A.N.

Just in time for the weekend.

Enjoy!

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Chapter3 – Sparring Padawans

The giant leaf, larger than most on Toledo, provided the perfect cover for Anakin and his guests from the heavy rain, big enough to keep them all shaded and warm around a heat lamp with plenty of room to spare.

Cloaked under her coat, Ahsoka treaded through a path cleared by Republic tanks and machinery and made her way over to them, as she got closer she could hear more laughter coming from there.

Anakin was never much of a cook, but he'd still eat anything. She heard of a time when he and Obi-Wan were stuck for several months besieging some fort the Separatists held, he improvised with a bunch of insects he found living in the sewage beneath the city, she can only wonder what they've got on the cooking utensil now.

Anakin looked up and smiled as soon as she stood over them and removed her hood, "Ahsoka, glad to see you joined us."

She sat beside him unenthusiastically, "Hello."

"You hungry?" he asked and gestured at some unfortunate creature stuck on a skew above the cooking utensil, "Forn found us a delicious catch."

"I suppose a little bite…" seeing how it looked edible she reached her arm out and picked at the meat.

Forn glanced over at Anakin after taking a bite out of a piece in his hands, "Well actually, it wasn't me who caught it. These things are fast."

"Faster than you, Forn?" Anakin mused, "I don't know, you're pretty fast from what I remember."

"Very funny, Anakin." Jerandeel took another bite and gestured with a nod at his padawan, "Ross deserves all the credit for this catch. Despite it being able to outrun even a Jedi, he nailed it."

"Wow." Ahsoka stated dryly, still picking at the meat, "You don't say."

"Oh," Forn looked at her, as though he took note of her sarcasm, either that or he just noticed she existed, "I hope I don't sound braggy or anything."

She raised a brow at him.

Finally, Anakin interrupted the silence, "No, not at all. Pay no attention to Snips, she's just funny like that."

Now her glare was directed at Anakin, who only gave her a scolding look, but she only grumbled and went back to the meat. Ross sat there quietly, not even eating, just watching the entire conversation. She wondered if his Master was the only one who wouldn't stop bragging about him. So what if he can catch some animal that can outrun a Jedi? She killed the greatest predator on her planet and wears its teeth and other ornaments on her head to show for it. How hard can it be to kill this tiny thing? Maybe Ross should wear these teeth on his head.

The rain slowed to a stop, clouds finally began to break and sunlight brightened the surrounding jungle. Jerandeel stood and peeked up at the sky, "Good, I thought we were going to drown under here."

Anakin, having sat for so long, clutched his knees for support and grunted as he stretched his legs, "Maybe we can finally start planning our next attack."

"Well, not just yet, Skywalker."

Confused, he frowned, "Why not?"

Forn stepped behind Ross and Ahsoka, "Because, our two padawans need to work together with us, and we can't have that if they haven't even gotten to know each other yet."

Anakin turned and saw both Ahsoka and Ross staring blankly at Jerandeel, "What do you have in mind?"

He responded with a toothy smile, "You know, they say Jedi never truly know one another till they spar."

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Sparring is nothing Ahsoka hasn't done before, she was top of her class in the Temple, and she's fought Assajj on more than one occasion, three Magnaguards all on her own, and even the Jedi killer, General Grievous himself, so she's quite confident with a lightsaber. But something more important is on the line here, she can tell. Jerandeel is just using this opportunity to impress Anakin with his apprentice again.

It's so obvious. What does he take me for? I'm more than just a padawan. I'm Anakin Skywalker's apprentice!

There's no way she's going to allow him this victory. Hasn't he ever heard of Jedi modesty?

I can't believe my Master befriended this guy. But that's okay; I'll make him swallow his pride.

Both padawans separated with their Masters about an hour ago to prepare and agreed to meet up afterwards for the challenge. It wasn't tradition, Anakin just requested it, and it's been a quiet warm up ever since while her Master sat there meditating.

Finally, Anakin opened his eyes, "You're not focused, Snips. What's bothering you?"

She straightened up, facing her Master, "Is he out of his mind?"

"He's only doing what he thinks is best, Ahsoka." he stood, handing over her training lightsaber, not so different from hers, just without the crystal that concentrated the blade so dangerously, "just relax."

Ahsoka sighed in aggravation, took it and turned to pick up her military pack. Despite his attempts, Anakin knew there was no changing her mind, "Look, I know you don't exactly like Master Jerandeel, but he did come to help us."

Backpack over her shoulder, she waved her arm sarcastically and rolled her eyes, "By getting me to spar his padawan?"

Anakin shrugged, "Sparring is good."

"And how is that gonna help anyone?" she frowned.

Anakin struggled to find the right answer, he was clearly trying to justify his friends' actions, "Well, like he said, it'll help you get to know Ross better. Not to mention brush up on your lightsaber skills."

Ahsoka shook her head and paced a little before she continued, "Like battling droids every single day isn't enough. Besides, I don't want to get to know Ross better."

Concern evidently showed on his face, "Why not?"

"Doesn't matter." She lowered her gaze.

