I
Ahsoka Tano was not one for uncertainty.
This had better be important, the Togruta Padawan grumbled to herself.
Though her own master was somewhat lax regarding regulations himself, she wouldn't discount Anakin having a few words of his own about his apprentice sneaking off in the dead of night.
Coruscant had untold volumes to say when it came to the night—billions, perhaps trillions of other sentients were themselves off stealing away into the hours of darkness.
For pleasure or pain, peace or power, desire or despair—only the Force knew the workings of so many a mind.
A fleeting thought told her that her Master probably had hisownnocturnal proclivities—and she allowed herself to calm down and smiled.
A peevish urge told Ahsoka Tano to try and see precisely what it is that keepstheAnakin Skywalker up during the night. What secrets do heroes keep, she wondered, when nothing but the stars ahead show the light?
Perhaps another time…and she chided herself slightly for giggling.
Yes, she can find out whatever it is that Anakin does in his spare time…she had her own commitments after all.
If there was one lesson she had truly learned at her Master's knee though, it wasaudacity.
Such times called for such a curious skill.
Foresight was an altogether different world to her. One that she still hadn't quite the feel for.
Much to learn you still have, she could almost hear Grand Master Yoda saying in his amused, sagely way.
She had received a rather urgent invitation from a most trusted friend to meet her in the Temple's Sky Garden that evening. As to why, Barriss Offee did not say, only that she had something to show Ahsoka—one of vital importance as their being students of the Force.
She's becoming like Master Luminara, the young Togruta mused, reflecting on the esoteric ways of Barriss' own Master.
The young Togruta was known to be gregarious and made friends easily wherever she went. Among her peers—fellow padawans—this was most true. Yet out of all the bonds she had made apart from her own master andhis, she considered her friendship with the quiet, reserved Mirialan to be the best.
They had hit it off almost instantly when they were but younglings, and such a friendship had carried on until then.
A bond forged first in the innocence of childhood, strengthened later by the march of time.
Walking up through the softly lit spire that led to the Sky Garden, she further mused of how they had gone through so much together and still…found herself yearning to know more about Barriss.
She was in many ways, Ahsoka's opposite.
Reserved where Ahsoka was outspoken.
Cautious where Ahsoka was bold.
Subtle where Ahsoka was straightforward.
If young Tano was the earth—strong, still and bold—perhaps Barriss Offee was the wind? Effervescent, flighty yet somehow ever present. A paradox was she, and perhaps that was one of many things the young Togruta thought intriguing about her friend.
Such a bold request from the Mirialan was a little out of character, and—her natural tendency for vigilance notwithstanding—put Ahsoka Tano on edge.
For as long as she could recall, Ahsoka had never been truly fond of the Sky Garden.
Sitting atop one of the Jedi Temple's ancient spires, the garden wa the highest and most expansive of the Temple's many meditation gardens, tended by both the Jedi AgriCorps and those blessed by and wishing to learn more about the Living Force.
The Force, a mystery beyond mortal minds, was childishly thought of as simply two sided—light and dark.
But those touched by the Force knew better.
While it may have two fundamental faces, its nature went far and beyond. These were among the lessons every Jedi had to understand. For only with such wisdom can one become a true beacon of the light, or so they were taught.
One such mystery was the Living Force.
"From the Force, flows all life," Yoda's words rang when she had been an initiate,"and to the Force, in death does life return."
It was a strange duality—were not light and dark just as life and death?
"Not of darkness death is. Beyond light and dark are life and death. A fire leading to a new forest born, evil is it? Hmm?"
Perhaps.
Perhaps not.
I still have much to learn, Ahsoka mused.
Some were more comfortable with such esoteric and conflicting concepts.
She knew Anakin, prodigious and wise as he was, struggled in explaining these and more. Master Obi-Wan had been far wiser in such lessons. Then there were others like Master Luminara and Barriss herself who not only seemed attuned to the Living Force, but actually understood it.
Perhaps that was where their preternatural calm came from.
How she had witnessed such tranquility from her dear friend and her master in the thick of chaos.
On Ansion.
On Geonosis.
Even on Ord Cestus.
Yes. Even after having been infected by a horrific brain worm, Ahsoka felt through the Force that peace which had always been an understated but defining virtue of Barriss Offee.