Shadows of Tomorrow

Chapter 70 - Always Two There Are

Author's Note: Family reunions... from a certain point of view. ;)

~ Amina Gila

"It's not fair!" Ezra yells, arms dropping to his sides, and glaring at Chopper.

Vizma chokes on a laugh, and Sabine joins in. "Hey, enemies never fight fair," she grins.

"Real battles usually aren't," Kanan agrees, with a clear note of exasperation in his voice.

"The Jedi general I served with combined the Force with his wits, and it made him a great warrior," Rex interjects, standing up and approaching them.

Vizma would much prefer the conversation not go to this. She's not really sure what to think about Anakin or Vader or whichever name he goes by now. She has very mixed feelings about him – her father insisted that he was a good person, and so has everyone she's met, but he betrayed them. He nearly killed Kanan and Ezra and Sabine.

"Ezra's got plenty of wits. What he needs is more discipline," Kanan retorts.

"Well, then you better let a soldier handle that," Rex shoots back.

"Excuse me?!"

"They really have to do this again?" Vizma mutters under her breath, leaning over to Sabine. Personally, she can very much understand Kanan's anger with the clones, also, but they were being mind-controlled into doing what they did, so it's... different.

"Never stops, does it?" she agrees.

Just then, the door slides open, Hera stepping into the room. "Sabine, Vizma, I have a mission for you and Chop," she announces, "Thanks to Captain Rex, I found an old base where we might be able to salvage some much-needed medical supplies. Zeb, you should go too."

"Better find the med supplies quick," Kanan scowls, "Captain Wits is about to need them."

"So, there's where the boy's lack of discipline comes from," Rex quips.

Vizma rolls her eyes, following Sabine out of the room, tuning out their bickering. Sabine is prepping the engines to fly when the bottom hatch swings open and Ezra scrambles in. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Vizma asks.

"Inviting myself along," he replies lightly, "I'd rather deal with the dangers out there, than stay in the crossfire in here."

"Can't blame you," Vizma huffs, "It's getting old."

"Don't speak for which crossfire you want to be in too quickly," Sabine warns.

"It's not even a question," Ezra retorts.

"I wish I could've gone with Dad," Vizma declares, "That's a lot more interesting than collecting medical supplies."

"You want to go hunt down a Sith Lord?" Sabine asks dubiously.

"They aren't actually hunting him. They're trying to find out more about him." And he seems to be about the only person her father is thinking about these days.

"Anything is better than sitting back at the base listening to Kanan and Rex," Ezra declares firmly. No one can dispute that.

***

Something about the place sets Vizma on edge instantly, though she isn't sure why. The entire place is dark, and it looks like no one's been here since probably before she was born, but that's not what's bugging her. It's something else, something sinister, though she isn't sure what.

Her father always tells her never to ignore her instincts, so she knows better than to shrug it off. Still, what could go wrong here? She'll just keep an eye out.