Hi Everyone. As promised, here is the first chapter of the tie in story of The Order Redeems. This story is told from the point of view of Master Ticarti Mai as she tells the story to some Jedi younglings and covers Ahsoka's treatment. It will go into some detail about what is going on in Ahsoka's head before, during and after her decision to re-join the order, well what Ticarti can ascertain anyway. This story will also cover the opinions of some other characters about the affair as they talk to Ticarti. In addition, this story may cover the treatment of Katooni; if you have read chapter 20 of the Order Redeems, then you will know what I'm speaking of by that. In terms of time, this story, once Ticarti starts telling it, starts around about chapter 9 of The Order Redeems. Anyway, here's the first chapter, just to see how things go. Just a note, Ticarti is telling the story about a year after the event.

A Counsellor's Story: Chapter 1 – Hello Class

There's no doubt about it, younglings are curious creatures; very curious. Indeed, there are no younglings in the galaxy that are more curious then Jedi younglings; their very training is designed to make them curious about the various things in the galaxy; after all, knowledge is the second pillar of being a Jedi. It doesn't matter whether it's the latest star fighter design or the latest gossip about which Jedi Master is going out with who, Jedi younglings are all over it and with some gusto.

Therefore, once this clan's leader, Master Shaak TI, told them that since a couple of them showed promise in healing, one of the Order's leading Jedi Healers, Master Ticarti Mai, was coming to give them a talk about being a Jedi Healer, the whole clan, especially the male younglings, suddenly became incredibly interested. This was almost certainly because the younglings had thoughts of being told about lightsaber wounds and severed limbs and such. However, as it turned out, as she stood before the youngling clan, Master Mai had a very different story of treatment in mind for them; one that in fact turned out to be far more important to the order and the Republic as a whole.

"Good afternoon Thranta Clan," Master Mai stated in a friendly manor. She could sense a great detail of interest and fascination in the younglings before her. As usual, she was dressed in a yellow top and a light red skirt. Since she was talking to kids, older kids but still kids, she decided to not to wear her light grey Jedi robe over the top and as was usual for her, she was not carrying her lightsaber and as usual, she had left it in her quarters.

"Good afternoon Master Mai," the younglings replied.

Smiling at their interest, Ticarti said, "As you know, I'm a Jedi healer, but I am also a fully trained counsellor; the only one in the order at the moment and I'm here to give you some idea about what I do and how I help people. To do that, I'm going to tell you a story about a true case I was assigned; one of the most important cases in the recent history of the Jedi Order in fact; that of the now Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano." There were murmurs all around the younglings after hearing this before Ticarti spoke again, "Have any of you met Ahsoka?"

A little red skinned Lethan Twi'lek female rose her hand and answered, "Yes, I have; Master Tano and her Padawan, Eleesha, escorted my mechanics class on a field trip to the Kuat shipyards. I really liked her; she's lovely and her ship, I think it's called 'The New Horizon', is brilliant."

A couple of younglings nodded their agreement and one human male youngling added, "Yes I've met her as well," he then blushed, "I found her very nice."

Ticarti had to laugh slightly as she sensed the young boy's meaning, 'Don't say that to Senator Lux Bonteri,' she thought to herself. She then stated, "I'm glad some of you have met her as she is now one of the Order's most loved Knights, however a year ago, she was in pieces after being falsely accused of murder and raped and in response, she had left the Order." All the younglings sat up straight and gave Ticarti their full attention after that, Ticarti then continued, "Her former master Anakin Skywalker, now a member of the high council, and his padawan, Katooni, along with Obi-Wan Kenobi found her starving on Shili and brought her back to the temple for treatment. Her physical treatment went as normal, however I was brought in when her mental health was found to be damaged."

"Did you give her counselling Master?" one of the younglings asked.

"Yes I did, and that's the story I'm going to tell you. Now, when would be best to begin?" Ticarti mused her own question for a few seconds before she raised a finger and added "Ah yes…I'm going to take us back to the most important day in recent galactic history, the day the Darth Sidious, or Chancellor Palpatine as he was known, was defeated."

"Wasn't that also the day that the code was altered to allow love Master Mai?" another youngling asked.

