"I'm back," Ahsoka called out to the empty apartment, closing the door behind her. She'd just gotten off her work at a local repair shop. Anakin had taken a similar job at a different shop. They had been working for a couple of weeks now.

No response. She sighed, slightly disappointed.

She stared at the smallness of the apartment, lost in thought again. Looking back, she couldn't imagine what she would have done if she'd left the Order by herself.

She couldn't tell how long she had been standing her, lost in thought. She shook herself out of it and walked to their shared quarters, setting her pack down on her bed. She noticed a small wooden box laying on her bed. She placed a hand on it, and her eyes widened in realization. She slowly opened it, and, as she predicted, inside were her lightsaber and lightsaber shoto. She couldn't help but smile.

"Surprised?" a familiar voice asked behind her. She whirled around to face the room's entrance and saw Anakin smiling at her. She had been so distracted, she hadn't even heard him come in.

"Before we left, I was able to find them in the lower levels of Coruscant." Anakin explained as he set his pack down on his bed. "I took care of them. They're good as new." He turned to face her.

Ahsoka smiled as she examined the sabers. She didn't think she'd ever see them again after she lost them during her fight with Barriss. But Anakin hadn't let that stop him.

She ignited them, revealing a bright blue, the same as Anakin's. She raised an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised.

"Maybe a little better," Anakin added with a smirk, crossing his arms.

This guy. Ahsoka rolled her eyes in amusement. She twirled them around in a fighting stance.

Anakin continued, "Even if we're not Jedi, we can't get rusty on our technique. We can work during the day. Train and meditate at night. When the time comes, we'll be ready."

Ahsoka nodded in agreement, deactivating her lightsabers. Even as civilians, they couldn't get lazy. She looked down at her sabers again, grateful to have them back. Her heart felt lighter. She looked back up at Anakin.

Her face softened and she offered the biggest smile she could manage. "Thank you, Anakin."

Anakin just smiled back and nodded. His blue eyes seemed lighter. Happier. Ahsoka could get used to seeing him like this.

"It seems you are getting reliant on your second saber," Anakin remarked, handing Ahsoka back her practice blades.

Ahsoka nodded in agreement. A year before they left the Order, she had begun relying heavily on having two blades: her main and shoto. She knew she needed to be able to handle herself if she was ever disarmed of one or the other. She had been outmatched when Barriss disarmed her of her shoto. She couldn't make that mistake again.

They had developed a pretty regular routine for the past few weeks. After work, they'd train, eat dinner, and then meditate.

Anakin had gotten them interested in trying out the other fighting forms. While Anakin was the master of Djem So (Form V), he had begun to integrate Soresu (Form III) and Makashi (Form II). Djem So was a natural choice for him, focusing on offensive attack and physical strength. With Soresu, he could better buy time one the defensive, giving him an opportunity think more clearly. If he could master Makashi, he would become unstoppable in one-on-one combat.

Ahsoka specialized in Ataru (Form IV), the form that relied on acrobatics and agility, and she had taken up Jar Kai (dual blade wielding). It made sense given her agility. Like Anakin, her specialty relied on endurance and was physically draining. The integration of Soresu and Makashi could help improve her defense and finesse.

They got into their fighting stances with their practice blades, Anakin with his single blade and Ahsoka her primary blade and her off-hand shoto blade.

"Ready?" Anakin asked. Ahsoka nodded.

Ahsoka decided to make the first strike, lunging forward, kicking off a wall, making a swipe for his side. Anakin parried and made a counterattack, pinpointing his aim for Ahsoka's wrist, a Makashi strike. Ahsoka barely dodged out of the way in the time, locking blades with Anakin.

Anakin grinned, "Almost gotcha."

Ahsoka smirked, "You're gonna have to do better than that."

Before breaking the lock and somersaulting over him, making a swing for his back. Anakin dodged out the way and went on the defensive, allowing Ahsoka to continue her swings, while he dodged and parried. He identified a weakpoint in Ahsoka's shoto blade's technique and after parrying her latest strike, swiftly disarmed her of her shoto blade.

