I don't own Star Wars: The Clone Wars or its characters, but I only own Nadia Aomori and my other OCs.
Enjoy!
Threads of Destiny
Chapter 25: Nadia's Tears
After waking up from her slumber, Nadia removed her nightwear and put on her clothes to start the day.
She then looked at herself in the mirror.
Nadia wore an emerald green tunic that had gold line patterns and black leggings underneath with long fingerless dark brown gloves and matching green boots. A brown belt was around her waist that held her two lightsabers. Her raven black hair was tied in a long ponytail with a matching green scrunchy and her Padawan braid dangling out.
As she stared herself in the mirror, the raven haired girl notice she now had a slender but a curvaceous figure.
Nadia was fifteen years old now, soon heading to become sixteen years old like Ahsoka and Ferus.
They were growing up and becoming older as they went into teenage hood.
Also, stronger in the Force.
Nadia then made her way to her chest to take out her holopad to check the date for the day, only for a sad frown to appear in her face.
It was her parents' wedding anniversary.
"Mum and dad's wedding anniversary."Nadia thought with a sad look."It used to be something exciting to celebrate. But now there is no need to since they're not around anymore and daddy wasn't faithful to mummy."
Nadia then left her room to go join Ahsoka and Ferus in the dining table, where she saw her best friend and the guy she secretly liked stuffing their faces with breakfast meals.
Ahsoka wore a more intricate high-necked dark red tunic, red longer arm wraps and an overall darker pink palette strewn with a diamond-cutout motif and dark red boots. In addition, she now had two lightsabers like her best friend.
The Padawan of Anakin Skywalker got her second lightsaber a couple of months ago due to traveling to Ilum to get a second Kyber Crystal she needed to construct the second lightsaber.
In addition, Ahsoka decided to take up the Jar'Kai fighting style of using two lightsabers, and for that, she decided to create a Shoto lightsaber with a light green blade.
Ferus wore the exact clothes from when he first became a Jedi Knight and General like his brother-in-law, but had grown more handsome and had a quite muscular physique.
Nadia could see plenty of meats from fish to beef along with rice and different fruit and vegetable dishes and what seemed like light soups.
But the raven haired girl wasn't in the mood for stuffing her faces which caused her friends to notice.
"What's up, Dia?"Ahsoka asked."It's not like you to skip breakfast."
"I'm fine, Soka. Don't worry."Nadia assured with a slight smile."It's just I got a lot in my mind."
Blinking, Ahsoka could not help but let her mouth fall agape at the sudden bowl of fish being pushed towards Nadia's cheek as Ferus teased her with the smell.
"Come on, Nadia! You need your stamina!"Ferus chuckled as he saw Nadia's nostrils flare."It is one of your redeeming qualities, so come on! No need to hold back! Eat up! If not I'm going to be devouring all of this by myself!"
Grabbing one of the fishes by its tail, Ferus slowly swung it side to side in front of Nadia.
Nadia's leaned away, but eyes shifted to stare at the grilled fish.
"Go on!"Ferus encouraged."Have some!"
Ferus' smirk grew watching the torture Nadia was placed in.
He knew she could not say no to one of her favorite meals: fish.
A wide smile appeared on Ferus' mouth as soon as Nadia attacked like a starved animal and used a big bite to take the fish away from his hands.
Content that she was eating, Ferus threw one at a time into the air and watched as Nadia caught them all without any problems.
Landing back on her seat, Nadia glared at her crush and chewed the fish bones in her mouth.
"Are you happy now, Ferus?"Nadia grumbled.
Ferus nodded with a wide smile.
"Alright!"Ferus chuckled."That's our Nadia!"
Ahsoka sighed under her breath as she went ahead to grab a grape from the bowl of front in front of her.
Boys would never understand a girl's silence.
After breakfast, Nadia went to one of the training rooms to practice using her two lightsabers.
The raven haired girl was trying to use Niman (another name Form VI) in the hopes of gaining a basic knowledge of the dual-bladed combat.
Nadia slowly took her battle stance as the training remotes activated around her and a couple of small platforms in the room started going up.
The moment the training remotes started firing, Nadia moved out of the way and activated her two lightsabers to attack her robot opponents.
Nadia's second blade was a fast yet devastating blade that was perfect for lightsaber combat due to containing a unique bronze hue and yellow core ancient crystal known as the 'Heart of the Guardian'.
With her eyes focused on her opponents instead of where she stood, Nadia carefully balanced her pose on the platform she was on and made her way to the next one which gave her the opportunity to leap up to cut down a training remote.
Nadia used her lightsabers to slash another training remote while avoiding being zapped and getting hit by one of the floating platforms.
When she saw the right moment, Nadia leapt off from the platform and did a high jump before quickly using her two blades to cut down the training remotes in a blink of an eye.
