Chapter Text
He's been harsh with the Force before. He's spent the last three years on the front lines of a war, of course he's been harsh with the Force.
He's never used this much power, though.
It had never been Obi-Wan that counseled against it. It hadn't been anyone, really, except the voice in his mind that asked what would be left of him if he used all of it.
This time, though, if he doesn't make it then there will be nothing left anyway.
So, as Anakin hurtles through the air below the Chancellor's window, he uses his will and his sheer stupid determination that he has to fix this and tears at the Force. It's always been around him, sometimes sparkling and sometimes weeping, but always battering at him. She comes when called, for her favored child.
Anakin wraps it around himself with his hardest pull yet, and feels something in the very fabric of reality around him tear. He's not falling through Coruscant's smog, he's just falling.
He slips into the dark, and his last thought with the strength of the universe lashing at him is of Padmé.
But, no, that's not true.
Because in all his desperation, all his pulling, he feels something. He's searching, scrambling, and digging. A Force presence. Someone he knows. Someone he trusts.
One moment, Ahsoka stands on the bridge of the Tribunal. The next moment, she's plunging downwards. Falling. She doesn't know where, she can't see, but she would know the feeling of falling anywhere.
It's over just as fast as it began. Her feet slam into hard ground, and it's only her training that lets her use that momentum to tuck into a roll and come up with her sabers lit. Her eyes haven't even adjusted to the too-bright sunlight, and her montrals are suddenly aching and ringing. That doesn't stop the Force from pulling, pulling, pulling. She moves, because she will always listen, but she's disoriented.
The Force pulls.
Ahsoka leaps without questions.
Her sabers catch the onslaught of blaster bolts. No matter how dizzy and aching she feels, she would recognize that sound anywhere, and she sends them back towards the shooter.
Ahsoka tucks into another roll, landing in the middle of what she recognizes to be a street. It's bombed out, the pavement torn in a pattern to match the rest of the buildings. Each side of the street is filled with an armed crowd, all levelling weapons directly at her.
Well.
It's like training, Ahsoka tells herself. Just, a lot more people this time.
"Jedi!" Someone shouts, and Ahsoka turns to see the leader of one of the crowds. "We do not need your interference!"
"The only one interfering here is you!" someone else shouts, and Ahsoka doesn't have to look to know it's the other group's leader.
There's danger thrumming in the Force. It's potent enough to make her lekku ache on top of the terrible buzzing that echoes around her montrals. Maul's kyber crystals are permanently screaming, but she thinks the clear warning is making them louder. Strapped to her back, the saber makes her back lekku numb with how it's nearly vibrating in anticipation of the oncoming violence.
Ahsoka feels the girl's Force presence only a moment before she lands in front of Ahsoka. No matter what's going on, and Ahsoka thinks it truly could be anything, this girl hardly looks old enough to be out of the creche. She's armed, at least, but she keeps her hands up in a sign of no harm.
"I think you just saved my life. Think you can keep doing it?"
She doesn't wait around for Ahsoka to give any more of a response than a nod, raising her voice to speak to both sides of the angry mob.
"If any of you do this, it will be against the direct instruction of the Council," the girl shouts. Her shoulders are back, and her voice is loud, but she can't hide the way her chin trembles. "Anyone who fires upon someone else today will be placed under arrest, no matter your position."
There's another flurry of blaster fire. Ahsoka blocks each one, sending them back to the building where they came. It's the only building with more than two stories. An obvious sniper's perch, but they must huddle back behind the edge of the roof, because even as the reflected bolts strike true, she has to block another volley.
This time, one of the returned bolts hits home.
It's only her enhanced hearing that register the cry of pain, faint as it is, and Ahsoka allows herself to relax, if only a little. She wants to eliminate any other possible snipers, but she would have to leave the target too open. They aren't aiming for anyone except the girl. The first shots, too, only landed where the girl would have landed a moment later, after she launched herself from the fountain. Wherever she is, and whatever's going on, Ahsoka knows she can't let someone murder a child in front of her.
"Cerasi," the older man calls, voice hard. "Get out of the way."
"Why?" the girl– Cerasi? – demands. "If you are going to shoot and kill the rest of the Young, you will have to kill me first. You are already dead to me. You might as well finish the job."
The man falters.
The back of Ahsoka's neck prickles with the Force's warning. Without a second thought, she uses it to yank hard, flinging her hand out in time to catch the blaster she ripped from the other leader with the Force. He looks at her, stunned, and everyone else takes up similar expressions. The eyes on her are less hostile now, but they make her no less nervous.
"Everyone stand down," Ahsoka says, projecting her voice. She might not know what's going on, but no good can come of stray blaster shots in any tense situation. "You can put your weapons on the ground and put your hands in the air, or I will disarm you myself."
"Do as she says," the older man says, then kicks his own blaster towards Ahsoka. His group of maybe forty people, all older adult humans, do the same.
"You too, Nield," the girl says. "Drop your weapons, and put your hands in the air."
Ahsoka thinks it's a little redundant, since his blaster is already out of his hand, but whatever. Ahsoka clips it to her belt next to the saber she had put there without thought, but keeps her other one extended in warning. The younger man, Nield, Ahsoka assumes, finally jerks his head once and his group complies. They're nothing more than children, Ahsoka notices. The younger man isn't even that; he's still a kid.
