Chapter 9 – Answers

It's been some time again since my last update. There are just some events in my life that I have no control over and it doesn't leave me in much of a writing mood most of the time. Things are improving incredibly slowly, but it will take a lot of time still for everything to get back to normal. Updates on my stories will be slow and irregular. I'm not sure what stories I'll work on in what order.

For now, I've finished this smaller chapter for Gift of Light. Ahsoka wakes up from a strange dream and discovers something a little shocking, but at least she has the answers she's been looking for.

Hope you enjoy.

;-

Ahsoka Tano awoke slowly. Her dream, if it could really be called that, had been a strange one. Calling it a lucid dream wouldn't really do it as well. She had been fully aware, true, but she hadn't really been the one who was in full control of the dream.

Who would have thought, that someone like her would visit her in her dreams and share such news. Yes, she was grateful to finally have some answers as to what exactly happened to her and how she had survived this nightmare, but she hadn't expected to learn it like this and she definitely hadn't expected the reason why.

She sat upright in her bed. She couldn't help but wonder, has there ever been anyone else who was visited by someone who was supposed to be dead? "Become one with the Force I should say, I guess," she thought. "And everything she said that happened to me, what I have now become… It feels impossible…"

She shook her head and slowly got out of the bed. She walked over to the large mirror and studied her reflection. "I certainly don't look any different. I don't really feel any different either." Right now, it was a very strange idea to her. "Like I didn't have enough to get used to already," she thought.

She decided to call on the Force ever so slightly, no levitation exercise, not a full meditation, but just slight connection, just to try it out. She noticed a difference almost immediately. The Force always spoke to her when she called on it, but now, it felt so much clearer. The Force practically sung to her, sharing peace and insights that she had never known before. It was similar to the sensation she felt when she was lighting the spires, only stronger this time. "Incredible…" she muttered softly as she withdrew from the Force.

She then heard the door open and turned to see who it was.

;-

Lyra walked through the halls of the palace, on her way to the queen's bedroom. With her unknown condition, her bedroom was currently under constant guard. There were only several people allowed near her bedroom now. She considered herself very fortunate to be one of those people. While there wasn't anything she could do for the queen in her condition, she could at least make sure that her room stayed clean.

She reached her room and turned her attention to the two guards standing in front of the door. She stood by calmly, letting them go through the procedure of checking her and her belongings before she was allowed into the room. She knew it wasn't a sign of mistrust, but just another precaution to ensure the queen's safety.

With the okay from the two guards, Lyra opened the door and froze instantly when she saw queen Ahsoka standing in front of the mirror, looking at her. She gasped in shock, causing the two warriors to instantly turn around to check the room as well. They too froze in shock.

;-

For a short moment Ahsoka just stared at her friend Lyra and the two H'Raani M'Kai warriors that stood frozen in the doorway of her bedroom. There was a great deal of shock echoing from them, but she didn't know why. "Uhm… What's going on?" she asked them softly.

The three stared at her like she'd suddenly grown two extra montrals. The male guard snapped out of it a bit and took a step back. Taking out a commlink, he quickly contacted someone.

Lyra took a few steps into the room. "M-m-milady, are… are you feeling alright?" she asked worriedly as she studied Ahsoka.

Her question only served to confuse her further. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Ahsoka asked her and Cira, she recognized the warrior now that she had also stepped inside the room. Cira and Lyra shared a look that she couldn't really place.

"Milady, Ahsoka," Cira began slowly, "you fell into some kind of coma seven days ago. You've been completely unresponsive and wouldn't wake up at all."

Hearing that, Ahsoka's eyes widened. Yes, the Force-dream she experienced had obviously taken some time, but a whole week? She frowned and turned to the desk in the room. She picked up her datapad and checked it for the date. Her eyes widened again in shock as she realized that a week had indeed passed. "Oh wow…" she muttered softly, seeing the evidence but finding it hard to fully believe it.

Cira walked up to their young queen. "Milady, please sit down for now. At least until the doctors have had a chance to look you over," she gently suggested to her. "Just to be safe, please."

