"That's how," anyone would have thought, seeing what was happening outside when Anakin so carelessly risked the most precious thing he had. The light day on Ilum was coming to an end, only fifteen minutes remained, when the children began to leave the cave one by one. The first to emerge was, of course, Ferrus, who, with his characteristic boastfulness, held out his right hand to Yoda, in which lay a dark blue crystal. Then Darra came out, looking a little bedraggled but nevertheless satisfied, a green crystal glimmering cheerfully in her hand. Next came Tru with a yellow crystal. The last to emerge were the three shy ones, and they too were not empty-handed. And yet someone was missing, but the entrance to the cave was empty and no one else was coming out. Asoka looked thoughtfully at all the children and realised who was missing from the seven who had entered.
"Anakin," the Togruta whispered with her lips, and this half-exhaled, half-moan sounded simultaneously with the creaking of the cave door, which immediately slammed shut with a loud bang, releasing a veil of dry snow.
For a few seconds after that, Ahsoka still hoped that she would hear a crash and a waterfall of snow would pour down from somewhere above, followed by Anakin himself jumping down and shouting cheerfully:
"Well, did I get you good?
And then he would laugh and run to his friends, showing Asoka the crystal he had found. But no. It was still quiet, and the hope of seeing the boy outside the cave melted away with the last rays of daylight and faded with the last ray of sunlight, which disappeared behind the full moon. It was getting cold and dark, and it was time to fly back to the temple. But Asoka couldn't. She didn't want to believe the worst. And it stubbornly reminded her of itself with its silent darkness.
"Where is Anakin?" Darra's thin, frightened voice broke the silence.
This brought Tano to her senses and made her circle the cave, losing the last remnants of hope. Anakin was nowhere to be found. The other younglings set out to help her. Even Ferrus, casting aside his arrogance, approached Yoda and asked what he thought of this. The master thought for a moment, closing his eyes and sinking into the snow, then stood up again a few minutes later and said thoughtfully and sadly:
"He is in great danger. I sense little life in him. I fear we cannot save him.
"No! That's not true!" A frantic, desperate cry rang out behind them. It was Ahsoka, who had approached unnoticed and heard Master Yoda's grim prediction, and everything inside her rebelled against it. No, it couldn't be. Anakin couldn't be dead. Ahsoka would have felt it, because from the very first day they met, a strange but very strong bond had formed between them, surprising everyone. It was as if they knew in advance what would happen to the other in the near future. They even managed to fall ill within hours of each other. Not to mention something like this. She would have known if Anakin had merged with the Force. Ahsoka had not yet experienced this feeling, but she knew she would not mistake it for anything else when the Force decided to introduce her to it. And if that was the case, what right did this Master have to calmly say that Anakin was no longer alive? Even if he were Grand Master three times over, he still didn't and never would have what she had, what Ahsoka had. A connection to this careless youngling. And disbelief was replaced by grim determination:
"Master Yoda! Stop talking! He's alive! Can you hear me? Anakin isn't dead! I know it!
Togruta turned as red as the sunset on her home planet of Tatooine. Her blue eyes narrowed and flashed with lightning. Her hands clenched into fists and spread wide. The hood of her cloak fell back and she strode towards the Master. Ferrus pulled her by the sleeve and hissed:
"Stop, you lunatic, you'll get a reprimand.
But Ahsoka casually brushed his hand away as if shaking off a nasty insect:
"Do me a favour, take the others away!" she ordered in a tone that would have made Master Vindou himself jealous. Olin unexpectedly obeyed and headed towards the group of companions, but they had already heard everything and reacted accordingly.
"Oh no, Anakin is dead!" Darra cried in a thin voice, forgetting the rules and bursting into tears.
"He was a good friend," said Tru more calmly, looking away so that no one could see the tears glistening in his eyes.
"Enough! Everyone, be quiet!" Asoka ordered, hearing the cries. "Don't say anything when I find him!"
Without wasting another precious second, the girl rushed to the cave.
"Padawan Tano! You must not give in to your emotions!" Master Yoda jumped out in front of her and grew into a small green mound in Asoka's path.
