The Padawan and the Rebel

The Padawan: The Battle of Onderon

Under a hazy Onderon sky, Adhara tilted her head back and let her eyes flutter closed. Obi-Wan stood beside her, Rex and Anakin and Ahsoka not too far away, and for a moment she tried to forget all the pain and confusion that had infiltrated her life lately. She ignored that fact that deep down inside of her, she knew nothing could ever be the same again.

Instead, she reveled in the feeling of being back on a mission with her people, as if none of it had ever happened. Just like the old days.

"Do we have any idea where these rebels are?" Anakin asked, his voice an irritated growl.

Adhara squinted through the trees around them, reaching out with the force, but she couldn't feel anything. Although Master Windu had sent them here to train the rebels against the separatists who controlled the country, no one had told them where to find the rebels. Now, they all wandered aimlessly through the trees, hoping their enemies wouldn't find them first.

But sometimes things just work out, and Adhara was grateful when a rebel found them, leading them to their camp.

That feeling faded when Ahsoka's face lit up, a smile cracking across her face at the sight of a boy.

"Lux!" She exclaimed, running over to him.

Adhara stopped in her tracks, watching Ahsoka embrace the boy and laugh with him. He was human, slightly taller than her with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes like stones, softened by the steady caress of a river.

Adhara's lips formed his name. Lux. She'd never heard it before - much less from Ahsoka - but now she was talking to him like he was an old friend.

It should have meant nothing. Ahsoka wasn't Adhara's anything.

But the feeling still settled in Adhara's stomach, heavy as rocks.

***

Adhara tried to keep to herself as they trained the rebels, but for some reason she couldn't. She felt like she was trapped in a cube, with Steela and Lux and Ahsoka and herself.

It was a never-ending cycle she'd never wished to be part of.

Adhara stalked through the group, watching as Lux failed again and again to get the thermal detonator that would take the Droideka's shield down. His face twisted in frustration. Across from her, Adhara could see Ahsoka scrutinizing him, and she darted over to him first.

"Having trouble?" she asked, taking the sphere out of Lux's hand.

He scowled. "It's impossible to throw it right."

"Not impossible. Just challenging." She lobbed the detonator at the Droideka, with just enough arc and speed to roll through the shield and take it down. "You just have to learn how to master the strength of your throw, to get it just right."

Adhara looked around. Across from them, Steela threw the sphere, so it rolled just perfectly through the shield and took it down.

Adhara beamed, handing the ball back to Lux. "Hey, Steela," she called. "Want to help Lux? He's having trouble and I've noticed you have your technique down perfectly."

Steela grinned like a cat, sly and feral. When she walked over to them it was with a swagger Adhara couldn't ignore - it reminded her so much of the confident way Ahsoka walked. No wonder Lux was drawn to her.

"I'd love to," Steela said, barely glancing at Adhara - all she had eyes for was Lux.

Slowly, Adhara backed away. She didn't know where Ahsoka was, but she could feel her gaze on her - hot and searing as twin Tatooine suns.

"You're in good hands," she said to Lux.

He grinned. "Oh, I know."

She turned her back on them, just to come face to face with Ahsoka.