I know I was supposed to update yesterday. I just had this awful History test I had to study for. Sorry. Anyway, this chapter is a bit different so just be aware of that. We're traveling deep through Ahsoka's memories. Again, I'll change some of the things stated in TCW. Disclaimer- I don't own Star Wars the Clone Wars or any of it's characters.
Chapter 13
The little girl knew her mother's time was coming to an end. "Mommy, I don't want you to leave me."
"I don't want to leave you either Ahsoka."
Anakin POV
The little girl in the memory was Ahsoka. It made sense now that Anakin had realized it. Before he'd just thrown it off as something Ahsoka had once seen. Only now did he realize that both of the females were Togruta. It really was Ahsoka.
He didn't know what to think at first, but then he turned his attention back to the projector and watched as the memory continued.
(Tristakine) Ahsoka POV
Little Ahsoka's face dropped. "Then don't leave me. You can just stay and we can go plant the garden tomorrow like you said we would."
The woman on the bed gave a small smile towards her daughter. It seemed to be all she could manage in her weak condition. And she fell more and more out of reality as she spoke her last words. "Oh a garden. Gardens are so beautiful Ahsoka. You'll have to plant one for me someday." She stared her daughter in the eyes. "My little butterfly, I love you so much."
Ahsoka's eyes were blurred with tears as she murmured back. "I love you too."
She never knew if her mother actually heard her say that, or if she had spoken too late.
Little Ahsoka started to sob and she threw herself onto her mother, begging for her warm arms to wrap around her. But the woman didn't move. She was still. Ahsoka only cried harder when she got no response. She cried into her mother's side until she was pulled off by a pair of strong hands.
Ahsoka was pushed off to the side near the door. She had a perfect view of her father staring in shock at the now deceased love of his life. He'd only left Ahsoka and her alone for a minute to talk. How did he lose her so quickly?
Tears started to drip down the grown man's face as he fell on his knees beside the bed. He buried his head in the bed sheets and cried. Ahsoka followed his lead and choking out sobs. She was only stopped when a small voice from the doorway spoke up.
"Mommy?"
Ahsoka looked over to see a little boy standing in the entrance to the room. Her tears stopped immediately. She wiped her face clean of any evidence when her eyes processed the look on her little brother's face.
Her father didn't even break away from her mother's body when the boy's voice entered the room. He was still crying into the fabric of the bed. Ahsoka didn't know what to do. Her father was too busy mourning for himself to comfort the children. So Ahsoka stepped up for the moment.
"Oh it's okay Chancey." She went up to her brother to see that his eyes were starting to fill with tears. "Let's just go over to Ms. Mauline's house for a while."
Chance nodded up to his big sister and took her hand as she led the two of them next door to their dear neighbor.
Anakin POV
"What the hell was that?" Anakin stood up out of his chair when the projector went black and the memory stopped. The chair nearly toppled over due to the force at which he stood up.
Mace Windu stood up as well to stretch his legs. "We mentioned there would be complications Skywalker."
Anakin stared the Jedi Master in the eye. "Yes, I am aware of that. But I was referring to what happened, not how it came to appear on the projector."
"It was a memory," Plo Koon mumbled from his seat.
"How?" Anakin turned to Master Plo. "Younglings come to the temple at age 3 or 4, but Ahsoka couldn't have been younger than 8 when that happened."
"She was 9." Plo Koon looked like he was going to say more but Master Yoda stopped him.
"Easier for Skywalker to see than hear, it now is. Understand then, he will."
Mace Windu nodded. "I agree with Master Yoda. You'll just have to continue watching Skywalker."
And watch they did when the projector turned back on.
(Tristakine) Ahsoka POV
Ahsoka looked older than she did in the last memory, but only by a year or so. Anakin guessed she was around ten years old in this current memory.
She was fixing a broken camera in what looked to be a hardware store. She looked young, but Anakin knew that people on Shili are considered adults at a young age compared to other planets. If he remembered correctly, boys get married at just 14 and girls at 12. So if Ahsoka was around 10, she wasn't that far from what the planet considered adulthood.
His Padawan turned the screwdriver one last time in the side of the camera and it turned on. The camera started moving from side to side in its usual motion. Ahsoka stepped down from the ladder proud of her work.
A man came into view. "Thank you again Ahsoka, I just got the darned thing and it decided to break on the second day. I was afraid I might have to scrap it." He folded up the ladder and put it back in a nearby closet. When he was done he returned back to Ahsoka who was waiting patiently by the now functional camera.
"It's no problem Mr. Retner. I'm happy to do it."
"Still, thank you." He held out his hand to offer Ahsoka the few credits that were in it.
Ahsoka shook her head and refused to take the credits. "No, I can't."
"Ahsoka please take it. It wouldn't be right not to pay you for your work." The man insisted.
"Think of it as a favor Mr. Retner." Ahsoka denied again.
"Please. You need it more than I do," he begged.
The young girl sighed. She did need the money. But she didn't want to take it. This man was a close friend of hers ever since her mother passed away. She already owed him enough as is. And then her mind thought of Chance and how she had no idea where dinner would come from that night.
She took the money, waved goodbye, and walked out of the store with a grim look on her face. A silent promise was made to herself that she would pay him back someday. It would be someday when she wasn't struggling for cash.
Ahsoka walked into her house just before the sun went down. She knew everyone else would be home soon so she went into the kitchen and started making dinner.
Her family's house was quaint. There were three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. It wasn't small, just quaint.
