The Senator And The Jedi

Chapter Fourteen: What's In The Bucket?

She would have to ask Pooja and Ryoo later to see if they knew anything else. She wanted to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible, and it was only reasonable to assume that Padme wasn't going to say anything.

Suddenly, as she passed a junction in the hallway, she was yanked around the corner by two small pairs of hands.

"What–!"

"Shhh!" Ryoo whispered, and she and her sister dragged Ahsoka back towards the alcove they had apparently been hiding in.

Once the two surprisingly strong children had bundled her inside, Pooja darted away to peek around the corner. "The coast is clear!" she called softly.

"What's going on?" Ahsoka finally asked.

"Annina's in the 'fresher," Ryoo replied. "She's taking a bath."

Wow, Ahsoka thought. Fancy place! It's a rarity to find a bath installed in a 'fresher anymore!

"Oh. Okay," the Padawan said, swallowing an annoyed huff. All of her toiletries were in that 'fresher! "I guess I'll just wait until she's done."

"Wait here with us," Pooja replied.

"Um... Okay, sure, but why here? Don't you two want to go get some breakfast or something? I'm kind of starting to get hungry..."

Wordlessly, Ryoo passed her a fruit granola-based ration bar, which she took gratefully. "We already ate. We're waiting until she gets out."

"Why?" she asked through a mouthful of granola.

Pooja laughed and clapped her hands together, but there was something sinister about it. "Come on, we'll show you!"

And so, once more she was dragged around the corner. With a wicked grin, Ryoo pointed to a bucket that had was balanced precariously atop the doorframe. A string attached the pail to the hinges on the door.

As soon as that door opened, whatever was in it would come falling down on whoever had opened it. And that someone would be Annina.

Ahsoka nodded, a wide smile on her face. "What's in it?" she dared to ask, taking a bite out of her ration bar.

Pooja hid a giggle behind her hands. "Water mixed with kwhyen oatmeal the cook burnt a few days ago. We saved it specially for this."

She laughed, amazed by the girls' resourcefulness. This was nearly as good as that prank she'd played on Rex a while back to get back at him for hiding her pillow for a week. "I see... But you know, it might be smarter to leave the scene now."

"Why?" the girls whined at the same time. It was obvious that they wanted to be around to see Annina get covered in oatmeal.

"Because I've played more than a few tricks, and I know from experience that it's a smart idea to be as far away as possible when people find out. That way, they're least likely to suspect you of anything."

The girls exchanged a look, and then nodded. "Fine," Ryoo said, smiling. "Let's go get some breakfast."

A few minutes later, as the three were sitting around the breakfast table, they heard a splat followed by a woman's scream. They all collapsed into fits of laughter.

And although Annina was without a doubt going to come back for revenge when she found out who was responsible, Ahsoka would be ready. She'd just made two excellent allies – Pooja and Ryoo –in the war for the affections of Lux Bonteri.

Oooooooooohhhh, here we go! *hefts lightsaber* THIS. IS. WAAAAARRRR!!!! *charges at Annina with Ahsoka and our kitten legions behind us*

I hope you all liked the chapter! I actually wrote the first half of the chapter a few weeks ago AND I'M REALLY SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE SOONER BUT THE CREATIVITY WASN'T FLOWING and yesterday when I went back to start writing, I thought, "Oh, I should write something about Ahsoka's angst-y-ness and conflicting emotions about Lux." And whaddaya know, it was already there and written!!

It was like my past self was predicting what my future self was going to want to write about and then left it for me to find... Hehehehe

And yes, since Ahsoka is a military commander and like 80% of her everyday life is on the battlefield, she feels threatened by Annina and she's referring to the competition for Lux as a war... But don't worry, I'll hike up the Luxsoka feels again soon.

And I am sorry to say that I have to go, but I promise I'll do my best to update soon.

 Bye!