Asoka woke up feeling broken and sluggish, struggling to open her eyes. The excitement of the previous night would not let her go, she did not want to see anyone or go anywhere. She did not even want to think, so deeply had the dream shaken her. Asoka had never had a dream like this before, and now, as soon as she closed her eyes, her father appeared before her, just as he had in her dream. This made the Togruta's heart ache and tears well up in her eyes. She tried with all her might to calm down and even managed to eat something for breakfast, but when she was led onto the ship at the appointed time, along with the other lucky Padawans, she tried not to look up or talk to anyone. No one noticed anything unusual about the girl's behaviour, attributing it to her nervousness about the trials. In reality, Asoka wasn't even thinking about them; she didn't care how she would do or whether she would pass. How could she think about anything else when her mind was occupied with thoughts of her father? Why did she see him in her dream? No, she had dreamed about him before, but always as she remembered him, flying away from Tatooine. Cheerful, strong, always smiling. Ahsoka had never known him any other way, because Sean had never allowed himself to appear weak in front of his little girl. And so, when she saw him like this for the first time, she couldn't stop thinking about it. She didn't even look around and didn't see that sitting next to her was someone who loved her just as much as her father, albeit in a slightly different way. The truth was that he was so hurt that he didn't even want to fly with her, but Master Yoda said that his presence at the Padawan trial would be necessary, and Anakin, with a heavy heart, agreed. And so he sat next to Ahsoka, trying not to look at her, waiting for her to make the first move towards reconciliation, unaware that she wasn't even thinking about him at that moment. There were several ships, flying smoothly one after the other until they finally reached the orbit of Tython, the planet where the Force originated and where the ancestors of the current Jedi Order, the servants of the Jedi cult, once lived. They owned an ancient temple consisting of two floors, where several particularly distinguished Masters, including Master Yoda, Windu and Plo, were now accompanying the students. The planet itself impressed the apprentices with its pristine nature, green fields and unusual plants, as did the temple itself. It seemed like a true wonder of the world, striking with the beauty of its ancient architecture. Everyone looked at it and waited for permission to enter and see what it was like inside. Only Ahsoka did not look at the ancient sanctuary and did not hear the Masters' words of advice, but instead heard a hoarse cry that pierced the very heart of the Togrutas:
"Asoka! Come to me! I can no longer fight! I am dying.
This voice penetrated her consciousness, preventing her from hearing anything else but herself, blocking her desperate attempts to hold on to reality and not fall completely into the world of visions. And Asoka knew that in a moment she would finally give in and do what the Force had been stubbornly leading her to do through her dreams. Against her will, she looked in the direction where the ships had left and remembered the coordinates of Tatooine. A little more, a few more seconds of desperate struggle with herself, one more second of confusion, and the thin figure, looking back for a moment, breaks away from the group of companions and rushes towards the ships, tearing open the door of the nearest one, which seems to be the one piloted by Windu, but she doesn't care anymore. She had been away from her home planet for so long that this vision, repeated over and over again that morning, simply could not help but sow doubt in her mind about her own randomness. And after a few more seconds spent catching her breath and entering Tatuin's coordinates into the on-board computer, she prayed to the Force that the ship would be able to take off. Asoka saw nothing around her and, of course, did not notice how, literally a moment later, another tall, thin figure rushed after her, asking, "Where are you going?" in an almost puzzled cry, also unnoticed by anyone. But who cared, when Tano had forgotten that she was running away from her trials and would face at least a reprimand, or in the worst case, expulsion from the Order. The Council would not hesitate to quickly remind the wayward Togrute of all her past transgressions, starting from her first day at the Temple. No, none of this bothered Asoka, nor did the fact that another passenger had boarded the ship after her and settled in the saloon. He himself did not understand why he had followed her, or even why he had called out to her, because since yesterday evening, Anakin had firmly decided not to let Asoka control his feelings anymore. Yesterday was enough for him, when one of