It takes Magnus and Riyo one hour by pickup speeder to reach the outskirts of civilization, and another half hour to drive past all the permafrost farmland that rings around that. The land that stretches out afterwards is thick with forest.
During a Snow Walk, people go out in the wilderness and survive of a few days. They put themselves at the mercy of the Blizzard God. Snow Walks can last between two days to one whole standard year, and male Pantorans earn the right to their first tattoos after the completion of their first Snow Walk.
Hardcore Pantorans do Snow Walks out in the tundra, but these are the same people who do them while equipped with only a hand-blaster, a knife, and the clothes on their back. People attempting these kinds of Snow Walks for the first time are usually brought into hospitals; trapped in pseudo-hibernations. Some don't recover.
There's no way Magnus is taking Riyo on a Snow Walk that intense. He's too old, and as capable as Riyo is, she doesn't know how to start a fire from scratch. So they're here in the forest, and in the back of the speeder are two survival kits, one for Magnus, and one for Riyo.
The two Pantorans are dressed in tough pants, boots, and sleeveless shirts, putting their tattoos on display. Like how a few Pantorans can read tattoos like text, so can the Gods. It's polite to introduce yourself whenever you go into someone else's house, so Snow Walkers keep their tattoos uncovered so that the Blizzard God knows exactly who they are. Magnus, who has full chest and back tattoos that tell about his decorated military service, sheds his shirt as soon as they exit the speeder.
Riyo hefts her pack over her shoulders. The woods are deep and solemn. Pristine snow dusts the ground and the trees like powdered sugar. Magnus locks the speeder, then leads the way into the forest. They walk in silence for a few minutes, navigating between tall, frozen boulders, over fallen trees, and around other obstacles.
"Where are we?" Riyo asks.
"You don't know?"
"No."
"That'll do." Magnus stops in the middle of a clearing and takes off his pack. He kneels with it on the ground, opens it up, and takes out a thermos, and two sets of tracking devices. Magnus unscrews the lid off the thermos, letting out a cloud of steam. He drinks from it then hands it to Riyo. She swirls the contents and smells herbs and something musty.
"What kind of tea is this?" she asks.
"Frost Shield," Magnus says. She freezes.
"How much do I drink?"
"Not all of it. Not just a sip either. As much as you want."
Riyo lifts the thermos to her lips and takes a couple gulps of tea. It's bitter and earthy and she grimaces as she lowers the thermos and screws the cap back on.
"Now what?"
Magnus clips one tracker to his belt and gives the output to Riyo, then he clips the other tracker to the collar of her shirt.
"Just in case," he says. "Remember to be honest." He frowns as he looks over Riyo's shoulder.
"What is it?" She asks.
"I saw something move," Magnus says. Riyo turns to look, but sees nothing.
"It's the tea," Riyo says, but Magnus picks up his pack and steps around her to investigate.
"Of course it's the tea, but it don't mean whatever you see isn't important. If I don't come back in five minutes, then it's alright. You have my tracker and you have a comlink."
"You're leaving me here?"
"I'll be…." Magnus trails off and looks into the forest again. "I'll be back for you." And with that, he slips between the trees and disappears.
For one moment, Riyo feels cheated. She looks at the thermos in her hand and wonders why she isn't feeling or seeing anything. At least she isn't nauseous.
The world tilts and rushes up to meet her. She bursts through the surface of the ground the same way one would fall into a swimming pool and tumbles around, weightless, in the dark. It feels like she's spinning around in her own skull, like she's been wearing her body all of her life, but can't really escape it, and so she sinks deeper into the infinite recesses of her mind instead.
The darkness doesn't last. Vague flickers of sensation and emotion fire around her in a confusing mix of sound and color. She doesn't know how she's seeing or hearing anything without any eyes or ears, but supposes that she'll miss the point if she dwells too much on technicalities.
The heart monitor flatlines. A younger and smaller Riyo watches the straight line on the monitor and is consumed by how unfair this all this. What will she do now?
An older Riyo holds her hands out to a pretty, red Twi'lek girl, only to have her shy away from her touch.
"Cerise, please." Riyo says, even though there's nothing she can do to keep this from happening.
"You keep publishing those damning articles of yours and they'll come for you," the Twi'lek says. "You know it. I know it, and I can't be a part of it anymore. I'm sorry, Riyo."
But she's more scared than she's sorry. Riyo turns away.
"I'd die for our people." Cho wheezes; that Talz spear must have went right through his lung. "I'd…die…."
