Granger didn't come into work on Friday and Ahsoka could tell if she was relieved or worried. The others looked at her oddly, having known that they did have a chat, right before Granger stormed out of Gauges and Gears without a word to anyone else. She had explained that she hadn't fought with him but did say something that he had not known. She hid what had caused him to leave, though. Ahsoka doubted Granger would want anyone else to know.

Then he didn't come in on Monday, either. Or Tuesday, or the whole week after that. On Friday morning, Fuller called Ahsoka to his office. She finished the speeder she was working on and clocked out early for her lunch break. She took a breath as she opened the door to his office and sat in the same seat she had taken during her interview.

Fuller didn't seem angry with her, but Granger's absence was clearly bothering him. "I'll make this quick because I don't think either of us like this. I know you and Granger have had a few arguments over the past month, but he's a good kid and he doesn't skive off of work for a whole week. Is there anything you can tell me?"

Ahsoka nodded, although she didn't understand why Granger would be called a kid. he was probably about three years older than her. "On Thursday, last week, he said he wanted to talk. I figured it would be about my outburst during the break-in, but he started ranting about the Jedi, and how they ruined people's lives. I have to admit, it did explain a lot about why he doesn't like me that much."

"Yeah, he's not fond of them," Fuller agreed, "no offense to you, Tano."

"It's all right," she assured him. "I'm not taking it personally, now that I understand."

"So he just vented at you?" he asked, rubbing his forehead. "I don't see how that would drive him off."

Ahsoka shook her head, and hesitated before continuing. "How much do you know about his...family situation?"

Groaning, he leaned back. "I don't think he has one, at least, not here. He's trying to find his sister, I know that much. She went missing a while back if I remember right."

"She didn't go missing, boss," Ahsoka corrected. "She was a Jedi Youngling. That's why he dislikes them so much."

Just it had for her, the missing link of information clicked into place in Fuller's mind. Shock froze his face before he sighed and closed his eyes.

She went on. "I met her a few years ago. She died, and when Granger mentioned his sister's name, I remembered everything that had happened. I...I didn't think it was right for me to keep it from him, but I had no idea it would make him skip work for so long."

"You don't need to justify it, Tano," Fuller told her, holding a hand up. "I believe it. Granger's always been touchy when it comes to his sister, even back when I first met him."

Ahsoka relaxed, grateful he wasn't blaming her. "Maybe I should have waited a while, and told him when it was more appropriate."

Surprisingly, Fuller shook his head. "It might have gotten a better reaction, but trust me, the sooner he heard about it, the better. If you had hidden it from him, it would have been worse." He opened something on his computer, avoiding Ahsoka's eyes. "Withheld information does that to people. It's the same reason he hates the Jedi: they never told him about what happened."

It made sense. She had seen firsthand what harm secrets could do to people that deserved to be trusted, or at least, people who had no reason not to be trusted. Granger was no exception.

"It doesn't change the fact that he's been missing, though," Fuller went on, scratching his beard. "He's running out of overtime hours to cover for the week, and he's not picking up any calls. I'm running out of options here."

"If I knew where he lived, I would go myself to see how he's coping," Ahsoka mused aloud, "but he's never given me his address. He hasn't exactly had a reason to."

Fuller glanced at her, then back at his computer monitor. After a silent moment, he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. Ahsoka had a feeling she knew what he was writing down.

He handed it to her and sure enough, it was an address. "Do me a favor, track him down after work, and see if you can't get anything out of him. If he kicks you out, don't fight it, but at least try."

She nodded, standing up. "I'll do my best." With nothing more to say, she left for the staff room to eat. The sooner she completed her hour quota, the sooner she could look for Granger.

Ahsoka hadn't spent much time on Level 30-2, but thanks to living underground for nearly a month and a half, she was accustomed to the layout of the area. The only problem was that this level had completely different street names, so she had no idea where 'Rekanada Street' was.

She had to ask around, but she finally found it and started looking for the building with the correct number on the side. Thankfully, no one tried to jump her on her way through. This level seemed a bit more peaceful than her own, or perhaps it was just a lucky night.

The apartment building she found at the address looked a bit nicer than her residential building, but the outside of her house complex wasn't very impressive. The landowner of these apartments probably did regular upkeep of the outside, whereas there was no landowner for her house. In all honesty, she had barely met the people she lived next to.

