After facing another week trapped in the Halls of Healing, Ben was elated to finally be let go of and return to normal life, or rather he supposed his version of normal life.
Quickly making his way towards Rey's room, he knocked on the door to find her already ready for the day with that hopeful smile of hers that he loved so much.
"Let's go," his girlfriend, partner, soulmate(?) directed. Ben wasn't quite sure what to call her, then again, he supposed it hardly mattered. He loved Rey and she loved him. That was enough.
He was a tad bit confused when neither Anakin or Ahsoka showed up to met up with them and Rey seemed to notice, as she was quick to update him on their situation, in how now that they'd been going to the Senate Building for so long- or rather she had, since Ben had been secluded within the walls of the Halls of Healing for about a week- that now they'd just go alone without Anakin or Ahsoka's assistance, since they were needed elsewhere on missions and whatnot.
As they entered the building, Ben felt anticipation begin to stir in his chest. It'd been so long, since he'd last had to face Darth Sidious and quite honestly, he really wasn't looking forward to having to do it again without getting to separate Palpatine's head from his body.
As they took their positions next to the Chancellor's desk, Ben watched as Palpatine engaged in an eager conversation with Rey about some Opera that he'd recently seen or rather he spoke and Rey listened with a nod of acknowledgement every now and then.
While Ben wanted nothing to do with the man, he hated that Rey was the one to grab his attention rather than himself.
His whole life he felt like he was just grappling for control. First when his parents passed him off to his Uncle for training, then during training with Luke, then with Snoke back when he was a Knight of Ren, and then with the Palpatine of his past, what with the whole Final Order thing. The only one he'd ever really felt like he'd gotten to make a choice with was Rey. He was with her because he wanted to be, not just because it seemed like it was the only option. After all, it would've been so easy to just stay with Palpatine and win with the Final Order, yet he just couldn't do that, so he'd abandoned the Final Order and all of it, just so that he could be with Rey, because she was his person.
She understood him and let him make his own choice.
So now, once more, his control was taken away, as he was forced to be a bystander to Rey's deadly dance with Palpatine.
And that was worse than torture.
Once again, Ahsoka found herself in the Meditation Garden with Barriss.
She felt all of the muscles in her body relax, as she slipped into a meditative state.
While under almost any other circumstances, Ahsoka probably would've never found herself in a place like this, since quite like her Master, she normally lacked the patience for meditating in her freetime, doing it with Barriss was quite enjoyable, because this way it wasn't a chore, but rather a choice.
The Force flowed around and through her, as she sunk deep into its depths and the echoes of whispers of the past, present and future ricocheted in her mind, but none of it with enough clarity for her to really make out.
One with The Force and yet, still a singular entity all the same.
Her mind momentarily drifted to wonder how Barriss was doing in her own, respective, meditation. Ahsoka smiled as she imagined her bright yellow skin, striking cerulean blue eyes, and the pretty diamond shaped tattoos that arched up and over her curved nose.
Barriss truly was a beautiful woman.
With a start Ahsoka pulled herself away from such traitorous thoughts.
There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is The Force.
Soon enough, Ahsoka fell back into her meditative state, but not before one last flicker of longing ached in her chest that she worked quickly to snuff out and repress.
After their meditation session, the two decided to grab some dinner. So, Ahsoka was quick to offer to go and get some take-out, in favor of whatever they had at the Temple.
It was time.
For about a week, Agaria Clammath had been planning and waiting for this moment. The day that would be the turning point for her to be able to give her daughter a comfortable life, and all the while, get her rightful revenge on the Jedi for all that they had taken from her family.
Her husband and daughter's father, her happiness, stability and so much more.
They would pay, of that Agaria would make sure.
She watched as her target finally left the Temple, alone, as night began to darken the city.
Ahsoka Tano. Anakin Skywalker's Padawan.
As a Clawdite, she had the ability to shift into the form of almost anyone she pleased. Of course though, this took a lot of hard work and practice, but among her people, she was one of the best. Even better than Zam Wesell, in many's eyes. For her, this would be easy- at least to take on the girl's shape and get close to her Master. Then, she'd just have to make sure that she didn't get into any lightsaber fights or conversations that she needed background to talk about.
If everything went according to plan, this would all go very quick.
If not… then, she'd just have to improvise.
Light on her feet, Agaria trailed after Ahsoka through the city streets under the guise of a Twi'lek child until finally she got Ahsoka right where she wanted her, next to an abandoned alleyway.
Forcing herself to now look the part of the crying, terrified child that she was going for, Agaria ran up to the young Togruta female.
The Jedi, while hardly just in their ways, would be inclined to help a young child. Of this, she was certain.
"H-help me!" She blubbered out, "th-they're going to… th-they're gonna k-kill… k-kill my m-mother." Agaria forced herself to fall into a mess of sobs.
"Hey, hey, it's alright," she heard the soft voice reply from up above her, "I'll help you, just show me where the bad guys are."
Staring up hopefully into the Padawan's bright blue eyes, she gave a small nod, as tears continued to fall in rivulets down her cheeks.
Without a second thought, she beckoned frantically for the Jedi Padawan to follow her, before bolting down the dark, abandoned alleyway with Ahsoka hot on her heels.
Perfect.
Once they'd gotten deep enough into the alleyway to not be seen by any onlookers that would actually care enough to report anything to the proper authorities, Agaria finally came to a sharp halt.
"In… in th-there," she stuttered, while pointing to an old worn down door.
The young Padawan nodded, as she made her way to the door and opened it, peering inside, only to unsurprisingly be met with darkness. The place was an old deposit for the drug trade in Coruscant, so nobody actually lived there.
"Little one," she heard Ahsoka murmur ever so softly, "are you sure they're here?"
"They have to be!" The imposter cried out, before succumbing to heavy sobs, "they have to be…" she fell to her knees.
Soon enough, just as predicted, the Jedi made her way over to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder with a small, reassuring smile. "It's okay though, I'm sure we'll find them eventually. Is there anywhere else that you can think of that they'd be?"
For a long moment, Agaria paused, wanting to sell her performance, before finally, she pointed deeper into the alleyway, "the bad men live down there," she whispered fearfully.
Ahsoka nodded, as she made her way back to her feet and turned towards the direction that Agaria had pointed.
Then, in a blink or miss it moment, Agaria morphed from a tiny little girl into a towering, powerful Wookiee. With a quick slam of her fist against the girl's head, she sent her spiraling to the floor, before pulling out her blaster, which was set to stun, and shooting the girl before she could do anything else.
From there, Agaria knew that she had to work quickly.
She made quick work of both tying the young Padawan up to a random pole in the alleyway and gagging her, after taking both of her lightsabers. Then, using her nanoalterator, a handy device she'd bought off of the black market, which allowed her to assume the clothes of her target, she scanned the young Padawan's wear and then, set the programming of the device to have her own attire match up.
Then Agaria, who was now dressed up like Ahsoka, completed the switch, as she imagined herself as the Togruta Padawan with bright orange skin, marked with white stripes, curved montrals, both white and blue in color, and finally the startling blue eyes.
The familiar ripple of pain echoed through the woman's limbs, as she completed the switch, but she ignored it. The pain was necessary if she wanted to provide a better life for her daughter and get vengeance on the Jedi for all that they had taken from her, because they would pay with the life of Anakin Skywalker.
After all, they'd taken a life from her too. It was only fair.