Riyo's thrown for a loop, and when she slows to a stop, she's lying on a cold, metal table.
Don't look.
Riyo shuts her eyes and presses back into the table as the flat of a blade taps against the underside of her chin, keeping her from turning away. She gets the sudden urge to talk and quickly.
"I couldn't stop Chairman Cho from dying," she says. "I'm not a warrior; my hands were not made for fighting. My weapons are words, and he refused to listen to me."
The presence in front of her shifts and the blade disappears from her throat. A light shines into her face and she opens her eyes. Someone looms over her, their face hidden in shadow.
"Is she yours to give?" they ask.
Before Riyo can answer, she falls up off the table, out of the room, back into her mind and then up to the tangible world. The surface of the ground solidifies under her, leaving her lying there in the clearing in the forest, breathless.
Above her, Magnus swims into focus and he sits back, relieved. "There you are."
"Magnus? This is real now?"
"So you saw things?"
"I think He hates me," Riyo says.
"If He hated you, you would've overdosed on that tea," Magnus says. He offers Riyo a hand and pulls her to her feet. "What did you see?"
"A parade of bad memories. Just one right after the other."
"That's how He knows how tough someone is."
"And I saw…something else. I can't explain it."
"He gave you a warning then," Magnus says. "He must have thought you could handle it."
BEEP.
Magnus's comlink lights up and he unclips it from his belt.
"It's Ahsoka's droid," he says as he takes the call.
The forest is filled with R7's panicked screaming.
Riyo stands at the foot of Ahsoka's hospital bed, watching. Ahsoka is still unconscious, a ventilator mask pulled over her face. A thin tube snakes in under the collar of her hospital scrubs and roots in her chest. This tube drips fresh Bacta directly into her wound through the sanitized Bacta patch. Riyo covers her mouth with a trembling hand and tries to keep despair from welling up in her throat.
"Senator Chuchi?" The doctor, a muscular Pantoran with tattoos covering even their fingers and palms, steps into the room with a data pad.
"Uh." Riyo quickly wipes her eyes on the heel of her hand. "Yes?"
"I'm Dr. Jago. Ahsoka Tano was assigned to my care." The doctor steps closer, their voice careful and concerned.
"Hello, Doctor. How…how is she?"
"It looks a lot worse than it is. Usually, when patients come in with sternal injuries, they also come in with internal injuries as well. That was not the case with your friend. A large part of her sternum was missing, so we cloned a replacement bone and fit it in with the remains of the original, like a jigsaw puzzle. Then we reattached all the muscles and tendons. The Bacta should knit everything together overnight and once that's done, she should be able to breathe on her own, so we'll take her off of the ventilation machine."
Riyo says nothing.
"Is she Force-sensitive?" Dr. Jago asks.
"Yes, does that help?"
"I've treated Force-sensitives before and in my experience, they're very hardy. Her recuperation period will be incredibly short compared to non-sensitives."
"When will she wake up?"
"The anesthesia we used during surgery will wear off soon, so she should wake up either later today or tomorrow. If she's feeling a lot of pain, then let a nurse know and we'll get her on morphine."
"Thank you, Doctor," Riyo says. Dr. Jago puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, Senator. She's a tough, young woman and she'll come around." Dr. Jago turns and leaves the room, leaving Riyo alone with Ahsoka.
Riyo pulls the visitor's chair closer to the bed, then sits down. The only sounds in the room are the small beeps of the heart monitor and the steady pumps of the breathing machine. Riyo covers her eyes with a hand and sighs.
The door whooshes open.
"Magnus," Riyo says, "please, not now."
"Is that your bodyguard's name?"
Riyo almost falls out of the chair at the sound of Asajj Ventress's voice. Asajj oozes danger and grace, with a pointed jawline that's liable to cut. She sinks into another visitor's chair that's tucked into the corner of the room.
"Stop cringing, Senator, I'm not here to hurt you," Asajj says as she crosses her long legs.
"How can I believe that? You and Ahsoka have a complicated past."
"I saved Ahsoka's life. If she dies, I don't get paid."
"I forgot; you're a bounty hunter now. So you went with Ahsoka to Malachor?"
"Yes. The credits made it worth my while."
"How could you let this happen?"
Asajj sneers. "Excuse you? This was not my fault."
Riyo opens her mouth to say something, but Asajj cuts her off. "Hush! I will not be lectured to. I understand that I'm an easy target for you to pile your frustrations on, but it does not mean I will tolerate such treatment."
Riyo almost spits, but turns away and takes a calming breath.
