The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter Sixty: Confronting The Past

AHSOKA TANO

The entrance into the Jedi Temple led onto a narrow hallway with a high ceiling, and made three or four sharp turns before finally bringing Ahsoka, Ezra and Kanan into a modest but spacious atrium.

Loose tendrils of the Force's energy converged on the center of the room like stellar fragments being drawn into orbit around a black hole, before being sent spiralling away again in a never-ending cycle. Ahsoka could feel the sheer power running through the room, and drank it in. In a galaxy so dedicated to snuffing out what little remained of the Jedi way, places this strong in the Force were a rare treat; they allowed Ahsoka to drop her mental shields and breathe easy for a few sweet minutes without fear for the consequences.

And, if she closed her eyes and focused solely on Ezra and Kanan's presences in the Force and not at the lack of telepathic background noise made up by the auras of other Force-users, she could almost believe she was back at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and that none of this had ever happened.

Suddenly, there came a quiet rumble from somewhere behind them, drawing Ahsoka back to the present. The three Force-users turned to look, and immediately caught sight of a door sliding shut behind them.

"How did you contact Master Yoda here?" Ahsoka asked.

"Well... he kind of contacted us," Kanan admitted.

Ezra's deep blue gaze met hers. "I thought I was dreaming when I first heard Master Yoda's voice."

Kanan nodded. "And I was meditating."

"Then perhaps that's a good place to start," Ahsoka told them patiently. After all, I still need so many answers... And the best way to get them is through meditation.

The three Force-users knelt near the center of the atrium, instinctively following the natural symmetry of the room and the way the Force flowed through it and sitting at equal distances away from one another.

Ahsoka began her meditation as she always did: dipping one foot in after the other as though wading into a lake. If she let herself get pulled in too quickly, it was possible she would see things that would leave a lasting impact on her before she was ready to deal with them. It was best to test the water before anything else.

"I see a doorway," Kanan said suddenly.

Ahsoka opened her eyes, and was prepared to stand up, but then she realized there was no door to be seen. "Where?" Ezra asked, voicing Ahsoka's inquiry before she could do so herself. "I don't see anything."

Ahsoka's eyes narrowed. "Neither do I."

"Last time we spoke to Master Yoda, we were separated," Kanan said to his apprentice, and rose to his feet. "Maybe this is my path alone."

"Be careful!" Ezra called after him.

"Don't worry – I wouldn't do anything you would do." Kanan hesitated for a moment at what looked to Ahsoka like a blank wall, and touched an outcropping in the rock. Then, he stepped forward as if through it, and vanished.

"Where'd he go? He just disappeared."

"As you know, these temples can be... tricky," Ahsoka reminded him. "But come; focus. Have faith that the Temple will show you what you need to see when the time is right."

Ahsoka wasn't sure exactly how long it had been since Kanan had left her and Ezra to go off on his own. It could have been a few minutes, or it could have been a few days, but the one thing she was sure of was that she was nearly ready to receive her own vision.