"You're late." I said to Ahsoka without looking at her when she ran up to my side.
"I know. I'm sorry Master." She said as we kept walking.
"Being late to a summoning by the council is one thing but to be so late you miss the entire thing. That's not okay." I said actually mad at her.
"I have no excuse Master." She said looking down.
"We have our next mission. We are to help Master Kenobi on Shili. Some of the natives found a sepratist base and when Obi-Wan went to take it down it was bigger than what he had expected; we are his reinforcements." I told her as we walked to the loading dock where we boarded a war cruiser.
"What is our plan?" She asked me.
"Well if you were on time you would know were taking a small group of clones in and we are going to take that base down from the inside and the outside. A small group will enter and take out the main power base while a larger group takes out the droids from the outside."
"Again Master I am very sorry about that. This sounds a lot like the strategy we had on Geonosis."
"Don't try to fix what isn't broken Snips. It was a good strategy. But this time I am going in. Obi-Wan will be taking on the base outside." I told her.
"Will I be at your side?" She asked.
"No you will not. The base is near a local clan. You will be with the townspeople protecting them."
"Guard duty?"
"Should have been on time."
"Yes Master." She mumbled. I turned my head to hide my smile.
We took off not too much longer after we boarded the cruiser. It would be awhile before we got there so I sent Ahsoka off to organize the clones for our mission. It should be a fairly easy mission taking no more than a few days max. I know I was giving her grunt work but she had to have a punishment; as her boyfriend I didn't like giving it to her but as her Master I had to. It will make her a better Jedi. Obi-Wan was already on Shili and waiting for us, while we made our way to him we agreed it was best for us to take smaller carrier ships a few clicks down from the town we were meeting him. Just to help keep us under the radar from the Seperist. When we finally arrived it took about an hour or so to make our way from where the ships dropped us off to where we were meeting Obi-Wan.
"Took you long enough." Obi-Wan said as we made our way over to him. "Are we ready to destroy this base?"
"Yes Master. All the men have been briefed and we are ready."
"Perfect. Go ahead and get your headstart from the left flank and my team will take them from the right. Ahsoka can you handle guarding the people?" He asked her.
"Yes Master."
"Good, let me introduce you to the leader of the clan." He said and walked us over to a man who was staring at all of our weapons. "Amaod, this is Ahsoka, she will be guarding your people while General Skywalker and I take down the base."
"Thank you young Tortuga. We are very proud to have one of our own a Jedi, you are always welcome here." He said putting his hand on her shoulder. Instantly she smiled.
"It is my honor to be here." She responded.
"Alright Snips, have fun. I'll be back later." I told her before leaving.
The mission went off without a hitch. My team consisted of four clones and myself, I was able to keep all of them alive. Obi-Wan's team had a lot more clones on his side and since it was his team that took the heavy fire he had much more casualties than I did. But in the end we were able to take down the Sepratist base. Hopefully that sent a clear message back to their leaders that the Jedi and the people of the Republic will not give up easily. When we got back to the clan where Ahsoka was she was in deep conversation with the leader of the clan.
"Amaod. The base has been destroyed." I told him when I got to him
"Thank you very much General. We are very grateful." He said to me then turned back to Ahsoka. "Let me know if you decide you want to." He said to her before turning away and walking away.
"What was that about?" I asked.
"He said he knows me. That he recognized me from when I was a child. That this is the clan I am originally from. I didn't know that."
"Oh, did you want to take a walk around?" I asked her.
"He also told me he knew my parents."
"Did you want to talk to them?" I asked her. Jedi are taken before they can form attachments to their parents so Ahsoka never really knew them. I was 9 when I was taken into the order so I knew my mother before she died.
"He says my mother died a few years ago but my father is still alive and here."
"Ahsoka if you want to meet him it's okay. It's your choice. But you need to remember you are a Jedi. Biologically he may be your family but your true family is the order. Don't form an attachment." I told her.
"I don't know if I want to."
"It's your choice. But we need to leave soon and inform the council of the mission. This is your only chance."
"Will you come with me?" She asked. I could tell at this moment she was asking me to come as her boyfriend, for support.
"Of course." I said without hesitation.
She smiled at me. For a brief second I wanted to reach out and stroke her face but I couldn't. To everyone watching right now I was her Master. And I needed to keep it that way. We made our way back to Amaod and he led us over to a group of his people near the center of the town. We came up to one older Tortuga who did resemble Ahsoka.
"Hello there, my name is-" Ahsoka started but was cut off
"Ahsoka Tano." He finished for her. "A father never forgets his child." He said and I could feel the wave of emotions going on inside of him.
"It is nice to meet you." She said, I could tell she didn't really know what to say or what to do.
