Master Billaba had accurately predicted the next day: by midday, every Master, Knight, and Padawan knew about the Inquisitor and her secret identity as the lost Togrutan Padawan. No one seemed to have heard the decision to wait for proof, though, because everyone assumed that Anakin and Obi-Wan's mission to Bespin was enough proof. Rumors were already starting to float around the Temple, guessing how and why Ahsoka Tano had fallen to the Dark side.

Now you may have assumed that these rumors were concocted by the teenage Padawans, but it was actually the Knights who were so quick to fantasize about the Chosen One's Padawan. They split off into the same sides that the Council had the previous night, but the theories were much more varied and grandiose. By the end of the day, the entire Order was divided into two groups: one who thought Ahsoka had fallen on purpose, and one who blamed the Council for her fall.

The Padawans and Younglings formed their own school of thought: that it wasn't really Ahsoka at all. Much like Caleb Dume, they had heard the stories of the legendary ex-Padawan, and her heroic missions across the galaxy. It may have been his influence that convinced the majority of the young Jedi that she wasn't the Inquisitor at all. So in total, there were two divides amounts the Order, adding to three groups of diverse opinions.

Anakin could no longer walk in the halls without being stared at, much like right after Ahsoka's trial all those months ago. Stares followed him as he made his way silently about the Temple, and whispered usually followed. Neither he nor anyone else could go five minutes without hearing the words 'Ahsoka' or 'Tano' or 'Inquisitor'.

All of the debate only added to his confusion and frustration. Anakin avoided leaving his quarters as much as he could and opted to spend even more time isolated from others than normal. He tried to convince himself that maybe Ahsoka really wasn't the Inquisitor and that the Padawans were right, but he still remembered that thread. It, along with her appearance, made him doubt every instinct he received from the Force that told him otherwise.

It wasn't that Anakin wanted the Sister to be Ahsoka. He wanted her to be separated from the whole mess, and safe, somewhere where the war couldn't hurt her. He wanted to find her somewhere away from the Order and the Senate, away from the people who had torn her away from the life she deserved.

Anakin looked out the window. He wanted to leave and get away from everyone that kept staring at him. He wanted to go to Naboo, where he knew that Padmé would be able to comfort him and let him forget about the war, and the Republic, and the Jedi. Maybe he should take a walk, around the street of Coruscant.

Or maybe he shouldn't. He narrowed his vision and focused on the flashing billboard off in the distance. If he concentrated he could make out a familiar shape, Ahsoka, next to a picture of the Inquisitor from last night, and the headline Ahsoka Tano: Is She Back?

Anakin tore his eyes away from the window. Even the civilians knew about her. He couldn't escape the horrible truth, that Ahsoka might have fallen to the Dark Side.

He stood up and walked out of the room. He passed all of the turning heads that pivoted around him and made his way to the roof of the Temple. He was about to turn the corner to the stairwell that led up and out of the building, but a group of Younglings was huddled by the door. Anakin hid behind the wall, praying that they hadn't seen him, but he realized that they were talking. About Ahsoka, no less.

As he listened in, he realized that it was the group of Younglings Ahsoka had taken to Illum for their Gathering Ceremony.

Katooni was the first Anakin heard speak. "Could you guys feel Master Ti today during meditation? She was so worried..."

"Well, it makes sense." That was Pedro. "Everyone is talking about the Inquisitor."

"Are you seriously bringing that up again?" Anakin decided that was Ganodi.

Next, he heard the grunts of a Wookie. That must be Gungi. Anakin's Wookie wasn't perfect, but he understood most of what he said. "Katooni said it first."

Zatt spoke next. "I think she liked Ahsoka. You know, since they were both Togruta."

"Not all Togruta like each other," said Byph, the last to speak, "but I think he's right."

"Does anyone else actually think it's really Ahsoka?" Ganodi again.

Katooni spoke next. "I think that only the older Jedi think that. All of the kids I've heard think she's someone else."

"Ahsoka saved us! She would never fight us!" Anakin really needed to work on his Wookie.

Byph leaned against the wall. "I don't see why the Council thinks that she's Ahsoka. There are tons of teenage Togruta. She doesn't even look the same!"

Zatt nodded. "Just because she left doesn't mean that she would try to 'get revenge'." He made air quotes, referring to one of the rumors they had heard earlier. "She's not stupid."

Pedro leaned into the group and began to whisper, and Anakin had to strain to hear him talk. "I was talking with Padawan Dume earlier, and he said that the only reason she would join the Sith was if she was going to betray them."

Ganodi laughed. "Yeah, then she could beat all of them at once! It sounds like something Ahsoka would do."

Katooni smiles and crossed her arms. "I'll bet she will tell everyone at the last minute and surprise the whole Order."

Just then, the door opened, and Anakin froze. Then he heard a familiar voice, Master Shaak Ti. "Sorry, Younglings, but I needed an extra moment to meditate. Are you ready to continue your training?"

A chorus of "Yes, Master" rang through the hall. The group passed Anakin, who pretended to have just walked by at that moment. As he passed Shaak Ti, she smiled weakly at him, almost apologizing to him through her eyes. When he looked at the Younglings, however, their faces shone, and they seemed hopeful in contrast to the rest of the Temple. Katooni, who was the last person to walk by, whispered "Don't worry, Master Skywalker. She's gonna be fine."

Anakin stared after the Tholothian and watched her disappear down the hall behind him. He realized that he was probably looking at the last six people that believed in Ahsoka Tano.

Well, six of seven. Apparently, Padawan Dume was with them, as well as a few other Younglings. As Anakin climbed the stairs to the roof, he thought about their theory.

