What If?

Raw Wounds of a Jedi

Warning this story mentions

-PTSD

-War
-Blood
-Death

"I have a bad feeling about this" Alex whispered, looking up at the large building in front of them. She stared at the new imperial palace, trying to ignore the troopers walkin around, just like they used to years before. She hid, with the rest of her group, behind a few statues. "We're just invading the imperial palace? What are we even looking for?"

"Intel, any intel on what's coming next for the galaxy" Scooter replied.

"So we're just here to fuck around. Got it." She stared up at the building, ignoring the small group behind her. They all were talking of a plan but she could care less. Right now all Alex Maslin could care about was the memories in front of her.

She stared at the building, a building once filled with color and good memories. Her eyes welled with tears as she watched troopers walk past. The world, the dark world that stabbed her in the back almost seemed to reset in front of her eyes.

Pearly white stormtroopers turned into clone troopers, covered in different colored paint and dirt from past battles. She could hear them laughing, talking, enjoying the little time they had to themselves. She swore one of them waved to her, one of them waved to the young padawan, calling her over. With a smile that she didn't remember having before, she took a step out of the shadows. Pushing her padawan braid back as she began to say hello to old friends.

"Alex!" Someone yelled in a hushed voice to her. Suddenly the world was back to the present. Back to just painful memories. "Are you listening?" Jesse asked.

"Not exactly, I hope you guys don't mind but I'm going solo on this one." She stared at the horrifying building in front of her, waiting for an argument to strike up.

"That's fine," Aldemar replied, slightly surprising the ginger. "Do what you need to, get info however you can." She gave a nod, refusing to look back at any of the group.

She took a deep breath, watching as the patrols went by. Just like she used to. She counted the seconds between patrols, counting every second that happened to match the clones patrol schedule. With adrenaline and nostalgia in her veins, she began to walk across the courtyard.

She ducked down, just like she used to. Taking every step she heard into account, just like she used to. Counting the seconds till a patrol would round the corner and rat her out, just like she used to. Though these patrols would be less sympathetic towards her. These patrols weren't her friends. They weren't the ones who wanted her to run out and see the world with her friends. They weren't the ones who made sure all the masters were asleep before the padawans made their way towards town.

Alex looked up from her feet, looking up at the archway in front of her. She was in the temple. Her body took over when her mind couldn't. Running between patrols, dodging anyone who could possibly see her. When she could finally feel her feet hit the ground again, she looked to her surroundings. She knew exactly where she was. Her eyes moved down the left and right hallways before she moved down the left. She took a few twists and turns down what seemed to be random hallways. They were anything but random hallways though. They were the path home.

With tears in the young Jedi's eyes, she finally walked down her final hallway. The hallway seemed untouched since the war. Rubble surrounded the edge of the hallway, dust gathered on the floor, stray blaster shots had torched parts of the walls and were ignored. Though it was different from the last time she had been here, it all felt the same.