our broken promises ~ a.skywalker

Chapter 50: A Thin Lead

"OKAY, DON'T TURN AROUND YET," KORA SAID, KEEPING HER VOICE LOW AS SHE WORKED THE ZIPPER OF THE JACKET UP HER TORSO.

From just behind her, Anakin Skywalker didn't bother glancing toward her. "You know there's nothing I haven't already seen."

Kora exhaled through her nose, not even turning her head in acknowledgment. The zipper caught halfway up, teeth refusing to align, and she had to tug harder than she wanted to. The material gave with a reluctant scrape, settling into place in a way that still didn't feel right. The jacket pressed stiffly against her shoulders, the seams sitting just slightly off where they should have been. It made her aware of every inch of herself in a way her typical Jedi robes never did.

A few days earlier, Hondo Ohnaka had reached out over comms with what he called a lead. He had been vague in that careful, intentional way of his, words chosen with just enough restraint to make it clear this wasn't one of his usual half-true deals. Batuu. Immediately. Time sensitive. He hadn't elaborated, and for once, Kora hadn't pushed him for more. Something in his tone had been enough.

She had gone straight to the Archives after the transmission ended, pulling up everything she could on the planet. It was in the Outer Rim -- a smuggling hub. A place where law held little weight and allegiances shifted with credits. Ships passed through without records, people came and went without names. It was the kind of place you could hide something in plain sight, if you knew how.

It was also the kind of place the information they needed would be passed around.

The Council had told them to wait, to trust that the Force would guide their padawans back on their own, that intervening too quickly could make things worse. Kora had stood there in the chamber with her hands clasped behind her back, listening, understanding exactly what they were asking of her and why they believed it was the right call. It didn't sit right anyway. Waiting meant doing nothing, meant trusting that Ahsoka and Cal would somehow make their way back without help, wherever they were, whoever they were with, and that was something she couldn't accept. So she nodded, said nothing, and left the room as if she intended to follow their orders. Then she started preparing, and Anakin hadn't needed much convincing to follow.

The alley they'd chosen on Batuu was narrow, wedged between two structures that leaned inward just enough to cut off most of the light. The stone beneath her boots was uneven, worn smooth in some places and jagged in others. The air carried the scent of fuel and something metallic, mixed with distant voices that drifted in from the main thoroughfare. It was unlike anything Kora's ever experienced.

Kora let her awareness stretch outward, not enough to draw attention but enough to feel movement at the edges. Just to ensure there was no one close. No one watching.

She adjusted the jacket again, fingers dragging down the front as if that might somehow make it settle differently. It didn't.

"Alright," she said, more to move things along than anything else. "I'm ready."

She turned, and Anakin followed.

The look on his face came easily, a slow, familiar smirk that settled in as his gaze moved over her. It wasn't mocking, not really, but there was something in it that made her immediately aware of how out of place she felt.

"Wow," he said. "You look like you walked straight off a Most Wanted poster."

Kora rolled her eyes, though the reaction came more out of habit than annoyance. "Good. That's the point."

Something sharp pressed into her side as she shifted her weight, and she frowned, fingers slipping beneath the edge of the jacket to try and find whatever was causing it. The fabric didn't give easily, catching against her movements in a way that made the irritation worse.