As eager as she'd been to get behind the yoke again, Ahsoka let Lux fly the airspeeder back to Kyzeron. It was late, and her senses were swimming pleasantly in a nip of Onderonian spiced wine. She was content to slouch down in her seat and dangle a hand over the door on the passenger side, letting the humid breeze whipped up in their wake catch between her fingers.

The perfect end to a perfect night, she thought, and didn't realize she'd said as much aloud until she felt Lux's hand on her lap, giving her upper thigh a reassuring squeeze before he turned his attention back to the skies.

The bright lights of the city grew more distinct the closer they flew. Before long, she could make out the shape of Noreino House in the distance, a monolithic shadow dispelling any illusion of welcome Kyzeron's glow could offer.

Ahsoka frowned, sitting up in her seat. She'd had enough to drink to mellow her out, but not enough for her to miss the fact that unless Lux made a course correction soon, they would overshoot Noreino House completely. "Lux, you know we're not making our approach along the same vector we left on. You have to adjust course to compensate."

"I know. I just have an errand to run." He flashed her a secretive smile, and Ahsoka had a sneaking suspicion he had one last surprise left in store this evening.

"All right," she said uncertainly, settling back in her seat. Again Lux's hand found her thigh, and she smiled, linking her fingers through his on her lap.

The rest of the ride passed in comfortable silence as Lux diverted more and more of his focus to his surroundings – wary of making a mistake in front of her now that he knew Ahsoka could fly a speeder, perhaps. Before long, they'd touched down in the alley beside a dingy stone building that looked to Ahsoka's untrained eye like some kind of administrative center. There was no sign or engraving above the door listing its exact purpose, but Lux radiated confidence into the Force.

They were definitely in the right place.

"There's always a clerk or two here, even this late at night," he said by way of explanation for why they were here as he disembarked. "I won't be long. I just need to get something notarized."

"Okay."

Lux's eyes sparkled as he grinned at her, and warmth burst from a low flicker in her chest to high flames. Jumping out of the speeder after him, Ahsoka threw her arms around him and hugged him close. With a laugh, Lux squeezed her just as tight, nearly lifting her clean off the ground.

"Thank you for this, Lux," she whispered against his shoulder, breathing in his sweet scent of citrus and herbs until she was nearly dizzy with it. "You know you didn't have to–"

"I wanted to. That was reason enough."

Emotions she couldn't name welling up inside her, Ahsoka threaded her fingers through his hair and yanked him down for a fierce kiss. Lux met her with a kiss that was deeper still, and Ahsoka was just beginning to contemplate dragging him back down into the speeder when he pulled away.

"I– Alynna, I have to do this," he said, kissing her nose in apology. "I've put it off too long already. I'll be right back, I promise."

Ahsoka forced herself to nod and tuck her arms down at her sides instead of pulling him closer. He withdrew, turning to flash her one last smile as he rounded the building to the front entrance. There was a swish-click as the door slid open and shut, faint with the distance, and then she was left alone.

This wasn't a part of Kyzeron Ahsoka was familiar with – which wasn't really saying much, considering she'd only ever left Noreino House to see Ludda and Tosi, and only detoured from her route to the inn the time she'd spotted Lux. The soldier in her was wary, and wanted to scan the surrounding area for the hiding places and blind corners where an enemy could ambush her and Lux. The person her year as a slave had begun shaping her into didn't share those worries. From the construction of the buildings and the relative cleanliness of the alley (by Kyzeron standards, anyway) the area was comfortably middle-class.

There shouldn't be any trouble.

A noise at the back of the alley made her stiffen then relax, muscles slipping into battle readiness as her senses raced on ahead to scout for threats. Her breath caught in her throat when she registered the auras of a group of Elite storm troopers startlingly close by, jagged rocks breaking the otherwise calm currents of the Force as it swirled around them. She severed her connection to the Force in one quick, brutal tear, praying they hadn't come close enough to sense her in return.

The minutes crawled by, and still there was no sign of danger. Without dropping her guard, Ahsoka moved closer to the origin of the sound she'd heard on silent feet. An emaciated form dressed in clothes that had seen better days was the alley's only other occupant. The man shifted, apparently asleep. His elbow thumping against an empty crate made the same sound she'd heard before.

