"No!" Saasha shouted as she sprang up in her sleeping bag. She was breathing heavily and sweating. After a moment she realized where she was and scanned the camp to make sure she didn't wake anybody. She didn't think she did, but then she saw Rex walking towards her. As she fell asleep last night, she took the time to remember which face and helmet belonged to who.
She was still breathing heavily and was still shaken from the nightmare, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Rex knelt in front of her, "It's okay, kid, it was just a nightmare," he softly said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "No, it was real," she whispered as tears quietly made their way down her cheeks and she wrapped her arms around him. He was slightly taken aback but returned the gesture, comforting the little girl. Saasha's family, home, everything, was gone.
After a couple of minutes, her breathing slowed to normal, and she whipped the tears off her cheeks as she pulled away from him. "Thank you," she whispered. "Your welcome, kid. Would you like to talk about it?" he asked sympathetically. "Not right now, but thank you," she replied.
The sun was starting to rise, and the sky was painted with radiant shades of red, orange and yellow. She rose from her sleeping bag and walked through the path to the beach.
Once she reached the end of the path, she sat down on the beach and watched the sunrise. Rex followed her to the beach and stopped next to her, "Mind if I join you?" he asked. "Sure," she quietly replied, pulling her knees to her chest. "The sunrise is beautiful," he spoke, breath taken. "Yes, I normally watch it every morning, but it is still amazing, morning after morning," she sighed.
She started undoing the braid on the side of her head. After untangling the knots in her hair with her fingers, she started doing two French braids down her head. Her mother had taught her how to braid when she was little. Rex watched as her fingers braided through her long hair with ease. After she was done, the ends of the two braids rested on her chest to keep her hair off her neck for the day, as she could tell it was going to be a hot day on Scarif, but when isn't it?
(I'm sure most of you know what French braids are, but here is a photo if you don't. Saasha's braids would be a bit longer.)
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Not too long later, Anakin awoke to find Rex and Saasha missing. He heard quiet voices and followed them down the path through the jungle to the beach, where he met the two sitting on the beach looking out at the ocean and sky.
"What are you doing up already, Saasha?" he asked, sitting down on the other side of her.
"I wanted to see the sunrise." she lied, and in fact, Anakin sensed the lie. He gave Rex a questioning look, and he replied with an 'I'll tell you later' look.
Saasha continued to stare out at the ocean, watching the turquoise crystalline waves curl and crash against the shore. Every morning and every night, she would always spend it watching the waves crash against the shore while the sun either rose, ready to start the day or faded behind the ocean.
Rex had gone back to camp to check on the boys and to make sure everything was fine, as whenever Rex isn't around the clones, trouble always seems to spark.
"What will happen to me?" she asked Anakin, uncertain of what her future would look like.
"Saasha, do you know what the force is?" he asked her, as she continued to watch the sky change colours.
"My mother told me that it binds everything together and that it is in all things. That Jedi and Sith use it and that it can be used for Light or Darkness," she replied.
"That's right. Did you know you have the force inside of you, and it's quite strong?"
She sighed. "Yes, I wish it wasn't, though," she said, flashbacks of her village under attack returning to her mind.
Anakin was confused. He sensed sorrow, sadness and guilt surrounding the girl beside him.
"Why is that?" he asked. She waited a moment and then stood up and started walking down the beach. "Follow me," she softly replied. So he did, still confused as to where she was bringing him.
After they had walked all the way down the beach, rocks were starting to form, which Saasha jumped on with ease. Anakin could tell that she used the force for some of the higher jumps between rocks and wondered where she had learned that.
After they reached the top of the rocks, she led him through another path in the jungle and eventually reached a village. She then stopped, as if she was frozen. Anakin observed the huts, the market booths and the food scattered across the ground. It was a small village that was missing one thing, people. He understood that this was her village but waited for her to explain what had happened. She sat down on a log, and Anakin joined her. She took a deep breath and then began to explain.
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Here's another meme that gave me a good laugh. I found it on Pinterest so I don't know who to credit but it's brilliant.
I'm so excited for Christmas!!! What's your guy's favourite holiday?