Hello everyone! This is a short story I have written a while ago and since I still need a bit of time to work out the next chapter for my story 'Blinded', I decided to post this in the mean time. The story is already completely written so you can expect weekly updates :)

Also please mind the tags! There will be major character death and no happy ending in this story!

Having said this, I hope you enjoy!


Chapter 1

As younglings, they were told about the exciting adventures of the Jedi Knights and Masters. They saw the universe as a place to be discovered. This illusion began to falter as Ahsoka grew older and was shattered completely when she became Anakin Skywalker's Padawan. Life was not kind. Especially not during the war. In just a few months, Ahsoka learned what loss really meant.

She remembered Anakin's words after one of their first campaigns together. A bloodbath Ahsoka had not forgotten to this day.

Her Master sat down on one of the beds in the small quarters they shared and rubbed a hand down his face, spreading the mud from his gloves over his face.

Ahsoka shifted unsteadily on her feet, watching the scene. "... Perhaps you should wash up, Master," she finally suggested.

Blue eyes sparkled at her before softening. Anakin turned his gaze to the mud clinging to his hands, looking lost. "Yes...yes I should," he muttered absently.

Tilting her head, Ahsoka cautiously stepped closer and sat on the bed opposite him. "Are you all right?"

Her master paused and finally clenched his hand into a fist, sending dirt crumbling to the floor. "I'm fine... It's just - memories."

"What memories?" she asked before she could stop herself.

When Anakin remained silent, she thought she had crossed a line. The room suddenly felt a few degrees colder, even though Ahsoka knew that wasn't possible. "I'm sorr-...," she started but paused as her master suddenly stood up.

"Don't... it's time you knew," he said, removing his gloves and disappearing shortly into the refresher, only to emerge moments later with a now clean face.

He walked over to his desk, opened a drawer and pulled out a piece of flimsi. Then he returned to his seat and held it out to Ahsoka.

Only now did she realize that it was a photograph. A little hesitantly she reached for it, her fingers catching on the already roughened edges. The picture was already relatively old.

It showed Anakin as a Padawan, grinning and obviously holding the camera, and another man with red-brown hair and beard standing a little behind him, looking exasperated.

"This is my master," Anakin explained quietly, eyes locked on the photo in her hands, "Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Ahsoka frowned in confusion. "I thought Master Windu had been your master."

Huffing, he took the picture back. "Master Windu would never have put up with me for so long... He only finished what Obi-Wan couldn't," Anakin swallowed hard and his hand shook a little, "He was like a father to me... taught me everything."

Ahsoka's heart sank. "...What happened?"

"War," Anakin croaked in a hoarse voice, "...a mission on Jabiim. Obi-Wan tried to save some of the men and then got caught in an explosion... the only thing we found of him was his lightsaber."

Anakin looked up and held her gaze. "For a long time, I didn't want to believe he was dead. Searched whole systems for him because- because I felt like he was still out there somewhere."

He dropped his gaze back to the photo. "But the longer I searched, the more I seemed to lose him... then one day our bond broke."

"I'm sorry," she said honestly. She couldn't imagine losing her master that way.

"It's not your fault," Anakin put the photo aside, "Ahsoka, I... I want you to know that I will never give up on you. No matter what happens. I won't let anyone take you from me like they once did with Obi-Wan."

These words came back to her mind as she was shipped together with Rex and the Togruta colonists, enslaved, in a ship to Force knows where.

She could only hope that Anakin would find them, as he had promised. Exhausted, she leaned against Rex's shoulder as far as her electroshock collar would allow.

Kadavo. That was the planet they were taking her to. A slave-processing facility awaited them as they were herded out of the ship, and immediately Ahsoka felt the thick veil of death, pain, and despair that hung over the place.

The overseer, Argus, did not miss the opportunity to show his dominance when they arrived - and had some of the captured Togruta fall to their deaths.