Ahsoka took a deep breath. Not an ambush. Still, perhaps it would be best to move on. The man's fingers twitched erratically even as he slept – the easiest sign to spot in a glitterstim addict. Glitterstim could make people quicker to anger, and where there was one junkie, there were usually others.

She shook the thought away. Rex had known a brother or two who'd gotten caught up in it – no one she'd met, he'd said, but she knew him well enough to guess he'd been lying to protect their privacy – and he'd always told her it was a trap. The poor guys had no idea what they were getting into, most of the time. Even if they did, it was important to be compassionate.

She smiled. It had seemed funny at the time to hear Jedi wisdom coming from a clone who'd only met his first Jedi Knights shortly before he'd met Ahsoka, but her, Anakin, and Rex's similar outlook had only made them into a stronger team.

A team that had gone from an unbreachable trio to a beaten-down duo, and then shrank down again until a single soldier was left standing. Anakin and Rex were still alive and well in her memory, but Rex was gone, and Anakin...

Ahsoka had stopped looking for him. She'd stopped so much as thinking about him, most of the time, because she had so much else on her plate.

Her legs felt about to collapse out from under her. She threw one shoulder against the wall to hold herself there, but there was nothing like that she could do to bolster her mind up into a positive line of thinking. I came to Kyzeron to save Anakin. I came here to save him, and I got so sidetracked and made so many other promises I wasn't even there to help Rex when he needed me.

Tears sprang to her eyes. She wiped them away with the palm of one hand, furious with herself. She'd failed everyone, and she had the gall to cry about it? She had no right to mourn them when she hadn't done what it took to rescue them.

Lux rounded the corner, and Ahsoka nearly screamed at him to get away from her before she destroyed him, too. Instead she found herself staggering the last few feet to meet him as he ran to her, embracing her, and kissed him hard enough to bruise. She tasted her own tears, and devoured his mouth until the salt was gone.

She deserved her guilt. She knew that. But she'd do anything to escape it right now, even if it didn't feel completely right, even if it meant hurting herself as much as helping. Lux was the only one she had left – the only one who understood, at least a little. He was here, and as the last few weeks had proven with agonizing clarity, he was more than enough to distract her.

Lux pulled back before she could catch him and reel him back in again. "Alynna, what the hell is going on?"

"Just–" It came out as half a sob. She swallowed and tried again. "I need you. Lux, my thoughts are going to eat me alive if I don't shut them off."

He shook his head, looking a little pained. "Don't use me like this."

Eyes burning, she hooked a leg around his hips and started unzipping her tunic. He wanted her. She knew he wanted her, and he'd say yes once he understood how much she needed this, too. He had to.

"Alynna, stop." Lux put a hand on her collarbone, stopping her before she could undo her tunic far enough. "This isn't you, and you're only going to hurt–"

Behind Lux, the darkness moved. Acting on reflex, adrenaline chasing the last of the spiced wine out of her system, Ahsoka spun them so that Lux's back was to the wall. The blow knocked the wind out of him, but she didn't ask if he was all right; apologies could wait. In the same move, she twisted on one heel to put herself between him and possible danger, shoulders squared and hands balled into fists.

"What's all this racket about?" demanded the junkie she'd spotted earlier in a hoarse voice. She hadn't been able to see his face then, but several days' worth of scruff was growing in patches on his sallow blue cheeks, and there were just as many gaps in his teeth. He was Pantoran, if she wasn't mistaken. "Can't ya see some people are tryna sleep?"

"I can now," Lux said softly from behind her.

Ahsoka nudged him sharply to quiet him. "We're sorry. We'll be moving on."

Linking arms with Lux, she began drawing him away. The junkie stepped in front of them again, looking them up and down before letting out an uproarious laugh. "Naw, naw, I know exactly what ya're doing here. Seen it all before, ever since that guy Vader showed up. Just another pair of young people out to meet a lover their mammies and daddies wouldn't approve of, and figuring nobody'll think to check an alley for curfew dodgers."

