Synopsis: Ahsoka returns to Dagobah to learn more about her child. Master Yoda guides her to Tatooine, where Ahsoka is reunited with an old friend. Meanwhile, Maul is devastated by Ahsoka's disappearance, spiraling into a deep depression for months. He is plagued by nightmares and spends his days drinking until a chance meeting with an old enemy spurs him out of his despondency. Ahsoka meets the son of her former master and adjusts to life on Tatooine. Maul re-visits the ways of the Sith, and meditates until he envisions Kenobi's location.
Sorry guys, I've been so busy with work I've been really slacking on updating. If you have any suggestions or things you'd like to see with this story let me know. I feel like there aren't enough stories where Maul and Ahsoka have a kid (for obvious reasons) so I hope you like where this is headed. I'm planning on doing some one shots too at the end :) thanks for bearing with me I'm so burnt out lol
Upon arriving to Dagobah, Ahsoka was tired and weak. She had not slept the entire time during her travels, thinking often about what likely happened after Maul awoke. She tried to push images of what his face must have looked like out of her head. She wondered if he would follow her, find her, or worse. She hoped he was alright, but knew most likely he was anything but.
Ahsoka had cried too. Never had she imagined ever leaving Maul willingly, and often she had to convince herself not to turn the ship around. In times of doubt, she reminded herself of Maul's plans for Anakin, which often drew her back into knowing she made the right decision. How could he, she thought angrily. It kept her on course until her ship landed outside Master Yoda's hut. He exited upon hearing her land, his eyes looking suspiciously at the intruder until he recognized her.
"Young Ahsoka," Yoda murmured in surprise. Ahsoka tried to smile, but Yoda was far more perceptible to her true feelings.
"Something wrong there is. Returned you have. Without Maul. Why?" He asked gently.
"I need to talk to you about something important… Maul and I are no longer together," she choked out, unable to hide her tears. Yoda looked surprised momentarily, knowing instantly that more had happened between Ahsoka and the Sith Lord than when they had left. Yoda pulled her inside, fixing her something to eat after her weary journey, but Ahsoka was not hungry.
"Attached you became to Maul," Yoda noted, a tinge of criticism in his voice. Ahsoka nodded silently.
"Why have you returned?" Yoda asked.
"I fell in love with Maul," Ahsoka admitted. Yoda nodded stoically, listening to her continue, "We found the Rebel Alliance and fought against the Empire for awhile… I fought Anakin," she explained. Yoda's eyes widened in shock.
"Kill him you did?"
"No, I can't. I won't kill Anakin.
"Kill him you must, but not Anakin- only Darth Vader remains. Dead Anakin has been for a long time," he argued. Ahsoka frowned, feeling a bit of anger grow inside her, which Yoda picked up on.
"Darkness in you, darkness I have not felt before. Pain. Loss. Much suffering. Confusion," he murmured. Ahsoka eventually sighed, forcing herself to let go of her anger.
"You're right, master. I'm sorry. That's one of the reasons I left Maul. He's plotting to murder Anakin behind my back, and I wanted no part of it. He promised me he would not kill Anakin, he lied to me!"
"Perhaps for the best, disagree with Maul's assessment I do not," he noted, but had other questions: "What other reasons for leaving Maul have you? Why come here?"
At this, Ahsoka buried her head in her knees, not wanting to make eye contact with Master Yoda. Eventually she lifted her head, wiping tears as she did so.
"I'm pregnant," she whispered. Yoda bowed his head shamefully.
"Now you see the danger of attachment, young Ahsoka. Much danger this child will be in. The Empire must not know of its existence. Kill the child Maul will, along with the father," he warned.
"N-no, he wouldn't," she said hastily. Well, maybe the father if it isn't his- and if not Maul, half the galaxy would be after this child.
"I need to seek your guidance and your wisdom. I haven't been… intimate… with anyone besides Maul, to my knowledge… but Maul is… theoretically… incapable… oh, I hope you know what I'm trying to say," she stuttered awkwardly. Talking to Master Yoda about her sexual habits or partner was something Ahsoka never imagined herself ever having to do. "It's impossible, I shouldn't be pregnant. I can't be logically speaking," she finished with a frustrated sigh. Yoda's eyes glossed over her in wonder.