"Yes it was child, as I said, a very important day. Now how to start? Ah yes…"

-0-0-0-0-0-

One year previously – Master Ticarti Mai's Point of view

As the Jedi Order's only healer that is trained as a counsellor, I'm often called to see civilian patients; most of whom had suffered one form of mental breakdown or another. Indeed, that was the case on that occasion and I had just got back to the temple from seeing said patient in Galactic City Hospital. As I entered the temple, I could sense that something big had happened although I couldn't at that point determine what it was.

Whatever was going on, I could sense it was important, but since I could also sense that there was no danger, I just continued on my way to my quarters. Once inside, I noticed that there was a holoNews broadcast that had been saved in the memory of the holo player. To my amazement, I noticed from the time stamp that the recording was from four hours before; my civilian patient really had kept me late this time.

Turning the recording to play, I stood there in absolute shock as I watched Chancellor Palpatine being taken down. I must say, that I never liked that guy; he always seemed false to me, but I never guessed that he was Darth Sidious. A Sith Lord was Chancellor of the Republic? Even though I'm a Jedi, I still found that unsettling and scary. As the payback continued, I watched Master Windu's address to the stunned and frightened senate.

"Members of the senate, we know that Palpatine has been making it look like we intend to overthrow the senate. I can assure you, that is not the case. As proof of this, we now call on this senate to elect a new chancellor who values peace. Since this does not concern the Jedi Order, we bid you all good night and may the Force be with you."

As the recording shut down, I realised the council had just saved the Republic and the whole Jedi Order. A part of me was slightly sorry that I had not been in the temple to assist, but sometimes my duties as a healer and counsellor sometimes interfere with my duties as a Jedi even though I try to undertake missions in the galaxy when I can.

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door; I could instantly sense that it was former Padawan, Jak Nabrar. Like me he was human, but from Corellian decent so, like all Corellians, he was very reckless and impulsive in his youth. I remember having to calm him down on many occasions, which wasn't that easy since I was just a twenty three year old girl myself at the time. He had passed his trials just three months before and I was elevated to Master at the same time.

As I opened the door, I didn't need the Force to tell he had something big he wanted to tell me, and as I turned out I was right, but, I didn't expect what he told me. "Hello Master," he began, "Have you heard? It's all over the temple. The council have altered the code…Jedi…..er…we are now allowed relationships and to marry."

For the second time that night I stood there in shock; at last the council had scrapped that inhuman rule. I had been hoping for years that, one day, the code would be altered this way. As a counsellor, I can't tell you the number of Jedi Padawans and Knights that have come to me after having their hearts torn in two because of that archaic code after finding someone they have connected with.

I had to think though that something big must have happened to make the council make this decision; they were practically married to the code themselves. I would go as far as to say they were breaking the code themselves by how attached they were to it, but that's not really for me to say. Anyway, I just had to press Jak; he seemed to know all about it, "That's brilliant news; at last, they've made a good decision, but Jak, do you have any idea what caused them to make it?"

He mused for a second before replying, "Not really, but there is a rumour going around that it was something to do with Anakin Skywalker being married to senator Amidala. Also something about his former Padawan was mentioned, but no details were said."

Ah yes, the chosen one; I had met Anakin Skywalker when he was still Obi-Wan's Padawan but I doubt he would remember. I was just an ordinary healer then and hadn't yet done my counsellor training. In addition, I had only been knighted a few years myself at that point. I treated him when he got injured on one his first missions he was allowed on. I'm not surprised to find him married; at the time he struck me as a kid that the code wouldn't sit right with.

His former Padawan though? Oh yes, that poor Togruta girl who was falsely accused of masterminding the bombing of the temple a month before. I hadn't actually met her at that point, but of course I had heard of her. After that, I'm not surprised that the girl left the Order. I must admit, I was stunned when I found out who the true perpetrator was. If I hadn't have seen the confession on the holoNet, I would never have believed it. I actually trained Barriss Offee on some aspects of Force Healing at one point; I can't believe she turned to the Dark Side like that.

By this point, I realised that I had zoned out slightly and responded with, "Well Jak, I guess we'll find out the full details at some point." I then remembered something from my memory; something that Jak didn't know that I'd noticed, "So Jak, now that it's allowed, what are you going to do about that girl in the canteen?"

His wide eyes stared at me, "What do you mean Master?"

