Chapter Text
Ahsoka came back to consciousness slowly. Her entire body was despicably sore from the stun bolt, and her head throbbed. Not daring to open her eyes in case she was in an Imperial torture chamber, she delicately cast out her senses. She was lying on smooth stone, not cold metal. The air smelled fresh, and a breeze caressed her skin. Not Imperial lock-up, then. Outside. Probably still on Dantooine.
She could sense only one other being. Male. He was strong in the force, but he was obviously masking himself. She could read only his presence, nothing else. Tentatively opening her eyes, Ahsoka saw perhaps the last being she expected. Slender, dappled in red and black, with bright golden eyes. Darth Maul.
Fighting down her initial reaction of panic, Ahsoka reasoned that if Maul had meant her harm, he would have done so while she was still unconscious…or simply let the Empire capture her. He saved my life, she realized. He must have fought off the Stormtroopers after they stunned her. However, she doubted he had done so from the goodness of his heart. Terrifyingly, there was only one conclusion: he wanted something from her.
The Dathomirian looked up from tinkering with his lightsaber. “You’re awake.”
“Thanks,” she said thinly. “I hadn’t noticed.”
He smirked. “Nervous, I see. Probably wondering why I bothered to keep you from the Empire’s hands.”
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
“I can assure you, if you cooperate you have nothing to fear.”
“And if I don’t cooperate?”
Maul inclined his head. “You haven’t even heard my offer yet.”
“Alright…”
“I will be honest, Jedi, I’m taking quite a risk here.”
“The Empire’s after you, too?”
“They were. I…dispatched of the last few Inquisitors they sent for me.”
“I’m surprised. I thought the Emperor would be wanting his best assassin back.”
Maul laughed bitterly. “Oh, he wanted me back, all right. So badly he destroyed my home and locked me away to rot.”
Ahsoka blinked. “Oh...I’m sorry.” The words felt strange on her tongue.
“Spare me your pity, Jedi. But believe me, I have no love for the Emperor.”
“So what’s this offer of yours?”
The former Sith dropped his voice conspiratorially and leaned closer to her. He smelled like cool rock, like stones after a rainstorm. “The Emperor doesn’t know everything,” he whispered. “Or doesn’t remember. He obviously doesn’t consider me much of a threat, and no one knows you’re alive. We have the advantage. Many years ago, when I was the Emperor’s apprentice, he took me to an ancient planet with a great secret locked inside – the key to destroying the Sith. We failed in retrieving it, but the knowledge is still out there. I do not know the name or the location of the planet, but if we could find it…”
Ahsoka could not look away from Maul’s hypnotic golden eyes. They burned with inner fires, an intensity that both intrigued and frightened her. “Why do you need me?” she inquired. “Why not just find it yourself?”
“The way of the Sith is two. I need a force-user I can trust, one who is strong, who will join me in liberating the galaxy. You were simply the first opportunity that presented itself.”
“You want to liberate the galaxy?”
He grinned. “Well, no. Personally, I couldn’t care less.” Sudden anger sparked in his amber gaze. “But I want to destroy the Emperor. That is my purpose. So, Jedi? Will you join me? Or will the secret I carry die with you?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “I will join you.”