My first real Star Wars oneshot!
So, I started this before Rise of Skywalker came out and I still haven't watched that movie all the way through. So expect inconsistencies for that movie. It should be canon-compliant for the rest of canon, including Clone Wars and Rebels. The only exception is the inclusion of Carter Draik. He does not belong to me, he is an original character created by the wonderful DarthBubbles. He features in her stories Torn and Lose It All. They are not necessary to understand this story, but if you want more backstory on Ahsoka's relationship and marriage, I cannot recommend them highly enough. DarthBubbles would like you to know that she wrote those stories several years ago and they are not indicative of her current skill.
Rey flicked the pen up the slightly slanted surface of the desk and watched it roll back down. She flicked it again and it rolled back down, bumping into her finger. She flicked it again and sighed.
She was bored.
Ben said he was 'looking into' something he'd found and he should've been back by now. With no war to fight and no one to train with, she had nothing to do.
She had cleaned her room, done all her laundry, not that there was much, actually cracked down and done the stupid paperwork she'd been putting off that the Resistance people insisted she do despite the fact that her handwriting was atrocious and she couldn't spell to save her life, given BB-8 a fresh paint job and polish, and everything else she could think of.
Now she was just flicking the stupid pen over and over and over waiting for Ben to finally get back and either give her something to do or someone to annoy.
"Rey, we have a new mission!"
Awesomesauce.
Ben was back and they had a new mission.
She grabbed the pen as it rolled back down and stuck it in the jar of pens. "What are we doing?"
He walked into their shared office and set two files down on her desk. "I was looking through the Empire's old records of Jedi, just on a hunch. Most of them were marked as deceased as expected. But these two,"—he pointed to the files—"aren't. They're still alive."
Rey opened the first file and read the name at the top. "Ahsoka Tano. I don't recognise that name."
"She was Anakin Skywalker's padawan during the Clone Wars. We know she was part of the Rebellion, but she vanished around 3 BBY. No one's seen or heard from her since. There was a massive reward for any information about her for years. I remember my parents talking about trying to find her. But the only information we ever got was that she was on Corvus. By the time we got there, she was gone without a trace. No one had seen her leave, or even seen her ship. The First Order put a huge bounty on her head and would have paid handsomely for any information about her whereabouts, but no one ever found anything. Not even the Jedi she was working with at the time, my uncle and a few others could find so much as a cantina receipt."
"How do you know she's not dead?"
"There's the Jedi you know, and then there's a Clone Wars-era Jedi. She was raised in war and taught by both Master Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Somehow, she survived the Jedi Purge, the Empire, and the First Order. She's incredibly dangerous. Even when the Empire knew where she was, they couldn't catch her. She's also a Togruta."
"What's a Togruta?" Rey looked up at him, brow furrowed in confusion.
Ben picked up the datapad lying on her desk and pulled up a picture, showing it to her. "They're a species native to the planet of Shili in the Expansion Region. They're a predatorial species, built for hunting in every aspect. It means that she's almost impossible to catch, especially on her home terrain. Wherever she's holed up, no one's going to be able to find her unless she wants to be found. The only reason we're going after her now is her age."
Rey opened the file again, looking for Ahsoka's year of birth. "36 BBY? She'd be in her seventies, at least!"
"Well, it's 36 ABY now, so 72. Even at that age, she'd still be skilled and dangerous. Togruta have a natural lifespan of 94 standard years and they stay active well into old age. And she's probably a venerable Jedi Master at this point too."
"You don't think she'd…want to help us."
"We're hoping so. She's the last of the great Jedi. She's spent so long, likely alone, with nothing to really do besides follow the Force's will. She'd be highly skilled in the Jedi Arts, maybe even more so than people like Master Kenobi or my uncle. But regardless, we need to find her."
Rey nodded, setting Ahsoka's file aside and picking up the other one. The data was much sparser and the file only one page, but this one had an image. The girl was about twenty, short black hair, green skin, and black diamond tattoos over the bridge on her nose and on the back of her hands. The picture had been taken in what was probably a prison cell, given the girl's orange uniform and bound hands. She was looking at the ground. Rey read the name at the top. "Barriss Offee. Who was she?"
