Elayne Starwind - Padawan of Ashoka

Chapter Twenty-Three

As far as game plans went, Ahsoka's pretty much sucked.

I'm not saying it wouldn't work, I'm just saying that I didn't like it, considering the fact that it was my job to get the map from the hands of the enemy. And if you entrust me with that kind of job, yeah. It's not gonna work.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, holding my hands in a T. "Time out. You're saying that you're gonna send me straight into the heart of the ship with no backup or help?"

"Not completely without backup," Ahsoka said. "We'll still be in the ship with you."

"Yeah, only on the other side of it," I said. "If you three are distractions, the whole point would be for you to not be anywhere near me! You don't really think I can do this on my own, can you?"

"Of course I do," Ahsoka said, and the way she said it with so much confidence made me feel even more scared. What if I failed? This might be our only chance to even get a lead on Ezra, and Ahsoka was sending an inexperienced kid to go fetch it. I didn't want to disappoint Ahsoka, but I was afraid that was what would end up happening anyways. And then Sabine would be even more angry with me.

"Why me, anyways?" I asked. "Why not Wolffe or Sabine? They have much more experience than me."

"I hate to say it," Wolffe said, standing up, "But as much as I trust you, Ahsoka, I don't understand this any more than your student does. Why are we sending a kid into the middle of the battlefield?"

"I did it," Ahsoka said calmly.

"But I'm not you!" 

"I was no better than you when I was your age," Ahsoka said, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I was inexperienced. Hardly ever saw the world beyond the Jedi Academy before I stepped into the fight. The only way you learn is to do it."

I bit my lip. "I don't want to disappoint you."

"You won't," Ahsoka smiled, which made me feel a little bit better. "I believe in you, afterall!"

I looked down at my feet. I barely had any actual Jedi training so far, and here Ahsoka was, handing me the most important part of the mission. I looked for something to say, some sort of response, but all my words got caught up in my throat. "Okay," was all I could manage before excusing myself from the room.

Four rotations. That was how long I had until this responsibility became real. I leaned on the railings outside, staring off into the bare distance. There wasn't much to look at, but with all my thoughts clouding my brain, I didn't much notice or care.

"Ahsoka trusts you a lot," Said a voice behind me.

I didn't bother to turn around. Sabine joined me in staring at nothing, resting her head in her hand.

"Sorry," I said. 

Sabine raised an eyebrow. "Sorry?"

"For being such a burden," I muttered and buried my face into my arms. "And for when I fail miserably."

"If," Sabine corrected. She didn't look me in the eye. 

I looked up at my companion. "You're the last person I would have expected to come out here and try to comfort me," I said.

"Well, maybe I've been a little bit of a jerk this past week," Sabine said, shrugging. 

"A little bit?" I asked.

"Just a little bit."

We stood in silence as the sun began to disappear behind the horizon. Oddly enough, I didn't feel uncomfortable next to Sabine. 

Sabine broke the silence first. "You know I don't really hate you, right?"

I blinked. "You don't?"

"Not as much now, anyways," Sabine tried for a smile. "It's just... I guess I've been panicking. Not finding Ezra and all. When you came along, so suddenly, I was sort of reminded of when Ezra first joined our crew so long ago. I've been thinking about that a lot, wondering what made you so different from him that I treated him kindly and you..."

"Jerk-y," I offered.

Sabine finally made eye contact with me, a smile tugging at her lips. "Jerky?"

"Like a jerk," I said. "Jerky."

"You know jerky's a food, right?"

"Shut up."

We both laughed, maybe for the first time since Ahsoka introduced us to each other. And it wasn't at all forced, either. Just two friends laughing at a stupid joke that didn't make sense. It felt good.

I realized I'd never had a friend like that. One I could just laugh with. What a simple thing, yet I'd never been given the opportunity to feel it. 

Metal footsteps coming from behind us shook Sabine and I from our little moment. Rex was running up to us, a grave look on his face.

"Now," Rex said.

My smile melted off my face. "Now?"

"The starship," Rex said hurriedly. "We don't have four rotations. It's at Edriaria now."

Sabine and I exchanged looks for a quick second, then both ran after Rex, who had gone back into the room where Ahsoka and Wolffe were, pacing and studying a new map.

I didn't have four rotations to prepare myself for my job. Now, if I was lucky, I had about four hours.

A/N

I spent so much time wondering what to write about for this chapter, but finally I found something that just flowed! Short but sweet chapter today. Also a stressful one for Elayne. 

Vote, comment, and see ya later ✌️