Shaak Ti and Ahsoka Tano

Chapter 4

Shaak Ti lay on her bed with tears streaming from her eyes. As she continued to look at the holo image of Ahsoka, her pain grew even more. Although she tried as much as she could, she couldn't help it, but she hated herself. Never again would she see Ahsoka's beautiful face, and the painful look on Ahsoka's face as she was forced to face that trial will haunt Shaak for the rest of her life; she knew it and it was all her fault. She could've prevented it; she could. She only had to have told Master Windu what an idiot he was being. She only had to have told everyone the truth and that she knew for definite, in her heart, that Ahsoka was innocent and this whole mess could've been prevented, and she would still be in the Order. Shaak might have been expelled, of course, but she would have gladly accepted that. 

The worst thing about this whole mess, was that Anakin Skywalker was the only one who did anything to help Ahsoka, and Shaak was despondent that he had been heartbroken by this as well. She knew how much he cared about his former Padawan, and she hoped that he would recover. He was the only reason Ahsoka was still alive, and she was so greatful for that, that she would never forget it. Then she started to think about Barriss Offee, and she let out an angry snarl. Shaak was one of the most peaceful and calmest of the Jedi Masers, but now she was so angry at the Mirialan. How could Barriss have betrayed her closest friend like that? Her actions were definitely wrong, she would never have bombed the Jedi Temple and definitely now blame Ahsoka for that. Shaak, for once, believed that Barriss needed to pay for almost costing Ahsoka her life. 

Her head started to pound as she sat up. She knew that her thoughts were not those of a Jedi Master, and the last thing she wanted was to invite the same darkness that had corrupted Barriss. She switched her mind to happy thoughts (at least as much as that was possible), as she heard someone knock on the door. She reached out with the Force, and knew that it was Master Yoda. Of course he would follow her after her reaction in the council chamber. There was no way she could keep her secret now. She turned off the holo image and did her best to stop her tears. She breathed deep a few times to calm herself, and then opened the door. 

"Master Yoda; c...come in." She gave a quick bow. 
"In pain you are,  Shaak; much pain," Master Yoda observed as he walked through the door. "Hate to see you like this, I do. Tell me what is wrong, you must." 
Shaak tried to keep her emotions under control and she tried to keep her Force signature as neutral as possible. "I'm okay, Master Yoda. Nothing's wrong, I guess the news just shocked me."
Master Yoda could sense her lie. "Lying to me, you are. Protecting your emotions, you are. A story you have to tell me, yes?"

Shaak closed her eyes, sighed, and nodded slowly. "Yes,I have a story. I'm sorry, Master; I really am, but I need to beexpelled." Master Yoda's eyes sprang wide. He would never have expected to hear her say that sheneeded to be expelled. "Your story, tell me it, you will." She sighed and started to tell. "As youknow, I trained both of my Padawans back home on Shili. Well... Twenty years ago, I had just been knighted and after a couple of months, I picked my first Padawan. Straight after I picked him, I took him to Shili and I started his training. As you know, he progressed very quickly and I felt that he was almost ready for the trials just three years later. One day, about ten months before we returned to the temple we were running low on essential supplies. Since I had been training him on meditation, I decided to leave him meditate all day and I journeyed to Corvala, the capital city, to obtain some supplies." "Hmmm," Master Yoda closed his eyes and shook his head. "Guessing something happened, I am." Shaak nodded in agreement."Yes, I made the mistake of walking. Speeders are not tolerated among some tribes of my people." Thinking about this event was very painful for Shaak even before Ahsoka had left the Order; now it was almost intolerable. "I was about half way through my journey when I was jumped by a large Akul. One swipe of its front leg completely dazed me; I couldn't even ignite my lightsaber. When it swiped me again, I knew I was donefor and I prepared myself to become one with the Force. As I lay there, bleeding, my vision started to close in just as the Akul was about to finish me. To my surprise, the last thing that I remember seeing was a spear hitting the Akul in its right eye, a scream and then, everything went black."  "Hurt badly, were you?" Master Yoda asked. "Yes I was," Shaak agreed. "But I didn't know it at the time as apparently, I was unconscious for three days. When I came to again, I was in one of my people's traditional huts. I could tell that I had had some proper and modern medical care, as there were still a couple of bandages around my left lekku. Determined to recover faster, I entered into a meditative trance and I called on the Force and tried my best to heal. About an hour after I awoke, a male voice broke me out of my trance. I opened my eyes to see a very tall and... handsome Togrutan male. I'm.....I'm afraid I was rather taken by him immediately." "Saved your life, he did, yes?"