"Another Jedi padawan during the time of the Clone Wars. She set off a bomb inside the Jedi Temple and was convicted of murder and terrorism. She was supposed to be executed, but for unknown reasons, it was postponed at least twice. We know now it was probably Palpatine trying to give himself time to recruit her as a Sith Acolyte or possibly an Inquisitor. But after the Jedi Purge, she disappeared. Recordkeeping, security, and just about everything else went to hell for about two weeks in the transition from the Republic to the Empire. By the time everything was straightened out again, she was gone. That was 19 BBY. She's never been heard from since. Just vanished into thin air. Unlike Ahsoka Tano, who was traced to Rebel activities during the Empire, Barriss was never heard from again. Any trail is 55 years cold. Our only chance of finding her is to find Ahsoka."
"Why would Ahsoka know where she is?"
"They were closer than sisters during the Clone Wars. There were even rumours they were romantically involved. They fell out over the bombing, but they still know each other better than they know themselves. So if anyone knows what happened to Barriss Offee, it's Ahsoka Tano."
Rey looked down at the other information on the file. "Born in the year…"—she scanned the page for Barriss's year of birth—"40 BBY, she's even older than Ahsoka."
"And Mirialans only have a natural lifespan of only around seventy standard years, so if she hasn't died of old age, she'd be ancient at this point. But regardless of whether she's alive or dead, Ahsoka would know."
"So where do we start?"
"Our only possible lead." Ben set down another file. "Padmé Amidala's last will and testament."
"What…are we going to find in here?"
"I don't know. It's just a hunch. There might not be anything to find. But Padmé was close with Ahsoka since she was her husband's padawan. Close enough that she may have left something to her that might give us a clue."
Rey and Ben sat down at their desks, each with copies of the will. It was a long will, full of legal riffraff and names Rey didn't know. She barely knew who Padmé was. Just that she'd been Luke and Leia's mother and Anakin Skywalker's wife.
The beams of sunlight slanted across the room as time passed. Soon they vanished entirely, replaced by desk lights as they kept sifting through the document. Leia brought them plenty of snacks and tea to keep them going.
Rey groaned, slumping over her desk. "Why is this so long?"
"Padmé Amidala was a very wealthy and important woman. She had to make sure everything was accounted for."
"I'm not even reading at this point. I'm just looking at the names and trying to find Ahsoka's."
"That seems like the best course of action."
It was well into the night before bleary eyes found anything.
"Here we go, Ahsoka Tano. Sum of credits, blah blah blah, here we go, a mountain retreat on Naboo. I bet we could find it in a Republic database. It shouldn't be too hard to access."
Rey groaned, rubbing her eyes as she slumped in her chair. "Great. Let's run the plan by Leia in the morning. I'm going to bed."
It wasn't that hard to access. There was a nice landing pad, though pretty overgrown. They could see where there had once been a maintained path, but after being abandoned for over fifty years, it was nearly indistinguishable from the forest around it.
"We…don't appear to have been detected." Ben looked confused, looking around as if he expected someone to jump out from behind a tree and start blasting.
"Well you're the one who's good at sensing Force-signatures, can you see anything?"
"No. Just animals. And a faint something that way, down the path. A lot of people close together. Probably the main house."
"I…guess we go that way."
Neither of them felt the need to rest a hand on their lightsabers as they walked. The planet was peaceful and there were no booby traps or ambushes set along their way.
"I don't think they expected to be found." Ben looked up at the canopy above them. "These trees are all growing naturally. There's no security at all. Not even old stuff from before the Clone Wars."
The forest opened into a large meadow leading down to a lake that stretched into the rest of the mountains. A large house, in a far more rustic style than either of them had ever seen before, sat on a hill in the centre of a U of trees. On the side they were on, just to the left of the front, a large garden stretched from the flower beds at the house's foundation to the hedge in front of them. The only modicum of security was the tall hedge fence keeping animals out.
They shared a look. This was too easy.
