Hey guys,
This is rated 'T' for a reason, and I know that I bring up a slightly...touchy...subject in here. But it's important, and I tried to intertwine two ideas into this fic; the idea of sexual harassment and how it exists even in the SW galaxy (if Jabba's treatment of Leia was any indication) and how Ahsoka learns what it is and that it exists. It wasn't my intent to write about it this fic, but it just sort of happened. It's definitely a serious subject and I had a bit of a hard time putting the conversation into words properly. I don't know how Anakin would react to this conversation, but I figured he'd be more willing to talk about it then, say, Windu (obviously, haha) or Obi-Wan, because of Anakin's past/experiences with how hard 'real' life can be. Because of his background, it seems plausible that he'd have witnessed harassment.
And also...gossip/media. The Jedi are more often on the war front than not and therefore generally unexposed to it, but media and publicity can be both good and bad, but it's not generally explored in SW. I read a fic the other day and started thinking about the Jedi and media, gossip, opinions, and journalists.
So...anyway, this will be a three-shot based on the ideas of media and it's effects. This one's more based on word of mouth and gossip, the next one will be on the radio, and the third on journalists (which I doubt the Jedi encounter often, but it's worth a shot). I'm not the world's quickest at updating anymore, but I'll get them up. Those other oneshots I mentioned in "Shields" will be up...someday...too.
I like one shots now, because I always feel so guilty when I just don't have time to update in a timely manner. College is tricky.
The fics won't necessarily be connected...but..as always, feedback is loved and please tell me if I'm successful or failed horrendously.
Cheers,
~HS1
Ahsoka sighed, adjusting her cloak to better conceal the white marking printed into her red skin as she surveyed the Coruscanti bar in distaste. The brash Padawan was admittedly annoyed; Jedi weren't supposed to hide in thick, heavy woolen garments; they were supposed to brave, exposed, and fearless peacekeepers. Wouldn't using her lightsaber and walking around the bar, questioning visitors make life easier? They could merely post Obi-Wan at the door and she and Anakin could separate and go through the crowds.
Plus, it would be so much quicker. It was so late that it was almost very early in the morning, and the young girl was exhausted; perhaps she would be more accepting of this idea, this mission, if she was fueled on adequate sleep.
Only a few mere hours before, Anakin had left their quarters per usual, but returned only half an hour later to shake the small teen awake. "We have a mission." He'd informed her gruffly, dragging her out of bed and propping her upright. He all but shoved the old, too-big cloak at her (it wasn't even a Jedi garment), and her lightsaber, "Keep your weapon hidden." He'd cautioned. "And Ahsoka, you must stay close to me." Ahsoka had been too astonished to say anything at first and had kept silent about the mission, except for one comment.
She'd frowned, her eye-markings pinching as she regarded him, "I'm not a Youngling!" He never seemed to understand that she was both capable and trained.
Anakin had only surveyed his young apprentice with a small sigh, pinching the bridge of nose as he screwed his eyes shut and turned away. "No, Snips, but sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry." He'd held up a hand to stop all further arguments, telling her that he didn't have time to fight with her over this and that they had to go now. They were meeting Master Kenobi in the hangar and he was already there and waiting.
Whatever 'safe than sorry' mean, though, Ahsoka thought grouchily. She was slumped in a chair in the distasteful bar, watching figures talk animatedly and bumble about with a slurred speech and uncoordinated movements. The room reeked of alcohol and smoke, dimming her senses slightly in an unsettling manner. The Togruta struggled to remain alert in the foggy, humid atmosphere. Anakin had told her that they needed to 'blend in' and that she also really needed to stay close. Of course, the bar was crowded and her Master was frantic to find the bounty hunter who they were hunting. They had received word at the Temple that the man was meeting some acquaintances for a rendez-vous here before taking off in a stolen speeder and had dispatched one of the few Master-Padawan teams that happened to be at the Temple at the current time. Master Kenobi was keeping guard in the parking lot, something that didn't make sense to the Togruta. Master Kenobi hated flying and Anakin would probably be better at tracking the man if he managed to escape.
Ahsoka rubbed her eyes tiredly and yawned, her sharp teeth glinting in the dim lights. Anakin had been in a horrible mood during the entire trip down here, answering all of her few questions in clipped, one-word answers before she finally gave in and slipped into silence.
A voice startled the child out of her foggy-eyed trance. "Would you like a drink?" The bar tender asked kindly, studying the young woman.
