We Pretend It's Alright
Chapter Ten
Lost Part II
We Pretend It's Alright
By the time she had made it back to the ship, the sky was black and the only light came from the ship itself.
"Tano, my girl, where have you been?" Hondo called out as he walked up to the lowered ramp where he was standing with Olav and Frogon. "We were about to leave without you."
"Sorry, ahh… something held me up." She muttered, not making eye contact with him as she positioned herself on his right, nodding to the other guys. "Ready to go?" She said, trying to change the subject. She did not have the energy to deal with this right now, especially with Hondo.
"Alright alright, you heard her boys, let's move." Hondo said, turning away and walking to the set of speeders that had been laid out. "Stay close to me." He ordered as they mounted the bikes. "Now, let's go do what we do best; scam idiots!" He commanded, starting off at full speed, the others laughing and on his heels. The crates of seed where being pulled along on Frogon and Olav's speeders and Ahsoka couldn't stop her thoughts from circling back to Liolee as she rode.
Fifteen minutes later, a building came into sight in the distance, and the group slowed as they approached it.
"Remember, Groblan is not only an idiot but extremely temperamental so don't talk unless… no just don't talk, understand?" Hondo explained after they parked the bikes about a hundred feet from the building and gathered together with the crates.
"Got it." Olav said and Ahsoka and Frogon nodded.
"Wonderful, now let's get moving." Hondo beamed, clapping his hands together as they set off, the other three each pushing along a crate. The darkness enveloped the four as they made their way up to the front doors.
"Hondo Ohnaka." Hondo said into the intercom, still wearing his trademark smile. After a few seconds the doors clicked open and they walked inside to be greeted by woman.
"Please, follow me." She said, her voice faint as she bowed to them before moving to lead them farther into the building.
"Bet she's a slave." Olav muttered to Ahsoka, who nodded in agreement as she watched the slave that was leading them. Even way she carried herself felt subordinate and Ahsoka couldn't help but think that was the way Liolee had held herself too.
"Right this way, Sirs." The slave said, pulling open a door and holding it with her head bowed as they walked inside the room.
It was a long room with artifacts and painting lining the walls and a large golden fountain in the center of the room. The room held a prestige that Ahsoka would not have thought belonged so close to the poor city of Mos Espa. At the opposite end of the room there was raised and upon it a throne like chair that was perched underneath a golden canopy.
"The master will be with you in a moment, he is finishing up some… business." The slave said vaguely and the fear in her voice made Ahsoka wonder just what that "business" was.
"Of course." Hondo said graciously, smiling at the women, who bowed her head to them again before exiting through the door, not quite closing the doors fully.
"Geez I hate this guy already, what a snob." Frogon muttered, looking around the decorated room. "Who needs this many statues?" He said, gesturing to the walls as he moved around looking at the different pieces.
"Rich slaver, now there's an original story." Olav said sarcastically, frowning at the door where the slave had left. "What a sense of entitlement."
"Yes yes, he is horrible, I thought we had established this." Hondo said with a wave of his hand and a grin. "Who cares? He has money and as soon as we have swindled some of it, we'll never look at his ugly mug again- Groblan, my old friend, what a pleasure." Hondo switched gears immediately as Groblan walked in, his smile back in place.
"Hondo Ohnaka." Groblan said, nodding to them as he took a seat on the throne-chair, his lip curled up and a disgruntled look on his face. Ahsoka noticed his red knuckles but made no comment as she stood beside the crates, leaning against one and facing one wall, her head downcast. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement, and she turned her head ever so slightly so she could see out the crack left open of the doors, tuning out Hondo and Groblan's conversation.
Outside she caught sight of the slave that had meet earlier, and she appeared to be talking to another woman who also appeared to be a slave. Ahsoka couldn't hear what they were saying but they looked nervous as they talked. The new women gestured to something behind her that Ahsoka couldn't see and they exchanged a scared look before moving off out of sight in the direction the woman had gestured.
Ahsoka frowned, casting a quick glance back to Groblan and Hondo, before pushing off of the crates and sidling up to Olav.
"I… I need some air." She muttered in his ear so only he could hear, her back turned to Hondo and Groblan. "I'm going out to the speeders, okay?"
Olav gave her a questioning look. "What's wrong with you?" He muttered back, his eyes narrowed. "You've been acting weird since you got back."
"Not here." Ahsoka whispered back, casting another glance towards the front of the room to make sure they hadn't been noticed. "I'll explain back at the ship."
They made eye contact again for a second before Olav nodded, whispering "Alright, I'll cover for you."
"Thanks." Ahsoka nodded back to him before slowly making her way back to the door, careful not to draw attention to herself. Groblan didn't notice, but she saw Hondo shot a look at her. Ignoring it for now, she exited through the door, softly shutting it behind her. Turning to face the room, she was faced with three different halls. Remembering which way the women had gone, Ahsoka moved down the right hall, moving silently and listening for the sounds of voices.
