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

[resnipstance]

[ 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. ]

Comments

[ontrial]

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.

[resnipstance]

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.

[ontrial]

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.

[resnipstance]

... I had a vision.

[ontrial]

Of what?

[resnipstance]

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. ]

[ontrial]

[ 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?

[resnipstance]

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?

[ontrial]

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.

[resnipstance]

... All right.

Are you ready to break out of Coruscant's highest security prison... again?

[ontrial]

Is there anything I ought to know about the escape plan first? I'm assuming you're creating a distraction, if you don't have a unique plan already in motion.