Aurora's POV
I lied awake in my bed that night, still trying to process the conversation Obi-Wan and I had earlier in the day, along with the conversation Yoda and I had. Nothing was making sense to me, but somehow everything was making sense to them. The real thing that bothered me was the fact that they both knew what was going on with me, but they are still being cryptic as fuck like the Jedi always are. That ticks me off.
I sat up in my bed, knowing it was the early hours of the morning, but knowing it was too early for anyone to be awake. I slowly stood up, and walked to the door of my room, opened it, checked the corridor to make sure no one was in there before I walked out of my room. I didn't want to go out onto the streets of Coruscant, as I wasn't in the mood to see anyone, and I sure as hell wasn't hungry. I wanted to head back to the archives to read about my kidnapping…if two Jedi brought me back to my mother, then they should have a record of it.
On my way to the archives, I became so lost in my own thoughts that I bumped into someone.
"Watch it!" I hissed.
"Shut up Ro! You bumped into me!" A familiar voice said in annoyance.
I smirked as I looked over the person, before kneeling to give them a hug. It was Caleb.
"What're you doing awake at this hour?" I asked as I stood back up.
"Hiding from my Master. I've been up for the last three hours." He explained. "What're you doing?"
"Heading to the archives. Want to join?" I ask with a small smile.
Caleb, being the way he is, obviously said yes, and we both continued our journey to the archives. During this point in the morning, no one was in the archives, not even the Jedi that manages the archives, which was nice, so I don't have her coming up behind me and asking if I found everything ok. I sat down at one of the holoscreens and began typing, and Caleb sat down next to me, and put his feet up on the table...at least one of us was relaxed during this. We were silent most of the time, until Caleb broke the silence.
"What are you looking up?" He asked in curiosity.
"Some information about myself." I explained not even glancing at him.
"Don't you know everything already?" He sarcastically asked. "Since you are literally the source?"
I rolled my eyes. "Don't get wise."
Caleb shrugged as I continued to type. We were both silent for a while before he interrupted again.
"Seriously, what are you looking for?" He asked again.
I sighed. "Information about when I was kidnapped as a child. My mother didn't tell me anything about it, except that two Jedi brought me back to her. I'm trying to see if there is any archive information about it."
Caleb sighed. "You'll probably find it then; the archive has a list of all of the Order's history throughout the galaxy."
I shrugged as I continued to type, but eventually, I came to a dead end.
"Damn it." I groaned in annoyance.
"What's wrong?" He asked as he sat up.
"I couldn't find anything." I explained. "There's no record of my kidnapping in the archive."
He moved closer to the screen and took over typing.
"What're you doing?" I asked in confusion. "I already told you I couldn't find anything."
"You were looking in the wrong place. If Jedi want to hide their secrets, they encrypt it, or in some cases, delete it from the archive memory. That's how the order lost track of Kamino for so long, some Jedi deleted it from the archive memory."
"A Jedi deleted it?" I asked in disbelief.
He nodded as he continued to type. "Yeah, shook the order to the core. Master Kenobi went on a scavenger hunt around the galaxy looking for it. Obviously, he found it, considering there are clones all over the place. What planet were you taken too?"
"Utapau." I explained.
He was silent for a while as he continued to type, but eventually, he pulled himself away from the screen allowing me to visualize and scroll through the data he found.
"I think I found it." Caleb explained as I began to scroll.
I nodded. "I think you're right."
As I began to scroll through the archive files, I began to realize something. I wasn't taken to Utapau by any mercenary, I was taken to Utapau by a Mandalorian mercenary. I frowned in confusion as I continued to read before I stumbled on the name, Boyana Kryze. My grandmother.
"What's wrong?" Caleb asked noticing my facial expression.
"My grandmother." I explained pointing to her name on the screen. "It says the unnamed mercenary was hired at the expense of my grandmother…the question is, why?"
"That makes no sense." Caleb began. "Did your grandmother have anything against you?"
I shrugged. "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised, nothing makes sense to me anymore."
