Chapter 25

Click click click

The noise echoed through an empty, lonely corridor of the vast temple. The sound seemed as loud as the universe itself as it slowly moved through the long hallway.

Click click click

It was rhythmic, almost. Slightly eerie but it still had a certain rhythm to it.

The figure that caused this sound shuffled down the corridors. It's small gimer stick clicking against the cold stone of the temple floors; following him with the shadows. He moved slowly but yet still seemed so graceful, moving alongside the cool breeze that swept through the temple. Moving with the force and breathing with the Universe.

The Jedi Grand Master seemed so calm, so collected and at peace.

But he wasn't.

On the outside he looked like the epitome of serenity but on the inside he was troubled, deeply troubled. He could sense the darkness that was weaving its way into the order, threatening to decompose everything they had worked so hard for. He knew there were cracks in the foundation of the order that, if the darkness wormed its way into them, would cause it to crumble.

Anakin Skywalker was one of those cracks.

It had been incredibly risky admitting the boy into the order. His future was clouded by the darkside; they were essentially blind from the minute he'd been brought before them.

Perhaps, they would be able to see more clearly if he had never been accepted.

Yoda stopped for a few seconds and looked around, his eyes lingering on the beautiful architecture: the sweeping arches and grandiose patterns engraved in the walls. Everything he knew would change soon – he could feel it – this whole place, his home, would fall and so would everyone in it.

Ahsoka Tano wasn't the only one that had been clued into the future.

The Order had their chance to change the future – Yoda himself had tried to save them from their fate – but they were so set on their way of living. They refused to change. And – since everything around them was changing – the order was being left behind. It wouldn't last.

And now…now it was much too late. The seeds had already been sown, he would watch his precious order fall and crumble at his feet and there would be little he could do to stop it.

He couldn't intervene – he knew that much – not yet at least. If he tried to change things know he could push the galaxy into a place they couldn't afford to go to, he could do much worse then what was originally fated to happen. It was a risky game; playing with fate. He would have his chance to battle the Sith, and if he failed he would be forced to wait, to wait until someone else – someone more appropriate for that mantle – was ready.

He didn't know exactly what would happen. The force was saving the minute details for Padawan Tano, he was only privy to the general overview, those little prophecies he gleaned from the oracle. He knew that Anakin Skywalker would be a critical person in the future.

But the question was: would he make them or break them?

Yoda got the feeling that, despite his attempts to manipulate things – to mould Anakin into a better Jedi – he had failed. Even the responsibility of having a Padawan hadn't matured him enough; he was still much too impulsive.

And his Padawan…she was forced to suffer.

Yoda let out a small sigh. The child was forced to see what would happen and know that there was little she could do to change anything, she was suffering in silence. But there was so much more – the issues with her Master were only the tip of the iceberg. He didn't know what the force had burdened her with but he knew it was more then she could handle; he knew that there was something that had begun to destroy everything that was Ahsoka Tano.

He had seen her in the library and his heart had ached. She was crying…silently. The Jedi Master liked to consider himself something of an expert on younglings, they were such interesting packages of spontaneity – Ahsoka Tano was no exception.

Children cry when injured or simply looking for attention – that was the rule of thumb – a child crying meant they wanted something. He had seen it all – even amongst Jedi youngling – tantrums and stomping of feet and screamed demands. He'd seen it all.

However, a child crying silently was different; so awfully different. A child that wept silently did not look for attention. They weren't injured. They weren't frustrated or angry or throwing a tantrum. No. They were crying out of the deepest sorrow. They cried simply because they couldn't stop. Ahsoka Tano had to deal with whatever secret she was keeping as well as her spontaneous Master. She could see what was going to happen, more than he could - and the child couldn't handle it.

But Yoda could take a step back and look at the situation – more than just Anakin Skywalker - he could see everything and pull in anything extra variables that others would have missed.

