Anakin flew the ship to Bespin. Obi-Wan didn't really care, but he also knew that flying eased the mind of his apprentice and he could sense his concern.

The closer the Jedi got to Bespin, the more Anakin began to worry about how Obi-Wan would react to the Inquisitor. Would it even matter to him? He would probably just tell Anakin to focus on capturing the Inquisitor, or that it didn't matter who the Inquisitor was. He probably doesn't even care about her anymore, though Anakin, the words of the Chancellor still swirling through his head.

They dropped out of hyperspace and went through their landing sequence quickly. As soon as Anakin diverted his attention from the ship and he stepped outside of the landing pad walls, he could feel the Inquisitor off in the distance and the thread came back.

Oh, that thread. If only there wasn't that cursed thread.

Obi-Wan recognized the Dark Force signature, too. "I guess she's still here. What direction would you say to start?"

Anakin pointed in the direction he felt her in. "That way, using the shadows."

They ran down back alleys and side streets towards the Dark figure and didn't stop to speak with anyone. She isn't trying to hide, Obi-Wan noted, remembering Master Yoda's words from a few days ago. She wants to be found. What's her message today?

They continued to run wordlessly until they were only a hundred meters away from her, by Anakin's guess. They paused by the side of a tall building and felt for the Inquisitor.

She was on the roof, still not trying to hide. Obi-Wan paused and focused on her signature, now that he was closer to her and had a moment to think. He reached out and felt through the Force, and found the same Darkness that Anakin had felt earlier. The Jedi Master focused on the skill and talent he felt and tried to analyze it. It wasn't overly remarkable, but Obi-Wan remembered how much she had shaken Anakin before and decided that he couldn't afford to underestimate her.

He glanced at Anakin and nodded, and they began to climb the building. They paused as they went up, and slowly, they could hear her speaking to someone. It sounded like the other person was a male adult, and that they were communicating through devices rather than face to face. Obi-Wan didn't like her voice, it was too self-righteous and disrespectful for him. He tried to focus on the other voice before he reached the top of the building, and he paused on a rafter seven meters below the roof. He listened intently, and Anakin stood next to him as they eavesdropped.

"...won't be a problem. I'm just poking a bit of fun, as Darth Sideous told me."

"Just remember, this is a long term game, Sister." Obi-Wan and Anakin stared at each other. Sister? "My master has a plan, but this is one small step in the large scheme of it. If you want to grow the Inquisitorial Brotherhood, you must be patient."

"I understand, Darth Tyrannus."

Obi-Wan mouthed 'Dooku' to Anakin, and he nodded.

"Are the Jedi close?" Dooku asked.

"Oh, very close, your excellency. They've actually been listening in to our conversation for the last minute or so."

The two Jedi pulled their lightsabers from their belts. So much for the element of surprise, thought Obi-Wan.

"In that case, I'd best leave you to your work," Dooku said. "Show no mercy, Sister."

The Jedi heard a small beep from above them, signaling the end of the conversation.

"I suppose we had better get this over with," called the Inquisitor, or the Sister, from above them. Anakin breathed heavily as he and his master leaped to the roof and saw the Inquisitor.

When Obi-Wan laid eyes on her, although it was from behind, his stomach dropped much like Anakin's had on Xlenia. He knew why the Inquisitor had rattled his Padawan so much. Of course, she would.

She was a Togruta.

Obi-Wan looked over at the Knight but he did not look back. Anakin's eyes were trained on the figure sitting on the railing on the opposite side of the roof. His heart beat quickly and his mind raced. He hadn't prepared himself to see her again, and all of his hopes and doubts about her identity returned. Anakin forced himself to swallow and speak.

"Long time, no see," he called out, his voice shaking slightly. "Have a good talk with the boss?"

"Oh, he's not my boss," she said, swinging her legs off the side of the building and back onto the roof. "He just likes to check in on me. Seems to think I don't like following orders."

Anakin's heart skipped a beat. He still couldn't decide if she was trying to send a hidden message or not.

Obi-Wan saw her face for the first time, and his fears doubled. She was a teenager, or a young adult, at most. It hadn't even been 60 seconds, and Obi-Wan could already tell that Anakin had every right to be afraid of this person. Or rather, who this person was.

