Good day all,

Here is installment #2 of many – this story has begun slowly but soon will begin to truly dig in and gain traction. I have reached out to many of you and have asked for a little piece of yourselves to include here in order to make this story a gift to all, and the first suggestion has now been made official. Chapter One is now entitled "Surprising the Saviors" as suggested by Norik – thank you for the suggestion, my friend.

Please enjoy chapter two my friends, and brace yourselves… after this, the energy changes drastically. Thank you for the feedback and keep it coming!

Happy Writing,

Eliana

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"Really Anakin, you can't just transport an entire fleet to one planet without approval," Obi-Wan reiterated again through the holo-vid, pinching his nose between his thumb and forefinger as he squinted his eyes shut harder.

"We don't need approval when a Jedi is attacked on a planet and Convention lines are broken," Anakin shot back, his blue pixeled form crossing his arms about his chest.

"Ahsoka wasn't attacked, she intervened."

"They attacked a civilian hospital."

"They turned their ship so that the downdraft of their engines impacted the hospital."

"Which is a terror attack!"

"Which is bad flying!"

The slowly escalating sounds of the two arguing through the communicator would have concerned any who weren't familiar with the men, but Donavan's view of Ahsoka told him that she was far from bothered. To be fair, it made her seem at ease. She had found herself a comfortable piece of countertop to lean her weight back against, one arm crossed around her stomach with her hand hooked into her other arm, studying the nails of her raised hand with mock interest. When Eddy had shot her an exasperated look from where he was out of view of the recorder, she had smiled at him before just letting the two go at it. The best translation for that was: "They'll circle back around eventually".

Spirits, she had grown so much since he had last seen her. What was once a spindly and rather ragged young girl was now a regal young woman, so sure of her own presence that she chose to let events play out and save her energy for when it was most needed – that was a far cry from the little Ahsoka he had watched over those years ago. The air that she held now made him so prideful of her…. And by the light in his friend's eyes, Eddy had to agree.

A lull in the banter through the holo-vid had her glancing back up with mock annoyance, blue eyes lit up with mischief. Here was the girl he remembered so well.

"If you two are finally done discussing the finer details of the events, maybe we can move toward some action? This is kind of important."

Obi-Wan and Anakin both looked back to her.

"Ahsoka, tell me again what it is that he said," Obi-Wan requested.

"'Retrieve the youngling'," Ahsoka responded with a dull blip of curiosity.

"You aren't a youngling anymore," Anakin offered, earning him an exasperated glance.

"Duh. But I'm standing in a hospital full of them."

"So, we can clearly establish that Ahsoka wasn't the target of this operation… but we are still at a loss as to who is and why. Who would willing break so many tenants just to draw attention to themselves instead of retrieving who they aimed for in secret?" Obi-Wan's voice wandered with his mind, "What of his companions?"

"They were the strangest part, Master," Ahsoka confessed, not missing the eyes of two of her friends in the room with her staring her down. They were still struggling to comprehend what exactly it was that they had seen, "His henchmen weren't… it's clear to me that they were not prepared. One walked straight up to an armed Jedi with a distance-capable weapon and another couldn't operate a blaster the right way. They were far from efficient mercenaries or bounty hunters, it was more along the lines of street thugs being paid to act tough. It felt like I was fighting furniture."

She heard Eddy's half-snort and bit back her smile. It was so easy to forget that she hadn't seen them all in so very long, and that being so they weren't sure what to expect out of what she had learned. Watching her handle this mess the way she had lit a fire in her old friends that she was more than willing to encourage.

"This IS troubling," the ginger-haired Jedi pondered aloud as he reached up to hold his chin in thought. After a heavy pause he spoke again, "We will contact the senator and the Council and seek direction. We don't want to say that this is a terror attack and respond as such if it was a rogue looking to cause trouble…especially if we still have no idea what they were looking for. I myself wonder if there are any undiscovered Force-sensitive children there that we may not know about…considering the mess that Cad Bane made of the Temple reminds me that we are sought by undesirables."

Tocarra chose then to enter the discussion.

"I may be able to answer that."

She looked to the padawan on the other side of the room and met her eyes, gesturing with one hand to a space next to where Ahsoka stood.

"May we?"

The smile and wave of an orange hand was her answer, prompting both doctors in the room to step into view of the holo-vid. They were greeted with two faces that were lighted in recognition.

"Greetings, old friends," Obi-Wan spoke to them.

"Hey Tocarra, hey Ed," Anakin waved to the two Togruta who returned the gesture, "I'm glad Snips found you."

"Good to see you, Master Jedi," the female doctor greeted with a slight bow to both, "Don is here as well but tends to be a bit camera shy. I believe there is something you must know, although I am not quite sure how this will alter courses going forward."

