Ahsoka opened her eyes slowly, confused at how dark the room was. Where was the red glow that was normally in her room? Did the generator go out? She was going to have to spend all day fixing it, again. Then she blinked and realized that her bed was too comfy to be the one on Dromund Kaas. Where was she?

She didn't sit up right away but used the Force to access what was around her. She needed to make sure she was safe before she started moving, in case sleeping had been buying her time. Ahsoka kept her eyes shut and swept around the room before she realized that she wasn't in a cell, or a hidden bunker, or on a ship, or any one of the other places she had slept in recently. She was back on Coruscant, finally. She was in the house she had boughten (with Sideous' credits, of course) in the Lower Levels. She made sure no one else was in the house before sitting upright, groaning as she remembered her wound on her side.

Sitting still for a minute, she brushed her hand against her side tenderly. It no longer stung when she touched it, as long as she didn't press too hard. Ahsoka stood up slowly, but the shift from sitting to standing hurt more than just standing still, so she tried walking out of the room and into the front room. Not too bad, for having nearly died...was it last night? How long had she been sleeping? And how did she get into her room?

Ahsoka opened the door to the front room, from which every room in her house was connected to. She hadn't remembered it being as tidy as she found it, but she saw a handheld projector on the table. Walking over to it, she activated the recording, and Anakin's face hovered in the air.

"Hey, Snips," he said softly, smiling at her. "I can't talk too loud, since you're sleeping. I hope you get some rest before you see this, you're going to need time to heal."

Ahsoka couldn't help but smile at his concern. She missed being looked out for, even if it wasn't necessary.

"I had to head back to the Temple, the Council wants to know what happened. I don't think they're mad if it helps any."

I wasn't worried about what they thought, she did not say. He couldn't hear her anyway.

Anakin's face fell and he sighed into the microphone. "I get that you have to go, but...just, just try to stay safe this time, all right?" He stared directly at Ahsoka through the recording. "I'll see if maybe Padme can reach out to you soon, and I'll try to look out for you as much as I can. I'm hoping this time, I can find you."

"It wasn't your fault you couldn't find me, Skyguy," she spoke into the empty room.

"May the Force be with you, Ahsoka. And..." he looked away from the projector, then forced a smile and shook his head. "Never mind. Stay safe."

Ahsoka could tell he had wanted to say something, but he started fiddling with the controls to end the message. He must have found them because he looked back at the camera one last time. Then he rethought his choice. "I'm sorry, Snips."

The hologram fizzled out. The recording had ended.

You aren't the one that needs to be sorry, Anakin, she thought, closing her eyes. You didn't see what I did. Not all of it. It was too late, though. He was up on the surface for sure, and she needed to hide. She had to leave, to protect the people here from her, from everything she did and everything that was coming for her.

She couldn't do it on an empty stomach, though, and without supplies. She hadn't even quite figured out how she was getting off-world yet, since she didn't have a ship. Ahsoka needed to stock up while she could, though. Now might be her only chance.

Stumbling to the closet in the corner, she rifled through a few mostly empty bins. She had asked Ventress to leave behind anything she could find that she didn't need since the Sister couldn't set foot on Coruscant without Sideous or Tyrannus coming after her. Ventress had actually pulled through beautifully and had brought in some furniture, like the couch, and a fair amount of food and random other things that Ahsoka no longer had unlimited access to. Thankfully, a cowl had been on the list of things Ventress had found. Ahsoka made a mental note to pay her back the next time she saw her, although she didn't have any idea when that would be.

She slipped on the cowl, then realized that it was no use wearing a cowl to mask her features if she was dressed like she had just gotten out of a fistfight (which wasn't altogether false). She made her way, slowly, back to her room, which was actually bigger than the quarters she had received as a Jedi or the Inquisitor, and slipped on a top that covered her whole back and arms, and she switched her pants to ones that weren't ripped at the knees. Ventress had even left her a pair of boots that fit her perfectly. Ahsoka wasn't sure where she had gotten all of this stuff, and she was sure some of it was illegal, but Ahsoka wasn't feeling very picky at the moment. She was just grateful to have it.

Ahsoka grabbed a bag that rested on her back, adjusted so it wouldn't irritate her lekku. Grabbing some of the credits she had stolen from the Separatists, she left, locking the door behind her. She didn't have much worth stealing (or very much at all) but after a year on Dromund Kaas, she was going to take full advantage of every security offered to her.

It was difficult, walking so far, but she settled into a rhythm in which she managed to walk almost normally for a hundred meters and then would rest. After a few repetitions of this, she was in the thick of the sector, where a large market resided in one of the biggest buildings on the level. Ventress had left a note, saying that this place would have anything she needed, so Ahsoka went inside.

Ahsoka didn't go in markets like this very often unless she had a mission in one of them. At first, she didn't know what to look for, but one of the first stores she saw was selling food, so that seemed like a good place to start. She was immediately greeted by a salesperson, who acted very helpful and cheerful, but Ahsoka could tell wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep in for another hour or two.

