By My Side

Chapter 13 - Back on Coruscant

"You'll be fully healed by tomorrow," the healer – Barriss, her name was – tells her.

That's nice, but it does little to decrease Ahsoka's annoyance. She'd managed to embarrass herself in front of the clones twice in her last mission. Not to mention having to stay out of the main part of the battle. Master Skywalker is insisting she shouldn't be on the front already, and she didn't want to let him think he was right.

And where'd all her attempts to show that go? Right here.

Grumpily, Ahsoka wonders how many times – if ever – her own masters end up in the medbay.

"Do my masters ever come here?" Ahsoka asks, grouchily. She's not supposed to be walking yet, and she doesn't want to, either, because it hurts.

"More frequently than you might think before the war," Barriss replies with the slightest touch of amusement, "And Master Skywalker was here quite frequently after he lost his arm."

Wait.

What?

"What?!" Ahsoka shrieks. "Lost his – what?"

"You didn't hear?" The Mirilian seems mildly surprised. "He lost his arm on the Battle of Geonosis."

... Oh. Come to think of it, Ahsoka might have heard something about it, but she doesn't really know. He seemed so unbeatable, she never thought he could have something long-lasting, not to mention something so severe and permanent. The very obvious scar across his face should've been a clear sign that, yes, he can be hurt, but she never thought about it, not in principle.

And it means that, Chosen One status or no, he is very human.

"Your masters fought Dooku together," Barriss explains. "Both were injured."

Ahsoka will take time later to comprehend that, because it seems outrageous, but it's not like they'd have a healer's wing if she were truly the only Jedi in the universe to get injured. It's only so upsetting because it messed up her mission, and she's starting to think her master is right about needing to spend a little more time in the Temple preparing before going back out to battle again.

It's just... frustrating.

But that's something Jedi aren't supposed to let themselves get bogged down by, so she keeps moving. A few more words with Barriss – apparently the older girl is going to return to the fronts in a few days. Lucky for her, but Ahsoka is stuck here for a while. She hasn't had time to talk to her masters yet and figure out what all that entails.

She still has classes to attend, though, even if she'd like to hang out with Barriss a little longer. The older girl seems to be a very by-the-book type of Jedi, but Ahsoka's taken an instant liking to her, anyway.

"I'll see you later," Ahsoka calls, feigning cheer, as she leaves.

Normally, she is cheerful, but right now... Come to think of it, her missing sleep on the past few nights is probably making matters worse. She doesn't understand why, but whenever she tries to sleep, she starts seeing... things. Ahsoka rarely dreams, but for some reason, she has nearly every night since becoming a padawan, dreams filled with violence and explosions and death.

Classes are... different, now that she's a padawan, too. Everything is different, and she suspects it'll take a few weeks to settle into a new routine. It's strange to be able to leave the Temple frequently, too.

Ahsoka is feeling rather worn out when she makes it to the cafeteria that afternoon. She can feel eyes on her immediately, no doubt noticing that she's wearing a brace on her leg from when she broke it. It'll be taken off tomorrow, and she can't wait for the removal of the constant reminder of her mess-up, but until then, she'll have to deal with the stares.