A/N: Thank you for being so patient with me. I've been dealing with multiple losses recently and working on something so emotionally heavy wasn't feasible. But things are getting better and I'm looking forward to continuing this story. Comments feed the Mighty Muse, every single one is incredibly appreciated. Hope you enjoy the latest chapter and may the Force be with you!

Ahsoka woke to screams.

Later, when she slowed down and walked back through the emotions of the moment, she'd realize just how unusual her reaction was for most people. In the field, she never had time to linger on the emotions elicited by an unknown scream. She simply acted, always.

In an instant, the young padawan was on her feet, eyes darting around the room. It was still pitch black, there was no telling how much time had passed. She sensed wakefulness in Liliree but the girl laid still up on her bunk.

Then another scream, louder than before. She ran to the door, resting her forehead onto the cold metal and extending her senses outward. She could source it now; it was coming from farther down the hallway, and it wasn't human. It was the hollow, warbling cry of a young wookie.

A fragment of memory flashed through her mind- the same sound coming from a crechling she'd been playing with, crying after they tripped and scraped their knees.

Ahsoka's Shyriiwook was shaky, but she managed to make out bits and pieces as the cries became louder, getting closer to their door, and then continued on down the hall.

They were pleading. Begging for their life, gasping for air between sobs and cries for help. Even at a distance, the sound got impossibly louder before the thud of the heavy door tossed them back into silence.

That wasn't… they didn't just…

Ahsoka pounded her fist against the door, once, twice, her eyes screwed shut.

How old were they? What did they do? Did they have a family? Does anyone care that they're gone? What was their name?

What was their name?

What was their name?

Her stomach lurched. She stumbled her way to the fresher just in time as her stomach purged what was left of the ration bar. She couldn't make sense of it. She'd seen mutilated bodies, she'd seen limbs lost and homes destroyed. She'd held her brothers in her arms until their life dissolved into the Force.

But those screams.

The memory came to her again, uninvited. The bright, hopeful eyes of the five-year-old wookie as he clapped his hands and giggled. No different than whoever she'd just heard being dragged to their death.

Her stomach lurched again, spasming, but there was nothing left to bring up. A hand settled on h er back, tentative at first, but then more firmly.

"Let it out, Stripes. Try to take a deep breath."

Liliree's voice was watery, yet hardened and resigned. Ahsoka briefly wondered how many times the young girl had heard those kinds of desperate, helpless screams and clenched her hands tight, digging her nails into her palms. The pain and the touch grounded her, started to settle the storm in her mind. That is, until a new voice filled it.

/Snips, what happened? Are you okay?/

Ahsoka coughed and spat to clear her mouth, discreetly tapping out an 'All Clear' signal. She'd probably broadcasted all of that down their training bond and would definitely have some explaining to do. Once she could think straight.


"We have made repeated attempts to determine the identity of this person." Anakin cut in, sensing his charge's growing distress.

Since her return, she'd had two nightmares and both had her waking up begging her Master to 'make them stop screaming'. A momentary reprieve to collect herself wasn't much, but he'd gladly give it to her.

"The warden has not responded to any of our requests for access to execution records. Until then, this individual is presumed dead."

The chamber was silent. The Council members took a breath in unison, exhaling their grief for a young life extinguished so soon and so ruthlessly.

Ahsoka mimicked them, latching onto the tendrils of support she could feel from Obi-Wan, Anakin, Master Plo. After another moment, she cleared her throat and continued, though her voice took a bit longer to steady.


Ahsoka sat up and turned to Liliree. The rhodian crouched next to her felt equal parts troubled and sympathetic. She'd been here too. In fact, she believed that the guards did it on purpose, hauling someone off after a new person came in. Reminding everyone what they were doing here and letting the newbie know exactly what they could look forward to.

"Is-" She coughed again. "Is it always that bad?"

Liliree nodded, reaching out to wipe the girl's chin with her sleeve. "Everyone screams."

"Can you blame them?"

The younger girl shrugged. "I'm not going to. I don't want to give those fuckers the satisfaction."

Ahsoka had been raised to accept the inevitable. There is no death, there is the Force. And for a moment, she almost dismissed Liliree's vow to go quietly as false bravado. But living, no… existing here, it's possible that she'd been forced to learn what Ahsoka had freely chosen to believe.

"The guards… why don't they use droids?"

"There's a war on, Stripes. So many people are losing their jobs, their homes, they feel powerless. This place gives them power."

Ahsoka scoffed. "By terrifying kids they already have complete control over. Bastards."

Her grandmaster had gone to quite the effort to prevent her from picking up her master's colorful language, but she couldn't think of any word more appropriate.

"Complicit bastards." Liliree added. "They know exactly what they're doing, they just don't care. They think we deserve it." She helped Ahsoka to her feet and climbed back up to her bunk.

Ahsoka sat down heavily on her own bunk, mind reeling. Anakin was still poking at her shields, prompting her to tap out another 'All Clear'. She didn't have the energy to speak through their bond, let alone explain what happened. All she wanted was to go back to sleep, but the screams were still echoing in her mind.

They think we deserve it.

"Liliree…"

"Yeah?"

"How did you get here?"