"The lockdown is lifting, now," Ahsoka said, but she had a bad feeling.

The junkie guffawed. "Over? Darlin', you've got your dates mixed up."

The tiniest of probes with the Force confirmed he was telling the truth – or at least the truth as he knew it. It could be that the drugs were changing his perception, making the man miss or confuse the reality of the world around him with what he'd heard on his last trip, but still... "Lux?" Ahsoka said, a question as much as a threat.

"Okay, so I bribed a few people to give us early access," he hissed. "The curfew is lifting in two weeks. I thought I had it under control!"

"You should've told me!" Ahsoka hissed back.

The junkie pointed a curious finger at them. "Unless you're like those slaves I saw last week, meeting out here to overthrow the boss. But you don't look like slaves, unless someone went and did you up real nice." He snickered again, and leaned forward to conspiratorially stage-whisper, "Are ya rebels?"

Out of the corner of her eye Ahsoka saw Lux's eyes widen. "What?"

"Shut up," Ahsoka growled at him. "Let me handle this."

"You are, aren't ya?" The junkie howled like a stray tooka, and abruptly, his voice rose to a yell. "Rebels! Rebels against the Empire and the Houses, right here on my doorstep! Ha ha! Whaddaya know!"

"Quiet!" Ahsoka snapped, but the junkie went right on laughing. "We aren't rebels, but if the Empire comes, they'll arrest you, too, you know that?"

Lux put a hand on her shoulder. "Alynna..."

"Quiet," she said again. "I'll deal with you later."

Stars, the man was yelling and laughing loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood. If the Elites came, or if they saw Lux's speeder leaving here and tracked it to the palace...

Ahsoka took a breath. She had to risk it. She raised a hand and broadened her connection to the Force as much as she dared. "You'll leave us be if you know what's good for you," she said, and pressed down on the man's mind with her power.

It was much, much easier said than done. Lest Lux realize what she was doing, she couldn't speak the way she'd been trained to get the greatest effect with the least amount of energy. And the junkie's mind... at the first sign of an intruder, it scattered in a dozen directions, slipping out of her grasp at every turn.

"Ha! Look at this girl," he said. "She even thinks she's some kind of Jedi!"

Jedi. Jedi. Jedi. Echoes of the word skittered up through the alley and into the night, and Ahsoka's grip on her power collapsed. As it flared, uncontrolled, the Elites perked up like hounds with a fresh scent of prey.

Ahsoka leapt forward, knocking the junkie out cold with a sharp blow to his windpipe. He fell back into a trash heap, gurgling, and Ahsoka grabbed Lux's hand. "We need to leave. Now."

"Why did he think you were a–"

"Don't. Don't say that word. Just get in the speeder."

Lux yanked his arm free, cheeks flushing a sudden red after the pallor shock had thrown over him. "No. Not until I've heard an explanation. First you– you try to force yourself on me, now you're running from the word Jedi like it's a curse?"

"It might as well be," Ahsoka said, making another grab for his hand. "We're far from rooms you can scan for listening devices right now, and this guy wouldn't keep his voice down. Which you're not doing either, unless you actually want the worst thugs the Empire can throw at us on your tail?"

"Alynna, be reasonable. It's near two in the morning, and here in Kyzeron, people learn to ignore strange noises at night." Lux hit her with a flat stare. "What's the worst that could–"

Two people with patchwork auras rounded the corner and primed their blasters. Their streamlined storm trooper armor was as black as the space between stars, and Ahsoka couldn't help but think back to the six columns of obsidian that had stood around Anakin, electrocuting him until he neared heart failure–

Her gaze slanted back to Lux, to the way his jaw was working to form words without making any sound, and she gritted her teeth. Ahsoka wouldn't lose someone else she cared about the way she'd come to care about Lux. Never again.

She slammed her connection to the Force wide open, a shifting of tectonic plates that pushed waves out away from her. Her presence flamed, a dead giveaway of her position, but she'd already been found; the need for information outweighed the need for secrecy, now. When those waves hit unfriendly shores, they would be deflected back toward her with all the little details she'd need to fight and win.

