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Like every Initiate, Ashoka had dreamed of this day for years. Of the day she’d be accepted as a Padawan to a Master, and get her beads and training bond. None of this had gone to plan so far. She’d been sent to a Master who hadn’t expected her, beads in hand, been told she wasn’t wanted, had to fight in a war zone, to finally be accepted as a Padawan, but she was here now. She’d get to make the bond and have her Master affix the first of her beads. And she’d be Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan, the Hero with No Fear’s apprentice. So many of her crèche-mates would be so jealous of her, no matter what their teachings said about envy. She’d get trained by the best of the newer Knights.
She just had to actually face her new Master first.
She’d done it before, both in and out of battle. She’d even sassed and challenged him. But the thought of alerting him to her presence so she could come in and start their partnership had her wanting to turn around and avoid it.
But she was a Jedi, so she steeled herself and knocked instead. The door slid open almost immediately. Anakin Skywalker stood behind it, stepping to the side to allow her to enter once he realized who it was. He bounced on the balls of his feet as she’d learned he did, but he seemed more . . . subdued, than she’d yet seen. Less comfortable. Less liable to practically scream his presence like he had the other times.
“Ahsoka.”
“Master.” She smiled awkwardly, slipping past him to perch on his couch. His room was set up much the same as Master Obi-Wan’s, with a couch and table next to a small kitchen and doors to a bedroom and fresher. He was clearly messier. Droid part were scattered around with a space set up for Artoo in the corner. But it all seemed less used, though. Less comfortable. She was willing to bet more time was spent in Master Obi-Wan’s room than his when they weren’t on a mission. It certainly felt like it.
She pushed down her increasing worry at the thought. A proper Jedi would release it into the Force, but a proper Jedi wouldn’t be worried about entering into a Bond because their new Master still had their training bond either. She could do it later. Once this was done.
Master Skywalker smiled at her, but it felt fake. He’d smiled at a Hutt more truthfully. He sat down across from her, then stood up again immediately. Running a hand through his hair, he turned around as if looking for something, and then sat again.
Ahsoka just watched.
A deep breath. “The bond, then.” His leg bounced up and down, the outside not at all matching his tone. Her eyes focused on his. “Normally I would give you your Padawan beads now, while we do this, but you clearly already have them so . . . just the bond.”
She nodded.
“Alright.” He breathed in deeply again, exhaling slowly. Releasing it to the Force? “We need to breathe, meditate together. You’ve probably had some experience with crèche masters guiding you to meditate, right?” She nodded again. “It should feel similar. And then . . . we should be able to figure it out. Obi-Wan and I managed ours when I’d never meditated before so it shouldn’t be too difficult. Remember we just need to start it. The rest should come naturally with time.”
Ahsoka nodded one more time, too nervous to say anything, and closed her eyes. She exhaled slowly, and inhaled again. With the next exhale, she did her best to feel the Force around her and let it fill her. Replace her worried with it. That part wasn’t exactly successful, but the Force was there, at least. She could feel Anakin across from her, feel his presence there in the Force. The fact that she knew worry was clouding her bright spot in the Force shot across her mind, bringing more stress and guilt with it and she started to withdraw, but a reassuring presence soothed her before she could. Tentatively, she reached out to it.
“Master?”
“It’s alright, Snips.” It replied, and she could just feel her physical form flushing. “It’s to be expected. Now pay attention to what I’m doing, and don’t fight it.”
She could feel him prodding at . . . something, in her presence, and curiously allowed it. It felt weird, but not unpleasant. Odd. Anakin’s presence darkened with frustration for a second, and then—pleasure and success? Nothing felt measurably different, but something had shifted.
Anakin shifted away slightly, and she could feel a pull leading towards him. It seemed so fragile. How could this do anything?
“Your turn. Follow your instincts.”
She focused, clumsily reaching out just as Anakin had. The loose thread he’d created helped, guiding her way towards its source. There were other threads there, thicker than hers and extending far off into the Force. One she fancied would be larger than a rope if it were physical, clearly belonging to Master Kenobi. Massive and certain.
She mimicked it, reaching out with the Force and just . . . hoping. Trusting in it. And it . . . worked? Something balanced out the pull Anakin had created, and she felt him withdraw from the Force but a loose sense remained.
Her eyes opened.
The discomfort came flooding back, and she shifted in place. “What now?”
“Normally I would give you a room in mine, so the bond could grow outside of training, but this is war. We don't have the space or resources to do any of the nromal things. In the Temple we can, but out here . . . nothing’s normal. That makes things more complicated than they should be.
“I might not always be the best Master for you,” he said, leaning forward, elbows on his knees and hands clasped under his face. He looked more serious than she’d ever heard of Anakin Skywalker being. “I didn’t ask for you, and I don’t feel prepared for you. But I’ll try. That, at least, I can promise.”
Ahsoka nodded slowly, mood matching his. “I can accept that. I’ve never been a Padawan before, either.”
He hesitated—something, what she didn’t know, barely filtering through their fledgling bond—then shifted back off his elbows, a grin coming so naturally she’d think it was completely relaxed if not for the fact that that emotion hadn’t changed to match his face. Maybe . . . nerves? Her own could be why she didn’t understand it. Anakin stood up, her eyes tracking the movement, and his next words were so much lighter than before.
“Don’t tell Obi-Wan when I kriff it up and I think I can accept that.”
A matching grin spread slowly across her face at the words. Maybe . . . just maybe, this would work out fine. He had a similar sense of humor, at the very least.