"Logical the Force is not, and in it many strange things may happen. You are certain it has only been Maul?" Yoda asked uncomfortably.
"Yes." I hope, she thought disgustedly. There was no way someone could have done that while she was sleeping, especially with Maul right there- she would have awoken, for certain. She was only ever drunk with Maul, and remembered throughout those nights as well. But it can't be Maul's, it can't.
"Hm. A theory I have may explain this mystery," Yoda started. "Your master, young Skywalker, was born not of a mother and father, but of the Force." Ahsoka looked at him in wonder.
"The Force? Can it do something like that?" she asked awestruckedly.
"Yes," Yoda nodded.
"So who is the father?"
"Unsure. Maul. No one. Perhaps mediation in the Force will reveal itself," Yoda murmured. "Willing, are you?" He asked. Ahsoka nodded eagerly, anxiously wondering who the father could be, if there even was one. Ahsoka scooted closer to Yoda, her palms touching his, the warm energy of the light side of the Force flooding through her soothingly. The pain and anger she had felt the past few days slowly ebbed away, being replaced by calmness.
"Relax, Ahsoka Tano," Yoda soothed. His brow was furrowed as he focused hard on the small life force residing inside Ahsoka's abdomen. His hands slowly moved to her stomach, his brow furrowing even more.
"Yes, powerful the father of this child is… The Force is strong with her. Clouded is her future," Yoda murmured. Her. I'm having a little girl, Ahsoka thought, suddenly catching herself. I'm going to keep it? Yes, I'm going to keep her, she thought, tears wetting her eyes. In this decision, it was as though a window opened to Master Yoda, a small red baby coming into his line of view.
"Red… small horns on her head… Zabrak descent… a blue lekku… crying, holding her in your arms…" Yoda murmured. Ahsoka's heart skipped a beat. She's Maul's. I'm carrying Maul's child. Maul and I are having a baby together. No one took advantage of me, she thought rapidly, feeling both relieved and full of sorrow at the realization. I left Maul. I took away the love of his life and his unborn child and he has no idea. I'm carrying the child of the man who tried to murder Anakin. I'm carrying the daughter of a Sith Lord and the leader of Crimson Dawn, she thought hastily. Yoda opened an eye begrudgingly before removing his hand from her, cutting the Force short.
"Panic not, Ahsoka. Calm. Remember your training," he soothed, feeling her panic rising in the Force. Ahsoka forced herself to take several deep breaths, albeit shaky ones.
"It's Maul's" Ahsoka choked out. "You're sure?"
"Yes. The father of this child is Maul, doubts I have none. Strong the Force is with her, strong she will be, feeding on your energy she is," Yoda murmured.
"How?" Ahsoka asked in shock. She wished now they had used protection, which Yoda had picked up on.
"Nothing could have been done to prevent it. Together the Force has willed this union, this child the Force demands exists. Know why I do not," he added, a bit harshly. Ahsoka expected the criticism of being in a relationship with Maul, and especially now being pregnant with his child.
"Thank you, Master… What do I do?" she cried. Ahsoka had no money, nowhere to go, and would be hunted every step of the way wherever she turned to. She could return to Maul, but Ahsoka would not bring a child into such a mess, and she refused to stay with Maul given his lying and vengeful tendencies. She wondered if he'd cut her in two on the spot, and couldn't bring herself to think about what he'd do if she revealed her pregnancy to him given his situation.
She thought of Rex, and she did often. It was nearing the end of a full cycle since Order 66 happened, and Rex should be returning to Tatooine. If he's still alive, she thought. Perhaps she could work the fields as she had many moons ago...
"Know some place I do," Yoda sighed hesitantly.
"Tatooine," Ahsoka answered. She recalled Yoda's fervent warnings against taking Maul there. But why? She asked herself. The mystery remained, and until now she had respected Yoda's secrecy on the topic.
