Content Warning: This story contains spanking scenes and references to spanking between an adult and a minor. There is also a spanking scene between a husband and wife. If any of that disturbs you, please do not proceed.
"So this is another Raxus situation?" Master Windu said incredulously, staring at Anakin with a look that bore holes through him. "Skywalker, how did you manage to let the Senator take advantage of your padawan twice?"
Anakin clung to his pride and resisted any appearance of shame over what was definitely a humiliating question. "It's something I'm looking into, Master Windu," he managed, his words carefully lacking the bite they might have if his teeth weren't sinking into his tongue.
He had received a message only a few moments prior from Padme stating that she and Ahsoka, as well as a member of the Separatist senate seeking amnesty, would be reaching Coruscant soon. Anakin had allowed Ahsoka to accompany Padme on a short assignment, but it had been two full rotations since he'd heard from either of them. Padme's message had helped to ease the tremendous anxiety he had been feeling over not knowing their whereabouts when they deviated from their flight plan. Anakin was used to his wife running off on various errands, and they had worked it out early in their marriage not to worry over each other's absence. However, he had never extended that permission to his padawan, and when she went missing it had caused quite a stir.
Anakin stood before the Council now, having finally been able to relay that his padawan was accounted for, and he felt the scrutiny of their watchful eyes. It was as if they were waiting for him to slip up... or to explain himself? He wasn't sure. He only knew that he was struggling to maintain his composure as he waited for the culprits of this situation to return home to safety. It had been a very long two days.
"While we can't have a disciplinary hearing now without a full explanation of events, I think it's fair to say that your padawan is in need of some guidance," Master Plo said. "This is not the first time she has broken the law and not informed us of her intention to do so. Perhaps we were too lenient the last time."
Plo was reflecting on Ahsoka's previous trip to Raxus, and as she had been in the Senator's charge they had given her some leniency for the violation at the time. She'd been grounded at the Temple for only a little while before rejoining her master in battle, and she had counted herself lucky not to have faced something worse. It had been a very serious offense the first time, and having it repeated made the situation that much more grave. Anakin could feel the gravity in the air, weighing him down as he glanced between the stoic faces of the Council members.
"Grounded she should be, from any missions, until proven her understanding of the situation she has," Yoda suggested in a way that was understood to be more of a decree.
"I agree. She'll need time to reflect on this error of judgment," Mace said, eyeing Anakin carefully as he felt the young knight's frustration increasing. Anakin did not like to have the Council judging his padawan this way, but he knew that it was not the time to defend her.
"If you ask me," Obi-Wan said, "I think she needs a good dose of the strap. It's checked her impulses before."
Anakin shot Obi-Wan a look and tried not to betray his annoyance over the suggestion. "I don't see how that's necessary, when you are already going to ground her and whatever else," he said quickly. "Not participating in missions is the worst punishment for her already, believe me."
"If too much responsibility she is, perhaps assist you we can," Yoda said, looking at Anakin pointedly.
"Anakin, if you cannot handle her correction I am prepared to deliver it myself. I think every one of us is." Obi-Wan gestured to the other members in the room, and they all nodded in agreement. As he had an intimate understanding of what having an insubordinate padawan could be like, Obi-Wan often cut Anakin slack with regard to Ahsoka's behavior, but in this case he believed Anakin's hesitancy to be directly related to the problem. He wanted to teach both of them a lesson.
Anakin felt the heat of anger and embarrassment rising up his body, and he gritted his teeth. "That's not going to be necessary, Masters. I'll collect her as soon as she lands, and we can have the disciplinary meeting after I have a chance to discuss it with her first."
"Very well," Mace acknowledged. "Just make sure the discussion is thorough."
Anakin nodded, wishing the ground would eat him, and he would never have to stand in this room again. Normally discipline that took place between a master and his apprentice was left up to the master. Not all master's favored the strap, and not all padawans required it, but in select instances the Council might offer some encouragement one way or the other. Anakin disliked using the strap as much as he had disliked being subjected to it himself, and he resented the Council's insistence.
