Ahsoka stood calmly next to her friend and Queen while observing the meeting going on in front of her. They were now on their way to Coruscant and currently in hyperspace. Queen Korić had arrived very quickly after her transmission was received and they had soon met up with the other leaders of planets in the system. They figured since they had time, they may as well address any concerns they had over the upcoming meeting with the Chancellor of the Republic. Currently, one of the bigger issues was just how involved they wanted to be in the war. They did not want to be dragged in to something and be taken advantage of by greedy politicians.
"I am still uncertain of this proposed offer. It could be far too dangerous for us to become a target and have to worry about all of our planets being invaded."
The biggest opponent of all this was King Oshen of Kherra. He had agreed to go to the meeting, but was not willing to endanger any of his people. The way he saw it, joining the Republic was not worth risking the lives of thousands, if not millions of people.
"While I agree with your statement, the Separatists have already shown that they will do anything to gain more control over any systems they deem necessary to their cause. If we were not involved in the war and they invaded my planet, what is there to lose if we join the Republic?"
Queen Korić was the least reserved out of them all. While she was still on the fence about joining, more protection in her mind was quite alluring. If the CIS were to reappear, they could have more reinforcements than the small invasion they presented the first time. While Anakin had shown to be very powerful, could he possibly deal with an entire army?
Ahsoka watched as Sakina seemed to be just observing. She knew her friend like to gain information and read between the lines before making an important decision. It seemed she was in another one of these situations as while she was listening intently, she had very little input so far.
Her attention was turned back as King Oshen began to raise his voice.
"Then we would be instigating them! They would take it as retaliation and would be more intent on sending more droids to our system! I do not want my people dead because we decided to put them in harms way."
At this, Sakina had finally decided to say something.
"I think we are beginning to drift away from the real issue here."
All eyes turned to her as she calmly spoke.
"We do not know these people. None of us have had any interaction with any of the Senators that are apart of the Republic. What we need to know is how truthful these people are and if we can trust them."
That had seemed to catch the attention of everyone in the room. The most important thing in all of this is being able to trust that people can be accountable for what they say and to be truthful. Everyone else had been so focused on whether they would join or not, they forgot about if they could even trust the Republic.
Sakina turned to Ahsoka and this caused the Togruta to stand a bit taller.
"Ahsoka, you and Anakin are the only ones that have any experience with these people. Since Anakin is not here, you are the only one that has any sort of insight on how much we can trust these people."
Ahsoka looked around as all eyes were on her. She felt a tad bit nervous as they watched her intently waiting for an answer. She pushed this aside however, as she knew that her nerves were nowhere near as important as to the fate of their decision.
"Like any form of government, there are greedy Senators who are only concerned with themselves. However, there are quite a few that want to help the Republic and would rather discus things peacefully rather than be confrontational."
She took a quick glance over towards her friend, before continuing with her insight.
"One Senator who had always pushed for peace talks rather than fighting this war was Senator Amidala of Naboo."
She could feel the slightest bit of resentment coming from Sakina, but knew it was purely from the hurt that Anakin had suffered. She knew that Sakina would never wish anything hurtful on anyone, rather it was this woman had caused her beloved to have his heart broken.
"She is apart of the Delegation of 2000 and their goal was to find a way for the war to come to an end peacefully and there be a way to allow the systems that defected from the Republic to be allowed back in diplomatically."
At this, Queen Vermalen spoke up.
"Do you think she will be involved in the negotiations?"
Ahsoka turned towards her and nodded.
"I believe so. Palpatine will know that in order for us to join, he will have to present a very compelling argument. Since they are from the same planet, it wouldn't be too far fetched to think that he trusts her to find a way to get us to agree to joining the Republic."
She watched as all of the leaders processed this. They seemed to take her words very seriously which she was appreciative of. For a moment, she thought back to how different this was to her time in the Order. While she was with the Jedi, she had felt like she was never listened to other than Anakin. Here, she felt like what she said was taken seriously and her insight was very important.
"And what about Palpatine?"
She snapped her attention quickly back to the Queen from Ishla. Again, all eyes were on her and the nervousness reappeared. This time though, it was about how she felt about the Chancellor. Even though she knew Anakin had at least some trust in him, but this was also the man who was very close to having her executed for a crime she didn't commit. It took Anakin coming in at the very last second to come to her rescue for her to be spared.
"I know that Anakin has trust in him. He had always viewed him as a father figure of sorts and has a very close relationship with him. I'm not sure if it's changed since he left the Order, but Anakin had spoken highly of him. However, there are a few questionable things about him that the Jedi and a few Senators have voiced before."
King Oshen began to lean in as this caught his interest.
"Such as?"
Ahsoka took a breath as she knew this could be a deal breaker. While she wanted to help in keeping the system safe, she knew that it would be asinine to throw all of their trust in a man that had some red flags.
"He has been in office longer than his term has allowed him to be and a worry of the Jedi was if he would willingly step aside once the war was over. A number of Jedi and Senators had spoken about whether or not his decisions regarding the war was actually beneficial to the Republic or just a way to keep him in office longer. They were beginning to question if he was prolonging the war just to do this."
