Anakin Skywalker was not at all what she expected him to be.
It was the first thought Ahsoka had when she saw him all but slouching in his seat, dressed in a plain dark tunic that made him seem more like a peasant than a politician. He didn't look like he belonged here, sitting in the middle of Padmé's penthouse and next to Padmé herself, with her lavish finery and elaborate hair.
Well, technically that was her second thought. The first was sheer awe at his Force presence, at the absurd and eerie way it enveloped him. It was nothing like she had ever sensed before — a persisting brightness that was almost blinding, even with its fraying, darkened edges.
Senator Skywalker stared at them as they entered, face blank and immovable. He didn't say anything, just leaned back with his arms crossed as Padmé stood to greet them.
"It's a pleasure to see you again, M'Lady," Obi-Wan said, all formal and proper, like he wasn't greeting an old friend. Ahsoka would have rolled her eyes if Obi-Wan wouldn't somehow know she did it. Standing behind her Master, she settled instead for sharing an amused glance with Padmé.
"It has been far too long, Master Kenobi, Ahsoka," Padmé said, taking Obi-Wan's hand in her own as she beamed at them in turn. "How was the border dispute on Ansion?"
"You know us, Padmé," Ahsoka said, grinning. "It was nothing we couldn't handle."
Obi-Wan turned to her, a hand on his beard. "Careful, Ahsoka. Arrogance in not the Jedi way."
Ahsoka felt her smile waver, but she refused to let it fall. She'd nail it to her face if she had to. "Of course not, Master," she said lightly. "Me? Arrogant? Never."
She felt a sudden tension — anger, disgust, power — pour outward into the Force, and Ahsoka glanced again at the man on the sofa. He was glaring at them now, lip curled in disgust. Padmé took a step back to the side, so that he could see her and Obi-Wan fully.
"You remember Obi-Wan, don't you, Ani?" Her words sounded harmless and pleasant, as if her eyes hadn't narrowed a fraction as she spoke.
When Skywalker — Ani, because apparently this was an appropriate nickname for someone with such an intimidating glare — didn't say anything, Obi-Wan bowed and said, "It's good to see you as well, Senator Skywalker, though I think we all wish it was under better circumstances."
The look on Skywalker's face darkened even more. He stood, arms still crossed, and it wasn't hard to miss how he towered over everyone in the room.
Ahsoka didn't know much about the senator from Tatooine, nothing beyond what she was told by the Council before they shooed her and Obi-Wan off to this assignment. She could count all she knew about him in one hand — that he was not much older than her, that he had been sixteen when he led the revolt against the Hutts, that he had been working to make Tatooine a part of the Republic ever since, that he was dangerous and powerful and untrained.
It seemed impossible, that one teenager could have done all that. But looking at him now, feeling the way the Force coiled and flowed around him, she found it wasn't hard to believe at all.
"Let's cut the small talk," Skywalker said at last. "I don't want you here anymore than you want to be here, so just find out who's trying to kill me and we can all be on our way."
A frown crossed Obi-Wan's face. "We're here to protect you, Senator, not to start an investigation," he said in calm and deliberate tones.
"I don't need protection! I already told the Chancellor — I need answers. The last thing I want is a pair of over-glorified bodyguards trailing after me."
"You need not worry about that. Our presence will be invisible —"
"That's not what I'm asking you to do!"
"Our mandate is to keep you safe, Senator. The Council's orders —" Obi-Wan's jaw clenched. His face was a mask of blank politeness, but a wave of regret seeped out into the Force before he could clamp it down.
Ahsoka wondered if Skywalker felt it too, or if she was just imagining the sudden temperature drop in the room.
Skywalker sneered. "Of course. The Council ordered it," he said coolly. "And you've always followed their orders to the letter, haven't you, Obi-Wan? You haven't changed at all."
"You certainly have," Obi-Wan said quietly.
