The Benevolence of the Force by Spiritofthesky4 (WILL RETURN)

Chapter 8: Natare

After I made my final decision that I would be returning to the Star Wars galaxy with them, time seemed to speed up. Days sped past until the group had been on Earth for over two weeks now. The snow had melted soon after their arrival, and the coming of April brought warm winds from over the mountains. Buds appeared on deciduous trees, and it wasn't long before one did not need to wear a coat outside.

The gunship's repairs were going slowly but surely. Progress wasn't fast, but it was progress nonetheless. The damaged wing now had the barebones of scaffolding and wiring as Anakin, Ahsoka, R2, and some of the troopers began to reattach the twisted and broken metal.

"It doesn't need to be pretty," Anakin told me from where he was perched on the top of the gunship. "It just needs to get us off the ground and into the wormhole. And then hopefully into a Venator."

His welding mask was flipped up to reveal his curly brown hair, which had grown long in the past two weeks, which was unusual– whose hair grows that fast? It was now the length it had been Revenge of the Sith, which added to my anxieties– I had never gotten a clear answer on when exactly in the prequels trilogy they were, only after Umbara.

That leaves three and a half seasons until Order 66 , I'd thought to myself one night after watching the gang laugh with each other like nothing was wrong in the universe. For all I know, Order 66 could come tomorrow, and no one would ever know what became of Anakin, Obi-Wan, and all the rest. The Jedi Order and the Republic would fall, and these guys would have no idea, either.

One could say that season six hadn't happened yet, since Fives and Tup are still here, and likewise with Ahsoka and season five, but...something kept Dogma, Echo, and Hardcase alive and with their brothers, so who's to say the same couldn't happen with those two?

And not to mention, Ahsoka's here too, which might mean... I banished the terrible memories of the Togruta's time on the run.

This particular day had dawned bright and hot, heat waves passing strongly through the mountains. Clouds of white mist rose between the trees as golden sunlight melted dew off the leaves and pine needles, and the mountains in the near distance were illuminated as perfectly as they would've been in a painting– a perfect view to eat breakfast with on my deck. Soft birdsong wove through the trees as I lounged in a deck chair.

"Good morning, Viria," I heard a voice say as the sliding door to the deck closed gently.

Jesse lowered himself into another deck chair beside me, with at least five Pop-Tarts stacked on his plate, each slathered with barbecue sauce, for some reason. The clone troopers and Jedi had all found new favorite foods on Earth, and in some circumstances, like Jesse's, they happened to be a bit... bizarre.

"Hey, Jesse," I said.

He looked out at the mountains, looking calm and ruminative– very un-Jesse-like.

"I've never seen a prettier view anywhere in the galaxy," he commented.

"Even in space?"

Jesse shook his head. "Nowhere."

There was quiet for a moment as we watched the sky begin to lighten.

"What's it like?" I asked in a moment of courage.

"What's what like? The war?"

"Well, yeah, but like... the galaxy. Space. Everything I know about places that aren't on this planet is from books and TV."

Jesse rubbed his chin for a moment, thinking. "It's... big." He began. "Really big. Just when you think you've reached the limit on knowing something or seeing something or exploring, there's always something new, even if you don't get to see it because of the war. Some places are bad and dangerous, you always have to watch your back. There's so much... everything, everywhere, all the time. Practically always something new to see, even when you're on leave on Coruscant."