Warning for a mention of a place not being real safe for girls. Also, this chapter is tooth rotting fluff.
One day later…
Mara Jade POV
My comlink beeps.
Contact: Ahsoka Tano/Darth Saph: Can you go check in on Shaak Ti? I have a box of tasty Togrutan snacks that are human safe that I recall her liking that you can bribe her with to cooperate with you. I'll go hide in my office and hide the Skywalkers, so you can take her out (in cuffs so she doesn't try anything) and feed her without her getting suspicious about me. After all, it wouldn't do to give her a heart attack about me not being completely dark.
I text back a reply.
Okay. Where are the snacks? You hide the Skywalkers and set it up so they don't get bored. Like maybe let them use the extra video game controllers for the new Iridium 5000 display in their rooms, so they can play Action and Victory or one of the other new titles. Besides feeding her, what else do you want me to do?
Contact: Ahsoka Tano/Darth Saph: Sorry about not telling you where I put the stuff. I put the snacks + other supplies at the entrance to the cell block where I'm keeping Shaak Ti. I'll handle the Skywalkers. You can try healing her, cleaning her up, taking her for a walk in non-sensitive areas and maybe showing her a movie as well as feeding her so she doesn't look as much skin and bones. Just keep a close eye on her and try to make sure she eats some food. I'll give the Skywalkers the extra controllers.
I take a turbo lift, then walk towards the cell block where Ahsoka had dumped Shaak Ti. As Ahsoka said, the snacks were there along with some cuffs to keep her from escaping, and other stuff in a box. I walk down the block until I reach the cell where Ahsoka had dumped Shaak Ti and carefully enter. She's curled up in a corner trying to sleep, wrapped up in the blanket I gave her the day before, and feels cold.
"I'm back. Darth Saph won't find us, as I took precautions to keep this whole plot hidden." I whisper. She opens her blue eyes and I drape a few thick cute furry blankets over her thin frame. It's not a lot, but it should make her feel a bit better.
She forces a faint smile and whispers hoarsely, "Thank you, Mara."
I reply, "You're welcome. Do you want some tea or a snack first?"
"Tea, please." she replies. In order for her to not get suspicious about my Master, she hadn't been getting fed more officially, so she's still really thin. I dig through the box before finding the thermos of tea, with extra honey.
I open it and hand it to her, saying, "Small sips. I don't want you to choke. I barely researched medical stuff beyond some Force Healing and don't want to test it." She sips the tea slowly and looks slightly less pale. I tuck an extra pillow behind her neck and she smiles faintly again.
After she finishes the tea, I ask, "Do you want a snack now? I have some applesauce."
"Sure." she replies. This time her voice sounds slightly less hoarse than before, and she's a bit perkier. I grab the jerky bag and give her a small piece as a reward for cooperating with me.
"Here. You've been behaving well, so I thought you might like some jerky." She smiles and eats it all, licking her orange fingers to remove the last flavorful traces. I give her the applesauce and a spoon and she eats it while I have KT-2 scan her.
"Patient is malnourished. Give patient these pills." A slot in the front opens and out pops three small pills.
I grab them and say, "If you take them all and don't complain, I'll give you a couple of extra pieces of jerky."
Shaak swallows the pills, and I give her the jerky. She eats half of a piece and saves the rest for later.
"Given that my Master is busy, and won't see us, I'm going to take you out of here for a few hours. I'm going to have to keep you in cuffs so you don't try anything, but you can at least get out of here for a bit. Sound good? Let me know when or if you get tired."
"Alright." She doesn't resist at all as I put her hands and feet in binders and make sure they are loose enough to not hurt her too much. I walk with her to the lift and take the lift to my private level.
"This is my private level, so it's a bit messy, and if you're ever out of your cell when I'm not with you, please don't enter." I say.
"Fair enough." she replies. I go past my bedroom and go into the spare room me and Ahsoka had prepped when we were remodeling my current room, so I'd have somewhere to sleep and put my stuff. It was smaller, but much neater than my normal room and decorated in a Shillian theme.
"Here we are. This is my spare bedroom from when we were remodeling my normal bedroom. I did it in a Shillian theme. You can go ahead and lay down on the bed, and I'll try doing more Force Healing." She awkwardly climbs into the bed and I climb up next to her and start healing her. A few minutes in, I use the Force to call the holosystem remote to my hand and start a Mando'a music playlist of mine of low volume. After growing up with the clones and Ahsoka, I was taught enough Mando'a culture to enjoy the playlist and even be able to sing along. I also grab a big stuffed tooka doll and hand it to her.
"My Master gave it to me when I was little and I keep it as a memory of my childhood. It means a lot to me, so don't rip it, but if you want to cuddle with it, go ahead." I say. She squirms a bit, trying to get comfortable, before getting comfortable, and using it to rest a lekku on. I then walk out of the room and close the door behind me to send a message to my Master.
I fed Shaak and took her out to the spare bedroom you set up for me and did some Force Healing. She cooperated very well. If you hide yourself in the Force so you're undetectable, I can let her have some time with the Force. I'd be watching her the whole time and only set it to 10% of Force power. What do you think?
A minute later I get and read Ahsoka's reply.
