New feelings arise!, now assigned to Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, Barriss Offee fails in her first attempt to get through to her friend. Worried the person she cares for may be gone forever Barriss quickly comes up with another plan to help Ahsoka Tano.

Chapter 2: An Easy Promise

Sunlight lightly pored into the room through the window as Barriss slowly opened her eyes, the view out the window gave off an breathtaking image of Corusant as vehicles of all shapes and sizes flew by.

Barriss lifted the blanket that covered her and placed it gently around her friends body, Ahsoka moaned in her sleep and rolled over leaving room for Barriss to get up. After pulling herself up as quietly as she could her gaze shifted to the hallway, Anakin walked out and moved to the window "any progress?"

Barriss joined her master by the window, trying to keep her voice as low as possible as she talked "I'm sorry master, it's obvious now that something is bothering her but it might take a while for her to want to talk about it"

"I had a feeling this would take some time, as far as I know we're stuck here today so I'll try and get out of your way as soon as I can"

"master if it's okay with you I have a suggestion?" After a slight nod from Anakin she continued "maybe if you give us something to do out there" Barriss waved a hand towards the window "I think a change of scenery might do her some good, I know how boring this place can get if you're stuck here long enough"

"no kidding, I suppose some fresh air could help. We have been at the temple since she got back" both heads turned as a slight change in the feel of the room told them Ahsoka was awake, Barriss couldn't help but smile at the sight of her friend "well good morning".

Ahsoka sat up on the coach and rubbed a hand across the back of her neck "that couch is not comfortable" the young Togruta's eyes moved to the blanket around her waist "did you stay with me all night?".

A knock at the door killed Barriss' attempt to answer, Anakin waved a hand to the door to unlock it "come in Obi-Wan".

Obi-Wan stepped inside and bowed to his former apprentice "Anakin I..." Barriss offered a light smile as Obi-Wan glanced in her direction "padawan Barriss, a pleasure as always. Anakin may I speak with you for a moment?".

"of course" Anakin clasped his hands behind his back and led the way out the door, light filtered through the empty hallway as Obi-Wan closed the door behind them "I take it there's a reason you have two padawans?"

"what you don't think I'm good enough to teach two at the same time?"

"Anakin"

"fine, look Ahsoka's been acting strange lately so I...borrowed Barriss for the time being" Obi-Wan nodded to himself "true there has been a change in your padawan's behavior as of late, you think having Barriss around will help her relax?"

"that was the plan,yes"

"huh, a very thought out plan, this was your idea right?"

"ouch, okay master I find it hard to believe you came all the way over here just to insult me"

Obi-Wan reached into his pocket and pulled out a small data pad "this data pad needs to be at the senate building"

"so what's it doing here?"

"well before you interrupted I was going to ask..."

Anakin snatched the data pad out of Obi-Wan's hand "consider it done"

"that easily?" Anakin stepped halfway back through the door before looking back "I didn't say I was doing it, after all I do have two padawans" with a roll of his eyes Obi-Wan waved goodbye and started down the hall.

Barriss turned just in time to catch the data pad before it hit the floor, Ahsoka walked to her side and studied the object in her hand "a data pad".

Barriss nodded in agreement "do you need us to deliver this master?"

"I'm sure as force not gonna do it, Obi-Wan needs that data pad delivered to the senate building" Barriss and Ahsoka bowed to their master before heading out the door, Anakin called out before they rounded the first corner "I'd take you time coming back!, doesn't look like we'll see any action today!".

Now several blocks away from the Jedi temple Barriss was awestruck at the sights all around her, skyscrapers gave off a soft metal glint that surrounded the two padawans in every conceivable direction, spots of sunlight sprinkled across the red walkway that guided them to their destination, and species from all over the galaxy fluttered by going about their business. Not able to see the look on her face she turned at a friendly chuckle from Ahsoka "what?"

"you don't get to stay here often do you?"

Barriss tried to hide the look of embarrassment from her face "am I that obvious?"