"A man there is, a man you know. Important his mission is, secret it must remain. There he will protect you and the child," Yoda explained.
"Where do I find him?" She asked. A man I know? Ahsoka thought, and suddenly the realization hit her like a ton of bricks: A man she knew. Someone Yoda warned aggressively to not bring Maul to. A man Lux had been corresponding with in secret. A Jedi, perhaps.
"Obi-Wan," Ahsoka breathed. Of course.
"Yes. A secret his location must remain, under all circumstances, or the galaxy is lost. There he will know a place safe you can give birth, and someone who can help you," Yoda murmured. Ahsoka hugged Yoda tightly to his surprise, and he gently gave her a hug back.
"Thank you, thank you Master," Ahsoka cried.
xxx
Maul took the last swig of his second bottle of spotchka- or was it his third? Maul grumbled uninterestedly, throwing the empty bottle to the ground and grabbing another. He had tried in vain to drown the thought of her out of his mind for the past month to no avail. In the beginning in the first days after she left he had foolishly hoped for her return, with some logical explanation as to why she abandoned him.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into a month. With it, Maul's hope dwindled to nothing but a dismal depression. First he had been in disbelief, then a long period of anger, followed by a panicked internal begging for her to return, and finally a deep state of listlessness. Sometimes his anger spiked, and sometimes he was so empty even anger didn't pass by him. Hope, he spat bitterly. What a cruel farce that Togruta disillusioned me into.
Maul loathed himself for giving her girlish ideology a chance, hating himself for changing himself out of love. Love, another joke of hers, he spat internally. Maul wanted to hate her too, and though wallowing in a sea of it, he knew none of it could be directed at her, much to his frustration.
Sometimes he dreamed that she was next to him, and this entire month of hell had been nothing but a bad nightmare. Sometimes he dreamed of finding her, of bringing her back. Sometimes the dreams were darker. Dreams of her finding someone new taunted him. He dreamed of her being in trouble, fighting others, or sometimes dying. Those were the worst nightmares of all.
Rarely, he dreamt of his vision on Dagobah, of her holding that small pink blue-eyed baby as it wailed. Once he had dreamt of her holding him as usual, only this time, she turned to him with a swollen belly. On that night, Maul had woken with a gasp, cold sweat coating his skin in a thick layer. He did not sleep the rest of that night, or most nights.
Maul had left the resistance base shortly after the covert to-be mission fell through disastrously. Shortly after Ahsoka's disappearance, the Rebel Alliance fell into squabbling on what to do along with the disorganized Crimson Dawn. Some stayed, some rebels left with Crimson Dawn. Disgruntled, most left along with Maul back to the wastelands of the Outer Rim. Dryden ran the Crimson Dawn well on his own, making sure to run things by Maul, who usually agreed without care. There was a hole in his heart as there had been for much of his life, and he wished now that it had never been filled if only to give him some normalcy.
Maul spent most of his day drinking heavily, and sleeping when his mind permitted. Sometimes he was so sleep deprived, he felt himself going mad again, hearing whisperings where there were none. You're rotting, he scathed to himself.
He thought of hunting her down and dragging her back to Crimson Dawn, but his impulse quickly fell apart. What would I do with her even if I managed to find her? If she is reluctant to return, she would only be more passionately repulsed by my presence, he thought miserably. Maul was many nefarious things, but kidnapping the woman he loved by force and keeping her as a slave sat unwell with him.
"You said you'd never leave," Maul choked out to no one in particular, taking another deep swig.
Why did you leave? Why? He wondered. It crossed his mind that she had uncovered the plot to kill her precious former master, but Maul had never expected her to leave out of the blue. Perhaps she realized finally that she can do better and grew tired of being used by an old, cut in half Sith Lord, a voice whispered to him.
"Shut up…" Maul groaned. Why did you fucking leave? Maul asked into the empty Force before angrily smashing the spotchka bottle into slivers of glass that fell to the floor with a shatter. Why, why, why?!
xxx
"Ahsoka?" The familiar voice asked in awe as the man lowered his lightsaber. Through tears, Ahsoka smiled widely and hugged Obi-Wan tightly. Obi-Wan dazedly hugged her back, happiness filling the gap between them.
