A/N: Hullo my dear readers. This is the updated version of one of my first stories, so hopefully this will be smoother than the last one. I've made a few little changed, but I've mostly tried to stick with the basic storyline that I had before, but I'm also aware of the changes that have been made in canon, as well as the fact that there have been episodes of the Clone Wars that have occurred which conflict with this story, as well as Ahsoka's return in Rebels. So I'm going to try to keep all of those things in mind, but honestly, we know that this story will be vastly different than the direction that Rebels goes.

Anyway, please let me know what you think of this update, and look for the next chapter tomorrow!

MLV

The cantina wasn't busy, but it never was. All the usual patrons were there. The Duros with the eyepatch was sucking down his L'lahsh as quickly as he could-Ahsoka knew that he had three children and a very loud wife at home, and he had a total of 15 minutes between the end of his work shift and when his children needed to be picked up from their lessons. He was sitting next to the Quarren who didn't drink, and no one really knew why he stuck around, but it had been this way for so long that Ahsoka didn't find it strange anymore.

Her comm beeped, and she excused herself to find a quiet place so she could answer. To her surprise, it was Obi-Wan.

"Ahsoka, it's good to see you. I'm glad you picked up."

Ahsoka felt a guilty pang. She had ignored the Jedi Master's calls for the first six months after she left the Jedi Order, and eventually he had stopped contacting her. Anakin had never contacted her, and she felt the guilt towards that more keenly. Her former master was better at holding grudges than Obi-Wan was, though.

"Yes, Obi-Wan, can I help you?" she asked, trying to keep her voice low. She didn't know how her fellow cantina goers would react to hearing about her status as a former Jedi.

"I'm afraid that we've got a bit of a situation on our hands. The Chancellor has been kidnapped, and Anakin and I are about to leave on a rescue mission."

Ahsoka frowned. "Obi-Wan, I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm not sure what that has to do with me," she said slowly.

"There have been a few attacks here on the ground. I wanted to ask you to act as security for the Senatorial complex."

Ahsoka's frown deepened. "Obi-Wan, I don't want to go back."

"Please, Ahsoka. We're thin on help right now. No one will know it's you, nor that you're back. It will only be until we get back." Ahsoka could see the pleading look on the miniature version of Obi-Wan's face, and she caved.

"Fine, Obi-Wan. I'll help."

She had left for Coruscant city a few hours later, careful to keep enough time from the comcall to her arrival. She didn't want Obi-Wan to know she had been on the planet when he commed. He greeted her warmly when she arrived, and they rushed off to the complex where she would lay low and wait for an attack. He left soon after, and Ahsoka sat herself down to wait.

It was only a few hours later when she found herself covered in dust and fighting off attacks from men who were once her brothers in arms. Everything had rushed by in the blink of an eye, and she hadn't been able to talk him down. Ahsoka sat in the dirt and made designs with her finger while she replayed that last moment over and over in her mind.

She had entered the temple alone. Her new lightsabers were clutched in her hands, and she forced herself to keep quite. The white light that beamed from the hilt lit of her lightsaber guided her way through the darkened halls. Every so often, she needed to step over the bodies of dead Jedi, and she refused to look at them for fear of seeing a friend from long ago. The halls were silent, and she tried to ignore the echoes that rang in her ears of the dying Jedi; she believed that these halls would continue to echo those sounds until the end of time itself.

Before she realized where she was going, Ahsoka found herself in front of the doors of the Council Room. Memories flooded her mind of all the times she had stood before the circle of Masters, and she pushed them away again. She had one last mission to complete. She pressed her ear against the door and closed her eyes. Placing all of her concentration into the room, Ahsoka listened. Through the force, she was able to get a glimpse of what was happening.

"Master Skywalker, there are too many of them! What are we going to do?" She knew that voice. The youngling's name was Liam, she thought. The younglings must have locked themselves in the council room to hide from the clones. Tension she hadn't known she'd been carrying broke, and her shoulders drooped. Anakin was there, he would protect them. She might not even have to see him. That thought both saddened and relived her.

There was no reply except that of the snap hiss of an igniting lightsaber. Ahsoka didn't think when she used the force to open the doors. Her thoughts escaped her when she rushed past her former mentor and they certainly weren't present when her own lightsabers clashed with his.

