Created for @avada-matata for @jedifest Alien April fanwork exchange!!
Prompt: Ahsoka + Time
(I made the drawing first, then thought I’d write just a little snippet to give it some context…
and then the little snippet became a lot longer than I meant it to be. Oh well.)
Enjoy!
It had taken a long time, but Ahsoka had finally found another entrance to the world between worlds. She had debated for years whether or not she should go back; she had seen how it had tempted Ezra, recognized the power it could yield, and was horrified at what could happen if the Emperor had access to the strange world. But she felt that it held the answers she sought. Answers that no living being could answer.
She hadn’t been on Yavin during the attack on the Death Star, but the name of the young pilot that fired the killing shot spread through the Rebellion like wildfire: Skywalker.
Of course, she sought out the boy immediately, and the world spun when she laid eyes on the young man who was so obviously his father’s son. They had talked, and Ahsoka had prodded to find out what young Luke knew about his parentage, but he had even fewer answers than she did. Looking into his wide eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him what had become of his father. Not until I understand how it happened.
Ahsoka had thought that perhaps she wouldn’t be granted access to the doorway, which was deep in the ruins of the Jedi temple on Vrogas Vas. No longer a Jedi, she expected some sort of resistance to her approach. None came. On the contrary, she felt drawn to a particular stretch of rock that appeared to be the remains of a vast wall. Ahsoka stopped before it, resting her hand on the ragged stone. But how to enter?
A hoot from above drew her attention. The green and white convor came to rest on a broken statue to Ahsoka’s left. The Togruta smiled at the creature. The Daughter’s vessel had never strayed far from her in recent years, and she was grateful for the company.
“May I enter, Morai?”
In response, the convor spread a wing in the direction of the wall. A faint blue light began to emanate from the rock, soft and inviting. She took a step towards it, but hesitated. The place beyond was ancient, imbued with power she couldn’t understand. Perhaps it was best to leave that realm in peace. But she needed answers. I need to know.
Ahsoka stepped through the doorway.
First, there was darkness. She trusted that she would not plunge into an abyss as she walked forward blindly. But then, she was not truly blind. She felt the world opening up to her, felt it morphing and brightening. And as she walked, voices began to surround her, echoing through the world. Ahsoka strained to hear them all. Some, she recognized; others, she couldn’t place the speakers.
Koh-to-yah, Little ‘Soka.
You never would have made it as Obi-Wan’s padawan. But you might make it as mine.
I want to learn the ways of the Force.
You and your precious Jedi Order.
And become a Jedi, like my father.
He’s my brother.
Light shimmered around her, and she stepped from the doorway and emerged in – what appeared to be a world suspended in space. The voices continued to speak as she gazed at the transparent lanes that arched between doorways as countless as the stars that enveloped her.
If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
I exist where there is no future or past.
Life doesn’t cease at death, but merely changes form in the Force.
I can only show you a place where the answers will be revealed to you.
The Force will be your guide.
Ahsoka felt…so small. The galaxy was vast and incredible in itself, but this place… she could barely comprehend it. She had seen the past here.
Morai hooted softly from behind her, and the convor landed lightly on her montrals. “How do I even begin?” Ahsoka asked. The voices quieted for a moment, as though pondering.
You turned her against me!
She spun around.
You will not take her from me!
That was Anakin’s voice, clear and full of – anger. It reached for her like a grasping hand, and she began walking on the transparent path, trusting the Force to show her the way. She did not know how long she walked for; did time even exist here? Eventually, she found herself before a circular doorway. Morai called mournfully and took flight. Ahsoka sensed the Dark Side beyond this doorway, something evil and awful. What if she wasn’t strong enough to face it? What if it was the Emperor again, attempting to claim possession of the power here? She had barely escaped last time. Her companion perched herself above the door, fluttering anxiously as a red haze filled the interior. Ahsoka took a breath to steady herself. She could not turn back now.
A landscape began to take shape through the mist, as though sucking the red color into its water. No, not water. Molten lava flows ebbed around volcanic land masses, its rock scorched and broken. Smoke and ash plumed in the air.
And – Ahsoka took another step forward – up the river of lava, two blurred figures stood in close quarters on some sort of skiff, blue blades of light arching towards each other. She knew their fighting styles too well, recognized their presence in the Force. But she could not understand the sight of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi attempting to kill one another.
