Lux was perched on one of the wide railings bordering the main entrance to Coruscant High. He was busy checking over an essay he'd written for Galactican History for any mistakes.

Suddenly he heard footsteps. But he didn't look up. It was probably one of the school staff coming in to start the day. After all, it was still very early.

Suddenly, he heard a voice. "Who is she?"

Lux looked up from his homework, his eyes immediately meeting those of his girlfriend for nearly a year and a half, Steela Gerrera. He chuckled at her abrupt excuse for a question. "Well, hello to you too, Stee."

Steela crossed her arms and cocked her hip in the way that he had always looked so good on her. "Seriously though. Who is she?" she asked. Her lips were compressed into a tight line.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking."

She sighed. "Lux! Come on, this isn't the time for jokes!"

"All right, all right," he said, laughing. "I'll stop. Uh... Who are you asking about, exactly? I know more than a few people who fit under the 'she' category."

"The Togruta girl you were paired up with in class," Steela specified, coming to stand in front of him. "Who is she? Do you know her? Where is she from? I haven't seen her in school before."

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, woman! I barely know her. She's just some girl I'm gonna be working on a project with." He jumped down from the railing, taking the few steps that separated them and resting his hands on her hips. "What is it that I keep telling you?"

Steela smiled, putting her arms around his neck. "That I'm your ay'aniika."

"And what does that mean?"

She played along with her usual line. "You know I haven't studied Old Onderonian in the same depth that your mother had you learn it, Lux. How could I possibly know what it means?"

"Loosely translated, it means 'one and only'. So," he murmured, "when I call you ay'aniika, I'm reminding you that you're my one and only, Stee."

"And that's a title I intend to keep," she said, her turquoise eyes meeting his.

"Yeah," Lux whispered, leaning in to kiss her.

But before he could get close enough, she put the tips of her fingers on his lips. "So don't get too attached to her, all right? I want to keep you where I have you. I don't think I could take losing you to someone else..."

He nodded, a caring look on his face. "I know, Stee. You don't have to worry - I'm sure you never will. And besides, you're my queen." He kissed the tip of her nose. "The queen of Coruscant High."

"I know," Steela whispered softly, and reached up to press her lips to his.

Because after all, she thought, what is a queen without her consort?

Ahsoka walked up the steps to the front entrance of Coruscant High, her back hunched and arms wrapped tightly around her in an effort to escape notice. She knew that people were still staring at her, because even though it had been a day since her incident with Lux Bonteri, no one had forgotten.

She would have to wait until everyone was completely absorbed in the next bit of drama to try talking to people. But even so, her social standing had been scarred for all eternity. The popular kids would still look upon her and frown in disapproval, even if Lux had forgiven her.

After an unbearably long walk under the other students' critical gazes, she reached her locked. She punched her combination into the panel on the locker door, and sighed in relief as if opened. She didn't know what she would do if she forgot her combo again, something she had sadly done more than once since she'd been transferred to the Coruscant orphanage system.

She got her books from her locker in silence, doing her best to ignore the rowdy kids next to her, who had a habit of parking themselves right where it was most annoying for everyone.

She closed the locker again and began to walk towards her homeroom, glad to be early for once. Most of the time, she arrived just as the bell was ringing or later, so she wasn't going to take any chances and just hang around.

As she passed the school nurse's office, she noticed the Mirialan girl from the day before. The girl made eye contact, and waved her over, a light smile on her lips.

Ahsoka eyed her skeptically. Although she was no fashion expert, the girl was dressed... oddly. And that was saying something, considering that Coruscant's citizens were known for crazy outfit choices. The girl was wearing a floor-length indigo dress with a hooded cape, and a belt with some sort of metal hilt she couldn't identify hanging from it.

The day before she had been wearing a dark skirt that went to her mid-thigh with a pair of knee-high boots and a stylish blouse with cutouts on the arms. It was a pretty radical change, all things considering. Now the girl looked like a member of the occult or something.