It was silent for a long time, long enough that Ahsoka figured the girl had decided to go back to sleep. But then something shifted in Liliree's signature.

"C'mon Stripes. Not like it changes anything."

Ahsoka got up and climbed onto the upper bunk. Liliree was sitting with her back against the wall, knees pulled into her chest. She looked subdued and uncertain, something mirrored in her Force signature.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Ahsoka offered.

Liliree frowned, chewing the inside of her cheek. "Nah." She said after a time. "You told me, it's only fair."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, she didn't look at Ahsoka but kept her eyes fixed on some distant point as she spoke.

"I killed someone. It was an accident, but not really."

"What do you mean?"

"I was living on the street and got pulled into this spice smuggling ring. I was starving and they promised that I wouldn't go hungry if I worked for them. I didn't know it was illegal. This one night, I was guarding a spice cache inside a storage closet at a train terminal. They told me that someone would come to get the spice in the morning and that if anyone tried to come in before then, I was supposed to shoot them. They told me the door would be locked."

Ahsoka's stomach turned, a snake of dread curling around her as she realized where the story was going. "But it wasn't."

"No. It wasn't. Someone opened the door and I didn't think, I just fired. I was trying to kill them. If anything happened to the spice, they would've killed me. Hell, I watched them drop someone off a building once because they'd lost a fourth of what I was guarding. It wasn't supposed to happen in the first place, but I still made the choice."

Liliree's voice was trembling and she closed her eyes, as if she could physically block out the emotions simply by stopping herself from crying.

"It wasn't even like I killed someone who deserved it, ya know? I mean, you were trying to get away from that slaver. But I hurt some pregnant lady who was just looking for a fresher. She was completely innocent. And I- I'm the worthless punk who took her from her family."

On impulse, Ahsoka reached out and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, drawing her into a tight hug. Liliree stiffened, but didn't pull back. After a few moments, she sniffed and wiped her face on her sleeve.

"C'mon Stripes, it's fine. Can't do anything about it now."

Ahsoka let go, watching as the young rhodian straightened and pieced her mask back together.

"How old were you when you got involved with the smugglers?" She asked, trying not to press too hard.

"Eight."

Eight?!

At Ahsoka's shocked expression, Liliree explained.

"No one suspects kids, especially street kids. It's like people go out of their way to ignore us."


"See, that's exactly why these regulations are so ridiculous."

Ahsoka startled, turning curiously to the orange haired senator who had spoken up again.

"I'm sorry?"

"If we forbid the courts from punishing these people according to their crimes, more organizations will use children to accomplish their goals. Including the Separatists." He folded his arms over his chest, seemingly vindicated.

"Senator, I believe that if we wish to uphold the values of our Republic, it would be far better to penalize those taking advantage of vulnerable people rather than executing children."

Anakin sent a faint warning across their bond; he could hear the intensity in her voice and knew that any loss of temper would be used as an excuse to invalidate her judgement. Ahsoka took a breath and forced her expression to even out.

"Liliree was only eight when she became involved with this smuggling ring and did not understand the potential consequences. From what she told me, it's likely she would have starved to death or died from exposure. And by the time that she could understand how her actions were wrong, she was terrified of being killed if she left."

Senator Samm raised a hand. "So what should be done with juvenile offenders, Commander Tano? It wouldn't be just to ignore their crimes, some of them are often very serious."

"I agree entirely, Senator. And I would argue that these young people are more than capable of learning from their mistakes. They need guidance, they need someone to care about them long enough to know their names, not simply a case number. And…" She hesitated, turning to talk to Padme instead.

"And I can assure the committee that the effects of taking someone's life is a punishment that never fully ends."

Anakin's eyes widened. He'd helped Ahsoka prepare for this meeting, gone over the details and the points she wanted to emphasize. This hadn't been one of them.

Ahsoka held Padme's gaze for a moment longer before turning to the Council members, talking to her grandmaster in the hopes of getting her confidence back to make it through the rest of the report.

"Unfortunately, my Masters, we are also partly responsible for Liliree's situation."

"Explain, you will, Padawan." Master Yoda ordered.


Ahsoka couldn't believe what she was hearing. It seemed like Liliree had been doomed from the start. When she was eight, she'd already been in the Temple for five years. She spent her days attending school and playing with her friends. Had Liliree ever had that chance?

"You were homeless at eight? Did you lose your parents?" It wouldn't surprise her, more and more kids were being orphaned from the war.

Liliree rolled her eyes, picking at a loose thread on her pants. "I didn't lose them. They kicked me out."

Ahsoka's mind raced, outrage coursing through her. This was insane, how could any parent abandon their own kid?

"What?! That's unbelievable, how could they do something like that?"

Liliree looked up at her, meeting her eyes for the first time since beginning her story.

"Because." She explained, pulling the crumpled wrapper of the ration bar from her pocket.

Ahsoka watched as Liliree narrowed her eyes, staring intently at her closed hand. A moment later, she uncurled her fingers and the wrapper began to rise, floating a few inches over the rhodian's palm as if suspended on an invisible string. Ahsoka's jaw dropped.

"See." Liliree said with a half-grin, focusing on holding the wrapper aloft. "I'm a freak."