Shadow of Trust

Chapter 22 - Ventress's Return

Chapter 22 – Ventress's Return

Ahsoka stared at Anakin and Padmé's startled expressions. There was silence for a long time, until Anakin finally spoke up, grimacing angrily, "If she comes within 100 yards of you, I'll kill her."

Padmé stroked his arm soothingly. "Anakin, we shouldn't rush things in this situation," she whispered, smiling slightly.

"Please understand, Padmé. I can't just pretend it's nothing. She's a danger to all of us," he replied, looking at her with cold eyes. He pulled away from her and stood up.

"No, apparently I don't understand," she said just as coldly, slowly getting up. "You can't act on your own without having the vital information." She was full senator now.

Anakin didn't stand a chance, so he simply promised to keep his eyes on her, which she accepted happily.

Ahsoka cleared her throat, "How about I do some enquiries? Asajj has helped me before, maybe she can be spoken to normally." Her suggestion sounded harmless next to Anakin's drastic solutions.

Anakin didn't quite know what to make of this and looked at Padmé undecidedly. She seemed to be considering. "Do you dare to do that, Ahsoka? I don't want anything to happen to you just because, like Anakin, you want to prove you're strong." She smiled slightly and gave Anakin an apologetic look.

The Togruta elicited a strained laugh. "Oh, of course not, I'm not as daring as he is," she announced with a grin and turned and ran down the hallway. As she turned a corner, however, she unexpectedly crashed into Minul and both of them fell to the ground.

"Oh, Padawan Tano, I'm very sorry. I didn't see you." Minul jumped up and gave her his hand. "Have you hurt yourself?"

Ahsoka shook her head and straightened her clothes. "No, everything okay. I am sorry. I was going a little too fast," she replied absently.

Now Minul seemed very interested and bent slightly on his tiptoes: "Where are you going, if I may ask?"

Now I guess I have to come out with the truth. "I wanted to see Asajj Ventress. The woman you spoke to this afternoon."

"Oh." Minul nodded calmly. "She is our teacher and teaches us how to use the Force."

But Ahsoka reacted very differently than Minul had expected: "What?! She's teaching you the Force?!" In her mind, she was already in the middle of a battle against her former ally. This alliance had nothing to do with trust. Of course I don't trust her. She still uses the dark side. But there is goodness in her ...

"Yes, she is a great teacher. I should introduce her to you, but unfortunately I don't have any time at the–"

"Minul! Are you aware that she is a follower of the dark side?! She's a danger to all of us!" Ahsoka couldn't believe it and wanted to jump at Minul's throat to shake him vigorously.

"She turned from the dark side a long time ago," Minul reported, somewhat confused, as if it were obvious.

"Really?" Ahsoka eyed him suspiciously. "I don't believe you."

He sighed and made an annoyed hand gesture. "Convince yourself. Her quarters are on the top floor. After the ladder, down the hall on the left is the last door."

The young Padawan set off immediately and found the ladder two corners down. Instead of stairs, this house had ladders connecting the floors so that the clones could only access the bottom floor in the event of an attack. Pretty smart. I wonder who came up with these security systems.

After climbing the ladder, she followed Minul's description to the last door, not knowing whether to knock or just burst in.

Suddenly the door was pushed open from the inside and Ahsoka jumped back, startled. Asajj stood in the doorway. Her skin was pale and her head was bald. Her eyes were an unnatural blue. "I knew you would pay me a visit sooner or later," she sneered, her voice as hostile as ever.

Ahsoka swallowed. Now she wasn't as sure of herself as she had been before. "I need to talk to you."

"How true." She pronounced it like a melody. As if she had been practicing her lines for a long time.

So the Togruta mustered all her courage and stalked past Dooku's former assassin to her quarters as easily as possible, hoping this wouldn't be a mistake. "What brings a powerful woman like you to a refugee camp? Isn't that below your level? You could do them all at once if you wanted."

Asajj laughed her raspy laugh, "They offer me everything I need. Food, shelter. And in return, all I have to do is train them. It's a fair trade, isn't it?"

She deftly sat down on her mattress while Ahsoka looked around the room. All walls were white. An unusual color for Asajj. "And what do you do when you don't have to train anyone?" She gave the seated woman a suspicious look from the corner of her eye.

"I'm still a bounty hunter, you should know," she hissed. "And I've made some strong friends. So don't mess with me."

"Alright," Ahsoka raised her hands in a sign of peace. "As long as you don't hurt us, I see no reason why we should fight you."

Asajj grinned: "You are clearly better at negotiating than your former master. But look at you: why are you carrying your lightsabers again?"

"I returned to the Jedi," Ashoka replied tersely. The former assassin shook her head and Ahsoka sat down next to her. "I don't believe you."

"Oh yes?" Asajj's voice was a single hiss.

"I know you, Asajj. You would never train the Force intensives if there was no personal benefit for you. I don't mean food or shelter." For a moment there was complete silence. Sirens rang in from outside, but they were too far away to draw attention. "You want revenge, don't you?" Silence. "But there's no one out there to wreak vengeance on!" Ahsoka pointed to the windows and grew louder. "They're all dead!" There was regret in her voice. "Too many have died needless deaths just because Palpatine used his power ..."

Now Ahsoka remained silent. She understood. Asajj smiled grimly.

"Do you understand now? He has to pay for it! He's been responsible for all of them and he's going to pay for that!"

"But you can't just send a bunch of Force-sensitive people into his palace and hope he dies! Do you realize how powerful Palpatine is?"

She nodded and collapsed. "There has to be a way," she growled.

"You have changed a lot. I'll talk to my master about it, maybe he'll have an idea."