Later, as Obi-wan walked through the halls of the jedi temple, he spotted Barris alone. "Barris!" he called, "Mind if I speak with you for a moment?! I'd like to thank you for safely apprehending Ahsoka. It must have been hard to turn in your friend."
She barely made eye-contact when she said, "Yes, it was, but thank you for your acknowledgement, Master Kenobi. Shouldn't you be resting? You were hit pretty hard in the explosion."
"I'm feeling much better now," he replied, "but I thank you for your concern. I will say, Barris, I am impressed at how quickly you managed to track Ahsoka down. I'd love to hear your report on that. How did you manage to catch up to her so soon after she escaped her cell?"
Nervous, Barris said, "Oh, I followed the trail of micro droids on my own accord, and she just so happened to be there. I didn't expect to find her there at all."
Obi-wan asked, "Really? How did you figure out what loading platform they'd be on?"
Getting more anxious, she answered, "It was a guess. I tried a few others first."
"Where?"
She hesitated, "Well, why does that matter now? I found her, didn't I? I'm still surprised Ahsoka and Anakin are the ones who tried to kill us all. You're on the council, you heard their charges. To thing the chosen one would want everyone dead."
He explained, "I think it's very convenient you found her after the clones lost track of her on all surveillance cameras throughout Coruscant. If I remember the cruise correctly, I saw you practically clinging onto Luminara in the master's gathering space aboard the cruise liner despite her telling you that you could go to the padawan area whenever you wanted."
"So?" she asked, "She's my master. It isn't as though the master's gathering area was off limits to padawans."
"It seemed to me that you wanted to make sure she remained in a certain area in the room," he continued, unwavering at her attempts to get away from him, "and I thought it was odd that you stayed so close to her despite having friends in the lower decks. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but now I'm sensing the same malice and anger I did aboard."
Barris jumped backwards away from him and revealed her lightsaber. Obi-wan brought out his and the fight was on.
Meanwhile, at the same time that was happening, the tribunal for Ahsoka was about to start. She was brought up to face the council first in handcuffs. And they were not happy to see her.
"Padawan Ahsoka Tano," Yoda said, "serious charges have been brought against you. How plead you?"
"Not guilty, Master!" she insisted.
Ki Adi said, "Yet you broke out of your holding cell and ran away from those attempting to apprehend you, only to show up on the exact shipping platform where the original micro droids were obtained. How did you know they would be there?"
She answered, "I came in contact with a criminal I'd met before when my lightsaber was stolen. I suspected he might know where the micro droids came from, and he did."
Plo Koon asked, "Before the explosion, why did you leave the padawan gathering area?"
"I searched for my master to tell him I sensed someone's anger and malice through the force," she answered, "that's when I chased him down the hallways of the ship. We only got into an argument because I unknowingly called him a slur. I apologized right after and told him what I sensed but it was too late."
Mace asked, "Why didn't you head directly to the master's gathering area and alert someone of higher authority?"
She explained, "I didn't know there was going to be an attack on us! All I sensed was anger. I thought Master Skywalker would be able to help me sort my feelings before jumping to conclusions." She paused. "You've already made up your mind about me haven't you? This meeting is just a formality!"
Mace said, "It is the council's opinion that padawan Ahsoka Tano has committed sedition against the jedi and therefore against the republic, and thus she will be expelled from the jedi order."
She gasped at hearing that and stayed still for a guard to rip off her padawan beads.
Through the walls, awaiting his turn, Anakin sensed overwhelming shock and frustration from Ahsoka. He turned to his guards. "What's going on in there?! Tell me!"
"Ahsoka Tano has been officially banned from the order," his guard answered.
"What?!" Anakin shouted, "They can't do that to her! She's innocent!" He tried to lunge forward but they barred him with their lightsaber staffs.
Just when Anakin was about to force his way in, bound or otherwise, Obi-wan came running up behind him, dragging Barris in cuffs behind him. "Wait," he called, out of breath and clearly still injured, "tell the council I found the real culprit! Open the doors at once!"
The guards did as he said, and he quickly pushed Barris inside to face justice. Anakin tried to follow, but they barred him from entering. "Let me in!" he demanded, "I need to hear what he discovered!"
