A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome back. Many thanks to everyone who read, followed, favorited, and reviewed.

Aylatha: The droid assumed nothing. It saw an unusual situation, a possible emergency, and went to get humans, as it was programed to do. I considered a person, but Anakin receives so few visitors outside of a few select people it just seemed unlikely. It was the rebels who came in, saw Vader holding a limp Jedi and wildly jumped to conclusions. They are still kind of trigger-happy when it comes to him, for understandable reasons. Hope this helps. MossyMeow: Yes, he does need therapy. A lot of therapy. Unfortunately, there is very little to be had. Ahsoka is trying, Luke did try, but neither of them are exactly professionals. CoolCatGamesYT: Great to see you back! You are absolutely welcome, and I love writing it. As you know, I am a sucker for Ani redemption, and this story has been shaping up great. badconman: Well, you'll just have to wait and see. ;)

I do not own Star Wars or its characters. My OCs are mine, but if someone else wants them I don't mind.


Chapter 16


It had been several hours since it happened, since Anakin had looked at her with such absolute hatred.

Ahsoka wished that this had happened on any other day. With him nearing mobility, and Garul petitioning the Rebellion leadership to allow him a hoverchair to speed up that process, she and Luke had been asked to come to a meeting to discuss future plans.

A meeting that would now be significantly more complicated.

Former senator Mothma turned to the twi-lek woman, "In your opinion, doctor, how long will it be before he is well enough to be moved to a cell?"

Ahsoka's breath caught in her throat and she suppressed another cough. She had expected hostility, but for them to talk about imprisonment, so quickly and so casually, as if it were a forgone conclusion, that had not been expected. Leia was not here, being out on a supply run to an abandoned base with Han and Chewbacca, for which she knew Luke was grateful. His twin would have been on the opposite side of this table, against them.

Garul responded, clasping her hands thoughtfully on the table. "Well, technically, you could do so as soon as he's off the rest of the IVs, but I wouldn't recommend it. Being confined to such a small room would have serious consequences on his recovery. He needs to be able to walk around."

Judging by their faces, Ahsoka suspected Anakin's recovery was not particularly high on their list of priorities.

She rubbed involuntarily at her neck. She had changed before this meeting, from her usual armor into pants and a shirt with a high collar. While there had been no visible bruises at the time of the attack, they had developed in the hours since and she had tried to hide them to the best of her ability. The last thing Anakin needed was for the Rebellion to be reminded of his violent potential.

The meeting continued around her. Luke was trying to convince them of his father's loyalty, unsuccessfully. "He killed the Emperor. Isn't that worth something?"

"Palpatine would have died in a few minutes anyway."

"Maybe, but because of his actions I escaped. He saved my life."

They could not deny that, although someone did point out that because of Vader's actions he was saved as well. Ahsoka forced herself not to glare at that miscreant, it wouldn't look good.

Mothma spoke, reading from a report that described Anakin's most recent meltdown in a way that reminded Ahsoka that the writers were heavily biased. "Would you say that was an accurate account of Lord Vader's attack on you?"

There wasn't any point refuting the details, skewed as the report was nothing in it was technically incorrect. "It wasn't Master Skywalker's fault." She used the title and name purposely, emphasizing his real identity and attempting to reduce the overarching influence of Vader on the conversation. "He didn't know who I was. He had a nightmare about the Emperor and when he woke up… he thought that he was in the room. It was Palpatine he attacked, not me. And then he felt cornered when the soldiers arrived and panicked. They were holding guns to his head and threatened to kill him when he was already frightened and disoriented. My Master has been through a great deal. He is sick, not dangerous."

A new voice broke in, an old man in a white Rebel uniform, like many others an obvious Republic veteran. "Yes… Anakin Skywalker. Back in the day, I heard he was the most powerful Jedi the Order had ever seen. Was that true?"