The hall grew thinner and curved downward as she moved through it, still listening. Eventually to ended in two doors, the first lead to the kitchens, and second a dark staircase. But at the base of the stair case she could see a dim light, and hear the whisper of voices. She quickly started down the stairs, her feet barley touching the ground. When she got the bottom, she looked up to the see rows of cots on the floor and in one corner a group of women slaves were grouped around a bed.
"Hello?" Ahsoka said cautiously, alerting them to her presence. They all turned to look at her, fear in their eyes as a few stood up, looking as if they were going to bolt.
"I'm not here to hurt you." She said quickly, raising her hands in surrender as she took a step closer. "I just thought there was maybe something I could help with."
A few the women exchanged a looks, before turning their heads the women who had lead them into the manner earlier, who appeared to be their leader.
"Girls, leave us. There is nothing you can do now." The women said, her head bowed as she started down sadly at the cot they were all crowded around. "I will handle this, go back to your duties."
The women collectively stood and started to move away from the cot, and what they had been looking at now came into view.
"Liolee." Ahsoka breathed as see recognized the coral skin of the woman she had met earlier that day. She moved forward and knelled next to the cot, staring horrified at the broken form of the twi'lek. "What happened to her?" She asked in shock.
"The master was not happy when she arrived home late." The women said sadly. "He wasn't in a good mood already, and it set him off. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time." The women stared down at the limp form of Liolee as well, grief on her face.
"But she'll recover won't she?" Ahsoka asked, looking at up at the women.
"I do not know, it is out of our hands. This is beyond my abilities."
"But surely you are going to take her to a hospital."
The women shook her head at Ahsoka with a bemused look. "You forget where we are, who we are. This is not the first time something like this has happened, nor will it be the last."
"That's not right." Ahsoka said, staring back at Liolee's bruised and bloodied face.
"It's life." The women said simply, a sad smile on her face. "There is nothing we can do to change that."
Ahsoka watched the small movements in Liolee's face, the twitches of pain, the small flexes of her mouth. "If she stays here she might die." Ahsoka whispered, more to herself than anyone else.
"Yes." The woman replied simply. "If that is what is destined to happen, it will. This is her destiny, the destiny of a slave."
Ahsoka was silent for a minute, her mind whirling as she stared at Liolee.
"I don't believe in destiny." She said softly, her mind made up. Standing up and looking around the barren room, she spotted a pile of raggedy blankets in one corner and quickly rushed over and grabbed one. Returning to Liolee's cot, she gently wrapped her in the pale brown sheet carefully.
"What are you doing?" The women asked with a frown as Ahsoka swaddled the injured girl.
"What I have to." Ahsoka replied. Very carefully, she slide her arms under Liolee's shoulders and knees, and slowly picked her up bridal style, holding the unconscious girl close to her chest as she stood up. "Don't try to stop me." She warned the women, her eyes narrowed as she started to walk towards the stairs.
No one said a word as Ahsoka walked to the stairs, and slowly began to move up them, careful to keep Liolee as still as possible against her chest. Her mind was auto control as she moved silently back through the hall, looking around every corner for someone who might try to stop her. She didn't know what she was doing, but she didn't stop to think. Before she knew it she was walking out the front doors.
The night outside was darker than ever when she stepped out into it. The cool air pierced her skin as she nudged close the door slowly with her foot, making sure to hold Liolee still. Turning away from the doors, she couldn't see farther than the few yards illuminated by the manor in front of her. Vaguely remembering which direction they had left the speeder is she started forward, summoning her on e of her sabers into her hand and igniting it to illuminate her way. After a few minutes of walking, saw the outline of someone appear.
"Tano?" One of the voice called, and she recognized it to Olav.
"Yeah." She called back softly, deactivating her saber, and walking faster towards the figure.
"Where have you been?" Olav called back as she approached. "You left the room before any of us."
"I got sidetracked." Ahsoka said as she came into Olav's view.
"What do you- who's that?" He asked as soon as he saw what Ahsoka had in her arms.
"Her name is Liolee and she needs medical attention now." Ahsoka said quickly, not paying attention to Olav as she turned on her speeder. "Will you hold her while I get on, then I can take her again."
"What is going on?" Olav hissed as he took the injured woman from Ahsoka, looking around anxiously for onlookers.
"I'll explain later, come on!" She replied as she climbed on the speeder, and then motioned for Olav to hand Liolee to her. After securing the injured Twi'lek in her arms, she nodded her head, silently telling Olav to come on, before turning on the speeder and zooming away from the manor, Olav following her closely. After about fifteen minutes, the ship came into sight and Ahsoka saw Hondo standing on the ramp with another pirate, and they appeared to be waiting for what she expected was her.
