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Ahsoka has always fancied herself a bit of a card shark.
More than once, she’s cleaned other Initiates out of their pocket credits and the little bags of spicy jerky the Temple refectory only puts out twice a month.
The crechemasters had tried to discourage the sabacc games, but the occasional Master would slip down to join them. Ahsoka liked those instances best. Not only did it give her a challenge, but the Masters would often take the time to either impart a point (like keeping situational awareness), a tip (like not using cookies for the pot when Grogu was in attendance), or a skill (mind tricks were versatile, but some species weren’t susceptible).
Master Obi-Wan Kenobi had never been one of the Masters to join the games. Ahsoka’s not sure if it was because he thought it improper or just because he and Skyguy were so rarely in the Temple (their mission logs were often used as bedtime stories, full of exciting battles and political intrigue and the two coolest Jedi in existence).
Regardless of why he never joined them for a round, Ahsoka knows skill when she sees it. And Master Obi-Wan is skilled.
Their mission has gone awry from the second they hit the planet’s surface (literally; as they’d been shot down by a Separatist fighter). Now, stranded on Khoto, she, Skyguy, and Master Obi-Wan have been running from Separatist troops and sympathizers while trying to gather enough credits to get a ship (or at least get the necessary parts to repair their communicators, which had all partially melted in the fire caused by the crash).
It's how they’ve ended up here. Here is the backroom of Cret’s, a seedy bar 20 minutes speeder ride (or in their case, an hour-long walk) from the capital city’s center. It’s a pirate bar, stuffed full with smugglers and thieves who keep eyeing her with undue interest until she finally bares her fangs at them.
Anakin had originally volunteered to play until Master Obi-Wan gave him a long, pointed look that (shockingly) had Anakin backing down with a “Yes, Master.”
And now, Ahsoka is watching Master Obi-Wan absolutely obliterate everyone else at the table in Corellian Spike.
“Ah,” he says cheerfully as he notes the roll of the dice, then lays down his hand. “I believe you’ll find a pure sabacc here.”
It’s the fifth time in a row he’s won the entire game. With effort, Ahsoka manages to keep her jaw from dropping. Anakin, at her side, just rolls his eyes when he sees her amazement.
“He’s really lucky when it comes to cards,” he whispers.
Ahsoka wants to point out that no one is that lucky, but Master Obi-Wan is gathering up his small mountain of credits and rising to his feet.
“I’d love to give you an opportunity to win back your credits, my dears, but I’m afraid we must dash.”
He makes a hand signal behind his back, and Ahsoka straightens, grip tightening on the lightsaber hilt she’s been keeping concealed under her black jacket (liberated from the pirate who told them about Cret’s in the first place, then tried to rob them). Around them, the pirates do something similar, although with more blasters being loosened from holsters. Anakin clears his throat.
Obi-Wan hangs the credits from a pouch on his belt, then makes another hand signal behind his back.
Wait.
At Anakin’s urging, Ahsoka starts heading for the back exit door, her Master and Grandmaster following behind. Remarkably, they make it outside into Khoto’s miserably wet weather without a single person accosting them.
“That was crazy!” she says when the door clicks shut behind them.
Master Obi-Wan gives her a wink before his hand dips down to the pouch where he’d concealed his lightsaber.
“About to get crazier I’m afraid. Our good pirate friends will be attempting to jump us the moment we leave this alleyway.”
“I’m always hopeful, and yet always disappointed in how predictable pirates are,” Anakin says, but he’s grinning too widely for the words to be truthful.
In response, Obi-Wan rolls his own.
“Well, perhaps we’ll find you a challenge today,” Turning to her, he adds, “Ahsoka, be mindful of the close quarters. You’ll need to keep your bladework and your footwork tight so as to not interfere with Anakin or myself.”
“Yes, Master,” she chirps faithfully. She lets thoughts of flasks, sabers, staves, and coins fall to the wayside. Instead, she tries to slip into the Force, readying herself for what’s to come.
But even as she prepares to ignite her saber, she makes a mental note to challenge Master Obi-Wan to a proper game of sabacc.
-----
“I’m almost certain you are not playing fair,” Master Obi-Wan says, sounding far too amused.
“I could say the same…” Ahsoka retorts, more annoyed than she wants to be.
On the surface, they’re evenly matched. Their little piles of empty energy capsules, spread across the quarters of their Temple room caf table, are almost even.