The Padawan had shifted something. She had moved events around, the darkness had been converging so strongly but she was dispersing it – particularly around Skywalker – he didn't know what that meant or what it would bring. All he knew that – if there was any hope left for the order – then it was definitely in the form of Ahsoka Tano. The force had revealed that he couldn't intervene in the events that were to come but it seemed that the mysterious entity was giving Ahsoka the chance.

But why? The Master knew the force had chosen Ahsoka for a reason, and he had his theories – one of which stuck out in the forefront of his mind; for Ahsoka Tano was almost as confusing as her Master. If one looked at her through the force only, they would decree that she shouldn't be here – they would say her force signature indicated she was one with the force. But, yet…she lived.

Though, she had died…once.

Was it possible to be one with the force whilst living? Or maybe Ahsoka Tano couldn't really be considered living anymore, what if she was somewhere in between? After all, being resurrected from death has never happened before…and possibly won't ever again. Needless to say, she was an anomaly. Maybe, there was a greater consequence to her resurrection then they had thought. In Yoda's mind, that would explain how she was seeing so much, so easily.

But he had little time to ponder on this development and the odd Padawan; he was to depart to Kashyyyk immediately to aid the Wookies. He had delayed his trip for long enough, there was nothing else he could do here. He had to hope the force would be with them all. He had to hope that Ahsoka was able to save her Master from a fate worse than death, for they wouldn't get another shot at bringing balance to the force for a long time.

But that left one question: what if she failed?

Ahsoka stood staring out of the main entrance of the temple. How easy would it be to go now? To attack the organisation that had taken everything from her. She could just walk out right now. No-one would notice for ages, they wouldn't think much of it – she was a Padawan and therefore allowed to venture out of the temple; with her Master's permission, of course. But by the time anyone managed to double check with Master Skywalker, she'd be long gone.

Ahsoka didn't miss how she had taken to referring to her Master as 'Master Skywalker' now, all familiarity was quickly dimming. It was like she was a brand new Padawan again, one that didn't know her Master and was particularly awkward around him.

Her eyes flickered back to the pedestrians walking along the streets in the distance, little specs of vibrant movement. Could she just go join them? As easy as that? Go do a little recon and get back at that group? They'd taken everything from her; her life, her innocence, her friends; it was only fair that she be the one to take them down

But now the game plan had changed - now she had realised there was so little she knew about them – she had to be smart and cunning, just like they were. She would be as manipulative as them, she had to be or she would lose this game.

Her thoughts unintentionally flickered to her Master.

She wished he wasn't hurting all the time. She could feel it; she'd felt it from the day she had met him. He hurt so much, all the time. It hurt her to know how much he suffered; how the great burden he'd been given weighed down so painfully on him, it tried to drag him down alongside his shadows; the dark shadows of his past. A past he refused to divulge to his young apprentice.

Ahsoka had figured it must be bad. Anakin wasn't the most forthcoming of people but this…if she even made a hint of his childhood he would tense immediately. His eyes would go hard, his jaw would tense, his fists would clench and he would just stop…and stare into space.

She wondered where he went when he stopped and stared. He certainly wasn't with her anymore when he froze.

That was part of the reason that she was trying so hard to protect him; she didn't want him to hurt anymore than he had to. She knew he had told her that it wasn't her job to take care of him, she knew he tired of her attempts to keep him safely in the dark but she couldn't help it…no matter how twisted and warped he became, he would always remain Skyguy in her mind…he was always her hero, her inspiration, her guardian. He was everything she wanted to be as a Jedi.

She wouldn't let this group destroy that…not when he was so damaged already. It was a reasonable trade in her opinion.

Ahsoka took her first few steps towards true freedom – true independence – it was surprisingly easier than she thought it would be. She had thought her conscience would protest; that her stomach would churn as she turned her back on everything she'd ever known. She had thought it would be more difficult. She had wondered if she should take a run at it – do it quickly like taking off a plaster – but all that worry was superfluous. She had no need to plan ahead for this moment because it was ridiculously easy.

It was easy to turn her back on the Jedi, simply because they had done it to her first. They had left her in the dark and the cold and the rain, and slowly but surely her flame had died out. She was nothing anymore.