"Tano!" Hondo exclaimed as she pulled up next the ship with Olav, her attention focused on Liolee. "Where were you?" He asked, casually walking over to where they had stopped. It was then that he caught sight of the girl in Ahsoka's arms, and he raised an eyebrow at her. "My girl, what is-"
"She needs a doctor." Ahsoka cut him off, as Olav helped her off the speeder, trying to keep Liolee as still as possible.
"Who-" Hondo started to ask, but Ahsoka cut him off again.
"I'll tell you later, but she needs a medic and we need to get out of here now." Ahsoka told him, walking around him and starting up onto the ship. "Hurry, please."
The desperation in her voice was clear, and Hondo nodded, following her back on the ship uncharacteristically.
"I'll have Olav bring the medical kit to your room, and we'll take it from there, but first I need to know who this girl is and why we need to get out of here." Hondo said as he followed behind her.
"She was a slave at Groblan's, and I don't think he will be happy once he realizes we took her, so I think we should get out of here." Ahsoka said very quickly as she made it to her room, quickly opening the door, and moving inside.
"You did what?" Hondo exclaimed, cocking his head as he leaned against the door frame.
"I rescued her."
"You might believe that, but I doubt Groblan will. This was stupid, child."
But Ahsoka wasn't listening anymore. She was solely focused on Liolee's slow breathing and the cut on her side that had opening up again for all the movement.
"Lecture me later, but she really needs a medic now." Ahsoka said, looking at Hondo with desperation in her eyes. "There's an outpost not too far from here that will treat her, but you have to take us, please."
"I don't know, maybe we should just return her to her master." Hondo suggested. "Why do you care?"
"I just do okay, I owe her." Ahsoka said, as Olav entered with the med-kit. "Hondo please. I'll do anything, just please help me save her."
Hondo was silent for a minute as he watched Olav and Ahsoka struggle to help the girl, this task way beyond either of their abilities.
"Fine, I don't know why you care, but I'll do you this favor, Tano." He sighed, shaking his head and exhaling deeply. He looked at the scene before him one more time before sauntering away, calling her the crew to get them to the nearest medical outpost as Ahsoka desperately tried to quell the bleeding.
We Pretend It's Alright
"Please, she needs medical attention now! She's bleeding baldly and unconscious." Ahsoka yelled as she ran into medical outpost's emergency wing, applying pressure to Liolee's wound as Olav held her. "Please, she's dying, please!" A nurse was at her side almost at once, and then medical droids and a stretcher. "Please save her." Ahsoka said weakly as she watched them whisk the dying girl away, a pained expression on her face and a strange feeling that she might never see the girl she barely knew again.
"Come on." Olav said quietly, leading her over to a bench and sitting them down.
"Thank you." Ahsoka murmured, staring at the ground as Olav put an arm around her.
He said nothing, but smiled sadly as they sat. Ahsoka was grateful for the company and rested her head on the man's shoulder. For the past few months she had been here, Olav had treated her like a part of the crew from day one. Most of the others hadn't accepted here at first, and there were still those who didn't. They didn't believe she was one of them, and in a sense she wasn't, but she just as capable, if not more, than they were. But Olav had accepted her from the beginning, believing that if Hondo had invited her to join the crew, she was every bit as deserving as anyone else. They had grown close, Ahsoka not even realizing how lonely she had been until she started to let people in again.
After about ten minutes, a droid came to Ahsoka with forms to fill out. Only able to fill out a few basic questions, she returned the forms, apologizing for not knowing more before returning to the bench. Minutes trickled past as she sat staring at the ground, tuning out the hustle and bustle of the practice and hoping beyond hope that Liolee was going to be alright.
After an hour of silence, Olav spoke.
"Ahsoka, what happened?"
She didn't reply.
"I mean, how did you find her? And why did you bring her with us?" He asked, prompting her.
"I-" Ahsoka stared, before taking a deep breath and talking in a quiet voice very quickly. "I meet her in town earlier. I was walking in the street and I heard a scream. I followed it and found her about to be assaulted. Before I knew what I was doing I attacked the guy and she escaped. But I got distracted and he got the better of me. I was losing the fight, but she came back and hit him in the head, and I killed him." She spoke in a monotone, her eyes fixed on the ground. "She saved me, if she hadn't come back…" Ahsoka trailed off, shaking her head, not wanting think about what would have happened. "After I killed him, I introduced myself, and offered to tale her home, to protect her. She refused, and left, but I knew I shouldn't have let her go. She was weak, she couldn't protect herself. And now look what happened." Ahsoka's voice broke and she put her hand in her hands, blinking back the tears that started to fill her eyes. "It's my fault really, I shouldn't have let her go alone." She choked out, barley keeping herself from crying.
