Redemption

The Living Force

Master Yoda must have known the emotional turmoil Ahsoka had experienced because he silently climbed onto her back and pointed the way to his hut. He didn't say anything until dinner.

"Difficult, I know it can be. Talk about it, you needn't. Unless you want to, of course."

"There's no point in me not telling you. Besides, you're probably one of the few people who would actually understand. I saw Barriss," she revealed.

"Hmm. Anything interesting, did she say?" Yoda asked.

"She said that she didn't regret framing me and that my attachments made me weak. You know, the usual stuff. Then she tried to kill me but failed because my attachments gave me the power to disarm her. I told her I agreed with what she said at the trial but not the actions leading up to it. I forgave her for what she did and she faded away."

"Strength you find, in your attachments. Strength I found, in my commitment to the Force."

"I figured the training must be different for everyone. Besides, I'm not a Jedi. I don't follow the rules of attachment anymore."

"Ultimately caused our downfall, these rules. Broke them anyway, many did. Matter, they do not."

"I hope future Jedi don't have those rules. If I've learned anything, it's that attachments are what you make of them. They can empower you... and they can destroy you." Ahsoka's mind flashed to Anakin and she sighed.

"Agree, I do. Not for me, strong attachments are."

Ahsoka smiled at him. Validation was nice, especially from the former Grand Master. The conversation gradually faded until silence fell once again, cleaning their dishes and going to sleep.

When Ahsoka woke up the next morning, she found Master Yoda outside, standing on a log near his hut.

"Training before breakfast today?" she asked with a yawn.

"Yes. Before a meal, easier, I found this part to be."

"Very well. What would you have me do?"

"Sit down. Meditate here," he instructed.

"And then what?"

"Know, I do not. At the end of my training, Qui-Gon Jinn, I spoke to once again. Senator Amidala, perhaps?"

"Perhaps..."

There was no use wondering. Ahsoka sat cross-legged and closed her eyes, focusing on the Force and her surroundings.

Everything's come full circle now, she thought. After all, my training started with a meditation.

Just as she had that realization, she heard a whoosh. She opened her eyes, unsurprised to find that she was no longer on Dagobah. Looking around, she realized she'd actually been there before.

"The World Between Worlds?" she murmured.

"Yes," a disembodied voice answered her. She couldn't see the speaker, who sounded neither masculine nor feminine. The only quality she could derive from the voice was that it came from a powerful entity.

"You spoke to me when I summoned Padmé," Ahsoka speculated.

"Correct again, Ahsoka Tano."

"Then there must be a reason I've put myself in this place again."

"No. I summoned you here actually."

"Well, I hope it's to answer all my questions then because I've had quite enough of blind faith. I was supposed to die. In Ezra's world, before he pulled me out, I did die. But now, somehow, I get to live because of some weird Force magic?"

"The Force is not bound by space or time. Not everything requires our understanding to exist. Can you say you truly understand the will of the Force? Why it chose you as a wielder?"

"Of course not. Sometimes, I wish it hadn't. I saw my first battle when I was fourteen! I was just a child. Why would anyone allow that to happen?"

"It is not my place to speculate what could have been."

"Then what is your place? Who are you?"

"A manifested voice of the living Force specifically summoned to answer your questions to the best of my ability."

"Then tell me about this place," Ahsoka demanded.

"Many have dubbed it a, 'world between worlds.' They are not entirely wrong in that. This place was created long ago, after a terrible tragedy. The grief of those affected was so terrible that this place was created to give the survivors a chance to make everything better. They succeeded and thus, one tragedy was erased from existence. However, many less well-meaning people heard of this place and wished to use it for selfish purposes. It was sealed away, remaining only accessible to those we deem necessary."

"Hold on," Ahsoka interrupted. "How do you 'deem someone necessary'?"

"We will always know how their intervention in time will change the future. Thus, we can tell who will change it for better... and for worse. This is why the Emperor was unable to access this place without the help of Ezra Bridger. Once the two of you were gone, he was unable to accomplish anything."

"And how am I supposed to change the future for the better?"

"You already have. Thanks to you, instead of holding the Ghost crew hostage to find out where Obi-Wan Kenobi was, Ezra simply took Maul to Tatooine where he finally found rest by Obi-Wan's hand. There is still more you can do."

"Kanaan..."

"Yes. There is still time. You were brought back to help. In small ways, you can make a brighter future. Your reach will extend far beyond anything you can imagine."

"No pressure at all," Ahsoka joked.

The voice lightly chuckled. "This is why you were not told until the end of your training. Armed with this knowledge, you have accomplished your goal. You will not join the Living Force until you deem yourself ready. You will appear as a ghost to those you reveal yourself to. Congratulations, Ahsoka Tano."

"Thank you. I'll do my best," Ahsoka promised.

"You would not have been brought back if we did not have absolute faith in you."

A cloud was forming in front of her. Ahsoka's eyes widened as she realized who the voice meant when they said, "we."

Barris, Padmé, Masters Mundi, Fisto, and Windu, Senator Chuchi, Ventress, and her other friends and mentors who had passed into the Living Force... they were all waving at her.

Ahsoka smiled and waved back.

"The first use of this place was to undo tragic events. Its most recent use was to save you. It is likely that no one will use it again for some time, for you will succeed and as such, the darker timeline will never exist."

"Thank you for your faith in me. I know what I have to do."

Ahsoka sat down on the floor, took one last look at the cloud of people, and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was back on Dagobah, Master Yoda sitting next to her once again.

"Breakfast time, hm?" he offered.

"Yes please!" Ahsoka sang.