A sinking feeling starts in Ahsoka's gut.
There's another group of children, this one separate, who collect all the weapons from the ground. They're all in various clothes, outfits all in tatters, but they all have a common badge pinned to their chests. A boy with the same badge skitters over to them, the blaster on his thigh holstered, at least.
"Hi," he says, then swallows, and shakes his head. "Sorry, I mean thank you. You just saved Cerasi's life. Twice. That was amazing. Are you staying to help?"
He speaks in what sounds like a fading accent. The accent, or what's left of it, sounds like her home.
"I think so," Ahsoka says. It's not like she has much of a choice until she figures out anything. "What can I do?"
"We need to hear everyone's voices in this," the girl, Cerasi, says. "I think we should gather people in the Unified Congress Hall and get a real vote, not just from the Council. Once and for all, we need to settle this and make sure that all voices are heard. Everyone will only start fighting again, if they feel like they aren't being listened to."
The new boy, the one with the badge, nods, then issues orders to the rest of the badged children. Ahsoka gives herself a moment to sigh– how did she get wrapped up in this so fast? –then helps. It takes bare minutes to scale up the side of the building she had pinpointed the sniper from. The stone is soft, and due to what seems to have been constant warfare, there are more than enough handholds. At the top, she hauls herself onto the roof, and finds a boy, desperately clutching his shoulder.
"You tried to kill that girl," Ahsoka says.
Though she means to be accusing, she can't help it coming out as a question. As she takes him in, her words tick up at the end. He too is barely old enough to be out of the creche. Why? What's going on?
"Are you going to kill me?" He asks through gritted teeth.
Ahsoka shakes her head. "I have bacta. Kick the gun to me, and then I can help, if you'll let me look at the wound."
He only keeps glaring at her, so Ahsoka rifles through her utility belt until she can hold up two patches. The boy glares a little longer, but finally kicks the gun over. Ahsoka picks it up, strapping it to her back alongside Maul's saber, then moves forward and crouches down. He reluctantly removes his hand, and she finally gets a clear look at it.
"Oh," Ahsoka says, and it comes out as a sigh of relief. "It didn't even go all the way through."
"It still hurts."
Ahsoka makes quick work of it. Any snide comments are held back due to his age, but that's the only thing she holds back on. She still gets him onto his feet, and then does her best one person frog-march down the stairs of the building.
One of the badged children, one carrying a blaster, jogs over and offers her a wide smile with several milk teeth missing. They barely come up to her chest as they hold up a pair of simple cuffs. "Hi, Jedi! Ben says I can take him!"
"Who's Ben?" Ahsoka asks, but she's already cuffing him.
"The leader of the Security Squad. That's us! We're trying to get everything settled as quick as possible so we can have a whole city meeting!"
Ahsoka only feels truth in the Force, so she nods, and hands the kid over to, well, the other kid. They disappear quickly into the thin crowd, and Ahsoka lets herself fall in with everyone else to be led.
The city itself doesn't look much better than its people. There are tall walls that she can see, boxing all the buildings in, but no ray-shields or anything more modern than duracrete. All the buildings are mostly collapsed, except for the occasional one that seems to be, oddly, fully intact. Ahsoka can't quite see the difference of the buildings for every other, and there are too many other questions. The damage around her is familiar, but it looks old. It's older than the war with the Seppies, at least. It's older than Geonosis, certainly.
They finally get to one of the bigger buildings that Ahsoka's seen. She doesn't mean to draw as much attention as she is, but she is the only person here that's not a human. Her bright orange skin and montrals might as well be a beacon. There's a line to get inside, but as soon as Ahsoka gets through the door, she's met by the girl from earlier.
"Come to the front with me," Cerasi says, and so Ahsoka does.
Now, Ahsoka stands in between the two leaders of the different mobs on the stand of what she's told is called the Unified Congress Building.
Like the rest of the city that they walked through, the Unified Congress building has also been bombed out. Most of the rubble is cleared from the interior, but small parts of the roof are gone, and the furniture looks to be halfway to joining the Force. Said furniture is pushed against the walls so there's room for everyone to sit on the ground. More people are still trickling in, but from what she can see, they're almost entirely made of older adults and young teenagers.
She suddenly hopes by obviously taking down this insurgency, she didn't indirectly aid a corrupt government. The Force gives her no nudges either way.
Somewhere along the way, cuffs were placed around both leaders' wrists. Nield and Wehutti, she's gathered. They're not the mag-cuffs that she's familiar with, instead the simple chain linking two plain metal bands together from earlier, each with a key that one of the badged children carries. Both of them have eyed the rifle strapped to her back, but she's ignored it. They hardly offer a threat to her, cuffs or no. Even still, the leading children wait until they're cuffed to deposit the three of them on the stand, between the podium and the table.
The eyes linger on Ahsoka like she has also committed a crime against them. The feeling only grows with the crowd that takes their seats on the floor. Ahsoka wonders if Cerasi and the rest of the children at the table know that with every person that comes to spectate, the more this will become more of a trial, and less of a discussion.
