CH-62

Aayla wondered if Harry had done the same thing to Ahsoka that he had done to her earlier. Where he had prevented her from making any sounds, another thing she was still trying to figure out. He hadn't just stopped her from speaking but had completely prevented her from making any sound, even clapping had produced nothing.

But, the rant Ahsoka seemed to be on didn't slow in the silence or indicate that she was unable to make her voice heard, so Aayla was sure something else was going on.

Harry for his part was leaning against a wall, arms crossed as he watched the girl move back and forth but didn't seem to be saying anything.

He didn't even look up to acknowledge Aayla as she appeared in the threshold of the room.

After a moment's hesitation Aayla took a breath and stepped into the room, she felt a subtle wave of the Force, and the moment she crossed the threshold there was an explosion of noise.

"-ey are just putting her in her former Master's custody… no trial, no punishment. Nothing. She nearly got me killed!" Ahsoka quite clearly was in mid rant and Aayla was startled enough to stop mid-step as the sound assaulted her ears. She also looked around and noticed that her senses weren't fooling her, things all around her were shaking though, for some reason, they weren't making any noise.

Ahsoka clearly didn't notice or care that things were shaking in the room or that Aayla was now present as she continued her rant, throwing her hands up in the air for emphasis. "She deliberately set me up to die! Some thanks I get for saving her life!"

Harry raised an eyebrow at that statement, seeming to ignore Aayla's presence as well, causing the Twi'lek Jedi to wonder if she was invisible for all the attention that was paid to her from the other two.

Ahsoka took a deep breath clearly prepared to continued her rant, but Harry held up a finger in the universal sign telling her to hold on a moment. "This girl… you saved her life?"

Ahsoka was startled at the sudden interruption of her rant, and was surprised to find herself breathing heavy. She hadn't realized quite how much she had lost control as she was venting. But Harry's interjection had focused her attention back on him and his question rather than the overwhelming sense of betrayal she was dealing with in the moment. "Yes, I saved her life."

Aayla looked around; all of the shaking shelves stopped as if on command, the instant that Harry had garnered her attention. Neither Harry nor Ahsoka so much as glanced at the shelves, leaving Aayla once more confused, a sensation she was becoming familiar with.

Harry's expression was focused on Ahsoka, his tone was calm and curious, "Tell me about the incident?"

Ahsoka tilted her head, it was phrased as a statement but it had enough of a questioning tone not to be an outright demand, but it was close. "Well… there was the time we needed to destroy a droid foundry together on Geonosis. We set off explosions while we were trapped in a tank together, and I was able to hotwire a power cell from in the tank so SkyGuy could get us out."

Harry's mouth twisted as he frowned. "Hmm. That's a bit debatable as to whether she owes you a life debt for that, since you were saving your own life too."

A puzzled expression crossed Ahsoka's face, wondering at Harry's wording. "Well, there was also the time when we had to deal with the brain worms. They were parasites that could dig into your mind and control you," She clarified seeing Harry's puzzled expression.

"Pleasant," Harry said with a grimace at the concept.

"Barriss got infected when she walked into a trap that infected troopers set. My old Master told me that the parasites were weak to cold temperatures so I ruptured the cooling system."

Ahsoka frowned as she recalled the incident. "Barriss attacked me, and even when the worm's hold weakened and she begged me to kill her I… couldn't."

Ahsoka hung her head, still conflicted about the choice she made, knowing that the parasite could have spread further because of her reluctance. "I refused and killed the worm as it came out of her mouth, leaving her alive."

"That's much more likely to have incurred a life debt," Harry said with a frown marring his features. "And, even after saving her life, she still would have stood by and let you die. And probably would have done it all again to some other padawan or Jedi had your former Master not confronted her, caught her red handed with the evidence and forced her to confess."

Ahsoka looked startled at that thought. She had never considered what Barriss would have done if she had gotten away with it. Her mind returned to the trial as she looked across the expanse of several meters separating the accused and the witness and saw… the look in Barriss Offee's eyes and the expression on her face.

It was an expression that made her friend nearly unrecognizable. Her expression was a combination of religious fervor, disgust, revulsion, and sadness. It left the impression of chaos and insanity in her former friend. Ahsoka wondered if the seeds of that insanity had always been there or if something happened to drive her to that state.

She nodded slowly as she was forced to concede that it was entirely likely that if Barriss had gotten away with it that the crazed Jedi would have done it to someone else. She sighed a little bit, slumping as bitterness once more filled her voice, "There doesn't even appear to be any consequences at all to her actions. The military doesn't want to go after her and the Jedi don't seem to want to punish her. They're just sweeping it under the rug."

Harry had a strange gleam in his eye, "After what happened at your trial they probably have no interest in getting pantsed again in front of the world. We'll look at the impacts and possible repercussions having a life debt has on a magic user together in a moment."

Harry turned to look at Aayla, "Since we have a little spy in our midst and what I was about to say would fall under 'teaching'. We wouldn't want to give her anything else to report back to her masters."

With his attention firmly focused upon her for the first time, Aayla cringed slightly at the taunting "little spy" comment. She outright blanched at the way he said 'masters'. He put so many negative connotations on it that she felt disgust.

After a moment she realized that she wouldn't be able to use the recording to strengthen her position. She would need it to get any sort of position to start. She straightened slightly and cut off whatever else he was about to say. "Minnie said the ship recorded the entire conversation I had with the Council. I think it would ultimately be better if you reviewed it yourself."

K̾o̾-̾f̾i̾

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