A/N: I'll probably expand this chapter eventually.


Ahsoka Meets Luke:

D150/0 ABY, Hoth

Ahsoka and Lux were greeted by a familiar voice as they disembarked from their shuttle in the icy cold air of Hoth. Rex was bundled up so much he was barely recognizable. "Commander!... Er. I mean, Ahsoka. Welcome to frozen hell," he said with a frost covered grin through his equally frost covered fuzzy hood and goggles.

Ahsoka shivered just out of principle even though she'd only been exposed to the frigid air for ten seconds. Wrapping her arms around herself for warmth, she huddled deeper into her winter jacket. "Hi, Rex. Please tell me you have somewhere warmer for us to go."

Rex chuckled and nodded towards the glacier behind them and turned that way as well, walking towards it with Ahsoka and Lux quickly following behind through the snow. "We have a base hidden in the glacier there. It's a work in progress right now, but yes, there is something resembling heat. It's actually comfortable if you leave your winter clothes on."

Ahsoka groaned and Lux laughed at Rex's teasing tone. They all hurried through a small hidden door and were greeted by the sound of hundreds of people and machines hard at work. Ahsoka looked around at the massive cavern that had been carved out of the ice. "This is amazing," she said.

Rex pushed his hood back and pulled off his goggles. "Welcome to Echo Base," he said with a sweeping gesture of his arm. "You'll find out soon enough why we called it that. This big area is going to be the hangar for the ships eventually, but for now it's the space where everything is. We're slowly carving more tunnels to other, smaller, natural caverns for the command center and barracks and such, but this is all we've completed so far."

"Well, I'm impressed," Ahsoka said as they walked amongst and around the organized chaos.

Rex looked like a proud parent as he led them towards the temporary command centre. "This isn't the only base the Rebellion is working on, but we're hoping it will eventually be the main one. There's enough room here and it's easily defendable. AND only a complete di'kut would want to live here, so the Empire isn't likely to find it. Only set back is the wampas keep sneaking in and slowing down our progress. I say it's good training for the shinys but some of the others aren't quite as enthused. I don't know why. These wampas are nothing compared to some of the creatures we encountered during the war with the Seppies."

Ahsoka grinned. "You mean like the giant Zillo beast that I never actually got to see except in vids?"

Rex nodded, eyes going blank as he remembered the old days. "Yah, that was a good one. But there were others. So many others. Lost a lot of good brothers to some of those creatures."

They'd almost reached the corner of the big cavern that command had confiscated for themselves when a silver and blue astromech rolled up. Ahsoka lit up as she caught sight of the droid. "Artooie! You still keeping your masters out of trouble?"

R2 beeped proudly and swivelled his dome towards the group of people having a conference in the corner around makeshift equipment. Ahsoka caught sight of a familiar female figure amongst others that Ahsoka either knew well or were complete strangers. But this one had been in danger last she knew. Ahsoka was happy to see her safe and whole. She'd have to remember to ask someone later about the Organas so she knew how to address the issue of their home planet being exterminated. "Leia!"

Leia spun around at the sound of her name and her eyes widened when she caught sight of Ahsoka and Lux. "Ahsoka! Lux! You're back!" They hurried to meet each other and the girls exchanged a tight hug. "Is your quest over yet? Have you found Ezra?"

Ahsoka shook her head ruefully. "Yes and no. I know he's alive, but we haven't found the planet he's stuck on yet. There's just so much unexplored space out there. Someone really should have done this a lot sooner."

Leia snorted. "The known galaxy has enough problems without adding more planets to the equation."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "So far, we've found nothing truly interesting and no new intelligent races. Ezra is on a planet full of Force users though, if I can ever find it."

Leia gaped. "How do you know this if you don't know where he is?"

"Ezra learned some new Force tricks from his new friends and he's used his bond with Sabine to throw a spirit projection across space. It's quite amazing," Ahsoka explained.

"I've seen it and it really is," a new voice said. Ahsoka and Leia turned their focus to the blond and blue eyed young man who spoke.

While Ahsoka gaped, Leia smacked him in the arm. "How come you never told me this? It would have been nice to know that one of my friends is still alive for sure."

Luke shrugged and looked at the floor bashfully. "I don't know," he mumbled. "I didn't know you'd be interested," he offered as an excuse.

"Idiot," Leia muttered. She shook her head and finally noticed Ahsoka's look of fascination. "What? What is it?"

Ahsoka remembered to close her mouth and breath. "Who are you?" she asked of the young man who looked about the same age as Ezra and Leia, just to make sure her guess was correct. He bore a striking resemblance to Anakin and his Force signature... She hadn't felt one like it since Anakin's either. And there, on his belt, hung Anakin's old lightsabre. She recognized it immediately in both sight and how the Kyber crystal felt in the Force. He had to be the son Obi-Wan mentioned. But if he was here, shouldn't Obi-Wan be as well? But Ahsoka didn't fell his presence.

