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When Fox opened the door to the cell where the prisoner of the day, Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano, was being held, he knew his day was going to be awful. He just knew it.
How, you might ask?
Oh, no idea... maybe something to do with the fact that instead of a skinny teenager, there was a fucking adult Togruta woman in the cell?!?
He knew he should have gone to bed when he was warned that something had jammed the cameras installed in the traitorous Jedi's cell. He had finished his shift, he should have just left it to Thire and gone home.
"Commander... Fox?" She asked, staring him up and down, moving very slowly to face him, her arms at her sides.
A slender body with ochre-coloured skin, blue eyes and distinctive white facial markings and Montrals matching those of the accused. It had to be her, who else could it be?
Then Fox noticed two lightsabers hanging from her waist. They had half expected to find the cell empty, he did not have many men with him, and he knew that if they shoot at her, she would defend herself. In such a small space, they would not necessarily be able to use terrain to their advantage, so they had to be careful.
"Commander... Tano?" He tried again with the same caution.
"That would be me."
"What's your first name?"
"You don't know my first name?"
"I know it, I'm just trying to establish if it's really you."
"Oh, of course. Ahsoka."
"Your Jedi Master?"
"Anakin Skywalker."
Fox did not know what else to ask to confirm it was her, he did not know her, he could not confirm anything.
"Excuse me, but... what day is it?"
Fox told her the date, in a daze, still struggling to believe what he was seeing.
"The name of the Captain of Torrent Company?"
The civilians did not really care about the names of the clones, especially when there was the very flamboyant and heroic Anakin Skywalker to look at right next to them.
"Rex, of course. To be honest, it's been almost fifteen years for me, so could you tell me at what point of the trial we are right now? At least, I assume I'm here for the Temple bombing."
"You are here for that, but you were..."
"A teenager, I know."
"And you're not anymore," Fox pointed out the obvious, hoping to get some context, but the Jedi just shrugged with a puzzled look.
"I know, I don't understand it either. I guess the Force really does work in mysterious ways."
Jetii osik. That had never been truer.
"You seem rather relaxed."
"I've been cleared," the Togruta declared with a nonchalant shrug. "Want a proof?"
And, under their gazes that were as paranoid – it came with the job – as they were suspicious – that too – as they were reticently curious – that, unfortunately, was all of them – she grabbed the lightsabers at her waist that Fox knew had not been in the room an hour earlier and could not have entered the room without them knowing, and activated them, illuminating the room with a clear, pure white light.
Fox took a full minute, both short and endless, to make up his mind and order his men to lower their weapons.
Lightsabers had been confiscated by the Jedi, and civilians did not have easy access to them. If she had them again and they were not red... it meant they had taken her back into their ranks. The Jedi were generally gentle, but fortunately they were firm with traitors. They would not have welcomed her back as one of their own if she had been found guilty.
"How?"
"My Master is leading the investigation, he found the real culprit in time."
"What is their names?"
She opened her mouth but hesitated. What, did she think he was not going to listen?
On the other hand... would she really be wrong to be cautious with him? He had been ruthless with her, refusing to listen when she was just a teenager framed for a crime she did not commit. Alone against the word.
It was disturbing. He had thought she was guilty. All the evidence pointed to her, everything matched, and Fox still found it hard to believe that he would have led an innocent person to their death because... he had been ordered not to investigate? He should have done so, because right now someone who had attacked his comrades was out there and Fox could not stop them.
"I don't know if it's wise for me to reveal that name here, I'm not even sure I should intervene with my knowledge. When is the trial supposed to take place?"
"Tomorrow."
"Hmm... I'd like to talk to someone from the Jedi Temple then."
"I can call someone."
"Please ask them to send Jedi Master Plo Koon."
Fox nodded. He would be there even if Fox had to drag him out of bed for it.
"All right, stay there."
"Understood."
When he returned, relieved that the busy General had agreed to make time for him on such short notice, she was still in her cell, meditating while sitting on the bunk.
"He's coming as soon as possible," he announced, and unlike him, she did not seem surprised by the news.
"He suspects it has something to do with my upcoming trial, so of course he's coming. We're very close, he was the only High Councillor who believed I was innocent, defended me, and truly apologised after the trial."
"The only one?"
So Cody's General had not intervened in her defence?"
The Togruta's gaze hardened.
"The Jedi are no longer what they are supposed to be," she finally declared with a forced neutrality that made him understand not to insist. "He'll be here very soon."
Sure enough, it did not take long for an orange Kel Dor to appear at the door, guided by his men. Fox was delighted that he stopped dead in his tracks and seemed shocked - if the slight hesitation of his strict and serene Jedi posture was any indication. The situation was definitely not normal, it was not just him who had no idea what to say or do.
"What... So... Pada...?"
A blur of colour passed before Fox, who had at one point given up on the helmet, and the next second the two Jedi were embracing tenderly. She was holding him tighter, but Fox noticed that he was holding her very firmly too.
The two Jedi then remained silent, looking at each other without saying a word, and after several long minutes, the General nodded.
"I see, thank you for letting us know, I will take care of it immediately. Commander Fox, do you think it is possible for her to leave? It would be difficult to explain the sudden ageing of a person to outsiders."
Because Fox was considered an insider? Because if that was the case, he still did not understand anything.
"My orders come from Captain Tarkin, sir."
"Doesn't the Jedi High Council override the Captain?"
"I... you haven't intervened until now."
"New evidence has come to light," the Kel Dor said calmly, but the clone could sense a hint of insistence in his tone.
