The Missions Between
Chapter 2: Following Mortis
Ahsoka was exhausted as the ship landed on the Coruscant landing strip. Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi wan all walked off of the ship and went their separate ways for the time being.
Obi wan placed his hand on Ahsoka's shoulder. "You can get some good rest now Ahsoka, you deserve it after that experience." He suggested.
Ahsoka yawned and nodded her head as her eyes were getting heavy. She wondered if she'd even make it back up to her room before she collapsed. But sure enough, she did.
She fell face first onto her bed and after a few minutes rolled over and placed her wrist on her forehead. She suddenly felt a little uneasy. She remembered a plan with a certain young man she made a while back. She decided that she would just go all the way to Raxus to have dinner with Lux and his mother instead of meeting them on Mandalore. She left Lux a message suggesting this idea. This way, she could cover up her pathetic desire to 'see his garden work' that she had blurted out the last time they talked. She had a few hours to get some sleep before she needed to board the transport.
She woke up and started getting ready. She wanted to wear something more than her Jedi apparel, so she threw on a long dress and top. The dress was deep red with glitter that covered the bottom down by her ankles. She then threw on her Jedi cloak as not to be recognized as she headed out of the temple. The young Togruta always warranted attention when she walked through the temple. It seemed so many young male Jedi wanted to chat with the young feminine beauty.
She rushed out her bedroom door and snuck through the temple, passing many of her Jedi comrades including Master Windu who inquired about where she was off to.
"Hello there Padawan Tano. Where are you off to?"
"Hello Master Windu." She said bowing to him. "I'm heading out for a small bite to eat. After what happened on Mortis, I'm famished." She informed him.
"Sounds like it was quite an ordeal based on Obi wan's report. You go get yourself something good to eat." He suggested, and they separated.
She made her way to the transport and her nerves were going crazy. She had so much to tell Lux. Once on the transport, she was constantly checking over her shoulder, making sure she wasn't recognized, or more importantly, that she didn't recognize anyone. She finally was able to relax a bit before the transport docked on Mandalore. From there she hopped on the next transport to Raxus.
As the ship inched closer to the platform, Ahsoka could feel her heart beating so fast, she thought it might explode. She managed to get herself under control as the ship finally landed. On the platform, there were the security droids looking at passes, but a man from the Bonteri house hold was there to pick Ahsoka up in a speeder and take her straight to the Bonteri residence.
She could see the large house from a fair distance away. Her mind immediately jumped back to seeing Lux standing in the doorway where she first met him. It made her smile. Then she thought about the talk they had in the beautiful garden about their differences in political views. Before she knew it, the speeder was pulling up to the house. She hopped out of the speeder. "Thank you sir." She said with a kind smile on her face and she kindly bowed her head at the driver. She turned and looked at the house. Mina walked down the large staircase to greet her.
"Ahsoka my dear, it's so good to see you again." She said walking up to Ahsoka to escort her inside. "Lux should be along any minute now. Do make yourself at home."
Ahsoka took a small look around the large house to get a better feel of Lux's upbringing. One thing that she could tell, that he was very privileged much like her. She walked into a dining room where sat a large table with many chairs and dishes set up. She sat down in one chair admiring the silverware and other dishes.
Mina came walking in a few minutes later. "Would you care for some tea my dear? I just put on a pot." She asked.
"Oh, umm, that would be great." Ahsoka stuttered. "Thank you Mrs. Bonteri."
"It's no problem at all sweetheart." She said as she walked back into the kitchen.
Pretty soon, before Mina brought Ahsoka her tea, the front door opened and shut. Lux was home. Ahsoka's nerves were going a mile a minute again, even without seeing him she blushed.
"Lux, your guest is in the dining room." Mina told him.
Lux immediately ran into the dining room to see the young Togruta sitting at the table. "Hey Ahsoka! It's great to see you. Let me go up and change and I'll be right back down for dinner.
Mina walked back in to the room and handed Ahsoka a cup with a plate underneath of it. "Here you go sweetheart. Would you like me to take your cloak?" Mina asked.
"Oh, I suppose." Ahsoka said as she stood up and removed her cloak exposing the elegant red dress.
Lux came bouncing down the stairs just before Ahsoka sat back down. They caught each other's eyes. Lux was in awe of Ahsoka's attire and began looking her up and down.
Ahsoka just gave him a stern glare, even though she was excited that he was checking her out.
Lux walked closer to the table and managed to speak a coherent sentence. "Wow! Ahsoka, don't you look nice." He said with much excitement. He was definitely glad he had made that spontaneous call to her after that secret meeting with Padme. Lux sat down right beside her. He was a bit distant at first, seeing Ahsoka in this apparel was a bit more than he'd expected. He sat on the edge of his chair just trying to manage to speak.
Ahsoka just looking at him the entire time with her big blue eyes.
"So, how was your trip?" Lux asked.
"Oh, not that eventful. It's not easy boarding two transports just to get to one place." She explained.
"Oh, no I mean your mission." Lux restated.
