Content warnings: Non-consensual drugging, Atai Molec being a creep, Mention of branding/branding scar, Non-consensual touching of lekku/montrals, Violence
As a Jedi Commander in a war, Ahsoka had grown accustomed to being unconscious.
Usually, she woke up to Kix or another medic screaming over her head. Other times, if she was at the Temple, she woke up to Anakin kneeling at her side after his untraditional training sessions where the clones fire stun bolts at her until one slips through her defenses.
Rarely did Ahsoka wake up fearing for her safety.
Whether it was Kix or her Master hovering over her, she knew they would protect her until she was back on her feet. She was sure that her men would defend her dead body if they had to.
Now, Ahsoka woke up in fear.
The grogginess that washed over her was soon replaced by adrenaline, and Ahsoka's eyes snapped open.
She was in the bedroom; the same one she had been in when she woke up in the cage. The last thing she remembered was Caelum's dark eyes staring down at her, dizziness from the drugged cloth, and then nothing.
Unlike last time, she wasn't alone.
Laying on her stomach with her face turned towards the side, Ahsoka could feel a heavy boot in the middle of her back. Glancing upwards, she could see Caelum holding her in place.
"She's awake, Master." The Twi'lek said, noticing Ahsoka trying to struggle out of her grasp.
There was a sigh across the room, "You look so desirable when you squirm, Blue."
Upon hearing his voice, her blood suddenly felt like it was running cold. Ahsoka twisted her neck, craning her head to see Molec standing near the window. She could just see his silhouette, tall and menacing as he faced the room.
"Cuff her, Caelum," Molec ordered, "I want her on her knees."
"Yes, Master."
The Twi'lek wrestled Ahsoka's arms behind her back, the cuffs connecting once again. With her shoulder still sore, Ahsoka couldn't fight her off, though her limbs weren't so heavy as they had been the other times that she was drugged.
Caelum easily pulled Ahsoka up to her knees, which gave the Jedi a chance to look around the room.
Near the bed, two Zygerrian guards stood with a body held between them.
Ahsoka felt her eyes widen at the sight of the Togruta girl hanging in their grasp. She looked scrawny and dirty, her clothes that of a Kiros colonist. There was a shock collar around her neck, the grey device being a sharp contrast to her blueish hue.
On her collarbone was a fresh scar, a branding mark of ownership. She looked younger than Ahsoka, her lekku not quite covering the new scar.
The girl lifted her head, clearly weak, and as soon as their eyes met, she gasped at the sight of a familiar species.
"Help me!" She called out in Togruti. The dialect was different to Shillian Togruti, but she was understandable, nonetheless. "Please, I just want to see my brothers. We were separated; they don't know where I am!"
"Silence!" Molec roared, stepping away from the window so his features were visible. "I will cut out your tongue if I hear that language again!"
The girl whimpered, recoiling though she couldn't hide whilst in the grip of the two guards. She didn't look strong enough to fight them either.
Ahsoka looked at Molec, barely able to hide her fury. "What do you want with her, Molec?"
Molec smiled cruelly, turning towards her. Ahsoka was glad that his attention was off the girl.
"She is to be a pleasure thing, just like every girl I own." The Zygerrian stalked towards her. "Just like you."
Ahsoka scowled, disgust outweighing her fear. "You're sick."
Molec chuckled, stopping when he was standing over her. Under Caelum's relentless grip, Ahsoka couldn't even move as he reached out to touch her montral.
"Togrutas are my favourites." He said, stroking the surface of her montral which made Ahsoka grit her teeth. "Followed closely by Twi'leks. I assume you met Convor? I aspire for all my girls to act as she does. Obedient, submissive, respectful."
Ahsoka scoffed, "Why would anyone respect you?"
Molec allowed his fingers to drift lower, not threatened by Ahsoka's growl as he stroked down her lekku.
Nobody got to touch her there. Not Anakin, not Master Plo, not Rex, and certainly not Atai Molec.
Shaak Ti had taught them that nobody was supposed to touch their lekku without permission, even their Masters. Anakin always asked for consent before wiping clean any scrapes her lekku sustained, and he once threatened to kill a brave pirate who thought he could grab her back lek.
The sensation of Molec's fingernails on her sensitive lekku made her want to put her head between a door and slam it shut. The nerves were naturally sensitive, though Coric theorized that it was worse when she was under stress.
Caelum tightened her grip on her shoulders, her fingers digging into flesh which would no doubt leave bruises.
"I teach my girls to respect me," Molec said, tracing one finger up and down the length of her lekku. He seemed entranced by the stripes. "Once they do, their lives become easier. You enjoy this life, Caelum, don't you?"
"Yes, Master." The Twi'lek answered easily.
