Lux Bonteri
17 BBY
Red Guardians' Prison
Skorix

They came at dawn the following morning to take Lux away. They were a bit late, based on what Ahsoka had said, but he certainly was grateful for the extra time. He and Ahsoka had time to talk freely about the way they felt about each other until they fell asleep, fingers laced together between the bars.

Lux was awakened by a pair of strong hands yanking him to his feet. His hand was ripped from Ahsoka's, which caused her to stir. Lux calmly accepted his fate, not even bothering to resist.

Once Ahsoka realized what was going on, she clutched the bars separating them, knowing there was nothing she could do.

"It's useless, Ahsoka," he said. "I'll see you soon. I promise."

She nodded. "I love you."

He winked as they dragged him into another hallway. Lux had no intention of getting to the hangar. Without warning, he thrust his arms upward, startling his guards. They reacted seconds later, grabbing at his wrists. It was significantly harder to fend them off than Lux had anticipated, but he managed to break free with a couple of well-placed punches.

As soon as he got a chance, he jumped up into the ventilation shaft. It was smaller than he would've liked, but he'd have to get through to get back to Ahsoka. It was the only way.

He heard a gasp as he squeezed out of the vents and into a heap on the floor outside of Ahsoka's cell.

"Lux? How did you get back?"

"I told you I'd see you soon, right? Well, I meant it."

After a couple of tries, he was able to unlock the prison cell and cut his binders, allowing Ahsoka to escape into his arms. He held her there for a brief moment before she kissed him sweetly, making his stomach somersault.

"Thanks, Lux."

"But of course. Now, shall we?" He gestured towards the open hallway, and they took off running.

And for the first time in his life, with Ahsoka by his side, Lux didn't look back.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Ahsoka Tano
12 ABY
Imperial Medical Research Facility
Wobani

It didn't take Ahsoka long to regain confidence in her skills. She blocked Darth Fils' strikes with ease. His technique was sloppy and unrefined, yet he sure put a lot of force behind it. Though she was easily a head shorter than him, she wasn't intimidated. He'd already killed her once, and she wasn't going to let that happen again.

As much as she hated to think about it, he was so similar to Vader. He and Vader reacted the same to everything Ahsoka threw at them, which put her at an advantage. Two hands, powerful swings. All she had to do was stay out of the way and wait for him to lose his balance.

There was an audible gasp on the other side of the room as Lux came running into the hangar, several years younger and a bundle of cloth in his arms. Yersinia had reversed their ages to match hers. When they escaped, maybe she and Lux could finally have a chance to raise a family together like any other civilized couple in the galaxy.

Their lightsabers locked again, Darth Fils using his height to try and overpower Ahsoka. He could sense her raging emotions and wasn't afraid to comment on them. "You love him, don't you?"

"Yeah, and it's about time you loved something, too. Besides yourself, of course." She pushed his lightsaber away from her and flipped above him, landing elegantly on her toes.

"Love can always be overcome by fear and loss." He struck low, and Ahsoka nearly missed it. Her balance was thrown off a bit, and Darth Fils used the opening to kick her in the stomach.

That's going to leave a mark... But she couldn't afford to think about any sort of pain right now. He swung his lightsaber down on top of her, as if he were going to cut her in half, but Ahsoka successfully blocked it. She stood back up again in ready position, awaiting his next move.

Just as Darth Fils lifted his lightsaber to attack, there was a shift in the balance around them. Darkness no longer prevailed, for a beacon of light had entered the room.

"Luke, it's me—Leia. Your twin sister." Darth Fils didn't acknowledge her, so she continued to speak. "Why have you become the very evil you swore to destroy? Why didn't you save our father instead of taking his place by the Emperor's side?"

"Because I hate him! Vader was weak, so I killed him in hoped that I could correct his careless blunders and bring peace back to the galaxy. It was working just fine until you and your Resistance came back."

Leia's face fell. Had she not known that Luke killed Vader himself? "Then you truly are a monster." Without warning, she took one of Ahsoka's lightsabers from her hand and held it at the ready. "And you've already spent your second chance by creating this horror of a lab experiment."

She swung at Luke, not holding back anything. Ahsoka didn't know Leia was even capable of such skills with a lightsaber, but she did have Anakin's blood running through her veins. Leia's moves were refined and precise, contrasting Luke's broad and powerful movements. Before anyone could process what had just happened, the white blade pierced through Luke's torso. He fell to the floor, gasping for air, defeated.

"Why must you kill your own brother?" He asked, rage filling his voice.

"I won't made the same mistake you made with our father. By putting you to rest, I'm giving the galaxy another chance to obliterate the Empire and restore democracy to the galaxy."

Ahsoka stood back, letting brother and sister share one last moment together. She could feel Luke shift back to the light before his presence drifted away, never to be felt again.

She returned her lightsabers to her belt as she placed a comforting hand on Leia's shoulder. "I'm sorry," was all she could say. I'm sorry you never got to know Anakin the way I did. I'm sorry he turned into an evil that never really died. I'm sorry the only remaining family you had left followed in Vader's footsteps.

"It's not your fault, Ahsoka. I knew going into this that it was either going to be me or him to never make it out of this lab again."

Ahsoka nodded. "Thank you. I'm sure Luke—the real Luke—would be happy to know that his sacrifice will eventually bring peace to the galaxy."

"Indeed."

Lux quietly cleared his throat and took Ahsoka's hand. "We can mourn later. This place is going to blow, and I don't want to be here when it does."

Ahsoka nodded. "Yeah, let's go home." But where was home? Lux's estate still existed, though neither she nor Lux had been there in years. It would be a suitable place for the short term while they looked for a non-Imperial system. Maybe, if they could pull together the necessary funding, they could build a new Bonteri-Tano estate.

None of that mattered to Ahsoka, though. She could spend the rest of her life traveling around the galaxy and never feel homesick so long as her family accompanied her. As long as she had Lux and Raiya, she'd already be home.

She stood up and hugged Lux and Raiya. "Today marks the start of a new life for us. This is a new day, a new beginning."

~

A/N: WOOHOO DOUBLE UPDATE ON A SCHOOL NIGHT! This is a rare occasion, folks, so enjoy :)

On to part two!