resnipstance | for my favourite hot mess // post-TWJ, but slightly AU

for my favourite hot mess // post-TWJ, but slightly AU

[ It takes a while for her to set up a meeting with Barriss. (It takes a while for her to even be certain she really wants to.) It's insanely difficult. She doesn't want to alert the rest of the Order to it-- if Anakin finds out, she's certain he'll blow a gasket. So she can't use her contacts in that direction.

But manage it she does, and two weeks after the trial sees her allowed into a special visitors room to wait for Barriss Offee. The woman who framed her for murder, sedition and terrorism, and Ahsoka's former best friend.

Ahsoka tries to quell her unease and uncertainty in the Force as she waits in the small room for the guards to bring Barriss. She figures they've chosen this room instead of the regular visitors room because they're not taking any precautions with a Force-wielding prisoner. There are too many variables in the regular room, too many people. It's ridiculous, she thinks. Barriss should be being held prisoner in the Temple, where there are people who know how to deal with her. Not here, in a military facility. Look what happened when they imprisoned Ahsoka-- it was easy enough for her to escape with only the slightest bit of help. Don't they learn from their mistakes? Or maybe they have, and that's why they're not taking Ahsoka directly to Barriss's individual cell. Maybe they suspect she'll try to break her out, and the less she sees of the prison the better. Fat chance of that, Ahsoka thinks.

But it is curious that Barriss hasn't already tried herself. A voice in Ahsoka's head helpfully comments that Barriss could probably do it, if she put her mind to it. After all, Barriss is still one of the most intelligent people she knows. That's what makes her so dangerous.

Ahsoka shakes her head as if to clear it of those thoughts. It's no good dwelling on any of that. She has business here to attend to, and she can't let emotion cloud her judgement. She takes a seat at the table provided, closes her eyes, and focuses on her breathing. Barriss will be here when the guards bring her, and not a moment sooner. In the meantime-- Peace. Knowledge. Serenity. Harmony. The Force. ]

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[ this time, the response is relatively quick - just enough time for barriss to think her way through the message before she writes back. ]

Letta was the only other person with direct involvement. I did have some other contacts, but they were like-minded individuals, not co-conspirators. They're no one to blame.

[ She thinks about asking "Did Letta ever mention anyone else?" or "What about people without direct involvement?" but eventually throws those questions out. If Letta had been getting funding or help from anyone else, or if someone had been manipulating things behind the scenes financially, it would've come up in the second, more thorough investigation that was done after Ahsoka's trial. Those things leave paper trails.

Ahsoka frowns at her datapad for a moment, thinking. ]

Okay. I'm not after them. But if you think any of them would be capable of planning another attack like this, or struck you as suspicious in any way, I hope you'd tell me so I could at least have a chat with them. A real chat, not a fight. I don't want to turn anyone in to the police.

There's... something else. I think you should know.

There were rumours going around the Temple before I left. That you'd... turned.

[ She doesn't know if she believes that. It's possible, she supposes. When they were fighting, Ahsoka couldn't tell the difference between Ventress and Barriss. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything. More importantly, she wants to see how Barriss feels about it, without giving any of her own thoughts away. ]

[ turned. force, it's a good thing that's at the end of the message or barriss would have had difficulty reading the rest of it. because she doesn't feel any less aligned with the light side of the force than she ever did, as much as she's isolating herself right now. she's just opposed to the way the jedi are doing things.

and maybe that's really all it takes to be a sith. ]

Rumours will spread about many things. Whatever other Jedi may think of me, that is their business. I'm hardly their concern now.

Of the other contacts I made when I met Letta, none of them seem overly revolutionary. Not any more dangerous than the average irritable citizen in lower Coruscant, at least. They're likely to formally protest, but none of them struck me as particularly bold.

Has nobody else been to visit you in prison? I mean other than myself and Master Unduli.

[ She knows Luminara has visited her. Where else would Ahsoka have started on her quest? ]

None of your old contacts? Other Jedi? What about journalists? Your public defender? They have to assign you one, right?

I have been assigned one, yes. He was here once, last week, for approximately an hour. I made a very public confession to treason; there's not a lot of defending to be done.

Otherwise, no. Just you and Master Unduli.

[ there are more hoops to jump through to visit her than the average prisoner after all, given her training as a jedi. and barriss just... hasn't made enough of an impact on anyone else who might be curious to talk to her. it's too much work. ]

I thought so. But I had to check.

[ Eliminate all the most likely and easiest leads first. ]

I have a another question.

[ Understatement of the century. ]

If someone powerful came to your cell and offered to reverse your sentence, in exchange for publicly standing against the Jedi, maybe even fighting against them-- would you take them up on it?

I wouldn't agree blindly, that much is certain. I would need to know what said individual hoped to achieve by openly condemning the Jedi. There would need to be a plan, a concrete one. Something better than I could ever come up with.

And how poorly would it look on me if I manipulated my way out of a military sentence only to wind up in some civilian one? I'm not exactly a hero to Republic anymore, am I? It may prove wiser to stay where I know exactly what the guards think of me.

