The Other Skywalker

10| Premonitions

Blasts. The whirring of lightsabers. Clones holding up their guns in unison towards unknown targets.

"Execute order 66."

I see myself on a Jedi Cruiser, standing on the bridge, turning around to Appo holding his gun up to me. His hand is shaking as he manages to tear his helmet off.

The rest of my men behind him keep their helmets on but mimick his actions. Within moments, they all began firing.

I sit up in a cold sweat, looking around my bed as I slowly lay back down. I try to control my breathing, jolting out of bed. I change into my suit, clipping my sabers to my belt. I go to find Ben, finding Ahsoka instead.

"Ahsoka, have you seen Ben?" I ask. "Master Zallow?"

"He left with my Master and Obi-Wan."

I feel my throat tighten, knowing I had to talk to someone about what I saw. He is the only one I trust enough to tell, Anakin would tell Obi-Wan who would tell Mace who would tell the Council.

"He actually told me to aid you."

"Aid me? In what?"

"Whatever you needed" she shrugs.

I walk side by side with Ahsoka down the halls of the Temple.

"Why don't you have a Padawan?" She asks. "I think you'd be a great teacher."

"I don't feel it's necessary for me to have one."

"Why?"

I glance at her as she tilts her head.

"Maybe after this war I will think about it" I say. "But for now, my main priority is to aid in ending the war."

"You and Master Zallow are very close?" She says, almost making it sound like a question.

"You could say that."

"The way he looks at you is the same way my Master looks at Senator Amidala."

"You're very attentive" I say. "You should be focused on other things."

We walk to the hangar to my fighter. I sit on the ground, closing my eyes as I hold my head. Execute order 66. The words are burned in the back of my mind. Ahsoka puts her hand on my arm as my eyes dart open.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I lie.

"You and Anakin sure are a lot alike."

"He was my role model growing up" I say. "I guess I got a lot of my personality traits from him."

I stand up, walking to the other side of the hangar to grab my tools.

"What was it like growing up on Tatooine?" She asks. "My Master doesn't like talking about it."

I freeze at the question. Ahsoka is too young to know how we ended up at the Order, she couldn't have known, it's a fair question.

"Anakin and I didn't have the best childhood before we came to the Order" I say. "Our mother did the best she could, she loved us more than anything."

"What happened to her?"

I look down, smiling, trying so hard to remember what she looked like.

"She was killed" I say. "The last time I saw her is when Master Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan brought us to the Order. I don't really even remember what she looks like. It's harder for Anakin, he was on the planet when she was killed, she died in his arms."

Ahsoka's wide eyes sink as she frowns.

"I'm fine as long as I have Anakin" I say. "And now you."

I put my hand to her cheek as she smiles. Ahsoka was given to the order as a three year old, she had no recollection of her mother or really anything from her home world of Shili. She didn't seem to mind it, in her mind she had found her own family within the Order.

My comm begins beeping as I remove my hand from her cheek. I press the button, holding my arm up to my face.

"Skywalker, here."

"Alaina, you are needed in the war room." I feel a sense of relief hearing Ben's voice. "Send Ahsoka to the Council Chambers, Anakin and Obi-Wan are awaiting her arrival."

I look at Ahsoka who doesn't say a word but nods. She runs off as I make my way to the war room.

When I walk in it's empty except for a single body standing in the center. Ben leans over the console as I approach.

"Ben, we need to talk."

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"We agreed to do this."

"That's not what I'm about to talk about."

"Oh?"

"I had a dream last night... it looked like the future."

"Go on."

"I saw clone squadrons holding up their blasters but couldn't see who they were pointing them to. It felt wrong" I say. "But then I saw myself being the subject of it with my own men. Appo stood only a few feet away from me, holding his blaster to me as if I were the enemy."

"It could've been just a dream."

"No" I say. "It felt real, too real."

"Have you told anybody?"

"I don't trust anybody else to tell."

I look down, avoiding his eye contact.

"Execute order 66."

"What?"

"Those three words were all I heard."

He walks to me, wrapping his arms around my body. I dig my face into his chest, feeling the need to cry but having no real reason to.

"It's probably nothing."

I look up as he kisses my forehead.

"I won't let anybody hurt you" he says. "Ever."

"I love you, Ben" I whisper.

"I'll always love you, Alaina" he says. "Until my very last breath."

We break apart as he pulls up a star chart. He begins to explain where they had went earlier as I watch his every movement.