She didn't particularly want to talk to anyone, including the Mirialan, but she realized it would look weird if she didn't walk over now that people had noticed she was waving.

Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she crossed the hallway.

"Hello," the girl said.

"Hi..."

"Sorry about this - I just wanted to give you the results for your medical exam," she said, and handed her a neatly stapled package of papers. "I meant to get them to you last period yesterday, but I was called back to the Je'daii Sanctum."

The girl spoke like Ahsoka was supposed to know what she was talking about. "Um... What's the Je'daii Sanctum?"

The girl raised an eyebrow, confused. "Don't you know? I mean, you're training there, like me! I'm reading Master Skywalker's presence all over you!"

Ahsoka shook her head, stuffing the papers into her bag. She was now a little uneasy. Then she let out a huff, suddenly sure she'd guessed what was going on. "Wait, is this some kind of joke? I've never heard of a Je'daii Sanctum or anything like that, I- I have no idea what you're talking about!"

The girl's eyes widened. "Oh, kriff... I'm really sorry! I could have sworn..."

"And presences? Get real." Ahsoka snorted. "No one believes in that stuff anymore. It's just hokey religions and ancient superstitions."

"But they're not! You met a Jedi Knight sometime since I last saw you, I-"

"Don't need to hear it." She began walking back towards her homeroom.

"Uh... I'm Barriss!" the Mirialan called after her. "It was nice meeting you...!"

Ahsoka ignored her - Barriss - words, and continued on down the hallway. The door to her class wasn't open yet, so she did what she always did when she had a moment to herself: she sat down on the floor and plugged her music in.

She turned it on loud enough so that she couldn't hear much of the noise going on in the hallway and closed her eyes. Soon she was mouthing the words to the songs, then humming along, and then finally singing quietly.

Suddenly, she had a strange feeling. It was like someone was looking at her, but it was in awe, and not distrust or dismay. She opened her eyes, and realized that Lux Bonteri was sitting next to her on the floor.

She jumped, scrambling away from him in shock. She practically ripped her earpieces out of the jack on her datapad. "I- I- I'm..." she stuttered, as she tried to calm down, her eyes wide.

"It's okay, it's just me," he said, a gentle smile on her face.

Just you? Ahsoka replied in her head, something she had developed a habit of doing when she was too shy to respond verbally. Just you? It's never 'just you'. I'm sorry to break it to you, but you, Lux Bonteri, simply do not fit into the 'just' category!

"Uh, I... Um... Hi."

"Hi," he said.

There was a moment of silence as she shoved her datapad and earpieces back into her bag. A scrap of paper fell out as she did so, and, without thinking, she shoved it into her pocket. He continued to look at her with his beautiful eyes and the same smile, analyzing her face.

She sighed internally. Kriff, his eyes are amazing...

Then, out of the blue, Lux spoke up again. "You're actually really good, you know. Like really good."

"A... At what?" she asked, then realized what he meant. "Oh. You mean my singing...? Kriff, I didn't even notice it was out loud! I just kind of... well... I fade into the music, you know? I don't even notice what I'm doing."

Kriff. I'm either rambling or stuttering. Get it together already, Ahsoka!

"Well, whatever it was, it was amazing. Like, actually amazing." He laughed. "I've never heard anyone sing like that before! How do you do that?"

"Uh... I don't know. I've always been able to-" She stopped speaking, looking at him in surprise. "Wait. You- you like it?"

He nodded. "Do you have any other hidden talents I should know about?"

"Uh..." She briefly considered telling him about her writing, but she thought better of it. Most of what she wrote was highly personal anyways, and she didn't know what she'd tell him if he asked to read it... Not that he would, but still. "Um, no, not really. Just singing and languages, that's pretty much it..."

"Languages?"

"Yeah. Why so many questions."

"It's just... Well..." He shrugged in that embarrassed sort of way that looked so good on the popular boys, a slight blush on his ivory cheeks. "I tried asking Steela - my girlfriend - if she could help me, but she doesn't know Nubian. I have this project for Galactican Language Arts due in a while, and I have to translate something from Basic into Nubian." He looked up. "And, to be honest, I have no idea where to start."

