AHSOKA TANO

The holocrons tinkled softly one up against the other, and Ahsoka could feel a gentle pulsing sensation from inside them. These little cubes are strong with the Force, she thought. Stronger than any Jedi can be. Even Anak – Darth Vader.

“But he’s not a Jedi any more, remember?” she told herself aloud, correcting her thoughts. “He’s a Sith Lord, who would kill me if he could.” 

To this she started crying again. But the tears came too quickly for her to stop them. “He’d kill me.” Putting her bags down and not caring if she was in the middle of the clearing, she curled up into a ball. “He’d kill me!” 

She just let herself cry. I never knew it was this hard to be a leader, she thought. Having to be the strong one. I can’t anymore. 

Suddenly she heard a high-pitch whining sound. It hurt to listen to, but she didn’t try to block it out. She realized that her eyes had been squeezed shut, and opened them. And what she saw amazed her. 

Ahsoka wasn’t on Onderon any more. Or at least, not really seeing properly. She saw a kaleidoscope of colors and light, the same hues that she had seen on Onderon, but blurred one into the other. It was beautiful, yet terrifying.

“Am I dreaming?” she asked in wonder, looking around her. 

“No,” said a voice, “and yes.” If it even qualified as a voice, for it sounded like many blended together. The spiral of light and color began to spin around her, and she got the feeling that she had transcended her dimension to another one.

 “Then, am I dead?”

“You are dying inside. You have lost all those you care about: Barriss, Lux, your Master, your other Jedi friends… and now Padmé.”

“Padmé? She died?” Ahsoka asked, trying to ignore the feelings of pain as each of the other names was mentioned.

“Yes. She died inside, as you are dying now, from the loss of her husband to the Dark Side,” said the Voices. “But not before bringing his young to the galaxy.”

“Then that was why I heard a baby’s cries in my last vision!” she cried. “Anakin – I mean, Darth Vader – never told me she was pregnant.”

“To us, he is one and the same. The side of Darth Vader destroyed the side of Anakin Skywalker, and the goodness that was inside him is now lying in pieces on his darkened soul.”

“Is there any way to save him?” she asked, tears in her eyes.

“Yes.” She would do anything to free him from the hold of the Dark Side, but the Voices continued. “But that is for others to do, and not your destiny. You must be ready when the Jedi Order arises again.

“Keep up your quest to find the other Jedi. Some have survived, and are waiting to be found. But others are not, and must sleep peacefully. You must mend what has been broken, save those who are endangered, and then you will be complete. Find the Lost Wind.”

The spiral of pastel colors and lights spun faster than she could follow, until they had reached lightspeed. She felt an explosion of wind, and cried out, “Who are you?”

“We are the Council of The Jedi Long-Fallen.” This echoed in over and over again in her head. Suddenly she hit something, and blacked out.