Ahala Saas's Story

Ezell caught the blaster pistol that was thrown to her. Yeah, this could work.

She lined up her shot on the rock cover and- BAM! It took about three bolts to take down one of the droids, but it felt good. Ezell wasn't technically trained in a blaster, but she made her shots nine out of ten times.

“Ezell, how well are you with being lifted, and with heights?” Ahala asked her.

“Uh- why?” She asked, in between blaster shots. She could feel the blaster overheating, so she was forced to stop firing and wait until it cooled.

“If you both can get to any of the Jedi masters, you can get help, and also get those who are scared to calm down,” Ahala said to both Ezell and Jei.

Jei looked like he would be more helpful somewhere else, but Ezell didn’t want to leave Ahala alone to deal with all these droids. Ezell wanted to stay and fight, though it didn’t look like Ahala was going to give them much choice as Ezell already felt herself being lifted.

“You better know what you’re doing!” Ezell yelled, worry seeping into her voice.

It was then that she saw a droid coming up behind Ahala, who was too distracted lifting them away. Ezell threw the rock she had in her hand and it hit the droid square on its ‘head’ which left a sizable dent. The droid wobbled, confused, and clearly couldn’t register Ahala’s presence anymore.

“Yes!” Ezell cheered, until she saw that the droid—in its confusion, was about to fire into the crowd of other droids.

“Ahala, get down!”

The confused droid fired wildly at the droids and the walls, and it exploded the door, which interrupted Ahala’s concentration enough that Ezell felt herself falling. She was just about to let out a yell when she saw Jei lean over the ledge and grab her by her hand.

“Nice catch,” she joked, despite her frayed nerves. Jei hefted her up.

“I will lead them away!” She heard Ahala yell. Ezell watched as Ahala ran off, the droids giving chase, powerless to do anything.

There was an adult Nautolan man waiting on the ledge with Jei. He gave her and Jei a soothing smile.

“Come you two,” he said. “Let’s see if we can get you somewhere safe.”

“What? No! We can’t just let her go alone! She’s just a kid!” Ezell insisted as she looked back and forth between the Jedi man and Jei. “We have to do something!”

Jei flushed under Kit Fisto's compliment. Approval was hard to come by for him.

Ezell then came up behind him and aggressively ruffled his hair. "Yeah, it was a awesome plan, kid."

Jei flinched, "Ahh, stop." He said and swatted Ezell away, who in turn laughed at him.

He then rushed past Ezell to Master Skywalker's side. Ahala was beginning to come to. "We're here, Ahala. You're fine, you're safe." He said to her, though it was mostly to calm his own nerves.

Ezell watched them all, the older Jedi men, Jei, and Ahala, and she felt all of a sudden that she was out of place. Jei and Ahala were padawans, or something, and they were clearly friends. Ezell was neither of those things.

She tapped on the shoulder of the bearded Jedi man.

"Uhm, can I go? I mean, I should probably go report to Fol Sheena," she said.

The man turned to her and spoke with a cool Coruscanti accent.

"I'm afraid not. Master Sheena will have to wait until after you've been examined by the infirmary," he said.

"But-" The man had already turned away before she could say anything.

Ezell crossed her arms with a frustrated sigh. She didn't need to go to the infirmary; she felt fine. It was just going to be a waste of everyone's time.

"'Guess we're both going to the doctors," she said with a light smile to Ahala. She hoped it was comforting.

"Woah, woah, woah," Jei said, cutting her off. "We can talk more when you're okay. Just rest right now, got it?" Jei offered her a smile.

They made their way to the infirmary without any incident. Ahala was deposited on a stretcher and a droid began to scan her. The room was filled with other students. Some were better off than others with only minor bruises or scrapes.

Without a word, the Masters left the three. Jei came to Ahala's bedside and without thinking, he lifted her hand and tried to give her a reassuring pat. "See, you're fine. You'll be liftin' boulders in no time." His words were soft, yet filled with worry despite his smile.

Ezell didn’t say anything, but she had felt… something right before they found Ahala. She had no idea what it was, but she knew she didn’t want to get involved. Weird magic powers were far beyond her realm of knowledge; she was just a nobody from the streets, despite what Fol Sheena thought.

She walked with them silently to the infirmary, and as soon as she entered the room, she was descended upon by medical droids.

Jei was talking to Ahala, but Ezell didn’t pay attention to them; better to give them a little privacy.

“Are you in any pain?” One of the nurse droids asked her in its artificial voice.

“No, I’m fine,” she said, but the droid scanned her anyway.