Rey tried the white picket fence gate and it opened easily. "No lock."
They walked down the steps and down the gravel path to the flagstone stairs leading up to the porch at the front of the house. The plants grew in orderly rows and were clearly well cared for. The signs marking each plant were cheerful, and most of them written in a child's hand.
"This just gets weirder and weirder," Rey muttered.
On the porch was an old woman with weathered, wrinkled skin asleep in a rocking chair, snoring audibly. Her skin had probably been green when she was younger, but now it was far paler and almost human. White hair hung over her shoulder in a loose braid. Knitting needles were held loosely in wizened hands, unfinished project in blue yarn tucked into her lap.
Rey's eyes widened. This woman had the same diamond tattoos arching over her nose and cheekbones as Barriss Offee had in the picture.
"Ben, look at her face. She has the same tattoos."
"That's strange. You would think Ahsoka and Barriss would avoid each other given their past."
"You're sure that's her?"
"Well, she's definitely old enough and her tattoos are the same. The only way to know for sure would be to ask."
They stepped gingerly onto the porch. The old woman didn't stir.
"Do we wake her up?" Rey whispered.
"Let's try knocking. There's other people inside."
Rey lifted her fist and knocked tentatively.
"Who locked Auntie outside again?" a woman's exasperated voice called out. Solid steps walked over to the door.
Rey wasn't sure what to make of the voice, jumping slightly when the door jerked open.
The woman was a Togruta in her fifties, looking annoyed, but quickly shifting to surprise and wariness when she realized there were strangers at her door. Her clothes were plain but sturdy, and she was well-muscled and strong. She crossed her arms, green eyes a piercing contrast with her orangish-tan skin and white markings.
"Alright, spit it out."
"What?" Rey was a little confused and taken aback by the woman's hostility.
"Either scram or tell me what you want and scram."
"We're looking for Ahsoka Tano." Ben set a supporting hand on Rey's arm. "Our intel said there might be a clue here."
The woman raised an eyebrow marking. "You sure?"
"Yes."
"You're sure you're looking for Ahsoka?"
"Yes?"
She sighed, most of the hostility gone. "Well, you might as well come in. I'm assuming you're Jedi people, so we'll see if Mom will talk to you. She doesn't like Jedi."
Rey wrinkled her nose in confusion. "You're Ahsoka's daughter? But-"
"Jedi aren't allowed to have attachments? Try again. Mom has like fifteen great-grandkids." She stepped aside and pushed the door open farther. "I'm Vestara."
"Ben Solo."
"Rey." When Vestara didn't stop them, both she and Ben stepped inside.
The inside of the house was rustic and homey. Over the stone fireplace's wooden mantle were several pictures, one of a couple, a human male and Togruta female, on their wedding day, and seven or eight of groups of children, some more recent than others. They were a mix of human and Togruta, with human features being more prominent. The hardwood floor had a large rug on it, running underneath a couch, two armchairs and a coffee table. There were two large windows on opposite sides of the room, one to the left of the front door and the other above the sink in the kitchen, light spilling around the cabinets and counter. In the centre of the mantle, framed by the pictures, was a black stand holding three ancient lightsabers. They were probably still functional, but they were old.
Vestara gave both of them a firm nod. "There's not a lot of people home right now. Most of them are out with my brother-in-law Michael down at the lake. But since my parents are too old to get down there anymore, they're here. And Auntie, myself and the tods."
"May we speak with your mother?"
"We'll see. She doesn't like talking to you Jedi folk. Likes talking about you, but last time a Jedi showed up, she tossed him out on his rump. I don't know why she hates Jedi so much, her memory's so far gone the reason changes every time you ask her. But if she'll talk to you, you're welcome to try."
Rey was beginning to have serious doubts about Ahsoka Tano.
Vestara walked to a short hallway in between the fireplace and the counter. "Mom, there's people here to see you!"
A voice answered in a language they didn't recognise. It was an old woman, undoubtedly Ahsoka.
Creaky footsteps came down the hallway and stopped in front of Vestara. The two women had a short murmured conversation and then Vestara stepped out of the way and let her mother into the room.