Dread crept into her heart. “What is this?” Ahsoka whispered.
Through the doorway, their blades locked, energy crackling between them. With effort, Obi-Wan leapt backwards, clearing the skiff and coming to rest upon the sloping land.
It’s over, Anakin. I have the high ground.
And even from here, years and lightyears away, Ahsoka could feel the hatred rolling off her former master. Her heart rose into her throat.
You underestimate my power!
“No. No. Don’t. Anakin, please.” Ahsoka stretched out a hand to –
To what? To push them away from each other? To help Obi-Wan? To help her master?
Don’t try it, Obi-Wan pleaded.
“I can’t.” The words caught in Ahsoka’s throat. “I can’t do anything.” The sound of her own voice rang in her ears, but it wavered. “This happened years ago.”
And he leapt. Anakin leapt, roaring as he spun through the air, angling his lightsaber to bring it down on his former friend –
Obi-Wan was quicker.
Ahsoka screamed as the blue blade passed through Anakin’s arm, his legs. She screamed as he hit the rocks and rolled toward the lava, barely stopping himself at the edge of the bank as he dug his mechanical fingers into the land.
You were the Chosen One!
The agony in Obi-Wan’s cry seemed to be torn from her own throat.
It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them!
Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness.
Obi-Wan turned his back on Anakin and picked up the fallen lightsaber. He stepped further away. Revulsion clouded her thoughts. “How can you leave him like this!” she shouted at ghosts.
I HATE YOU!
Tears spilled from her eyes as Anakin screamed, his face contorted, his eyes warped.
You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you.
Ahsoka waited with baited breath for her master to say something, to say anything. But before he could, a fleck of fire from the molten river sparked onto the fabric of Anakin’s clothes. Within seconds, he was engulfed in flames.
Hatred and fire burned through what remained of Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka could take no more. She whirled around and staggered, pressing her hand to her mouth, trying to stifle her sobs. But what was the point? There was no one to hear her. Her legs gave out and she crumpled to the floor, weeping, Anakin’s screams of agony fading behind her.
Ahsoka sobbed until her head ached, and even then, she lay there, suspended among everything that ever would be, letting the voices of the long-dead and the yet-to-be-born wash over her.
“I don’t understand.” Ahsoka’s murmur was barely louder than the other voices. “How did it come to this?”
How indeed.
The voice was unfamiliar, and Ahsoka raised her head. Morai stood before her, cocking her head inquisitively. Ahsoka had hoped the Daughter would offer her guidance, but it appeared the being either could not, or would not.
The voice spoke again, a male voice reverberating through the Force.
You may go from doorway to doorway, Ahsoka Tano. But in chasing the past, you narrow your knowledge.
“But I need to understand what has happened in the past to know how it will affect the future,” Ahsoka protested, wiping her eyes. “I need to understand…if only for my own peace of mind.”
Ah yes. The past, the present, the future. The passage of time seems so straightforward. But time has no meaning in the Force.
“I don’t understand.”
When Ezra Bridger pulled you from the temple on Malachor, was he not both young, as you had seen him not moments before, and older, as you saw him here?
“Yes. I suppose he was.”
Through the Force, we exist in every moment. Once you understand that, you can open yourself to every instant, to every corner of existence. You become truly one with the Force, and experience it all as it was meant to be – as one, cohesive thought.
“That sounds like far too much to bestow upon a single being,” Ahsoka said, getting shakily to her feet. “I don’t know that I would be able to process it.”
Eventually, you will master it.
The mere thought was too large for Ahsoka to wrap her mind around it. And this was certainly far beyond what she had been taught of the Force. “Who are you?”
I? I was once known as Qui-Gon Jinn. I trained Obi-Wan Kenobi to the best of my abilities. And I continue to teach him even now.
Ahsoka hesitated. She sensed no evil here, but no shining presence of the Light Side either. It reminded her of the Bendu. True balance in the Force. “And will you teach me? I want to understand.”
Yes. I will help you understand the Cosmic Force. And it is the Force that will be your guide.
She let out a breath, expelling her grief, her confusion. For the first time in quite a while, she felt at peace. “I pledge myself to your teachings.”
Then let us begin.