"It's not your fault." Olav said quiet, putting his arm around her and giving her arm a squeeze. "This was out of your control. You saved her from the man you killed, and she was a slave, you couldn't have known that her master would do that, nor was it your duty to know."
"But if-"
"No. The only fault here belongs to Groblan, not you, not her." He insisted.
Ahsoka nodded, but still felt guilt in the pit of her stomach as she looked up towards the doors where Liolee had vanished into.
Another hour passed in silence, Ahsoka staring at the doors and waiting for someone to come tell her what was happening. A bit after the second hour, Hondo strolled into the building.
"What is taking so long?" He asked, lazily as he walked in, ignoring the nurse who hushed him and walking over to the pair on the bench. "Tano, we have places to be-" He stopped at a look from Olav, who shook his head at his boss, nodding to Ahsoka, who was till staring transfixed at the door with glassy eyes.
"I'll be right back." Olav said quietly to Ahsoka, who did make any inclination that she had heard him, before he carefully got up and lead Hondo around the corner away from Ahsoka.
"Why does she care?" Ahsoka could hear Hondo ask between Olav's hushed words. Why did she care? It was something she didn't even really know herself, but she felt a strange connection to Liolee she couldn't explain. It didn't matter right now. All that mattered was Liolee.
"How could she think that-" Ahsoka heard another one of Hondo's sentences again, but didn't register anything he was saying, once again transfixed on those doors. After another minute of hushed conversation, the two men walked back over the young woman, and sat down on either side of her.
"So, you're gonna stick it out, huh?" Hondo asked, looking sideways at Ahsoka who nodded, saying nothing.
"Alright, I don't know why you care but I'll respect it. Probably that damn Jedi conscious, eh?." Hondo cracked a smile, but Ahsoka remained expressionless. "Alright kid, we'll this is what I'm gonna do. Olav is gonna say here with you and I'm gonna take the crew back to base. Well be back tomorrow to check in with you, alright?" He said, and Ahsoka nodded again not saying anything.
"Alright then, guess we'll be going." Hondo clapped his hands together and stood up. He nodded to Olav and said, "Watch out for her, you hear?", a slight note of concern in his voice. Olav nodded to him in reassurance as Hondo started to walk away.
Hondo was just about at the door when he heard her voice.
"Thank you." She whispered, her voice weak as she looked up at him for the first time.
He cracked a smile and winked, feeling pity for the girl as she tried to smile back.
"Think nothing of it! You are one of us, and we provide for each other, do we not?" He grinned, tipping his hat them, before turning and walking out, the smile falling from his face when they could no longer see his face.
For another two hours Ahsoka and Olav sat, Olav making the occasional small talk, but neither of them able to keep up a conversation. Ahsoka still stared transfixed at the door, her hands supporting her chin as she leaned forward with her elbows on her knees.
"Why do you think it's taking so long?" She asked after a total of five hours had passed, and Olav could hear the fear in her voice. "If she was okay, wouldn't we know by now?"
"Well, no." Olav responded gently. "These sorts of thing can take a while, you don't want to rush it."
"Right." Ahsoka nodded, her lips pressed tight together.
After a few minutes, she spoke again. "Will you about her?" She said quietly, turning her head for the first time to look at Olav.
"Who?" He asked, looking curiously at her.
"About Mertha?" She asked, and she walked the pain the flashed across his face at the name. she knew from what she had heard that Olav had had a woman he had once loved and that she had died ten years ago. Ever since, he had matured a lot and become a lot more subdued. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." She said at once, looking away ashamed.
"No, it's alright, Child." He said after a moment, and Ahsoka turned her head back to face him. "It's been many years she's been gone."
"But it still hurts?" She asked, and he nodded.
"When you truly love someone, they become a part of you. To lose that… well the pain may fade, but there is always a part of you missing." He explained, a weight in his voice Ahsoka didn't often hear.
"I think I understand." She said, thinking about all the people she had left behind, all the people she had lost.
Olav started at tell her about Mertha, she become lost in his words. His love was clear, and she could hear the sadness in his voice, but it was mirrored with a joy as he recalled all their journeys together. As he told her stories of their past, she found herself distracted and another hour or two slipped by. Eventually, he started to ask her about her own past, and after quite a bit of prompting, and most likely due to her exhaustion, she began to open up about her past. She told him about Rex and the 501. She told him about Anakin and Padme, realizing she had never been able to before.
By the time the suns began to rise, the fellow pirates had finally fallen silent as Olav had dozed off. But Ahsoka couldn't sleep, no matter how much her body begged her too. Well the reminiscing had been comforting and a nice distraction, Ahsoka couldn't get Liolee of her mind.
"Miss Tano?" Ahsoka's head snapped up as the nurse at the front desk called her name. "The doctor will see you know."
