"This is Skywalker."

His voice was lower than she remembered, but it retained its characteristic nonchalance.

"Hi, Anakin."

"...Who...A-Ahsoka?"

"Yeah. It's me."

"Ahsoka! Where are you? Are you all right?"

Ahsoka Tano smiled dryly at the urgent concern rising in Anakin Skywalker's voice. "I'm fine," she assured him. "I'm just saying hello."

"You're just saying hello? I haven't heard from you in over a year. I was starting to think I'd never hear from you again, or that something happened to you! Where have you been?"

"I've been all over. How are things on Coruscant?"

"They've been... turbulent. Listen, Ahsoka, you're changing the subject. Are you safe?"

Ahsoka chuckled. Her former Jedi master was just as determined as she remembered, that was for sure. "Yes, Master, I'm safe."

She could hear him sigh, and he softened. "I guess you don't need to call me Master anymore, Snips." Wow. It had been a while since she'd heard that name.

"So did you take a new padawan?"

"A new padawan? Nah."

"Why not?"

"Oh, you know. I'm way too busy. Don't have time for babysitting," he said with a laugh. She could tell he was lying, and didn't reply. There was a pause. Anakin took a deep breath. "It's good to hear from you, Ahsoka. I miss havin' you around."

"Yeah, me too."

"So really, what have you been up to?"

"Uh, this and that. Odd jobs."

"That sounds pretty sketchy, Snips."

She sniffed. "It's not, I promise. I've just been traveling. How's Master Obi-Wan?" She didn't want Anakin to ask about her. She didn't want to explain where she'd been, and why she hadn't come back.

Anakin huffed lightly, hopping wholeheartedly onto the change of subject. "He's the usual. You know him. Diplomatic as ever. We just got back from another ...negotiation on Ryloth."

"Really."

"Yeah. He's been well. Have you spoken with him?"

"No. Just you."

There was a moment of silence.

"Why'd you call, Snips?"

Ahsoka frowned, glad that Anakin couldn't see her. She'd wanted to hear a familiar voice. Anakin was one of her closest and most trusted friends. She didn't know if she could bear to see him, so she avoided holograms. Instead, she contacted him on an old comlink she'd held on to after leaving the Jedi Order, boosting the signal through interstellar space with the dusty old astromech next to her. Miraculously, he'd kept his, and he'd kept it close. The comlinks were a twin set, as indivisible as the master and his padawan once were.

When she gave no response, he asked eagerly, "Are you having second thoughts? Do you want to return?"

Ahsoka exhaled deeply. "No. It's not that."

"Oh," he replied, disappointed. "Don't get me wrong. I'm glad you called. I just want to know if you're doing okay. I still feel terrible for everything that happened."

"It wasn't your fault, Master- Anakin. I've been having some weird visions lately."

"Visions? What kind of visions?"

"Very dark ones. I'm worried about the Jedi."

"Tell me about them," Anakin urged.

How could she? Ever since her ordeal with the Jedi High Council, she found it hard to trust anyone... even herself. Even a year away from Coruscant and any other Jedi had done little to fix this.

"I think they're just dreams," she amended.

"Would you like me to speak to Master Yoda?"

"No. No, thanks. Don't tell anybody I called. I'm not ready to talk to anyone else."

"Oh. Uh, okay, then."

The light on Ahsoka's comlink flashed. It was running out of power. Her brain scrambled, trying to think of something to say. Everything felt surreal. She glanced to the droid next to her, dutifully rotating a tiny signaller in the air to broadcast her call.

"How's Artooie?" she asked.

Anakin laughed. "Nobody's called him that except you, Snips. I think he misses you a lot. Well, for a droid."

"Hey, Artooie isn't like other droids," Ahsoka replied with a smile. "Say hello to him for me, okay?"

"I sure will. Listen, I'm being hailed right now by another ship, so I have to go. Can I call you again?"

"Not if I call you first," she joked.

"Okay. Ahsoka... thanks for calling. I'm glad you're oka-."Ahsoka's comlink died. She pursed her lips. Perfect timing.

She stood, patting her astromech. "All right, R5. Ready?"

The droid chattered in a series of beeps. It withdrew its signaller and allowed Ahsoka to place her dead comlink in one of its compartments. It followed Ahsoka down the hall.

It was R5-M2, astromech, and it was determined to do the job right. That was its marketing slogan, at least. Its master, Ahsoka, had trusted it to hold on to her belongings and wake her up in four years. They were aboard an L-series Research Tanker, on its way to another galaxy. R5 and its master had gone to many planets in the past few months together, taking various temporary jobs. Ahsoka had always been restless, and they never stayed in one place for long.

They were on a 10-year research mission, traveling through hyperspace in stasis for four years, conducting research for two, then back again in four. The money was good- the mission had a five million credit stipend attached. R5's master, reluctantly accepting her apparent need for a constant scene change, signed up.

Ahsoka stepped into her carbon-freezing chamber, where she'd be immersed in tibanna gas and carbonite, effectively freezing her for the four-year voyage. She looked down at R5.

She should've told Anakin. But instead, she was running. Why?

"Why couldn't I do it? Why didn't I tell him?"

R5 looked at her blankly with its dark, round camera eyepiece. It chirped once. Tell him what?

"Oh, you wouldn't know. You're a droid."

R5 beeped proudly.

"All right. I'm ready." R5 inserted its scomp link into the computer terminal and began to shut the door. "See you in four years," said Ahsoka tiredly. Maybe four years of decent sleep would clear her mind of the nightmares that plagued her. Maybe not her conscience, but the nightmares, perhaps.