Ahsoka, chapter 9: The Encounter – part 2

The winds of the sea embraced Sabine and drove ice-cold shivers along her spine. During her fall, she rotated around her axis. The swirling disorientated her so fast that she could not distinguish the blueish grey of the clouded sky from the turmoil of the raging sea anymore.

Within the blink of an eye, mild warmth covered Sabine up, accompanied by silence. Although she was lying on her back with closed eyes, she felt dizzy. Wait, she thought, I am breathing, not drowning! What has happened?, and she opened her eyes.

A hand hovered above her, an invitation to be helped up. She was calm, yet confused. Therefore, she refused the offer. She stood up hastily on her own, feeling the slight warmth radiating from the translucent blue and glassy substance below her, expecting the worst. Expecting a ruse from the man she remembered fighting with, she looked into bright and amused eyes of an old man with a welcoming smile parting his short, white beard. Smaller than she had dueled with and certainly not the same person in his facial features. Sabine focused on the man before her, although she realized that strange white illuminations were around them both, lines and pathways, maybe even galaxies. In addition, her helmet was gone.

The man had retreated his hand and rested both hands on his light earth-colored Jedi clothes now. Yet she had not determined a lightsaber due to his dark brown mantle. Somehow he looked familiar, but Sabine could not place him.

"Who – are you? Should I know you?" Still cautious, meanwhile Sabine tried to move a step backward.

The man broadened his smile. "I guess not according to your reaction." He paused to contemplate and brought his right hand to his chin. "I certainly don't know you."

"I am Sabine Wren." She saw no use in hiding the truth here.

Have I seen that?, Sabine was not sure. For an instant, she probably saw a dark veil clouding his eyes. It vanished directly.

"Aaaah." Again he paused shortly, then added "Nice to meet you, Sabine Wren. You can call me Ben."

Sabine squinted. She hesitated to trust her observations and conflicting feelings. After a moment of thought, she decided to name it and deal with a probable confrontation: "Why do you want to help me, but at the same time, why are you lying about your name?"

His reaction was an honest and hearty laugh. "Your name does not tell me what brings us together."

Sabine tilted her head. "I guess so." Suddenly, some of the illuminated shapes and lines changed into portals, one of them showing herself holding the hilt of the darksaber and Bo-Katarn Kryze walking away from her, declining her offer. She starred unbelievably with rounded eyes and turned to face the one, who had called himself Ben, again.

"Jedi master," Sabine tried, and as he nodded to her in approval, she continued, "where are we?" His facial features gave her no clue if he had also seen it or not.

"This is the place which exists everywhere and nowhere. Its the place of all opportunities in an endless globe of unspecific time. We both should not stay here too long, if we could avoid it."

"Why do we meet?", Sabine contemplated.

"What were you doing right before your arrival?", he questioned in return.

"I was in the middle of a fight, combating a former Jedi," she replied.

"Aaaah." He stroke his short beard. "Tell me more about it, please."

"Why should I?" Sabine found her defiant self again and suddenly it dawned to her. "Though your voice sounds somehow familiar", she stated, more to herself and scrutinized the man before her once more. "Should I know you?" she repeated, supporting herself to spur this line of thought.

As a reply, he scrutinized her and his gaze halted onto her belt, moving from one side where the lightsaber hilt of Baylan Skoll's apprentice called Shin was fastened, to the other side where Ezra's lightsaber hilt was dangling next to her empty blaster holster. The former weapon quite surprised her, because she was not sure if she had lost Ezra's during the fall or not. Hadn't I fastened the woman's one on the other side?, she thought. Distracted, she suddenly remembered something else and her face froze for a second before she could compose herself and speak:

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, that's your name. Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're the one speaking the warnings of that holocron Ezra repeated to play."

"I can't deny, that's me. Or at least someone I used to be at that time."

Sabine tilted her head again. Despite of having a lot of questions, she did not comment on the man's answer, satisfied with the reply for now. Instead she elaborated: "We found a galaxy map of the Unknown Regions in an old temple, which pretty surely contains a hint to the whereabouts of a lost friend of ours, who deliberately took off in a coincidental hyperspace jump to safe his home planet from the Imperial wishes of conquest and the military tactics of Grand Admiral Thrawn years ago. Unfortunately, the map was stolen from us before we could safely read out its data. Our endeavor to get back the map led to said fight on the planet of Seatos."

"Mmh", Kenobi mused, "Please specify 'we'."

"General Hera Syndulla,", Sabine started with and received an acknowledging nod from her listener, "Professor Huyang" and his chin went a tiny bit up to grant full attentiveness, "and my master Ahsoka Tano." He could not hide his eyes widening briefly on the last person's name.

Then she added for clarification: "Ezra is the friend we're looking for. Ezra Bridger."

Kenobi nodded calmly again.

"That could be an option to explain our encounter," Kenobi said, "but I also sense internal struggles that outbalance you. Even small decisions could have a great impact to seduce you into using the dark side. Try to find your peace within the ways of the Force."

"I'll try to keep that in mind." Sabine replied ruefully. "At least you do not doubt me to further pursue the path of a Padawan, do you?"

"I see no reasons why I should at the moment."

At this, Sabine sighed in relief unintentionally and admitted: "Well, I said that I was no Jedi to that former one I mentioned."

"Even in my days what determined a Jedi was not always what the Jedi Council or even the Jedi Code defined." He paused. "But I guess that there's still a long way ahead of you," he added. "You should return now. Be so kind to convey my best wishes to professor Huyang, Ezra and Ahsoka. May the Force be with you all – always."

Before Sabine could compose herself, Kenobi's sudden and final "Are you ready?" reminded Sabine painfully of Huyang and herself in the hospital room. The thought disappeared as soon as she saw the accustomed surroundings of the planet Seatos and its sea again for the blink of an eye. Her body crashed, her lungs collapsed and a heavy weight drew her even deeper, unable to breath in. Darkness expanded her perception into relieving, but spatio-temporal, oblivion.