"In Need of Wings"

Chapter the Eighth

Coruscant had not been the same since the announcement of Grievous' death. People were still happy that the war was close to ending, but Ahsoka sensed another level of tension as well. It settled in deeper as soon as the hype and celebration had ended, which took no longer than a few days.

It started as whispers, but it grew over time. Whispers about the corruption in the Senate. Whispers about how the Jedi Order had become tainted by the war. There was even talk of a possible uprising against the Republic, now that it had been so crippled and beaten down by the war.

Truth was, Ahsoka knew some of those rumors were true.

All the more reason she could never use the Force in front of others. It was too risky.

One morning, Ahsoka felt that she could not take it any longer. She had to talk to Anakin again, whether or not he was ready to listen. Even just hearing his voice felt like it would be enough for her. Anything to have someone who might understand the things Ahsoka had been feeling since Grievous' death, who might give even the smallest reminder that it would be all right and someday they might see each other again. Maybe even hearing her old nickname again, 'Snips,' would do the trick.

She remembered that a few months ago, Bane gave her the code for Anakin's comm. So it should still be saved on her comm back at the apartment. Ahsoka could not get her mind off of it during the rest of her shift at work. As soon as she was done for the day she took the first bus back to her street.

I've put this off too long. I need to know how he's been. What life in the Temple is like. How the war has been for him now that it's almost over.

The sense that something was wrong through the Force had worsened today, and seemed to grow even worse as she went inside and changed out of her work clothes and into a casual outfit. In fact, over the past day, the sense had been strong enough to make her physically ill. When Ahsoka felt ready, she finally got out her comm. Sure enough, there it was. The code Bane gave her. Her hand began to shake as she wondered if the answers she was about to receive would not be what she hoped or expected. It clouded her thinking.

She shut her eyes before she pushed the button. Ahsoka waited nearly a full minute for Anakin to answer.

Nothing. She frowned.

A message appeared on the comm. "Invalid code input."

"What the hell? Why would it be invalid?! Unless…" Then it dawned on her. "Bane."

It took her longer than she had hoped to find where Bane was staying. She had visited here only once, during a training session when partway through they had to make a quick stop at Bane's apartment to pick up some supplies they would need. She had a sharp memory, but her mind was still clouded by the worry of what might happen, or what might already be happening.

She should have figured Bane's apartment would not be in the best condition. She still turned up her nose as she used the Force to unlock the door and step inside. The place was filthy but scarcely had any items inside. Smelled of strong alcohol as well. Lying on the bed, a hat covering his eyes, lay a familiar figure. Ahsoka glared daggers at him.

"Bane! I think you have some explaining to do."

He lifted his hat. "Oh, I thought I heard someone come in."

Ahsoka walked up to him and punched him in the stomach. "That's what you get for lying to me!"

He sat up. "That hurt."

"Good! Because now, since you lied to me, I can't talk to him anymore. You gave me a fake code and let me believe it was real!"

Bane sighed and slowly got up. "I probably deserved that, then."

"Yeah, probably…" She crossed her arms. "Why did you lie to me?"

"None of your business?" He put on his hat. "Literally. We're no longer doing business with each other, so I have no reason to tell you why."

"Here's a reason. There's some trust between us. We've come a long way from where we were months ago."

Bane frowned as he lightly touched where she had hit him, feeling for any cracked ribs. "All this 'we' stuff is weirding me out."

"I only mean that before you took the job training me, you would have killed me at any time if you got the chance. And I would have done the same. It's not like that anymore. That says something, doesn't it?"

"That says nothing. And it certainly doesn't say that I have to tell you why I gave you that fake code."

Ahsoka could not believe what she was hearing. She was already starting to hate his guts all over again, reversing the effect of whatever had happened during their training.

"Whatever. I'm out of here." Tempted to say something cruel to add to it, but ultimately deciding against it in the happenstance that Bane would later use it against her, Ahsoka turned to leave. Night had already fallen on Coruscant. Ahsoka felt a cool breeze in the air, a bit unusual this early.

