CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

By the weekend, Ahsoka was in a training room with Elly. They were working on lightsaber technique. She knew that Ahsoka's would be close to perfect. If she was doing it like Anakin, it was just how she was supposed to be. But when they began to practise, Elly quickly realised that Anakin was not the best teacher.

Everything was a little off but it was something that was easy to fix. A slight change in arm position, swinging the lightsaber in a slightly different way. It was all little mistakes and she knew that it took a certain type of person to notice them. Anakin was not the type of person to notice them. He was a good Jedi. Nothing could change that but he wasn't the teaching type.

And as Elly was training Ahsoka, Anakin came in. He seemed pleasantly surprised to find them together. But there was a smirk on his face. A smirk that said something else. A smirk suggesting that he knew. Elly looked from Anakin to Ahsoka but she seemed oblivious as she tried to nail the newest trick that Elly had tried to show her.

She was swinging her lightsaber around in a wide arc, causing Elly to step back to avoid being hit. Elly left Ahsoka to practise and instead joined Anakin's side.

"What are you smirking about?" Elly asked as she rested her back against the wall. Anakin was leaning back as well. His hands resting by his side, hand hovering over his lightsaber out of habit. He knew there was no threat.

"I know," He said as he turned his gaze to her face. Elly cocked an eyebrow, meeting his eyes.

"What do you know?" She retorted. He chuckled and looked away from her and back to his Padawan. Ahsoka was still trying to nail the move. Her lightsaber moving out in a wide arc but it was too slow to be effective.

"That you were in my room," He replied. Elly's face dropped for a moment but she was quick to play it off. She turned her gaze to Ahsoka too.

"We talked about that." They hadn't really talked about it. Anakin had told her that he knew and Elly had tried to play it off. And tried to ignore the fact that it only added Anakin and Ahsoka's theories about the pair of Jedi Masters.

"No. I'm not talking about you and my Master nearly snogging in my room," Anakin began and Elly nearly choked on her spit. Her head snapped to the younger man and he was smirking again. Amused by her reaction. He could see right through her and she hated it, "I'm talking about when you stole the driver." Elly scoffed, trying to cover up her reaction as much as possible.

"I took it back." She shrugged. Anakin rolled his eyes as he met her eyes again.

"Stole." His tone was stern. His familiar stubbornness came back and she chuckled humourlessly.

"You tried to blackmail me."

"I wanted to negotiate."

"You don't negotiate with me," There little meaningless spat came to an end there and Elly looked away from the man again, "And Ahsoka told me it was her idea." It was a little jab but Anakin made no move to respond for a few moments.

But he quickly decided on a jab of his own, "Obi-Wan must really like you. He hates my room." Elly glared at Anakin playfully and he smirked.

"It is a lot cleaner than I expected," She retorted. Anakin nodded and straightened up his cloak, suddenly seeming self-conscious.

"I decided to do a little spring cleaning." There was an almost arrogance to his tone and Elly had to hold back a snort.

"You don't seem the type." Anakin would not spring clean. There was only one reason she could come up with for him cleaning it. And that was a girl, or a boy or just anybody he romantically liked coming over. He wanted to impress them so he cleaned up. There was no other logical explanation in Elly's mind. She knew Anakin.

"Everyone has a way of surprising you." He tried to play off her obvious suspicion but it failed. He suddenly seemed nervous, self-conscious and that was a telltale sign that she had struck a nerve.

"Nothing about you has surprised me so far," Elly retorted, looking into his eyes. He looked back at her, trying to cover up everything,

"You're surprised you like me," He responded. Elly hummed in response, a small teasing smile on her lips.

"I can't do it. Can I see it again?" Elly looked away from Anakin and smiled softly at Ahsoka. The girl had a determined look on her face and Elly couldn't say no to that. She walked over and held her hand out for the lightsaber. She took a few steps back and showed the move again. She did it fast once and then slower the next two times. She talked Ahsoka right through the steps again before offering her to try again.

Once she stepped back, Ahsoka was able to do it with relative ease. Elly grinned, congratulating her and then ordered Ahsoka to practise a few more times. Elly went back to Anakin's side and he was smiling. Not a smirk anymore, a smile.

"I can see why your Padawan was able to graduate so quickly," Anakin said. Elly raised an eyebrow and he turned back to Ahsoka. She seemed to be getting the hang of it now and her actions were much smoother than before, "I will never understand why Master Yoda assigned Ahsoka to me when she was already so attached to you." Elly's face dropped at his words.

"It's good that he didn't. I'm a risk to someone so young," Elly mumbled out. She didn't know how to approach a situation like this. Suddenly, she realised how similar what she was doing was to training a Padawan. She could try and frame it as a one and done deal but Ahsoka would always turn to Elly for help.

Even if Ahsoka was not her Padawan, they still acted like how a Master and a Padawan would. Elly wouldn't be surprised if Anakin scolded her for overstepping but he never did. He seemed to be glad of it all. And she was glad that he was.

