Chapter Text
A Holiday Tale
“Tell me a story,” Sabine requested. They hadn’t been on Peridea very long, and they didn’t exactly understand the language. As a result, they had mostly each other for company.
“What kind of story?” Ahsoka asked.
Sabine thought for a moment. “Something about the Clone Wars,” she finally suggested.
Ahsoka thought. “Well,” she began. “It was on Serenno, actually. Master Obi-Wan and Anakin and I were there during a battle, along with Gless Riltka, my best friend since I was little, her master, Greeata Kelko. Now, Count Dooku actually had a lot of Serennians fighting for him, so we weren’t just facing battle droids this time around. It was the New Year, though, and also Winter Solstice on that part of Serenno, so there was a truce in place.
“We had decorated as best as we could for the holiday, and were sitting huddled around a fire.”
Ahsoka and Anakin had been fighting over who would take an extra blanket Obi-Wan had insisted on giving them, one that was too small to share. “You haven’t got an ounce of fat on you,” Anakin told her.
“Oh, like you do,” Obi-Wan observed. Anakin turned to glare at his mentor. “You’re not helping,” he snapped.
“*I’ll* take it,” Gless said, snatching it up. “I’m a reptile, so I need it more than either of you.”
“Well, now that that’s been settled,” Obi-Wan said, before either Anakin or Ahsoka could resume arguing. “Perhaps now, we could try to enjoy the holiday.”
“Sure,” Anakin retorted. “I mean, we’re stuck here freezing our limbs off, but sure, let’s enjoy the holiday.”
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.
“Do you hear that?” Ahsoka asked.
“Hear what?” Greeata replied.
“Singing. Listen!”
The others stopped to listen.
It sounded like a voice singing a familiar New Year song. “‘Blessings, peace, and hope for the new year,’” Gless whispered.
“There’s no one else around here but the Serennians,” Anakin cautioned.
“So, maybe they’re trying to celebrate, too,” Ahsoka suggested.
“Or lure us into a trap,” Anakin countered.
“I actually agree with Anakin this time,” Obi-Wan put in.
“Oh, my god, it’s a holiday miracle,” Rex muttered.
Both generals turned their heads around and glared at him.
Ahsoka rose up cautiously. “‘Across the stars, wherever you are…’” she began singing.
Anakin yanked her down quickly. A moment later, though, a voice came back. “‘To young and old, near and far…’”
“‘Wherever you’re going, wherever you’re from…’” Gless returned.
Another voice responded. “‘And however far you’ve come…’”
Greeata picked up the next line. “‘Rather you’re done, or just begun…’”
Yet another voice finished. “‘We hope your year is a wonderful one.’”
It was Anakin who echoed the final line. “‘We hope your year is a wonderful one.’”
In the flickering of the firelight, Ahsoka thought she saw another Togruta girl looking over and smiling and waving at her from a distance. It might have been just a trick of the light, though.
Regardless, everyone slept well that night.
Ahsoka and Sabine both slept well that night, too.