This is an Ahsoka fanfiction. It kicks off before the show, will extend through the end of season one, and hopefully conclude with post-show content before season two of the real thing airs. Let me know how I’m doing in the comments!
I’ve started loading chapters into Archive of Our Own. Let me know if you follow over there!
Rating: General, Spice Level: None
Characters/Tags: Original Character, Master and Apprentice Relationships, Original Female Character, Original Jedi Character, Ahsoka Tano, Huyang
Read Chapter 15: Wounds and Warmth
Chapter 16 – Trust in the Force
Kendra helped Huyang return training gear to the small storage closet at the front of the training room. They’d gone through their morning drills without Ahsoka making an appearance. The older Jedi was spending more time alone in meditation during the short trip to Lothal.
“Are the new pants from Hera?” Huyang asked. “They appear very functional.”
Kendra slid her hand along her waistline, which now fit snuggly but moved well. They’d returned to the ship to find four crates of goods from Hera. “Yes, she said they were from one of the companies who wanted to supply the New Republic military.”
“But were not selected.”
“They wanted more money than the competitor, and looked ‘too Imperial’,” Kendra said. Hera had sent fifteen sets of pants, twenty regular tops, and ten cold-weather tops. And socks. She hadn’t even counted the socks yet. Three pairs of boots, all from the same supplier.
“And you said she gave undergarments as well?”
“Those are from an Imperial shock trooper supply,” Kendra said. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”
“Well, no one will see them,” Huyang said, “I assume anyway. And they would have the best quality available.”
Kendra did have to admit they were the most comfortable and supportive she’d ever owned. They were all black, thin, and covered her from hip to shoulder. They were warmer if it was cold outside and cooling if it was hot outside. Hera had given her 20 sets, which was an absurd amount. All the gear made sweating a little less uncomfortable.
There was another container filled with various types of chocolate, as well as a large supply of feminine care products to last several years. Those were all bizarrely marked with the Imperial logo.
“Sabine may have additional recommendations for clothing and gear you would appreciate.”
“What’s she like?” Kendra pretended not to be overly interested.
“She is several years older than you but still young. She is a Mandalorian and a skilled fighter. She fought in the rebellion with Hera and her crew.”
Kendra already knew that much. Mandalorians were almost as high as the Jedi for combat skill in her mind. “Master Edith said they were excellent in fights. She worked with some before the Clone Wars.”
“Interesting,” Huyang said. “It is unlikely Master Edith would know any of the Wren clan, but it is possible.”
Kendra did not know any specifics about Master Edith’s experiences. Only that her master held them in very high regard as a group, which was odd, now that she thought about it. They were once an ancient enemy of the Jedi, but no longer.
Ahsoka stepped into the room. “A small Mandalorian team saved Master Edith’s life. She had defended one of their younglings against a beast, and they provided healing after the battle. I’m not sure they were on the same side of the war, but they honored her for her actions.”
“She didn’t tell me about it,” Kendra said.
“I am sure she had too many stories to tell,” Ahsoka said. “I heard she left an outpost once to meditate. She was gone for so long the locals thought she’d died and held a memorial for her.”
“What?” Kendra asked, laughing.
“Didn’t even try to correct them,” Ahsoka said. “Just thanked them all for coming.”
“That has to be made up,” Kendra said.
“We will probably never know,” Huyang said.
“You mean you’ll never tell us.” Ahsoka walked to the training closet. “Let’s spar with the training blades.”
They retrieved two of the sabers as Huyang excused himself to the workshop. “I have a drawer that needs reorganizing.”
“Again?” Ahsoka asked.
“Someone touched it,” he replied with as strong a glare as a droid could offer at Kendra.
“I was trying to learn.”
“Which is good, but it still needs to be reorganized.” He ducked through the door.
“And what did you learn?” Ahsoka ignited her lightsaber.
Kendra also activated her weapon. “That I don’t know enough to fix Master Edith’s lightsaber if it breaks.”
“That is the downside of not making your own,” Ahsoka said.
Kendra had not yet found the right time to ask Huyang if she could make her own. She wasn’t sure he even had all the required parts, anyway. Getting a crystal would be difficult.
“The pants look good.”
“Thank you,” Kendra said.
Ahsoka lunged forward without announcing they’d begun, and Kendra stumbled back, startled.
“Focus,” Ahsoka said. “You won’t always know ahead of time if someone is going to attack.”
Both Master Edith and Ahsoka talked about knowing when an attack would come ahead of time, feeling through the Force that danger was imminent. Kendra wasn’t sure she’d ever felt that, at least not with the certainty they both described.
“Feel my intention,” Ahsoka said.
“I’m not sure what that means,” Kendra replied.
Ahsoka tapped Kendra’s shoulder with the training blade. A zolt of energy stung there and sent tingles down her arm.
“I think you probably do.”
“How do I know?”
Ahsoka paused, thinking. “I’m certain you do it, but, oddly, you are not sure. Let’s try something else.”
She retracted her blade and moved to the training closet, returning with a face mask with no openings for the eyes. She handed it to Kendra.