Around Skywalker, the Force crackled with resentment, a roiling mess of bitterness so strong that Ahsoka almost missed it — the ripple of guilt dwarfed by the tide, the eddy of sadness flowing against the current. It was gone as quickly as it came, but it was there, and Ahsoka knew it wasn't coming from Skywalker.
She looked at her Master. There was something she was missing here, that much was obvious. Not for the first time, her temper flared at how little she knew him, how tightly he gripped to his secrets and kept her at arm's length.
"You're being really rude," Ahsoka said to Skywalker, "considering you asked for our help."
As soon as she said it, she realized she had blurted it out loud. Like an idiot.
Obi-Wan clearly thought so. From the corner of her eye, she saw him scowling at her, as taken aback as she had ever seen him.
He's going to kill me, Ahsoka thought with a grimace. They had been here for five minutes, and she was already making a mess of their assignment before they had even begun. Some apprentice she was.
But it was too late to take back the words now. Pursing her lips, she met Skywalker's glare with her own.
"I asked for the Senate's help," he snapped. If he was annoyed because of her interruption, she couldn't tell. The scowl on his face looked like it belonged there. "Not the Jedi's. Clearly they don't know what they're doing, if they're sending a youngling as security —"
"I'm not a youngling. I'm fourteen —"
"Fourteen? Oh, that just makes it so much better —"
"Listen, Skyguy, I —"
"What did you just call me?"
There was a sudden chuckle, badly disguised as a cough. Ahsoka turned and noticed for the first time a young blonde woman, dressed in the same style as Skywalker, at the veranda. Her head was down, but Ahsoka thought she could see her shoulders shaking slightly.
Skywalker must have seen her too, because his lips thinned as he inhaled slowly through his nose. For a moment, it looked like he had calmed down and would let it go, but he continued, "Don't get snippy with me, little one. I don't care what you are — you're not old enough to be here."
Ahsoka opened her mouth, ready to retaliate, but Obi-Wan stopped her short.
"That's enough, Ahsoka!" Obi-Wan said sharply. "We're here to do as the Council instructed, not bicker like younglings. If you want to be treated like the Padawan you are, then you will act like it and learn your place. Is that clear?"
Her mouth snapped shut. Ahsoka was stung to be so dressed down publicly. She looked down, her embarrassment heightened by the looks she knew she must have been getting from everyone in the room.
"Is that clear, Ahsoka?" Obi-Wan repeated.
She closed her eyes and tried to give her shame and anger to the Force. When she opened them again, she bowed to Obi-Wan and hoped he couldn't see the hurt slipping through the cracks.
"Crystal, Master."
It wasn't the answer he was looking for and she knew it, but it was all he was going to get from her. She didn't want to look at him yet, so she turned to scowl at that rude, arrogant, sorry excuse for a politician who clearly started it.
But Skywalker wasn't glowering at her now. His features had softened, the tension around his eyes melting until Ahsoka thought he looked almost kind. Almost, because she wasn't exactly itching to be generous towards him, no matter how sad and sympathetic he looked.
There was a long, awkward pause.
"Perhaps we should all just sit down while I have Threepio get us refreshments?" Padmé said, her smile strained.
It was like someone flipped a switch in Skywalker's brain.
"Don't bother, Padmé." Skywalker scoffed, his almost-kind eyes gone as if they had never been there at all. "If they're not here to investigate, then I don't see why they should stay."
"Anakin," Padmé began wearily, "the Chancellor —"
"I will get my answers, Padmé, with or without the Chancellor's approval."
He stormed out abruptly, without giving them another glance.
"I'll go talk to him," the blonde woman offered.
Padmé shook her head. "No, this was my idea. I should talk to him." She gave them another strained smile before exiting the room. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan bowed as she left, but Padmé barely noticed as she hurried after Skywalker.
"That went well," Ahsoka murmured to the carpet.
Even without looking, she knew Obi-Wan was looking at her with that disapproving frown she knew all too well. It was, she was sure, nothing less than a permanent fixture whenever she was within hearing range. How else could she explain how often that look was directed at her? It was a constant of her apprenticeship, just like his weary headshakes and resigned sighs.