"So Ahsoka almost got a boob sliced off," Asajj says. "It happens to the best of us. What matters is that she's here, isn't she? What matters is that she's alive."
"But it's all about the credits to you, isn't it? Do you even care what happens to her?"
Asajj and Riyo stare at each other with narrowed eyes for a moment.
"No," Asajj finally says. Riyo tilts her head.
"Ventress, you…?"
"I said 'no!'" Asajj says. She shifts in her seat. "I couldn't care less!"
The both of them fall into a stunned silence. Asajj's ice blue eyes snap back up to Riyo's.
"Not a word," she says. Riyo jerks her head in a way that could be taken for a nod.
"These are hers." Asajj unclips Ahsoka's lightsabers from her belt and levitates them across the room to Riyo. They drop into Riyo's hands and she gasps in surprise.
"What is it?" Asajj asks.
Riyo hefts the lightsabers. "They're heavy."
Asajj rolls her eyes at Riyo's pitiful upper body strength. "All lightsabers are heavy. My last lightsaber was three pounds at least, and that one was on the smaller end of the scale."
"But she handles them like they weigh nothing." Riyo pulls open a bedside table drawer to find Ahsoka's clothes and belongings. She places the lightsabers over Ahsoka's dress, then rummages a little more. When she doesn't find what she's looking for, she turns back to Asajj.
"Do you have the Sith holocron?"
"I do." Asajj reaches into her tabard and takes it out. "Ahsoka mentioned needing knowledge of this Darth Plagueis 'for a friend.' I don't suppose you know who this friend of hers is?"
"No," Riyo says, still staring at the holocron. There's something unnerving about it.
"Oh, so you do know," Asajj says.
Riyo glares. "Don't read my mind."
"So if Ahsoka's still not awake by the time her friend calls, then you can tell them what I found," Asajj says, totally ignoring Riyo's request. She holds the holocron in both hands and shifts in her chair, getting comfortable. "I suggest you be quiet while I do this."
Riyo nods and lowers her hand over Ahsoka's. Satisfied, Asajj closes her eyes and begins to meditate. A chill goes up Riyo's spine, and she ducks closer to Ahsoka. She gets the immediate impression that although she doesn't know what's happening, she must not look away, not even for a second. If she does, then Asajj, and the Sith holocron that levitates in her hands, will somehow gut her and Ahsoka both.
The corners of the holocron turn and split from the main part, and the light trapped inside escapes and throws angry red light all over the hospital room. Asajj doesn't seem to notice and stays silent and still.
After a few minutes, Asajj shudders and closes the holocron. The red light vanishes, and Riyo straightens up. Asajj places the holocron on the small table at the foot of Ahsoka's bed, her nose wrinkled in disgust.
"I need a damn drink after that. Do you want to know what I've found?"
"Yes," Riyo says.
Asajj tells her, then sweeps out of the room to get her drink. Riyo grips Ahsoka's hand a little tighter and eyes the Sith Holocron with unmitigated fear.
BEEP.
That's Ahsoka's comlink. Riyo opens the drawer and searches for the correct gauntlet, then takes the call. Anakin Skywalker's bust appears in the holocomlink.
"Anakin," Riyo says.
"Riyo," Anakin says. There are shadows under his eyes and sparse stubble along his upper lip and chin. "I sensed something in the Force from Ahsoka. Is she alright?"
"She's…." Suddenly feeling rather spiteful, Riyo moves the comlink closer to Ahsoka, so that it'll pick up her image. Anakin gasps and Riyo moves the comlink back to herself.
"I know you were desperate. I know there was no other way for you to get your information. But this is the last time you send her to that place."
"I didn't mean…."
"You sent her alone! She had to get help from Asajj Ventress."
"She what?"
"Ventress said it wasn't her fault, and you know what? She might be right. It should have been you with her; you two always protect each other. You could have done it. You could have found a way."
"I can't just leave Padmé," Anakin says. "Not now. She needs me too."
Padmé, of course. How could Riyo forget? All the fight goes out of her, and her shoulders sag.
"You're right. I'm sorry," Riyo whispers. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."
Anakin's eyes soften. "No, you're fine. I kind of deserve that. I put Ahsoka in this situation. I'm sorry too."
"Ahsoka's actually already finished with surgery. The doctor said she'd be alright."
"That's good. I mean, good that she'll be fine."
"I know," Riyo says. "Do you want to know about Darth Plagueis?"
"Ventress opened the Holocron?"
