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.

Attacked, Ahsoka Tano

Painkillers make sleep a living hell. Normal painkillers aren't too bad and just give me some creepy dream of a talking pie and a drunk Jedi master, true story, but the strong painkillers that are given to people after severe injuries are just awful. I had a pounding headache all through the night and the time that I actually was asleep was plagued by strange dreams of things that I can't remember. There was a small animal that was talking... and a large piece of food which was the shape of the Jedi temple. Oh no; I can't tell the healers about my strange dreams because they'll think I'm insane and keep me in here for another week at least.

For all of these reasons, when I discover that it is now twelve o'clock in the day I quite literally bolt up in bed and throw every last painkiller left to me in the bin in the corner of the room. The healers assigned to me did some of their medical magic on my injuries so that they would all heal one hundred percent faster and I can actually stand up on my own now instead of being forced to sit around all day long. I take a look down at myself and observe my injuries that are mostly healed, aside from my broken arm and sprained wrist. That means that both of my hands are still out of action though I can get some movement out of the one attached to the sprained wrist.

I have the stiffest limbs in history but the ability to walk is available to me so that's good. What excites me about today is that the healers said they would be letting me out and to come back in a month or two to have the cast on my arm taken off. The stitches, which I still shudder to think about, were taken out early due to the wonders of bacta tanks and an advanced session in one thanks to Master Plo. I haven't seen him or any Jedi masters because of the healers declaration but they were allowed into the room while I was unconscious in bacta, with the promise not to discuss anything that happened in the competition, and I could sense both him and Master Kenobi when I was out. There were also a few moments when I sensed Master Yoda and another person who's force presence I'm not familiar with but they did not stay for long. It seems that I am the focus of something that is bugging the Jedi masters.

Deciding that sitting in bed is boring, I throw back the covers with as much force as I can use without hurting my arm and get slowly to my feet. The healers advised me against getting up quickly and said a definite 'no' to any jogging and that running would damn near kill me; I'd be unconscious a few moments after I'd stopped and then I'd be in serious trouble. Of course, I really didn't need the reminder since running is something that I am keen to avoid. I suck in a sharp breath at the pain in my legs and sit back down on the edge of the bed to take the weight off of my legs and give them a reprieve. My injuries from the competition have left lots of sore spots and way more problems than before.

I sit in silence for a few moments, weighing my options about walking around, when the door to my room opens and one of the healers walks in with a datapad in her hands. This is either going to be really good news or really bad news. As far as my experience says, a healer assigned to you who walks in with a datapad and is looking at it intently with a concentration level which is hard to break is never one of those 'average' things. I always feel nervous when a healer walks past me or towards me with that 'look' on their face. It makes me think of the many people who have had really bad luck and gotten serious medical conditions or been scarred for life in some way.

"Ah, Miss Tano, you are awake at last."

At last? There is security holograms in this room, isn't there? Surely they can see, or at least sense, that I have been awake all night long because of those stupid painkillers.

"Your injuries have healed enough for the need to monitor them to not be needed any more. Master Koon has already signed your release form so you are free to leave any time you want." The healer informs me.

"Is Master Plo waiting outside then?" I ask cautiously.

The healer shakes her head. "No. He was called away for a briefing thirty minutes ago but said for you to take it easy until he sees you next."

I nod. That sounds exactly like a thing that the Jedi master would say and this extra time means that I can go to the one place that I have been dying to get to ever since I woke up. I'm going to have to think of the perfect explanation for my clan members and then avoid any Jedi masters who might be snooping around and asking about what happened in the competition. A few days hiding should be enough for them to get the message... shouldn't it? Okay, hiding out isn't the best idea in the world. There's only one place where I can hide without anyone finding me and only one person who can make sure they don't. Though it's obvious, I know that answering questions is just going to be too hard.

"Now, Miss Tano, you do remember what you were told yesterday?" The healers asks rhetorically. "No running and no exerting yourself until we have taken off your bandages."

I nod. "Of course." I say in a formal manner, keen to get away from the halls of healing as quickly as possible. I've always had a strange feeling about this place, like it will be the death of me.

