This story is a challenge from Whitetigerwolf.
Ahsoka dogged to the side to avoid Anakin's lightsaber before swinging at him with her own, which he blocked easily. They were training in the Jedi Temple because even when they were free of war if only for a few days, they were so used to fighting that peace felt wrong. She may have only been part of the war as Anakin's Padawan for two years, but in those years of constant battle, fighting had become her normal. She knew that the sentiment was wrong; war should not be her normal, it should not be what gave her peace, but it did. This was not how a Jedi was supposed to think. They were supposed to be calm, peaceful, they should not look for a fight, and they should be focused.
Ahsoka was pulled from her thoughts when she realized a lightsaber was by her neck, beaten by Anakin like she always was. "You need to focus, Snips." Anakin chastised, smirking down at her, though he seemed slightly worried at how out of sorts Ahsoka actually was. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I am just contemplating the war; it feels like the new normal to me. I know I should not feel that way, but I do." Ahsoka admitted as they both exited the training arena and entered the vast hallways of the Jedi Temple.
"That's just our reality right now Ahsoka, the war will end one day, but we have to fight to reach that end. Until then, this is our normal, our reality." Anakin explained, but he didn't seem to get what Ahsoka was trying to get at; it was frustrating, but she knew just asking again would just result in the same answer.
They walked in relative silence for a long while, passing by several Jedi as they walked around the Temple. Anakin seemed like he was going to say something to her when Obi-Wan suddenly intercepted them. "I have been trying to call you for ten minutes Anakin, where have you been!" Obi-Wan exclaimed!
"I was training with Ahsoka." Anakin commented offhandedly as he continued walking with Ahsoka and Obi-Wan following him. "I also turned off my comlink."
"Anakin." Obi-Wan bemoaned.
"What? We aren't supposed to get back into the action till the end of this week, and if an emergency came up, I knew you'd come and find me." Anakin joked, smirking, only for Obi-Wan to raise an unimpressed eyebrow at him.
"What did you need, master?" Anakin asked, sighing as he broke away from his brazen act.
"Are you familiar with the two Senators from Devaron?" Obi-Wan began, looking at both Anakin and Ahsoka as he asked the question.
"Didn't one get the other assassinated before being arrested by her own people?" Anakin asked, looking at Obi-Wan in confusion as to the relevance of the topic at hand.
"That is correct. It has also left Devaron without a voice in the Senate for quite some time." Obi-Wan stated.
"Obi-Wan, what are you getting at?" Anakin sighed.
"The Devaronians have recently elected a new Senator to take the place of the other two. The problem is that she can't reach Coruscant because of the Separatists; she needs people to protect her, and the Devaronian Governors have insisted that Jedi are to travel with her and protect her." Obi-Wan explained as they reached a garage connected to the Jedi Temple.
"So let me guess, the Council wants me to go fly all the way off to Devaron, just to bring back this new Senator safely?" Anakin stated, clearly frustrated.
"Actually, the Council wants Ahsoka to go and collect the senator. She just needs to accept and get your approval to go bring the senator back safely." Obi-Wan remarked, stumping Anakin for a moment, which Ahsoka noticed, made Obi-Wan extremely proud of himself.
"Well, Snips, what do you say; want to go collect a senator from Devaron?" Anakin asked, looking down at her; Obi-Wan turned to look at her as well, pressuring her with their authoritative gazes.
Perhaps it would help with her problem? It was an outside party; perhaps the senator would relate to her situation better than Anakin would; even if she didn't, Ahsoka would still be away from the war, doing something far more traditional for a Jedi. It was an excellent opportunity to clear her head. "I'll go." Ahsoka stated confidently.
"I'm glad to hear it; you will be needed at the Senate building in three hours; I hope all goes well with your journey." Obi-Wan stated before turning and leaving both her and Anakin in the garage, he most likely had to go and report to the Council on this matter, but it still felt a bit like he was abandoning her right after she accepted.
"Do you want me to drive you Snips?" Anakin asked, pulling Ahsoka from her thoughts.
"Yeah, sure; thank you, master." Ahsoka stated emotions clouded her mind, but she did not let them distract her as she followed Anakin to his vehicle.
Ahsoka sat outside the Senate building against a wall with her arms crossed. She had been here a while now, and while she knew that she wouldn't be picked up for another two hours, she was running out of patients. She could talk to one of the Senators, but she stopped herself, as she didn't want to bother them.
Sighing, she stood up and began pacing around. She did not have a lot of experience with Senators. Now she was supposed to bring a new Senator to Coruscant; she would be the Devaronians introduction into the Republic. If she messed it up… she didn't want to think about that. Anakin wouldn't be happy with her; the Council would be even worse; the Senate would be awful. She did not want to lose some of the light friendships she had with some of the Senators.
Why had she accepted the task? Could she still back out of it? Surely there were other Jedi who were more qualified than her that could take the job. She turned to her comlink; she was just a button away from calling Anakin and telling him that she couldn't do the job, that she wasn't ready. He would be disappointed, but that was better than him being disappointed and her messing up the task.
"Ahsoka!" Padme's voice called from behind her. Lowering her comlink, she turned and faced the Senator of Naboo.
"What are you doing here, Padme?" Ahsoka asked nervously, still antsy from all the stuff revolving around the Devaronian Senator.
"I work here, Ahsoka." Padme joked, making Ahsoka blush in embarrassment, her cheeks turning a deep orange. "Are you already Ahsoka?" Padme asked, now sounding slightly worried.
"I'm fine, I just… The Jedi Council told me of the new Devaronian Senator coming to Coruscant, and they asked me to go to Devaron and pick her up. I accepted, but what if I accidentally do something wrong? Will she get angry with me? I don't know the customs of Devaron, I am feeling really overwhelmed, and I am regretting my decision." Ahsoka expelled her words in such random intervals that even she could not tell what she had ended up telling Padme.
"So you are going to go to Devaron and bring the new senator back here? But you are nervous and don't want to make any cultural mistakes with her?" Padme asked after a long moment of silence as she tried to sort through the mess of words that had come out of Ahsoka.
Ahsoka merely nodded, figuring that if she spoke again, it would just come out as a jumbled mess like before. She was flush with embarrassment; she was acting like such a child.
"While I am not the most familiar with Devaronian customs myself, I can help you with some basic etiquette while you wait for your transport." Padme offered, smiling at Ahsoka in a friendly, cheerful manner. It was really no surprise that Anakin liked her so much.
"Don't you have important senate business to attend to?" Ahsoka asked worriedly, not wanting to interfere with Padme's work, especially since she was so kind to Ahsoka.
"I was leaving the senate building, Ahsoka." Padme laughed, though it wasn't mocking in the slightest, just kind and genuine. "I am done with my work for today."
"Oh." Ahsoka murmured in embarrassment, though it quickly faded as Padme began explaining Devaronian culture.
It was quite fascinating and rather violent as well, not unlike her own culture. Time seemed to fly by, and Padme continued to talk, and Ahsoka continued to absorb the information like a parched sponge. It seemed like no time at all by the time Ahsoka's ride arrived, and with a hug, she said her farewells to Padme before entering the fancy Republic ship that would take her to Devaron.
I hope that everyone is enjoying the story so far, Harry will be popping up next chapter.
What did you think of the dialogue, I tried really hard to make it as authentic to the original characters as I could.
More story to come soon, I am not sure what sort of update schedule I want to go for, I am thinking about once a week.