The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Nine

Chapter Fifty-Five: The Consequences Of A Choice

AHSOKA TANO

Ahsoka watched, stupefied, as Kaylira forced the green blade of her lightsaber further into Bane's chest, her face contorted into an expression of sheer viciousness unlike anything she had ever seen before.

Bane crumpled in on himself with a choked noise, stumbling forward. He was dead before he hit the ground, the yellow and red fire in his eyes fading away as the energy of the Living Force left him.

For a moment, no one moved, too stunned by what they had just witnessed to say or do anything. But a moment later, Kaylira smiled, turning off her lightsaber and stepping calmly around the lifeless form. "Okay, that's one down, one to go. Did you see where Grievous went, Master?"

Ahsoka exhaled a tense breath, her fingers tightening around her own lightsabers. "Kaylira," she said quietly, her eyes wide, "what did you just do?"

"I... I saw an opportunity and I took it," she said, her brow furrowed as if she didn't totally understand what she was being asked. "Bane is – was – dangerous. For all we know, I could have just saved one of your lives or something! How could I have done wrong in that?"

"You just killed someone in cold blood," Ahsoka said, struggling to keep the sudden sick feeling in her stomach from showing on her face.

What had happened to her Padawan?

"He wasn't unarmed, or weakened physically, or anything!" Kaylira exhaled shortly, evidently frustrated that her point wasn't being taken seriously. "Master, he was going to kill you."

"This isn't the way."

"It doesn't matter. I go my own way now."

"Kaylira, this really isn't the time to start going through your teenage rebel phase," Kaya Ti said, stepping forwards. "Grievous is still out there, and you can bet he's only waiting for the right moment to strike."

Ahsoka put a hand on Kaya's shoulder, gently pulling her back. Her every fiber was thrumming with a sense of danger, and, although it made her heart cry out in dismay, the origin of that feeling was none other than her young Padawan Learner.

The yellow in Kaylira's eyes shone brighter and she curled her small hands into fists, but she said nothing.

"Kaylira, you have to let go," Ahsoka said, clipping her lightsabers back on her belt and moving a few careful steps closer. "I know that Zannah wants nothing more than to hurt you."

"You don't know her like I do," Kaylira spat, turning away.

"And you don't know her like you know us." Padme's brown eyes were gentle and compassionate, but Ahsoka knew that just beneath the surface, her mind was whirring away as her diplomatic personality took over. "We're your friends."

"You don't understand! She's the only one that's keeping me alive!"

Ahsoka's eyes widened. "What?" she exclaimed softly. "Kaylira, what are you talking about?"

"You know. You read the letter, all those years ago; the one you kept from me. The one my great-great-grandmother wrote with her dying breath." Seeing that Ahsoka found no clarity in her explanation, Kaylira barked out a laugh. "Must I explain everything?"

Bane was dead. Zannah Kaylira was dying, and being turned against her friends from the inside. It made Ahsoka's head spin, and she wasn't certain of anything anymore.

Surely Kaylira wasn't talking about the letter she had found at the very beginning of the New Jedi Order, from the ancient peoples who had once walked the same ground they did back home...?