Dedicated to my friend, Faith (1979-2015), the real-life person on whom the original character Jedi Knight Ashley Moretti is loosely based.
"I am proud of my heritage and family."
—Brian Sandoval (as quoted on brainyquote·com)
Preface
Although I made the decision to not write an in-depth sequel to Both Worlds that covers Sarah's teen and padawan years, I've decided to write smaller stories about the trips to Shili that Ahsoka and/or her family members take during this time period. My hope is that this establishes a background and introduces key information for a future story that I hope to write down the road. These stories will take events Sarah records in her personal journal, or diary if you prefer, during this time period and turn them into live action.
For those that have read any of my other Shili-centric stories, I imagine the imagery and some tribal customs will be familiar. For those reading about them for the first time, I didn't let the minimal canonical information phase me. I hypothesized that tribal Togruta might live as Native American tribes or African tribes, so I used those as my reference.
While Shili is the intended focus for this story, there will still be aspects of Ahsoka and her family's daily life, as well as Sarah's current status as a Senior Initiate in her last year of study leading up to the Initiate Trials.
Just prior to these events, Sarah and her father develop the ability to communicate via Force telepathy. I include this fact here so that it's not too much of a shock that prompts readers to question its use here and in any future stories further on in the time line.
Based on existing Star Wars canon, this specific story features Ahsoka's first trip to Shili since she earned her akul-tooth headdress prior to being named Anakin's padawan. This will also be Sarah's first time traveling to her mother's home world to learn more about her Togruta self. One can hope their experiences are largely positive given that we're still years away from the pivotal Battle of Yavin.
Speaking of canon, this story is based on unpublished writing that began in 2011. As such, this story will disregard the events of the final season five arc from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and any subsequent material, including Star Wars Rebels.
Finally, I use words enclosed in «angled quotes» to represent dialogue translated from a foreign language. Here, this represents conversation in Togruti.
Acknowledgments
Very special thanks to the Walt Disney Company for Star Wars characters and concepts.
Special thanks to author Fergus Flamacron (#2064553) for allowing me to use his idea that tribal Togruta mate for life.
Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Date: October 22, 2026 (4 BBY/31 GrS).
As the family settled down after dinner, Ahsoka took an envelope from the front room's coffee table and opened it. Ahsoka felt impressed to see that it only took a month for Knight Ashley to somehow retrieve information from her home galaxy. She didn't know how it was possible, and she knew she'd never find out, but she started to read the papers inside to see what was there.
To her husband's and daughter's surprise, though, her facial expression changed dramatically. As she read through a list of names, she said, "No, it can't be," a number of times.
Ahsoka shuddered as she read through a list of familiar names. Plo Koon, dead... Barriss Offee, dead... Aayla Secura, dead. She started to hyperventilate upon seeing the names of all the initiates she chaperoned for their gathering. She couldn't read any further. With the envelope still in her hand, she ran upstairs to her bedroom, visibly upset and fighting tears.
Sarah looked on with concern. She couldn't recall if she had ever seen her mother so troubled before. She stopped working on her academic assignment, put down her datapad, and ran towards the stairway.
"Sarah, wait..." her father called out, but it was to no avail; Sarah ignored him, and she went up the stairs. She found her mother in her room, covering her face as she cried.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Sarah asked.
Ahsoka didn't acknowledge her daughter's question. As much as Ahsoka's curiosity led her to ask Ashley for the information, she found herself questioning the decision to ask about what had happened in her former galaxy since she fled it years ago.
"Mom, I'm worried about you," Sarah stated.
Ahsoka slowly turned to look at Sarah. She finally spoke.
"I... I got an answer to those questions I asked Knight Ashley last month." After taking a deep breath, Ahsoka added, "Just about every Jedi I grew up with seems to be dead now."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, Sarah. It's just that some names on that list really hit me hard."
"Who was on there?" Sarah asked curiously, hoping the question wouldn't upset her mother any further.
"My best friend. She had been knighted not all that long before I ended up here. We had some missions together, and the last I knew, she was a healer."
Sarah nodded as her mother continued to speak.
"The worst news is that the one Jedi I looked up to the most is gone. He was like a father to me growing up. He always called me 'Little Soka.'"
"Wait, you didn't grow up with your parents?" Sarah asked.
Ahsoka shook her head no. "There, kids were taken from their families to study at the Jedi Temple. Family was considered an attachment that we had to avoid. Master Plo was the one who found me and took me to the temple. That's why I looked up to him so much. I still can't believe he's gone now."
Sarah, not knowing what else to say or do, walked over to her mother and hugged her close. As much as she wanted to say, "It's going to be OK," she didn't know if that would be true or the right thing to say.
After a moment, Ahsoka slowly regained her composure and cracked a small smile.