He had been so worried over her safety, that he had not given himself a chance to think about what he would say or how he would handle his padawan upon her return. It was clear, however, as he looked at the expressions of each master who left no room for argument, that he would have to handle her somehow. Once being dismissed from the Council room, he made his way to the landing pad and ruminated on his feelings.
As he chewed on what had happened and what had been said, the taste was all kinds of bitter. Not only had his padawan run off to a Seperatist planet, she had not extended the simplest courtesy of telling him where she had gone or that she was safe. On top of that, his wife had been involved, and she had apparently ignored their agreement not to do any more illegal traveling. "Both of you are in so much trouble," he whispered to himself.
When their ship finally landed and he saw his wife and padawan safely returned, he felt a wave of relief quickly followed by a wave of anger. Ahsoka came down the ramp first, and as she noted her master's glare, she felt her stomach constrict into a tight knot. "You and I are about to have a very serious talk, young one," he told her as she stepped up to him, and he sensed her anxiety heightening in response.
Padme had followed her with the Seperatist, and she was headed toward the guards when she gently touched Anakin's arm. "Go easy on her, Master Skywalker," she said softly. "She did a brave thing."
"Like you want me to go easy on you?" Anakin whispered, leaning close to her. "Not likely." They exchanged a look, and Padme could tell by the anger in the lines of his face that the matter between them was not yet resolved. She sighed and took her leave, knowing she could also expect a serious talk when she saw her husband next.
Anakin gripped Ahsoka's shoulder tightly as he ushered her inside the Temple, not allowing her a moment to escape. "What were you thinking?" he asked her sternly, being careful not to raise his voice in the sacred halls, but carrying the tone of his frustration nonetheless. "How could you go back to the Separatist capital? You could have been killed or captured and used as a bargaining chip. I can't believe you were stupid enough to do this again."
Ahsoka stopped abruptly and twisted free of his grip, turning around to face him. "Master, I didn't have a choice. Senator Keteris was in need, and now that she's with us, we could actually change things in the war."
Anakin heard her speaking, but he wasn't listening to her. "Was this your plan? Did you deceive me from the beginning, when you asked me to go with Padme?" he accused, trying to keep his irritation in check but having a difficult time of it.
Ahsoka felt his judgment and sensed the tension between them escalating. "You would have done the same thing!" she exclaimed in frustration, looking up at him defiantly.
Anakin narrowed his eyes at her, then took a deep breath to steady his emotions, not wanting to have an argument in the middle of the hallway. "Ahsoka, be careful," he warned her. "Remember what happened the last time you forgot your place and took this tone with me." He was referring to the last time he had given her a whipping. It had been a while, but she remembered, and she did not want another.
Ahsoka blushed, instantly humbled by the warning. "I mean... What I mean is..." she stuttered, not wanting to get herself into more trouble. "You're always trusting your feelings, and you're always doing what you think is right. You've taught me to do the same, and really I just did what I thought was right."
"That's all well and good, but I'm not a padawan, and you are. I have a little more room to make those kinds of decisions. You should have checked with me first. I had no idea where you were."
Though he worked to keep his expression stern and composed, Ahsoka sensed the sudden pang of sadness and fear at his recollection of her disappearance, and she felt a wave of guilt. "Well, I didn't mean to make you worry, Master. I didn't do that on purpose... But I am sorry I didn't give you any word."
"You should be," he scolded. "You have no idea what that was like for me, having the Council ask about you and being just as confused as they were."
Ahsoka wasn't ready to feel shame yet, but she did feel sorry for what she had put her master through as she imagined him having to explain himself to such a stoic group of people. She had never found it easy herself. "It felt necessary at the time," she explained, hoping to ease the sting of her offense. "We knew we might get stopped before we got to Keteris if we sent word and revealed our location."
"Why didn't you just tell me from the beginning that's what you planned to do? I might have been able to help you." It was one thing if his padawan were breaking the law on her own, and a completely different thing if she were breaking the law under his protection, and he imagined the latter would have been easier to explain to the Council.
"Senator Amidala said that you wouldn't let her go if we told you the truth. She was very persuasive."