The healer nods in acceptance. "Good. Now, you'd best hurry up and get to your room before any Jedi masters show up. Honestly, the nerve to show up and distrupt a patients treatment... I've never seen such disrespect in my entire life..." She talks more to herself than to me as she walks out of the room, leaving me frowning in confusion after her.

A split second after the healer has left me, I get off of the bed and use the force to make it since I am unable to reach down and do it myself. Classes for my clan resume in three days time since some people, like me, can't do a thing involving lightsaber training or meditation because of the pain involved with moving our limbs. I know for a fact that Master Yoda tried to find a way around this in every possible form but the healers put their foots down. They haven't exactly forgiven him for letting the Jedi masters who came into my room disturb my healing process. Once again, the dedication of the Jedi healers to their patients has been shown.

Carefully, so as not to make my injuries hurt more than they already do, I reach down and slowly begin to put my boots on. They look like they have been cleaned, several times, and that is either because they got dirty during the competition or because I haven't cleaned them in ages. It has to have been at least a month since I last cleaned them and nobody has noticed it, though now they probably won't notice it until I walk through mud or something that leaves a stain. Putting on my boots with one hand and another that barely moves is harder than you'd think and I have to use the force to help me get my datapad and to finish up on my boots. Why is life so cruel?

I stand up again, since I had to sit back down to put on my boots, and walk out of the room that I was healed in. It's mid day so I can go and eat some lunch to the best of my ability before going somewhere else to spend my day that hopefully does not include any nosy Jedi masters or younglings who want to know what happened with that very strange, not to mention annoying, white light. Saying a 'goodbye' to the healers that bothered to say it to me, I depart the halls of healing in relief and head straight for the mess hall. Jay and Kay told me that they would be there today waiting for me so there's no point in me deciding to go anywhere else when I can avoid nearly everyone with them.

The corridors are just the same as every. Filled with the Jedi knights, padawans and the occasional youngling that is being trained out in the open. Nothing out of the ordinary there and none of them are giving me any weird looks at all so they can't have been told about what happened. The only looks that I get are mixed with sympathy and concern for my obviously serious injuries that are healing at a slower pace than I would like them to. How am I going to eat my lunch when I can hardly use either of my arms? Well, I can move the hand that isn't broken in whatever way I want but it does hurt quite a bit if I do it consistently. Oh well, lunch does come first in all places.

As I walk I cannot stop myself from thinking of the numerous possibilities for why what happened in the competition happened. I mean, first of all Slimo attacked me and Barris only to be ambushed by a wave of water from the waterfall that soaked us both as we were hanging over the edge of the cliff whilst Slimo himself was sent over the edge. After that, we run and climb down the rocks only to have Barris slip and fall over the edge and Slimo 'miraculously recovers' to try and kill me. That by itself is enough to make anyone confused but no... there just had to be something else, didn't there? There couldn't be a way for me to get off easy and just run away.

What really concerns me is surprisingly not the whole light coming out of my palm thing. I'm actually interested in what happened with the training sabers. That has to be the most coincidental thing in history which meant that the force's will was directed solely on those objects for that particular moment. I've never heard of two training sabers blowing up before and the explanation that Barris gave me hardly told me anything. Something about fuses and gases and what-not... the worst explanation I have ever heard since Master Yoda tried to explain to a two year old youngling why his mother 'didn't want him any more'. Hilarious, and yet, such a sad story.

I turn a corner and instantly know that classes have already finished for lunch since there is a massive crowd moving in the general location of the mess hall. Crowds this big never last in the Jedi temple since there is always a Jedi master or knight to move the younglings along in different, more quicker directions. Speaking of which, there's Aayla Secura doing that right now. I turn to take a different route and find that it is mostly deserted, thank force. Nobody to whisper things or give me the odd stares that I know to expect when I enter the mess hall for lunch. I have not had lunch in the mess hall for a month now since for three weeks I was with Anakin and for another week I was unconscious in the halls of healing.

After the newly diverted route that I take, I reach the mess hall which is filled with more younglings than it ever has been at breakfast or dinner when I arrive. People must either be too tired to bother or forget to have their meals at those times in the day. I ignore each and every one of the looks that people are giving me and instead focus on getting my lunch. It's rather easy for me to find a place to sit since the twins made their presences more than well known the moment I arrived. It's a little embarrassing when they do that and I always have to pretend that I have never seen either of them in my entire life.