She knew that she needed to plan for long term travel, even if she didn't survive until then. She asked what food would keep for several days, and the salesperson, Amy, even gave a few tips on how to preserve it for as long as possible. Ahsoka knew that they didn't have access to carbon-freezing, but there were techniques that could keep even fresh fruit and meat for weeks if you did it right. Ahsoka paid for what she bought and walked back out, shifting the load in her bag so it would put as little strain on her wound as possible.

The worst part of having scabs on your back was the itching, and this bag wasn't helping anything. Ahsoka wanted nothing more than to take it off and use the Force to lift her goods, but that wasn't an option, not in broad daylight in the middle of Coruscant. At least some of the scabs had peeled off and were fading to scars now. She really wished Tyrannus hadn't whipped her the day before Phase 1, it would have been so much easier.

The next stop was medical supplies. Ahsoka had looked on the HoloNet to see if maybe she could get her wound stitched up by a private doctor or medic instead of a government-sponsored one, but even their prices were too much for Ahsoka. She had been forced to stitch the cut herself, and although she had gotten good at it, she knew that a professional could have done a better job. She learned a lesson, though: Always have your own medical supplies. Minor injuries weren't worth the credits to pay for a medical visit. It was during things like this that she missed Kix and all of his experience.

She tried to look for weapons too, but she didn't find any. This store had clothing, food, supplies of all kinds, and even had a speeder shop (very overpriced, even Ahsoka knew that much), but no weapons could be found on any of the three floors of the market. Ahsoka was going to have to get creative if she wanted a way to defend herself. For now, she was going to have to depend on the Force if she got jumped.

Her side was starting to scream at her for walking around for so long, so Ahsoka decided to rest on one of the benches on the ground floor before starting the trek home. Don't worry, once this heals, this will be easier, she told herself. Besides, you aren't staying here for long.

Where would she go, and how was she going to get anywhere? Ahsoka hadn't begun to think these things through yet, and took her break to do so. Her first instinct was to go to Naboo, where Padme lived most of the time. Anakin had mentioned her in his message, and she knew that she could help. It was too risky, though. Tyrannus might not have known as much about Ahsoka as Sideous, but he would probably at least guess that she and Padme were friends. Ahsoka didn't want to put her in any danger. The gala had been a big enough risk as it was.

She began to realize that it didn't matter where she went, she would be a danger to any system she tried to hide in. She could go to Kiros, or better yet, Shili, to see if maybe she still had extended family alive, but she didn't want to drag them into this. She could go to Onderon, but they had issues of their own, and they didn't need an ex-Jedi, ex-criminal, ex-Inquisitor to look after on top of all that. Alderaan, Christophsis, Corellia, Bespin, all of them, she would endanger if she went there.

I could go to Xlenia, she thought. No one lives there, it's abandoned.

How am I going to get there? I don't have my own ship.

Ahsoka groaned and rested her head in her hands. It was difficult, keeping one's own counsel. She was about to table the self-debate when one of the news shows broadcasted into the market caught her attention. She strained her hearing as she picked up her bag and went over to see what was being shown.

"...Skywalker gave a full report to the Jedi Council this morning, and that report has been given to the public just a few minutes ago. We have Aila Handuras reporting in the Senate Building, with the full story."

The screen switched from the news station to a shot in the lobby of the Senate Building, where a human woman was reporting. The crowd surrounding the projector fell silent as Ahsoka joined it from behind.

"Yes, as you can see, there is a large buzz going on around me. Senator Padme Amidala from the Naboo system, a very passionate peace activist in the Senate, just delivered an address summarizing the events of the past thirty-six hours. The news she shared was shocking, but finally gives us a few answers."

Again, the scene switched, and the recording of Padme illuminated the screen. The people around Ahsoka whispered, and Ahsoka guessed that she was popular underground as well as on the surface.

"The evening before the last," Padme began, surrounded by microphones, "the Chancellor was killed by the Inquisitor." The crowd immediately started talking, and cries of worry filled the room, both in the recording and in the market. Padme held up a hand for silence. "We found out the following morning, however, that he is not who he said he was. Evidence was found that he was not only the leader of the Republic but also the leader of the Separatists at the same time. It turns out, Sheev Palpatine was also the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sideous. The Inquisitor has not committed a crime but has actually prevented a terrible tragedy from happening. She was an ally the whole time.

"I'm afraid that we will not be able to thank her, though. Anakin Skywalker has confirmed that she is dead and brought several pieces of her armor back to prove so. He also conducted a DNA scan, and the DNA left on the armor was not recognized in the Republic database. Whoever the Inquisitor was, I'm afraid we will never know, now that she is dead."

Ahsoka, who was quite sure that she was alive, froze under her cowl. Anakin.

"This is very shocking news for all of us, the Senate included. We will be meeting over the next few days to decide what course of action the Republic will take in the wake of these new developments. When a decision is reached, we will alert the public to any impactful changes made. Thank you."