Anakin sighed as he thought of his wife, and he knew Ahsoka wasn't exaggerating her powers of persuasion. "Well you don't answer to Senator Amidala. You answer to me and to the Jedi Council, and you'll do well to remember that because you are in big trouble with them now. You've got serious consequences coming for this, Ahsoka... I'm going to have to give you the strap."
Ahsoka's eyes widened, and she felt a shiver go down her spine, but she didn't let it stop her from standing up for herself. "Master, I just aided and protected a Republic senator and rescued a Seperatist that is now going to aid the Republic in the war, and we all came back without a scratch. How am I still in trouble for this? Are you really going to punish me for doing the right thing? Do you even understand what I was just able to accomplish?"
Anakin was suddenly taken aback as he heard himself in his padawan's argument, and he realized he needed to do a better job of balancing his lessons on standing up for your beliefs with lessons on tact, humility, and respecting authority. "Yes, I understand, yes you're still in trouble, and yes you're going to be punished," he said seriously. "It's what you deserve for acting like you have no other responsibilities. Obi-Wan would have killed me if I tried what you did, and he was also ready to take a strap to you for this if I hesitated about it... Actually they all were."
Ahsoka was humbled again by this revelation, and she flushed deeply. "They all... talked about... that? About me?"
"About disciplining you? For being stupid and reckless? Of course they did, Ahsoka. What did you expect?"
"Even... " Ahsoka trailed off, her embarrassment making it hard to voice the question.
"Yes, even Master Plo," Anakin answered, aware of the fondness she had for her long time friend. "My master used to tell me being disciplined is being cared about. I know it doesn't always feel like it, but they want what's best for you, Snips. So do I."
Ahsoka hung her head then, finally beginning to feel the gravity of her actions. Anakin sensed the seed of contrition growing inside her, and he was satisfied to have begun to get through. Despite their similarities, she was less stubborn than he remembered being as a padawan, and he thanked the Force for that.
"Snips," he said softly, gently guiding her gaze back up to his own. "I don't want to punish you, but we all have to learn sometimes. Me as well as you. I need you to go to your quarters and take a minute to reflect, and I'll come see you in a little while."
Anakin had said that she needed the minute to reflect, but he knew he was the one who needed it more. He went to his own space and readied to meditate, working to clear his anxiety as he prepared for what he knew would be a difficult task. Once a punishment had been declared, Anakin believed in getting it over with and out of the way as quickly as possible. He certainly did not want to be cruel to his padawan by making her wait any longer than she had to, but he was truly struggling with his emotions.
He wished he could be as confident as his master, and he remembered how Obi-Wan had never hesitated to use physical force in the past to subdue his own wild behavior. Anakin knew that if he had behaved as Ahsoka had, he could have easily expected to taste the bitter medicine of a strap. His profound resiliency to the acrid flavor would try his master's patience, but knowing the consequences added stability for Anakin when there was none, and it was that stability that had helped him to survive the Order when he was struggling the most with his turbulent sense of self.
Contrarily, his current line of thinking would have been impossible for his younger self, who was sure he despised such discipline, but Anakin knew that even then he feared guilt. He was prone to it in the deep recesses of his soul, and he knew that without some way to beat it back or cast it off, it would creep outward until he despaired in it. He did not think that Ahsoka was prone to despair, but that did not mean she wouldn't also benefit from feeling the boundaries around her. These were boundaries that were meant to protect not restrict, which was a lesson he was still trying to learn.
Anakin had often been openly resentful of discipline in his youth, and he could not believe he was in the position of administering it now. When his temper got the better of him he could fool his padawan, but he truly hated being Master when it meant being a disciplinarian. He certainly wanted her respect, but he didn't want to have to work at maintaining his authority and didn't want the barriers between them that he'd had with his own master in the past. He wanted to feel friendship, to feel love, and the camaraderie he had with his padawan was special to him for these elements. The thought of causing her pain made him feel sick.
