It was well after sundown by the time Ahsoka's shift at Dex's place was over. But, despite the fact that she was tired from the events of the day (and more than a little worried about the situation with Steela and Lux), curiosity was keeping her alert and focused on the task ahead. And that was discovering the meaning of the note she had received and perhaps, if she was lucky, the identity of A.S.

As Ahsoka grabbed her bag and hung up her apron, she checked the map of her sector of Coruscant. Sanctum Avenue, as it so happened, was only a short walk away from the diner.

"All right," she muttered. "Time to go on an adventure."

And with that, she left the restaurant and made her way towards Sanctum Avenue and the answers to whatever questions lay there.

As she walked, she realized that she was passing into the older part of town. The way Coruscant had been built, not only was it layer upon layer from the ground up, but it also stretched outwards from oldest to newer. The center of the city was the administrative area, namely the Senate Building and Senate Office Building, and other structures that had been there for many hundreds of years. It was considered to be one of the two classier parts of town.

There were also a few old effigies that nobody could remember their reason for being there. One of the old buildings, a cuboid-shaped base with several tall spires, was still having its maintenance seen to, but she had never seen any activity around it. But it was very close to the Senate, so it had to be important.

But she was still very new here, and she would find out eventually.

Ahsoka turned down a side street mostly empty of people and stopped for a moment to get her bearings. The street name on the base of this Level of Coruscant was too old and faded to read, so she squinted up at the sign for the lines of speeder traffic and the pedestrian walkways a few stories above her.

"Sanctum Avenue," she read. "Okay. This is it."

She readjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder, starting down the avenue. It was more than a little disquieting that it was so still and that there was almost no one around, but Ahsoka still straightened her back and marched on.

Every now and then she would check to see if she was getting close to the address she needed. 126, 128, 131... She had to keep going.

After several twists and turns, she was getting closer and closer to the number she needed. 328, 330, 334...

Wait. Ahsoka looked back at the several nondescript doors. The series of addresses skipped a number – where there looked like there would have been another door there was just a blank duracrete-and-metal wall.

"This doesn't make any sense. Why was I sent here if there's no 332?" She huffed angrily. "How more stupid can I get? This is just someone's idea of a joke. I can never get help with anything! I've just gotta rely on myself, as always."

Ahsoka was about to turn to leave, when her sharp Togruta eyes picked up on something she hadn't noticed before: an odd sort of mark on one of the metal panels in the design. As she drew closer to look at it, she realized that she had seen it somewhere before. Only she couldn't remember where...

But, somehow, she felt strangely drawn to it, like it was meant for her. Carefully, she reached out to touch it. The second her fingers came into contact with the cool metal surface, a voice chirped, "Please present your identification."

With a slight gasp, Ahsoka jumped back, her eyes wide. Was this for a gang, or something? What sort of mess had she gotten herself into?

"Please present your identification," the voice said again. "Select one of the following."

Ahsoka tried in vain to find a speaker, but before her inspection was completed, a small holographic display came up. There were three sections she could press, whose labels read: voice, fingerprint and handwriting.

She had never been here before, so it was safe to assume that the first two wouldn't work for her. But it was possible that she could meet the third one...

She dug through her pocket for a moment, soon finding the piece of paper that had started this entire thing. She selected the 'handwriting' function, and the voice said, "Please hold a sample to the scanner."

A red beam was emitted from the center of the symbol. Upon having scanned the messy writing, a gentle chime was heard. "Welcome, Anakin Skywalker. You may enter when ready."

"So that's what A.S stands for," she whispered. "I recognize that name from what that Barriss girl said to me. I wonder who he is... What did all that even mean?"

Then, much to Ahsoka's amazement, a section of the wall's design slid open, revealing itself to be a secret door. She stuck her head through the opening, and soon realized that the other surrounding doors up and down the street were just a front, for a brightly lit corridor extending to the right and left.

Warily, she stepped inside, looking down in either direction in an effort to figure out which way to go. Her montrals and lekku picked up some odd noises faintly to the right, so she decided she would go that way.

The walk was long and there was little to look at but the gently glowing walls and simple grey tile below her feet, but still she continued on. She wanted to find out what the strange zapping sounds, which grew louder with every step she took in their direction, were.

Then, she passed a large window made of semi-opaque glass. Unable to see through, she stepped closer, only to have the window slide open. She found herself on a walkway above some sort of training room. But what she saw next made her have to muffle a gasp of wonder, and she stepped closer, careful not to get too close to the edge, for there was no railing.

A man with long, messy brownish-gold hair with his back turned to her was instructing two groups of kids who looked to be about ten years old, one group on either side of him. But what was so astounding was that they were training with what appeared to be swords of pure light!

The man watched as the children swung the incredible objects around with practiced efficiency, but the sort of care that comes when one is trying something one has just learned. Small floating spheres Ahsoka guessed were training modules were shooting little blasts of energy at them at random intervals. The blades deflected the shots with the sound that had led her down the corridor.

Then, suddenly, all of the bright blue or green blades disappeared into the hilts that the students were holding. They looked back towards the golden-haired teacher, awaiting further instruction.

"Keeping your saber moving is key to deflecting the fire of multiple adversaries," the man told them. "Fluid motion; one into the next, into the next, and so on. I've made some... adjustments to the classic Form IV techniques that I think you'll find work well against droids and other ranged attackers." He raised his own hilt for a light-sword-thing. "Here – I'll show you."