“Detecting several mild contusions. Remain calm while the injury is assessed,” it said to her. It reached out with its small metal hand utensils and poked at a bruise she didn’t realize she had on her arm.

“Ow!” She cried, and smacked the droid right where its head would be. “Stop that!”

“Damage to droid will result in severe fine,” the droid said in an automated response, which just made Ezell hit it again.

“Hey, leave it alone, it's just doing its job,” Jei called out to her.

“Stupid chipbrain,” she said to the droid.

Jei laughed at Ezell, as he too was hurried away from Ahala and immediately pestered by droids.

"Hey, leave it alone, it's just doing its job," Jei teased. He couldn't help but be sympathetic to any moving creature, organic or not. It was sad to admit but back on his home planet, Jei had found himself with more mechanical friends than living ones.

He twiddled his fingers nervously, "And I'm Jei... Still..." He pointed over his shoulder, "And that's still Ahala, ya' know." He clicked his tongue. "What's uh your name? I think someone said it but... I didn't... Catch it..."

"What's uh- your name? I think someone said it but... I didn't... catch it...." Jei asked nervously.

Ezell stared at him with a furrowed brow, her mouth slightly agape. Was this guy for real? She honestly felt a little sorry for him.

"...Ezell," she answered slowly.

"Oh! That's uh- a nice name," he said.

She could almost laugh, "Thanks?"

It was then that a droid gave Ahala the okay to leave... in a few hours. To her surprise, Ahala actually thanked the stupid droid. Ezell would never have tolerated that; if she were in Ahala's place, she'd leave whether she had permission to or not.

“I’m gonna' ask the Jedi council if I can go back to what’s left of my home planet, would you two like to come with?” Ahala asked the two of them.

Ezell shrugged; she couldn't quite say no to Ahala when she stared at them with that hopeful look on her face.

"I guess I can walk you there. I don't really want to see Fol Sheena anyway," she said casually. "You know how Jedi are. They'll always find something to scold you about, no matter what you do. No offense."

Ezell knew her way around probation-- it was hardly her first time, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try to avoid meeting with her handler for as long as possible.

"Where're you from, anyway?" Ezell asked Ahala and Jei. With these Jedi types, it was hard to tell who was a local or not.

Jei let out a chuckle. He leaned back on the cot beside Ahala and Ezell. "I'm sorry about your family. But I'm sure you'll find it," He said. He had no evidence to back up his encouragement, but he liked to air on the side of optimism.

"I'm from Dantooine! Great place, by the way. Ya'll should visit," he grinned. He turned to Ezell, "You ever been? I'm uh-" he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm actually thinking about heading home too... Ya'know... Sometime soon...ish." He turned back to Ahala, again with a plastered on smile. "But I'll be sure to walk you to the ship!"

He tried to smile but it came out more of a cringe.

“If they say no, then I’m gonna' take a jet and go anyway,” Ahala said, which made Ezell laugh. She was surprised this small girl actually had some spunk to her. Jei on the other hand...

"I'm from Dantooine! Great place, by the way. Ya'll should visit. You ever been?" He asked Ezell.

"Can't say I have," she said, which was the truth. Ezell had never been off-planet, though she'd never admit that to anyone. When she was little, spacer kids would always pick on the kids who had never known any planet save for the one they'd been born on, so she'd always lie and tell them she was originally from Corellia.

Just as a little green man entered the room, a droid came to Ezell and gave her permission to leave. She didn't bother to thank it.

She turned back to them as Ahala holstered her weapons. Ezell pointed at Jei, "So, you're from the middle of nowhere," then she pointed at Ahala, "And you're from who-knows-where, yet you both want to leave Coruscant?"

Ezell wanted to go back home too, but that meant leaving the Jedi temple, not the whole blasted planet. "When are you two planning that?" She asked.

Alone in his room, Jei sat on his bed mat. He really had no intention of getting up anytime soon. It was quieter than normal. Security had been more strongly enforced to protect the Temple and its students. But there was still a feeling of dread and apprehension through the halls. The Masters hid it easily but the Padawans were more forthcoming.

He stepped off the matt and found a bag he had stuffed away in the wardrobe. It was one of the few things he had brought with him from home. He began to shove his folded up clothes into the sack, then his knickknacks and whatever else he could find.

Jei couldn't stop the guilt he felt in his chest. Was he abandoning Ahala? No, no, Jei thought and shook his head. She was a strong and talented fighter. She could handle herself and didn't need any useless baggage following her around.

Right?

