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family means no one gets left behind
Despite walking away from the Jedi Order, Ahsoka still felt like she followed its teachings. Especially when it came to not having attachments. She hadn't formed any since her time with the Rebels and she was amazed at how long she managed to last.
Everyone knew Togrutas couldn't survive on their own.
"You can't catch me, Ani!" Rey laughed as she ran around the AT-AT they—she, as in Rey and Rey only—called home.
Out of all the people for Ahsoka to become attached to it had to be the little girl waiting for her parents on Jakku.
"I'm an old man, Rey," Anakin said dramatically as he half jogged after her with a bright smile on his face. "Give me a break."
Unfortunately, Anakin loved her too. Rey also made the mistake in trusting them so easily.
"Force." Ahsoka swore under her breath as she dragged a hand down her face. She grew older by the second the longer they stayed.
They assisted in getting Rey food and teaching her self-defense with the staff Ahsoka found. Anakin wanted her to know everything and anything about piloting and machinery. It was the least they could do for her since Rey gave Ahsoka back her lightsaber and went without rations for a couple days. They've stayed for a Standard month already and her Silver Tempest was set to fly whenever.
They just had to say goodbye first.
Ahsoka leaned back against the AT-AT and closed her eyes. She needed to talk to Anakin about their current situation and she knew her former Master wouldn't give Rey up so easily. But neither of them were the best guardian material for a girl who needed the love her parents. As much as they could try, they could never be the people Rey wanted.
Contrary to popular belief, Anakin believed she'd make a great grandmother. Ahsoka almost punched him for that comment.
"'Soka! Don't let him catch me!"
Ahsoka grunted when the seven year old girl launched herself into her arms with her screeches as her only warning. Rey grabbed the edges of Ahsoka's poncho and hid herself underneath it. Ahsoka snorted as the girl buried her face into her shirt and tightly held wound her legs around her waist.
"Hey, Snips." Anakin playfully scratched his scalp. "Where's Rey?"
"I have no idea." Ahsoka responded with a straight face as Rey giggled.
The obvious large lump shaking underneath Ahsoka's poncho made it hard for the two former Jedi to stay in character. Ahsoka mentally patted herself on the back when Anakin became the first one to laugh.
"Rey, he knows you're in there." Ahsoka chuckled and lifted the poncho to the reveal the red faced girl. She had to refrain from pinching her rosy cheeks in adoration.
"How come you don't play tag with us, 'Soka?" Rey climbed down from her lap and dropped onto the sand. She rested on her knees and laid her head on the side of Ahsoka's thigh.
Ahsoka grunted and gestured to herself with her right hand nonchalantly. "I'm elderly."
"You don't look really old." Rey tilted her head back to look up at her. "Ani says he's one thousand years old but I don't think that's true."
"You told her you were a thousand years old?" Ahsoka's right white marking lifted in surprise.
The look Anakin shot her made her realize her mistake.
Oh.
"Yeah, it's why I'm all blue." He gave them a strained smile.
Oh.
Rey's face suddenly became crestfallen. "So when Ahsoka gets old like you, I can't hug her anymore?"
Anakin and Ahsoka shared a wince. They should have seen that coming.
"Think of it this way," Ahsoka said carefully as she noticed Rey's middle bun became loose. "That won't happen for a while so you can hug me as much as you can until then."
The two sighed in relief when Rey beamed brightly and sat still as Ahsoka's fingers fixed her hair. Ahsoka noticed the warm look Anakin gave Rey and she bit her tongue to refrain from calling him out.
Saying goodbye would be much harder than they thought. Ahsoka wondered if she was able to drag a kicking and screaming ghost into her ship.
Times like these she really needed Obi-Wan.
Come to think of it, she didn't really know if he was still alive or not. The thought made her anxious and she slightly shifted as she stared at nothing in particular. The thought of Obi-Wan being dead didn't sit right with her.
A blue hand waved in front of her vision.
"Snips."
She ignored him. He knew she didn't like being called Snips.
"Ahsoka. Rey's asleep."
Ahsoka blinked in mortification at the way she held Rey close to her chest and cradled her head, mindful of the buns. She did not register how long she had been sitting there and she slowly looked up at Anakin.
"We need to leave right now." She picked up Rey and went into the AT-AT to place her on the makeshift bed.
Anakin grimaced as he watched her, "what?"
"Right now as in immediately." Ahsoka hissed and grabbed her lightsabers out of the sand once she tucked Rey in. "We've stayed far too long. We need to go."
"Go where exactly?" he asked as he followed after her.
"Far away from here." She wanted to disappear before Rey woke up.
Ahsoka didn't think she'd leave if Rey told her not to.
Anakin stopped and shook his head, "we can't just leave Rey. She's only seven!"
How a little girl managed to stop Anakin from leaving a planet full of sand was beyond Ahsoka.
"We aren't her parents!" Ahsoka whirled around and clenched her fist. "The more we become attached, the worse it gets. What if her parents get back and she doesn't need us anymore?"
It felt like another one of their arguments in the Clone Wars. Except she wasn't fourteen and his Padawan anymore.
"So you'd rather us leave her than her leave us?" Anakin pointed out with a small smile as he resumed his chasing. "It's okay to be afraid, Ahsoka. But Rey won't do that."
Ahsoka really wished she could force his mouth closed.
"So you stay with her." She pursed her lips and adjusted her goggles. "I'm leaving."
Good riddance.
"Have you forgotten that no matter how far you go, I will always appear at your side?" he said with mirth dancing in his eyes.
"I actually did." Ahsoka groaned and kicked a Rebel pilot helmet at her feet when she stopped walking. "The Force must really hate me."
There was no other explanation in Ahsoka's mind.
"Well I think the Force brought us to Rey. So we should take this opportunity." Anakin appeared in front of her and pointed back to the AT-AT. "If you can look her in the eyes and give her the goodbye you gave me at the Temple, we'll go."
Ahsoka inhaled sharply, "I can't believe—"
"You leaving hit me hard, Snips." Anakin admitted with a small sigh. "Don't do the same to Rey, she adores you."
The hunch of Ahsoka's shoulders was a clear sign she gave up.
"Fine. We'll stay."
The smile on Rey's face when she woke up to see Ahsoka at her side may or may not have ripped the heart out of the Togruta's chest.