The raven haired girl then landed down gracefully on the ground while the damaged training remotes collapsed a couple blocks behind her as the floating platforms went back to where they were.
A small smirk of triumph appeared on Nadia's face upon realising she completed her training in a new record of time.
One minute and twenty five seconds.
"Nailed it."Nadia sneered.
The sound of clapping was heard and Nadia turned around to see Cal Kestis; one of the younglings and Jedi Padawan training under Jedi Master Jaro Tapal.
"That was amazing, Nadia!"Cal remarked.
Nadia slightly chuckled as she deactivated her lightsabers.
"Hello, Cal."Nadia responded."Have you been watching me the entire time again?"
"I was looking for my Master, but then I saw you train and got carried away."Cal admitted with a hint of embarrassment.
"If you're looking for Master Tapal, he's probably at the Chamber of Conclave."Nadia assumed."You know the room where the members of the Jedi Order gathered annually to hear reports from the Council?"
"Right!"Cal answered."Thank you!"
Cal headed off to meet up with Master Tapal as Nadia simply shook her heard and smirked while heading out of the training room herself.
Obi-Wan then walked up to Nadia.
"Was that Padawan Kestis again?"Obi-Wan assumed.
"Yep, Master. My little admirer."Nadia said in slight amusement."Guess what? I got a new record."
"Well done, Nadia."Obi-Wan praised."I'm proud of you."
Nadia smiled at Obi-Wan's sentence.
"I guess because of your training and my new lightsaber."Nadia chuckled.
Obi-Wan shook his head.
"Young one, it's not because of a new lightsaber that your training had been improving."Obi-Wan stated."It's the other way around. Never tell yourself anything different."
Nadia nodded."Okay."
Ahsoka rushed up to Nadia and tackled her in a hug.
"I knew you can do it, Dia."Ahsoka remarked.
"Thanks, Soka."Nadia thanked and looked at Obi-Wan."Master, is it alright if I spend sometime with Ahsoka for a moment?"
"Go ahead, young one."Obi-Wan insisted.
Both Ahsoka and Nadia grinned at Obi-Wan's respond.
"Thank you!"Ahsoka and Nadia answered in unison.
Ahsoka and Nadia headed off together as Obi-Wan shared a glance with Anakin.
"You want to know what's bothering Nadia, right, Master?"Anakin assumed.
"She's always been a secretive person, Anakin."Obi-Wan commented."Perhaps, today we may end up learning more about her."
Once they were further away from their Masters, Ahsoka whispered to Nadia.
"Okay, what's on your mind, Nadia?"Ahsoka questioned."I've never seen you feeling so down before."
The smile on Nadia's face vanished before she looked down.
"I…I don't feeling like talking about it, Soka."Nadia said uncomfortably."It's a family thing."
Ahsoka looked at Nadia.
"Nadia, I barely remember my own parents."Ahsoka declared."But I know if someone doesn't talk about their problems, they won't go away. You can tell me. We're best friends, aren't we?"
Nadia was silent for a moment before responding to Ahsoka.
"If I do, will you promise not to tell anyone?"Nadia questioned hopefully.
"I promise, Dia."Ahsoka vowed firmly."What you tell me won't end up somewhere else."
Nadia and Obi-Wan then headed to the courtyard in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant used for Jedi training, including the teaching of younglings.
It was also the location of an ancient tree that was imbued with the powers of the Force.
There weren't any classes taking place, so the courtyard was good place for Nadia to have her conversation with her best friend.
"Today is my parents' wedding anniversary."Nadia declared."That's why I was feeling down this morning."
"You parents' wedding anniversary?"Ahsoka asked.
Nadia nodded at Ahsoka.
"My parents were caring people and loved each other. But unfortunately, they actually had a ghastly marriage."Nadia admitted with a hint of sadness."My father was a kind and devoted being. Though sadly he was planning to divorce my mother because he was deserting her for another woman."
A hurtful look appeared on Nadia's face as she remembered the bad times of her childhood.
"I remember watching my parents from my hiding place. If they were at each other's throats, there was a frozen silence that lasted forever."Nadia complemented."If they ended up divorcing, my dad would've won in court and custody over his children since he had more money and power. Every time my parents argue, the sun would go out. But I actually never knew about the problems going on between my parents because my older brother Jayden was always there to make the dark clouds go away."
"You had an older brother, Dia?"Ahsoka said in surprise."You never told me that."
A slight chuckle escaped from Nadia's face.
"That's right but you'll know now why I never spoke about him."Nadia assured before she continued talking about her past."Jayden was the intellectual one and I was the athletic one. He was eight years older than me, but we were so close and got along with one another so perfectly. Even after he got married to my older sister figure Bridget and expecting to start a family of his own."
Ahsoka smiled at Nadia.
"You two must've had lots of fun, huh?"Ahsoka remarked.
