When She Was Gone

Chapter 14

Leia watched in horror as the pod sped away from the Destroyer. She spun to Obi-Wan.

"We have to go back!" Obi-Wan gunned the engines, tossing Leia backwards into the door. "What are you doing? We have to go back now! We have to help--"

He spoke quickly and with authority. "Anakin can handle her." Then, less hard, "He knows her."

"But we--"

"Have to get a message to your mother."

"But--"

"Would he have wanted you to go back and get yourself killed?"

Leia dropped her head in defeat. She made her way to the passenger bench and strapped herself in.

~~

Luke had just dozed off when the datapad started buzzing frantically in his lap. He jumped and grabbed it, blinking hard. Padmé jerked awake at the other end of the sofa. His eyes widened as he read the incoming message. He looked at his mother, a grin spreading across his face.

"Master Luminara's coming here. And she says she has friends."

~~

Anakin woke slowly, prying his eyes open to see very unfamiliar surroundings. His head throbbed. Machines clicked and clanked outside the door he was facing. His heart rate sped.

Droids? Where am I?

"So," said a voice from behind him. "You're finally awake." They had a deep, rumbling voice and a heavy Coruscanti accent.

Dooku?

They stepped into his line of sight. They were dressed like an Imperial officer, but Anakin knew him too well.

"You can't fool me with that cheap disguise, Dooku."

They cocked their head and removed their hat to reveal--

An ordinary Imperial officer. Anakin slumped in his--what even was he strapped to?

Oh no.

It was an interrogation chair.

The officer replaced his hat as the door slid open. Anakin looked up to see Ahsoka step into the cell, helmet repaired and covering her face again. She stopped in front of him. "Leave us," she said. The officer scurried out.

Anakin expected the interrogating to start immediately, but she just stood there.

After a long and uncomfortable silence, she spoke. "You have questions."

Anakin took a breath. "Yes."

"My Master wishes your information extracted, and then killed." She cocked her head. "But I will allow you one question before I begin asking my own."

He took another breath, searching for any sign of his Padawan's Force signature.

But just as before, nothing was there. He sighed.

"What happened to Ahsoka?"

"I will not answer that question yet."

He dropped his head, glaring at his feet. "Get on with it. I know the Sith's 'extraction' techniques. You might as well start now."

"You are weak." She said, sitting in the available chair next to the door. "Weak and idiotic."

Anakin snorted. Ahsoka pressed a button on her wristcomm. His body was suddenly being stabbed everywhere, he was being blinded—

Then the rays of shocking energy stopped and he went limp, breathing heavily. "You will be quiet while I'm talking," Ahsoka said from her chair. Anakin said nothing. "That's better." She decided against the chair and got up, walking slowly back and forth in front of him. "It was not my choice for it to come to this. My Master knows more than I, however, and he sees that eliminating you will make me even more powerful."

Anakin jerked his head up. "Make you more powerful? He is using you! It will make Kaivo more powerful—he's going after the Jedi!"

She paused, considering his words, then raised her comm and pressed that dreaded button again.

When the pain stopped, Ahsoka stepped forward, grabbed Anakin's chin and forced his face up to look at her. She opened her helmet, and those burning eyes glared at him. "I said be quiet. I am Darth Makari. No one disobeys me. They pay the price."

She stepped back. "You are weak and small-minded, as I once was. Your Rebellion will fail. My Master has foreseen it. Yavin 4's base will crumble in flames."

Anakin said nothing, rage overpowering his body. He shook. His eyes filled with tears.

"I will answer your question now." He lifted his head slightly, unable to meet her eyes. "Your Padawan was weak, like you. So I killed her," said the Togruta, circling Anakin's interrogation chair.

Anakin looked at her in disbelief and horror, tears in his eyes. He stared into hers, begging them to return to ocean blue. But it was no use.

This girl may have looked like Ahsoka, but she was not his Padawan any longer. The Dark Side had truly taken her.