"It's okay, I still remember the first time I saw Corusant"

"I thought you were fairly young when master Plo found you?"

Ahsoka grinned as she tapped her head "I have a good memory, anyway when master Plo carried me out of the ship towards the Jedi temple he turned for a few seconds to let me take in the view" a quiet sigh escaped her mouth before she continued "Corusant in the dead of night, the way the neon lights created a multicolored horizon over the stars, the faint sound of children laughing...that moment still stays with me till this day"

"the first time you truly felt at home"

Ahsoka's head slowly nodded "exactly, how did you know?"

"I felt the same way, even the short time I had with my family I felt...I don't know...different, like I didn't belong there" Ahsoka's vision darted away and for a second Barriss' heart skipped a beat 'did I go to far?'

Her worries were quickly laid to rest when Ahsoka wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they walked "were both home now Barriss, one thing I know for sure is that no matter what happens in this war, this" Ahsoka gestured all around them "this is something neither the sepretists or the Sith can ever take from us". Despite herself Barriss couldn't help but enjoy the warmth at having her friend so close, whatever perfume Ahsoka wore was instantly noticeable this close.

They walked in silence till a large set of stairs was all that stood between them and the giant domed senate building, Barriss felt her heart drop as Ahsoka removed her arm from around her shoulder but quickly forced the emotion away "so where exactly are we supposed to deliver the data pad?"

Ahsoka offered a unhelpful shrug "maybe we should just leave it...wait...there's senator Organa"

Barriss had to run to keep up as Ahsoka took off down the steps "who?"

"a friend of a friend, he'll know where that data pad needs to go" suddenly aware of her almost completely black outfit Barriss wiped away a bead of sweat as she caught up with Ahsoka. Her friend was already mid conversation with the tall man she called Organa.

Once Barriss stopped beside them Ahsoka introduced her "senator this is fellow padawan Barriss Offee, a close friend"

Organa smiled politely as he shook the hand in front of him "a pleasure, so what is it you need?"

Barriss pulled the data pad out of her pocket "master Skywalker gave us orders to deliver this to the senate but unfortunately he forgot to mention exactly where"

Organa studied the data pad for a moment "ah yes, the information I requested"

Barriss handed the data pad to Organa "this data pad was for you?"

"yes, see I'm giving a speech to a local school about how the Jedi help us in the war effort. This information will be very helpful, be sure to give Obi-Wan my thanks" Barriss and Ahsoka both nodded as the senator turned and started towards the senate building.

Barriss hit a small button on her wrist "master the data pad was successfully delivered to senator Organa"

Anakin's voice took a moment to answer "good work, both of you"

"what should we do now master?"

"I'm not your father, the rest of the day is up to you two now, just be back before sundown"

"yes master" Barriss hit the button on her wrist once more before looking back to Ahsoka "for a Jedi he certainly has an odd sense of humor"

Ahsoka held back a grin "yeah you'll get used to that after a while"

"if you say so, so what do we do now?"

Ahsoka shrugged as they headed back up the steps "it's not often we get a day off like this, I'm not really sure. What do you suppose regular girls do on days like this?"

"I didn't realize we weren't regular girls"

"you know what I mean, girls who aren't constantly slashing droids or practicing new ways to fight" Barriss had to take a minute to seriously think about the question, she lead Ahsoka to a small bench by the edge of the walkway and they both sat.

True it wasn't every day they got a day to themselves, thinking back she couldn't remember any other time this had happened but she refused to believe they weren't normal 'maybe a little different, but what was wrong with that?'.

"You two ladies look bored, why don't we try and fix that?" Barriss looked up at the source of the voice, a tall athletically built human male stood in front of her, with rugged features and low cut brown hair there was no denying the appeal but something about him immediately brought a foul taste to her mouth.

Apparently sensing the same over confident stride Ahsoka quickly looked away "not interested".