[ it's blunt, far more so than any messages ahsoka would ever have gotten from barriss before this. historically, she's chosen her words carefully to come off... well, gentle. unfortunately, that doesn't suit her anymore and she knows that. ]

Well. In this hypothetical scenario, the person in question is probably a Sith. Or... working for one.

And I can't be certain, but their goal is probably the elimination of the Jedi.

Does that change your answer any?

Perhaps. But I don't want the Jedi destroyed, Ahsoka. I want them dismantled and held responsible for their actions.

You don't think it possible for them to change and reform into something better?

On an individual basis, of course. As an institution, I think it's been too poisoned for too long.

[ Ahsoka exhales and sighs deeply when she reads that response, putting her datapad aside for a moment and just leaning on the desk, her head in one hand. It's... not the response she was hoping for, but perhaps it's the response she should have expected. At least it's not the worst case scenario.

It's a few minutes before the next reply comes through. Ahsoka needs a moment to compose herself and think over her options. Finally, she decides-- the best approach is a straightforward approach. She types out a response and sends it through. ]

Would you... like to help take down a Sith Lord anyway?

[ barriss's response, on the other hand, is quick. it's an easier answer than some things ahsoka has asked. ]

The Sith are still worse than the Jedi where it counts, at least. What do you need from me?

I need you to let me help break you out of prison.

...

And then I need you to act as bait.

Alright.

[ it's not like she has anything better to do. ]

... That was fast.

You don't have any... questions?

Or. Reservations???

You're asking for my help, after everything I did. I can't very well have reservations about that. Further, I know how you plan things, Ahsoka. You'll tell me what I need to know when I need to know it.

I guess, but...

At the same time, this could put you in serious danger, Barriss.

If it were me, I'd want to know why.

I trust you.

Of course I want to know why, I want to know everything. Who this Sith is, how you learned about them, what sort of plan you're setting up, all of that. But outside of helping you, it doesn't really matter.

... I had a vision.

Of what?

Something terrible.

It was right after my trial. We were back in the Council Chamber-- they were asking me to come back. Anakin was right there, holding my old padawan braid out to me. I wanted to take it, but... after everything that happened, I wasn't sure anymore. I opened my mouth to say that, but then...

[ She trails off for a second, and it's a minute or so before the next reply. Like she's having trouble parsing it. ]

I've never had a vision so clear and so confusing at the same time. It was like the Force was telling me clearly what was going to happen. I would leave, and survive. I would even become stronger as a person because of it. But then I also felt everyone I knew suddenly disappear, all at once. Not metaphorically. Literally. It was like looking up at the night sky and seeing all the stars blink out of existence. The Force cried out in pain, and then there was nothing. Every Jedi in the galaxy... was just gone.

[ And yet, she still didn't have her padawan braid on when Barriss spoke to her. ]

Edited 2020-01-17 04:18 (UTC)

[ it's another of those messages that barriss reads thoroughly before she gets back to, memorizing the details so she never has to ask for them again. that could be dangerous, after all. or prod at a wound ahsoka doesn't deserve to have to begin with. ]

You've chosen to work against this from outside the Order, then. That's understandable. You think there's a Sith that's ultimately going to be responsible for this?

Mm. Well. I could've gone back. I wanted to. But I've been meditating on it a lot, and I think... whatever's going to happen, it happens regardless of whether I stay or not. I think if I stay, the only thing that changes is that I die along with everyone else.

[ "You may never see your future if you remain his student!"

She'd forgotten all about that vision, after Mortis. Forgotten all about the planet. They never spoke about it, and it all went away from her mind. Like a bad dream. But in the last two weeks she's been meditating a lot, and it came back to her. ]

For a long time I wasn't sure what to do. I told the Council I needed time to think about my answer. When I spoke to Master Yoda about the vision, he said it was a manifestation of my fear of leaving. Anakin was even worse. [ He had point-blank refused to accept the possibility of a future where all the Jedi die. ] But I know what I saw. I know what I felt. It wasn't a metaphor. It was a warning.

I realised I'd never be able to find the answer if I rejoined the Order right now. They'd just send me off to the front again.

But... Master Kenobi believed me. He said... the Order has felt that someone was manipulating things behind the scenes for some time. That they were even warned about it, at the beginning of the war. But they could never find anything.

... Do you think it's stupid of me, to think that we could succeed where the Council has failed?

No. I don't think it's stupid at all. Your intuition is strong, Ahsoka, and if you feel as though you've taken time to patiently examine this vision of yours, I'm inclined to believe it was accurately prophetic.

[ that's the thing with ahsoka, isn't it? just like skywalker. strong with the force but stronger with impulsive, impatient personality. if ahsoka's stopped to think, barriss trusts her. ]

If anyone stands a chance of discovering the truth, whether or not you can ultimately make a difference, I do believe it's you.

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resnipstance - 2020-01-23 01:16 (UTC) - Expand

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