Ahsoka stood up at once, and walked to the front desk.
"G8PT3 will take you there." She said, motioning to a medical droid that had entered the room. Ahsoka nodded and followed the droid through the doors Liolee had gone through some many hours ago.
"This way." The droid said, making a left-hand turn and leading down a hall labeled critical care. A minute later she was taken into a sub-ward, and to a room where she was told to wait for the doctor to come talk to her. She sat for another ten minutes, nervously bouncing her knees as she waited. Finally, a women entered the room in scrubs, looking down at a clip board and then up at Ahsoka. "Miss Tano?" she asked, and Ahsoka nodded, jumping to her feet.
"I see okay?" Ahsoka asked at once, looking desperately at the women.
"Will you please follow me?" She asked with a smile.
Ahsoka nodded, frowning as she was lead into an office.
"Please, sit." The women said, as she took her seat behind the desk and motioned to the seat in front of her. "Now as you know, Miss Liolee suffered from severe injuries. We were able to stabilize her for now, but we are not sure exactly what the extent of her injuries are yet."
Ahsoka let out a cry of relief and felt a smile break out over her face, so happy that Liolee was alive. "But she's alive?" she asked, wanting to make sure.
"Yes, she is." The doctor confirmed with a smile. "As far as we know, she has broken leg, dislocated shoulder, and a few broken ribs. She has a large wound on her side that she lost a lot of blood from before we were able to sew it up. There was also a large amount f internal bleeding, but we have managed to control that for now."
Ahsoka nodded, her elation dying as she listened to the doctor explain the extent of Liolee's condition.
"So she's asleep?" Ahsoka asked, her head tilted.
"Due to the blunt force trauma to her head, she is not conscious, but she is in a coma-like state. We believe this to be her body's nature reaction to the incident, and that she will wake up in her own time." The doctor explained, looking down at her clipboard as she spoke.
"And how long will that be?"
"it is impossible for us to know, but I estimate it will be at least a few weeks of her going in and out of consciousness before she able to understand where she is or what is going around her." The doctor answered, her eyes narrowing as she read something on the file below her. "Miss Tano, were you aware that this patient is owned by Mr. Carlen Groblan?"
Ahsoka did not answer as the doctor looked up at her suspiciously.
"We found a identification chip in her right shoulder that alerted us to this, as part of standard protocol, we are required to notify her master so he may retrieve her."
"What?" Ahsoka asked in shock, her eyes widening. "But he's the one who did this to her!"
"That is none of my concern, Miss Tano. I have a legal obligation to uphold, and I will be notifying Mr. Groblan of his Slave's whereabouts after we are done here." The doctor stood up, straightening her shirt and looking down at Ahsoka. "I suggest you say your goodbyes before he arrives. Miss Liolee is in room 804B." With that, she gave Ahsoka a curt nod before leaving the room, no doubt to notify Groblan.
Ahsoka was frozen. She couldn't let Groblan find Liolee, he would kill her. What was she supposed to do? Ahsoka stood up, her mind racing as she exited the room and hurried back to the waiting room.
"Ahsoka! There you are-" Olav exclaimed when he saw her, but Ahsoka cut him off.
"Come with me, quickly." She murmured, leading him back into the ward as she scanned to wall for Liolee's room.
"How is she, what's going on?" Olav murmured as he followed close behind her.
"She's alive, but unconscious with a few broken bones and who knows what other kind of internal damage." Ahsoka answered quietly, glancing around as she turned left. "But the doctor is calling Groblan."
"What, how do they-"
"She has a tracking chip in her right shoulder." Ahsoka said, as they entered the B-wing. "We need to get her out of here before he shows up, or he'll kill her and finish what he started."
"How are we supposed to-"
"Just call Hondo and tell him to send a ship for us at the morgue entrance, but we need to hurry." Ahsoka explained quickly, reading the door labels as she zoomed past each one.
"What are you-"
"Just trust me, okay? Please just do it." She pleaded, stopping as she read the next door on her left, 804B. She turned to look at Olav, desperation in her eyes. "Please, Olav. I can't let her die."
"Alright, I'll go meet them at the morgue." He nodded, looking skeptically at the young women, but pulling out his comm to call the crew. "I send for you when they are here, alright."
"Got it." She nodded quickly, before turning to face the door as Olav left. Taking a deep breath, she double checked the number once more before opening the door. The room held four beds. The two closest to her where empty and she walked quickly past them, searching. The third bed had an old man of some race she didn't recognize and she moved past it. In the four bed all the way against the opposite wall was Liolee. Her face and exposed parts of her skin where bruised and both her right shoulder and leg where in casts. Her eyes were closed and she had a pained look on her face as Ahsoka watched her chest slowly rise and fall. Taking a few steps closer, she kneeled beside the bed, unable to look away from the injured face. She looked so small, so young and innocent, and Ahsoka assumed she couldn't have been must older than herself.
