He's Not Our Enemy

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all credit goes to George Lucas and Lucasarts.

Summary: After vanishing from the Jedi temple ten years ago, Anakin Skywalker is found. The Jedi imprison him until he decides to tell them what happened to him. After getting lost after fleeing from some of her abusive class mates, Ahsoka stumbles into Anakin's room and discovers a side to the force she never knew.

Fourth Lesson, Day Nine, Ahsoka Tano

After finishing my breakfast I take the twins advise and take the first corridor to avoid being spotted by any Jedi masters who want me to fix the whole of the temples circuitry. It takes me a few minutes to reach the vent cover, climb inside and start on my way down the vent to Anakin's room. In an hour I reach the next vent cover and the corridor to Anakin's room. Quickly, searching for answers, I walk down the corridor and knock on the door. I need to know what is happening more than I need to know how to survive in the upcoming competition.

The door opens and Anakin smiles in greeting as usual. His room is not damp or tainted by the water from the valve bursting and I know that it is because his room does not have any vent covers and he is a force wielder. "You're early," He comments and I remember that I forgot to check the time before I left. "Never mind." Anakin regards me silently for a moment. "Somethings bothering you."

I nod slowly, unsure of how to approach the subject. "Well... did you hear about the water valve bursting? And how the entire ground floor of the temple was flooded?"

Anakin nods. "Of course I did, I got rid of all the water around here - not that any got into my room. You didn't do that did you?"

"No, of course not," I say. "But... I was there when it happened and had to run to avoid being swept away by it." I continue. "And then when me and the twins went to close one of the vent covers, I got knocked down and into the water."

"You did? Are you all right?" Anakin asks in concern.

I swallow. "So... it wasn't you?" I question.

"What wasn't me?" Anakin frowns in confusion.

"Well... just before I hit the water it sort of... froze." I pause and watch his face for signs that he already knows this and am saddened to find that there are none. "Then it just dissolved away."

Anakin archs both eyebrows. "It... it did?"

I nod.

"That's... odd." He says slowly. "Really odd. Was it a life and death situation?"

"Well, I was probably going to drown." I explain. "And then... the rest of the water came at me and it just went around me like there was something holding it back, like a force field or something."

Anakin's eyebrows, if possible, rise even higher. "Okay, that's even weirder." He says.

"So it really wasn't you? You didn't do it?" I ask. "Because I don't know what happened and there was no one else around... does that mean I did it?"

Anakin frowns and shakes his head. "Of course it doesn't," He reassures me. "Let's sit down and I'll try to figure out what happened, all right?"

I nod and walk inside towards the lounge, sitting on the sofa that I slept on yesterday and waiting for Anakin to join me. If he doesn't know what happened then I have no way of knowing whether it was me or not and that would only make me even more confused, if that is at all possible. When he finally does come back into view it is with a glass of water, which makes me frown. The water valve burst and the entire tank was drained, where did he get the water from?

"Where did you get the water?" I ask. "There's none left in the tank, how did you get that?"

Anakin does not seem bothered by the question as he hands me the water. "I used the force to make it," He says casually. "Really tricky to master, something you need an actual teacher for."

I frown. "Making water?" I say in amazement. "Wait, how is it more difficult than making fire or light?"

Anakin sighs and smiles. "It's complicated." He says.

This time, and especially since I am so confused, I don't want to take any non-detailed answers. "Care to explain?" I ask. "I mean... you have to have learned all of these things from somewhere and I know that you had your mentor and all but does he really know all of that?"

Anakin seems to tense up. "I'm not sure -"

"Please," I plead. "I've never been more confused in my life about everything that is happening and I can't help but wonder if things like this happen to other people too. The other force wielders, did they all learn from single mentors too?"

"I can't tell you about that, I'm sorry." He says. I open my mouth to ask again but he cuts me off.

"Never mind," Anakin smiles at me. "You're not supposed to be stressed or confused anyway. Let's play a game."

"What kind of game?" I ask, now very confused and completely unable to think about anything except for the fact that Anakin is hiding something from me.

"Chess." Anakin says simply. "It's a great way to have fun, especially when the pieces can use the force to do things."

"Wait, say what?"

Anakin smirks. "Wait here and stop thinking about it otherwise you'll give yourself a headache." He suggests. "And if you do then I'll use the force to stop you from getting nervous or stressed." He adds. "Now, where did I put that chess board?"

Several hours later I have put all thoughts of the ways that people are taught to be force wielders and the strange things that happen out of my mind. Anakin is right about many things, that much has been obvious to me since the day I met him, and he was right about chess too. I'll admit that when I made a wrong move and a cushion from the sofa smacked me in the head I was a little shocked, but I'm over that now and so long as I remember to duck whenever one of my pieces is taken I'm as good as gold. This is my tenth game of chess and now I don't think that anything could shock me.

"How many things can you do?" I ask, ducking to avoid a stray HoloNovel from another room.

"I can do lots of things," Anakin says.

"But you haven't really showed me many of them," I remind him. "I mean, the light and fire stuff was the best thing I've ever seen in my life but if you're a force wielder then shouldn't you be able to do a little more?"