A training module floated towards him, and he ignited the strange weapon. "One. Two. Three. Four," he said, effortlessly blocking every shot that was fired at him. "Five. Six."

By now, the children were doing it with him. "Again," he ordered them. "One, two, three – pivot. Four. Five. Six."

He stopped to watch the kids execute his teachings. One or two of the kids stumbled, and so, lowering his blade, the man said, "All right. I'll show you again. One... Two... Three... Pivot," he instructed, slower this time. "Five... Six."

This time, all of the students preformed flawlessly. The blade in his hand disappeared back into its hilt. "Practice these exercises mindfully, and you'll see improvement. I promise."

He turned around as he spoke to address the group behind him. But as he did so, she caught sight of his face. Her eyes widened. It was the man who had scared her so badly in the alleyway!

But then, he smiled, and Ahsoka was quite sure she had never seen anyone look so kind and happy, or so like an older brother. "All right, class dismissed. As you all know, I'm just only here until tomorrow night. Then, I return to the frontline. But I recorded this lesson and the previous ones, and I'll send it to your HoloNet feeds. And you can come and ask me any questions you might have until I leave, all right?"

There were some nods. "Thank you, Master," they chorused, bowing as one. He bowed in return, and then they scattered to put their equipment away. Then the filed out the door, none of them having noticed the teenage Togruta girl standing on the walkway high above, observing them warily.

The man turned off a small projector next to him, then gathered up the training modules from the floor and put them in a crate nearby. When he was finished with that, he stood straight up, his back to her. "You don't have to hide, you know," he said.

Ahsoka squeaked in surprise, scrambling backwards in hopes of reaching the door before he turned around. But before she could take more than two steps, her feet just... refused to move. Nothing else worked, either. Something she couldn't see or feel was holding her entire body in place.

"Just... Listen to me, all right?" he called.

"Why the kriff should I listen to you? You're keeping me trapped here!" she yelled, fear making her brave enough to rebuke him. She tried to turn around to look him in the eye, but even as her muscles strained, nothing happened. "Let me go!"

"I just don't want you to run away. I just need you to hear me out."

"I won't listen to anything you say until you let me go!"

He exhaled softly, but the sound carried in the large room. "If you say so."

Then, all at once, Ahsoka's limbs and joints went full throttle, as all of the maneuvers she had been trying to do worked at once.

But the whole thing was enough to unbalance her, and, a moment later, she lost her footing and fell over the edge of the walkway.

Her scream of terror was cut short a few feet from the ground as she came to an abrupt halt. She managed to open her eyes, which had been clenched shut from fear, and looked up.

A variety of objects from her schoolbag were floating around her. The latch must have come undone again... I really need to fix it, she thought absentmindedly as she touched a slowly spinning paper and looked up at a book and pencil hovering just above her head.

Then she found the source of the anomaly. The man had fallen to one knee with both of his arms extended, and his fingers outstretched towards her. His own eyes were closed and his brow was furrowed in concentration.

Slowly but surely, he lowered his arms, and she and the contents of her bag sank slowly to the floor. When Ahsoka was on solid ground again, she darted to her feet, breathing heavily. "Holy kriff, y-you just... I... How... I– I don't–"

"It's called the Force," he said, standing up. "It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, and penetrates us, and binds Galactica together... A person can learn how to use it for knowledge, protection and defense."

Emboldened by his straightforwardness and complete willingness to answer her, she tried another question. "What were those glowing sword-things?"

"Lightsabers. They use two special crystals to generate a beam of plasma and focus it into the shape of a blade. They can cut through practically anything, and in the hands of someone who knows how to use it, a lightsaber is a deadly weapon."

"What is this place? Why am I here?"

"I was asked by one of your professors to bring you here, to the Je'daii Sanctum. It's the branch of the Jedi Order that specializes in the training of new recruits in the form of a martial arts school."

Ahsoka shook her head in bewilderment. Every sentence he spoke and every bit of new information was somehow crazier than the last. "Who are you?"

"The name's Anakin Skywalker. I'm a Jedi Knight of the Order, and, if everything works out, I'm going to be your teacher in the ways of the Force."

*Helloooooooo guys!! How are you all doing on this fine Saturday?

I was asked to update this, so here you are. Now that I'm done writing, I get to worry about the rest of my offline life. YAY!!

So, what did you think of Anakin and Ahsoka's meeting? I liked the way it turned out, with her getting in with Anakin's ID (and he's probably quite proud of himself for thinking that up - giving her both the clues and the key) and the secret passageway and all the confusing AU facets that are probably making you wonder what the heck I'm going on about. 

I especially liked writing her being all like WHAT THE HECK IS WITH YOU PEOPLE and Anakin just wanting to talk to her. And then her falling off a walkway and him catching her. That was cool too. Also, fictional brownies and cake to you if you found the SWR season 2 and ANH references in this chapter... :D

Anyways, the next chapter will continue on with Ahsoka and Anakin walking about the Sanctum together, and a few more answers will come to life to ease Ahsoka's frazzled mind... She's still very skittish, but if we're lucky, what she finds out tonight could be a contributing factor to her coming out of her shell...

I'll do my best to update soon, but the chapters for this are LONGGGGG... Meh. Whatever. I started doing it like this so I have to deal with it :D

Bye!