"Yeah. It was great being together."Nadia agreed kindly and then her smile vanished."But then everything changed. Not long after my tenth birthday, the worst thing happened. It was the middle of the night and we were all sleeping. Then I smelt smoke that caused me to wake up from my slumber and saw the house was on fire. I quickly ran to my parent's bedroom where I heard Jayden's voice from behind his bedroom, telling me to save myself. Although I was seriously injured, I managed to escape by jumping out of a window and cushioning myself on the grass while being led away by my Loth-Cat named Snowdrop, who also survived the fire. Unfortunately, my family was less fortunate and and I was forced to witness them incinerated within the fire that destroyed my home."
Tears of frustration and guilt began to stream down Nadia's eyes while Ahsoka looked at her best friend in silence with a look that was mixed with shock and sadness.
"Dia…"Ahsoka started.
"I don't know how it happened."Nadia sobbed in regret and started crying more."But I should've saved them! I could've done something to stop the fire! Instead I-"
Nadia opened her eyes when she notice Ahsoka holding her hands.
"It's okay, Dia."Ahsoka assured with a soft smile."I had no idea how painful it was for you to talk about your past. I'm sorry for making you feel depressed."
Nadia dried away the tears in her eyes.
"No. It's fine, Soka."Nadia declared honestly."I needed to let out what happened to me in the past since I kept it with me for so long. Since losing my family, I've actually gotten scared of losing more people I care about and that is why I don't want usually people to get close to me. I'm like a curse since I'm a direct descendant of Darth Nihilus on my mother's side."
"You're not a curse just because you're descended from an ancient Sith Lord, Dia. You're my best friend and a good person because somethings are stronger than blood."Ahsoka assured confidently."What happened to you in the past, won't happen again for the second time. I'll make sure of it."
A soft yet bittersweet smile appeared on Nadia's face at hearing Ahsoka's words.
"Thanks, Ahsoka. You're the best friend anyone can ask for."Nadia thanked gratefully and then became worried."You know beside losing everything, divorce is the most awful thing that can happen to a child and I don't want to inflict that sort of pain to my own children in the future."
Ahsoka nodded in agreement.
"I would say the same too, Nadia."Ahsoka responded."If our parents made some bad choices, we can hope to be better."
"But I also hope the Jedi Order will change after this damn war is over."Nadia declared with a frown and rubbed her forehead."Maybelline wants to meet Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker so badly since she is a fan of them."
"Maybelline?"Ahsoka asked.
"She is my dad and his girlfriend's child."Nadia admitted awkwardly."In other words, Maybelline is my little half-sister."
"You have a little sister, Dia?"Ahsoka said in disbelief.
"I found about her last year from my grandmother."Nadia exclaimed."But I think it's best to introduce her to you when my reputation and trust with the Jedi Council improves."
"You mean also when you and Ferus decide to settle down?"Ahsoka joked.
"Hey!"Nadia chuckled and gives Ahsoka a painful punch in the arm, making her laugh."You'll get in trouble if the Jedi Council hears you!"
"Sure."Ahsoka sneered."You like him, but you have trouble telling him."
"I would say the same thing to you, if you meet the right guy that is."Nadia stated smugly.
Then Ahsoka and Nadia laughed lightly together as Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ferus looked on not far from where the two girls stood.
"It seems now Nadia looks more better than before."Anakin complemented.
"Yeah."Ferus agreed with a nod and looked at Nadia."But I've never actually seen her cry before. It must've been painful for her to talk to Ahsoka on what was bothering her."
Obi-Wan let out a sigh.
"What happened in the past that was painful has a great deal to do with what we are today, but revisiting this painful past can contribute little or nothing to what we need to do now, Ferus."Obi-Wan admitted."Regardless, I hope the best for Nadia as her Master."
Anakin felt quiet at his former Master's declaration.
Unlike Chancellor Palpatine, the Skywalker boy didn't tell Obi-Wan or Ferus the whole story of when days before the Clone Wars started and becoming a Jedi Knight and General, he returned to Tatooine to see his mother Shmi Skywalker and learnt from his old owner and friend Watto that she was sold to, freed by and married to moisture farmer Cliegg Lars, but got abducted by monsters of his home planet known as the Sand People while going back to home after getting up to pick mushrooms that grew on the vaporators and gone a month.
Anakin found his mother in a tent at their camp, but was too late because she was tortured beyond help and died in his arms. Heartbroken and enraged from losing his mother, the Jedi Knight ended up slaughtering every single Tusken in the camp, including the women and children.
Even after marrying Padme and becoming Ferus' brother-in-law, his mother's death still ignited a strong anger in him and had buried it deep inside him.
Though like Nadia, Anakin cared about those close to him and didn't want to lose anyone else important to him again.
"Yeah."Anakin answered with a small smile."We all can hope for the best at the end of the Clone Wars."
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter:)
See you all in the next one!