The Kenobi Saga Book One:The Clone Wars

29. Snow Day

Padme swiveled her head, no longer hearing Lore-Val's footsteps behind her. Several feet back Lore-Val had stepped off the path and was trudging her boots through the snow making her own path of trenches. Padme looked past the girl at Solitaire who just shrugged. Whatever face he made was hidden behind his helmet.

Lore-Val was grinning at her feet when Padme called out to her. She snapped her head up, and jumped back to the path, rushing to catch up.

"Sorry," she said, a small breathy laugh escaping her lips.

"Nothing to be sorry for," Padme told her, "Have you ever seen snow before?"

"Yes. But never so much at once," she explained kicking up some snow on the edge of the walkway.

Padme smiled, "It's supposed to snow again this afternoon. When you meet my nieces I'm sure they'll want you to go sledding with them."

Lore-Val practically beamed, "I think I'd better put on a warmer coat."

.   .   .

"You can do it!" Pooja screamed from the bottom of the hill up at her new friend.

Lore-Val took a hard swallow before she threw herself down on the sled and went flying down towards the two younger girls who were waiting. She shrieked at the speed, her hat falling off and her hair spilling out behind her. The sled hit the jump they'd just made, and she went flying off. The wind knocked out of her as she tumbled into the snow.

Ryoo went running towards where Lore-Val had landed. "Are you okay?"

Lore-Val sat up, with a smile, dusting snow off her face. "That's wizard! How didn't you fall off the jump?"

Ryoo shrugged with a laugh, "I don't know. I just don't."

Pooja came bouncing up to the two, holding Solitaire's hand. "Mom wants us to come in."

Lore-Val smiled up at Solitaire, "I see you've made a friend."

He rolled his eyes, and reached down to help her up, "We saw you fall, and Sola thought you should all come in and warm up."

Lore-Val took his hand and climbed to her feet. Pooja begged Solitaire to carry her back to the house while the older girls grabbed the sleds. Solitaire suggested a race to Pooja and she bolted. Ryoo looked up at Lore-Val and they had a wordless conversation before running towards the house.

Sola stood in the doorway, waiting to help Pooja get her boots off. She smiled at the three girls running for the house, followed by a clone soldier who looked truly happy dressed in civvies, letting the girls win the race back to the house. She remembered when Padme had come home to Naboo just before the war started, she'd been fighting the creation of the Republic Army. The clones had already been created by then, what would have happened to them, Sola wondered, if the war had been avoided? Would Solitaire have had a chance to have a life of his own choosing, instead of having fought the war before being reassigned to guard duty?

Sola was pulled from her thoughts by the girls running into the house. Ryoo dropped to the floor, pulling off her boots, chattering to her mother about the jump they'd made outside. Lore-Val was the opposite, she quieted when she came in the door. She lined her boots up neatly on the rug next to the door before wiggling out of her coat.

Lore-Val looked up at Solitaire as he came in, "I think I lost my hat."

He shrugged, slipping out of his own coat, "We'll find it later."

Lore-Val nodded, accepting his answer. She moved into the house with Pooja and Ryoo pulling her into their room.

"Girls! There's cocoa in the kitchen," Sola shouted after the girls. In response the thundering footsteps changed course. Sola turned to Solitaire, "Come, Padme was pouring you a cup when you went out."

"Thank you ma'am."

"What did I tell you about calling me ma'am?"

"Thank you Ms. Sola."

Sola sighed through her smile. That was as close to a first name basis as Solitaire would get.

AN: we're getting kinda close to the end and it's scaring me. I have like 3 more chapters prewritten but I still have to write quite a bit to get us through to Order 66 😳 this story will probably end up being 35-40 chapters depending on how long I decide to drag out the rest of the war.
So here's your options-
1. I keep posting every week and when I catch up to what I've written you get a bit of waiting while I write more or 2. I start posting what I have every other week to buy myself more time and possibly still take a hiatus to write more. Your choice, comment which you'd prefer.
FYI the end of this book is not the end of Lore-Val's adventures. I have a second book semi plotted that would cover the 19 years between the end of the Clone Wars and A New Hope. But I'm probably not going to post that until after Bad Batch Season 2 comes out because that will have a big affect on things.