Rebirth of Light – Chapter 4

This is the next chapter for Rebirth of Light. This chapter is not as long as the others were, I decided to move a few things around in the story line I have planned.

Still, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

;-

Anakin Skywalker walked the halls of the Jedi Temple with mixed emotions. After their little stunt from yesterday, he hadn't been at all surprised that he had been summoned by the Jedi Council. He was already expecting it. They obviously wanted to know where Ahsoka was, for what reason he didn't yet know.

He was not going to enjoy this conversation, that he did know. They had already made so much mistakes and those mistakes had already cost her life once. Anakin still didn't know how she was alive, but to him it seemed that the Force had saved her from the Council's stupidity. He prayed that the Force would keep looking out for her.

The fact that the Republic troops had been so eager to chase them down the day before was not making him feel any better. He had no idea what they wanted her for, but it was not good. Ahsoka had already suffered so much, he was not going to let them hurt her again. He was not going to tell anyone where they were taking her.

On his way to the Council chambers, he passed by a lot of his fellow Jedi. By now they all heard that Ahsoka was still alive. They were all looking at him with questioning expressions. They all wanted to know just what happened. However, no one dared to bother him with questions at the moment. For that, he was glad.

The only thing that comforted him at the moment was the short message that Bonteri had send him earlier. With the codes they had agreed on, the young Senator had let him know that he had safely gotten Ahsoka of the planet. They were on their way to the safe house and he would keep looking out for her. The fact that Ahsoka would be safe for some time was the only thing keeping him somewhat calm right now.

He had no idea what the Council was going to ask him. In any case, he was not going to tell them where they brought Ahsoka.

;-

Anakin entered the Council chambers and stopped in the middle of the room. He glanced around the room. A number of the Council members were there and the others merely as holograms, just as usual. He was in no mood to acknowledge them, so he just waited for them to speak.

After a short moment of silence, it was Plo Koon that spoke up. "Skywalker, is Ahsoka truly alive?" He tried to keep his voice neutral, but it was obvious to Anakin that he did care.

Anakin nodded. "Yes, Ahsoka is alive," he replied. "I do not know how, but she's alive."

The Council members all looked at each other, trying to find some explanation. At the moment though, no one seemed to have an easy answer.

"Why did you go to the morgue her body was kept in the first place?" Mace Windu asked to break the silence.

Anakin gave him an annoyed look. "I think that that was obvious," he replied in a slightly frustrated tone. "I was not going to let you do to her what you were planning on. Ahsoka was proven innocent, so you had no right to deny her a proper funeral. After everything, Ahsoka deserved to be treated with respect. I was going to make sure that she received a proper funeral, but then…" he paused.

He looked around the room. A few Council members, including Obi-Wan, Shaak Ti and Plo Koon, seemed to agree with him on the fact that Ahsoka deserved a proper burial.

"Is that when you found her?" Shaak Ti asked him.

Anakin nodded. "When I entered the chamber where her body was being kept, I had prepared myself to see her dead," he continued. "Instead, I found her sitting on an examination table, alive." He took a deep breath. "She was alive, but she's not doing well. She's weak and this has really scarred her mind. It will take her a long time to recover from this."

He looked at the Council accusingly. This was their fault after all. If they had just given Ahsoka a chance to tell her side of the story, if they had just taken some more time to look at the whole picture, Ahsoka would not have to experience this nightmare. In his opinion, they all failed in their duty as Jedi to protect the innocent. For a moment, he wondered if he even still wanted to be a part of the Order.

The Council was being a lot more quiet than they usually were. Anakin didn't like it one bit. They were all deep in thought, trying to find an answer for this mystery. Anakin just hoped they weren't trying to place the blame somewhere else. They were all guilty for what happened to Ahsoka.

Ki-Adi Mundi looked at him. "Where is Padawan Tano now? He asked.