"I'm gonna help you." She whispered, taking Liolee's hand in her own and bowing her hand. "I swear, I'll protect you this time." Feeling a small buzz on her arm, she looked to see her comm lit up with a message from Olav.
'Morgue 5 minutes.' It read and she quickly responded with a confirmation and stood up, looking around the room for what she had to work with. A stretcher hovered beside one of the abandoned beds and she pulled it over to Liolee's bedside.
"I'm sorry." She muttered to the unconscious girl, as she very carefully lifted her onto the bed, trying not to look at the pain that flashed across her face as she was moved. Ahsoka pulled the white sheet off the bed and covered Liolee in it, hoping that no one would look to closely. She carefully pushed the platform to the door, and outside, glancing around the bustling halls as she slipped out of the room. Four minutes later, she was at the south exit by the morgue, looking for Olav and the ship.
"Tano!" She turned at the sound of the familiar voice, and smile spread across her face as she saw Hondo waving her over.
"Is she?" Hondo asked as Ahsoka approached with the covered body.
"She's alive, I just had to sneak her out without anyone noticing." Ahsoka said quickly as she pushed the stretcher up the ramp and onto the ship, focused on the slight rise and fall she could see through the sheet.
We Pretend It's Alright
(Two weeks later)
"Come on, it'll be fun!" Hondo insisted, leaning against the door frame of Ahsoka's room as he stared down at her. "You've been here for too long, take a break!"
"You're idea of fun is a heist on Garel?" Ahsoka scoffed, turning her head to look up sardonically at Hondo from the floor, her eye brows raised.
"And it isn't yours?" Hondo jested, laughing at her disapproving yet slightly amused expression and folding his arms as he lounged against the door frame. "You'd be perfect for this! Come on, we'd be back in a few hours."
"I don't know." Ahsoka sighed, looking back at Liolee's sleeping form. "What if she wakes up?"
"She won't, don't worry so much. I'll even leave someone to watch her if that will put your mind to rest."
Ahsoka continued to look at the sleeping form, weighing her options in her head. She hadn't been out of the base in four months and she couldn't deny it was getting a little stuffy being in this room all the time. The bags under her eyes were evident, and she looked exhausted. Sleeping on the floor wasn't the problem, but so found herself unable to rest most nights. Every time she thought about leaving for a bit, her mind would go back to the thought of, what is something happened to Liolee? What is she woke up and freaked out because she was alone in a strange place?
"Tano, don't make me order you." Hondo sighed, raising his brow at her. "I need you with me."
"You promise we won't be gone more than a few hours?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him as she looked from her boss to the sleeping woman on the bed?
"Yes, now come on! Get yourself ready, we leave in ten." With that, he tipped his hat to her and swaggered away.
Ahsoka jumped to her feet at once, pulling on a hooded over-shirt and hurrying down the hall to Olav's room, casting a long look at Liolee before leaving.
"Olav!" She called, knocking on the door. "Olav, I need a favor!"
"And what would that be?" Olav said from behind her, making her jump as she spun around.
"Are you going to Garel?" She asked, looking hopefully at him.
"No, I am not. I take it Hondo convinced you to?"
"Well… yeah, I guess so." Ahsoka said, trying to sound as if it wasn't a big deal, but the nervous look in her eyes gave her away.
"And you want me to watch Liolee, don't you?" Olav smiled, looking knowing down at the young woman.
"I… yeah." Ahsoka nodded, biting her lip. "It'll only be for a couple of hours, I promise. I just don't want her to be alone."
"I understand." Olav nodded, understanding exactly how Ahsoka was feeling. "Sure, why not?"
"Thank you so much!" She exclaimed, a smile spreading over her face.
"I'm just happy you're getting out of here. Enjoy it, find yourself something nice." He winked, cracking a smile. "I'll go see Liolee, and you get up to deck."
"Thank you again!" She called, as she scurried down the hall, trying to keep her worries at bay.
We Pretend It's Alright
(2 days later)
"Alright, this should be a quick in and out." Ahsoka explained to the group of five men around her as they crouched in an alley, ignoring the rain drenching them. " Jon will detonated these at the north entrance," She said, pulling out three detonators and handing them to Jon, who nodded. "Frojen and Klen will take out the remaining guards at the south entrance after and we'll go in that way. Hal and Scorch will clear the west corridor and check the holding down there for Jax and Yoller well Frito and Klen take the east. I'll go down to the maximum holding and get Hondo out. Jon, you will come back around and guard the south entrance. As soon as you have Jax and Yoller, get out and we'll rendezvous back at the ship, got it?"
They all nodded or grunted there agreement, looking around at each other.
