Kina stormed out of the room to her dorm, where she sank into her soft bed. Her mind felt unsteady. It ached and her arms and stomach were sore.

"Velakina, I want to drink... I love you... Go on the street and beg for some money since your father won't give me enough to buy a pint."

Her mother.

"Velakina! If you don't get out of there I'll beat you more! You know I hate it when you beg, you filthy idiot!"

Her father.

Her heart thudded at the thought of that monster, whom she had suffered under until the age of five.

Her heart pounded in her chest.

"I'll kill everyone! I'm your father, I can kill you too. Nothing is stopping me. And you're in my way, Kina. You're nothing but vile garbage, and we all know where garbage belongs. It belongs nowhere."

Thud.

"Chris! You promised you would stay! I need your money- I mean, Velakina needs to grow up with a father. Are you just going to abandon us for some random Twi'lek slave girl? You're going to sacrifice your family for lust?"

"You and your drinking habits mean nothing to me, Reula. You and your pitiful daughter. Some wife you are. Get lost."

Thud.

"So, let me clarify. You want to foster Velakina?"

"Yes, indeed."

"She will have a great future under such prestigious guardianship."

Thud.

"Everyone has a master already. How about you? Can't even have a normal Jedi teach you without extreme frustration. Not even the patient Master Yoda would want you. What would all my friends say? What a failure. You don't deserve me as your mother!"

"You're not my mother. My real mother abandoned me, and you only want me because the Jedi want me."

Her heartbeat quickened to an unbearable rate.

Slap.

"Don't you talk back! We loved you, and we fostered you, and this is how you treat us?"

"Stop it!" Kina screamed, tears falling uncontrollably down her face. She slammed her fist into the metal door, denting it. She pushed the memories out of her mind, wanting to grind anyone she could find to pieces. She knew her "parents", who sent her expensive gifts to motivate her, didn't truly love her. They were just there because they believed that if they had connections to a potential Jedi, they could rise in social status.

"I hate you, Ahsoka! It's all because of you that my foster parents hate me! I hate you, I hate you!" The tears splashed down Kina's ruddy cheeks. The sunlight filtered through the creamy white blinds, showering rays of golden light onto the bed. Her face glistened with moisture.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ahsoka walked to the mess hall, looking for a good place to sit. Now that she didn't have to put up with as many classes due to her responsibilities as a padawan, she didn't have to deal with her classmates.

"Commander." A clone saluted. Ahsoka jumped, then smiled embarassedly in response. She still wasn't used to being referred to as a 'commander'. She sat down next to Anakin, who grinned at her.

"I got you some extra rations since we're going on a new mission." He said cheerfully.

"Already?" She groaned, feeling extremely sore from the beatdown from a few weeks ago, as well as the extra missions.

Anakin laughed. "Stop complaining, Snips. Race ya to the hangar bay!"

"Hey, no fair! You had a head start!" She called playfully.

"If you keep talking you'll fall behind!"

"Doesn't matter, I'll catch up anywa--AHH!!"

Anakin turned around panickedly, hearing the yelp of pain from his padawan. He spotted her rubbing her ankle, which was starting to swell.

"Kix!" He screamed. The clone medic appeared, examined the ankle, and quickly tied the ankle with some bacta and bandages.

"I still want to go on the mission." Ahsoka swallowed.

"No you're not, not until you rest." Anakin said authoritatively, going big-brother mode. He turned on his commlink and announced that she would be resting for this mission.

She gave him puppy eyes. It didn't work. Neither did whining or screaming till his ears popped. She sat back in defeat, until her Master received a transmission.

"General Skywalker, urgent news."

"Yes, Master Windu?"

"The Council is busy. We cannot substitute Padawan Tano. You must take her on the mission. Get her to swallow one or two painkillers and pad her ankle with extra bacta. We must take back Raarsis as soon as possible, or the battle may already be lost."

Anakin nodded begrudgingly and ordered the medic to give her several painkillers.

"With all due respect, sir, more than one can make her woozy and uncoordinated, which could get her killed in battle." Kix remarked placidly.

He clenched his fists. "Alright, see what you can do to alleviate the pain."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ahsoka's POV:

When we landed, the gritty sand greeted us again. The cliff we were on was swirling with the grainy mess.

I was so numb to pain that the painkiller was a whole new experience, and I welcomed it; it was almost blissful. Kix warned me that it would still hurt quite a bit, so I pretended to have a slight limp, despite being able to block out pain. My ankle was already injured, and the daring jump I made racing with Skyguy broke the limits.

"Alright, according to Republic intel, the Separatists have another factory... down there." He said, pointing to the sandy desert below us. I looked at the rolling hills, but there was nothing.

"It's all sand, Master." I said confusedly.

"Look closer, Ahsoka." he replied. I squinted my eyes and spotted a tiny, window-like hole in a sand dune.

"It can't be..." I gasped. "An underground factory! But there's so many complications! Why do the Separatists like building these factories here anyways?"

"Raarsis is neutral. Attacking and laying siege on the factory so close to the city would be a violation of the 2735 Treaty of Neutrality. We can't destroy it without making enemies of the more peace-loving citizens of the planet." He said, quoting Master Windu's lesson on treaties. I grumbled annoyedly, muttering a few curse words at the Separatists' cunning.

"Alright, I'm looking at the plan Master Windu sent us." I said excitedly. "He wants me to go alone through the ventilation system, jump down, and kill the security droids on the left flank. Then-

"No way!" Anakin exclaimed, aghast. "There is no way you're executing this mission on your own! Not with a twisted ankle, at least. Maybe one of the smaller clones can go, or we'll all just sneak in through the front. Something close to that."

"I'm fine, Skyguy. I'll be okay." I assured him. "Vents are easy to navigate, and I'll stick to them. They require me to crawl through them, so I won't utilize my ankle. Security droids are really idiotic and usually don't look up, which provides me, the attacker, a huge advantage when sneaking."

"But-

"With all due respect sir, she's the only one who is capable of navigating the vents. She's...uh...um...well... small." Rex stuttered, trying not to offend me. He glanced at me sheepishly, and I shrugged, smiling, in response.

Anakin sighed in defeat and nodded in agreement. "Just stick to them, okay? I don't want you getting hurt."

I nodded vigorously and departed, climbing through the cave-like system that was the factory. I tried to open the holo-map, but it refused to open. I continued to crawl, and then dropped down.

It was a dead end, and strangely, the vents above me vanished.

"Greetings, Ahsoka. I have been waiting for you."