Ahsoka's POV
I woke up in a dim room. Somehow I ended up in Bane's room in his bed. I turned over and noticed he wasn't with me. I sat up and stretched out my arms. I saw him come in the room without a shirt.
"Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty." I rolled my eyes at him.
"Shut up." He chuckled. "What time is it?"
"Almost six-thirty."
"Six-thirty? Why didn't you wake me up?" I threw the sheets off me and started to put my clothes back on.
"I didn't want to disturb you."
"Since when do you not want to disturb me?"
"When you're asleep."
"Either way, I gotta go."
"Why? You're master's on a mission, remember?"
"Yeah, but I still need to get back. I promised my friend we'd spend time together. We haven't since the war started."
"You talkin' 'bout that Carrek guy?"
"His name is Cardek and yes. I'm talking about him."
"Ahsoka, I don't trust that kid."
"Why not? You never even met him."
"I don't have to meet him to know he likes you."
"If he didn't, we wouldn't be friends, would we?"
"I'm serious. I think he's in love with you."
"I've known Cardek since I was little. I think I would've noticed if he was in love with me."
"The same way you noticed that I lured you into a trap on that Separatist ship?"
"That doesn't count. We were on a mission and I was focused on other things."
"If you saw so, Princess." I rolled my eyes again and got up.
"Anyway, I have to go." I walked up to him and kissed him. "I'll see you later."
"Just be careful around that Carnek guy."
"Cardek and I will. Bye." I put my cloak on and walked out the door. I hopped in my speeder and headed back to the temple. I just I get there in time. Force knows how impatient Cardek can be.
Cardek's POV
I paced around impatiently in my room. Where is she? It's seven already. She's never late for this stuff. What could she be doing? There was a knock on my door. Please let that be her. I walked to it and opened the door. It was her.
"Hey, Cardek."
"There you are! Where have you've been? It's already past seven! I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up."
"I know. I'm sorry. I got caught in traffic. Please don't be too mad at me." I stared at her sternly for a few moments before relenting and sighed.
"Man, I can't ever stay mad at you."
"Thank you." She hugged me. I stiffened slightly with a blush, until I relaxed and hugged her back, a little smile on my face. She pulled back and looked at me. "You okay there, Cardek?"
"Ah...of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"
"You seem a little stiff. Everything okay?"
"Of course eveything's okay. I was just a bit surprised by the sudden hug, that's all. No need to worry."
"Well, are we going to stand here all night and hug or are we going to do something?" I smirked.
"Do something, that's what. What do you have in mind?"
"Since I left, you can decide what we do. Anything you want."
"Hmmmm..." I thought long and hard about what to do until an idea suddenly pops into my mind. I smirked mischieviously. "How about a little joyride around Coruscant? I haven't done that in years, and it's one hell of a ride."
"That's because last time we did that, you almost hit a pole and everything else."
"Hey, I've gotten better since then, and I'm a damn good pilot to boot!"
"Sure you are, Cardek."
"Hey, you were the one who said I could decide what we should do, and I say joyriding. Come on, trust me."
"Fine. I owe you, anyway."
"Thanks. Come on, let's go!" I ran off to hangar.
"Cardek, do you plan on going anywhere in particular?" I was already donw the hall.
"Of course not! I always take joyrides with no destination in my mind! Adds to the fun of it! Unless you want to go somewhere in particular!" She caught up to me.
"I was just wondering."
"Come on, let's get to the hangar." Ahsoka and I headed down to the hangar.
"You know, I've always wanted to watch one of those speeder races they have in downtown Coruscaunt. They're illegal, but that's what makes them interesting."
"Really? Then, I guess that's where we're headed." We arrived at hangar. "Here we are."
"Will you try not to get chased by the police again?"
"I'll try..." I smirked. "...but no promises!"
"Cardek..."
"Alright. I promise not to get chased by police. I'll be absolutely careful."
"Good, now let's go." I jumped in the pilot's seat of my speeder and she jumped in the passenger seat. I turned on speeder and flew out of the hangar. "Cardek?" I slightly sped up.