This was something Ahsoka could proudly answer. She thought of Mortis, how Anakin had controlled two god-like beings to save them and then turned down an offer of immortality. The Chosen One, the Hero Without Fear. "Yes. He is."

The man turned to everyone else. "Even if we accept their statements that he bears us no ill will, a Jedi that powerful cannot be allowed to wander loose, not if he is truly as unstable as they claim. It's asking for destruction!"

Wait, no.

"Doctor, didn't you mention a similar incident during the surgery?"

"Yes." Garul hesitantly admitted. "There was an issue with the anesthesia and we experienced a minor pressure spike, that's all."

Mothma consulted some notes. "You reported that… the bulkheads crumpled, light fixtures broke, and the hull nearly ruptured. I'm not sure I would call that 'minor.'"

The doctor leaned forward, clearly attempting damage control. "Master Tano is correct. He shows clear symptoms of serious depression as well as post-traumatic stress. Such attacks are not uncommon in these cases and it isn't his fault that he can reach across a room where someone else might only be able to hurt someone in the bed with them."

"Perhaps, but we cannot risk him wandering around attacking people, let alone destroying ships from the inside."

Garul paused. What she had told Luke early on was true, she had taken the challenge on out of Hippocratic duty. But Anakin had grown on her. He was compassionate and damaged, so very different from what she had expected from the Emperor's attack dog. She would do anything she could to help him. "It is my professional opinion that he should receive treatment for these issues. I am confident that he can regain control of himself and become a valuable member of the Rebellion. The Jedi have been assisting me in this endeavor."

Luke picked up where she left off. "What if we watched him? He could be accompanied, and if anything goes wrong someone would be there to stop it." he paused. "We could also keep him out of secure areas."

One of the officers shook his head. "I still don't like it."

An hour later Ahsoka found herself still in that seat, next to Luke. The agreement had been mostly hashed out, but she was no more happy with their decision than she had been before.

Luke was reading out the final terms. They had simply been too distasteful for her to bear. "The Jedi will accept full responsibility for his actions, ensure and guarantee his good behavior. His movements in the fleet will be restricted. He will be accompanied and monitored at all times. He will continue to provide information about the Empire whenever requested. He will not carry a weapon, nor will he use the Force except in a controlled and pre-approved context. Rebellion leadership will be consulted before he is allowed into any intelligence or given input in any decision."

Admiral Raddus broke in. "That includes the location of our base once we are planetside."

Every additional restriction on his freedom was like a blow to her heart. Luke had argued that this was necessary, that over time they would grow lax and less strict as he proved himself trustworthy. However, Ahsoka could tell that they were attempting to build a cell in all but name, that while other imperial defectors were welcomed and celebrated, regardless of what crimes they had committed or what atrocities they had been involved in, Anakin would be given only suspicion and hostility. They would keep him prisoner in any way they could manage, not allow him to truly be a part of the Rebellion he wanted to help.

She knew several of these people from the Clone Wars. They had fought with her and her Master, Anakin had personally saved the life of at least one of them, and yet they saw him only as a traitor and threat. He was not even to know where he was in the Galaxy.

He wasn't to be allowed to use the Force unless the Jedi filled out a request form first. For someone as powerful as Anakin, that would be as difficult as living in binders.

Luke continued. "In exchange, he will be allowed freedom. He will be given quarters on the fleet. He will continue to be treated, and be allowed a hoverchair for as long as the doctor deems necessary. With restrictions and Jedi oversight, he may train in and use Force techniques. Under supervision, he may leave the fleet for limited periods for pre-approved medical treatment."

Mon Mothma nodded. "Yes. These terms are acceptable to us."

The Jedi, too, agreed, though more reticently. They had been talking about reviving the Order, and thus felt the need to work as a concerted group rather than individuals. It was the Jedi Order, the Jedi Council really, in this meeting, not Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. They would not disagree in front of outsiders. And as much as she hated it, Ahsoka knew Luke was right: this was his father's best chance.


