Welcome back to Republic High everybody! Thanks much for all the great reviews! Can we shoot for 100 sometime within the next few chapters? I only need 10...
Anyhow, in this chapter we finally get to meet Ahsoka! And we're going to jump forward a few days in the storyline, just to keep things moving...I hope you guys enjoy it, don't forget to review!
Anakin sat outside the gate at the airport terminal with Padmé, Mace, and Obi-Wan.
He was actually kind of surprised that they'd all come; there were more exciting things to do on a Saturday afternoon than sit in an airport terminal, waiting for a plane that wasn't going to let the passengers off for another ten minutes-they'd been here for an hour already.
Even more shocking, though, was the fact that Padmé had forgone her tomboy style, in the respect that she'd applied some light make-up and lip gloss, and she'd painted her fingernails-black of course, but still...
Padmé swept some of the hair that had escaped the sloppy ponytail out of her eyes as she eyed Obi-Wan over her fan of cards. Smirking, she placed two cards facedown on the 'discard' pile.
"Two tens." She said.
Obi-wan eyed her skeptically, but said nothing-the discard pile had grown rather large, and he only had three cards left in his hand. It was his turn next and he placed a card on the discard pile. "One jack." He countered.
"Liar!" Mace roared, flipping the card, to reveal a two of spades. "Take the cards, sucker." The dark-skinned boy grinned.
"Son of a Nek!" Obi-Wan groaned. "How'd you kriffing know?" He demanded.
Mace rolled his eyes. "You suck at lying, Obi-Wan. Your eye twitches every time you bluff."
Obi-Wan groaned in frustration. "You suck, you know that."
"Aw, wittle Kenobi gonna cwy?" Padmé taunted.
"Kriff you." Obi-Wan responded. He did a double-take. "Are you wearing lip gloss?"
"Yeah. So?" Padmé examined her fingernails.
"You're not going soft on us, are you?" He asked.
"Relax, Kenobi, I can still slide your girlfriend when she dumps you and kriffs with your MySpace page. I got your back." Padmé grinned.
"Stang!" Mace replied drawing out the word as he bumped fists with Padmé. "Owned again!"
"I hate you guys." He moaned. He looked at Anakin. "It's your turn."
"One queen." He said, laying his last card down on the table.
"Liar." Padmé said, without looking at him.
Anakin flipped his card, revealing the queen of clubs. "Looks like I win."
Just as he finished, passengers began filing out of the plane.
Anakin stood up from his chair, holding up the sign with Ahsoka's name on it.
"Excuse me sir," One of the airport security guards walked over to him. "Panhandling is not allowed in the airport." He said.
"What? I'm not..." Anakin looked down at the sign in his hands
Will work for food was scrawled in sloppy Sharpie on the blank side of the name-card.
Anakin turned around. "Nice, guys." He grumbled. "Sorry about that officer, my friends were just playing a joke on me is all." He explained.
"Alright. I'll let it go this time, but if I catch you again, I'm calling the authorities." The man warned, and walked away.
Padmé licked her finger, and used the saliva to wash the back ink off of her fingernails. "Still got it," She said.
"Very funny." Anakin griped, flipping the sign around.
After about five minutes, Ahsoka emerged from the stream of travelers, and made her way to Anakin's side.
She was dressed in all black, right down to the paint on her fingernails. Her small shoulders were slumped forward. Hoping that nobody saw, she brought the sleeve of her sweatshirt up to wipe a way a tear.
Ahsoka was a little on the small side- standing at 5' even, she was five inches shorter than Padmé, who in turn was seven inches shorter than Anakin's six foot frame.
"Hi." Ahsoka said in a melancholy tone; she had just lost her father after all. "I'm Ahsoka...I guess I'm your cousin."
"I know you." Anakin replied kindly, giving the sad girl a hug. "You were just a baby the last time we saw each other, you probably don't remember me."
Ahsoka shook her head. "Not really."
"Well, you'll get to know me again before too long." Anakin gestured to his friends, who were still seated in their chairs. "These are my friends, Padmé, Obi-Wan, and Mace." Anakin introduced them, indicating each of them in turn.
Padmé, sensing the girl's unease, went over to shake her hand. "Hey Ahsoka, it's nice to finally meet you! Anakin's told me so much about you; I think we'll be great friends." Padmé slung a friendly arm around Ahsoka's small shoulders.
"Uh...nice to meet you too, I guess." Ahsoka replied, taken aback by the girl's friendliness. She smiled
Padmé stepped back and looked up at Anakin. "Do you need help getting her settled in?"
"I think I'll be okay. Tell you what, give me an hour to get things straightened out, and then you can come over and fix whatever I screwed up." Anakin suggested.
"Okay. I'll drop Mace and Obi-Wan off, and then I'll come by." Padmé agreed.
"Sounds like a plan." Anakin replied.
Ahsoka was quiet for the entire drive back to Anakin's flat.
Jabba greeted them at the door, but instead of replying, Ahsoka edged closer to Anakin.
"Your landlord creeps me out." She said as the two of them arrived at the door to Anakin's apartment.
"Me too." Anakin replied. He shoved the door open.
He thought he heard Ahsoka giggle quietly behind him, but he wasn't sure.
Anakin took his charge on a brief tour of his small apartment, one that ended at her bedroom.
"And this is your room." He said, gesturing to the modest living space. There was a bed, a dresser, and a small nightstand in the room with space for a few more small things- if Ahsoka wanted them. "Padmé helped me pick most of it out, I'm not much of a shopper."
"Most guys aren't." Ahsoka interjected, smirking.
Anakin rolled his eyes, smiling inwardly at Ahsoka's wit. "Anyway, we can change it if you want." He replied.
"It's fine; I like it. Padmé has good taste..." Ahsoka reflected. "It looks a lot like my room at home." She continued, dashing at her eyes. Her thing shoulders shook as she sobbed quietly. I miss you, Mom. She thought.
"Are you okay?" Anakin asked.
"I'm fine!" Ahsoka snapped, embarrassed that Anakin had noticed.
Anakin held up his hands defensively. "Take it easy, Snips. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He said gently.
"Yeah? Well, I don't need your help!" Ahsoka retorted bitterly, and slammed the door in Anakin's face.
Anakin stepped back in time to avoid having his nose smashed flat, but was too late to open the door before Ahsoka locked him out.
He sighed. This is going to be harder than I thought.
Okay guys and girls, you know what to do next...Review! Can we shoot for 100? 'Cause that would be pretty awesome.
How's that for an introduction? I know Ahsoka might seem a bit sappy at the
moment, but remember she just lost her mother...I had a review asking me "not to make Padmé too much of an influence on the Ahsoka front..." While I'll do my best not to make it too gushy, Ahsoka does need a girl to talk to for some things, so there will be some interaction in that field- Anakin doesn't know everything, and he's not very good with kids for the moment... Padmé's was very much a tomboy at the beginning of this fic, but she's begun to soften up a little, and I think her 'maternal instincts' will come in handy. Sorry if this disappoints you guys, but it's important.
May the Force be with you,
~Ink