Chapter Text
Mace looked up at Plo as he dropped the paper bag in front of him.
"Please tell me that's what I think it is," he murmured as he rubbed his eyes.
"A double cheeseburger with bacon, two large fries," Plo pulled out a large cup, the contents of which were a faint blue, "and a large Blue Milkshake."
Mace at once stretched, feeling the bones in his back crack as he did so. "It's a nice paradox, isn't it? We are giving Dex so much business that he'll be able to retire but if we stop going we can't enjoy his food."
"I believe, based on some of the comments Dex has made," Plo said as Mace began to pull out his food, "that this is what is known as a Catch-22."
Mace smirked at that before unwrapping his burger, shoulders slumping in delight as he stared at the messy meal. It was dripping with sauce and he was sure if he wasn't careful half of it would fall out onto his lap. Perfection, utter perfection. He moved to grab it only to stop, a bit of onion dangling from the bottom, trying to escape the carnage that was about to occur.
"Is Vokara around?" he asked, glancing up at Plo.
"I am," Head Healer Vokara Che said… before plopping down next to Mace on the high couch he was seated on and opening another bag. "But for once I am willing to look the other way."
Plo had bribed her before he had come to see Mace. "I knew there was a reason we asked you to join the Council," he replied before taking a big bite of his burger, letting out a hum of delight that would have shocked nearly all the other Jedi in the temple. They were used to him being restrained and in command of himself. Him murmuring and moaning in delight over a burger would have had them thinking the Separatists had switched him with a Clone. 'Jokes on them, the clone would enjoy this too.'
It had been a long few days. Worse, in some ways, than the Clone Wars at their fevered pitch. Maybe because it had been in the temple itself, rather than on distant worlds. It was horrible to see such betrayal within his home and it had left him feeling utterly worn down and drained.
One of the squad commanders of the Temple Guard had tried to kill Jocasta Nu. That alone had created a thousand headaches for Mace. The Temple Guard was supposed to be the most trust worthy of all Jedi. The ones that all others in the Order, from Youngling to elderly masters, could turn to for help and aid and support. Those in the creche knew that a temple guard would guide them back to their clan if they were lost. Those that were near their time to join with the Force could count of them to offer a hand up. It was not the most glorious of positions in the Order but many Jedi learned to deeply respect them. They were carefully vetted and monitored so to have one turn on them like this, and in such a harmful way?
A scandal. A monstrous one.
At first the rest of the Temple Guard had been shocked to find the Council locking down their personal wing of the temple and refusing to allow them to do their duty. Then, when they had learned what one of their own had attempted to do they had been horrified… and quick to deny it. Impossible. A lie. Fraud. Mace had heard it all. And when it had become clear they were telling the truth the emotions had changed. Anger that one of their own could have done this. Fear about what this meant.
Or, as Mace had been forced to admit, that anger and fear might have been about themselves being caught.
They couldn't trust a single one of them.
Yoda, Ki Adi, and several other of the Senior Mind Healers had begun the long work of looking through the minds and Force Presences of all the guards, searching out anything that might prove that they had suspected that their fellow guard could do such a thing. It was a long process, made harder by their worry creating plenty of False Positives.
This had meant though that not only did Mace need to find Jedi they could trust to take over guarding the Temple, which itself had involved more mind healers and scans, but also dealing with his fellow Jedi that had become nervous at the changes. Panic, worry, curiosity… all had flowed through the halls with a greater speed than the waters that ran throughout the Hall of the Thousand Fountains.
'I wonder how the public would react if they realized just how big of gossips we all were,' Mace thought to himself as he and Vokara munched on their… breakfast? Lunch? It was hard to tell, what with him having been down in the Healer's wing for the last two days. 'They think we are so above them all… but here we are, head of the council and the Head Healer, eating food that I am sure is making my arteries scream in horror while around us our fellow Jedi whisper about a thousand different rumors concerning the attack on Jocasta.' He forced himself not to huff. 'And knowing her she's snuck off to the Mandalorian District to get drunk.'
All of that, however, didn't compare to the fact that someone unknown to them all had managed to appear in the Temple, burned and bleeding, missing her left hand, clothing torn, half her bones cracked and stressed, and still managed to fling the Temple Guard off Jocasta before he could finish his dark work.