A look of slight shock crossed the boys face, obviously not used to being turned down so quickly he took a few steps closer "I'm sorry how rude of me, allow me to introduce myself. The names James Clever"

Barriss simply looked at the hand offered to her "look James it's been a long day so if you don't mind we'd like to be alone"

James shook his head in protest "now that just wouldn't be right of me, the streets of Corusant can be a dangerous place, especially for two lovely ladies such as...whoa!" James eyes widened to double their normal size as he rose several feet in the air, Barriss looked over to see Ahsoka with one outstretched hand pointed in the boys direction.

James flailed around helplessly in the

air "damn it why are the hot ones always Jedi!".

Barriss couldn't help but laugh "I tried to warn you James, now how about you apologize so we can let you down"

"okay!, okay!, I'm sorry alright!"

"see was that so hard, Ahsoka I think the poor guys learned his lesson" Ahsoka smiled as she put her arm down, James hit the ground with a loud thud but got to his feet in seconds. With one last look he took off down the walkway and disappeared into the crowd.

Barriss gave Ahsoka a surprised look before both Jedi busted out in laughter, more than a few passing heads turned in their direction but for the first time in a while Barriss saw her friend truly happy 'let them stare'.

After several minutes of shared laughter Barriss slumped back on the bench holding her side "well we nearly gave a boy a heart attack, what now?"

Ahsoka grabbed her hand and pulled her back off the bench "hungry?"

"very".

The sign they passed told Barriss they were entering a area of Corusant designated CoCo Town, she had no idea why Ahsoka was taking her into one of the more seedier areas in the senate district when just mentioning your a Jedi was usually enough to get into even the most exclusive restaurant but the smile on her friends face was enough to stop the question.

Ahsoka stopped at what first Barriss thought was somebody's house but a red neon sign outside one of the rectangular shaped building told her otherwise "Dex's Diner"

Ahsoka led the way inside "Obi-Wan brought me here once, the owners really nice" as if on cue a rather large Besalisk wearing a grease stained shirt and a small apron over black pants walked up to them.

Apparently recognizing Ahsoka a smile spread wide across the Besalisk's face "Ahsoka Tano, don't tell me the Jedi need my great knowledge once again huh?"

Ahsoka shook one of the four hands in front of her "sorry Dex, we're just here to eat"

"well in that case take a seat my young friends, just what can I get for ya?" Dex waited till both padawans were seated at the table closest to the door before handing them a menu.

Ahsoka handed the menu back without so much as glancing at it "two sliders please"

Dex glanced between the two Jedi before turning around and heading behind the counter "I like a customer who knows what they want, be back in a second"

Barriss was unable to hold her curiosity for very long "what's a slider?"

Ahsoka cast a mischievous grin across the table "you'll find out".

The next few hours might of flew by if Barriss wasn't completely enjoying every second, Ahsoka shared story after story of her adventures with her master and clone captain Rex as Dex gratefully brought them plate after plate of food and drinks, all the while adding a few stories himself.

It was after a particularly long story that Barriss found it necessary to lean back in the cushioned bench, her heart raced as the leather of a brown boot touched her leg. Quickly sitting straight up Barriss turned her head to hid it's new color, Ahsoka kept talking as if she didn't notice but stopped mid-sentence when she lost eye contact with her friend "Barriss you alright?"

"huh...oh yeah I'm fine, guess I ate to much or something" an outright lie, especially to her best friend 'what the force just happened?' shaking herself back to normal Barriss chanced a glance outside and felt her heart drop "uh Ahsoka"

Ahsoka was already handing a handful of credits to the droid waitress "I know, we should start back if we want to be back before sundown".

"Always a pleasure to serve Jedi, especially ones with such strong appetites" Dex said by way of goodbye from behind the counter, one arm wiped the counter with a white rag while the the other three waved to the Jedi as they walked out the small diner.

The fresh air wiped across Barriss' face as she stepped out onto the walkway, Ahsoka stepped beside her and let out a loud sigh "we don't get enough time like this, promise me we'll do this again sometime".

"I promise" her answer didn't miss a beat, nothing she could ever remember saying came out so naturally, for reasons even she wasn't sure of something about this day just felt...right.