Learning

~The Trial Separation~

Hosin returned from his business trip a week later than planned and Ashla was furious. They had argued into the night for days afterwards, often unintentionally waking Ahsoka at really late hours. She knew better though than to tell them to stop for she was only seven and then they would just bottle their feelings up it would eventually explode a lot bigger than before. It saddened her greatly though when she went downstairs to see her mum asleep on the couch with a wind bottle cuddled against her. Or when Hosin came in, around midday, wearing the same clothes as the day before and smelling dreadful. That always caused Ashla to cry and shout some more.

One day, Ahsoka cycled home from a play date at Barriss's house and when she entered, saw both her parents at the dinner table. They weren't shouting at each other for a pleasant change however Ahsoka wasn't sure how long this would last. "Hola... ¿Qué pasas?" They was a very intense atmosphere in the house, especially between and around them.

Ashla smiled lovingly at her but it was brittle and didn't reach her eyes. "Siéntate querida, tu padre y yo queremos hablar contigo." She pulled out a chair for her daughter to sit on. Lately Ahsoka had noticed her mum's increased use in Spanish while Hosin seemed to have abandoned speaking that language. It reminded her that her family tended to revert to their first language whenever they were facing great emotional distress and publicly expressing their pain. Ahsoka had done it as well in the past, like when they got lost on a class trip a few years back and startled her classmates when she started to rather nervously chatter away in Spanish.

Hosin cleared his throat. "I'm not sure if you have noticed Ahsoka but your mother and I haven't been in a good place for a while. We've been arguing a lot more and we're worried about how all this is affecting you. Therefore we've taken the joint decision to... Put some time and distance between us. A trial separation, if you will." Ahsoka wasn't sure what a trial separation was but it sounded like something very similar to a divorce, she knew that they weren't good. Plus, with the distraught look Ashla had on her face, she clearly didn't think it was good either. Her mother's lack of confidence frightened Ahsoka but not so much she broke down there and then.

Ashla seemed to notice her daughter staring so tried to fake a smile at her but Ahsoka knew it wasn't real. Turning back to her dad, Ahsoka copied her mum and put a smile on her face. Hosin didn't seem to notice or care that it wasn't a true reflection of her emotions. "Okay Papá, I think. But what does that mean for me? For us?" Her nerves were starting to settle now as other ideas popped into her head.

Ashla chose this moment to speak. "Bueno, para evitar inconvenientes, te quedarás aquí conmigo mientras tu padre se queda con unos amigos. Después de un período de tiempo apropiado, revisaremos nuestros pensamientos entre nosotros y partiremos de ahí. No te preocupes, tendrás muchas oportunidades de hablar con él aunque ya no viva con nosotros." That statement scared Ahsoka for it sounded far too final for her liking but didn't question it.

Hosin cleared his throat. "Yes, don't feel like you have to abandon one parent for the other Ahsoka, we do not want that." He smiled kindly at her but Ahsoka couldn't help but shake the feeling that he was more at fault for this separation than Ashla.

Eventually she nodded, not too sure what she was agreeing to entirely. "Okay, well I have some homework to do so I'll be upstairs. When will you be leaving Papá?" Ahsoka hoped that they would have some time to talk and sort some things out before he left for an undetermined amount of time.

The slightly pained look on her parent's faces however stopped her from thinking so optimistically. "Well Ahsoka, to be honest, my suitcases and bags are already packed. I will be leaving tonight." Hosin kissed the top of her frozen head, Ahsoka refused to believe what she was hearing. Why did her parents decide to spring important things like this on her at the last minute so she had no time to adjust?

Ashla patted her daughter's hand. "Sé que es un aviso con poca antelación, por eso acordamos dejarte pasar el día con tu papá, si quieres, y venir a casa conmigo por la noche. Si no, puedes quedarte aquí y disfrutar el resto de tu día." She smiled at her but Ahsoka couldn't tell what was wrong with it. When she would be older, Ahsoks would come to realise it was because Ashla was imploring her to stay here and already start cutting ties with Hosin.

Unfortunately, seven-year-old Ahsoka wasn't aware of such manipulation tactics. Slowly nodding, she pulled herself closer to her mum. "Gracias Padre, pero quiero quedarse aquí, por favor." Ahsoka then bid them both farewell and went upstairs, without any homework but neither of her parents bothered to check. She assumed they had a suspicion that she probably didn't have any homework to do. She listened out to see if the pair would start arguing again and sighed a breath of relief when she heard someone go into the living room and the radio turn on in the kitchen. Sports came on the TV so Ahsoka knew her dad was in there and was surprised by Ashla's tolerance to it. She then figured it was because this would be the last time she would have to put up with things she didn't like on her television for a long time. The thought of what Ahsoka considered normal being torn away from her and replaced with a new routine or a new 'normal' confused and angered her at the same time. She didn't know what was going on, despite both their best efforts to try and explain it to her.

Later that evening, Ahsoka went downstairs to see them both sat on the couch but the TV was off. "Hola." She greeted them but she didn't feel very enthusiastic, nothing was worth celebrating about in this situation.

Ashla smiled softly at her, opening her arms for an embrace. "Hola, Hija, por favor, sientase." Ahsoka did as instructed to. "Tu padre se va ahora y estará fuera por un mes. Decir 'adiós'." Ashla encouraged her as Hosin stood up.

"Adiós." She mumbled, overcome with a sudden sadness amount other emotions.

Ahsoka realised that his already packed bags were beside him. "Ashla, may I speak to Ahsoka alone for a moment?" He asked her tersely. Although she could tell she was uncomfortable with the request, Ahsoka was pleased with her mum for complying. Hosin smiled at her retreating form and turned to Ahsoka with tears in his eyes. "I want you to remember Ahsoka that I do still love you and right now this will only be temporary. I'll see you tomorrow or in a few days, okay? Don't let your Mother corrupt your opinion of me, you know what a good person I am." He bent down and kissed her gently on the head. "Te amo, mi Hija." Then he picked up his bags and went to the door. "Goodbye." Hosin called out before he left their lives, however temporarily.

Then Ahsoka let the tears fall. Heavily.

I hope you enjoyed this flashback chapter as well, this is probably the penultimate one. Then there will be a final flashback before the last few chapters. I'll update again tomorrow most likely. Bye, bye.