Anakin looked at him with an annoyed look on his face. "Oh, now she's suddenly a Padawan again? Weren't you so eager to expel her from the Order? He thought to himself. "I'm not going to tell you that," he stated to the Council.

His answer earned him a few frowns from the Council. "Why won't you tell us?" Mace Windu asked with mild annoyance.

"Why would I trust you with that after the way you treated her?" he asked him return. "You're to blame for her current condition as well."

Mace Windu wanted to respond to that statement, but a quick glance from Obi-Wan kept him quiet. To Obi-Wan, it was very clear that Anakin had lost a lot of trust in the Council. They would need to watch what they say to him now. What happened to Ahsoka has affected him deeply.

Anakin just stared at the Council, their lack of a response was starting to anger him. However, he knew that it would not help Ahsoka at all if he started arguing with the Council. "If that is all for now, then I'm leaving. I've got more important things to do," he said with annoyance. After that he left the room, not bothering to wait for a response.

As the door closed behind Anakin, the members of the Council looked at each other in silence again. A short moment later, Yoda broke the silence.

"Hmm, a difficult situation, we are in," the Grandmaster said. "Lost his trust in this Council, young Skywalker has. Clear, that fact is."

"What happened to Ahsoka has shaken him deeply," Obi-Wan said to the Council. "What the Republic did to her, what we did to her, it was already tearing him apart. Now that she's alive, he will do anything to prevent harm from coming to her again." He made sure to include himself and the Council in this, Anakin was right about them being guilty in this matter. If they tried to deny that guilt, they would lose him.

"What happened to young Ahsoka was terrible," Shaak Ti said with regret. "And it could have been so easily prevented. If only we had just given her a chance to speak."

"We didn't have much of a choice Shaak," Mace Windu replied. "The Senate was pressing against us, you know that."

Shaak looked at him. "We answer to the Senate, I know that Mace. But that does really mean that we should just abandon our ways?" she asked him in return. "Why would we lost trust in one of our own so quickly?"

Stass-Allie looked at Shaak. "Are you alright, Shaak?" she asked. "I can sense this has affected you as well."

Shaak sighed. "Yes, it has," she replied. "I was the last one of us to talk to her. She was alone, confused and afraid. And I treated her with such hostility." She shook her head slightly. "I too failed to sense her innocence, as ashamed as I may be to admit it. Are we truly losing our way?" she asked the rest of the Council.

"Everywhere, the Dark Side is," Master Yoda said. "Surrounds us, it does. Spread widely it has been, by this war. Affected us, it already has. Blinds us further it will, if careful, we are not." The words of the Grandmaster made everyone think.

Plo Koon sighed deeply. "Master Yoda is right," he said, causing the others look at him. "We have so often told both Skywalker and Ahsoka to be more patient and listen to what we say. However, when it was our turn to be patient and listen to her, we completely failed her and send her towards her death." There was a slight crack in his voice at the end.

A few members of the Council looked down in regret. That was a fact that they couldn't deny.

Master Yoda looked at Obi-Wan. "Best it is, that talk to your former apprentice you do. Calm him down, hope you can, I do," he told him. "Doubt that willing to listen to any of us, he is." He looked around the room. "Meditate on this situation, we all should. A lot of thinking, we all have to do. Adjourned for now, this Council is."

;-

Naboo

Lux Bonteri sighed with relief as he landed his ship in the disguiser hangar of the safe house Padmé Amidala had provided. It had been a long flight, so he was feeling a lot better now that they were finally there.

At Anakin's request, he had run another medical scan on Ahsoka during the flight with the onboard medical systems. Physically, she was doing better. The soreness in her muscles had gone and she wasn't as stiff anymore. She had less difficulty getting around again, so that was good.

However, it was her mental state that concerned him still. She had been very quiet during the flight, that wasn't like her at all. During the battle of Onderon, she had been very active, talking with a lot of people and helping them out with all kinds of things. Now, she had mostly just been sitting next to him in the cockpit or in the quarters he had prepared for her on the ship.

