As much as I would like to say I own Disney I don't so I don't own Star Wars, either.

Jenni found herself pacing again as she watched more and more children crawl out of the open panel into the long-abandoned landing bay. Through her bond with Ahsoka she had been 'listening in' on the reports Knight Grissom received of the ongoing battles raging through the Temple, and she was growing increasingly worried. The rest of the Temple's defenders had been told of the escape of the younglings — and more importantly the path that escape was taking — and were doing their best to keep the assaulting troops away from that part of the Temple, both through stiffening resistance and luring them into other areas. And in truth, they hadn't done all that bad a job.

But one company of the 501st refused to be distracted and refused to stop. They already killed half a dozen Jedi, were holding off other Jedi probing their flanks and rear, and would soon reach the first of the older younglings, those that had searched out the kyber crystals needed for their own lightsabers but hadn't yet been taken on as Padawans by any Knights or Masters. (The older children had pealed off from the rest as they moved toward Ahsoka's secret exit, into corridors joining the main route. Knight Grissom had not been happy with giving them that task, but had reluctantly agreed that someone had to be the last line of defense and really, their age might be too much for the troopers of Torrent Company to resist their programming, even if the children abandoned their lightsabers. For that matter, none of the adults with the children were happy about it — Barriss's protests had been particularly vociferous.)

Yes, Jenni was worried about the troopers breaking through and cutting off the children's retreat, but what really scared her was the thought that those troopers would realize the children were escaping from the Temple itself, and report back to whoever was calling the shots. The landing bay the children were taking refuge in was abandoned, not hidden — if the rest of the clones did a perimeter sweep, they'd almost certainly find it. The children would have no choice to go back into that maze of corridors and conduits, they'd have to spread out away from the path Ahsoka had laid out so everyone could fit, there would be accidents and children getting lost, and considering the dangers of that poorly maintained, likely unmapped maze some of them might never be found. And that would be the ones that could get back into the maze — Torrent Company would do its best to hold off any attackers but there was simply nowhere in the bay to take cover, most of the children would be massacred before they could escape.

She paused her pacing to stare through the wide open entrance to the landing bay at the cliff-like wall across the empty flyway. She murmured, "We can't stay here."

Captain Rex looked up from where he was discussing something appropriately military with one of his sergeants. "What was that?"

Jenni straightened and took a deep breath. "We can't stay here." She quickly repeated her reasoning (leaving out the part about the oldest children maybe abandoning their lightsabers to sneak out), finishing with, " ... unless the bay door can be closed?" She looked around at the rust-streaked walls.

Captain Rex had been nodding in agreement, but now shook his head. "No, even if we could somehow get it closed there's no guarantee we'd be able to open it again and that could be just as bad if the soldiers in the Temple follow your escape route."

"Right. Cort, have you been listening in?"

The response over her earbud was instantaneous. "Yeah, you want Life's Gift there?"

"As fas as you can."

"On my way."

"Great." Jenni refocused on Captain Rex. "Our freighter is on its way."

The Captain grinned. "You had someone else onboard? Sneaky, I approve. Between our shuttle and your freighter, we should have enough lift capacity so long as we don't take the younglings very far. But where do we take them?"

"I don't know, but I bet Ahsoka does. Give us a moment. 'Soka?"

/\

"'Soka?" Ahsoka missed a stride, almost stumbling, at Jenni's call. Running beside her, Barriss glanced over and Ahsoka shrugged. "Jenni." Keeping only half her attention on the corridor that would hopefully put them in front of the company aimed at the escape route before they encountered the older younglings standing guard, Ahsoka sent back, "Kinda busy here."

Jenni's reply had the faint 'echo' that meant she was speaking aloud at the same time she was 'sending'."I know. But I think, and Captain Rex agrees, that we need to move the kids out of the landing bay in case the rest of the 501st finds us and we need to know where to send them." She sent a 'burst' of the memory of her discussion with the Captain, and Ahsoka nodded and stopped running.

"Good thinking. I don't know where to send them, but I think I know someone that does. We need to switch so I can use the shuttle's coms." She closed her eyes, 'reached' for her Bonded, and swayed as she felt the familiar moment of vertigo as the entire universe seemed to shift around her. She opened her eyes to find Captain Rex staring at her, and he shook his head.

"The way way you two can switch places is ... well, a little freaky. Did you know the way you stand changes when you do that? Useful though, what do you need?"

"Your shuttle's com, I need to make a call." She headed for the shuttle's ramp at a run, past its original pilot now bound up and set next to an unusually large patch of rust on the wall. A few moments later she was in the co-pilot's seat looking at a screen showing the brown-crested, wide-mouthed face of one of her first non-Order friends.

"Ahsoka, I didn't know you were back in town! Where've you been, and why aren't you here?" His gaze sharpened. "That's an ... interesting broach you're wearing."

Ahsoka giggled even as the blues of her lekku blushed. "Does everyone know what that means? Dex, it's good to see you again, but I'm afraid I don't have time to gossip, I'll introduce you to Jenni later. The clone troopers were all chipped on the Chancellor's orders, he ordered them to kill all the Jedi, most of the 501st is attacking the Temple right now, we're getting the younglings out, we need to get them out of the shooting gallery where we're currently stashing them. Do you know anywhere we can hide a few hundred younglings until the shooting's over?"

