Betrayal

Chapter 12: Another Perspective

"Our padawans took it upon themselves to sneak away in the night and rescue Jinn," Su cut in.

"Not to mention, Satara left the order last night," he continued, earning a glare from me.

"What?" Master Windu asked as the council looked visibly confused.

"The child didn't mean it," I begin to explain, "she saw a vision of Qui Gon being tortured by Nil and feels very strongly about rescuing him. She feels a strong connection to him and refused to sit idly by and wait for approval," I reasoned, but the council did not look convinced.

"Troubling, this is. Sense a disturbance, I do," Master Yoda spoke up.

"We believe that there is a mole in the order telling Jet Nil the whereabouts of our influential Jedi and we believe that it's someone in your crew," Master Windu explained.

"You better not be implying that Satara is the one," I respond as the council shifts their glances away from me.

"Well, I am going to Moraband and rescuing my padawan, master and Benson. I'm not asking for approval, but General Su requested we contact you with your plans. Buh-bye," I hang up the transreciever as Su protested greatly.

"You heard the council! Satara probably turned, which is why she is going to Moraband! It makes too much sense, continuing in her families legacy was only a matter of time-"

"You literally have no idea what you are talking about! Stop being a fool and assuming that she has ill intentions," I firmly reply, taking Su off guard.

"Do not forget that I am your superior General."

As we enter lightspeed, the tension in the room felt malleable. Su sat in the corner, brooding over my rebuke. Skywalker sat in the co-pilot's chair, worry evident on his youthful face. The council pushed Skywalker prematurely just like what they do to Satara; however, just like Satara, he is excellent at hiding it. His youthful nature quickly disappeared once knighted and since then, his missions have been non-stop and high risk. The stress he carries is very evident to myself and Master Jinn.

On the other hand, Ahsoka spent our journey training. The girl trains non-stop and is an excellent fighter. Having recently switched to using two lightsabers, she needed to cover a lot of ground in little time. She will make a powerful Jedi one day.

General Su soon left the room, muttering something about needing to meditate, leaving Skywalker and I to ourselves.

"He sure is a stick in the mud," Anakin observed, shaking his head.

"Try working with him for months," I respond as Anakin continued to complain about Su.

"How are you doing with Satara leaving the order?" He asks after a while.

"I understand, I mean, I left the order at one point, but at the same time, I still feel hurt and betrayed by it," I explain.

"Do you think she was right about me? Have I changed too much?"

"You have thrown yourself into council work and been more aloof to everyone lately. We fight more now than we have in years. You've drug Satara all across the galaxy on dangerous missions, barely giving her a break, yet you constantly express concern for how much you and the council push her," Anakin answers truthfully.

"I can sympathize with Satara on some level. The council became eager for me to become a knight, Qui Gon pushed you into taking your trials to train me. Our line has a long history of being pushed too hard. Even Master Jinn had massive expectations from Dooku because of his talent," he continued, "I don't know if you realize this, but she took your death incredibly hard. Youngling at the temple bullied her, claiming she killed you and Master Jinn was away a lot because of the council. She spent most of her time alone meditating, trying desperately to quell the darkness that kept taking her over. When we fought on Agamar, I thought we lost her for good."

"I truly didn't think my death would take that much of a toll on her. I knew she would be upset at the possibility, but.." 

"You were the first person to believe in her and give her a chance and being taken the way you did... I was always gone on missions when our master took over her training, but I know that he was the only one there for her through it all. Losing Master Jinn, I fear, will destroy her," Anakin mused. 

"I never thought of it that way," thinking back on our relationship, I never realized how important the people around Satara were to her. She fearlessly protects who she cares about and would sacrifice herself for them without a second thought. 

The two of us fall into a comfortable silence. Anakin and I's relationship is more like two brothers instead of two knights. 

"My biggest fear is that Ahsoka leaves the order, turns sith, or dies," Anakin spoke, barely above a whisper. 

"I fear the same; however Ahsoka is incredibly talented and I do not doubt for a second that she will remain devoted to the order and fight for what is right. You've done a good job training her," I respond. 

"But is it enough? Her trial is coming quickly and I fear I haven't taught everything she needs."

"Have we ever stopped learning? Did Master Jinn teach us everything we needed to know? Of course not, but he gave us all the tools we needed to succeed. You've done the same with Ahsoka," I respond. 

"I just hope it's enough."

"You were the perfect teacher for Ahsoka. I have zero doubt in my mind that you went above and beyond with her training. She will be alright, Anakin," We give each other small smiles as we engage in small talk the majority of the flight. 

I just hope that Satara thinks her choices through in the time we are separated and that she will eventually return to the order as I once did. Losing a second Padawan would be devastating to me, as much as I would deny it publicly.  

***

I'm probably going to stop doing announcements at the end of my chapters soon. I don't like the way they look, but sometimes I like to communicate with the people reading! I wanted to change things up a bit and write from Kenobi's perspective. Is that something you would like to see in the future or was it confusing/boring? Let me know! :)