Barriss, Ahsoka and Jaysh made it out into the night air of Coruscant. Though the Undercity had its drawbacks it was still a good area to travel for sightseeing. Plus, it was the only place Ahsoka could go without experiencing any difficulty. Still, they kept their hoods up to keep from exposing themselves. They were able to see all the surveillance cameras that lines the corners despite them not being seen by the average passerby.

Being back on the planet that had given her so many memories, both good and bad. The most recent would haunt her forever. She could feel the presence of the Emperor, even from here. She couldn't wait to find out what they needed to do and get out as fast as possible. Barriss sensed her fear and placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

"Where to now?" said Jaysh.

"I guess finding a place to stay would be nice," said Barriss. They had paid Jaysh when they had arrived, and though he had business to attend to he had decided to accompany them along the way.

"I know a place. It's cheap and a little sketch though," said Jaysh.

"That'll be fine. We weren't looking for something high-class," said Barriss.

"Alright then. Follow me," said Jaysh.

The girls followed him as they walked. From here they saw all kinds of species from across every part of the galaxy. However, down here, they could see that most anyone they saw what some Humans considered "alien." Besides Jaysh there were barely any Humans down here and only a handful of near-Humans.

"Jaysh, I know about the Empire's pro-Human policies but why are there barely any Humans down here?" said Ahsoka.

"Most of them live on the surface or in the high-rises. No sense in coming down to the questionable areas when you effectively have the power in the galaxy," said Jaysh.

"But why? He has non-Humans in the Senate and at his side," said Ahsoka, referring to Mas Amedda.

"Maybe it's not him, maybe it's the policy makers. I don't know who to blame, but it's the way things are now. The powerful don't care how the regulars live," said Jaysh. "I liked it a lot better when this pro-Human thing was just in the minds of a few crackpots and windbags."

"What's your stance on it?" said Barriss.

"To be honest I really don't give a damn. One species can't make an empire or a republic. Any that tried to end up failing from internal strife," said Jaysh.

The three of them kept walking until they got to a tenant-like hotel building called Starlight. The place was run by a female Weequayan looking at her log books wearing the simple attire of her home planet.

"Well if isn't Gilla," said Jaysh. She looked up and gave Jaysh a disbelieving look.

"Jaysh, you sneaky load of bantha fodder, what are you doing here?" said Gilla.

"I have a business transaction to undertake and my two new friends here needed a place to stay," said Jaysh, motioning to Ahsoka and Barriss who had taken their hoods off upon entering.

"How in stars did you get entangled with him?" she asked them.

"Not much of a choice," said Barriss and Ahsoka.

"And here I thought we were friends," said Jaysh in mock hurt.

"Well whatever the circumstances you can't be held responsible. I will admit the room aren't that grand or flashy," said Gilla.

"We'll take a room regardless. Our stay here is only temporary," said Ahsoka.

"And I'm assuming you have the credits to pay for the stay?" said Gilla. Ahsoka and Barriss both nodded.

"Then enjoy your stay here," said Gilla. Ahsoka and Barriss hastily paid for their stay, thanking Gilla.

"Gilla, may I talk to you in private?" said Jaysh.

"Better make it fast while I still have patience for you," said Gilla.

"I'll see you girls later. Have a good night," said Jaysh.

"Thanks for the lift," said Ahsoka and Barriss, walking towards the elevator to their room which was located on the fourth floor.

"You know besides making a bad first impression, Jaysh is actually an okay guy," said Ahsoka.

"He does have a kind of charm to him," said Barriss.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you kind of like him," said Ahsoka.

"What? Me? P-preposterous, I-i could never..." said Barriss, stuttering a little, a sign Ahsoka knew meant she was nervous or flustered.

"Relax Barriss, I'm just pulling your leg," said Ahsoka, laughing a little.

"You know, that's one of the few times over this time that I've heard you laugh," said Barriss. Ahsoka thought about it, realizing that Barriss was telling the truth.

"You're right. I know I've been...overbearing and downright depressing these past two years," said Ahsoka.