"Skyguy? " Obi-Wan said slowly, and Ahsoka tried not to cringe. "That's hardly a proper way to address a Senator."
"It's not like he was acting like one though."
"Regardless, he is part of the Senate. Whatever you think of him, we still have a job to do."
"Please don't judge him too harshly," the woman interrupted them softly. "I know he can be difficult, but he has a lot on his mind."
Difficult isn't exactly the word Ahsoka would have used, but all right. To each her own.
Obi-Wan threw her a look of warning, as if he had heard what Ahsoka was thinking. But it wasn't like she was going to say it aloud now and risk another reprimand. Even she knew better than that.
Really. She did.
"I'm sure he has," Obi-Wan said, his tone understanding. A miracle in and of itself, what with how often he sarcastically directed the words to Ahsoka. He smiled at the other woman kindly as she approached. "I'm afraid we haven't been introduced. My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi —"
"Oh, I know who you are," the woman said, before turning to Ahsoka. "Not you though. I'm Beru Whitesun."
Her smile was small, but her eyes shone with a warmth that lit up her whole face. Ahsoka found it impossible not to smile back. "Ahsoka Tano. I'm Master Kenobi's Padawan Learner."
Beru flinched. It was nothing dramatic, but it was too obvious to brush off. "I know it doesn't mean the same thing to you as it does to us, but Anakin . . ." Beru paused, and her eyes seemed to fix, like she was looking at something that wasn't there. She shook her head and the gentle smile quickly returned. "Maybe it's best if you don't use the word master for a while."
"But Ma — Obi-Wan is my teacher. What else am I supposed to call him?"
"Anything but that, if you want to get on Anakin's good side."
Ahsoka didn't particularly want to be on Anakin's good side — or any side of his at all, really — but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't see what the big deal was, but she was sure Obi-Wan would have her head if she pushed it further.
"You will help him, won't you?" Beru said to Obi-Wan. "He says he doesn't need it, but he does. He's in more danger than he wants to admit."
"We're here to help, I promise you," Obi-Wan assured her. He threw Ahsoka another look as he added, "Ahsoka and I will do all we can to protect him."
"Even if it means helping him investigate?" At Obi-Wan's frown, Beru hastened to add, "I know it's not in your mandate, but Anakin meant what he said. He's going to do it himself if you don't."
"I'm afraid —"
"You don't get it — once Anakin sets his mind on something, there's no stopping him. It doesn't matter what you do, he's going to run headfirst into danger anyway. So if you help Anakin investigate — isn't that in the interest of protecting him?"
Ahsoka could almost see the gears turning in Obi-Wan's head. "We will do all we can to protect him," he repeated.
She didn't know what that was supposed to mean, but Beru nodded, like his answer was satisfactory and not ridiculously vague.
"I'll have Threepio get us something to drink," Beru said. "Is there anything you want? Caf? Tea?"
"Tea will be lovely, thank you," Obi-Wan replied, bowing as Beru left.
It was just Ahsoka and Obi-Wan now. With nothing stopping her, she finally plopped down on the sofa, bouncing as she did. Obi-Wan stared hard at her again, before taking the seat next to her. Of course, he was much more dignified and elegant about it.
Spoilsport.
"Skyguy?" Obi-Wan said. There might have been the suggestion of a smile under the beard, but it was hard to tell with him. Probably just a trick of the light, considering what he thought of her antics.
Ahsoka smiled at him still. "His name's a bit of a mouthful, don't you think?"
She liked to think Obi-Wan found her amusing, even if that was just slightly better than barely tolerable. It was, at least, better than being seen as an inconvenience, never mind that her Master probably thought she was one anyway.
Skywalker certainly did, but who cared what he thought about her? Not old enough to be here? Oh, she'll show him. She would bite her tongue and bear it, if only to prove him wrong.