Ahsoka was more or less bouncing as she clambered into her Master's airspeeder, which, curiously, seemed to be parked in Padmé's allocated space.
"We're still friends." He explained, feeling her sudden unease. "Just because we don't spend our free time together…" there was a stress on the word that told Ahsoka exactly what he meant. "It doesn't mean that we aren't friends."
The small Togruta replied by leaning across the seat, and dabbing a kiss on his cheek. She still seemed to be in the tactile stage, he realised, with a smile, although he decided that a clone patroller finding them both in the back seat of the speeder would be a trifle likely to report them to whatever authorities "Two Jedi in the back seat of a car" applied to, and put the craft into gear, and taking off, smoothly rising into one of the traffic lanes that would take him to the Jedi Temple.
Once they were cruising through the skylanes, Anakin just turned, before laying an arm over Ahsoka's shoulders, feeling both the roughness of the hand-woven woollen cloth and the tension in the narrow shoulders beneath the fabric.
"They don't cook and eat Padawan learners, you know." He said, trying to lighten her mood a little. "You're covered, Ahsoka."
"But... they'll know if we lie to them, won't they?" She asked, more than slightly nervous.
"If we lie to them, of course they'll know." Anakin replied. "But one of the things I leant from Senator Amidala is that, sometimes, you can tell the truth, but make it so misleading that it could be considered a lie."
"Give me an example." Ahsoka said, her presence noticeably loosening up in the Force.
"I slept with Ahsoka once, while we were both drunk." He stated. "At once, it is an entirely truthful statement and an entirely misleading one."
Then he reached down to the console, and flicked a small switch. Almost instantly, it sounded like they were driving through a Alderaanian concert hall, just metres away from the orchestra. It was also a fairly good piece of music, conjuring to mind a cavalry attack.
Grinning at the fact that her Master, renowned within the Order for a general disagreement with the principle of only owning those items needed to survive, was a fan of classical music, Ahsoka reached into her pocket, reassuring herself that the small packet of what smelt like sticks of jerked nerf Senator Amidala had slipped into her pocket were still present. Any meeting with the Supreme Chancellor at the Senate building was likely to take a fair while.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
The Coruscant skyscape had gaps in it, Anakin noticed, looking through the haze of brown smoke, through the window of the Supreme Chancellors' office.
"Anakin, this afternoon the Senate is going to call on me to take direct control of the Jedi Council." Palpatine said. Anakin glanced at him, surprised, and very glad that Ahsoka wasn't in the room.
"The Jedi will no longer report to the Senate?" he asked.
"They will report to me . . . personally. The Senate is too unfocused to conduct a war. This will bring a quick end to things."
"I agree, but the Jedi Council may not see it that way." Anakin commented.
"There are times when we must all endure adjustments to the constitution in the name of security."
Another? Anakin wondered. Is this one the last…? "With all due respect, sir, the Council is in no mood for more constitutional amendments."
"Thank you, my friend," Palpatine replied. "But in this case I have no choice . . . this war must be won."
"Everyone will agree on that." Including the small, very cute Togruta in your outer office, currently playing clash of thrones on her datapad.
"Anakin, I've known you since you were a small boy. I have advised you over the years when I could ... I am very proud of your accomplishments. You have won many battles the Jedi Council thought were lost . . . and you saved my life. I hope you trust me, Anakin."
"Of course." Anakin replied, almost entirely truthfully. There was something… somewhere, that was making him start to feel nervous.
"I need your help, son." Palpatine suddenly stated.
"What do you mean?"
"I fear the Jedi. The Council keeps pushing for more control. They're shrouded in secrecy and obsessed with maintaining their autonomy . . . ideals. I find simply incomprehensible in a democracy."
Anakin blinked, before responding. "I can assure you that the Jedi are dedicated to the values of the Republic, sir."
"Nevertheless, their actions will speak more loudly than their words. I'm depending on you."
"For what? I don't understand." Anakin said, suddenly feeling very concerned.
"To be the eyes, ears, and voice of the Republic … Anakin . . . I'm appointing you to be my personal representative on the Jedi Council."
"Me? A Master? I am overwhelmed, sir, but the Council elects its own members. They will never accept this." Anakin said. Most of them saw him as a loose nuclear warhead, rolling about in the hold of a battleship, after his defence of Ahsoka. The rest saw him as a upstart, from outside their traditions, with a significant criminal record, thankfully expunged as an adult, for participation in illegal, and extremely dangerous, sports.
"I think they will . . . they need you more than you know." Palpatine said, before turning to his terminal, and calling up the first crisis of the day, as Anakin collected Ahsoka from the outer office, and headed for his airspeeder.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
It was a five minute drive to the Temple, and with half an hour to spare, Anakin dropped his speeder neatly into the parking bay, dropping onto the hydraulic landing gear with barely a judder or rattle, then cracked open the canopy. Ahsoka clambered out, glancing around, but all-too-quickly spotting several holocams that would notice any romantic clinches between them. Instead, they made do with a simple hug and a fairly paternal looking kiss, between the still developing horns of her montrals.
The temple was bustling, mostly with support staff, but also with Jedi, although few of them fell into the category of 'young, with no padawan or Master.' Those Jedi were on the frontlines across the galaxy, while the older generation, of those who'd trained the Masters of the current generation, taught the younglings and carried out research. Admittedly, they were still fairly keen for the occasional operational deployment, although admittedly those where they were unlikely to have to sleep in bushes or conduct foot pursuits longer than five miles.
