Hello there!
First of all: don't get confused, the secrets of Ahsoka's power, along with Hellrider's past will be revealed, but only next time. Honestly I found my character portroyal a bit shallow so far, so I decided to try and built them up a little better-and at the same time bring up to speed the Anisoka line. This is chapter is also to lighten the story up a bit, before we enter the realm of nightmares that approches on lightspeed...Muhahaha! ;P
Just to clearify the SW calendar for not hardcore fans: in the Galaxy a standard week is composed of five days, instead of seven. Just to avoid turmoil around the time that passed since the last chapter.
I hope you'll like it.
PLEASE GIVE ME CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUES!
„No, this isn't it either. Even my old top wasn't this provocative. Plus, I doupt, I could stand wearing something so closed." Ahsoka murmured, and put the very form-fitting, black, leather shirt back between the others. They were in a store, in the mart nearest to the Temple. The dress Ahsoka just dismissed was about the hundredth one. Barriss and Ala watched her with confusion.
The Council put the freshly knighted Mirilian in charge of Ahsoka, until she recovered from her injuries, and she was also ordered to keep an eye on Ala. The latter wasn't much of a problem, however Barriss wasn't at all sure about, whether Ahsoka still needed to be under „medical observation" or not.
„It's just amazing…A week ago, she broke three ribs, got her intestines ruptured, and lost critical amounts of blood…and here she's, like nothing have happened…When I first saw how badly her hands had been burned, I was almost sure, she won't be able to hold a lightsaber hilt with them ever again…yet not even a tiny scar remained…She completely recovered from near fatal wounds in three days, and she already demanded to be releashed from the hospital yesterday. How is this even possible?" however she kept her worries for herself for now.
„Ohm, Ahsoka, what's this sudden enquiry in fashion?" she asked instead.
„What?" Ahsoka looked back over her shoulder. „Fashion?"
„Do you want to catch someone's attention, Ahsoka?" Ala added teasingly. She was satissfied and ascertained by the freaked-out look on her kin's face. The next moment Ahsoka, really heavily, and with suspicious vehemency replied:
„What are you talking about? If you didn't notice my old clothes has been totally ruined. Besides," she blushed a bit, fighting a nervous smile, and turned her voice down „that top already started to be too tight anyways."
„Uhm-am, Okay." was all Barriss could say to this. There was a moment of uneasy silence. Then they laughed nervously.
„Why does talking about things like this, feels so awkward for you?" Ala asked, giggling at the discomfort of the other two. „I overheard those other girls just a minute ago. They weren't timid about talking about their breastsize at all- not to mention a whole bunch of juicy stuff!"
„You eavesdropped?" Barriss asked indignantly.
„Hey, it's not my fault, that I have a better than ordinary hearing! So why won't you talk about things like your body?"
„I don't know. Maybe, it comes with the monastic nature of the Order. We must not form attachments, instead we have to strengthen our connection to the Force, so it's better not to talk about bodily…sexual and emotional themes…anything that might drift us towards getting involved with someone." then she coughed, probably to hide her nerve, and dropped the theme:
„Back to you, Ahsoka. I understand that you need new dresses, but I don't get it, why would you want to buy new clothes in such an expensive store, when it would be much cheaper and easier to order a robe like that borrowed one you're wearing now, at the Temple?"
„Are you kidding me?" Ahsoka laughed „I can't even imagine how is Master Ti able to wear one of these all the time. I couldn't stand the uniform, even while I was an Intiate. The more closed a dress is, the more I feel like it's strangling me. Besides, altough there's no way I'd admit it to them, I certainly don't have a chance in catching his eyes in these robes...Don't even think about this! If that's the reason you came here to buy clothes, then head back to the Temple right now!"
„Really? That's interesting." Barris was surprised „That's a strange obsession."
„Huh? What is my obsession?" Ahsoka asked scaredly. Ala was squeaking from the strangled snickerring:
„Hellooo? We were just talking about why wouldn't you wear a Jedi Robe!"
„Oh yeah! Well maybe it is just an obsession, but…"
„Actually," Ala interrupted with a serious tone this time „it's quite common between Togruta. I know I'd hate to wear a dress like yours Barriss… No offence,of course!" she added quickly when she realised how ambiguous her statement was. „It's really nice, but you see, we have a strong connection to the land, and to the nature. The more dead substance divide us from them, the more isolated and locked up we feel. You can call it a strange, endemic autophobia mixed with claustrophobia. But I didn't think, that you too suffer from it, Ahsoka."
