AN: Before we get started, just wanna credit my fellow star wars writer Fialleril for her ideas about Tatooine slave culture that she came up with. Namely, the trickster god, Ekkreth, and the secret slave language. Check out their works if you haven't already.

Chapter Fifty-Five: Tatooine

"We've got a problem," Diya said as soon as Ahsoka answered the girl's comm.

Ahsoka couldn't say she was surprised. Ten days out from Empire Day, except for a few expected hiccups along the way, the preparation for their mission in Hutt Space was suspiciously smooth. Vader had taught her long ago to believe in luck, but not even they were that fortuitous. It was like the old adage, something that Ahsoka should have learned was always true after fighting one war already. Anything that could go wrong, would go wrong, and when it looked like nothing could go wrong, something was going to go wrong anyway.

"What is it?"

"We lost our spy in Jabba's palace."

Ahsoka sighed. So much for getting some rest before she had to set out to Tatooine in a few days. Looks like her trip was happening a few days ahead of schedule.

"How?" she asked as she used her datapad to send a message to Rex to get their team up and ready to go in the next three hours.

"Jabba discovered him," Diya responded simply. "Fed him to the rancor, one of our smugglers told me."

"And how does this affect the mission?" Ahsoka asked.

"Jabba has minefield surrounding the perimeter of his palace. At the onset of any attack, he activates the field, and it obliterates the majority of any groups that rally together enough to revolt against him. Then he sends out all his mercenaries to take care of those who are left. Our spy was supposed to deactivate the minefield for us at just the right moment, giving us time to storm and take over the palace, and giving our other cells across Hutt Space the signal to rise up against Jabba's lieutenants and take over."

"So, without our spy, we don't have a revolt," Ahsoka surmised as she tucked her tank top into her cargo pants.

"We have one. It's just a lot harder and riskier. If we're not careful, we'll be fighting off the Empire before we can secure Jabba's territory. At best, we'll be doing both at the same time," Diya said.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time I've had to lead a fight with two objectives like this. Though you're right. It's going to be close. And tricky." Ahsoka pulled on her boots and put on her utility belt, lightsabers already clipped on. The rest of what she needed was already in the ship that had been prepared to take her to Tatooine in the next few days. "I'll be there in four standard rotations tops, more realistically three and a half if I can get Artoo to navigate a better hyperspace route."

"What's your plan?"

"To try to get someone into place in that slug's palace by Empire Day. I'll see you then," Ahsoka declared as she cut off the comm. Then she left her room, passing through the hall of the apartment suite she shared with the twins when she was on Alderaan and made her way to their shared room.

It was very early in Alderaan's morning cycle, an hour or so before dawn. But Ahsoka made a habit to never leave the planet without letting the twins know when she was going.

Neither liked to be awakened before they were good and ready, so they were a little groggy when she first woke them. However, it didn't take long for them to notice that it was still dark out and that she was awake and dressed to go. It took Luke just a bit longer to become alert than it took Leia. So, Ahsoka climbed into his bed, sat up against the headboard, and gestured for Leia to climb in next to them. Once they were settled, Leia was curled on her left side, idly playing with Ahsoka's lek, while Luke did the same on her other side. Just like they used to when they were babies and were still able to securely fit into her arms. Back when it was the only way they would fall asleep at night.

"I have to leave a little earlier than expected," Ahsoka said quietly.

"Oh yeah?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," Ahsoka said. "Something came up. But I just wanted to let you know that just because I'm leaving a little earlier doesn't mean anything changes. Be ready. On Empire Day. As soon as all the celebrations are over. Breha already has everything prepared, and she's sending you with Song and Madison to meet up with me on your birthday. It's important that you don't give her any trouble. If anything changes, Breha will let you know."

"Yes, Mama," Leia said with a groan.

"Luke. Leia. I mean it. This is important. It won't be safe here anymore after Empire Day," Ahsoka warned.

Neither child said anything in response for a while. Then they both sighed and said, "We know."

It wasn't the obligatory concession to Ahsoka because she was their mother, all the while they disagreed. It was a more wistful agreement. Like they actually agreed with her but didn't want to.

"What did you see?" Ahsoka asked.

"Nothing," Leia said with a shrug.

With an identical shrug, Luke added, "We leave on Empire Day. Got it."

Ahsoka had half the mind to get them up and take them with her. But an active warzone was no place for children. She was lucky she had the option to keep them away from it. In a few days, they'd meet up, and she'd take them to the new Rebellion base where she already had rooms set up next to hers.

"I love you both," she whispered, reaching up to caress the top of their heads. "Remember to trust the Force."

