Prologue

"This is it." Ahsoka Tano thought to herself as Senator Mas Amedda displayed the jury's verdict into Chancellor Palpatine's view. Her defense, Senator Padme Amidala has made valid points, yet Ahsoka knows her fate has been sealed. Admiral Tarkin is known to be very persuasive and to have friends in high places. She was going to be executed for a crime she did not commit. Someone has successfully framed the rogue Padawan learner for the murder of the late political acitivist Letta Turmond and all the Jedi killed in the Temple bombing.

Despite the lack of evidence, everyone the young woman thought she knew and trusted abandoned her. All except her Master, Anakin Skywalker. No matter how hard Ahsoka tried to prove her innocence, it wasn't enough. Not enough to keep her Padawan beads intact. All Ahsoka could do now is hold her breath as Palpatine cleared his throat.

"Ahsoka Tano, by an overwhelming count of-"

"Chancellor!" Anakin's voice interrupts as he enters the arena with four Temple guards trailing behind him.

Ahsoka quickly turns her head around to face her mentor as Palaptine regards him with a tone of amusement, "I hope you have a reason for bursting into our proceedings, Master Skywalker."

"I'm here with evidence and a confession from the person responsible for all the crimes Ahsoka has been accused of...Barriss Offee, member of the Jedi Order and traitor!" announced Anakin, moving to reveal the handcuffed Mirialan behind him.

Ahsoka's heart stopped. Barriss Offee, her best friend in the Order, a traitor? A murderer? No. It couldn't be true. Barriss is a healer, someone who was all too willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of millions back on Geonosis. She is the student of the esteemed Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, a respected Padawan the younglings looked up to. There was no way the dark figure wielding Asajj Ventress's lightsabers she dueled against could possibly be the same woman Ahsoka knew.

No! Barriss was devastated at the Jedi bombing memorial, Ahsoka saw the tears, the grief that threatened to take over. Murderers do not mourn for the dead. Something wasn't adding up, yet there Barriss stood, completely exposed without her blue hood or lightsaber. Though she would have every reason to be angry, Ahsoka did not have the strength to be hateful. Instead she looks to Barriss and asks, "Barriss? Is that true?"

"Tell them the truth!" Anakin growls, pointing to the crowds above.

At first, Barriss looked hesitant. Pausing presumably to gather her thoughts before looking into the cameras and confessing, "I did it, because I've come to realize, what many people in the Republic have come to realize is that the Jedi are ones responsible for this war! That we have so lost our way that we have become villains in this conflict. That we should be the ones put on trial, all of us! And my attack on the Temple was an attack on what the Jedi have become, an army fighting for the dark side, fallen from the light we once held so Republic is failing! It's only a matter of time…"

Anakin then pulls Barriss back as Palpatine waves to the guards, "Take her away!"

With multiple yellow sabers igniting, Barriss's face softens as her eyes meet with Ahsoka's. Never has the Togruta seen a prisoner look more remorseful as Barriss was being escorted out. The trial was over with, but not in the way Ahsoka wanted or expected. She notices Anakin smiling at her, but she doesn't reciprocate. Barriss Offee was going to be locked away, possibly executed for her crimes. No amount of reassurances or smiles can numb the pain she began to feel inside.

"Why Barriss? What went wrong? Was there something I could've done?" Ahsoka mused as she slowly made her way outside with Padme's assistance. Padme's lips are moving, but Ahsoka hears none of it. Barriss's words echoed in her head, replaying itself as Ahsoka desperately picked through each word. There may have been a confession, but what exactly caused her friend to go down a dark path remains unanswered.

Friend. Does she still consider Barriss a friend? As with everything else, Ahsoka was at a loss. Her whole world has been turned upside down and none of her training has prepared her for it.

Now, members of the Jedi Council, including Anakin greet her with open arms. She gets the impression that she will be offered to rejoin the Order. Little do they know that Ahsoka already has an answer for them. If there's one thing Ahsoka knew for sure it was this; she can no longer be a Jedi.

Barriss Offee is numb. For the first time in her life, she feels nothing. Everything has gone so horribly wrong.

It should have been Letta up there on the stand. Oh, yes, it should have been. True, it was Barriss who conceived the idea of an attack on the Temple and indeed, it was she, who gave Letta the nanobombs. But no one was supposed to die.

It was Letta who said she would sacrifice herself to prove a point, not her poor husband. Not once did the woman mention that she would feed the bombs to someone else and then have him explode during a time where there would be victims. After all, Barriss was studying to be a healer. She saves lives rather than take them. There was only to be one casualty that day no strings attached and yet here she was, walking towards solitary confinement.

If it is decided that Barriss is to die for her crimes, then she will accept it with whatever dignity she had left. The traitor was no fool. Despite her impeccable reputation, Barriss made a choice; a choice she can't come from. Master Luminara was right, the dark side is the worst of afflictions. Barriss thought she could put an end to the war by forcing the Jedi to step back. Nobody listened to her growing concerns and as always her Master was sent off-world. When Barriss needed help the most, she was alone. Alone long enough to stupidly allow the darkness to settle. She just never expected Ahsoka to get caught in it.

Green hands balled into fists.

"Damn it Letta, why did it have to be her?!

Tears then began to land on the ground as Barriss's heart broke all over again, remembering the moment she panicked and killed Letta out of rage. From that moment on, Barriss knew she fell and there was no turning back. Any chance of her becoming the knighted healer she dreamed of was gone. She then thinks back to her duel with Skywalker.

"You should have gotten rid of them!" Anakin snarled, blue blades clashing against red.

"I think they suit me!" Barriss hissed back with a grin that wasn't her own.

Barriss swallows back a sob, not wanting to completely breakdown in public. In the eyes of the Republic and the Order, she will forever be known as a murderous traitor. Looking straight ahead, the prison was now in sight. Knowing her connection to the Force would be severed, Barriss sends a final message to Luminara, who was lightyears away, through their bond "Master, I'm so sorry I've failed you. I don't expect you to forgive me or see me again… but I want you to know that I love you and I thank you for all you've done for me."

Within seconds, the Force could no longer be felt as Barriss was shoved into her cell. Blinking the last of her tears, Barriss throws herself onto her bunk face threatens to take over, but she fights to stay awake. For it has been days since Barriss has been able to sleep without nightmares. Whether it be the screams of the dead Jedi she was responsible for or the sight of herself killing everyone she loved, Barriss no longer had any peace. She then sees Ahsoka's heartbroken expression from the trail, crushing whatever was left of her heart.

"Ahsoka...I'm sorry….I'm so, so, sorry! I hate myself for what I've done. I just wanted a better life for us…. I just wanted everyone to come home… no one was supposed to die! I didn't want this!" Barriss screams hysterically, her body convulsing in agony.

Unbeknownst to the wailing teen, a Temple guard stands outside the cell, having witnessed the entire particular guard was one of the four that stood by the newest prisoner during her arrest, having been intrigued by what the girl had to say. The man could not deny how corrupt the Republic has become and how foolish it was for the Jedi to enable it. Suddenly, the guard's standing in the Order began to make no sense.

Meanwhile in that same moment, Ahsoka was walking away from the Temple, from Anakin who watched helplessly from afar. Lightyears away, Luminara falls to her knees, knowing what has become of her apprentice. Nothing will ever be the same. Little did anyone know that a Sith known as Darth Sideous was laughing maniacally at how the day's events unfolded.

For Sideous knew that Barriss's words rang with truth. The Republic was failing and it was only a matter of time.