Here is the latest story! It is the request of guest reviewer MR. HELPER. Basically, Ahsoka blames herself for the death of a civilain and Anakin help her through it. Thank you to those who have reviewed! Sorry for any mistakes. Also, I am planning to make the next chapter a little more light-hearted. So far they have been kinda depressing. Of course, I own nothing.
Anakin ran. He was breathing heavily but gave no thought to stopping. His padawan was ten full paces in front of him (when did she get so fast?). She too was running full speed. They had to constantly dodge and hop over vehicles, citizens, and other obstacles as they chased a bounty hunter through the streets of the Coruscant underworld. Suddenly, Anakin sensed a warning half a second too late. He collided hard with a civilian. The force of the impact sent the Jedi Knight flying several feet to the side. By the time his vision cleared, the civilian was shaking his fist and yelling at him in some language he did not recognize. Anakin got to his feet, but was troubled when he realized both the bounty hunter and his student were nowhere in sight.
It had all began six hours ago. The council had gotten word of a bounty hunter who went by the name Sicarius. It was a stupid name in Ahsoka's opinion. As of so far, the bounty hunter was wanted for killing at least 5 individuals from hired jobs alone. According to an informant, Sicarius was supposed to meet with a dealer over another target that night. The intended target, a local businessman, had since been placed under protection in secret. Anakin and Ahsoka had been immediately dispatched to intercept and capture the bounty hunter.
It had gone well at first. Minus the boring wait. Not knowing when exactly Sicarius would arrive at the designated destination, a bar in the Coruscant underworld, Anakin and Ahsoka had arrived on scene early that evening. They had both been sitting at a booth in the back for hours. Their cloaks were drawn low to cover their faces and line of work. As the clock drew closer to midnight, Ahsoka's patience was running thin. She continually drummed her fingers along the table. She was tired of sitting and was getting antsy. Anakin, who was also bored, continued to sit stoically as he tried to stay focused and provide an example for his padawan. In truth, if his padawan had not been there, he would have also been drumming his fingers and huffing a sigh or two of impatience himself.
Just as he was beginning to doubt the info they had been given, Anakin saw a familiar figure walk in. Sicarius was known for wearing a jet black cloak and a silver mask and boots. His exact species was unknown, but he was some form of humanoid. His signature weapon, a personalized rifle, was strapped to his back. He made his way over to the bar area.
Anakin subtly nudged Ahsoka, and pointed to their target with his eyes. Nodding her head, she quietly stood up to cover the back exit. Anakin rose and cautiously walked up behind Sicarius. Sicarius was known to be unnaturally quick and precise in his movements. The plan was for Anakin to sneak up behind the man in order to arrest him. Ahsoka would cover the exit in case he tried to escape. Of course, things never seemed to go exactly as planned.
Before Anakin even had a chance to activate his lightsaber, the bounty hunter was out of his chair. He kneed Anakin in the stomach hard. Anakin went down, grasping his side. Instead of running out the back exit like expected, he made a break for the front. Because of this, Ahsoka had to run across the crowded room and out the door. Anakin, having since recovered, was only a step behind her.
So there they were, chasing the bounty hunter through the crowded streets of Coruscant. The chase had been going on four over ten minutes now and showed no signs of stopping.
Sicarius had tried and failed to lose the Jedi by ducking down allies, jumping gates, and running through as many other obstacles as possible. At some point or another, the older Jedi had been shaken off, but the smaller one was closing in. What he did not realize however, was that the padawan who was closing in was especially good at acrobatics, and was therefore finding those obstacles easier to dodge than he did.
In a desperate attempt, the mysterious bounty hunter dodged into another ally. It was rather short stretch, and had several doors on one side that served as the back exits for stores built into the surrounding compounds. Unfortunately for Sicarius, the ally was a dead end. On top of that, the building was too smooth to scale and there were no pipes, windows, or other objects he could use to climb out. His only option was to fight the Jedi that now guarded his escape route. He grinned behind his mask when he realized that the 'Jedi' was only a teenage girl. A small one.
