A Gray Jedi's Legacy ~ A SWCW's Story

Chapter 22~ Out of the Shadows

    "Fools," she spat as soon as she was out of earshot. The nerve of them. If she didn't have as good of a hold on her anger as she did, they probably wouldn't have gotten away unscathed.

    Ahsoka wound her way throughout the Temple, finally stumbling upon a Jedi Council Member. It had been Ki-Adi, who was running some random errand.

    "Are you...?" He slowly asked, to which Ahsoka nodded, her hood bobbing up and down, "Do I need to get the Council gathered?"

    "Yes," Ahsoka replied, her voice altered as usual, "and Knight Skywalker as well. This meeting will be of importance to him."

    The Jedi Master contacted them through their comms, then had everyone gather in the Council room. Within five minutes, the Togruta was standing before the full Council, one in person and some in holographs.

    "Greetings," Ahsoka said with a bow. She could see the female Council members jab their elbows into the men's side, mouthing 'I told you so'.

    "Come to reveal your identity, hmm?" Yoda asked, just as puzzled as everyone else was. Usually he could feel through someone's signature to discover who they were, but the mystery person was much stronger than him and would not allow the grandmaster into her head. He frowned at this, eventually giving up and awaiting her reveal.

    For the first time since she had entered the building that day, she hesitated. Was she really ready for the Jedi Council to be informed of her presence? Of her being alive? Was she ready to forgive them on pretty much giving up on finding her? She knew that it was only mature of her to, but it was still a topic sensitive to her and hard to let go.

    Ahsoka took a shaky breath, but she did indeed slowly raise her hands up to the edges of her hood. She let her fingers glide across the hem for a few seconds, then, with whatever courage she could muster up, she slid the hood off.

    Everything was pure silence, save for a few gasps. Even some masters, like Shaak Ti and Plo Koon, started to cry a little bit. The Togruta turned to Obi-Wan and Anakin to see that the master was proud and nodding his head, while the knight looked like he was about to scream of joy, cry, and faint all at once.

    "Pa... Padawan Ahsoka?!" Mace stuttered, his eyes so round with shock that you'd think they were saucers, "you... you did that?!"

    Ahsoka grinned. "It's been a long time, Masters."

    Everyone else was still too stunned to say anything. Anakin even ran up and gave her a big hug, rocking back and forth as she began to feel his warm tears dampen the shoulder of her shirt. "I'm... I'm so proud of you Snips."

    "Surprised, you are not, Master Kenobi," Yoda pointed out, "knew of this, you did?"

    Obi-Wan chortled. "I've met her on the battlefield once, as did Anakin. She came by to my chambers to tell me about taking the midichlorian test and such, as well."

    "Where have you been, lil' 'Soka?" Plo asked.

    Ahsoka turned her face away as horrors began to flood back to her. The pain. The loneliness. The feeling of utter despair, believing that she would never be able to break free of the retched curse Sidious had put her in.

    "I..." Ahsoka stuttered, "I..."

    "Answer, you do not have to. Pain, you are in."

    "No," Ahsoka decisively declared, "It's okay. I think it's time to get it off my chest. I was kidnapped by Dooku, then brought to his master, the Chancellor. I'm not sure if it was because the hidden Sith knew of my powers, or knew that I was aware that the Chancellor was evil, but either way, he was dead set on capturing me. The whole invasion of planet Lothal? It was just a scheme to get me away from the Temple. They tortured me... in ways I really wouldn't like to disclose, and when they realized that I wasn't turning anytime soon, they used some sort of witchcraft to pretty much have complete control over my body and force my mind to be trapped inside myself. Sidious," Ahsoka paused to scowl at his name, "trained me for several years. I lost hope, knowing that you guys weren't planning on coming anytime soon, and that it was useless to try and escape on my own. However, when I met Master Obi-Wan and Anakin, they helped me break through and escape. There's much, much more as well, but that's as far as I can get today."

    Ahsoka bowed her head to hide the tears that were forming in the corner of her eyes. Even just thinking about her past was hard for her, let alone saying it in front of numerous people. If she could go back in time, she would stop herself from telling them the story. It was a mistake.

    The Council wanted to comfort her and tell her that they had never given up on the Togruta, but they weren't supposed to lie. Despite the angry yelling they received from Masters and Knights such as Obi-Wan, Plo, Shaak, Anakin, and Sierra, they had stopped their searches after a few months. Another mistake they had made, amongst the many others. It was definitely an understatement to say that they were very ashamed of their actions. Who could blame them, though? No other Jedi had lasted more than a month when they were in the clutches of the Sith.

    "I'm sorry, Ahsoka," Shaak said, rising from her chair and wrapping her arms around the Togruta. Several others did as well, mumbling their apologies and thanks. Ahsoka allowed the hug, but something felt off. Sure, it was nice and she didn't feel alone, but it didn't feel like home. If she had shared this embrace with them a few years before, she would be elated and over the moon, but that just wasn't the case.

    "Okay, okay, enough sentiment," Ahsoka chuckled. Everyone returned to their seat, then the Togruta continued, "so, what's the plan with Sidious? And who is going to be the step-in Chancellor?"

    "Handled, the Senate has the Chancellor position. Trial, Sidious will go through."

    Ahsoka smiled at this. That stupid, wretched excuse of a person would finally get what he deserved. She still preferred that he rot to death in the stomach of a sarlac monster, but you can't get everything you wish.

    "Discuss your return, we will Padawan Tano. Change, there may be soon. Very welcomed, you are," Yoda said with a slight twitch of his lips upward. Ahsoka had a pretty good feeling that she knew what he was talking about, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions. She gave them a bow, before bidding her goodbyes.

    "I will see you soon, Masters," Ahsoka said, looking up to Anakin to share a smile with him. The two walked towards the door, probably to hang out with each other. However, right before they walked through the door, Ahsoka's sixth sense pulsed wild. She shoved Anakin out of the vicinity of the door and jumped back herself, just in the nick of time.

    The door dangerously flew open, hard enough to probably injure the two Jedi if Ahsoka hadn't foreseen it and backed away. In the doorway stood Sierra, breathless and her eyes wide with fear.

    "He's escaped!"

*Le gasp* Oh no! Time to deal with more SIDIOUS. *eye roll* Yay! Exactly what everyone wants!

Okay, it was a little bit of a short chapter, but I'll try to make next one a little longer.