"It's alright Ahsoka, there's no need to apologize," said Barriss as they reached their room. She opened the door to reveal a room with two mattresses. It was actually a decent room with a bathroom connected to it.

"Not bad. I'd say it's a lot better than Ord Mantell," said Ahsoka.

"It is. Dibs on first shower," said Barriss.

"Kriff," Ahsoka cursed.

The two girls shared a small laugh as they put their belongings on their own mattresses. Barriss shed off her clothes and walked into the bathroom. Ahsoka took off her cloak and lay on her bed, gazing up at the ceiling. The last time she was on the planet, she was fighting for her life in the Temple and escaping with Barriss. The memories came back to her again, she letting out a shuddering sigh and moving onto her side.

"I wish I knew what it was we were looking for," she thought.

Even now she still didn't know how Master Plo Koon had been able to contact her from the Netherworld and what it was he was referring to. She would meditate on it after she had showered. Barriss came out, a towel wrapped around her body and drying her hair with a smaller one.

"It's actually quite nice in there," said Barriss as she dried off.

"Can't wait to see for myself," said Ahsoka.

She shed off her clothes as well and went inside. The steam from the bathroom had fogged up the mirror. It created a nice atmosphere for her to get into. She walked into the wash area and turned on the faucet. Hot water immediately hit her body, causing her to sigh from the feeling. She found the soap and used the unused washcloth to lather it up and begin washing her body. The water helped to soothe her as she reveled in having a hot shower. Most places was either a turbo shower or cold water. She was going to enjoy this.

The majority of her time in there was spent letting the water rinse her rather than actually washing herself. As she sighed as the fog billowed around her, she was hit with a vision.

She was out side the Temple, gazing at the battle-scarred edifice from the ground level. Suddenly she was in the main hallway before she rapidly moved up the multiple staircases until she stopped near a corner on the top upper floor. She was gazing into the corner, but didn't know why. Suddenly it began to glow with a blue light, getting brighter and brighter until it had washed over the entire vision. Then a hauntingly familiar voice she hadn't heard since his last words to her that fateful night.

"Find me!" it yelled.

She was thrown out of the vision, clutching the faucet for support as she breathed heavily from her experience. Her eyes stared at the tiles widely as she tried to regain her senses.

"Taran?" she said quietly to herself.

She knew it was his voice, she was sure of it. Yet, the thought of his voice only made her sadder. She shut the water off as she stepped out to find a towel. She dried off her montrals and lekku before she wrapped the towel around her body before she slumped to the floor on the wall, putting her hands up to her head. What had it meant? And why did she hear Taran's voice? It had been too long since she had heard it.

"The Temple? Is that what it was talking about?" she thought. She thought of the hallway she had been in. It was definitely the upper level to the Temple that she had taken before she had gotten to the top. Had there been something she had missed?

She sighed as the questions formed in her head. None of this was making sense. Did she have to go to the Temple? Was there something in there that she needed to get?

She walked out of the bathroom, towel still wrapped around her as Barriss was combing her hair on her bed.

"Are you okay?" said Barriss upon seeing Ahsoka's expression.

"I'm fine...it's nothing," said Ahsoka. Barriss could see something was bothering her.

"It's probably because the events that happened here...twice," she thought sadly. "Do you want to talk about it?" Ahsoka shook her head.

"Well...there is one thing. I had a vision in the shower. It lead me towards the Jedi Temple. I think whatever it is we need to find is in there," said Ahsoka.

"The Temple?" said Barriss. Ahsoka nodded.

"Getting in there is near suicide. It's like trying to break into the palace itself," said Barriss.

"At least let's do some scouting to see what we're up against," said Ahsoka. Barriss thought about it. Perhaps some reconnaissance might be in good order.

"Alright, I'll find it out," said Barriss.

"Why just you?" said Ahsoka.

"Ahsoka, no offense but you're a Togruta on Coruscant. You'll be a walking target for any slimeball who's been brainwashed with these Humanocentric aspects for the past two years," said Barriss. "I might get an eyebrow raised but Mirialans count as Near-Human to them. It's the only way without drawing suspicion."

