On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter LXVIII

"You've met Skywalker before, right?" Ahsoka Tano had asked what felt like a lifetime ago, a week or so after Luna had told her who she really was. It had taken time for everything to download, and she had just gotten a comm call from the Rebellion involving the Rebel Commander. She couldn't remember what it was about now, but it had reminded her of something her enigma of a partner had mentioned in passing.

"Yes. Him and his....crew I suppose. They work together often enough," Luna had responded. The Torgruta didn't need to ask to know she was including Han Solo, Solo's wookie copilot, and Leia Organa in the supposed crew. The human girl snorted at a thought, a trace of amusement dashing across her features. "Golden Quartet would be more accurate, unless we're counting the droids as well."

"How'd you meet them?"

"....A mission from my old master." Luna's expression had changed. Gone slightly darker. It always did that when her old teacher became part of the conversation. Ahsoka could never figure out what it was. Anger? Sadness? Disappointment? The girl was so hard to read. "I had to infiltrate the Rebellion—nothing bad for your side, don't look so concerned. My job was strictly to protect Skywalker and Organa along with a couple of their associates at the time—I took the freedom to expand it to a few more than he'd originally intended. Time went on. Chaos ensued, as is usual with them. My old master and I were forced to defect from the Empire. My real name got out. Skywalker and Co. are probably still in contact with him. They were still figuring out specifics when I left."

"I guess that means you won't be introducing us," Ahsoka stated, voice light—an attempt to bring the mood back up.

"If I did, you'd have to convince Solo to give you a ride," Luna responded, her tone having not changed, though her stance was stiff, almost hostel.

The Grey Jedi decided to change the topic, message having been received: If anyone who knew Luna's old master figured out that Ahsoka had a connection to the girl and they were planning to keep in contact, the Torgruta could consider the partnership over with.

~*~

Ahsoka knew Luna was on the run. From whoever her old master was, from anyone who would recognize her.

The Grey Jedi had never once thought about what that might mean once inside of the Rebellion. Hadn't thought two people she knew so well would be looking for her partner. At least not the way they were. Leia, perhaps, but not Padmé.

Ahsoka didn't know Luna knew Padmé....But Maz had said Anakin had taken the girl under his wing all those years ago. Even as a padawan more or less blind to the feelings between her Master and the Senator, Ahsoka had very quickly become familiar with the Nabooian.

Why would it have been any different for Luna? Even if she'd only been playing the role of padawan, they would have met—Anakin hadn't left Coruscant after rescuing Palpatine, and it had still taken a good few months for the war to end. They had plenty of time to be introduced at the very least.

But that didn't mean Padmé would be looking for her—not with the worry seeping from her presence, with the concern tinged hope that came when she asked Ahsoka for news on the off chance the Grey Jedi had any.

Only for Ahsoka to lie and crush it. The Torguta felt horrible, but until she had more information, she wasn't going to break Luna's trust. Or cause the Rebellion to lose Valkyrie—there was far too much at risk for Ahsoka to give her old friend and confident information on Luna's whereabouts. She'd do it as soon as....

As soon as what? Ahsoka got Luna's permission? If Padmé received the information, Leia was likely to learn it soon after, followed by Luna's old master. The human girl wouldn't allow it to happen, and Ahsoka couldn't afford to do it now and risk Valkyrie's ties to the Rebellion until after they defeated the Empire—a victory that seemed to exist in the too far future if even in Ahsoka's own lifetime.

The best choice was to wait. It would be strange if she pried into Padmé's relationship with Luna while with the fleet, but Ahsoka knew if she waited, her partner would give her answers and not dance around issues like Leia and Padmé seemed all too willing to do. Besides that, she'd also be able to get answers about Anakin—it would probably be painful, but Ahsoka felt that Luna would again be more....honest about the issue.

That was the thing about meeting up with old friends after years. There are secrets that should not be shared unless the other party already knows—and unless someone was brave enough to breach the topic, you could never figure out if it was a shared secret.

And if Padmé didn't know what had actually happened to Anakin....to her lover....

Well, Ahsoka wasn't going to tell her. She would force her old friend through that galaxy destroying realization. The Grey Jedi had taken weeks, months even, to come to relative terms with it, and even with the Force telling her, she had needed more proof....

"I'll believe it when I see it," Luna's voice echoed through Ahsoka's mind. "I trust my eyes before I trust stories."

"Then what do you do if the stories are true and you hadn't planned for it?"

"Just because I don't believe in something, it doesn't mean I don't have a contingency plan for it. For instance, I wouldn't believe that a woman named Dolores Umbridge who was dressed in strange pink clothing and wandering around some planet existed until I met her. And when I did, I'd already be looking for the nearest cliff to throw her off of."

"....That is a rather specific example."

"Yes, well now you know what to do in the unlikely chance you meet her."

"What in the galaxy did she—"

"She's a character in a book more hated than the actual antagonist. That's all you need to know."

"....All the same, I was taught your eyes could deceive you. To trust the Force before you trust them."

"Good rule of thumb for a fight or other dangerous situation, but not always. Sometimes it's better to not believe until you see it, so that when you do finally have to accept reality, you have no chance to falter and pause to fully process it and can only go with a contingency plan. You just do what needs to be done and think on the impossible later."

Ahsoka had needed her eyes to fully accept and believe the truth—the truth of what had happened to her old Master. To finally come to terms with it all.

And then Vader did something to lose favor with the Emperor and it was back to What if Ahsoka was wrong?

The last time she saw the Sith, she had stayed. Stayed to give Ezra and Kanan time to escape.

Stayed so she wouldn't be the one to turn her back on Anakin again. But it was too late for that. He was gone, and it was her useless emotions that had been looking for something that wasn't there.

But Ahsoka had survived. Ahsoka had survived only because Ezra had discovered some form of time-travel and had come back for her.

Vader would have killed her if he hadn't.

And yet she was back to this idea that maybe something—maybe Luke—had managed to change something. To be fair, the fact she had witnessed Vader working against the Imperials, working with his son was promising, but still....

There was a reason, after all, that Ahsoka had only now found her way to the heart of the Rebellion. Only now really tried to get in contact with Luke.

And now the secrets the Grey Jedi had to keep for her partner already had her faltering. She didn't want to lie to Padmé and Leia, it's just how things had to be. Ahsoka was used to necessary secrets, but it never made them easier. And it was new, keeping them from people who she already knew quite well, people who already knew the secret that she was usually worried about revealing, people she would trust with her life, when they were clearly so invested in tracking down Luna.

But Ahsoka's partner had thrown them off the trail once.

The Grey Jedi wouldn't force her to do it again.

It was going to be a long couple of weeks.