Taris had risen from the ashes more times than even seemed possible. Now it seemed that the swampy city-planet would be reduced to rubble once more. As selfish as it was, Ahsoka was relieved to finally be back in the field. Yes, they were merely checking old lines to make sure they had not been breached, and yes, she was technically leading a unit alongside Barriss Offee of wounded soldiers easing their way back into combat. The main fierce firefights were going on above them, just around Taris in surrounding space. Despite the quiet patrol, it still felt good to be back.

The Jedi Temple was stifling in its own way, even if she was relieved to see Obi-Wan snap out of being a mindless automaton. If anything he seemed to go completely the other way. But he was so quiet in his mania, and it was such a relief to see him enthusiastic about living, nobody seemed to object. Not even when he started mumbling about conspiracies. It was nearly endearing… in a certain way. But while it assuaged her guilt, she still was anxious to be out and useful.

Nexu Company was quickly growing on her. All of them were veterans, and they understood perfectly when she had to stop and rest a moment to catch her breath.

As they reached a long marshy stretch, walls crumbling from Taris' last round of destruction and thickly overgrown with weeds, Barriss looked up. She held perfectly still, as if she were a hunting dog that had caught wind of some prey. "Halt." She held up a hand, and all of the troops behind her obediently stopped. "Something's wrong here. Very… wrong." She bit her lip a moment before looking to Ahsoka. "Do you feel it?"

Ahsoka could feel nothing. Perhaps the barest blush of something beyond her senses. But there was no overwhelming danger. Not after the attack that had left her nearly severed from the Force. But she immediately lied to save face. "Yes. Only… only a little, though." It was a weak attempt to backpedal out of the lie, and she quickly looked away from Barriss to her map. "This is where the Endar Spire is said to have crashed. We might just be feeling some residual… something from Revan's influence."

Barriss shook her head, frowning. "No, that can't be it. By then the Revanchist had turned to the Light, or had at least abandoned the Dark. You know as well as I do."

"General Offee, sir," one of the troops said immediately. "Permission to move ahead? I've always wanted to pay my respects to the troopers of the Republic's golden days, sir."

Barriss shifted from foot to foot, swaying in residual anxiousness. One could just barely make out the plastisteel bones of the old warship where the swampy ground and plants had been eager to swallow them whole. It was still a jagged arena of wreckage with far too many dark corners for her taste… the perfect place for an ambush. But if Ahsoka didn't feel such a strong warning in the Force… well… "You're probably right, Ahsoka. It's fine, Teth, let's go ahead and move out." The clone nodded, moving ahead of her at an easy, ambling pace. Instead of moving in strict formation, they fanned out somewhat, each of the clones mesmerized by the remains of the old Republic's splendor. In the distance some swamp-birds trilled and bugs steadily hummed around them.

And then the world exploded.

Ahsoka screamed instinctively as the landmine went off underneath Barriss' feet. The droids that had been patiently waiting to trigger it busily poured from the blind alleys and crevices and it seemed in an instant the air was thick with blaster bolts. Nexu Company was prepared to easily take down the ambush, the clones diving for cover. It left Ahsoka to run to Barriss.

"Oh Force - Barriss!" Ahsoka's head swam as she clumsily fished for the bacta patches on her belt. It was already quite clear it would be useless. More than a bacta patch would be needed when it seemed half of her friend was spread in bits and pieces up to fifty paces away. But she still reached out to lift Barriss' head even as her friend spluttered on blood and tried to gasp. "Don't - oh, Force - please - you're going to be fine, you're going to be just fine - !"

Barriss' blue eyes were wide in panic. "Ahsoka - forgive me -"

"F-forgive you? There's nothing you've done, you just - just keep breathing, okay -"

"Lied to you," Barriss gasped out with bloodflecked lips.

Ahsoka shook her head flusteredly. "No, no, I'm sure it's fine, look, you can tell me all about it in the Halls of Healing back on Coruscant -"

Barriss drew in a long, ragged, rattling breath. Her eyes were pleading and glossy with half-formed tears, and she desperately reached up to Ahsoka with a mangled and bloodied hand.

"S… Skywalker lives."

Ahsoka was stunned into numb silence the very moment Barriss gave a long, wheezing exhale, her last breath finally escaping her. A younger Ahsoka would have desperately shouted questions, but she was older and wiser now. She kept quiet. Other Jedi simply assumed it was grief. Perhaps it was. It meant fewer questions. A week later as she watched Barriss' body going up in flames on a traditional Jedi pyre, Ahsoka finally found the answer she was looking for, and knew what to do.

Obi-Wan had politely approached her the next day, and she greeted him with a smile. "I came back to Coruscant as soon as I heard, Ahsoka…"

"No, it's fine." She took a deep, calming breath. "There is no death, there is only the Force. …have you found anything?" Ahsoka tolerated Obi-Wan's abrupt new obsession, and perhaps tacitly encouraged it, but this was the first time her interest had been anything more than lukewarm.

"Just another dead end," he replied, caught slightly off guard. "Why do you ask?"

Smiling, Ahsoka slipped a datapad onto the table. "An assignment came up that I thought you would be perfectly suited for. Master Quinlan Vos agreed with me. We may have… pulled a few strings and called in a few favors," she said softly. "But I think you'll appreciate it."

Obi-Wan frowned in momentary confusion before glancing over the datapad. A low-level assignment with minimal risk for a Jedi to be stationed on Rattatak, to help guide the formation of a Republic-sanctioned democratic government… and to monitor the activities of ex-Sith Queen Asajj Ventress. It was as close as Obi-Wan would ever get to an official blessing. It was a tacit mark of approval. Ahsoka was telling him to go and be happy.

He stared for a few moments, giving a solid gulp as if tears of joy were threatening to sneak up on him. But he raised his head, lips pursing, about to ask a question.

"Don't worry," Ahsoka soothed. "I'll look after your research on finding Padme Amidala. And I'll sort through all the other leads for you, even send you updates if you like. I know you wouldn't let the matter rest, so I won't, either."

Obi-Wan was so momentarily giddy that he did not see the selfish glint in Ahsoka's eyes. After all, the togruta was a Jedi in her own right now, and clever as well. She was smart.

…and Ahsoka knew that wherever she found Padme, she would find Anakin.