Chapter 43 - There's more to Us than just fighting...

They waited for hours for medical attention. Ash just hoped that her 2 wounds didn’t get infected; although she was pretty sure she could use the Force to get rid of it…she had a lot of experience in that area.
After waiting for so long, and still not getting any attention, Kiro and Xiang went up and just ask for some bacta salve and some bacta patches. With that, Xiang and Kiro helped Ash and Echo out of the crowded medical center and into a more not-so-packed part of the medical ship.
That ended up being a challenge.
The battle outside was not going well. Both sides had lost a lot of troops. Ash had heard from the rumors in the Med Center that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker had engaged in a duel with Count Dooku, and it had almost cost them their life if Yoda hadn’t showed up just in time to save them.
The battle had slowed down and they had been told that it was safe to leave the planet now, but Ash and Kiro wanted to talk more in private. They knew if they went back to the Temple they wouldn’t be able to talk so closely.
They took a ground vehicle back to where their starfighters were and they were dropped off, Echo and Xiang included. Ash sat on top of her starfighter wing while Kiro bandaged her up. Xiang did the same for Echo.
“Man…those blaster shots went pretty deep Ash,” Kiro said studying the wound. Kiro had already bandaged up his own arm. He claimed it wasn’t as bad as Ash’s, which it probably wasn’t. At least he could walk.
“I don’t feel it much,” Ash replied watching him. The bacta salve was numbing up her legs and she thought that as soon as she stood up here legs would turn to slime.
Kiro stopped what he was doing and looked at her. She thought he was going to ask her something, but he just continued to look at her..
She could sense his thoughts. He was thinking about how beautiful she was, how inventive and funny she was…how much he loved her.
“You’re very touching,” Ash said.
He snapped out of his day dream and looked back at her.
“What?” he asked.
“You can’t seem to control you’re thoughts, can you? I can sense everything you where thinking.”
He smiled at her.
“I’m sorry. Since the day I met you, my mind hasn’t been my own. I keep thinking of…you.”
“Well I think you need to work on controlling you’re emotions a little bit better. The masters are going to be able to read you like a book,” Ash said laughing. Kiro laughed to and finished patching up her legs. When he was finished he jumped onto the wing of Ash’s starfighter and sat by her. There was no one else around, only Echo and Xiang. Everyone else was either wounded or fighting.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Ash asked.
“About what?” Kiro replied.
“You’re old master…Xiang…you’re thoughts go straight from me to them. They must have really hurt you.”
Kiro sighed.
“I guess it won’t hurt to talk about it. Either I tell you, or you’re just going to read my thoughts anyway,” Kiro said.
“I was taken as a padawan when I was 12. My master…he wanted perfection and I couldn’t give it to him. I was just a kid, and he didn’t understand that. I had been going through a hard time in my life and I couldn’t live up to his standards. He made me believe that I had no Force potential. I had been having these dreams…terrible dreams of destructing and misery. I couldn’t focus on anything.”
“All mentors have a way of seeing more of our faults than we like. It’s the only way we grow,” Ash said. “I remember the first day I became a padawan, my master showed me what it was like to be too overconfident in a battle and he actually gave me quite a big bruise. But there was a point to the lesson and I learned from it.”
“Well apparently my master didn’t think I would ever learn. I received a message from the Council when I was 14 saying that I would no longer be his apprentice, but I was being assigned to another Knight. When I found out from another friend that Xiang had taken my place, I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Kiro sighed. He was saying a lot. Ash didn’t think he would open up that much to her. He must feel very comfortable in front of her. He looked over to Xiang.
“I lashed out at Xiang. I gave him a pretty nasty lightsaber scar across his back. I got in some big trouble. We had always been childhood rivals, but I had never expected the game to move up so many levels. Since then he’s never forgiven me, and he’s rubbed it in my face that my master dropped me for him.”
Ash touched his face and brought it around to face her.
“Cheer up,” she said, repeating something he had said to her a day ago. “All of that’s in the past. You need to…move on.”
“You don’t understand…I can’t, I’ve tried so many times. I’ve asked Yoda for guidance…nothing works. He’s my rival…nothing else.”
“I’m going to change that,” she said. “No friend of mine has the stench off dark side on him.”
“What did you just say I smell like?” Kiro said laughing.
“I said you smell like the Dark Side. You need to use the fresher,” she said smiling. Kiro laughed and put his arm around her shoulder.
“You’re cute, you know that?” he said.
“I know…I’ve known that for a long time,” Ash said. She looked over to Xiang and Echo. They were standing by their double-seated starfighter laughing at each other.
Then suddenly…Echo dropped. She fell straight to the ground. Ash reacted as soon as she felt her sister start to go unconscious. She got there before even Xiang could get next to her.
“Wait…don’t touch her,” Ash said to Xiang. She felt something inside Echo, something that only she would be able to sense and she didn’t want Kiro and Xiang getting in the way.
Echo’s eyes were starting to roll back in her head.
“Stay with me sis,” Ash said as she checked her body for infected wounds. None of them looked infected, and then she thought of something. She picked up her sisters head and felt around through her hair. Sure enough when she removed her hand from her hair and it was covered in blood.
“She has a concussion…a really bad one,” Ash said picking her up. It strained her legs but she bared through the pain since her sisters life was at stake.
“Did she hit her head during the battle?” she asked Xiang.
“I didn’t think so,” Xiang said. “Maybe she did, I’m not sure.”
“Whatever happened, we need to get her to Coruscant as quickly as possible.”
Ash picked her up and put her in the double-seated starfighter and strapped her in. Xiang started to get in the ship as well but Ash stopped him.
“Whoa…hold on nerf herder. She’s my sister, I’m piloting this ship.”
“I’m a better pilot,” Xiang said.
“I beg to differ,” Ash said and started to make her way into the starfighter. “You and Kiro take the other two starfighters and fly around us to make sure we get back safely. I’m too distracted to do that,” Ash said.
She could sense that both guys didn’t like working together, but they had too. Ash started up the ship and let Kiro and Xiang get their ships up. She wiped her hands off on her seat and then followed them Behind her Echo was rambling off; talking about nonsense. She was once asking a bartender for another couple drinks and another time she was dancing in Jabba’s palace. Her sister was really out of it.
She followed slowly behind the guys and opened the comm channel to listen in on the boys.
“I told you, I’m taking the lead. I’m the more experienced one,” Xiang was saying.
“Don’t bring that up,” Kiro said. “I’m just trying to save a life…I don’t know what you’re doing. All I know is you better watch you’re mouth, exhaust-for-brains.”
“Maybe you should go back to the field’s nerf herder!” Xiang shot back.
“GUYS! Be quiet and calculate a hyperspace jump back to Coruscant. I DO NOT want to listen to your fighting all the way back. I already have a headache as it is,” Ash yelled into the comlink. Xiang clicked off and pulled beside her ship. Kiro commed onto her private channel.
“I’m sorry,” Kiro said.
“Don’t be; just get us out of here.”
Kiro pulled up to one side of her ship while Xiang was on the other side. They both commed her and said they were ready for the jump. Ash pulled back on the throttle and watched the stars turn into starlines.

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