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“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Anakin dropped onto the couch, landing half on top of Obi-Wan. “What?” Obi-Wan asked, and from her spot in the kitchen, Ahsoka couldn’t tell if he was genuinely confused or just teasing. Anakin shifted to the right, laying out across the rest of the couch, his feet in Obi-Wan’s lap.
Anakin looked at him. “This is what you want to watch? The Treaty of Rugosa?”
“I fail to see the issue,” Obi-Wan said. Ahsoka joined them in the common area, balancing an enormous bowl of popcorn and a bag of candy in her arms. She nudged Anakin with her knee.
“Scooch, Skyguy.”
Groaning dramatically, Anakin moved to let Ahsoka sit between him and Obi-Wan. “The issue is that it sounds like the most boring holo in the universe. Not to mention like”—he squinted at the screen—“eighty years old. Hey, that’s almost as old as you, Master!”
Ahsoka laughed. As Anakin and Obi-Wan bickered, she let herself relax. The Force was soft and amused around the three of them and there was warm affection flowing across both her bonds. They didn’t get to be together often, usually separated and off on the front, so it was always exciting when the three of them had leave at the same time. Ahsoka never knew what to expect. Sometimes they went out, usually to Dex’s, or to the tea shops. Sometimes the three of them sparred, or she got a lesson from Master Kenobi on a new lightsaber form. Lately they’d been working on Soresu, which came with impossible drills, complicated footwork, and lots of snarky comments from Anakin.
Sometimes, and this was typically the most amusing, they went over to Senator Amidala’s apartment. Ahsoka had gotten to know Padme pretty well, so seeing her was always nice. But the real fun came from sitting next to Obi-Wan, eating plasma cloud, and watching Anakin and Padme steal glances at each other. Anakin would try to subtly flirt, then Padme would change the subject rather effortlessly, both probably hoping Ahsoka and Obi-Wan were clueless. It was truly hilarious.
At the beginning of her apprenticeship, Obi-Wan had pushed for meditation practice, but Ahsoka and Anakin’s loud protests had always won out. Ahsoka didn’t actually mind meditation, unlike Anakin, but she hadn’t wanted to spend their limited time together sitting in silence.
She wanted to have fun. Off the battlefield. Out of the Temple classrooms. Despite her relentless (and slightly aggressive) demands to be taken seriously, to not be treated like a youngling, Ahsoka was still a kid. She always had to be a soldier, a Commander, but Ahsoka was still just a kid. Anakin was still just a kid. And the war had been wearing on them all.
Sometimes Ahsoka wanted to just be . . . Ahsoka.
She wondered if Obi-Wan and Anakin felt the same.
Either way, furlough with them was always fun, but Ahsoka liked it best when they all ended up in her and Anakin’s quarters.
When they did, that meant it was holo night. To make it up to Obi-Wan for shooting down his meditation idea, they let him pick the holos. And every time, they regretted it. Ahsoka loved and respected Obi-Wan, but dear Force, he had horrible taste. He alternated between the sappiest, mushiest romance holos that made Ahsoka want to throw up (while she pretended not to notice Anakin getting misty-eyed), and mind-numbingly boring educational documentaries. He claimed they were—
“—for Ahsoka’s sake. Think about it, Anakin. She spends most of her time fighting when she should be here, learning in the Temple. You know how important studies are, and negotiation strategies are especially relevant right now—why are you rolling your eyes, Ahsoka? This is for your benefit. There may be a day when this information comes in handy and then you’ll thank me,” Obi-Wan said loftily. Ahsoka laughed again. He scoffed. “If my choices are so egregious, then perhaps I should take my leave.”
Obi-Wan started to stand, but Ahsoka and Anakin both pounced on him, pinning him to the couch. “No!” they shouted together.
“No need to be so dramatic, Master,” Anakin sighed, exasperated. “We’ll watch your terrible holo.”
“Thank you,” Obi-Wan said, settling back down with a wide grin. Anakin threw a loose arm around Ahsoka and chuckled as she burrowed into his side. Obi-Wan used the Force to get their favorite blanket from where Anakin had dumped it near the holoprojector.
“Really, Anakin. I’m sure I taught you to clean up after yourself. This is simply ridiculous.”
“Master!” Ahsoka gasped. “Is that improper use of the Force I see? How could you?”
Obi-Wan’s brow raised, an impish look in his eyes. “I’ve no idea what you mean, my dear.” He spread the blanket across the sofa. It was barely big enough to fit them all, so they moved in closer, Ahsoka smiling as she got squished in the middle.