"Ahsoka, you're out!" Jay says in delight as I sit down at their chosen table.

I smile. "Yes, I'm out. How are you doing?"

"Good, better than usual since people 'feel sorry' for us because of you." Kay informs me. "They said: 'Oh you poor dears you must be so shocked!' and a bunch of other things. It's rather amusing actually."

Rolling my eyes, I begin the difficult task of eating lunch with my left hand. "I'm so glad that you find the sympathy of people who usually tell you to stay in the middle of the room where they can see you so amusing." I say sarcastically.

The twins smirk and go back to eating their lunches in response. "Um... Ahsoka? You remember that prat of a man named Pedro, don't you?"

I slowly nod. "Yes."

"Well, he wants to know if all the 'rumours' about that white light are true. I wouldn't say anything if I were you because these rumours are nothing like the actual truth that you know." Kay advises.

"What are the rumours saying?"

"One says that Slimo tried attacking you and your whole body started glowing. Another says that you got hit with some toxic waste that made it seem like you had this strange force thing going on. The last one is total crap and says that you didn't want to lose and used the light to try and kill Slimo but it failed when Master Yoda came and knocked you out."

I snort. "That's hardly true. I wasn't knocked out; I passed out. There is a really big difference and I'm guessing that it was Slimo who started it."

Jay shakes his head. "As hard to believe as it is, he didn't. The guy's been unconscious for the same amount of time as you were and they won't let him out of the halls of healing because his energy keeps getting zapped out of him by something. Apparently they only found a way to stop it by using a force sensitive object to replenish his energy and by giving him injections every five minutes. Must suck to be him right now."

Swallowing the uncomfortable feeling rising in my throat, I nod. "Yeah, must suck to be him." I agree before starting to eat my lunch again with more success than last time. What's that feeling in my gut? It feels like guilt but that can't be right. Why would I ever be feeling guilty about putting Slimo in his place?

Lunch today consists of sandwiches, most likely because of a money shortage, and salad. I am a Togruta, in case anyone failed to notice that, and we are carnivores. There has never been a vegetarian Togruta as far as I know and there never will be. We hunt for food, as I had to find out when I was nine, and salads are only eaten because we need to get enough vitamins to stay alive. I've never had a problem with salad unless it tastes too awful to be eaten and this would often result in some other Togrutan Jedi younglings giving me weird stares. Speaking of which, I'm getting enough weird stares already so there's no point in pretending I don't like the salad today.

"Ahsoka, you remember those younglings who tried to beat us up twice?" Jay asks suddenly.

I frown in caution. "Yes... why?"

"They're back... and they look like they've just been run over by a speeder the size of Coruscant." He says slowly, as if not believing his own words.

I sigh in exasperation. "They're standing right behind me aren't they."

The twins nod with narrowed gazes directed at those behind me as I turn around to look at the four horse-men of the apocalypse and their chubby little friend. It seems that Jay's description was correct; they do look like they've been run over by a speeder the size of Coruscant. Their hair looks greasy like the heaven of all chips that need to be fried and their clothes are slightly tattered. Since I know better than to think that they've been doing something they shouldn't have, I can tell that their ring leader has been delivering some hard and painful lessons to them in the form of punches and kicks. Whatever they're doing must take up most of their time since even I can have a wash now and again, though I generally try to avoid the extra cold water of the showers.

"Can I help you?" I ask in a bored voice.

A tall and skinny youngling nods his head, almost frantically. "Yes, actually. Please help." He says in a pleading voice that makes me arch both eye marks.

A different one of the younglings, one with more sense, shoves the one who has spoken aside and steps forwards. "What my friend meant to say was that Slimo is out of control thanks to your little... I don't know what it was exactly but we mean to say that you need to scare him like that again. We are the five bullies who don't have leaders and then the... unmentionable... came along."

I nod, slowly, in understanding. "So, let me get this straight, you want me to scare Slimo so much that he stops bossing you around so that you can go back to bullying the vast majority of younglings that I am friends with."