There was no verbal answer from any of the Jedi that stared her down, and her own eyes bounced from her apprentice to her friend who hung in the shadows, and then, finally, to Ahsoka. They bared their souls to each other unblinkingly and when the older of the two spoke again, she seemed to share the tense warning with only the padawan.

"I need you to understand that what we share with you we only share because we know you are honorable. It cannot go through unofficial channels," her gaze sharpened, "There can be dire consequences if this information gets into the wrong hands. An innocent life could pay the price for that."

Ahsoka gave her the most understanding look that she could, one hand hesitantly reaching out to hold space on the older female's arm.

"Your trust isn't misplaced. You have my word…for what it's worth."

Tocarra seemed satisfied.

"It's worth more than you know, my young friend."

Her attention turned back to the two Jedi formed in the holo-projector, her tone serious.

"Two weeks ago, we discovered that Aarent, Ahsoka, and Djibourdi have a new companion. She has been here with us since and has been doing well – she is a ward of the state, her identity and her condition were dictated to be suppressed by the senator. As you may well remember, the progressive illness that your two padawans had only effects individuals of certain family trees here on Shili… descendants from the first Force users of our people. Our Chosen."

Anakin blinked in confusion.

"Wait, I thought the disease was rare."

"It is exceedingly rare," Eddy clarified quietly, his voice soft as his mind wandered in thought, "Before Ahsoka and… Dji, we had only seen one case in, what would you say 'Cara, fourteen years?"

"About that long, yes."

Obi-Wan finally caught on.

"It only effects Force-sensitives of certain clans," he spoke as it dawned and cleared, "So that means that this new victim –"

"Is of the Jedi."

"How could we have missed a Force-sensitive child?"

"Shili is a vast, roaming world Master Jedi," the doctor told him smoothly, "She is a ward of the state only because her clan surrendered her here to us. If they hadn't had made the journey, NO ONE would know that she exists. Her fate and the life that awaits her after this are not going to be decided by us, only the Senator. But allow me to clarify: he cannot know we gave this information to you… unless you would like to see us all pay for treason."

"I would be remiss if I had missed this detail while going through my debrief assignments – it just so happened that we discovered young… what is her name?" Obi-Wan spoke with false confusion.

"Kachina," the name was supplied by Donavan off screen who had begun to roll a writing tool between his fingers to calm his nerves.

"Of course, how could I miss that detail? We located young Kachina and sought to get her appropriate care before I so clumsily misplaced the file. Anakin's disorganization is beginning to affect me rather severely – it's a shame, really," Obi-Wan finished dramatically, planting his head in his hand for emphasis.

Eddy chuckled at that, and Tocarra gave a slight huff. Anakin wasn't amused.

"She is much younger than our prior patients. She is just under two years old, and she has only just learned to speak and walk on her own. I am, again, not sure that this is who these rather… unsavory characters were here for, but I believe it to be important information for you to have."

"And we do thank you for it. Would you be willing to allow Ahsoka to see her?"

Tocarra chose to turn to her companion who stood next to her, studying his expression before he gave her a short nod. There was something there that changed the mood in the room they stood in, something guarded between the both of them that whispered of tense secrets.

"I see no reason why not. After all, Ahsoka will be about as close to next of kin as we will be able to manage."

"A thousand thanks, doctor. Ahsoka?"

"Yes, Masters?" the padawan spoke for the first time in some while, taking one step forward to stand next to the older female Togruta. Obi-Wan stared at her calmly while her master seemed to stare past her, into some void that she couldn't place. She barely caught Donavan's form slipping from the room on the other side of the table.

"Ahsoka, please see to the youngling and await further instruction from us. We will be in communication as quickly as we are able."

The instructions were clear enough, prompting a shallow bow from the padawan.

"Of course, Master Kenobi."

"May the Force be with you all. We will be in contact."

With that they were gone, the call over and the lights in the room resetting themselves to their normal level. Ahsoka's eyes protested at the change, and she rubbed at them for a moment before refocusing on her two older friends who had finally broken their staring match and looked back to her. Their emotions were all over the place, the padawan noted as she felt her own realization ricochet from one extreme to the next while trying to read them… within both was a deep turmoil, but there was so much reminiscent pain from one that she found herself having to latch onto the Force for support. This was a confusing response to the conversation they had just had. She struggled to understand.

"We apologize for not mentioning earlier, Ahsoka," Tocarra told her, hands coming to lightly clasp in front of her, "We have to do what is necessary to protect those that need it."

"You don't owe me apologies for anything. I… am hoping that this youngling isn't going through what I did."

