AHSOKA TANO

“What?” Ahsoka jumped from her chair like a spring being relieved of pressure placed on it.

“Ahsoka, I know that it’s a lot to take in, and I can understand if –”

 “No! You don’t understand. You swore an oath – this is directly disobeying our code!” She was heating up with anger and disbelief.

 “Our code? Then you still think of yourself as a Jedi! Then why are you criticizing me for it? You’re disobeying the code too!” 

Ahsoka was taken aback. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” 

“Oh, I think you do. I know all about your relationship with Lux Bonteri! So we’re equal!” 

There was something with the way he was talking, the way he was moving. Something that she didn’t recognize in her old Master. “Anakin – what’s going on? This isn’t you. This is just like Barriss: the Dark Side is poisoning you.”

“Ahsoka I… I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

Then it hit her. Her visions. The figure kneeling before the Sith Lord – Darth Vader – was none other than Anakin Skywalker himself. “No,” she said, scarcely above a whisper.

“Anakin – you’re in terrible danger,” said Ahsoka, still in shock.

“Danger? What kind of danger? Ani is a Jedi: he can take danger,” said Padmé, who, up until then, hadn’t spoken, rushing to her husband’s defense.

“No, not that kind of danger – he’s in endangered by himself; by his way of thinking.” Her expression was grim. “It’ll be your undoing, Anakin. I’ve been having dreams: I‘ve seen what’s going to happen.”

Her old Master suddenly looked fearful. “I’ve been having dreams, too. I know what you mean.” A quick look at Padmé informed her on the nature of his dreams: they were about the Senator.

“I need to talk to Ahsoka privately,” Anakin said. Padmé seemed to understand that he was serious, and left the room, presumably to talk with another Senator. Anakin looked at his former pupil for a long moment, saying nothing.

“Anakin, I-” 

“No, Snips, it’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have told you; it’s a burden that you weren’t ready to take on.” He paused his explanation, pacing. “It’s just that I… I love her so much, even if it ends up destroying me.”

“I know. I should have seen it: the two of you always seemed to get along so well. Can– can you tell me how it happened?”

He nodded, and told her the true story, all of it. She listened quietly, taking it all in and not interrupting with any comments. And as his tale progressed, she thought of him differently than she ever had before: he was not as carefree as she had once thought. He was trapped, trapped between two walls, one his love for his wife, and one his devotion to the Jedi Order.

As he finished, she said nothing, but put her arms around him, and simply held him. “Does Master Obi-Wan know?” she asked finally, fixing her deep blue eyes on his.

“No. But he suspects something. He knows me too well,” he replied, holding her tightly, as if comforted by her presence.

“I’ll keep it secret for you. But my dreams – Master, I’m just so confused!” She started to cry. “I just can’t live like this any more: too worried for my friends and haunted by dreams to sleep at night. I just can’t!” She buried her face in Anakin’s woolen Jedi robes, handing over the job of comforting to him.

For a few moments, in a galaxy riddled with corruption and war, they were at peace.