Mace and Yoda had both asked Jocasta if she was SURE she hadn't used the Force on the man. She had glared at them and told them she'd have remembered that. He came at her from behind and would have sensed if she even tried. He had her dead to rights. The woman… she had done it all.
"Vokara," Mace said as the Healer used some of her fries to scoop up some sauce that had come off her chicken sandwich, "what can you tell us about the patient?"
Vokara sighed. "She's… mysterious, Mace. And you know I don't use that term lightly."
"Of course." He sucked down some of his blue milkshake; he wasn't for sure how Plo had kept it from melting but it was as thick as it should be and it made him feel like he wouldn't be able to duel properly because the Darkness within was being drowned by dairy goodness. "No one is going to accuse you of failure for not understanding what is going on with her."
"Damn right they shouldn't," Vokara complained; another thing that would have startled the rest of the Galaxy was how Jedi, especially the Medics, could curse up a storm when stressed. Or were annoyed. Or tired. Or in a good mood but sometimes you just wanted to curse anyway. "They can't hand me something impossible and then be shocked I can't explain it perfectly. And half the time the Council doesn't want to listen anyway when I do explain it." She shot Mace a cold look. "I told you after I looked over Qui Gon AND Anakin that they had traces of the Dark Side still lingering on them."
Mace winced at that, though he did his best to hide it; the Council had tried to argue that it was from the Planet itself, that Tatooine was soaked in the Dark Side and that would be enough to trick even Vokara. It had been one of the reasons why the Council had been so reluctant to train Skywalker… Anakin… as well.
'Anakin. Anakin Skywalker. A brave knight. A great Jedi. One that is now lost to us… but according to Dex is living a happy life.' Mace wasn't for sure how he felt about Sky-Anakin marrying Senator Amidala but the fact was that there was nothing he could do about it. And Obi Wan, for all intents and purposes, was very likely on his way to marrying the woman Kayama. 'He deserves respect.' Out loud he said, "Yes… you were right about that. And I promise I will not judge you concerning what you tell us here."
Vokara considered him for a moment before popping another fry in her mouth. "Let's start with the obvious: that woman has been through the Maw and back. Nearly every bone in her body either has cracks or fractures. Honestly, its little wonder she collapsed seconds after she dealt with that guard. Her left hand was taken off and it wasn't done with a lightsaber."
Mace and Plo both relaxed a touch at that; she hadn't attacked a Jedi then. There had been the fear of some within the temple, that this was all some plot by the Separatists. Mace hadn't believed it though, not after seeing just how injured the woman was. There was simply no way even the most fanatical of Sith or Dark Siders would have allowed themselves to be tortured like that and then enter into the Jedi Temple with no guarantee they'd make it out alive.
"She also had multiple stab wounds, several lacerations, and internal swelling." Vokara paused before taking a bite out of her sandwich; it never stopped to amaze him how she could eat after seeing the damage a body could go through. "And it was all too recent, Mace. Far to recent."
"What do you mean?"
"That hand wasn't taken off with a lightsaber," she repeated. "And it had only been cut off maybe a minute or two earlier at most. She'd used some fabric from her cape to make a torniquet but it was a rush job." Mace frowned at that but before he could even think about saying a word Vokara shook her head and wagged a fry at him. "No… don't you dare get on me about it being impossible. I know you didn't find any signs of battle in the temple. Doesn't matter, the body doesn't lie; that woman was in a fight for her life and she was losing."
Mace frowned at that. "There… is a possibility…"
"A possibility of WHAT?"
He and Plo Koon shared at look.
"Mace…" Vokara said in a low, dangerous voice. His name was like a sharpened razor, threatening pain and suffering.
After a long moment he sighed.
"What I am about to tell you… only four other people in the Galaxy know. And the only reason the fourth, who isn't even on the council, knows, is because he is the one that let us know. I can't stress this enough, Vokara: no one can know. Ever. We are talking over 8 billion people being threatened with slavery and death if the wrong ears hear this."
The healer leaned back in her seat. "Will it help me help her?"
"Yes," Mace said. "Because it will tell you about her homeworld." Because there was now little doubt in his mind just where Nana Shimura had come from.
