'ello, peoples of the earth!
We are sadly nearing the end of our story, and I will say my official thank yous during the epilogue. For now, I want to say thank you to the reviewers of Chapter 8 - rvbmastermind, katierosefun, and Lux's Sister.
Now I would like to present Chapter 9 of I Know Places. Hope y'all enjoy!
The next morning, Kira, Cadena, and Ahsoka went to the mess for breakfast. Caleb joined them after a while (he was a late sleeper) and joined in their chatter while they ate.
Soon enough, Ahsoka's comlink went off, signaling her to report to the Council chambers immediately. "That's my cue," she sighed, standing. She looked around the table at her three companions. "I'll see you guys later." She picked up her tray and placed it on the rack on her way out.
Caleb stared after Ahsoka, bewildered. "What was that all about?" he asked.
Cadena shrugged. "Beats me."
Kira stayed quiet. The nagging feelings in the Force were really starting to bother her. She shivered. "I think I'm going to get some air," she said, excusing herself from the table.
Kira was in the corridor on her way to the turbolift when she heard Caleb running to catch up with her. "Going to the roof?" he asked.
"Yup."
"Want some company?"
"Sure."
They were quiet until they reached the turbolift. Once Kira pushed the button, Caleb spoke. "Are you okay?" he asked her.
Kira nodded. "I'm fine, yeah," she said. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, number one, I care about you cause you're my friend," Caleb said, bumping Kira with his elbow. "And number two, you just seem a little off today."
Kira offered a half smile. "No, I'm fine. I guess I'm just worried about Ahsoka."
"But Ahsoka's been cleared," Caleb reminded Kira, not without a tinge of satisfaction in his voice. "So why worry?"
"Because something feels off about Ahsoka, too." The turbolift opened, and the two students stepped out onto the roof. "I don't know," Kira continued. "Maybe I'm just being silly." She sat down on the edge, legs dangling over the side.
Caleb sat down beside her. "I don't think you're silly," he said.
"Is that a good thing?"
"Sometimes."
"Meaning?"
Caleb shrugged. "There's such a thing as being too serious."
"Am I too serious?"
"Sometimes."
"Caleb!" Kira pretended to push a grinning Caleb off the roof in exasperation. He feigned hurt and turned away for a few seconds.
Kira turned to look at the sunrise. The sky had turned yellow, and only a few clouds blocked her view of the golden spectacle. Caleb followed her gaze. "What?"
Kira turned to face her friend. "What do you mean, 'what'?"
"Either something out there's got your attention or you're thinking really hard about something. So which is it?"
The anger and sadness in the Force Kira sensed hit her like a tidal wave, and she frowned. "Did you feel that?" she asked Caleb.
"Feel what?" Caleb studied her face. "Oh, I gotcha. There's a disturbance in the Force, right? And you're trying to figure out the source?" He hit his knee with his fist. "I wish I could do that."
"Yeah, well, sensing things through the Force isn't all it's cracked up to be." Kira turned to look at the five towers of the Temple that loomed behind them. It felt like the wounded feelings were coming from inside.
It also felt as if those feelings were emanating from Ahsoka.
Kira turned back to watch the sunrise. "Where's Cadena?" she asked, hoping to get her mind off the disturbing feelings.
"Inside. She said something about helping Suki with her form."
"Ah." A new wave of emotion washed over Kira, this one full of disappointment instead of anger. She winced. "Something's wrong."
"I felt it that time, too," Caleb said. He looked worried.
Kira heard voices below and turned to look in the direction of the Temple steps. She stood up when she saw Ahsoka walking outside.
"What is she doing out here?" Caleb asked.
"I don't know."
Caleb came to stand beside Kira as Anakin ran outside after Ahsoka. Kira couldn't hear exactly what he was saying, but he sounded upset. And when Ahsoka answered whatever he'd said, she sounded upset and angry, too. The two students watched Anakin and Ahsoka discuss whatever it was they were discussing, Anakin gesturing widly at whatever it was Ahsoka was telling him. Suddenly, the two below went quiet, and Ahsoka started walking again. She headed for the stairs, Anakin staring after her.
