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'I WISH I could have seen your face,' Eerie said with a huge smile while she and Astaldo walked away from the younglings' classroom. In front of them, the hall was abandoned but behind them emerged the distant chattering of the younglings.

Astaldo threw the hilt of his lightsaber in the air, it made several somersaults before he caught it again and hung it on his belt. 'Oh, please,' he started, 'as if you would have seen the marble coming.'

'Totally,' she lied without hesitation. 'I sensed it from miles away. I would have dodged it and continued our duel.'

'Right. . . That's why you asked what happened.'

'Shut up.'

Astaldo laughed when her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, and they continued walking through the Temple in a comfortable silence.

Occasionally, a Jedi Knight or Master crossed their path and they nodded in respect, but the Temple wasn't as occupied as it had been before the outbreak of the Clone Wars. Most Jedi had taken on the title of General as well and led the armies against the Separatists on faraway planets. Especially at night, the Temple could be ghostly silent, in contrary to the city outside that never slept.

Eerie and Astaldo descended the stairs towards the main hall of the Temple and the massive golden statues looked down upon them like legends of old. The statues were lifelike giants and stood at either side of the deep red coloured carpet that lead to the entrance.

The huge doors were open and the skyline of the city greeted them as the wind from outside blew through the hall.

Their robes gently swayed in the current and seeing the early afternoon sun, made Astaldo feel at peace; his frustration by being hit by the marble fading to the background until it was forgotten.

Holding grudges was not the Jedi way.

Astaldo hooked his thumbs behind his belt and strode between the statues until he noticed Eerie was no longer next to him. He turned his head and spotted her figure walking to master Alathfire, standing in front of a statue behind him.

He had a feeling their plan of eating lunch in the city was just cancelled. He took a deep breath -- they never got a break, did they? -- and ran a few steps to close the distance between him and Eerie, and side by side they stopped in front of master Alathfire.

'Padawan Hux,' Freia greeted her, and she gave Astaldo a curt nod before returning her attention back to Eerie. 'Master Bluelv requires your presence at the blockade around Ilum.'

Eerie stared at her. 'Ilum?' she repeated slowly. Last time she checked, her master had been on Kamino with Shaak Ti to check up upon the newly bred clones.

'A blockade? Since when?' Astaldo asked, more surprised by that fact than why Master Bluelv wasn't on Kamino.

'We found out this morning. Master Ember managed to send a message before the Separatists cut off all transmission lines.'

'Master Ember is on Ilum?' Eerie asked. She never expected the Separatists to be so bold to put a planetary blockade around their main source of Kyber crystals. But it was smart, she had to admit.

'Yes, along with master Skywalker, padawan Tano and a group of younglings. Now, report to Master Meadowdancer and Kenobi before they grow impatient and leave for Ilum without you.'

Astaldo hid his smile -- the sun would rise in the west before Meadowdancer would grow impatient; it was more likely Freia was starting to get impatient herself -- but he frowned when he realised he wasn't addressed. 'What about me?'

Freia looked him up and down. 'This mission was appointed to Master Kenobi, Bluelv, Meadowdancer and their padawans. Your presence is not required.' She turned around and disappeared in the hallway that lead to the Archives.

'Astaldo,' Eerie said with an exciting undertone, 'Meadowdancer. . ! Do you know what that means?'

Astaldo shrugged uninterested, a bit disappointed he couldn't get to go.

'It means I get to see Jaira again!'

✧✧

JAIRA WOLFIN let out a high-pitched shriek when she recognised the person just arriving at the Venator-class Star Destroyer.

Eerie, the person in question, was climbing down the starfighter in which she had landed upon the platform, but froze when the shriek reached her ears. She snapped her head in Jaira's direction and her eyes shimmered while she jumped down and made her way to the running Jaira.

Jaira could feel the weird looks from the clone troopers around her -- even though their face was covered by their helmets -- but she didn't care. She hadn't seen Eerie in years, their masters' missions usually sending them in different directions.

'Eerie, you're here!' Jaira said, skidding to a halt only a few inches away from her, not sure if she could hug her or not. It was not Jedi-like and she didn't know if and how much Eerie had changed during her training with Master Bluelv.

However, Eerie threw her arms around Jaira and laughed, the merry sound close by her ear. She smelled like soap and strawberries, and the scent brought back so many memories.

'I missed you, my friend.'

Jaira returned the hug, squeezing her as tightly as she could. 'I missed you too,' she said as they let go of each other. She wished they would have time to catch up, but the situation was not appropriate.

With each passing second, it grew in fact more dire. Ilum was an arctic planet and hard to survive on when you ran out of provisions. Who knew how long Opal, Anakin, Ahsoka and the younglings would survive if they did not destroy the blockade as quick as possible.

'Come,' she continued. 'Master Meadowdancer and Kenobi are already on the bridge, ready to make the hyper jump to Ilum.'

Eerie nodded, they would talk later and she followed Jaira as she led the way through the Star Destroyer.

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characters introduced this chapter:

Jedi Master Brood Bluelv (mentioned only) by oakenshield_
and
Padawan Jaira Wolfin by dobblewolf

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