"In Need of Wings"

Chapter the Seventh


General Grievous is dead.

The news spread quickly throughout the galaxy, even reaching to the small neighborhood Ahsoka resided in. When she first read about what had happened on the HoloNet, she had just finished her shift at her new job. Within hours of hearing the news, many of the citizens were celebrating out in the streets. Many brought alcohol and spices to share with, cheering that a CIS leader who had caused the deaths of many galactic citizens had finally been put to justice. Not to mention, this meant it was only a matter of time before the war was finally over.

It was good news, right? Of course it was. The sooner the war was over, the sooner the violence would stop. Life could feel a little more normal again, like it was back when Ahsoka was growing up in the Jedi Temple. Not like now.

But to Ahsoka, strangely enough, it did not feel like good news. She wanted to feel relieved, happy, or excited. General Grievous needed to be eliminated, and honestly, she had sometimes wished that she would have been the one to do it even though that was impossible. But now that he was finally gone, Ahsoka didn't feel any of the things she thought she would feel.

She made her way back to her apartment much slower than before. Not all of Coruscant was celebrating, but any citizen who would take the death of Grievous as an excuse to go out to drink and party, was doing it just now. The train was crowded and Ahsoka had to make her way through a few crowds of friends getting together to celebrate. She was relieved to be alone to herself back inside her apartment again.

It would not do her good to look on the news for more information about it, of course. She heard enough from everyone else talking about it to her on her way back to the apartment. That was more than enough information. Instead, she turned on the music to a pop station and let the lyrics carry her mind away from the here and now. Not that it helped. But it greeted her with more grace than any silence.

Every time she heard someone mention 'The Hero With No Fear' felt like she was being stabbed through the heart.

Gods, she missed Anakin so much. She missed his love. She missed his protection. She missed their connection, their jokes, their experiences together.

Just as she began to wonder if Bane would consider connecting her to Anakin, at any point in time, someone knocked on her door. She had memorized the sound of Bane's knocking enough to know it was him.

"It's unlocked," she hollered, too lazy to answer it. What could he want? Last night was our last official "training" together. He probably left something here…

She was on the verge of suspecting something fishy, when Bane stepped in and grabbed something from the table. "Forget my deck of cards. Sorry."

"Oh…no problem." She sat up and crossed her legs on the bed. So she had predicted it correctly; that was odd. "Loss of memory does come with old age."

"Oh, shut up," he snapped. He put his deck of cards in his pocket.

She hesitated before speaking up again. "You probably won't answer this for business reasons, but will you be staying around much longer?"

"I have a job in another region of the system. But why do you want to know?"

"I just…" Why do I want to know? Why do I care where he goes? I don't… "Curious. And hey, you're technically a connection I have to other criminals now. You taught me about keeping connections."

"Not when it comes to me. We have no connection. And I'm leaving."

"But—"

"I have a lot of work to do and I'm not being paid to protect you any longer." He glanced down at her. "You're all grown up, so start acting like it."

Where is this coming from? Had she angered him in some way, and if so, how?

"You're being rude." Ahsoka frowned. "You trained me for weeks. And you're okay with leaving, just like that. Like none of it mattered?"

"It only mattered because it was my job. From now on you're a waste of my time, so don't bother me anymore." He began to leave the apartment.

She glared at him. In hindsight she probably would not have gone along with this sort of plan. But Ahsoka just hated it when someone else got the last say in the conversation, not to mention the privilege of slamming a door shut in her face. So, thinking quickly as to how to fix Bane's new behavior, she grabbed her hoodie and jumped off the bed.

"Wait. I was just leaving anyway."

"Oh, where to?" Judging by his tone of voice, he wasn't buying it.

"To…go out, celebrate. Everyone else is doing it and I haven't partied since…ever." She shrugged.

"Don't follow me," Bane said coldly. He did not seem happy with the fact that Ahsoka walked not far behind him out of the apartment building. He didn't even look her in the eye.

