POV this is set before Ashoka's departure from the Jedi Council at around age 17. Just making that clear as there's spicy content later on.
Chapter 1:
"Well done Skywalker, Padawan Tano…"
"Thank you masters."
The pair bowed in unison as the Council's holo-call buzzed to an end.
"Well master," Ashoka smirked. "Another mission in the books as a smashing success; thanks to my impeccable flying, AGAIN."
"Hmm...that's funny", Anakin smirked. "That's not the way I seem to remember it, Snips. But we can argue some other time. I'm starving, would you like to grab a late lunch by Dex's?"
Post-mission hangouts were standard Master-Padawan bonding time for Anakin and Ashoka. It was a time they could genuinely hang out and not have to worry about the war or their Jedi duties. Next to spending time with Padme or tinkering with mech, it was one of Anakin's favorite things to do.
Ashoka checked her wrist and hesitated slightly.
"Umm…A-actually master, there was some reading I wanted to catch up on in The Archives…erm…Togruta stuff…" she shrugged. Besides, I'm not all that hungry."
Something about her response seemed a bit off but Anakin was having trouble placing it. Maybe it was nothing.
"It's not like you to blow me off Snips, but suit yourself." he shrugged, as they parted down separate corridors of the Jedi's vast Temple.
"Bye Master." Ashoka broke into a quick jog before he could respond, heading off in the direction of the Archives.
This was the second time in two rotations that Ashoka had bailed on him, just recently she opted out of helping him with some repairs on his speeder. Was Snips trying to avoid him?
Something was definitely off, but nothing he could think of made sense. On a brighter note, this was a good opportunity to grab some takeout and head to Padme's, who should be just about wrapping up her afternoon at the Senate now.
'Padme.' Anakin smirked, this would definitely still be a good evening.
/ Later that Night/
It was well past midnight when Anakin returned to the temple. He and Padme had decided it was good for him to be 'seen' checking into his quarters for at least a few nights a week, before returning to her apartment.
It was a small price to pay for throwing off any suspicion from the Jedi, that one of their knights had been sleeping off-compound regularly. That certainly wouldn't bode well for him.
He replayed his charade of a routine in his head: check in, meditate, tinker with droids in his room for a bit, head back out through one of the lower west exits, then back to his beloved. The idea was to be 'seen' going into the Jedi Temple but remain unseen whilst heading back out.
This little trick seemed to throw everyone off his scent and made him appear to be mostly present. The only one who probably caught wind of his scheme was Obi Wan. Nothing escaped the older Jedi's notice. If anyone knew, it'd be him, but he hadn't addressed it, so Anakin believed there was nothing to worry about.
The left exit from Anakin's quarters shared a small general area with his Padawan's, each of their rooms adjacent to it, formed a bit of a lounge pad for them to interact without having to enter the other's room. Their rank in the Grand Army of the Republic granted them many small perks such as this.
The neat pad had their bedroom doors facing each other at opposite ends of the room. As Anakin headed towards his door, Ashoka's slid open and a tiny housekeeping droid exited with a tray of detergents.
'Strange', Skywalker thought, 'why would a droid be cleaning during Ashoka's rest time?'.
"Hey, you." He called. "Why are you cleaning Ahsoka's quarters at this hour of the night?"
"Pardon me Master Jedi, my apologies." the housekeeping droid sputtered as it rotated its tiny head slightly, bobbing his silly ears to and fro. "I thought it best to clean Padawan Tano's quarters while she was out. To avoid any disturbance of course."
"What do you mean while she's out? How long has she been gone?" Anakin pressed.
"I do not know", the droid offered. "I simply scan for life forms before entering to sanitize. Statistically my scanners indicate, based on past routines, that Padawan Tano will return before sunrise."
Anakin's brows furrowed in confusion. "Past routines? You mean she has done this before?"
"Yes, so it appears" the mechanical voice droned, as the tiny machine pitter pattered out of the pad, and into the main hallway onto its next room.
Anakin sighed. 'Where could she be at this hour? Better yet, why had she been leaving the temple without his knowledge at night? She had no business on the streets of Coruscant unaccompanied.'
Anakin tapped his wrist communicator impatiently "Ashoka, come in. Ashoka, where are you?"
She had better pick up…
"Ashoka!" he barked again into the device.
"Master." she picked up. "Is everything okay?"
"Ashoka, where are you?" Anakin tried to pick up clues in her background. It sounded noisy, like a street.
"I'm by the Scoion cafe…I couldn't sleep, I got hungry and restless."
"Alright Snips, but you're past curfew. I need you back here now. Make it quick".
"I won't keep you waiting, master."
"Good. Get in and get some rest, we have training at sunrise"
"I will master", the communicator buzzed off.
Anakin sighed. The weight of war was heavy, and in many ways, while accomplished his Padawan was still quite young. He supposed it was expected for her to crave relatively normal, teenage experiences from time to time. He'd certainly been there.
Entering his quarters, he sat by his work table to tinker around with some mechanics. He'd head back to Padme's once his Padawan was safely home and accounted for.
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