That's when it dawned on Kira. She'd wondered at the odd question Ahsoka had asked her and Cadena the night before and why Ahsoka had seemed so out of it, and now she had her answer.
Ahsoka had been considering leaving the Order, and it seemed that she'd made her decision.
Kira shook her head without realizing she was doing it. No. Not like this. You've come too far to leave like this, Ahsoka. Without warning Caleb, she summoned the Force and leapt down from the roof onto the narrow awning that shaded the windows of the Temple.
"Kira, what are you doing?" Caleb shouted down to her, leaning over the edge of the roof.
"What does it look like?" Kira leapt to the next awning.
"Are you going to talk to Ahsoka?"
"We have a winner." She jumped down once more, then leapt the rest of the way to the ground, too far down for Caleb to shout down to her.
Kira got her bearings, looked around, and spotted Ahsoka near the end of the staircase. "Ahsoka!" she called. When Ahsoka didn't answer, Kira tried again. This time, Ahsoka looked up.
Kira used the Force to jump down to Ahsoka's side. "Ahsoka, what are you doing?" Kira asked.
Ahsoka looked almost ready to cry. "I'm leaving, Kira. Simple as that."
"But why?"
Ahsoka shook her head. "It doesn't matter, Kira. It's the right thing for me to do at this point."
Kira grabbed Ahsoka's hands. "You're so close to becoming a Knight, Ahsoka. Please stay."
"I can't."
Kira was feeling ready to cry herself. "Then where are you going to go? What are you going to do?"
Ahsoka shrugged. "I don't know yet." A tear slipped from her eye, rolled down her cheek, and splashed onto the ground as she drew Kira into an embrace. "I'm gonna miss you guys so much, Kira. Look after Caleb and Cadena for me, okay?"
Kira nodded, unable to speak for fear of bursting into tears.
The girls separated, and Ahsoka offered a watery smile Kira supposed was meant to be reassuring but didn't really serve its purpose. "Bye, Kira. I'll see you around."
With that, Ahsoka left and disappeared into the crowded Coruscant streets. Kira didn't try to follow.
As a young girl, Kira had learned early that crying didn't help bad things get better. If she cried during a whipping, it only spurred the guard on. If she woke from a nightmare, crying would only wet her sheets and leave more washing for Mama or Jada, a fellow slave, to do.
So, over time, Kira had learned not to cry. Once, she'd been too slow to deflect a blaster shot, and the droid's laser had hit her in the arm. The wound stung like mad, and the pain had only gotten worse when the clone medic stitched up the wound after the battle. Kira had grit her teeth to keep from groaning, but no tears had been shed in the process.
Ahsoka's departure stung about ten times worse than that laser wound had.
Kira stood at the bottom of the staircase for a few minutes, trying desperately to hold the tears at bay and failing miserably. She eventually sank down onto the bottom stair and held her head in her hands, taking deep, deep breaths to hold back the water gathering in the corners of her eyes. She blinked, frustrated, to clear her vision.
Footsteps came down the stairs behind Kira, and fabric rustled as the owner of the footsteps sat down beside her. Kira recognized Anakin's voice (and Force signature). "She's really gone, then?"
"Yeah. She's really gone." Kira inhaled and put her hands in her lap, looking up to see Anakin's face.
Anakin looked nothing like the reckless, teasing Jedi Knight she'd come to know. Instead of his signature cocky smirk or the satisfied grin he sported after a battle won, he wore a depressed, disappointed expression. Ahsoka's departure had sucked the happiness and spunk right out of the Hero with No Fear, leaving behind a shell of the famous warrior.
Kira looked back out into the streets. "Do you think we'll ever see her again?"
Anakin didn't answer.