"You seem to have your father's empathy and compassion. That's a good thing."
Sarah smiled back and slowly let go of her mother. However, an odd square object that fell to the floor drew Sarah's attention. She bent over and looked down at the object that laid in front of her feet.
"Mom, what's this?" she asked as she picked it up and handed it to Ahsoka.
Ahsoka looked at the item with surprise. How could something like that make it between galaxies?
"It looks like a holocartridge. There's only one way to find out."
Ahsoka stood back up and pulled out her original holographic image player from her dresser drawer. She used a special adapter to plug it into a wall outlet. She inserted the cartridge, turned on the holoplayer, and waited for the cartridge to load.
Both Ahsoka and Sarah looked on in surprise as the three-dimensional image of a male Togruta appeared to hover in mid-air above the holoplayer. He then spoke:
"I greet you on behalf of the Tano Tribe, dear Ahsoka. I am Da'Meon, Chief of the Tano. Our people were surprised to learn of your inquiry because you were reported dead by the Empire some time ago. Upon learning that you're alive, albeit in an unknown location, we spent the remainder of the day celebrating in your honor.
"Sadly, I must inform you that your parents have long departed us. However, it appears that you and I share a common great-great grandfather, which would make us blood cousins of some sort.
"Although it may never be possible, or worth the risk of having the Empire trace your location, I hereby welcome you to visit your family on Shili at any time so that our tribe may see our proud warrior sister once again."
«Be brave, dear Ahsoka.»
Ahsoka looked on in awe as the message ended. She didn't expect a message from her family tribe. Although news of her parents' deaths disappointed Ahsoka—they would never get to know about their granddaughter—the fact that she had some sort of family on Shili was a pleasant surprise as she felt a couple of tears run down her cheek.
"What's wrong, now?" Sarah asked.
Ahsoka gave Sarah a reassuring smile. "It's tears of joy, this time. I'm happy to know I have family on Shili, even if it's just distant relatives. It means you have relatives there, too."
"What did he say at the end?"
"I'm surprised I could still translate it. It's been a while, after all. But that's our native language, Togruti. He told me to be brave."
"Cool," Sarah replied.
"After what I just read, I needed some good news," Ahsoka replied as she hugged Sarah.
As Ahsoka turned her head, she noticed her husband entering their room.
"What's going on? Are you OK?" he asked.
"I am now," Ahsoka said, as she and her husband sat down on the bed. "But, the first news wasn't so pleasant," she confessed.
"Care to share?"
Ahsoka took a deep breath. "I couldn't go through the whole list, but it looks like few, if any of my friends, escaped like I did. I can't help feeling sad for them."
Tim slid his arm underneath Ahsoka's rear head-tail and around her shoulders. "It's OK for you to feel that way. Just remember it's equally important to move forward again."
Ahsoka nodded. "I also got a hololetter of sorts from my tribe," she told him.
"You mean your family?"
"Yes. I'm not sure what our relationship is, but the chief and I are related somehow. Let me play the message for you."
After hearing the message, Tim thought for a moment. "A common great-great grandfather would mean you and him are third cousins," he told her.
"How do you know that?" Ahsoka asked, arching an eye marking.
"My parents are into genealogy. At one point, I even had a table of how people are related. I could probably make another right now if I really wanted to."
"You don't have to do that. Third cousins? I still can't believe I'm related to our chief."
"I think it's cool!" Sarah interjected. "Am I his cousin too?" she asked.
"You're his third cousin, once removed," Tim replied.
"Once removed? That sounds bad."
"No, Sarah. All that means is you're the child of his third cousin. If you ever had kids, they would be his third cousins, twice removed."
"Umm, OK."
"Let me try to keep it simple. Your mom and him are third cousins. If he has any kids, they would be your fourth cousins."
Sarah thought for a moment before replying, "So, someone's kids is like another level?"
"Basically, yes. But I guess the important thing is you're related to each other."
"Wow, my father leads the Jedi and my cousin leads the family tribe."
"I guess leadership runs in the family," Ahsoka stated.
"I have an American History exam tomorrow, and I need to study some more. So, I better go," Sarah stated. She then went across the hall to her own room.
Three days later, Tim asked Ahsoka and Sarah to sit with him in the dining room.
"We need to talk. Ahsoka, something's been bothering you, and we need to discuss this as a family so we can move past whatever it is."
"Do we have to?" she replied softly.
"Yes, we do. I can sense whatever it is has been hurting you. I don't need to be a Jedi to know it's probably about the news from the other day."
Ahsoka blinked her eyes and looked at both Sarah and her husband. Keeping the most painful memories of her past to herself was second-nature to her. However, the recent news threatened to overwhelm her.
