Chapter 86 - A Pack

Ahsoka looked down at her robe. Growing up, it was the exact robe she would've expected to wear today. But lately, with the Sith in power, it was rare to see any Jedi wear such robes. Even Grandmaster Yoda now regularly dressed in casual shirts and trousers. The old weavers who had worked for the Temple for some five hundred years had been expropriated by the empire, and now made stiff emotionless uniforms for the men who ran the Emperor's killing machines. She had no idea where these robes came from, but she was not expecting Anakin to show up in her suite that morning, carrying them folded under his arm.

"I'm so proud of you," he had said. Tears were in his eyes.

"Oh Master," She had to wipe unbidden tears of her own.

Anakin kissed her cheek, and said, "Go ahead. Get ready. It's not like we're gonna start without you." He teasingly flicked the string of beads she'd only recently begun to wear again, before he left her to get ready.

Ahsoka smoothed out a wrinkle in the fabric she now wore, and took a deep breath. Then she was ready to step outside.


In the olden days…'Gee, that makes me sound old. You have a Padawan about to be knighted later today. Of course you're old.' Ahsoka narrated.

In the olden days, Jedi knighting ceremonies were a lot quieter affairs. You'd have the former Padawan's Master attend, sometimes a former instructor or two with them, and maybe a few other close friends would be there to celebrate with you afterwards, if they weren't on a mission, but the rest of the community largely went about their business as if it were any other day.

That was not what awaited Ahsoka today. They were in one of the largest rooms on the base, except for the Hangar. A stage was set up on the far end, and the Masters from the Jedi Council made a circle on the stage. Though a few were still only there in Holo form, most had made the journey here especially for this. Ahsoka still almost did a double take to see Anakin amongst them.

Leading up to the stage, a walk way was lined with rows of seating where an audience now waited. Nearly everyone who worked for the rebellion, or who was on base today had requested the day off to attend. She saw Bail and Padme sitting near the front of the crowd. Padme held a device in her hand, clearly taking a video to record the event.

None of that should be affecting her today. It was her knighting day. Ahsoka took a few deep breaths and cleared her mind. With clear focused steps she walked up the aisle between the audience members and knelt before the stairs up to the stage.

"Hear the council does, a request to rejoin our ranks," Yoda spoke, his voice amplified by the Force so all could hear. His words were taken and modified from those used over a thousand years ago, when the Jedi last did anything like this. "Speak for her, do any of you?"

Barely a click went by before "Aye," was heard from multiple Council members.

"I trained her from her Padawan-hood, and she has displayed our tenants in all that she does." Anakin recited his line.

"And I have seen said training, and can verify his submission," Obi-Wan jumped in.

"Any nay-sayers among us?" Yoda asked, simply for procedure. When he received none, he spoke again, "Acknowledge we do, Padawan Tano. Rise, you may, and join us here."

Ahsoka stood up and walked up the stairs. It was official, she was now a Jedi again. When she got to the middle of the circle, she bowed.

"Master Skywalker, has your Padawan demonstrated Skill, Courage, Spirit, and Insight, even in the face of great hardship and pain?" Yoda spoke up again.

"Yes, she has exemplified this in all areas of her being." Anakin said.

"Then take the position of honor, you would like?" Yoda offered.

Anakin stood up and he and Yoda switched places in line. The lights turned out and the room became very dark. Then the Jedi Masters standing all around her lit their sabers. It was a surreal experience. The crowd gasped as well.

"We are all Jedi. The Force speaks through us. Through our actions, the Force proclaims itself and what is real. Today we are here to acknowledge what the Force has proclaimed," They all chanted.

Anakin's blue saber came down over her shoulder "By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force." His voice sounded so controlled, so grown up. "I dub thee, Jedi Knight… No wait. That doesn't sound right. Hmmmmm," Ahsoka snuck a peak and noticed a mischievous glint in his eye. "I dub thee, Jedi Master. Master Tano, you may rise."

