Chapter 1

A New Friend

Two standard years before the battle of Geonosis, a youngling finds herself running through the streets of Coruscant. Little did she know that here she would meet someone who in a few years would become a lifelong friend and maybe something more…

A young girl ran through the Underworld of Coruscant with tears streaming down her face. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew to never stop running.

Earlier that day, a couple of padawans had picked on her because she was a Togruta.

They told her that she belonged in a slave trade, not the Jedi Temple. Then had beaten her and pulled on her lekku. A Togruta's lekku were very sensitive and if pulled, it would cause them extreme discomfort. She Force-pushed them away and they had ran off.

Anyway, the youngling had run away from the Temple and gotten herself into more trouble by accidentally taking some food from a vendor on the main levels and the owner had seen her. He yelled at her and called the police over.

Not wanting to be captured, the young girl ran and found a way to this part of Coruscant. Now she was looking for a place to hide and wasn't having much success.

The girl sighed and looked around. I could always ask a man or woman if they knew a place to stay, but down here it probably costs some kind of underworld money, which I don't have…

The young Togruta was deep in thought when three or so men walked up to her. "Hey, sweetie. You lookin for a place to stay?"

She looked at the man and gave him a questioning stare. "Yeah, I am. What's it to you?"

The lead man laughed as did the rest of his posse. The girl was confused and asked," Why are you laughing?"

The man stopped laughing and looked at her with bloodshot eyes. Uh oh. Master Yoda says if we ever come in contact with people like this we walk away, especially if we are girls.

The Togruta turned away and started walking, but an arm latched onto her shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?"

The man shoved her towards another man, who shoved her as well. They kept pushing her around in a circle, while the Togruta kept telling them to stop.

She started crying again, but the men paid no attention to her pleas.

When the girl had lost almost all of her hope though, a blaster was fired into the air. The men stopped pushing her, and the circle they had formed opened up revealing a boy about thirteen years old.

The boy had been wandering the streets of the Underworld, when he had seen a pretty Togruta running from something. He had realized that she was looking for a place to stay and he wanted to help her, but then about four men had walked up to her and started pushing her around.

The boy felt his blood boiling and went down there to help her. He had grabbed his pistol and fired it into the air, wanting to get the men's attention.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" the young boy had asked. The Togruta girl stared at the handsome boy. Why would he be standing up for me?

The men started stuttering. "W-Well, you see…. We, um…. Well, we were having fun?"

The nice boy raised his pistol toward one of the men and shot him in the shoulder. The man cried out in pain and fell down. His friends picked him up and ran off, leaving the Togruta and the boy.

The girl was scared that the boy would try and hurt her, but the boy just holstered his pistol and smiled at the girl. "Hi, my name's Jason. Jason Hutt. What's your name?"

The girl observed the human boy. She knew about the Hutts and she knew that they weren't human. But this one was. He was pretty tall for his age and had jet-black hair that seemed to get in his eyes a lot. He had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. They were bluer than the seas on Saleucami. For a boy of his age he also had a pretty toned body. He wore a black shirt, black pants, and black boots. He had a pistol holster strapped to his thigh.

"My name's Ahsoka Tano," she said nervously.

Jason saw that she was scared and held up his hands as if he wasn't going to hurt her. "Hey, don't worry. I'm not going to mess with a Jedi."

Ahsoka was confused, and then remembered that she was wearing her training lightsaber beneath her robes. She had brought it with her in case she ran into trouble, but had forgotten about it. "But I'm only a youngling. Why wouldn't you mess with me?"

Jason laughed and said," Even younglings can be hard to take down if you get into a fight with them. Besides, you look too young to be a youngling. I thought you would be a padawan."

Ahsoka smiled and thought, He's a stranger, but he still thinks that I could be a padawan?

"Anyway, what would a Jedi be doing down here?" Jason asked.

"I'm running away from the Temple."