Vokara merely nodded and Plo helped them gather up their food. The walk to Vokara's office was short but sealing up the room and activating every anti-spying device she had was a long process. They had been installed only a few months ago, when the Jedi had realized that the Separatists would give anything to know about the physical abilities of the Jedi Generals. Every kind of jammer they could get had been placed in the Council Chambers, the Vaults of Sacred Knowledge, and Vokara's office and within the Medical Records.
The only plus was it allowed Mace to polish off his burger and slurp down half his shake before Vokara finally sat down in her chair.
"Alright… so this better be big," she said. "Because you are making it out to be huge. And that was a lot of time I just wasted."
"Master Kenobi is alive."
The twi'lek woman stared at him.
"…what?"
~MC~MC~MC~
Ahsoka rolled her shoulders as she finished with the latest of her exercises. "I swear, Skyguy, you are trying to make sure that I spend the rest of the time at camp sleeping, aren't you?"
They had been out in the forest practicing different flips, kicks, spins, twirls. Both with the Force assisting her and without. Running, diving, jumping. The entire time Izuku had been high up in the trees, firing on her with stun bolts. It reminded Ahsoka touch of the lessons Anakin had given her where he had the 501st encircle her and fire at her, trying to take her down. Only it was a single person and she had no idea where the shots would come from because Izuku kept moving; all part of his training to quickly find new vantage points.
Anakin though, for his part, merely folded his arms over his chest and shot her a steady solid look. "You, Snips, have gotten soft."
"Soft!" She whipped around, the earlier soreness forgotten, as she glared at her master.
"You heard me, Snips. You've gotten soft." And then he let his eyes slowly drop down to her belly to make clear just WHAT part of her he was referring to.
"Do you know how much training I do each day?" she demanded. "Heroic Training in school. Training after school with Uraraka and Izuku when we get a chance. On the weekends I am helping you train Eri and Grogu… and Grogu makes sure I can't even enjoy a meal without worrying about him stealing it!" The youngling was a carnivore, just like her, and LOVED to try and take any meat on her plate, even if she were several apartments away from him.
"And during the Clone Wars we were constantly on the move. Constantly fighting against battle droids and scheming Separatists. Now you spend most of your day sitting." He gave a casual little shrug before allowing his eyes to drift further down. "I mean, if you don't mind having to ask Padme to take your shopping because everything is tight…"
"So none of your shrink books taught you about body image?" Ahsoka demanded.
"I know what you can handle, Snips," was his response and she hated that he was right. His taunts were annoying her, yes, but she wasn't going to begin throwing up in the bathroom just to lose weight like some students did. None of the hero students… Aizawa had been VERY clear he wouldn't put up with anything like that. Told them flat out that heroes that decided to take shortcuts like that ended up taking short cuts in everything… and that resulted in people dying. So they needed to get it through their damn heads that they were going to do things the right way. But she knew that there were Gen Ed students that did so… Ahsoka wasn't proud of it, but she also wasn't ashamed that she had used the Jedi Mind trick on one girl upon finding her kneeling in a stall with her fingers halfway down her throat.
So no, Anakin's taunts weren't going to make her develop an eating disorder. He knew exactly how much she could handle and how far he could push.
Didn't mean she LIKED it.
"And yet the Jedi often meditate, reflect, research… and there was never a problem with that." She shot him a cool stare. "This has nothing to do with your messed up views on females, does it?"
"And what views are those?" Anakin demanded, looking down upon her.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe that if a woman isn't built like a body builder than she is doomed to an early death?" She raised an eyebrow at that. "Come on, Skyguy, you have to admit you get weirdly obsessed with muscles."
"Too many Jedi think that the Force is all about the mind or the spirit," Anakin stated as he began to walk around her; she just KNEW he was purposely going around her fast in order to make a point about how athletic he was. "Oh, they talk about making sure that they stay in shape. You don't see fat jedi, after all… did you know there was once a Hutt Jedi?"
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. I used to hear Gardulla talk about it. Claimed he turned to the Dark Side the moment he remembered his Hutt ways. Actual story is that he died in battle saving a bunch of Slaves but the Hutts couldn't have that so one of the lesser Hutts was given his name and told to sully it. All in the Archives." He waved his hand about. "Point though is that he was muscules. Abs and all that. I've seen the holos… its impressive."
