The Missions Between
Chapter 9: Meeting again prt.2
Ahsoka awoke early the next morning after settling into a tent of her own on Onderon. She walked outside to see if her favorite senator was around. She browsed around the camp for a while until she came across Lux, Steela, and Saw all sitting around a fire eating breakfast together. Ahsoka smiled when she saw Lux and started over towards him when she heard a voice call her.
"Ahsoka! We need to get the supplies ready for the trainings. We'll all eat breakfast together beforehand." Anakin yelled over at her.
She rolled her eyes and turned around to join them.
Lux had not seen Ahsoka yet, he didn't even know if she came along despite her being in the briefing room. He was still eating and talking with his new romantic interest and her brother Saw. "So, Steela, do you happen to know which Jedi are here?" He asked.
"Well, they all introduced themselves to me, I believe, General Skywalker, General Kenobi, Captain Rex and Commander Tano." She stated.
Lux's heart began to beat like crazy. "Oh, I look forward to meeting them." Lux said with a bit of discomfort. He still wasn't sure how things would go, he wasn't even sure if Ahsoka had feelings for him or not. So he managed to relax a bit.
"Alright Bonteri, let's see what these Jedi can get out us and our little group here." Saw jokingly stated.
Lux smiled at him with a bit of vengeance as he stood up to join him.
"I sure hope you're right about this." Steela said as she walked past Lux and winked at him.
He then ran up to her and planted a firm kiss on her lips. "Trust me, Ahso…. They will be great."
The group of rebels met around a mapping area. Lux could see Ahsoka standing there with her master and Master Kenobi. They all had a few words to figure out a training strategy. Then they parted ways.
Ahsoka followed after Lux. "Lux! It's good to see you again." She smiled.
"It's good to see you too Ahsoka." Lux repeated.
They discussed how Lux became senator and then Steela followed up behind them to join in the conversation.
Ahsoka tried to convince Lux to join the Republic but he said no.
"Well what matters now is we need each other's help, just like we did on Carlax." Ahsoka stated.
"Carlac? What happened on Carlac?" Steela asked
"Ahsoka is the reason I'm here." Lux began.
"What he means is…" Ahsoka tried to jump in.
"She saved me from a huge mistake." Lux said as he walked off.
"Lux obviously thinks highly of you." Steela added.
"I guess so." Ahsoka confirmed with her arms crossed.
"Let's hope that respect is well founded." Steela snipped.
Ahsoka began to feel uncomfortable. She was usually good at dealing with women, but Steela was hard to read. She wanted to be on good terms with Steela, especially considering that it seemed Steela and Lux had bonded, which also made Ahsoka a bit more uneasy.
The trainings were not underway. Rex and Ahsoka had already shown them now to disable the tanks, now it was time for disabling destroyer droids.
Ahsoka gave a brief demonstration on how to do it and then let Saw take the first throw, which he missed.
Lux who was still sizing Saw up, went next and got the droid popper past the shield.
"Nice touch." Ahsoka said flirtatiously.
"Thanks!" Lux replied. The two of them shared a passionate smile.
Steela noticed this and was not happy. "Not bad." She pipped up. She went next and missed just as Saw had.
Ahsoka would never had admitted this to anyone, but she was hoping Steela would miss to counteract her arrogance.
Then she saw Lux rush up to assist Steela, Lux seemed to have his hands all over her, swinging her arm back and forth in what seemed like a very tender moment.
Ahsoka felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach and her montrels drooped, her eyes widened, she felt like her heart and head were going to explode out of embarrassment. She viewed them for a moment and then hung her head. "Great." She said with a bit of sadness.
They had just been instructed to pair up and practice. Ahsoka pulled out a droid popper and walked over to Lux and Steela with the intention of practicing with Lux. She had a nervous smile on her face, and without even batting an eye in her direction, Lux walked off with Steela. Ahsoka felt so alone and rather embarrassed with her masters near, despite the fact that they really didn't know what was going on in her mind. She looked down at the droid popper in her hand and pulled it close to her chest as if it was her only friend in the world, it soon became a blur as her eyes began to water. Saw's voice mildly flirting with her, wanting her to help him practice made her snap back into focus, even if while helping Saw, she would catch as many glimpses of Lux and Steela practicing together as she could. She felt a little guilty that she took a bit of pleasure of Steela not getting the hang of throwing the poppers, but it wasn't her nature to let her fail, so she went over to give Steela some confidence.
Ahsoka didn't get the closure she needed from talking to Steela, she had some time before the sniper training and she ran back to her tent for a relaxing moment. She threw open the curtains and almost began hyperventilating at the thought of Lux and Steela. Ahsoka pressed a button on her wrist. "Barriss, I need some advice. Lux seems to be awfully clingy to another girl here. What should I do? What does it mean?"
"Ahsoka, you know what I think, I'm sorry he's doing that. I don't really have much advice for you. All I can say, is to keep your head in the game." Barriss informed her.
"Well that's not helpful at all Barriss." Ahsoka stated.
"I'm sorry Ahsoka, I just don't think you should be letting yourself feel for this boy, it will only cloud your judgement. I wish you the best Ahsoka." Barriss said as she signed off.
Ahsoka really didn't know what to do now. She sat down on her cot and tried to focus, but there was only one thing that came to her mind, and it was how Lux was all over Steela, that image burned in her brain so clearly, she didn't want to let it bother her, but she couldn't help but feel this way. As the emotions filled her mind, her focus was suddenly completely gone and once again, she pushed out some tears. Despite the fact that she was generally one to keep her composure, this was really getting to her, she wasn't crying, but just tearing up and possibly on the verge. She soon heard a voice at her tent outside.
"Ahsoka? Are you in there?"
"Come in Master Kenobi." She said with as strong a voice as she could muster.
Obi-wan walked in and knelt down in front of Ahsoka and smiled at her.
For a moment she kept her head down, as not to show him her tears. But as he just stared at her, she knew he wouldn't leave her alone until she at least looked at him; so she slowly lifted her head to make eye contact with her elder master.
Obi-wan placed a hand on her knee. "Ahsoka, we've all been in this position. Dealing with our romantic feelings are not easy. I can sense distraction when I feel it, and you are distracted young one." He said in a calm voice which relaxed Ahsoka.
"He's chosen someone else Master." Ahsoka said.
"It's always so complicated Ahsoka, this is why it's forbidden in the first place, it makes it impossible for a Jedi to be impartial."
"Please don't tell Master Skywalker." Ahsoka begged.
"I won't tell him, the last thing we need right now is trouble between you two, however it is something the two of you should discuss sometime, I get the feeling that he has dealt with this sort of thing in the past as well." Obi-wan mentioned as he stood up and walked out of the tent.
It was time for some sniping training, something Ahsoka didn't really know too much about, so Rex mostly handled things. It became clear that Steela was the best shot in this rebellion.
"Fixed targets are one thing." Ahsoka said as she then used the force to move the targets while Steela shot them and hit them every time. "Nice job." Ahsoka said with a bit of jealousy in her voice.
The group was settling down for the moment and Anakin approached Ahsoka. "Snips, are you losing focus?" He asked gently.
"No!" Ahsoka quickly piped up.
"Well, if you need to talk, I'm all ears, but I do expect you to keep your purpose in check." He said as he placed his hand on her shoulder and then walked away.
Ahsoka managed to push out a smile, she knew she had some support, not just from Rex, but even her Masters as well. She felt at ease for the time being.