At this point, Anakin archs both eyebrows, crosses his arms and leans back in his chair. "Oh? Is that a challenge?" He asks.

I smirk. "In a way," I say.

Anakin narrows his eyes for a moment. "Okay, I'll show you some of the other things that I can do." He agrees. "Think of something and I'll do it."

Frowning, I try to think of something that would probably amount to awesome no matter where it happened. "Could you... turn the table into a shaak?" I ask.

Smirking, Anakin waves his hand at the coffee table and I nearly fall out of my seat when it turns into a large shaak that takes up half of the lounge. "Woah," I comment, smiling. Anakin waves his hand again and the animal turns back into the coffee table.

"Next?" Anakin asks.

"Um, well..." I try to think of something that would be considered impossible to do. "Can you... throw a fireball?" It's a stupid question, I know, but throwing a fireball and making fire in the palm of your hand has to be different - he can't exactly wait twenty minutes for the fire to become really big and then throw it, can he?

Anakin holds up his hand, lazily, and a ball of floating fire appears in it. Casually, he throws it at the wall and sets it alight. At first I smile and then I stop when I realise that the wall is on fire.

"Um..." I begin.

Clicking his fingers, a wall of water appears from out of nowhere and puts out the fire. Now that is probably the best way to stop any fire that has ever existed. The water then turns into steam and evaporates, leaving no trace that there was ever anything there.

"Anything else?" He asks. "A little more complicated perhaps?"

I frown then, what's more complicated than doing all of those things that he just did? Anakin doesn't seem to have broken a sweat and there must be something that will make him run away with his tail between his legs. I smile as a thought occurs to me. "Make a lightsaber blade out of thin air," I challenge.

This makes him pale and I cannot help but smile even more. Is it possible that I've actually found something that he cannot do? "Okay," He agrees, making me wonder if theres anything that he can't do. This time he is obviously concentrating hard because he has to close his eyes and I feel a wave of triumph wash over me - the things that I think are impossible he can do easily, but the things that I know are impossible he has to concentrate on. He places his hand palm facing upwards and then, slowly, brings it down. In its wake it leaves a glowing saber blade coloured a brilliant sapphire colour. When he takes his hand away it just stays there and doesn't disappear, but I can tell that Anakin want's to disappear right now because he looks more tired than before.

"That's..." There are no words to describe how truly extraordinary that is. He just created a saber blade out of nothing. How in the universe did he do that? I doubt he'd ever tell me but it's still a wonder that he can actually do it, even if it does drain his energy. "Wow." I comment, eyes wide. "How do you get rid of it? A lightsaber can cut through anything so you obviously can't touch it."

Anakin smirks at this. "Can't touch a saber blade? Please," He says sarcastically. "Piece of cake."

"Touching a saber blade? I mean touching it and not getting hurt at all." I correct myself. "You can't do that, Master Yoda's always telling us that it's impossible."

"Well, it might be impossible for the Jedi but I think I could manage it." Anakin comments.

"Okay, go on then." I dare him, crossing my arms over my chest.

Without hesitation, Anakin reaches out and grasps the saber blade as though its a solid thing. Unable to prevent it, my jaw drops. Sparks appear to be flying from where his hand is holding the blade and he moves it closer to him like an object in his hand before waving his hand again and making the saber disappear completely. The thing that makes me curious is that touching the saber didn't even seem to make Anakin tired where as creating it obviously drained a lot of his energy; if anyone could think of anything that is impossible then I have no doubt that Anakin would prove it false.

"Anything else?" Anakin asks.

I shake my head. "I can't think of anything." I say.

"Really?" Anakin archs an eyebrow. "Well, I suppose doing things like this in the small scale easily doesn't leave a lot of room for you to think of something, but if we were outdoors and I was doing things in a much larger scale I doubt you'd think me as powerful as you do now."

"But being tired doesn't mean you're not powerful," I protest. "It just means that it's difficult to do, that's all."

Anakin nods his head to the side and turns back to the chess game that we were originally playing. "Hmm, you've trapped my queen." He mumbles before moving one of his rooks. "Check." He says with a smile.

I have a second to frown at the chess board before being forced to duck under a projectile in the form of a cup. It smashes on the floor somewhere but Anakin doesn't seem to mind at all. Carefully, I move my kind behind on of my knights and, thankfully, no objects are thrown at me by the small pieces that seem intent on people knowing that if they make a wrong move there will be pain involved.

"So, do you remember all of the ways to bring down an acklay?" Anakin asks.

I groan. "Not again, please, not again."

"I was just asking if you remember," Anakin says.

"How could I forget? They're all stuck in my brain whether I like it or not," I remind him. "And you promised I wouldn't have to learn anything else about them."

"You won't, don't worry." He assures me. "Now, you might want to duck. I just took your bishop."

"What?" I ask, frowning before understanding and quickly ducking down as a cushion flys over my head. "Huh, I guess losing a bishop isn't that bad." I comment. Suddenly, another cushion flys at my head and I yelp in surprise.