"You're alive," she chuckled ecstatically.
"You're alive- how?" He breathed.
"It's a long story… I'm more interested in yours," Ahsoka murmured. A pained look crossed Obi-Wan's face, his head suddenly bowed.
"Come. We have much to discuss," he murmured. Obi-Wan led Ahsoka to the kitchen table of his small abode, where he fetched her a glass of water and a few pieces of fruit to eat while they talked. Finally, Obi-Wan sat beside her, looking at her intently.
"I need to know who disclosed my location to you, as I should be able to count who knows my whereabouts on one hand. I cannot begin to tell you the importance of this mission, and if I am compromised, how doomed the galaxy will be," he warned.
"Master Yoda sent me."
"Why?"
"I have something important happening, and did not know where else to turn to. He sent me here, saying you knew someone who could help," Ahsoka explained. Obi-Wan gave her a confused stare.
"Help? With what?"
"I'm pregnant," Ahsoka murmured, bowing her head in shame. Obi-Wan sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair in both shock and disappointment.
"I suppose I should not reprimand you seeing as you left the Order. I should be congratulating you. I see it's another one of Anakin's bad habits you picked up on," he added, a bit harshly. Ahsoka flinched at the last sentence, her eyes screwing up.
"I'm not Anakin… What do you mean?" Ahsoka asked incredulously.
"What I am going to tell you now is not to be shared with anyone under any circumstances," he whispered. Ahsoka nodded.
"The reason I am here, my mission of utmost importance, is to look after and protect Anakin and Padme's son. He is the Chosen One," Obi-Wan murmured. Ahsoka's eyes widened, tears welling in her eyes.
"A-Anakin and Padme," she whispered. A joy washed over her. She always knew there was a spark between them, but never imagined the extent.
"His name is Luke. You can meet him if you like, but we must be discreet," he murmured. Ahsoka nodded rapidly, wanting very much to hold the child of two of her closest friends, one turned to the dark side and one now deceased.
"What happened to Anakin…" she whispered. "I should have been there, and I wasn't…"
"No, Ahsoka. Do not blame yourself, I failed him as a master. He was always headstrong with a will of his own, and I was ignorant to the extent of his anger and his love for Padme. If anyone is to blame, I am to bear that burden," Obi-Wan said tiredly.
"I won't give up on him," Ahsoka said hotly.
"You must. He is lost."
"No. I will not accept that," she said firmly. Instead of arguing, Obi-Wan just nodded quietly, turning his attention back to Ahsoka's dilemma.
"May I ask how?" He inquired disparagingly. Ahsoka remembered Obi-Wan's classic hypercritical attitude, something she forgotten that she had despised- and she was happy to play his games.
"Well, you see, it started when a man loved a woman sooooooo much, that they-"
"Stop, you know what I mean," he corrected her sternly. Ahsoka's teasing smile faded, thinking of Maul. I can't tell Obi-Wan, I won't, she decided shamefully.
"I fell in love."
"And the father?" He asked. Ahsoka evaded his eyes, shaking her head 'no'.
"It doesn't matter now. I don't want to talk about it," she whispered sadly. Luckily Obi-Wan was just as loving as he was critical, and gently patted her hand reassuringly. "I just want to give birth to my daughter safely. Yoda said you knew someone who could deliver her for me."
"I understand. I'm sorry you're in this situation. Yes, Anakin's step mother who is raising Luke has delivered her own children, and will be able to help you," he murmured. Ahsoka breathed a sigh of relief. Well, I can at least be relieved until Obi-Wan sees her horns, she thought worriedly. Ahsoka wondered if it would be painful to deliver her, and worried for her life. She knew little about Zabrak biology, especially when it came to childbirth.
"Thank you," Ahsoka murmured, grasping Obi-Wan's hand tightly.