Luke raised a brow and studied the togrutan female curiously. Older than him off course, judging by her long lekku, but pretty. And strong in the Force. Really strong. Rex was looking between the two of them with a fascinated expression and Luke was getting an inkling towards who she was. "My name is Luke," he said. "Luke Skywalker." Ahsoka smiled at being right. "I'm guessing you're Ahsoka Tano," Luke continued. "Rex has told me a lot about you. And Leia some as well. It's nice to meet you, Lady Tano. Rex said you could tell me more about my father?"

Ahsoka nodded dumbly, mind whirling. How much should she tell him? The good stuff from Anakin's past was easy, but what about what he'd become? Did Luke really need to know that his father had turned into Darth Vader? She hadn't told anyone that secret. Not even Lux. Ahsoka was torn. Luke deserved to know the truth, but at the same time, that was the kind of truth no one wanted to hear. Not even her. It had practically torn her in two when she'd first figured it out. She decided that for now she'd stick to just the good stuff. One day, there might come a time when Luke needed to know, but today wasn't that day. And she was grateful for it.

Ahsoka took a deep calming breath and glanced up at Lux thankfully as he sidled a little closer to her, lending his support. She nodded again. "Yes, I can tell you stories about your father. He was an amazing man. A great teacher. And an inspirational Jedi. But most of all, he was my friend, or more realistically, like an older brother to me. He called me Snips, and I called him Skyguy. We both hated our nicknames at first, but then they grew on us. Not that I'd ever let anyone else call me Snips, but if Anakin came back and did so, I'd be very happy to hear it."

There wasn't a single person in the immediate vicinity who didn't notice the wistfulness in her voice. Leia noticed too and nodded towards a deeper corner of the cavern where it was quieter. "Why don't you two go talk? I know you have a lot to say. Luke, you should tell her about Obi-Wan and the Death Star and your training with Sabine too. She'll want to know."

Luke nodded in understanding while Ahsoka's eyes widened again. He'd trained with Sabine? And she'd forgotten to ask about the Death Star last time and... "What about Master Kenobi? What happened to him?"

As Luke led the way to the semi private corner, he sighed and shook his head. "Vader. Vader happened to Ben."

Ahsoka's shoulders slumped in sorrow and she had to blink back the tears the filled her eyes. Her Master really was gone if he could kill his own Master; a man that she knew Anakin had loved like his own older brother. Somehow, she put on a brave face for Luke's sake and brought up happier memories. Memories of the days when Anakin was a good person. Someone she had looked up to. Someone with a heart of gold who cared about the galaxy and the people he loved. Darth Vader was not that man. And from now on, she wouldn't let herself think of Darth Vader as Anakin. They were two entirely different people, and for the sake of her sanity and Luke's, he needed to stay that way.


The next day, when it was time to continue the search, Ahsoka didn't want to leave. She felt responsible for Luke, being the only available trained Light side Force User left that she knew of. (And he was kind of like a nephew.) Master Yoda might be alive still, since he'd appeared to both Ezra and Kanan, but he could have done that from the other side just as easily. Ahsoka wasn't counting on Master Yoda to help Luke. Sabine had taught Luke the basics of the lightsabre decently enough, but Luke still knew almost nothing about how to use the Force. He didn't even know how important meditating was. From what he'd told her, it sounded like Obi-Wan had done his best to give him a crash course in the Force and the lightsabre, probably knowing he wasn't going to be able to teach Luke for very long, but the Force wasn't meant to be learnt that way. So she'd spent most of the day with him, teaching him what she could about the Force in the time she had. And even those few hours weren't even close to enough. At least he knew how to meditate now and connect to the Force on purpose and use it to strengthen himself. The rest of the lessons would have to wait for another day. Many other days in fact.

The new hope of the galaxy was only partly trained. And she had to leave him behind to go find Ezra. Ahsoka had never been so conflicted in her life. Even leaving the Order had been an easier decision than this. In the end, Ahsoka did leave Luke and continue her search with Lux at her side. She had made a promise to Ezra first and she felt honour bound to keep it. Whatever the cost.

But this time, she found someone to marry them before they left again. Their hasty marriage ceremony was the excuse everyone on the base needed to take a much needed break, and was cause for much celebration. Mon Mothma was happy to officiate the ceremony and Ahsoka had Leia as her maid of honour and Lux had Rex as his best man. When they finally did leave, after much protestations from the partiers, Ahsoka and Lux left behind hundreds of Rebels who were all well on their way to getting happily drunk and no longer feeling the cold. It turns out Han had a whole case of Corellian whiskey hidden on the Millennium Falcon and decided that a wedding was a good enough excuse to open it instead of selling it. He even sent Ahsoka and Lux away with a bottle as a wedding present. Luke had whispered loud enough for the whole cavern to hear that he thought Han was just trying to impress the Princess again. The corresponding blushes from both Han and Leia had definitely given that theory merit and caused a wave of laughter from the crowd.

Ahsoka left Hoth feeling guilty and ridiculously happy. It was a strange combination that didn't sit well but she looked at Lux sitting beside her in the co-pilot's chair and was comforted by his presence, knowing she was doing the right thing.