Oh, I get it…he's pushing me away. I guess caring about people sucks so much that the moment you feel it start, you run away from them.

That must really, really suck, Ahsoka thought.

Then she caught a glimpse of an object under his arm that helped her to understand.

"You're drinking."

"That's the plan. I'm going to go back to my place, and have a few drinks in peace. That is unless you plan to follow me all night."

Ahsoka scoffed, a little too loudly. "Uh, no? I just happened to be heading out right now." She didn't like being back out on the streets, especially now that it was after dark. People had gathered to the bars to drink and party, forgetting that the war was not officially over and partying would only temporarily erase the memories of what the war had done.

Hugging herself a bit tighter, Ahsoka walked on ahead of Bane, who had slowed down because of the crowds. She noticed a group of males hanging around the sidewalks gawking and pointing at every attractive female that walked past. Ahsoka pulled her hood over her head and kept walking, hoping she would be ignored by them.

Her senses were tingling. This was not a safe place…

She had made it past them. Good. She wasn't in the mood for a fight.

Suddenly, Ahsoka felt a hand on her shoulder, yanking back her hood. She spun around. "Don't touch me!"

"Hey, pretty girl, where are you off to in such a hurry? Off to go see your daddy?" The male Twi'lek's eyes were reddened; he was clearly drunk.

Ahsoka could fight him off any second she wanted to. But the way he spoke to her like she were an object, seeing her as something to be gawked at and fondled with however he wanted…she felt sick all over. It paralyzed her in place.

"Awww. What's the matter, sweetheart?"

She could cut off his hand…she could gouge out his eyes. But the words hurt so much. It made her feel weak, disgusting. Helpless. Why couldn't she be strong right now?

His words were cut off by an ear-piercing scream that made Ahsoka's teeth sting. The Twi'lek was yanked back by his lekku, as he stumbled backward and landed flat on the pavement. Ahsoka looked at who had grabbed the Twi'lek by the lekku and stared in surprise.

"Bane…?"

Bane grabbed his lekku again and forced him to stand. The Twi'lek smacked him, screaming in pain, but Bane ignored him. "Look, son. If you're not going to apologize to her, I'll gladly rip an apology out of you."

"Bane, cut it out…" Ahsoka muttered under her breath. They were drawing attention…the last thing Ahsoka wanted. She was still surprised that Bane had so quickly rushed to her defense.

The Twi'lek punched Bane in the nose. "Get off me! Fuck you!"

Bane snarled. Ahsoka could tell from the amount of alcohol left in his bottle that he had drank a lot more since they left the apartment. "All right, that does it." He squeezed the end of his lekku tight and hit the Twi'lek square in the jaw, knocking him out cold. When the Twi'lek had collapsed on the ground Bane peered down at him for a few moments before muttering something in Durese under his breath.

Before Bane could wander off, Ahsoka took him by the arm. "You didn't have to do that…I had it under control."

"You know, I just have a problem with people who think they can get away with shit like that." He scowled, as if in deep in thought. "But you're right. Next time, I'll just hold him up for you. Is that okay?"

She frowned. His behavior weirded her out, even if it was because he was drunk. The Cad Bane she knew was not nearly this caring about others. At the least, she could play along for a little. "No. I got it."

"Please?"

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "Oh, fine. But you don't get special points for saving me."

"It's not about points, little bit." He walked along the pavement. "Anyway, um…I'm pretty drunk right now and I should take the train back to my place. You probably don't want to be around me."

Before he could step out and consequently get hit by an oncoming speeder, Ahsoka grabbed his arm and pulled him back. His hat had been knocked uneven during his brief fight with the male Twi'lek, and Ahsoka fixed it for him.

"I'm walking you to the train station. I wouldn't like it if you let your stupid blue ass get kicked in a fight you were too drunk to turn down."

"Hey…I can take care of myself." He scowled, looking very serious, just before he hiccuped.