She had stopped by the market on the way home and got some fresh fruits. Dinner had to be made quickly so she just made a simple fruit salad.
After her mother died, Ahsoka had to take on most of the responsibilities in the house. She cooked the food, fed the animals on the ranch, cleaned the house, washed the clothes, and took care of Chance. Not to mention that she also earned all the money. It was a lot for the young girl at first but after a year it became normal routine.
By the time Chance walked in the door Ahsoka had dinner set out and ready.
"What's for dinner?" The seven year old called as soon as the front door closed behind him.
Ahsoka walked out of the kitchen and met him in the living room. "Well hello to you too."
"Sorry. Hi Ahsoka, how are you? Good, that's good. Now what's for dinner?"
His big sister smiled. "Fruit salad, and if that was you imitating me, I would have added an 'I love you' in there as well."
"I love you too." Chance blushed. "Now dinner?"
She nudged his back with her elbow in a playful way. "Alright, go get yourself a plate."
"Don't make fun of me! I'm starving! " He whined as he ran into the kitchen.
Ahsoka laughed to herself and followed her brother into the kitchen. "Do you think Dad will be home tonight?"
That was unexpected of Chance. It was still a good question though. Was their dad coming home?
"I don't know Chancey. We might as well eat though. It's no good letting food go to waste."
So the two of them sat there for a while, and it was amazing. Chance talked about his day in school, while Ahsoka talked about seeing Mr. Retner. They laughed and smiled at each other telling their funny story of the day and all was well for the short period of time. Ahsoka almost forgot about their dad.
About an hour later he walked through the door.
Kiytam Tano smelled of alcohol like he always did. His eyes were tired, but his stern look made her think he was wide awake. He looked god awful-but that was pretty much how he normally was.
"What's for dinner?" He plopped himself down in one of the seats and nearly fell over doing so. He was about as far from sober as a person could get.
Ahsoka didn't want to let her father ruin the night though. She'd just had an amazing time with Chance and he wasn't going to undo all of that happiness. She put on a smile answered him. "I made fruit salad. Here let me get you a plate."
She turned to go to the cupboard when she was pulled back in the direction she came from. Ahsoka almost fell but regained her balance at the last minute.
"I must have heard you wrong Ahsoka. I thought you said Fruit Salad." Kiytam growled.
"I did." She shouldn't have said that.
Her father scoffed and stared her in the eyes. "Why the hell would you do that? We're a carnivorous race. Togruta don't eat Fruit Salad."
Ahsoka should've just made him something else. She should've done anything but argue with him. Except her stubbornness got the better of her, and she disputed with her father. This was a topic that especially got her going. "Togruta haven't been just carnivores since nomadic times. We grow just like any species and we've grown out of being carnivorous. If you want to eat meat, you can go out and buy it with the money that we don't have. Why don't we again? Oh that's right, you've gambled it away."
Anakin POV
Anakin didn't see it coming when the screen changed from the scene it was playing to a different one. The memory pixelated to form a clear picture. Anakin expected another scene from his Padawan's childhood, or maybe another memory of her torture. What he didn't expect, was when he saw his own face appear.
(Tristakine) Ahsoka POV
Anakin smiled as he threw the space food into the microwave. He and Ahsoka were on a mission with only them and a handful of other clones. On missions like those, everyone just ate whenever they were hungry.
"Hmmm… I'll take the pasta Snips. You can have the chicken. You're a carnivore anyway it shouldn't make that much of a difference."
Ahsoka gave her master a stern look back. She wanted to tell him not to judge a book by its cover. She wanted to tell him that Togruta's advance just like normal people and they were no more carnivores than regular Coruscantians were. That would lead him to ask how she knew this. As far as he knew, she grew up on Coruscant. That would lead to her telling him that she was an exception to the Jedi Order. She couldn't do that.
She simply said. "That's stereotypical."
Anakin POV
The scene began to change back to what it was before.
(Tristakine) Ahsoka POV
Kiytam slammed his fists on the table so loud that the noise echoed throughout the room. He stood up abruptly and stalked over to his daughter.
"Go to your room Chance," Ahsoka ordered.
"But-"
"Go!"
He rushed off and the father and daughter were left alone in the kitchen. In all honesty, it was a stare off. The two of them challenged each other with only their eyes.
Ahsoka was done with him. He came home drunk and unable to stand upright more times than she could count. She was the one who supported the family. She dropped out of school to support them. And all he did was go out drinking and gambling their saved up money away (Ahsoka had a separate account for the money that actually supported them, and there wasn't a lot in it).
Worst of all, she remembered her father before he was like this. She remembered when he was an honorable man in the family. That was all before her mother died. He fell apart after that, and Ahsoka had to step up.
"You cannot speak to me like that. I will be respected!"
"You don't deserve respect!"
The sentence didn't even settle before his hand connected with her cheek.
He slapped her twice more before he stormed out the door and off to some bar.
Different?Anyway, sorry if you don't like it. I've already made the next 15 chapters so it's too late to change it if anyone has issues. Still, tell me what you liked or what you didn't like. Tell me what you think of my characters. And-oh I just told you guys that I've already made the next 15 chapters. I guess that means I won't be killing off Ahsoka anytime soon, so you needn't worry about that (did I just say needn't) (I did, wow that's strange) I swear these things are more me talking to myself than anything. Well I'll update soon (I don't know if it'll be in 2 or 3 days). Project Runway is on now. -Saraphine