Ahsoka saw the surprise in the boy's eyes as he said," Why would you do that?"

"Some of the older kids were picking on me and I accidentally pushed them against a wall. I knew that they would tell on me, so I ran away." Ahsoka remembered when she had used the Force like that. It was explosive and it felt good to be able to do that kind of stuff.

"Well, they were probably just jealous. I might not be Force-sensitive, but I know that you're strong in the Force," Jason said and smiled.

"Thank you, Jason, but even if I wanted to go back to the Temple, I don't know how I would get back," Ahsoka said. She was very smart for her age, but she had never been out side of the Temple, if you don't count that time that her and Plo had visited a vendor to get some stuff for a party they were throwing for Master Yoda's birthday party. He was turning eight-hundred eighty-six.

Jason smiled at her. "Don't worry. My uncle has tons of ships and speeders we could use to get to the Temple. I'll help you get back there."

Ahsoka nodded and followed Jason to a hangar, where there must've been a hundred ships and speeders. Some were old and covered in rust, and others were so shiny and new, it hurt to look at them.

Jason motioned for Ahsoka to follow him. She did as she was told and he lead her over to a small one-seater. "This one is mine. I know, not that impressive, but it's fast and I can fly it better than anyone on Coruscant and I'm only thirteen."

Jason hopped on it and started it. Ahsoka was surprised by his ability to fly something such as this, but he seemed able to take on anything so she got on and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Even though she was young, Ahsoka knew that she liked the feel of her arms around his waist. She leaned her head onto his back and felt how warm he was.

Jason smiled as her cool cheeks were pressed onto his back. He said," Hold on!" and took off.

At first it was scary for Ahsoka, but she got used to feeling of the wind in her eyes and enjoyed flying above the streets of Coruscant. She might of even laughed a few times.

Of course, Jason wanted to show her the beauties of Coruscant like the mountains and the places that weren't completely taken over by the cities, but she had to get back to the Temple and continue her training.

He steered the small speeder toward the Temple and landed it near a tree. "Thanks for taking me back, Jason," Ahsoka said getting off.

Jason got off as well and said," Thank you for letting me take you back. Will I ever be able to see you again?"

The question surprised Ahsoka. Will I ever see you again, Jason? She knew that the chances were small, but not wanting to disappoint him she said," I'm positive."

Jason stared at her. He wanted so bad to just have her to himself. He had only known her for about thirty minutes, but he was already in love. But he didn't want her to stop being a Jedi. She actually had a chance of becoming a Knight, maybe a Master and he didn't want that not to happen.

"Well, in case we don't see each other again, I want you to have this," he said, and took something out of his pocket. "It's a silk braid that I made when I was nine. I was going to give it to my mom, but she died a day after I made it. I've carried around ever since hoping to be able give it to someone."

Ahsoka looked at him and hugged him. "Thank you, Jason. I know exactly what I can use this for."

Before the incident with the padawans, she had been trying to create a padawan braid for class if she actually passed the Initiate trials, but was having trouble. This silk braid was perfect though.

"Yeah, well thank you for letting me take you back. Anyway, I have to go," he said. He wanted to kiss her so bad, but didn't want to distract her.

So he just got on his speeder and started it. "Bye, Ahsoka," he said, and with a sad look, he flew off.

Ahsoka stared at the place where her new friend had once stood. I wish I could've had more time with him. But then she felt something in her pocket and took it out. It was a note.

Dear Ahsoka,

Sorry for not being able stay with you longer, but I didn't want to ruin your chances of becoming a Knight. Keep continuing your training and make sure to follow the Code.

From,

Jason Hutt

Ahsoka smiled and said," I'm positive we'll see each other again, Jason. I promise."

She took the silk braid and attached it to her other beads. She didn't care what other people said about her now.

Jason had told her not to let other people get her down so she wouldn't.

Besides, she was a big girl now, not some cry baby. She turned toward that Temple and walked to the entrance.