Did you like the last chapter? Now you know Ahsoka's little secret, she's a professional singer. Will Anakin find out? Read to see.
Back at the cottage, Anakin was still horrified about hitting Ahsoka. He saw Jaden in the doorway. He looked upset.
"Hey, Jaden. What are you doing up?" Anakin said wiping his tears.
"I had a bad dream. Where's Mommy?" he replied rubbing his eye. He looked like he'd been crying.
"She went out for some air. Come here," he said. Jaden went over to Anakin and sat on his lap. Anakin hugged him tight, put his head on Jaden's and rocked him back and forth. Tears started to roll down his cheeks.
"Daddy, why are you crying?" Jaden asked.
"Daddy made a big mistake with Mommy today. You don't have to worry about it," he replied. He then felt a disturbance in the Force. He took his head off Jaden's. Jaden looked at him.
"What's wrong, Daddy?" he asked worried.
"Something's wrong," he replied putting Jaden down. Anakin went to the door and opened it. He reached out with the Force and tried to sense Ahsoka. He couldn't sense her anywhere. She wasn't on Aldeeran. Where was she? Jaden was standing right behind him. He turned and saw Jaden there with a sad look on his face.
"Mommy's gone?" he asked almost in tears. Anakin kneeled down to meet his eyes.
"Yes, but she's alive. I can feel it. I can't say she's safe, but she's alive," he told him in a calm voice trying to comfort him. Anakin's comlink then started to beep. It was Obi-Wan. "What is it Obi-Wan?"
"We need you to come back to the Temple immediately," he exclaimed.
"I can't at the moment. Ahsoka's gone and I don't know where she is," he replied.
"We know," he responded. Anakin was surprised.
"What do you mean you know?" he asked.
"That's why we need you and Jaden to come back to Temple and hurry," he replied.
"Okay, I'm on my way right now," he said. He ended the transmission. "Come on, Jaden. We need to go."
They went to the Twilight and took off towards Corascant. When they arrived a few hours later, Anakin ran into the Temple went to the communication center. The Council was there waiting for them.
"Skywalker, do you know what happened to your padawan?" Mace first spoke.
"No. We had an argument and she ran out. I don't know where she went," he replied.
"Well, we know. And it's not good," he said. He then played a holovideo. He saw Ventress first.
"Hello, Jedi scum. I have something here that might interest you," she started. A managuard appeared in the video with Ahsoka in handcuffs. "I have Skywalker's little pet here. We all know how much he cares about her and would do anything to get her back safely. Skywalker, if you want your little brat back, bring your son to Naboo in the east forest past Theed Palace in two days. If you don't, she dies."
The message ended. Anakin was both angry and torn about the situation. The Council turned to him.
"What does she mean 'your son', Skywalker?" Mace asked. Anakin was hoping that they wouldn't catch that part. That wasn't important to him right now. He wanted Ahsoka back and to protect his son. He figured to save them both, he would have to tell the truth.
"Jaden is my son," he said. The council was shocked, yet not surprised.
"Who's his mother?" Plo Koon asked.
"Ahsoka is," he answered. Everyone was both shocked and surprised. Plo was a little mad that Anakin got his "Lil' Soka" pregnant and didn't tell him. Jaden was looking a little suspicious about the video. Yoda noticed.
"Wrong, something is, Jaden," he asked.
"I think so. There was something about the video. My Mommy's headtails were twitching," he replied. They all looked at one another and then at Anakin. He shrugged. "Play back the video."
They did. When they saw Ahsoka, Jaden paid attention only to her. He was right, Ahsoka's headtails were twitching. It was a message she was sending to Jaden.
"What does it mean? It's in a code that I'm not familiar with," Obi-Wan said.
"It's an ancient code used by our kind. Every code is something different. We teach it to our offspring if something happens to us so we know what they're trying to say," Shaak Ti remarked.
"So, you can't read it?" Mace asked.
"No, but Jaden might. Did Ahsoka teach you any of her codes?" she replied.
"Yea, she taught me the codes," he answered. They played the whole video again. Jaden played close attention to her headtails.
"What is she saying?" Plo asked.