"Find cover," she said, "and keep your blaster close."

Ahsoka broke into a run without waiting for Lux to answer, pulling her mental shields up to distort her the same way she'd hidden herself at the auction. She'd worked with Lux for the better part of a month, shaping his reflexes into something nearing those of a trained fighter. He'd listen. She knew he'd listen.

The Elites opened fire. Ahsoka leapt up onto the speeder's bumper and clapped her hands together, scattering the spray of laser blasts at the walls before they could meet their mark. The first Elite stopped firing, ducking down instead to summon the Force while her comrade kept Ahsoka at a distance. A dumpster nearly as long as the alleyway was wide lifted off its back struts with the screech of metal on duracrete, then sailed through the air toward her. Toward Lux.

The flash of fear for him triggered reflexes Ahsoka thought she'd lost. She threw the full weight of her power against the airborne dumpster. It curved midair, slamming into the administrative building hard enough to punch a hole in the stonework. Ahsoka winced, hoping the clerks Lux had gone to speak to were elsewhere in the building, but that was all the thought she could spare them.

Using the distraction to their advantage, the two Elites leapt, electrostaffs drawn from the holsters on their backs and crackling with energy. Ahsoka dodged smoothly between them, but drew her left hand in half a second too late. Electricity coursed up her arm, and she gasped, tucking her tender fingers into a fist.

One Elite lunged. Pressing through the pain, Ahsoka snaked under his guard and kicked him aside just in time to lean back under his comrade's swipe with her electrostaff. The violet-white glow at the end of the weapon came dangerously close to Ahsoka's face, but it was worth it; unbalanced, the Elite stumbled forward to regain her footing. Ahsoka didn't give her that chance, arching back into a handstand and hooking her ankles around the metal staff as she swung her legs upward.

Her injured fingers stung, making it even harder to gain any purchase on the slick, humid stone. She breathed through pain the way she'd been taught as a child, plus a curse on the exhale – Anakin's addition to the routine – and pushed off the ground. Momentum carried her back into a standing position. Snatching the half-reclaimed electrostaff from its wielder, she whipped it at her other opponent's head.

He went down trembling as the electricity worked its way through his body. As much to make sure she'd killed him as to short out any cams in his HUD that might be recording her, she brought the staff down on his helmet again. He spasmed, then lay still, his patchwork aura burnt away to peaceful, if mournful, nothingness.

The Force screamed a warning, and Ahsoka lifted her stolen weapon just in time to absorb an incoming vibroblade. The knife lodged in the staff just shy of her hand, and the automated cutting action of the blade began to eat through the metal. Switching the staff to a one-handed grip before it severed vital wires, Ahsoka pulled the vibroblade free and let the Force guide her arm.

The thrown knife caught the remaining Elite between helmet and chest plate, lodging directly in her throat. She slumped against the wall, spouting blood, then lay still. Ahsoka hit her helmet with a burst of electricity for good measure, gazing dispassionately at the corpse until she was certain it wouldn't be moving again.

Then she remembered Lux.

He'd drawn his blaster and gotten to cover as she'd instructed, but instead of watching his surroundings he was staring at her, open-mouthed. Ahsoka hardened herself to that look before she could decide which of his emotions were at the forefront – awe, horror, distrust – and hurried back to him.

"Elites travel in squads of six or twelve," she said. "They fight to surprise an opponent when they can't pin and overwhelm them. There'll be more lying in wait."

"How do you know all–"

She grabbed his hand and started pulling him down the alleyway. This time, he didn't fight her. "Don't talk. Move."

"The speeder–"

Ahsoka shook her head and reeled her shields back in, front after front collapsing in on itself before being smoothly reabsorbed. "They know where we are, now. They'll shoot down anything that takes off. Can you get us back from here?"

Lux nodded shakily. "I think so." He set his jaw, pushing aside his doubts and worries, and it smacked as much of the insurgent he'd once been as it did the leader he'd become since then. "No, I know so. I can get us there if you keep watch."

"Right. I'll be..."