„Huh? Why is that?" Ala pointed at her feet.
„'Cause you're wearing boots, something most Togruta hate even more than, having too much clothing. After all we connect with the land, through out feet." Ahsoka gave a chuckle.
„Believe me, I don't really like wearing shoes either. But we're dozens, if not hundreds of miles above the surface, and Coruscant, under the Galactic City, is a near dead planet. It doesn't really matter if I wear something on my feet here, or not. On the other hand, as a Padawan I travel much around the Galaxy, and it would be impractical not to wear boots, on a Star Cruiser, or if we have to move across mountain terrain and so on. I guess I just got used to it." she said, while continued sorting between the thousands of clothes. A few minutes later:
„Ahha, now that's what I'm talking about!"
Master Yoda didn't open his eyes immediately, when with a silent humming noise the door of the Meditation Chamber slid open. He knew who entered the room.
„A lot of tension, I feel in you, Skywalker." the ancient Grand Master slowly looked up to the face of the young Knight. Anakin sat down to a hassock, facing Yoda. Altough the old Master had seen him upset quite some times, the look in his eyes, surprised him greatly. The face he showed, reflected determination and infinite energeticness, but someone as experienced as Yoda could easily see straight through it. Behind the mask, Skywalker was exhausted, unsure and very close to crackup. „With your Padawan, have you spoken?" Yoda asked. It's been five days since that incident aboard the Negotiator, and Ahsoka shocked everyone with fully recovering from her injuries in the three days while they were trasported back to Corruscant on an Acclamator. Master Kenobi had to use his prestige as a Council member, to order her to rest for the previous day at least.
„No. She's troubled enough already. She tries to hide it, but I can see it on her. I've spoken with Master Plo, and we agreed on that, it would be better if he told Ahsoka the whole story…after she calmed down a bit. I'm not here because of her. Master, I need your advice."
„Advice? Hmm…" Yoda closed his eyes, and rubbed his chin. „Rare it is, for you, to seek council."
„I know, Master, but apparently I can't solve this problem on my own. Lately, I have visions. That's why I need your help, Master Yoda. You know the most about premonitions."
„Listening I am." Anakin scratched the back of his head and grimaced, before continueing:
„Some of them are like fairy tales, while most are real nightmares. But the worst is that they're all contradicting eachother."
„Hmm, about the future, or the past, these visions are?"
„That's exactly the most confusing part. Some of them shows me people who are already dead, alive in my future. Others show these people die, later and differently, than they did."
„Mean a lot to you, those people did?" Anakin hesitated, then nodded.
„Yes."
„Hrmmmm…Always in motion, the future is. Many possible paths there are. Depend on our choises and actions, which will be realised, does. The visions you have, about these possibilities, they are."
„But there's no way they could become true, with their subjects already dead! Then why, why are they torturing me, with already enclosed alternatives?"
„Because refuse to accept the unchangeable, you do. Disappear these visions will not, until accept the involved people's deaths you can not. This is why, get involved with others, a Jedi must not. Cloud your judgement, attachments do. Learn to let go off them, you have to."
„Ahhh, now this is definiately better." Ahsoka said after she put on her new clothes. She couldn't wait to get rid of the heavy robes, she borrowed from the Temple's wardrobe. From the store she rushed back to the Temple immediately, not waiting for Ala and Barriss. Once she got back to her quarters -she didn't want to hear about returning to the hospital annexxe- her first thing to do was to shake them off, and try the new outfit. She watched herself in the small bathroom mirror, and she had to admit she liked what she saw. „I'm looking nice in this. In my old clothes, I started to look like a call-girl. It's a bit strange tho'. Since my top was tight and soft enough, I didn't wear a bra in a long time. Not like I needed it, until recently…Come to think of it, this is the first time I wear a real bra!... I wonder if he'll like this new dress...Ohm...?WHAT THE HELL IS WITH ME? Why am I suddenly so interested in my looks? And particularly why do I even care if he likes it? Just forget it, OK? Don't even think about Master Skywalker like that!…Skyguy…Anakin… Skywalker…How about… Ahsoka Tano-Skywalker?" as soon as she said the three words out loudly, she realised what she had been fantasizing about and sweatdropped. Then she knocked herself on the head, just at the base of her montrals three times in quick-motion. The hits caused unpleasant resonances in her hollow horns, from which she yelped and grabbed them at their outersides carefully. It made the trick however, as she was finally able to pull herself together a little bit. Once the echos elapsed, she leant on to the basin with her streched arms and looked into the eyes of her reflection in the mirror:
„Ok, I must admit, I've a crush on him, but that isn't that bad, right? I mean, I'm surely not the only Padawan learner who went through this… I'll just have to endure it, until I get over it." She slapped some cold water in her face, wiped the remaining drops down, and left her quarters.