Ahsoka looked up tentatively. None of the other Masters were calling him out or criticizing him for his ad-lib delivery. They all were smiling. Even Master Yoda. As she stood up, Anakin hugged her, then Obi-Wan squeezed in. Yoda jumped when an applause started and their audience responded.

"Finished, we are not," Yoda said, and things began to quiet down again.


Han watched the Jedi ceremony, sitting next to Luke and Leia. Chewie had been abducted by a group of younglings earlier. It seemed Pink was their favorite color. Han would've engaged a rescue attempt, only the old Wookiee seemed to be enjoying his captors' attempts to braid his hair and snuggle in his fur.

"In the past," Obi-Wan explained. "Padawans would need to come before the Council to endure a set of trials before they were granted knighthood. Today, we leave measures of proving themselves up to the Padawan's Master. Thus, we have two more Padawans to call up. Padawan Organa, Padawan Skywalker, come forward and join us."

Leia looked up in shock. She looked back at both Luke and Han's faces, before she whispered, "You both knew!"

There was nothing to say to that. Indeed, three weeks ago he had been prepared to leave. In fact, he'd even started asking the commanders about jobs in the Midrim. But then Luke came to him with an irrefutable argument. "Come on, at least stay for Leia's knighting. Yoda's been putting her through a trial of sorts, and she could use your support."

And Han couldn't argue with him. He didn't understand much about what Jedi trials were, but from what he saw, Leia had been stressed. She definitely deserved this. He gave her a wink as she turned to walk with Mara up to the stage.

Obi-Wan continued to lead the procession. "Do we vote to induct Mara, Padawan to Master Tano, into the Jedi order?"

"Aye!" Yoda let out loudly. He was echoed by several more quiet ayes from other Counselors around him.

"Very well then. Master Tano, has your Padawan demonstrated Skill, Courage, Spirit, and Insight, even in the face of great hardship and pain?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes, She has." Ahsoka answered.

Obi-Wan turned to Yoda. "Grandmaster?"

"Aye, Passed every trial, she has," Yoda responded proudly.

Obi-Wan nodded, and again the Masters on the stage reorganized themselves. Mara and Leia each knelt and Ahsoka and Yoda stood in front of them. As the room became dark once more, the Jedi on the stage and around the room lit their sabers. Luke beside him lit his saber and held it in front of him. "We are all Jedi. The Force speaks through us. Through our actions, the Force proclaims itself and what is real. Today we are here to acknowledge what the Force has proclaimed."

And then Yoda and Ahsoka lit their own sabers. There was an awe that escaped every Jedi's mouth when they saw her white saber's glow.

Han didn't know why that was. He looked over at Luke, who was staring with his mouth open in shock, and he figured he'd have to ask later, because they were starting.

"By the right of the Council, by the will of the force, dub thee, I do." Yoda spoke the words. "Jedi Knight. Rise, Knight Skywalker."

"...I dub thee Jedi Knight," Ahsoka said her part. "Rise Knight Organa."

As they were rising, everyone let out a cheer. Han grabbed Luke's Lightsaber hand, around his still lit saber, and waved it in the air. A moment later, Luke deactivated his blade and looked at him accusingly. It matched the look Leia was sending him from the stage, but Han didn't regret it for the world. He was so glad he got to see this.


After the procession there was a party, of course, and everyone was gathering around the refreshments and drinks which were being served.

"And that's when Lando dropped the bucket…" Han was standing around with Luke and Leia, when Bail came up to their group. Han's mouth almost dropped, surprised to receive any attention from the politician. Then he remembered Mara, glued to Luke's arm, was the man's daughter, and he figured that was why he was here. He finished his story anyway. "Yeah, we grabbed it and ran. We got away, but squishy goo got all over us. It was a pain to wash out, especially from Chewie's fur."

Their group laughed.

