Thanks for the reveiws!
Ahsoka walked through the halls of the Temple, lost in thought. She was beginning to get frustrated with the Force. She supposedly had all this great power and she couldn't even use it! It was almost like being under that Force-suppressing poison again, only this time she was aware of what was going on.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the footsteps behind her. Suddenly another Padawan appeared at her side.
"Hello, Zett," Ahsoka greeted him coolly. Next to her, Zett Jukassa was the most promising Padawan in the Temple, but they were more rivals then friends, hardly ever speaking. She had heard rumours that his Master had been killed in battle and he was confined to the Temple for the moment.
"How is life in the field?" Zett asked, his manner of speaking civil, though Ahsoka could sense a bitter undertone. "Though I suppose you wouldn't know, as you seem to be spending an increasing amount of time in the Temple. One might wonder what you find to do with all your extra time."
Ahsoka began to wonder if Zett had suspected she was training against the wishes of the Council. Could it have been him that had almost caught them in the lower levels?
"I was sorry to hear about your Master," Ahsoka said, hoping to steer them away from a potentially dangerous conversation.
Zett's eyes softened for a moment. "Thank you. But there is no death, only the Force. I must move on." He regained his composure and continued his interrogation. "Speaking of Masters, you seem to spend a lot of time with yours."
Ahsoka once again sensed danger. "Why the interest, Zett? I would think you have better things to do with your life than question me about mine."
"Not since my Master's death took me out of battle!" Zett shot back.
Ahsoka suddenly knew what was going on. Zett was hoping to take some news back to the Jedi Council, and hopefully get noticed. What better way to do that then to get his rival in trouble?
"This conversation is over," Ahsoka said as she reached her quarters. She shut the door and sat on her bed. Great. Now she had a troubling secret, a problem with her Force connection, and a nosey Padawan on her case. What next?
She was on Mortis- again.
And again Ahsoka was watching herself battle her Master. She must have had this dream every night since she first found out what happened, but it never lessened. Anakin didn't know. She didn't want to worry him, and she knew he would worry. So, every night, she was forced to relive the worst experience of her life. It was a nightmare that she could never wake herself up from.
Suddenly, halfway through the battle, the landscape shimmered, then disappeared, along with the duelling Master and Padawan.
Ahsoka blinked in surprise. This had never happened before! A new landscape took it's place, one that Ahsoka had never seen before. The ground was rocky and the sky was dark. There was no one around for miles... except for...
Ahsoka gasped. It was the Daughter.
The Daughter's appearance had changed from the last time Ahsoka had seen her. She wasn't glowing anymore, and an aura of sadness hung around her.
"You have accomplished much, Ahsoka," the Daughter said. "But you are far from finished."
"I'm dreaming," Ahsoka told herself. "I have to be dreaming."
"You are indeed dreaming," the Daughter said. "But I can communicate with you through dreams."
"But why now, and not when I first discovered my power?" Ahsoka asked. "What makes now any different?"
"I am afraid your Master's suspicions are correct," the Daughter told her. "The Sith are after you."
"Dooku just doesn't quit," Ahsoka murmured.
"It is not the Count who seeks you."
Ahsoka shivered at the warning the Daughter's voice seemed to hold. The second Sith? "What makes me different, milady? Several Jedi in the Temple are way more powerful than me, yet the Sith target me. And you gave your life for me. Why? I'm just a Padawan who happened to get the Chosen One as her Master!"
"You are much more than that, Ahsoka," the Daughter said. "It was not an accident that you and your Master were paired together. The Force works in mysterious ways."
So do you, Ahsoka thought. I don't think I've heard one straight answer from you. Aloud, she said, "What do you mean?"
"You do not realize it, but you have the power to save your Master from a horrible fate," the Daughter said softly.
Ahsoka frowned. "He is the Chosen One, is he not? Will he not bring balance to the Force as the Council believes?"
"A darkness lives in your Master," the Daughter said. "He may bring balance to the Force... if he is not consumed by that darkness first."
Ahsoka was growing aggravated at these insults to Anakin. "He is a hero of the war, and the best Master in the Temple," she defended. "Sure, he can be reckless. But he never loses."
"A battle with the dark side is often lost," the Daughter said solemnly.
Ahsoka decided it was time for a change of subject. "I've been having... troubles lately with my Force connection. On Serenno, I felt so in tune to the Force; now I can't come anywhere close to that."
"This has to do with your Master as well," the Daughter said.
Ahsoka was startled. "What? How? All he's done is help me reach a higher level!"
"You have unique Force connection, Ahsoka. The power you received is a curse as well as a blessing. You can only be trained in the ways of the light side, as that is the path that I walked."
"I don't understand," Ahsoka sighed. She was getting a headache from all these mysteries. "Anakin is training me in the light side. Who do you think he is, a Sith?"
"Ahsoka, the same dark tendencies that keep your Master on the edge of the dark side prevent him from training you correctly," the Daughter said. "If you are to protect yourself from the Sith and save your Master, you must allow me to train you in the ways of the light side. Your Master will continue to strengthen your combat skills. "
I'm going to be trained by a spirit in my dreams to defeat a Sith I wasn't sure existed?
"You can really train me... in my dreams?"
"Yes," the Daughter said, "But you can tell no one. You cannot even tell your Master."
"Why not?" Ahsoka asked warily. She knew from experience that secrets hidden by either of them was a very bad idea. But if the Daughter thought he was too dark to train her, then it made sense she wouldn't trust him.
"Your Jedi Council can't find out about this. I have told you far to much about events already. If word of this gets out, it may ruin everything."
Ahsoka shook her head, not even trying to comprehend what that meant. "Anakin doesn't get along with the Council. He would keep quiet if I told him why. And he hates secrets."
The Daughter smiled slightly. "I'll have you know now, young one, the Chosen One has more secrets than the Temple has Jedi."
Ahsoka was alarmed to see the Daughter begin to fade. "Whats going on?"
"It appears you are waking up," came the distant reply.
Ahsoka nodded. Then she remembered something. "For a long time now, I've been having dreams... I'm watching myself battle my Master and handing your brother the dagger. How can I make them stop?"
"You still hold guilt over the events that transpired then," the Daughter said softly. "In order to embrace the future, you are going to have to let go of the past..."
She vanished, taking the dreary surroundings with her.
Ahsoka awoke to see sunlight streaming through her window. She sat up and pressed her hand against her forehead as everything the Daughter had told her came rushing back.
The Sith really were after her.
Her Master was too dark to train her.
And she was going to talk nightly with a dead person.
Her first thought was to go tell her Master, then she remembered the Daughter's words. Tell no one.
If she disobeyed those orders, the Daughter might take back her promise of training her. Ahsoka closed her eyes in frustration, then got up and opened the door, hoping to take a walk to clear her mind- only to find 448 standing there.
"Jedi Ahsoka, your Master wishes to speak to you," the droid said. Ahsoka cringed. She had been hoping she would have some time to think of a cover story in case Anakin suspected she was keeping something from him.
Following 448 out in to the hall, she remembered what the Daughter had said about Anakin and secrets and thought, at least he's taught me one thing: the art of keeping secrets. For some reason, this didn't make her feel any better.
This chapter was hard to write, that's why it took a while. Reveiws make the updates faster! *Hint hint*