Author's Note: Hey guys, this is my first fanfiction ever to post. I, like many others, am an avid Star Wars fan, and so naturally got around to writing this. Spoilers for Season 5 of The Clone Wars. This takes place during the Clone Wars, but after Ahsoka left the Jedi Temple due to the Jedi Council not believing her story. Any and all comments, likes, and favorites are extremely appreciated. As much as I wish I did, I don't own the Star Wars franchise. Enjoy!


Prologue

It was storming in the Coruscant system. Clouds let their heavy burden fall in sheets, and lightning crackled, followed quickly by thunder. The durasteel and glass skyscrapers of the Upper Sectors thrust themselves up among the clouds, as if to challenge the tempest's right to existence. Nighttime had fallen, bringing with it a coat of black paint to cover the daytime colors. The windows of the buildings gleamed with light, shining through the darkness. The citizens of the city were still awake, and in the depths of the planet the typical black market dealings and fights were occurring.

A slim, black cloaked figure scurried from shelter to shelter, hood up, flinching at the cold raindrops. The rain still reached the rim of the lower sectors, even if the icy storm couldn't penetrate the heart of the busy hub. Almost no life forms were outside. A taxi service, its lights glinting in the shadows, was open. The figure hurried towards it.

A bell tinkled as the being entered the shop. A service droid looked up, its photoreceptors reflecting the dull lights hanging overhead. "Good evening. How may I help you?"

The figure looked up. A haunted and tired yet at the same time determined look was in its big blue eyes. The creature had two horns, their contours showing underneath the fabric of the hood on the top of its head. It was obviously not human. "I'd like to rent a speeder to the lower level spaceport," The voice of the being cracked, as if from days of stress.

"That will be 100 credits," The droid responded in a pleasant male voice. The figure drew out a small pouch from the depths of its cloak, withdrew the number of notes, and passed them across the counter to the droid. The metallic humanoid counted the currency. "Thank you for your business. The speeders and pilot droids are outside."

The figure nodded, then walked out into the storm, dreading the sharp sting of the cold air. As it climbed into the vehicle next to a waiting pilot droid, it considered its future, and decided that whatever lay ahead, it would face it with a firm upper lip and the perseverance that it had learned over course of the Clone Wars. Things would get better. They had to.


Anakin Skywalker sat in his apartment, staring at the rain. It was so different from Tatooine. There, the sky never clouded over. The air was always bone dry, and there would be nothing for miles but mountains of sand. He hated the coarse, rough grains. Coruscant was literally a different world. Filled with plastic, and metal. Filled with loud noises and masses of different beings. Anakin shook himself. It wasn't like him to think of Tatooine- in fact, it hadn't come into his mind for quite a while. He knew he was just thinking of it to put Ahsoka out of his mind. Why had the Jedi Council insisted on believing Ahoska was guilty? It wasn't fair! Just the thought of them, of Tarkin, filled him with rage. Ahsoka had been like family to him, and one of the closest beings to his heart. Now she was gone.

Padme sighed across the room, where she was sitting cross-legged on his couch. She was the only thing keeping Anakin from dropping out of the Jedi Order himself, which was ironic as their relationship was most likely going to cause his expulsion. She had refused, point-blank, to allow him to chase off after Ahsoka. She had looked at him with sympathetic brown eyes, and said, "Ani, I know how you feel. But believe me, this isn't going to help you or her. She wants to be left alone, and she needs to find her own way."

He had eventually agreed, and the two of them had gone up the repulsorlift to his apartment. Anakin fiddled with his apprentice's lightsaber, lifting it with telekinesis and watching it spin around and around, like a planet in orbit. Ahsoka's shoto, unfortunately, had been lost while she was on the run. Anakin glanced down at her Padawan braid, constructed from silka beads, where it hung safely on his belt. He would be able to keep that, at least, as a reminder of his lost apprentice. Padme's brow furrowed in concern for her mourning husband. "You should try to get some sleep. You were up all last night preparing Ahsoka's defense."

Anakin let the lightsaber slip from his mental grasp and land on the bedsheets, where the silken threads slightly muffled the noise of it hitting the mattress with a dull thud. He clenched his fists. "You don't get it. I can't sleep. That'll just bring more nightmares," His voice cracked, softening his hard words.

He couldn't help remembering his latest nighttime horror: Ahsoka falling into the lower levels of Coruscant, fires engulfing her, while Anakin stood by rooted to the ground and helpless. An evil laugh had begun to echo down the corridors of his dreams, and while at first he had thought it was Ventress, upon discovering her innocence in the plot he had begun to recall that the voice wasn't female. It was male, and it sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite pinpoint the cackle.

Padme got up from the couch without another word, distracting Anakin from his troubled thoughts. Her wavy brown hair hung down in a glossy curtain, swinging around her as she clambered onto the bed. Anakin set the lightsaber on his bedside table and turned his attention to Padme. He needed to forget. He needed her to make him forget, to make the pain go away as she had so many times before.

Outside, a black robed figure watched for a few moments more, then darted away into the safe darkness of the night.


So, yeah. Hope you guys like it so far. I've kind of got a plan of how I want this to go, but if I get a particularly good suggestion I might work it in somehow. Thanks for any time you spend critiquing, liking, or following! :)