Ahsoka shuddered and averted her eyes as she was thrust forward. Inside the factory, they found the remaining colonists they should have been trying to free. You could see desperation and fatigue written in the eyes of the colonists. Lack of food, days of shoveling ore and the cruelty of the guards had broken them.

One of the guards wordlessly thrust a shovel into their hands and urged them forward until they came to a halt in front of a large pile of rocks.

"Come on, get to work," the man growled, cracking his electric whip to punctuate his point.

Biting her lips in dismay, Ahsoka clutched the shovel - suppressing the urge to attack the guard - and finally gave in, beginning to work. She would not risk the lives of the colonists.

At least they didn't separate Rex and me.

The hot and sulfurous air began to sting in her eyes after only a short time. Ahsoka coughed and propped herself up on her shovel, trying to catch her breath. She would be lying if she said she wasn't exhausted. She hadn't slept since her arrival on Zygerria a few days ago. Her body cried out for rest, but she couldn't - wasn't allowed to - give in.

Hours passed before they were allowed to leave their posts. Ahsoka's knees wanted to buckle and it was only thanks to Rex that she didn't stumble as they were herded toward their sleeping quarters. Their place for the night, which looked more like a warehouse of sorts, offered a similar scenario to the mines themselves. Far too many people had been crowded into a small space and the air just reeked. Ahsoka let her eyes wander over the meter-high shelves that would serve as something like beds for them, momentarily lingering on the dirt and blood that covered the rusty metal. A shrill sound rang out and the slaves who had been in the room earlier scrambled to get out of the shelves and onto their feet.

Those who were not fast enough felt the whip. Ahsoka squeezed her eyes shut as the screams of an older Togruta rang through the room, only to fall silent the next moment.

In the Force, another small light went out.

Detached, she watched as the group shuffled out of the room and the motionless body was left behind. The slaves around them just sidestepped the man and climbed onto the shelves.

"...nder," something reached her ear, "Ahsoka."

A hand landed on her shoulder and she startled, staring directly into Rex's face. The captain looked at her sympathetically and squeezed her shoulder. "Come, we should try to get some rest."

Stunned, Ahsoka let him lead her over to one of the empty bunks and sat down. "...Do you think they'll find us?" she asked after a moment.

"They will," Rex assured her, though even he couldn't quite hide the doubt in his voice, "General Skywalker will come for us."

Ahsoka hummed and let her gaze wander around the room again until it caught on something that made her falter -.

A human. Male as far as Ahsoka could tell from her position.

Unlike the others, he had not retreated to the metal benches, but was crouched against one of the walls, his legs drawn up and his head lowered. Speaking of his head - there was what appeared to be a mask encasing his entire head in black, tight-fitting material. Ahsoka didn't know what it was, but it made her shiver.

"Rex," she whispered, catching the captain's attention, "look."

She pointed her finger shallowly in the man's direction.

Rex frowned, similarly irritated as she. "A human, strange... looks like he's been here a while."

He was probably right about that. "He looks half dead..." murmured Ahsoka back, taking note of the many discolorations, cuts and deformations that adorned the man's emancipated body. "Do you think we should try to talk to him?"

The captain grumbled with little conviction. "I don't know… see how the others seem to be avoiding him? Something's not right... not to mention that thing on his head."

Ahsoka screwed up her face. "I don't think he deserves to be here any more than we do... I want to at least give him a chance."

Rex hissed her name sharply as she finally stood up but she would not be stopped. Carefully, she crept over to the man and crouched down in front of him from a safe distance.

"Hey...," she tried to get his attention, "Can you hear me?"

Sure enough, his head lifted a little. Hunted, reddened eyes blinked at her through the slits in the mask, flicking briefly to the side as if expecting the guards to rush in at the next moment. There was something that almost resembled fear as Ahsoka looked into the blue-gray eyes of her counterpart. Bony fingers, some clearly broken, clutched knees without even the slightest tremor.