"Surrender!" Ahsoka's steady voice demanded. Her two lightsabers were drawn and ready. The bounty hunter gave a malicious laugh. "It is you who should be surrendering to me youngling. I find no honor in killing kids, but I will do what I have to. This is your one chance. Move." His voice was deep and distorted due to the mask.
"Not happening bounty hunter. You're under arrest!"
Quicker than she could blink, the masked man pulled out twin blasters and began firing in rapid succession. Ahsoka managed to deflect or dodge each one. Somehow, the man was also able to dodge several of the blasts that Ahsoka had deflected back towards him. He was incredibly quick and precise in his movements. Still, Ahsoka could sense that he was tiring. She began to look for an opening to rush and disarm him. In another few seconds it could have been over. He would have been apprehended and she would have had successfully completed the mission. But again, things did not go according to plan.
It happened too quickly for Ahsoka to process right away. Suddenly, one of the back doors that were in the ally opened up. A young Twilek woman stepped out, carrying a bag full of trash she intended to dump in the back ally. How she did not hear the ongoing battle or why she had to choose just that moment to take out the trash, Ahsoka would never know.
Before her mind had even fully realized the presence of the newcomer, Sicarius had acted. Firing another blast, he spun around, seized the woman, and pulled her in front of him as a shield. In the process he fired his last shot. Ahsoka meanwhile, deflected the first of those two blasts. Then the second. Both were aimed right back at the man. It was only after she deflected the second of those shots when she realized her mistake. It was then she noticed the woman. By then, it was too late.
As in slow motion, both the bounty hunter and his hostage dropped to the dull gray ground. The entire scene in the ally way had lasted no more than a full minute. Within that time frame, it had only taken a second and a half for the Twilek woman to enter, get taken hostage, and then get killed along with her captor. She never even screamed.
Ahsoka suddenly found herself on the ground with both hands clasping her mouth in horror. Her two lightsabers clanked to the ground, forgotten in the shock of the situation. Someone was speaking, her master, but the words were inaudible. The only coherent thought her mind could piece together was, Oh no. No. No. What did I just do!
Once again, Anakin was running. He desperately raced, trying to catch up with his apprentice and their suspect. Although he could not see either of them, his bond with his apprentice guided him in their general direction. He was still running when he heard the blaster fire. Following the noise, he was lead to a back ally way. If only he had been faster.
Rounding a corner, Anakin was just in time to see the scene unfold. Sicarius snatched a woman from an open doorway. As he did so, he fired twice more at Ahsoka. Ahsoka deflected each of them back at him. Sicarius pulled the hostage in front of him. Right in the line of fire. But the woman had not been tall enough to provide protection from the second shot that was deflected right at his head. Both died instantly. The whole scene was maybe two seconds long.
At first, Anakin gaped in dismay at the scene. He knew right away that it was not Ahsoka's fault. Still, a hostage had just been killed. An innocent. That was something that should never happen. His dismay was quickly spiked to fear when he saw Ahsoka fall to her knees, her lightsabers falling to her sides.
Her back was to him, so he could not see if or where she was injured. Practically teleporting to her side, Anakin rushed over to her aid. But there was no wound. Not even a scratch. At least not physically. She was starring in utter horror at what lay before her. Her eyes her wide, haunted. Her hands were clamped over her mouth tight. "Snips?" Anakin tried. "Are you alright?" She didn't move or acknowledge him in any way. "It wasn't your fault Ahsoka. It wasn't." Her breathing was heavy due to the recent excursion and the shock of the situation. She still didn't reply, but continued to stare at what lay before her.
