A/N: Mandalorian season 2 trailer might come out today and I heard rumors that Ahsoka will appear in it and I just will lose my mind if that happens. Hope you guys are all having a great Saturday :)
Summary: Padme Amidala built bridges with people, especially with her 4th grade students. When new student Ahsoka joins her class, she is ready to start building a bridge to the young girl. Anakin Skywalker doesn't trust easily, especially when his little sister is involved. But he's drawn to the 4th grade teacher and willing to trust Padme with the darker battles his family is facing.
Chapter Ten
Ahsoka was not happy, the scowl on her face said it all and none of her brothers were exempt from it. It was Halloween one of the best days of the year where she could get a bunch of free candy dressed as any character she loved, watch scary movies, tell scary stories and get in the spooky spirit. At exactly six o'clock she was supposed to be at Lux Bonteri's house as her class was having a Halloween party, have dinner, then go trick or treating at seven, then there would be a big sleep over. Well the boys were sleeping over at Lux's while the girls were going to Riyo's house down the block. Ahsoka had been looking forward to it for days and now, now she couldn't go. That was what Obi Wan telling her now as the family of five stood in the living room for a family meeting. Ahsoka was beginning to think they only ever had these meetings to tell her bad things and she was getting real sick of it.
"This is unfair," Ahsoka said, her scowl deepening.
Obi Wan sighed, "I know, but it's been decided."
Ahsoka stomped her foot, not caring how childish it was as she argued, "You're the one who said we can't stop doing what we do and live in fear just because Maul's out."
Obi Wan tensed, "I wish you wouldn't call him that."
"I think it's great," Anakin said with a small smirk, but he sobered after a moment, "And I think we should reconsider this Obi Wan."
He was not in agreement with his brothers over this decision. Neither their grandfather nor Maul had yet to make an appearance since the tournament, but they were all getting on edge about it. It was strange that he hadn't done anything yet, it would have been better if he had just showed up by now so they could retaliate, but the man was smart. He was never one to just jump right in, he was patient and had what could be described as perfect timing. Anakin was worried about Maul showing up, but locking Ahsoka up and keeping her from living her life was not the answer. Obi Wan didn't want her to go trick or treating with her class, at all, for fear of Maul appearing.
It had caught Anakin off guard as Obi Wan had never been one to readily admit he was afraid and never acted on his fear. So this was a surprise and worried him. If Obi Wan was worried enough to want to not allow Ahsoka out at all, that meant they should all be worried. The final decision came down to Anakin and Obi Wan, Rex and Cody did weigh in on it though. Neither of them were fans of depriving Ahsoka of Halloween, it was arguably one of her favorite holidays, but her safety was their concern more than her fun.
Obi Wan would not budge, "The answer is no. I'm sorry Ahsoka, we'll get you all the candy you want, but you are not going to that party or trick or treating."
"He doesn't even know about the party," Ahsoka practically screeched, "It's more likely he'd show up at this house than at Lux's. If one of you or all of you were there, then he wouldn't be able to try anything."
Anakin agreed, "We'd be there watching out for her and Mau... Malachai wouldn't try anything with all of us there. She won't be alone."
Cody spoke next, "That's a risk I'm not sure we should take. Not until we know more about what he's doing and where he is."
"It's not like he's going to just tell us. We can't just hide away," Ahsoka protested, her eyes fell on Obi Wan.
"Think of it more like a retreat commander, so we can regroup," Rex suggested, but Ahsoka wasn't amused by their game.
Her eyes started to glaze over, "Ms Amidala told me running away isn't the answer. So why are we running now?"
Obi Wan didn't say anything, he looked exhausted and beaten down, his eyes held a pained shine to them. As the oldest it felt it was job to look after and provide for his younger siblings, no matter what. This was no different. Perhaps he was being overprotective and paranoid, taking a page out of Anakin's book if he was being honest. By pulling in some favors, Obi Wan had learned of Malachai's whereabouts and the man was not as far away as he would have liked. It also didn't help that Malachai had appeared at his office. He didn't say anything and he was gone before Obi Wan could stop him, vanishing without a trace.