They are silent for a moment, sharing glances, before they nod. "Yes, that's right."

Well, my lunch is finished and there are a bunch of idiots stood in front of me. This is an opportunity from the force itself to bail and leave. "Maybe you should ask someone who is at the same level of intelligence as you are," I suggest, making sure not to call them stupid outright, and stand up from the table before leaving the mess hall.

That could have gone better. Realistically speaking, that could have all been avoided if some people actually used their brains instead of using the empty space that is the idiots best friend. I decide to take a long walk around the temple, which just so happens to start with the entrance hall because it is right next to the exit, and set off at a leisurely pace. Anything that will distance myself from the five younglings who don't know north from south, or up from down, is a good thing to be doing. There isn't much to say about the corridors since I've already been through them and hardly anything has changed. Although, there might be a few less Jedi knights wandering around than there was before.

I walk into the entrance hall and look around at the things that have been brought in by the clones after a raid on a separatist base. They still believe that no younglings are going to look at the contraband and even when we do it right in front of them there is no Jedi knight who has told us to look the other way and that these things are the artefacts of war and to be ignored. I walk right past each of them, making sure not to take too long a look at them just in case the tradition breaks, and go through one more short corridor until I reach the place that I want to be. This used to be where I would come whenever I had some free time and since it is the weekend and I won't make it to Anakin alive this is the best place to be.

There's no-one around in this small corner and I use the force to jump up onto the next floor which isn't really a floor and more of a window-sill surrounded by a metal sheet which hides me from the view of others. I really, really don't want to have to speak to anyone right now so I am filled with relief when I sit down in the enclosed space, pull my knees up to my chest and watch Coruscant go by through the window. This had always been my favourite place to think until I walked right into Anakin's room and discovered how much more relaxing it is to stay there, especially since the Jedi code is something that Anakin cares nothing about and lets me do whatever I want.

"Young one," A voice brings me out of my thoughts and I curse myself a thousand times in my head for not sensing him. "I must admit that this is a rather good hiding place but it helps to hide your force presence as well."

I turn my head to the side and see that Master Kenobi, it seems, has finally found me and this time there are no healers to give me the space that I need for thinking. Either he's been following me since I left the halls of healing, been keeping tabs on me as I suspected he would or has just now sensed my force presence at a rather convenient spot where nobody will find us. Why do Jedi masters have a nack for finding people at the places where they do not want to be found?

"Hello, Master Kenobi." I greet, hoping to avoid the obvious subject that he has arrived for.

He smiles kindly and nods, coming to sit down beside me. "You have been very hard to get a hold of in the last week, Ahsoka, not to mention how the healers refused to let us in after that disastrous turn of events with the bacta."

I frown in confusion. "Bacta?" I ask.

Smiling again, he just shakes his head. "It would be best if you did not know that particular tale, young one. I came to talk to you about something and before you try to change the subject it is not about what happened in your competition. A reliable source has told me that you had no knowledge that the event would even occur."

I grin. "It was Anakin, wasn't it?"

Master Kenobi nods with a knowing look. "He has given next to no details on the subject, though I expected nothing less from him. I believe his most detailed explanation was on how my lightsaber went missing in his first week as my padawan."

Wow, that's something I could have been told a while ago. Perhaps before I learned what Anakin's personality really was like instead of that emotionless force wielder with the changing eye colour who threw the bullies down the corridor like they were nothing with no regret at all. I have to admit that he was way more intimidating back then than he is right now to me.

"Is the council mad at me?" I question innocently.

He doesn't answer for a moment. "I don't believe the word 'mad' would best describe their mood, more themselves in general. At first they were in denial that it ever happened and then they had a mad rush to get to your room. You were lucky that the healers showed such dedication or you would have never recovered in the time you should have."

"But they're still angry with me?"

"Jedi do not get angry, Ahsoka. You must remember the code, even though I'm sure Anakin had told you it is rubbish by now. They were very surprised that you managed to get to Anakin's room without them knowing and it took us a while to figure out your little route through the ventiliation systems. Master Windu also saw a rather interesting thing with those twins you always hang around with... something to do with a chase?"