The holo began with exciting music and quick cuts. Surprisingly, it was more action-filled than educational, which Ahsoka was glad for. Even Anakin perked up. They watched, Obi-Wan drank his tea, and she and Anakin tossed popcorn at each other.
“Oh, honestly,” Obi-Wan said for what seemed like the hundredth time. “If I’d known there was so little instructive narration, I’d have picked something different.”
“What, like The Love Letter again?”
Ahsoka cackled as Obi-Wan glared at Anakin. “Need I remind you who emptied their entire supply of tissues after watching that?”
“Woah, hey! We agreed never to talk about that again!”
“Well, I don’t recall being the one to mention it in the first place.”
Ahsoka clutched her stomach, her laugh ringing out over the explosions on screen. She munched on her candy and their attention turned to her. Anakin grabbed the package out of her hand. “Sour candied slugs? Aren’t these banned on Coruscant?” Anakin asked with a surprised laugh. Ahsoka snatched the package back. “Where'd you even get them?”
In truth, Cody had bought them for her on their last mission together on Corellia. Well, he’d bought two packages, but she’d eaten the first one on the flight back to Coruscant. After Fives had stolen half, Ahsoka remembered with a mental scowl. But all she said was, “I have my ways,” with a challenging smirk.
Anakin laughed and held out his hand. She cheerfully passed him a couple slugs, smiling wider when Obi-Wan made a disgusted choking noise. “How you two can stand to—never mind.” He shuddered.
“Carnivore, Master,” Ahsoka reminded him.
“Yes,” Obi-Wan agreed. “And Anakin’s excuse?”
“Obi-Wan, stop talking. We’re trying to watch this scholarly film.”
“Anakin—”
“Master, please! My mind is being sharpened.”
Obi-Wan snorted. “Well, it certainly needs that.”
“Hey! You—” Anakin yelped as Ahsoka shoved her feet under his thigh. “Snips! Quit it!”
Ahsoka looked up, her face the picture of innocence. “What?”
“Your feet are freezing! Get ‘em off me!”
Obi-Wan lost all hope of maintaining composure as he burst out laughing.
Ahsoka gave Anakin a sharp smile. “This is just payback for you eating my ice cream the other day.”
“That ice cream was payment enough!” Anakin objected. “Denta bean? That’s like the worst flavor!”
“Hey!”
Anakin leaned to the right, smushing Ahsoka up against Obi-Wan. “And besides, I didn’t know it was yours anyway,” he grinned.
What a lie! “It was clearly labeled—”
“Yes,” Obi-Wan joined in. Ganging up on Anakin was their favorite pastime, after all. “If I remember correctly, it said ‘Ahsoka’s. Eat at risk of kneecap-stealing.’ Which, by the way, is biologically impossible.”
Ahsoka bared her teeth. “Not with these fangs.”
“Wait—” Anakin sounded shocked, maybe a little scared. “You can bite people’s kneecaps off?”
“Of course, Master. It’s an old Togruta torture tactic.” She growled. “Used only on the most heinous criminals.”
Anakin’s eyes widened as they darted to look at Obi-Wan, whose face was perfectly pleasant. But then Ahsoka stifled a giggle and he scoffed. “Very funny, Snips.” He gave her a shove. “What happened to the nice, polite Padawan I met on Christophsis?”
“You met a civilized Padawan? Couldn’t have been ours.”
“Hey!”
The three continued squabbling, paying no mind to the rolling end credits on the holoscreen.
At some point, the conversation changed and Master Kenobi began telling stories of when Anakin was a Padawan and even a few of his own youth. Though, the ones of Anakin were, to his horror, unbelievably embarrassing.
Ahsoka could barely breathe by the end of a particularly humiliating story—when Anakin woke up late for a Council meeting and ran into the Chambers without pants on. As she cried in laughter, hunched over on the floor, she reminded herself to pass that one onto Rex.
Anakin’s cheeks were red, but he was laughing too.
“Snips, you should’ve seen Master Windu’s face! I’d do it again just to see him fall out of his chair.”
Later, Ahsoka woke warm and sleepy to the sky lightening outside their common room window. The three of them were piled on the couch, Ahsoka tucked into Obi-Wan’s side and Anakin sprawled out next to them. Obi-Wan had a hand on Anakin’s shoulder.
They were to be sent off, back to battle later that day, but Ahsoka twisted and jammed her feet under Anakin’s legs again and decided that it was worth it if this was what she was fighting to protect.