Agaria Clammath was having a good day.

Some man dressed in some of the most extravagant attire that she'd ever seen had come up to her, offering her enough credits to never have to do another job ever again in her life, and all that she had to do was eliminate a Jedi.

While of course, killing this Jedi, who was apparently called Anakin Skywalker, would not be easy, the money sure made up for it. Agaria would do anything to make sure that this mission was completed… no matter the cost. Plus, the Jedi brought more harm to the galaxy than good anyways, so it'd hardly be much of a loss.

She knew that intimately.

Agaria's eyes flickered over to her young daughter, as she played with a toy spaceship that she'd been able to scavenge in the rubble of a junkyard a couple of weeks ago.

Every day, more and more, she reminded Agaria so much of her father.

He'd been a pilot once, back when he was still alive, and more than that, had once been all of the stars that made up her galaxy. She smiled bittersweetly, as she remembered his charming smile, wisecracking jokes and ability to seem to always know how to brighten up her day or make her smile.

She missed him terribly and hated the Jedi for his untimely death.

It'd been an oddly cold day on Coruscant, the day he'd died, so they'd stayed in doors. Back then, she hadn't been a bounty hunter- or rather she had been, one of the best really, but after starting a family with the love of her life, Lann, she'd thrown that life away in favor of the one that had only just been beginning, until the Jedi took everything from her. A skirmish had broken out, over what, she wasn't quite sure. All that mattered was that the Jedi had chased the assailant in a fast-paced speeder chase until he'd crashed into their apartment complex.

She and her daughter had been lucky, but her husband, on the other hand, had not.

The Jedi had never even apologized for what they'd done, as she'd gathered the body of her dead husband in her arms, while her daughter had screamed and cried, begging her father to stop "sleeping." All that the Jedi had done in an attempt to compensate for the tragedy was that a tall Togruta man had come up to her and told her that The Force would be with her.

What was that even supposed to mean? They'd taken everything from her and they couldn't even properly apologize, instead just telling her that an all powerful God-like thing, that she wasn't quite sure that she even believed in, would be with her.

It was madness.

So yes, she would carry out this job for the money, for her daughter and for Lann.

The Jedi needed to understand and more than that, they needed to pay for what they'd taken from her family.

Rey was genuinely surprised when Master Windu led her to Ventress's cell, dropping the shield momentarily to allow Rey entry, while two Temple Guards stood on standby, just in case anything went wrong.

"She'll only talk to you," the Jedi Master confessed, before quickly adding "I want a detailed report, as to who sent her and why she was there." Then he quickly spun around and disappeared back from where he came, leaving her alone with the Zabrak woman.

For a long moment there was silence, as if the two were waiting to see who would speak first, until finally Ventress spoke, seeming to have lost her patience.

"I've been going over a million scenarios in my head, Jedi," the woman spat out the word like it was a curse, however Rey still didn't exactly feel as much venom behind the word as she would have expected from an avid user of the dark side, "and still, I find myself at a loss." Ventress seemed to stare into the depths of Rey's gaze, as though she were trying to break her down and analyze every atom that made up her very being. "Why did you save me? Why did you bring me back?"

Rey was surprised by having received such an upfront question, however, she supposed that it was indeed a valid one that she probably should've expected.

"I only did what I felt was right," she confessed with a small shrug, "I shouldn't have tried to take your life in such a cruel manner… it… it was wrong of me to do so and so, I brought you back, in order to try and make up for my grave mistake."

Rey watched as a flicker of surprise lit up Ventress's ice blue gaze, before disappearing entirely, as confliction took over, once more.

"I see," was all the woman said in reply, seemingly too lost in her own thoughts to say much else.

While part of Rey was interested in continuing to pursue this dialogue, she knew that she needed to do what Master Windu had asked.

"Who sent you?" Rey asked, but Ventress, who seemed to be way too lost in her own head, at the moment, to be paying much attention to her, didn't respond. So, Rey repeated her question, albeit this time a bit louder.