"For someone so strong, you're weak-minded." Ahsoka managed to address the woman behind her through gritted teeth. "How could you allow him to treat others like this? He's a monster!"
Molec's hand left her lekku, and she didn't expect his palm to connect with her cheek in a hard slap. It spun her head to the side, black spots dancing across her vision for a moment.
He had just hit her.
Not a punch, a slap.
Ahsoka was used to punches, Rex had taught her how to maximise the force behind her own blows as well as how to properly defend herself from a hit.
She remembered him shaking his head, half-concerned and half-amused, when he saw her bleeding nose after taking a hit from a bounty hunter once. He dabbed the blood away, said a few assurances to help her ego heal, and they were laughing about the incident a week later.
Nobody had ever slapped her before.
Ahsoka bit her lip hard as tears filled her eyes on reflex.
Don't cry, Tano. Don't give him the satisfaction.
She took a deep breath.
"There's two places that girls like you belong." Molec turned to walk over to the other Togruta who was trembling in the guards' grip, having watched the scene unfold. "On your backs, or on your knees."
The implication of his words had Ahsoka biting down harder on her lip until she tasted metallic blood.
Molec reached out, taking the girl's chin in his grip. He tilted her head from one side to the other, as if inspecting her. "Are you afraid, Luna?"
"Y-Yes." She uttered.
Molec gripped her jaw tighter, drawing a wince out of her. "Yes, what?"
Luna dropped her eyes, "Yes, Master."
"Wonderful." Molec let go of her chin, "Of course, I want you to be afraid. But, as long as you behave, you'll be treated well."
"I... I want to go home." The girl muttered, tears welling in her frightened eyes. "Please, I want to see my brothers."
Molec offered what Ahsoka thought was meant to be a comforting smile, "Your brothers are dead, sweet thing. I'm all you have left."
"Molec!" Ahsoka tried, hoping he would stop taunting this girl, but the damage was already done.
"No, no," Luna struggled in the guards' grip, tossing her body from side to side, "They can't be! You're lying!"
"I'm afraid they are," Molec almost appeared apologetic, though Ahsoka could see through his poorly disguised sympathy. He was just trying to get under the girl's skin, and manipulate her thoughts. He was probably bluffing about her siblings being dead.
Luna was now crying softly, tears streaming down her navy facial markings. Ahsoka wondered how old she was. She clearly had been with her brothers when she was captured.
Was she even old enough to fully understand how men like Molec viewed young, female Togrutas?
"Tell me, Luna, have you ever heard of the acclaimed Jedi?"
Ahsoka stared at the Zygerrian. She could already tell what he was trying to do, even without access to the Force.
The girl shook her head, still stunned from learning that her brothers were dead. "Only in stories, Master."
Molec looked back at Ahsoka, grinning to himself, "They call themselves peacekeepers. They claim to help people." Putting out a hand, he rested it in the valley of Luna's montrals. "Blue is a Jedi herself. Would you like her to help you?"
Luna looked at Ahsoka, desperation ingrained in her expression. "Please."
Molec chuckled, stepping back and letting his hand fall.
"Go ahead, Blue. Help her."
Ahsoka hated this. He was trying to make a mockery of her. Of course, Ahsoka couldn't do anything whilst she was cuffed and held back by Caelum, her lightsabers Force-knows-where and otherwise completely defenceless.
Molec wanted her to accept that she was helpless.
She couldn't save others, and she couldn't save herself.
He was trying to break her spirit.
Her inability to do anything only made Ahsoka feel angry. She tried to calm down, knowing that Molec was trying to get a reaction from her. He was watching her with amusement.
Her eyes landed on Luna, and the drying tears on her face. This girl didn't deserve to be separated from her family and brought here. She hadn't done anything wrong; it was all so unfair.
Calm down, Tano. Think it through,
Taking deep breaths, Ahsoka remembered an important lesson from the Temple.
Jedi were trained to use lightsabers and the Force in combat. They were trained to negotiate and keep the peace. But the most important thing they learned was how to calm their minds.
Ahsoka had never enjoyed meditation. She was too restless, unable to sit still like Master Plo could for hours on end. Anakin shared her disinterest in meditation, but even he insisted that they tried to fit in a few sessions whilst in the field.
It kept her grounded, she felt safe when she sat opposite Anakin and sunk into the Force. It was a respite, albeit brief, from the terrors and uncertainness of a battlefield.
If it could help her in dark and dirty trenches, then it might be able to help here as well.
"Luna," Ahsoka looked at the girl, practicing the same expression the crèche Masters would wear when they calmed Jedi younglings during thunderstorms. "I know you're afraid, but listen to me."
The girl nodded, and Molec fully turned to Ahsoka, also eager to hear what she would say.
