Star Wars: Balance of the Force (Anakin Skywalker Redemption)

11 - Naboo

Ahsoka winced again as her foot sunk through the marshy ground. Leia and Luke danced on ahead of her, chasing each other through the marshlands back towards the small Naberrie safehouse. It had once been a holiday home for Padmé's grandmother, but now it was used to house Rebellion members or asylum seekers.

Right now, it served as the twins' home, with Ahsoka and Ezac as their guardians. After the disastrous trap on Tatooine, Ahsoka couldn't help feeling this was a form of punishment. She knew Padmé was not a cruel leader like that, but her own failure was glaring.

The entire mission had been a fiasco from the moment Vader set foot on the planet. Stationed in the star ship in the atmosphere with Plo and Wolffe, Ahsoka should never have allowed the children anywhere near the surface, but it was so hard to refuse them. She had hoped that they could quickly visit Mos Espa, their father's birthplace, and then return. When Padmé found out, she, of course, had arrived to bring them back immediately, but by then it was too late.

Distress signals began coming from the Jedi who had been sent to take out Vader, and they had hurried to the rescue. When they arrived, the entire structure was collapsing. Ahsoka had rushed in to find her friends, saving Ezac from Vader before realising an Inquisitor had tailed her and was going after Padmé and the children.

As Ahsoka had battled the female Inquisitor, with her set of little droids, Ezac and the clones had taken the twins and run. Padmé and Velaya had pulled Obi-Wan from the wreckage while Ahsoka made her fatal blow to the Inquisitor. Then they all ran.

The temple collapsed around them bit by bit, the rubble and sand creating a white storm as they hurried through, coughing and spluttering.

Finally outside of the sandstorm, they did not stop running, hurrying to their transport and taking off to meet with Plo and Wolffe as soon as possible.

With the wreckage of the temple, they didn't bother blowing it up, or perhaps they forgot. Ahsoka wasn't sure which. She was sure however, that Vader wasn't dead. Whatever he was, the twins were right, the Force seemed to surround him in a way she had never felt before, not even with Anakin.

It brought her comfort to think she had been wrong. Anakin would never become...that. She wanted to beg his forgiveness for ever even guessing such a thing.

The twins skipped up to the door of the holiday house, peeling off their muddy boots and stripping off their wet coats.

Sitting atop a large pond covered in lily pads and flowers, the garden around the house was rather lovely. It reminded Ahsoka of Shili a little bit, though it was a far cry from Coruscant where she had spent most of her life, and from Tatooine. She could see why Anakin had fallen in love with it so quickly.

She followed suit, discarding her muddy outer layers before heading inside the house. It was on the edge of a farmstead, the rolling fields covered in beautiful flowers that would be picked and sold in the various cities and marketplaces around the continent.

It was peaceful and tucked away, hard to get to and most importantly, largely forgotten. Few people on Naboo knew about the old farmhouse.

The twins thought the whole trip to be a grand vacation, and they revelled in the time off their intensive lessons and meetings. Ahsoka enjoyed the peace and quiet, using the time to practice her meditation and to work through what she had learned about Vader. There was still so much she didn't know, yet she couldn't help the feeling that the answers she sought were so close.

'Welcome back my young Padawan's,' Ezac greeted the twins. 'You're in for a treat today. I found this old cooking book and I think I managed to recreate one of the desserts. Give these a try. They're not too bad if I do say so myself.'