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Through the Eyes of Echo

Echo had never really been one for caf, but late nights had borne a need for the stimulation it provided. He grimaced at the taste, choking it down as quickly as possible.

Quiet laughter sounded behind him.

It was early in the day-cycle on the Resolute, and he had thought he as the only one in mess. Movement to his side proved otherwise. He stood to attention, "Good morning, commander," because only one person laughed like that.

She slid into the bench beside him. "Good morning, Echo, at ease." He moved to parade rest and she frowned slightly. "Kriff that wasn't what I wanted." A smile twitched on his lips. He knew what she'd been trying to say, and was gently teasing her. If her huff of frustrated amusement was anything to go by, she knew what he was doing. "Oh, c'mon, Echo, you know what I meant."

"It's against regulations to break form unless directed by the commander, or the commander leaves." It was a compressed version of the actual rule, and she groaned comically.

"Echo." He still didn't sit. She jerked upright suddenly. "As you were!" It came out much more viciously than she'd intended and her montrels darkened in a blush. It was his turn to laugh as he sat down.

"So," he pulled his datapad back to him, "what can I do for you, commander?"

She tucked her feet under her; an impossible feat for anyone who wasn't so small. "I was awake and bored."

"So I'm amusement?"

She leveled a look at him. "I think I'm amusement for you, actually." The sparkling laughter in her eyes belied the irritation in her words.

He gave her a small grin. "You laughed at me first."

It was such a childish conversation, so simple and easy, one he never ever imagined having with his commander. During his time with the 501st, though, she'd become more than just his commander. She was almost like a kid-sister, maybe even a friend, someone he could be around and act like he was eleven and not twenty-two. It was a sweet relief from all the war; she was a sweet relief, Torrent Company's saving grace.

"I supposed I did." Her words brought his mind back to the now, her heaving sigh brought his body to suppressed laughter. "I could feel your dislike of caf from down the hall; it was funny to see you drink it."

"Ah, so I am amusement for you."

She didn't bother faking another agitated look, just giving into her laughter. So much laughter, so bright and dazzling, from such a little body.

Echo felt a quiet swell of pride that he was the one to draw it forth.

She picked up his empty mug, peering at the remnants of the drink, nose crinkling in disgust. "Have you ever tried tea?"

"No, sir." He marked something on the document he was reading. "I wasn't aware the Resolute had any."

Ahsoka was already nodding. "We do. I don't much like caf, either, so Skyguy got me some as a lifeday present."

A kind gesture from her Master, one Echo thought the general was entirely prone to. Both of them, Master and Padawan, were kind in their own ways, compounded and complemented by each other.

She kept speaking. "It's something like flowers and vanilla. I don't know the exact flavor; the container is in some language I don't know."

"I might know." The words were out of his mouth before he thought of them, the unspoken offer hanging in the air between them. He waited with baited breath; it was an offer he'd give to a friend, but not necessarily his commander.

She positively lit up, though, glowing brightly from some internal light. "Oh, that'd be great!" and she was up and off, bouncing away—presumably to her quarters—and returning within the next moment with the box of tea. It landed on the table in front of him and he grabbed it, stopping it from falling off the other end of the table.

She plonked back into the seat beside him. "What's it say?"

It was a written language he knew, just barely, just enough to read, "Zahra fanilia."

Ahsoka's head cocked as she processed the words, eyes distant. She looked—Echo felt another grin twitching—she looked adorable. A trooper wasn't really supposed to think of their commander as adorable, but at certain times she really was.

That kid-sister, Jedi-child.

"Well," she grinned helplessly, "I don't know that translation, either." She looked at him—not the muut puppy face he had heard spoken of. No, it was more like she was so intensely hopeful that he didn't want to let her down.

He grimaced, eyes light with amusement. "Sorry, commander, can't help you there. I can just read the letters."

Echo assumed it was safe to say she wasn't too bothered by that. Delighted laughter spread from her, and he wondered at the fact that she could laugh without making a sound. Laugh with her body and not her mouth.

She stood again, returning this time with a mug of hot water. The scent of the tea tickled his nose as she scooped the leaves into the water. It was a sweet scent; childhood joy and glimmering fantasies and whispers of dreams.

"Echo?"

"Yes, sir?"

She spooned a modest amount of sugar into her tea. He was surprised. She had always seemed to him to be the heaping-sugar type.

Silence curled around them as he waited patiently for her response. After many moments, her lips curled upwards sheepishly. "I don't know. I feel like I have something important to say, but I can't seem to remember it."

"I've heard that's a sign of being clever-quick." It was a phrase he'd picked up from a story he'd read—by accident, of course. He'd thought it was an instruction manual. Things had gotten lost in translation. Literally.

Her eyes rounded at the new word and he could almost taste her glee for it. "Clever-quick." She sipped her tea experimentally. "Where did you hear that?"

"I do read more than regulations."

Teasing her was fun. She was so receptive to it, so happy to be included in that gesture of closeness. It really was very difficult to see her as his commander and not his little sister in that moment.

"I like it." Her smile was thoughtful even as her eyes gleamed with promises of trouble. "Clever-quick."

The alarm he'd set beeped softly from his helmet and he stood. "I have duty, sir. I'll see you later."

She waved him off, smile flickering between thoughtful and exhilarated. He returned it with a quiet one of his own as he strode off.

Kid-sister, Jedi-child. Under his helmet his smile broadened. Clever-quick.

Just a sweet little scene, nothing too spectacular. I wanted something with Echo, and I wanted the situation to reflect his character.

Maybe in the future we'll have Echo and Ahsoka in action.

The phrase that so delights Lil 'Soka, clever-quick, is borrowed from Tailchaser's Song. It's a great book and if you haven't read it you really should.

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Kisses!