She, of all people, should know.
Also sitting on the floor are the two groups from earlier. Ahsoka would hardly call them mobs, disarmed, slouching, and small as they are. The group of children, hardly more than twenty of them, seem unsure. The adults, almost double the number, seem equal parts embarrassed and determined. Everyone, though, is deeply exhausted.
Cerasi steps up to the podium, and again, she squares her shoulders.
"A vote was called for the New History Squad to stop the demolition of Halls of Evidence," Cerasi says. "Nield, the head of the New History Squad, immediately challenged the council and tried to strip one member of his legitimacy when he had no right to do so. When neither action worked to stop the vote, Nield went directly against it, and by doing that, he willingly defied the Council."
Cerasi makes to continue, but is interrupted by an outraged noise from Nield. Ahsoka elbows him, summoning a glare, and he quiets. Cerasi flinches, but continues, her voice clear.
"As we decided weeks ago, any holding of weapons outside of the Security Squad is illegal and a punishable offense. Nield not only armed himself, but the entire New History Squad. No violence ensued, but only thanks to intervention. If not for this Jedi's help, I, along with countless others, would likely be dead. All of us know how little action it truly takes to restart violence, and I am certain that more would fall in the ensuing fights." Cerasi visibly swallows hard, then turns to finally look at Nield. Her eyes are filled with tears, almost unnaturally green with the shine. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Ahsoka has never been good about human coloring, but even she can tell that despite the angry twisted expression on his face, Nield is unnaturally pale.
"The duty of the Council is to keep the peace," Nield says. "If we leave the Halls of Evidence standing, then war will follow. Punish me all you want, but until the Halls of Evidence have all been destroyed, this planet will fight itself to ruin. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Cerasi waits if there's anything else coming, but there's nothing, so she turns back to the crowd.
"Wehutti was a known leader of the Melida, who stowed weapons and supplies in his home," Cerasi says. "He refused to turn over his blasters, and instead attacked the Security Squad when they were dispatched to remove his weapons for the safety of the city, and for all of us. From there, he led an angry protest and then led an armed attack on the New History Squad. Thanks to intervention, no injury came of it, but that does not mean harm was not dealt. The victim here is the fragile peace we have managed. No matter what ideas they were using to encourage their groups, both of them brought illegal weapons and marched with the intent to attack, if not outright slaughter each other.
"Wehutti, what do you have to say for yourself?"
There's something terribly fraught in the air as Cerasi stares the man down. Ahsoka's shields are still as thick and high as she could have made them for facing down Maul, but she can sense the conflict. There are too many layers here. IfAhsoka can't even see past the surface, Cerasi and Wehutti are lost, drowning in the depths.
"In the valiant spirit of our honored ancestors, we must protect our Halls of Evidence," Wehutti finally says, and Ahsoka can tell it's a phrase often used. He seems to understand that too, that age doesn't make it a true defense, because he looks away and bows his head. Ahsoka might think he was cowering but it's too raw. "However, the wrongdoing was my own. The Halls of Evidence are the last thing that holds my late wife, and my siblings, and my parents. Everyone I have ever known is there, and you sought to destroy it."
The boy from earlier– the leader of the Security Squad, Ahsoka thinks– stands from his seat at the table. Cerasi glances at him, then nods and takes the single empty spot at the table without complaint. There's a rapid hushed discussion of everyone at the table. It drags on for several minutes, and even though there are clearly a handful of quick issues they vote on, Ahsoka tries not to eavesdrop. They finally have one more quick vote– a simple raising of hands, then the boy gets up. He grips the sides of the podium in white-knuckled nervousness when he makes it over, then drops his hands by his sides in fists.
"Wehutti and Nield will be punished with charges of carrying illegal weapons, and arming others," he finally says, voice surprisingly steady. His accent is the only one like it that she's heard; everyone else speaks with the curling consonants of this planet– he speaks with the broad vowels of upper Coruscant. "We will need more evidence to charge them with further crimes, while they work to pay off their punishment with the rest of the accused rehabilitation. For now, the Council would like to cast a vote. The New History Squad will temporarily be disbanded and reformed with new members, either way, but everyone here will get the chance to cast their say on if we will focus on the original efforts that we will need if we plan to survive this winter– food, housing, and medical treatment, or if we'll continue our attention on disassembling the Halls of Evidence. Everyone who participated in the violence today will be punished accordingly, with an upping of their required labor hours per week."
The boy steps back, and Ahsoka dully realizes that the people inside the building aren't just whoever could make it. This is the entire city's population. Cerasi had said that, of course, but seeing everyone gathered under one roof feels different.
Cerasi gets back up, and joins the boy at the podium. Concealed by the wood and only visible to the rest of them on the stand, they hold hands. The people flock forward, and Ahsoka watches curiously. There's a voting system in the front of the room in three separate machines. There's some sort of citizenship identification with small cards that each person appears to carry on their person, and once it's verified, they can cast their vote.
Then, the matter is handled. The old machines finish, and display a glowing blue script that must be the native language, since Ahsoka doesn't recognize it, but it's clear what choice was made through the slump of relief in Cerasi's form.
