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Ahsoka curses her luck. Of course it’s in a vent on a stealth mission. She’s stuck with Ventress in front of her in a vent on a stealth mission. As if her life hadn’t been bad enough, lately. First the trandoshans, then Senator Amidala traded Anakin for Grievous (which thank Force that that monster was dead, but Force blast it, how could the Senator do that to Anakin, to a human that she’d watched put the Senator first so many blasted time ), then leaving her men on a planet straight from hell , and now this .
“Ventress,” she says coolly.
“Tano,” the bounty hunter says just as coolly in reply, “What are you doing here?”
Ahsoka shrugs.
“Screwing with Seppies,” she says, “And you?”
“A job.”
Hm…
“I’ll help you if you help me?” she asks, and Ventress smirks.
“That seems fun enough.”
“I blame you for this!” Ahsoka cries as she mows down wave after wave of battle droid, “You’d better have set the charges.”
Ventress growls, and Ahsoka can practically feel her rolling eyes.
“Of course I did,” she said, “And tell me, Tano, how exactly was I supposed to know that Dathomiri DNA would set off an alarm. Do you have both our information?”
Ahsoka rolls her eyes in turn. By this point, they’re back-to-back.
“Of course I do,” she says, “And maybe the fact that your entire species hates the leader of the Separatists might have something to do with that? Now, do you have any ideas on how to get out of here? I’m open to suggestions.”
Silence, and then…
“How thick is the floor?”
Oh, that was brilliant .
“Thin enough,” she says, “On three, we do it together.”
“Fine by me.”
“Three.”
Ahsoka’s outright grinning by the time they get far enough away to blow up the Seppie stronghold. Force , she’d never really understood Anakin’s obsession with explosions, (or, rather, propensity for them, him and Master Obi-Wan both,) but now… now…
Now she might never see him again. She can feel him, still, but… for how long?
In a single moment, her good mood is gone. The...
“Tano?” she hears from behind her, “What’s wrong?”
“Why do you care,” she snaps without thinking, and, honestly, why would the former Sith Acolyte care? Ventress wasn’t exactly the compassionate type.
Which is why the the next bit of conversation is a surprise.
“Because I know what it’s like to loose a Master,” Ventress says. Which, well, kriff her!
“Anakin would never -”
“That’s not what I meant,” Ventress says, interrupting her, “Although my former Master may very well have kidnapped Skywalker to get a new Apprentice, Skywalker would make a terrible Sith… he’d never betray someone he cared about, and most of those seem to side with you Jedi .”
That was… ridiculously accurate for someone who’d never met Anakin off the battlefield (and she hadn’t, of course, missed the way that Ventress had spit the word Jedi out like a curse). Still…
“Then what were you talking about?” she asks, but Ventress just turns away.
“Nothing,” she says, “See you around, Tano.”
Then Ventress is walking away and Ahsoka just kind of… stares, but, well…
“Wait!” she cries, running to catch up with the bounty hunter, “Ventress!”
The woman whirls around.
“What?” she asks, clearly annoyed. Ahsoka rolls her eyes, and tosses the Dathomirian one of the datachips she’d filled.
“You forgot this,” she says, “It’s got my comm number, too, in case you ever need it.”
Ventress shot her a Look.
“You didn’t have to do this,” she says almost scathingly. Ahsoka just smiles.
“I know,” she says in reply, “But we made a great team.”
Ventress glares, but Ahsoka thinks that she might be able to see just the smallest smile on the bounty hunter’s lips.
“Get out of here, Tano,” she says without much bite. Ahsoka feels her smile widen as she spins around.
“Already leaving,” she says, “See you around, Ventress.”