"You are welcome to stay here. You'll be safe as long as you do not tread through the canyons at night; the sand people can be quite burdensome," he noted. Ahsoka shivered, remembering her near-death experience with the sand people. Maul saved my life, she also remembered, although pushed that memory aside as quickly as she could. She and Obi-Wan talked some more about hard times, old memories, and many other things. Despite her pain in leaving Maul, she felt secure, and looked forward to meeting Anakin's child as well as her own.
xxx
Maul had grown tired of his quarters. It reeked of stale alcohol and had fallen into a state of decay in contrast to his typical orderliness. He forced himself out of bed and into the dismal slums of an uncharted planet on the Outer Rim. He doubted anything would lift his mood, but he hoped it would ease the whisperings in his room.
Hope, that disgusting word, he spat.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting in the dirty bar. Every now and then someone would fight, or a drug deal would be made, or someone was shot and quickly swept out into the gutters- all of which Maul paid little attention to. This misery is inescapable, he mused depressedly. Maul had felt a wide array of negative emotions in his life, but none that was beyond despair and anger. At least in hatred, he had something to live for- his revenge, but now, he even grew disinterested in that.
What possessed Maul to leave his quarters was a mystery, perhaps it was fate, in the same way whatever possessed him the familiar stranger to approach him in that very bar was.
"Darth Maul, what an unpleasant surprise," a husky voice rasped, the indistinguishable sound of a saber dispatching. Maul dispatched his own, lazily blocking the assailant's strike, which was weak in comparison to his own despite his drunken state. The two sparred several times, the patrons of the bar quickly fleeing in fear of the clashing of their sabres. Hers is yellow- why? He wondered. Eventually Maul was annoyed by being disturbed, and grasped her neck, flinging her against the wall with a thud.
"Leave me, you harpy," he growled, returning to his beverage. Asajj looked at him in confusion. He could have killed me yet he did not… he has no desire to fight, she noticed. Unusual.
"What kind of game are you playing? Answer me!" The Zabrak female barked at him.
"One where I wish to finish my drink in peace," he muttered. "On a different day I would kill you for the glee of it. Leave with your life, I don't care either way." Cautious, Ventress approached the bar, sitting on the other corner so they were adjacent to one another. She tensely poured herself a drink from the empty bar, and the only two Zabraks left in existence sat side by side.
"You're half as brave as your brother," she spat, hoping to antagonize him.
"And twice as deadly," Maul seethed. I am an unworthy apprentice. I'm not like you. I never was… Savage's voice echoed in his mind.
"No, stop… stop," Maul muttered under his breath to himself aloud. Ventress's brow cocked in confusion.
"What's happened to you?" she asked, looking over his disheveled appearance. She could sense something was off with him in the Force. Maul ignored her. Taking another swig of alcohol. He's drunk, she noted, quickly dispatching her saber. Ventress had some standards, and trying to pick off a worthy adversary while intoxicated was beneath her.
"Answer me, dammit! I may hate you, but I do respect you. If I had taken you as my mate instead of that beast, perhaps things would have been different for Sidious," she growled.
"His name was Savage," Maul snarled. "As if I would ever choose the likes of you for a mate. You nightsister wenches grow so arrogant." Maul grew somber, thinking of the woman he had once taken for a mate. Being reminded of the word sent a pang through his heart.
"Luckily for you I'm the only one left," Ventress sighed sadly.
"One too many for my liking."
"You are quite literally the last Zabrak male in the galaxy, the only chance of saving our species, and I still wouldn't turn a cheek in your direction," Ventress spat.
"It's mutual," he sighed tiredly.
"Cheers to us then, the last of our race," Ventress murmured mockingly, raising her glass in a toast that Maul was too disinterested to partake in. A silence grew between the two of them, a mutual sadness growing for the loss of their people and culture- one of the few things they shared.
"So since the dawn of our former master rising to power, the mighty Darth Maul has done nothing but drink himself away? Pathetic."
"And what of the legendary Ventress? Scrounging around in the scum of the Outer Rim? I see no difference between you and I in terms of our positions," he spat back.
"On the contrary," she murmured. Maul's curiosity took the better of him.
"Your saber is yellow. Why?"