Cerasi takes the stand again, and offers everyone a small smile. "Thank you for voting. The Council will look over everything again so we can focus on reconstruction efforts. The matter of the Halls will be handled, but only when we can be certain that it won't lead to anyone starving to death in the meantime."
It's a grim ending note, but due to the lack of protest from the people that were two angry mobs not that long ago, Ahsoka thinks it was the right one, The mood is somber as everyone shuffles out of the building, and only a few conversations crop up as people leave.
It's the boy that first makes his way over to where Ahsoka is standing between Nield and Wehutti. They hadn't moved much, but she thinks that might just be her presence. There's a girl following him, nearly the same height, and just as willowy, almost to the point of frailty.
"Ben," Nield says, something unintelligible in his voice. "Ben, I–"
The boy, Ben, holds up his hand. He looks like he's poorly concealing something like heartbreak. "As head of the Security Squad, I'll escort you to the place you'll be staying."
"A prison?" Wehutti demands derisively.
"No," Ben says, and doesn't explain anymore. They had already spoken about rehabilitation, so Ahsoka thinks it's only asked to poke at the clearly crumbling facade that Ben wears.
Ahsoka ignores the questioning look Ben gives her, and grabs both of the chains to their cuffs. They follow in Ben's lead well enough, but Ahsoka would prefer if the two clearly starved children don't end up alone with them, no matter how bound and unarmed. She knows the look of war veterans, and the need to survive that it leaves thrumming in the veins. All of them are ready for a fight the entire walk there.
It's not a prison. It's a row of houses that look more lived in than any of the surrounding ones on the block. There's another young teen that nods at Ben and his second, then takes both older men. Nield tries to speak to Ben again, but Ben just shakes his head. He doesn't look back as they turn and start the walk back to the Congress building.
"What's your name?" Ahsoka asks the girl that's been following them.
"Deila," she says. "I'm Ben's second in command. What's your name?"
"Ahsoka Tano."
"Did the Council send you here?" Ben asks.
"No," Ahsoka says easily. Her tone doesn't match the feeling that's still in her gut. Ben's accent and his apparent familiarity with the Jedi Council, as well as all the children who seem to be the governing body here… Well. He also showed no sign of recognition at her name, which is both good and bad. "One moment I was in my ship, and the next I was in the middle of the street."
"But you're helping us."
"Yeah," Ahsoka agrees. "I don't have as much information as I want, but so far it's definitely seemed like the right thing to do. Besides, once we get everything sorted again, then I can hopefully get out of here. The Council didn't send me, but I do need to report back."
"Were you on a mission?" Ben asks.
Ahsoka nods. "Just finished it."
Deila folds her arms. "You can't take Ben with you. He's a real citizen now."
Ben ducks his head and looks away, so Ahsoka can't get a read on his actual expression. She offers Deila a shrug in return for her glare. "I'm not planning on taking anyone, let alone someone who doesn't want to go with me."
"Then what do you want from us?" Deila demands.
"Hopefully a long-range comm," Ahsoka says. "Where are we? One of my troopers could probably come and pick me up."
That's enough to stun Ben out of his apparent shyness, because he looks at her with his mouth open. "You don't know?"
Ahsoka tries not to grimace. Everyone told her she got her expressiveness from her Master, though, so she doesn't think she succeeds.
"The Force brought me here," Ahsoka says, because that much she knows for certain. Even as she says it, she feels the Force hum to confirm that truth. "I don't want to take anyone out of their home, let alone out of the trouble that seems to be brewing. Why? What's going on?"
"This is Melidaan," Deila says.
Ahsoka scrambles for anything in her mind and entire education about it, but she comes up with nothing. Finally, she asks, "What sector?"
"You really don't know?" Deila asks, at the same time that Ben says, "Cadavine."
"By Naboo," Ahsoka says, and grimaces again.
"What is it?" Ben asks.
"I was on Mandalore," Ahsoka says, even though that's not quite true. She was in hyperspace, which made even less sense to how she might have gotten here. "A few hours ago. Now we're nearly across the galaxy, and there's still a situation that needs handling that I left halfway through."
"Situation? On Mandalore?" Ben asks, crinkling his nose up. "I thought we were enemies with them."
Ahsoka lets the we go without comment, but presses the knowledge of it into the growing unease anyway. "Well, like I said, it was a Council ordered mission. They sent me after Maul."
"Ben's got an off-planet comm," Deila offers, and Ahsoka can tell it's because Deila wants the conversation in waters she can follow. "If not, I think Cerasi said Wehutti had one. We could probably steal it."
"You can use mine," Ben nods. "I don't have the Council numbers, but I have my– I mean, my– um. You can use it, I mean."
"Thanks," Ahsoka says, and follows Deila's lead in ignoring the mortified flush that creeps down Ben's face and blotches patches of his neck red. "That would be great."
"It'll have to be after our Council finally comes to an agreement, though," Deila says. "With the threat of our weapon stores being broken into, the city's mostly on lockdown. Ben's gonna be in the Council for the rest of the day, and I'm sure that Cerasi's gonna ask you to stick around."
"Why?" Ahsoka asks. "Isn't the Congress building secure?"