Ahsoka tried not to frown at the word girlfriend. "Really? You?"

"I'm not that good at translating unless it's Alderaanian or Onderonian. Or maybe Ryl... But I got stuck with Nubian, and I've been looking for someone to help me out." Suddenly, realization dawned on his face. "Wait, you're from Shili, right?"

"I am..." Then she figured out what he was getting at. "Oh! Yeah, I know Nubian. It's my third language, but they taught it in school back at home along with some Ryl. I can help you! Uh, that is, if you want the help..."

"Absolutely! At this point, I don't think I can really afford to turn it down."

Ahsoka felt a blush coming to her cheeks. Oh kriff, this is actually happening! How do I react? What do I say?

"Then... I guess so, yeah."

"Thank you!" He took her hand, and she felt a tingle running up through her entire body. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"

She smiled. Something about his touch was pouring liquid confidence into her, and her heart was pumping that instead of blood through her veins. "You're welcome, Lux. But... Did you just happen to hear me singing and walk over, or what? Did you need me for something?"

"Yes, I was just going to ask you what the due date is for the project on Councilor Organa. You wouldn't believe it, but I have a Nexu cub as a pet, and it used my papers on the project as bedding for its nest..."

She laughed gently. It was the oldest excuse in the book; if one were to decode what he'd just said, he'd lost the papers. "Yeah, okay. I'll tell in Political Sciences later. I mean, the bell is about to-"

Right on cue, the bell announcing that the students had five minutes to get to homeroom rang.

"Fine by me." Lux stood up, hefting his bag onto one shoulder. "And thanks again, I really owe you one... Ahsoka."

As he walked away, she leaned back up against the wall, suddenly realizing that this had been the first time he'd addressed her by name.

And she actually liked the way her name sounded when he said it.

*gasps for breath* FIVE... AND A HALF... PAGE... LONG... CHAPTER... ON A WORD DOCUMENT... MAN AND I WROTE THAT WITHOUT ANY PROMPTING FROM ANYBODY I AM ACTUALLY SO PROUD OF MYSELF RIGHT NOW I JUST BROKE MY RECORD THIS IS THE KRIFFING LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE EVER WRITTEN FOR ANYTHING EVER

Okay, rant over. I'm actually very pleased with the way this chapter turned out though... Everything in this fanfic is falling into place a lot better than I imagined it would. I kind of grossed myself out while writing the first half of the chapter though... I think it was bad for my health. *coughs weakly* It's official now, I can read fanfics about other ships, but it kind of kills me a little to write them.

Expect the Luxsteela (I'm sorry but it's vital to the story) moments to be far and few in between and very brief and lacking description. I just don't think I can really put myself through it... It makes me kind of SIIIIICCCCCKKK *runs to the bathroom and throws up in the toilet*

Anyways, Steela is kind of calculating in this fanfic. She's mainly dating Lux for the social standing and the benefits, but she's also really into him. That's why she's automatically jealous if she sees him talking to someone she doesn't think he can. He's just genuinely into her, and sees the social gain as something that's pretty trivial.

And I know the Lux and Ahsoka conversation dragged on for quite a while, but I wanted the dialogue to be as natural as possible, and that's where my quest for natural-ness led me.

Remember the piece of paper Ahsoka shoved in her pocket and the fact that she didn't tell him about her writing and Barriss and Ahsoka's awkward meeting... Those later become important in the story. And besides, it's fun to mess around with Ahsoka meeting all these figures that are going to become so important in her life and immediately getting off on the wrong foot!

Wow, that was a LONG author's note. Sorry about that. I'll try to update this again soon, because I have solemnly sworn that this will be the weekend when EVERYTHING EXCEPT L:ALS BECAUSE THAT TAKES TOO LONG GETS UPDATED. So be merry and expect updates on TISS, UAAT, TSAJ!!! And also a one-shot I'm going to post soon as a contest entry.

Bye!