Ahsoka chuckled and a bit of a chill ran down her spine when she thought of what the Daughter had done for her and what the Son had done to her on Mortis. "Well, let's just say I've never encountered such a strange place before."
"Well, where did you have to go?" Lux asked.
"Our mission was sort of, aborted when we landed on a place called Mortis." Ahsoka tried to explain everything that happened on Mortis despite Lux's lack of knowledge of the force, but he tried to understand. Ahsoka just went on and on about the Son, Father, and Daughter and what they were.
"So help me to understand this Ahsoka. You mean to tell me that you, died on Mortis?" Lux asked with a very puzzled look on his face.
"I guess you could say I was dead, I really don't remember that." Ahsoka said with a bit of fear in her voice.
Lux with his deep accent managed to help her fears disappear. "Well, I don't know what I would have done if I'd heard that you died. The thought of that just…." He stopped before he could finish. He was trying not to ruin anything by saying something he couldn't take back.
Ahsoka blushed again and pushed out a shy smile. She wrapped her arms around herself giving herself a self hug in order to remain calm and not reengaging the fear that struck her from these events that she was very much scarred from. "Thanks, I'm glad I'm not dead either." She said with a bit of sarcasm. And the couple laughed for a moment at Ahsoka's wit.
Shortly after the conversation came to a hold, Mina and another woman brought the young almost couple in some dinner. The dish contained a variety of meats and grain like products.
Ahsoka hadn't had food like this in a long time. She was used to government rations that the Jedi temple seemed to offer.
Once Mina sat down, the three began to eat.
Ahsoka's nerves took away much of her appetite which she was a bit embarrassed by, since she didn't want to insult Mina's cooking. She pushed through her nerves anyway. But both Mina and Lux managed to finish their dinner before Ahsoka was even half way done.
Lux could see Ahsoka's hand trembling. "Ahsoka, if you are full, you don't have to finish that, my mother will understand. I do that all the time." He informed her.
Ahsoka just looked at him and chuckled. "Well, this is the first time in a long time that I actually get to have a nice dinner and I can't even finish it."
Mina happened to be walking through the dining room at the time and heard Ahsoka said that. She stopped at the table and looked at her. "Oh, it's alright my dear. I may have dished out more than you could finish to begin with." She said referring to the Togruta's petite figure. "No hard feelings at all my dear." Mina posed. She kindly removed Ahsoks's plate from in front of her and took it to the kitchen. "Is there anything else I can get for you Ahsoka?" Mina asked.
"Umm, no thanks, Mrs. Bonteri."
"Very well, now you kids just enjoy your conversation." Mina said as she walked back into the kitchen.
"Have I offended her Lux?" Ahsoka asked.
"Oh, not at all Ahsoka. She entertains many senators here at the house and many of them don't always finish their meals either." Lux informed her.
Ahsoka pondered the idea of so many separatist senators gathering together in the house. "Wow, I can't image the idea of having that many senators in one place." Ahsoka lightly joked.
The two laughed a bit. They both just sat there for a little while longer in silence.
"Hey, I haven't shown you what I added to the garden." Lux piped up.
Ahsoka was happy that the awkward silence was finally broken. She smiled and nodded in his direction implying that she wanted to go see it.
They walked down the pathway to the gazebo where they shared their first conversation. Then Lux took her left of it a few feet.
"See, this new fountain is something I just added." Lux stated
Ahsoka looked at it in awe. "It's beautiful Lux." She stated. 'Just like you'. She thought to herself but wouldn't dare say.
"And over there, I planted some new flowers; some yellow and blue." Lux mentioned
Yellow and blue were two of Ahsoka's favorite colors. She gave Lux a pleased look and smile. "This has all been so great Lux. Thank you for inviting me out here." She said.
Lux smiled at her and nodded. "You're welcome Ahsoka. I enjoyed having you here."
"Bye, Mrs. Bonteri!" Ahsoka called as she walked through the house back to the speeder.
"Bye my dear. Please come again soon." Mina suggested.
Ahsoka boarded the transport back to Coruscant. The flight felt so long as she sat in silence just thinking about this young boy.
Once the transport docked, she could see Padme standing on the platform. Her heart started beating faster. She wondered if she was in trouble.
"Ahsoka, there you are. I'm not sure where you were but your master has been looking for you for quite some time now. You must report to him immediately." Padme informed. She was a bit concerned for the young Togruta and feared that she may have been a bad example for her, breaking the rules. She figured she'd gone back to Raxus.
Ahsoka ran up the stairs into the briefing room where stood, her master, Plo Koon, Yoda and a few others. "Sorry I'm late Master, what's going on?"
"Snips! Where have you been, I've been looking for you for hours. Master Peal has been kidnapped. I wanted to inform you that there will be a rescue team going to free him and his men. Master Plo is giving us part of the plan." Anakin was not at all impressed with his young padawan at this moment. But little did he know, that he would soon be in need of her.
Stay tuned for chapter 3