"Yes. She's not here right now, but she told me what she found." Riyo takes a breath to steel herself. "There is a Sith healing technique that revolves around pain and hatred. It's not sustainable, and according to Ventress, it's not as potent as the Jedi technique, because the Dark Side excels at destruction, not creation."
"Oh." Anakin looks down, disappointed.
"Anakin, please. I'm…there's more."
"What is it?"
"The only example Ventress could find of a Sith bringing a person back to life was Darth Sion. His agony was so great that he used it to fuel his focus of the Dark Side and used it to keep his dead body together so that he could possess it. He possessed his own corpse."
Anakin stares.
"Anakin?"
"Sorry, Riyo. I'm processing all this."
"I must ask: are you planning on pursuing this line of knowledge?"
"No! No." Anakin shudders. "No. That's not the kind of power I want."
"Whoever told you about Darth Plagueis must have lied to you."
"Yeah." Anakin pinches the bridge of his nose. "I realize that."
"What are you going to do? Sorry, you don't have to answer that, that's none of my business."
"No, I made it your business when I sent your girlfriend to Malachor. I'm going to warn the Jedi Council about the Sith Lord, and the Council can take it from there."
Riyo pauses as her mind immediately comes up with five different questions. She decides to go with the least probing one. "You're not going to do more?"
"Padmé and I are in hiding right now. From the Chancellor, from the Jedi Order, from everyone. It's actually kind of nice. It's like we're on vacation, but not really."
"That explains your face," Riyo says.
"You noticed?" Anakin rubs his pitiful facial hair. "Yeah, it'll help people from recognizing me. Nice, huh?"
"Y-yeah," Riyo lies. "How's Padmé?"
Anakin beams. "She's doing great! A little restless though. She's not used to not doing any work."
The door slides open and Asajj walks in carrying a bottle of liquor.
"Skywalker?"
"Ventress."
"If there's a story behind all this, I don't want to know." Asajj settles back in her chair. "You look like poodoo."
She's not wrong. Soon-to-be fathers often look like poodoo and Anakin isn't an exception, with the shadows under his eyes and his rumpled hair. Amazingly, though, he smiles.
"Say what you like, Ventress. Ahsoka's alive, Padmé's alive. What more can I want?"
Asajj rolls her eyes as she takes another swig. "Spare me your sentimentality."
"I'll call tomorrow, Riyo."
"Alright."
Anakin hangs up. Riyo lowers the gauntlet and turns to Asajj, who offers her the bottle.
"You look like you need it too."
Riyo takes the bottle. "This does not make us friends."
Asajj has the gall to laugh in her face. She kicks her boots up onto the table and picks up the remote for the holoscreen bolted to the corner of the hospital room. "Whatever you say, Senator."
She takes the screen off mute and changes the channel.
Anakin Skywalker's picture is all over the HNN. Underneath is the caption: Jedi General Missing.
"Oh Gods, he is in hiding," Riyo says. Anakin's picture is minimized to the corner, revealing the news anchor.
"Have any information about his whereabouts, please contact the Jedi Order at this comlink number. Joining me now is our panel of experts, thank you for being here tonight. I have to ask: Republic forces are spread thin across the galaxy, is it wise to divert manpower from the war effort in order to look for one Jedi?"
"One man? No. But we're talking about Anakin Skywalker, an incredibly capable Jedi Knight."
"Boring," Asajj says. She changes the channel.
CLICK.
"Her whereabouts are unaccounted for…."
CLICK.
"And a high of twenty-three degrees!"
CLICK.
Dyslogia Twang, a gossip reporter, shows up onscreen.
"Dark day for everyone everywhere," he says. "I mean, who doesn't have the hots for Anakin Skywalker? And now he's missing? Who will fill our lives with their brooding good looks now?"
"No one," one of his co-reporters says. The both of them lounge on couches with two other people.
"No one! There's a void now. All we're left with is his picture."
"Someone's got to know where he is," another person says. "I was reading the details of the investigation and apparently, there were no signs of foul play. No lightsaber marks, no blaster marks, it was like he vanished. So wherever he is, he must be okay."
"You think he went AWOL?"
"No. Well, we can't say anything for certain yet, but the authorities are also looking for Ahsoka Tano because they wanna question her about what she might know."
"Wait, why Ahsoka Tano?"
"Because she was his padawan. Like his…pseudo-daughter, little sister?"
"I don't think it works like that."
"Well I don't know, I'm not a Jedi. But she does know him well, and that's why they're looking for her."
"So where is she?"
"She's missing too."