Was it possible he had imagined it? It was, seeing what he wanted to see, but he also knew that with Malachai not being that far from them, it was likely that he could have been there. If anything Obi Wan shouldn't have been surprised, the man always preferred to leave people in suspense and then right when they couldn't take it anymore, he would strike. The possibility of Malachai stalking them was high. Obi Wan didn't have any proof, only a hunch, that one sighting and noticing the same red car that seemed to appear more often than others. He couldn't report that though and he couldn't throw an accusation like that when it could have been a coincidence, but he didn't believe it was.
He had mentioned it to his brothers, which made Rex and Cody agree with him, but not Anakin who almost wanted Malachai to try something so he could fight him. A fight was the last thing they needed, their former stepfather being anywhere around them was the last thing they needed. When Ahsoka had run off, all he could think of was that Maul had taken her and it had been his fault because he wasn't watching out for her the way he should have been. He couldn't let something like that happen again, he had to keep her close by. But he couldn't protect any of them forever, by most accounts he'd already failed.
"I'd be out there with her the entire time," Anakin said resting a hand on his brother's shoulder, "I'm supposed to be the paranoid one, remember?"
Obi Wan glanced at him, "Yes and when you aren't it seems I must take on the role."
Ahsoka frowned, "Why are you paranoid?"
"I've already let you down, so many times," Obi Wan said meeting the young girl's gaze, "I can't stand to let it happen again. Your father is out there, nothing we do changes that, but I don't want to give him anymore opportunities to be around."
Some understanding reached Ahsoka, "You mean like the tournament?"
Obi Wan nodded, "Yes and how he appeared at my work. It's left me worried where else he will go, to Rex's class, Cody's volunteering, Anakin's business, your school or even this house."
Anakin paled for a moment, but his eyes were angry, "He appeared at your job? When did this happen? Why didn't you say anything before?"
Obi Wan raised an eyebrow at him, the reason was clear. It was no wonder he was paranoid. Before it had been a speculation that he would appear, but now was likely.
"He really could come at any time," Rex said thoughtfully, but he didn't look disturbed.
Cody nodded in agreement, "Maybe this can work in our favor."
Anakin crossed his arms over his chest, "How?"
Rex answered him with a confident grin, "Say he appears in moments to each of us, stalking us really. We report that, document the times we've seen him, we can bring that to court-" Rex looked to Cody.
"-and with the evidence we have plus any reports to law enforcement, it certainly won't look good for him. It will put him in a bad light," Cody continued, his expression mirrored Rex's.
Obi Wan brought his hand to his beard in his usual thinking position. That made the situation better and would allow them to turn it in their favor. It did little to ease his worry though, but he knew the likelihood of that feeling going away was fairly slim. He'd need to talk to Satine some more about this, he wished she was here now. Whenever she was around he was able to feel more at ease, he knew that was unfair though. He should be able to find ease on his own, but it certainly didn't hurt to have some extra support.
"This Halloween party would be a good set up," Ahsoka said, she looked excited, "Just think, if he did manage to show up here and you guys caught him, that would look really bad right? So by me going anywhere would be a good trap."
"I do not like the idea of using you as bait," Obi Wan said, his tone a little cold.
Ahsoka brushed it off, "It's already unlikely that he even would show up, but even if did, I'm not scared. We have to be brave."
Rex let a faint smile show on his face, "Who does that sound like?"
All the brother's knew who that sounded like, the mother they all shared would say things like that all the time. Shmi Skywalker had been a gentle woman, kind and compassionate, but she had strength like no one else. She was brave, when threatened she fought with everything she had and never backed down. No one could keep her down. While all the brothers knew, Ahsoka didn't. She'd been so young when Shmi died, too young to have any memory of her or if she did, they were fading fast.
Ahsoka frowned, "Who?"
"Shmi Skywalker of course," Anakin said, his own eyes lit up when Ahsoka beamed.
"Really," she asked them, her smile huge.