"I think we've gotten off point," Ahsoka said; she wasn't for sure if they had or not, she just didn't want to talk about some muscular Hutt.
"My point is that while the Jedi are willing to stay fit they don't see that working to strengthen your body helps strengthen your connection to the Force. Its all connected. I know Obi Wan doesn't believe in midi-chlorians-"
"That's not what he said, its just that-"
"-but a stronger body allows you to better tape into the Force. It shows respect for yourself and in turn the Force." He looked down at his prosthetic hand. "Did you know that after I lost this I felt myself weaken in the Force?" He looked back up at her. "It's why I have done all I can to make improvements, so that it is no different than my flesh and blood hand. People will claim its all in the mind… and maybe it is… but for me a strong body makes a strong Jedi."
"All of this just to claim I need to work out mere?" Ahsoka said, folding her arms over her chest. "You could have just said I needed to begin lifting weights."
"Hey, it is the right of a master to be able to say in a thousand words what could have been said in 10. Obi Wan did it to me. Qui Gon did it to him. Dooku did it to Qui Gon. Yoda did it to him. N'Kata Del Gormo did it to Yoda-"
"That was NOT the name of Master Yoda's master."
"You sure?" Anakin asked, scratching his chin. "Pretty sure it was."
Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "I am sure."
"No, you are Ahsoka, not 'Sure'. I think I'd remember a Jedi named Sure. Kinda like that Earth comedy bit we saw, about the baseball game?" Ahsoka couldn't help but smile at that; yes, that had been funny and she and Skyguy had annoyed Aizawa with it for a week. "When you have your own Padawan you'll be able to do the same thing."
"That's unlikely," Ahsoka said. "Eri is the only Jedi to come from Earth."
"So far," Anakin pointed out. "There are a lot of species that people thought could never produce a Jedi and then suddenly began to do so. And if not… well, I don't know if Obi Wan can handle another Skywalker-"
"Padme's pregnant?"
"What?" Anakin said, startled. "She's what now?"
"Padme. She's pregnant?"
"No… what makes you think she's pregnant!?"
"You made it sound like she was!"
"I did not!"
"You SO did!" Ahsoka exclaimed.
"I was talking about in the future Snips! Jeez!" Anakin shook his head. "You know, could happen… I hope happens…"
Ahsoka eyed him up. "You sure? Because sometimes you two are louder than you think…"
"Padme isn't pregnant. But I'm saying that if… when… she does… I'd be honored if you taught one of my kids the ways of the Force."
That made Ahsoka swallow; suddenly the joking and the teasing had fallen away and taken on a whole different vibe.
The entire Hero thing… well, she knew she could die. She knew that. She had seen clones day and heard of Jedi dying. The temple, the few times she had managed to get back there from the front, had felt quieter each time. And heroes? Yagi's mentor had died. Nemuri had said that a friend of Aizawa's had died and that was why he was so strict on his students. Heroes died all the time. And even though she knew it could be her and she had been warned to be careful and not let herself believe that her youth would save her and protect her… well, she had still not truly considered that she might die.
And even then, if she did die… so long as it was for the greater good? To save a life? She would be okay with that. Yes, her friends and her family would miss her but death wasn't a goodbye. She wasn't merely the orange flesh… she was a luminous being. When she died she would become one with the Force, guiding Jedi for a thousand generations. She didn't WANT to die… but she was okay with it.
Except now… she saw a padawan sobbing at her side, shaking her and begging her to wake up. One with Padme's hair and Anakin's eyes and a little braid she had worked to help make. A little girl who clung to her arm and begged her not to go. She thought of Obi Wan and how, even all these years later, he still sometimes in his sleep would cry and plead with Master Qui Gon to hold on, to not leave him. And how that could be Anakin's daughter. Her padawan…
"Snips?" Anakin said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Ahsoka blinked… and realized she'd begun to cry.
~MC~MC~MC~
"Cross Galactic Teleportation," Vokara murmured to herself. "If it can even be called that, considering that Kenobi thinks that this Mandalorian is from the future!"
"We know he is from the future," Mace corrected. "Plo and I have been down to the creche yesterday to check in on Grogu; he has shown no known signs of being in two places at once like Dex."