"Oh my God! They can't find her? What is up with the Jedi Order? They can't keep track of a few Force-sensitives?"
"Like padawan, like master. Do we have a picture of Ahsoka Tano? Can we put it up on screen?"
"Yeah, she's really cute."
"Can you change it?" Riyo asks.
"What's wrong, Senator? Can't stand gossip?" Asajj asks, but changes the channel anyway. On the holoscreen, a gritty guitar jingle plays before the camera pans through an office where all the employees are gathered at a particular open cubicle with water bottles and thermoses in their hands.
"Tips have been pouring in all over the goddamn galaxy about Anakin Skywalker," a Tholothian woman says. "People have been claiming they've seen him, but they're all Bantha poodoo. They're just full of it. No one's seen him."
"Some people are saying that he's with Padmé Amidala," a Rodian woman says.
"The Senator?"
"Yeah. Apparently, she just took a leave of absence and no one knows where she is either."
"So what are you saying, that they eloped together?"
"Whoa whoa," the boss, a balding human man, waves his hands. "Tone it down, or we'll be sued again."
"You can't think there isn't anything going on," the Rodian says. Half of the gathered employees groan. "No, come on!"
A male Nautolan shrugs. "I can see it."
"Boo!" the boss says.
"No, I'm serious. Senator Amidala's kind of hot."
"Anakin's a Jedi! They don't do relationships."
"He's got eyes, right?"
"No, I'm not doing this," the boss says. "Moving on, what else you got?"
"Um, Senator Riyo Chuchi attended a Trickster's Ball wth Ahsoka Tano," the Tholothian says. Riyo sits frozen in her seat, but Asajj raises an eyebrow and glances over at her.
"Wait, that's that one Pantoran thing, right? Don't they eat people at that ball?"
"No, that's false," the Nautolan says. "I've been to a couple of those balls. It's fun, you guys should go sometime."
"But it's still depraved?"
"Oh yeah, it's self-indulgent as hell."
"And Senator Chuchi went to one of these things?"
"Yeah there was a poetry slam, and she did a poem there and," here, the Tholothian pauses. "It was…it was pretty raunchy."
"Oh Gods," Riyo mutters, turning deep indigo.
"How raunchy? Is there footage?" the boss asks.
"No, there's no cameras allowed in there, so no one could record anything," the Tholothian says, "but it was intense. Like if Ahsoka didn't give it up that night, girl…I will."
"Turn it off," Riyo says.
"But I want to see what happens next," Asajj says, enjoying Riyo's discomfort.
"Wait, wait, wait. Ahsoka Tano, isn't she that one girl who was dating Barriss Offee?" the Rodian asks.
"The bomber?" the Tholothian asks. "There's no proof of that."
"Were they together?" Asajj asks.
"No!" Riyo says. "I don't think so."
"You don't know?"
"I don't care!" Riyo says. "We haven't discussed exes and Ahsoka doesn't seem to care about mine, so I don't care about hers."
"You should if her exes include Offee. That girl's dangerous." Asajj changes the channel to the weather network and mutes it. She checks the time. "I'm going to sleep on my ship, where things make sense. Goodnight, Senator."
"Goodnight, Ventress."
Ahsoka dreams of repairing her old Jedi starfighter. There's a hole in the hull, and she's fashioned a piece that just fits in it. She uses the Force to hold the piece in place, then spot welds them together. When it can't move around anymore, she stops drawing on the Force to hold it and begins to weld the seam with overlapping spots. Ahsoka's hands are steady, and she's patient, and so each spot comes out identical to the last. Soon, she's got an even seam, but she doesn't notice, lost as she is in how therapeutic and hypnotic the repetition is. It's almost like meditation.
Ahsoka finishes off the weld and lifts her mask to better see her handiwork. It's beautiful, and she swipes a gloved hand over the seam to feel how smooth it is. No sooner than she does this, a holoscreen flickers on behind her, playing familiar sounds and images of the Jedi Temple.
But this time, it's different. Padmé no longer features in them. Instead, a familiar voice calls out, "Long live the Republic!" before the vision devolves into a furious storm of blaster fire.
"Riyo." Ahsoka jolts awake and finds herself in a hospital room. The ventilator mask is no longer on her face, and mid-morning sunlight streams into her room through the plastic blinds and spills onto her bed over her knees. Sitting in a chair at her side is Riyo, fast asleep. She looks extremely uncomfortable, and Ahsoka wonders when Riyo's gotten used to sleeping in chairs.