Finally pulled from her thoughts, Ventress's icy blue gaze settled on her own, while anger seemed to flare through her like an inferno at having her thoughts being interrupted. "Does it even really matter? No matter what I say, all of you Jedi- or at least most of you anyways- are always going to be definite in your ways. For even if I tell you, nothing changes for me. I'll either rot here for eternity or be sentenced to death for trying to kill 'The Hero With No Fear.'" A disgruntled look overcame her face, "you know, the Jedi took everything from me, everything," she paused, "there was once a time when I was like one of you, but that time has long since passed, because one day I realized something. That no matter how good and righteous you all may appear to be, at the end of the day, there's always an ulterior motive," she paused her gaze darkening, "just like right now, in telling me that you saved me, because you felt bad for taking my life, when really, you just told me that so that I would become conflicted and spill everything to you," the woman leaned forward, as her voice lowered to a hiss, "but, guess what, dearest? I won't, because that's where the Sith rise above the Jedi. For they are direct, whereas the Jedi are conflicting beings built upon unstable pillars of false truths, manipulation and impossibilities." Hot pools of fire seemed to swirl in the woman's eyes, as she stared daggers into Rey's very soul.

Startled by such a show of impulse emotion, Rey flew into protest, "the Jedi are selfless and good. I mean, they- we are peacekeepers!"

Luckily, not seeming to notice Rey's slip in the heat of the moment, Ventress just shook her head with a painful darkness haunting her gaze.

"Perhaps they once were, but the days of those Jedi, at least for the most part, are gone. You call yourself peacekeepers and yet, you engage in war," Ventress's eyes narrowed in her heightening anger, "all of you are lying about your supposed greatness… to yourselves and everyone else around you, because this Order that you serve is corrupt. It's all corrupt," Ventress let out a small burst of laughter, before falling back into silence and sinking into her thoughts once more.

After that whole scene, Ventress refused to say anything more, so after several more minutes of attempting to search for answers to the questions that Master Windu had given her, Rey eventually just gave up and left, telling Master Windu regretfully of her failure.

The man only nodded, and Rey could tell that he was disappointed, before stalking off in the direction from whence she came.

Rey was just so done with today.

Still, she wanted to see Ben before the end of the day and so, she headed back towards the Halls of Healing with that in mind.

Upon entering, she wasn't surprised to find him awake, despite it being such an odd hour.

"Hey," she greeted exhaustedly, as she flopped down, defeatedly, in the chair next to his momentary bed.

Concern lit up Ben's gaze, brightening the brown, as he observed her. "Hey… Rey are you alright?"

Once more, she was reminded of all of the weights of the galaxy that were being pushed down upon her and how it all just felt so unbearable.

She was still no closer as to finding out why her and Ben had been sent back, Palpatine now seemed to want her as his Sith apprentice, they were in an alternate timeline, they had to make an impossible choice… or rather she did, Ben had almost died, she'd had had an incredibly distressing conversation with Ventress and she just wanted it all to go away.

All of it.

"No," she murmured quietly and the concern in Ben's eyes got brighter, as he forced himself to sit up straighter, while hiding a gasp of pain at the movement that Rey would've noticed had she been more in the moment, "I'm not, Ben… I'm not."

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" He asked, as his eyes stared into her own, but unlike with Master Windu or Ventress, the way he looked at her was just so full of love, care, kindness and worry.

It made her feel so much lighter- so much safer.

"I know," she sighed.

So, she told him everything. About Qui-Gon and what he'd told her, how she was pretty sure that Palpatine wanted her as an apprentice, her fear for him during and after that fight, and her distressing conversation with Ventress.

The whole time, Ben was dead silent, just listening to her voice and letting her vent. However, as soon as she had finished, he was quick to speak.

"Palpatine's apprentice," he breathed out in barely contained shock, "that's definitely not good, and even more than that, we're in an alternate timeline…" a look of confliction took over his gaze, "with our only choices after we sort everything out, given that that we do actually sort everything out, being staying here or going back."