Ahsoka trailed off, widening her connection to the Force again a touch when a faint song, long-forgotten and only recently remembered, washed up against the edges of her senses. She thought she'd imagined that comforting hum after the news of Rex's death, but maybe...

Patchwork auras crowded into her mind, drowning out the pristine, calming song with a screeching cacophony of mismatched voices. And they were far too near for running away to do her and Lux any good.

"They're too close," she said. "Change of plans: we make our stand here."

Lux opened his mouth, but instead of voicing aloud the question that was really on his mind – how she knew so much – he asked, "Which direction?"

Ahsoka shut her eyes and reached out. "The far end of the alley," she said after a moment. "Stay behind me. I can't protect you if you're in their line of fire."

"I thought they would try to surprise us."

"They..." She cleared her throat. "They know what they're dealing with, now."

"And what's–"

Two Elites rounded the corner, their feline grace tempered by the hard steps of a military march. As they armed themselves and began advancing at a low crouch, electrostaffs whirring with energy, another pair followed. And suddenly Ahsoka was feeling many things at once.

Fear: the third Elite wielded a flickering dual-bladed Imperial lightsaber with the skill of one who'd spent long hours learning how to use it masterfully. Anger: the blade was the bright green of a stolen Jedi blade untampered by the corruption of the dark side. Hate, and joy: the crystals in the hilt were hers. Hers.

Some bastard had gutted her lightsabers, her precious lightsabers that had once been as much a part of her as her hands and feet. But against all odds, the crystals that had powered them through countless battles had made it here.

And they would answer to her above all others.

Diving back into the shifting currents of the Force, Ahsoka extended a hand and reached for her crystals. The first two Elites charged forward, and she gathered her power back around her. The second they were close, she lashed out, whipping the first Elite into the wall with concussive force. He stayed where he fell, his neck bent at an unnatural angle.

The second had quicker reflexes, or a stronger connection to the Force, or both. He clapped his hands together in front of him, parting the blast the way a nose of a starfighter parted the air, and swung his electrostaff at her head the second the danger was past. Putting the crystals out of her mind for the time being, Ahsoka dodged the blow, replying with a vicious upward strike. The Elite blocked it, and turned his head to jabber at his two remaining comrades.

Ahsoka winced as they began moving forward, arming a wicked blaster and the facsimile lightsaber. She winced again, biceps shaking with the strain, when the Elite pressed down on her electrostaff. He was a big man, taller and broader than even Anakin, the kind she usually needed speed and agility and the Force to evade. But he knew too much of the Force to fall for her tricks, and if she moved out from between him and Lux, the boy she'd sworn time and time again to protect would be wide open for a killing blow.

And the other two Elites were creeping steadily closer, still wary of a sudden move from her, but their hesitation wouldn't last long.

The song of her crystals coasted over her then, as fresh and comforting as the first autumn breeze in the fading heat of summer. The closer that third Elite came to her, the stronger the song grew.

Reach for me, it said without words. Dance with me in the bonds between the stars, and let us share what we have seen and learned in the time we were apart.

Ahsoka shot a glance back at Lux, seeing the fear in his eyes – for her, and of her, too. Thrusting every emotion but blind faith aside, she shut her eyes and answered the call.

The Elite carrying the lightsaber had strong conditioning around her mind, but that was a poor stand-in for a strong mind on its own. But they needed it. Much as Jedi were when they became slaves, to become an Elite storm trooper, a person was subject to a breaking and remolding that left them cracked but nearly whole. The rifts where the chaotic substance of the new creature could escape were plastered over with skills gained from repetitive training – closed, but fragile.

Ahsoka inhaled sharply. She'd been given an impossible gift of knowledge no other Jedi ever gleaned and lived to tell the tale of. No other would dare face this many Elites at once, and if they did, it would be with a weak connection to the Force, hoping to slip in under the radar without being exposed as a Jedi.

For all that Jedi-like power, they weren't Jedi, and never would be. The Elites' minds were already so taxed keeping a tenuous grip on their sanity that the slightest pressure would push them over the edge.

"Break," she whispered, barely a suggestion, and they did.