---

Ezell was sitting upside down in her chair, talking with animated hand gestures, when she was interrupted by a buzz of someone at Master Sheena’s door. She was in the middle of listing off her latest complaints about staying with the Jedi, so she hoped Master Sheena would send whoever was at the door away, but instead, she opened it for them.

“Ahala, I’m glad you’re here,” Master Sheena said with a polite bow, “I am Fol Sheena. I don’t believe we’ve met."

Master Sheena had heard a great deal about Ahala Saas. As of late the young girl was a common topic of discussion for the Jedi Council.

Master Sheena continued, "I would have thought Qi'Jeivas would be with you."

"That's alright, Ahala. We can talk later," Master Sheena said and saw her to the door. Once Ahala was gone, she turned back to face Ezell. "I like to keep an eye on the students here. Ahala has potential, as do you Ezell."

---

Jei shot around to face Ahala. He hadn't even sensed her coming as he was so distracted by his thoughts. "Ahala! Oh-I was... Uhm... Cleaning?" He cringed at his obvious lie. He paused for a moment and let out a sigh. "No, that's a lie, sorry. I'm uhm... I'm headin' out." He stood and threw his bag over his shoulder.

“Ahala, I’m glad you’re here,” Master Sheena announced.

Ezell twisted herself around to look at Ahala, her lekku flailing behind her in a flurry. She watched silently as introductions were made, surprised to see Ahala here.

Just as fast, Ahala was gone.

"I like to keep an eye on the students here. Ahala has potential, as do you, Ezell,” Master Sheena said.

Ezell sat upright in her seat. “You keep saying that,” she whined.

“Because it’s true. I know you don’t believe me, but I brought you here for a reason,” she said.

“And I’ve been telling you that you’re crazy. I don’t have special powers, I didn’t move anything with my mind, I wasn’t even the one who threw that rock at you!” Ezell insisted.

She was beyond frustrated at this point, with these people, with this place, with everything.

Master Sheena just sighed. She spoke again after a long moment, “Ezell, my abilities allow me to do more than move rocks with my mind. I can sense things, the people around me,” she said with a gesture of a hand. “The Force connects all living beings, and those especially attuned to it can feel it in others, as I felt it in you. And we can also tell when someone is lying to our face.”

Ezell bit her lip, at a loss for words.

“I don’t want to be one of you people,” she said, eventually. “I want to go home.”

Master Sheena’s eyes softened, “Ezell, that alleyway shouldn’t be your home. No one should be living like that, having to beg or steal just to get by—”

Ezell threw herself up from her chair. “You have no idea what it’s like for me! You don’t even know me!” She yelled, her fists clenched at her side.

Who did this Jedi think she was?

For a moment, Master Sheena looked surprised at Ezell’s outburst, before her expression faded back into her typical neutral face.

“You are right, I don’t know you. But I do know more than you realize,” she said, then she looked as though she had come to some conclusion in her head. “Alright, Ezell. I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll shorten your probation to two weeks—”

“Two weeks?” Ezell exclaimed.

“—And after that, you’ll be free to leave.”

“You can’t shorten it to two days instead?” Ezell joked, though she knew it was a fool’s hope.

Master Sheena shook her head with a fond smile. “No, I can’t. But after the two weeks are up, if you choose to, you may remain here at the Temple and begin your training as one of our students. We’d gladly accept you into our ranks.”

Ezell tapped her cheek in mock deliberation. “Hmm, tempting but no.” With that, she hopped out of her seat and made her way over to the door. “Is that all you wanted?”

“There is one more thing,” Master Sheena started, which earned her a groan from Ezell. “I’d like you to accompany Ahala Saas on her journey.”

Ezell grimaced, “Me and her? You’re kidding.”

Master Sheena smiled and clasped her hands over her desk. “I believe it will be a good exercise for you. Perhaps a bonding experience is exactly what you need. You’ll be able to see what a Jedi is capable of.”

Ezell stared, “You’re completely serious. Frag…” she muttered under her breath.

“Language please, Ezell,” Master Sheena said, and Ezell just stuck out her tongue at her.

---

Ezell looked down at her mini-datapad. This was the docking bay Master Sheena told her to go to. Ezell readjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder as she looked out at the various ships sitting in the large hangar. Then, she saw her not-friend.

"Ahala!" Ezell yelled out with a large wave of her hand. She ran to catch up to her.

“You’re heading out? Where will you go?” Ahala had asked him.

“I’m going home, to Dantooine.” Jei responded.

Ahala continued, “I’m heading out as well. And I want people I trust and have my back, and the only two I know have my back and trust is you and Ezell.”

Him? What could he do?

