Chapter 11
The voyage back to Coruscant was very quiet, as all of them spent it in meditation, all for reasons of their own. The knew that if something came up, R2 would bring them back, the Astromech droid being very dependable in these situations. Only when they were challenged by Coruscant Traffic Control during their approach to the planet did Ahsoka emerge from within the Force, and found that her insecurities were no less then when they'd left Corellia. To her Coruscant symbolized so many things that had gone wrong in her past, and she sensed that many more things would go wrong in the future.
She knew that much of her anxiety stemmed from the very real chance that she might be forced to enter the Jedi Temple once more, the one place on the planet she had sworn she'd never see again. Would her old Master go against her own very obvious wishes? She glanced over at where he and Obi Wan were still in meditation, and shook her head. No, he wouldn't. Whatever he'd teased her with, he had always respected her once he'd gotten to know her during that battle so long ago, and even though something about him was different. She couldn't put her finger on it, but somehow he seemed to be less... haunted. In the past there had always been some sort of reserve about him, like he had always been holding something back when he interacted with anyone, even her. She had pegged onto this in what little conversation they'd made during the trip.
"Master?" she said softly.
Anakin opened one of his eyes and gave her the sort of scrutiny that would have had her in bales of laughter a year ago. "We're close to Coruscant then?"
"Yes. I've chosen a spaceport on the opposite side from the senate quarter, but I don't have the means to access transport."
Anakin didn't either. He glanced over to where Obi Wan had risen and was now entering the refresher. "Hrm." He considered options for a moment.
"R2," he said, "As soon as we've landed, contact m.. the Senator and ask her to arrange for a speeder to meet us at..."
He glanced at Ahsoka who promptly supplied the name and co-ordinates of the spaceport they were headed for. R2 beeped an affirmative and connected to the shuttle's systems. Twenty minutes later the shuttle entered the approach lane and inserted itself into the constant traffic.
After she had landed the shuttle, Ahsoka insisted on dealing with the usual drudgeries of landing on the capital of the Republic and Anakin used this opportunity to speak to Obi Wan alone.
"Master, what do we do with her? She won't enter the Temple willingly, but the council will insist on interrogating her when we tell them that she is involved. Not only about being approached by Sith agents but also about her new force abilities."
"Look at you being the responsible one for a change." Obi Wan replied with a smirk. He sobered up quickly though. "But I figured about as much."
He knew that it was one of those times again where he had to make an instant decision, and one that would once again force him to choose between duty and what he felt was the right ting to do. "What compels us to tell them that it was Ahsoka we met? Considering that we have had little chance to actually talk to her about what has taken place, there's no need to tell she is involved."
Obi Wan sighed. "I don't like withholding information from the Council, but it would not be the first time. Remember that -"
"I know, Obi Wan." Anakin said and frowned. "Hm. I think there is a place where she could stay until we know what is going on here."
The elder Jedi Master had no idea what Anakin meant. They had left Corellia without any clear idea what to do when they reached Coruscant.
"Well, Padmé's rooms should be large enough."
True enough, but Obi Wan could instantly think of two things that could go wrong with that idea.
Anakin gave a strangely hesitant smile. "Obi Wan, if I want her to trust me, then I have to show her that I trust her implicitly. What would show that more than telling her my biggest secret without any conditions? Oh, she will be furious that I kept it from her in the first place, but in the end she'll come around."
"Who will?"
Ahsoka was leaning against the forward landing gear and watched two grown Jedi act like younglings caught with their hands on the cookie jar with a bemused expression.
"You'll find out soon enough." Anakin said, visibly pulling himself together.
"Anakin, you know that she'll come herself, no matter the risks." Obi Wan said to Anakin who replied with an exhasperated grin.
"Of course she will, which is why I didn't bother to tell her not to. You know how she is. Come on."
Without waiting for an answer or one of the others to follow, Anakin walked away towards the terminal building of the spaceport.
Ahsoka brought up the rear with R2, a smile on her face and secure in the knowledge that she hadn't been imagining things after all.
The basic layout of the terminal was nothing exceptional, being similar to facilities all over the Galaxy. Of course that was where the similarities ended. Instead of the usual two or three landing decks in addition to the berths on the massive ferrocrete space around the building, this one had five, and was furnished about as gaudy as you could expect from a facility that serviced this half of Coruscant. Most of the patrons that frequented the space port and the various shops, restaurants and other establishments on the levels below those that serviced the craft and shuttles ignored the small group.
Even with the war going on traffic hadn't really let up or changed, though there were a great many beings in Republic uniform.
It suited them just fine as they descended into the lower, cheaper recreation level where the public access landingpads for speeders were located. They used one of the lifts, even though wide, expansive stairs decorated with statues and advertisement holos also existed. R2 led them to an out-of-the-way pad, away from the main routes of traffic in this area. It hung out over the usual chasm, but the gap to the next building was little more than half again the size of the of the pad.
Unlike the place where Anakin had landed near the industrial district a few days ago, it was while still shabby and unused, not littered with refuse. He looked around and saw that there was no place nearby where anyone could hide, but he still felt a sense of unease that permeated their surroundings. He stole a glance at Ahsoka and Obi Wan who were both reaching out into the force for any threats nearby.