Ahsoka started when she realized that the man behind the counter was speaking to her, and she nodded, "Please. Water." He shook his head affirmatively and turned away to prepare her beverage. Ahsoka took that moment to swivel her chair around and look around the crowded room. It was hot, the Togruta thought as a droplet of sweat streaked off of her cheek and plopped onto her head, and she was getting slightly claustrophobic. She let her hood down and the cloak slipped off of her shoulders slightly.
Deciding that it might be better to attempt to locate her Master, who she had accidently 'misplaced', so to speak, the Togruta straightened and narrowed her eyes as she tried to pick up conversations around the room.
"Did you see what that girl - that child - was wearing? Here? She's asking for it." A Twilek woman snickered behind her blue hands. Ahsoka frowned in confusion, not quite understanding. "I mean, those clothes?" The woman was pointing to a smaller woman, a human girl with her hair braided into a thick topknot onto her head and much of her flat stomach exposed. A lacy and small garment left little to the imagination. The woman she was pointing to had a set jaw and thick makeup that hide her expression. Comprehension dawning on the Jedi, she peered at the woman with slightly narrowed eyes, angry with the gossipy Twilek. Okay, so it wasn't the most modest outfit ever, but it wasn't the Twilek's business and it didn't matter...did it? Ahsoka wondered what it would cost her to interject and put the Twilek in her place, but decided not to. Anakin had asked her not to call attention to herself, after all.
"She's not the only one." The Calmarian she was speaking to shrugged. He seemed rather unsteady on his feet, and Ahsoka figured that he'd had a little too much to drink.
A tall man brushed by the Togruta and apologized, "Sorry, Miss." Ahsoka whirled to face the intruder; he had caught her glass in his hands. "Nearly knocked this over. Is it yours?" The Togruta nodded vigorously and graciously, reaching out to grasp the cool glass in her small hands when another, thickly gloved hand intercepted the move.
"No, it's not." The voice was steel as the glass was pushed back, "It must've been a mistake, seeing as it's mine." The anger in the Jedi's voice must have startled the unknown human male for he mumbled shakily, "Uh...sure." He turned away and blended into the crowd.
"Ahsoka." Anakin growled, "I told you to stick close to me."
"I tried." The girl whined, reaching for her glass. Truthfully, she had been so annoyed with her Master's bitter responses that she hadn't put as much effort into it as she could have. "But you just kinda blended in."
"That was the point. Put your hood up." Anakin said.
Ahsoka obliged, muttering, "You could just get your own water."
"Nobody's drinking this." Anakin warned, pushing the glass even further back with the Force. "If you had been paying attention, you would have noticed that he drugged it."
Ahsoka gulped as peered into the crowd, looking for the man who had so easily tricked the young Jedi; she had not noticed and was startled to find that the Force had not even warned her of the impending danger. "Was he...was he the bounty hunter?"
"No. Use your training, Snips - you have to look for threats beyond the obvious. He was a common civilian here to cause trouble and probably was unaware you were a Jedi, if you managed to conceal your weapon better than yourself."
His annoyance with his apprentice dissipated as he realized that she was truly oblivious as to why and the dangers that this place could pose for her, or anyone, who happened to come in here. They were so far down in Coruscant that it was difficult for laws to be properly regulated, making customers a fairly easy target, regardless of age or gender. You wanted to sell someone death sticks and combine them with alcohol to achieve the dizzying and horrifying hallucinations? You wanted to pick a girl up - even if it was his young Padawan? It wasn't particularly difficult here, especially if you were raised in the Temple and unaware of the threats.
"Was he just drugging civilians, then? Why?" The Padawan demanded. Of course, she'd heard of people doing unkind and even violent things to others, but to witness was another thing entirely. Why would someone drug her? She was just another person here, and for all he knew, innocent as anyone.
Anakin sighed, brushing dark brown tendrils of hair out of his piercing blue eyes and turning to the drunk man seated on the stool beside him. In a voice laced with undertones of a Force suggestion, Anakin ordered the man out of the stool and home so that he could occupy the now-vacant seat. Bemused, Ahsoka commented, "Yeah, that's one way to conceal your identity."
"Whatever." Anakin replied, and it was then the apprentice took note of the dark circles drawn onto her Master's pale skin.
