Discordant Sounds:

Ahsoka couldn't believe it when Anakin held the box out to her. It hadn't occurred to her that she'd be given her sabres back, not with the way she'd left things with the Order.

But of course, Anakin, her wonderful, wonderful Anakin, had managed to get them for her.

She touched the wooden box in more than a little bit of awe, just listening to the familiar song of her Kyber crystals as they sensed her presence and woke up. The harmonious song of the two crystals was something she was used to hearing in the background of her mind at all times and it felt like a little piece of her that had been missing had finally returned.

Anticipation rushed through her as she tensed her fingers to open the lid, but it was abruptly cut off by the wail of the emergency siren, warning everyone on board the Venator that a jump into battle was about to happen and that they should be hot-footing it for their battle stations or reporting to their Commanding Officer.

The siren clashed harshly with the much more subtle sound of her singing lightsabres and made her flinch.

Clones immediately started running all over the place, except for Rex's squad who quivered with an automatic reaction to move, but not knowing exactly where to, since this wasn't their ship, they stood still. And technically, they were already in the presence of their C.O.

Ahsoka looked around at the controlled chaos, hope blooming in her that the siren signalled that the Council had approved Bo's plea for help for her people. But then a brown robed Master Kenobi came running in through the automatic door that had opened for him a few steps before he'd even arrived, the sensors adjusting to open it sooner for running people so no one ran into it in their rush.

Ahsoka had noticed that Obi-Wan had worn his brown robe the entire time she'd seen him today, which admittedly wasn't all that long, but he'd been wearing it during her transmission from yesterday too. He never used to wear it indoors before unless he was feeling under the weather from an injury or something, taking comfort from the extra layer. She had a feeling that he was now using it as a way to hide in his Jediness the same way his emotions were closed off from everyone. He was not the same Obi-Wan that she used to snuggle with at all. This was the Jedi Master at his worst, and she had to wonder how Anakin was dealing with that.

She'd initially thought that their relationship was as strong as ever based on how they still bantered and stood side by side as a united force, but now that she had let Anakin back into their bond, she could feel how frustrated he was with his former Master. And now that she thought to look, their Force signatures didn't reach for each other like they used to but stayed stiffly in their own personal space.

Something was definitely wrong in paradise.

The bearded Jedi Master who'd somehow developed a very obvious fringe of grey at his temples in less than a year at the young age of thirty-eight had come to a stop near the taller Jedi Knight, looking rather harried. (And that was the answer to his grey hairs, wasn't it? Too many years of war and even more years of trying to rein in the unstoppable force known as Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan always did say that Anakin was going to make him old before his time; he hadn't been kidding.) "Anakin. Rex," he barked. "Prepare all forces. We're jumping to hyperspace immediately."

Rex snapped to, only glancing at her for half a second with a look in his eyes that she felt meant something more than she was quite able to figure out. "Yes. Sir." He spun and addressed his squad. "Men, with me!"

The orange helmeted men followed after Rex in neat lines as they all ran for a gunship parked deeper in the hangar. Ahsoka watched them for a couple of precious seconds. Please let that not be the last time I see him. Please.

Anakin had turned to Obi-Wan, hope radiating from him. "So the attack on Mandalore was approved?"

Ahsoka couldn't help a little smile despite the siren still ringing through her montrals uncomfortably. He's so sweet, how he cares about this because I do.

"No, it's Coruscant," Obi-Wan replied. She and Anakin glanced at each other to share their surprise. "Grievous has attacked the Capital."

That was bold, she thought with a raised eyebrow marking.Maybe the giant clanker is getting tired of the war as well.

Anakin frowned as worry took over his emotional landscape. "What about the Chancellor?"

He would think of that old fuddy first, she thought with a huge eye roll that almost made her dizzy. I still don't know how Anakin can be so attached to the man. He's such a superficial sleemo.

"Shaak Ti has been sent to protect him, but Master Windu has lost contact with her."

Ooooo. That's not good. I hope she's okay. Don't know if I can say the same about the Chancellor, though. Honestly, I think the galaxy would be better off with someone else running the Senate. Someone who actually cares about the people. Someone like Padmè.

Anakin, of course, looked even more worried about his old friend now. But to his credit, he flicked a glance at Ahsoka with an apology in their bond. He knew just as well as she did that Mandalore wouldn't be getting help as quickly as they needed it because of this if Obi-Wan didn't change his priorities. Not that she thought Anakin would want Obi-Wan to change his priorities, but there was always the faint hope.

Obi-Wan, to his credit, tried to reassure Anakin. "Not to worry. Our fleet can be there within the hour."

Yes. But what about Mandalore? Are you going to ignore them completely like you do your feelings? Or just put them further down on the list of places that need help? "So that's it?" she blurted angrily at the injustice of it all. "You're going to abandon Bo-Katan and her people?"

"Ahsoka," Obi-Wan sighed, as if she didn't have a perfectly good point. "Surely you understand this is a pivotal moment in the Clone Wars. The heart of the Republic is under attack."

Big whoop-di-do. The whole galaxy has been under attack for years. So what if it comes a little closer to home? Maybe then the Senate will actually be convinced to DO something instead of sitting on their shebs and living the good life. It's not like the battle is actually going to take over the entirety of Coruscant. There's a decided lack of fields to fight in for one thing. It'll probably all be in space.

She didn't quite have the nerve to say all that, but that didn't stop her from being a bit more biting with what she did say than she necessarily needed to be. "I understand that, as usual, you're playing politics. This is why the people have lost faith in the Jedi. I had, too, until I was reminded of what the Order means to people who truly need us." People like Trace, Rafa, and Nyx. (Nyx was Trace's boyfriend, who the younger sister had met months ago when he showed up to buy Ahsoka's old speeder bike. Ahsoka quite liked the brown haired Human from the few times she'd seen him over the holocomm.)

Obi-Wan was basically glaring at her now, which was just fine. At least it meant that she was striking a nerve. "Right now people on Coruscant need us."

"No. The Chancellor needs you," she spat back. She ignored the little burst of hurt that Anakin felt at that because she had to if she was going to make her point sink in.

Her former Grandmaster reared back like she'd slapped him. Good. Maybe he'll finally get that I mean what I say.

"That's not fair," he said, actual hurt in his tone.

Ahsoka ignored the way Anakin was looking between them like they'd both grown a second head or something because of their unprecedented fight and set herself in a stubborn, immovable stance, refusing to back down from what she'd started. "I'm not trying to be," she all but growled, only just repressing the urge to show off her fangs to help remind the older man that just because she was cute and cuddly, she was still a hunter at heart.

The former friends glared at each other, hard sky blue eyes locked on stormy blue grey.