"How long do we wait for you at the ship?" Len asked with a shrug, others nodding.
"If I'm not back at the ship within five minutes of you, leave." Ahsoka said confidently. "If I'm that much behind you, then something went wrong and you need to regroup with the rest of the crew before another rescue attempt. Don't risk losing the ship and getting caught, because they will be following you after you leave. But," She looked up at them, with a smirk on her face. "I bet 1000 credits I beat all of you back to the ship."
An instant uproar went up at her words, as many of them protesting her claim and shaking their heads at her.
"No way some girl beats me." Jon scoffed, winking at Ahsoka as he laughed. "You're on!"
"Deal." Ahsoka laughed, shaking his hand and standing up. "Now let's go save their asses!"
Ten minutes later, they were inside the holding jail on Garel, and Ahsoka was speeding down the north hall. She ran with a saber in each hand, bowling through anyone who came in her path and slipping down halls and staircases swiftly and silently. They'd been on Garel for two days now, and she was desperate to get back to base. The heist had seemed to go exactly as planned, they got in with no problem, and where on their way out when they were completely ambushed by local authorities. Three of the men, including Hondo, had been arrested and where being held here until they could be transferred to a maximum facility to await conviction. For the past day, the rest of the crew that had got away had found each other and planned the rescue mission under the leadership of Ahsoka. Now all she had to do was ingle-handedly break Hondo out of a high-security jail and get back the ship without being left behind.
Simple.
Ahsoka moved deeper into the building, finding many guard positions abandoned as many had gone out front to the explosion. Once she reached the high security level though, she did encounter more guards. Ducking her head around the corner, she saw four fully armed guards sanding in front of a door that she was sure lead to the max cells. She pulled her head back, and took a deep breath, thinking of how she'd be back with Liolee in just a few short hours, before jumping out and engaging the guards. She deflected the gun fire the flew at her, taking down one guard with a reflected short, and knocking out another with a strong kick to the head as she danced around the gun fire. She took down another with a slash to his right leg and turned to face the last man standing.
"Stand down!" He yelled, pointing his gun in her face. "Lay your weapons on the ground and put your hands behind your head."
Ahsoka stared back, the corner of her mouth curling up. As if it was possible for this man to stop her from going home.
Two minutes later she was supporting an injured Hondo as they staggered out the doors of the jail, blocking shots with her lightsaber and moving as quickly as she could to where the ship should be waiting.
"Whoa, come on Tano, that almost hit me!" Hondo yelled as Ahsoka barley deflected a shot that would have hit him in right in the jaw.
"You're welcome." She said, rolling her eyes and they ducked around a fallen bench.
"Clones on your left!" Someone yelled, and they both turned to see a squad of clones running towards the situation.
"We need to move." Hondo said, and the two mad a run for it, ignoring the battle going on around them.
"This way!" Ahsoka heard Klen yell as they ran and followed the sound of his voice. Shots flew all around them as the fight between the police and pirates continued as they fought to get back to the ship.
"Come on old man, I've got a bet to win." Ahsoka said, pulling Hondo along with her as they ran to the ship that was now in view. "If Klen bets me because you're too slow, those credits are coming right out of your bank."
"Who you calling old?" Hondo barked with a grin, clutching his injured ribs as he ran.
They ran aboard the ship seconds before the rest of the crew, and quickly took off as more clones started to show up. Within a few hours, they were back at base and after dropping Hondo in the medical bay, Ahsoka hurried back down to her room and Liolee, meeting Olav in the hall outside.
"She woke up briefly last night very confused and scared. I explained to her that she had been taken out of Groblan's and that she was her to recover and that she was safe. She fell back asleep soon after and has been sleeping for six hours now. I would expect her to awake again soon, though I have no idea if she will remember what I told her last night or night. She seemed pretty out of it." Olav explained as they walked down the ship corridor. Ahsoka nodded as she wrapped a bandage around a gash on her upper left arm she had gotten when they had escaped.
"Thank you so much again, I'm sorry that the trip took way longer than it should have. If Klen hadn't miscalculated the number of guards-"
"It was nothing, now go on, I'll make sure someone brings you both some food." He said as the approached the door to Ahsoka's room. He nodded to her before leaving her at the door. Taking a deep breath Ahsoka opened the door and walked inside her small room.
Liolee still lay on the bed, a blanket covering her frail body. But she seemed more conscious now, different than from before. Her chest moved up and down slowly as she breathed, and she wore a slightly pained look on her face.
Ahsoka started to move quietly into the room, careful not to bump into anything or make and loud noises that would make Liolee up. When she reached the chair next to her bedside, Ahsoka quietly spun it around she could sit with her hand resting on the back on the chair. Folding her arms on the back and her head on her arms, she silently watched and waited, falling into a tired daze thinking about what she would say to this girl when she finally awoke.