"Let him in," Obi-wan said, pushing toward the council, "councilmembers wait! I've discovered the identity of the one who was behind the attack." He motioned for them to move the platforms and floors down. "Barris Offee!"
Now it was the councilmember's turn to be surprised.
Yoda asked, "The truth, this is?"
"Explain yourself now, Barris," Obi-wan said as the platform raised her up toward the council members.
"I bombed the cruiser and tried to kill as many jedi masters as I could because I've come to realize the jedi order only believes in violence," she confessed, "we have become the villains in this conflict! Take a look at the galaxy you've forged. You created clones of a bounty hunter specifically to destroy droids! We've become an army for the dark side, fallen from the light we all once held dear. The council has gained too much power! If someone doesn't step in and stop you, you'll take over the entire galaxy! We're too lost to be saved!"
Plo Koon asked, "Why did that involve framing your friends? You've worked closely with both Ahsoka and Anakin in the past."
Barris explained, "I thought if I framed the chosen one and his apprentice, that the republic would see how far the order has fallen, that not even the one who's supposed to bring balance to the force can save us now."
"I've heard enough," Mace said, "guards, release Anakin and Ahsoka at once. We'll convene with you two in the council chambers once we're done here."
They removed the cuffs, Anakin was still without his right hand so they had to clamp it directly into the metal part of his arm. He motioned for Ahsoka to follow him. As the doors closed behind them, she turned to him and said, "Sorry about your hand, Master, I shouldn't have broken it off."
"You were panicked," he said, "and I probably shouldn't have grabbed you. But remember what I told you snips, the truth came out just like I said it would."
"Only because Master Kenobi was on our side," she said, "without him they were going to take me to trial, and probably you too! I don't know if you heard, but I'm no longer a padawan or a jedi."
He put his hands on her shoulder to assured her and said, "They'll reinstate your status and apologize to you, I know it."
Inside the council chamber later, the councilmembers, including Obi-wan, stood before them. Plo Koon handed Anakin Ahsoka's padawan beads. "We apologize to the both of you for jumping to conclusions so quickly," he said.
Shaaki Ti added, "We assumed the evidence was clear when it wasn't."
"This trial has tested your attitude towards the jedi," Mace explained, "and you've both made it to the other side, becoming better jedi than you otherwise would have without this experience."
Yoda stepped forward to Ahsoka and said, "Back into the order, you may come."
Anakin turned to her and said, "They're asking you back, snips." He presented her the padawan beads with his natural hand. "I'm asking you back."
She tentatively looked him in his welcoming blue eyes more than once, and hesitated before she closed his hand back up. With tears in her eyes, she watched his excitement turn to sadness as he realized what was happening.
"I'm sorry, Master," she said, "but I'm not coming back." She turned and walked away before she could hear any objections.
As Ahsoka walked down the stairs in silence, she sensed Anakin's pain as he ran up from behind her. "Ahsoka, wait!" he pleaded, "Ahsoka! I don't understand!" He finally caught up to her. "Why are you walking away from everything you've ever known?"
"The council turned their backs on me," she explained sadly, "when I didn't do anything wrong and told them truth, they didn't believe me."
"I believed you," he insisted, "I stood by your side! I even tried to help you!" He held up his broken off hand.
She looked him in the eyes and watched his heart break in real time. "I know," she replied, "and I thank you for teaching me to be the best jedi I can be, Anakin. I've embodied the traits of a good jedi my entire life, but when that came under scrutiny the council didn't care. They were ready to throw me to the wolves! While I was on the run I realized that they don't deserve my loyalty. It's time I make my own path." She couldn't even look at him as he felt his intense staring.
Shocked at what he was hearing, Anakin said, "Then that's it? You're going to throw away your entire life after a few bad moments?! Who will you become if you leave?"
"Myself," she said, looking him dead in the eyes before turning away.
Anakin watched her leave and said under his breath, "I'm sorry I won't be there to help you." Ahsoka stopped, acknowledging she heard him, then kept going away from the temple and her entire life. She didn't know what the future held, but she knew she was prepared to face it.