"Eh," Deila shrugs. "Could be more secure. We'll keep guards posted and our usual perimeter sweeps, but today just proved that doesn't really mean shit if someone got their hands on weapons anyway. Besides, all of us on Security Squad would be stupid to see you whip out those wizard moves protecting Cerasi just to send you away. 'Specially while we're all out keeping the city locked down, having your laser swords will be good."
Ahsoka briefly sees Bo Katan, in her mind's eye. Bo Katan had wanted Master Obi-Wan, but would take anyone with a lightsaber that she could get. She smiles, a grim little thing, and shakes her head. "Naturally."
"It's not just that," Ben protests. "You're a Jedi. Since we'll be doing bigger council stuff, you should be there to watch the proceedings. If we get called into question, your approval can legalize it in the eyes of the Senate."
Ahsoka pauses, then shakes her head. Her lekku twitch, uncomfortable. "The Senate wouldn't believe my word. I left the Order."
That news pulls Ben up short. He stops completely, his mouth slightly open. Deila and Ahsoka, who kept walking, have to pause and wait for him to finally stumble forward.
"But you have your sabers still!"
"My Master gave them to me," Ahsoka explains. "I needed them for the mission I was on."
"You left, but the Council still gave you a mission?" Ben asks.
"There was no one else available."
Deila waves a hand, interrupting whatever question Ben already has halfway out. "Just don't tell anyone that you aren't a real Jedi and we'll be fine. We just need you to convince the Elders, and I think you already have. No one can really argue with the laser swords."
Ahsoka pushes down a smile, then nods.
"And you," Deila says, delivering a sharp poke to Ben's midsection. Ahsoka is grateful to have been spared that action. "You don't tell anyone neither. Winter needs to be long over by the time we're gonna deal with something as silly as the Senate."
Deila waits until Ben agrees with another nod, and then they all fall silent. They clearly don't need to voice it to know that the subject will be kept between the three of them, starting now. Instead, they make their way back inside the Congress building, where Deila leaves them, and Ben and Ahsoka take their spots at the table. The crowd has mostly filtered out, leaving the original council gathered around the table, and an array of children that all wear varying badges to sit on the platform around the table. Ahsoka's chair was obviously one of the ones crammed against the wall, now brought up to the table.
The situation, Ahsoka finds, explains itself as the children debate. Two warring factions ruin the planet, and a third group steps up, rallying for peace. The third is made of each side's children, and all of the children who banded together to live outside of the wall but didn't have enough resources to continue on alone. The two original factions unite against this shiny new enemy, with no cares to their ages, but with a surprising amount of support from a section of each warring faction and the advantage of an outside factor, the children manage to scrape out a victory.
The children tell the story as if they are not children– as if there is no question that they were also going to fight. As if forming a third faction was the obvious thing, and it's only natural that they were then viewed as enemies. Ahsoka finds herself giving all of her upset quickly to the Force so she can focus.
Now, they're left with three factions trapped together in one city that all want different things but all need each other if they plan on making it through the winter. Not just the population of one city, though, Ahsoka learns. Aside from a few spread out towns and far-off factories, this city is now the entire planet's population.
It's Ben who comes up with the first plan for reconstruction, and the rest of the meeting circles around that. Ahsoka spends half her concentration listening, guessing at the boy's history, and the other half attuned to the Force for any danger.
Ben's plan entails breaking the entire population up into small groups that need to meet a certain labor goal per week. Each group, and this is where the children's reluctance puts up the most resistance, requires one Elder from Melida, one Elder from Daan, and one of the Young. The members of the council and their second hands are the only ones exempt from labor groups, as long as they preside over their own Squads. Each trio is assigned various tasks towards rebuilding efforts. Ahsoka sees the reason quite clearly. It might have even been a Temple lesson, if she's right about her speculation. Ben's plan will hopefully rehabilitate the Young as not a newer and more exciting enemy, but as a group of tiny beings who need to be cared for. Babysitting duties, essentially. Fortunately, Ben doesn't say it outright, and spins it as a thing of fairness. Ahsoka privately wonders if it's as well done and intentional as it seems.
It takes a handful of votes, but eventually the council decides that since the food provisions will have to be rationed anyway, they will be used as the incentive to orchestrate labor.
As the meeting goes longer into the afternoon, more people have gathered to watch. It seems there's nothing else to do, and with the obvious tensions in the city, council meetings are considered interesting. Ahsoka's privately impressed by this openness. This newest decision, however, causes an uproar within the nearby audience, who all start yelling and shouting their arguments. The arguments move, though, going from the rationing to circle back to the original argument of the Halls of Evidence. There's about twenty minutes of it, where Ahsoka decides to do a full perimeter sweep of the building. When that's done with, she returns to find Cerasi, standing on top of her chair and shouting down everyone else.
"I thought you all wanted peace!" She shouts, and the stomp of her foot against the table is loud enough that most stop shouting back. "Were you lying? Do you want us to all keep fighting for a cause that no one even remembers? You want to kill all of our dreams of peace, and for what? If you have a little more food in your belly, then that leaves less food for everyone else!"
"They were Elders!" One of the kids says, though Ahsoka doesn't know who, since she isn't watching closely enough.