"Love you too, Mama," they both muttered, already falling back to sleep.

Ahsoka had only ever been to Tatooine twice. Once during the first days of her apprenticeship to Anakin to return Jabba's kidnapped son. The second time was to confront Obi-wan just two years or so after the rise of the Empire. How ironic, Ahsoka thought to herself, that her latest visit to the planet was to destroy Jabba's criminal empire and, at the same time, start a war with Palpatine's Empire. She wondered if the Hutt would remember her.

The two suns were high in the sky by the time Ahsoka's ship landed on the part of the settlement that had been designated as landing space. Diya was waiting for her at the bottom of the ramp, a group of about a dozen clones standing behind her. They were dressed in tan and brown, wrapping of the same color wrapped around their heads and visors over their eyes. It was a far cry from the pristine white the new stormtroopers or the clones of Vader's Fist wore. The two standing right behind her held their guns across their chest. The rest had them strapped over their shoulders in a more relaxed position, but still ready nonetheless.

"I appreciate the welcoming party," Ahsoka couldn't help but comment.

Diya sighed. "Sorry. It's not you we're worried about though. Things have been pretty tense lately. Jabba knows we're planning something. He's already got the Empire on high alert in cities like Mos Espa and Mos Eisley. Our saving grace is that this is a relatively new settlement created by former slaves and isn't on any official maps of Tatooine yet. But it won't be that way for long. We've already had to deal with a couple of mercenaries and bounty hunters that managed to find this place."

Ahsoka decided not to ask what Diya meant by dealing with the mercenaries and bounty hunters. It was likely she didn't just mean that she killed them. The girl had a ruthless streak that rivaled Vader's. It was no wonder they didn't get along.

"Let's discuss this somewhere more private," Ahsoka suggested.

"Yeah. But before we do that, you have to meet the council," Diya said, leading her from the landing space to the central part of the settlement.

"The council?"

"The village elders, I suppose you could call them. Except they're not really all that elderly in this settlement. Just the oldest that are present. In the slave quarters, they helped guide and give wisdom to the younger, particularly those leading the underground network of the Liberty Resistance. As an outsider about to lead an expedition, it would be rude for you not to greet them first and make your intentions known so they can judge your worthiness," Diya explained.

"Anything else I need to know about this council?"

"Just tell them that you're the Fulcrum and that Ekkreth sent you."

"Ekkreth?" Ahsoka asked.

"They're one of their gods. The trickster slave god. They have a very high cultural significance in their community."

"But why say Ekkreth sent me?"

"Because you're an outsider, and that's what tall, dark, and psycho told me to tell them when I first came here. Apparently, it's also a word in their secret language."

"Secret language?" Force, Ahsoka wished Diya had told her all this ahead of time.

"Yes. Roughly speaking. It directly translates in Basic to 'sky-walker'."

"Skywalker?" Ahsoka asked, stopping their stride.

"Yeah," Diya said. "What of it?"

"That's…That was my—" Ahsoka paused, the Force giving her a gentle nudge and making her think twice about calling someone her master, no matter the different connotation, around here. "That was my teacher's name."

Diya narrowed her eyes, and furrow lines appeared in her forehead before it dawned on her.

"Oh. Your Jedi teacher," Diya stated wryly, looking like she was trying not to roll her eyes. "Anakin Skywalker, right?"

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes.

"What do you have against Anakin Skywalker?"

"Nothing."

"That look wasn't nothing."

"No offense to you," Diya said with a shrug. "He just always came across as a bit of a self-centered asshole to me. But he taught you everything you know. So I'm sure he wasn't that bad. I just was never impressed with him like the rest of the galaxy who followed the war was."

Ahsoka resisted the urge to burst out into laughter. Most days, she dreaded what the galaxy would think when they found out their old hero had served as their tormentor. But Diya's reaction when she found out Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader were one and the same was going to be priceless. Ahsoka wouldn't miss it for the world, hard conversations that would definitely ensue aside.

"It's probably just a coincidence, right? I mean, that name can't be uncommon amongst humans."

"Anakin Skywalker was the only person I ever met with that name. And his home planet was Tatooine where he was a slave before the Jedi found him," Ahsoka relayed to Diya.

Diya made a clicking noise and said, "Huh? Any chance he knew your friend before the Empire offed him with the rest of the Jedi?"

"Yeah. They knew each other."

"Can't imagine a guy like him would have been okay with his charge running around and having kits with a guy who turned out to be a Sith," Diya said.

"By the time the twins came into the picture, I was a knight in my own right. But even then, no. Anakin wouldn't have been okay with it," Ahsoka said with a smile as they got to a large hut made from stone that resisted sand and kept it from getting inside.

