Have I mentioned that Ahsoka hates my guts? I can see her across the room, being as polite as possible to the Death Watch, and I can't help but feel the most bile rising guilt in my entire life.

Ahsoka began walking towards me and I could feel myself rocking back and forth. It felt like my outer walls of my sanity were closing in around me. That look from her—it was more heartbreaking than anything in my entire life. How dare I even think of laying one finger on her? Why did I hurt her? It was one of the biggest mistakes of my entire life… I harmed my Jedi. I harmed Ahsoka.

"You okay, Bonteri?" Vizsla said, putting his hand on my back. I had to make up an excuse.

"I-I'm not used to the cold, that's all." I said, my cheeks turning red, not with cold, but with embarrassment. I was treading on very thin ice—lying to a mercenary. But it seemed to go well for me. I then felt something around my shoulders. He put a blanket on my shoulders! I couldn't be rude. I sat up straight and smiled.

Honestly, that was rather sweet of him. Even though he barely acknowledged his own actions. I brought the blanket up to my nose and smelled it. It smelled of… motor oil and peppermint… Like my dad! He used peppermint aftershave and was a mechanic to the family. It made me feel safe.

Ahsoka finally reached next to me, making her walk feel like forever. "Hungry, mistress?" She said, bending down to offer me a bowl of soup. Maybe the heat will warm my hands. I grabbed a bowl of the soup and wrapped my hands around them.

"Careful! Don't choke on your stupidity," She said in a harsh whisper. I frowned and looked down at the orange colored liquid in the bowl as the steam rose to my nose and cleared my sinuses a little bit. I sniffled.

"I see your handmaiden has fit in well," Vizsla remarked in my ear. "Now what about you?" He eyed me like a hawk.

"I-I don't know what you mean… Fitting in?" Before he could respond, someone interrupted him.

"Vizsla!" I looked up and saw… Native Carlacc people! They live in a nearby village, as Vizsla told me. Apparently, he's been making a mockery of their Chieftain, Pieter. But it's a one-sided story. What has he really been doing to these poor people?

"Chieftain Pieter… I don't remember summoning you?" Vizsla stood up, bowl in his hands. This should be interesting.

"You have taken our women, stolen our food, and threatened us for too long!" The Chieftain said, directing a finger towards Vizsla. This doesn't seem right...

"It's brave of you to come here with such bold words," Vizsla said. I turned to look at Ahsoka who had put down the tray already. I slowly began to walk towards her but when she saw me, she moved away. I gulped down the sadness and just turned around, going back to Vizsla's side. Bo-Katan glanced at me and I turned my head away, looking at the Chieftain.

"You are no longer welcome here!" The Chieftain shouted anger clear on the man's face. I looked at Vizsla, waiting for a reaction. But his face was like stone…

Vizsla began to bow to the Chieftain. "Well, if our presence isn't welcome here, we'll make ready to leave." Wait, what? That seemed too easy… Vizsla doesn't look like the kind of person that would bend like that. The Death Watch as a whole doesn't seem like a group that would do that…

The Death Watch began laughing. Oh no…

"And you'll return our people to us?" The Chieftain asked.

"Sunrise, tomorrow. You have my word." I looked at Vizsla in curiosity. Pieter agreed to this and bid them farewell. It was humble of them, honestly.

But I know from experience that when someone seems humble, they are hiding their evil schemes.

I chose to ignore it for the night and get a long night's sleep. It was restless though, because I knew Ahsoka was close by but must have been absolutely terrified.

The next morning was like a harsh punch to the face. Well, almost. I woke to Bo-Katan slapping me in the chest. I coughed, sat up quickly, and bashed my face against her helmet, sending myself back down on the stupid cot.

"Ow, okay…" I groaned and rolled out of the cot and into the snow. Bo-Katan was laughing at me as she helped me stand up. I felt my legs get wobbly but I stood, running my hands down my skirt and reaching for my hat, running my fingers through my messy hair.

I really need a haircut. It seems like there's a cat living on my head. Anyway, I put my hat back on and go out in the bitter cold again. Vizsla insisted that I ride in the speeder today. And Ahsoka, she was sitting on the side of it. Once they began to drive us to that nearby village, I knew something was wrong…

I could feel that this would be awful for everyone, especially the innocent villagers. I left the speeder as elegantly as possible and felt snow gather around my feet as they hit the ground. I looked around at the quaint little village and saw Vizsla land in front of the Death Watch crowd. The girl behind him was a villager.

"You have kept your word," Pieter said. "We are very grateful for your understanding." He said, bowing his head in respect. But we all heard jetpacks that surrounded the perimeter, landing on every other roof of the village.