Bail smiled and turned to Han. "Mr. Solo. I was wondering where your friend was? It's as good a time as any to give you my news."

"Oh yeah." Han had completely forgotten about what Mr. Organa had said the day before. He spun his head around, looking for a large pink fuzzy thing. "Chewie. Chewie, there you are."

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

"Yeah, you can come back in a minute. Mr. Organa has something to tell us."

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggg."

"So bring the kid then. Come on!" Han turned and muttered under his breath. "A Wookiee Babysitter."

Chewie carried the little girl over to the group Han had left.

Bail stood there looking up at the Pink wookiee, blinking rapidly for a few seconds. "Oh, Uh, Yeah. I had my men working on a new deal with Christophsis. They are joining the Alliance, and one of the little matters we added was yours." Bail motioned towards Han. They have issued you a Pardon, and the Corporation that paid for the initial warrant agreed to drop all charges. This means that the bounty on you is gone."

Han's eyes opened wide. "Gone," he whispered.

"Yes. This doesn't mean that the Empire will stop hunting you, but they'll have to find another way to do so," Bail added.

"That's great! Now you don't have to leave." Luke summarized.

"But, I'll still likely have a target on my back." Han ignored him.

"Probably. But no more so than anyone else here," Bail said. "The rebellion has dealt with this sort of thing before. It's a good thing you haven't left."

Bail stepped aside to have a word with someone else. Han just stood there and blinked. All his life, it was just him against the world. Then he found Chewbacca and though they were friends, it was still them against the world. Now, this new change was universe-shattering! They've had allies before. They've made special deals with others like Lando, but it was always on a temporary basis. And if things didn't pull through, everyone did go back to that us-vs-them state they knew best. This! This was the biggest deal ever. And there was no going back to us-vs-them. Han didn't know if he could process it.

"So, you're going to stay, right?" Luke asked.

"Of course he's going to stay." Leia filled in.

Han started to shake his head. Chewie growled, "Yraa aaagggghhh. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrg. Graaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhghhhhhh."

Luke smiled, taking the Wookiee's confirmation as fact.

Han just stood there as the Wookiee's words sunk into his brain. "Of course. We are glad to be a part of your pack."

'A Pack. That's what Chewie called me, when we first became friends,' thought Han. '"We're a pack now," he said, "and Packs don't abandon each other when a job's done."' Han liked the sound of that.


Hello everyone,

I hope I surprised you with Leia's Knighting. I think it is logical to have them rely less on the traditional Jedi trials. But at the same time, Yoda is a very old man. Him being a bit traditional, it seems to fit he'd structure his final tests like the trials in many ways. In the last chapter I mentioned Leia was going through a long meditation. I called it her "Mirror Meditation". In Legends, the Trial of the Spirit was known as "Facing the Mirror" and usually involved a deep meditation, supervised by a Master, to face one's inner demons. That's what that was.

I also hope you were surprised by Anakin just skipping the Knight phase altogether for Ahsoka. I had that planned for a while now, and I thought it sounded cute. In my mind they all worked it out ahead of time for him to do that. That's why no one reacted, but poor Ahsoka still remembers how the Council used to be distrusting of Anakin because of Palpatine's manipulations.

Then Han Solo gets a pack. I decided to have Bail miraculously present him with the pardon in that scene, then decided to dig into Han's messy past to show his reaction. Han grew up a street kid, remember. He never had a family before he met Chewie.

For the next chapter, I don't know exactly what I'm going to do, but I can predict there will be a time gap I intend to jump ahead at least a year or two. Listen, I almost didn't publish this chapter today. Fanfiction dot Net has been having an issue with stats again, and we writers have zero ability to see if you've even clicked to view our stories. So I ask that you try to click that button and leave a review. Not just for my story, but for whatever else you read this week. It's been broken since last week, and sitewide as far as I can tell, so we could all use the feedback. Positive reinforcement will get you more chapters, is what I always say. Thanks everyone.