Rey was sure this was the wrong house.
There was no way Ahsoka Tano was this wizened, bent old woman who relied on her staff to stand up. The markings on her face and montrals had faded as the once-vibrant orange and blue lost its pigment. She walked with a limp, probably the remnant of an old war injury. What was left of her markings did resemble the picture of Ahsoka Ben had shown her on the way, but that was the only similarity.
"You're Ahsoka Tano?"
"Last I looked."
Rey tried to stammer out something, but her brain wasn't working. Ben stepped in to rescue her. "You're just...not what we expected."
She huffed. "Well, what did you expect?" She wasn't rude exactly—she just clearly had little to no concept of tact.
"We don't mean to be rude," Ben said. "It's just that the last picture we saw of you was…from several years ago, so we weren't sure what to expect."
"Well, news flash, I'm old!" She cackled gleefully for a few seconds before instantly becoming serious again. "Alright, whaddya want?"
"My name is Ben Solo and—"
"Wait, Solo like that Han fellow?" Ahsoka interrupted. "Who'd he get with?"
Ben took a deep breath. "Yes. Han Solo was my-"
"You better not be a playboy."
"A…what?" Rey wasn't sure what she was supposed to think. When she'd seen Luke, she'd thought his attitude was irreverent. This woman couldn't seem to let them finish a sentence, much less stay on topic for more than a few seconds.
"That insufferable man couldn't stop hitting on every woman in the room. The only person worse than him was Lando, but Lando stopped after my husband kicked him right in the-"
"Mom."
"I was going to say crotch."
"No you weren't."
"Anyway, hopefully he finally picked one girl, unless you're a-"
"Mother."
"Oh fine. Which one did he finally settle on? I hope it was one of the ones with her head screwed on right. Like Leia. Leia was a nice girl. Although I think she had a thing for Luke. Who are you?" Ahsoka looked to Rey like she'd just now realized Rey was in the room.
Vestara sighed. "Mom, this is Rey and Ben Solo. They are from the Jedi and I believe they have questions for you."
"Too bad. I want to nap. Nap or bother Barriss." Ahsoka turned toward the front door, clearly done with the conversation.
"Barriss, as in, Barriss Offee?" Rey's face scrunched up in confusion, staring at Ahsoka aghast. "You're not just friends with her, she's living in your house?"
"Does blondie have a brain?"
"I'm…not blonde." Rey looked back at Vestara. "Does she really not remember?"
"Nope." She popped the 'p', rolling her eyes. "My mother is going a bit senile. Aunt remembers, but no matter how many times she tries to explain to Mom what actually happened, it's…"
"In one ear and out the other?" Ben supplied.
"That." Vestara sighed. "Mom. They're trying to talk to you."
"Who?" Ahsoka turned around and looked at them. "Who are they?"
"Just introduce yourselves again. It's easier."
"Alright, let's get farther this time," Ben muttered in Rey's ear. He straightened, looking Ahsoka in the eyes. "My name is Ben Solo. I am a member of the Jedi Order and Anakin's grandson."
Ahsoka scrunched up her nose, scratching her left montral with her staff. "You're a little old."
"My mom was yo—"
"No, all my Kiya's grandkiddos are 'bout this tall." She held her hand about halfway down her thigh.
Vestara groaned. "My brother was named after Anakin Skywalker, who I assume is the Anakin you are referring to."
"Yes. My grandfather was Anakin Skywalker."
"Oh, I remember Anakin!" Ahsoka laughed. "He was a little smarta—"
"Mom, please." Vestara sighed. "Do I have to go get one of the toddlers and bring them in here or are you going to watch your language on your own?"
Ahsoka grumbled.
Rey huffed, a little upset. "Anakin Skywalker was one of the greatest Jedi in history."
"He was a self-righteous punk!" Ahsoka corrected. "Also, the greatest idiot I ever had the pleasure of knowing. Whatever you've heard, I guarantee half of it ain't true and the other half was exaggerated."
"What about saving Mandalore? That was one of his greatest victories!"