“What do I do with this?”
“Put it on,” Ahsoka said. “Reach out to the Force.”
Kendra pulled the straps of the mask over her head and pulled it down, and actively connected to the Force. The room became pitch black. “I can’t see anything.”
“That’s the idea.” Ahsoka’s words came at the same time as her blade reignited.
Kendra dropped into a ready position and parried while stepping back as Ahsoka stepped forward.
“There, you do know,” Ahsoka said.
She hadn’t thought about it, but when she lost her sight, Kendra moved to evaluating the room and Ahsoka’s position with the Force. The lake of connection she often felt while meditating was there, waiting, ready for her to access without having to decide to. Everything was blurry, and Ahsoka had moved slowly, but Kendra had reacted without thought.
Ahsoka lunged again, this time faster. Kendra stepped aside. The older Jedi attacked multiple times in a row, and Kendra parried or dodged all until the last. A zing of energy shot through her ribs.
She lifted the mask. “I don’t know if I can do this without seeing.”
“You already are,” Ahsoka said. “Possibly better than when you can see. I think you must be trying too hard instead of relying on the Force otherwise. Put it back on.”
Kendra slid the mask down her face and readied herself. She parried, dodged, and even threw in some of her own attacks before Ahsoka tapped her again. They began again and went until Kendra’s arm grew tired. Ahsoka stepped in and grabbed her, throwing her over her hip and onto the floor.
“We’ll need to work on hand-to-hand combat at some point.” Ahsoka helped her stand. “Again.”
Again and again, they went back and forth. Initially, Kendra “tried too hard” and would fail. Eventually, though, she settled into the Force and Form 3, blocking Ahsoka repeatedly.
She felt the Force flow through her, and when she listened, she moved in a way that defended herself against Ahsoka’s attacks. It wasn’t like she wasn’t really fighting herself, but going with the flow of the great Force Lake she often touched.
Unexpectedly, Kendra slid backwards. Ahsoka had pushed her with the Force. It startled her enough, and she tripped trying to recover, landing on her butt. It was like a river of energy had slammed into her peaceful lake.
“Not as bad as usual,” Ahsoka said.
Kendra flipped the mask off, blushing in frustration. “Why does that keep happening? I thought I was connected to the Force. How does that even work?”
“Someone without the Force or much weaker probably wouldn’t be able to do it to you, if that helps,” Ahsoka said. “It was also far more aggressive than my earlier attacks. It has to be, for it to work.”
“The earlier attacks weren’t your most aggressive?” What were they if not? Was Kendra so terrible that Ahsoka couldn’t go her hardest?
“No.” Ahsoka raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to try my most aggressive?”
Kendra scowled and put the mask back on. “Yes.”
“Very well.”
Kendra felt Ahsoka’s intention around the time she felt the sting of the training saber on her hip and then opposite shoulder in quick succession, followed a moment later by attacks to her knee and then hand. Then she flew backwards into the wall. Kendra dropped her saber.
She pulled the mask off again, this time more slowly. “I’m terrible.”
“I would not go that far,” Ahsoka said. “You would hold your own against most opponents, especially against blaster fire. You won’t face many with lightsabers with this much skill.”
“Except the people who freed Morgan.”
“Two people out of an entire galaxy. You are doing better than most Jedi your age before the Clone Wars.”
“How do I learn faster?” Kendra asked.
“We learn by doing.”
“If I don’t die before I learn.”
“That’s the way it goes,” Ahsoka said. “And why it is wise for us to stick together.”
“How did the Jedi fall?” The question came out before Kendra could consider it.
Ahsoka paused and then took a long inhale. She exhaled slowly before answering. “Complacency.”
Kendra felt like arguing. “I thought it was the Sith.”
“The Sith and the Dark Side did attack, yes,” Ahsoka said. “But should not ten thousand Jedi be able to beat a pair of Sith? Our most ancient enemy? The one we prepared for, the one we learned about, the one we avoided, the one we feared? We forgot to rely on the Force. We were like you, relying on our sight instead of trusting the Force. Myself included.”
Kendra noticed Ahsoka said “we” with regard to the Jedi for the first time. She noticed her shoulders sag. Kendra softened her voice. “How does that happen?”
“We became comfortable. Sure of our skills, abilities, and position in the galaxy. Anger and fear are the danger of the Dark Side, but pride disconnects us from the Force.” More softly, she added, “And all together, you get a fall.”
This felt personal for Ahsoka. Kendra asked, “Were you still in the Order when it happened?”
“No. I left before then. But I was with the clones, my men, when it happened. It was only the training from my master that saved me.”
Kendra fell silent.
“I’m probably harder on you than most because of that,” Ahsoka said.
“Is that why Sabine left?” Kendra asked and regretted it immediately.
Ahsoka shook her head. “No. She didn’t choose to leave.”
“Oh,” Kendra offered to the silence.
Ahsoka collected the lightsabers and the mask and returned them to the closet. “Have you meditated today?”
“No,” Kendra said, thankful for the change of subject.
“Let’s do that next, then.”
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