Flaws of the Jedi

Pain & New Enemies

Ezra landed his ship and immediately got Astoria off. The second his feet were on the floor, he ran for the medical bay.

When he got there, the doctors and nurses looked horrified. Apparently she had lost more blood than Ezra realized.

As they took her into a surgery room, Ezra noticed how pale Astoria had turned. She naturally had a lighter, pale complexion, but this was on another level of pale. She was really dying... and if the doctors didn't work fast, she would be gone.

They told Ezra to try to get some rest and tell the others what was happening, so he rushed to Ahsoka and Anakin first...

Ezra POV
I knocked frantically on Ahsoka and Anakin's door. I wanted to get back to the medical bay quickly to wait for Astoria, despite the doctors telling me to rest.

On the second knock, Anakin came to the door.

"Ezra!" Anakin exclaimed, obviously very surprised, "Where have you been? Ahsoka and I-"

"-I got Astoria back," I interrupted.

"You did?!" Ahsoka asked, coming to the door.

"Yeah."

"Well, where is she then?" Anakin questioned. Tears filled my eyes as he asked that.

"She's... she's in surgery right now..." I informed them quietly.

They both looked dumbfounded. No words came from any of our mouths for at least a minute.

Then, Ahsoka spoke.

"Ezra, come here..." she stepped out into the hall closer to me and held her arms out for a hug. She must've noticed or sensed how distressed I was.

I accepted her invitation and hugged her. I held onto her tightly, trying hard not to start sobbing. As I held onto Ahsoka, every image of Astoria hurt since last night flashed through my head. I tried even harder not to sob, but I began to cry a little bit despite my efforts otherwise.

"She'll be alright, Ezra," Ahsoka said quietly.

"She's tough... She'll make it," Anakin said beside us.

I nodded and forced myself to stop crying. It was embarrassing to let my Master and her fiancé see me like this. Really I only felt comfortable like this in front of one person, but she was undergoing surgery that would last at least 24 hours right now.

I let go of Ahsoka and quickly wiped away my tears.

"Will you be ok?" Ahsoka asked. I nodded, keeping my gaze fixed on the floor.

"Ok... go get some rest. You were up late and I can tell you're exhausted."

"Ok..."

Narrator POV
36 hours later...
Astoria had undergone three major surgeries. The biggest one was on her wrist. Her parents had tortured her by cutting her wrist and letting it bleed for a while. But the doctors and nurses were far from convinced that every scar on her wrist and arm was inflicted by her parents.

The doctors had only told Astoria's Master, Obi-Wan, this. He wasn't allowed to tell anyone else until Astoria woke up and said that he could tell the others. But that was killing him. He needed answers.

'What do they mean? How else would she have scars on her arm?' He thought to himself.

He couldn't recall any other time that she had ever gotten cuts on her wrist and arm. He was trying so hard to think, but now that he did, when was the last time he had ever seen her wearing short sleeve anything? When she was a child on Endor under the smoldering wreckage of her 'home'? Now she was 14 years old and since she arrived to the Temple as a Padawan, he had never seen her wearing anything but pants and skirts that were short. All of her shirts were long sleeve. Even in warmer seasons she had only worn long sleeve shirts.