"For the first time seeing your two's apartment, this is way more underwhelming than what I expected from two former Jedi," Trace commented, looking around the small apartment. Rafa nodded in agreement, though she looked far more apprehensive about visiting the two former Jedi than Trace.
Ahsoka paused before smiling, "I think it's actually quite nice."
Ahsoka and Anakin had asked Trace and Rafa if they wanted to join them for dinner at their apartment after they got off work tonight. Ahsoka had been visiting Trace regularly since they had first met. Anakin hadn't really seen her since, but he didn't mind the company.
Although Rafa seemed wary of Ahsoka whenever she visited, it didn't feel right to Ahsoka to leave Rafa out of the invitation.
Anakin finished readying dinner. "Alright, guys, food's ready." He gave a smile, inviting them to sit down.
The dinner began awkwardly. Having spent their lives with the Order, Anakin and Ahsoka didn't exactly know the etiquette of treating guests to dinner.
Trace and Rafa were sitting on one side of the table, and Anakin and Ahsoka sat on the other.
"So… I know Trace does work as a mechanic. Rafa, what do you do?" Anakin asked, unsure how to get the conversation going.
Ahsoka didn't really know what exactly Rafa did for a living. Trace had told her she owned a laundromat, but that hadn't seemed like the full story. Especially considering their encounter with Pintu. But since the first encounter, he hadn't come back, so Ahsoka hadn't thought much of it.
"Oh, yeah. I own a… laundromat," Rafa answered. Anakin and Ahsoka noticed the pause.
"A laundromat?" Anakin started to ask.
Trace visibly tensed up. Rafa looked at her sister in annoyance. "Look, I'm gonna be straight with you, Anakin." Her tone was not trying to be polite. "What I do is my own business, not yours." Anakin and Ahsoka both raised an eyebrow.
Trace looked frustrated. "Rafa, you know your business is shady. What does it matter if they're former Jedi? Just tell them. Tell them about the deals you've been making. With Pintu, with Lokann, with the Pykes!" Trace raised her voice, visibly angry.
"The Pykes?" Ahsoka was suddenly concerned. Anakin also looked concerned. They should not be making deals with the Pyke Syndicate.
"Trace, shut up!" Rafa demanded, giving her a glare. She turned to face Ahsoka. "What's it to you?" She crossed her arms.
"You can't do business with the Pykes. You can't make a deal with them." Ahsoka was suddenly indignant.
"It's a simple spice run," Rafa said trying to defuse their worries.
"Spice transports get attacked often by pirates. It's dangerous," Anakin added, his tone much firmer.
He thought for a moment before adding, "The spice mines on Kessel are built upon the backs of thousands of… slaves," Anakin frowned at the memory. "You can't help fuel an operation like that."
"Can't be. An operation that large? The Republic wouldn't stand for it. They'd shut the place down." Rafa wasn't having any of it.
"Yeah, you'd think they would," Anakin said softly, frowning.
Ahsoka interjected, "The fact is, the Pykes turn spice into something that ruins lives. So those lives would be on you!"
"Says who?" Rafa said.
"That's just the way it is. You can't profit from other people's suffering. Or at least, I won't let you!" Ahsoka said indignantly. Anakin placed a hand on her arm, hoping to calm her down.
Rafa laughed. "Ha! Will you listen to this?" She looked at Trace, before looking back at Ahsoka. "And you say you don't agree with the Jedi. Seem like a regular Jedi to me," Rafa replied dismissively. Ahsoka paused and looked down guiltily.
Rafa paused for a moment, noticing Trace wouldn't look at her. "You didn't tell them, did you?" Rafa asked Trace. Trace looked away.
"Tell us what?" Ahsoka asked.
"About why Trace and I keep our distance from the Jedi, or any Topsiders for that matter."
"Oh, shut up, Rafa!" Trace exclaimed.
"I don't think so. Not if Miss 'High Ideals' here is gonna lecture me about morality," she gestured to Ahsoka.
Rafa continued, turning her back to the table, "A couple of years ago, there was a prison break. Some gangster named Ziro." Ahsoka saw Anakin's eyes narrow.
"Then came the Jedi. We watched, like so many others, as they chased Ziro and his gang down the portal, leaping from speeder to speeder as they went." Oh, no.
"Finally, some red-eyed alien protecting Ziro blasted the engine of an ascending cargo transport. The ship went spiraling out of control. The Jedi went into action. Tried to regain control of the ship. There was a populated landing platform right in the way of the ship, but the Jedi steered it clear of that, right into the portal wall. And on the other side of that wall, was our home." Rafa looked heartbroken.