Go ahead, just be clear that if she tries anything…
I walk back in, and say, "I'll let you have some of your Force connection back, but you have to promise not to try anything." I say.
"I promise." she replies. I use my comlink to adjust it so she can have a bit of her Force connection back.
"Thanks, Mara." She starts meditating peacefully.
One hour later…
I tap her shoulder gently.
"Shaak, do you want to clean up some? We can just use my bathroom." I offer.
"Sure." she replies, sounding a bit perkier than before.
We get off the bed and I adjust her Force collar to not have her be able to use the Force. I also briefly slip out to tell my Master that I've readjusted the Force collar on her. Ahsoka unhides herself in the Force.
We walk into my bedroom and I dig through the linen cabinet to find a clean towel and say, "I'll let you out of cuffs while you take a shower, just don't try anything. I'll be waiting on the bed. Feel free to spend a while in the shower, it's not like we're in space." I let her out of the cuffs as she goes and walks into the bathroom.
Leia's POV- Around two hours ago…
I'm in the garden with Anakin. We are sitting on the dark stone bench and relaxing. Then Ahsoka walks in and says, "You two are going to need to go back to your rooms for a while. I left some controllers for the Iridium 5000 system in your rooms, so you'll have some stuff to do."
"Okay." Dad and I get up and go back to our rooms and check out the new video game system.
"Let's play Action and Victory in multiplayer mode." I say. I really like the game, with all the cool quests and everything. We load the game to the level where you have to fight off the attacking fleet of Darth Malgus to defend Alderaan and play that for the next few hours. After we beat that level, we then play Cell to Singularity and get to the Flatworm generator before laying down and resting and snacking.
Mara's POV- Now
After Shaak finishes up in the shower and comes back out, my Master calls.
"My apprentice, I wish to deal with Shaak Ti now. Bring her to me. I will be in the main medbay." says Ahsoka coldly. We both know it's an act, but for the sake of Master Ti, she has to think it's real.
"Do you want some coaching on how to be okay around my Master? I mean, I've lived with her for years…" I say, while I get the cuffs back on her and walk her to the medbay.
"Sure." she says. You look like you need the help, I think..
"First, only speak when spoken to. Second, tell the truth when she asks, as I can take what she'll do to me." I didn't mention that she'd be rewarding me, and teaching me more about my heritage and the Force, but it's okay. All that she needs to know is that I can take it.
"Are you sure about the latter part? I don't want you to be hurt…" she says. Can't she be convinced easily and just go along with it?
"I've lived with her for years, and know how to deflect force lightning. I'm sure. Third, keep your head down. Fourth, just do what she says. Fifth, don't have a heart attack or collapse, as it would kinda mess up the plans I know my master has for you, at least from what I know." I say, trying to convince her.
"Okay, if you're sure, then, Miss Mara." she replies, looking worried about consigning me to a tragic fate.
"Don't worry about me. You have enough to worry about without fearing for me." I say seriously, trying to end discussion on the topic. She luckily listens and her eyes go towards the ground, just as we get to the medbay and I open the door. Ahsoka is sitting there, on one of the pairs of beds, wearing her Mandalorian iron armor. I kneel, my head down for a second, before I hear her voice through her vocabulator.
"Rise, apprentice." she says. I've always liked her real voice better, but understand her reasoning for using the mask. I rise and out of the corner of my eye, see Shaak Ti slowly getting up. I can sense Ahsoka trying to heal Shaak Ti's aching joints and Shaak Ti nods and smiles at me, despite the fact that I'm not doing anything.
Shaak Ti's legs are shaking, so my Master/adopted mom uses the force to guide her to sit down on the bed across the medbay.
"Calm down. I'm not going to kill you, so you can stop looking so stressed. My apprentice and I simply decided not to fill you in on everything yet, for example things like I was the one who taught her both sides of the Force and Force healing, or that I take better care of her then you've been seeing, as the whole formal stuff that you've seen of our relationship was acting." Shaak Ti looks confused, although I try just to make it look normal.
"My master and adopted mom's telling the truth, except that I just was told to go along with the don't fill you in plot. I didn't really have a choice." I roll up a sleeve of my black jumpsuit, and show her that my arm isn't covered in Force lightning scars. I only have a few, and those were from the orphanage I was at before Ahsoka saved me, and she kept Force healing them when she could. Shaak looks a little bit more reassured, and I levitate a fuzzy blanket to her and drape it over her.
Ahsoka interjects, "Before I found Mara, she was in an orphanage on Courscant's lower levels. Let's just say that it was a bad place to be a girl, but don't you dare ask Mara about it, she had nightmares for at least a year after she came here…"
"Okay, I won't ask you any questions about that, Mara." Shaak Ti replies. She's starting to look tired. Ahsoka next does something that surprises me, as I didn't think she'd do it in front of Shaak Ti, though it's normal when it's just the two of us. She takes off her mask, and puts it on the bed and gives me a hug.
"You did well, Mara. I'm proud of you." she whispers.
"Thanks, Ahsoka." I reply quietly. Ahsoka then uses the Force to tuck Shaak Ti in, like she did with me when I was little.
Author's Notes: I play Cell to Singularity, as I like clicker games that take a while to play. The Beyond update is great! Look how sweet our Sith Lady is.