After Bane left on the first dark night, Ahsoka couldn't say she was sure of anything, including the slow passing of time. Neither girl knew of the day, or if three days or a week had passed. They each faded in and out of fitful sleeps, fitful as the sun's absence distorted their view of time.
Nobody came for them; for all Ahsoka knew, she was abandoned, left to die here with Cala all alone as the Force plummeted into darkness. Had Bane lied to her? It wouldn't be exactly surprising, Ahsoka thought dryly. Her eyes wandered over to Cala's small sleeping form. There was so little to do...the girl had spent much time asleep.
In the remote area, only Cala was hoping to be saved - or at least, she was the only one to voice it.
Ahsoka knew now that Anakin felt her presence, and he was terribly angry...he searched for her, that Ahsoka knew, or rather, felt. But he was being pushed over the edge. The Togruta teen now knew it was only a matter of time before the Voice's threats finally came true. Why? She screamed into the Force, are you only bringing me pain?
And there wasn't ever an answer, only a deep hollow sadness that filled her, making her almost sleepy. Like she would just give up, lay down and die. Ahsoka would never do that, though. She was a fighter. But...
If she were to die, she would die for someone else, like Cala. She would not wallow in self-pity - that wasn't her. But now she couldn't die, she wouldn't. Ahsoka blue eyes glowed as she looked at the sleeping child in front her. Cala needed her now, alive. She need protection. Maybe Ahsoka wasn't a Knight, and Cala wasn't a Padawan, but they had something. A bond that had formed before they had even met.
The will of the Force, Ahsoka mused as her eyes went to a small window, more like a tiny hole than anything, in the wall. It was definitely not wide enough for even her slim body to wiggle through. Perhaps Cala, but how would the small girl ever survive the streets and alcohol and beings that made Lower Coruscant so dangerous?
Reaching through the bars even though she could not separate her hands, Ahsoka's fingers brushed the girl's tiny lekku slowly, softly. Cala squirmed and made a small snuffling nose as she pressed her cheek against the back of Ahsoka's smooth fingers.
Ahsoka pulled her hand away and studied it contemptuously, blue eyes passing over the calloused hand. It was rough from the three years she had spent in battle, gripping her lightsaber, her only way of remaining alive in the endless rows of droids. And when she flipped it over, she found a brownish-orange hue, but the skin was smooth.
She wished she could be in a battle now, racing her Master up a wall he hadn't appeared to see on the Holomaps, not on the brink of destruction.
Footsteps made her head jerk upwards and she sought out the one who was coming. Lower Coruscant was always dark, day and night; she, even with her low light vision could hardly make out who was coming. Yet she felt the raging anger in him.
Blinking hard as she choked on her own frustration, she glared down at the Force-resistant cuffs that encased her wrists. Master... Hesitating, the girl gave her captor the same look she had given Cad Bane in the cargo hold so long ago. Where had she gone wrong. Master, why can't I sense you? They're blocking me. That kriffing Sith Lord is doing it, I bet. I'm going to find him. Wait for me, Master.
Glaring hard upwards, she met the gleaming red eyes of Cad Bane. Her hands locked in front of her gripped the bars as he grabbed her shoulder and attempted to haul her up. "Come. On." He grunted as the strong Togruta's grip tightened.
"Never." She retorted icily, "I won't listen to you."
His floppy hat fell in front of his eyes as his grip tightened. Pain traveled down her arm, and her grip slipped. Forced to stand, Ahsoka's eyes flitted back to the hole in the wall, her only way she saw fit to escape.
Cala would be frightened when she awoke and Ahsoka wasn't there, she thought as Bane dragged her out of the room. She squirmed and writhed, outraged, but her eyes caught sight of a blaster pointed at her forehead. She had thought they were saving her to die in her Master's hands, but perhaps the Sith had ordered otherwise.
Not fear, but some inevitable dread, clenched her stomach as her eyes locked on the blasters holder. One of the bounty hunters, quite obviously, but not one she was familiar with."Barve." Ahsoka cursed at both of her captors as she stopped struggling. She collapsed onto the grimy floor. Her eyes remained on the blaster as she awaited a chance to escape.
Cala still needed her. Maybe Anakin did.
Can you feel me? Do you know I'm alive? The wonderings were not getting her far, only distracted.
Just as Ahsoka thought the woman was going to pull the trigger, the blaster twirled in a showy effect from her hand to her belt. It was, much as Ahsoka hated to admit, admirable.
But she could do many admiring things with her lightsaber, and certainly that was far more effective than a blaster, except that the long range battles where a bit harder. Another woman glided through the room, and her pale green eyes penetrated Ahsoka in a way that suggested that somehow was sorry.
The woman who had held the blaster to her forehead knelt beside the Padawan and Ahsoka felt her lips pull up in a snarl, "What do you want?" Her fingers grasped at her cuffs, and she groaned as they dug into her skin. A thin trickle of blood ran off her arm and onto the already-disgusting floor.
The woman's red-colored brow rose as as she gazed at the enraged Padawan's bleeding wrist. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to struggle?" She asked in a way that suggested she was speaking to a Youngling of Cala's age.
That used to annoy Ahsoka terribly...it drove her insane, made her irritable and actually quite like a Youngling. It no longer bothered her, however, as she grew to the point of which it put an steely determination in her heart to prove everybody wrong. As the woman had intended to provoke Ahsoka, it did nothing of the sort. Rather, the girl found fault within her, "And did nobody teach you that most don't obey? That people have to try?"
The woman bit her lip as she regarded her prisoner, "Do you know why you're in this room?" She asked, gesturing to the cramped quarters with bravado. Ahsoka's eyes traveled around the dimly lit, messy makeshift room. There were blankets tossed every which-way, for what purposes Ahsoka didn't know of, drawers hanging out, broken comlinks and machinery scattered on the floor.
