Card of Heart

Chapter 5 - The Wrong Jedi

It's late in the evening now, Lux notices idly. He should be going to bed, but there's too much Senate work to take care of. It's exhausting, he must admit. His thoughts are broken by a sudden call from Padme. "Hello?" he greets her.

A tiny hologram of Padme appears on his desk. She looks worried, more so than he ever remembers seeing her since coming to Coruscant. They've started talking a lot, and she's spent time helping him adjust to working in the Senate. What could be wrong now?

"Lux," she asserts in response, "Did you hear what's going on?"

"With what?" he queries with a frown, raising an eyebrow.

"With Ahsoka," she explains.

His blood instantly runs cold at the words. What could Padme be so worried about, unless – No, he's jumping to the most catastrophic conclusion first thing. There's no proof. There's no way – "What?" he demands anxiously.

"You heard of the Temple bombing, right?" she inquires, then continues without waiting for him to reply. "Ahsoka was called to speak with the suspect, and while she was talking to her, the suspect was mysteriously strangled to death with the Force."

"And they think Ahsoka did it," Lux realizes, dread pooling inside of him. It's not as bad as the first catastrophic thought he had, but that doesn't make this any better. Ahsoka is being accused of murder.

"There's more," Padme continues, "She just escaped the prison, from what I've heard, and no one's been able to find her yet."

What?! "Why would she do something like that?" he exclaims, "That's only going to make her look even more guilty!"

"I don't know," Padme sighs, "We're probably missing most of the details. I can... maybe talk to Anakin once this is over, but for now, we'll have to wait. Or watch the news, because it's already all over the place."

The news which he'd been ignoring while trying to get his Senate work done. Well then. "Do you think there's anything I can do?" he asks desperately. He wishes he could go out there and find Ahsoka himself, to see if he can figure out what's going on, but it's not like he even has any idea where she could be or anything. Besidies, if he did get involved, it would make her look more suspicious. He doesn't know what to do. But he's going to keep a close on eye on what's happening as much as he can. "Thank you for calling, Padme. Just... keep me updated," he requests finally.

"I will," she promises, expression still grim as the connection breaks.

***

Lux can't shake the sinking feeling of foreboding he's had ever since the last Senate meeting he attended, where they discussed the situation with Ahsoka. It's beyond aggravating to hear everyone there talking about her like she's a dangerous criminal, and despite everything he argued to the contrary, he's not even surprised when the Senate finally reaches the decision that they want her thrown out of the Order and turned over to Republic courts for trial.

Thrown out of the Order. The very place that was always her home, the only one she ever knew. He can only hope that the Jedi Council will look over the evidence and realize that something else is obviously going on here.

Still, that doesn't mean he isn't dreading it when he gets another call from Padme. By the look on her face, he's certain he already knows what happened. "They did throw her out, didn't they?" he asks.

"Yes," Padme replies grimly, "They did."

"I don't understand this," he declares, anger leaking into his voice, "I know the Senate demanded it, but the Order wouldn't have to give in to that necessarily unless they believed she was guilty! How did the fact that she could have killed the suspect get blown into how she must be behind the bombing?!"