"I am a man of my word." Vizsla said, grabbing the girl's arm and shoving her towards Pieter. "Here is your granddaughter—as promised!" Vizsla removed a sort of dark sword from his back and swiftly stabbed the girl in the back!

I gasped, my hands going over my mouth. Ahsoka jumped forward and caught the girl before she hit the ground. I backed away from the scene and gulped down my fear and pain inside my chest.

"Kill them!" Vizsla shouted. "Kill them all!" I felt a heat from above and saw the Death Watch setting homes and buildings on fire.

The villagers could do nothing but watch their home burn. I could do nothing but watch it burn…

"How could you… What are you doing?!" I shouted at Vizsla, my hands fisting in my hair as my hat fell into the snow.

"Never let the weak tell you what to do!" Vizsla wrapped his arm around my shoulders and laughed.

"Welcome to Death Watch!" This is not what I wanted! This isn't how things were supposed to be! I shoved him away from me and began to run from the scene. I couldn't bear this any longer! Not anymore murder!

I was at the speeder until I heard a man screaming in agony. I turned around and saw Ahsoka fighting the Death Watch with a long pole of some sort. I knew she couldn't resist fighting. I just knew she would jump in and be the hero.

I couldn't leave her there; I ran back to try and help her. Vizsla lunged at Ahsoka with his sword and sliced the pole in half. And then, there were ropes around her wrist, dragging her to the ground. They caught her! They apprehended Ahsoka!

I wouldn't stand for this. "I think we caught ourselves a Jedi!" Vizsla shouted.

"Get away from her!" I shouted, completely on impulse. I shoved him in the chest and knocked him into the snow and ran towards Ahsoka to help her free. That was my mistake. Vizsla jumped in front of her and swung his dark sword at my face. He cut me.

I could feel the burn across the bridge of my nose and blood dripping from the wound. A Death Watch man grabbed me by the hair and held a gun to my chin. I hissed in pain and looked at the hand who was holding my hostage.

"Drag her back to camp. And tie her up!" Vizsla said. They wrapped binders around my wrists and threw me into the back of the speeder. My skirt went up over my thighs and my head hit the hard steel floor. I could feel myself getting faint… Ahsoka was right… I was going to kill us both.

It felt like an eternity before the speeder halted and the two men driving turned around and stared at me. I tried to pull my skirt back down with my bound hands but it was difficult. One of the men dragged his entire palm up my thigh and torso before grabbing me by the arm and throwing me out of the speeder, laughing. This made things worse.

My skirt went up even further and tangled around my waist, exposing me completely. I whimpered at the cold snow and the burning gaze of the men on my rear end.

The men approached me and I saw their hands getting closer and closer to my skin and I lifted my foot, kicking their hands away. I felt hands in my hair once again and I was pulled to my feet by my hair. I screeched in pain.

"You two better watch yourselves," Bo-Katan. Thank the Force! "Let's go, Bonteri." She shoved me towards the tent where I saw Ahsoka held by four different ropes, on her knees. Vizsla smirked as he saw the wound on my face he created. I looked at Ahsoka with fear and then back at Vizsla as he pulled out the handle of his dark sword.

"Little missy, this doesn't look good for you. I offer you to join us in good faith and you bring a Jedi into our camp!" He shoved my shoulder and I groaned in pain.

"She wasn't meant to be here! Please, don't hurt her. Let her go," I was begging. Pleading with Death Watch. My Jedi was at stake, I would do ANYTHING!

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Bonteri." He walked over to me and put his hand on my wound, rubbing the blood across my cheek.

"I believed you were honorable mercenaries. People who believed in the right thing… But your murderers! Butchers, just like Dooku!" I growled, baring my teeth in anger. Vizsla walked up to me and in anger, his fist collided with my nose. I heard and felt a loud crack on my nose and collapsed in pain and the jolt.

"You dare call us murderers when it was your own lust for revenge that made you seek these 'murderers' out! You only have yourself to blame!"

"I wanted… justice." I groaned, looking up at Vizsla. "My mother deserved to be avenged. But you dare stain my family's name…"

"The only one who has stained the Bonteri name is you!" He spat at my feet. "You shall have your justice, little girl. But the Jedi are no better than Dooku and this one shall pay in part for their crimes against Mandalore!"

I stared at Ahsoka who looked at me in… acceptance?

"So it's just like you said: It's not murder at all… It's justice!" He began to swing the sword at Ahsoka but a loud beeping interrupted him. I turned to see R2-D2 standing at the entrance of the tent. A cloud of smoke began to fill the area and I lunged at Vizsla, shoving him once more.

"Ahsoka!" I looked down and pulled on the ropes.