He wanted it to be true. He wanted her to be faking it, but he had already been to the Jedi Archives. You couldn't just fake Sith Fire, and no Togruta had naturally yellow eyes. The Sister truly was Dark. Either Ahsoka had fallen, or it was someone else.

What if they're right, though?

They couldn't be.

She could join the Dark side to betray them. Maybe the Darkness is just a mask.

STOP! Just stop, stop hoping for something that isn't true!

Anakin fell on the roof, sinking to his hands and knees. He looked out over Coruscant. He could leave, he realized. He could jump right off of this roof and into the Lower Levels, and no one could stop him from finding her. All he had to do was stand up and leap away. He could search for her and he could find her if she was on Coruscant.

But he didn't. He didn't because he was afraid of what he would or wouldn't find. He didn't because he still had his nightmares, the ones that told him she hated him. The ones where she died just before she reached him. If he stayed away, she wouldn't die. She wouldn't get hurt again, and she wouldn't be able to leave.

Then again, how could she leave him? You couldn't leave someone that was already alone.

Dromund Kass.

The ancient home of the fallen Sith Empire, and now the home to what was left of it.

Darth Sideous, now in his true form, sat on the Throne of the Sith, an ancient relic from the Sith Order. He awaited his apprentice, but in the meantime, he basked in the victory over the minds of the Jedi.

Not only mere hours ago he had been in his office on Coruscant, and he could feel the uncertainty of every Jedi in the Temple and the fear it bred in the minds of the Council. The only members of the Order that seemed to still have a clear head were the young ones, and even they were starting to worry. Sideous supposed that minds so innocent probably couldn't comprehend the doom that awaited them anyways.

The rest of the Order was divided against one another. The very Council was not whole, and the despair of the Chosen One was growing. His instability was affecting the whole Temple, and already the Order was caving in on itself. It would not last much longer, not while the Jedi started to turn against one another.

Sideous smiled. The Sister had performed beautifully. She had tainted the mind of Skywalker and was now becoming the striking blow that would rip the Jedi apart. Her very presence and being were splitting the Temple in two. She hadn't even completed a single military mission, and she was already proving herself to be a most valuable asset.

Initially, Sideous had intended to kill her once Skywalker was his, but he was beginning to rethink this move. He had (illegitimately) promised that she would soon be joined by others, new Inquisitors that would be hers to instruct and teach. The Sister wanted to build a Brotherhood of Inquisitors, agents to serve Sideous once he defeated the Jedi Order. Perhaps, if she proved to also be useful in battle, he would follow through on the promise. Doubtless that a few Jedi would escape the death that was coming to the Order. He would need a way to track them down. Who better to do so than an army of Force-sensitive disciples of Darkness?

Tyrannus, Sideous' apprentice, walked into the throne room just then. He kneeled before his Master and laid his lightsaber at the base of the throne. "Master, the Sister has arrived."

"Thank you, my apprentice," Sideous said, then asked. "What do you make of her progress?"

"She is useful, my lord, but reckless," Tyrannus replied simply. "I have already told you about my doubts about her loyalty."

"Indeed you have, and I have listened," mused Sideous, "and yet, she has been successful."

"Are you certain she will not betray us, Master?"

"No, but do not worry, my apprentice. If she does, she will pay with her life. I will see to it myself."

"Very well, my lord."

The Sister entered the throne room as well but stood next to Tyrannus instead of kneeling. Internally, Tyrannus fumed, furious that this Togrutan brat was not forced to show the same level of humility that he was. She never had to bow to Sideous. Then, again, she wasn't a Sith.

"Ah, Sister," began Sideous. "Well done. You have completed your task most wonderfully."

The Sister smiled. "It was my duty, your excellency. I would do anything to prove myself to you."

"The entire Jedi Order is beginning to crumble," Sideous told her. "Even the Council is split in two, and soon, it will tear them apart."

"And Skywalker?" She asked. That was who her target was, after all.

"Skywalker is confused, frustrated, and further from the Jedi than ever." Sideous smiled. Soon, the poor man would be his. "He, along with the rest of the Jedi, believe that you are indeed Ahsoka Tano."

The Sister smiled. She had a feeling that would happen.

"You have done well in your missions to invade Skywalker's mind, but now I require a different service from you if you are ready."

The Sister focused her gaze on the Sith lord. "I am ready, sir."

Sideous pulled a small hologram projector from his pocket and activated it. From it shone a red map of a Separatist system in the Outer Rim, called Vancor. "Have you been here before?" He asked the Sister, who nodded. He continued.

"General Grevious has secured the Vancor system, and the Separatist Council is going to negotiate terms for their loyalty. I want you to ensure that negotiations run...smoothly. You will be my personal representative to Vancor."

The Sister walked up to the Sith lord and took the projector from him. She studied it momentarily, then looked back at Sideous. "Any details I ought to know before I go?"

"They may be slightly resistant to our terms," he explained. "Use force if they will not yield. Anticipate interference from the Jedi as well."

The Sister nodded and stepped back. "I will not fail you, sir."

"Should you prove successful, I will have a military mission for you next." Sideous waves her away. "Your ship is waiting for you."

She turned and left the room wordlessly. After she was gone, Tyrannus spoke up.

"I didn't know she had legal experience. Are you sure that she can run the negotiations?"

"Oh, I believe she will do just fine. Remember where we found her?"

Tyrannus nodded, having been the one to extract her all that time ago. He doubted he would forget that day very quickly. She had made quite an impression on him that first day.