"Parenting is an impossible job at any age."
—Harrison Ford (as quoted on brainyquote·com)
Preface
As mentioned in the summary, this story will have topics that make my usual Teen rating a stronger one than usual. Be assured, however, that I will handle them with what I hope is my usual tact and appropriateness.
This is the second story focusing on the trips to Shili that take place during Sarah's adolescent years. Once again, events Sarah writes about in her private journal will be written as live action here. It's not a prerequisite to read The Other Half of the Family, but there will be references to characters and information first introduced there. Taken as a whole, this story includes events I felt necessary to write about before I make a large jump forward in time.
Speaking of jumps, the prologue will cover an important four-month span that leads up to the main story. Consistent with my recent writing, I've tried to find an optimal pace for the time span so it's neither too fast nor too slow while including the right amount of detail.
Also, keep in mind the original version of these events were written while Star Wars: The Clone Wars was ongoing. As such, the Season Five finale arc and subsequent material, including Star Wars Rebels, will be disregarded. In addition, I used an event from the game The Force Unleashed as it would have occurred just before these events. I realize that game canon was sketchy at best before the Legends declaration—and game canon is most likely non-canon now—but be assured there is a reason I'm accepting the event as-is here.
Finally, I will once again use «angled quotes» to represent words spoken in Togruti.
Acknowledgments
Very special thanks to the Walt Disney Company for Star Wars characters and concepts.
Special thanks to the author Shadow Griffin (#940553) for allowing me to use the following Togruta concepts: the Togruti word, carra, that translates as "wisdom"; the normal 100°F [37.8°C] body temperature, and the small calming bundle of nerves on the back of the head behind the rear head-tail.
Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
September 15, 2027 (3 BBY/32 GrS)
As dinner slowly ended, Ahsoka looked around. It was a big day, and the dinner celebrated a number of events. First, it was Sarah's 13th birthday—her first day as a teenager. In addition, it was her first day as a padawan. From what Ahsoka heard, news that the daughter of her husband's best friend traveled stateside not just for a visit—but to stay to train Sarah—pleasantly surprised the teen. As Sarah's now-master, Delphine attended the dinner, along with Tim's parents.
After Sarah received her birthday gifts, including her first lightsaber, Ahsoka stood up and opened a small box. She removed a chain with an additional string of silka beads attached to one side. She stood behind Sarah, attached the chain to Sarah's headdress, and ran the strings of beads between Sarah's montrals and down each side of her rear head-tail.
"Sarah, these are the same beads I wore when I was a padawan. I'm proud to let you wear them now that you're one. Your padawan years will be full of challenges, but I'm sure you'll remain strong and be knighted just like I was. Once you are, I'll replace them with a new chain," Ahsoka said.
"Thanks, mom," Sarah replied. She fidgeted slightly as the beads bumped against her rear head-tail. Feeling her datapad vibrate, she asked to be excused from the table. Shortly after that, Tim left as well. A few minutes later, both returned and sat down.
Ahsoka took a deep breath. I'm not sure if I should tell everyone now, but they'll figure out the news sooner or later—some of them sooner, she thought. She looked at her daughter and husband before she finally said, "I have some news. Honey, we may have a new addition to the family. I'm three months pregnant."
Ahsoka didn't need to be a Jedi to know how everyone reacted. Sarah looked visibly disgusted at the thought of her parents still being intimate with each other. Tim's parents questioned why their son would want another child given his age and Sarah's age. Delphine looked on in amusement. Having a younger sister herself, she thought Sarah might enjoy having a younger sibling of her own.
"Mom, is that why you've been tired more and pulled away from me when I hugged you?" Sarah asked, breaking the tense silence.
Ahsoka nodded. "Yeah. I'm just as surprised as all of you, too."
"Surprise is an understatement. But, I'm willing to take on the challenge of parenthood again—God and Force willing," Tim added.
Sarah looked on in curiosity, thinking, Why would he say that?
October 12
As Ahsoka walked with her class to the dining hall, she thought about the previous day's prenatal checkup. It went so smoothly that Knight Rachel told Ahsoka that she might be able to continue teaching her first-grade initiates until the semester break. That would make the transition easier for someone else to take over the class for the semester and give Master Cal and Ahsoka a chance to decide what would work best for both her and the class moving forward.
