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          Rumors spread quickly through the ship after Kamino. Everyone knew of Obi Wan's lecturing and everywhere I went, people huddled together and whispered. Even the troopers began talking about what went down. I suppose they were all exhausted, tired of hearing about these war battles. Sometimes adolescent drama was the only thing that truly spiked their interest.

          I couldn't blame them. It certainly added something interesting to my life. Here I was, thinking I was going to become a hardened war general, but instead I was being babysat by the Jedi and told off for trying to help.

          Yay.

         I kept my head hung low as I passed on my way to the landing deck, blocking out their subtle remarks as I went by. It was like I was a Padawan all over again, being criticized by the Jedi masters in the halls. Well, that was still continuing on top of all the other drama and I wasn't even a Jedi anymore. 

          The ship was fairly empty at this time of day, at least the hangar was bare. Everyone was debriefing or off on their own missions while I was assigned, yet again, to Anakin and Obi Wan. Although, I heard that Anakin's Padawan was joining us this time. That was the only plus.

          With the lack of people around, it was easy to detect the mop of red hair that stood next to the starfighter. Obi Wan was standing peacefully next to Anakin, a crease forming between his eyebrows as he spoke with his former Padawan. It was almost a serene scene if just the sight of him didn't fill me with a burning rage. 

          It was so easy for him to prance around and act like nothing happened. He hurt me and didn't even bat an eye while doing it. He wasn't the man I once thought he was. Now, he was a model Jedi, exactly what everyone expected. I'm surprised they didn't build a statue when they already kissed the ground he walked on. 

          Before I knew it, I was stomping over to them. I couldn't stop myself if I wanted to. I couldn't even take a moment to breathe and rethink what I was about to do. Instead, I plastered on a bright, only slightly suspicious smile as I sauntered up to them.

          "Hey, Aaryn." Anakin chuckled, his eyes darting over my deranged expression while I kept my focus on Obi Wan. He refused to look at me, instead turning his attention to his holocron bracelet as he reviewed the message. "How you uh- How are you doing? You ready for today?"

          "I'm great," I answered quickly and crossed my arms snug against my chest. "So, General Kenobi."

          He answered with a gentle, inquisitive hum, but his attention was still elsewhere. There wasn't anything interesting to look at, we had all been debriefed already. The message was vague but it was of high importance. There were no details or strategies, only the instructions to follow the call to the Crelythiumn System.

          "You plan on babying me on this mission too?" His blue eyes met mine, hazy and tired. The bags under his eyes were more prominent than before. They were darker and slightly purple in color. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he hadn't slept in days. "Or maybe you could put me on a leash and have me trail behind you, is that your plan? I must say that if you haven't learned by now, you never will. I'm not going to behave for you, you inconsiderate, stuck-up, thick-headed, ass-"

          "Enough." He interrupted. His jaw clenched and twitched as the red anger grew across his face. "You need to grow up, stop acting like such a child."

          I scoffed. "Maybe you need to stop treating me like one."

          "That is a childish response!" He snapped and took a step towards me. Though he wasn't too much taller than me, he seemed to tower over me at this moment. His face crinkled in frustration. What were once smile lines across his face were now turned into an angry frown. "You have the sense of a Padawan- no, a Gungan. It's no wonder you were never approved to become a knight." 

            An irritated huff of breath escaped me in a borderline laugh while I stood. "Oh, you must've experienced some brain trauma since then because you know that is not the reason. Or should I show you? We both know I'm fully capable of that as well." I hissed and reached for the hilt of my lightsaber at my hip.

          He grumbled as he, too, moved for his saber. I would never expect for a Jedi to react so harshly, but it seemed I brought out the worst in him.

          Before either of us could react, we were interrupted by a youthful voice. "Master Skywalker! Master Kenobi!" A young Togruta was barreling over with a beaming grin. "Who's this?"

           "This," Anakin draped an arm over my shoulders and pulled me into his side, quickly moving me away from Obi Wan's menacing stare, "is my sister, Aaryn. Aaryn, meet my Padawan, Ahsoka."

          Ahsoka had a kind smile and bright blue eyes. She couldn't have been much older than fifteen. Her round face and short stature made this clear, but also the little hop in her step. Being a child in a war must be horrible, but I had no doubt that Anakin was keeping everything as interesting as possible.

          He was denied a childhood, something that haunted me forever. He knew what it was like to mature at far too young of an age, he wouldn't burden another child with that.

          Ahsoka gasped and ran up next to me as we climbed the ramp into the ship. "Anakin has told me so much about you! You're the new General, aren't you? Do I call you General Skywalker? Or are you going to be General Aaryn because of Anakin? Maybe there will be General Skywalker one and General Skywalker two!"

          "Enough, Snips." Anakin growled and sat himself next to Obi Wan in the pilot's seat.

          "Snips?" I questioned. 

          "It's just what he calls me." Ahsoka smiled. "I'm so glad you're coming with us! It can get a little boring sometimes when it's just the three of us."