For a moment he stared silently towards her before turning away, even though the thick collar around his neck made it visibly difficult for him to turn. "...You should go," he croaked through the mask in a weak, muffled voice, glancing nervously toward the door again.

Ahsoka tilted her head. "Why? ... You look like you could use some help."

Fingers tightened around his knees and Ahsoka winced at the sight. "I'm fine," he lied weakly and dismissively, "...now get out of here."

Just as she was about to argue, the doors actually swung open and four guards rushed in - directly in their direction.

With surprising speed, the stranger leapt to his feet, coming to a stumbling halt when his one leg apparently wouldn't cooperate. More or less steadfastly, he positioned himself between her and the Zygerrians.

"Haven't you learned yet, skug?" sneered the first guard, picking up his electric whip, "You really seem to like it when others have to suffer for you."

"Leave her alone," the man growled back, though little strength remained in his voice, "She's just a kid."

The Zygerrian stepped into the stranger's space, leering. "Then beg, slave."

An oppressive silence had settled on the room as they waited tensely for a response.

Ahsoka's stomach tightened convulsively as the stranger actually lowered himself to his knees and bowed his head. She hated this. Clenching her fists at her side, she fought anger. She wasn't going to help anyone with this.

"Please," the man muttered, "Spare her."

The guard clicked his tongue and glanced at his colleagues before he began to grin. "Please what?"

"...Please," the stranger hesitated briefly, "Master."

"Well done," the Zygerrian chuckled, but then his eyes began to glint darkly, "But not well enough, I'm afraid."

In a gliding motion, he swung the whip - directly in Ahsoka's direction. Only with the support of the Force did the Padawan miraculously avoid the bite of the torture instrument.

As if in slow motion, she watched the stranger pick himself up again - to finally throw himself with his entire weight against the guard before he could attack Ahsoka again. Both went down with a crash, and the remaining Zygerrians wasted no time in dragging the man off their colleague.

It was not a fair fight. Armed with batons, they hit the man's body until he finally let go of the guard and they were able to drag him to the ground. But they didn't stop there.

They punched. And punched. And all the while, the stranger did nothing but wince in pain.

Ahsoka wanted to intervene, but suddenly there were arms around her body. Rex, she realized a moment later. His strong grip held her back as tears welled up in her eyes.

This was her fault. All of it.

The air reeked of iron and excrement. She felt sick to her stomach.

The guard with the whip finally got up from the floor as well, wiping blood from his face. Anger was written all over his face. He seemed to have completely forgotten about Ahsoka and Rex's presence as his only focus was on the man lying on the ground.

With a roar, he delivered another kick to his head, eliciting a choking sound from his victim.

"Take him," he spat, "Apparently he needs another lesson."

The other three guards grabbed the man's legs and arms and lifted him up roughly.

That was the moment the stranger made a sound. His scream made Ahsoka's blood run cold as she watched the guards mercilessly drag him away.

"N-," Ahsoka continued, but Rex clamped a hand over her mouth, effectively silencing her.

"Don't," he breathed softly beside her ear as he held her close, "There's nothing we can do."

Through tears, she watched the man raise his head a little more before they dragged him out the door.

Blue gentle eyes fixed her and it was as if they wanted to tell her it was okay. It's not your fault, it seemed to echo in her head.

Ahsoka didn't believe a word.

Then his eyes wandered to Rex and his eyes seemed to widen as if he recognized - Rex?

With a slam, the doors were closed again and it was dead silent once more. Only the trail of blood that now graced the floor gave an indication of what had happened.

Rex took his hand from her mouth again and gently brushed the tears from her cheek. He offered her nothing, no comfort, no It's not your fault.

There was no light in this force-forsaken place.

"... Did you see the look on his face?" she finally sniffled, still trying to collect herself.

The captain finally let go of her and turned her to face him so they could look at each other. His brown eyes were filled with concern. "What do you mean?"

"It seemed...," maybe it was silly, a trick of her brain, "It seemed like he recognized you, Rex."