Description
A bit of Star Wars fanart! A conversation between Ahsoka and Anakin after The Mandalorian Chapter 13: The Jedi. This one also to go along with a bit of writing, check it out below or here .
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Ahsoka broke the piece of dried meat she was eating into a few smaller parts. She let her consciousness expand and felt the birds and lizards around her camp site, a singular simian alien at the edge of her awareness. The trees rustled and their anticipation for the coming change of season was apparent. She felt the Khyber crystals in her lightsabers hum and reverberate the life around them. Even the rock on which she had unfolded a clean napkin had its signature in the living force. Savoring the taste of the jerky, she thanked the beast from which it had come.
“Ahsoka,” a voice called out.
“Master,” she responded. It became easier to become aware of him each time she did. “Good to see you,” she said, right before he materialized into the world.
The pale blue visage of Anakin Skywalker shifted uncomfortably. “I told you to stop calling me that, I don’t deserve it.”
“You are the guy who’s become one with the force, not me,” Ahsoka said with a little smirk. “... Anakin,” she finished with a nod.
“Thank you,” he said, sitting down on a log across from her. As was the case with Obi-Wan and his master and Yoda, Anakin was strangely physical when he appeared like this. Ahsoka could feel how he was affected by gravity and that he would rather sit than stand. But she could also see right through his wispy shape.
Similarly, Anakin could tell that Ahsoka had been wrestling with something. “You have something on your mind?”
“Yes,” Ahsoka said. She swallowed the last piece of her meal and wrung her hands. “Grogu... Turns out he’s still alive.”
“The little kid that the council was always so mysterious about?” Anakin paused, then flickered out of existence briefly. With a pained expression now on his face, he continued, “I always figured he got caught when... When you were on Mandalore.”
“We shared a connection, apparently someone managed to sneak him out of the temple.” She looked at him. “His life hasn’t been easy,” Ahsoka said. She didn’t manage to keep all of the accusation out of her tone.
Anakin nodded. He was of the force now, supposed to be in ultimate balance with the galaxy. Ahsoka noted he really didn’t look it.
“He’s gotten himself a father figure, a Mandalorian. It’s pretty cute. But the guy wanted me to train Grogu.” She looked down at her lap. “And, and – Anakin, Grogu reminded me so much of you.”
“The little baby Yoda reminded you of me?” Anakin said a bit incredulously.
“He’s powerful, and filled with fear and passion. Fear to become lost again, to lose this new parent. We’ve seen what such fear to lose someone can -,” Ahsoka interrupted herself.
Anakin sighed. He didn’t have lungs anymore, but it still hurt. There were some downsides to being granted eternity. He was forced to be faced with the consequences of his actions, all the people he had hurt.
He leaned forward and put his hand on Ahsoka’s shoulder. To her the sensation was one of warmth, not one of touch. “So you turned him down,” Anakin said softly.
“Yes.” She looked at him. Both being this connected to the force, they could feel the compassion they felt for each other. Healing and forgiving would take time, but it would come. “I promised to help them though, and since I’m not comfortable training him I sent them to Tython.”
“Tython? That dingy temple with the seeing stone?” He sat back a little. “But who would respond to a call from a place like that?”
“I think Luke will find them.” Ahsoka said. Her lekku twitched, and the guilt she felt was visible on her face.
“Oh, I see,” Anakin said, smiling a little. “You wanted to check in with me because you sent a potential Sith Lord to my son.”
“When you put it like that...” Ahsoka smiled as well and hit Anakin in the arm, which fully connected. He let out a soft gasp, as he would have in life.
“Don’t worry about him!” Anakin continued. “I don’t know if you noticed, but that young man is capable of some incredible things. In fact, it was his love, his passion, that made him a better Jedi, made him able to save me.” Anakin’s form glowed slightly as he talked about his son, as though the thought of Luke made his spirit more bright. “If anyone can train Grogu, it’s him.”
Anakin stood up, face turned to the night sky of Corvus. “But here: you called a Jedi knight from the beyond for advice and counseling?” Looking back at Ahsoka, he made a little bow and said, “just go check in on Luke at some point. You get to make sure you made the right decision, see if the kid is doing well. And Luke can needle you for more advice.”
“Yeah, he’s very eager, isn’t he?” Ahsoka said, her expression softening.
“It’s unbelievable. He won’t let Obi-Wan and Yoda have a single bit of rest, always asking is this right, what did we do in such cases... He even figured out how master Qui-Gon’s views are different and how to find the compromise between them” Anakin got a sad smile on his face and said, “he’s so much like Padmé.”
Ahsoka felt Anakin fading away in the force, like he suddenly didn’t have the willpower to maintain his form here anymore.
“Do not worry, Ahsoka,” Anakin said faintly, “Luke is more than capable, and yours is a different path.”
“Thank you, master,” she said to the chilly night.