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They’re back on Coruscant but this time, they’re still working instead of having some shore leave. Although Ahsoka isn’t stupid and she knows her master is slipping away to visit a certain Naboo Senator any chance he got or whenever he thought no one was watching.
But Ahsoka was always watching. Ever since the fear, anger— hatred —she had seen and felt from her master as he defended Master Kenobi some weeks earlier, she’d been worried about him. She couldn’t get the image of that towering man out of her head, the one who stood in her master’s place with a crimson saber tight in his hold.
The same man she could have sworn she had seen in the corner, watching Anakin, as though waiting for the Jedi to slip and falter.
The man who had called himself Darth Vader, the man who slaughtered the separatists, the man her master was one day going to become.
Currently, she and her Master are in one of the lower levels of Coruscant—with Jedi permission, surprisingly. They’re looking for a Toydarian by the name of ____ who is believed to be planning an asssination attempt on the Chancellor in the coming days in exchange for hefty payment from the Separatists.
They’ve barely been down there for five minutes before they hear a crash and see their target taking off down the street. Ahsoka tries not to feel too disappointed that he gave himself away though she does enjoy going after him in the streets while her master takes to the roofs.
It doesn’t take them long to find him. He’s obviously been drinking and is far too heavy for his wings to take him very long off the ground. By the time Ahsoka catches up, Anakin already has him cornered and is in the process of interrogating him.
The problem? He’s not talking and her master is quickly losing his patience. This is a normal occurrence but Ahsoka is still worried. Her dreams are getting more frequent, more violent, and her master’s temper is growing.
Something is going to happen and Anakin is at the center of it.
Ahsoka’s not sure what happens then. She can feel in the Force that her master is angry and the Toydarian is amused. Beyond that, she can’t place what makes her master snap and for a moment, she feels nothing but shock as her master begins to Force choke him.
It’s only when the Toydarian’s feet lift off the ground that she finally manages to shake herself from her frozen state.
She reaches out to grab her master’s arm. “Master–”
“Let go of me, Ahsoka,” he snarls in a tone she’s never heard before. “If he won’t talk, I’ll make him talk!”
“This isn’t the Jedi way!”
“I don’t care!” It’s shouted, his voice echoing around the alley, and Ahsoka gasps and stumbles away from him, terrified for only a momet before she stands her ground, squares her shoulders, and boldly declares,
“You said it was by the will of the force that I was by your side. You said I would be the one to stop you from falling to the Dark side but how can I do that when you’re pushing me away!?”
For a moment, she thinks her master is going to ignore him. For a horrifying second, she thinks he’s falling right before her eyes and this Toydarian will be the first death on his hands.
But finally, he lets his arm drop and the Toydarian falls to the ground, wheezing and clutching his throat. He’s babbling, promising he’ll tell them anything as long as they let him live.
Her master won’t look at her as he turns away and orders her to get the information they want. She does, numbly, and it’s only when she’s looking abc through the holopad of notes she wrote of everything the Toydarian told ehr, she has no recollection of hearing or writing any of it.
She hadn’t even realized she hadn’t been listening.
………………………
Master Kenobi is waiting for them when they return to the temple. Well, waiting for her . He merely raises an eyebrow in a way that tells her her own master hasn’t been through here.
“Lost Anakin already?”
Ahsoka just smiled. “It was a little rough, getting the answers,” she replied, handing the holopad over. “We got what we wanted though.”
“Good.” He accepts the pad and scrolls through the information. “Otherwise no trouble?”
Yes. Anakin force choked the Toydarian. We’re losing him. There’s nothing we can do.
“No other trouble,” Ahsoka lied.
“Well, I suppose that just remains to be seen, once Anakin returns,” Master Kenobi remarks, a smile on his face because he has no idea how close his old padawan just tipped and he didn’t have to live with the fear that he was about to lose the closest thing he had to a parent.
Ahsoka just gave another answering smile. “I have some classes to study for,” she says, both to end the conversation and because she’s only just remembered the handful of tests she has the following day.
“Of course.” Master Kenobi nods. “I suppose I’ll get this information to the Council. Let’s hope Anakin doesn’t stay out too long?”
“He’s an adult, Master Kenobi,” Ahsoka says. “He’ll be fine.”
Yes. Anakin force choked the Toydarian. We’re losing him. There’s nothing we can do.
He’s falling.
Ahsoka didn’t dare turn around as she walked away.