Anakin reached out as well, but more towards his wife. Since they'd gotten married he had discovered that he could sense her over a very long distance, her presence almost like a beacon in the natural flow of the living Force. The downside was that it worked best when he knew where she was in the physical realm, and right now this was not the case, and even though he sensed that she was slowly coming closer towards them, he couldn't tell how far away she was exactly.
But he needn't have worried, because Padme's outwardly understated but inwardly ridiculously luxurious private speeder was approaching fast, that combination of her family colours was probably unique.
Whatever he'd said earlier, he was slightly worried about how she would react to him depositing Ahsoka at her apartment until they had decided what to do next. But at the same time...
The speeder landed and the access hatch hissed open. Out came, as expected the loveliest Senator in history, clad in the same form-shrouding clothes he'd seen on her when they had met after he'd crashed the Separatist ship some days ago now. She had yet to say a word when Anakin crossed the distance between them with a few steps and hugged her as tightly as her current condition would allow.
Obi Wan just smiled as he watched them, but Ahsoka was flabbergasted at this. She had suspected that her old Master and the Senator were more than friends, but she would never have expected Anakin to act it out so openly.
"Get in." Padmé said after Anakin had let go, and Anakin proceeded to do so, but halted in mid-stride when Ahsoka spoke, sounding more apprehensive than he'd ever heard her.
"Where to?"
Anakin stopped and turned back towards her. He reached out and placed both his hands on her shoulders. "Do you trust me?"
Ahsoka looked up at him, and Anakin was close to loosing it. Even when he had originally rejected her as his Padawan, she had never been anything but forward, chippery and generally the Ahsoka Tano he'd come to see as the sister he'd never had. And his acts after she'd been framed for the Temple bombing had helped destroy that. It broke his heart, and it didn't even occur to him to blame the Council for that.
"Ahsoka, you can trust me. If you don't trust me, trust Obi Wan. Or trust my wife."
She looked up at him and replied: "Fine."
Padmé stood beside the speeder with a worried frown on her face, and as Anakin approached to get in with the rest. She had heard the entire exchange and it was obvious that she was curious about what had taken place on Corellia. She had seen that Anakin wore bacta patches and had cut his hair. What surprised her more though was the presence of Anakin's old Togrutan Padawan. They hadn't met for months, and she had little knowledge of what had happened when she'd left the Order, but Anakin had occasionally hinted that it had been something bad, and that he, in part at least, blamed himself.
But whatever had happened, Anakin seemed to trust her still and genuinely eager to rebuild that friendship they'd had. Since she knew how Anakin treasured those relationships she accepted that he'd told without asking her first. Besides, if her instincts were correct, they needed someplace for Ahsoka to stay without anyone finding out, and she would have offered had Anakin not done so for her.
Not that she'd needed to do so, as Ahsoka clearly noticed her – condition as she entered the speeder.
The cockpit of the fighter was cramped to begin with, but he knew that the modifications he'd had made didn't help. But he wouldn't concentrate on meaningless creature comforts right now. He glanced to his screens, seeing that the two TIEs flown by his wingmen were still with him as they continued to pursue the attacking Rebel snubfighters. He pushed the throttle forward, he needed to catch the Rebels before they reached the end of the trench. Soon two of the X-Wing were within range, and one of his wingmen fired a quick salvo, hitting his target square. The fighter pulled up and out of the run. He switched to the squadron channel. "Let him go. Stay on the leader." The second X-Wing manoeuvred wildly, trying to obscure his leader form the TIE's targeting system, but to no avail. He fired, and the X-Wing exploded in a white ball of fury. The last X-Wing continued straight on it's attack run.
"I'm on the leader."Whoever flew that one was good. But then he sensed something in the Force. Realizing that it was coming from the X-Wing, he tried to hone in on it. "The Force is strong with this one."He fired again, barely missing the cockpit, instead taking out his opponents R2 unit. He re-adjusted his aim, taking the time to let his systems lock the target properly this time. "I have you now!" He fired. Suddenly one of his wingmen was hit by several bolts and exploded. "WHAT?"
On his rearview screens he saw a YT-1300 dive towards him out of the sun.
Sidious had sensed Anakin's return to Coruscant the moment he stepped off the shuttle eight hours ago, but he knew that it would be a while before he was within reach for the next step in Sidious' plans. He wished he could have prevented them going to Corellia, but even a Sith Lord was not omnipotent, and his mercenaries has reported the target to be dead. Since he couldn't sense Ahsoka anywhere, he was inclined to believe them.
Having been forced to wait, he had instead immediately sent Anakin another dream, and he knew that his future apprentice still had his mind as wide open as he had been before leaving. At least there nothing had changed. At least...
His comm unit beeped. After checking that his disguise was in place he answered. The being on the other end was a rouge former Black Sun operative. He was clearly nervous, but upon hearing what he had to say, Sidious was too angry to do kill the messenger.
That damn, incompetent idiot...
tbc