Ahsoka reaches out to her, but can't touch her while she's lying down. She hooks her fingers into the collar of her hospital scrubs and feels the cottony texture of the Bacta patch stuck over her chest. There's also a small plastic tube and she traces it down until she feels where it's stuck in through the patch. Ahsoka gingerly presses on her sternum, testing it. There's no pain, and there's no shifting, so Ahsoka sits up and immediately regrets it. Her head spins for a moment from the blood pressure drop, and when she recovers, she lays a hand over Riyo's.
"Huh?" Riyo blinks awake. "Ahsoka?"
"Hey."
"Ahsoka!" Riyo leaps out of her chair and envelops Ahsoka in a tight hug. Ahsoka smiles into Riyo's neck and pulls her into her lap in order to hug her better. She smells like pine and…something else. Ahsoka can't put a finger on it. Riyo trembles and Ahsoka pulls away to look at her.
"Are you crying?"
"No. Yes." Riyo wipes her eyes. "I'm just so relieved."
"I told you I'd come back," Ahsoka whispers and presses a quick kiss to Riyo's lips.
"Oh kark." Asajj rolls her eyes from her place in the doorway. Riyo's ears turn indigo and she turns away, but Ahsoka hugs her tighter and looks at Asajj.
"You keep sneaking around like that, and of course you're gonna walk in on things like this. Really, Asajj, people will start assuming things if you keep this up."
"I'm not wearing a bell, if that's what you're suggesting," Asajj says. "You have your trinket and you're alive and well. I believe we've reached the end of our accord?"
"Oh! Yeah." Ahsoka summons a data pad from the side table drawer and, since she refuses to let go of Riyo, holds up the data pad behind Riyo's back so she can see it over her shoulder. She accesses her bank account and pauses, then does a few sums in her head.
"Huh."
"Something wrong?" Asajj asks.
"No." There's more credits in her account than Ahsoka expected to get. A lot more. How did Anakin get his hands on this much money? Ahsoka transfers the correct amount of credits to Asajj's bank account and exits the app.
"Done."
Asajj checks her own data pad and her eyebrows go up in surprise. "Did you misplace a decimal? You might have given me too much."
"No, that's it."
"That's…adequate." Asajj tucks the data pad into her tabard and nods. "It was fun, Ahsoka. Comm me again if you have any other near-death experiences that you'd like to share."
And with that, Asajj turns on her heel and leaves.
"I can't say I'm sorry to see her go," Riyo says. Ahsoka smiles.
"She's not that bad. Did she open the holocron?"
"Yes." Riyo tells Ahsoka what she told Anakin and at the end of her explanation, she grimaces. "I used to be envious of you. Of Force-sensitives, I mean."
"Really?"
"Yes. All of you can do such wonderful things and here I am and I can't do any of that. But now that I know about the Dark Side, I think I'm over it."
"I think you're great," Ahsoka says. "Even without Force powers."
"I'm glad I meet your lofty standards," Riyo says.
There's a knock on the door, and it slides open to reveal Dr. Jago and a medical droid.
"Oh!" Dr. Jago looks up from their data pad and stops in their tracks. "Should I come back later?"
Riyo swears under her breath and slides off of Ahsoka's lap. "Good morning, Dr. Jago."
"I'd wish you good morning too, but it might be redundant at this point. Hello, Miss Tano, I'm Dr. Jago." Dr. Jago has the medical droid scan Ahsoka and skims the readout. "Do you feel any pain?"
"No, but I felt lightheaded when I sat up."
"That would be the low blood sugar; you haven't had anything to eat in more than twenty-four hours. And also maybe the blood loss. Your vitals are good, Miss Tano, and your sternum is healed." Dr. Jago scrolls down on the date pad. "Your body isn't showing signs of rejection so far, but if there's any swelling, or pain, come back and see me again."
"Does that mean I can go?" Ahsoka asks.
"Yes, the danger has passed. However, your skin still has to form over the wound. You'll have to wear Bacta patches over it until the skin fully closes up." Dr. Jago nudges the medical droid forward and it drops a bag full of several thin, single-use Bacta patches into Ahsoka's hands.
"Change it for a new one every twenty-four standard hours. As for the blood loss, drink lots of fluids. Oh, and try to get some rest. Your body may be worn out from performing all of its miracles."
"I will. Thanks, Doctor."
"It's no trouble." Dr. Jago wishes them the best and takes their leave, bringing the medical droid with them. Riyo puts a duffle bag at the foot of the bed and unzips it.