The doctor's smile was warm as she steered the padawan from the room and down the familiar, memory-laden hallway. Force, Ahsoka remembered this exact hall. The sound of her steps, the younglings playing in the common area, the traveling of the halls as she struggled to regain her ability to move on her own again. She could see the images of her younger self and her companions here, their conversations echoing through her mind as she strode past the room that she and her friend had called 'home' for what felt like endless weeks. Eddy was trailing silently behind them with his mind lost in thought… perhaps, she wondered, seeing the same things she was.

"Kachina hasn't had nearly the fight you both did," the woman next to her explained, "She has form one and has responded well to what we have done. Given the data from when you were infected, we've been able to make more targeted treatments, and thankfully the spirits have smiled upon her. You will see when you meet her."

The trio took the right-hand turn of the hallway and moved down the corridor, slowing and walking through the third room. Its walls were a happy collage of trees and animals, accented by colorful rainbows and blue skies that danced joyfully across the expanse of the ceiling. In a rocking chair by the large window was Donavan (so THIS is where he had headed off to), in his arms a bundle of blankets and a couple of wires. He greeted them all with a smile, nudging the bundle he held until it gave a response – a low set of clicks and a squeaked yawn met Ahsoka's montrals, and her eyes lit up when the older moved the blanket off of the small white and lavender striped lekku and now-awake ash colored face. She made a noise she couldn't even place – she silently thanked the Force that Anakin didn't hear that.

"Awww she's just a baby!" she cooed to the curious hazel eyes that blinked blearily at her.

"She's a toddler, Ahsoka," Tocarra corrected with a slight chuckle, "not a baby."

"She's just a baby."

That answer was determined and made as a short statement, marked by a finalizing nod. The toddler babbled to her around one clenched fist that seemed to be the object of her chewing, and then, much to Ahsoka's joy, the hand reached out to her. Ahsoka offered her a finger to hold that was accepted, and then the other tiny hand left Don's shirt to reach out to her.

"I believe she would like you to hold her," Don told her, moving to stand, "Here, sit. I will give her to you."

The padawan obeyed, carefully retrieving and navigating the pile of blankets and flesh to rest against her chest as those hazel eyes blinked curiously at her. They seemed to recognize someone who the youngling had never met before and before her new guardian could say much more, her cold face was curled into Ahsoka's lekku and one hand fisted into her top. The tired head rested on the padwan's shoulder and she went back to sleep, only a soft babble leaving the ashen lips before she was silent. Ahsoka set wide eyes on the adults.

"…I don't think I'm ever leaving this chair."

They all laughed. Don rested a loving hand between her montrals with a warm look for a moment before he retreated out of the room with Tocarra not far behind, determined to return to work to check on her current patients. Warm cerulean eyes watched her remaining friend retrieve a chair from the bedside and bring it closer to her, sitting so that they were diagonal from one another. He reached out to lightly stroke the tiny lekku of the infant Ahsoka held, the familiar vibrations from his montrals making her eyes sting with emotional tears. She had missed this comfort… She had missed this man. He met her pained look with loving eyes.

"I know this is not the Jedi way… but I have missed you, Ahsoka," he whispered to her. She struggled to not let those stubborn emotions show as she came to terms with them and released them on their way.

"I've missed you too, Eddy."

The words were worn and tired, her voice so desperately wanting to tell him every misadventure she had endured, every trial she had fought through…all of those things that she never would have been able to do if not for him. If not for Tocarra, if not for Donavan. If not for… suddenly, she understood the agony he hid deep behind the wall.

"I know he misses you, too," she told him, one hand beginning to rub the back on the infant who slept against her.

The sapphire irises looking back to her darkened, the purple stripes through his lekku dulling as his emotions saddened. There was a part of her that regretted her inability to dull that pain, an inability to have answers to the things that tortured this pure soul. The other part of her was angry at how unfair it all was, how hard it was from the outside to see teenagers her age on the frontlines of a war and having nothing to go off of to tell if they were alive or gone – there was hardly anything fair about loving someone who was not allowed to love you back without being shunned. There was nothing fair about watching the holo-net news and seeing those scenes of slaughter and death, waiting for the rolling banner of names that spelled out the casualties to finally hold the name of the ones you were desperate to hear from. There was nothing fair about knowing you had been ready to sacrifice everything…only to suddenly have nothing.

Just as quickly as the shadow had taken over his eyes it was gone, replaced with the glow of adoration that coated her in its warmth.

"I don't doubt it. This one here," he nudged the snoozing bundle in her arms, "has given me more than enough to keep up with. She's ready to be off the treatment soon, given her progress."

If that information came as a surprise, his younger companion didn't show it. She would allow him the change in subject for now.

"She certainly feels warmer than we were…. Is she like us?"

Eddy drew a proverbial blank. That was a loaded question.

Did the youngling have the same illness? Yes.

Was she a Force-sensitive? Obviously.

It finally dawned on him what she was asking, and his answer was a negative.