Ahsoka looked forward to the evening because it was her 14th wedding anniversary, and her husband promised her a night out. Before Ahsoka announced her pregnancy, Tim found himself agreeing at the last-second to take one of Sarah's classmates as a padawan. Tim's request to have her join them for dinner tonight surprised Ahsoka, but given how familiar she was to the family—and her husband's suggestion that she learn how married Jedi balance family life and their obligations to the order—she decided to let the teen join them. As she reached the dining hall, however, an odd feeling in her abdomen brought her thoughts back to the moment.
That doesn't feel right, Ahsoka thought after what felt like something snapping. An additional shooting pain caused her to clutch her abdomen as she gasped and collapsed to the floor. Her students looked on in panic.
"Master?!" one of them called out.
"What do we do?" another asked.
One of the initiates, a girl named Amy, knelt down on the floor and grabbed Ahsoka's left wrist. She remembered hearing something about a red emergency button and found one on Ahsoka's commlink. She quickly pushed it, but she didn't know if she had to say anything.
Meanwhile, Master Cal left the dining hall and discovered the commotion.
"Initiates, what's going on?" he asked.
"Master Soka fell down grabbing her stomach," Amy explained. "I pressed the red button."
"You did the right thing. Let me take you inside for lunch. Then, I'll find someone to lead your afternoon academic session."
"We can't leave her like this!" Amy protested.
Cal pointed to the medical assistant that arrived on the scene. "She'll take care of your teacher. Let's go get lunch. I promise I'll try to find out what happened for you."
The students nodded and joined Master Cal inside. Andrea pulled out her medical scanner and scanned Ahsoka. The flashing red display on the scanner concerned her as she contacted the medical bay.
"I have a 34 year old Togruta, and it looks like she may be in premature labor. I need a stretcher and a second person, stat!" she reported.
Knight Rachel, not taking any chances, opted to go herself.
As Molly entered the meeting chamber, it was empty, except for her master. She quickly saw his troubled look.
"Master, what's wrong?"
"It's Ahsoka. She nearly lost the baby," he replied in a near-whisper.
"What?" she asked. This explains why he's so uneasy, she thought.
"She was on her way to lunch when she doubled over in pain. Luckily, someone was there to contact the med bay right away. Knight Rachel did get both mom and baby stable again. But, Ahsoka will be on strict bed rest for a month—maybe two."
Molly gasped. "Master, does this mean you have to stop training me?"
Tim gave her a surprised look. "No, The council met before I summoned you, and we will continue your training with some changes."
"What changes?"
"The council gave me permission to have you spend the nights at our house Mondays through Thursdays until the baby is born. That way, I'm able to check up on Ahsoka at night and we continue to train. Besides, you'll get to have a room of your own—our spare room—for the next few months. I already talked to your parents, and they had no objections."
Molly enjoyed the thought of having a little more privacy than what she had in their shared quarters within the Jedi Order. Still, she disliked the circumstances.
"But how are you doing," she asked.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. We didn't have this problem with Sarah, so I'm not sure what's going to happen now. But that's not the worst part of today."
"What is it, master?"
Tim took a deep breath. "Remember, today was our wedding anniversary—14 years. I was all set to take her out tonight. So much for that idea, huh?"
Molly, not knowing what to say next, hugged her master.
"Master, can I see her before we move our stuff?" she asked nervously.
"We can see if she's still awake, or not."
As the pair reached the med bay, Ahsoka slept with a pained look on her face. Her front head-tails dangled limply from her head and the white stripes looked slightly gray. Molly noticed what looked like an IV and other medical instrumentation attached to Ahsoka. Although Molly wasn't sure how far along Ahsoka was, she spotted a noticeable bulge in the middle of her blanket. She looks awful, Molly thought, hoping her master wouldn't sense her thoughts or be offended by the observation.
Tim sensed her discomfort. He put an arm around her shoulder and whispered, "Let's get going."
After the pair packed their belongings, they drove to Tim's house. After showing Molly to the spare room and giving her time to settle in, he knocked on her door.
"Molly, I know it will be hard today, but be sure to study your academics some before lights out."
Molly nodded. "Yes, master." After a moment, she asked, "Master, I'll admit my family isn't religious, but is it OK if I send positive thoughts to Knight Ahsoka through the Force?"
"It can't hurt, my padawan. But for now, focus on your homework. I'll go fix us a snack."
January 25, 2028 (2 BBY/33 GrS)
Ahsoka entered the medical bay for her latest check-up. After a month of strict bed rest, Ahsoka felt pleased to be allowed to get out of bed more, albeit with many restrictions, up through today. She sat patiently and nervously on the examination bed as Knight Rachel scanned her and took a blood sample.
