Meanwhile, as Teri and the crew of the Ghost were consorting with the likes of Lando Calrissian and his associates to plot an escape off Lothal, Sorena was in a deep sleep. As she slumbered, her sedated mind relived the parts of her past that, since embracing the Dark Side, had become dangerous to her and demanded she do her absolute best to forget them...

But some things are impossible to forget.

"Hey. Conni. Wake up, Conni. Conni."

"Kriff off, Maddox..." Ahsoka murmured groggily. "I'm still sleeping."

As she spoke, she burrowed deeper under her three or four pillows and assortment of fuzzy blankets, only to let out a surprised shriek when one of the pillows was ripped from her and brought down upon her head.

"So this is where the throw pillows from the common room couches have been going," was all big Zabrak had to say for himself for such an offense. "Hoarder."

"I am a not a hoarder!" she said. "No one was using them, anyways. They weren't even on the couch. Cap'n Lei keeps them all packed away in a box."

"Yeah, to make sure people like you don't steal them." Maddox suddenly broke the most common air he projected – an unforgiving deadpan – with a smile, something he had only really did when she was around.

But he wasn't interested in her like that. He was just a very good friend – a bit like Anakin had been, only a lot more moody and sad... As if he were carrying some sort of great emotional burden he had long since grown used to living with.

But she wasn't going to think about Anakin. She couldn't think about him without worrying about his survival. Every since the formation of the Empire a year prior and the death sentence to all Jedi, the best she could to was hope that he had managed to avoid capture.

Captain Lei Shara of the Saberdart, the pirate ship Ahsoka had been traveling the far corners of the galaxy aboard for close to two years, had a habit of picking the strangest people to be her crewmembers. Rov, the medic, was addicted to hot chocolate. Maddox never slept more than two hours a night (and when he did, it was usually nightmares, which led her to suspect he had some form of PTSD). Kohra, the weapons specialist, was a space grunge aficionado with a tendency to go on long philosophical rants about the meaning of life and their place in the universe. Mikhan, the part-time cook, part-time muscle of the group, had an obsession with knives that had earned him the affectionate nicknamed of 'Sharp-fingers'.

And that was just to name a few.

Ahsoka's own weird quirk was that she preferred sleeping in the engine room in a nook near the ceiling just the right size for a mattress than in the barracks with the others. But as she slept, that mattress and a sheet of metal less than two inches thick were all that separated her from the reservoir filled with deadly tibanna gas.

Also, no one knew who she really was. Conni Akyfa was little more than a guise for the eighteen-year-old Force-sensitive Togruta whose heart was still allied with the fallen Jedi Order.

"So why the hell did you wake me up at such an uncivilized hour, anyways?" she asked him, stretching out her arms and working the kinks out of her spine.

"Captain's orders. Sent me to give the wakeup call. Some sort of meeting about our next trip." He began tugging on a corner of her blankets to pull her out of the corner and towards the makeshift ladder to get up onto the bed. (Not that she really needed it – it was just in case she had a little too much to drink some night and didn't remember her usual route for climbing up the engines and the boilers attached to them.) "So get up."

"Okay, fine," she said, slapping his hands away before she reached a point where she would fall. "Now go away. I'm going to put on my day clothes, and if I catch you anywhere near here while I'm changing, you'll wish you'd never been born."

He cracked a grin. "Seeing your ugly face every day is enough to make me wish that already."

That little comment earned him a kick to the shoulder, which sent him sprawling to the ground. He landed on the hard metal floor with an almighty crash, and Ahsoka laughed as he sat up, groaning. "Get lost, asshole. I need to find a shirt."

-:-:-:-:-:-

A few minutes later, Ahsoka stomped into the common room, putting her big boots to good use to announce her approach.

Some of the other crewmembers looked up as she walked inside, but no one was surprised with her loud entrance. Since leaving the Jedi Order, Ahsoka liked to think she had come out of her shell – she was confident, and unafraid to stare down anyone she disagreed with. Her sharp tongue and odd 'ability' to almost predict what people were going to say before they said it had made for an air of caution when the rest of the crew spoke to her.