(Master Obi-Wan claimed they shouldn’t play for credits. Instead, the final prize is a Jar’Kai lesson for her if she wins, or her cleaning their shared quarters without droid assistance, a task that will include picking up all of Anakin’s various droid parts.)
She’d resorted to cheating after the first hand, recalling Master Obi-Wan’s ‘luck’ on Khoto. Even now, she’s got two cards tucked out of sight behind her back.
“Did Master Vos ever join you for a game?” Master Obi-Wan asks, and Ahsoka startles a bit at the non-sequitur. She shifts back from kneeling to match Master Obi-Wan’s half-lotus position to try to cover the reaction.
“He…uh…yeah, he did.” She gives him a suspicious look. “Why?”
“Quinlan is a great many things. A fantastic Jedi Master, a brilliant Shadow, and a very good gambler. But he has some bad habits when it comes to sabacc.”
“He does?” Ahsoka asks, not liking where this is going. Master Vos was the one who first introduced her to the idea of cheating. She’d been conflicted at first, but Master Vos had prudently pointed out that winning was sometimes a necessity to move delicate negotiations forward or to have enough credits to achieve a mission goal. So she’d set herself to learning his skills just as diligently as she learned piloting or astronavigation.
“Mmm, yes,” Master Obi-Wan says. He rearranges his hand with a thoughtful expression, then picks up the dice. “For instance, he’s rather awful at concealing the cards he’s stolen from the deck.”
Ahsoka flips the cards behind her back into the palm of her hand.
“Is that so?” she says, nonchalantly. She winces as she realizes the words have come out too nonchalant. She aims for distraction. “Can you share any stories?”
Master Obi-Wan smiles, then chuckles, letting the dice fall to table’s chipped and oil-stained surface.
“I could, but Quinlan has enough blackmail that any such stories would be returned tenfold.”
Ahsoka wonders what her prim and proper Grandmaster could have possibly gotten up to in order to warrant blackmail. Perhaps a trip to the Archives is in order to look up mission reports from his Padawan days.
“I see,” she says, and tries not to sound disappointed.
“But as for his habits,” Master Obi-Wan says, undeterred by the detour in subjects. “It appears he passed them on.”
Before Ahsoka can even respond to that, Master Obi-Wan gestures behind Ahsoka. Ahsoka is torn between keeping her eyes on her Grandmaster’s hands, the dice, and the deck, but she has a feeling she’s about to be taught a lesson beyond the sabacc one she requested.
So she turns around.
And then gapes.
Because there, reflected perfectly in the massive, ugly, green pot holding a Kashyyyk fern, is herself. And very clearly, the cards she has tucked into her palm. The pot has been there since before she moved in. (She thinks it belonged to Master Obi-Wan’s Master, but she’s never had the courage to ask.) And it’s not like she didn’t know it was there. She likes to water it when they’re in the Temple because the Kashyyyk fern is a little Force sensitive and tends to wave at her when she does.
Slowly, she turns back to her Grandmaster.
“I can explain.”
But Master Obi-Wan shakes his head.
“I believe I already did. Quinlan Vos. Bad habits.”
Ahsoka looks down at the cards in her hand, feeling shame well up in her.
“I’m sorry, Master.” The laughter surprises her, and her head shoots back up. “Master?”
“Finally!” Master Obi-Wan says, delight suffusing his expression. “Did you know Anakin has absolutely no sabacc face? I’ve tried teaching him one for years, but he’s too straightforward. Now you, on the other hand, Ahsoka, have promise.”
“Master?” Ahsoka tries to let her complicated feelings go into the Force (shame, pride, surprise, pleasure), but it’s a struggle.
And then Master Obi-Wan lifts his right arm, the one that’s been leaning against the table this entire time. Ahsoka gapes as she spots the two cards concealed there. He sets it back down, and she watches in amazement as a card obviously slips from the table, up his plastoid vambrace, and into his hand.
Then, her Grandmaster gives her a grin that promises that her afternoon just got infinitely more interesting.
“How about I show you a few things, and then we play a round for real? Perhaps we can even up the stakes?”
In that moment, Ahsoka feels a new appreciation for her Grandmaster. It’s humbling to realize she has so much more to learn, but she has good teachers who are willing to help. It’s one of the many things she loves about being a Jedi. Carefully, she lays the cards she had concealed in her other hand on the table.
“Show me, please!”