I redden in embarrassment and look away at the floor. The chase would be referring to when I walked right into the twins' mischievous little scheme and we got chased by Master Windu through the vents until I got us out through a route that Anakin had told me about. For some reason I had actually believed that the Jedi master had forgotten about that.

Fidgeting with my hands nervously, I look back up at him. "What are they going to do about me visiting Anakin?" I ask.

"That would have been rather hard to answer had you woken up four days ago. You did make a very powerful impression upon them with showing them what Anakin can teach."

"But he didn't teach me that..." I say.

"I know, I know. By teaching I meant teaching you how to survive." Master Kenobi quickly cuts in. "The council were thinking along the lines of banning you from seeing Anakin again until they saw an opportunity."

"Opportunity for what?"

"An opportunity for -"

A loud crashing sound and several screams stops him from continuing to speak and we both twist around to look towards the entrance hall. The space I choose to stay in may be confined but it has specific places where you can see just about everything around you, not to mention through vents and air ducts. Master Kenobi jumps to his feet and off of the platform whilst I jump to my own feet out of pure reflex. Out of the pure Jedi master stereotype, Master Kenobi shouts "Stay there!" as he rushes into the entrance hall to see what is going on when I sense something extremely dark and very, very powerful.

I do as I am told and stay exactly where I am for a total of ten seconds before the extremely dark and very, very powerful thing comes my way and I freeze with my eyes wide when I see a humanoid surrounded in black smoke. Oh dear force it's the dark force wielder that the council were trying to get Anakin to help them defeat. What really freaks me out and actually makes me feel fear is the fact that the force wielder doesn't even look around the room. Instead, he just looks right at me with that really intense and calculating stare which tells me that he came here for me and not Anakin. There's a very good chance that he doesn't even know that Anakin is here.

Within half a second of him walking into the room, the dark force wielder throws some kind of dark energy ball at me and I duck down as it soars over my head and clashes with the supports of this floor. Maybe I should have let it hit me after all. The entire floor comes crashing downwards and I have my eyes half closed so I nearly miss the way that all the sharp objects that aren't positioned away from me are met with a white, translucent barrier. I must either be going insane or be in a coma because this simply cannot be real.

I hit the floor hard and the pain from all of the injuries from the competition spikes, meaning that they have either all reopened or just become permanent pain spots for me. Without even thinking about what I'm doing, I get to my feet and bolt out of the room and into another corridor, ducking under a large piece of rubble that was force pushed at me rather violently. I run in the direction of a corridor that cuts right through the middle of the temple and is guarded by two Jedi knights for a reason when I trip and fall. The tripping is obviously a deliberate thing and I turn around on the floor so that I am on my back and push myself up on my elbows. The cast has mostly fallen away on my arm and everything hurts so much.

Overall assessment: not good. The dark force wielder is headed right this way and I am starting to feel really, really confused and upset. There are lots of confusing things happening to me and I have no idea why. Is something wrong with me? Am I cursed in some way? Just as he nears with that really dark expression which makes me realise that he doesn't want to kill me but instead kidnap me I panic. Seriously panic. With no Jedi cool to stop me from doing anything stupid I throw out a very strange and undirected call for help. Strangely enough, that call goes right to Anakin. Don't ask me how I know because I just do in some strange way through the force.

A very bright blue light appears directly in front of me and I get up, turn around and run. Just run. I'm scared, panicking, emotionally unstable and the force is acting so strangely around me that I can hardly move without something strange clicking inside of my brain. So caught up in my thoughts am I that when I run down the corridor that leads a very quick path to another part of the temple I manage to somehow avoid being tackled by the guards. I sprint as fast as I possibly can and am hardly aware that I am leaving a small trail of blood behind whenever my wounds start to drip blood, which is once every second.

I turn a corner, then another corner, then another corner and run right through the very familiar door in front of me which leads right into the person that I had no idea I could go to even when I am in an injured state. It's hard to recall what's going on around me but I can feel someone catching me when I fall and then a very strange feeling accompanied by that glowing light from someone's hand.

My vision returns and I look at the very concerned and troubled looking face of Anakin Skywalker before Master Kenobi's voice from behind me makes me freeze.

"So... I'm guessing there's something else you want to tell me, then?"