The room was eerily silent as she finished, everyone processing what she just said. She could sense much hesitancy now and it was warranted. It would, however, been wrong for her to not be truthful with the people who were trying to protect their people, especially Sakina. To hide this information to the woman that brought happiness to not only her, but to Anakin as well, would not have been right.
"Do you believe this to be true?"
She turned to her friend and was met with an intense stare. It made her realize just how important she had become in their decision. Since Anakin was not here, her word was the only thing they could go on. She thought Anakin would say that they would be able to trust the Chancellor, but she herself was uncertain.
"To be truthful, I'm not for certain if what the Jedi have said to be factual. There is no evidence to back up their statement, however that doesn't mean we should throw blind faith in him. He could very well be tying up any loose ends to keep his clean reputation to the public eye."
The room was quiet as the words from Ahsoka were being processed. She sensed that they had become pensive now, becoming more cautious as with their decision. Before anymore words could be spoken, one of the guards came in to the room.
"Milday, we have reached Coruscant and are coming out of hyperspace."
Sakina nodded to him and proceeded to stand.
"We have many things to take into consideration now. Once we decide if they can be trusted, we can make our decision. We should go into this being cautious, but open to what they have to say."
She was meet with words of agreement from the other leaders. As Queen Korić excused herself to make her com call to the Chancellor, Sakina turned to Ahsoka with a comforting smile on her face.
"Thank you for being honest with us Ahsoka. I know I put you in a difficult situation and I apologize for that. We are just trying to gather as much information so we don't go into this blindly."
Ahsoka smiled at her and shook her head.
"It's no problem, Milady. It's actually nice to have people listen to what you have to say and take it seriously."
The Queen placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. They gave one more smile to each other before making their way to the into the main hall of the ship waiting to meet with the Chancellor.
"Thank you for notifying me, Milady. We will be waiting for you at the Senate building for your arrival."
The image of the blonde woman cut out and Palpatine turned towards Mas Amedda who was standing outside the entrance of his office.
"Contact the Senators and Jedi and let them know our guests have arrived. Tell them to gather the welcoming party and meet us outside the entrance. I will be waiting for them there."
He was met with a bow before the Chagrian made his exit. Palpatine smirked to himself as he made his way out flanked by his security guards. He would have to play this carefully as he could sense the hesitancy from the Queen. However, it will be no issue. He had been here before and had easily manipulated other leaders into joining or staying with the Republic. One more case would be no problem for the Sith Master.
Obi-Wan stood next to his fellow Jedi Masters that volunteered to be apart of the welcoming committee. He wasn't sure why the Chancellor was so adamant on having such a grand gesture be presented to these guests, but if it got him away from the Temple, he was fine with it. His thoughts continued to stray to Anakin every time he was there. Whether it be coming back from a mission, on his way to eat, meditating in his room; his thoughts always wandered to his former Padawan.
He took a quick glance to his left and saw Padmé a few feet away. They made eye contact and she gave him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. He returned it and could feel that she felt the same, if not worse still. He couldn't blame her. Although Anakin was his brother, the Senator from Naboo shared a deeper bond with Anakin than he could ever imagine. To lose someone you held so dear over a miscommunication had to feel miserable. And to not hear from that person since then was utterly heartbreaking. He turned his eyes towards the skies as a ship was making its way closer and closer to the building they were standing outside of.
"Ah, here they come now."
Everyone there was now waiting as the ship slowly landed on the landing pad a few meters away from the small crowd. Obi-Wan watched as the Chancellor stepped forward, flanked by his Royal Guard and the ramp descended for the guests to make their way down. The first person he saw was a beautiful blonde woman next to a tall dark skinned male making their way towards the Chancellor.
"Milady, it's so good to see you have arrived here safely. I hope your planet has not received too much damage from this invasion."
The blonde woman curtsied as she stopped in front of the Chancellor.
"Thank you, Chancellor. Thankfully, not much harm has come to my planet. The Army from Imara was very helpful in fighting off the Separatists."
Obi-Wan glanced back up as he watched possibly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen making her way down the ramp next. She had a smile on her face as she seemed to be sharing a laugh with the Togruta next to her.
Wait a second.
His eyes widened as he watched the very familiar Togruta make her way down the ramp next to the woman. When she faced forwards with a small grin on her face, Obi-Wan felt his heart stop.
It can't be.
Sure enough it was. Ahsoka Tano was only a few meters in front of him. It had been almost three years since he had last seen her and it was evident she had changed. She had grown and matured and her face looked peaceful. He hadn't seen that look on her face the whole time she was Anakin's Padawan.
He glanced over to Padmé to see she was in the same state of shock that he was in. He could feel the confusion from not only her, but the Jedi Masters next to him as well. He turned to see the typically blank Windu with widened eyes. Yoda was calm on the outside, but Obi-Wan could feel the Grand Master was shocked by this. Master Ti and Plo Koon were the more expressive ones out of the group as the older Togruta had a slight drop of her jaw and Plo Koon had visibly stiffened. He was snapped back to reality as the Chancellor had addressed the new arrivals.