"The same reason my position is 'on the contrary'. I am helping those who wish to bring down our former master. I've been tasked with assassinating you, if you're wondering why I'm on this godforsaken planet" she retorted. Now Maul was even more curious. His eyes narrowed.
"By whom?" He asked. If her saber is not red, then she was not sent by the Empire, Maul thought. "If you are worried I am aiding in Sidious's conquest of the galaxy, you will be most disappointed- and surprised to learn I've been fighting with the Rebel Alliance," Maul informed her.
"Lies from what I've heard," Ventress hissed.
"What have you heard? Implore me," Maul seethed sarcastically.
"I've heard you've manipulated yourself into their ranks and tried to seize power."
"You've been misinformed then. If you care anything at all for the fate of the galaxy, I am your best chance at defeating Sidious- and Skywalker… I nearly had him in my grasp, but… never mind."
"Oh, was he hiding in a shot of spotchka? At least be a little more cunning in your lies," she laughed viciously. Maul threw his glass, Ventress dodging it as it shattered behind her.
"I nearly had him," Maul growled. "I want him dead."
"As do I."
"Then who sent you? I will not ask again," Maul snarled. She's working with the resistance, someone who knows I was working with them, he thought. It could have been anyone in the Crimson Dawn, but Maul had a sneaking suspicion of a familiar enemy.
"Bonteri?" he breathed before Ventress could answer. At this Ventress seemed surprised.
"Yes," she started suspiciously. "He sought me out a little over a month ago. How do you know?"
"Why did he seek you in particular? Why would the likes of you help Lux Bonteri?" Maul snarled, although he was not surprised in the least. That snake. "You've returned to the Jedi Order then I presume?" he added, knowing of Ventress's past as a Jedi. Ventress laughed.
"Never, what a joke both Orders are… I'm only a bounty hunter now, and you've got quite a bounty on your head. I'd kill you with or without one, but it doesn't hurt to be paid handsomely for it" she said. Maul was growing frustrated. There was something missing to this piece: Bonteri would never trust a Sith, Ventress included, and the fact he sought her out in particular as opposed to any bounty hunter baffled him.
"Why did he seek you out? Bonteri would never work with a Sith, former or not- I'd know as he has failed to assassinate me previously on the sole reasoning I was a Sith. Now answer my questions: why would you help him?" Maul gritted. Ventress sighed.
"If you must know, I'm looking for an ex-Jedi, possibly the last of her kind. Lux is aware of our… relationship, you could say. An old friend of some sorts," Ventress murmured. Every fiber of Maul's being stood on end. Suddenly it all clicked. She can't mean…
"Lady Tano?" Maul asked obsessively.
"You know the brat?" Ventress asked in surprise.
At this, Maul snapped. He flung himself across the room at the mention of her name, quickly throwing Ventress's saber aside with his own as he grasped her neck.
"Don't you dare speak of her!" He seethed. "How do you know her?! Maul snarled wildly.
"I… helped prove her… innocence to the Jedi" Ventress croaked as she tried to gasp for breath, her nails digging into Maul's forearms to no avail. Maul's eyes were full of hatred, but he eased on Ventress's throat enough for her to speak. "Apparently she is alive but missing, and Bonteri sent me to retrieve her," Ventress rasped. Maul's hearts were pounding a mile a minute, his hands trembling. He let go of Ventress, who rasped hoarsely for air.
"What do you know of her whereabouts?" Maul demanded.
"Nothing, nothing-"
"I will pay you twice what Bonteri is paying you for her location," he bargained.
"Not a chance," Ventress laughed in his face.
"Tenfold then, or more- name a price, or I'll kill you" Maul snarled. Ventress's eyes narrowed on him.
"As I said, not a chance. I have my morals whether you believe it or not, and you might as well kill me before I turn over Ahsoka to be killed by the likes of you," she spat. Maul's face contorted in confusion.
"I don't wish to kill her," he murmured. A silence passed between the Zabraks, Ventress looking confusedly at her opponent.
"What do you want with her then? How do you know her?" Ventress asked. Maul's jaw clenched, his eyes evading Ventress. He slumped back into his chair, swirling his glass irritably.
