The next day at work, Ahsoka watched Nox while he was there. He left early, as per usual, but she saw him looking her way more than once. She hoped that she had earned a little bit of trust, even if it was just about the gang in general. She had the feeling that no one else knew about his allegiance but secrets weren't foreign to Ahsoka. After all, she had her own secrets.

On his way out, he stopped by Ahsoka's workbench. "Hi," he greeted her, standing at the entrance to her space. "Did you like last night?"

Ahsoka paused her work momentarily. "I did. The people you live with are much more friendly than some of the others I have met recently."

Nox smiled. "They will like that. They like being friendly. Will you come back?"

"I think so, if only just for a visit," she told him. "Who knows, I might go back just to beat Obi in training again."

He laughed, and Ahsoka smiled. Laughter wasn't something that happened often with Nox, but it was light and carefree.

"Come back soon, Tano," he said, and he left without another word.

Picking up a pair of pliers, Ahsoka got to wondering what else she didn't know about him and the others she worked with. It seemed like every mystery about these people had some sort of legitimate explanation. Rya, Wheeler, Nox, all of them had stories behind the weird quirks or habits they harbored. Her own story, she knew quite well, but none of the others really knew about hers, except that she was a Jedi and that she no longer was.

Last night had been an example of that. Tawnya had wondered why she had let Obi get up to his feet during their sparring match. She had purposefully neglected to tell her that it was against the Jedi Code to attack a fallen opponent. Now, was it directly in the Code? No, but it was basic dueling etiquette. Many of the 'guidelines' were centered around having honor in battle and having mercy for the other dueler. They were based on ideas laid out in the Code, and if you did not fight to the guidelines you were reprimanded for breaking the Code.

Attacking a fallen opponent was more of an extension of the rule that you do not kill an unarmed opponent. There were also things like protecting innocents in the immediate vicinity, not using people as meat shields, and not killing if you could avoid it. There were other details that never actually made the list, but were taught to Jedi as Younglings. Hold your weapon in front of you to start, begin with at least two meters of space between you and your opponent, and no cheating. What cheating entailed was a little blurry, but a Jedi Knight or Master could always tell you if you were and if you did, it was not a fair fight.

She should have guessed normal people didn't follow any such code, but it hadn't really sunk in until last night. No one had lived by a rule that you didn't attack an unarmed opponent, and although she always had a blaster strapped to her thigh she was otherwise unarmed, especially compared to a few bounty hunters she knew. A large range of people had no problem attacking her or trying to mug her. They never succeeded, but A for effort.

Ahsoka didn't have to cling to the Code anymore, either. She could drop it right now and nobody could care less. By abandoning it, she could win a lot more fights a lot easier. Of course, she needed to abide by the law, but her life could get a whole lot easier from here on out.

Did she need to though? Not all of the rules were bad, necessarily. And since when had the Jedi Way been bad? Uncalled for, yes, at times, but never bad...

Or at least, she had thought so, a long time ago. Could she be sure that the Jedi were wholesome and righteous after...after Barriss? Her whole faith in them, in their ways, had been shaken, which was the exact reason Sideous had used her to get to Anakin. She was able to go over to the Dark Side because of her uncertainty, and she still could if she let herself.

To cling to the Code or not? She had a choice in front of her. One she decided could wait until she got home to meditate.

It was only then that she looked up and realized that everyone had gone to the staff room for lunch. Well, everyone except Granger. He was eating in his workbench, in protest of her presence. One of these days, she promised herself, I'll find out why.

She clocked out and walked into the staff room. Immediately, she heard a crack and her vision was obscured by projectiles. She crouched down and shielded herself from what she was sure was an explosive.

What it actually was was a confetti popper. The projectiles were just multi-colored shredded pieces of paper.

"Happy belated birthday!" Her coworkers yelled, and then commenced the blowing of ten plastic kazoos. When Ahsoka regained control of her breath, she stood up straight and stared at the occupants of the room.

They were all laughing and crowded around a table with an orange and white cake, in her honor. Decorated paper cone hats were strung to their heads, and a pile of colorful packages was on top of the lockers.

"Did you forget?" Rya asked joyfully. "We weren't about to let your birthday pass without a party!"

"You scared me!" Ahsoka admonished them but smiled forcefully. She couldn't help but fear that another one of those poppers was about to go off.

Jake guffawed. "It's called a surprise, Tano. Scaring you is part of the deal."

Ahsoka wasn't quite sure how she felt about the deal, but she knew it was in good faith, so she laughed with them and tried to forget her panic.

Thyla handed her two of the pointy hats with strings, and Ahsoka looped them around her lekku and stretched them over the tips of her montrals. They would probably snap soon, but the others were wearing them so she figured she should as well.

She wove her way between them to the cake. Somehow, the baker had recreated the marks on her forehead with the icing.

