Master Ahsoka Tano

An Old Friend-12

Ahoksa had always preferred the night over the day light when she visited desert planets. It was warm and dark but you didn't have the burning sensation you would usually get when the suns were out.

Still, she wore her cloak. It whipped around behind her making a snapping noise in the speeding winds. Her goggles she wore kept the air from drying out her eyes as she raced across the cream sand dunes.

She started to slow down when she sensed a small house near. She couldn't see it due to the blackness of the night, but she let the force guide her to where it was.

It was small, more so of a hut than a house. She pulled up next to it and slid off her hover bike. Pulling off her goggles, she walked over to the entrance of the home.

She hesitated at the door. She hadn't seen him in so long. And didn't know what it would be like seeing him again after what had happened on Naboo.

~¤~

She knocked- three time to be exact.

She started getting nervous when she heard the rustling of foot steps outside the door.

She felt as if she couldn't breath for a time as the door opened slowly at first then widened sudenly as the person behind it took in who was standing in front of him.

The shock on his face was very apparent but it slowly changed into a smile of joy that only comes when one is truly happy.

"Ahsoka," he said before pausing, "it's good to see you."

Ahsoka smiled again. Looking at all the new lines that had been added to his face over time. His orange hair had large streaks of white in it. She never thought she would see the day: Kenobi, an old man.

"Likewise, Obi-Wan." She said with a small nod of her head. A smile spreading from ear to ear had found its way onto her face.

"Please, I go by Ben now. Come on in." He said to her. Turning away from the door he lead her to the kitchen. He had never really been one for hugs.

It's was a small place to say the least. With the coloring of cream mud, which was to be expected since they were on Tatooine. There weren't any surprising objects, everything in house seemed, regular, all most ordinary.

She almost wouldn't have believed if she didn't see it with her own two eyes. The great General, Obi- Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Knight, reduced to live in little more than a mud hut. But then again, times change.

And no one knew that more than her.

"Are you hungry? I have some stew on the fire if you would like some."

"I would love some, thanks." She said as she sat down on the stool, hands resting on the old, wooden table.

There were a few minutes of drawled out silence when Kenobi, or rather Ben, filled up two bowls of stew, placing one of the bowls in front of her, he sat down.

He took a minute to look at her, really look. She was visibly aging, and you could see it if you took the time to look in all the right places. Her baby fat was all gone and only the hard shape of her face remained. Her skin between her eyebrows seemed scrunched and tight. But the thing that really struck him were her eyes. They were the eyes of a survivor. A fighter.

And in them told a story. The story of how the world came to be as it is now. And she was at the center of it all. In every big twist and turn in last few decades that lead to where they are today, she was there. Trying to make a better outcome than the one provided. Never truly succeeding however. Precious few others new the full story that was Ahsoka Tano. And he considered himself honored to be among those precious few.

"So," he began, "what draws you to my home? Did you get my message?"

"I did, that's why I came, but I also wanted to see an old friend." That brought a small smile to his face. It seemed the twinkle in his eyes still remained. "However I may require your opinion and advice on a certain... situation." She said hesitating on what to label the new predicament that was her life.

Ben nodded, "Anything you need of me just ask, and I will do my best to supply."

That made Ahsoka smile. He hadn't changed one bit. But she knew that wasn't true. Not if she was being honest.

"Thank you, truly."

"Of course."

Ahsoka was quiet for some time. Obi-Wan kept silent for those few minutes letting her collect her thoughts.

"I've been offered... a job. And I'm hesitant to take it to say the least. Not because I think it will be too dangerous or that it's not the right thing to do, but rather because it involves, Anakin."

Obi-Wan kept quiet at that, watching Ahsoka. Thinking on how to answer that and debating if saying nothing would be the better decision than saying anything at all.

Her head had been down, staring at the table, until she said his name. Her eyes searched his for any type of answer or guidance. She hadn't told him what Anakin had done to her and she wasn't planing on it. It was one of the reasons why she had most of her body covered up now-a-days. If Obi-Wan saw the scars that covered her body, he would know right away what had happened to her and she wouldn't be able to lie about it like with all the other precious few people who had seen them. It wasn't something she liked to show off and flaunt. 

"The thing is it's not just involving him, but also his daughter, Leia." She paused again. It was so quiet Ahsoka could almost swear she heard the sand being moved around outside.

"Organa wants me to be Leia's body guard of sorts. He believes that, Darth Vader, has been searching for Leia and her rebel hideouts and he wants someone there who would be able to protect her if the need arises."

It took a while before Obi-Wan could speak again.

"I think you should take it." He said quietly.

"What?" That was honestly not what she was expecting. She was expecting something more. Something around the lines of, are you sure you want to put yourself in that situation? To have to see him again? Do you think it would be safe?  "Is there a reason why?"

"Take the job." He said getting up from the table and taking his bowl with him, suddenly not hungry.
"It's what Padamé would've wanted," and he walked out of the room. Leaving her to pick up the pieces of the psychological bomb that had just exploded inside his kitchen.

Padamé. Her dear, dear friend. Who had been dead for a long time now. And a death she could never, ever, recover from. The death that was the first of many to come. 

She followed Obi-Wan into the other room. He was sitting on the couch with his head cradled in between his hands.

She gave him a moment before she spoke. "Would you mind if I slept on the couch?"

He sighed, looking up. "No, I don't mind Ahsoka."

He got up from the couch and walked over to the doorway. "There are blankets and a pillow in the cabinet. We can talk in the morning. I'm going to bed."

"Okay. Goodnight." She said standing there in the room awkwardly. "And thank you," he didn't reply, "for your advice."

"Goodnight Ahsoka." He said, little more than a whisper in the wind. He turned and walked out of the living room, leaving the lights on.

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AHHHHHHH sooooo sorry it took me so long to write this chapter I had so many writers blocks it was almost unbearable.

Thank you to everyone who kept giving feedback and who left all the very nice comments. It's one of the reasons I love writing so much.

Hope you enjoyed this little heart wrenching chapter. I know I loved writing it when I had an idea on how the story would end up.

Anywhooooo... Did anyone see the new Star Wars movie I freaked!