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!
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Rating: General, Spice Level: None
Characters/Tags: Original Character, Master and Apprentice Relationships, Original Female Character, Original Jedi Character, Ahsoka Tano, Huyang
Chapter 18 – Right Reasons
Kendra knelt in Huyang’s workshop to meditate. She’d pretended she had a reason to duck into the space to avoid the awkwardness of Ahsoka’s angry conversation with Hera via hologram in the central area. But she could still hear them, and didn’t know how to leave the room without interrupting them, or where she’d go if she did.
Ahsoka’s voice carried through the door. “She took the map off the ship when I explicitly told her not to.”
“Maybe she just needed space to think.” Hera remained calm, but her voice was tense.
Kendra didn’t understand how it happened, but she’d returned with Huyang from shopping to find Sabine was gone with the map and Ahsoka pacing while waiting for Hera to return her call.
This was as mad as Kendra had seen Ahsoka in their time together. She reached out in her meditation and felt the anger as disturbances in the lake. She’d been around angry people before, of course, and this was no different.
She felt her own pulse quicken in response, though. Kendra deepened her breathing to calm herself. Jedi had feelings; it was part of being sentient, as Master Edith would tell her. Ahsoka felt anger. Kendra felt tense. Both were normal.
Ahsoka said, “I don’t understand why things have to be so difficult.”
“Considering your history, I’d say that’s expected,” Hera replied. “But you and I both know Sabine gives you the best chance of reading that map.”
“You’re right. I just wish she had changed a little. But she’s still just as stubborn and bullish as ever.”
“She’s Mandalorian,” Hera said. “You knew what you were getting into.”
“I thought I did. Things didn’t turn out the way either of us wanted.”
Hera said, “Mentoring someone is a challenge. I bet your master found you difficult at times.”
Silence fell in the other room. Ahsoka had not spoken much about her own master to Kendra. Kendra assumed he’d died at the end of the war, like most of the other Jedi.
Ahsoka finally replied, more quietly so Kendra could barely hear her. “Anakin never got to finish my training. Before the end of the Clone Wars, I walked away from him. And the Jedi. Just like I walked away from Sabine.”
“I’m sure you had your reasons,” Hera said.
“Sometimes the right reasons have the wrong consequences,” Ahsoka said. “What do we do then?”
If the two women continued talking, their volume was low enough that Kendra couldn’t eavesdrop. Her mind spun at the conversation. Ahsoka still considered her reasons valid, even if the result was unwanted. What had happened between the two?
Why had Sabine taken the map against Ahsoka’s wishes? And why didn’t Ahsoka follow her, if it was that important to her? Tension grew between her shoulders, even as the emotions in the other room quieted.
Kendra did not get to continue that line of thought, as Huyang’s voice rang out in the main room. “We have a problem. Sabine is in trouble.”
The energy on the ship changed in an instant, and Kendra rolled onto her feet and was through the door before she’d fully stood up. Hera’s hologram image was gone, and Ahsoka dashed forward to the cockpit with Huyang. They took off, clipping a nearby antenna as Kendra threw herself into the seat behind Ahsoka.
“What happened?” Ahsoka asked.
“Unknown,” Huyang replied. “She requested backup and has not responded since.”
Kendra bit her lip and attempted to steady her breathing. While the threat might be unknown, her thoughts drifted to the two attackers on the Vesper. What other enemies would be on such a peaceful planet?
Buildings flew by either side of the ship as Ahsoka sped through, not bothering to gain altitude. A flock of birds pelted the window. Kendra grabbed the arms of her seat tightly.
“Fulcrum, state your flight path.” A surprised voice came across the radio.
“Tower E-272,” Huyang replied. “It is under attack. Scramble emergency resources.”
“Copy, Fulcrum,” the operator said. “Sending location now.”
They cleared the edge of the city and flew above a long, straight road leading out of town. The comms tower was visible, outlined by the lights along its edges. Two other lights appeared as well.
“Lightsabers,” Kendra said. The green and orange blades bounced against each other as Kendra stood to get a better view. It was one of the Vesper attackers. Her mouth felt as dry as stale bread.
“Huyang, fly us close and be prepared to take off,” Ahsoka said. “Do not get boarded.”
“That will impact the distance somewhat.”