Plo nodded. "We presented him with photos of Ahsoka Tano, of Anakin Skywalker, and of Din Djarin. He does not recognize any of them."
"Time travel," Vokara whispered.
"Or, we believe, an altered timeline," Mace said. "Perhaps an alternate dimension that Obi Wan and the others accidently slipped through. We… simply don't know."
Vokara nodded at that, reaching out and grabbing her green milkshake (Mace shuddered; how could she stand that when there was a perfectly good blue milkshake out there, waiting for her?) and taking a long pull from it. "And you believe that Nana might be from that world?"
"We'd have to talk to her," Mace said, "to see what she knows. The mere mention of 'Earth' would be enough to confirm it."
"That… would explain some of the odd readings I've gotten off of her."
"What do you mean?" Plo Koon asked.
Vokara sighed. "I was ready to believe she was some sort of hybrid that we have never encountered before. I thought there was something odd with the Force… that she had found a way to hide her midi-chlorian count. But I thought that too strange… she has a level of 6000, which over twice as much as a standard human but still 1000 below the weakest Jedi on record."
Mace wasn't surprised at that. "If she were a pro hero that's possible." Vokara looked at him and he elaborated. "Obi Wan can't test for midi-chlorians… there simply isn't anything at the moment on earth that would allow him to do so. The equipment… it just isn't there. But he has a theory that some heroes have higher midi-chlorian counts and that is what allows them to be more alert on the battlefield. 'Hero Sense', Senator Amidala said her friend Yagi called it. He said that Captain Rex's apprentice, Midoriya, most likely is only a thousand or two away from being classified as a Force User."
"Still… I wasn't expecting that. And it still didn't explain how her body was working the way it did. But a quirk…" She shook her head again even as she reached for a napkin to wipe her lips. "Her body… it was too strong. To agile. Her muscles were too enhanced for a woman of her size."
"So its like she was using the Force to augment her strength and speed," Plo said.
Vokara shot him a dark look. "Beyond that. She should be dead with all that she did… yet she is recovering now. Needs a prosthetic hand and bed rest but she is going recover." The healer pressed her tongue against the inside of her cheek. "Still… so very odd."
"What is?" Mace pressed.
"Something was off with her body. When I first scanned her upon arrival I got a general energy reading… you know, just how well her body was taking in nutrients and storing them? It was frankly at Jedi levels… council member levels, despite her lower midi-chlorian count. But its been slowly declining. Not by much but it has."
"Due to her injuries?" Mace suggested.
"Perhaps… I don't know. Could be related to her quirk."
"We will just have to ask her, when she awakens," Plo said.
But Vokara shook her head at that. "Oh, that might take too long. And that energy is what helped her stay alive. No… I am having the systems whip up some synthetic blood based on several different species. As well as some gene therapy to assist with the entire thing." She smiled. "Point is, when I'm done with her, she will be as strong as she was in her prime."
~MC~MC~MC~
"Hey, sorry Ochaco but I think Ahsoka needs a few-"
Ahsoka quickly spoke up, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "No, I'm good! I'm good!"
After her little breakdown where the weight of her mortality had hit her like a truck Anakin had stopped teasing her and had just sat with her, putting off any more training for the rest of the day and just allowing Ahsoka to try and gather herself. But that kindness had, ironically, set her off even more and she had found herself blubbering like she was a youngling in the creche again, startled by some explosion from the hanger. Just when it seemed like she had gotten control of herself something would flare up and she would begin crying all over again, unable to control herself. She hated it so very, very much but she found herself unable to stop herself no matter what she tried. Telling herself silly stories. Repeating all the cities on Alderaan. Scolding herself and demanding she gain control of her emotions. No matter what happened she just kept crying.
He didn't say a word but she knew what he was thinking. How it was perfectly fine to cry. That he understood that she was upset and he was there for her. That he wasn't going to judge her for them at all. He didn't care if it wasn't 'the Jedi way', because they were a new type of Jedi.
She knew what he was thinking… and that somehow made her feel all the more miserable. Because she wanted him to be mad at her. To scold her. To tell her to grow up and knock it off and act her age and… and all of that! She wanted him to say all of that… but he wasn't. He was just being nice to her.