"Go away with your rules!" Tano snapped, grabbing him by the hood of his cloak and, with the help of the Force, threw him into a snowdrift. The Master flew into the soft snow and sank into it, only his small feet sticking out, dangling comically above the snowdrift. Asoka paid no attention to this, stopping near the tightly closed gate. She stood next to it, wrapped her arms around it, pressed her forehead against the cool metal, and closed her eyes. At first, she saw only slightly rippling waves of blue darkness, from which a faint yellow light gradually began to emerge. It was so tiny that at first she didn't even notice it. Only after several long seconds of careful scrutiny, during which she lost faith in her abilities many times, did Asoka see the small dot. It appeared like a sign from the sky, just when Tano thought she was too late and was about to shed the first tear. Asoka even wondered if she had imagined it, but no, the dot was there, glowing with a faint but distinct light. When it was accompanied by a terribly distinct feeling of coldness creeping into her very soul, turning her blood into a frozen stream, the girl opened her eyes and reached for her sword. She would enter the cave and find her unfortunate friend, who now seemed more precious to her than anything else in the world. The gate would not budge, the sword only slid across the metal surface, leaving scratches and scattering sparks. Asoka was angry at the futility of her efforts, but she continued to scrape at the gate. Suddenly, a buzzing wave of green light passed beneath them, and they began to rise slowly, opening the doorway. Not as much as the first time, but enough to squeeze through.
"Energy and enthusiasm must always go hand in hand with experience," came a familiar, measured voice from the side. "Remember that, Padawan, you must remember that."
Ahsoka glanced to the side and saw Yoda, who had not yet managed to shake the snow off his cloak.
"Trust your feelings," he continued. "Go forward boldly."
Tano bent slightly and entered the cave she had last visited five years ago. At any other time, she would have succumbed to nostalgic memories, but now she saw neither crystal clusters nor vaulted galleries nor echoing corridors. Nothing but a small yellow dot standing before her eyes like a beacon, preventing her from succumbing to despair. The Magister walked alongside her, afraid of falling behind the tall, long-legged Tano. He understood the girl's feelings and imagined what it would mean and what he would say to the Council when they found the boy. The wise Master saw their connection and knew when it arose and between whom. But now the main thing was to find him, because the yellow dot was growing fainter. They should have searched every corner, but Asoka seemed to know where to go and moved confidently forward, straight towards the smooth ice of the lake.
"Padawan Tano, are you sure of your decision?" Yoda asked doubtfully, sliding across the ice with his legs spread wide. Ahsoka could no longer listen to his lamentations; they were distracting her. Finally, losing her patience, she grabbed him by the hood again and threw him over her shoulder like a small child.
"Padawan Tano! Padawan Tano! I will report your insolence to the Jedi Council!" the Master shouted again, clutching the girl's shoulders with his clawed three-fingered hands. Ahsoka didn't even pay attention to his words. She didn't care about the Council, the Order, or Coruscant as a whole. If someone had told her then that she was being expelled, Tano wouldn't have even flinched. She was ready for anything to see Anakin alive. To return to Tatooine. To become a slave again. Even to become the property of the most despicable Hutt. As long as he was alive. As long as he could be found.
"I will never, ever get angry with him again," thought Ahsoka as she descended into the dungeon. "And I won't even say anything bad when he talks about his feelings again."
"Padawan Tano!" Yoda's voice rang out again. "It has been forbidden to go there for many years. There is great danger lurking there!"
"Quiet!" Asoka shouted, hearing a new sound drowning out the Master's lament. It was a quiet, melodious sound, unfamiliar to the untrained ear. A thin voice, like the singing of some heavenly creature, something she had heard before, long ago, five years ago, when she first arrived on Ilum.
"How untimely," thought the Togruta irritably, who was now definitely not in the mood to assemble the second sword she had long since prepared. "Or maybe it's the opposite. It's a sign from above," she thought, her opinion changing in an instant when she saw that the singing in the Force was parallel to the glowing dot, and if it had almost faded away, the melody became clearer with each step. It was coming from somewhere below. From where the younglings were not allowed to go. Yoda shouted this insistently, hanging over Asoka's shoulders, but she paid no attention to him, descending the steps and already standing near the newly opened door. The voice was no longer audible, but simply poured into the montralls of the togruts. Her hands and feet were frozen, and she could hardly feel them. Her breath came out in clouds of steam.
"Stop here," Yoda said more clearly than before. "There is an open well here. That is why we forbade you to enter."
But Asoka went there anyway, albeit slowing her pace as warned, stopping right at the black hole that the hapless youngling had failed to notice. Togruta knelt down, finally lowering the Master from her shoulders, but without even shaking them to relieve the numbness, she leaned over the well and almost lost her hearing. The singing of the crystal became so clear that she could hear every note. By this time, only an indistinct, blurry glare remained of the glowing point.