Ahsoka didn’t reply. She rushed back into the main area. Kendra followed, checking that her lightsaber remained on her hip twice.
“I’ll take the lead on fighting the Force users,” Ahsoka said. She slammed open the door as Huyang rapidly decelerated. Wind rushed in. “You take any droids.”
Kendra nodded. She hadn’t been able to take one droid on Arcana, and Ahsoka was assigning her more? But it was not the time to argue.
Ahsoka jumped from the ship before it had fully stopped, breaking into a run as she landed. Kendra hesitated a second and then did the same, using the Force to break her fall. She still lost her footing and rolled forward, but recovered quickly and ignited her lightsaber.
“Sabine!” Ahsoka yelled. She sprinted forward, aided by the Force.
There were no droids, and the woman attacker ran away at Ahsoka’s appearance. The Mandalorian knelt with her lightsaber ignited and in guard. She crumpled, and her weapon deactivated.
Kendra followed as fast as she could, watching as the assailant fled into the dark. A small ship stirred to life, and the woman boarded. It took only seconds to take off.
Ahsoka didn’t appear to pay attention to the woman or the ship, but slid to her knees next to Sabine. She cradled her head in one arm while she called Huyang. “We need medics. Now!”
Kendra slowed as she approached. Sabine lay awkwardly, her legs caught under her, where she fell. She’d been stabbed with a lightsaber, leaving a cauterized, smoking hole in her abdomen.
That was… not good. Bile rose in her throat. Ahsoka said something, but she couldn’t hear it over her pulse in her ears. She thought Sabine was still breathing, but couldn’t be sure as the edges of her eyesight were fuzzy.
Kendra’s mind cleared slightly. She remembered the medical bay in Home One and Evan on Celestoria. What to do came faster to her this time. Unlike the patients on Home One, this wound had just happened. Sabine’s body rushed to heal the stab, but without medical intervention or aid from the Force, it would fail.
She deactivated her own weapon and slid to the ground opposite Ahsoka, placing her hands over the wound. “Watch my back,” she said to Ahsoka. Kendra closed her eyes and turned her attention away from Sabine and to the Force.
Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Chaos, yet harmony.
Death, yet the Force.
Where did the Force want to go?
“I am one with the Force,” Kendra whispered, “and the Force is with me.”
Once again, the stress left her body. Her heart rate slowed. Her jaw unclenched. She lost consciousness of herself, her actions, and her surroundings. She felt the Force move through her and into the wound. She had no idea what exactly it was doing, but the Force also responded in Sabine. It was helping, but was it helping enough?
She pushed harder, envisioning the lake of the Force with her mind as with waves. They grew larger, rolling toward Sabine. Kendra could hopefully heal a little faster this way. She sensed it working.
Kendra lost herself in the meditation of healing, unaware of anything but the Force for a time. The waves in her mind turned somewhat turbulent, however. That was new. She sank even deeper into the flow of the Force, probing as to the source.
Fear. She sensed fear in the healing. Fear from herself, fear from Sabine, and fear from Ahsoka. The fear of the battle lingered even after the attacker left, and Kendra felt it as the choppy waves of a lake in her mindscape.
Sabine’s fear seemed to reach out, though, toward Ahsoka. The bond between the two remained. Ahsoka’s energy in the Force moved in response, soothing the fear of both master and padawan. Kendra’s vision of the lake calmed again as she was filled with a comforting warmth she’d not felt since leaving Master Edith.
Kendra didn’t realize a medical craft had arrived until she felt Ahsoka’s hand on her shoulder. People and droids swarmed around them, evaluating the scene. She glanced up and found the air full of fighters like the ones that had escorted them to Lothal. More circled in the distance.
Droids took over for Kendra on Sabine’s wound, supervised by a human medic. They determined Sabine was stable, more than they might have expected given the wound. Proper medical care would work faster than the Force in most cases.
Kendra stood up and nearly lost her footing due to dizziness. Ahsoka put a steadying hand on her back.
“Breathe,” Ahsoka said.
Kendra swallowed vomit.
“Huyang,” Ahsoka said, “Get Kendra to the ship. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
The droid gently held Kendra’s arm and led her away from the scene. “Did you over-extend?”
In response, Kendra blacked out.
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