"Jaden, listen to me carefully and tell the Council what I'm saying. Don't listen to her. If you bring you here, she will kill you and me. She says they want you to be a Sith, but they really just want to kill you because your Anakin's son. Tell them to just leave me and keep you safe. Also tell Anakin I'm sorry," he interpreted. Everyone looked at one another again. Anakin was upset for what Ahsoka told him. He was the one to be sorry.
"Well, if what Ahsoka told us is true, what should we do?" Anakin asked.
"We still need to go get Ahsoka back. If we don't show up for the trade, Ventress may try to get information from her before she kills her," Plo remarked.
"Good point. If she reveals our most secret plans, we may lose this war for sure and the Jedi Order may be no more," Mace pointed out.
"So, are we going to get her?" Anakin asked.
"Yes, but we're going to need a plan. She can't get Jaden. Ahsoka says they will kill him, but he's too valuable to them. They may not kill him, but we can't be sure," Obi-Wan said.
"Well, we need to figure something out in two days," Anakin responded.
"I know someone who may be able to help," Jaden said. Everyone turned their heads towards him in surprise, including Anakin.
"Who, Jaden?" he asked.
"This guy from mommy's little secret. He said if I needed him, I could call him anytime. Maybe he could help, he's knows a lot of people," he replied.
"Who is this man?" Mace asked not worrying about Ahsoka's secret.
"His name is Akeen. He gave me his comlink number," he said. He walked over to the reactor and punched in the numbers. Akeen came up on the projector.
"Hello, who is it?" he said in an annoyed voice.
"It's me!" Jaden exclaimed. Akeen smiled when he saw him.
"Hey there, Jaden. What can I do for you?" he asked. Jaden stepped aside and Mace came up.
"We need your assistance. It's about Ahsoka Tano. You know her?" he said.
"Of course I know her, I'm her manager. What's wrong with her? Is she upset, depressed, mad at that Anakin guy again?" he answered.
"She's been kidnapped," Mace replied. Akeen's face went white.
"Is she okay? Do you know who did it? How did this happen?" he asked franticly. He really cared about Ahsoka.
"We need your help to get her back," he replied.
"Okay, why was she kidnapped? What do they want?" he asked more calmly.
"They want me," Jaden spoke up.
"Why would they want you? You're just a little kid," he said.
"They want him because of his abilities. It's Jedi business," Mace said.
"Oh, I see. Well, I'm happy to help. What can I do?" he responded.
"Well, her kidnapper said that there will be an exchange in two days on Naboo, Ahsoka for Jaden. We need to figure out a way to get Ahsoka back without giving them Jaden. If they get him, they may either train him in the dark arts to turn him into a powerful Sith to destroy the Jedi Order or kill him. We can't let either happen," Obi-Wan explained.
"Okay, what did you have in mind?" he asked.
"We were wondering if you had any ideas of what we could do," Mace answered. Akeen thought for a minute.
"I may have an idea. I have a son about Jaden's age. Maybe we could use him as a decoy. He's been trained in the most advanced fighting styles. No harm will come to him," he suggested.
"It's a good plan, but he's part Togruta. You're a Twi'lek. I'm not sure how it'll work with the species difference," Obi-Wan replied.
"If you can convince the kidnapper to do the exchange at night, they won't be able to see the species difference. All they need to see is his headtails," he explained.
"It might work, but we can't put your son in danger like that," Anakin said.
"It's fine. And in case something goes wrong, his bodyguards will handle it. I would do anything to get Ahsoka back and keep Jaden safe," he implied.
"Why do you care so much about Ahsoka anyway?" Anakin asked.
"We have a past together. She helped me some years ago and we became close friends. When we met up again, I was happy to help her. I felt so close to her. I swore on my life that if anything happens to her, I would risk my own grandchildren's life to save her," he explained, "I've always believed that everyone that meets Ahsoka has to love her like a sister. She has that effect on people. I can't imagine why anyone would want to hurt her or anyone she cares about because it would hurt her."
"Speaking of helping her, what is this secret that she's apparently been keeping from everyone?" Mace asked.
"Sorry, I promised her I wouldn't tell unless it was necessary," he replied.
"Her life is in danger and if her kidnapper doesn't kill her, she may send her to someone who wants her. Don't you think that's a necessary reason?" Anakin exclaimed.
"Mmmm, good point. Ahsoka's worth a lot of money to the right people," he agreed.
"Why is she worth a lot of money?" Mace asked.