Ahsoka opened her eyes to utter pandemonium. The Elite armed with the lightsaber had dropped it, and now clutched at her head. With a feral scream, her comrade threw aside his blaster and flung himself at the wall, smashing his body against it and staggering up to do it again. As though trying to snuff out a feeling that was growing beneath his armor, the Elite who'd attacked her was smacking his electrostaff against his armor, yelling words in a language she didn't know. It sounded almost like a prayer.

A thud sounded behind her. Ahsoka whipped around to find Lux sprawled on the ground and propelling himself away from the carnage as fast as he could with his hands and boots. She'd never seen him look so terrified.

She scrambled to his side and dove down to her knees. Jamming his face into the crook of her neck, she clapped her hands over his ears and projected as much reassurance to him through the Force as his panic-addled mind could process. This was not something she wanted him to see.

The Elites screamed and screamed, the death throes of creatures who had so long had their every thought kept under lock and key that free, uninhibited access to the Force was maddening. They clawed at armor, at flesh, stabbed through skin in the hope of spilling blood. The Force around them was an explosion of fear and hate.

The one who was throwing himself at the wall finally died, and such a strong smell of charred flesh rose from Ahsoka's opponent that she was certain the odd twitches of his fingers were a sign of the electricity still working its way through his body, and nothing more. The last of the three was wreathed in glassy maroon, the lightsaber lying just beyond the growing pool of her own blood.

It was done.

Breathing heavily, Ahsoka uncurled herself from where she'd been shielding Lux. He blinked and looked around him, going perfectly still when his gaze slid past the corpses at the far end of the alley. A second later, he turned away and heaved violently, emptying his stomach into a nearby crate.

Ahsoka shrank back as the bitter stench of vomit hit her nostrils. Composing herself, she murmured, "I'll be back," and rose to her feet again.

Two of the fallen Elites' helmets – the one she'd hurled at the wall, and the one who'd thrown himself at on his own – were smashed beyond recognition. She stripped the remaining helmets and crushed the delicate tech with the Force, eyeing the electrostaffs thoughtfully as she scooped up the discarded saber.

If the one she'd seen in action at the auction house was any indication, this Imperial knock-off lightsaber wouldn't hold up in a fight. (Not the kind of fighting she was best at, anyway.) Now that she had the crystals, she could rebuild her lightsabers as solid as they'd been two years ago, but the parts would be hard to come by. She wasn't likely to have a scavenging opportunity like this again.

She shook her head and left the electrostaffs where they were. She had no idea how she could sneak them into Noreino House – if she could even go back, after the stunt she'd just pulled. Besides, they were sure to have tracking devices in them, much like...

Unscrewing the button to ignite the lightsaber as the Force had whispered she should do, she removed a tiny tracking chip and tossed it away. Lux spluttered as she tucked the lightsaber under her belt.

"You're– you're looting?"

After what he'd just witnessed, that was far from the worst thing Lux could accuse her of. Fighting to keep her expression neutral and praying he wouldn't ask anything else, she made her way back towards him. "It's not right for the Empire to have these," she said, patting the hilt. "Besides, lightsaber crystals are worth a lot." To me, specifically, she added silently.

Lux moved back a step, avoiding her eyes. Grimacing, she came to a halt, arms lifted in a pacifying gesture, and felt fear coil tighter in her belly.

He knew. He had to know. How could he not? She'd thrown a dumpster ten times her weight clean through a wall without touching it, and that wasn't even factoring in the deflected laser bolts and quick blows with the Force as she fought. Her sudden fixation with the lightsaber painted a damning picture, and the Elites...

Ahsoka bit her lip, struggling to find a way to put into words the fundamental truth about herself, something she'd already given weeks of thought to no avail. It was happening all wrong, and she didn't know how to fix it.

"You're a Jedi," he whispered.

Hearing that word from the junkie's mouth had rattled Ahsoka more than she would've thought possible, but this... She felt like a criminal who'd receiving the death sentence. The revulsion in Lux's eyes, the complete feeling of betrayal coming off him in waves brought fresh tears to her eyes.