Granger was listed as renting out apartment 6, according to the information Fuller gave her. When she approached the door, she felt and urge to reach out with the Force to see if he was even home, but she fought it and knocked, hoping he wouldn't immediately shut the door in her face. It took a while, but she heard footsteps on the other side, and the door opened.

Not that Ahsoka would ever say it out loud, but he looked horrible. His hair was a tangled mess, and he was wearing old, ripped clothes that looked like they had been used for painting. It didn't look like he had bathed in days and he had bags under his eyes, a clear indication that he had not slept recently. Ahsoka could see beer bottles lying around behind him.

When Granger saw her, he didn't look surprised, but thankfully, he didn't snap or yell at her either. He just sighed, defeated. "Did Fuller send you?"

Ahsoka nodded, not wanting to speak yet.

"He's been calling me for a few days," he said, leaning one arm against the wall. "I figured it would happen sooner or later."

She adjusted her bag on her shoulder. "He's worried about you, and just wants to see if you're okay." She paused, then asked, "May I come in?"

He nodded and stepped aside to let her pass. Internally, she rejoiced. Despite his unkempt appearance, he was already speaking to her better than he had the entire time she had known him. The grudge he had been holding seemed to have begun to fade.

Once inside, she got a better look at his living space. There were more beer bottles than she had originally seen, and there were a few smashed objects that had been swept up against the walls so the glass wouldn't cut Granger. The curtains were drawn, and food scraps were lying on most of the flat surfaces near the couch.

"Sorry about the mess," Granger apologized. "I assumed you would come eventually, or someone would, but I never really cleaned up for it."

"It's not like I gave you any warning," she reminded him. "Besides, I've seen worse." Ahsoka had a particular memory of a drunken black market dealer she and Anakin had met on Corellia, who had lived in a much messier house than this. And that was before the two of them destroyed it with a pair of flying holocrons.

Granger sat down on the couch and tried to clear some of the mess, but Ahsoka walked to the walls and tried to get a look at a picture on the wall. The glass covering it was shattered like Granger had punched it out of frustration, but she could still make out four people: two adults, both of whom looked similar to Granger, hugging a boy and a baby girl. Granger and Kalifa, Ahsoka realized.

"I was six when a Jedi came to our house," Granger explained, from behind Ahsoka. "Our parents had called the Jedi because Kalifa had fallen down the stairs on accident, but she was fine, not a scratch on her. She started doing crazy stunts, like jumping much higher than a three-year-old should be able to. My dad thought she had the Force, so they called the Temple."

Ahsoka turned and stared at him, and watched as he pulled a photo album to him and started thumbing through the pages. She was astonished that he could remember what had happened at six years old, but then again, she reasoned, Kalifa was important to him. How could he forget? She, like Kalifa, had been too young to remember being brought to the Temple.

"My mom wouldn't let me listen while the Jedi talked with her and my dad. A few minutes later, they brought her into our bedroom and started getting her dressed. They said she was leaving, and that I wasn't going to see her again. I-" Granger chuckled quietly. "I threw a fit, and my dad had to hold me back from her. I think I scared her, honestly, but I didn't want her to go."

She turned back to the picture on the wall. "You were attached to her, it makes sense."

He shook his head. "Probably too much. I hated my parents after that and started rebelling against everything they said or did. They tried to throw out her stuff, saying that she was going to be a hero, and didn't need any of it anymore. I managed to snag a few things, but that and these picture are everything I have fro-from her."

"Why did you turn on your parents?" Ahsoka asked. "I know, it might seem silly for asking, but..."

Granger looked up at her, slightly annoyed, but he finished her statement. "You never knew your parents, and going to the Jedi wasn't a bad thing?"

"More or less."

"Because they forgot about her. A month after she left, they didn't even remember Kalifa's name. They said it would be easier if we pretended she never even existed."

Ahsoka knew that although Granger didn't like it, his parents had been right. It was easiest to let go of attachments if there was no reminder of the person in question. Going to Coruscant was the safest place for a Force-sensitive child and the best place to train and learn about the Force. True, it had led to her death, but she might have faced a worse end than the one she faced on Island Four. Ahsoka knew from experience that being stabbed through the heart was much more painful than being shot.

Still, though, she didn't say any of this. Ahsoka knew Granger didn't want to hear it at the moment.

"When I turned 16, I used the money I had saved to buy a passport and a ticket to Coruscant, and I told my parents I was going to find Kalifa and I wouldn't be back until I had found her. I snuck out and caught the morning ship, and I went right to the Jedi Temple, asking to see Kalifa Granger."