The last time he had used a strap on his padawan, he had been angry with her, pushed over the edge, and that had helped to counteract the anxiety that made him hesitant about the method of correction. However, when it was done, he had felt guilty and afraid that things would change between them. Anakin hoped the effects would last and he would be spared ever having to go through it again, but the culture of discipline in the Jedi Order did not allow a master to be remiss in correcting these kinds of errors. Anakin knew there was no way around it, and that he would just have to resolve himself to obey the Council and give his padawan what they believed she needed.
Anakin and Obi-Wan had bonded over mentoring Ahsoka, and Anakin remembered the advice his former master had given him. Discipline was always there to help, and it would make her better. If he cared about his padawan, he would not hesitate to correct her, and sometimes that correction had to be serious enough to bend a stubborn will or quiet a turbulent mind. Anakin worked to accept this, breathing deeply and releasing his anxieties into the Force.
He knew he would never be ready, but when he felt resolved enough, he finally rose and made his way to Ahsoka to end her wait. She had been meditating too, as she ought, but Anakin sensed immediately that she'd also struggled to find peace with the exercise. He mentally added meditation to the list of things they needed to work on together.
"I know that you're here to discipline me," Ahsoka acknowledged, "but I'm not sorry for saving Senator Keteris, and I would do it again."
Anakin felt a mixture of pride and annoyance with her bold statement, but he worked to keep his expression stern so that he would not encourage her disobedience. "For someone about to be humbled, little one, you are being foolishly stubborn. You really didn't learn anything from being grounded the last time, did you? It's not about the rescue... I'm proud of you for the rescue... It's about the fact you were acting on your own and being disrespectful to your superiors and to the Order. This is war, Ahsoka, and you are only a padawan. Padawans do many things, but they do not go off on their own to illegal planets without discussing it with their master."
Anakin was lecturing, but she only heard that he was proud of her, and that was enough to quell any lingering feelings of injustice. "If I say I'm sorry for not discussing the rescue with you first, will you forgive me?"
"I already forgive you, Snips, but it's not going to save you from a whipping," he told her seriously. "I didn't want to have to do this again, but you didn't leave me any choice. This is the second strike for an offense that should never have happened in the first place. If I wasn't needed on the front, they'd probably be grounding me too for this. That's how bad it was. Now I have to do my job and obey the Council's request to give you proper discipline. You should learn from this example."
Ahsoka had been in battle, she had seen people die and nearly been killed herself, she'd been tortured, but there was something about submitting to a whipping that made her feel weak. Perhaps it was the humiliation, the injury to one's pride more than to one's body, or maybe it was having to feel the disappointment in such a visceral way. Whatever the cause, Ahsoka could not bring herself to submit quietly. "Please , Master, you don't have to do this," she pleaded.
Anakin sighed in frustration and bent down to look her closely in the eyes. "Don't make this worse for yourself, Ahsoka. Accept the consequences." He spoke in a way that was somehow both a plea and a threat.
Ahsoka could feel her master's emotions swirling with a turbulence that was beginning to match her own, and she remembered what happened the last time she tried to use defiance as a defense. It had not gone over well, and she had vowed not to repeat it. "Yes, Master," she conceded, dropping her gaze in deference and in shame over what she was about to face.
Anakin stepped back from her, relieved she had decided not to fight him over the punishment. "All right then," he said, nodding toward her desk. "You know what to do."
Ahsoka rose, trying not to wear her humiliation on her face, and positioned herself against her desk while Anakin retrieved and prepared his strap. "Now listen to me carefully," he said, placing a firm hand on the small of her back. "You are not getting a whipping because you did what you thought was right... I always want you to do what you feel is right. You're getting whipped because you need to learn some self control, and because you didn't respect me enough to communicate with me, and I am going to make sure you never make that mistake again. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, Master," Ahsoka said, resigning herself to the punishment she was about to receive.
Anakin recalled the sort of formula Obi-Wan had taught him for delivering discipline properly. Breathe, feel, communicate, he thought as he raised the strap and brought it down carefully upon his padawan's backside. He repeated the action a few more times, being careful to connect with Ahsoka through their bond and being mindful of how the pain was affecting her.