One foot after another; it was the simplest thing ever. And she was free.

"And where do you think you're going?"

So close. She had been so close to freedom. Ahsoka looked longingly at the streets – seeing the civilians walking around carelessly, nothing and everything on their minds. It was like they mocked her botched attempt of escape. She had been so close.

"Just testing out the stairs, Master." Ahsoka made an effort of walking down a few steps before walking back up and nodding appraisingly. If she were going to be caught, she would get a laugh out of it. "Yeah…they work fine."

"You're not funny."

Ahsoka turned to meet his gaze. His eyes betrayed nothing; she didn't know if he had spoken with Padme yet, and asking him would only bring about suspicion should he have not gotten around to speaking with her.

"I've been looking for you all morning." He spoke as he walked over to her.

"Why?" Ahsoka asked rudely, not quite realising how sharp her tone was. Surely her Master would be trying his best to avoid her, not willingly seeking her out.

"Because we are going to have a little chat."

Alarm bells were ringing in her head. Damn it, he must've found Padme – now he was here to threaten her into silence. "About what, may I ask?"

"We're gonna fix this." He said adamantly, as forcefully as he would command soldiers. "We're going to fix this rift; we're going sit down and you are going to tell me everything because I am fed up of you dancing around the truth, okay? I'm fed up of feeling like I'm losing you, I won't have it Ahsoka. I won't."

"What's brought this on?" Ahsoka's tone may have been bored but she was anything but, she was curious.

"The fact that earlier, when Master Plo asked me how you were I couldn't answer." Anakin's tone was less demanding now; it was soft, like he was trying to coax a puppy out of a small hiding place. "Because I honestly don't know, and not just because you won't talk to me, I've neglected you…and I'm…I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"Is it?"

"Yeah."

"Then why does it feel like I'm losing you?" Anakin asked simply. "Why do I feel like you're not gonna be there when I turn around?" Anakin gestured to the stairs. "And this only proves it, where the hell were you going? Were you ru-"

"I wasn't running away." Ahsoka ground out. In all technicalities, Ahsoka was doing the exact opposite – she was stopping running away.

"Then where?"

"I just wanted to get out for a while."

"Lies, lies, lies. I'm going to break you of this habit." Anakin mumbled darkly, more to himself than Ahsoka. "I hate lies; it's a betrayal of someone's trust. I hate lies."

"Relax Master, you can't get rid of me that easy." Just throw a joke in and lighten the air and everything would be fine - Ahsoka wished that could be true. "I have yet to give you that first grey hair, remember?"

Anakin looked a little less suspicious but the air of confusion still lingered. "Alright. But we're going to go back to our quarters now. That's an order. We're going to fix this – I'm fed up of your tantrums and sneaking around and I'm going to get the truth out of you. We're going to fix this. I will not let you go running off into some danger I don't know about because I was too kriffing stupid to do anything about it"

An eye marking rose of its own accord; Master Skywalker tried to avoid swearing in front of her of late – something about Masters complaining to him about her own foul mouth. "We're fine, we're always fine Skyguy."

"Judging by the state of our bond, we're far from fine, Snips." Anakin's tone was more bitter than joking and Ahsoka winced slightly as she thought of the bloody rag that they were trying to pass off as a bond. It was pitiful. A thin sliver of silk that would snap should any weight be placed on it.

"Come on, there's a cup of cafe in our quarters with your name on it." Anakin smiled half-heartedly, Anakin put a hand on her back and ushered her back into the temple. Ahsoka wasn't fooled though; the hand was to make sure she didn't run away as opposed to affection.

Ahsoka looked back, independence was right there, next to freedom – waving at her as she retreated with her Master. Now, turning her back on that was harder than walking away from the Jedi. This is what she got for that initial moment of hesitation.

Saturday update; as promised. Because, as PenandInkPrincess pointed out - they are so much better than fridays; Rebecca Black is just a moron. Please review my peepz