"Why isn't this a surprise? Ahsoka Tano! How are you my dear?"
Ahsoka bowed slightly as she acknowledged the Chancellor. Giving a smile that was all for appearances she spoke softly to the man.
"I am well, Chancellor. Quite the welcoming you've put together."
With a smile plastered to his face, the Chancellor turned with an arm outstretched to said group.
"Well of course my dear. We wanted to show how truly honored we felt in having you all come all the way here to talk about joining the Republic. It's absolutely necessary to let you know how serious we take this."
His attention then was turned back to the group that now had all members present. The blonde queen began to introduce the members to the Chancellor.
"Chancellor, allow me to introduce everyone here. This is King Oshen from Kherra,"
The dark skinned male gave a slight bow to the Chancellor. He didn't appear to be too hostile but Obi-Wan could feel the man was on guard.
"And here is Queen Vermalen from Ishla,"
Obi-Wan watched as he couldn't help but stare at the woman that had not been named yet. There was something about her that was intriguing. She looked the youngest out of them all; probably closer to Anakin in age. He wondered what connection she had with Ahsoka, as it was obvious they were close based off of the way they had stepped of the ship.
"And this is Queen Allamani from Imara. Lady Tano is her personal body guard and will be joining our discussion as well."
The Chancellor stepped forward to speak to the young Queen.
"Milady, I'm sure you know this but you are in good hands. Lady Tano here was trained by one of the best Jedi this galaxy has ever known."
Obi-Wan felt an ache in his chest. He had always known that the Chancellor and Anakin had been close, maybe more so than himself. The thought had bothered him as he wished that he could have been the one Anakin would've gone to when he had a problem or just needed someone to speak with.
The woman gave a polite smile as she spoke.
"Thank you Chancellor. I have heard many stories from her about her time with the Jedi and serving the Republic."
Palpatine gave a brief glance to Ahsoka before turning back to Sakina.
"Well I hope she told all of you how great the Republic is. I couldn't imagine that you would be here if she had said anything different."
She nodded slightly and kept her smile in place. Obi-Wan could tell this wasn't her first time dealing with politicians.
"Her insight has been helpful. It's given us all a better understanding of what we would be walking in to."
Obi-Wan had tuned the rest of the conversation out as his mind had begun to swarm with thoughts. How had Ahsoka been? Had she spoken to Anakin? Does she know where he's at? He desperately wanted to talk to her to see if he could get answers on the issue that had plagued him for a long time.
He could see that the Chancellor was finished with his introduction as he made his way back to the committee and was followed by the new arrivals. He stopped once both parties were now facing each other to introduce those welcoming their guests.
"This woman here is Senator Amidala. She is from Naboo and is one of the smartest women in the Republic. She had been the Queen while I was Senator of the planet and had taken the seat in the Senate after her term expired."
Obi-Wan watched as she welcomed the guests. He could see that her eyes were on Ahsoka and knew her thoughts were similar to his. As she finished speaking to the group, she turned to Ahsoka to address her specifically.
"I'm glad to see you are safe Ahsoka. Many of us had worried about you since you left."
Ahsoka gave her a slight nod and a small smile before speaking.
"Thank you, Senator. I've been welcomed by these great people since my time on Imara. My Queen has taken great care of me."
The look shared between Ahsoka and Queen Allamani did not go unnoticed by Obi-Wan. The more he watched them interact, the more it confirmed to him that the two shared a special bond.
A few more Senators were introduced before Palpatine finally made his way with the group towards the Jedi. Obi-Wan stiffened as Ahsoka stood directly in front of him while Palpatine made his introduction.
"I am proud to present to you the peace keepers of the Republic. The Jedi before you are some of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy."
One by one they were introduced. When Palpatine made the introduction for Obi-Wan, he felt himself stiffen as he spoke.
"Master Kenobi here is one of the most important members of the Order. He is the best diplomat for the Jedi and as Ahsoka will tell you, was the Master to the most powerful Jedi to have served the Republic."
Obi-Wan gave a bow to the group before speaking.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all."
He glanced towards Ahsoka and came face to face with her. He could see the composed look she held, but as he looked into her eyes, he could see the slightest bit of coldness in them.
"It's good to see you again Ahsoka. It has been a long time."
She gave a slight nod to him as she did to Padmé.
"That it has, Master Kenobi. I hope you are well."
They held eye contact as Palpatine ushered those present to make their way inside the building. He watched as she slowly turned away from him and followed Palpatine while she kept pace with the Queen from Imara. Her shields had been up the entire time Palpatine had introduced everyone. He couldn't get a read on her and how she felt and that had hurt. He didn't know if it was specifically him she felt cold towards or if it was the Jedi as a whole. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to center himself. As he opened his eyes, he felt a presence make it way towards him.
"This has been quite the surprise."
He turned towards the voice and saw it to be Padmé. He dipped his head, sighing in contemplation before speaking.
"Yes it has."
He looked back up and followed the group with Padmé. As he made his way inside the building, he couldn't help but think of this was the it or if the surprises were only beginning.