"I won't lie to you; I can't guarantee your safety here." She began, "You have to release your fear, you can't allow it to control you. You have to be brave. You have to accept that the only thing you have complete power over is your own actions. You can't control others."
Molec scoffed, "This is pathetic. I can control others."
Luna's eyes shifted to the Zygerrian, and Ahsoka called to her, "Look at me, okay? I need you to try to take slow breaths. Think about the waterfalls on Kiros, how the water cascades and flows, always in motion. Imagine you're there, standing underneath them. Let the water wash away your fear."
It was a trick Anakin had taught her a while ago when panic attacks used to spring up on her. He would take her aside and guide her with gentle words, asking her to imagine the Force physically pulling away her anxiety and doubts.
After a while, Ahsoka tried the same technique on the clones who struggled the most after battles. Even Rex accepted her help with the meditation exercise after Umbara.
It hadn't healed his mental wounds, but it alleviated the endless feeling of dread and fear that Krell had conjured into her loyal Captain. She'd caught Rex meditating on his own a few times since then.
"Tell me about the waterfalls," Ahsoka prompted once it appeared that some of the anxiety had lifted from Luna's shoulders. "What are they like?"
"T-The water is crystal clear," Luna said in a shaky voice, still weary of Molec who watched from a distance. The Zygerrian was otherwise quiet. "It's not cold, but it's refreshing, especially on a hot day."
She took a deep breath, hesitating. Ahsoka gave her an encouraging nod, "Do you swim in the water?"
She used the present tense, wanting to reassure both herself and Luna that the girl would return to her home planet someday, hopefully sooner rather than later.
"Every day," Luna said, and Ahsoka felt immense relief that she was able to open up a bit. Her strategy of getting the girl to calm down was working. "With my brothers."
That brought a smile to Ahsoka's lips, "Older or younger?"
Across the room, Molec uncrossed his arms. He was slowly realising that his plan had one major flaw.
He never anticipated that Ahsoka would find a way to help Luna, even whilst being restrained.
The joke was on him.
"Older," Luna cocked her head, "Do you have brothers?"
"Many," Ahsoka thought about the clones, about how worried they must be. The mission to Zygerria was classified, not even Rex could tell them about it. "They don't like to swim, even though they came from an ocean planet."
"Oh," in her peripheral, Ahsoka could tell that Molec was becoming angrier with every word passed between them. He was becoming agitated because she had managed to outsmart him. "What do they like to do?"
"They wrestle each other," Ahsoka said, "And play cards, and help me with my studies. They're very protective. There would be no stopping them if they found out that I was here."
"Enough." Molec stepped forward, blocking Luna from Ahsoka's view.
"What's wrong, Prime Minister?" Ahsoka mocked him, "You gave me an instruction and I followed it. Or maybe does the thought of the Grand Army of the Republic coming to tear down your Empire make you feel a bit frightened?"
Molec looked infuriated, his hands curling into fists. Ahsoka tilted her chin up, prepared for any slap or hit he threw in her direction- she could take it.
Instead, Molec turned to Luna, and kicked her stomach with all his strength.
Blinding anger shot through Ahsoka as the girl let out a sharp cry, doubling over from the pain. Ahsoka shook herself in Caelum's grip, fire bursting in her skin when the woman dug her nails in.
Molec glanced at Ahsoka, chuckling at her struggle to break free. Luna looked stunned, the guards letting go of her arms as she slumped onto the floor. She was too weak to try to fight.
"Pitiful Jedi," he purred. "You are not failing to disappoint, little skug."
"You can do whatever you like to me!" Ahsoka shouted, previous smugness forgotten. "You had no reason to harm her!"
Deep down, she knew that her anger was getting the better of her. It wasn't the Jedi way to lose control of her emotions like this, but how could Ahsoka stand by and watch a display of injustice like this?
Molec looked down at Luna who was struggling to breathe through the pain. He laughed, kicking at her stomach again. The girl cried out, tears bleeding down her face.
"Molec, stop!" Ahsoka shouted, though her words fell on death ears.
She thought she had outsmarted the Zygerrian, she hadn't expected him to turn that rage to Luna.
He would always find a way to win.
"Please, stop!" Luna sobbed, clutching around her middle, "Please, Master!"
Ahsoka had seen enough.
She refused to stand by whilst Molec abused this girl. Anakin wouldn't permit it, and neither could she.
She allowed her body to go slack, dropping straight of Caelum's grip. She took the woman's legs out from underneath her and was lunging for Molec before the Twi'lek hit the floor.
Baring her teeth, Ahsoka leaped to attack the slaver. Instead of the terror that she expected to see in his eyes, Molec only looked amused as he lifted his vambrace.
Before Ahsoka could reach him, her shock collar was activated.