The Besalisk former prospector, smuggler, gun runner, professional fighter and now cook and diner owner stared at her for a long moment, eyes wide as he took in the rapid-fire infodump, before shaking himself out of his shock. "Yeah, you're busy, all right. Do the tykes all need to be stashed in the same location?"

"No. Actually, breaking them up into individual clans would be even better, so long as we can find them all afterward."

"Then no problem, fly them down to the diner and I'll get them spread around."

"Ahsoka, we need to switch back now! Barriss needs you!"

Ahsoka gasped at the mental 'shout' echoing in her mind. "Dex, I gotta go, first flight will be on its way in a few minutes." She broke the connection and whirled to face the Captain. "Rex, I'm needed back in the Temple, check the directory for Dex's Diner in CoCo Town, take the younglings there, keep the clans together." Before he had a chance to respond, she 'reached' for Jenni and abruptly found herself in the middle of bloody chaos.

/\

Barriss shook her head in bemusement as the Force signature of her companion shifted again from her friend to her friend's (apparent) lover. (And didn't she want to hear how that happened ... once she got her old friend somewhere private and begged her forgiveness, which just thinking about tied her stomach in knots even if it seemed that somehow Ahsoka already had.)

Then 'Jenni' opened her eyes, and asked, "Where to?"

"Follow me." Barriss took off at a run again, 'Jenni' right on her heels, their Force-enhanced legs pushing them as fast as the need to turn corners allowed. Then the pair turned one last corridor, and Barriss breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the two older younglings standing guard with their lightsabers in hand but not activated ... and a moment later the Force screamed a warning that had her throwing herself backwards into 'Jenni' as a massive explosion turned the wall beside the guards into a hail of shrapnel.

Hacking on smoke, she pushed herself to her hands and knees and looked down the corridor, and froze at the sight of troopers pouring through the hole in the wall ... and walking unconcerned through the remains of the two younglings splashed across the floor and opposite wall. Some of those troopers were turning toward her and 'Jenni', but most of them ignored the pair to continue their advance toward the crèche.

Barriss reached her hand out, and one youngling's lightsaber leaped past the troopers and into her palm as pure hatred like a blanket of ice seemed to surround and penetrate her. Without saying a word she activated the lightsaber as she rose to her feet and charged, the green blade reflecting back the first oncoming fire.

She never did remember that fight clearly, only snatches in her nightmares of figures screaming and falling, blasters pointing at her that failed to fire or whose aim was off slightly, the empathy inherent in her battle focus telling her that these soldiers did not want to be there and even sensing gratitude as she cut them down ... and her own uncaring icy exultation in the slaughter, a memory that would wake her sweat-soaked and shaking, and soon wrapped up in the comforting arms of one of the others alerted through the Bond if she didn't wake up that way.

And through all the chaos she could sense Ahsoka returned to her rightful body, silently covering her flanks and watching her back as she dealt with those already in the corridor and then drove into a company that had placed itself in the worst possible location to fight a Jedi — crowded into a long maintenance conduit with no way to keep their distance, no way to spread out, and no way to retreat, only attempt ambushes from other branches as she passed, that Ahsoka dealt with.

Then the pair were out of the conduit into one of the open park-like areas scattered through the Temple, and they barely threw themselves apart in time to avoid the hammering fire of a tripod-mounted heavy blaster. As they ducked, dodged, and ran (jumping in a room full of soldiers experienced in how Jedi fought was a Bad Idea), the blaster's fire blew dirt into the air, scattered wood like shrapnel from shattered trees, sent up sparks and small clouds of vaporized metal as it blasted divots into the surrounding walls ... and the firing stopped at two Jedi Barriss didn't recognize dropped down from an upper-level balcony and hammered into the blaster's guards as well.

Barriss instantly stopped dodging and charged to the newcomers' support, Ahsoka coming in from the opposite side, and in a few minutes the Jedi — and Ahsoka — were the only ones standing.

And Barriss's blade shrieked as Ahsoka's blade intercepted it just short of the neck of a groaning soldier lying on the ground with one of his arms lying detached beside him. She whirled toward Ahsoka, snarling, only for Ahsoka to step back, deactivate and drop her lightsaber, and spread her hands.

"Barriss, it's over, and it's not their fault. It's time to let it go."

Those words resonated, at war with the need to slaughter all that had threatened the innocents she guarded churning inside her and she dropped her lightsaber and fell to her knees, clutching at a head feeling like it would split open. She instinctively 'reached' out to her friend, and was stunned by what she found — no disgust, no accusation, not even any pity ... only a calm acceptance and determination.

Closing her eyes, Barriss threw herself against the hatred and bloodlust, forcing herself to release her grip on them one metaphorical finger at a time. Horror and self-hatred flooded in to fill the void and she twisted away from the other Jedi, only for Ahsoka to drop beside her and pull her into a hard embrace.

Barriss clutched at her friend — undeniably her friend, perhaps her only friend left in the galaxy — and cried like she hadn't since receiving Ahsoka's message.