"Ugh, fine," said Ahsoka, sitting on the bed next to Barriss. She really hated the new attitude of the Human populace in the Empire. How it had gotten out of hand like this she didn't know.

"I know it sucks and you have every right to be mad, but we have to do this cautiously if we're going to succeed," said Barriss.

"I know Barriss. You're right. I just hate not being able to do the things I used to be able to do," said Ahsoka. Barriss gave her a small smile.

"Remember Geonosis?" said Barriss. Ahsoka smiled as well.

"How could I not? Nothing better than getting buried alive," said Ahsoka. The two shared a small laugh.

"And the brain worms right after that was just icing on the cake," said Ahsoka.

"Please don't remind me about that," said Barriss. "It's bad enough we had to go through that TWICE!"

"The second time was worse. I swear if it wasn't for Ta-" said Ahsoka before she stopped. Barriss immediately noticed the crestfallen look on her face. Even now so much as talking about Taran made Ahsoka remember everything.

"He...did so much for us," said Ahsoka, reminiscing.

"He did, and we'll never forget him for all he's done, especially for you," said Barriss. "I know I won't."

"You're right about it though. I can't keep threatening to burst into tears every time we mention him. I have to move on," said Ahsoka.

"It's hard, but I'll be there to guide you every step of the way," said Barriss. Ahsoka gave her a small smile.

"Thanks Barriss," said Ahsoka. She reached over and hugged her, surprising Barriss immensely. Slowly, Barriss returned the hug. It was the first time the two had hugged since when they were both in the Jedi Order. The emotions that rang up in her brought her nearly to the point of tears.

"I truly was a monster for what I did," she thought sadly.

"Barriss, are you alright?" said Ahsoka, feeling a mood change emanating from her.

"Yes I'm alright, it's nothing," she said quickly. "Just a little happy you trust me to do this."

"After all we've been through, why wouldn't I?" said Ahsoka. Barriss looked down. Ahsoka knew what she was talking about without having to hear the words themselves.

"We'll talk later about it Barriss. Right now let's get some sleep," said Ahsoka, hoping that the notion would calm her down a bit.

Barriss nodded as Ahsoka went to go and put on her night clothes, Barriss doing the same. The two climbed into their respective beds. Ahsoka was about to turn off the light switch with the Force before Barriss asked her a question.

"What do you miss about him the most?" said Barriss. A long length of silence followed. Barriss had hoped that she had not overstepped as Ahsoka looked at the ceiling. Barriss was about to turn over before she heard her.

"His eyes," Ahsoka said quietly. "It was like I could peer into him, feel his every emotion and thought through them. Sometimes they would look at me lovingly, other times protectively when we were in danger, and other times they had some kind of mischief in them when he was planning something. I could never get enough of them." Barriss listened intently to her every word.

"So that must be what love is like," she thought.

"It's funny, sometimes when I'm in my world I still feel like he's there watching me," said Ahsoka, smiling a little.

"I was also curious about something else. Did you two...?" said Barriss.

"Did we what?" said Ahsoka.

"Nothing, it's not that important," said Barriss, now feeling embarrassed for even thinking it.

"Come on, out with it," said Ahsoka, rolling over to face Barriss.

"Um, how can I put this frankly. Did you end up having sexual intercourse?" said Barriss. Though due to her skin tone one could barely tell, but Ahsoka's cheeks flushed with sheer embarrassment.

"Uhh that's really personal...I m-mean well we...w-we were...oh look at the time. Night!" said Ahsoka, hastily rolling over away from Barriss and turning the lights on. Barriss would have laughed at the outburst, but she respectfully held in it.

"Knew it," she thought, smiling slightly to herself as she closed her eyes.

