"This is the wrong way."
Ahsoka turns back to roll her eyes. "I haven't even told you where we're going."
Chase looks around at the decrepit state of the buildings on this block, neon signs flickering erratically, and ancient sewage rotting along the walk. "Yet I'm still pretty sure this is the wrong way."
The togruta responds to his skepticism by taking ahold of his hand. "Just trust me."
The bionic teen's face flushes slightly at the contact, but he lets her lead him without protest into a narrow space between two of the buildings. He has to twist sideways to fit through. What little light there was recedes into total darkness. Cautiously, Chase draws up one hand to enable night vision in his bionic eye, but decides against it. Ahsoka seems to know what she's doing. He trusts her.
"So, what's so amazing that can be found among this nearly abandonned wreck of a neighborhood?"
"I told you, you'll have to wait and see," Ahsoka replies. "You'll love it though."
The path intersects with a proper alleyway. The jedi leads them left and up a short set of stairs to a back door. It slides open slowly, the edges of the durasteel rusted. They step over the threshold, and walk several feet into the darkness.
"Stay here," Ahsoka orders, and Chase hears her jog over to one of the walls.
The old lights flicker on, illuminating a cavernous room. Towering shelves filled with actual paper books, something Chase hasn't seen since he left earth. Interspersed are dust covered displays of Old Republic era starfights and weapons. Maps of hyperspace lanes, Core worlds, and fabled expeditions of the Unknown Regions hang on the walls. It's something between a library and a museum, and though he's been enthralled with the Jedi Archives, this is something so familiar.
Like Earth, like home.
Ahsoka stands off to the right, one hand relazed on her hip. "So, what do you think?"
"That this is really dangerous, the electricity and building is so old it's liable to collapse on us or start a fire."
"I think the words you're looking for are 'amazing' and 'you were right, I should never question your judgement again'."
Chase chuckles, finding his face mirroring her smile. "You're right," he concedes, keeping his eyes locked with her cerulean ones, "It's truly amazing."
