The Padawan and the Rebel

The Padawan: Slavery Battles

When Adhara finally found where they were keeping the Togruta slaves, when she finally found her master, she vowed to never leave him again.

Obi-Wan looked worse than she had ever seen. His skin was wain and translucent, the hollows under his cheekbones collecting shadows. His clothes were ragged, the collar around his neck so tight she was certain his skin was raw.

She waited all day for an opening, and as night fell and the slaves went to bed, she made her move, twisting the light to creep towards him on silent feet.

She knelt in front of him, a hand hovering above his arm.

"Master," she breathed.

He shot upright, his eyes wide, and she dropped the light around her so she came into view. She thought he would look pleased to she her, but instead, his eyes got wider.

"Adhara," he hissed through his teeth.

"Master, are you okay?" she asked.

"What are you doing here?"

She was surprised by the vehemence in his words. Her brow furrowed. "I cam for you and Rex, of course."

He gripped her arm, so tight it was almost painful. "You need to get out of here."

"What? Why?"

He ran a hand over his face, leaving grime on his skin, and Adhara's heart jolted. She'd never seen him look so tired, so defeated. "We can't...we can't help them, Adhara. Trying to help them just hurts them." He glanced around at the slaves sleeping around them. "It's not worth it. I'd rather be tortured then see that happen to them."

"Okay, so what do we do? What's the plan?"

Obi-Wan's gaze was flat. "Did you not listen to me? There's nothing we can do."

Adhara recoiled, staring at her master warily. "What do you mean? We don't do anything?"

Obi-Wan's eyes fluttered shut for a fraction of a section. "Yes. Unless Anakin and Ahsoka can figure it out, there's nothing we can do."

Anger boiled inside of Adhara, hot and fast. She barely recognized her master as she looked at him.

"And what am I supposed to do? Leave you here, to be a slave?"

Obi-Wan nodded, so emphatically Adhara ground her teeth together. "Yes."

She jolted to her feet, glaring down at him. "Well I'm not going to do that. I'm staying right here with you."

Obi-Wan looked alarmed. "Adhara..."

But it was too late. She had bent the light, and she was gone. She couldn't look at him, couldn't hear him tell her to leave him.

She couldn't bear to lose anyone else.

***

For days and maybe weeks, Adhara wandered the slave mines like a ghost.

Well, she preferred to think of herself as an angel, looking out for Obi-Wan and Rex and helping the slaves in whatever way she could when they faltered or when the weight of their slavery became too much to bear.

She watched it all, and felt a rage she shouldn't feel for the empire boil inside of her. That they could do this to innocent people. It was despicable.

All the while, she waited, hoping Anakin and Ahsoka could figure it out back in the capital city and use their comm to talk to her. She thumbed the sabers at her hips, but didn't grab them.

So she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Then, finally, when she could feel her patience wearing thin, she heard Ahsoka's voice whisper through her comm.