It was a cold day, the kind of cold which got into your bones and made you cold no matter how many layers of clothing you wore, and as Ahsoka sat there with her knees drawn up to her chest and head bowed, she could not but help think of her warm room at the Jedi Temple. It was not often she thought of it, during the war she had found that what she had become to know as 'home' was where her Master and friends where; as a result Ahsoka was not slow at making friends. But today as her Master sat down next to her she felt she needed a little more.
"You alright Snips?", Anakin asked.
She nodded.
"You sure you're alright", Anakin asked again, "you seem a little quiet".
"Yeah I'm all right", Ahsoka replied, "I'm just a little tired and worn out, thats all".
Anakin nodded in agreement. No matter how hard he tried not to let the war get to him, it was still seeping into him. He thought of it as a dam- no matter how hard the engineers tried, sometime or another there would come a time when they were off guard, or a specially strong force damaged the dam or even just the general wear and tear and then soon enough water would begin to seep in through the cracks. He tried not to let it show too much but everyone who knew him well knew that the image of the strong, energetic, fearless, happy man was nothing but a facade. The title he was given by the media, the 'Hero with No Fear", while it may be true of his own attitude to danger, when a loved one was in danger he was certainly not without fear. In fact he often thought that he was one of the most fearful there.
He looked across at her. It had been a quite a long time since she had first become his padawan, almost a year, if not more. Despite their slightly rocky start he had grown to love and care for her as one of his own. In many ways she was quite like him, perhaps thats why the Jedi Temple put them together in the first place, but whereas with him there was an inner darkness, although she was fearful at times she did manage to keep her emotions mostly in check. Physically she was thinner and taller than she had been a year ago and though he doubted whether she would grow a lot more and she had retained her prettiness. He saw more than a few boys look at her.
"Master?" Ahsoka asked, "how do you cope with this cold?".
Anakin pulled a wry smile, "what do you mean?".
Ahsoka gave him a withering look, "well since you came from a planet which possess two suns, how did you and how do manage to not get cold when the temperature is as low as this?".
Anakin smiled remembering when he had at last managed to escape that planet, only to find the coldness of space and the coldness of Corusant and nearly every subsequent planet afterwards.
"When I first left Tatooine I didn't think I would ever be warm again but my body has adjusted and so now I can cope with temperatures that aren't a constant fifty degrees".
"But when temperatures are as cold as this…", said Ahsoka.
"Well when temperatures are as cold as this…then I am just cold". They both smiled at this.
"Master?", asked Ahsoka again.
"Yes Snips"
"Please could you tell me another story".
Anakin looked at her, nodded and began a new story.
Once there was a man called Phoenix and like his name suggested he was fiery in temperent and quick anger and at times so fierce that all who beheld him shuddered. He was not a bad man however, and it was said that he was a God, or at least a demi- God, and that when he was born his mother, holding him by the ankle dipped him into the Waters of Immortality.
He was warlike and became famed throughout the land for his skill and strength in battle; he could use a longbow and such was his strength make it look easy, he could wield a blade with such speed and agility that all who stood in his way would fall, he was also wise as he knew when to stay fast and a when to proceed which made him beloved amongst the soldiers.
One day he was called away to help lead an army against a walled city state and he went for had foreseen that it was his destiny to do so. The war was long and bloody for the two armies were equally matched. Towards the end of the war his lover, dressed in his armour led an attack against the enemy. But the lover was not as skilled as Phoenix, but such was his likeness and in the way he moved, that the Prince beyond the Walls mistook him for Phoenix and killed him as he thought that by Phoenix's death the war would be brought to a quicker end.
When Phoenix's saw his lover's dead body, his temper was quickly inflamed and he was consumed by it, and riding to the walls of the city he shouted the name of the Prince beyond the Walls. The Prince came down from the walls for he now knew who he had killed and he knew that such a mistake would cost him his life for skilled as he was in fighting, he knew Phoenix would defeat him.
So the Prince beyond the Walls and Phoenix fought and the fight was long and hard, but the Prince beyond the Walls had not been dipped in the Waters of Immortality so when Phoenix stabbed him in the heart he died and so Phoenix was triumphant. Phoenix, still consumed by the rage and anger by the death of his lover at the hands of this man, dragged the Prince's body behind his horse around the city each day for the next ten days. All who beheld this sight was saddened for they had loved the Prince for he was brave and nobel and intelligent.
As the Prince beyond the Wall's brother watched this he was angered for he knew that no one should be treated like this so he promised himself that the next time Phoenix rode by dragging his brothers body he would avenge him. The next day came and when Phoenix was riding by the Prince's brother, he took his bow and fired a single arrow and such was his skill and such was Phoenix's fate, it pierced Phoenix's ankle which had not been dipped in the Waters of Immortality for that is where his mother held him.
Phoenix fell from his horse and though this wound was only in the ankle he knew that it would bring death. The Prince's brother came rushing down from the walls to see the Prince's killer and found Phoenix lying in the sand with a single tear coursing down his cheek for he knew that his end had come.
In his dying breath he said to the Prince's brother and his killer, "the prophecy has been fulfilled, I have met my destiny in this war and have been killed because of my anger and the one who held most dear". And so Phoenix died and the Prince's brother hearing this wept for he knew that this man was human and susceptible to failure and behind the hardened warlike exterior was a good man.
The Prince's brother untied the Prince from the horse and cremated him the next day in front of the city walls so his own people and his enemies could all behold this and on that day there was no fighting and on the subsequent days which followed there was no fighting for both camps were in mourning for the dead. In this time Phoenix's people had forgotten about him, for while they admired his skill, they knew that he was nothing to them dead, and now the only person that had loved him was dead, and so outside the city walls his body would have rotted till there was nothing left until all traces of Phoenix had died, if the Prince's brother had not rescued him and quietly burnt him like he did with the Prince.
Anakin and Ahsoka sat in silence for a while after the story had finished.
"Master", Ahsoka said at last, "why do you only tell sad stories?"
Anakin looked at her and smiled saying, "I was only really told sad stories so its only the ones I know and mainly the stories of Tatooine ".
Ahsoka nodded and they both sat in silence for a while.
"Master", began Ahsoka again, "why did they desert Phoenix even after all he had done for them".
"I don't know Snips, sometimes just because you may follow them into war doesn't mean you will go to their funeral and sometimes just because that person may perceived to be liked or have lots of friends doesn't mean they do".
"I hope that doesn't happen to me".
Anakin laughed, "I'm sure it won't".
They once again fell into silence.
"Master", Ahsoka began again, "what was the name of the Prince's brother?".
Anakin smiled and looked at her, "Luke", he said. "It means "One who Forgives".
Metaphorical brownie points who can guess which story it is based on. It shouldn't be very hard