the courtyard players threw a contemptuous remark after him: "Why didn't you bring your mummy to sort things out, instead of just your girlfriend?" Another one put it no better: "She's not bad, can I borrow her sometime?" Anakin was terribly ashamed and embarrassed that Ahsoka had caught him engaged in such an indecent activity as gambling with sabers, or in his case, lightsabers. But even worse was the realization that he had allowed her to see him as weak, incapable of decisive action, while she had proven herself to be the opposite. Could such humiliation be forgiven, even if it was unintentional and done with the best of intentions? Anakin firmly believed that it could not, but now he saw that his feelings for her were gradually overcoming his resentment, and that was why he was now sitting in the cabin of a ship flying to Tatooine. The pilot was not very experienced, but extremely talented, which was partly why, and partly thanks to the automatic pilot, the flight ended very successfully. Throughout the flight, Asoka desperately tried to convince herself that she would soon enter her little house, see her dear father, hug him, and all her worries would fade into the background, proving to be nothing more than a crazy nightmare. After all, it was only because she hadn't seen him for so long, and now Asoka would fix that, and she didn't care what happened next or how the Order would react. Only now, with unprecedented clarity, did the girl realise how dear her former world was to her, the world she had left behind for a better life. No, when she thought that, she didn't mean Tatooine or Watto's shop, but the peace and tranquillity that reigned in the little house on the outskirts, where two Togrutas sat over evening tea, a man and a little girl who loved each other more than anything else in the world, talking about everything that came to mind and happy just to be together. Wasn't that more important than the opportunities and bright future her father had given her, sacrificing what was most precious to him? Only now did Asoka fully realise how empty and cold her soul had been all this time, and that no new experiences or exciting tasks could ever replace it.
"Well, never mind, I'll see him now and everything will be fine again. Good and warm. Like before. If only I could see him," thought Asoka, climbing down the gangway, followed by Anakin, who walked silently behind her, waiting for the right moment to reveal himself. Meanwhile, Togruta walked across the hot sand, looking around and thinking that Tatooine hadn't changed in the last eight years, with the same drunks, poor shacks and arrogant slave owners. The same sands, untouched by time, and two suns, calmly gazing down at the agitated young Togruta in her red tunic and grey tight-fitting leggings, her tall brown boots kicking up sand, and a thin golden chain lying beautifully between the girl's leggings, glistened in the rays of these crimson twins. Her path lay to a small house that was familiar to her heart, which stood on the very outskirts. And finally, it came into view. Among other similar houses, Asoka would have recognised it anyway, as she had already studied every crack in this mud-brick hut, where the windows always glowed warmly and blue curtains hung. But as she got closer, Asoka froze, not believing her eyes — the windows of the house were dark, and the curtains had been replaced with bright red, ruby ones. Togruta involuntarily remembered that a long time ago, her father had seen such fabric at the local market and had lamented for a long time that he could not buy it — it cost a slave's entire salary. And Asoka had felt a burning pain inside for a long time after that, knowing that she could not provide her father with a decent life. And now these very curtains hung in the windows of her little house. But were they hers? Asoka approached the door and knocked, just in case, although she had never done so before, because her father knew that no one else came here except her. Only this time, dead silence answered her; not even footsteps could be heard behind the door. Asoka regretfully stepped away from the porch and only then saw a large lock on the door.
"Where could he have gone? He couldn't have sold his home," she wondered aloud, turning away, hoping that if her father had moved, at least Watto's shop hadn't changed owners. As it turned out, the shop was still there, offering all kinds of metal junk to the undemanding inhabitants of the planet. Behind the counter sat a fair-haired young man with his head bowed low, concentrating on tinkering with the engine of a racing car. It was clear that he didn't know how to fix it. Asoka watched his actions and, without thinking, spoke:
"Take a narrower wrench, put some grease here, then tighten it slowly.
The young man mechanically repeated these actions with his hands and only then thought to look at the speaker:
"Thank you, that's much better!
