What Could Have Been Part III: The Destined Warriors

Different Paths

Leia

Escape pods, apparently, were made more for safety and not for comfort.

"Leia get your elbow out of my rib cage!" Luke exclaimed. Leia shifted against her brother. "I can't move it!" she grumbled. Luke shoved her to the side. "Why is your butt so fat?" he asked as he attempted to find release hatch of the pod. Leia turned red. "My butt is not fat! Maybe we'd have room if your ego wasn't so big!" She snapped defensively.

Luke banged on the metal interior. "Maybe if you closed your fat mouth, you'd be able to help me get out of here!" Leia clenched her teeth. "If you say fat one more time..."

"Fat. F- A- T. Fat!"

"That's it!" Leia jabbed her elbow back into her brother's side causing him to grunt in pain. He shoved her back. Quickly, the twins got into a heated fight as the pushed, shoved, and yelled inside the cramped little metal cylinder.

They froze when the hatch flung open from the outside and they spilled out onto the ground in front of their father. They had landed in the old industrial district of Coruscant where nothing but the ruins of factories remained.

"Care to explain why you deliberately disobeyed my orders to evacuate and instead put yourselves in danger by jumping onto an enemy ship?" He asked with stony voice.

Luke spoke up first. "Dad, we weren't in danger," he insisted. Anakin stopped him there. "You could have been killed Luke! This is exactly why I didn't want you getting involved in this fight!"

Leia stared up at her dad. A combination of anger and quilt welled up in her. "Dad," she shouted weakly, "You can't keep protecting us from every single thing! We're not as young as we used to be!"

"You aren't ready!"

"Yes. Yes we are Dad!"

"No you aren't!"

"Why can't you accept that?"

"That's enough!"

"But-"

"Ahsoka, I said that's enough!"

The air seemed to freeze for a moment. Ahsoka? Leia remembered her brother telling her about their father's first apprentice, Ahsoka Tano. She stared at her brother, his eyes lowered, his jaw tense. When she finally looked up at her father- who was obviously aware of the name that left his lips- he had his face buried in his right hand. Leia noticed his hands tremble.

"Home. Now." His words were low and husky, but something about them came strained. Leia was on her feet even before her brother and they took off towards the Temple without another look at their crying father.

What have we done?

Anakin

Twenty years.

He hadn't said her name in twenty years.

Anakin didn't know why he had said it. Maybe it was because of what Leia had said, or maybe it was because of what happened at the Temple, but when he had looked down at his grown up daughter, all he saw was her face.

Ahsoka's face.

I'm not so young.

We're not as young as we used to be!

"Why'd you have to leave?" he asked aloud. He may have been able to redeem himself for breaking the Jedi Code. He may have been able to redeem himself for abandoning the Order, but he could never forgive himself for what he had done to Ahsoka.

"Why'd you have to leave?" He asked again, louder. This time, his voice echoed off the metal towers of the ruined city. The echoes, it seemed, where the only ones that heard him.

**************************

The Temple was rubble.

Medical teams were scattered throughout the carnage of the Temple. They were all busy tending to injured citizens. No one was without a job. He found Obi-wan first. The man's white beard was grey with ash and debris. His eyes were missing the twinkle that they used to posses all the time.

"Obi-wan," he said. He tried to think of something to say, but he was too tired to speak. Obi-wan met him halfway. "I was wondering what happened to you," he said calmly. When Anakin gave no response, he continued. "What did happen, Anakin?"

Anakin stood at the top of the steps in front of the Temple. By the time he had tracked down Luke and Leia, and gotten back to the Temple, nightfall had already set across Coruscant. The only city lights were those in the residential district, leaving the rest of the forgotten city in darkness.

"I failed her Obi-wan," he said solemnly. Obi-wan furrowed his eyebrows. "Who? Leia?" Anakin shook his head gravely. "Ahsoka." It seemed that whenever her name was spoken, cold silence followed.

If Obi-wan was surprised, his voice didn't show it. "Anakin, do you know why I never took on another Padawan after you?" Anakin was puzzled by the question. But now that he thought about it, Obi-wan hadn't had an apprentice since he became a Knight. "What are you talking about?"

Obi-wan sighed. "I knew that I would never care about another student the same way I cared about you. When you left the Order, I thought it meant that I had failed you. I didn't want to do the same thing again." Obi-wan chuckled to himself. "But then I realized that just because you had chosen another path, didn't mean I had done something wrong. It meant that I had taught you how to follow your destiny, no matter what that destiny was. So what I'm trying to say is, I understand that you still feeling like you're Ahsoka's master, but she left the Order on her own. That was her path."

Anakin felt the tears return to his eyes. Obi-wan may not have been his master anymore, but he still taught him something every day. Anakin knew he would be forever grateful to be his apprentice.

"Thanks, Obi-wan." Anakin turned out to the darkness. The night air was cool and crisp. "So what now?"

The old Grand Master crossed his arms. "Rett has finally revealed himself. I don't think he will stop there. Tomorrow, the Alliance plans to spread out across the galaxy. Wherever Rett is hiding, we'll find him."

"He's after my children," Anakin pointed out.

Obi-wan rubbed his beard. "Mace and I have already discussed that. If Rett wants them both, we must separate them. Leia will travel with Mace back to Felucia and Luke will come with Rex to Onderon. We think Rett's new base is located there."

Anakin raised his eyebrows. "You mean neither of them are coming with me?" Obi-wan frowned. "No. It's too risky for them to be with you. Rett will be able to sense that much Force sensitivity. You and I are going after the assault ship that attacked the Temple."

Anakin ran his hands through his hair. "Where do we even look?" He asked hopelessly. Obi-wan leaned against the stone balustrade. "Rett's troops all had Mandalorian symbols on their armor. That may be our best lead to tracking the ship."

"Well won't my wife be thrilled to hear that we're going to Mandalore..."