"Will you deny it?" he pressed. He was still green in the face, and he was very pointedly not looking at the corpses behind her, but there was strength in him. He already knew the answer to the question he'd asked her.

"No," she whispered.

"What?"

"No," she said, louder this time. Tears rolled down her cheeks before she could blink them away. "There's no denying it; you saw what you saw. I'm a Jedi."

"All this time, you were a Jedi?" he said, half to himself. "Alynna– if that even is your name–" Lux broke off, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No, of course it's not. No Jedi would be that stupid with the Empire in power. Gods, I'm so blind. It should have been so obvious, from all the stories you told, but you played me for a fool!"

"It wasn't all playing. What I feel with you is real, and it's right, and–"

"It wasn't all? Wasn't all?" He was on the point of tears too, now, his beautiful green eyes wide and half-crazed. "How much of it was, then? You just killed three people with your mind! How deeply have you reached into mine since I met you?"

"No more than I had to."

"What the hell does that mean?" he yelled, so raw and angry Ahsoka's mind skipped back to the night weeks and weeks ago when in the midst of his grief she'd nearly chosen the path of war and radicalized him.

This was what she would have been unleashing on the galaxy in choosing differently. She'd never seen him angry like this before, had never seen him give into fear and let anger consume him. It was terrifying. He was terrifying.

She saw now why the Jedi had always warned her that fear and anger were a path to the dark side. In a Force user, this would have corrupted a Jedi long ago. Even without it, he could be a dictator. With only a few words, he could work legions into a killing frenzy and send them to conquer new worlds in his name. He could overthrow Dooku, and rule with hatred the likes of which the galaxy had never seen, and would never see again.

I have to calm him down, or there's no telling what he'll do, she thought, and made her voice as nonthreatening as possible. "Lux, please, let's talk about this–"

Lux silenced her a cold look and held up a hand. He realized it was trembling, and stiffened, running it up through his hair. "Not now." His voice broke, cracking on the last syllable, and he was quiet for a few long seconds before he spoke again. "Just not... not now. I can't do this right now."

She watched the anger leech out of him, and some of the tension in her body eased away. He hadn't given in. And he wouldn't, as long as he still had the strength to come back to himself. That made him better than she would ever be, because even if she'd managed to claw her way back, she'd already done it.

Abruptly Ahsoka realized he was holding a folded slip of flimsi out to her. Hesitantly she stepped forward to take it from him, wary of scaring him away again. He stayed where he was, looking at her expectantly, and she unfolded it to read the contents. Her eyes overflowed.

"You can't mean–"

"This is how this night was supposed to end," Lux said quietly. His voice was nearly expressionless. "With you reading that paper and learning you were free."

I can go back to the Rebellion. I can find Anakin. I can move freely enough to build my network here into what the people deserve. "You... no, Lux..."

"It's already done. Do with it what you will. I wash my hands of it." He looked past her down the alley as though having forgotten what lay there. He clapped a hand over his mouth, his eyes screwing shut as he fought to keep from throwing up again. He probably had nothing left to lose but bile.

Lux took a few deep breaths muffled by his hand. Then, in increments, he mastered himself, straightening up to look at her with glassy eyes. "You played me for a fool, and like an idiot I fell in love with you. I so hoped that if I proved I was willing to let you make your own choices, you would choose to stay with me."

Ahsoka's jaw wouldn't seem to close all the way. "You love me?"

Lux averted his eyes, blinking away tears. Then, he jumped into the speeder on the pilot's side and began the preflight check. "Come on, get in. I left Noreino House with you. I need to return with you, too, or my father's eyes and ears in the palace will think I'm up to something. That will make my life that much harder."

I'm up to something. My life. Ahsoka found herself nodding as she joined him in the speeder, too tired to beg and scream and pretend she didn't understand when she understood him completely. She was no longer a part of his plans and equations, his careful maneuvers to keep them both safely under his father's radar.

She was an outsider in his life now, unworthy of trust or the small amount of protection he could give her from Kyzeron's tangled web.

She'd lost him, and there was no way in hell they could come back from this.