Trace took a deep breath and said, "Mom and Dad saw it coming. They got Rafa and I out." Trace shook her head. "But they weren't so lucky."
"The Jedi didn't even capture Ziro. The "distraction" of the ship helped him get away." Rafa said sadly.
"Afterward, the Jedi came back and one of them came over to me. I'll never forget it," Rafa paused gazing down at the table. "She was beautiful, dark robes contrasting against her light green skin. Penetrating eyes." Master Unduli.
"She looked at me, and you know what she said?" Rafa chuckled sadly. "She said, 'I had to make a choice, but not to worry, the Force will be with you.' That's it. Then she was off. Then Trace were left here, without parents, without a home, just left there to find our way in their system."
Ahsoka avoided her gaze, embarrassed at what she had said earlier.
"I've spent every day since building a new life for me and Trace, and it's about us not depending on Jedi or these criminals or anyone else. We make our own rules, and we survive just fine. And we aren't about to let a couple of Jedi mess things up for us."
"I'm so sorry-," Ahsoka quietly said. She felt terrible.
"Don't." Rafa interrupted her. "Let's go Trace," Rafa stood up and started to leave. Trace remained seated, unsure what to do.
Suddenly, Anakin spoke up. "I know how you feel," he said simply. Rafa stopped walking towards the door and turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. Anakin added, "More than you know."
He was still sitting at the table, looking at her. Rafa was expecting him to look angry. But he didn't. His deep blue eyes looked compassionate, empathetic, but most of all…heartbroken.
"Years ago, I lost my mother," Anakin began. Ahsoka's eyes widened. Anakin had never talked about his past.
Anakin continued, "I was still training as a Jedi, when I sensed she had been taken captive by Tuskan Raiders on Tatooine. I asked the Order to help me save her. They refused. They said…" He took a deep breath. "They said I needed to learn… detachment." He barely uttered the word. The room was dead silent.
Anakin took another deep breath before continuing, "I rushed to save her. But… I-I was too late. She died in my arms," he said, looking down in guilt. He could feel the heat behind his eyes. Ahsoka placed a hand on his shoulder, her eyes matching the heartbrokenness of his.
Rafa and Trace's eyes widened in shock. Rafa stood for a few moments, before sitting back down at the table. "I'm sorry," Rafa said, barely audible.
After a few moments of silence, Anakin looked up at the two sisters. "This war is hurting you both. I don't blame you for just trying to make it in this world." Rafa looked surprised at his response.
Anakin continued, "Ahsoka and I are realizing that we can't pretend to know what's right and wrong anymore. Not like we did when we were with the Republic. With the Jedi."
He paused. "But we won't stop fighting to end this war for the people who need it to end the most. People like you." Anakin said, a little more determination in his voice. Ahsoka gave a small smile.
He paused before continuing, "All…all that I ask is that you two stay safe and take care of one another. Do what's best for each other." Anakin offered a smile.
Rafa considered his advice before nodding. Her apprehension towards the two former Jedi seemed to have dissipated. Trace noticed this and smiled.
The remainder of the dinner continued about as well as expected, in much less of a somber mood. Afterward, Rafa and Trace thanked the two for dinner and left. Rafa and Ahsoka seemed to be on better terms with one another. Although the lingering sadness on Anakin's face hadn't escaped Ahsoka.
While they were cleaning up, Ahsoka looked sympathetically at Anakin. She could only imagine how long he had repressed the memory of his mother. How difficult it must have been.
As Anakin was getting ready for his nightly meditation, Ahsoka saw that sadness still on his face. Ahsoka was supposed to be getting ready as well, but she knew they wouldn't be able to focus. Not tonight.
She walked over to Anakin, who was kneeling on the ground, setting up his mat out of habit. She kneeled beside him and took his arm and gently said, "Maybe you should go to bed," tugging at his arm. Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Anakin turned to look at her. Ahsoka almost worried he would look angry. But what she saw only broke her heart.
A tear had rolled down his cheek, from those same compassionate blue eyes she'd always admired.
"Yeah… I…I probably should," Anakin replied softly. Ahsoka nodded and wordlessly walked him to their shared quarters, where she helped him into bed.
She proceeded to get into her own bed across the room. As she fell asleep, she heard the gentle rise and fall of Anakin's chest. He was asleep.
She smiled sadly. An escape. And she let her own exhaustion take her.