up to the height of her knee. She kicked it and could tell it was made of dirt and minerals. The inside of the bubble sloshed once again.
She looked at her hand, raised an eyebrow, then looked back at the bubble full of water. With the flex of her hand, the water inside swirled and sloshed. The bubble of dirt and moss swaying with the movement. She led the water around the bubble - making it spin and churn inside the bubble. To her surprise, the moss and dirt that once contained all the water ripped open like a balloon.
But, she didn't let the water go to waste and fall on the ground.
It was so natural to her. To go with the flow. To change at a moment's notice. It was like the water understood her. It would push and pull with her every movement. Free, yet could be contained when it wanted to. She was probably controlling about a bathtub's worth of water now - spinning and morphing it into any shape she desired. The water spun around her with every movement of her hands, then her arms, then her feet, then her heart. She could move the water like she was moving any other limb on her body - just with more freedom.
She didn't even notice the brown seeping into her hair or the blue coloring her eyes.
Eventually, she brought the water into the form of a stream around her. A river of water flowed around her like a ring around a planet.
She knew she couldn't play with the water forever - it needed to fulfill its purpose on this planet. So she let it go.
It flowed into the ground, soaked up by the dirt beneath her.
And she laughed. She laughed with joy.
She could control something. She excelled at something no one else could ever even attempt to try!
Her body felt so light. The warm breeze of the planet engulfed her in a blissful whirlwind of delight. Her hair swirled around her as the wind took hold of it. Leaves and small twigs began to dance around her feet. The branches of the trees around her seemed to shake in joy.
She closed her eyes and laughed some more - letting the feeling of bliss soak into her skin.
When her feet lifted up from the ground, she didn't even try to fight it. She let herself go up into the air, spinning with the wind. Going wherever it went. This spinning was good. This kind of weightlessness was a delight. Her feet touched the ground again and she opened her eyes to see the whirlwind of air surround her. Her hands orchestrated it now - commanding the winds to shift where she wanted them to.
Like the director of an orchestra, the flick of her wrist moved the air around her. The energy was intoxicating.
Two small twin twisters now danced together in front of her. Back and forth they swayed, taking the pebbles and leaves from the ground and lifting them up. The trees above her seemed to applaud with their leaves roaring with the wind.
A glowing gold color engulfed her hair now and her eyes were a silver so bright it could blind you if you looked too long.
When her body was too filled up with joy, she fell backward. Laughing like a kid as she lied on her back. The trees above her still swayed a little as they began to calm down from the dancing of their leaves.
So this was what she could do.
She could have freedom. She could have strength of her own.
The dirt under her gave her comfort in its cool soil. The solidness of it provided a drum for her heart to create a stereo out of.
It was like the planet shared a heart with her now. Every thump of her heart bounced back into her again from the vibration of the ground. It made her heart louder and feel even stronger. She could feel the deepness of life within this ground. Within this planet. She had never met Bakunyuu before, but the planet acted just like her Mother Earth. Like a mother caring for a strange child who was lost and alone; though not one of her own, she still cared for the child and brought her a sense of comfort.
Athena felt the veins of life running through this planet. The abundance of prosperity, peace, and stability.
When she stood on her feet again, it was like her feet were one with the planet. With every step, she could feel the echoes of life all around her. She could bring the ground up with her command - the dirt and rock following the girl's motions and commands.
Her hair was as dark as the fertile soil beneath her feet and her eyes mirrored both the color of the bark of the sturdy trees around her and the green moss that covered said trees.
The ground shot up with the thrust of her fist and retracted when she did. Specks of soil floated around her feet now. The wild plants on the ground began to flourish as they stretched their leaves towards her potent power.
Bakunyuu and Earth may be very different, but both loved this girl's power so. The strength inside her resembled their own.
Athena sighed, knowing she was only so strong at the moment. She couldn't hold this forever.
The rich brown color seeped away out of her hair and her eyes went back to teal. Her shoulders momentarily released from the weight of a planet.
"What do you mean you 'just left'? Do you have any idea how worried we were!?" Kanan was exasperated.
Athena rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled, "Hey, I wasn't gaining anything from watching lightsaber training, so I left. Wanted to explore."
"We were worried sick!" Ahsoka exclaimed. "We had no idea where you were and didn't know if you got hurt."
"Ok, Mom…" Athena rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. See? Nothing is wrong."
"Athena, look at me," Ahsoka made the girl maintain eye contact with her. "Don't run off without telling one of us, okay? We don't want to keep you captive, we just want to keep you safe. You got taken from me once. I don't want that to happen again."
Athena rolled her eyes. She heard that lecture from dozens of foster parents.
"She's back?" they heard a voice in the distance.
Just outside of the Ghost's ramp, Athena, Ahsoka, and Kanan turned to see Hera descend the ladder inside her ship to meet them. She began to walk out of the cargo bay towards them.
"Yes, after two hours," Kanan remarked, glaring at his little sister.
"I was just testing out some powers," Athena defended. "Best if no one's around so no one can get hurt."
"Athena, that's what Jedi training is for," Ahsoka said. "It's best to have a Master near to make sure you're safe."
"Get out, I was here first!" a boy's voice shouted. Athena turned to see Zeb and Ezra by a popped ground bubble - now just a pool of water. Both wore their swim trunks and had a towel - each wanting the pool for themselves.
The natural pool was a little ways away from the Ghost - just near the trees that lined the clearing the ship had landed on. It was the perfect little campsite. A nice little clearing of land, a natural pool of warm water, and not too far from the city.
"You little rat, you can't claim the pool all to yourself!" Zeb shoved him.
"Athena, focus. We're talking to you," Kanan warned.
She huffed, annoyed by this lecture already. "But, look at what I can do now!"
She turned to the pool of water, about 20 meters away, and outstretched her hand.
Up went the water like a geyser and Zeb and Ezra with it. They fell back, astonished by the sudden upwards gush of water. Athena brought the water into the shape of a spinning globe as she gleamed with pride.
Ahsoka, Kanan, and Hera's faces were completely different. Fear and shock written across their faces.
This morning, it was a cup of juice. By the afternoon, an entire swimming pool's worth of water.
Her hair was brown and her eyes blue.
"You...learned that? Just now?" Hera stuttered.
Zeb and Ezra were wide-eyed as they still laid on their backs by the now-empty pool. The water just above their heads - spinning like a ball.
"Yeah!" Athena smiled. She released the orb of water back into the pool and turned back to them. Her hair was still brown and her eyes blue.
"We...we - we're-" Ahsoka stammered. "We need to have you train with us from now on. A Master needs to watch over you."
"But I learned so much-"
Ahsoka's eyes were wide as she met her Padawan's eyes. Athena froze as she realized her Master was not about to argue with her.
"You need to be supervised when you're learning this kind of stuff," Ahsoka said. "It could be dangerous."
"I-...okay." Athena sighed.
"What was that?!" Ezra screeched in horror.
"Karabast, now my towel is all wet," Zeb grumbled, ringing out his towel as he stood.
"Sorry!" Athena waved, an embarrassed smile on her lips.
