With a place to go and fight, her life became a little less mundane and a little more productive. Every other day, she would drop by Nox's place bearing her new band with the gang's symbol, and spar with the people there. Sometimes she would take on Obi again, and a few times, she matched up against Tawnya. When they were both busy, she would meet someone new, and she would fight them too. She always won, but she didn't stop there. After every fight, she would ask her opponent to teach her something that she saw them do. Whether it was a move, or a technique, or a trick, it didn't matter, Ahsoka was just happy to be training again. It felt good to feel her blood pumping. Not to mention she finally figured out the gang's name: Rising Phoenix.

Over a month had passed now, and other than her occasional visits, she hardly ever went to the surface. She still indulged in nightly rooftop runs every so often but she never spoke with anyone up there. She did stop a few more raids and a couple of thieves, but that was as close to speaking as she got. Ahsoka still never strayed towards the Senate building or the Jedi Temple. After all, she had no reason to be at either place.

Her nightmares still persisted, though. Thankfully it wasn't nearly as often as before, but her past haunted her dreams, refusing to let her forget. She was getting better at recovering, which was good because if Anakin could feel her panicking he tried to help her calm down, and Ahsoka didn't want to bother him. She tried to do the same when she felt his stress as well.

Ahsoka took Saturday off like she normally did. It was nice to not have to work on weekends, and it gave her time to clean up, or take a run, or just go train if she felt like it. Today, she went back to the Department of Licensing and ordered an intersystem passport. It would take a few months for it to confirm, but now if she wanted to go and visit Naboo, or Alderaan, or Christophsis, or a hundred other systems besides, she could purchase a round trip ticket on the public passenger ships on the surface and go. As soon as it came in the mail.

Back at home, she opened up her planet projector from Jackson and stared at the galaxy again. With her HoloNet console next to her, she went through all of the systems, and made her own list of which systems were now Republic, now Separatist, and now neutral. The sides had changed a lot, especially the smaller systems, of which Sideous had influenced into joining one side or the other.

She smiled just a little bit when she remembered the backstory the Inquisitor had concocted for herself. Despite the lie about her 'master' dying and wanting revenge on the Chancellor (that part wasn't totally a lie), the part about Cato Neimoidia had been entirely true. Palpatine really had forced the system to join the Republic, even though it had no real reason to. Now without Palpatine in the way they had returned to neutrality, and for the better, in Ahsoka's opinion.

Halfway through the systems in the Inner Rim, her comlink went off on her wrist. Someone was calling her communications console. She accepted the call, smiling at Wheeler's gift, and watched as Fuller's face appeared in front of her.

The only problem? He was scared. Really scared.

"Tano, I need you to come into work today," he said quietly and hung up before Ahsoka could ask what was wrong. The call ended three seconds after it started.

It was enough for her. She shut off the projector and grabbed her blaster off the table. Not bothering to grab her bag, she darted off towards the Chasm and started running through the worst possible scenarios she would have to face.

If she was honest, the absolute worst thing that could happen was that Tyrannus had found her, and she was about to be taken back to Dromund Kaas. Anything short of that, she could deal with, but who knew what had happened to the others. Just because she could handle a situation didn't mean that her friends could, especially the ones who couldn't fight.

The most likely scenario was that a mob had attacked the shop, and Fuller couldn't call for help in time other than her. If that was the case, they just wanted money and they wouldn't hesitate to start shooting in order to get it. If Fuller and the others cooperated, they would be fine, but if she tried to stop them, they could use the other workers as leverage against her.

If Fuller was scared, then that meant someone's life was in danger. Whoever or whatever was there definitely had weapons. Thankfully, Ahsoka didn't need weapons to fight, but she had one on her hip. Maybe she could stick to that, and she wouldn't have to use the Force.

Even as she thought it, she knew that wasn't possible. The Force worked in mysterious ways, but there were no coincidences. Things always happened for a reason, even a simple robbery like this hopefully was. Her friends' lives, and the shop, were all depending on her.

She snuck around to the garage, instead of going through the lobby. If these people were smart, then they would be guarding it, but since the garage opened up to the shaft leading to the surface, they wouldn't expect an intruder to come in from this direction. Sure enough, the whole garage was empty. Ahsoka crept next to the door to the workbenches and focused on the Force.

There were eight people in the building that she didn't recognize. Two in the lobby, one by the staff room, one on the walkway between the offices and the shop, two guarding her friends, and two talking to themselves. Five total in the workshop. All of them were armed and armored.

Chances were, her aim was better than theirs, and her reflexes were definitely faster. If she could hit the weak spots in their armor and avoid getting shot, she would be fine.

Or...you could make sure that nothing happens to the others, and deal with them the quick way. The fun way.

Oh no. Not now, please! I'm just trying to help them!

