When She Was Gone

Chapter 9

Leia's escort slammed the control panel, lowering the ray shield, and tossed her in. She growled at their retreating backs as they left her there.

The handcuffs automatically opened and fell from her wrists. Leia rubbed the aching joints and scooted up against the wall. She laid her head on her knees, eyes filled with scared tears, utterly alone.

~~

Anakin snapped his chest armor on, then his shoulder armor, then pulled his belt tight around his waist. Looking at himself in the mirror, he sighed. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to dig this outfit out again.

Obi-Wan came up behind him, snapping his upper armor on. He looked at Anakin in the mirror and managed a smile.

Anakin picked up his other robes and walked past Obi-Wan quickly so he wouldn't see how terrified he was. Losing a Master was one thing. Losing a Padawan was another. He had practically been her father, just as Obi-Wan was the closest Anakin had to one. He was constantly on the verge of breaking down. There was more than one life at stake on this mission.

He couldn't choose between his daughter and Ahsoka.

She's not Ahsoka anymore, said a little voice in his head. He grit his teeth and adjusted the robes in his arms.

A lightsaber fell out.

Anakin bent over and picked it up, examining it closely. He made a strangled noise and dropped it, realizing the shape and size.

It was Ahsoka's.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan's voice traveled down the ship's hall. "Is everything all right?"

Anakin tried to wipe his face clean of expression and failed miserably. He turned to face his mentor as he came around the corner, eyebrows peaked in curiosity.

Anakin tried to speak but the words caught in his throat; instead he held out the lightsaber with a shaking hand. Obi-Wan took it and looked it over carefully.

He paled as a look of realization dawned on his face. He looked at Anakin, seeming scared to speak.

"This...this is—"

"Yes," Anakin said, biting back tears.

It really had been her. The lightsaber proved it. She wasn't a projection, wasn't an illusion. She was real, and so was the darkness. Obi-Wan met Anakin's eyes with unmasked pain.

"Anakin, I..." he said softly. "I'm so sorry."

Anakin opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a rather large jostle to the ship. Then two more.

He ran to the cockpit, Obi-Wan close behind. At first he couldn't tell what was wrong; proximity alerts were going off left and right, the shields were taking heavy damage and nothing seemed to want to respond to him. He craned his neck over the console board—

And was met with the terrifying view of a tractor beam and a huge Star Destroyer.

"Your plan is working out beautifully so far, Anakin," Obi-Wan said dryly.

~~

Two hours earlier, just after Leia was left in the brig.

"Personal log. Begin new entry." The datapad responded instantly to Makari's command, and a blinking bar in the upper left corner told her she could begin. She sighed.

"I have captured Skywalker's daughter successfully. It was not the objective of the mission, but it is a victory nonetheless." The pad typed out her words as fast as she said them. Another perk of being Kaivo's apprentice: top-of-the-line tech. Though she did sometimes miss R4 and R2.

She shook her head.

"My Master has reminded me that capturing Skywalker himself is critical, if not only to destroy the Rebellion from the inside then to prove the Empire's might. Though I suppose one would follow the other.

"Why do I feel such sentiment towards his offspring? She is bait and nothing more. I have no connection with Skywalker other than my Master's mission. Tano once did, but I do not." Makari stopped speaking abruptly as she realized what she had just said. These logs could easily be hacked if one knew how. "Datapad, delete last sentence." It did so.

"At any rate, Skywalker will be captured. I have formulated a plan. He will come for his child, and when he does, he will be blinded by his emotions. He will be easy to catch.

"A fly in a web, one could say. And I am the spider."

~~

Come on, come on, come on, Luke thought angrily, watching the bar on the screen inch slowly toward the word "sent". His index finger repeatedly pressed the small button on the console, trying to make it go faster.

He had long since muted the video clip that was on repeat, but the visual blinked over again and again, playing the same moments silently.

A young Togruta stepped out from behind his father. A blue lightsaber cut through a mask to reveal the same face. The Togruta pulled Leia down a hallway with a lightsaber to her throat.

Dad.

Did you know about this?

Do you know who she is?

A/N
Well that took me a long time
Sorry for the lack of updates; school is hating me right now. I've got a plan for another storyline too.......first chapter will probably be out by mid next week.

Lyg <3