The one thing that could never change about Coruscant/Imperial Center was the traffic. Speeders and hovercars flying endlessly above her head. The many pedestrians walking along its stone and metal streets carrying out their own business or traveling to new locations. Up here she didn't need to wear her cloak, opting to go out as she was in her usual outfit. No one here would remember who she was, or so she hoped. Meanwhile Ahsoka was waiting for her in the Undercity below, mirroring her steps.

On the surface Barriss was making her way towards the Jedi Temple. It was still a distance away, probably less than two clicks judging by the distance. Yet it stood proudly despite the events that had occurred there in the last days of the Republic. Squads of stormtroopers and Coruscant Guards passed by, none seeing her walking down the street as a hindrance or cause for curiosity. To them, she was good enough to be classified as Human.

Barriss kept walking until she got to a military checkpoint. A squad of stormtroopers stood there along with an Imperial officer.

"Halt, no one except authorized personnel is allowed through here," said the officer, outstretching his hand. Barriss stopped. She made sure the listening piece was in its location.

"Sorry, I don't understand," said Barriss.

"The Temple is only permitted for the Grand Inquisitor, agents of the Emperor or any of the Emperor's guests. No others are allowed towards the complex," said the officer. "Now I must kindly ask you to depart."

"Thank you sir," said Barriss, nodding her head. He nodded in approval as she left. As she was walking back down the way she came she spoke to Ahsoka through the comlink.

"Did you get all of that?" said Barriss.

"Yes. This might be a bit harder than we thought," said Ahsoka.

"Oh you don't say," Barriss said sarcastically.

"There's got to be a way in there," said Ahsoka.

"Let's meet up somewhere and see what we can do," said Barriss.

The security feed he had hacked into was providing him all he would need. He had been working on it for two days accessing every known surveillance inside the Temple. Currently there was no activity whatsoever going on besides the occasional patrol by a squad of stormtroopers or a pair of armed sentinels of some kind with force pikes. He hadn't even been able to see this Grand Inquisitor the officer had told him about. He would have accessed the databanks and scoured around for them, but this would prove to be just fine for him. As he looked at the feed, he was recording it into a separate memory file. The way he saw it, two hours would give him plenty of time to get in there, sneak to the holocron's location and back out.

Seeing the inside of the Temple from the numerous angles of the camera triggered some memories to come back, both good and tragic. He breathed in heavily as he continued to work in the safety of a back alley. The amount of data read "Complete" once he had recorded everything he needed.

"Perfect," he said to himself. At that moment a loud growl came from inside him. He put a hand on his stomach as he could feel and hear his stomach growling. He hadn't eaten in an entire day.

"Damn it, this is what happens when you're too into your work Cyneran," he thought to himself.

He hastily put his device back into his pack and slung it over his back, walking out of the alley to find a diner. He had went to where Dex's Diner had been to see if the lovable and wisecracking Bessalisk was still there. Instead he found the area leveled for construction. Instead he decided to find something close by so as to continue on with his work.

He only had to walk around for a few minutes before he found a diner. The diner was called the "Bespin Cloud." He went into it to find a nice establishment where all kinds of species were present, even Humans. Despite being close to the surface, there was fraternization going on between them all. He smiled a little to himself. At least here in Imperial Center everyone could get along.

He sat down at the stool in the counter, pulling his neckerchief down to reveal the rest of his face.

"What would you like for today?" said the waiter, a Human male. Taran browsed the menu quickly.

"I'll get a Nerf burger with a side of chips and a Corellian ale," said Taran. "Oh and also a glass of water."

"Coming right up," said the waiter.

He went off to and place the order as Taran waited patiently. He came back in less than a minute with his two drinks. Taran hastily gulped down a large part of his water before he began taking a few sips from the ale. As he waited he watched the water begin to condense on the glass. It had been awhile since he had used his waterbending. He used his peripheral vision to see if anyone was paying attention before he used his finger to make a small droplet of water slowly circle the glass, picking up and merging with other droplets until formed the size of a coin. Taran then sent it on the glass, slowly swirling it around. It brought him a small amount of happiness to be able to do this again.

"Ah, you must be an Elementian," said a voice behind him.

