AHSOKA TANO

Ahsoka kept walking. “I don’t care,” she said without thinking. She took another step.

“No! Think about how Lux would feel. You don’t want to hurt him, do you?”

She stopped short. Lux! He must be suffering beyond words by now. The two of them had a special bond; one that wasn’t easily worn away by the sand grains of time rubbing against it or snapped.

“I’m dead. There’s nothing I can do now,” she said softly, tears in her eyes.

“Ahsoka, listen to me. You’re not dead.” When she said nothing, Anakin spoke again. “Do you remember the prophecy that you read about in the hollow on Cialone?”

“Yes, why?” Ahsoka asked. She couldn’t see where he was going with this.

“The prophecy said that ‘Lightening has forged the destiny of she who wears the Light Within Us, and will keep life within her even if she has been killed’. That prophecy was meant for you, Snips.” She tensed at him saying her old nickname. “I found out more about the history of Cialone by communing with the Council of the Jedi Long-Fallen, who told me this.

“‘The stone that Ahsoka Tano now wears around her neck, Herr-chuna’a, is a relic of the ancient dwellers of the planet of Cialone. When a plague destroyed their people, a young priestess placed the stone in their Sacred Pool, or the well of the Light Side on the planet, for the one mentioned in the prophecy to find. When she did, for it would be a female, it would bestow upon her the chance to live again after her death. But there is one condition. When she finds a worthy female successor, they must wear the stone and allow it to repeat the cycle of its magicks upon them. That is all that we are permitted to tell you, for the rest is already transcribed in young Tano’s destiny.’”

As Anakin spoke, she saw what the Long-Fallen must have shown him. There was a beautiful young humanoid woman, perhaps a few years older than she, with lovely light blond hair and violet eyes. But her face and limbs were covered in irregular blue splotches. With shaking hands, she dropped the box that Ahsoka had found the stone and the note in into the small pool, then fell, dead.

Something stuck with her. The girl’s face… it felt like it would have a future importance in her life. And the spots didn’t look like they were naturally part of her appearance. But, she recognized them, having once had the very same ailment!

“The Blue Shadow Virus!” she whispered. “That’s what killed them, wasn’t it, Anakin?”

“Yes. A whole way of life, extinguished forever. The Jedi didn’t arrive in time to save them, except for a handful. It was one of the saddest stories that I’ve ever heard.” Anakin hung his head. “Save for my own, of course.”

“Then, there’s more to my life then dying today?”

“Yes. Soon the galaxy will have a new hope, and you will – and already have – played a part in the eventual destruction of the Sith,” he said.

She paused. “I wish… I wish I could just touch you one last time.”

“You might yet. I have become your guide in the ways of the Force. You’ll see me again in visions and in memories. I’ll always be with you, and I’ll always be proud of you, my old padawan. May the Force be with you. Always. Goodbye, Ahsoka.”

“Master? Master! No, come back!”

And then all she saw was black.