"What is it?"
"I really am sorry for blowing you off today. I just really needed some time to myself."
"It's okay. I was just so looking foward to spending the entire day with you. I actually had some things planned out for us. You should really give me a warning next time."
"We could tomorrow together if you want." I smiled at her.
"Yeah, that sound nice." My smile turned into a smirk. "But, you still have to pay for what happened today. And I have the perfect payback."
"What?" I suddenly sped up to high velocities, and suddenly piloted the speeder downwards towards the ground. "Cardek! Pull up!"
I continued going downward with a mischievious smile, and then pulled up at the last minute to avoid hitting the ground, flying back up again. She looked like she was having a panic attack.
"That... was not... funny!" I flashed a wicked smile to her.
"Oh, we are so not done!" I suddenly made a hard right, right where hundreds of speeders are heading our way. I went head on into them and began to swerve around them with perpetual ease for several minutes until suddenly pulling up from the traffic and once again going off at high speeds.
"CARDEK!" I laughed like crazy as the wind blew my hair back.
"I haven't had this much fun in forever!" I suddenly spun the speeder around, at first slowly, then at a very fast pace. After a minute or two of spinning, I suddenly stopped the speeder in place, and once again blasted away. "Now that was awesome!"
"I think I'm gonna be sick." I chuckled lightheartedly.
"Sorry, but hey, I had to. It was tempting to pass up. You would've so done the same to me."
"Probably, but seriously. I think I'm gonna be sick." My eyes widened.
"Ah crap. Uh..."I looked around for something for her, but found nothing. "Damn it!"
"Just... pull over." I parked the speeder.
"Seriously, Ahsoka, I'm sorry! I didn't think this would happen!"
"It's okay. Just... promise me you'll never do that again."
"Alright, Ahsoka. Once your feeling better, we'll be going to the races." She took a few deep breaths, then she chuckled.
"I can't believe you did that."
"I've always been a bold one, Ahsoka, as well as a thrill-seeker. I'm capable of anything, and I had to get you back for earlier today."
"You couldn't think of anything that wasn't going to get me sick?"
"Hey, we were in the speeder, I was piloting, came up with it on the spot."
"Did you ever think 'What if this makes her sick?' or did you just act on instinct?"
"Instinct." She chuckled.
"Figures. You always act instinct. You're so impulsive."
"Hey, you're just as impulsive as me. You're the one who initiates most of our pranks on Anakin."
"But I'll actual admit it unlike someone."
"Alright, alright, I'll give you that. Now let's just head down to those races."
"Yeah, let's go and NO wild piloting unless you want me to puke on you."
"Fine. Although it would be so much more fun.." I flew toward to downtown Coruscant.
"Me puking on you?"
"No! Seriously, with all the piloting you do in the war, I'm surprised you get sick so easily."
"I usually don't and my master pilots a lot. I don't know what's going on with me today." I was worried about her.
"Maybe after the races, we should get you checked up on."
"It's probably nothing to worry about."
"Ahsoka, if you get sick over something like my piloting, when you do same thing with the best pilot in the galaxy as your master, then there's something to worry about."
"Let's not jump to conculsions, Cardek. Let's just wait a while before we go to a medic. See if things go away on their own." I sighed.
"Alright, but I have a bad feeling about this."
"Don't worry yourself, Cardek. I promise if things get worse, I'll go see someone."
"Alright, I trust you. Just be careful." I looked up. "We're here, Ahsoka."
Ahsoka's POV
"Let's go." He parked the speeder and jumped out. I jumped out next to him. I walked beside him.
"So, how do you think these races will be?"
"Fast, furious, and extremely dangerous. Perfect conditions for a race." We walked over to the railing over starting line.
"Let's see if these guys can compare to what I do with a speeder."
"You mean wreck it better?" He glared at me.
"Hey, I managed to keep us alive during our ride here, didn't I?"
"Speak for yourself. I almost barfed up my inner organs."
" I cannot understand why when you're regular pilot yourself..." He looked at starting line. "Hey, it's about to start."