He was not going to let it go this time, and Fox... Fox understood. He had proof of her innocence and that she had been framed, and Fox did not even want to imagine what it would have been like if Skywalker had been there to see and hear this.
He would probably have been punched, the guy was having trouble controlling his anger.
"I... in theory, the Coruscant Guard is under the Senate's command. That being said," he continued when the Jedi subtly tensed up, "the accused Ahsoka Tano is a teenager. This is an adult woman who cannot possibly be our... fugitive. Namesake or not, an adult woman cannot answer charges brought against a teenager half her age. I don't know how one of your Jedi ended up in a cell, General, but you can take her with you while we search for the fugitive."
"Thank you very much, Commander."
"Thank you for your help, Commander Fox," the Togruta said in turn when the High Councillor had left.
"I'm just correcting a mistake," he muttered, looking away, uncomfortable.
"I don't blame you," she said softly with a serene smile so typical of her people. "None of you. You're doing your duty with the information you have, and you had no reason to believe me. I hope we'll meet again under more peaceful circumstances."
Fox nodded, and he was finally alone with himself.
They met again several weeks later, after several exhausting and completely crazy weeks. In just one month, everything had changed so much that Fox did not know which way to turn. As she had said, she had been cleared after another Jedi confessed, and she had clearly decided to use her knowledge, as several fronts had suddenly been unblocked and, for their part, the Jedi finally had a lead to find the mole they had been looking for in the Senate since the beginning of the war. It was the Chancellor.
Because they knew where to look, some evidence had been gathered, and once the man's former second-in-command/Sith apprentice had been captured and revealed his plans, enough Senators authorised the Jedi to act.
The war had continued since Senator Organa was elected to replace the man, but now everyone knew that the war had reached a breaking point. Both sides now knew that they were pawns that two men, accomplices and associates, wanted to see oppose each other, and no one liked being manipulated.
"I see you've decided to reveal what you knew," Fox greeted her when they found themselves side by side during a party held in the 501st's barracks.
She smiled mischievously, she seemed to be doing well.
"No one has yet figured out whether I'm going to leave again in the future or whether I'm here to stay, so I might as well give things a push in the right direction."
"Thank you for that, then."
He and his men, like all the others, had undergone operations to remove the chips from their heads. They did not know how complete the mind control would have been, but Fox had no desire to find out.
And he would never know, thanks to her.
"May I offer you a drink as well? On behalf of the Guard, as a thank you," he clarified when she raised an eyebrow and the guys from the 501st turned to look at him strangely with that look he knew meant: Touch a single hair on our Jedi Commander and no one will find your body."
"My pleasure, after all, without you we wouldn't be here, your help has been invaluable too."
Fox smiled into his glass, grateful for what she was doing when he saw the men around him turn away from them with satisfied looks on their faces. She had made him a friend, they would not bother him.
She was taken aside by Skywalker's captain for a conversation with Torrent's men, and now that they were together and he knew she was innocent, he could better understand why the blond had defended her and wanted to clear her name. It was obvious how much he cared for her. How much they all cared about her. She was their vod, and she was a good person.
She was cute too. The teenager was... well, a teenager, but the woman he was looking at right now was beautiful. Too bad Jedi were celibate monks.
Fox was so lost in thought that he actually jumped when the only female in the room snapped her fingers in front of his eyes.
"Would you like to go for a drink now?" The Jedi asked without waiting, her arms crossed, amused by his defensive reaction. "Somewhere else?"
"Do you think that's a good idea? I mean, you're a Jedi."
He did not want her to get into trouble or have her reputation damaged by any harmful rumours if she was seen going for a drink with a clone. The Togruta looked at him with a calculating gaze before turning her back to the room so that he was the only one who could see her face.
"You know... Even though it's true that I was offered a place back in the Order when I was found not guilty, when I was brought here back in time, I was no longer a Jedi for several years."
"You... really?"
"Really. I felt that it wasn't really the future for me. Do you want that drink?"
"I don't think that's a good idea," Fox replied this time, shaking his head.
"Why not?"
"I might get the wrong idea."
Thorn had a crush on one of Amidala's bodyguards, and they had discussed it several times. Fox had already noticed that his thoughts mirrored those of his brother: she was gorgeous, she had sparkling eyes and a beautiful, playful smile. She made him feel noticed, seen, understood. He felt unique, different, respected.
He would not be different in the way he hoped to be, so he preferred not to take it any further. It was a clumsy crush: he had seen it all before and would see more in the future.
"Do you want to go for a drink, yes or no?" She repeated, and when Fox turned to look at her with slight annoyance at her insistence, he was stunned to see that she was not even looking at him, her cheeks subtly darker as she tapped her fingers on the left Lek of her Montral.
She... oh?
"Yeah," Fox replied with an intrigued and interested smile.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
He had never been beyond the stage of having a crush, but... let's go. Finally, the Commander realised that she was as lost as he was on how to proceed and smiled more affectionately.
"Let's try this together, Ahsoka."
When he hesitantly took her hand, she squeezed it back and quickly followed.
"After you, Fox, I'm sure you know some good places."
They had several drinks, then the Togruta took him to the restaurant, and Fox returned to the Guard barracks more euphoric than when he had left to go to the party.
Before they parted, he kissed her on the cheek to say goodbye. She had daringly kissed him on the mouth.
It had been, by far, the best evening of his life. For once, he was delighted to have been the target of the Jedi's magical antics.
He would not be filing a Force Osik report this time.