Elayne Starwind - Padawan of Ashoka

Chapter Twelve

I practically marched all the way to the main room of the base, Ahsoka close behind me.

The inside shocked me.

The room was huge with a circular hologram table in the middle and a hologram wall to the left. Around the table were various different people from all over the galaxy, talking one at a time.

These must be important people. The tension was high.

"Elayne, if you're about to-"

"Leia!" I yelled. "Who here is Leia?"

"Do that," Ahsoka sighed, "Do it quieter. Don't upset everyone."

Too late.

All eyes turned to me and every conversation stopped.

"That would be me," A woman with brown hair tied in a bun and a white dress said and raised her hand. "Now, who do you think you are, interrupting our meeting?"

"I'm the girl you dumped as a slave to some rich family," I snapped. "Who do you think you are, just leaving a kid there like that?"

Leia knit her eyebrows. "A slave? Why would I-"

Oh. Oh. Now she was figuring out. Her eyes became wide and her mouth opened. "You're not supposed to be here."

"I can go anywhere I want now," I said and walked forward. I squeezed in between a rodian and a human standing next to the table and stared into Leia's eyes, anger radiating off of mine.

"This meeting is adjourned," Leia dismissed everyone else. People shuffled out. When everyone was gone, Leia's tension disappeared. "How did you get here?"

"Ahsoka found me on Endor," I said. "Where I had to fend for myself for years."

"You're Elayne Starwind?" Leia asked. "Daughter of Marc and Nelia Starwind?"

"Yeah," I confirmed. "Their kid."

"They wanted you to be sent to them," Leia explained calmly.

"But not by you!" I countered. "Ahsoka was supposed to send me there!"

Ahsoka crossed her arms behind me. "Don't get upset with her. She's... Quick to get angry."

"Well, that's not a good trait for a soon to be Jedi," Leia stated. "Elayne, what difference would it have made if Ahsoka dropped you off?"

"Maybe it wouldn't make a difference to me, but to my parents it would've," I said. "If they knew Ahsoka didn't even get the message, how would they react?"

Ahsoka put her hand on my shoulder. "Stay calm. Don't let your anger overtake you."

I gritted my teeth, but forced myself to relax my shoulders. "Why did you do it yourself?"

Leia sighed. "At the time, your parents were undercover for the Empire. They hadn't had contact with base for a very long time. Therefore, they didn't know about Ahsoka's... Absence."

"Absence?" I asked and turned my head.

"When I fought Darth Vader, the most feared person in the galaxy, I became stranded on a planet for a while," Ahsoka said. "By chance a ship came and I got a ride out of there, but it took a long time to find my way back to base."

"Anyways," Leia continued, "Your parents didn't know. Since they trusted Ahsoka the most with their beloved child, or you, they sent the hologram to her. But I knew otherwise, so I took responsibility of the task."

"But why didn't you tell me?" Ahsoka asked Leia.

"When we finally knew where you were, you were helping Sabine find Ezra," Leia responded. "I didn't want to take your attention off the mission."

"I could've handled the information," Ahsoka defended.

"But you didn't need to if you didn't have to," Leia said. "I was making the best decision at the moment. Now... Well, I had forgotten until you so rudely barged into our meeting."

"For answers," I added, frustrated. "And that was all I needed."

"But it's not all you want," Leia noticed as I turned around to walk away. "You want to know more."

"No, I don't," I snapped and continued walking out.

Ahsoka stayed and said something real quick to Leia before following me.

I clutched my fists as I made my way out of the base and back to the ship. I sat on my bed cross legged. I needed to meditate again. Clear my thoughts.

Ahsoka sat beside me. "I'm sorry about what happened. Even though I'm older than her, she's technically the leader. She's in charge."

"But you said experience outranks everything," I reminded her.

"In my book, it does," Ahsoka said. "Not in Leia's book. She's very formal with the things she does, being raised as a princess."

"A princess?" I asked. "She was a princess?"

"An adopted princess," Ahsoka said. "She follows the customs her family installed in her. But under all the covers of royalty, she's kind and has a sweet heart. You just need to get to know her sometimes."

Hard to talk with someone who basically started all the misfortune in your life.

There was a knock on the door. I opened one eye. "Sabine? Is that you?"

But instead of Sabine, the same boy I saw holding Hera's hand walked in.

"I'm not Sabine," The boy said. "I'm Jacen."

"Why are you here?" I asked. "You're not supposed to be on this ship."

Jacen stepped forward and ignored my question. "Are you a Jedi?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"I've always wanted to meet another Jedi," Jacen said.

"Another?" I asked. "Who's the other Jedi you met?"

"Well, there's Ahsoka..." Jacen put his finger on his chin. "And me. I'm a Jedi."