How to Take an Empire

Chapter Eighty-Two: Sure

On a few occasions, when they lived on Alderaan during the winter, Breha packed everyone up and took them to her favorite retreat. A plateau in the mountains with a beautiful cabin villa, sloping hills of snow, and a frozen-over lake. While there, she forgot as many of her queenly duties as she responsibly could and spent days doing activities that Ahsoka had only ever seen on the holonet.

Skiing was one of Breha's favorites. And Breha had taken great amusement watching Ahsoka try to get the hang of the sport. Ahsoka's attempts always ended in spectacular disaster, and Breha had never stopped teasing her about losing all that Jedi grace when she got on a pair of skis. Despite Ahsoka's embarrassment at her uncharacteristic lack of coordination on the devices and her complaining about it, every time they'd gone, she'd dragged herself up the slope to accompany her friend. Besides, Ahsoka had taken to ice skating on the frozen lake with a lot more grace. Breha, on the other hand, had never been able to get the hang of the activity. So the teasing always evened out in the end.

The thing Ahsoka enjoyed the most, though, was when they'd gather around the fireplace with hot chocolate. The children always fell asleep in front of the warm fire quickly, exhausted from the day's activities. Breha, never able to totally stop thinking about Alderaan and her people for long, would talk about initiatives she had planned to serve her people. When he was present, Bail would give his opinions, and every now and then, Ahsoka would chime in. Or they'd play some adults-only holo card or board game.

It always made Ahsoka feel like she was sixteen again, during the Clone War. While some of her worst memories were during that time, so too were some of her best. She vividly remembered nights sitting around a fire with Vader and Obi-wan and the 501st and the 212th while in between campaigns or during the long periods of waiting. Laughs, sarcastic remarks, teasing, crude jokes, curled up against Vader when it got too cold for her to stand. She'd felt so safe during those times despite all the danger around them.

So Ahsoka wasn't surprised that when her world lightened, she was sitting in her favorite corner of the couch in front of the fire at the cabin villa with a wool blanket over her. She was, however, surprised to see Breha in the other corner. Somehow she looked as beautiful and regal as she always did. Even with her dark hair tumbling down her back and falling into her face even despite pushing it behind her ear. Even in just a thin nightgown with a robe pulled over it.

"Breha."

"Hello, Ahsoka," Breha said. Her smile was big and met her eyes. "It's been a while."

Ahsoka was confused at first, not exactly sure what that meant. It depended on what she had been doing. On instinct, she reached out into the Force only to find it everywhere and nowhere. However, she did get her answer. The memory of fighting Sidious with Vader at her side. The ever-increasing abdomen pain that she just ignored. Vader allowing himself to be consumed by untold depths of the dark side, asking her to help him come back but not needing it in the end. Because somehow, he was a true master of the dark side. And then she'd felt another sharp pain, the call of her name, and nothing.

Oh.

"I'm dead."

Breha rolled her eyes. "You always were so dramatic. But no. You're not dead."

"But you're dead."

Breha sighed. "The word for those who have moved on from the physical plane is such a harsh word in Basic. But yes. That's true."

Ahsoka frowned but decided to just go with this for now. She'd seen, experienced, and heard of a lot of weird things over the course of her life. This didn't even make the top five weird. All those things had something to do with one Anakin Skywalker. But just because she was going with it didn't mean she didn't have questions—many of them.