          Obi Wan scoffed, "I'd hardly call anything involving you and Anakin boring, Ahsoka."

          Anakin shook his head and tried to deny the crazy adventures that Ahsoka soon went into detail about as we took off. They were quite the pair, outgoing and a bit too adventurous for their own good. Reminded me of someone else I once knew.

          We quickly arrived at the location - the supposed location, at least. There was nothing around except for distant stars and planets, but there was a certain pull, I suppose. It felt like the Force flowed through all of the space around us, beckoning us to come closer. I was tempted, I hated to say it, to just jump out of the fighter and find out for myself. 

          "Rex." Anakin activated the comms as we arrived. We were meant to meet a Republic Cruiser, but it was nowhere to be found. "Rex, do you read me? We're at the rendezvous point awaiting your arrival. Where are you?"

           "Sir, we are at the rendezvous point," Rex answered with furrowed brows, "and there's no sign of you on our scanners."

          "Oh, come on," Anakin scoffed, "that's impossible. Something's wrong. We're at the exact coordinates where the distress signal originated, but there's nothing here. Rex is at the exact same coordinates, and he's not here." Anakin was growing frustrated. His words started to speed up and he began waving his hands around as he spoke.

          Obi Wan hummed, his hand raising to run his fingers through his beard. "This is getting interesting," he said calmly. 

          Rex's hologram began to flicker as it slowly wavered and dissipated. "Unable to find you. Where are you, Sir?"

          "Something's blocking the signal." Ahsoka spoke as she investigated the controls.

          As if luck wasn't already on our side, as soon as the words left her mouth, the electronics throughout the ship shut down. We were left in the dark abyss of space with only enough light to see the outlines of each other's shadows.

          "Not good." Obi Wan mumbled as we all frantically began pressing any buttons we could to get things powered up once again. 

          "Everything's dead," Ahsoka's voice was grim, "even the life support."

          "This is really strange." I heard Anakin whisper right before everything came back on. 

          "Well," I chuckled, "it seems like everything is back to normal. There's nothing to be concerned about."

           Ahsoka's eyes seemed to widen as her hand rose to point at the large, red and black diamond-shaped object that we were nearing. "Then what's that?"

          The ship beeped and trembled as we were pulled towards the planet-like-object. It certainly didn't look like a planet, not in the traditional sense. It glowed and was much smaller than any planet or moon that I'd ever seen. 

          "It's pulling us towards it." Ahsoka looked between us all, gripping the two front seats while the diamond shifted and split, flashing us with a blinding white light. 

          "It doesn't look too friendly, either." I grimaced and grabbed the back of Obi Wan's seat.

          Obi Wan turned back to face the two of us, his voice gentle, collected, and demanding, but his eyes were filled with worry. "Everyone, strap yourselves in." He ushered Ahsoka back to her seat. "Looks as though we're going for a ride."

          We all quickly pulled out belts across us as the white light enveloped us. It hurt my eyes and   sent a splitting pain through my head. I thought it would go on forever. We just kept getting pulled deeper and deeper into the light. I remembered hearing Ahsoka call for Anakin before my mind went blank. Suddenly the light was gone and all that was left was darkness.

          I could see flashes of red, a shout, maybe a plea? Blue lights clashed as splashes of orange shot out around them. It was fierce - angry, even. Then there was a softer light, a gentle yellow cast on dunes of sand, followed by a pair of blue eyes. They were beautiful and familiar, but sad in ways I didn't understand. Finally, a nearing blood-red light. I felt the heat of it on my face, but before it could reach, I woke up.

         A gasp escaped me while I frantically tried to grab onto something just to prove I was back to reality. My hand met a gentle cloth and as I looked up, I saw the same blue eyes from my dream. They weren't so sad this time, but they were accompanied by Obi Wan's worried face. 

          "Are you alright?" His voice was so sincere and rich, full of his accent that no one could quite place. 

          I tore my hands from his arm and nodded, hardly remembering how to speak until I mumbled out a quiet, "I'm fine."

          The light was still bright outside the shuttle, but thankfully not as blinding. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but all around us were tall, green plants. It was a beautiful sight to behold and it took everything in me to not throw myself out the door to see if the grass was as soft as it looked.

          "Where are we?" Anakin whispered.

          "Some kind of organic mass." Ahsoka spoke as she fidgeted with the controls. "All of our readings indicate that it's bigger than an asteroid. But at least the atmosphere is breathable."

          "Well, this is getting more unusual by the minute. I can't even lock down where in the galaxy we are," Obi Wan paused, the creases in his forehead became more prominent with his confusion, "or if we are even in our own galaxy."

          "Let me see." I pushed Anakin's hands away from the controls as I stepped up and started poking at the buttons. "The ship is fine, sorta. Nothing's working but there's no damage, either. I say we go explore, hm?"

          Obi Wan sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "I have a bad feeling about this."