"Let me see what happened," said Asoka, and without waiting for a response from the slow-witted boy, she took the motor in her hands and examined its insides with a professional eye. The breakdown was not complicated, and taking the tools from the boy, Tano easily finished the repair, suspecting that the boy would have fiddled with it until sunset. The owner himself looked out from the depths of the shop at the noise. It seemed that during the time they had not seen each other, Watto's belly had grown even more protruding, and his right fang had finally broken off, leaving his long, hooked nose hanging only over his left.
"What can I do for you, beautiful lady?" The Teydorian's toothless smile spread across his face, making him look even more repulsive. He clearly did not recognise Asoka, but then again, she was not eager to introduce herself, because the Teydorian's enthusiastic embrace and slobbery kisses were, to put it mildly, not what she had come here for.
"I'm looking for Sean Tano," the girl said bluntly, not wanting to waste time on unnecessary formalities, and with these words she unwittingly gave herself away, and the worker added:
"Master, help her, if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have been able to fix the breakdown, she fixed the engine in no time.
This impressed Watto and made him look closely at the Togruta with his half-blind eyes and even fly right up to her to confirm his suspicions. Seeing this, Asoka cringed inwardly, anticipating what was to come, and mentally sent the chatterbox a thousand Hutt curses. And she was right.
"Ahsoka! Wow!" the Teetorian shouted across the street and flapped his wings happily. "I can't believe it's you, little Soka, how did you grow so tall!"
Watto was bursting with nostalgia, and Sokka had to endure all seven circles of hell in the form of those very same hugs with welcome kisses, a cup of dusty tea, and a bunch of stories about his life. Anakin stood outside and couldn't see anything, and Ahsoka hoped that now Watto wouldn't refuse to tell her about her father.
"Where can I find my dad?" she finally asked when the cup was empty. "His house clearly belongs to other people."
Watto didn't seem surprised by her question and replied calmly:
"Yes, that's right, old Sean doesn't live there anymore, and he hasn't for five years, since that's how long it's been since he stopped working for me.
"What do you mean, he doesn't work?" Asoka's eyes widened in amazement.
"Just like that, girl," Watt said, just as calmly and indifferently. "At that time, Jabba ordered me to reduce the number of slaves, as I could no longer pay them properly, and your father, as you understand, is no longer young, he's not as strong as he used to be, so I decided to let the old man go free.
"But how can I find him?" Asoka repeated her original question, fidgeting in her chair with impatience.
"I don't know," said Watto, patting his wings. "I'm not interested in former employees, although..." " he added, seeing that the togruta's face had darkened and his hands had fallen, as if by accident, on the two swords hanging from his belt. "I think he left his new address. I'll look through my old notes.
He rummaged around for fifteen minutes, throwing things onto the street, realizing that he hadn't found what he was looking for. Finally, he blew the dust off an ancient ledger, flipped through a few pages, and pointed with his crooked finger at an entry:
"Here, a moisture extraction farm, the owner's name is Billy Sparks. He works there now and lives in a local village on the outskirts of Mos Eisley.
Asoka quickly wrote the address on her palm, jumped up from her chair and began to thank Watto profusely:
"Thank you, I always knew you were kind at heart, since you gave my father his freedom.
"Come on, stop being so sentimental," the Teyodorian smiled carelessly, hiding a satisfied grin. "If you ever come back here, remember how we used to serve each other like brothers.
"No, thank you, they feed me well in the Order," Asoka joked grimly and left the cool shop onto the stuffy street. Passing by the stalls of other merchants, the girl saw the very same ruby-red fabric that Sean had once liked and, without thinking twice, bought two metres. She had never had much money, but what she sometimes received from the Order was enough to buy it, and smiling happily, the girl already imagined how she would give it to her father, not yet knowing in what circumstances it would be useful to him.
***
Advanced chapters:
patreon.com/posts/star-wars-chosen-144531440