"Go ahead. They're waiting for you," Diya said, pushing the heavy brown cloth used for a door aside and gesturing for Ahsoka to go inside. But she suddenly changed her mind, covering the entry again. "Ahsoka, they don't take kindly to outsiders. Outsiders have been exploiting them and their plight for years. I don't know what you can say, but you're going to have to prove yourself no matter who the hell they think sent you."

Ahsoka nodded, and seeming satisfied, Diya moved the cloth aside. Ahsoka went inside, and no one else followed.

The five members stood when Ahsoka entered the room. One was a dark-skinned human female with curly dark hair, another a bald, pale man with a medium length beard, two were of a scaly species that Ahsoka had never run into and couldn't tell any specifics about their genders, and another was a coal-black colored twi'lek woman. Diya was right when she said they weren't really elderly. The oldest of them, the pale bald man, couldn't have been more than ten, maybe fifteen years older than Ahsoka.

Not sure what she was supposed to do, Ahsoka nodded her head, pulling back the cloak that she'd used to shield herself from the Tatooine heat.

"Hello, Council."

"Fulcrum?" the human woman asked.

"Yes. But you can call me Ahsoka."

They nodded and sat back down on their short wooden stools, which Ahsoka took as a cue to sit as well. Ahsoka remembered very little from her early childhood on Shili. But what she did remember were the village elders, a wise group that didn't run the affairs of the village but to whom their people relied on for guidance. She remembered someone carrying her to them—her mother, she thought—and getting their blessing for her to leave and become a Jedi. This council reminded her of that.

They didn't return the pleasantry of giving her their names, and Ahsoka didn't ask as they got straight to business.

"Diya has told us much about you, including the tales of your exploits in the broader galaxy and against the Empire," the human man said. "She says you used to be a Jedi."

"A long time ago, one of our own children freed himself from this place and went to become a Jedi as you were," one of the scaly beings added. Ahsoka hadn't expected their voice to be so gentle, given their rough exterior.

"Anakin Skywalker," Ahsoka stated.

"You knew of him?" the human man asked.

Ahsoka didn't miss how his eyes darted to the twi'lek before he spoke, as though asking permission to ask. She must be the eldest of their council, the one deemed to have the most wisdom because she was longer-lived or experienced in some way. That was if their council worked the same way the council in the village of her homeworld had worked.

If this council worked the same way as the council of her home, it wouldn't do to lie to or mislead them, no matter the necessity. That would make her no better than their former masters in their eyes because only someone that was against them would lie to and betray them. She would have to be straightforward with them. As straightforward as she could be. Kind of like… well, like dealing with Vader. Usually, honesty was the best policy with him. If they asked, she would give them as much of the truth as she could.

Finally, Ahsoka replied, "Yes."

"What became of him? We got word that the Jedi were killed years ago. But if you're here…" the human woman trailed off.

"He lives," Ahsoka admitted, carefully noting how they all sat up a little straighter. "He's the one who sent me here."

"Why would a descendant of Ekkreth send you here instead of coming himself?" the twi'lek woman asked.

"Tatooine isn't the only place in the galaxy that has slavery," Ahsoka said without missing a beat, not bothered by the hostility. She'd be more worried if they weren't. "The whole galaxy is enslaved right now under the Emperor. He's in deep on an infiltration critical to removing him. Success here will mean nothing if the Emperor isn't defeated. But he didn't want to leave you waiting. So he sent me. No one knows of his survival. It's vital that it stays that way."

Ahsoka sensed the next question before it was asked. It made her regret being so vague earlier rather than telling them that Vader had been her Jedi master. It would have allayed their curiosity before they thought to ask themselves.

"Who is he to you?"

This was the second time someone had asked her that in only as many months. Yet, the Force told her that same answer wouldn't suffice. Partner certainly wouldn't be wrong in any sense of the word anymore. But on Tatooine, it might not have the particular connotation Ahsoka needed to alleviate the fears of this council that an outsider was getting involved in affairs that weren't hers. Affairs that she probably couldn't fully comprehend and that they weren't obligated to explain to her. She needed to not only explain her connection to Vader but also show that the link connected her to them in a more direct way. That she had a personal stake in their affairs. There was only one identity, loathe as she was to reveal it, that would accomplish that goal.

After a few more contemplative moments, she said, "I'm the mother of his children."

AN: I don't have a lot to say about this chapter. It's a little light. Call it a palate cleanser considering the rollercoaster Vader and Ahsoka put us through for the last four chapters. That said, I'm sure you all have some insight that went right over my head.

Hope you enjoyed. Review, please. I appreciate your insights!