"But they didn't let you in," Ahsoka guessed. "They probably didn't even know who you were talking about."

He nodded. "Just like with my parents, she didn't exist. So I moved down here and I've been here since then. Over five years."

Granger looked up at her, and she sighed. Setting her bag down, she sat lightly on the couch, not wanting to accidentally sit on a piece of trash or a bottle. "This is the first time you've heard anything about her, isn't it?"

"And it's too late," he confirmed. "I can't go back to my parents, even if they were still alive to go back to."

She stared at him. "How do you know?"

"Old friend sent me a message the day after it happened," he answered stiffly. "I've got nowhere to go, and no reason to be here, other than Gauges and Gears."

There wasn't anything useful Ahsoka could say to that, so she sat in silence, until he asked, "Do you think she remembered me?"

Ahsoka's mind raced. On one hand, she knew that Kalifa had no idea that she had a brother, and that he had been looking for her. On the other, she knew that Granger would have wanted her to say that she had. She remembered Fuller's words from earlier, though: If you had hidden it from him, it would have been worse. Withheld information does that to people.

"Jedi are taught to not have attachments right from the beginning," she told him, easing into the answer. "No one ever contacts their family, and asking about them is frowned upon. I've never known my own parents, although I do know they're dead too. I don't see how Kalifa would have remembered you. She was too young to remember leaving, and she was kidnapped as a Youngling. By the time you would have come to Coruscant, she would already have disappeared and assumed dead."

Granger's face fell, and Ahsoka felt a pang of guilt for disappointing him. She didn't want to sugarcoat the news, though, not after he had lived with no answers about his sister. It was best if he received the truth.

After a few haunting moments, he asked, in a broken, almost angry voice. "Why? Why wouldn't they tell her?"

"Because of this," she explained. "Jedi are trained to be ready to sacrifice their lives for the greater good and to not be swayed by personal relationships. Any attachments would make it harder to do what is right, and harder to move on. The fewer people a dead Jedi was close to, the fewer people that have to mourn afterward."

"So they just get everyone ready to die?" He asked, raising his voice, but for once, Ahsoka didn't think his anger was directed at her. "Their whole lives are spent getting ready to get killed? WHY IN THE WORLD-?" Granger dropped silent, giving up on reason and falling against the back of the couch. "They said she would be a hero. They said it would be better for her."

She waited a moment, to let him calm down and clear his mind. "When they said better, they meant better than being kidnapped by pirates, or the Sith." Or the Inquisitor. "And Kalifa was a hero. Maybe not a war hero, but a hero nonetheless."

Granger scoffed at her. "Please don't try to soften the blow, it's not helping."

"I'm being serious," Ahsoka insisted. "I didn't know her for long, it was really only a few days, but it was enough. Do you know what she was doing when I found her?"

He didn't answer, not even with a shake of his head, but he met her eyes, silently.

"She was with two other Younglings, both of whom had survived with her, and she was leading them. Both of them followed her and trusted her to escape the Trandoshans that were hunting them. She was protecting them as much as she could, and she wanted to fight back. Kalifa died trying to survive, trying to save the people around her. It was a miracle she survived as long as she did, and she helped me and the others make it back to Coruscant, even if she didn't survive herself."

Ahsoka saw something spark in his eyes, just a hint of hope. A belief that his sister really had lived a better life than he had feared.

"I don't think she ever fought in the Clone War," she conceded, "but she was a hero to O-Mer and Jinx. I promise you, they remember her just like I do. More than I do, actually. They spent years with her on that island and knew her better than I ever did."

Granger broke eye contact, but Ahsoka could still see his face. He was thinking deeply and trying to imagine his sister out in the wilderness, being a leader. After a minute, Ahsoka could tell that he had all but forgotten she was there, so she grabbed her bag and stood up.

"Look, I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, but you can make it through her death. Kalifa would want you to move on, to forge your own life, even if it means letting go of her." She paused, letting her words resonate in his mind. "Fuller wants you to come back to work if you can. Just...think about it. When you're ready, just try one day back at the workshop, alright?"

Again, he didn't answer her, so she walked to the door and made to let herself out. Right before she left, he called from the couch, "Tano?"

She paused, turning to look at him.

"Thanks. For everything. The truth, for coming here, just..." he gave her the best smile he could muster. "Thank you."

Ahsoka smiled back. "You're welcome."