"She was… assisting me in defeating Skywalker. We disagreed on the method of defeating him among other things, and she left," Maul said quietly. He was annoyed at even discussing such a thing to Ventress, who picked up immediately on the source of Maul's dismay. A wicked smile cracked across Ventress's face, a laugh cackling from her lips.
"A lover's quarrel?" she chuckled. Maul's rage spiked.
"Shut your fucking mouth," he growled like a rabid rancor.
"Oh, that's rich- you love her! Your anger only proves it to me," she laughed viciously. "What a wonder why she went missing being trapped with a monster like you! I should have known by the timing of Bonteri's offer it wasn't a coincidence. How delicious."
"Shut up," he snarled.
"And now you're drinking away your days like a heartbroken puppy looking for its owner. It really is a shame I must kill you now, this has truly been a treat. You've grown so pathetically weak. When I find Ahsoka, do you want me to relay any last words to her? 'I'm so sorry, I love you, please forgive me-"
At this, Maul leapt at her once again, only this time with his saber dispatched for the kill. Ventress greeted him, expecting the attack. The month of dormancy melted away by the fiery hatred in Maul's veins- hatred for Ventress and what she did to his brothers, hatred for Sidious, hatred for Ahsoka's actions, hatred for the loss of his people, and hatred for Kenobi. Ventress tried to parry his blows, but after only a couple, Maul sliced through her sword hand like butter. She let out a pained scream before Maul finished the killing blow, slicing straight through her neck with a hiss. It was over as quickly as it had begun. Her severed head plopped onto the floor, her body slumped over with a dull thud.
"That was for Savage," Maul panted heavily, dispatching his saber. Despite everything, Ventress was right: he had grown weak from the ways of the Sith, and love had misguided Maul's life from its true meaning: revenge. He shoved any shred of affection for the Togruta into the recesses of his mind, letting the familiar and powerful feeling of hatred fill him. The thought of complacency or drowning his woes in spotchka sickened him.
"I vow to avenge myself, and never to waver from my teachings," he growled to no one, storming off in the direction of the nearest Sith temple.
xxx
"Rex?" Ahsoka cried. The clone trooper looked haggard but stoic, saluting her as he would have during the Clone Wars.
"Commander," he greeted respectfully. Ahsoka ran up to him, leaping into his arms and hugging him tightly. Rex was caught off guard, but quickly wrapped his arms around her as well.
"I missed you so much," Ahsoka murmured cheerfully.
"Likewise. I'm happy to see you're doing well," Rex replied. They started to ask one another about their travels and experiences, the words spilling out rapidly between the pair before they were interrupted by Obi-Wan.
"If you two would like to catch up later, we've got to get moving to Owen and Beru's place soon- otherwise the sand people will be joining us on our walk home," Obi-Wan sighed impatiently. Ahsoka and Rex smiled at each other, knowing they would have plenty of time to catch up in the near future.
"Who are they?" Rex asked.
"You'll see," Ahsoka murmured excitedly. The trio continued their walk through the sand until a small hut came into sight. They approached and entered warily.
Inside a man and woman greeted them, Ahsoka paying little attention to the idle chatter and introductions. Instead she looked anxiously for the child, who she could hear cooing faintly in another room.
"You're the friend of Obi-Wan's then? He told us a lot about you," The woman said.
"Yes, yes I am," she replied. The woman smiled.
"You probably want to see Luke then. Come this way, I'll show him to you," Beru murmured understandingly. Inside a small crib, Ahsoka gazed down at the small baby, his big blue eyes looking up at her with a smile. Anakin's eyes, she thought cheerfully. Ahsoka reached down to hold him, awkwardly trying to position her hands. She's never held a baby before, and Beru noticed.
"Here, let me show you how," Beru said, moving Ahsoka's arms and positioning Luke until he was comfortable. Ahsoka's heart pounded. Something about holding him made her feel complete. She thought of holding her own daughter, a motherly instinct inside her growing strong.
