LEILANI SERENNO bridged the past and the present, born into a family of cruelty and then groomed to fulfil a role in the grand scheme of things. She was a puppet manipulated by her brother, ensnared in a larger narrative orchestrated by the Force. Y...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
---☆---
Was it justice, or was it merely cruelty? No one was certain anymore.
The offer had been made, the Council extending their hands to a girl they had cast aside only days before, a girl who had spent her entire life among them, believing in their teachings, trusting in their wisdom. And yet, after everything—after the betrayal, the exile, the trial—how could she accept? How could she return to an Order that had not stood by her when it had mattered most?
She couldn't.
And so, Ahsoka Tano had walked away.
Anakin had bolted after her before anyone could stop him, his voice calling her name, desperation clinging to every syllable. But Leilani had moved before Obi-Wan could do the same, her hand finding his wrist, her fingers tightening just enough to ground him. Beside her, Plo Koon did the same, his expression unreadable beneath his mask, but his presence steady, immovable.
Obi-Wan's breath was sharp, a short exhale that barely made it past his lips. His entire body was coiled, his weight shifted forward as if he were about to pull away, to chase after her just as Anakin had. But he didn't. Not when Plo Koon's hand pressed lightly against his arm, not when Leilani's fingers curled more firmly around his wrist, keeping him anchored.
"We have to let her go," Plo Koon murmured, his voice quiet but resolute.
Obi-Wan's jaw clenched. His hands twitched at his sides, his posture rigid, as though every part of him was resisting the very idea of standing still. But he did not pull away.
And so they reached the gates only just in time to see Ahsoka descend the steps of the Jedi Temple, her silhouette framed against the setting sun. She did not look back.
Anakin stood at the bottom, frozen, the weight of it all bearing down on his shoulders, sinking into his bones. His entire frame was taut, his hands curled into fists at his sides, as if holding himself together by sheer force of will. He was speaking—pleading—but Ahsoka only shook her head.
Leilani could not hear the words exchanged between them, but she could see them. She could see the way Anakin's stance faltered, the way his shoulders heaved with a breath that barely made it past his chest. She could see the way Ahsoka stood firm, her own grief hidden beneath a mask of quiet certainty.
This was not what she wanted. But it was what she needed.
And so, with one final look—one last glance at the man who had been her teacher, her friend, her family—Ahsoka Tano turned and walked away.
Anakin took half a step forward before stopping himself, his body trembling with something barely contained. His breath hitched, and for the first time in a long time, he looked— Shattered.
Like the ground had fallen away beneath his feet, like everything he had built, everything he had held onto, had been ripped away from him in a single breath.