To himself, Anakin was wondering how he could explain what had happened to the young girl, and why it had happened. He had forgotten the girl was still so green and immune to the world outside of the Temple's propaganda and illusions of peace. Of course she wouldn't have known to guard her drink, or that her clothes may be considered too revealing for such a late night in a bar (not that it made it right in the least, but Anakin had seen the worst and didn't want to see it repeated in his young charge), and that the drug would have made it easy for the man to lead her away. Finally, Anakin said, "Snips, I don't think here is the place to explain it to you. But we'll talk about it, okay?"
"M'kay." The Padawan replied, appearing drowsy. Anakin glanced at the girl's heavily lidded eyes and sighed; he had a feeling that this was a wild goose chase and that neither were going to find anything important.
Still, the Knight nudged her, "This is probably not the best place to sleep, Snips." The girl only yawned in response, slouching and letting her chin drop to her chest. Anakin frowned, noting that at least he could watch her and make sure that trouble didn't find her way...again.
"Wha' time are we getting up in the morning?" She managed around a second yawn.
"8th hour, prob'ly." Anakin replied. He knew that it'd probably be the first or second hour by the time the pair returned, and he felt somewhat bad that Ahsoka wasn't going to be getting much sleep that night; she was home and rarely got a full night of slumber in space. This was supposed to be a break for them, and now they were sitting in a hazy bar in the underbelly of Coruscant. He wanted to be with Padme, though wouldn't've minded a drink. However, not in front of his student, not right now. Not when she was so strictly coded by the Temple, and not when she was still emulating his every move.
The Knight sighed, letting his senses stretch so that he could hear the conversations around him. The pair nearest to them were talking about the Order and Republic and idly, Anakin tuned in to their conversation.
"Republic's...gotten so corrupt. Did you see the state of some of those civilian homes that they left last week? Horrible! It's just horrible. They make deals with criminals, like that Hutt, harm people. I mean, seriously, they're just using their powers to their advantage. Intimidating and manipulation, that's what I say. The Jedi are terrible people, man, I just don't know what this galaxy's coming to."
The man in front of him shook his head, "I know. I just didn't want to believe it, but I think they're really changing, and not for the better." He shook his head and took a sip, "Maniacal witches, they are." It was a jab at Yoda, of course, and Anakin pursed his lips together. "They'll definitely meet their end, though. Without a doubt."
Unfortunately, he hadn't realized his apprentice was also listening until she was on her feet, every single one of her sharp teeth bared in an outraged snarl, making her appear every ounce of the predator she was. "Maniacal witches?" She sneered, using the Force to hold them against the wall and hear her every word as Anakin watched horror. "The Jedi are -" Her sentence was cut off abruptly as Anakin shot out of his seat and disabled the Togruta from further advancing her attack by pinning her down with the Force.
Yes, there went undercover. The bar fell silent as they witnessed the small Togruta struggle to free herself with the Force and realize that she couldn't. "Nothing to see here." Anakin said in low, angry voice, yanking the girl to her feet and grabbing the child's arm as he pulled her out into the street. "Ahsoka, what were you thinking?" He asked in the same tone he'd used with the people in the bar. Fury outlined the war-hardened lines etching the young man's youthful face. For the second time, Ahsoka swallowed hard, realizing her mistake. "You should never react like that."
The child stuck out her lower lip and rubbed her arm where he'd held it. Anakin winced a little when he realized that he'd probably been a little too rough, but he was still too irritated to do much about it. His apprentice had acted wrongly and completely ruined the 'mission'.
"They were saying horrible things." The girl said in a loud voice, crossing her arms in defiance. "And they were wrong, the Jedi -." She tried again.
"Not entirely," Anakin said, keeping his piercing blue gaze connected with hers. "First off, Ahsoka, they're entitled to their opinion whether you like it or not." She shrank a little with those words in her mind, "And second, the Jedi have done some of those things." He was ready to continue his rant when a slightly calmer voice interjected. Perhaps it was a good thing the voice had stopped him from going on.
"Anakin, have you found anything?"
Anakin didn't acknowledge Master Kenobi except to say, "No, no I haven't. But we aren't going to." He straightened, running his hand through his mussed hair again. "An incident blew our cover. I think it's time to head out."
Obi-Wan's lips twisted with a small frown as he looked at the pair before him, trying to figure out what the scuffle was about. Neither of them gave anything away, though Ahsoka's arms were crossed and her countenance still aggressive.
"Alright." Obi-Wan finally conceded, "I'll meet up with you at the Temple when we return, Anakin. Ahsoka, I'll see you tomorrow?"
The Padawan's jaw tightened at being discluded, but she nodded once, showing that she understood. "Okay, Master Kenobi."