About an hour later, a loud banging on the door made her jump, startling her out of the daze. Glancing quickly at the still sleeping twi'lek, she swiftly got up and answered the door.
"What?" Ahsoka murmured the member of Hondo's crew that stood in the door way.
He didn't reply, but merely held up a tray with two sandwiches on it and a bottle of water.
She took the tray from his outstretched hand and nodded to him. "Tell Olav I say thanks." She added before closing the door again. She turned back around quickly, but in her hast and forgetting how small the room was, ran right into her chair and promptly dropped the tray with a loud crash, as her right knee slammed into the hard chair.
"Shit." She swore, grabbing her knee and looking down at the ruined food and water all over the floor, trying to ignore the pulsing pain in her knee.
The sound of movement made her look up, and to her displeasure she see Liolee staring up at her with wide eyes.
"Hi." Ahsoka said awkwardly, still clutching her knee and looking back at Liolee. Liolee didn't respond, but was still looking sacredly at Ahsoka.
"I'm Ahsoka, we meet once before on Mos Espa. Do you remember at all?" She said, forgetting about the pain in her knee of the mess on the floor.
Liolee didn't respond, but continued to look at Ahsoka, her eyes narrowing as if she was thinking.
"You saved me from… well anyway, after that I went to where you lived for some business and I found you in the basement. You… you weren't doing too well and, um, well I took you with me and brought you to a hospital. You stayed there for a bit, but then we had to leave and you've been here ever since. That was about four weeks ago."
Liolee once again stayed silent, looking up at Ahsoka with an expression that Ahsoka didn't quite understand.
"So, you've kind of been… asleep for the past four weeks, and we weren't really sure when you were gonna ever wake up, so I've been hanging out in here for that time." She added, not really sure why she was still talking. She fell silent and looked down at the ground, unable to think of something else to say.
"You where here?" Liolee's voice broke the silence and Ahsoka looked back up, surprised to hear the heavily-accented voice.
"Well, yeah." She said awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck.
"Why?"
"Well, I wanted to be here when you woke up, I didn't want you to be alone." Ahsoka felt very awkward as Liolee squinted at her, still not understanding.
"You did not need to do that." Liolee murmured, her voice barely audible as she looked away.
"What?" Ahsoka asked, looking back at the women in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I don't matter to you." She said, still not looking at Ahsoka.
Ahsoka was thoroughly confused now. This was not at all how she had pictured this conversation going. She stared at Liolee, her brow furled in thought. "I'm sorry, but I don't really understand what you mean." The former Jedi said, watching Liolee closely as she studied her movements.
"You have no reason to care for me. I have no value to you nor anyone else." She said quickly, staring down into her lap, as she twisted her hands together over and over again. She sounded so resigned, as if this message had been drilled into her head over and over again.
"Well, just because I'm don't, umm, profit from making sure you're okay, doesn't mean that I shouldn't."
Liolee frowned and turned to look up at Ahsoka, her turn to be the confused one.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why waste your time?"
Her words struck Ahsoka, and it took her a minute to gather her answer. Why did she do this?
"Honestly," She started, looking into the white eyes that stared back at her. "I don't really have a reason. I just… when I saw you after what Groblan had done to you, I couldn't walk away. I'm not that kind of person. I don't walk away from situations like that." She shrugged, the words coming so easily to her now as she spoke. "And you aren't a waste of time, okay? You are a person and you don't belong to anyone, at least not anymore. You're a free person, Liolee. From now on, no one controls you. You're never going back to Groblan's, or anywhere else that would enslave you, I promise you that." A silence meet this statement as both women sat looking at each other with varying emotions that neither of them quite understood.
After a moments of silence, Ahsoka stood up. "Well, I'm gonna go get something to clean up this mess, and then I'll get you something to eat and drink. Be right back." She turned, and it want until she was at the door that she heard it.
"Thank you."
The words where barley more than a whisper, and Ahsoka almost thought she imagined them at first. She turned her head, to see Liolee gazing up at her still, an expression she couldn't read on the twi'lek's face.
"Anytime." Ahsoka replied, mentally kicking herself for saying something so stupid as she turned around again and left the room.
AN:
Hello! So it's been a while and I apologize for the long wait. I had just started a new job right before I posted the last chapter, and I didn't realize how much of time that would take up in combination with school. But now summer is here and so is time for writing!
This chapter was originally supposed to cover the rest of Ahsoka's story, but once again, the words just kept coming and an end didn't. I was at about 12,000 words and still not done when I decided to split it again. But next chapter will be the last of this, I promise. Then we finally see the reconnection between old war buddies.
So what did you think? Like where this is going, or not so much? Let me know in a review!
The next chapter will be up in a few weeks tops, for real this time.
Till next chapter!
-Diamondgirl3;)