"They're Melidaan," Cerasi says, with no room for argument. "Just like we are, now. Holding these boundaries will only ensure that we kick the fighting off again. The war is over. We're splitting these groups up in the first place to prove that! We have to get to know each other as people, not just the monsters on the other side. No one is more monstrous than anyone else when we were all fighting to survive."
That brings silence. Cerasi hops off her chair, but folds her arms and keeps glaring down everyone else. "You want to keep living in the sewers? You want to keep watching all of our younger siblings die from infections that could be treated, and sickness that could go away with only a little bit of medicine? Then you can continue this war. You can keep fighting for a cause you don't even have until you get the rest of us killed. You can refuse to eat rationed food and start killing, and being killed in return. Or, you can help rebuild.
"You can help make sure that there's enough to go around. You can help make sure that when the snow actually starts coming, you'll have a roof over your head. We'll have food and a real home and family, but only if we can all finally work together. We did it once to end the war, now we just need to do it again. We aren't your enemies, and neither are the Elders. We're Melidaan now. History isn't in our favor, but that doesn't mean you should annihilate it. You can't let our dream of peace die like this. I thought we agreed to work for it, not kill for it."
The kids shrink in on themselves until they appear half the size, and no more protests come forth. Cerasi glares all the way back to her seat, then grimaces, and says, "Let's get back to work."
Ahsoka doesn't know what she expects, but she's surprised to see each and every trio assigned by name, and then given their task. It's not that surprising, given how small the population is, and because Ben has a list of every citizen, but she's rarely seen a government so involved. Even age is taken into consideration, with the oldest or more disabled citizens being paired with members of the Young that are on squads, who need to be able to balance their time. Once every single name has been checked and paired with a group, the Council finally takes a break for a very late midmeal.
Ahsoka takes her two ration bars and allotment of water with thanks. The boy who gives it to her can't be more than seven, even though he has a small pink badge pinned to his shirt. Agricultural Squad, she recognizes. She sits on the edge of the stand, feet kicking the wood while she eats. The city outside is finally coming to some sort of normal again, with people moving back and forth. It makes it a little harder to sense a threat, but the hum of the Force keeps assuring her the lack of general danger.
The rest of Ben's Security Squad have been trickling in throughout the proceedings, but one of them comes in, interrupting the middle of midmeal, and takes Ben and Cerasi with them. Ahsoka recognizes them and their missing milk teeth as the kid from earlier, the one who had taken the sniper.
Ahsoka wonders if she should follow, but the Force, when she listens, prompts her to stay.
It becomes clear why when Deila immediately sits next to her, bringing a small band of children with her. Some of them chat idly, and all of them kick their feet until there's enough of a noise built up from the echoing thumps that when Deila drops her voice, Ahsoka knows they intentionally won't be overheard.
"Nield wasn't working alone," she says, lowly. "Apparently one of our own, Mawat, was the one to break into the warehouse where we're keeping all of our weapons and hand them out to both sides. He was working for both sides, though, and armed all the Elders too. In fact, he was responsible for setting up the sniper, Daz, that tried to kill Cerasi directly. Thanks for handling him, by the way."
Deila takes an aggressive bite of her ration bar, chewing with clear disdain before she continues. "Wanted to restart the fighting, and knew that as long as Cerasi was alive, peace would somehow find its way around anyway."
That, unfortunately, makes much more sense than having one random sniper.
"Good thing I got here right in time, then," Ahsoka offers.
"Yeah," Deila says, then huffs. "Nield tried to turn everyone against Ben, too, since he came here later. It seemed a little weird at the time, but it was a whole assault on all sides, now, just to restart the war. I think we can all see that now. Nield said Ben shouldn't be on the Council, but Ben's been doing the hardest stuff and he's done the best job of it. Even I fucked up, I think. I feel really bad, but it's hard to know what's right instead of who's loudest. Everyone's been super weird about it since, especially with the rest of Security Squad. Some of our own squad don't want to listen to Ben anymore, and now I can tell that he doesn't know what to do with you here especially."
"Do you think Ben's doing the right thing?" Ahsoka asks.
Deila finishes her ration bar, and shoves off the side of the platform to start pacing back and forth before she finally says, "Yeah, I think so. It's just hard. I'm mad at myself too, for not believing in Ben when he was doing better stuff than the rest of us. He's the only one who knows what he's doing. I keep thinking that someone with more experience should do it all, but then I remember that the older people are the ones who got us in this mess to begin with. Except Ben. I'm so mad at Nield. I'm so mad at everyone right now and no one else seems to be as angry as I am."
Ahsoka looks at Deila, and only sees herself. "It feels like a betrayal?"
"It is a betrayal. Nield was our leader and then he turned against us with Mawat. They were both part of the Young, and now they're acting like Elders. They get to do all that, and it hurts all of us!"
"Then it seems pretty reasonable to be angry," Ahsoka says. "They hurt you, of course you're angry. Maybe everyone else is still stuck on being hurt, or they're channeling their anger. Even if they aren't, it's alright, I think."
Deila throws her hands in the air, and Ahsoka recognizes the feeling of helplessness turned into fury. "Of course I'm angry! But why does it have to come with all this other stuff? Why is it making my stomach hurt? I feel so guilty and I didn't even do anything!"