"Skyguy went to Mandalore twice. Once to drop me off and once to pick me up. There was no saving involved. It was either me, or it was Obi-Wan."
"Didn't he save Coruscant?"
"One pilot in a whole mess of other Jedi. He gets all the credit cause he saved a dude that didn't need saving. You wanna know who really turned the battle around?"
"Who?" Ben glanced at Rey out of the corner of his eye.
Ahsoka cackled. "I DON'T KNOW! I wasn't there! But it wasn't that idiot!"
"He must have saved Naboo." Rey was grasping at straws, trying to find something her hero Anakin Skywalker was credited with that he'd actually done.
"Like once. I think. The first time it was all Artooie. I mean the kid was nine. Uh…"
"You're thinking of the Blue Shadow Virus, Mom." Vestara said. "There was a hidden lab on Naboo and you and Senator Amidala were trapped inside and got sick. Anakin managed to get there in time with the cure."
Ahsoka looked confused. "That never happened."
"Yes it did."
"No it didn't, I'd remember that."
"So," Rey said quickly. "We're with the Jedi, and—"
"What are you talking about? There aren't any Jedi left, they all kicked the bucket before my kids were born. Twice."
"Well, yes, but we're Jedi, or—we want to be. We want to learn more about the Jedi arts, and we thought you—"
"Barriss would know that sort of thing. She was always the smarta-"—Vestara glared—" kid. I was the dumb kid. She came up with complicated battle plans and stuff and I accidentally dented a ship with my head. It's not like there's much to it anyway. As long as you're so stupidly arrogant you can't see past your own lightsaber, you're basically there."
"But that isn't all there is to the Jedi!" Rey flinched at how loud she sounded. "Is it?" she added, quieter. She pointed to the lightsabers on the mantle. "Is… is one of those yours?"
"No."
Rey frowned, glancing at Ben, whose face showed a similar expression. "Then whose—"
"Two of them are mine!" Ahsoka grinned. She was missing most of her teeth except for her fangs.
Rey groaned. "Does the other one belong to Barriss?"
"Of course not. It's my husband's. I might have taken one too many blows to the head, but I'm not dumb enough yet to let a convicted terrorist have a weapon around my children."
Whatever her logic behind letting Barriss around her children at all, Rey didn't understand it. "Your husband was a Jedi?"
"Yup! We been married for…56 years."
"Wait…" Ben frowned. "The Empire was founded fifty-five years ago."
"Yup!" Ahsoka grinned again and Vestara sighed.
"Yes. My parents were married before the rise of the Empire, while both of them were still in the Jedi Order. They managed to get away with it. That doesn't mean it was a good idea or that you should encourage it in others!" The last sentence was very pointedly directed at her mother.
Ahsoka just snickered.
"But there…must be more to the Jedi, right?" Rey kept her voice down this time. She felt a little bad when she saw the old woman's face grow pensive. Her shoulders sagged a little, making the fabric of the robes slip and reveal that despite her assumed strength in the Force, Ahsoka had become very frail in her old age.
Leaning on her staff, Ahsoka sat down on one of the armchairs. She twisted the worn wood in her hands, eyes suddenly far away. "There should have been."
Vestara waved them into seats and they continued listening to the old woman's tale.
"The Jedi were famed as the guardians of peace and justice. They upheld this duty for thousands of years. And for thousands of years, one tiny step at a time, they began to slip. One questionable decision after another. One life tossed aside, then two. It was so slow that no one noticed. No one…inside the Order, at least. I was…" She trailed off, staring at her lightsabers on the mantle.
"You were…?" Ben prompted.
"I was part of the last generation of padawans. We were raised on war and adrenaline and constant missions that drained and broke even the most reckless of us. And sometimes it didn't drain you. Some people ended up on a constant high from the rush of battle and it broke them in a different way. But the Jedi and the Republic as a whole were so far gone at that point, no one saw anything wrong with it. It took a child who was so sick of war and blood and constant battles with no break, pushed nearly to suicide just to have a moment of peace, who was willing to kill innocent people to be heard."