Obi Wan chuckled sadly, the ache of the loss hurt, "Really young one. She had never been one to hide away from tough battles." After a few moments, Obi Wan relented. "Alright, you can go, but under several conditions. Your phone is to be on the entire time, you are to send us an update each hour, Anakin will be with you the entire night. Rex and Cody are friends with the older brother, so the pair of them will be there at the sleepover and will take you home no later than ten."
Ahsoka nodded along to everything, although she wasn't thrilled about basically having them babysit her the whole the time, she would take what she could get. It was better than not being able to go at all and she really really wanted to go.
"Now go get in costume," Anakin said next.
Ahsoka needed no further prompting, she raced out the living room and up the stairs to her bedroom so she could get her costume on. Obi Wan didn't yell at her to stop running, but she slowed her pace when she was closer to her room to make him feel better. Soon as she had gotten into her costume, she looked at herself in the mirror with a pleased expression. The character she was dressed was from the series Battle Stars which took place in a different galaxy in the middle of a war zone. Aisling was the young and fierce warrior of the Keepers in the movies, a student to the Chosen One. Since the beginning she had been Ahsoka's favorite, especially since they were really alike.
The costume she wore consisted of light grey leggings and green overall shorts. Technically the character wears a tube top, but her brothers said she couldn't wear it unless they were dead, so she was wearing this. It didn't look bad though, the overalls had all kinds of designs on it. Ahsoka picked up her toy glow sword on the bed, all the warriors who could use the Mist were able to carry these starsabers.
Ahsoka tugged at her hat, the character was an alien who had some type of headwear on, but Ahsoka didn't want to not wear her hat. So it was staying. Hooking the sword to her belt, she took another look in the mirror before she slipped on the green shoes that went with the top. She was ready to go. Grabbing her backpack and candy bag, she raced downstairs.
When she came back down, she saw that Rex and Cody were dressed in their costumes. Cody had decided to go as some military general from centuries ago, Ahsoka didn't bother to remember the name as he lost her at 'history' when explaining it to her. Rex was dressed as a wizard, his robes were black, but part of it was blue and so was the tie, so he must have been a Ravenclaw wizard.
Anakin was dressed as the Chosen One from Battle Stars, who was named Andrew. Since Andrew and Aisling were duo, Ahsoka thought it would have been great for the two of them dress up as the characters and Anakin agreed. He was dressed in dark grey pants and a black martial arts uniform shirt. He also a starsaber hooked to his side. Ahsoka was really happy with how their costumes turned out, but her happiness faded when she saw Obi Wan wasn't in costume.
"You're not wearing a costume," Ahsoka said crossing her arms over her chest, "Why not?"
Obi Wan gave her a small smile, "I'm too old to dress up for Halloween."
Ahsoka shook her head, "No you're not. You're never too old to dress up. You can't go out trick or treating dressed like that."
"Someone has to stay home and give out candy," Obi Wan pointed out.
Anakin made a face, "Aren't you going with Satine and Korkie for trick or treating? I bet he'd be really disappointed with you not wearing a costume."
Rex came to Obi Wan's side, "Now General, you don't want two sad children on Halloween night."
Ahsoka put on the best puppy dog face she could at that, trying to look as sad as humanly possible hoping it would guilt Obi Wan into wearing something other than his regular clothes. Out of all her brothers, Cody was the most immune to the puppy dog face, Obi Wan was second. The oldest brother of the family sighed, how was he supposed to say no to that face?
"I don't have a costume to put on," Obi Wan protested.
Ahsoka and Anakin exchanged mischievous glances with each other, Obi Wan paled slightly.
"No," Obi Wan said shaking his head, "I will not dress up as Oliver from your space movies."
Ahsoka pouted, "But it would fit so well. Andrew needs his old mentor Oliver by his side and his new mentee. Otherwise the galaxy is danger."
Obi Wan brought his hand over his face, surely he must be in some kind of dream. There was no way he could agree to do such a thing, absolutely not. And yet, thirty minutes later he found himself dressed as Oliver from the Battle Stars movie standing inside the Bonteri home with Anakin who looked far too smug for his liking.