"I've got this!" Ahsoka said to me. "Go!" I didn't question her. R2 came up behind her and placed her lightsabers in her hand. In a split second, she had leaped up and her sabers opened, shining bright green and yellow. I jumped back as she sliced the heads of the Death Watch holding her hostage.

More Death Watch went to attack her. "Stop!" Vizsla said. "The Jedi… is mine!" He opened his dark sword and stood in battle ready.

"Lexie, get to the ship." I didn't ask any more questions. I ran outside where I saw… lots of droids. They were surrounding the tent. R2 communicated with them as well. I guess he made friends…

I began to head towards the speeder but I heard a thud and a groaning noise. Ahsoka slid across the snow and moaned in pain. I leaped into it and helped her back to her feet.

"Are you alright?" I said, brushing off her side. She nodded and looked at the army of droids in a nervous way.

"R2 made friends," I smirked. She returned the smirk and stood up, opening the sabers once more. I took the opportunity and made a dash for a speeder. I jumped into the driver's seat and revved up the engines, struggling with this particular model.

R2 made a whining noise. "I've got it! I just need to… find the—" R2 disengaged the parking break and I narrowed my eyes at the droid. "I could have done that."

I opened up the fuel hatches and made the speeder spin around and saw a huge explosion followed by Ahsoka getting blown off her feet. I pulled up alongside.

"Ahsoka, it's time to go!" I shouted.

"Good idea!" I felt my heart give a flutter in my chest. She jumped on the speeder and held onto the seats behind me. I let out a breath of relief, thinking we were in the clear.

"Ahsoka," I said over the engines. "If we don't get out of this alive… I wanted to tell you that you were right! And I'm sorry!" I shouted.

Ahsoka stayed silent before responding with, "I'm sorry I called you a butcher! I understand now," She said in my ear. I sighed with content that she forgave me…

But I was too happy too soon. There was a huge explosion next to the speeder and Ahsoka landed on the engine, looking up. I couldn't turn around to see what she was looking at, I had to focus. All I could hear were gunshots, lightsabers, and cries of battle. I did as much as I could to keep them from shooting out the engines.

I then heard a clatter. Ahsoka's lightsabers were on the control dash. I turned around for a brief second and saw Ahsoka use the force to knock the assailant away. "That's two I owe you," She must've been talking to R2.

I heard another bang and then gunshots. There was a loud sound of anguish and I saw Ahsoka out of my peripheral vision, hanging onto the side of the speeder for dear life. She couldn't get solid ground anywhere.

I tilted the speeder a little and heard a thud before seeing her jump up and back into the fight. There was the sound of a knife being unsheathed and then a body flying in front of the speeder. I ran straight passed it and followed the path all the way to the ship.

I jumped out of the speeder and ran up the ramp, waiting for Ahsoka and R2 before closing the ramp and breathing heavily. Ahsoka bolted up the ramp the rest of the way and I stared as she ran passed me and up to the cockpit. And it was only then that I realized what I needed to do. I needed to leave.

I couldn't go with her, even after all of this. I couldn't go with her.

I ran to the ladder. I slid down the ladder. I jumped from the ladder. I ran into the escape pod… I bit my lip and held my breath as I closed the door and activated the pod. There was no way I could get away without her calling me out. She knows everything…

I ran to the controls at the front of the escape pod and started to punch in the coordinates. And then, I heard a bang. I knew it.

"Lexie! What are you doing?!" She shouted through the glass. I turned around and approached her. She deserves to know.

"I can't go with you to the Republic… You know this," I said, sighing deeply, not meeting her depressed gaze. Her blue eyes were so upset… They looked like shining stars.

"But… We can try! Try to change things… Together… Please," She was begging. I was this close to giving in… Please, stay strong Lexie. You need this.

"We made a pretty good team," I said, regarding her remark about us together. "Don't we?"

That smile… She was glowing! I couldn't help but get so sad when she looked away from me and down towards the floor. I wanted to grab her and… Stop it, Lexie. She doesn't see that. Don't let her see it.

"Don't be sad… We'll meet again, my lady Jedi… I promise you," I reached out and put my hand on the glass, almost on the verge of tears. Ahsoka did the same… I put my forehead to the glass and sniffled. It wouldn't be long before the locks disengage.

"Be careful, Lexie…" She said. I felt my heart turn in my chest as the locks clicked, releasing the escape pod. I kept my hand on the glass and felt a tear fall free from my eyes… I did it… I did the most painful thing that has been a part of this whole ordeal. It hurt more than the fear. More than the dark sword slicing my skin… Even more than her anger.

I said goodbye to my Jedi for the second time.