What a joy it is to be a new kid.
Ahsoka grabbed her messenger bag and shoved open the front doors. She was just a few minutes early, which took away some of the anxieties, but not all of them. Will I really be able to pass at a higher level? What if everyone thinks I'm a geek? What if they don't pass me? Will everyone hate me because of my skin? The last one popped into her mind regarding her vitiligo. She couldn't help it if her skin was different, and yet everyone felt the need to pick on her for it. She could handle them, sure, but punching people on the first day of Academy didn't look very good.
"First class, criminal tactics. Fun." Ahsoka muttered to herself. Coruscant Police Academy. One of the only police academies that would let her in at nineteen, despite the normal application age of twenty one, and she was starting to regret not waiting until she was older. She already felt like she was back in high school with students staring at her, wondering why a thirteen year old freak was taking junior level classes. This time it was silent, but she could practically feel the judgment seeping through their eyes. Ahsoka hurriedly made her way to the classroom labeled Criminal Tactics, and sat down towards the back.
This was one of the few classes that was held in a real classroom. Most of the others were hands on. Self defense or firearms training of some sort.
She was one of the first, but quickly more students piled in. Most around 25, or a little older. Only a few could really be called 21 or 22 years old. Ahsoka crossed her legs in her chair and took out a binder she had designated for class notes as the teacher started speaking, and Ahsoka settled in for a long hour.
Correction, it ended up being more like an hour and fifteen minutes by the time she got out, even though the schedule said it was an hour. She'd have to fix that on her page. Bag in hand, she was off to the next class: Self defense. This she was more excited for. She had taken a few self defense courses back in high school, and she had always been light on her feet, so she was ready for anything they were going to throw at her. Well, unless they were actually throwing things at her, then she might not do so well.
"Settle in against the back wall, and we'll get to training." Said a male voice from the front of the room. This time Ahsoka was a little late, she had gone the wrong direction at first and had to catch up. She walked in as the man was turning towards the door. "A latecomer, I guess that means you'll be our first volunteer." He said, ushering her towards the front of the room where mats were set up along the floor. Ahsoka, although a little nervous, dropped her bag amongst the other backpacks that sat in the corner.
"What are we doing, sir?" She asked, coming towards where he was standing
"Call me Anakin. Anakin Skywalker. We're demonstrating self defense." He said with a mild smirk on his face. "Do you have any self defense training?" He asked Ahsoka, expecting a shake of her head.
"Yes, I've taken a few classes."
"Oh, then this should be easy for you." Anakin advanced, fists forward, legs planted firmly on the mat. He made a quick punch towards her gut, half expecting to have to stop before he actually hit her. Instead she acted on instinct, landed a quick strike to the forearm, and shifted her body sideways to avoid him. If she hadn't known that this was a simulation, she would have struck his arm, grabbed it, and twisted it around behind him. Anakin stood in shock for a moment, a little pride showing on his face. He was instantly impressed with this small, 19 year old kid's fighting skills. "Pretty good, let's try something different." He situated himself again, feet planted on the floor, and turned to face her. "Come at me."
Ahsoka get considerably more afraid this time, noticing his obvious strength, muscles, broad shoulders, and knew that if she was going to survive this fight that she needed to act out of her height. She took a breath, removed her jacket, planted her feet, and lunged forward. One hand went for his arm, and although he easily grabbed it, she twisted sideways and brought it behind him. Thinking fast before he could get out of her grip, she tried to swipe his leg out from behind him. He tripped and fell down to one knee, and Ahsoka's shocked face showed him how much she did not expect to win that fight, and certainly not that quickly. He looked back up at her face, shocked, but proud. She gave him her hand and hoisted Anakin up. This was the first time he really noticed the muscles ever so slightly protruding through her long sleeve uniform.
"That's just about spot on. Good job. What's your name, kid?" She didn't expect that sort of friendliness from a police academy teacher, but she took it willingly and answered.
"Ahsoka Tano."
"Well, Ahsoka, I think it's time you showed everyone how you did it. Split up into groups of two, and we'll demonstrate some basic moves." He spoke to the rest of the room. "Ahsoka, you'll be demonstrating with me."
"So I get to beat you again?" She spoke before she realized who exactly she was speaking to. "Sorry sir, I-"
"Don't get snippy with me kid, you've still got a lot to learn." He said with a smirk.
"Of course, Skyguy."
Okay so the information about police academies isn't all that great, but I really liked writing this so I might do a part two. Anyway, hope you enjoyed :)
-AB