Ahsoka turned to her and nodded, some confusion visible on her face. She moved back to the bed and sat down on it, trying to wrap her mind around everything.

It only took several minutes but then her bedroom was suddenly filled with several doctors, a couple of other H'Raani M'Kai warriors and senator Corso. Their concern for her was radiating very clearly through the Force. She was feeling fine, if a little different now with how the Force was flowing through her. Still, to put everyone at ease, she let the doctors to their checks and answered all of their questions. The fact that the doctors declared her healthy seemed to put everyone a bit more at ease.

Silara walked up and sat down next to Ahsoka on the bed. "Are you feeling well, Ahsoka?" she asked gently. "We've been quite worried about you. I think you nearly gave poor Lyra a heart attack when you passed out."

"I… see…" Ahsoka replied slowly as she looked around the room. "Well, sorry everyone. I certainly didn't mean to worry any of you. I just followed a feeling in the Force and then apparently a week had passed."

"I'm sure you didn't mean to Ahsoka," Silara replied. "But, do you know what happened exactly?"

Ahsoka turned to her and nodded. "Well, yes, I do now," she answered. "Strange as it all was, the Force did have some answers and insights for me that I really needed."

Those words sparked quite some interest and curiosity in the room. "I see, well, that's good news I suppose. Can you tell us what you learned or is it something personal?" T'Rani asked her.

Ahsoka looked at her and the others in the room, thinking it over. "No, I can share it with you, but…" she paused a moment. "I'd need to tell you about a mission from when I was still with the Jedi Order. That mission was considered highly classified, so we'd need to see what we can tell the public about this T'Rani."

"I understand, don't worry Ahsoka, we'll figure that out later," T'Rani said with a small smile. "Don't let that trouble you now."

Ahsoka nodded. "Alright, where do I start?" she asked herself. "It started when the Order suddenly received a distress signal. Considering the war, that wasn't such a strange thing. However, what made this one special, is that it was a 2.000 year old Jedi distress code." There were some confused expressions in the room, but no one interrupted her.

"For safety reasons, myself, Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi were going to meet up with our troops before going after the signal completely. We were at the rendezvous point when our ship was suddenly pulled into some unidentified object. A blinding white light overtook us and we all lost consciousness."

"When we woke up again, our ship was landed. We were suddenly on this strange planet. There, we met three powerful beings that were incredibly strong in the Force. They called themselves 'Force Wielders'. With their power, you could almost call them gods probably. I'm almost certain that there are plenty of people in the galaxy that would call them deities."

"Those three beings represented different aspects of the Force," Ahsoka continued to explain. "The Father was the image of balance, the Daughter represented the Light and the Son the Dark. The Father had some kind of test he wanted Anakin to face. When everything was done, we were able to leave the planet again. Unfortunately, the Son had become obsessed with Anakin's power. He wanted to use him to escape that planet. In order to succeed in that, he took me captive and cursed me. And later, when he felt that he had no more use for me, he killed me."

"That being killed you?!" Silara asked in shock. Everyone else had similar worried expressions.

Ahsoka slowly nodded. "Yes, he did. He then tried to murder his father so that he would be able to leave the planet, but his sister caught the blow, sacrificing herself to save their father. Anakin pleaded with the Father to do something to save me. In response, Daughter's last act was to give me her life force to revive me. She saved my life that day."

"It's only now that I fully understand everything that she has given me. She didn't just give me her life force, but all of her Force powers as well. She gave me so much…" She was silent a moment, thinking things over. "The powers that she had given me were sleeping inside me ever since that day. When… When I was executed by the Republic, it was her powers that prevented my death. They brought me back from the brink of death again. Her powers started to awaken inside of me after that. As a result, my body was struggling to adapt to all of that power suddenly flowing through me. That is also what caused that episode of sickness I suffered from when you took me in Silara."

"The strange episode I suffered from this week was to help my body and mind fully adapt to these powers. While I was unconscious, I experienced a rather different kind of dream. Her spirit manipulated and altered my dream so that she could explain all of this and help me to understand the depths of her powers. It was a really strange experience to be sure, but at least I finally got the answers I wanted."