You would be helping them! Just a quick flick of the wrist and the whole problem is over with.

No, she told herself. I've been hiding the Force from them for a reason. I can't control myself, I can't be sure that I won't hurt them.

Are you willing to risk their lives?

Ahsoka kneeled down and held her head in her hands. I can use the Light Side of the Force, but not the Dark! Never again!

Can you trust the Light any more than the Dark?

She couldn't, not after she had been hurt by the people she had trusted. Just because a person used the Light Side of the Force did not mean that they were good.

I cannot let my emotions cloud my judgment.

Can you trust your judgment any more than your emotion?

Which one? Which one could she trust? She couldn't just ignore them, not when they were waking up inside of her. She could feel the Light coursing through her veins, while the Darkness danced like fire across her heart.

Her judgment was flawed, her emotions were scattered. Both were telling her to choose but she could not trust her own choice. It was the trial all over again: back then, to stay with the Jedi was to succumb to her emotions, and to leave them was to trust her judgment. Now, her judgment was telling her to not use the Force and chance her friends' lives while her emotions were telling her to protect them at all costs. There was no right answer. Neither answer had all of the pieces. She needed a third way, something that wasn't either, something other than the two sides of the Fo-

...two. Both.

She opened her eyes, and the turmoil inside of her ceased. If neither the Light nor the Dark had everything she needed, but only part of it, then she could take the parts she needed and work with what she had. There was no rule, no Code to tell her that she couldn't anymore.

Looking back at the door, the two voices battling inside her head became one. If my emotions are telling me to protect, then Darkness can work to empower the Light. If my judgment is telling me to restrain myself, then the Light can harness the Darkness.

With no further hesitation, she pulled her blaster from her holster and kicked a nearby shelf, just loud enough that the people inside could hear it. The chatter in the shop stopped, and footsteps came towards the door. As soon as it swung open, Ahsoka fired at the person who came in. They dropped in one shot.

Ahsoka came out from her hiding place and hit the second man who had been talking. She turned to aim at the guards standing by the workers, who were tied up and gagged, but, of course, at that exact moment, her blaster jammed.

"No!" She groaned, smacking it a few times before dropping it. It wasn't going to help her until she could fix it.

The guards saw this and pointed their own blasters at the heads of the nearest prisoner. "Hands up, or they start dying!'

Leslie, who unfortunately was one of the first targets, began whimpering and tried to scream through the cloth tied around her mouth. The others began pleading with their eyes or shaking their heads. The guard aiming at Leslie kicked her in the side. "Shut up, all of you!"

Set them on fire, the Darkness told her.

We'll compromise, the Light insisted, and instead, Ahsoka pulled them away from her friends using the Force. They fell to the ground and lost their grip on their weapons.

The man standing up on the walkway didn't appreciate that. He called for help from the guards in the lobby and staff room and started firing at Ahsoka with a sniper rifle. Ahsoka dodged the fire for a few shots but made sure to stay away from the other workers. On the fifth shot, she raised her hand and deflected it back towards the shooter. He ducked behind the railing, but Ahsoka wasn't aiming for him. Instead, the bolt hit the light above him, showering him in glass and sparks.

Until he got up and the reinforcements came, Ahsoka had time to deal with the two men on the floor. She pulled a crowbar to her and ran to the rising intruders. It was the closest thing to a lightsaber that she had at the moment and it was going to have to work.

For the closest thug, she swung with all her strength and knocked him in the side of the head. He fell unconscious right away. The second guard tried to shoot at her at close range, but she intercepted the shots with the crowbar. Unlike her lightsabers would have, it broke when shot at, but when the thug saw her in one piece after three shots he hesitated, and Ahsoka dropped low to the ground. She knocked the blaster out of his hand and hit him in the sides a few times for good measure. Then she swept his legs out from under him and swung down on his head with her makeshift weapon. Four down, four to go.

The sniper still hadn't recovered, but his buddies were making their way down the stairs. The crowbar was now a third of its original length, so Ahsoka threw it at the closest shooter and followed her throw. This time, she opted for punches and kicks, rather than using a weapon. They tried to fight back, but Ahsoka had no armor and no weapons to weigh her down, and she was a much better fighter than them, to begin with. She took her sweet time, making sure they weren't getting up again, but after about thirty seconds, all of them were out cold.

Finally getting to his feet, the sniper began descending the stairwell. When he saw how many of his allies Ahsoka had defeated, however, he began to doubt himself and turned back around, trying to escape. Ahsoka Force-jumped and landed in front of him, light on her toes and coiled like a spring. She jumped forward and kicked, sending the last thug tumbling down the stairs. Leaping after him, she pulled him up by the coat with one hand and raised a fist to punch him with the other.

"Lights out," she told him, and he flinched before she even moved.

The score was Ahsoka: 8, Thugs: 0.