CH-21

"The Order has no authority to order her back," stated Anakin, even though he obviously didn't like acknowledging the truth of that statement.

Yoda nodded slowly, before exchanging a look with Mace Windu who more often than not had seemed closest with the aged Jedi Master. They stared at each other for several long moments before Yoda spoke up once more "Priority this mission has. Sense something around this man. What, know I do not."

Aayla frowned and spoke up once more, "That… honestly doesn't clear up what my mission actually is."

Yoda nodded a little. "Former padawan Ahsoka Tano you must find. Ascertain her status. Find out more about her companion. Worked well you have in the past, and familiar you are with Hutt Systems through infiltration work. Best hope you are for this mission."

"Don't make any hostile actions towards either of them unless absolutely necessary, to protect yourself or others." Master Windu added to Yoda's comments seamlessly.

Yoda's eyes were once more closed and he spoke up again without opening them. "Trust your instincts, Master Secura. Trust the Force. Important this will be. Clouded this man's nature is, but discover more we must."

"And if the man does something that requires me to protect myself or others?" Aayla asked quietly.

"Discuss it we will should that be necessary," responded Master Yoda .

"Head to Nar Shaddaa, if indeed his path leads there, that may be the best place to start. We will speak again once you've arrived and update you with anything else we've found." instructed Master Windu.

Aayla nodded hesitantly, "I will be on my way within the hour."

"May the Force be with you, Master Secura." Obi-Wan said.

Aayla merely nodded and disconnected.

Yoda nodded his head in approval once before breathing in with a deep sigh and turning his head, he fixed first Ki-Adi-Mundi and then focused fully on Tre'jin with a glare "Discuss now we will, your deplorable behavior."

Obi-Wan spoke up, "You know we still need someone to go to the Ice World of Hoth and thoroughly explore the glaciers to ascertain there's no droid army presence."

"Indeed," added Plo Kloon. "Having two instead of one will make it go twice as fast. After all, there's only 16,000 square kilometers to check in the area we identified, and all of it done on foot, at least until some cold weather warfare assets can be detailed for the mission."

"And they are notoriously difficult to requisition by our quartermasters at the present time," added Anakin with a gleam in his eyes.

Ahsoka was sitting in the co-pilot seat aboard the Gryffindor and was watching as Harry competently prepared the ship to go to lightspeed. It was then she realized that she never felt more excited and just plain right about a decision in her life. She wondered if it was the newness of her situation, but inwardly the young Togrutan felt it was more than that. It was like the Force had settled around and inside of her, and was pleased, a sensation she wasn't familiar with.

She was still trying to figure Harry out. She had asked to send a message to her former Master. Anakin had been the only one in the entire Order who had stood by her, and Ahsoka was sure that he would be worried about her once the Masters they had encountered had reported what happened.

She also knew her old master had his own doubts about the Jedi Order and their decisions, but Ahsoka hoped Anakin wouldn't do anything impulsive, though she wasn't willing to place any large wagers on it. But she knew he would want to know she was okay, and that she wasn't in any sort of trouble.

The message she sent to Anakin contained all the normal 'all clear' elements. They had worked together long enough that neither wanted to be responsible for leading the other into a trap if they were coerced into sending a message. She had hoped to put his mind at ease… if such a thing was even possible.

Ahsoka thought SkyGuy worried about way too many things, though she couldn't blame him entirely. If the Jedi Council ever discovered the true nature of his relationship with Senator Padme, they would expel him, though sometimes she wondered if that was something Anakin should truly be worrying about. Anakin would never stop helping anyone in need, and if he was attached to Senator Amidala's side publicly, who was known herself to be a champion of the people, she honestly didn't see Anakin's life changing much without the Order.

Ahsoka was very much aware of the relationship between Padme and her former Master. She had spent a good deal of time around both of them, and they weren't as subtle as they hoped. Ahsoka had become suspicious very early on, it was easy to tell if she watched the expressions on the two when they talked, especially when they thought no one was looking.

Word of the relationship, or even her suspicion of such, was something she had never mentioned to anyone, though she suspected that Master Kenobi, Anakin's old Master, at least suspected the relationship as well. However, Ahsoka was loyal to Anakin, he had given her too much and stood by her when no one else would, not to mention the times he had saved her life, though that was a two way street, she had saved him several times as well.

She liked Padme Amidala as well. The woman was strong willed, intelligent, brave and had a good heart. She had helped the both of them out several times. The Senator from Naboo had even acted as her defense attorney in the sham trial. Padme had spoken eloquently and factually even with an establishment that was set up against her. In the end, Padme was a friend too.

It was obvious to Ahsoka at least that the two were in love.

Keeping their entire relationship a secret, plus the stress of the war and politics that brought, and of course training his headstrong Padawan…

Still, she worried about everything that was on her old Master's plate. He seemed to have twice the responsibilities of a normal Jedi, plus all the extracurricular stuff that no other Jedi would even dream of involving himself in.

Ahsoka shook her head slightly and fought off a smile. He was going to have an ulcer before he was thirty… well either that or finally snap and just start killing anyone and everyone that irritated him..

Another thing that had set her mind at ease regarding Harry was that he hadn't seemed even slightly bothered about her sending a message. There was no request on his part to not mention where they might be headed. There wasn't even a request to see the message itself to ensure his own safety.

The entire way he had responded to the knowledge she was going to communicate with Anakin displayed a very high level of trust on his part, or an extreme level of naivety, though she doubted Harry was afflicted with the latter. Anyone who could flippantly plot a course to travel to Nar Shaddaa to meet contacts had to be at least mildly competent in their work, or they wouldn't survive long.

As Ahsoka observed Harry she felt herself under observation as well. Not by Harry, at least not by anything covert. At the moment he seemed focused on flight.

.

.

.

Subscribe to me Patreon for more advanced content ...🎉

Read the complete novel in PDF, available at my Patreon Store!🎉

patreon.com/Fictiontopia 🎉