A night of healing has ended in bloodshed, and now, Ahsoka's greatest secret is out: Lux knows she's a Jedi. Does he truly want nothing more to do with her, as Ahsoka seems convinced is the case, or is the truth more complex than she believes? Ahsoka was lucky last time she ran into the Kyzeron authorities that no clues led back to her. After another open confrontation with the Elites, will her luck continue to hold? And, more critically, will Lux forgive her for what she's done? Only time will tell...

BAM

THE BIG REVEAL

AND OF COURSE IT HAPPENED IN THE WORST WAY POSSIBLE BECAUSE WHEN DOES ANYTHING EVER GO AS PLANNED IN STAR WARS

Just when Ahsoka starts to think "Okay, I've got a handle on this, I'm turning into someone new but that's okay" ya girl evil author Shan says HAHAHAHA NOPE SORRY LOVE HERE THE PAST COMES TO BITE YOU IN THE BUTT

This chapter was a LOT (I gave this story the rating I did for a reason, but I'm still sorry if I distressed anybody) but yall had to know this was coming. It's been coming since the beginning of the fic, building momentum with every secret shared or concealed. Most often concealed, with these two. Is the way I took Lux and Ahsoka apart until they'd reached the point of absolute desperation just to build them back up again a form of catharsis for my trust issues? Absolutely not...

Ahsoka's biggest reckoning yet is ahead, and I can't wait to share it. She's ecstatic to have her lightsabers back – or at least the means to rebuild them to her liking – but there are some things she can't face with a weapon in hand. However, I can promise it will end well. Eventually. Kind of.

Next chapter we see the aftermath of this incident from several points of view, from the most distant to the closest. I'll talk to you guys then!

"The Elites' helmet cams were smashed beyond any hope of recovering their contents, but based off the spread of the battle and what the second squad was able to sense from afar, the Jedi confronted the first group using the Force and unarmed combat. They then disarmed and killed them using their own electrostaffs.

"When the second group of four made their approach, the Jedi killed one of the members of your honor guard by throwing him against the wall. The Jedi fought the other – the strongest Force user of the six, as I understood it – in armed combat using a stolen electrostaff. Then..." Rehin paused, swallowing audibly. "Somehow, the Jedi drove them mad, my Lord."

"They did what?" Vader shook his head. "What you speak of is impossible."

"They mutilated themselves, my Lord, and threw themselves against walls. Other Elites nearby spoke of sensing a pressure on their minds, compelling them to forget their training, but they were too far away for it to truly take hold."

Vader grit his teeth. His Master was going to be furious when he learned of this. He'd known, as the Emperor knew from years of twisted experiments with midichlorians, that the Elites were susceptible to mind tricks. No Jedi was meant to live long enough to discover that, but apparently, one had.

And had then escaped to tell the tale to whomever they liked.

The dark side roared at the periphery of Vader's mind, a storm that grew harsher and stronger the higher his fear and anger rose. "Finish your report," he said hollowly, praying something in what Rehin said next would allow Vader to fix this before the Emperor received word of it.

"Much as before, the Jedi destroyed the Elites' surveillance tech. They then fled the scene with their accomplice, taking with them the lightsaber. From what we know, the entire skirmish took place in the space of a few minutes."

"The Imperial-grade lightsabers have tracking beacons in them," Vader said, and felt the storm recede somewhat. Major General Acesto would already be in the process of tracking the Jedi down, her forces zeroing in on the chip's frequency–

"I'm... I'm sorry, my Lord. The tracker was found in the alleyway along with the rest of the unusable tech."

That was another thing that should not have happened, unless the Jedi was so attuned to the Force they could sense threats even in a lightsaber. But there was another possibility, one Vader hadn't allowed himself to consider but had had on his mind ever since Rehin mentioned the word 'Togruta'.

"Who did the crystal in that blade belong to?" he asked slowly.

"One moment, my Lord. Let me consult my records." For a few seconds, all was silent. Then, Rehin said, "The lightsaber is question is double-bladed, with two crystals on record as having belonged to Reduction Subject 5399, a Padawan who was captured on Felucia just over a year ago. Her given name is Ahsoka Tano."