Brotherhood

Chapter 54 - Mourning

Author's Note: Sooo... I might have been rather unfair to the Jedi in the beginning of this fic. In my defense, this was the second long fic I ever started/posted and I didn't really understand the Jedi at that time. Also, I fixed a plot hole in this chapter. :')

If any of y'all have any suggestions, theories, or comments for what you want to happen next or for what you think will happen, please feel free to let me know! I get my best ideas from my readers. :D

~ Amina Gila

Ahsoka awakens to a dull pulsing throb in her head, and a strangle groan escapes from her as she opens her eyes to see the glowing red ray shield across from her. Right. Everything floods back in, from the... explosions to her capture, and she slumps back against the cool durasteel floor of the prison cell. The Force's absence is like a lost limb, and she hates it. It wasn't this bad in the cells that Dooku had, but then again, that's probably because they weren't actually designed to restrain Force users for an indefinite period of time. They were primarily intended to punish Anakin – and maybe other acolytes in training.

Without the Force, she can't truly sense anything or anyone outside her cell; all she can feel is an aching numbness where her bonds are. She doesn't know if Anakin is alright or what state he's in. She doesn't know where Obi-Wan is, either. All she knows is that she's alone here. And it terrifies her. Even now, she can distinctly remember what happened the last time she was in a cell like this.

Ahsoka knows that she's in the Jedi Temple – or at least she can assume so – but that doesn't stop the fear and panic from bubbling up as she remembers Last Time, as she recalls how Palpatine forced her to kill for him, how he pushed her to touch the Dark Side. And perhaps the Darkness has given her strength, but she cannot go through it again.

She can't. She can't.

Everything happened so fast, so abruptly, that she's still reeling from it all. Shmi – Shmi... And Boba. They're – they're dead, gone. Like so many others. It hurts so much worse though because they were Anakin's family. They were his family, and they were her family, too, by default. And now, they're gone, just like that. She doesn't know if she's angrier at the Jedi or at Palpatine. It's an irrational anger, she knows, because only the Sith Master truly deserves her fury, but... a part of her is too far gone to care.

They – they came for Shmi. They came for her, and she died because of that, when all of them could have escaped from Palpatine's clutches. They could have been free, been happy. They could have healed and taken down Palpatine on their down. Now, none of that can happen. If she's struggling this much, then what of Anakin? How will he handle it? Will he be alright if he's alone? Will the Jedi even leave him alive?

It's something that Ahsoka shudders to think about since the Jedi have every reason to want Anakin executed; he is dangerous and brutal, and he would not hesitate to kill if it means protecting his family. But – but he's Anakin. He is – he is her brother, her master, her – her everything. Anakin is... he is like a star, burning so brightly that she can't help but love him even if she shouldn't. He should not be so dear to her, being a murderer as he is.

But he is also a victim, and she cannot and will not forget that.

Anakin did not want this. He's gone along with it to protect his mother – who is now dead – and to protect Padme. One of them, at least, is still alive.

And now, she and Anakin and Obi-Wan are all prisoners of the Jedi, the Republic. But what now? What will happen to them now? What will their fates be? What will the Council do with them? Will they remain here, imprisoned? Are all of them down here?