"Ahsoka is expecting. She'll need help when the time comes to deliver the baby and help preparing for it," Obi-Wan explained to Beru. Rex's head snapped in her direction, his eyes wide.
"Commander? Is this-"
"It's true, Rex," Ahsoka sighed. Rex wanted to say more, unanswered questions stopping short. Now was not the time or place, but a protective feeling washed over him. "Do you want to hold Anakin and Padme's son?" she asked Rex, whose jaw dropped.
"You can't mean…"
"Yes, Rex. It's true," Obi-Wan replied. It was a bittersweet moment for the trio of old friends, and Beru was very kind in allowing them this time.
"I haven't been working on the water farm as much as I used to since he came to us. It would be nice to have someone to watch over him so I can do more around the farm. You could learn a lot about children seeing as you're expecting, little one," Beru said to Ahsoka. She smiled, feeling the joy of being able to watch over Anakin's son as if he were her own.
"I would love that," she replied.
So it was that Obi-Wan left Ahsoka to tend to Luke, allowing Aunt Beru to both teach her and work the fields as she once had. Rex visited Ahsoka often over those first weeks, as did Obi-Wan. Rex lived with Obi-Wan for the time being, often discussing their next moves and plotting with the fragmented resistance. Ahsoka felt happy helping raise Luke and thinking of her own daughter, yet often longed for Maul. As the weeks passed, she thought of him less and less, but missed him dearly. She trained with Obi-Wan once a week, revisiting the ways of the Jedi. Rex never asked her who the father was, and never spoke of her pregnancy except once:
"I suppose that child will need a father," he murmured unexpectedly and out of the blue one day. Ahsoka looked up at him in surprise at the mention of it, her eyes teasingly glaring at him in an accusatory fashion.
"Or maybe a mother twice as good," she retorted. Rex smiled, shaking his head.
"I didn't mean that you aren't going to be a wonderful parent, I just… If it would be alright with you, I'd like a hand in helping raise her. It might take some stress off you, Commander, and there are things a child might need from a father figure that they can't get from a mother figure."
"If you're proposing, you can stop calling me Commander at least," Ahsoka teased.
"N-no, I would never presume something like that. You are a friend to me always in the galaxy, and I vow to protect your daughter in the same way I vowed to protect you," Rex stated firmly.
"Thank you, Rex. I have no doubt you'll look after us for as long as we both shall live," Ahsoka replied earnestly. Rex smiled, feeling himself swell with pride again.
xxx
It had been weeks since Maul had exterminated Ventress, and nearly two full ones of fasting in the Sith Temple on a nameless, desolate planet in the Outer Rim. His mind was a furnace in which he had fed it on his hatred and anger. He had managed to put any thoughts of the Togruta away in a compartment of his mind, and had succeeded in not thinking about her anymore. For all he mused, she was dead to him, and the feeling was mutual. Maul had forsaken any hope of finding her or restoring what they had, and instead poured every waking second into his former goals: finding and killing his mortal nemesis, Kenobi.
Maul had grown tired of waiting for something to happen, and had likewise grown tired of searching for him futilely. He had temporarily abandoned Crimson Dawn in search of Kenobi, sitting at the altar of the Sith Temple with the determination to come out of it with some newfound knowledge. I will either succeed or starve in doing so, he growled to himself, focusing for two full weeks in this meditative state. He let the hatred flow through him unrelentingly, letting the darkness fill his soul and eat away at the light he'd been infected with the past year with Ahsoka.
Nothing had changed since his endeavor. He grew more and more angry at this, funneling it into more focus and determination. Slowly, glimpses of faded images began to form in his mind as he slept. These nightmares sometimes showed glimpses into his vision of Ahsoka holding a child, which he quickly shook out of his head. More glimpses began to appear during the day, and his visions at night grew more and more vivid. I'm getting close, he seethed.
Several days of this escalated until the vision he had focused so hard for finally presented itself: Yoda's warning, twin setting suns, sand people screaming in the distance… and Kenobi practicing with his lightsaber in the sands. Tatooine.
"I found you," Maul snarled under his breath as he stormed towards his ship.