He wasn't supposed to come, but Ahsoka insisted that Korkie join her class party and here they were. Korkie was dressed as a navy officer, he looked right at home beside one of the other students whose name escaped him, but she was dressed as an airforce pilot. The ten year old boy went to Sundari Royal Prepatory Academy, where Ahsoka was supposed to go, but had been taken out of enrollment at the last minute.
Ahsoka didn't want to go to that school, she had fought tooth and nail not to go to the prep school. It was an excellent school, not to say that her school now wasn't good, but the Academy was among the smaller list of elite schools. A compromise had been made. For elementary school and middle school, she could remain at her current institution, but by eight grade she would transfer. She reluctantly agreed, it was better than nothing at least.
Satine came to stand at his side, she was dressed up as a Queen, "Stop moping, I think you look nice."
"Oliver is your favorite after all," Obi Wan said with a slight roll of his eyes.
Satine kissed his cheek, "I'm afraid you're incorrect, you actually hold that spot."
Obi Wan perked slightly at that, he gave her a kind grin, "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"I am, the kids are having a great time and I even spoke with Padme," Satine told him, smiling widely, "She's just as I remember her, full of compassion and life. I noticed that she seems quite taken with Anakin."
"Really," Obi Wan questioned, very curious about that.
He suspected that his younger brother had decided to once again skirt around the advice or guidelines given. The odds that he had decided to ask out the school teacher were incredibly high. Obi Wan currently had a bet running with Cody on the matter. If it did turn out that Anakin was dating the school teacher, Obi Wan wouldn't have been upset. He only cautioned the matter because he knew Amidala's testimony would be important and having to discarded over a relationship seemed silly. It was unlikely they would disregard completely, but it would have more scrutiny than Obi Wan wanted. Currently Anakin was standing beside her, the two talking away and looking very comfortable with each other.
Satine nodded a bit absently, "Though she didn't say much, the look in her eyes was more than enough. They sparkled. I do hope they get together."
Obi Wan raised an eyebrow at that, "Why is that?"
Satine visibly hesitated, it took her a few moments before she gave him an answer, "When I was an assistant teacher in her class during my graduate years, she had been in a serious relationship with this rotten man."
"Rotten you say," Obi Wan inquired, Satine hardly talked poorly of others unless it was serious.
Satine held a cold fire in her eyes, "I'd always had a feeling something was wrong with their relationship, he wasn't kind to her, but she wouldn't listen to anyone on the matter. While I don't know the circumstances of their split, I know that he caused her an unnecessary amount of pain." Satine's expression softened as she continued, "But your brother would be good for her and she for him. Anakin has a strength to match hers, he'd treat her well and Padme would be a rock for him, someone he could lean on."
Obi Wan brought his hand to his beard as he considered those words, "I suppose so. Anakin seems to fancy her, but if they were to start a relationship, it would need to wait until this custody mess his handled."
Satine's brow quirked, but after a second she understood, "Oh, because it would appear bias in court."
"Yes, and Amidala's testimony would be a great asset to have," Obi Wan replied softly, his eyes fell on the woman in question who was now laughing with Anakin, "But if she likes Anakin the way I know he likes her…"
Satine chuckled, "I imagine they are probably already together then. Padme followed the rules well enough, but she was not afraid of cutting corners when it was necessary. And Anakin, is well Anakin."
"Indeed," Obi Wan said as he wrapped an arm around Satine's waist and pulled her to his side, "How's Korkie doing?"
Satine grinned sweetly, "He's having a wonderful time, I'm glad Ahsoka invited him to come… We should tell him you know."
Obi Wan tensed st those words, but they were not unexpected, "I know, I just fear his reaction…. Before the wedding."
"Before the wedding," Satine echoed softly.
No more words were said on the matter, the couple content to stand there in each other's arms. In the next room all the children had gathered around to talk about their latest mission for the evening.
The whole class had chipped in to get their teacher an appreciation gift. Since Ms Amidala had mentioned she missed her home near Lake Theed, Ahsoka had taken it upon herself to get this wall tapestry of the lake and her classmates joined her. Said fourth grader was on lookout with Korkie and Hera while the others made sure the gift was wrapped nicely and the card was signed by them all.
