Chapter 14

"You saw him?" Ahsoka asks.

James nods, "He spoke to me."

Ahsoka's eyes widen, "What did he say?"

"He told me that she should've listened to him. That if she doesn't accept the darkness within her she would lose everything."

Ahsoka swings her legs over the side of the bed, summoning her crutches.

Sitting down on the couch, Ahsoka says, "The horned man you saw, he's a renegade Sith Lord by the name of Darth Maul. He was thought to be dead until recently. Rex and I, along with half of the 501st, were dispatched to Mandalore to capture him."

"Did you?" James asks.

"We did. Rex led the ground assault to distract Maul's forces, while I took care of Maul directly. He was much stronger than I anticipated, I was able to hold my own against him, but I would not have lasted much longer than I did," Ahsoka explains.

James hands her a glass of water, Ahsoka nodding her thanks.

"As we were transporting him back to Coruscant, Order 66 came through. I released him to cause a diversion. The problem I have now is what started the initial duel on Mandalore."

James nods, waiting patiently.

"When we were alone, Maul offered me a choice. He wanted me to join him and together we could destroy Darth Sidious, stopping his master's grand plan. I agreed, but he had to answer a question for me."

"Which was?"

"What he wanted with Anakin. When he told me that Anakin was to become Sidious's new apprentice, I accused him of lying, thus starting the duel," Ahsoka explains, closing her eyes, remembering it like it was yesterday.

"I realize now that he wasn't lying. That's what's been haunting me every day since. Capturing Maul seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but now I see that it was a fatal mistake. If I had joined Maul, we could've stopped Order 66. We could've stopped everything…" Ahsoka trails off.

"Ahsoka, you can't dwell on your past decisions, it's over now. What's done is done, you have to figure out the here and now." James explains.

"I know, but it still doesn't make living with those decisions any easier. None of this explains why you saw him," Ahsoka look forward over the coffee table, "I'm Force-sensitive and have dealt with Maul in the past, but you've never so much as seen him. You have no connection—" Ahsoka stops, turning back to James, locking eyes with him.

"What?" James asks.

Ahsoka closes her eyes, focusing on the Force. She searches for James's life energy, finding it quickly. Without thinking, Ahsoka grabs his hand, his bright blue shining like a miniature sun at the contact. Ahsoka yelps, yanking her hand back.

"What was that about?" James asks.

"Oh my God…" Ahsoka whispers.

"Uh… Ahsoka?" James asks, his anxiety rising by the second.

"I… Uh… It's nothing. Don't worry about it," Ahsoka stutters.

"Well, I'm worrying about it," James says.

"I'm just tired." Ahsoka grabs her crutches and makes her way back to her and Macy's room, leaving a stunned James alone on the couch.

He likes me, Ahsoka thinks, laying her head back down on her pillow, So, why won't he tell me?

Breakfast is awkward after the previous night's events. Rex sits through it with a raised eyebrow, not sure about the new dynamic between Ahsoka and James.

After breakfast, Rex pulls Ahsoka into her room, shutting the door.

"Okay, tell me what happened," Rex says, crossing his arms.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ahsoka replies, not meeting his eyes.

"Breakfast was the most awkward it's ever been. Something happened between you and James, presumably last night," Rex states.

Seeing no escape, Ahsoka gives in, "James had a vision of Maul. We started talking about it, but I couldn't figure out why he would see Maul since James is neither Force-sensitive nor had he ever even seen a picture of him. I looked into the Force to try and find some connection…"

Rex starts laughing, "I guess you found one, then."

"This is not funny!" Ahsoka whines, lightly punching his shoulder.

"Little Ahsoka, finally found a boyfriend," Rex teases.

"He's not—" She starts.

"Sure. Whatever you say, Commander," Rex says, chuckling loudly as he steps back into the hall, closing the door.

Ahsoka groans, plopping down on her bed.

She hears a knock on the door, "Ahsoka? You decent?" James asks.

"Yeah." She replies.

"Why's it so dark in here?" James asks.

"Because Rex pulled me in here and I didn't think to turn it on before sitting down. What's up?"

"I was thinking— Well, I wasn't really, it just kinda popped into my head," James starts.

Here we go. This is it, Ahsoka thinks.

"What if we put Macy in school, with other kids her age," James asks.

Ahsoka's shoulders slump, the disappointment flooding her heart like a tsunami.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think that sounds like a great idea. Have you talked to Macy about it?" Ahsoka asks, not meeting James's eyes.

"Not yet, I wanted to talk to you first. I know it's kind of quick, but I think the sooner we can get her adjusted the better," James says, his brow furrowing at Ahsoka's lack of eye contact.

"Everything okay?" James questions.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Ahsoka replies.

"That's great, hold your blade a little higher. Most opponents will have a height advantage over you until you get older, you need to account for that," Ahsoka states, the familiar hum of a lightsaber filling the backyard.

"You get everything worked out with the school?" Rex asks, eyeing the lightsaber-wielding child.

"Almost. I'm going to have to adopt Macy for everything to work legally," James replies, filling out a set of forms.

"You know, she's probably smarter than both of us combined," Rex adds.

"It's not her education I'm worried about. It's her lack of friends her age," James says.

Rex nods, crossing his arms, watching Ahsoka try stand up without her crutches.

"She really is remarkable, her recovery I mean," James says.

Rex stands still, waiting for James to say more.

"Most people, if they were hit like she was, would never even dream of walking again. And yet, here she is, almost there," James finishes.

Rex raises an eyebrow, "Is she remarkable in any other ways?"

James turns away from the two ex—Jedi to face Rex, "What are you implying, Rex?"

Author's note:

Relationship things are finally starting to fall into place, not just romantic relationships, but relationships in general. Things are getting exciting from a writing point of view.

If any of you have questions about writing or how to start a story, just PM me or leave a review while logged in, I'll get back to you as soon as I see it, I'm always excited to help people start writing.

If you would like to support me and my writing endeavors, I have a T-shirt store (remove the #s):

/ww#w.#designbyhumans.#co#m/shop/t-shirt/men/code-1121-t-shirts/1662545/