Anakin and Ahsoka passed through the various groups, clearly on some kind of mission.
Predictably, though, in a structure full of those who are universally banned from casino resorts, it wasn't long until Obi-wan found them.
"Master." Anakin said, respectfully.
"Anakin." Obi-wan replied. "Ahsoka. Good to see you both in one piece after that business with The Invisible Hand."
"You'd have enjoyed it, Master."
"I'm sure I would have." Obi-wan said, with a slight smile. "I do so enjoy being aboard badly damaged ships when they make a crash landing." Then he turned to Ahsoka. "Are you well?" He asked.
"I'm well, Master Kenobi." She replied. "Master Skywalker managed to get those things off of my wrists." She didn't notice, as she was talking about it, that she was rubbing her wrists, almost ritualistically, as if trying to restart circulation or remove a close fitting cuff from around them. Anakin and Obi-Wan both noticed.
"Did you see the skyball last night?" Obi-wan asked hurriedly changing the subject.
"We were at Senator Amidala's." Ahsoka replied. "Her chef did us a risotto I could eat as well."
Obi-wan looked more than vaguely intrigued by that. "How did he manage it?"
Ahsoka looked a bit baffled. Anakin, fortunately, had a fair idea. "He used a carniculture vat to grow the proteins, and then shaped them into grains of rice using the processor."
"Most curious. Could the Temple kitchen manage it as well, I wonder?" Anakin shook his head, slightly. The only logical reason for Obi-Wan to be taking an interest in human-togruta compatible food was... his mind did not want to go there. Obi-Wan and Shaak-Ti... He swallowed, trying to get the image out of his mind. Since Satine had passed away, he guessed that his Master had been looking again.
"Does Master Yoda know?" He asked, instead.
"Master Yoda is aware, Anakin. We're keeping our emotions out of it."
That pretty much confirmed it was another Jedi, then.
Ahsoka, he noticed, was dancing with impatience. There were few reasons for the full Council to be present when a Padawan was summoned. All but one of them were good reasons. As Anakin had talked her into staying with him as a Padawan, and having that as her sole investment in the Order, he assumed that they weren't going to throw her out again.
"Ahsoka." He said. "Go and meditate."
"You never meditate." She replied.
"I do." He replied, slightly hotly. "Usually when you're not around. Having an energetic and impatient padawan uses a lot of energy."
He didn't quite catch which of the seventy or so of the Mandalorian salutes Ahsoka made in his direction, as she headed for a nearby meditation room, but he knew it hadn't been one of the complimentary ones.
Then, once the door was closed, Obi-wan turned back to Anakin with a look that could have punched right through a star destroyer.
"Are. You. Out. Of. Your. Bloody. Mind?" He demanded, speaking very slowly and clearly, at about ninety decibels "She's. Your. Padawan."
"Master?" Anakin asked.
"Do not play games with me, Anakin Skywalker." Obi-Wan's eyes were almost glowing yellow with fury. "She's your frakking Padawan. And you are kriffing her."
Anakin just looked at his former Master, stunned by the sudden descent into more primitive language.
"When." Obi-Wan demanded, bristling with what looked like quasi-parental outrage.
"Only a few days ago." He reassured his Master. "We had a few rounds of ale with Torrent, and woke up next to each other."
"Anakin, she's not just reacting to a one night stand. She's infatuated with you." Obi-wan stated, although Anakin could feel the rage draining out of his Master.
"Is it wrong?"
"She's your Padawan."
"Not for much longer." Anakin pointed out.
"As soon as she steps into the council chambers Shai... Master Shaak-Ti..." He corrected, rather quickly. "Will notice her body language. You will be sent outside, and she will be expected to accuse you of grooming her."
"And when she doesn't?"
"You'll be expelled faster than a dietician from a hutt's palace, and she'll end up in counselling until you are charged with rape."
Anakin just looked horrified, for a few moments.
"The council sent me to fetch both of you." Obi-wan stated. "It's probably a good idea if the council don't see you together.
Anakin nodded.
"Ahsoka meditating before a council meeting won't seem that odd." He explained. "Particularly since they are planning to promote her to knighthood. Congratulations. For both successes."
"What's the other?" Anakin asked, already knowing the answer.
"Well, Senator Amidala needed a friend. Shai... purely as a favour... went and spent a few girly nights with her, after she realised she was expecting."
"There's a bit of a gap." Anakin commented.
"Possibly. Shai was able to give her some perspective. I wouldn't have known what to say, or felt comfortable going to the clinic with her. We'd have ended up as the main headline in the Galactic Inquirer for sure."
Anakin was still trying to process both that Shaak-Ti and Obi-Wan were having some sort of relationship, and that Obi-Wan had a pet name for her. He didn't want to know any more.
Obi-wan stepped forwards, leading the way into the council chambers, and Anakin suddenly felt very nervous.
Finally figured out how to link the next chapter and chapter nine together. And, yeah. Obi-wan and Shaak-Ti... I have no idea whatsoever which part of my subconscious mind generated that one. Anway, I've managed to find a way to reignite this fic, and I should be able to post some form of update every few weeks, allowing for university.