“Ahala, I’m not like you!” He shouted, perhaps louder than he wanted, but he couldn’t stop himself. “I’m not a fighter or a Jedi! I can’t even throw a rock, how can I defend anyone if something like that attack happens again!?” Jei turned away from her and started towards the door.

Ahala faced him and sighed. “Jei. Look I know you and I are from two different places, but we have the same goal in life. To basically be the best. You once told me to go for it, to show what I’m worth. I heard what you and Ezell did with Master Fisto,” Her words made Jei stop. “So Jei, it’s your choice to come with us or go alone” she said and ruffled his hair on her way out.


The door shut closed with a resound thud. Jei was left speechless. He dropped his bad and flopped down on the floor. He put his head in his hands.

He remembered what he said to her when they connected through the Force.


"I swear on all the Gods in the Universe, I've got your back, Ahala… You n' me? We'll be un-freaking-stoppable."


“Ah, blast it!” He shot up and shook his ruffled hair.

---

At the landing pad, Ezell, Ahala, and several others were roaming. A man stood behind Ahala, trying, and failing, to calm the angered student. “We’re wasting time here, we can’t just wait around for-“

Jei burst into the room, he heaved over, out of breath from his sprint. “Wait!” He breathed. “I’m… I’m coming too…!”

Ezell jogged over to Ahala hurriedly, who looked genuinely happy to see her for some reason.

“Ezell! I’m glad you could make it. Now, we’re just waiting for Jei,” Ahala said.

Ezell readjusted her bag again. “Really? He’s not here yet?” She asked, surprised. She honestly thought Jei and Ahala were attached at the hip. Maybe he wasn’t coming after all?

Ahala told Ezell about how the Chancellor ordered for them to be accompanied by clones, and her displeasure at the idea. Ezell shared the sentiment.

“Think you can help me get them off the ship, so we don’t have suited up babysitters?” Ahala asked.

“I think I can try,” Ezell laughed. She was suddenly excited at the thought of all the mischief she and Ahala could cause together.

Ezell was thinking over a plan that would get rid of the creepy clones, when one of them insisted that they leave immediately. Ahala snapped at the clone and Ezell’s eyes widened; she had never seen Ahala look so angry.

Items began to float off the ground and Ezell wondered briefly if Ahala was going to throw them at the clone. As much as she would have loved to see that, she knew what kind of repercussions they’d both be in for from the Jedi Masters. Ezell wasn’t looking forward to having her sentence extended after she just got it shortened.

“Hey, cool it down, short stuff. He’ll show up,” she said with a laugh, and placed a hand on Ahala’s shoulder. “You’re in charge here, don’t let these guys get to you.”

Ezell’s tone of voice came out a little too ‘big sister’ for her liking, but it was an accident. She was so used to being around people her age or younger, kids she’d known for so long that she might have even felt protective of them. But she wasn’t with them anymore, and she needed to remember that.

“Wait!” Everyone looked up to see Jei running as fast as he could. “I’m coming too…!”

Well, well.

Ezell smirked, “Look who finally showed up.” She turned to Ahala, “What’d I tell you?”

She gave Ahala a final pat on her shoulder before she lowered her arm. As Jei climbed inside, the landing doors slid shut with a deep noise. She shrugged off her bag and sat down; they’d be ready to take off shortly.

“We were about to leave without you,” she deadpanned.

Jei sat down at the seats against the wall, strapping himself in as tightly as possible. Ezell sat a seat away from him, using her bag as a buffer between the two.

Jei let out a forced laugh, “Yeah… No, I uhm… I’m glad ya’ll waited. I wasn’t going to come but,” he looked over at Ahala in the cockpit, “I guess I changed my mind.” He gave Ezell a shy smile.

Back into Space, Jei thought to himself. He’d traveled via ship multiples times in his life. Despite going so far from his farm on Dantooine, Jei actually enjoyed space travel. He found the journey to be somewhat relaxing for him, as outside of the thick ship walls was complete sensory deprivation. No sound and only distant movement from floating rocks or debris.

It was one of the few places that didn’t overwhelm his senses.


Though, Jei could feel that Ezell wasn’t handling it the same way. She was definitely… Tense.

“Hey, you okay?” Jei asked her all of a sudden.

Ezell crossed her arms and tried to ignore the feelings that rose up from inside her. She couldn’t tell if she was feeling anticipation or it was just her nerves getting to her, but she didn’t care. People went to space all the time, kids did, even doshin’ babies did. She could do it too.

She looked around the small ship, at the clones sitting across from her, at Ahala in the cockpit. She didn’t know Ahala could pilot.