Taran instantly stopped what he was doing and froze as he felt whoever it was said that take a seat next to him on the counter. It turned out to be a female Clawdite, the Clawdite not bothering to change her appearance.

"Sorry, did I startle you," she said.

"A little," said Taran, keeping his head down.

"It's quite alright. I've never seen one of your kind before, only hear about the exploits you and the powers you have," she said. "What was that you just did with the water?" Though he wanted to cut this conversation short, Taran realized from her demeanor that he had nothing to fear from her.

"It's called waterbending. It's one of the four bending forms on our planet. Bending allows us to control our elements in any state," said Taran.

"That's quite amazing," said the Clawdite, very amazed at his words. "How do you get it?"

"Some of us are born with it. Others aren't. Even now we're still not sure how we are given our power," said Taran.

"What do you think?" she asked.

Taran shrugged. "I think the Spirits bestow it to us, though I don't know why."

"Your culture is interesting. I hope to travel there sometime," said the Clawdite.

"You'll like it. We're friendly to all beings, not just our own," said Taran.

"Really?" said the Clawdite.

"Yeah. Barely any Humanocentrics there," said Taran. "Then that way you don't have to change into something you're not to fit in." She was shocked by that statement.

"How did you know about that?" she asked surprised.

"I have a way of reading people," said Taran.

"Thank you for those words. It's the nicest thing a Human has said to me all my life when they see me in my true body," said the Clawdite.

"Glad I could be that person," said Taran. The waiter came back and carefully placed his food on the counter before him.

"I'll leave you to your food. It was good talking to you..." she said, not knowing what name to call him.

"Sung," said Taran. "After my father."

"Glad to meet you Sung. You have a good day," said the Clawdite, turning around and walking out of the front entrance.

Taran allowed a smile to grace his lips, reminiscing already about the happiness he was able to give the Clawdite with just a few simple words. He turned back to his food and began to chow down. He needed the high calories to sustain him for the rest of the day if he was going to be working on his 'project' for the rest of the day.

"I think I'm going to need to do a field test to see if this is going to work," he thought as he munched on the burger.

"We could go in there using the sewers," said Ahsoka.

"They might have them blocked up or at least guarded," said Barriss.

"Sneak past the checkpoint?"

"Impossible. There's way too much open space and there is surveillance everywhere."

"Flying?"

"Are you even trying now?"

"Ugh!" said Ahsoka, planting her face in her arms on the table.

"Having a brain crash?" said Barriss.

"The worst..." said Ahsoka.

"We'll figure something out," said Barriss. The two were currently in a bar in the Undercity as live music from a Bithan band was playing for the enjoyment of the patrons.

Suddenly an idea came up in Barriss' head.

"They did say that only agents of the Emperor could come in," said Barriss. Ahsoka looked up at her.

"You're not thinking of..." said Ahsoka.

"It might be our only option. We just got to find someway to pass through credentials," said Barriss. "Are your hacking skills any good?"

"They're rusty but I think I might be able to do something to give us false identities. It's not like they need to know our real names, just for them to see we're with the Empire," said Ahsoka. "I'll see if there's a way to get into a relay station."

"And I'll find some identification cards to use," said Barriss. She reached into their pack and she pulled out the black and yellow mask. The same mask she had used to disguise herself from Ahsoka when she had framed her for the bombing.

"That mask still gives me the creeps," said Ahsoka as Barriss placed it on herself.

"At least after this I'll never use it again," said Barriss through the mask, standing up. "Good luck Ahsoka."

"And you too Barriss," said Ahsoka.

Barriss was currently heading towards a military outpost off the edge of the Senate District. The plan was to find some Imperial officers, swipe their cards and be on her way. It seemed simple, but nothing is ever as simple as it is in your head. As she approached the base she saw the squads of stormtroopers patrolling as well as a few officers. Now all she had to do was wait to isolate them and see if she could lure them out. As she waited she noticed a strange light coming out of an alleyway nearby before it went dark. She wondered what it was.