Rey looked down at the lightsaber she carried out of habit. Was this the legacy she was upholding? She looked at Vestara, frowning. "I thought you said she didn't remember."
Vestara was solemn. "She has moments of clarity sometimes. But it's not something she wants to remember, so most of the time she just…doesn't."
"Even after all that, even after I was thrown out on the streets, even after Bee laid it out clear as Ilum's ice, even after…" Ahsoka didn't seem to realize people were listening, but she kept talking. "No one noticed. Well, no one important. I know of several dozen Jedi who left the Order in the weeks after my trial. But it didn't change anything."
"Who was Bee?" Rey asked, keeping her voice appropriately low.
"That was my nickname for Barriss." She smiled, this memory apparently a good one. "She called me 'Soka, I called her Bee."
When she didn't keep talking, Rey started to get a feeling that they had worn out their welcome. She shifted, uneasy.
Vestara leaned over and set a hand on her mother's shoulder. "Mum?"
Ahsoka started slightly, looking up. "Oh, did I get lost in my head again? Sorry dear."
"Maybe you should go lie down."
"That's a good idea." She stood and left, blue eyes gone dull with whatever painful memories had been brought to the surface.
Ben stood, resting a hand on Rey's shoulder. "If you want us to leave, then…"
"No, you're fine. Mom's just…tired, is all." Vestara sighed. "And she is right. If you want to know more about the Jedi, Barriss is a better person to ask. If you're willing to talk to her."
Rey nodded.
Vestara slipped out the front door, closing it quietly behind her.
"Are you sure this was a good idea?"
Ben frowned, sitting back down.
"I just mean, is that what everyone thinks of the Jedi? Is that what we're creating?"
He sighed. "Well, we know where they went wrong. And maybe, with these Masters' help, we can avoid that in the near future."
"I just don't want the Purge to happen a third time. Especially with…" She trailed off, knowing he'd understand.
The door creaked open. Vestara pushed it open all the way, walking slowly to keep pace with the old woman on her arm.
Standing, Barriss Offee was much smaller than her picture had led to believe. Her hands were bony and frail, like what they could see of the rest of her. Though her tattoos had warped slightly with age, when she smiled, Rey could tell she had been quite pretty when she was younger. Vestara helped her sit in the armchair Ahsoka had vacated.
"I didn't expect to see Jedi around here again." Her voice carried a lilt of a Coruscanti accent. "Especially not ones as young as yourselves."
"We're…not really Jedi," Rey confessed. "We came here hoping to learn about them."
Barriss tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. "I see. What sort of things?"
"Well, we don't know what we need to know, if that makes sense." Ben said, shifting a little in his seat.
"Hmm. Well it's hard to take advantage of my knowledge if you don't know what you're looking for." She chuckled. "What are you trying to achieve?"
Rey laced her fingers through Ben's and he squeezed her hand lightly. "We want to rebuild the Jedi Order, Back to…the way it used to be."
"Then you will need virtually everything I know." Barriss reached over to set a hand on Vestara's arm. "Could you get my old notebook, dear? The blue one, with the diamond design on the cover."
"Of course, Aunt." Vestara patted her hand and left.
Barriss winked at them and shimmied to her feet. She was less wobbly than Ahsoka and didn't lean on a staff to walk, but when she nearly fell over trying to walk around the chair, Rey decided that she probably should.
"Come on, let's get outside before she comes back."
"Don't you need your notebook?" Ben stood quickly and offered his arm, but she waved him off.
"I will later, but right now I want to show you something." She snickered. "I'm not really allowed outside on my own. Vessa's afraid I'm going to fall and break something and not be able to call for help or something like that."
Rey's brow furrowed, but they followed her outside to a large rock slab raised slightly off the ground. Barriss removed her loose outer robe, leaving her in a long dress with thick skirts and long sleeves. She pinned her braid up on her head and pulled a square cloth out of somewhere, folding it into a triangle and pinning it around her head.
"I suppose neither of you know anything about the various lightsaber forms."
Both of them shook their heads.
"Katas?"
Rey frowned. "What's a kata?"