"It's... It's been very upsetting to know Master Plo died. But even more so for Barriss. She was a couple of years older than I was and newly knighted. She was a healer—someone that helped others when she was killed. It makes no sense to kill someone dedicated to saving lives," she said as she started to cry. "Despite her being older than I was, she was like my best friend. And now she's gone."
As Sarah listened to the conversation, she gasped and whispered, "Molly!" the thought of something similar happening to her own best friend scared her.
Tim stood up and hugged Ahsoka. "You'll be fine," he promised her.
Sarah stood up and joined her father in the hug. "We'll help you get through this, mom," she added.
Ahsoka sighed. "Thanks," she finally told them.
"There's something else I've been curious about," Tim stated. "Has the other message made you curious about visiting your family on Shili?"
Ahsoka froze and slowly looked at him curiously. "Why do you ask?"
"Despite the sadness of the other news, you seemed to be a bit excited at the idea of having relatives there. Perhaps you should consider taking a trip there, soon. However, you may want to take some precautions in case it's still risky for either of you."
"Either of us?" Sarah asked in disbelief.
"That's right, Sarah. If your mother is ever going to go there, you should, too. You are half Togruta, and you deserve the chance to learn about your Togruta self and heritage."
Sarah continued to look on in awe. She thought, Will they accept me for being a hybrid?
"Let's say I—we—want to go? How soon do you think we should go?" Ahsoka asked.
"I think it might take two to three weeks for you to adequately prepare. You'd need to be able to get back to your galaxy again," Tim replied.
"That's easy enough, the coordinates are still in the box."
"And, you'd have to know how to get to Shili from there."
"That's easy enough, too," Ahsoka answered confidently.
"And, to lower the chances of any trouble in case it's still too risky there, I need to teach you both how to mask your Force signatures. I don't want either of you tracked down and killed."
"OK, so maybe I could use a refresher there. And Sarah probably needs to learn that, too."
"If you're interested, let me know, so I can let Madame Andrews know and have Sarah excused. I think I can arrange that for you, but probably for a week at the most."
"Really?" Sarah asked curiously.
"Given you're a year ahead on your academic studies, I don't see a problem, so long as you catch up the following week."
"Will Master Cal be able to find a sub for me?" Ahsoka asked. To start the school year, she had been promoted to a full-time instructor and taught a class of first-year initiates. She was also considered a guest instructor of Jar'Kai lightsaber combat.
"He should be able to find one. If not, I'll be your substitute."
"OK. Is there anything else we should do?"
"I'll see if there's any way Knight Ashley can use our connections to find anything out about your language. Even if it's just basic words and phrases, anything can help in case you meet members of your tribes that don't speak English."
"Basic," Ahsoka corrected her husband.
"Right. I'll still have her check."
"Are we really going to go, mom?" Sarah asked.
"You heard your father. He wants us to go. How can we say no?"
Sarah cracked a small smile as Ahsoka thought of one last question.
"Honey, how will you feel if Sarah dresses in a more traditional Togruta outfit?" she asked.
"You mean like the outfit you wore when you first ended up here?"
"Well, many girls Sarah's age tend to let their midriff show."
Visibly awkward at the thought, Tim replied, "I suppose as long as the outfit is a dark color, such as maroon or red, I'd have no problems with that."
Sarah looked on curiously. Having dressed modestly all her life, the idea of dressing less conservatively left her a bit nervous.
Ahsoka, sensing Sarah's nervousness, told her, "It's alright, Sarah. Dressing like that is necessary in a way. You know all those wavy markings you have in different places?"
Sarah nodded.
"The grass on Shili is red and white. The markings on our faces and body help us blend in to keep us hidden from any predators and prey."
"Oh, OK. I'm still a little nervous though. I don't think Father would let me dress like that."
"I think it will be OK, if that's how girls your age dress there," he replied. Still, I'm glad you have your sense of modesty, he told her through their Force telepathy.
Sarah cracked a small smile.
"See, Sarah. You know it's fine when your own father approves."
Ahsoka turned and kissed her husband's cheek. "You have no idea how happy this makes me. I can't wait to go now," she told him.
"Indeed. We just have a lot to do between now and then. Sarah, make sure you finish your homework. I'm also looking forward to seeing your class tomorrow."
"What are you going to do?" Sarah asked.
"Well, you've started your introduction to various lightsaber styles. This week, you'll be studying Form Two. And given I'm the only one that uses it in practice, I'll be teaching your class sparring sessions this week."
"Oh, OK."
"Don't worry, I'll work with you and your mother on the other stuff for your trip. We'll do that at nights after dinner."
Sarah smiled as she went upstairs to her room. Despite her nervousness, the idea of meeting other Togruta—and other relatives—intrigued her.