She paces around the room, kicking stray rocks, and generally fuming. Snow wafts its way in through the chunks of missing roof, though most of it melts before it can settle on the ground. Ahsoka wishes she had one of her cloaks, but as long as she stays inside the building, the temperature isn't too bad. Maybe Deila has the right idea of moving around. After a few of her laps, Ahsoka speaks quietly enough they won't be overheard as she passes by, stopping to hear Ahsoka's words.
"Maybe you'll feel better if you apologize to Ben?"
Deila pauses, then blinks. She nods, once, then twice, in jerky dips of her chin. She doesn't say anything, but she turns around, then nearly bolts out of the Congress building.
The midmeal break ends, and though the rest of the council takes their seats, neither Ben nor Deila return. Ahsoka makes no move to get back onto the platform, instead monitoring the crowd that reenters the building to watch the proceedings, seemingly out of nothing but boredom. It's Cerasi that finally comes to find Ahsoka, hands on her hips.
"Ben says you're a Jedi," she says, like it's an accusation.
"Something like that," Ahsoka agrees.
"You saved my life, and you've been helping us fight for peace all day, even though you don't really know what's going on," she says again, still accusing.
"Yeah," Ahsoka agrees. "I want to get out of here, but I don't mind doing this in the meantime."
Cerasi nods, almost to herself, then sticks out her hand. On it is one very familiar blue badge. "Stand in for Ben for the rest of today, then. I think we could use your help. Besides, we don't let anyone but the Security Squad stay armed, and I don't trust that blaster to anyone else."
Ahsoka plucks up the badge, then follows Cerasi's gesture, to what she guesses will be her sabers or the rifle on her back, but then remembers suddenly that she's still wearing the blaster she had ripped out of Nield's hands. Clipping it to her thigh had been a habit, and it's small enough that she hadn't thought of it again once.
Even as she puts her new badge on, she feels exhausted. How has this all been one day so far? Yet it only gets longer as, seeing the actual history behind the war up close, she starts to get a horrible feeling. Even if she had been unsure on who to help, as the Council discusses, she knows this would have hardened her resolve. She's overwhelmingly grateful that the majority of fighting was wrapped up already. She's seen more than her fair share of battle, but she doesn't think she could stomach seeing two sides of adults come together just to fight their own children and grandchildren.
Now that the matter of groups has been sorted and tasks delegated, the Council has turned back to what seems to be the constant underlying issue– the Halls of Evidence.
The Council– Cerasi, mostly– has to catch Ahsoka up. They hardly make it through the explanation before they break into immediate debate that's potent enough that the emotions batter against her shields until tentatively, she suggests, "They've got to be stored on some sort of datastick. Why not collect whatever their storage devices are, and temporarily suspend everyone's access to them?"
Everyone falls quiet, and the silence goes on a beat too long, so Ahsoka elaborates.
"For now, put them in a secure location that only a few people know, just like you treat weapons. Propaganda of any kind is a weapon, but this might be dangerous enough that you could categorize it as such, if people wanted to confront you. People can have access to it, and to the remnants of their families, after the winter. Maybe use it as an incentive, like the food rations. Once they have done their part, and no one is going to starve, they can have their family's datasticks. You don't have to destroy anything, just keep them safe in the meantime."
All of the children around the table stare, wide eyed at her.
"All in favor?" Cerasi says into the silence.
Everyone's hands, except Ahsoka's, go up.
"I thought Jedi were s'posed to remain neutral no matter what," one of the children with a badge she doesn't recognize says.
"There's a difference between inaction and neutrality," Ahsoka says, trying and somewhat failing to push some of her lingering resentment into the Force. At least she keeps it out of her voice. "The New History Squad can be disbanded for now, but if you want to use my neutrality for your benefit, I could be the one to collect all the datasticks. I could be covert and I've done archival work before. Delegate one of your teams to help me secure them, and we could probably have it done in a day or two."
"You'll just… do this for us?" A boy asks.
"Yes," Ahsoka says. "It's the right thing to do, and I have nothing else to do before someone can pick me up. And, once they're emptied out, you can move people inside of the halls. If they're as well-kept as you say they are compared to everywhere else, then they should be more than adequate for people to stay in. Where are the Young staying?"
"Still in the sewers," Cerasi says, and Ahsoka blinks. "We could definitely move some of the younger kids and some of the sick into the halls, or the ones that have some heating systems."
"We can get some groups working on turning the hall on Grace Street into a hospital as soon as it's done next cycle," the child next to Ahsoka says. "Lots of people will come to watch, and it'll be the perfect time to test out the worker trios."
That, surprisingly, comes to another vote. It passes with only two hands missing, and then they launch into the details of Ahsoka's plan, using a large flimsi map of the city. For as unfamiliar as they seem to be with governing, she's almost surprised at how good they are at coming up with a strategy for her. They note each of the halls, specifically focusing on the ones that have heating systems. It takes a while to get a plan sorted, but it's just as effective as any battle strategy that Ahsoka's come up with, and treated the same. They're just as fresh out of a war as she is.