„Obi-wan!" Anakin called out to his friend, who was –as usual- observing the corruscanti twilight from a corridor window. The Jedi turned back and welcomed the younger with a troubled grin.
„Anakin. Have you spoken with your Padawan?"
„You too?" Anakin garled back annoyedly. Obi-wan raised his eyebrow questiongly:
„Well, no, I haven't. She is, after all, your student." Anakin moaned upon hearing this. Obi-Wan's sense of humor –or rather the lack of it- never ceased to tire him.
„That's not what I meant, as you know it very well... Ah forget it."
„So have you speak with her?"
„No, I haven't. We agreed with Master Plo on that he should be the one to tell her. Besides, I think something's troubling her. No, not the Hellrider-case. Since she's been attacked, she's avoiding eye-contact with me. She's acting weird. It feels like she's closing herself in front of me."
„Did you say something, that could've hurt her?"
„No."
„Then maybe she's just a bit confused. Knowing what she's really capable of, I could understand that. She did something, that probably only Mace and Yoda would be able repeat. And it came out of nowhere."
„Yeah, I guess." Obi-wan gave him a worried look:
„You are not looking well. Still the visions?" Anakin reluctantly nodded.
„Master, may I ask you something personal?" he asked suddenly
„Off course."
„How did you get over Qui-Gon's death? How could you… step forward?" Obi-wan looked surprised.
„Why are you ask…Ah, I think I understand. Senator Amidala's death must be still haunting him." Obi-wan never saw his ex-apprentice this… sad, but determined at the same time. He put his right on Anakin's left shoulder: „I found a goal." and gently squeezed it. Anakin closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
„Thank you, Master." for a few minutes nothing has happened. Then they heard steps closing in.
Anakin turned back, and he felt like he was struck by lightning. A beautiful Togruta woman was coming towards them. His shock was mixed with utter confusion, when she got a few steps closer, and he recognised her, as Ahsoka. She was wearing a brown mini-skirt, a grey trouser similar to her old one, brown, half-fingerless leather gloves, and a solid, but at the same time really sexy, form-fitting brown shirt, with a magnetic cleavage, which not just gave a glimpse of her developing chest, but somehow also high-lighted what Anakin didn't notice yet: the growth of her lekku and montrals, along with that, her face lost most of it's child-like roundness, and became much more feminine. Anakin couldn't pull himself together. Somehow he couldn't believe that, this smoking hot woman, was indeed his young Padawan. It was confusing even just thinking about her like that.
„Hello, Ahsoka!" Obi-wan greeted her, but she didn't have the chance to reply.
„You are wonderful."
Anakin heard his own voice, he felt his mouth moving, but didn't realise that he actually said the words out loudly. Not until he noticed Ahsoka's and Obi-Wan's expressions. The latter was just switching at that moment from dumpfounded to angered. The former had a mixture of shock, fright, confusion and…joy? written on it. But before Anakin could say another word, she spun around and run away where she came from.
„What the hell were you thinking!" Obi-Wan tried his best not to yell at him. Anakin was just as stunned as him.
„I-I don't know. It just slip out of my mouth.
"No wonder she feels uncomfortable around you, if you make a move on her!" the accusation snapped Anakin out of his bewilderment.
Ahsoka was running faster than ever. Back to her quarters. Her heart was racing with the clop of her sweeping steps, and it beat circles around them four times, when she finally fall into her quarters. She leant to the closed door by her back. She eould have screamed, if she weren't gasping so heavily. Her knees were trembling.
She didn't know how long she's been standing there. Was it just a few minutes, or an enternity? All she knew sometime some knocked at the other side of the door.
„Ahsoka, it's me." it's His voice! „Please let me in!" she stepped aside, and deactivated the lock. As soon as the door slid open Anakin stormed in. He looked at her, and whispered:
„I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." „What is he talking about?"
„I-I-I can't figure out what got into me, to…" „Is he trying to apology?"
„I think it' just that I never realised it yet, that you're not just a Padawan, but also a woman, and it struck me…" „Did he just say I'm a woman?" Ahsoka had no idea where she found the courage…She didn't even know when it happened. And frankly, she couldn't care any less about it. All she knew, when she finally came to her sences, was that, her lips were pressed tightly against his.
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