"Did he look alright Quinlan?"
"He looked tired to be honest" Quinlan replied, answering Ahsoka's inquiry "The council had boxed him up in the temple, you more than anyone else should know what they're like... but he wanted to know he did it. Who killed Senator Amidala, he'd come down here as a one man army if he could".
Ahsoka had to smile at that, despite the circumstances it sounded just like her Skyguy.
"Then he'd be with us" she said wishfully, her blue eyes widened at the possibilities "and in a way it would be like old times again, me and him and maybe Obi-Wan at the side. Just another day saving the Universe with the clones, on all sorts of weird adventures and planets and..."
She sighed there.
"Don't get me wrong Quinlan" she muttered, looking through the cracked glass towards the pitch black of the outside world, "This war is terrible and I'd rather it be over. But, now more than ever, I want to go back. I know where I belong. Damn the council, I'll fight with the clones till my dying day if I have too".
Quinlan smiled sadly at that and dipped his head.
"Don't know what you see in them though" he admitted quietly "Not Skywalker or Kenobi, but the clone themselves, they're just... so strict and boring and... grumpy".
"I thought someone as light-hearted as yourself would get on just great with the clones" Ahsoka informed him "Seriously, just joke around with them, they let down their guards pretty fast when you start treating them like people".
"I do, or I attempted to" Quinlan said "Don't know where I went wrong though, maybe I got put with a grouchy squad, either way I've never liked them".
"Well, when we deal with Sing and Bane, I, believe or not, will give you, the famous, unorthodox Quinlan Vos, charisma lessons for the clones!"
Quinlan had to laugh at this.
"Thanks but no thanks" he said "Only one I'm interested in at the minute is the simply gorgeous Asaji Ventress, you know her hair is looking great..."
"...why thank you" came the familiar voice of the night-sister, Ahsoka jumped from where she appeared from behind them, but Quinlan didn't move a muscle.
"How did you…?" Ahsoka inquired.
"Always keep your guard up, don't get distracted by conversations" Ventress lectured of her "You too Vos"
"I knew you were there sweet thing" Quinlan replied "I wanted you to hear that".
He didn't turn around, he could hear Ventress smile and blush through the silence, but Ahsoka who had to bear witness to the strange thing, audibly groaned and rolled her eyes at the former assassin.
"Will you two get a room!?" she snapped.
"Find us a 5 star one and sure, I'd be happy to get a room" Quinlan cheekily replied "But unfortunately we can't do anything with minors present, the noises might disturb you".
"You're a bit ambitious to assume that's the first thing that we'll be doing" Ventress said.
"A man has to dream doesn't he?" Quinlan said, turning to face her now "Besides, what's wrong with having ambition? We need some, especially for this mission".
"I can't argue with that" Ventress said, smiling back at him.
"But please carry on arguing with him and not engaging in anything else" Ahsoka pleaded "At least until this mission is over".
"Aww... you scared of a bit of affection Ahsoka!?" Quinlan teased.
"No, it's just... odd" Ahsoka muttered uncomfortably "Anyway, Ventress..." she muttered quickly, desperate to change the topic "Did you find anything or anyone out there?"
"Nothing" she replied, gazing at the pitch black streets, beyond yet another deserted warehouse they'd found themselves in. Now at Level 519, they were within touching distance of the masterminds behind Padme's death. Quinlan had used his retrocognition skills to touch certain objects to point them in the right directions. Fallen guns from their enemies revealed where they'd been sent from, it seemed Sing and Bane had gained a new ally in the Bounty Hunter Bossk, if Quinlan's visions were to be believed and not only that, but they had several warehouses across the underworld that they had used. Ventress was admittedly impressed with their tactics.
"Well they seem to understand that always keep moving is a vital rule down here" she had commented, when Quinlan informed her of this news.
That night Ventress had been scouring the backstreets for information, no sunlight reached these depths at all and Ahsoka couldn't tell what was night and day anymore. All sources of electricity failed at this level and those places that were lit up usually indicated danger, as they were funded by Sing and Bane and their growing criminal empire. It made hiding in the shadows even easier, but eventually the trio of them had to act when they came face to face with the skilled bounty hunters and fulfilled the republic's mission to end the threat they posed to the democratic system and Jedi.
"Another dull night of nothing and just inching closer to those ugly mugs" Quinlan droned, breaking the Young Togruta out of her train of thought "So let's make this night a little more fun. Ahsoka, since romance bothers you so much, I'm going to ask you about who you like".
"No one" Ahsoka replied instantly "It's against..."
"Bullshit, no one cares about the code, so spill it Ahsoka, I can sense there is someone..."
Ahsoka sighed.
"Fine. A boy. A separatist boy, or was one".
"I was expecting some pathetic Padawan at the temple" Ventress muttered "It was one like that, I liked when I was in training".
"Oh this is getting good, but you'll have your turn in a minute Ventress, come on Ahsoka, what's his name. We want details!"
"Speak for yourself" Ventress moaned.
"Well, his name was Lux, who also happened to be my first kiss" Ahsoka admitted, all flustered now.
"How did he say he loved you!?"