Her hopes of any contact with Anakin now dashed, she had to wonder what was left to hope for. What if this dread she felt warned her of something in the future? How could she keep going and find more hope when she knew something terrible was coming? And if it had already happened or was already happening, why would she be able to sense it? It's not like there was anything she could do about it.

Just thinking about it made the illness worsen. What the hell was going on?

"You don't look well," Bane said.

"I'm fine…" She pulled her hood over her head. If she was dizzy and having stomachaches, like hell she was going to let him know.

"You're probably dehydrated from working all the time."

"I'm not—" She almost didn't catch the water bottle he threw at her. "Uh, thanks? Don't think I'm any less mad at you."

"I figured. So, you were leaving?"

"Yeah. Right." She tucked the water bottle under her arm. As she left she glanced outside. Something caught her eye as she glanced up at the large holoscreen not far away from the building. It was displaying live footage of something going on in the upper district. Judging by the fire and smoke, it must have been some sort of terrorist attack.

She glanced up again when she recognized familiar structure. Then, as a slight wave of panic flooded over her, and her senses slowed and took longer than usual to process what was happening, and her head swarmed and her hands shook uncontrollably, Ahsoka stared up at the holoscreen in horror.

The Jedi Temple.

The Temple is burning.

Her vision clouded with tears. Ahsoka felt like someone was choking her. Who would attack the Temple, and why? How long ago had this started happening?

How many Jedi were inside?

This could be what she had been sensing all along. And now it had finally happened and she was just in time to see it on a fucking holoscreen.

"Oh gods…" She covered her mouth. "Oh no. No…"

A heavy weight tore her heart in two. Whatever had happened at the Temple was much worse than Ahsoka thought it was. She could feel it. The Force telling her that this was far more than just a section of the Jedi Temple burning down after an attack.

Her whole body shook and she hugged herself, trying to continue walking out of the apartment building. Now the fact that she could not contact Anakin hurt even more. Something terrible could have happened to him.

A dark thought plagued her…if Anakin had been seriously hurt, or even killed, would she even be able to sense it?

"Hey, Tano."

Ahsoka turned around, wanting to shout at Bane, but she had lost the energy. Tears ran down her cheeks as she stood, huddled over, not having the slightest idea what she was going to do.

"Uh…you all right?" Bane asked, just before he glanced up and noticed the holoscreen as well, just before it cut to other news from another area of Coruscant. He stared up, as if it took him a few moments to process what he just saw.

"I…need to go…" Ahsoka backed away.

"No. You're not going anywhere, little bit. Too dangerous." He walked up to her.

"But, the Temple. I need to go. Help search for survivors." Tears flowed down her cheeks. "I need to help save them."

"They wouldn't let you. You're just a kid." He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure it's under control."

"I have to go…!" She covered her face as she felt her heart being broken for reasons she did not even understand yet. When Bane led her back inside the apartment and sat her down in the chair, she didn't fight back. All the resistance had abandoned her, leaving her with a strange sense of emptiness and brokenness.

"I'll keep the news on. Try to find out what's going on," she heard Bane say. "In the meantime, you should stay here until you've calmed down. Got it?"

Ahsoka stammered slightly when she spoke next. "Not like you care at all."

Bane shrugged. "I never said I did. Maybe I'm just curious. This is big news. Big news means big money. And it would be irresponsible for me to let you go running off on a night like this. I'm not that foolish."

For a second or two, Ahsoka had almost thought he would counteract her statement by admitting that, even in a small twisted way, he did care. But, she supposed, that would be far too much to ask of someone like Cad Bane. Typical that he would only be thinking of how an event such as this brought on an opportunity for extra money.

Ahsoka Tano curled up in the chair, the image of the burning Temple in front of her, haunting her mind. It would never leave her alone.

A/N: The next couple chapters are going to get pretty dark and violent as a few plot threads are woven together. Some of the unanswered questions, such as why Anakin hired Bane and why Bane lied to Ahsoka, will be revealed soon. muhahaha!