Like Ahsoka would be with his child. The one he wanted her to teach. The one she had to live for now and even though the child hadn't even been conceived yet it was making her heart hurt just thinking about leaving her…
But now one of her friends was wanting to see her and the shame she felt over her tears grew all over again. Yet that also made her gather herself. Get control of herself. To realize she needed to knock it off already and get a handle on her emotions. Ahsoka forced herself to smile and rubbed her eyes one more time before stepping out from the grove of trees she had been standing behind.
"Hey Uraraka!" she said, internally wincing at how chipper her voice sounded. Utterly fake. Reminded her of the politicians that would come and visit the troops and act like they actually cared. 'Oh yes, that is lovely, nice to meet you, thank you for your service.' Saying what you were supposed to say but not really meaning it.
Uraraka, for one brief moment, stared her down and Ahsoka became terrified that she was going to call her out. Ask what was wrong. And if she did that… well, Ahsoka wasn't for sure if she was going to be able to keep it together.
But instead Uraraka smiled brightly before lifting up the bag she had. It was one of those basic grocery store bags; the white ones with the handles that either snapped right away or would be able to hold up a jet liner. There was no in-between with them. It was full of… something… Ahsoka wasn't for sure. Didn't look like food. Certainly didn't smell like it either. And it was making the oddest noises.
"Alright, so this is going to take some explaining and I hope you don't get offended. And if I have offended you please let me know so I can stop, okay? I wanted to do this as a good thing but if its offensive to your… culture?" She looked at Anakin and Ahsoka realize she was talking as much to him as she was to her. "Can I consider it a culture? Or do you? I mean its not really a religion though I guess it could be-"
"Its okay," Anakin assured her with a bemused little smile. "If I think you are being rude I'll say something."
"Good… good." Uraraka nodded her head. "So… Ahsoka was telling me about the different categories for Lightsaber parts. Power and Control, Peace and Justice, Protection and… uh…"
"Protection and Defense, Elemental and Nature, and Reclaimed and Reforged," Ahsoka said, Anakin nodding along. "Right."
"Well, I realized that, hey, you are on Earth now! Not going to ever be able to leave, right? So… why not create a NEW kind of Lightsaber theme? One unique to Earth!"
Before Ahsoka could say anything about that Uraraka began to pull the pieces from the bag.
She hadn't known what to expect. Maybe that Uraraka would go grab random bits of junk from the cabins? Things Ahsoka would have to politely tell her would NEVER work and that they now needed to put back? Perhaps bits of piping torn out from the sink or some sticks that she'd found out in the woods?
But instead Uraraka began to lay our bits of curved metal. One was off white with dark green paint upon it. Another was utterly black but had some blue highlights and felt shockingly light as Ahsoka picked it up. The next one was silver in color and was slippery smooth to the touch. There was some white fabric with blue and white lines on it. Another dark green piece but more flexible and giving. A pale pink piece of-
Ahsoka's eyes went wide and she snapped her head up to stare at her friend.
"These are from your hero costumes?"
Uraraka nodded. "Yeah. I asked around… a lot of us brought extra bits, in case anything got damaged. You know, since there isn't a support staff out here. At least what we know of. So don't worry, its not going to affect any of us during training!" She waved her hands about rapidly, as if trying to blow the worries away. "But well… everyone wanted to donate." She began to point to the pieces. "One of Izuku's shin guards. A piece of Momo's gauntlet. Tenya's shoulder plate. Shoto's uniform… he said you could make a grip with it. Tsu's leg armor-"
"I… I don't…"
Anakin cut her off… by reaching up and unclipping the arm bracer he was wearing. "I think… it is a beautiful idea." He placed the piece down with the rest. "I can help you mod them however you want, to get them to fit, Ahsoka."
"I have more. You don't have to pick all of them, of course… you can hold onto them and use them if you ever need a new lightsaber. Or never use them. I understand if you don't want to. I know its not as meaningful as Peace and Defense or Reclaimed and Reforged but-"
"Glory and Faith."
"What?" Uraraka said, startled by Ahsoka's sudden comment.
"That's what this new style is called: Glory and Faith."
And then she leaned over and hugged Uraraka tightly.
"Thank you."