"He didn't..." Ahsoka recalled "Actually, we kind of got ourselves in a pickle with death-watch and we made up an act that I was his betrothed and he sorta just... kissed me there and then".
"Ah, did you get butterflies and go all weak at the knees for him?" Ventress asked, getting savage pleasure from embarrassing Ahsoka like this and forgetting her earlier disinterest.
"NO!" she snapped, far too fast to come across as convincing "I was just annoyed and..."
"Yeah, yeah she loved him, or do you still love him!?" Quinlan inquired.
"Hang on I didn't say...!?"
"Come on first crushes are fine and all, but what happened after that!?"
"I... well... stuff got hectic" Ahsoka said "I met him again on Onderon and he went through a lot..." she remembered the rebellion on Onderon at this point. The growing romance between himself and Stella which was broken by her death. Which Ahsoka still blamed herself for, yes she felt miserable watching Lux look at someone else like that. But she snapped to herself that she was a Jedi and wanted to see him happy, so seeing the defeated look in his eyes at her funeral was crushing for her. Since that time, she hadn't seen the young Lux, but thought about him often and how he was doing.
"A rebellion happened on Onderon, but that point he was interested in someone else" she explained to Ventress and Quinlan briefly "But she died and... and well... I haven't seen him since".
"But he is single now, right?"
"Maybe" Ahsoka said "But he's a young hero by now. Handsome, good looking. I'm sure any girl on Onderon is probably with him now".
"He's probably thinking the same about you" Quinlan said, "You never know"
"I can't make any attachments, or be with anyone like that" Ahsoka said "I'm a Jedi and he knows it..."
"For all things holy, how many times do I have to remind you you're no longer a part of that order?" Ventress informed her "So why are you still going by their code?"
Ahsoka shook her head.
"Force of habit, I guess" she mumbled "But what are suggesting, I should just go back to Lux?"
"Yeah, you can be war-heroes together and all that stuff" Quinlan encouraged "You can make a living together, start a family..."
These thoughts were completely alien to Ahsoka. Yes, she could go and see Lux and do all of that, but... they were in the middle of a war. Too her Lux was handsome and he made her heart flutter. But when Stella loved him and was pursuing him as miserable as that made her, she wasn't really fighting for him. She knew if Lux was the one for her, she'd fight tooth and nail for him and cross the stars to be with him. Why didn't she instantly get on a ship and head to Onderon to be with him? The fact that she couldn't answer that question confirmed to her, that although she was fond of Lux, he wasn't her endgame.
Her place was amongst the 501st, that was her endgame.
"Or maybe you like someone else now" Quinlan said as if he could read her mind "You seem awfully fond of clones"
"Don't start" Ahsoka said.
"Whose that clone that is constantly watching your backside!?" Ventress snapped "Blue painted armour, Jaig eyes on his helmet..."
"Rex!?" Ahsoka said, thinking of the captain in those moments "I don't recall you being there, when me and Rex were fighting..."
"I recognised that particular clone's armour and he was always by your side" Ventress said "Strong mind for a clone as well. Couldn't really control him on Teth…" she noticed Ahsoka's smile there "So you're fond of him as well?"
"As a friend and for being so damn badass" she mused, resisting Ventress mind trick, was a story well known in the 501st and Ahsoka had always liked getting Rex to recall it and watching how the story varied from being simple and straightforward, or more boastful and action packed when surrounded by several other men.
"I suppose you're going to say something like my master is single now, so why don't I get with him?" Ahsoka noted, at Quinlan's smirk that she could see out of the corner of her eye.
"Wow, Ashoka, so dark and inconsiderate for the late Senator Amidala" Quinlan noted.
"Oh no he calls me Snips and I call him Skyguy, so there's something there alright" Ahsoka teased, as the trio laughed, before settling down slightly "But seriously, he is like an older brother too me. I couldn't be with him and Padme was one of my best friends as well and now..."
She sighed there, thinking of all this reminded her so vividly of why she was on this mission in the first place.
"We'll avenge her" Quinlan said "Damn the council has to say. You know they made me lie to Anakin about this mission. Couldn't tell him Sing or Bane was responsible, I had to tell him the chancellor ordered him to stay when it was the council..."
"Maybe that's for the best" Ventress said "Skywalker down here with you two would be unbearable".
"It wasn't your fault" Ahsoka said to comfort him "Why'd you think I left? I couldn't be treated like that anymore".
"Yeah..." Quinlan muttered, before his eyes lit up once again "So... Ventress, who was the Jedi you happened to like? Judging by our ages I would have been in the temple when you..."
"It wasn't you, it was... this Padawan. He was a lot older than me, but... he was kind and graceful".
"Did you get his name"
"No"
"Did you remember what he looked like?"
"Handsome"
"Give me something to work with" Quinlan said "Handsome is subjective, it could be anything from The Hutt Clan to me myself"
"Ranking yourself as the most handsome, how egostical".
"Admit it, you love it" Quinlan mused.
Ahsoka let the two continue to flirt and argue onwards, she really hoped Quinlan and Ventress could join her after this mission was over, as the pair had really grown on her and for the first time in a long time...
...she felt like she had a future.