Angels [a.s I]

82: The Wong Jedi and The Backstabber

Anakin

It was daybreak when we reached the surface and arrived at the Temple. Rex took Ahsoka to a cell, because those are the procedures, but he wasn't happy about it. None of us was.

  Lana, Cal and I stood right outside the plasma gates until she woke up. We asked her what had happened to hear her story and she told us everything she knew. The second she was done, the Temple Guards showed up and said they had to take Snips and I to the Chamber of Judgement's waiting zone, for a hearing had started.

"Why are we going there?" Asked Ahsoka.

"I- I don't know." I said and looked at Lana. Every time I feel like I need guidance, I look out for those eyes. They usually have an answer, but, they haven't had one this whole time. I realised Ahsoka was looking for an answer in her eyes as well. None of us found one, Lana just shrugged, her mind blank.

"Listen, breathe and calm down. Everything will be fine. We'll be there standing beside you both, just...do as they say." Snips sighed and we were escorted to a small room with little place to sit and dim lights to wait.

I felt uneasy, I didn't understand, I felt powerless. All I've ever cared about has been protecting my loved ones. I needed to protect Ahsoka, I've been doing it for a over a year now and I am failing to do so right now. I paced around the room trying to figure out why were we summoned here, what would the members of the Council say. I was trying to be a step ahead and brace myself and find a way to brace her for what could happen next, but my mind was empty, my thoughts numb and useless. I couldn't come up with anything.

"You're not helping." Said my Padawan as she simply looked at me, her words snapping me out of my mind. I groaned.

"I'm sorry, Snips." I said low as I sat beside her. I looked at the guards, there are six of them and it made me anxious, more anxious, I mean. I ran a hand through my hair, breathing in and out. "I...I just...I just don't know what to do."I spoke my truth with her. "No one did, no one does. We've been trying to place the pieces of this puzzle together but when we seem to have done it...they are pushed away and don't click." I sighed. "I really don't know what to do." It's not the first time I've struggled to figure things out but it's certainly the first one in which I simply cannot come up with an answer. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I appreciate what you've tried to do, all of you. And...if it makes you feel any better...I don't know what to do either." I smiled weakly at her and she smiled back, just as weak. A bell chimed above us and that was enough signal for us to know the Council was ready and waiting for us. My heartbeat increased.

  I was surprised at how calmed Ahsoka seems to be right now, she has always been better at hiding her feelings than me. She's so much better at all of this than me, it's so unfair what she's been going through. It's outrageous.

We stood up and walked up to the platform that rests in the middle of the room, escorted by two Guards. When we were standing still, the platform made its way up. The ring where I was standing stopped moving upwards while Ahsoka's continued the ascent. I moved backwards and found Allana standing there as she had promised.

"Where's Cal?" I asked in a whisper as the platform stopped moving.

"They didn't let him in. It took a while for them to let me in, Obi-Wan helped with that." I nodded at her response and we remained silent while we stood by the wall. I felt extremely nervous and I'm not the one that's being judged by them all.

  As I breathed in quickly, I felt Naberrie's discrete touch on my hand, her finger brushed against my hand and tapped it two times. I love you. She tapped it another three times quickly before placing her hands behind her back. Calm down. Our secret language, one we can't speak with anyone else, our own morse code for when we stood opposite from each other on meetings, across tables, etcetera, and only looked like a nervous or annoyed tic. I nodded and breathed in normally as the session began.