"It's probably nothing, just forget about it," she said to herself.

The light flickered on again before disappearing. It did it a few more times before her curiosity got the better of her. She calmly stuck to the shadows of the setting sun and headed towards the source. As she she approached she couldn't help but feel a presence nearby, a Force-sensitive one. It was neither a light presence nor a dark one, yet it felt strangely familiar. She looked around the corner to see what it was.

A man was kneeling next to a wall, a handheld device of some kind plugged into a cable. He seemed to be viewing something on there. His hat obscured his head from behind

"I need a better look," she thought to herself.

She looked up at the adjacent building and found some handholds she could use to get an angle at whatever it was he was seeing. She crept closer and closer from the side of the building before finally she was able to see whatever it was she was looking at. From what she could tell, it looked like surveillance camera footage of a hallway in the base. Suddenly, the screen tapped out and came back on with another recording of the same hallway.

"What is going on?" she thought to herself.

The man flipped a switch on the device and the screen turned off, he stowing it back in his coat. He got up and stretched a little, revealing he had on a black neckerchief over his lower face and black goggles covering his eyes. He picked up a pack and slung it over his back before he began to walk down the alleyway. As Barriss prepared to follow him, he stopped. He pressed his hand on the side of the building she was on as. At first she thought he was stopping to think before suddenly his head turned to the side and he saw her.

"Kriff!" she thought. The man stared at her for a few slow, painful seconds. She knew what he was about to do before he did it. He took off running down the alleyway. Barriss jumped off her handholds and gave chase.

"He's seen me. Now he might report me to whoever. He's definitely not Imperial but he's something else," she thought as she ran to keep him in sight. The man swiftly turned a corner to hopefully lose her. Barriss kept on him, making sure she didn't lose sight of him for over a second.

"Ahsoka, come in!" said Barriss to her comlink on her wrist.

"Barriss, what's wrong?" said Ahsoka.

"I was heading at the military base and I saw this person looking like he was hacking into the base. I tried to follow him unseen but he saw me and he's now on the move," said Barriss.

"Turn on your beacon. I'm on my way," said Ahsoka.

Barriss clicked her button on her wrist, a yellow light beginning to beep. They had installed these on their comlinks in case either of them were in a spot of trouble. Barriss continued running at full blast. The man she was chasing was only twenty feet in front of her. He made another hard right, Barriss still able to keep up with him. The man realized he had hit a dead end, but he still kept running which Barriss found odd. Suddenly he jumped off from one side of the wall and used his leg strength to push off and jump to the other side. His momentum in full gear, he used the Force to help him catapult from each side of the building, the jumping getting him to reach higher and higher on the walls. Barriss began to use the same method he was doing. The man jumped onto the rooftop and began running. Barriss reached it a few seconds after he did and the chase resumed.

The two played the game of cat-and-mouse on the rooftops. The man jumped from rooftop to rooftop, sometimes buying a few more precious seconds of space from Barriss. Barriss kept right on him, not relenting from the pursuit. She was fully panting in her helmet now as the pursuit increased. She now fully knew the man was a Force-user judging from the way he was able to clear whole rooftops with ease. Still she wondered what it was he was doing.

The chase came to an end when Barriss cornered him at the edge of a rooftop with no other buildings in sight to jump from. He stopped and looked down, Barriss edging closer to him. Suddenly, he jumped into air towards the levels below. Barriss raced to the edge to see him land on a passing speeder. He was getting away from her, and fast. Not if she could allow it. Barriss jumped off the edge to land on a speeder of her own. The startled Dug inside looked at her in surprise.

"Drive," she told him.

He was too scared to even think of disobeying and kept on his course. Barriss could still see him up ahead, though there was some distance between them. She jumped from her own speeder to land on another one, and then another one after that. The man realized what it was she was doing and began to do the same. They began to rapidly jump from speeder to speeder, the man trying hard to shake her off.

