Anabeth: Spark Of Change

Chapter 16 - Deception

After Obi-Wan and Ana had returned to Coruscant things returned to normal again. Ana's arm had healed nicely and after Master Allie checked her over one final time she was cleared for training and full duty again. Windu had finally decided to teach her some basics of Vapad, but only after she had agreed to still use Djem So when the two of them weren't training together. Ana was now given a lot more free time than before, so she often met with Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Anakin for lunch or dinner and even got around to briefly calling Korkie once.

Right now, Ana was sitting on the floor of her room, meditating as she waited for her Master to get back from an urgend Council meeting she hadn't been allowed to come to. A good thirty minutes had gone by when her comlink began beep. "Velar" she answered it. "Ana, I want you to come up here" Windu simply instructed her. The fact that he didn't give her a reason as to why he suddenly wanted her to join the meeting alerted her, so she quickly got onto her feet and left the room. "On my way, Master" she spoke before deactivating the comlink again.

Anabeth almost ran to the Council Chambers as the feeling that something was terribly wrong got stronger and stronger with every step she took. Upon entering the room she first looked over to her Master who turned his gaze away from her the second he noticed her questioning look. As the girl proceeded to scan the rest of the room she quickly noticed that none of the other Masters were daring to meet her eyes for some reason. She then spotted Anakin who had one of the most angry expressions on his face Ana had ever seen. Something was definitely not right here.

Ana's eyes finally went to Ahsoka, who was standing next to Anakin. The togrutan looked at her for a long moment, her face filled with pain and grief. That was when it hit Ana. Obi-Wan was not here with them.
The girl's face fell and in that moment it felt like time had stopped. He couldn't be dead, he just couldn't be. Her emotions began to mix with each other all at once as she tried to regain control over herself to no avail.

"Anabeth" a soft, distant voice snapped her out of her trance. She didn't know who the voice belonged to, perhaps to Master Allie or Master Gallia, but she did know that nothing they would say would make this any better for her. "I don't want to hear it" Ana replied coldly as she turned around and left the room in a hurry. "Ana wait!" she could hear Ahsoka call after her. She could hear two pairs of footsteps following her, one belonged to Ahsoka and the other to Anakin. However, Ana didn't stop until she was standing right outside the doors of the Temple, staring out into Coruscant's nightsky.

"Ana" Ahsoka spoke softly as she put her hand onto the girl's shoulder to comfort her. A few tears slipped from Ana's eyes as she briefly turned around to look at Ahsoka. "What happened?" she finally asked her friend. "A sniper. I'm so sorry Ana" Ahsoka replied as she hugged the crying girl. "Come along girls" Anakin's distant voice could suddenly be heard as he walked past them towards a speeder. "Where is he going?" Ana asked slightly confused. "Probably to Senator Amidala's place. You're welcome to come to tag along" Ahsoka replied as she pulled Ana towards the speeder with her.

Padmé had not expected Anakin to come and visit her today, so she was more than just a little surprised when not only he, but also Ahsoka and another human girl stood in front of her door. She immediately realized that something was not right as she spotted the anger on Anakin's face and the pained expressions in the girl's face.

"Anakin, what's wrong?" the Senator asked worriedly as the group stepped inside her apartment. "He's gone" Anakin simply replied as he went past her into the living room. "Wait, Anakin, who is gone?" Padmé frantically asked as they followed him. "Obi-Wan is dead" Ahsoka quietly replied after she got the feeling that her Master wouldn't. "A sniper shot him off the the top of a building" she continued as Padmé's face fell. "Oh Anakin, I'm so sorry" she said as she approached him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. The Jedi barely seemed to take note of it though.