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Other than those named characters obviously not being the property of Disney and/or LucasFilm, all named characters are the property of Disney and/or LucasFilm.

Dear Readers: For those who have read Ahsoka, Ahsoka and others may be out of character; if not outright AU. I am sorry about that. I decided not to read it until I can finish this story.(The book hasn't even arrived yet where I am.) Please do not flame me about this. (Also, please no spoilers or hints of spoilers in the reviews.)

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"Go With Me."

"Stay With Me."

Chapter 13

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From the previous chapter:

Now she knew she was going to die right then and there. But she smiled. She smiled because she could have hoped for no better way to become one with the Force, being with him to the last, becoming one with the Force with him.

But she couldn't leave what happened there. He had to know; she had to tell him. She looked him full in the face with a happiness she hadn't known for a long time:

"I love you."

"I know."

—•—

When Lux said that to Ahsoka, it was with peace in his heart. He was going to die with Ahsoka. He couldn't think of a better way. He just hoped he could still meet her in the afterworld. Then, he became very serious, looking to Ahsoka showing a job needed to be done. After a moment, seeing she had become serious as well, he started to quietly count down in Togruti-B, all the while looking at Ahsoka:

"Se. Du. Yek."

The Commodore then suddenly turned and threw a ball as hard as he could but still keep some accuracy. He threw it past the Stormtroopers, which got a laugh from the Imperial Captain. After Lux threw the ball, he quickly grabbed some piping above and behind Ahsoka.

"Bonteri, you idiot, you can't even throw—" But he stopped there as he saw the ball continuing on and on and on, pushed on by the Force from Ahsoka. He looked at the little ball get closer to the panel. It got closer and closer. "Oh, no," he exclaimed. "Everyone! Grab something!" But it was too late.

As soon as there was soft tap of the ball hitting the panel, it exploded in flames and shook that area of the ship. Warning sirens belched their screams on the other side of the closed bulkhead, worrying Kanan, Ezra, Aktay and the rest of the Ghost crew who were trying to breach the blast door on the other side.

"What happened?" asked Zeb.

Hera immediately called General Gerrera on her comm. "General! We've just had an explosion near the Commodore and Ahsoka. There has been a breach in the hull in that area!"

"Understood," came the calm reply. "We are not in position yet to close the doors. I'll try to get in contact with Acham. I'm sorry Captain."

"I'm sorry as well, General."

Both Hera and Saw felt as if they had lost their friends in that moment. Those around Hera, her crew and Aktay from the ship, were sorrowful.

In the hangar bay, after the explosion, everything that wasn't bolted down and everyone that wasn't holding on to something, was sucked out into space. There were only three still in the hangar bay, holding on for life in the sucking wind. A Stormtrooper who was quicker than the others and was fortunately, at least for Lux and Ahsoka, close by grabbing a girder that he had a tenuous hold onto. Lux had a hold of some piping with both hands and Ahsoka was holding on to Lux, around his waist. They were both being pulled into the cold of space.

Suddenly, from Ahsoka, "I'm slipping! I can't hold on!" And she was slipping.

"Oh no you don't!" was Lux shouted back, "You're not getting away from me now!"

"Ahh!"

"Ahsoka! Hold on!"

"I can't!"

Lux needed to save Ahsoka as best he could. He then saw a chance. The Stormtrooper!

"Ahsoka! Stroomtrooper! Button!"

Ahsoka could turn her head to see what he meant. She got herself ready. It was going to be very close. Lux needed to reach out for a stave from his quarterstaff—the other stave was now floating on space—which was, amazingly, still in his belt—but he had to take one hand from his grip on the piping. There was no choice. He released one hand from the piping, slipping a little, causing a yelp from Ahsoka. He then took the stave out of his belt, aimed it carefully and threw it. It went through the air, end-over-end. Immediately after, he put that arm around Ahsoka, trying to prevent her from slipping any more. But he felt his grip on the piping slipping. It was only a matter of time.

The stave hit the Stormtrooper right on his hand holding the girder. As soon as it did so, the Stormtrooper was sucked into the lane.

"Ahsoka!" Lux shouted, feeling his hand slipping more and more, but still holding onto Ahsoka with the other.

"What!"

"I love you!" He just couldn't hold on anymore. He slipped. As that happened, both were sent flying through the corridor.

"I knoooow! Aaaaa!" said Ahsoka flying through the air, her voice disappearing down the corridor. It would have been funny if it wasn't so deadly serious.