Caleb handed me a hard drive. "You may want to download it to here, so you can view it later. Master Jocasta is going to be in here in about an hour, and I know you don't want her over your shoulder."
I nodded and began to download the data onto the hard drive. Once the information was downloaded, both Caleb and I went our respective ways and I headed back to my room, even more confused when I walked out of it a couple hours ago. As I crawled back into my bed, I began to twiddle the hard drive in between my fingers. Why would my grandmother want me to be kidnapped? And why did the Jedi go so far as to encrypt it? The file still didn't tell me which Jedi brought me back to my mother…making me believe that it was deleted from the archive all together.
Just as I started to fall back to sleep, my door busted open.
"Get up." Anakin explained as he turned the lights on making me sit up in bed.
"Why?" I groaned in annoyance. "I just started to fall back asleep."
"We need to head to Florrum." He explained. "Meet me in the hangar."
"Wait, why?" I asked in confusion.
"I'll explain on the ship!" He called after me before exciting my room.
I quickly put on my boots and practically ran out of my room and into the hangar. Once I was in the hangar Anakin began to explain the situation to me. The rebels were experiencing droids in numbers they couldn't handle, and since the Separatists are in control of Onderon, the Republic can't help them, but a third party could, leading Anakin to request help from Hondo Ohnaka. I've never been a big fan of Hondo, as he's more of a criminal than I ever will be, but then again, if Anakin has faith in this guy, I have faith in Anakin…and I can't believe I'm even thinking those words. Soon enough Anakin and I piloted our respective Starfighters to Florrum, and once we landed on the surface, Hondo's gang of pirates surrounded us with blasters aimed and ready to fire.
Anakin and I ignored the blasters aimed at us and walked directly up to Hondo. Hondo smirked when he saw the both of us.
"Skywalker my old friend!" He said in a tone that made my skin crawl. "You brought me the Princess?"
"I'm not up for trade." I scowled.
Hondo smirked. "Still as fiery as ever."
"We come for your service." Anakin explained.
"Oh, business?" Hondo asked. "Good, good, good. That I understand."
"We need you to make a delivery for us." Anakin explained.
Hondo huffed in amusement. "And that is all I am to you, Jedi? A delivery boy? Why don't you ask her?" He said gesturing to me. "Or don't you know of her reputation?"
"He's aware of what I'm capable of." I explained. "Or haven't you forgotten that I can kill a man from a good click away?"
"Her skill sets are very useful, but I know that if I need arms shipped illegally, you're the man I'd go to." Anakin explained.
"Illegally?" Hondo asked in disbelief. "Now why would a Jedi need to deliver arms illegally?"
"How about we pay you well enough that you just deliver the missiles for us and don't ask any questions?" I asked as I crossed my arms.
Hondo let out a laugh. "Well as long as you are not paying me in credits, I'm sure to accommodate your wishes, Master Jedi and Princess."
Sure enough, after we paid Hondo a very heavy pay, we headed back to Coruscant. I wasn't the happiest in dealing with Hondo but knowing that top of the line rocket launchers would be sent to the rebels would allow for the further possibility of taking back the planet. By the time we got back to Coruscant, word of Hondo's shipment was received and eventually, within a few hours, we got notice that the Rebels had successfully taken back the planet. Obi-Wan, Anakin, Rex, and I all got into a Republic shuttle and headed back to Onderon.
Once we landed on the surface, I knew something was off, yes, the citizens were free of Separatist control, but something did not seem right. Something seemed off. The four of us headed into the palace in Iziz, and noticed some of the rebels celebrating, some of the rebels in pain due to injuries, and others in the form of mourning. Someone died.
After asking around for where the 'medical wing' was, I cautiously made my way over to where the rebels had created their medical wing. Upon approach, I was met with Ahsoka running towards me. I met her halfway and engulfed her into a hug.
"I'm so glad you're alive." I said with tears practically welling up in my eyes.
"I'm so happy to see you." She said in a somber tone.
"What's wrong?" I ask in confusion.