I rolled my eyes, "Oh come on my former Padawan. I've watched you stare at that girl with the long blonde hair in the canteen for the last two years. I can sense your attraction to her and hers to you in fact." I always did enjoy teasing Jak. I have always told him that I never believed in the attachment rule.

The blush on his face was hysterical when he replied, "You noticed that? Er…..well…..I'm not going to do anything I guess. I doubt she likes me."

He was hopeless; truly hopeless, "Listen to me Jak; I know you're a Knight now, but you will obey this order. You are to go to the canteen when she is next on duty and you're going to ask her to dinner. Understand?"

He looked at me with utter shock, but replied, "Yes Master."

"Good," I replied, "Thanks for telling me this and I hope it goes well for you with that girl."

"Thanks Master," he replied as he walked off down the corridor.

As I shut the door, I went over everything in my head. Things had really changed that day with Darth Sidious going down and attachments being allowed at last. It was truly one of the most important days in the history of the Jedi Order and I found out that for me, it still wasn't finished when I heard another knock on the door. This time I could sense it was Master Shaak Ti.

I opened the door again, "Ah good evening Master Ti." Shaak Ti and I were quite good friends and had been since I was called to counsel a young Togruta boy that Shaak found that had been kidnapped by pirates.

"That's formal for you Ticarti," she replied.

"Just proving to a council member that I can do it when I want Shaak," was my less than formal reply. I've never liked formality, especially with patients, which is why I always insist they call me Ticarti rather than Master Mai.

She shook her head and held her hands up in surrender, "You never change, do you Ticarti? As you may have guessed, this isn't just a social call."

"No, I guessed that. Jak has already told me about the attachment rule being lifted."

"Yes it has, which I for one am happy about," Shaak said to me. She then smirked, "but it required the rest of us on the council to silence Mace about it. He's not happy he lost I can tell you, but tough." At this point, I could sense Shaak's emotions change as she gained a sad look on her face, "Poor Ahsoka's condition is mostly his fault. That is why I'm here," she handed me a datapad, "I know it's unusual, but the council are assigning you a case. You know Anakin Skywalker's former Padawan Ahsoka Tano has been rushed back into the healers after leaving the Order, well she is in a terrible state, physically and mentally. I broke down in tears in front of the council myself when we were told. We are asking you to be her counsellor; Force knows, she's going to need it."

Actually I didn't know she was getting treated here at the temple; I didn't even know she had been found. This didn't surprise me; since I became the Order's only current counsellor, the council of healers no longer told me of every case that came into the Halls of Healing. I was only informed of cases that required counselling or required healing techniques that I specialised in before my counselling training.

I could sense Shaak's distress at the situation. No doubt, the fact that the girl in question was another Togruta was only adding to Shaak's distress. Her people were rare in the Jedi, so I guessed Shaak regarded the loss of Ahsoka Tano to the Order as a bitter blow. I nodded and said, "OK Shaak, I'll take a look." I started to skim through the file on the datapad and I could feel my eyes widen, "I guess I've got a lot of reading."

"Yes you have," Shaak stated, "and none of it pleasant."

"Right, well, I guess I'd better get started. By the sound of it, I'll need to start with this girl as soon as possible."

"Yes, I think you will Ticarti," Shaak said, "Well, I'll leave you do your homework." She left my room and I closed the door behind her. After getting myself a cup of tea, I settled down to read through the file. As I read, my heart went out to Ahsoka Tano, even though I'd never met her. Being falsely accused of terrorism and murder was bad enough, but being raped and tormented by Force visions of Darth Sidious and finally, almost starving to death on her home world on top was unthinkable. I was startled when I read that it was her visions that led to the council knowing about Palpatine being Sidious. In my mind, this girl was a heroine and even though, at this point, I wasn't sure if even I could really help, I was determined I would give it my very best. Despite what Master Yoda says, there is always a 'try'. Sometimes it's all we can do.

Well, there you have it. That's the first chapter of the tie in story I promised. This is the first time I've wrote first person perspective so if there are any errors, then I apologise. If you have read 'The Order Redeems', you may have noticed I've given you some info about Ahsoka's future Padawan here. Anyway, what do you all think? Is it worth continuing this? Just a note, future chapters will be longer than this. This is just a test.