He spoke before he or his Padawan lost their composure. "So you're the Inquisitor. I didn't know that the Count had a sister."

She made a face. "I'm not his sister, I'm the Sister. The First Sister of the Inquisitorial Brotherhood."

"Which is?"

The Sister rolled her eyes. "Why do you care?"

"We're Jedi," Obi-Wan answered steadily. "It's our responsibility to care."

She hopped off the railing and shifted her weight to one side. "Darth Sideous wanted a group of trustworthy followers, but not Sith, to aid him in the war against the Jedi and the Republic. I am the first of those followers, and soon," she trained her yellow eyes on Anakin, "I will have many brothers and sisters who will walk the same path."

"Good to know," Obi-Wan mused, and decided that he couldn't let that happen.

"Where did you come from?" Anakin asked, and Obi-Wan turned to face him. Do you think she will tell the truth? He thought but did not say.

"Do you still think I'm Ahsoka?" She asked, somewhat annoyed, and crossed her arms.

Obi-Wan clenched his lightsaber tighter. He knew that's what the Council would think when they heard about her. He understood then what Anakin had meant about not forgetting what she looked like.

"I'd say he has a valid point," Obi-Wan said, taking a step forward. "Ahsoka, you don't hav-"

The Sister moved her eyes from Anakin to Obi-Wan, and it was then that he truly saw the Darkness in this girl in front of him. He became afraid, not of her but what it meant if she really was Ahsoka.

The Jedi had caused this. If Ahsoka had fallen to the Dark Side the Council only had themselves to blame. By expelling her and abandoning her to the will of the Senate, they had abandoned her to the Darkness. The weight of his guilt came crashing down on his shoulders.

Dooku had given a secret meaning to his words, Obi-Wan realized. She would show them no mercy, but not just in the fight. He could see it in her eyes that there would be no mercy for the Jedi as a whole. There was no forgiveness for the past, no hope for reconciliation for the damage that was done. This girl was lost. Ahsoka was lost.

That is if she even was Ahsoka.

The Sister, whoever she was, spoke coldly. "Save your breath, Master Kenobi. No one will be saved tonight."

"Ahsoka," Anakin approached her, lightsaber in hand, but not ignited. "Please, if it's you, trust me..." He didn't finish his sentence, but walked right up to her and stood directly in front of her. She did not attack him, but neither did she soften her hard expression. The Sister stared at the Jedi, and she saw the pain in his eyes.

She recognized that pain. The pain of hoping against hope. She had felt that once upon a time, and almost felt sorry for the Chosen One.

"You are looking in the wrong place for your apprentice, Skywalker," she said lowly, so only he could hear her. "I wouldn't focus on looking for her, though. You have bigger problems coming your way."

Anakin stepped back and did not speak. He didn't know what problems she was talking about, but if she would not reveal her identity he knew what he had to do. He ignited his lightsaber, and Obi-Wan walked up next to him, following his apprentice's lead. He couldn't believe that Anakin was even considering fighting the one person that might be Ahsoka, but they still had orders. They had to try and capture her. The Council needed answers.

Anakin watched the Inquisitor turn and look out over Bespin. He focused on her signature and the thread that still pulled at his gut. He didn't believe her, not yet. As that thread remained, there was still hope that she was in there and that it was her. He wouldn't give up on her yet. He couldn't.

But he could capture her.

He ran forward and lunged at the Togruta, not really expecting her to wait for him to hurt her. She lept off the roof and onto the next building, and the chase began.

One Inquisitor versus two Jedi. The odds were against the Sister, but she did not intend to fight fair.

She sensed the Jedi leaping after her, and she focused her mind on her path. She already knew that the Council wanted her taken, and she had a plan. She was going nowhere. At least, not with the Jedi.

The Sister let the Jedi catch up with her and pulled out her lightsaber. She ignited both ends and began to spin them, facing her opponents as the saber built up its speed. She lept into the air and brought her saber crashing down on their heads, and knocked the Jedi off their balance. She landed and struck low, alternating between offense and defense as she exchanged strokes with the Jedi.