Anakin starts to laugh. "They can hear you, you know," He says through his laughter.

I roll my eyes, still rubbing the back of my head. "Shut up," I grumble. "How is it that they can use the force anyway?"

"Force sensitive chess set," Anakin says, shrugging his shoulders. "The board is what gives the pieces force sensitivity, nothing like those chess sets witches play with."

"Witches?" I ask.

"On Dathomier, they think they're so mighty and powerful when their power is just a more physical form of the force." Anakin explains. "In fact, you can defeat them just by countering their 'magic' with a simple shield."

I roll my eyes. "There is nothing simple about creating a shield out of thin air," I remind him. "Can you make anything force sensitive. Like, an object or something else?"

Anakin snorts. "Of course I can," He says cockily. "I just prefer chess sets because they're more fun. You should see what happens in a game of scrabble."

"Can you make something like... a datapad force sensitive?" I ask. "Because that would save people a lot of trouble."

Frowning, Anakin rubs his chin. "You know, I don't think anyones ever tried." He says. "Maybe I should try it. Do you have your datapad?"

I check my pockets and frown when I find that it is still there; I thought, no, I know that I took it out and placed it on my bed side table along with my miniature planet, which is suspiciously absent from my pocket. Barris dragged me out of my room so I didn't really have enough time to get either object and yet here is the datapad in my pocket. How strange.

"Uh, it's right here," I say slowly, handing it to Anakin. "But I could have sworn that I left it in my room."

"Maybe you just forgot it was there," Anakin suggested.

I shrug my shoulders and lean back in my chair. The chess set was set up on the table in the lounge and I cannot help but wonder where the council got all of this furniture from. He certainly has a nice cell, if that's what you'd call it. Anakin's eyes turn a very light shade of blue and I can tell he is doing something to the datapad since both of his hands are glowing and I can here strange noises coming from the datapad. Yawning, I rest my head on the back rest and try not to fall asleep. It doesn't take much for me to fall asleep these days, and it probably has something to do with the fact that I was woken at five in the morning.

A loud beeping sound brings me back to my senses and I sit up straight at once when the sound of an alarm goes off.

"What is that?" I ask.

Anakin smirks. "Your datapad was just waking you up," He explains, handing me it back. "It worked, after a bit of tinkering, and now it has a sort of conscious."

"Conscious?" I question before looking down at the datapad. "As in, it can think for itself?"

The screen of my datapad lights up and displays a few words. "Yes, I can think for myself."

My eyes widen and I quickly put the datapad down on the table. "Okay," I say slowly. "That's going to take some getting used to."

"It probably will," Anakin agrees. "Okay, it's your move."

Looking at each of the pieces in turn, he's got my king trapped in one corner, I decide to move my king further out of the trap that Anakin has set when my datapad beeps loudly from beside me. Turning, I see the letters appearing one by one on the screen. "Go for his queen, theres no possible way he can close the trap without it."

Blinking, I frown and look from the chess board to my datapad. I'm being given advise from a datapad, maybe I'm going crazy. Shrugging my shoulders, I don't exactly have anything to lose, I move my knight to take his queen and laugh when he is caught off guard by several flying HoloNovels - losing your queen must give you a huge punishment.

"Ow! What the -?" Anakin looks around for a moment and then from me to my datapad. "Hey! That's cheating."

I smile. "No it's not, I'm just taking advise."

"From a datapad," He grumbles.

My datapad beeps loudly and I cannot help but grin, it was clearly a warning.

Anakin sighs. "I shouldn't have made it force sensitive," He scolds himself. "Just make your move. No taking hints from the datapad, turn it off."

Rolling my eyes, I reluctantly hit the off switch on the datapad and turn back to the board. Slowly, I move my rook to trap Anakin's king on one side of the board and am rewarded by a cheer from all of my pieces, which makes me smile. Unfortunately, Anakin then checks my king and reforms his trap which means I have to duck under the table or risk getting hit by a rogue paper pad that was on the coffee table. I wonder if the pieces ever don't punish someone if they make a wrong move, they started punishing me ever since my first move.

Calmly, I move my king out of the way and get hit by a cushion. "Ouch!" I rub the throbbing spot on my forehead. "What was that for?"

Anakin smirks. "Checkmate." He says, moving his knight forwards. "I'd duck if I were you." He suggests.

Groaning in annoyance, I duck under the table and am forced to stay there due to the amount of things that are being tossed around the room like they aren't being controlled by chess pieces. After a while the things stop flying about and when I gain the courage to peek out over the top of the table I can see that everything has been put back to normal. There are no stray objects lying about anywhere and no remains of the glass that was shattered. Anakin obviously cleaned everything up since he is sitting on the sofa looking smug.

"You're finally out from under the table," He says, grinning. "Bravo."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah." I mumble, moving to sit on the sofa beside him. "What are we going to do now?"

Anakin thinks for a moment. "I think that you should go and get some sleep," He suggests to my disappointment. "You haven't been getting much of it, you know how I know, and you need to at least rest. Try out your datapad, there might be some more stuff on it now that it has a conscious."

Smiling, I nod. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."