How to Take an Empire

Chapter Seventy-Three: Warning

If Ahsoka had known she'd need to hide a pregnancy one day, she would have diversified her wardrobe to consist of more than the fitted tanks, dresses, tights, and low waisted cargo pants she tended to favor. Because in that kind of wardrobe, there was no way to hide a seven-month pregnant stomach, no matter how small she was carrying thanks to years of fighting, being on the move, and her tall stature.

Ahsoka's saving grace, though, was that she had begun to expand her wardrobe since the start of the war. Ahsoka thought it ridiculous that some diplomats and planetary leaders would judge her based on whether she wore camouflage pants and a tank or a suit or a dress. But it gave her a good excuse for the short capes and wide jackets she'd begun to wear to hide and draw attention away from her midsection. Ahsoka didn't hold out much hope that she'd be able to hide the pregnancy much longer, though. It was sheer luck no one had noticed this far.

Already, Luke and Leia had figured it out and were treating it as just one more secret to hide. When she'd started wearing the capes and jackets, Diya, seldom missing anything out of place, pointed out their newness. Before the other togruta could ask anything else or attract anyone else's attention to it, Luke helpfully interjected that he thought it was cool. Leia added that it made Ahsoka look more authoritative. It effectively diverted Diya's attention, and she agreed with them both before continuing on her way. Ahsoka had given the two a wondering stare, but the two just gave her a cheeky grin and dashed off.

Then there was the fact that they stopped questioning the still feather-like but increasingly strong and less timid taps of their unborn sibling in the Force. Instead, the two had begun to touch back, playing the ethereal tapping game they used to play with Vader in the Force when they were much younger. When they started randomly and not so subtly discussing names right in front of her, Ahsoka gave up any pretense trying to keep her pregnancy hidden from them. From Winter too. Because Luke and Leia told Winter everything, and Winter was her third adopted child for all intents and purposes.

Ahsoka still hadn't outright told them. But she wasn't as careful about keeping her hands away from her stomach when it was just the three of them around. She'd stop covering herself with blankets and pillows when she was sitting on the couch in her personal quarters and they were in the vicinity. Once, she'd even absently played the physical version of the tapping game their sibling seemed to like to play right in front of them. Her pregnancy was far enough now that they could see when the baby moved sometimes. And after Ahsoka swiped a finger across her womb and a body part visibly swiped back in the same direction, Luke had excitedly blurted out, "That's cool!" Leia kicked him, and he remembered that he technically wasn't supposed to "know" or acknowledge their mother's pregnancy.

And Winter, sweet and caring but unyielding like her mother, had taken it upon herself to bring Ahsoka her meals. Breakfast in the morning, so Ahsoka didn't have to get up early for a chance to get into the mess hall before her day started. Dinner in the evening when Ahsoka was too busy or too tired to remember. Winter took careful note of the things Ahsoka left on her plate because they made her sick and made sure not to bring them again. She also kept a stash of ration bars, jerky, water, and sometimes even juice supplied in Ahsoka's office. How the little princess was getting her hands on all of it consistently, Ahsoka didn't know and didn't ask.

An effect of her pregnancy that was less obvious to others was her new and insane sensitivity to the Force. It was like when she, Vader, and Obi-wan or any of the Jedi would meditate together, using their combined Force power to find the solution to a problem with much more ease than they would have alone. But this increased sensitivity was without meditation (as if she had time for that).

A constant whispering in her mind when she made decisions about the Rebellion. A decision not to send aid to a Mid-Rim world that had broken out into rebellion against the Empire (the insurgency ended up running the Empire off the planet themselves while the fleet she'd refrained from sending was free to help fortify Kashyyyk). A decision to strategically retreat from Lothal, right before the Empire ambushed them with unexpected reinforcements. The decision to take Mandalore and solidify her alliance with the warrior society and make good on the promise she'd made to Bo-Katan before the Empire rose.