"Ahsoka is doing pretty well, I'd say," Anakin rushed out before he walked over to her and quickly stopped her. She had been trying to put the sequence together and even he could see the failures in it. So, Elly took a step back from the moment just to watch Anakin work. Watch how he taught her and it was heart-warming. Anakin was always sweet at heart.

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Elly knew it was coming. She had just been waiting for it but she hadn't expected it when it came either. It wasn't as daunting as it had been a few weeks ago but it was still nerve-wracking. Standing in front of the Council was never a pleasant experience. There were too many eyes on her but she did well to mask her emotions.

But as she stood in the Council meeting, she felt odd because Obi-Wan was stood beside her. In all his regal glory, he was beside her, taking order. He stood with his hands rested gracefully by his side and he seemed so calm. Elly could never understand how he found the meetings so easy but he was usually on the other side of them so that was definitely part of it.

"Master Kenobi, how would you say your training is going with Master Muloa?" Windu asked. His words were chosen carefully, purposefully leaving no room for Elly to provide her own input. Even though it was her own feelings that had originally gotten her in this situation. Windu disliked her and he had already threatened her position in the Order. He had no interest in her words.

"Master Muloa has improved wonderfully. She is easily able to hold her own in a duel and I would argue that she is the same, if not better than she was when she was taken off active duty three years ago. She has put her mind to the task well," Obi-Wan responded. There was pride to his tone and it made Elly's heart swell. He genuinely sounded proud of her.

"That is wonderful to hear," Windu also seemed pleased. Elly wasn't so happy with that. He had been the one to force her into this situation. He didn't deserve to feel proud or happy with her because he saw as nothing but a useful tool.

"Join your battalion, she will, Master Kenobi," Yoda spoke up. Obi-Wan nodded. It was obvious that this was what the meeting would be about. Obi-Wan's battalion had taken the rest that they needed so it was only a matter of time before deployment began.

Elly wasn't ready for a full-scale battle and she just hoped that the Jedi Masters on the Council recognised that. She had been thrown in the deep-end on so many things and she hoped that this wouldn't be another one.

"Do we have another assignment?" He asked curiously. Elly wasn't even sure why she was there. Not once had they actually acknowledged her. Only Obi-Wan's glance to check her face for emotion had even acknowledged her presence and even that was minimal.

"Indeed," Windu said before another one of the Masters took over. He explained that it would be a recon mission to Parton. A planet covered in old ruins and abandoned temples which the separatists had took over and used for their own nefarious needs.

But the council weren't sending them to simply survey, there was a holocron that needed to be retrieved from one of the temples. Parton was a dense jungle in many parts so they'd have to find their way through to gain possession of it.

And as far as the Republic could tell, there was massive separatist presence so it was risky. But they were in war and there was always risks. It was not a full blown battle scenario which Elly was thankful for but it was still risky. It was incredibly risky but she had to suck it up. She couldn't reject the first mission she was going to be sent on. It would be bad form and she knew that Windu wouldn't hesitate to expel her from the Order.

So, they agreed to the mission and exited the room. They walked in relative silence back to Elly's room and when they stood at the door, Obi-Wan finally spoke up, "You're nervous but I promise you, you will be safe." Elly let a small smile appear on her lips. She knew that she would be. Under Obi-Wan's care, she would be perfectly fine.

"It's risky," Elly responded. Obi-Wan nodded. She felt like he was going to respond with 'this is war' so instead, spoke over him, "What do I need to take with me?" She had left for missions before but not for years and this was war. It was different. It was a different protocol and she had to be taught it at some point.

"Clothes for five or six days worth of travel. The Council will have sent you a new set of robes to suit the mission so pack that. And then anything else you would need. Don't forget your lightsaber," He responded. She nodded, trying to work out what clothes she could even take. She wasn't even sure if she had enough robes for that many days away from the Temple. She was a homebody.

"Where shall I meet you?" She asked after a moment of silence. She had no idea where the clone barracks were. She had heard of them and had seen people walking to them but she had never been herself.

"I'll come to your room. You have another few hours to prepare. Get a shower, there's only sonic showers on the ship and the ones here are much more pleasant. Take advantage of it while you're here." Elly nodded, trying to take in all the new information. It was so much but she knew that she could handle it. Once Obi-Wan had explained a few more things to her, they parted ways. Elly went straight into her room to find a new set of 'robes' on her bed.

Though they didn't look much like robes. They were more like armour. There was a silver undersuit that seemed to be skin tight and then armour parts. There was a chestplate that seemed perfectly suited to her and shoulders pauldrons. As well as arm covers and a back plate. Once it was all on, she knew that the dark blue armour would keep her relatively safe.

Her pants seemed to be Jedi issue but a slightly different material. She knew that they would suit her well for a battle scenario. She just dreaded the day that she would have to put it on and get blood on her hands once again.

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