across the stars ( original edition ) ( complete )

Chapter 5

Searching for the truth is easy. Accepting the truth is hard.

"I told you a thousand times Kenobi, I didn't accept the vote and I certainly didn't expect him to say that last part!" Aayla said for the thousandth time. She, Anakin, and Obi-Wan were standing on a loading bay outside the Jedi Temple, waiting for a shuttle to take them to Padme's apartment. Well, just Anakin and Obi-Wan anyways. Aayla and Obi-Wan were arguing and Anakin was standing looking down into the depths of Coruscant, a strange expression on his face. The hardest thing he was trying to grasp was how he was going to tell Ahsoka. She was like a little sister to him. Telling her she wouldn't be trained by her older brother was going to break her heart. Anakin hated watching her suffer. It felt like a thousand lightsabers were being stabbed into his gut all at once.

"Neither did I!" Obi-Wan shot back to Aayla. "You could have at least done something else to stop the vote from going through!"

"Do you know how many people voted against that vote?" asked Aayla, fuming.

"Clearly not enough!" said Obi-Wan.

"Don't start with me Kenobi!" said Aayla. "This never would have happened if you and your smart mouth hadn't caused a bigger issue!"

"I didn't mean to say what I said, it just came out!"

"Well maybe you should try to contain that little head of yours next time before you lose it!"

"HEY!" said Anakin, turning around and facing them. "Will you two stop it? I'm sick of hearing you argue! This won't make the situation any better. Look, I don't like Windu's decision as much as you, but this is the way it is, so just work with it. Please."

Obi-Wan's eyes grew wide. "Did you just agree with authority? You never agree with authority. He just agreed with authority."

"Unbelievable," said Aayla.

Anakin sighed. The ship that was taking Anakin and Obi-Wan to Padme's landed and Anakin rushed over to it. Obi-Wan sighed and followed him.

"Wait, where are you going?" asked Aayla.

"To see a friend," said Obi-Wan.

"I'm going," said Aayla.

Obi-Wan and Anakin froze. "I'm sorry what?"

Aayla walked past them onto the ship. She nodded at the pilot. "Go."

"You can't come," said Anakin.

"I just did," said Aayla as the ship took off.

Obi-Wan yanked on Anakin's arm and pulled him into the back. "If she finds out about you and Padme-"

"She'll tell the council?" said Anakin. "I thought about that. She's been on my side from the start, she won't tell the council."

Obi-Wan sighed. "Fine. But if you get expelled, all the fingers are pointing to her."

"Or you," said Anakin. "Because you also know."

"I wouldn't tell!" said Obi-Wan, offended.

"Oh!" said Anakin. "Right! I forgot! You also had a secret relationship that the council didn't know about."

Obi-Wan glared at him. "Shut. Up."

"If you two are done muttering," said Aayla. "We're here."

"Where?" asked Anakin.

Aayla shrugged. "You were the ones coming, you should know."

Anakin tensed. "We-need to tell you something."