It was evident that he hadn't known she'd been on the planet, let alone right outside the door. She refused to give him any leeway when he pushed back against her. The man in front of her was not her master, nothing more than a shell of her former best friend.

"What are you doing, Anakin?" His lightsaber slacked, and he let it rest, the tip barely missing the ground.

"Why are you here?" he asked her.

She gestured her lightsaber towards the frightened younglings, who had by now moved behind her. Suddenly the weight of what was about to happen hit her shoulders, and her own lightsabers dropped too, mirroring his. "Obviously about to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

His hand pinched the bridge of his nose, and Ahsoka used the break in his focus to gesture to the younglings to slip out the door. They carefully snuck behind them, and Ahsoka spoke, hoping to distract him.

"Anakin, what has become of you?"

"She's dying, Ahsoka," Anakin's voice broke. His hand dropped from his face, but his eyes remained closed. "I can't lose her."

Of course, she had known. It was hard for the senator and Jedi to keep their romance a secret from her, especially when they acted like parents when she was around. But she hadn't heard anything about Padmé dying.

"Anakin, what do you mean she's dying?" She whispered the words, afraid of breaking some kind of trance. His eyes opened and a soft yellow was taking over the once blue eyes. He whirled around and caught the last of the younglings with his lightsaber.

"No!" The word broke from her lungs and scraped against her throat before breaking the silence that followed the blow of the lightsaber. Ahsoka dropped her weapons and used the force to pull Anakin away from the younglings and towards the other side of the room. He landed awkwardly on the floor and Ahsoka gripped one of the chamber's seats and threw it on top of him. She blew past the door and checked the vitals of the last youngling. They were low, but they were there. She scooped him up, and commanded her lightsabers to her hands before buckling them to her belt. She jumped to her feet and flew after the other younglings. They weren't far up ahead, and together, they left the temple.

"Tano!" The voice didn't belong to Anakin, and she stopped and turned. Shaak Tii was running to catch up. "I went to get the younglings, and saw what had happened."

"Help me," Ahsoka said, and transferred the injured youngling into Shaak Tii's arms.

"There's bacta in my bag," Shaak said. "It might help."

Ahsoka knew that it wouldn't, but they could at least try. She put the supplies away and they continued on. Sticking to the shadows, they made it to an empty house where they decided to rest. Shaak took the injured youngling upstairs, and Ahsoka tried to quiet the rest.

A small youngling crawled into her lap and whispered in her ear. "Tell me a story." And Ahsoka told them a fairy tale from Shilii. The exhaustion soon overtook them, and the younglings all fell asleep. Ahsoka stayed quiet, relishing in the silence. Shaak came down the stairs slowly, and Ahsoka gently removed the youngling-Damari-from her lap and walked over to the older Togruta.

She placed her hands over her eyes and sighed. "He didn't make it," she whispered, and Ahsoka watched her drop to the floor. There was an awkward silence between them, and Ahsoka didn't know what to say. It had been a long time since she'd seen the other woman, and didn't know how to comfort her. In the end, she decided to leave her alone, and Ahsoka went outside. Dust from the battle at the temple settled, and Ahsoka sat down hard and watched the disturbed dust fall, which was when she found herself drawing in the dirt, symbols that once meant something to her, but now were nothing better than doodles.

Shaak joined her, and Ahsoka looked up at her, not sure what to say.

"We need to keep moving," she said, sitting down next to Ahsoka. "I know the younglings are exhausted, and traumatized, but they will all die if we stay here. We have to steal a transport." Ahsoka could tell that she was rambling, and she wondered if the Jedi Master had ever stolen anything in her life.

"If you watch the younglings," Ahsoka began, careful to word the next few words so that it didn't come across as superior, "I can get the transport. Since my time away from the Jedi, I've acquired some skills that might come in handy."

Shaak gave Ahsoka a sharp look, and Ahsoka winced, but Shaak's face softened and she placed a hand on Ahsoka's arm. "Thank you," she whispered. Ahsoka smiled at her and nodded before getting up and heading out in search of a transport big enough for all of them.

With each step, Ahsoka thought about the fact that Anakin had more or less let her go with the younglings. Yes, he had killed that poor boy, but they both knew that he was powerful enough to have overcome and kill her, and then take care of the younglings. Whatever had happened to him, Ahsoka knew that there was a part of him that abhorred the actions that he was committing. And that gave her hope.