Then, of course, they vote on the plan. It seems a little redundant, but Cerasi makes sure it's done anyway. Ahsoka can't blame her, having glimpsed only one day of their current struggles. Then, again, they vote, this time on who else is neutral enough to help Ahsoka. It's a little silly, and she can't help but smile as some of the children giggle. In the end, she gets assigned what they coin a sub-squad, out of six Security Squad kids they deem as impartial enough. Cerasi, the obvious head of the council, whips out another piece of flimsi and immediately defines a sub-squad in that blocky language. Ahsoka wonders if this counts as a law, or if it's as lighthearted as everyone's smiles seem to suggest it is.
Even if it's just a quick count of hands each time, or a piece of flimsi that dictates the parameters and legal power of a sub-squad, Ahsoka feels its relevance. Right in front of her is a government forming, who all want the best for themselves and their people.
Until then, Ahsoka had taken her cues from Ben's actions before midmeal. Now that the matter of the Halls has been addressed, and obviously faster than any of them expected, they throw themselves– Ahsoka included– headfirst into sorting out the smaller issues that have been put off until now.
It's different. It's got the same tone as a battle strategy meeting, but for city matters. The issues of rebuilding a city, rebuilding a world, are huge. Broken down like this, though, and faced with the confidence of war hardened leaders, everything falls into place. Ahsoka, in Ben's position, is as much a part of it. As new as it is to her, it's satisfying work.
It's the most Jedi-like thing she's ever done.
From the moment she was sent out from the creche and wound up on Christophsis, she had been in a war. The Jedi had gone from peacekeepers to generals. They had waged constant war, and done nothing but surround themselves with that death and loss in the Force. None of her classes had prepared her for the horror and loss she would be facing on a daily basis, with the pressure of it landing squarely on her shoulders. Commander Appo had borne some of the burden, but Ahsoka had been the 501st's only commander for too long. Men were dying not just on her watch, but because of her plans. Their lives would be hers to carry forever, and none of her classes had taught her how to deal with something like that.
Here on Melidaan, the Force feels oh so terribly familiar to Ahsoka, having left world after world feeling like this. This time, though, there's a thread of hope. It seems alive in every life form she can feel.
This, she realizes, is what peacekeeping actually means. It's fighting, yes, but only when necessary. She had landed on this planet randomly, not just at the whims of the Senate, and had contributed to ending the conflict. It didn't matter how briefly she had helped, in the scheme of things, because for the first time, she gets to stay. She gets to see the result of ending a conflict. This, finally, is what she has been prepared for in her classes.
It's not just the Jedi being turned generals, she realizes. It's that she has been on the front lines the entire war. She hasn't been to peace talks or negotiations that haven't ended in a renewal of the righting, or a deal that puts one party at a terrible disadvantage. Gathered around this table are people who want the best for their own, and who truly want to lay down their weapons. Putting the Jedi at the front of the GAR stole their claim of neutrality. Any true neutrality that they try to claim forever after this will be stained with the blood on the hands of the Order.
Hopefully, for Melidaan at least, the peace will hold. She hopes desperately that this community can rebuild and regrow. Ahsoka feels that same hope that flares inside herself burning brightly from everyone around her. Of course she'll stay to secure the Halls of Evidence. They're holding onto peace with their fingernails, but it's peace all the same. Any way she can help will be more than she's done before.
Food and medical care, they decide, will be the main priorities. As soon as Ahsoka and her squad clear out the first couple marked Halls, they'll turn them into workable hospitals. Restaurants will close down temporarily– Ahsoka's shocked to learn that they're still open– and the council will make note of who owns what to pay back sometime in the future. All factories that were once in charge of munitions will turn to individual water purifiers and food. There's a lake, the same one the biggest of the Daan's Halls of Evidence is built on, that will need to be purified for use and tested for fish. The fields outside the walls of the city will be prepared for the spring, and the general rebuilding of homes and other infrastructure will be the focus of all others.
All of the council seems to slump as one when Ben reenters the Congress building. His and Deila's entrance serves, apparently, as a close to the council for the day.
"All weapons have been moved to a more secure location," Deila declares before she's even half way across the room. She's nearly bouncing. "We're skipping a trial for Mawat for now, since there's technically no proof except for word of mouth, but he's staying with the other prisoners."
"They aren't prisoners," Ben argues, but he also has a little smile.
"Sorry," Deila says flippantly, flicking her braid as she climbs the steps of the platform. "He's staying with the other designated laborers. Happy?"
"Extremely," Ben says, elbowing her. "Can't you tell?"
The rest of the council spills out of their chairs, and the seriousness that's weighed over the day's proceedings is gone when they throw themselves at Ben, and then at each other, laughing. Ahsoka smiles, and finally loosens her shields so she can indulge in the feeling.
Ben's eyes immediately lock onto hers.
She can immediately feel him, shining so clearly. Even with shields higher than normal, his Force sensitivity illuminates him in her senses like a beacon. His flimsy shields do nothing to hide him. In fact, they only confirm her guesses. Ben is, or was, a padawan.
It's not her issue to confront, though, so she says nothing. She lets Cerasi tug her along with the rest of the group, who at the mention of latemeal, burst into a rowdy string of whoops. Ahsoka, just for a second, closes her eyes, and soaks it up.