She was still the same girl, but with the volume turned way up.

"Ah, her comes our little mechanic. So nice of you to join us at last," Captain Lei said in ways of greeting, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. Aside from her wild, naturally turquoise hair and catlike eyes, she could have passed off for a Human. But even in a time when being alien or mixed was shunned, there was no one more proud of being unique than Captain Lei Nikiro Shara.

"Apologies, Cap'n," Ahsoka said. "I get the impression Maddox here saved waking me up for last."

"Aye, that'd be true," he said with a chuckle. "Wanted to get you off your ass before 900 hours for once."

Captain Lei rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Shut your traps, you two." Then she turned back to face the rest of her crew. "We're going to be making a pit stop before we hit Nar Shaddaa."

There was a collective groan of disappointment. The crew really had been looking forward to their month-long shore leave to Nar Shaddaa; a time to waste all their money, meet all the wrong kinds of people, and take a break for a while.

Ahsoka, however, had no objections to make. She didn't care much for staying in one place too long. She'd lost that affinity when she left the path of the Jedi behind, and it had been even further washed away with the declaration of the New Order and the sudden dangers it presented to the lives of any rogue Force-users.

It was easier to stay moving. It was usually more fun, and left fewer traces.

"What'd be the nature of this delay, Cap'n?" Maddox called over the din. The rest of the crew quieted down immediately; the tall red Zabrak commanded respect on the ship. And, now that Captain Lei's first mate was thinking of leaving life on the Saberdart behind, he was the most popular choice for a successor.

"An old friend's calling in a favor I owe him. Wants me to rendezvous with another ship and pick up some medical supplies and rations for him, then get them to Onderon. His people will meet us there."

Onderon! Ahsoka inhaled sharply. But... that's Lux's homeworld! I wonder how long we'll be staying there... Depends on how well the captain knows this guy or how deep his pockets are. If it's long enough, maybe I'll be able to see Lux...

"If he's even still there," Ahsoka finished aloud.

"What?" Maddox asked through a mouthful of what looked like Alderaanian pastries. She assumed that was his breakfast – he'd always had terrible eating habits.

"Nothing. Just thinking."

The Zab huffed nonchalantly, but she knew he was curious. She wasn't really in the habit of being vague about anything. Sure enough, a moment later, he asked gruffly, "What about?"

"The past. Old memories. Times long gone."

The times would continue to change and governments would come and go, but with all the history Lux Bonteri had with his homeworld, she didn't believe he would ever be too far away...

*Ahsoka has changed since she made the choice to leave the path of the Jedi behind. And, in becoming her own person, she decided to join a pirate crew. Staying out of sight and going with the flow are now the defining facets of her life, but everything can change if she wishes it to – even change back. And now, with Onderon and more than a few old memories on the horizon, she might just meet a few faces familiar enough to bring the Jedi hidden deep inside her back into the light...

HELLO MY LOVELY HUMANS! How're you all doing today?

I for one am plagued with a runny nose, a sore throat and an evil headache. But that is nowhere NEAR enough to stop me from doing what I love best: writing!

This chapter has a lot of interesting little things in it. Maddox, the new Ahsoka, a pirate captain, old memories, major feels in context with previous chapters, and above all a mission to Onderon... Hmmm, I wonder where this could all be leading...? XD

Okay, I must give shoutout to the awesome Storm-Shadows7, whose writing and special requests for a few minor plot details coming up soon that really helped shape the story. You're brilliant and I hope you liked this chapter ;)

Also, if you have not read Soph_theScribe's stuff, DO IT NOW. The last chapter of her SW fanfic Shadows of the Order is just.......... *falls down on bed from overdose of sheer Luxsoka feels*

Anyways, I'll do my best to get stuff updated soon, as always. Until then...

May the Force be with you,

Sharron