Gently, he managed to guide her to a sitting position just around the corner, just out of sight of the horror. Anakin had clipped his padawan's lightsaber to his own belt. She still was not responding and he didn't want to risk losing them. He contacted the local law enforcement to have the bodies taken care of. Barrowing one of their speeders, he took his numbed padawan back to the temple.
The debrief had gone rather quickly. Inside the council chambers, only Yoda, Mace, and Obi-wan were present since it was not a major mission. Ahsoka was left sitting just outside the room, as she was in no condition to correlate what had happened. At least not yet. Anakin had managed to retell everything that had transpired within five brief minutes.
"Very unfortunate, this is," Master Yoda had said gravely. "Contact the family of the civilian, we must."
"How is your padawan?" asked Obi-wan.
"Ahsoka is taking it pretty hard. She's waiting just outside. She's not in any condition to talk about it just yet," answered Anakin.
"We agree the fault of the matter does not fall to her," stated Mace in his ever serious voice. "Still, we will need a full account of the incident from her as soon as possible."
"As soon as she's ready," Obi-wan clarified.
"I understand Masters," Anakin replied.
Anakin bowed and exited the room. Ahsoka looked up to him with sad eyes as he approached. She rose from the bench she sat on, and Anakin placed a hand on her shoulder as they solemnly made their way back to their quarters. Upon entering, Anakin knew she was now more alert, but was not quite ready to carry on a conversation. Still, he needed to make a point clear to her.
"It wasn't your fault Ahsoka. You know that, right?"
Ahsoka crossed her arms over herself as she slowly sat down on the couch. Her next words were so quiet; Anakin had to strain his ears to hear them. "But it was Master." She then did something Anakin had never seen her do before. With a small sniffle, tears began to silently drip down her cheeks.
The scene broke Anakin's heart. It also filled him with rage. That scum of a bounty hunter had not only killed an innocent woman, but was now responsible for the grief and blame Ahsoka now felt. He quickly tried to release that anger. It wouldn't help his padawan now.
Sitting down next to Ahsoka, Anakin embraced her tightly. "It was not, Ahsoka," he restated firmly. "I…I deflected that blast," her voice choked. "I'm so-o sorry M-master. It wa-as my fault she-e's dead!" Her tears were fast and her voice was filled with hiccups. Anakin held the girl for another moment, contemplating desperately how make her see it was not her fault.
"Ahsoka, listen to me." His voice was gentle but firm. "You did not fire that shot. The bounty hunter did. A shot intended to kill you. It him who fired and it was him who pulled the hostage up to take the shot in his place. He and he alone is responsible for the death of that woman, not you."
"But I deflected that blast at her! I should have been more ca-areful! I should have realized she was there sooner but I didn't and I am responsible fo-or that!"
"Ahsoka, I saw it happen. I know it wasn't your fault. Even the council agreed it wasn't your fault. Master Windu said so himself."
"But that doesn't change the fact that an innocent person died from my actions!" Ahsoka cried. Her face was filled with despair. She looked so broken, Anakin thought.
With a nod of understanding, Anakin lifted her chin to look him in the eye before he responded. "Ahsoka, our job as Jedi, is to protect others." Her face fell as did more tears. Anakin continued, "But the thing is, we are not perfect. We cannot always control the outcomes of our actions. We can only do what we know to be best. And that's the worst part. Sometimes, we can do our best, and still not be able to save everyone. Sometimes, we will lose. Some will die. Innocent civilians even. And if we can never move past those failures, those losses and pain, then we are giving up for good. I need you to keep fighting Ahsoka. I need you to forgive yourself."
"I don't know how to do that, Master," she whispered.
"You will Snips. You just need to try." Anakin embraced her once more, as the padawan cried herself out.
The next few days were hard for Ahsoka. She continued to silently hold some of the blame for herself. Still, she kept her Master's words in mind. She tried to let it go, and not dwell in the misery. Little by little, she managed to forgive herself. She still ached whenever she reflected on the matter, but with her Master's help, she knew she would get through it. She would be okay.