Anakin and Kira stayed on the bottom stair for a while until Kira stood up, the silence becoming unbearable. She turned and climbed the staircase all the way back to the front entryway of the Temple, went inside, and headed for the turbolift.
A few minutes later, Kira walked into the Room of a Thousand Fountains. She spotted Obi-Wan sitting next to her favorite pool (her normal spot) and went to greet him.
Obi-Wan spoke when he saw Kira coming. "You saw her leave, didn't you?"
Kira nodded and sat down beside her Master. "Were my shields down again?"
"Yes."
Kira felt tears gathering in the corner of her eye. Angry and frustrated, she swiped a hand across her eyes, hoping to push the sadness back down. It would be much easier to hold up her shields afterwards.
"Perhaps it would be easier if you told me what's bothering you," Obi-Wan stated.
A while back, Kira had learned that she couldn't really hide anything from her Master. She sighed. "I'm going to miss Ahsoka," she said.
Obi-Wan nodded understandingly. "I think we all will, Kira. But there's something else, isn't there?"
Kira was almost ready to punch something when more tears gathered behind her eyes. She glanced around the room to make certain she and Obi-Wan were alone. "What happened to Ahsoka," she said quietly, taking breaths between each word, "could've happened to any Jedi in this Order. What if it had been you, Master? What would the Council have done then? What if Master Skywalker hadn't found the real traitor and Ahsoka hadn't even been alive to walk away?"
Obi-Wan placed his hand on Kira's, which lay on the bench they were seated on. "We mustn't dwell on what ifs, Kira," he told her. "Focus on what did happen. Anakin did find the traitor, and Ahsoka was cleared. We need to be grateful for that."
Kira had to speak once more. "I am, Master. But if the Force is clouded by the Dark Side, all we'll feel is corruption and suspicion. What do we have left anymore if the Order can't even trust its own members?"
What if you can't even trust me, Master?
Obi-Wan was silent for a moment. "We have the Force, even if it is clouded," he said finally. "And you and I have each other. If I put none of your other fears to rest today, Kira, remember that I am grateful to have you as my Padawan, and that I trust you with my life."
Kira couldn't help squeezing Obi-Wan's hand. He really did know her too well. "Thank you, Master," she said with utmost sincerity. She couldn't find any other words to say at the moment.
But her Master understood. He understood Kira's sadness and her fear, and he did not reprimand her for her emotions as a few other Masters might have done. Instead, he squeezed her hand back.
Somehow, that reassuring squeeze was all Kira needed at the moment to tell her that everything was going to be okay.
Yeah ... Kira was not prepared for that.
Kira: ...
Cadena: You should have let me warn her.
Me: Shut up. -_-
Kira: I hate you, you know?
Me: *nods*
Obi-Wan: Kira, hate isn't the Jedi way.
Kira: I don't care right now, Master.
Me: Well, you can actually blame Filoni for that one. *clears throat* So yeah.
Kira: I'm blaming you.
Me: But I don't even own The Clone Wars!
Cadena: YOU COULD'VE CHANGED IT, YOU IDIOT! THIS IS FANFICTION, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT LOVES CHANGING THINGS AND MAKING THEM HOW YOU WANT THEM TO BE, SO WHY NOT DO IT HERE, TOO!? HUH!?
*silence*
*crickets chirp*
Me:...Obi-Wan, can you do the review notice since you're in the best mood out of the four of us?
Cadena: *huffs*
Kira: *shifty eyes*
Obi-Wan: Certainly. Please review if you liked it, hated it, or wanted to light it up and watch it burn. Thank you in advance.
Me: Kira? Cadena? Are you guys okay?
Cadena: NO.
Kira: ...I'm going to bed. *walks out*
Me: *clears throat* Well, I think Cadena officially hates me. May the Force be with you, everyone!
Cadena: She's right! I HATE YOU, AMY!
Me: Pretty sure you're not the only one.