Some time later and well away from the conference room where that meeting had taken place, Hera climbed up the ladder from the Ghost's cargo bay and slowly made her way toward the front of the ship. Most of her crew were away today: relaxing, training, or otherwise occupied, and she had taken the opportunity to conduct some tune ups and a long-overdue diagnostic.

She walked past one crew bedroom after another. Several were empty now. Ezra had sacrificed himself, gone no one knew where. Sabine had left, departed to watch over Lothal until Ezra returned. Her recent visit had lasted a couple of weeks while she picked up supplies and traded intelligence.

And Kanan…

Something possessed her as she passed his chambers. She had moved out of there since his death, it was too painful to live surrounded by his belongings, and she couldn't possibly part with them, but every so often she would go in and sit on the bed. Sometimes when she did that she could imagine him near, almost as if she could feel the 'presence' she had heard Force-users talk about. She would sit in there, imagining him, sometimes speaking to him although she did that in her head regardless of location.

Hera froze as she entered the room she had once occupied with her boyfriend.

Luke Skywalker of all people was standing there, his eyes curious and sad, holding Kanan's lightsaber. She wanted to snatch it from his hands, throw him out, rail at him for daring such an invasion.

"I wondered who had provided some of our training supplies." He offered as way of explanation. "There were Jedi here, weren't there?"

She thought of them, of Kanan concentrating enough to save her even as he was consumed in an inferno, of Ezra sending himself into unknown space to rid the galaxy of Thrawn. Without their sacrifices the Rebellion wouldn't still be here, she was certain of it. She thought of the beautiful little boy Kanan had given her.

Hera looked back at the young man standing where they had. She remembered Ezra sneaking into this same room, stealing that same lightsaber, right after they met. What did he look like now? Where was he? Luke was the very same age, he had the same goodness and reckless kindness of heart Ezra had had, the same overactive curiosity. From the little she had seen of him, he reminded her of him so much.

They were gone now, but there were new faces, new Jedi.

"Yes." She said quietly. "Yes, there were Jedi here."

"When?"

They finally sat down and talked. She told him everything, every detail, and answered every question, Kanan's lightsaber clutched in her hand. Luke was shocked to realize he had missed other Jedi by mere months, and wanted to know far more than she was ready to tell.

Hera sat in that room long after he had gone. She was fine normally, but the conversation had ripped away every healing scab that had developed on her grief.

"Mommy? Are you okay?" Hesitantly a young boy stepped into the room, moving closer to his mother as he felt her sorrow radiating from her.

She smiled warmly at him, trying to carefully place her emotions back under wraps as she had learned to do around his father. "Yes, Jacen. I'm fine."

Jacen was five years old now, already overdue to begin training, she knew. Kanan had told her quite a bit about the Order over the years, and she was almost certain his son had inherited his gifts.

She should be talking to the Jedi, making arrangements for his future. She knew Ahsoka well and Luke seemed sweet and brave. So what was stopping her?

Hera looked back at her son's beautiful blue eyes. She knew the answer. Attachment. Jedi were not allowed family, younglings were immediately removed at the start of their training, and the thought of never seeing him again, losing her baby… it was more than she could bear.

She hugged him closer at the thought. Kanan's memory would just have to understand.


Ahsoka paused by the door as she returned to Anakin's room. He had clearly been in the tank in the corner; a droid was helping him gingerly walk back to the bed and he smelled like disinfectant. She felt some involuntary fear on seeing him, that hate-filled face rising to her mind, feeling those invisible fingers wrapped around her throat, but she quickly buried it, determined not to let him sense it.

"How bad is it?" he asked as he carefully got back into bed.

Her face was grim. "You're not going in a cell. That's about it."

Anakin looked far less concerned by this than she had expected, "It's to be expected, especially after… what happened." His gaze ran over her, and she noticed his eyes linger on her neck. Ahsoka nervously cleared her throat, one hand unconsciously raising to fiddle with her collar.