Inside, Obi-wan returned to the medical bay, having left against medical advice earlier he was now hurting more than before. Luminara was in the next bed over, still recovering from the injuries she sustained on board.
"It's so hard to take in," she remarked, "the fact that a padawan would do this, and then learning my padawan was the one who nearly killed us all. I didn't see it coming. I didn't sense her anger."
"I'm sorry, Master Luminara," Obi-wan said, "this has been a hard few days for everyone."
Anakin barged into the room and exclaimed, "Obi-wan, she's gone! Ahsoka isn't coming back." He held her beads in his hand hard enough to crush them, but they didn't break under his strength.
Luminara asked, "Ahsoka left?"
He explained painfully, "After the council accused us of planting the bomb, she lost all faith in them, and she's now officially left the order."
"I'm so sorry for your loss, Anakin," Obi-wan said sincerely, "understand that even as her master, you have no control over her actions. She made her own choice to leave."
"Did she?" he asked, "Or did the council push her away?"
Luminara said, "Skywalker, as painful as it is to let go of someone so suddenly, know your master is telling you the truth. Both Ahsoka and Barris made their own choices today, as you made yours. You yourself were also accused. If the council had revoked your status as a jedi and formally charged you with murder and sedition against the republic, what would you have done?"
"Stayed and fought this the legal way," he answered, "I tried to stop her from running away from prison, but she didn't listen!"
Obi-wan said, "We respect your choice to stay Anakin, as you must respect Ahsoka's to leave. I must say, I will miss her."
Anakin said, "I already do."
"You wanted to see me, your excellency?" Anakin asked, stepping into Palpatine's office.
He looked up from his holograms on his desk and explained, "Yes, my friend, I wanted to personally apologize for everything that's happened to you these past few days. I commissioned the cruiser because I know so many jedi are stretched so thin during this war, and I knew they needed something to keep their spirits up. I had no idea that padawan would try to kill everyone on board and turn it into a disaster."
"None of that had anything to do with you, your excellency," Anakin insisted, "you couldn't have known what was going to happen."
Palpatine replied, "How was Tatooine?" He watched Anakin flinch ever so slightly at even hearing his home planet's name.
"Just as terrible as I remember it," he answered, flexing his new metal right hand, "and as soon as I got everyone back here safe, the council turned on me and my padawan. I managed to keep my head but I failed her."
"We cannot control other's actions, Anakin," he said, "only our own."
"Obi-wan's also been telling me it was her own choice to leave," he explained, "but I know if the council believed her from the start and didn't revoke her status as a jedi she'd still be here. I blame them for her leaving!"
Palpatine didn't bother hiding his smile. He couldn't believe this opportunity fell into his lap so perfectly. He only organized the cruise to make it look like he fully supported the jedi, but things ended up falling apart so beautifully for him. His future protégé felt more alone than ever, the jedi council turned his back on him, sowing the seeds of doubt in his head, and Palpatine didn't have to orchestrate a thing. There were a few moments he feared Anakin's jedi status would be revoked, but he didn't even need to come up with a contingency plan for that since it feel through so quickly.
"That certainly is one way to look at things," Palpatine replied, "I wouldn't exactly call the council innocent, that's for sure."
Anakin shook his head and said, "A knight can only become a master when their first respective padawan passes their own trials to become a knight. If I don't have a padawan, how am I supposed to be granted the rank of master someday?"
"Perhaps they'll make an exception."
"Oh, I doubt that," he said, "the council hates making exceptions even when the situation calls for it, and I definitely don't want to take in a new padawan...not now."
Palpatine replied, "Well, my friend, we are still at war. There's many things the council must consider, and I'm afraid your issues have been pushed to the side to focus on the galaxy as a whole right now. Perhaps that isn't such a bad thing."
As Anakin turned to leave, he said, "I think I'm actually grateful for that this time."
"Who knows what else the council has in store for you," he added, "only time will tell. For now, focus on your studies and being the best knight you can be."
"Thank you for your insights as always, your excellency," Anakin smiled as he turned to leave the chancellor's office, completely unaware that Palpatine had him hook, line, and sinker.