It took all of Ahsoka's self-control not to laugh. "And so can I, what's your point?" She gripped his arm and led him away from the crowd, to a quieter street on the way to the train station. She kept a close eye on anyone who might be following them, as well as any signs that another drunk partier might cause them trouble…skills Bane had taught her over the past two months. In fact, were it not for his teaching, she would have been much too frightened to even leave her apartment tonight. And, had she not been interrupted by Bane's determination to be the hero for a change, she would have known how to deal with the situation all by herself.

Ahsoka looked around the neighborhood. Everyone seemed so happy about the news. Not only did Ahsoka feel anything but happiness, but a growing sense that something was…not right. Like there was one piece not quite fitting into place. The feeling seemed to grow with every minute they walked down the street, to the point where Ahsoka's skin tingled.

Something was wrong. Wrong about what? The war, the planet, herself? She hadn't the slightest clue. But whatever it was, it was certainly not to be celebrated over.

Worrying about this dark sense inside her made Ahsoka nearly neglect to realize that Bane had asked her a question.

"You know what? I got to say, I'm happy."

"You're happy…why?" Ahsoka asked.

"I'm happy that you're going to be okay."

"You are?" She frowned. Was this just the alcohol talking? Or had the alcohol loosened up all the things he never said?

"Yeah, I mean…I know you hate me and think I'm disgusting and all, but maybe you'll be all right now. Get a nice job or even start a new career. It's worth it, right?"

Ahsoka stared at him as she helped him sit down on a bench so they could wait for the train to arrive. "You think I hate you? Well, I hate your hat, if you consider that the same thing."

"It's okay, little bit. You can go ahead and hate me. Everyone else already hates me." He set the now empty bottle on the ground between his legs.

"Isn't that a big surprise," she muttered.

"I just wish more people liked me…you know? It's so lonely sometimes."

"You hurt and kill people for a living. Not the most likable profession."

He sighed and, much to Ahsoka's shock and surprise, rested his head on her shoulder. She tensed at first, having not expected this from Bane at all, and she dreaded how much more he was going to spill emotionally before his train arrived.

"It's so lonely, and I'm so unhappy…" he said softly.

"Just a minute ago you said you were happy…?"

"But that was then and now I just realized how lonely I am and I'm unhappy all over again. It's so lousy, you know? Someday I'm going to die alone and no one will miss me when I'm gone and that will be all my fault," he cried.

Ahsoka's eyes widened. She slowly reached her arm around Bane and patted him on the back. "Uh, there, there…it gets easier. You told me that once, remember?"

"I lied! It just gets harder and harder."

She patted him again, not knowing what else to do. "If that were true, I'd be dead. Come on, you were just saying how I'm better off than I was two months ago. Now can you please stop crying on my shoulder? It's going to stain."

"Right." He sat up and wiped his face on his sleeve before glancing up at the tracks. "Must be my train. I'm going."

"Who knows when we'll run into each other again." Ahsoka shrugged. "Though it would be a real shame if I had to see your ugly face one more time."

He frowned. "Oh yeah? Well, it would be a real shame if I had to put up with your stupid music and stupid jokes one more time."

"My jokes are hilarious and, unlike you, I don't listen to garbage."

"I'm leaving, good night." He stood up a little too fast.

"I don't hate you, by the way!" she called out as he walked off to catch his train. "It's just the hat that ruins it."

"Oh, shut up!"

She tried to smile as she got up and started the walk back home, but the feeling from before remained still. Luckily it was not getting worse, but Ahsoka could not shake it away. Maybe the events from tonight had simply shaken her up a little.

If the Force was trying to tell her something, what was it? Whatever the message was, Ahsoka wished it could be sent a little clearer. Even after she returned to her apartment, showered, and meditated before bed, nothing changed.

Was something currently happening? Had something already happened?

Or was something about to happen?

Ahsoka lay wide awake all night, disturbed by the slightest tinge of worry and dread. Not enough to make her anxious or panicked, but just enough that she could not relax and indulge in a few small comforts.

Maybe it was nothing…