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Ahsoka’s return to the temple after her first deployment was strange, made even stranger by the fact that it should’t be strange at all. The temple was her home, so why didn’t she feel at home there? It was an island of peace and tranquility in tumultuous galaxy, so why didn’t she didn’t she feel at ease? She always had before. She hadn’t even deployed a full year, but somehow the Temple was different. Or maybe she was.
After the cramped quarters of the Resolute, the temple’s airy corridors felt too open, too exposed. The carpets muffled the sound of approaching footfalls in a way that set Ahsoka’s teeth on edge. She kept waking up, heart pounding, montrals ringing from a warning alarm that wasn’t there. The war was half-way across the galaxy. Why did she keep expecting it to pop out from behind the nearest corner?
After the first week, Ahsoka almost wished it would. At least that would get her out of the boring lessons she was supposed to be catching up on. She should be doing real, important work at the front, not wasting her time with this pointless poodoo. Who cared about the order of forks at an Alderaanian banquet? Certainly not Separatist battle droids.
The boredom wouldn’t be so bad if she just had someone to talk to. Growing up, Ahsoka and her crèche-mates had practically lived in each other’s pockets. They ate together, trained together, and slept together in one big dormitory. Now her friends were scattered across the galaxy, fighting beside their masters like she should be doing, while Ahsoka was stuck sleeping alone in her tiny padawan quarters. It wasn’t any smaller than her room aboard the Resolute, but it felt smaller knowing that there was no one sleeping on the other side of the wall.
The whole temple had been emptied by the war. Only the very old and the very young remained. The communal fresher at the end of the padawan hall should have a line out the door, but every morning it was just Ahsoka washing the sleep from her eyes. She started bringing her data pad to the refectory so she didn’t feel so strange eating alone.
No Jedi should be eager for war, but it was a relief when Ahsoka was finally recalled. Her first meal back on the Resolute was in a comfortingly packed commissary. The clone’s voices overlapped with clattering cutlery to form a wordless cacophony. This was what meals should sound like. Ahsoka joined the chow line and let the sound wash over her.
“Commander Tano!” Captain Rex shouted over the din. He waved at her from across the room as she stepped off the line with her tray.
Ahsoka waved back and started to work her way to his table. She barely made it two feet before she was waylaid by one friend and then another. Everyone wanted to welcome her back or introduce her to a new recruit. Her food was cold by the time she finally made it to Rex.
“You boys miss me?” she asked as she squeezed in between Rock and Hardcase.
Rex smiled. “How was your leave?”
Ahsoka lifted a spoonful of their so-called rations and wrinkled her nose as it slid off and hit the plate with an unappetizing plop. “Well, the food was certainly better, but it’s good to be back home.”