Obi-Wan began taking notes on her strategy as he fought her. She was quick, very quick, and none of their moves seemed to catch her off guard. She used her small and flexible frame to take advantage of his lack of both and used her lightsaber to its full potential. A spinning lightsaber by itself is impressive, but useless in the wrong hands. The Inquisitor's hands were not the wrong ones.

The Sister also took full advantage of Obi-Wan's and Anakin's caution and hesitation to hurt her. They never landed so much as a hand on her, but she was using their concentration on her saber to distract them from her punches and kicks, which she used in between her strokes to weaken and tire the Jedi. If they had tried harder, they could have overpowered her, for they were more skilled and stronger in the Force, but the nagging thought in their minds that she was Anakin's old apprentice held them back and she knew it.

She swept Obi-Wan's feet from beneath him and used the Force to push Anakin back, then turned on her heel and jumped down to the street level. The Sister ran down the alley, staying hidden in the shadows and creating as much distance as possible between her and the Jedi who scrambled to follow her. They chased her through Bespin, but she did not let them catch her this time.

They ran for a solid few minutes, and the whole time, Obi-Wan's mind was racing. He couldn't stop thinking about the way the Council was going to respond to his account of the Inquisitor. He knew that Mace Windu, especially, would suspect that she was Ahsoka gone Dark, and Obi-Wan knew that he would not show any hesitation. He doubted if even Plo Koon would try to win her back. If they didn't get through to her before the Council got their hands on her there would be no hope for the Sister, or for Anakin.

Anakin and Obi-Wan eventually lost sight of the Inquisitor, but they could still feel her Force signature, and they followed that to the edge of town. They turned a corner and ducked out from between two buildings when she hid her presence, and the Jedi stopped to breath.

"She was just over there," Obi-Wan said, pointing in front of them. "Come on, she can't have gone far."

They pulled out their lightsabers again (which they had put away for their run), and walked slowly side by side down one last alley. They found themselves at a dead-end, with the only level exit to their backs.

"It's a trap," Anakin said, but before they could even turn, a blue light shone behind them and grew tenfold. The Jedi turned and saw a wall of blue fire blocking their exit. They backed away from it, and the Sister laughed highly and Darkly. The two turned to look at her, who was atop the building in front of them, about fifteen meters up.

"You like that?" She called out, referring to the fire. She turned up her palm, and the same blue flames erupted and danced about her hand. "It's a little trick the Sith taught me. Sith Fire, they called it." She threw the ball of flames at the ground at her feet. The small fire grew and encircled the Jedi, who now had no way out.

"You won't kill us!" Anakin shouted at her. "I know you won't!" In his mind, he thought, You know who we are, Ahsoka.

"Not today, Skywalker," she replied. "But I'm not going to turn myself in, either. I'd rather not be thrown in a cell on Coruscant."

"Sooner or later, you will be brought before the Jedi Council," Obi-Wan declared. "We will know the truth about you."

"Really?" she called out mockingly. "Well, I'm going to have to ask for a rain check." She pressed a button on her wrist, and two Destroyer droids sprung to life beside the Jedi. They held their lightsabers in front of them as shields activated around the Droidekas.

"If you want the truth," the Sister yelled down at Anakin and Obi-Wan, "I suggest you stop asking the liars."

"Just because we are asking you doesn't mean we believe you!" Obi-Wan shouted back defiantly.

Anakin looked up one last time at the Togruta. She made eye contact with him as she spoke again.

"I'm not the only liar at work in this war, Skywalker."

Not Kenobi, Skywalker. She said Skywalker. She was trying to tell him something, but before he could ask, the Sister pressed another button, and the Destroyer droids began to attack.

Anakin and Obi-Wan defeated the droids easily enough, but by the time they looked up again, she was gone, and her signature could not be felt anymore. She must have been focusing on cloaking her presence, though, because the blue flames died down and disappeared.

Anakin and Obi-Wan deactivated their lightsabers and did not speak. Anakin met his master's stare, and he knew that there was no hope of keeping this a secret from the Council.

They walked back to their ship in silence, but Anakin couldn't stop hearing her last words over and over again in his head. 'I'm not the only liar at work in this war, Skywalker.'

Who else was lying to him?