"She's a professional singer. Her music is only released deep in the Outer Rim. She requested that so she wouldn't be discovered. She only comes in, record the needed songs, every now and then do a photo shoot or video and leaves. Doing public appearances as never been something comfortable or safe for her," he explained. The council was surprised. No one was more surprised or upset than Anakin.
"We'll deal with that later, but for now we need to focus on getting her back," Mace said. Everyone agreed.
Meanwhile
Ahsoka was in a cell in an underground base. Ventress had left the base and she was being watched by droids. When Ventress came back, Count Dooku was with her. Ahsoka didn't show any emotion to his appearance.
"So, once again we meet. Skywalker really needs to keep a shorter leash on his pet," he said. Ahsoka made no comment.
"Skywalker wasn't being very nice to her," Ventress then said.
"Ahh, that's right. Ventress told me about what she saw at your little hideout on Aldeeran. It's a same when you think you know someone and then they turn on you," he remarked. Ahsoka's eyes grew cold with hate and anger towards Dooku, but also sad with the memory of Anakin hitting her. Ventress could see the sadness in her eyes.
"Aww, someone's upset about their boyfriend hitting her," she said.
"He's not my boyfriend," Ahsoka finally spoke.
"No, he's just a Jedi who can't control his hormones or keep his hands off his padawan," Dooku replied stroking Ahsoka's headtails. She pulled away from him. "Don't be mad with me. I didn't get you pregnant at sixteen against your will."
"Don't worry little girl, you'll be out soon enough. All we need to do is get your son. Then we'll sell you to someone who wants you. We know all about your secret life as a professional singer. There are a lot of people who want the famous "Ahsoka Tano". Next time, you might not want to use your real name," Ventress commented. Ahsoka rolled her eyes and turned her head away from her.
"I see you're very arrogant. Perhaps Jabba the Hutt could straighten you out," Dooku said. Ahsoka shuddered at the mention of Jabba's name. She knew what Jabba did to his slave girls. She remembered the time she was captured by Jabba and was his slave girl. She remembered how he tortured her, abused her, and violated her. She almost cried remembering it all. She was traumatized for weeks after that.
"I see you remember what happened last time. If you don't want that to happen again, I suggest you cooperate with us," Dooku said noticing the emotion on her face.
"What else do you want?" she asked in a low voice.
"Before we get rid of you, we need some information from you about the Republic," Ventress answered.
"Why would I tell you anything?" Ahsoka asked coldly. Dooku leaned closer to her.
"If you don't not only will I send you back to Jabba, I will kill your son," he replied. Ahsoka got furious.
"If you touch, I swear…," she started, but Dooku grabbed her neck and pulled her closer and whispered in her ear.
"Tell us what we want to know and he'll live," he said. Ahsoka felt defeated. She didn't want to tell them anything, but she didn't want her only son to die. She still refused to tell them anything. She shook her head no. Dooku threw her and her head hit the metal wall. She fell unconscious.
Ahsoka woke up the next day in a daze. She realized she was in a different room. This room was bigger and had one door. There were two droids in the room with her.
"Sir, the prisoner is awake," one of them said into a comlink. Minutes later, Dooku came in the room. Ahsoka stood up when he entered the room. He sent lightning bolts through her. She screamed in agonizing pain.
Meanwhile
Back at the Temple, they just agreed on a plan to get Ahsoka back without giving them Jaden. Just then at the same moment Ahsoka was being shocked with lightning, Jaden collapsed on the floor screaming. Everyone was trying to calm him down and figure out what's wrong with him.
"Jaden, what's the matter?" Anakin asked worried. He continued to scream louder and louder. This happened for five minutes. Then he stopped. He tried to catch his breath. He finally calmed down.
"Jaden, what was that?" Plo asked.
"Mommy, she was in pain. I don't know what was going on," he said through tears and burying his head in Anakin's chest. Everyone looked at each other.
"Dooku must have her by now. The only thing that could cause that much pain is force lightning. He must be trying to get some information out of her. Let's hope she doesn't tell him anything too important," Obi-Wan said.
Back on Naboo
Dooku stopped before Ahsoka was unconscious again. He kneeled down to her & looked at her.
"So, child. Are you ready to talk?" he asked.
"I'll not telling you anything, Dooku," she said weakly gasping for air.