As they were flying through the lane, Lux was trying to get ahead of her. They got closer and closer to the doors.

"Lux! What are you doing?"

"I'll go first!" He started to push Ahsoka away from him, trying to get some distance between them.

Ahsoka could see the Stromtrooper get very close to the open doors. "Ahsoka! Now!" She suddenly used the Force to bang the Stormtrooper into the emergency close button, which he did, closing the doors, and he was then sucked out into space.

Ahead of them, the doors were closing little by little by little. Even if he were not to make it, Lux wanted to make sure Ahsoka could survive, so he pushed her away as much as he could.

Fifty meters away.

Forty meters away.

Thirty.

Twenty.

Ten.

Five.

BANG!

THUMP!

"OOF!"

Were the sounds as the doors banged shut, Lux thudded with his back into the doors, and Ahsoka flew into Lux. Not a moment too soon for Lux either. A nanosecond sooner and he would have been sucked out into space, molecule by molecule. They both fell to the deck at the foot of the closed doors.

"Ahsoka! Are you OK?" Lux said, recovering.

"Am I OK? Am I OK? You took the brunt of those two hits. Are you OK?"

Lux chuckled a little. "My back hurts a little," he paused, "but you're light as a feather," he said with a smile.

"You! You!" Lux was looking at Ahsoka, who seemed mad. "You," she said softly then holding him around his shoulders. They held each other for a second.

Then Lux started laughing lightly. Ahsoka smiled at him. Then his laugh became a little stronger and Ahsoka's smile a little bigger. Before they knew it, they were both laughing at the danger they narrowly got themselves out of.

"You know," Lux was trying to say between laughs, "We almost got ourselves killed."

Ahsoka returned between laughs, "Yeah, that would've been something." More laughing from Ahsoka.

"Yeah. No more of Susie's food for me, I guess."

"And no more thimar for me." There was more laughing. "We must've looked so funny," Ahsoka said through the laughs, "I love youuuuu," she mimicked Lux's deep voice as she moved her hand through the air for two people flying through the air. They both laughed so hard at this.

Lux recovered a bit to add, "I knooow. I'm your betroooothed," he said with the same hand motion and just like Ahsoka's high-pitched voice. Neither could hardly stop laughing, holding on to each other.

They were both laughing laughing hard now at the near miss with death they had. They didn't hear the others in their group come up, Hera, Kanan, Ezra, and Aktay, now joined by Sabine and Zeb and a few more. They were astounded at the Commodore and the Jedi almost rolling in laughter.

"What happened?" asked Zeb.

It took all they could muster for Lux and Ahsoka to recover.

"Oh," Lux started between laughs, "We almost died and got sucked out into space."

"No," said Ahsoka, "I think it's we almost got sucked out into space and died." She didn't try to hold back her laughter. Lux joined in.

"And you're laughing about it?" asked Kanan.

"Well—it's kind of funny now," answered Lux

"It didn't seem funny at the time, though," answered Ahsoka. Both Lux and Ahsoka restarted their laughing at this.

"All right you two," said the motherly Hera. She smiled though because she could see that something good had happened between the two. She knew it would. "We still have a ship to commandeer. Let's get with it."

"Right away, Captain," said Lux, recovering from his mirth.

There was a call in from General Gerrera just then suddenly.

"Terry. Where are you?" Saw asked as if he knew his friend was all right from the get-go; as if nothing had happened, "We need you on the bridge. We have control of the ship."

"Well, that was fast," countered Lux.

"Yeah, it helps to have a former Imperial guiding you—and to not be lallygagging around like you two!"

"All right, Saw, but lallygagging?"

"What the heck," almost-shouted an exasperated General Gerrera, "Captain Acham's here if you two need some alone time."

Lux could tell his friend was upset. Saw always was a very serious person when it came to war. But still, Lux and Ahsoka looked at each other as if to take him up on his offer. Memories came flooding back to the two.

In any case, no one wanted a sour General Gerrera to deal with. "All right, Saw, we'll be there right away." Lux got up and he helped Ahsoka up. She was limping a little. "Do we have a medic?"

"Sabine and I will help," offered Hera, "You go to the bridge, Commodore. You're needed there."

"Right. Saw, I'm on my way," he said the last into the comm device.

"All right. See you soon." Saw seemed much more calm now. He knew how goofy a guy could get when he found his love.

Lux left with a group of Marines in a few quick steps, but suddenly stopped to look back. He could see Ahsoka being held up by Sabine. He looked at her and she looked at him. They both smiled so happily. They knew they would see each other soon.