The room was silent a moment as everyone struggled slightly to wrap their minds around the story that their queen had just told them. "That was some story milady," Shaden said as he kneeled by the bed. "In any case, it is a relief to see well Ahsoka. And I am glad that you got some of the answers that you needed. We will go and let the people know that you are doing well. You just take it easy for a moment." Ahsoka nodded and with that, Shaden, the other warriors and medical staff left her room, leaving her there with Silara and T'Rani.

Silara and T'Rani watched as Ahsoka walked up to the mirror and studied her reflection. It was clear to both women that she still had some things to work out. They were a little unsure of what to do now, especially after that story. "Ahsoka? Would you like to rest for a bit? We'll tell everyone not to disturb you then," Silara asked her after a short moment.

Ahsoka thought it over a moment. "I think I'd rather go for a walk and maybe get something to eat. I think I've slept enough for now," she replied.

Silara and T'Rani both chuckled a bit at her answer. "Alright then, how about we go and see what the chefs can cook up for us? I could do with lunch myself," T'Rani offered.

Ahsoka looked at her and gave a slight smile. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea," she replied. "Let's get going."

;-

Silara watched Ahsoka as she sat in the training area of the Royal Guards' barracks. Their young queen was calling on the Force, levitating numerous objects and weights in the room. After her earlier explanation, how she had been given great powers from some god-like being, Ahsoka wanted to take some time to familiarize herself with this energy.

She would be the first to admit that she wasn't very familiar with how the Force and Its mystical energy works. Even though she couldn't touch the Force herself, she couldn't deny that Ahsoka now held some aura of power. But it didn't feel threatening or menacing, not at all. It was a warm and gentle aura, like Ahsoka herself is by nature, like how she remembered her old friend Ashaiya always was. This aura suited her perfectly.

It was amazing to see her like this. Many objects were floating in the air around her. To her it seemed like something that would be a massive strain on one's mind, yet Ahsoka's expression was one of relaxation. She seemed to be at peace with this Force energy flowing through her. Silara said a little prayer to ask the mysterious Force to keep looking out for her.

She continued to watch as Ahsoka called on the Force for about ten more minutes. After that, she slowly set everything back where it belonged. The young queen opened her eyes and stood up again. The way she stood there, Silara thought it looked like she just had a very restful sleep. She seemed full of energy and quite at peace. Again she marveled at the mysterious Force.

She walked up to Ahsoka. "That was impressive to see Ahsoka," she said honestly. "How are you feeling now?"

Ahsoka smiled at her. "I'm feeling alright. It's still going to take a bit of time to get fully used to all of this power, but I'll get there eventually. This energy feels amazing," she replied. "At least I can control it enough so that I don't accidentally blast down a wall or something. It feels strange to say, but I feel like I could easily tear down half the palace if I'm not careful."

Silara's eyes widened a bit. "The Force truly is something beyond my comprehension," she said. She shook her head. "Are you ready to go and see T'Rani again? The two of you can decide on what we can tell to the public about your whole experience. I'm sure that seeing you again will put everyone a lot more at ease."

Ahsoka nodded. "Yes, let's go. The people do deserve to know. I'm just not sure on how much we can share. In some ways, it's still a very surreal story for me as well, despite the fact that I've experienced all of it." She shook her head. "Let's just go and see T'Rani. She might already have some ideas about this."

"Such things are part of her job after all," Silara commented as they began to make their way out of the barracks. "And don't worry, we'll take care of everything else that needs to be done in the meantime."

;-

That's the end of this chapter. It turned out a bit shorter than I had originally intended, but it's fine for now. The next chapter will hopefully be longer again. I just need to see how I want the events of this story to progress now.

Like I said, my updates will be irregular. I'm just jumping between stories at the moment. I might write the first chapter for a different story idea that I've wanted to do for a little while now. Another idea that I've been thinking about is to revisit my older chapters and polish those up a bit. I might decide to visit Rebirth of Light and change the spacing of the text and fix grammar mistakes here and there. The story will remain the same of course.

Until next time.