“—okay?” Jei said suddenly.

Ezell was broken out of her thoughts, though she didn’t quite hear what Jei said to her.

She turned to look at him, “Huh?

“I said,” he repeated with a soft smile, “Are you okay?”

Ezell narrowed her eyes at him with a scoff. “Of course, I’m fine,” she lied.

“Oh-yeah. I’m just asking, you know. Wondering if you’ve never been off planet before?” He mumbled. He turned his head to face her. “I’ve done my fair bit of traveling, and that was even before I left home for the Temple,” He said with a smirk.

He paused. Ezell hadn’t mentioned much about herself in the short time he’d known her. She seemed even a bit resistant to share her name. She didn’t seem the secretive type… Maybe just closed off?

“’Course I have. I’ve lived all over the place,” she answered.

He perked up, “Really? Where are you from? You don’t sound Coruscanti.” We couldn’t help but feel excited at having a veteran space explorer on board.

Ezell turned away from him.

“’Course I have. I’ve lived all over the place.” This wasn’t exactly a lie, it was more of a half-truth.

He’d told her that he was from Dantooine, right? She didn’t need to be patronized by some Outer Rim farm boy.

“Really? Where are you from? You don’t sound Coruscanti,” he asked her.

Ezell laughed. He sounded so obviously like an out-of-towner. She wasn’t sure what a ‘Coruscanti’ accent even was; the street she lived on was full of people of different backgrounds, aliens from all over the galaxy with different cultures and accents.

“I’m definitely local. But uh- my mom was from Corellia. So, you know, I’ve obviously been there,” she said. She wondered briefly if it would be alright for her to lie so much to these people, but she doubted they had any way of finding out the truth. Though, she knew first-hand the consequences of getting caught in a lie.

“Local, really? So, you been at the Temple for a while, then?” He asked.

“Nah, I haven’t even been here for a month,” she laughed. “I’m not like you or Ahala. I’m only going to be here for two more weeks. Then I’ll finally be free to do whatever I want.”

She wanted this trip to be done as soon as possible. Her personal possessions were treasured—If limited, and she didn’t like the idea of leaving them unattended for too long, even if Master Sheena had insisted that they’d be protected. Her current bag only contained her essentials and about a half-dozen spare headscarves.

Ezell was interrupted from her conversation with Jei when she heard Ahala announce, “Everyone ready?”

At that moment, she felt the ship shake and rumble as it got ready to take off. Ezell didn’t wait to strap her bag and herself in; her grip tightened on the handlebars. After a brief few seconds of hearing the engines warm up, they were off.

Her stomach flipped.

Droyk. Droyk. Droyk!

Ezell looked over at Jei, who didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. Of course, he wasn’t; she rolled her eyes with a quiet scoff.

It took a short while before the ship breached the planet’s atmosphere and settled into a cruising speed, that Ezell was comfortable with removing her seatbelt.

“Don’t like it, deal with it!”

Ezell looked up right as Ahala stormed out of the room. She hadn’t been paying attention, so she wasn’t sure what that was all about. Ezell looked over at Jei again, and he didn’t look like he had even noticed Ahala leave.

Ugh.

Ezell got up from her seat, did a quick stretch, then followed after Ahala. The door was open, so Ezell walked in to see Ahala sitting on a bunk fiddling with a necklace in her hand.

“Uh- hey,” she said and leaned against the door frame coolly. “Don’t tell me we’re all gonna’ be sharing this one room?” She asked with a teasing smile. It wouldn’t be her first sleepover.

"I’ll show you where your bunk is," Ahala said.

Ezell followed after Ahala, a little confused, until they entered a separate room and her confusion turned into surprise.

The room wasn't very large at all, but it had all the amenities she'd want, like a bed and a closet. The best part was that all her things were there, just waiting for her.

"I talked to Master Sheena and she didn’t have a problem with your stuff coming along. Since we're 'gonna be gone a while," Ahala said, and Ezell suddenly remembered that she wasn't alone. "I hope you don’t mind."

Ezell was honest to stars touched; she was at a loss for words.

"That's uh- real nice of you," she said, her tone not showing any of her gratefulness. "Yeah, uh- yeah."

Ezell slowly sat down on the bed, unsure of herself. "You're not kidding, right? This isn't a joke? Seriously?!"

Ezell wouldn't say she was ecstatic, but she was awfully close to it. She knew it would only be temporary, but she didn't mind in the slightest. She was already accustomed to short-stays, and she hadn't had a bed of her own for a long time. She definitely wasn't going to pass up this opportunity!