Card of Heart

Chapter 5 - The Wrong Jedi

Padme sighs. "I don't know, but Ahsoka is going to need someone to represent her in the Senate. Anakin already asked me, and I agreed."

Right. He'd hardly thought that far ahead even, his mind too busy reeling from the shock of what's going on. He was starting to respect the Jedi, after disliking them his entire life, and now they go and do something like this?! He... wants to go talk to Ahsoka, but that's going to have to wait until this is all over. "I can help represent her too," Lux offers.

"I thought you would want to," Padme replies, "I'm going to see Ahsoka now so we can work on her defense. I can call you about it after I get back."

"Good luck," Lux tells her finally before the call ends again. He can't believe how much things have changed overnight. Only yesterday, everything was normal, and now, Ahsoka has been thrown out of the Order and is literally on trial for treason against the Republic which could end in – No, he won't think about that. Ahsoka is innocent, and he'll do everything in his power to prove it.

***

"Ahsoka Tano," Palpatine's voice rings out, and despite herself, Ahsoka looks up, eyeing the Chancellor where he stands at the front of the room. The betrayal by the Council, throwing her out as if she was never even anything to them, as if everything she did her life was nothing, is still crushing her. She didn't think another betrayal could hurt nearly as much as what happened in the Hardeen incident, but apparently, she was wrong.

"You have been charged with sedition against the Jedi Order and the Republic itself. This court will decide your fate. Prosecution, you may begin your arguments."

Tarkin strides to the edge of the railing, staring arrogantly at her. "Former Padawan Tano, I shall prove that you were the mastermind behind the attack on the Jedi Temple, and that once your accomplices carried out your orders, you eliminated them one by one. When you are found guilty, I ask the court that the full extent of the law be brought down upon you, including penalty of death."

What?!

Dread pulses through Ahsoka, the full meaning behind the words, behind the situation she's in right now, crashing down on her. Yes, she already knows that the penalty for treason is execution, but to hear it stated so simply –

Especially when this is the very Republic she's spent her entire life serving, the very Republic that she's watched countless clones die on the battlefield for, and now they're doing this to her. And the Order didn't even have a problem turning her over for this. They didn't even listen to her or give her a chance to defend herself first.

"Look at the facts," Padme speaks up, stepping forwards. Next to her, Ahsoka spots Lux standing, expression grim and filled with determination. She wasn't expecting him to be there as well to speak for her, but she's beyond grateful. Everyone – the very people she thought were her family – have abandoned her, except Anakin, so actually seeing Lux here at least makes her feel slightly better. At least it's a firm reminder that someone is continuing to stand by her.

It still hurts that Anakin was willing to chase her down for the Jedi in the first place, even if she knows there wasn't much else he could do then. But the pain of that is lost in the face of... what she might be facing now.

"Letta Turmond called Ahsoka to her cell to reveal the name of the true mastermind behind the bombing of the Jedi Temple. Letta told her that she was afraid. She told her the mastermind was a Jedi, and before she could reveal the Jedi's name, Letta Turmond was strangled to death by way of the Force. Why would Ahsoka kill Letta with a method that would so obviously tie the murder to her? A Jedi may be responsible for the murder, but that Jedi is not Ahsoka Tano. Members of the court, you are prosecuting the wrong Jedi," Padme continues.