#i am in full blown post-order 66 headspace right now

[communistkenobi-archive]

The smell of ozone during a storm, with ahsoka?

every time i think about ahsoka in a little coat i lose my mind

—

from this prompt list

25. The smell of ozone during a storm - Ahsoka

Her coat was too small for her again.

Ahsoka spread her arms out to either side of her as she laid in the grass, listening to the rain go pat pat pat on the outer layer of her jacket. Her hood was flipped up over her head, just big enough to cover her eyes. The fabric was tight around the tips of her montrals, and it would probably give her a headache if she laid like this for too long. But the rain was cool where it struck her cheeks, and the air smelled new.

The thunder was another warning, another reason for her to move on from this place. Getting struck by lightning would almost be funny now, after everything that had happened.

“I dare you,” she said to the sky, and smiled to herself. A drop of rain landed on her lip as if in answer, dewing on her skin. 

Ahsoka breathed deep, listening to her jacket crinkle as she inhaled. She always liked the rain. It made the air wet in a way it never was on starships.

“Hey kid,” she heard Rex call, followed by crunchy footsteps as he walked through the grass. He stopped by her head. “What are you doing?”

“Relaxing,” she told him, and plucked at the edge of her hood to peek up at him. “Come join me.”

Rex shrugged and sat beside her, but he didn’t lie down. He had his own hood up, and he was picking at the muddy laces of his boots. Ahsoka lifted a hand and tapped his calf, pulling his attention towards her.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” he said easily, shrugging. “You?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Your ‘yeahs’ always sound like a really polite ‘no’.”

He smiled faintly. It made the skin around his eyes crinkle—crinkles that hadn’t been there two years ago. “Just mulling over the day. I’m alright.”

She let her hand rest on her stomach and nodded. “They’ve all been pretty long ones recently.”

He let out all the breath in his lungs and looked down at his boots again. “I need you to—”

“To what?”

“To not lie in open fields during thunderstorms.”

Ahsoka watched him. He didn’t mean right now. He meant in the future. “You’re not going anywhere for a long time,” she said to him, trying to keep her tone light. “Not if I have anything to say about it.” She pushed her hood back down over her eyes and centred her head, shifting to get more comfortable on her back. “Besides, I told the clouds to leave me alone already.”

Rex was silent for a moment. “Can you do that?”.

She grinned. “Would you believe me if I said yes?”

He scoffed and muttered something she didn’t catch. Ahsoka reached over for him and felt for his hand, then squeezed it when he offered it to her. 

“I’ll be okay,” she assured him. “And so will you.”

“You’re growing like a shoot everyday,” he whispered, his voice thick. “And so am I.”

“You’re not an old man yet.”

“Yet.”

She squeezed his hand again. “And I’ve got a lot of jokes saved up for when that happens.”

Rex laughed quietly. She felt the air settle around him, like a muscle finally relaxing. It terrified her, too, if she thought about it for too long, so Ahsoka resolved not to. Laters and next times were luxuries she couldn’t count on, so she would focus on the now. It was all she had anymore.

“Can we at least go back to the tent?” Rex finally asked, tipping his head up to the sky. “Clouds are pretty dark.”

Ahsoka let go of his hand and flipped around, pushing herself up to her knees. She sat up straight, butt resting on her boots, and pushed her hood up again to grin at him. “Does the rain scare you?”

“You scare me, kid, and that’s enough.” He stood up with a groan and offered her a hand, which she ignored in favour of springing up beside him.

“I’m gonna be taller than you soon,” she told him, and tapped the tip of her montrals.

He rolled his eyes. “Those don’t count.”

“Don’t be a sore loser.”