Ahsoka had not forgotten how much a whipping could hurt, and she bit her lip, fighting to keep her composure. It was her third time being disciplined by the strap, and despite having ultimately accepted her previous two corrections with grace, she decided as she felt the pain and humiliation afresh, that it was three times too many and there had better not be a fourth. She worked to focus through the burning stripes, reflecting on her error and letting the pain correct her.
Anakin eventually paused, remembering to breathe, and he instructed his padawan to do the same before he began to communicate with her. "What are you going to do the next time you are tempted to act on your own?" he asked her patiently, feeling her pain and emotion, but working not to let it disquiet him.
"Not do it?" Ahsoka asked, not quite humbled enough to resist indulging in a bit of sass.
Anakin took a deep, calming breath and spoke through his teeth. "Can you not respect me while I am taking a strap to your backside?"
Ahsoka sensed his irritation and thought the better of her remark. "I'm sorry, Master," she said quickly. "I should have brought it up with you or the Council. I should have gotten permission."
"Yes, that's right. I know you're not stupid, but you were acting stupid when you ran off the way you did. It was dangerous and careless. Don't ever do that to me again."
Ahsoka could not help feeling the contrition spring up inside her when she heard the heartfelt plea in her master's command. She had really worried him. Anakin brought the strap to her a few more times, and she truly felt sorry for the anguish she had caused, however temporary it had been.
"From now on, you're going to remember your place, Padawan," he continued to lecture, reinforcing the words with the measured delivery of physical pain. "And you're not going to go to illegal planets, you're not going to lie to me, and you're not going to leave me wondering if you're safe or not. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Master," she replied, her voice cracking as she realized the extent of the error between her and her master.
Anakin sensed that he had gotten through to her, and he did not whip her for much longer, only delivering the stripes he felt necessary to prevent a repeat of the incident. When he had determined it had been enough, Anakin stepped away from her, letting her collect herself and not daring to touch her yet. "Do you need some time alone?" he asked gently, unsure if she was ready to accept comfort from the hand that had just caused her pain. He remembered sometimes feeling a little resentful after a whipping, needing time to process what had happened.
Ahsoka was not feeling resentful, however, and she reached out to embrace him. He pulled her close, his chest aching as he felt her need for reassurance and comfort. He remembered those emotions too, and he squeezed her tightly, sending her feelings of forgiveness and love. Ahsoka felt like a youngling as tears escaped her eyes, and she let her master stroke rub her back comfortingly.
"I'm really sorry I made you worry," she whispered against his chest. "I'd have been mad at me too."
Anakin smiled, appreciating her self-awareness "I've already forgiven you, Snips. Just don't do it again. If you're in trouble, you know I'd do whatever it took to get you out of it. I'd defend you to the Council too, but I can't if you're not telling me what's going on. And you're not invincible. You could get hurt, and you should know," he said, pulling away to look her in the eyes, "I will kill you if you die doing something stupid like that."
"I know, Master," Ahsoka replied, giving him half a smile.
"Good," he replied, kissing her on the forehead to express that the threat came from a place of affection. "Now get some rest. I'm sure you're tired after all that." He walked her to her bunk, and she gently sat herself down. "Know this," Anakin said, looking upon her seriously again. "Your effort isn't lost on me, and I will be sure to bring up your success in the disciplinary Council meeting. Prepare yourself for that in the morning."
"I'll be ready," Ahsoka assured him. As her master turned to leave, she called for him to wait. "Master," she said with a mischievous grin, "are you gonna punish your girlfriend too? I couldn't have done it without her."
Anakin stared at her in shock, not sure if he had heard her correctly. He tried to process her words as if she'd spoken them in a different language. "Y- You... You mean... The Senator ?" he spluttered.
Ahsoka's satisfaction could not have been greater as she watched him flush and scramble for words. "Ahsoka, that is not funny. Don't think I won't bend you right over that desk again if you can't have the proper attitude about being disciplined."
Ahsoka schooled her expression so that it would not reveal her inner laughter and managed to nod respectfully before Anakin left her to rest. He paused outside her door and let out a long sigh. "Teenagers," he whispered to himself as he rolled his eyes.
Author's Note: Senator Keteris is someone I completely made up for the sake of the plot.