"Soka," Korkie started curious, "Is it your teacher's birthday and that's why your class got her this gift?"
Ahsoka shook her head as she peaked out the door to make sure her teacher wasn't near, "Nope. I think she has a summer birthday."
Korkie frowned, "Then why get the gift? Halloween isn't really a time for gift exchanges."
"It was Ahsoka's idea that we do a teacher appreciation gift," Hera told him.
Ahsoka shot Hera a look, "It was the class's idea that we do something nice - oof, get off Trace."
"It was all her idea," said a girl with short hair, Trace, who had slung her arm around Ahsoka's shoulders, "She's vying for teacher's pet."
Ahsoka playfully shoved Trace off, "As if. Riyo and Lux can keep that race going."
Korkie's face took on a teasing expression, "Soka's too much of a troublemaker to be a teacher's pet."
"Watch it Korkscrew, being a goody two shoes is boring," Ahsoka remarked dryly.
Korkie shrugged his shoulders, "I'm the teacher's favorite and it has some perks."
"Uh huh," Ahsoka said as she looked out the door again, then turned the group, "Are you guys done yet? It really doesn't need that much glitter or shine. The package will be thrown out."
Galen nodded from his spot, "I tried to tell them that."
"We have to make it look nice," Riyo argued with a frown.
"It looks like a disco ball," Asajj said with an annoyed look, "We shouldn't have even needed to do all this."
Lux spoke next, folding his arms awkwardly in his suit, "It's the least we can do for all she has done for us. We've wrapped it well and everyone has signed the card, we can give it to her now."
"Who's going to give it to her," Caleb asked, moving to stand beside Hera.
"It was Ahsoka's idea, she should give it to her," Hera pointed out, a few of the classmates agreed.
Ahsoka was not one of them, "No, it was a group effort. Since Riyo and Lux are the hosts, they should give it to her."
Kalifa protested that, "Hosting has nothing to do with the present. It should be you or whoever else did the most work on it."
The argument continued in for several minutes, much to Ahsoka's annoyance and part of her regretted not just agreeing to give the present to her teacher, but she pushed that aside. She didn't want Ms Amidala to know it was her idea to get a present or in deciding what the present was. Why exactly, she didn't have a definite reason besides it being more of an apology gift.
Ahsoka was embarrassed, mortified really, about the whole crying at the teacher's door step and was doing her best to distract from it through various ways of behaving more in class, helping her clean up the classroom during her after school stays and things like that. Just anything to make it up for it and pretend that it didn't happen. Luckily Ms Amidala didn't bring it up again or seem to treat her differently because of it, but still, it made Ahsoka uneasy. Sure she trusted Ms Amidala a lot, but she hated to appear so vulnerable.
Her counselor, Sinube, had told her that it's okay to be vulnerable to the people you trust. That they won't look at you differently because of it. On the one hand, she knew that was true. Whenever her brothers or friends were vulnerable with her, she didn't think less of them, but she felt it was different for her. That she was supposed to be the strong one, the tough one who didn't back down from a fight, who faced all her problems head on. Running away and crying over something wasn't her MO, whatever that meant, she didn't know, but she knew people said that in cases like this. Ahsoka shuddered as an old mantra whispered in her ears.
"No pain. No weakness. No mercy. This is the most important lesson I can pass to you, one you must never forget."
Ahsoka wrapped her arms around her stomach as she refocused on the argument in front of her. "Guys," Ahsoka said, her voice strong, "This is getting us nowhere and it's almost time for trick or treating which means she's going to leave soon. Whoever was line leader this week can give her the gift and we follow them out, okay?"
Barris came to her side, "Are you sure you don't want to give it to her yourself? This whole thing was your idea."
"Barris is right," said Caleb with a nod, "You should give it to her."
Ahsoka shook her head, "Don't want to. I say whoever was line leader do it. Cal?"
Cal nodded, "Yeah, that was me. I'll do it."
Ahsoka grinned, "Great. Now let's do it."