"Hello sir, I am Anakin Skywalker. Ahsoka's Master. You should be very proud of Ahsoka. She is a gifted young woman and one day will make an incredible Jedi." I said introducing myself to my girlfriend's father.
"Hello Anakin. I am Raano" he said to me before turning back to Ahsoka. "You look so much like your mother." He said and put his hand on her shoulder. "She would be so proud of you."
"I'm sorry to hear she passed."
"She got sick and there was nothing our healers could do for her. But she lives on through you." Raano said to her.
"Do I have any siblings?" Ahsoka asked.
"No, after the Jedi took you, your mother was too heartbroken to have another child in fear that child will be taken away as well. But she loved you and thought if you constantly. As did I. We wanted to reach out to the Order to ask about you but they said no. That it would interfere with your training and distract you."
"The order forbids us from forming attachments." I told him. "It's hard but in the end it's for the best."
"I cannot imagine living a life like that. And you should be careful or that. Tortuga's need companionship. We live in clans for a reason. We need to be close to each other."
"Don't worry Raano. I can manage." She told her father.
"Anakin, it's time to go." Obi-Wan said coming up to us.
"Can we hold off for a few more minutes?" I asked him. I wanted to give Ahsoka more time with her father. Who knows if she'll ever be able to see him again?
"No please, I don't want to keep you any longer from your work. You're trying to save the galaxy from the Sepratist. Please, go off and save us." Raano said to Ahsoka. "Hopefully one day our paths will cross again."
"I hope so." Ahsoka said to him before we all made our way back to our ship
"Who was that?" Obi-Wan asked.
"My father." Ahsoka answered.
"Oh." I could tell Obi-Wan was at a loss for words.
"Are you okay Snips?" I asked.
"Yeah I think I am. I'm glad I met him." She responded.
"It's okay to not be okay. If the order never found you your life would be there with your people. It's okay to have mixed feelings, as long as you accept them and move on." Obi-Wan told her.
"Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if the order never found be. But I'm glad it did. I was meant to be a Jedi. This is where I belong. The order is my family." She said confidently. "But I wish I was able to see my mother before she died."
"She is one with the force now. She is in a better place." Said Obi-Wan.
"She is Snips." I added.
"What was your mother like?" She asked me as we boarded the ship that is to take us to the cruiser.
"She was amazing. Beautiful and selfless. She was truly an amazing woman." I answered.
"She was." Obi-Wan added, sometimes I forget that he met her.
"I'm glad I was able to see her before she died. But I wish it had been a painless death. She didn't deserve her ending." I said clenching my fist, whenever I think about how my mother died it made me mad. She gave up everything for me and endured so much pain to cling to life just to see me one last time before she died.
Obi-Wan remained silent after I spoke about my mother. He knew how close I was to her and how talking about her death made me feel. From the corner of my eye I saw Ahsoka step forward and she opened her mouth to say something but Obi-Wan put his hand on her shoulder to stop her from saying anything. It was probably best that she didn't. Sometimes I can get dark. For the rest of the ride to the cruiser I remained silent and so did they. As soon as we boarded the cruiser I excused myself and made my way to my quarters. It was just a small room with a single bed but because I am a general I get my own room whenever I'm on a cruiser; the clones and Ahsoka have to share with others. Not long after I got to my room Ahsoka entered without knocking.
"Funny, I didn't hear a knock." I said without turning to face her.
"You would have sent me away. You would have said 'Ahsoka right now I am your Master not your boyfriend and as your Master I want you to leave me alone'" She said.
"You're right there." I pointed out so that hopefully she would get the hit that I did not want to talk.
"Well it's a good thing that I came to you as your girlfriend then, isn't it?" She said locking the door behind her and coming to sit at the foot of my bed.
"I am really not in the mood right now."
"I know, but both Obi-Wan and I agreed that one of us should talk to you. If you want I can get him if you'd rather talk to him, since he knew your mother." She offered.
"No, I'd rather have you."I said and reached my hand out to here. She took it and smiled.
"You never talk about your mother."
"She died, what else is there to talk about?"
"Obviously you're still hurt by it. Tell me how she died."
"She was kidnapped and tortured for a month. She clung on to her life to see me one last time before she died. She suffered for an entire month just to see me for a few seconds before she died." I told her. I could feel the tears pooling in my eyes.
"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have had to have seen that."
"That's why the Order takes children away at such a young age, so as we get older we don't form those kinds of attachments, and why we aren't allowed to have children so we don't get attached like that."
"She is at peace now Anakin, that's what you should be focusing on, she is with you every step of the way now, watching over you as a part of the force." She told me.
"I know, and that thought does bring me peace." I said honestly.