He jumped onto another speeder before he accidentally slipped on the smooth surface. He fell off but managed to hang on to the edge by his fingers. The speeder kept racing forward regardless of his current position on its hull. Barriss used that time to keep jumping, startling a family of human travelers while jumping into their hovercar and onto another speeder. The man was able to pull himself up and get to the top of the speeder, turning to see Barriss literally one more jump away from him. Thinking fast he leaped off of the speeder and began to fall down towards the multiple levels below.

"What?!"Barriss thought as she watched him plummet down to the multiple layers below.

He fell until he was seven levels below before the unthinkable happened. Air seemed to shoot out of his hands and propelled him onto the street, landing on top of a Talz. The Talz grunted in pain and tried to scream at the man, but the man was already running towards the dark shadows. Barriss, amazed, jumped off the speeder she was on and landed on the street four levels above him.

"I'm not losing him," she thought to herself.

"That had to have been a Dark Side Adept," Taran thought as he caught his breath.

He had been testing to see if the hacking he had done had borne fruit. He had taken previously recorded files and had integrated them into the interface of the current feed, ergo making the cameras see events that had already transpired rather than what was currently going on. It had taken some time but the trial had proved successful. He was about to go back to the room and plot more on the plan when he felt the all too familiar presence of someone watching him. He turned around to see a figure in a black and yellow mask and dark clothing looking down at him. He didn't have to tell himself to get out of there before his legs moved for him. The chase had been harrowing and had pushed him to his limits. Finally, he resorted to using his airbending to get out of there as fast as he could.

As he walked in the darkness of the levels beneath the top level of the Undercity he reflected on the events that had just occurred. He knew that whoever that was who was chasing him wasn't going to give up. Yet, their presence had seemed familiar to him but he couldn't put his mind to it.

"I'm going to have to kill them. They can't know what I'm doing," he thought as he took out his blaster and put it in his left hand while his right grasped his lightsaber. He calmly walked deeper into the maze of corridors to find the right place to do battle.

"Where could he be at?" Barriss thought as she traveled deeper into the lower levels.

She could feel his presence. Judging by it, he was close by. She carefully walked through the vast corridors, keeping an eye out for him. Soon she came into a vast circular room with a semicircular dome. The room was large, stretching for 100 feet in every direction in the epicenter. There were old metal computing machines and dashboard scattered around. She could feel his presence was here. She took a step forward, scanning over the debris of the room.

Suddenly a blue blaster bolt streaked past her head, causing her to duck. A few more shots hit the derelict machine she was crouched under. Barriss looked up to see where he was before she had to duck again from another shot fired at her. She rolled to another machine, the man firing at her again and again. Finally she jumped up, drawing her lightsaber in midair. The man dove away to her left as she landed just where he was a second before. He took one look at her lightsaber before he discarded the blaster near his pack and drew his lightsaber. The green blade was shown momentarily before he pressed the attack.

Taran's opponent met his strikes blow for blow. Green met yellow over and over again. It was a classic duel with lightsabers.

"Seems really strange, but I really miss this," he thought to himself.

He pressed his attacks on his opponent relentlessly. His opponent deflected each slash and thrust aimed at her. He could tell it was a woman by her outline through the cloak and clothes underneath. She suddenly aimed a slash at his head, which he ducked under. He didn't know who she was, but he wasn't about to lose. Too much was at stake.

He and her fenced around the other, the hum and whir and clash of their lightsabers resonating around the room. They weaved in and out of each other as if dancing with each other. The woman made another slash for his legs, Taran reverse-gripping his lightsaber to block the blow. He then began to utilize Shien-grip to keep his opponent off him and to also confuse her. His opponent seemed to be well-versed in the technique for her blows rained down towards him while he could barely block them and press his own attacks.

Her lightsaber struck near the hilt and Taran was forced to retreat. He jumped onto one machine and on a dashboard before he landed on the ground, his opponent right behind him. Taran tried an advanced move. He struck a blow towards her head, which she deflected. He then allowed her to make a strike towards his body. Quick as a flash he made a full body sweep with his legs to kick hers out from under her. She jumped and came down towards his face. He rolled out of the way, his hat falling off from the effort. He got to his feet in time to block her next blow. She struck again, Taran using his agility to backflip away from her and land on top of a raised slab of metal. She struck the edge, causing him to vault in a spin in the air. He landed back on the ground and continued his assault on her.