He then pressed his attack much more quickly, rivaling the speed of an Ataru user. Ahsoka managed to keep up with her remaining blade, but just barely. Ahsoka spun and went for an attack to his legs, sensing a weak point. Anakin parried, and made a swift counter, holding his blade up to her chin before she could react.

"Again?" Anakin grinned. They both noticed that Ahsoka had done much better with a single blade that time.

"Absolutely." Ahsoka grinned back, Force pulling her shoto blade back to her.

Ahsoka wasn't afraid to admit that Anakin was the superior duelist. He was prodigy in lightsaber combat, especially considering his age. But that didn't stop her from being competitive with him.

Besides, given how much she sparred with Anakin, she knew his strategy the best. She was one of the few lightsaber duelists who could hold their own for even a few moments in one-on-one combat against him.

"I almost forgot to say, we got a call from Obi-Wan earlier today."

She and Anakin were eating dinner. While Anakin was at work, she'd gotten a call from Obi-Wan.

Anakin raised an eyebrow, curious.

"He just wanted to see how we're doing. I told him we were fine."

They both smiled. Even away, Obi-Wan didn't seem to stop worrying about them. "He was relieved that we hadn't been causing trouble, but I told him that we could fix that if necessary." Ahsoka smirked.

"Ha. Things have been pretty quiet for us, haven't they?" Anakin said. "I hope he's doing alright himself." Anakin stopped, remembering something he'd heard earlier. "I heard rumors at work that there had been an incident with a clone who had murdered a Jedi."

"Murdered a Jedi?" Ahsoka asked.

"They don't know why. Something about a…malfunction?"

Ahsoka considered this. Malfunction? Did Rex and the 501st have this problem?

"I hope Rex is doing alright." Anakin continued, as if reading her mind. He paused and thought sadly, "I wish I had gotten a chance to say goodbye before we left."

"Me too." Ahsoka agreed.

They continued to eat dinner quietly for a few moments. Anakin was guessing they were both thinking about Rex.

Ahsoka suddenly spoke up, "Rex would've loved to see me teaching Trace hand-to-hand combat earlier today."

"I'm sure he would' be proud. How is Trace doing?"

Ahsoka had been visiting Trace more often after work. Sometimes it was just for company. Other times she would help Trace with her ship or give her some lessons in fighting.

"She's almost got her ship fully working," Ahsoka said. "She's hoping she'll get to start making a living somewhere other than Coruscant."

"Is that right?" Anakin couldn't help but smile at the idea of working on a ship. It reminded him of him and the Twilight. "I hope she gets it working. She can walk away from her old life and begin a life of adventure."

Ahsoka smiled, "Not too different from ourselves, now is it?"

Anakin paused and thought for a moment before nodding, "No, not too different at all."

Later, as they were cleaning up, Ahsoka noticed Anakin had the slightest trace of a frown on his face as he was washing the dishes.

"Something bothering you?"

Anakin glanced up. "Hmm?" The frown dissipated.

Ahsoka changed her question to a statement, "Something's bothering you."

Anakin considered setting it aside as nothing. But he thought better of it. Nothing was getting past her. "That much of an open book?"

Ahsoka shrugged nonchalantly.

Anakin finished up with the dishes. He turned to face Ahsoka, a look resembling that of guilt on his face. "It's just… hearing you talk about Trace, I couldn't help but think… by coming with you, I haven't given you a chance to let go of your past. To start a new life," He frowned.

Ahsoka thought for a moment, before admitting, "I had a feeling that I could never really let go of my past. The Jedi would always be a part of my life in some way, whether I was a part of the Order or not."

Anakin sighed, "I… should have given you the option to go our separate ways. To start a new life with friends like Trace. Walk away from everything." He looked to the side, avoiding her gaze.

Ahsoka gave a small smile at his thoughtfulness. "Anakin, you remind me of what I admire about the Order," Ahsoka said. "You taught me to help those who need it most. Not to play politics but to trust my gut, my instincts. And my gut tells me that there is a galaxy of people who need our help to stop this war."

"You're selfless," Anakin observed simply.

"And who do you think I got that from?" Ahsoka raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Besides, I can't let you have all the fun."

His expression softened, and he shook his head amused, holding his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay." He grinned, "Just checking."