"Good night, young one." Master Kenobi gave the youth a gentle smile before heading off towards his speeder.
Anakin returned to his apprentice, who had finally appeared to deflate somewhat, "I'm sorry, Master." She apologized.
"It's fine, Snips. It was a wild goose chase, anyway, I don't think anything was going to come out of it." The man continued to study his apprentice. "Come on, let's get out of here. You were falling asleep on your feet back there."
"No, I wasn't!" The girl sassed, and Anakin turned away so that he could roll his ways without receiving a reaction.
On the way back to the Temple, Ahsoka finally said, "Does...does everyone talk like that? I mean, why was that guy trying to drug me? Why were those people talking like that? Are they Separatists?"
Anakin sighed, letting his arm rest on the door of the speeder and shook his head, "It's gossip, kiddo. It's everywhere. You'll get used to it." He added grimly. "As for the guy trying to drug you, it's wrong, but he probably goes in there all the time trying to do that to women so that he can take advantage of them. It's not okay, Snips, and even though it's not okay, it happens. It's why I wanted you to stick close to me." He silently prayed that he wouldn't have to explain what 'taking advantage of women' meant to his impressionable Padawan, but for a child raised in the Temple, she caught on quickly and wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Really?" She asked, "But I wasn't even doing anything!"
"I know, Ahsoka." Anakin said, maneuvering the speeder around traffic. He was an erratic driver, and Ahsoka grabbed onto the seat to stay balanced, gritting her teeth as she did so. "Like I said, it doesn't make it right, but it not being right also doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. I should've told you before so you were aware."
"It's okay, Master." Ahsoka said, chewing on her lip, "But...like...so it happens a lot, doesn't it? And they're...successful, then, right?"
Anakin nodded, "On Ta-" He trailed off and shook his head to clear his thoughts. The last thing he needed to thing about was the cruelty and abuse that female slaves were opt to sustain without reprieve, and when he turned to look into his Padawan's big baby blue eyes, he squeezed her hand. She looked somewhat shell-shocked at the close call she'd had. "I wouldn't've let him hurt you." He informed his apprentice. He'd felt the soft spike of alarm in the Force and had reacted to it, catching sight of the grisly, slightly overweight figure dropping the tablet in the Togruta's drink.
"I know." Ahsoka said softly. "But people are getting hurt. Why don't others - like the police if not the Jedi - stop them?"
"Because they don't see it or believe it." Anakin shrugged, "And it's not always reported. Padawan, promise me you'll be more aware next time?" Ahsoka nodded once in response, sinking a little in her seat. Anakin had a feeling she didn't want to talk about sexual abuse or harassment anymore, and let the subject go.
After a couple of moments, the girl brought up the conversation she had retaliated against. "But, Master, why can't we do anything about the people saying rotten things about us? I mean, I guess some things are 'bad', but what choice do we have? And like...they just weren't very nice."
"Sometimes it's not worth comprising your morals, Ahsoka, and that's what they're getting at. And the Galaxy isn't often very nice. You can't do anything about, and pouncing on them only proves their point. Don't do it again." Anakin warned. "Trust me, you'll get used to it."
"I don't know if I want to get used to it." Ahsoka mumbled, slouching in the seat. Anakin heard her, but chose not to respond.
Yes, she'd get used to it, but she would also have to learn to not let it get to her. Thus was the way of life outside of the Temple. Lost in his thoughts, Anakin hadn't realized his apprentice had drifted off to sleep until they reached the Temple. Noting the child curled into a fetal position, the Jedi Master paused, then sighed, moving over to her door and kicking it open. He pulled the child into his arms, nudged the door shut with his hip and carried her back to her quarters, where he laid her on her bed and covered her.
Asleep, she was not the same child who had pounced on the people that she had found so insulting. Asleep, she was not the young girl so easily tricked. Anakin took a seat on the bed beside her, dropping his head into his arms as he thought. She would learn to hear gossip and be angry, but not react (for if she did, she would always be reacting). She would learn that it wouldn't help her image, or the Jedi's image. And she would learn to be aware in unsettling situations as a being and as a Jedi. But for now, she was asleep, and safe from people's thoughts and sharp words and opinions, right or wrong. She was safe from the Jedi, the Separatists, the Media, and people in general, if only for a short time.
Anakin shook his thoughts off and stood up, leaving the Togruta to her sleep, away from the lessons and sharp claws of the words she would have to learn to cope with.