"Either way, Snips, you're going to need to work together." Anakin put a hand on her shoulder, and she raised her gaze up to him, "Come on, you ready?"

Ahsoka sighed, "I suppose."

They made their way through the jungle to where Ross was crouched in an open space, going through his military pack. The ground was less muddy here; around them were a few trees, some rocks and plenty of stacked crates on the side with what looked like a damaged auto-turret.

"Where's your Master?" Anakin asked, taking in the surroundings.

Ross turned to his voice and stood, "He's been gone a while, said he'd be back soon."

"Here I am." They turned to find Forn stepping in from behind a bush, sneering, "Didn't keep you long, did I?"

"Not at all," Anakin noticed Ahsoka's irritation, but decided to ignore it, he saw her to the center and stepped over to Forn's side where they both monitored their padawans, "we just got here. Hope your apprentice is ready."

Forn said nothing, instead he eyed Ahsoka till she noticed him and offered her a wider smile, "Don't worry, he'll go easy on you."

Ahsoka frowned then turned her attention back to Ross, igniting her lightsaber in the reverse handgrip, "That won't be necessary."

"We'll see." He hooked his thumbs over his belt and nodded, "Begin."

Ross leapt forward, igniting his lightsaber at the same time, Ahsoka reacted by performing an upwards swing, deflecting Ross's advance, but his attack was fierce, putting a lot of strain on her posture. The two lightsabers sizzled as they locked, until Ahsoka twisted to the right, bringing her blade around to cut his side, but Ross was quick parrying the attack with a high guard and following it up with a twist and a swing in the other direction, which nearly left Ahsoka off balance and forced her back to dodge the blade.

Gritting her teeth, she leapt, spinning in the air and bringing her blade over him, but Ross back stepped to evade, she landed and jabbed forward, only to strike the air as he side stepped, thinking fast she made a back-handed swing, which slowed her down and allowed him to duck, kick the air from her lungs and graze her shoulder with an upward slice.

Ahsoka stumbled steps back, rubbing the graze and grimacing as she heard Forn laugh. Grumbling in response, trying not to lose focus, this was starting to feel more and more like a duel than just a spar to her.

I could really use those special powers about now.

"You had enough yet?" Ross taunted.

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes, catching her breath, "Not quite."

She blurred forward and sliced at his mid section, but he wasn't there. He had somersaulted over her, crouching as he landed with a back thrust, except she rolled just in time and twisted to face him. The two of them were crouched, glaring at each other and breathing heavily; Ahsoka made the first move.

She came at him with lightning speed and side rolled beneath his parry, cutting at his shins. Ross rolled over the attack, clutching his leg. His Force senses kicked in, calling him to look up, only to find Ahsoka leaping at him again, roaring as she came down. This time he countered her and the two proceeded to dance a lethal routine of the blades all across the arena, neither willing to back down, keeping their Masters on edge.

When Ahsoka snuck a glance at Anakin she noticed him focused on Ross, studying his attacks, probably awed by the 'flawless' teaching methods of his friend. Maybe even wondering how he can pick up a few tips on teaching her to fight more like his padawan, or maybe considering a replacement for her who could come closer to Ross' 'disciplined personality'.

And it was right then when Ross caught her off guard, a lightsaber hilt knock to her head, a quick kick to the heel and a simple shove and she was down, hitting the ground hard with a blue blade directed at her throat.

"Gotcha." he grinned.

And then laughter from Forn echoed again; words could not describe how embarrassed, no humiliated, Ahsoka felt right now.

She swallowed hard and accepted Ross' offered hand to help her up. Master Jerandeel made his way past his padawan and walked over to her with a drinking flask, "Aw, what a terrible shame. Don't let yourself down over it, kid. Some are just better than others."

"I'm okay with it, really." She lied, rather miserably, before taking the offered drink, "We learn from our defeats."

"Yes, yes, but they still hurt." Forn pointed out, "And you sound hurt."

She lowered her gaze; he was right. She waited to hear the words from her Master, but as he handed her towel over to her they never came, instead he and Forn turned and made their way back to camp.

Ahsoka knew a Jedi should never seek acknowledgment, but is it too much to ask for some recognition? Was it so difficult for Anakin to at least pretend he was proud of having her as a padawan? Or is she really that worthless?

Of course, she must be worthless in the eyes of the Anakin Skywalker. He deserves a better padawan. One who doesn't question his orders; one who can over achieve and still maintain humility; one like Ross.

Now Ahsoka's bruises caught up with her, she fell on her knees feeling crushed and drank the contents of the flask, hoping it would make her feel better. It didn't.

This was turning out to be the worst adventure ever.

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A.N.

Thanks to Jedi Angel001, Timewatch, Cylon One for reviewing and Tenkan for being an awesome brother.

A bit of trivia from this chapter:

Ahsoka's Akul-tooth headdress is in fact from a beast she slaughtered.

Yes, Jedi do use training lightsabers for sparring, but I'm not sure what technical details reside. I made up the crystal thing.

Ahsoka indeed did fight Assajj Ventress a second time since the events of The Clone Wars movie. Keep an eye out for an episode titled, "Cloak of Darkness".