"Magnus brought you a change of clothes. I didn't think you'd like to wear your dress out. It's all dusty. And there's a tear in it. Do you need help?"
"I got it." Ahsoka unfolds her legs over the side of her bed and stands up. Riyo hands the clothes over and turns around to give Ahsoka some privacy.
"What happened on Malachor? If you don't mind me asking."
Ahsoka pulls a sweater over her head and pulls her lekku out of the collar. "There was a Sith Lord there. Darth Maul. He attacked us."
"So he was the one who hurt you?"
"Yeah. But that's okay. I might have hurled him into space."
"What?" Riyo starts to turn around, but catches herself. "O-okay."
"Yeah." Ahsoka finishes dressing herself. "Done. You can look. Can we go home now?"
Riyo's breath catches in her throat. 'Home.' That's what Ahsoka said. Not 'can we go back to your apartment?' She smiles so hard it hurts her face.
"Riyo?"
"Yeah." Riyo takes Ahsoka's hand. "Let's go."
Magnus and R7 pick them up from the hospital and drive them back to Riyo's apartment. In the backseat, Ahsoka lays her head on Riyo's shoulder and nurses a bottle of water. The duffle bag, now filled with her belongings, lies on the floor of the cabin at her feet.
"You alright?" Riyo whispers.
"I'm tired, that's all. I'll take a nap later. What did you do while I was gone?"
"I visited my mother. She's buried at the local temple."
"Oh."
"And I went on a Snow Walk with Magnus."
"What's a Snow Walk?"
Together, Riyo and Magnus explain Snow Walks to Ahsoka. Halfway through, however, traffic slows to a stop as hundreds of people flood the streets. They stand on parked speeders and cheer and shout and hug each other. A few people fire blasters into the air.
"Trickster's Tongue," Magnus swears. "What's going on?"
A Wookie pounds on the window, almost breaking it, and howls in Magnus's face before walking off, howling some more.
"'The war is over?'" Ahsoka repeats. "How?"
Magnus turns on the radio and tunes it to a talk show. It takes a couple minutes before they get the news that Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi has killed Separatist General Grievous. The war is over.
"Just like that?" Riyo asks.
"Wars are sudden like that," Magnus says. "They can start in one second, and end just as quickly. What do you say, Riyo? Shall we have a drink to celebrate?"
"Maybe later, Magnus. Ahsoka needs rest, and I don't want to leave her alone like this."
"Very well. Watch out for police, R7." Magnus flips a few switches and pulls a lever, converting the landspeeder to an airspeeder.
BEEP. It comes from the duffle bag.
"Oh that's mine." Ahsoka rummages through the bag and clips the hologram comlink from her gauntlet. When she presses the button, Anakin's hologram appears.
"Snips! It's good to see you. Hello, Riyo."
"Hello, Anakin." Riyo gives a little wave and Ahsoka smiles. She puts her head back onto Riyo's shoulder
"It's good to see you too, Skyguy," Ahsoka says. "What happened to your face?"
"I'm growing a beard. It's what guys do when they go into hiding."
Ahsoka gives a soft, sleepy smile. "You really did it. You left."
"Yeah. Gonna see if this civilian thing is as good for me as it is for you."
"It's pretty dang good."
"I can't thank you enough for getting that information for me," Anakin says. "Did you get the credits?"
"I did. It's a lot more credits than I thought there'd be."
"You need them more than I do."
"I don't know about that," Riyo says. "I hear babies are expensive."
"Well, yeah, but we're not hurting for money," Anakin says. "I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay," Ahsoka mumbles. "Bye, Skyguy."
She ends the call and tosses the comlink back into the duffel bag. As soon as they get back to the apartment, Riyo sends Magnus off to celebrate, but R7 follows Ahsoka into the bedroom like a puppy, and settles himself in the corner. He turns off most of his functions so as to not be obstructive.
Riyo goes to the bedroom and closes the door behind her, washing everything in inky darkness. She's not concerned, however. She knows the layout of her bedroom enough to not bump into anything. She drops the duffel bag off to the side just inside the door. Ahsoka's already in bed, the blankets a cocoon around her, but she must be awake, because her pupils flash green when she looks at Riyo.
"Mind if I join you?" Riyo asks. Ahsoka lifts the covers in silent answer. Riyo shucks her pants and slides into bed. Ahsoka is warm and she smells like Bacta.
The both of them are asleep within minutes.