A deep sadness seemed to overcome him, "Rey, you do understand that I can't go back, right?"

A distant look filled her gaze and she gave a small nod, "I know, Ben… I… I know."

Slowly the sadness morphed into hurt, as he began to pick up on the context clues of the conversation, "are you… are you really considering going back?" Fear entered his eyes, "Rey, the Resistance will kill me!"

A single tear slipped down Rey's cheek, "I know… which is why I'm going to stay here with you," she paused, momentarily, "because I love you, Ben Solo. Still, it's hard for me to accept that I'm going to have to leave everyone else behind. Finn, Poe, BB-8, Rose… everyone . Though I suppose that perhaps it isn't the end. I mean, there's still a chance that they'll still exist, but with how much we're changing, I quite honestly don't know."

Ben reached over to wipe the tear off her cheek, "I'm sorry," he apologized, while looking regretful, "that was callous of me."

Rey just shook her head, "no Ben, it's alright. They'll be fine without me, because they have each other and I'll have you," she smiled bittersweetly, "and at the end of the day, you're the only one that I'll ever need. Ever."

After he was finally discharged from the Halls of Healing, Anakin spoke to Master Yoda about the ability that Rey had bestowed upon him and how he'd used it to save Obi-Wan, like Healer Che had advised him to do.

Surprisingly though, the ancient Jedi Master hadn't seemed the least bit fazed. Instead he'd simply nodded along, before offering him some very Yoda-esque pieces of wisdom and advice that Anakin hadn't really paid much attention to, because all he could think about was how odd it was that Master Yoda seemed to be one of the only ones who wasn't reprimanding him, for using such a power.

As he made it back to his room, Anakin instantly made his way towards his bed, exhausted by the events of the day and all of the confusion built upon it.

Sleep claimed him almost instantaneously.

It was dark here and pain filled Anakin's senses. However, strangely he was able to recognize that it was not his pain, but rather someone else's. Fear rose within him, as he realized that he wasn't quite sure exactly whose it was, though.

Finally, out from the depths of the darkness, a shadow slowly began to take form in front of him and so, Anakin instinctively reached towards his belt, searching for a lightsaber that surprisingly wasn't there.

The shadow continued to morph and change until finally it started coming into focus and Anakin found himself face to face with a young female Togruta, who looked up at him in fear.

Ahsoka.

"Master, help me," his shadowy apprentice pleaded and Anakin reached for her, but his fingers only fell right through shape. "Help. Please, Anakin, I don't… I don't…" his apprentice disappeared, consumed by the shadows.

"Ahsoka!" Anakin cried out, as his fear turned from a trickle into an outpour. "AHSOKA!"

The crackle of a laugh sounded from somewhere behind him and he spun around, relief filling his gaze, as the shape of his Padawan made her way over to him.

"Ahsoka, thank The Force," he breathed, before his eyes suddenly narrowed in confusion and then widened in horror, upon closer inspection.

His Padawan was screaming at him in a wild rage, all accusations probably, but none of it reached his ears. The most disturbing things though, was that her eyes were filled with sickly yellow veins and the dark side clung to her like a barbed-wire blanket.

It was just like his other visio- dream.

There was something else that was off about Ahsoka too, but Anakin couldn't quite place it.

"I hate you!" His apprentice screamed from the darkness and then, suddenly he was falling into what felt like a black hole, pulling him away from it all and leaving Ahsoka alone in her suffering.

"No!"

Anakin jolted awake in a cold sweat, while a migraine seemed to throw a rave in his skull. His eyes flickered over to the clock, to assess the time and was disappointed to see that it was only 0100 hours standard time.

Knowing that he would be unable to fall back asleep now after witnessing one of his worst nightmares for the second time, Anakin groaned, before resigning himself to just laying there in his bed with his eyes wide open and awake until daylight came.

Ahsoka would never turn to the dark side.

She wouldn't betray him.

Right?