Ahsoka's Pov:
So, you allow Admiral Tarkin to falsely accuse me, you don't defend me or even visit me when I'm imprisoned, you send my own Master after me when I escape, you re-arrest me, don't even listen to my side of the argument, banish me from the Jedi Order, turn me over to the Republic, convict me of the crime and almost assign me the death penalty, and yet you're surprised when I don't re-join the Order?!
Wow guys. Just…wow. I'm sorry, Masters, especially you Anakin, but an "I'm sorry" and a "You're innocent" and even a "You can be a Jedi Knight" can't heal this. I'm not even sure if anything will.
I walk down the steps of the Temple. Logic is screaming at me to turn back. I have nothing: no money, no connections, I even forgot to bring to take any of my few possessions. But there's no turning back now. I can't even afford to look back and see Anakin's face. There's only forward…wherever forward is.
Okay, Ahsoka, think. What would Anakin do? NO, don't think, don't think about what Anakin would do. Think about what you would do. You're not his student anymore. You're not a Jedi anymore. You're not…you're not really anything anymore, are you?
I'm a few blocks away from the Temple by now and I stop for the first time. My feet freeze and I no longer surge forward into nothing. I realize I'm not anything anymore. It's a clean slate. Ahsoka Tano: that's my only identification. Not Commander Tano, not Padawan Tano, not Master Jedi, not youngling, not Apprentice to the Chosen One. I'm just Ahsoka. Ahsoka; you know, it's a pretty name, I never really thought about it. I laugh to myself. It's only at the most desperate times that the strangest things come to mind.
But there was one name I refused to surrender: Snips. I will always be Snips. The image of my Master smiling at me from across the podium haunts me. Always.
I can't avoid it any longer. My feet restart and I take off in a full sprint. I don't even know where I'm going, I can't see through the tears. I trip a couple of times, but I don't care. It's not until I stumble over a hole to the lower levels that my mind re-focuses. I catch myself just in time and land gracefully on the stories below. But I don't stop running. I run down the alleys and through the streets, as far as the road will take me. A dead end appears, you know, a long alley cut off by a brick wall in front of you. An unbreakable boundary. I slump onto the wall and weep harder and louder than before. It all comes out: the Order, the betrayal, Plo Koon, Yoda, Windu, Barriss…it had only been Anakin and Padme. The two lovers and the most loyal people I had ever met. I had broken their hearts in an attempt to repair mine, and no one was reaping any benefits.
The weeping continues for I don't know how long. I haven't cried in years, so now I was crying for everything that had happened in those years. The war; the stupid, stupid war. Pain, death, suffering…for the last 5 years, I hadn't known anything else. The war started when I was 11. Anything that happened before then was but a dream, thousands of years in the past. When Ahsoka Tano was a Jedi prodigy.
But then, in a sudden moment, the weeping stops when a revelation comes. It's the revelation of hope. Hope: that little thing that never seems to leave me, that always clings, that can make something out of the nothing-Ahsoka Tano. I stand up, I stood up for the first time in my life. And I smile. I smile. There is hope and light. I can't believe it hasn't left, but it hasn't.
I'm walking again, one step at a time. I'm thinking too. I obviously want to leave Consurant, but I don't know to where. I did like Onderon. Maybe I'll check on Lux and see if his life is going any better than mine, which isn't that much of a statement considering. I certainly hope he's having a better life than I. Ooh, or maybe Mandalore. A neutral system in need of governmental repair? Perfect for me! One thing is sure though. I'm not going to stop helping people. That's the whole point of being a Jedi, isn't it? Well, I'm no Jedi, but that doesn't mean I need to be a selfish beast.
As I walk in the direction of the transport station, I look back for one last glimpse of Consurant. The sun sets over the Jedi Temple and the Senate Building. They are still beautiful. I turn away and don't look back again. My obedient feet continue again, one step at a time.
It's funny: we never know what's ahead of us, whatever position we're in. Even if I had remained a Jedi, what then? Was the future ever set in stone? But maybe, just maybe, the future is going to be what I want it to be. Maybe, for once, no one else, Council, Military, or otherwise, is going to determine my destiny. I'm going to choose things. I'm going to face the future day by day. And whatever happens, I'm going to hope. There's always hope.
As the generous ship guide lets the needy passenger on, as that ship lifts off the ground, the passenger looks out the window and thanks her kind guide for the free ride. He smiles at her and nods, not even fully comprehending the meaning behind his small action. Just a hitchhiker, he thinks. She seems innocent enough, I'll drop her off at my next stop. The ship guide leaves and the passenger sits alone in the back. She turns back to the window. This passenger isn't the sharpest tack in the box. She can't tell you much. But she can tell you something, three things actually:
1. Her name is Ahsoka Tano.
2. She has a brother who calls her Snips.
3. She has a future, and it has hope intertwined.
Trust me on this, I happen to know a thing or two about that passenger.
Sooooo sorry about not updating any other stories, but I just felt like this finale really needed a sort-of epilogue. There might not be a Season Six, and if there is one, it's presumably being delayed.
Honestly one of the most emotional episodes on television. I'm incapable of crying at movies, but if I had to pick one to cry about, this would be the scene. But I really have a feeling that there's hope for Ahsoka. Hence, I wrote this fic ;)
Thanks for reading guys! (And sorry about the lack of updates)
Dino Green