"You never did inform me of that either." Ahsoka replied, feigning a teasingly polite tone. The woman looked more and more irritated by the passing moment. As if to calm herself, she stood and paced, her feet crunching the discarded metal.
Ahsoka felt the dread - was it a warning? - clench her stomach again and she inhaled, letting air fill her lungs. Relieved, she blew out slowly. But her relief was short-lived as the woman indicated to Yashaka.
Yashaka stiffened, her pale green eyes on Ahsoka. The Force probed as she nodded, but Ahsoka knew her attempts to look tough and without a care were only that - attempts. And by the the woman's look, she understood, also. She walked over, her jaw tight, and grabbed Yashaka's shoulder much like Ahsoka's had been held. "Get the prisoner. Get over your father - he'd just a sentimental old fool, afraid of you."
Ahsoka bit down the urge to correct them - Jenx was kind and wise, his feelings in control. It was the Jedi whose fear had gotten in the way, thus producing Yashaka to be in such turmoil as she had, most probably, learned of her past. Would Ahsoka not be captured if the woman had no anxiety?
Yashaka nodded, and in a quiet voice, murmured, "Understood." Her booted feet tipped forehead as she walked back to the barred cages - they were so mangled they couldn't be cells - where Cala still slept.
It was then that the Force began to swell in warning, if it be called that, at Ahsoka. But how could she ever tell if the Force was truly being honest with her? There was grief in her heart from the visions and the voice - the Force had allowed that to her.
The Sith control the Force...there is nothing it can do. But you are in favor of the Force. Listen. Was it the Force - or the Force's voice - or someone else? It seemed like someone else to her. After all, it had referred to the Force, not spoken in the pretense of 'I' or 'me'.
Time paused. No one moved in the moment, and Ahsoka felt her eyelids flutter shut. When they opened only a nanosecond later, and elder man stood in front of her.
Nobody was there - she was no longer in the grimy prisoner's building. Her blue eyes drifted around as she took in where she stood. Tatooine? Yes, that was it. Sand stretched out in all directions, desert somehow not hot, not cold. And there was a single man, a man in long Jedi robes and longish hair tied back. When he spoke, Ahsoka recognized his gentle, deep voice. The voice who had been telling her of the Force.
"Who are you? How did we get here?" Ahsoka demanded. She felt no fear, but her mind told her this couldn't be right...was this some kind of person much like the Father, the Son, and the Daughter?
The man looked at her, his old eyes wise and gentle and his sorrow welled. He understood, somehow. He knew the origins of Ahsoka's pain, and he seemed to understand that it could not be eased by mere words and petty apologies. "I am Qui-Gon Jinn." He answered, "We're in a part of your mind, so we got here by you're own faults."
Ahsoka felt herself breathe heavily as her memories flooded her mind, "Are you real? Obi-Wan's master...and you found Anakin. Tell me, do you still believe he's the Chosen One? They're taking him...the Force leaving all who's light."
Qui-Gon's hands came up as he neared the Padawan, still sitting on the ground...but the sand wasn't actaully touching her skin. His large hands cupped her shoulders, "Yes, I'm real...I believe he's the Chosen One. I don't understand much, young one, but I do sympathize with you and my former Padawan."
"Are you the one who's been talking to me?" Ahsoka had so many questions, she had no idea of how they might all be answered.
Qui-Gon's eyes twinkled, "Yes...you were so worried about everything else I didn't know if you'd hear at first. But you did. And the Force will never leave you...you've been favored since the day you were granted life even as you died." Suddenly, Qui-Gon's breath caught, "I must go. Fight for that girl - she will not easy to save if you don't react right. "
Time began to move again, and Ahsoka's eyes opened, as they had been closed before. The woman was studying her critically, eyes narrowed almost in concern. So time had gone on for her, not pausing at all. "Wake up." She hissed in a rough whisper, "We have a surprise for you."
Ahsoka's bleary eyes blinked as she slowly got her bearings. Ah, yes. The grimy room filled with broken items...some indistinguishable. Ahsoka's eyes roamed the room, and her eyes rested on one on the blankets. There was something that had made her pause there earlier, but now she couldn't recall. She narrowed her eyes and continued to focus.
Her shoto rested beneath it, as she could see just the end. Ahsoka was aware of the woman talking, but she didn't pay any mind until Cala was dragged in. The girl was screaming, her purple eyes wide with fear. When she saw Ahsoka, her high-pitched cries ceased...until the Cad Bane pointed a blaster at her chest.
Ahsoka honestly believed that in that moment both stopped breathing, their hearts stopped. But the Force kicked in just as Ahsoka needed it to, and her shoto, faster than it ever had, came to her hand and quickly snapped one of her bindings. While the chains still dangled on her left wrist, Ahsoka had the leeway to defend the younger girl...by putting a hole through Bane's chest.
Everything was still as the man's body collapsed in a lifeless heap. Ahsoka's breathing was loud and ragged; she was sure everyone heard it. Cala's eyes didn't avert from Bane's limp body; nor did Ahsoka's.
How did she do that? She could have saved Cala in a more Jedi-like manner, preventing death rather than causing it. Guilt flooded through her body, but the other woman put an end to that. Her blaster was out in a heartbeat, and with only a shoto for defense, Ahsoka was on her toes for awhile.
In the end, it was not hard to stop her. A nick in the elbow area did nicely - the woman sunk to her knees in defeat. Ahsoka looked around for Yashaka, and while she didn't find her, she found Cala's training 'saber, and her real one.
"Let's go." She murmured to Cala, starting for the door. But before she could open it, she felt something. All the pain she could only imagine crashing upon her.