Ahsoka Tano One-Shots

Warm Fire, Chilly Floor | Febuwhump Day 27

Heyo, human beings from outer space!

Today our story was requested by npc-meme and it's about Cal Kestis. Now, just a speedy little disclaimer, I know basically nothing about Cal. I just basically got on Youtube, watched a few videos about him, and then I wrote this. So fun stuff. He's probably all messed up and out of character, but it's fiNe.

Read on if you dare. 

Cal Kestis could feel himself shivering against the bitter cold air biting at him through his clothes, but then there was a sort of glowing warmth brushing gently against his face. He realized with a sluggish start that he was unconscious and wracked his muddled mind for the memories of what happened and where he could possibly be.

The ground beneath him chilled him through his clothes and skin all the way down to his bone. Rocks stuck his back and legs, but his head was oddly cushioned. Beside him, he could hear the lively crackling of a fire and feel its warmth radiating onto him as a weak attempt to combat the cold. He could hear something else that he couldn't quite place, too: A sort of gurgling, bubbling sound that made him uneasy.

Cal reached out with the Force, scanning the area for whoever else might be there. It had to be someone, for he certainly didn't build the fire he lay by. He could sense the planet around him, and some meters away lay an animal whose life had been sucked away.

And then, with a surge of alarm, Cal realized that his lightsaber was no longer on his person. Ignoring his previous precautions, Cal's eyes shot open and he shoved himself from the ground. Someone knew he was a Jedi!

"Easy, easy," said a soft voice from across the way. Cal's attention snapped over, glaring through the dancing flames of the fire and catching the outline of a young woman sitting on the other side. Togruta, by the looks of it.

"Who are you?!" Cal demanded.

"Hey, calm down, it's okay. You're okay," she said soothingly.

Cal's mind raced with questions. Why hadn't he sensed her? Who was she? Did she know he was a Jedi?

"Hey, hey, if you're looking for this," the Togruta held up something cylindrical, "it's safe, so don't worry."

His hilt, he realized.

"I fixed it, because I saw that it was broken," said the woman. She tossed it to him and he caught it, staring at her with bewilderment.

"Who–" Cal croaked, "Who are you?"

She sighed, and shifted forward to grab a sort of pot that was perched up by the fire. She emptied its contents into a bowl and handed it to Cal along with a spoon.

"My name," she said softly, pausing to dump more of the pot's contents into another bowl, "is Ahsoka Tano."

For a moment, Cal froze. Then his eyes went wide. "The Ahsoka Tano?!"

"Please don't say it like that," Ahsoka said with a wince, plopping down next to him.

"You were the padawan who was framed for the bombing, the Chosen One's padawan!" Cal exclaimed, waving his hands around and slopping some of the hot liquid in his bowl over the edge. "You're amazing."

"Was," Ahsoka corrected, dipping her spoon into her soup bowl and blowing on it. "I was, Cal."

"Hey, how did you–"

"I heard your friends call you that," Ahsoka said.

"Ah," Cal said. He looked down into his soup bowl and let the steam flow out over his face. "What is this?"

"A stew recipe my Grandmaster shared with me a long time ago. It's one of my favorites," Ahsoka said. "Try it. I promise you I didn't poison it."

Cal scooped some of the stew into his spoon and carefully slurped it. It certainly was much better than anything he got on the job, and he took three more huge bites.

"I'm glad you like it, too," snorted Ahsoka, obviously bemused by his lack of mannars.

"Whoah," said Cal after he finished gobbling up all the stew. "It's amazing you meet you, after everything I heard. You know what, I'd love for you to show me–"

Ahsoka held up her hand, tipping her face away from him and shutting her eyes in almost a sort of wince. "Look, Cal, I'm just here to get you back on your feet because your gilder buddies out there didn't seem so responsible. If you want, you can have more soup, but don't ask me about anything related to the Jedi."

"But," Cal's heart dropped a little, "you've always been so amazing! You could teach me so much, we could start a rebellion, we could take down the empire!"

"Listen to yourself," Ahsoka sighed. "Take down the empire? No! I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart, because frankly sometimes I think the world has none of that left. I'm not volunteering to train you."

"But I want to learn," Cal said. "I want you to teach me. If not for any other cause, just teach me because I never got to become a knight!"

"And neither did I," hissed Ahsoka. "You probably know me for the trials, for the temple bombing. You saw what they did to me, they casted me out like the scum of the galaxy, turned their backs on me as soon as there was any suspicion."

"And didn't they ask you back?" Cal said. "You could've become a knight."

Ahsoka laughed, almost hysterically. "After what they did to me? Imagine looking into the faces of the people you once thought cared about you as they basically sentenced you to death. And then imagine watching as they found you were innocent all along, and to get you back, all they said was 'sorry, our bad, please come back.'"

Cal fell silent, his voice caught in her throat.

"I'm not a Jedi anymore. I haven't been for years. Find someone else to teach you."

For a long moment, they just stared at each other. Then Ahsoka poured more soup into Cal's bowl and they ate in silence for a long time.

"I can only imagine how much they hurt you," Cal said slowly, "but I don't see you as any less than how I did before you were framed. And I got really excited because I haven't seen anyone else like me for years. I'd love for you to train me, Ahsoka, but I get it if you don't want to. I want to get better. I want to learn and grow. But if you don't want to teach me, I'll go back to the guild and keep on keeping on like before."

Ahsoka wiped at her eyes, and Cal realized she'd been crying.

"You know what?" Ahsoka tipped her head back and let out a watery half-laugh, half-sob that bordered on hysterical. "Screw it. Screw all of it. I'll train you, Cal. Let's do this." 

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Word Count: 1,086

Published: 4 June 2023

I'm probably going to do a part two for this one but I took melatonin and I'm supposed to be in bed one minute ago sooooo we're done for tonight. 

Requests are open, feel free to message me or make a comment if you have any ideas!

Bye, peoples!