"History of the Jedi Order?"
"I know some things." Ben looked hesitant.
She pinched the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger. "Basic Force abilities, such as lifting or throwing things?"
"I did that once or twice." Rey was getting the feeling she knew basically nothing compared to Barriss.
"Please tell me you can at least meditate."
Rey grinned and said, "That I can do," at the same time Ben grumbled, "Not this again."
"Well, at least I'm not working with an entirely blank slate." Barriss stepped onto the rock and settled into a cross-legged meditation pose, hands settling on her knees. "Sit, and we'll start with this."
Rey rolled her head around, feeling everything in her neck pop. How could she be sore from doing nothing but sitting? She stood carefully, more pops coming from her knees and ankles. When she pressed her hands to her back and leaned back, everything all down her spine popped and she sighed in relief.
Barriss chuckled. "You need to meditate more." She took Ben's proffered hand and stood gracefully. "If that's how stiff you are after simple meditation, you won't enjoy anything else I can put you through."
"I'm just hungry, really." Her stomach rumbled as if to emphasise her point.
"Well then, let us see what's for dinner."
Rey was surprised to see how dark it had gotten while they were meditating. The sun had set and the western sky was tinted orange and pink. Barriss slipped her robe back over her shoulders. All of the quiet strength that had surrounded her as she taught them the basics of the Force and what it meant to be a Jedi was gone. Now she was just the frail old woman again.
The house was stuffed with people. Most of them were Ben's age or younger, but there were several that were probably Vestara's siblings and their spouses and next to Ahsoka was an old human man who was probably her husband.
Many of the young children assaulted Barriss's legs as she walked in and she hugged them back, pressing a kiss to the top of each small head. They pulled her to the table, insisting in a mix of languages that she sit next to them please and not their siblings or cousins.
A human-appearing man in his fifties with black hair waved his hand and brought several dishes of food over to the table. As he passed Ahsoka he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
Rey felt a little out of place in such a domestic scene. She'd been to family dinners before, but this felt different. Usually, it was her, Ben, Leia, Finn and Poe finding a small window in their schedules where all of them could sit down and eat together. Rose and Luke joined them whenever they could. They were usually in a corner of an old Rebel base and more often than not too hungry, busy or both to do anything other than stuff their faces and leave.
This was nothing like that.
Four generations of this family were sitting down around the long table, with a few younger children on laps or siblings sharing chairs. The smells wafting through the house made Rey's mouth water. There was laughter and the bubble of conversation. A younger Togruta woman, probably in her thirties, waved Rey and Ben into a pair of seats. On Rey's right, there were a pair of humanoid girls, probably twins, arguing in a language that wasn't Basic. On Ben's left was the same dark-haired human man that had brought out the food.
Ahsoka chirruped lightly and the room went silent, all eyes going to her. "We have guests tonight, from the Jedi, so I expect all of you to be on your best behaviour." She tickled the blond child next to her and the boy giggled.
"Mother, please set a good example." Vestara rolled her eyes fondly.
"Oh, I suppose I can be boring for one dinner."
"You don't know the meaning of the word," Barriss answered deadpan.
"I beg your pardon." Ahsoka pressed a hand to her chest, mock-offended.
"Then beg." Barriss stole a cheesy roll from the basket with the Force. When she went to bite into it, Ahsoka grabbed it out from under her, but instead of flying to her hand, it went straight into her mouth.
Vestara groaned and about everyone under twenty giggled. "You're supposed to be venerable, wise Jedi Masters, but most of the time 'mature adult' is a stretch."
It was Barriss's turn to feign offence, gasping dramatically even as her lips tried to curl into a smile. "I don't know what you're talking about."
This time everyone laughed.
I was hoping to publish this on May 4, but I wasn't happy with the ending and kept redoing it. Anyhoo, it's done now! I would love it if you'd drop a comment or a favourite if you're feeling like it. I'm working on a Keeper of the Lost Cities fic right now, but once that's done I have three Star Wars series lined up. So if you're willing to be patient, more content is on the way!
Shine brightly!
Ruby