"Really?" he smirk. He sent another shock through her stronger than the last. She screamed even louder. It was not doubt than Jaden also felt it. Jaden had a connection with Ahsoka that was stronger than Anakin's. He felt everything he felt she felt physically, mentally, and emotionally. The pain was twice as bad for him because of how young he was.
"Are you ready to talk now?" Dooku asked. Ahsoka was very strong willed and didn't give up easily.
"I'll never talk. Torture me as you may, but I will never betray the Republic as you did," she replied.
"That's what you say, but I will break you," he growled. He left the room, leaving Ahsoka on the floor trying to regain her strength. A few minutes later, Dooku returned with an interrogation droid. Ahsoka was able to stand up straight by then.
"You will talk, whether you want to or not," he said. The droid floated over to her. She didn't back away from it or even try to prevent it from touching her. The droid injected a toxin in her arm and floated away. Five minutes later, the toxin started working. There was a sharp shooting pain that felt like her blood was burn. She let out a blood curling cry of pain. Dooku came over to her.
"I have the antidote. If you tell me what I want to know, I give it to you. Only I can make the pain go away. This toxin will last for two hours," he said to her. Ahsoka shook her head still. "Your mistake." An hour went by and Ahsoka still refused to talk. Her body had gotten use to the toxin and didn't hurt as much. What Ahsoka didn't know was how much pain Jaden was in.
Back at the Temple, the whole hour Ahsoka had been affected by the toxin, so was he. He was in the medical bay. They tried everything to ease his pain, but nothing worked. He was almost to the point where he was crying blood. The pain was too excruciating for him. As Ahsoka's pain wore off, so did his. The next hour went by and the pain finally stopped.
Dooku had stopped for the night. Ahsoka was in the room alone. Jaden was recovering from his pain attack. He had to stay in the medical bay in case anything else happened to him. The council left the medical bay. Anakin and Obi-Wan stayed with Jaden. He was asleep now. Back on Naboo, Ahsoka reached out with the force to reached Jaden. She reached harder than she needed to. She figured Jaden was very worried about him. She wanted to sing to him his favorite song that always told him that she was ok.
Was all alone
I was lost
In a world of strangers
No one to trust
On my own
I was lonely
You suddenly appeared
It was cloudy before
But now it's all clear
You took away the fear
And you brought me
Back to the light
You are the sun
You make me shine
Shine like the stars
That twinkle at night
You are the moon
That glows in my heart
You're my day time, my night time
My world, you are my life
Now I wake up everyday
With this smile
Upon my face
No more tears
No more pain
'Cause you loved me
You helped me understand
That love is the answer
To all that I am
And I'm a better woman
'Cause you taught me
By sharing your life
2x
You are the sun
You make me shine
More like the stars
That twinkle at night
You are the moon
That glows in my heart
You're my daytime, my nighttime
My world
You gave me strength
When I wasn't strong
You gave me hope
When all hope was lost
You opened my eyes
When I couldn't see
Love was always here waiting
For me
3x
You are the sun
You make me shine
More like the stars
That twinkle at night
You are the moon
That glows in my heart
You're my daytime, my nighttime
My world
You are my life
Her force connection was so strong with Jaden, he was singing the song in his sleep. When the song was over, he smiled.
"What was that?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin smiled.
"That was Ahsoka. She was singing to him. That's the song she sings to him when he's upset or in pain. It's also a comfort song, to let him know that she's okay," he explained.
"Well, I'm glad to know that she's okay. Or maybe she sung to him to calm him down. She may still be in danger," Obi-Wan commented.
"Yeah. At least he's calmed down," Anakin replied stroking Jaden's lekku.
"I still can't believe you and Ahsoka had him without us knowing about it," Obi-Wan remarked.
"Well, that we'll explain later when we get her back," Anakin replied.
"Well, you'd better get some rest. The trade is tomorrow and you'll need all your strength," Obi-Wan said standing up and heading towards the door.
"Okay. I'll stay here with Jaden in case he wakes up," Anakin responded.
"Alright, Anakin. Good night," he said walking out the door.
"Good night, Obi-Wan," he said back. Anakin got in the bed with Jaden. He hugged him tight and fell asleep.
Will they go with Akeen's plan? Will Ahsoka tell Dooku anything? Will he get Jaden? Does anybody die? Why am I asking these questions? Find out in the next chapter.