Ahsoka Tano - Undeserving

12

Darkness was all around her, suffocating her slowly. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't feel anything other than panic as her body painfully slid into the beyond, growing all-encompassed by the thick black substance she could never escape from.

Ahsoka woke up slowly, blurredly. Her head felt thick and heavy, as if it was filled with liquid. She suppressed a shiver as she stood up from her mat, immediately being hit with a bout of dizziness so severe that she had to lean completely against the wall to prevent from falling onto the ground.

The padawan pressed a shaky hand against her abdomen and felt it burning hot, so hot that she pulled away immediately. The word infection floated lazily through her mind. Halls of Healing. Now.

Ahsoka groggily stumbled out of her quarters, keeping one hand against the wall and the other wrapped around herself. She felt so hot she was about to explode, wiping damp sweat from her forehead yet also suppressing shivers as she walked. Fortunately it was night time and not many Jedi were currently at the Temple in the first place, meaning that the ones who were present were likely in their quarters already. She knew her master was in his quarters, at least. He would be furious with her in the morning, but Ahsoka was currently more worried about surviving until morning to deal with his wrath.

The thick black substance was wrapping around her legs, but that couldn't be. Was she hallucinating? Or was this real? She couldn't tell anymore. All she knew was that she needed to get there and she needed to get there now.

Force, this was exhausting. Where were the Halls again? Ah yes, down this hallway. No, that's not it. Ahsoka was stumbling in circles, completely lost, when a voice floated into her mind. It was deep and sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite pinpoint the location. She withdrew her presence in the Force instinctively as she realized it was her master's voice.

Ahsoka rounded the corner and immediately retreated as she saw the silhouette of her master standing in the shadows of the hall, a blue glow illuminating his face. She shook her head to clear her fuzziness for the time being and snuck closer. Who was he talking to?

"... Done, Count. I apologize for my clumsiness."

"Such irresponsibility will not be tolerated in the future, Master Krell."

Ahsoka's eyes widened and she couldn't help but send a ripple through the Force. Was that..?

Before she could investigate further, Master Krell immediately snapped off the hologram and whipped around to see his apprentice in the hall. Ahsoka's vision went blurry, and she weakly croaked "Master..." as she collapsed onto the floor.

===

Anakin didn't even have to knock; the door to his former master's quarters slid open as he approached. He paused briefly at the doorway, peering in uncertainly. "Master?"

Obi-Wan was sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed. "Come in, I won't be long." He replied, eyes still closed. "It's late."

"Sorry."

"I could sense your anger before you even walked into the room; maybe meditating would do you some good as well."

The former padawan leaned against the wall and crossed his arms with a scoff. "I thought you'd know better than to tell me to meditate at this point considering how hard you tried to make me good at it when I was still your padawan."

"The first step to becoming good at something is to be awful at it."

Anakin pursed his lips in annoyance but didn't reply, instead choosing to watch his old master. Obi-Wan seemed almost deathly still when he meditated; Anakin remembered once when he was younger he had walked in on Obi-Wan meditating while lying down and genuinely thought he was dead for a split second. Obi-Wan, sensing his panic, had immediately opened his eyes and laughed good-humoredly at him.

After a frustrating amount of time had passed and Anakin was on the verge of talking again, Obi-Wan opened his eyes with a sigh. "Ah, I feel much better, you should try it." His lips curled into a small but knowing smile under his facial hair. "I'm impressed, you lasted much longer than last time."

"What?" Then it occurred to Anakin: Obi-Wan was just waiting until he had had enough before ending his meditation. His confused frown immediately turned into a scowl. "Hey! What if I had come in here for something urgent?"

The older Jedi stood up. "Then you would have entered urgently."

"I'm not your padawan anymore, old man. Stop trying to teach me lessons I don't need." Anakin snapped, but lightheartedly.

Obi-Wan gave a soft chuckle. "Just because you are no longer a padawan doesn't mean you will ever stop learning." His good humor faded, replaced by concern. "But you seemed agitated when you entered, what's wrong?"

Anakin took a moment, realizing that he wasn't quite sure how to approach the topic. Obi-Wan had recently been made a Council Member, and Master Krell was currently also a member. Telling him meant he could put his former master's newfound position at risk, which was the last thing he wanted to do. But he genuinely didn't know who else to turn to. "Uh... I'm concerned about a padawan."

Obi-Wan blinked, taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Master Krell's padawan, she..." Anakin rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable. "She still looks extremely sick, I saw her earlier today. He's still making her train rigorously even though she's not fully healed from her injuries yet. She could get really hurt, and he doesn't seem to care."

The ginger Jedi's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, a hand reaching up to stroke his beard. "Have there been any concrete incidences of abuse by him that you have seen firsthand?"

"No, but when we crashed onworld he never once asked about her even though she was stranded with me. Her entire personality changes around him, and I could sense the fear and restlessness coming off of her in waves whenever he was around. He didn't even trust her to lead her own campaign, even though she's more than old enough to do so."

"Hmm." Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "A master abusing his power over a padawan is a very serious accusation, Anakin. Without concrete proof of misdeeds, it will likely be impossible to prove that the accusation is true. I believe you," He added hastily, seeing Anakin's angry expression, "However, you will need to have the entire Council on your side in order to take action against Pong Krell."

"And how do I do that?"

"Physical evidence, and getting the padawan to talk about her experiences."

Anakin raised his brows doubtfully at that. "Will the Council really believe the word of a padawan versus that of a master?"

"With enough supplementary evidence, yes." Obi-Wan nodded. "Talk to the healer in charge of her when she was discharged and see what they say. You also seem relatively close with the padawan herself and have seen some of her interactions with Master Krell, so you might be able to talk to her. Gently."

The former padawan gave an uncertain grimace. "I'm not really one for gentleness, Master. Especially not with kids."

Obi-Wan placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Well, I guess we shall see if that's true, won't we?" He gave him a small smile. "Update me on what you find out, and get some sleep tonight."

"Yes, Master. Thank you."

The two stopped at the doorway to Obi-Wan's quarters, with Anakin turning back to bid him farewell as he walked away. "Have fun meditating." He joked lightly.

Obi-Wan didn't answer, but a smile formed on his face before the door closed. Anakin headed back down the hall, letting out a small sigh. That was much easier than he had expected it to be; it had been awhile since he and his former master had talked about something so serious. He wasn't sure how the conversation was going to go, and a small bout of nerves had fluttered in his stomach on the way over. But they were gone now, replaced by determination. The Jedi ventured toward his next stop: the Halls of Healing. Sleep could wait.