Rachel deactivated her datapad. "Ahsoka, I'm glad to announce that everything seems as normal as possible, given the circumstances. You don't have to be on bed rest anymore, but I'd recommend you still take it very easy. Don't go up and down stairs any more than you have to. But you should be able to spend more time with your family and do most of the things you'd normally do. I'm still going to check you every week until your due date. If anything else happens, we may have to do an early c-section for your well-being and the baby's."
Ahsoka nodded. "I'm glad to have some good news for a change. Bed rest has been the most difficult thing for me, especially having to be alone all morning for four days a week," she replied.
"Well, you can now relax without laying in bed. Just don't do anything strenuous."
Ahsoka nodded and stifled a grin. Tim has been extra protective of me this time around. I couldn't overexert myself even if I wanted to, but I'm glad he's been taking care of me as best he can and keeping the house in one piece, she thought.
As she left the medical bay and reached the main information desk, Knight Ashley stopped her.
"Ahsoka, this was waiting for me when I came back to my desk. I think it's for you," she said.
Ahsoka took the envelope. What felt like another holocartridge seemed to be inside.
After nodding, she replied, "Thanks, Ashley. I'll take care of this when I get home."
"Indeed. Good luck, I know you must be due soon."
"About six more weeks. I'll be glad when this is over."
Ashley nodded as Ahsoka left for home.
At home, Ahsoka carefully went upstairs to her room and grabbed her old holocartridge player. She played the message and saw it was from Da'Meon again. He said:
"Greetings, Ahsoka and Sarah, my fellow warrior sisters. I wish I had happy news, but for now, our people are in fear. A bounty hunter has landed on Shili, and he has already murdered brothers from neighboring tribes. I make a humble plea for any assistance you can provide to capture this bounty hunter before he slaughters any more of our people."
Ahsoka clenched her fist. We will help our people, she thought. She just had to convince the Jedi Council to let her take Sarah. Ahsoka knew there was no way she could have any active role in the mission, but she felt Sarah was the perfect choice to accompany her.
Ahsoka played the message to the council. For this meeting, her husband, Master Cara, and Knight Ashley presided. Molly, Sarah, and Master Delphine also attended.
"It's imperative that Sarah and I depart for Shili as soon as possible to help our people," Ahsoka stated firmly.
"Soka, you were just removed from bed rest today. Given the complications from this pregnancy, is it wise for you to travel that distance this far along?" Tim asked. "And, wouldn't it be more appropriate for Master Delphine to accompany her padawan?"
Turning to Delphine, Ahsoka said, "No offense, but you don't know our people, culture, or the language. There's no way you could learn enough in such a short time."
"I understand," Delphine replied calmly.
Ahsoka activated her commlink. "Knight Rachel, I need you here in the meeting chamber," she stated. The healer arrived shortly thereafter.
"What's going on?" Rachel asked.
"Rachel, we need your objective opinion," Master Cara replied. "Ahsoka is asking to go on a mission involving the tracking of a bounty hunter. Is it your medical opinion that she can go on this mission?"
"While I wouldn't object to her taking someone else with her for the mission, she most definitely should not be the one tracking the bounty hunter in any way, given her recent complications."
"See, I can go!" Ahsoka stated emphatically.
"Master Delphine, a question: do you object to Ahsoka assuming responsibility for Padawan Sarah during this mission?" Tim asked.
"No, Master," she replied calmly.
"Then it is settled. Ahsoka, you are temporarily restored to active duty and you will be responsible for Padawan Sarah. Both are for the duration of this mission only. Be advised that Padawan Sarah should be the one to track the bounty hunter to demonstrate progress with her training this far. May the Force be with both of you."
Both Ahsoka and Sarah nodded.
"Let's go, Sarah, we have to get ready. Given how late it will be there now, We can leave here in the morning," Ahsoka stated as she took Sarah with her.
After Ahsoka, Delphine, and Sarah left, Tim told Knight Rachel, "I hope this isn't a mistake."
"As long as she keeps her word to take it easy and not do anything strenuous, I had no medical reason to deny her request to travel."
"Seeing her insist that she has to be the one to take Sarah concerns me, but I trust her judgment. I can only hope nothing bad happens."
"Agreed," Master Cara replied. "It is rare to have a parent and child together on a mission. In this case, though, Padawan Sarah might be the best person to ensure her mother relaxes as she should."
"That's a lot of pressure for a 13-year-old padawan, especially after what she's been through so far. But I imagine we'll learn a lot about her character on this mission—and Ahsoka's too."