Grip Of The Past
It was the happiest moment in the youngling's life, a day when she waited for so long, when her master put a Padawan braid on her headdress.
She was smiling the whole day after, a smile never goes away in her sleep, dreaming lullaby about how she will become a great warrior for the Republic, to become a hero of so many worlds, to become a great master.
Her friends were all Padawan assigned to different masters, and like a million Parsecs away, she could see their smile lingering in the force.
Her master was always a happy but strict one, she was always smiling, comforting, carefully teaching Katooni about the way of the force, everything was perfect, everything was in place, there was no disturbance in the force.
She and her master were sent to a planet somewhere in the outer rim, doing scouting works and helping the refugees, not fighting droids, but somehow, it was better this way, quiet, peaceful, no clanking sound and the scream of pain from the clone trooper.
Her master was smiling like usual, talking with a refugee and her captain, Katooni just stand her ground, let the sight of this planet took place in her mind, beside of her dreams, and let her mind wander somewhere off this planet.
She wonders what her friends are doing, maybe cutting droids somewhere, and laugh like an idiot they are.
Well, her friends are far, far away to somewhere, maybe after this, she could see them back at the temple and made fun of each other, or sparing, or doing whatever they used to do when they were younglings.
But she was not a youngling anymore, and her friends too.
Sighed, she watched a native red bird take the flight into the horizon ahead, to the forest blistering with lives, and even the rustling sound of the leaf in the wind, a sight to behold, she thought, maybe she could stand here, listening to the birds calling, sunlight dancing on the ground and dancing trees from a cliff hanging above the majestic landscape.
But no matter how beautiful a world is, if the war was able to touch it, there was nothing more than death lingering in the air, and howls of pain echoed through the wind.
''Run….''
Her head shot up, eyes open wide, looking around for the whisper's owner, but then there was no one around here, but then another sound caught her attention, drifted in her thoughts she didn't hear the blaster's sound tear apart the air.
Something was wrong, something is out of place, multiple disturbances in the force around her, but her head suddenly felt like a rope just being snapped.
One moment ago, she could feel her master talking from a distance, smiling even, but then it's all gone in that moment, she could feel something was wrong, and turn around to see the troopers heading her way, blasters drawn, aiming for her.
What's she done wrong, she does not know, but her instinct let her hand drop on her Lightsaber, and take a look at the troopers surrounding her.
If she makes one move, they will fire, but they would anyway, as she saw the captain of her legion making a hand signal, and ready to drop her in a moment.
But she will not go out this way, not like this, betrayed by your own troops, and got executed like a criminal, no this is not the way she wanted to die, not with a few dreams she have in mind.
Stepping back a little, and the troopers move closer, unlocking their safes on the blaster and aim, hoping to end her quickly like her master.
Stepping back to the edge of the cliff, her mind tells her to panic, but she stayed calm, and closed her eyes and can feel multiple troopers before her sighing in relief.
Before she let gravity take her body in its arms, as she plunged herself down to the ground below, her mind blanked, now she could only take mercy from the wind and the force.
Everything falls under the will of one single man.
Barriss was right, all along.
Even Master Yoda didn't see this coming, the whole universe have been deceived.
They have all been so blind, that they could not see, from the beginning, this war was just a tool to rise to power of Papaltine, and her master, her former master, was no longer himself anymore, he was no longer that Anakin Skywalker anymore.
She was lost, confused, and trying to brave this new world, where she being haunted everyday, at day she ran, at night she suffer, but on that day, she could only spend it to weep, to remember those who was not lucky enough like herself, and remembering why she is still alive.
Maybe Barriss saved her, in an unconventional way, but her life compared to hundreds of others, why is she the one to get away?, for all she knows, she could be the last Jedi alive.
She ran, and ran where the force would take her, use the force to gamble to make some money out of week alcoholic minds, living like that, what can she do?, when she left the Order, her home behind, she got the taste of what the life of a civilian like, she has no credits, so she picks pockets, she gambled, she ran, she does everything to survive this world, even it has to be breaking some rules.
The real world sound bitter, not sweet like her life used to be, even if faced near death every day, but when they do not trust her anymore, what point does she have to stay anymore?, there is no point of staying, they ready to throw her out like some expired product.
So she tried to stay alive in this world, even if she has to run every single day.
But her mind tired of running forever, this world to another, from bouncers or Stormtroopers, sometime she just wanted to settle down, live somewhere peacefully, and live a life of normal people to the end of her days, but even that sound luxury to her, when she is a Jedi on the run, there is no peace as the whole galaxy trying to kill her, it's just simple as that.
Simple as her life can be, eat, sleep, deceive, and run.
She can't, and she will never let her friends get involved in this, what if the Empire will do when they found out that one of her friends letting a Jedi hiding inside in their doorsteps?, executed sound very possible, so if alone it against her kind's nature, then so be it, she would not put anyone in danger again.
But somehow, the grip of the past got a hold of her.
A young Togruta with a heavy hood cover her head, walks quietly among the normal civilian from all over the galaxy inside a crowded and noisy market, Ahsoka already made a list of what she needs to buy, calculating deeply, a small figure bumps into her.
But by the force, she already know of a small hand reach inside her side pocket, and walks away like nothing happened, but when before she could take the hand of the figure in her, the figure has already disappeared in the crowd.
The force filled her along the path of the figure who stole almost half of her credits, she followed the path when she can feel that figure fear through the air, when she caught up with it, the figure already turned a wrong way, straight into an alleyway with no escape.
When Ahsoka approaches to take back her credits, the fear of the figure brightens up like stars in the sky of the darkest night, but when Ahsoka felt her body being pushed back a little with an invisible wall, her eyes were wide open.
But this wall was small, and weak, not a kind of force push a Knight would put up, when the figure look up eyes to eyes with her, something in Ahsoka just wanted to run to the figure and took it into her arms.
And Ahsoka did, so many years of running, now she can stop to hug someone from the past to greet her, she was not alone.
Looking closely, she could see tears dripping from the young Tholothian's covered in dirt and sweat face, her clothes have some place tattered and a cloak to cover herself, even Katooni's eyes of blues like the ocean lost its childish and innocent she once saw.
But Katooni was here, in her arms and crying all her tears out, since a long time she saw a friendly face among this cruel reality, there was nothing more than to see someone she admired alive and well, and hug her in their arms.
They both thought the others were dead, long gone in the stream of time and long forgotten, but in which fate turns the grand design of two beings in the galaxy, to see each others again, to struggle together, to share pains together, and to stay alive together.
For one, it was nice to have a friend with you running through all kinds of trouble for Ahsoka.
For the first time, Katooni have a big sister to share everything with.
Their endings may not be happy ever after, but it was enough.