Can he see them? She had thought the bruises sufficiently hidden. He would feel even worse than he already did if he could see evidence of his mistake. Wanting to cheer herself up as much as him, she smiled. "You're getting out of this room, though. You've been given quarters in the fleet and your hoverchair should be here anytime."

"Great! I can't wait."

Ahsoka walked further into the room. She didn't want to talk about this, but the conversation had to be had. "We need to talk about what happened."

He looked down, ashamed. "Ahsoka, I am so sorry. I swear I didn't know-"

"I know. It's okay. How long has this been going on? How long have you been seeing things that aren't there?"

"Almost since the day I got here."

She sat down beside him. "Hallucinations aren't good, Anakin. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to think I was crazy. It… it isn't normally Him anyway."

"What do you mean?"

Anakin looked up at her, pure guilt and tortured grief in his eyes. "Obi-Wan. I see him, constantly. When I wake up, when I'm almost asleep, out of the corner of my eye when I'm alone. I see him, I… feel his presence… I didn't even know Force hallucinations were possible, but I would swear he was alive if I hadn't…" He drew in a shaky breath, rocking a little. It was always difficult for him to talk about this. "If I hadn't done it myself." He paused. "Ahsoka, I'm going insane. This guilt is going to kill me."

The woman gazed on him sadly, heart constricting in silent pity as he spoke. She remembered Rako Hardeen far to well to doubt his words.

He was still rocking. "The Jedi were right you know. They were right about everything. About emotion, about attachments…"

Ahsoka took his hand, feeling him slowly calm and his movements slow at the anchoring touch. The prosthetics felt strange, off, like an animatronic or a piece of raw poultry. The outside was soft, but seemed to almost float unnaturally over the hardness inside, and the warmth felt a little wrong too, heat generated by electrical impulses rather than body heat. But that didn't matter. Anakin's face was twisted with guilt, shame, and regret. She wanted to do so much more, hold him and steal him away somewhere where this pain could no longer be felt, where he could be the Anakin she had once known, the Anakin she now could only catch glimpses of.

He continued. "My marriage was only a weakness. It shouldn't have happened. I was… I was always so STUPID. About Padme, about you, about the clones… about Obi-Wan." He paused. "He was a weakness to. I knew better; our friendship should have ended the day I became a knight but what? I wanted friendship? A partner? I thought I knew better than the council and generations of tradition? STUPID."

She hated to hear him talk this way, as if every friendship he had ever had was a mistake. The Sith nonsense and the Jedi nonsense seemed all jumbled together, and none of it had any right to exist in the first place. Anakin had such a beautiful, kind heart; she hated the idea that he might feel guilt for it.

But she didn't know what to say to convince him otherwise.

She was quiet for minute, as they just sat there while she tried to give him comfort. "Padme was their mother, wasn't she?" she finally asked quietly. She had been fairly certain since Luke pointed her out, but she wanted confirmation.

He stared at her for a moment in shock before finally speaking. "How did you guess? We were so careful…"

You blatantly flirted every chance you got and slept at her apartment.

Ahsoka gave a slight smile, "I can sense your emotions, remember? I knew you were in love with her; it was obvious, and I knew she loved you, I just didn't realize you acted on it. And Luke saw her picture and felt a connection." She paused. "How long?"

"Two months before I met you, after Geonosis. It wasn't… it wasn't what it sounds like. We were married, well sort of. It wasn't legal or anything, but she bribed someone to perform a ceremony and we… we kept it secret." He started sobbing, Ahsoka cradling him in her arms as he buried his face in her neck. "I miss her so much. That bastard lied. He must have. I wouldn't… I wouldn't ever hurt her. Never. You believe me right? You have to believe me. I loved her."

She didn't know what he was talking about exactly, but suspected it was yet more trauma as yet uncovered. Ahsoka did the only thing she could, pulled him closer and offered comfort. "I believe you."