As he deflected another slash, she surprised him by aiming a kick at his legs. He dodged it, but then he was pushed hard into a machine by a Force push. He regained focus fast, seeing her come at him again.

"That's it, it's now or never," he thought.

She came at him again, charging towards him. He waited for it, his lightsaber to his side. When she was close enough his foot stamped on the ground. A piece of metal under her foot shot out, causing her to lose balance. She crashed to the ground on her back. Taran took the opportunity to move forward. She tried to get up and slashed at him. He caught the blade and twisted around it, kicking it out of her hand. He then sent a gust of air that knocked her to the ground. His foot pinned her neck, causing her to begin to choke. Her hands pried at his foot, but she might as well have been trying to make a bantha move.

Taran caught his breath as he stood over her, his lightsaber pointed at her chest. Though his mind screamed at him to end it, he had to know who was this woman who was chasing him.

"Why were you chasing me?" he demanded.

She made no effort to speak. Taran's left hand inched cautiously to her mask. The girl tried frantically to pry her hands off of him, her legs kicking in a vain effort to get him to move. He pressed down harder, making her begin to cough. His fingers found the end of the mask and he hastily ripped it off. His gasp was audible enough for her to hear as he gazed into her face.

Barriss Offee lay pinned beneath him, her eyes staring wildly at him in a plea for mercy. His lightsaber hand froze. His eyes widened underneath his goggles as he raised his foot enough for her to breathe properly.

"Barriss?" he said, shock and surprise evident in his tone.

POW!

Suddenly, he felt the hardest kick he had ever experienced in his life kick him straight in his midsection. It was no surprise that he was knocked back a good fifteen feet and over the side of a machine to the ground. He groaned as he clutched the area where he had been kicked, his teeth. He looked to see where the source of the kick had come from. What he saw made the world around him stop in time. His heart raced, sending blood at a faster rate than normal. Everything went dark around him but her. He could scarcely even remember how to breathe himself. She helped Barriss up to her feet before she advanced towards him, drawing her lightsaber.

"Who are you?" Ahsoka demanded. Taran sat up on his elbows steadily, breathing from the ferocity of the kick and because of who he was looking at. Her lightsaber pointed at his chest.

"Wait," he said groggily, stretching out his hand to stop her.

"Start talking now," she said fiercely.

"Ahsoka, wait," he said. At that, Barriss and Ahsoka froze. Ahsoka was stopped momentarily in her tracks by her name leaving the man's mouth. What made her shocked even more was that his voice was familiar as well.

"How...how do you know me?" said Ahsoka, lowering her lightsaber down just a little.

"I know almost everything about you," said the man, sitting up. He removed one of his gloves and held it out for her to see. Ahsoka used the glow of her lightsaber to get a closer look. She gasped when she saw the Earth Kingdom tattoo on her hand.

"It...it couldn't be," she thought.

"I could never forget about you. You were my best friend and the only woman I could ever truly love," he said.

His hands moved up as he brought his neckerchief down to reveal the lower half of his face. Then, he moved his goggles up to his forehead to reveal the rest. Both Ahsoka and Barriss' eyes opened in heart-stopping shock as they saw him. His green eyes were a dead giveaway to his identity, as well as the scar on his face. Ahsoka came forward slowly, her lightsaber falling out of her hands. Her form was trembling but still she walked. She knelt down in front of him, her breath hurried. Her eyes began to water with tears.

"T-Taran?" she said weakly. Taran gave her a small yet sad smile, giving her a nod.

"Yes Soka," he said softly, his eyes beginning to tear up as well. She sprang on him, hugging him fiercely as the tears ran down her cheeks. Taran held her tightly as well, his own tears streaming as well. Her light sobs echoed in the room as she buried her head into his neck.