With that, Cal held the box in his hands and all the children raced out the room with Ahsoka laughing a bit behind with Korkie. He knew that Ahsoka had a bad night some time ago and had run off to the teacher's house. So he had a feeling that this gift was her way of telling the teacher thank you without having to call attention to the matter.
"It's very nice of you to do this," Korkie told her with a hand on her shoulder as they walked out.
Ahsoka glanced at him, she didn't deny that this was her idea and her gift, instead she grinned at him and said, "Thanks future nephew."
Korkie sighed, "You know I am older than you right?"
"Doesn't matter. I'll be your aunt when Obi Wan and Satine get married," Ahsoka said with a smirk, she was never letting it go.
"I suppose so," Korkie relented as she threw an arm over his shoulder.
The pair quickly joined the rest of the group as they surrounded the school teacher with some parents and older siblings nearby. Padme was dressed in white jumpsuit-like costume in reference to Peyton, who was a world leader and Andrew's lover in Battle Stars. She matched with Anakin completely by accident. A wide and shocked smile spread across her face at the sight of her students all telling her about how they got this for her. She had no idea what was in the box, but she already loved it and the signed card.
"What was this for," Padme asked the group.
Hera answered her, head held high, "We wanted to do a teacher appreciation gift for all we do since your birthday isn't in the school year."
"Yeah, we thought it would be nice," added Caleb.
In a really soft voice, Kalifa added, "It was Ahsoka's idea, don't tell her we told you though."
"Go on open it," Cassian said with a giddy smile.
"Please," Lux added.
Padme chuckled, carefully she undid the shiny and glittering wrapping paper to reveal a plain white box. Inside the box was a beautiful wall tapestry that when she pulled out showed an image of Lake Theed. Some time ago she had mentioned how much she misses the lake and needed to return, but it had been an off handed comment and during after school care. That day she had two students with her, one of course was the fourth grade girl standing beside her older brother.
Padme met Ahsoka's gaze for a second before she addressed the group, holding the tapestry up, "I love it. Thank you all for this gift. On Monday we'll have to find a good spot to put it."
The students all cheered, glad she liked it. Just as their cheers died down, the trick or treating chaperones called all the kids to the side, letting them know it was time. Hasty goodbyes were said along with quick hugs before almost all her students had taken off to the front yard so they could get ready. As Padme folded up the tapestry, Anakin came to her side.
"Was it Ahsoka's idea," Padme asked him softly, wanting to confirm Kalifa's words.
Anakin glanced at the fourth grader who was telling Korkie bye and happy Halloween, "I'm supposed to say no, but it was her doing. A thank you for helping her that night."
Padme felt her heart melt at that, it touched her that Ahsoka wanted to do this for her as a thank you. Helping her that night had stuck with Padme, but she did not treat Ahsoka any differently or bring it up for the girl's sake. It was probably a bit uncomfortable for Ahsoka to ha to face her teacher after that, but Padme di her best to reassure her that she had nothing to be embarrassed about. Ahsoka came up to Padme then, biting her lip to show her nervousness.
"Did you really like it," Ahsoka asked, she glanced at Anakin with a curious look.
Padme nodded, "It was perfect, just what I needed. Thank you for putting this together for me."
Ahsoka rubbed the back of her neck, "It was a group effort."
"But it was you who got it started," Padme said with a kind smile, "So thank you, Ahsoka."
Ahsoka gave her a sheepish grin, "I'm glad you like it."
"Now off you go, that candy is calling your name," Padme said with a nod to where her students were.
Ahsoka gave her a wide smile, but said nothing else. With one last look, she took off running to catch up to the others leaving Padme with Anakin.
"She's really fond of you," Anakin told her with a sideways smile.
"And I, her," Padme told him, "Aren't you on trick or treating duty?"
Anakin nodded, "Yes, but before I go since you won't be joining me until later."
Anakin leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers, she didn't hesitate to return it. Her eyes closed and for a few blissful seconds she was lost in the feeling. The kiss was short, but sweeter than all the Halloween candy those students would get. Padme wrapped her arms around him, he hugged her back right for a moment, enjoying this moment. Little did they know of the pair of blue eyes that saw them, but said nothing and merely looked away with a beaming smile.