"I'm here, I'm coming!" Enakine's consciousness, already fading, heard as if in a dream, lifelessly sprawled on the icy floor of the pit. However, even if he had still been conscious, he would most likely have taken it for a dream or the onset of delirium. Now, though, these words went unnoticed. As did the fact that in the next moment his body broke away from the surface and began to rise slowly, sometimes almost motionless, sometimes almost flying. This was because Asoka's hands, trembling from the cold, sometimes stopped obeying her, and then Master Yoda took over, stretching his three-fingered hands over the gaping surface, directing the Force downward and lifting Skywalker's lifeless body to the surface. Lifeless. Yes, indeed, the teenager was completely motionless. His cloak and even his hair were covered with frost, and the same white crust was on his face. Frozen trails of tears were visible near his eyes. No breath escaped his blue lips. Anyone who saw Anakin now would be sure that he was already dead. Anyone who did not know the Force. However, the verdict of the gifted was now little different from that of ordinary people. There was almost no life left in the teenager's body. Now, on the way back, they had to carry him. Because of the large difference in height, they had to use the Force to do so. Yoda no longer wailed, but silently did what was necessary. When all three were outside, Asoka's arms simply fell away, and her breathing was so ragged that every breath was painful in her lungs.
"What's wrong with him? Is he alive?" Darra rushed over to them.
"No, he's dead! Can't you see he's not moving?" Ferrus replied.
"Close your eyes, Olin, his face isn't covered, that means he's alive!" Tru shut him up.
"He needs to be taken to the ship. To the medical bay," Asoka commanded. "Master Yoda, take the others to Master Huiyang.
She understood that the children had to be distracted, otherwise they would not let the meddroid do his job in peace. Yoda understood this too. The younglings tried to argue, but a few warning blows on the ice from his famous cane made them obey, and they reluctantly went to the ship's saloon, where the droid professor, Master Huiyang, a former expert in lightsaber assembly, was already waiting for them. The younglings sat down at the table, and the professor explained what they needed to do to assemble their first and only lightsabers correctly. All six had been waiting for this moment for a long time and had dreamed with bated breath about how it would happen, but now they were just mechanically putting the parts together in the right order. Their hands worked independently of their minds, assembling the swords correctly only thanks to the theory bouncing off their teeth. All they could think about was what was happening behind the wall. And there, an event no less important than the assembly of lightsabers was taking place — the rescue of a young life. The medical droid determined that Anakin was still alive, but in critical condition:
"Temperature thirty-four degrees. Pulse forty beats per minute. Heartbeat weak," reported the medic after a brief examination, adding that if treatment was not started immediately, it would be impossible to save him. His body was almost completely frozen. But here, in the confines of the ship, there was very little that could be done. All of Anakin's clothes were removed except for his underwear, and he was wiped down with alcohol, then covered with several blankets and connected to an artificial heating element. The teenager did not regain consciousness, but his pale skin began to turn pink, and his lips parted and began to whisper something incoherent.
"How is he? Will he be all right?" asked Darra as she entered the medical room. She clearly felt sympathy for Anakin.
"Not very well, he's severely hypothermic," explained Asoka, sitting near the couch.
"He'll be better soon," Darra replied, approaching him. "Oh! A rainbow crystal! He found it."
She clearly noticed the two crystals lying on the nightstand near the couch. They were pulled out of Anakin's tightly clenched fingers, and when Tano took both of them in her hand, she noticed that the first one, blue, did not evoke any emotions in her, but the second one, rainbow-coloured, burst into song as soon as she raised it to her eyes. Meanwhile, Darra sat down near the couch and timidly touched the cheek of her unconscious companion. Without waking up, he smiled and whispered something. Darra listened and in the next moment jumped up from the bed and flew out of the medical room as if scalded. At the door, she almost collided with Tano and, unable to contain herself, threw at her:
"It's all your fault! He tried to get it for you! How could you be so ashamed!
Darra rushed into the salon, and in her ears she could still hear a quiet whisper responding to her touch:
"Asoka... Asoka... I love you...
"Don't blame Tano for anything," said Yoda, who had heard the conversation. "Be happy for her instead. A great thing has happened. She has found her Padawan.
If only he could have known the consequences of those words.
***
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