It just had to be.


Commodore Bonteri trotted into the bridge of the Decimator.

"Where's Tarkin?" he demanded almost as soon as he entered through the gangway.

"He and some woman named Pryce escaped in a shuttle. The bridge crew have been detained," said Saw as he waved his arm to a group of the crew who gathered together under the careful eye of some Zabrack Marine and Zouave guards. A few of the Marines who came in with the Commodore went over to the group.

"What about the access from the lower decks?"

"It has been cut off. All TIE fighters have been secured from takeoff."

"All right, first thing we need to do is get out of this nebula. Riley, get me Commander Rhayme."

"Yes, sir." Riley then made the connection, when he did—

"Riley! Thank the Force you're all right!" everyone could hear—even the detained Imperials.

"Um, um," then he whispered, "Lassa, we're on the bridge."

"We?" came the whispered reply. Just then, Ahsoka, helped by Sabine, and the rest of the group from that hangar deck came into the bridge.

"Where's Tarkin?" asked Hera to Saw quietly.

"Escaped with someone named Pryce."

"Now that's a match made by the Force."

"Do you know her?"

"Unfortunately. Imperial evil through and through."

"Commander Rhayme, if I may," entered the Commodore into hers and Riley's conversation, "Please send over CeeCee. We need her to navigate out of the nebula."

"Yes, sir. Right away," was the confident response. "Congratulations, sir."

"Congratulations are due all around, but were not out of this yet. You can send CeeCee out in the Ashla. There is at least one hangar bay that I know of in the stern of the superstructure," he smiled as he turned to Ahsoka. She smiled back.

He then went over to the Imperial crew gathered off to the side. "You are not prisoners. Please remain here, though." Soon, under guard—he would have to commend Lassa for sending the guards he forgot to ask for—his Givin navigator entered the bridge. Lux was near the group of Imperials when CeeCee entered. The gasps from the Imperials was clearly audible:

"What's that thing?"

"It's a monster!"

Lux then looked very seriously at the group. He was mad and he showed it. Ahsoka and the others were looking on.

"That 'monster' is about to save your lives. Give away!" CeeCee was looking at her Commodore. He then turned to her and walked up to her. "CeeCee," he said kindly, "Plot us a course out of here."

"Yes, Commodore. Right away." CeeCee was proud in the confidence he had in her.

"What's the status of the ship?" asked the Commodore to Captain Acham.

"The fighters have been locked down. Hangar bay doors as well. Escape pods are still active, but none have been used."

"I wouldn't want to go out in a mess like this alone myself. Would never be heard from again."

"Auxiliary bridges have been deactivated," Acham continued, "They cannot override us there."

"Very good."

"Colonel Gerrard," Saw called on the communicator, "Are there any attempts to gain access by the troopers?"

"There was one, sir, but we beat it back. All access to the bridge has been blocked."

"Very good."

"General," entered Cham Syndulla, "My team will go to help them out."

"Thank you, Field Marshal. Can we keep Gary here? Just in case."

"Certainly. Gobi, Numa, Risè. You're with me." That group left as both Risè and Numa looked back to two men left behind.

"Well, I guess it's time to let the crew know what's going on," said Commodore Bonteri.

"You deserve this, Terry," said Saw. Both Lux and Ahsoka smiled at his words. The Commodore then asked for an open microphone to all decks.

"Crew of the Decimator—"

Of a sudden, a mechanical voice overrode any sound on the bridge.

"Ship will self-destruct in two minutes."

—•—

Thank you for reading this and, again, I am sorry about the mistakes in the last chapter. I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible after correcting the mistake. ('Yeah, right, johnt. You just want to pad the review numbers.') That is why it is so short.

When Ahsoka and Lux were laughing at the foot of the doors, I originally wrote the below:

"But did you see the face on that Captain?"

"'Oooh noo,'" he mock-imitated the Captain. "And how 'bout the face on that Stormtrooper?" the laughs barely letting him talk.

"'Duh, oooh noo,'" Ahsoka mimicked the Stormtrooper.

But I thought this was funnier but a bit too cruel—but more than likely, not unknown in times of war. In any case, I hope you can see that Ahsoka is getting her sense of humor back.

This chapter is quite short and I have a lot of the continuation after this already written out. Perhaps you can put this at the end of the last, corrected, chapter?

Since the continuation is well along the way, I hope I can get it out soon. You may find the scene with shutting down the self-destruct rather surprising.

Thank you,

johnt