It's cold. It's cold. Ahsoka wakes up, shivering. Sunlight no longer filters under the curtains over the window and instead, a blizzard rages outside. Riyo's already at the thermostat, adjusting the temperature. When she comes back to bed, she pulls Ahsoka into her arms and rearranges the covers around her.
"I'll reprogram the thermostat in the morning so that the heater turns on at night," Riyo whispers.
"Mm."
Not all of the cold is coming from outside, however. There's something else and whatever it is, it's coming for them both. Ahsoka summons her lightsabers from the duffel bag and catches them behind Riyo's back. Riyo immediately freezes.
"What is it?" she asks.
"I don't know." Ahsoka closes her eyes and makes a sweep of the apartment using the Force. Through her lightsabers, everything is clearer and more vivid. A small squad of clone troops crowd the balcony beyond the bedroom window, and stand ready at the front door.
They are not here to catch up.
"There are troopers here," Ahsoka whispers. Riyo's fear spikes in the Force.
"Why?"
"I don't know." Ahsoka really doesn't. When she tries to read them with the Force, she only gets static white noise, similar to attempts to Force Read droids.
"What are we going to do?"
Ahsoka softly groans as she rolls over, her hand over her chest. "I can't fight them off like this. We can't run either, they'd catch us. R7? Wake up, it's an emergency."
R7's camera cycles through colors as he boots up. He clicks and gives a low whistle, then rolls to the side of the bed.
"Several clone troopers are about to trash this place. Slice their com signal."
BRAAP BRAAP.
"Good. Have they scanned this place yet?"
R7 answers in the negative. They just arrived.
"Slice the life-form scanner. Make it seem like this apartment is empty."
R7's camera cycles through colors again, then beeps.
Ahsoka closes her eyes and reaches out with the Force again. When the captain receives news that the apartment is empty, he orders a retreat, and the squad disappears into the night. They don't take the cold feeling with them, however, but since the physical threat is gone, Ahsoka releases a sigh.
"They're gone. Good job, buddy." Ahsoka swipes a hand over R7's dome before he rolls back to the corner. She tucks her lightsabers under the pillow and returns to Riyo. Ahsoka winds her arms around her waist and turns her focus within her to check her Force bonds.
Anakin's Force bond is inert, if also on edge. Ahsoka picks up the bond and is overcome with waves of panic.
ARE YOU OKAY? Anakin seems to think at her. Ahsoka sends him images of the clone troopers coming, but retreating back, leaving the apartment untouched. Anakin's always had a keen connection with the Force, so whatever she's picking up from It, he must be feeling it as well, only worse. Judging from the level of his paranoia, it must be very bad, and he's only mildly relieved at the fact that Ahsoka's alright.
Anakin sends flashes of images too. A heavily pregnant Padmé sits on the kitchen floor with him, a gallon of ice cream between them. Both of them are sobbing. But Anakin drops the bond soon after that, and Ahsoka continues her search.
The bonds Ahsoka shares with Obi-Wan and Plo are dusty and brittle from disuse, but they're still intact enough to give Ahsoka vague impressions of danger. Ahsoka's breath shudders in her chest when she feels Plo's Force bond crack and fall away. It pulls a part of her with it, and she shuts her mouth around a whimper.
The cold bleeds into Ahsoka's system from a ragged bond, one that she's torn up before, but has been mended from the other end. Barriss. She's out. She's angry. It's joined by a faint screaming in the back of Ahsoka's mind that she's never heard before. She realizes that it's the Force, and It smashes into her with the power of a super nova. Her body floods with phantom agony.
"Oh no," Ahsoka whispers. That's all she's able to say before she clenches her teeth and grabs handfuls of the back of Riyo's shirt.
"What is it?" Riyo asks. "What's wrong?"
But Ahsoka's already beyond words. Riyo tightens her hold.
Ahsoka's comlink beeps from an incoming message, but neither of them move to answer it.
All Jedi return to the temple. The War is over.
Note Bene: I totes understand if readers were confused about the Barriss Offee tag on this story, because she was introduced back in chapter 3 and hasn't been seen since. But she ain't no one-hitter quitter! Nah, son, your girl's gotta come back and break some skulls! Get hype!
I wondered what Anakin would look like with a beard, so I googled Hayden Christensen with a beard and it's scraggly. It's so bad. He tries, but he can't do it. I found this hilarious, of course, and now you readers are also stuck with this image.
As always, please leave feedback. Let me know what you liked and didn't like. If you got questions about this story, ask them. Concerns. Predictions. If the answer is a spoiler, I will tell you that it's a spoiler. Have a good week. Stay safe.
See you, space cowboy….