It was clear to him that she had a lot on her mind. "Of course being betrayed and killed would do that to you." He still had difficulty believing that the Jedi Council and the Republic were so quick to just execute her like that. "What happened to the Republic?" he asked himself somberly.

He shut down the engines and made his way to her quarters. Ahsoka had gone to get some rest a few hours ago. From what he had seen as he was landing the ship, the area they were in now was one of the more beautiful areas of Naboo. He hoped that Ahsoka would be able to find peace here and recover.

When he reached the quarters Ahsoka was in he knocked on the door, unsure if she was awake or not. After a few seconds he heard her call out. He entered the room and found her sitting on the bed, head resting against the headrest. "Hey Ahsoka, were you able to get some rest?" he asked her.

Ahsoka nodded slowly. "Yeah, I was able to get some rest," she replied softly.

Lux nodded and smiled. "We've just landed on Naboo," he informed her. "Shall we go and take a look around?" Ahsoka smiled slightly and nodded. "Alright, I'll leave you to get changed. I'll wait by the ship's docking ramp." He left the room to give Ahsoka some privacy.

;-

A few minutes later Ahsoka joined him at the ramp. "All set?" Lux asked her. Ahsoka nodded and they both exited the ship. Lux made sure to keep a bit of an eye on her, just in case she happened to lose her balance.

As they entered the house, Lux could instantly tell it was quite the luxurious place. There was a large living room with an exit to a large garden. A path could be seen which he presumed would lead straight down to the nearby lake. They walked further through the house and found a well equipped kitchen, a couple of large bedrooms and an impressive looking bathroom.

"Padmé obviously made sure that the place would be as comfortable as possible," Lux thought to himself. "Not that I'm complaining, Ahsoka could really use it." He looked at Ahsoka again. She hadn't said anything as they walked through the house, but from the slight expressions on her face, he could tell that she was just as impressed with the place as he was, maybe even more.

They moved back to the living room and stepped out into the garden. The sun was still shining, greeting the two of them with a spectacular sight of the surrounding area. Despite everything, Lux could tell that Ahsoka was really enjoying the sight. "Ahsoka, why don't you relax here for a bit? I'll take care of the bags in the meantime," he offered to her.

"Thank you," Ahsoka replied after a short moment. Normally she would have protested and helped, but the idea of some rest seemed like a good one to her.

;-

About two hours later

Ahsoka and Lux were back into the living room, relaxing on the couch. He was sitting on the side of the couch, Ahsoka was resting her head against his shoulder. Lux was feeling a little bit awkward, not to mention he was worried what Anakin might do to him if he knew they were sitting like this, but he didn't say anything. He knew that Ahsoka needed the support.

While he had been unloading the bags and preparing dinner, Ahsoka had taken a shower to get rid of the paint they used to disguise her. She was back to her old, orange self now. He had commented to her that she looked better that way. It had earned him a little smile from her. However, she had mostly been silent for the rest of the evening.

Her silence hadn't bothered him at all. He knew that was still suffering from what had happened. She still needed to work a lot of things out for herself. He would just make sure that she was safe to do so and had the support she needed.

Right now they were just watching a simple movie. Lux had put on a holodisk instead of the regular programming. He figured that it would constantly be interrupted by numerous news items about Ahsoka being alive. That was not something she needed right now, so he made sure to avoid that.

They sat there until Lux could tell that Ahsoka was ready to fall asleep. He showed her to one of the rooms so she could sleep. He hoped that she would be able to avoid any more nightmares, she needed the rest.

After Ahsoka had gone to bed, Lux send Anakin another message. He had promised to keep him updated, so he send the coded message that they had arrived safely on Naboo. He then retired for the night himself.

;-

That's the end of the chapter.

Tension between Anakin and the Council is rising. They need to watch what they say to him. One wrong word and things are not likely to end well.

I've started writing the next chapter for Unexpected Company. I know the story is now AU, but I'm still going to write it out.

Until next time.