"No, my dear. You both are descendant from the same ancestor, this little one is of another…. So distantly, I suppose."

Kachina gave a hiccup under her cocoon, her head raising enough to turn and eye the doctor who tapped her nose. Briefly the toddler jumped when Ahsoka's communicator rang out from her belt, not protesting as the teenager maneuvered her exhausted body around to retrieve the ringing disc and hold it in front of her. It activated with a press of her finger, Obi-Wan's figure appearing in blue light.

"Master Kenobi," she greeted, shifting the mild weight of Kachina in her arms.

"Ahsoka, is anyone there with you?"

"Eddy is," Ahsoka supplied, turning the device slightly to pick up her companion who had moved to crouch next to her.

"Ah, perfect! Listen carefully please, both of you. This youngling is now under the protection of the Jedi Council while we await more information. The Senator has declared a state of emergency following Ahsoka's… encounter, we shall say, and has granted us guardianship until it is resolved. Apparently there have been similar instances throughout the planet as of late, but fortunately no casualties."

That was odd.

"No casualties, Master? That doesn't make any sense."

"We agree, which is why the Council has decided to intervene on behalf of this youngling until the situation rectifies itself. My old friend," he drew the doctor's attention, "can this little one travel?"

"Given the circumstances I see no reason why not… I would prefer her not to but if it's called for, I don't see why it would be any more dangerous than her staying here. She isn't in any real medical danger anymore, she just needs some support."

"The Senator is sending an evacuation squad to your area soon to begin transporting patients and workers to a safer location – it will be three rotations until they arrive and a few more before the operation is complete."

"It's that serious?"

"It is, I'm afraid," the knight spoke to him as he crossed his arms, his shoulders tense. Ahsoka knew that look. He wasn't being entirely truthful and, had it been any other circumstance, she would have gladly called him on it. The look on her face must have betrayed her desire to remain neutral because she was fixed with a warning glance before the knight continued, "The Senator requests an ambassador from Shili accompany the youngling until this mess is cleared up. Please discuss amongst yourselves who would be best suited for this – Ahsoka, we will be sending someone to retrieve you, the ambassador, and Kachina post haste… the closest contact we have is a rotation away. Until the time that they arrive, protect the youngling. We cannot risk any harm coming to civilians in a situation that does not warrant the presence of the Republic."

"I understand, Master Kenobi."

"I am sure you do. May the Force be with you."

With that the conversation was over, the communicator lowered down to Ahsoka's side so that she could adjust the toddler that rested against her, soothing the weary noise that escaped the little montrals. Eddy took a steadying breath from behind her as he readjusted himself to sit back in the chair he had dragged over earlier, hunching over to rest his lower arms on his bent knees. After a long moment he chuckled dryly, looking to the padawan with mirth.

"Alright, Imma ask the dumb question."

Ahsoka tilted her head in an indication to continue.

"If you came here in a ship, why don't they want you to just high-tail it right now with her and me? Avoid this whole mess?"

"…That's not a dumb question. That's an observation," she told him flatly, finding the now bewildered look on his face downright comical. She had forgotten that he wasn't aware that she had finally learned the difference a year or so ago. Thoughtfully she let her body lean back, sending the chair into a soothing rocking motion as she fixed her eyes on one of the painted clouds that adorned the ceiling.

How was she going to explain exactly what was going on? Obi-Wan and Anakin both had a way of speaking by not speaking, and trying to break that down to someone who didn't know them was akin to using mara berries to lure an Akul into a trap – highly unlikely to work and with near-guaranteed strained results that had to be stretched and bent to show some form of positive outcome. And, honestly, how did such a harmless trip melt down into chaos so quickly? Why did it always have to be her? She would have honestly loved an answer to that.

Ahsoka gave a thoughtful hum before speaking.

"He isn't saying everything. Master Kenobi may be overly cautious at times, but when it involves people that we are assigned to protect he's very particular with intelligence."

Her eyes wandered to his. The fatigue was starting to win over.

"If he says to stay put and wait for the escort, I'll stay put and wait for the escort. There's good cause."

She settled back, allowing her eyes to drift slowly shut. There was the sound of shuffling before a soft weight fell over her body, and she dug into her energy reserves to fix the doctor who tucked the blanket around her with a withering glare.

"….'m not tired," she protested.

His laugh was music to her montrals, the toddler's weight on her chest and the blanket warming her body combining to lull her quickly to rest.

"Sure you're not."

His words brought a smile to her lips, the Force humming in adoration as she fell into slumber.

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Welcome to my little writing world, Kachina. Such big plans we have for you.

I hope you all are enjoying this so far – onward to the biggest events I have ever written. I appreciate your reviews, they give me the courage to continue. If you enjoy the story, please let me know!

Happy Writing,

Eliana