Jake looked over her shoulder. "It's a vanilla cake with marshmallow icing. We didn't know what you would like, so we went for simple and sweet."

"I'm sure it's wonderful," she assured him, but she pointed to the wax sticks stuck in the icing. "What are those?"

"Candles!" Wheeler laughed. "One for every year you've lived. We light them and sing, and then you make a wish and blow them out. It's a tradition."

Journey lit the candles, and all of the others began clapping and singing, in about five different keys, a song Ahsoka had never heard:

"What tomorrow brings,

Is always up to fate.

But while you are still here,

It's time to celebrate!

Time is passing by,

It will always be,

But hopefully, you will live

To be a hundred-three!"

It was the oddest and most bizarre song Ahsoka had ever heard, but it was so silly she couldn't help but laugh. The others cheered and told her to make a wish, so she looked at the candles and thought.

She didn't believe in luck or wishes, but for the sake of her friends, she came up with one: I wish the Clone War would end. I wish the galaxy could live in peace.

With that, she blew out the candles. Everyone cheered, and Tyme pulled out a knife to divide the cake. His OCD came in handy when it came to giving everyone equal portions. While she was watching, though, Luce snuck up behind her and blew his kazoo near her head. Instinctively, she smacked it out of his hands, unfortunately sending it flying towards Wheeler's face.

Ahsoka blushed as the Pantorian flinched. "I'm so sorry! Are you all right?"

Thankfully, Wheeler was laughing. "I'm fine. You should have hit it back at Luce, though! Serves him right."

"What is it with you people and sneaking up on me?" She asked, pretending to be hurt, and sitting down.

"How was I supposed to know that you were going to do that?" He defended himself, but Jackson shoved him.

"Be nice to the birthday girl," he scolded him, and everyone sat down as Journey passed out the cake.

As she received her plate, she looked around, and saw that no one else was eating. "Is there something else I don't know about birthday etiquette?"

"You have to take your first bite before we can start," Leslie explained. "Go ahead, see what you think of the flavor!"

"She made the cake, so be careful what you say about it," Jake teased, and Leslie kicked him from under the table.

The cake was super sweet, much sweeter than the foods Ahsoka normally ate. Only at galas or parties had she ever tasted something with so much sugar in it. "It's so sweet! How did you get so much sugar? I thought it was rationed by the government during wartime."

"It is," Leslie admitted, "but that doesn't mean it's forbidden. You have to know the right places to go, and I stock up on it whenever I can for special occasions like this."

Ahsoka put another bite in her mouth and murmured, "I don't remember the last time I had this much sugar. It's wonderful, thank you."

"You're welcome," she said, grinning widely. "And I'm glad you like it because it's your birthday gift this year. I used half of my sugar stash on this."

She let the taste linger on her tongue before what she said registered in her mind. "Gifts?"

Wheeler clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, sweetie. I don't know what they did to you up there, but yes, we have gifts."

All of a sudden, the neglecting of birthdays in the Jedi Order made sense. Jedi couldn't own possessions, and they certainly didn't divulge in gifts or desserts like this.

Journey waved his fork in the air and spoke through a mouthful of cake. "Don't worry, just finish the cake first. We'll do presents afterward."

"Do you guys do this every year?" Ahsoka asked.

"For every birthday," Tyme answered. "Yours was late, of course, but normally we do it the day of."

Wheeler pointed at the clock. "We're also taking you out for dinner. Our treat."

Jake set his plate down on the table. "But seriously, Tano, you've never had a birthday party?"

"I just figured out when my birthday was," she explained. "How am I supposed to celebrate a day I don't know about?"

"I would celebrate it anyway," he decided. "Just pick a day and call it good."

"Of course you would," Thyla groaned.

Tyme wrapped the remaining pieces in clear plastic. "We can save these for the others. They will find it eventually."

"Yeah, Granger's being an as-"

"Luce!"

"What? He is!"

"Nox had to leave early, he told me," Ahsoka mentioned, trying to change the subject. "I'm sure he'll find it tonight if we leave some in his workspace."

Rya shrugged. "Sure, but Granger doesn't have to stand up your birthday."

"Technically, we all did," Wheeler pointed out, "but she has a point."

"Why force Granger to be somewhere he doesn't want to be?" Ahsoka asked. "He's not hurting anyone."

Jackson leaned back on the rear legs of his chair. "Well, it doesn't change the fact that he's been a jerk to you ever since he met you."

Ahsoka just shrugged and ate another piece of cake. "He's not the first, and I doubt he'll be the last. Just let him be."

"Your ability to be so chill with everything is astounding," Jake observed. "I would have already picked a fight with him if it was me."

"If you've pissed off as many people as I have," Ahsoka told him, "you learn to pick and choose your battles."

The others probably never knew, but she was being quite literal as she said that.