"Steela died." She explained. "I had the opportunity to save her…and I couldn't. Her brother hates me for it…I killed her."
I shook my head. "You did not kill her."
She shook her head. "I did Ro! I killed her! I got shot in the back, and loss focus! I let her die!"
She immediately turned away from me, and that's when I noticed the huge bandage on her back. The poor girl was probably scarred for life from this experience. Once Anakin walked into the medical bay, I gestured him to where Ahsoka had gone off to, and decided it be better for him to talk to her than me. I continued to walk through the medical bay until I came across the person I was looking for. Alex had a team of doctors around him working quickly. He had left his arm in a sling, and a bandage that went all the way up to his shoulder on the same arm. He had the tiniest bit of dried blood on his face, and I could tell he was in pain. But somehow, all the pain that was present in his eyes went away when he saw me. It was like I was a sight of relief for him. He was relieved to see me alive. After the doctors had left, I slowly walked into his room and leaned against the doorway.
"Hey." I practically whispered.
"Hey." He whispered back.
"What happened?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I got shot."
I stood straight up and slowly walked towards his bed. "Oh."
"Oh?" He asked. "You thought Hondo did this?"
I sat down on his bed and shook my head. "No…I…I don't know what to think."
We were silent for a while before he broke it.
"Steela is dead." He said quietly.
I nodded. "I know."
"It should've been me." He explained.
"Alex." I began.
He shook his head. "No, it should've been me. She pushed me out of the way. I should've been the one hanging off that cliff. I should've died…it should've been me. Saw would be happy, Ahsoka would be happy…"
"But I wouldn't be able to live with myself." I blurted out. "If you die, a part of me dies. I was worried that something would've happened to you or Ahsoka while I was gone…I thought you were the one who died."
"But I didn't die…I'm right here." He explained and I immediately got up and closed the door to his room so no one would hear the argument that the two of us would have.
"It doesn't matter!" I practically scream as I sat back down on his bed, this time directly next to him. "Every time I leave someone I care about; I worry about them dying. My mother, my brother, you, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, the list goes on and on. And if one of you dies, I won't be able to live with myself."
He didn't reply but wrapped his one free arm around me, allowing me to cry into his shoulder. I cried violently, as all the events from the last couple of days started to catch up with me. My biggest fear? Losing the ones, I love. I felt him place a soft kiss into my hair as I continued to cry.
"Promise me you won't leave me." I cry into his shoulder.
"I promise." He said into my hair. "Always."
That night, I slept next to Alex. We both decided based upon my nervous breakdown/anxiety attack I had, that it would be best for me not to be alone, and I was concerned something would happen to Alex in the middle of the night, hence me sleeping next to him. It was comforting in a way, almost like my security blanket. I felt safe. I felt secure. And I'll be honest, it was the best night of sleep I've had in a long time.
The next morning was Steela's funeral. People from all over Onderon flocked to Iziz to see the funeral of the great hero of Onderon. We all were on the steps of the palace, witnessing the funeral take place. I was standing next to Alex off to the side, along with Anakin and Obi-Wan as we had already paid our respects.
"The look confused." I said to Alex as we watched Ahsoka, Saw, and Lux pay their respects to Steela's body.
Alex nodded. "Perhaps, but this was a big lesson for them."
"How so?" I ask in confusion.
He sighed. "War may not be the best option, but in times like these, it hurts those we love the most."
I sighed as I continued to look ahead a Steela's body.
"War takes everything from you. Now I understand why you don't kill anymore." I replied.
I felt his right arm wrap gently around my waist.
"And I now understand why you gave up being in Death Watch." He replied making the both of us share a glance. I gave him a small smile before we both looked forward again as Ramsis, who was appointed King of Onderon again stepped forward.
"Remember this day, the day Onderon became free again!" Ramsis explained to the crowd, who in response erupted in cheers.
While the citizens of Onderon were happy they were free from Separatist control, I had never felt more confused in my life, with regard to my family, my friends, and my job…everything was one big clusterfuck.