"Who do you think's gonna win?" He shrugged.
"Beats me. I'm just hoping for a good race."
"Come on, Cardek. Take a guess. My bet's on the Rodian."
"Fine, I'll go with the Twi'lek. He looks like a more capable pilot than the others."
"Please. He's more concerned about looking good for the girls than actually winning the race. See." We looked over and saw him flirting with the flag girl.
"Hmmm, I see your point. My bad. He'll probably be dead in the first lap."
"Probably. Then he wouldn't have to worry so much about his looks." He chuckled.
"Yeah, but the Rodian's no better. Looking at him, he's not the brightest of the bunch." We watched as Rodian got his hand stuck trying to tune up the speeder.
"Eh... Good point. He'll probably die before they go anywhere."
"That is if his speeder doesn't blow up in his face. After taking a second look at these guys, I gotta go with the Transhodan. He's mean, he's aggresive, and I have no doubt he'll do whatever it takes to win."
"Yeah, including cheat. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised. These racers are just smugglers and drug dealers looking for their next credit."
"Remind me again why we came here."
"Because I wanted to see one of these races for myself. My master always told me about them, but never took me to see one. I want to see how dangerous they actually are."
"Well it better be good. I don't want to have to come all the way here for nothing."
"Well, we'll soon find out. The flag girl's coming out." We saw her walk in the middle of the street.
"Racers, start your engines." The racers reved their speeder. "Ready, set..." She raised the flag. "Go!"
The racers sped off. Just like we thought, the Rodian's speeder blew up.
"Told you so."
"Let's see who actually wins this race or at least makes it out alive." We looked up at screen, where we see the Transhodan's speeder bash into the Twi'lek's, sending him wrecking into the wall in a flaming heap.
"Ow. That's gotta hurt."
"Told you he would cheat." He shrugged.
"What do you expect from people like them?"
"Not..." I felt something in the Force. Something familiar. Cardek noticed.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure." I looked over and saw Bane. What was he doing here? I snapped my head back before Cardek saw who I saw. "Cardek, we have to get out of here."
"Why? This race is actually starting to be good."
"No. We have to get out of here. Now." I pulled him in the opposite direction of Bane.
"Ahsoka? What the hell!"
"Cardek, please listen to me. We have to get out of here, now."
"Can you at least give me a reason why?"
"Because..." It was too late. We ran into Bane.
"What are you doing here, Jedi?" I whispered to Cardek.
"...him."
"Bane!" He pulled out his lightsaber. "Why are you here?"
"I should ask you the same thing."
"Cardek, put it away. You're causing a scene."
"But I've heard about this guy! He's dangerous, crafty, and cunning. We can't be too careful with him."
"And I've dealt with him before. He's not worth it. Let's just go."
"You should listen to your girlfriend." He blushed a bright red. Why?
"S-She's not my girlfriend!And why did you even show up in front of us in the first place?"
"Saw your girlfriend trying to sneak away and I thought to myself 'I could use some money from Count Dooku for two Jedi.'"
"Why am I not surprised? You may be better than other bounty hunters, but you're just like all the rest."
"Just be glad I'm deciding to let you go... this time. Next time I won't be so merciful."
"Cardek, let's just go." I knew he wanted to ask why he was letting us go, but after seeing my pleading look, he relented.
"Fine, Ahsoka." He turned to Bane. "And by the way, the name's Cardek Onasi. And don't you forget it. I may surprise you next time we meet."
"Trust me. I won't. Now get out of here." I pulled him away from Bane.
"Let's go." He followed Ahsoka away from Bane.
"Why the hell did he let us go? I'm pretty sure he never gives up his prey so easily from what I've heard."
"Just let it go. Don't look too into it."
"I can't help it. Blowing me off, you getting sick over piloting, and Bane appearing and letting us go, it just doesn't seem right to me."
"Cardek, just calm down. It's been a long day. Let's just go back to the temple and get some rest." He sighed.
"Alright, but like I said before, I have a bad feeling about this."
"Look, let's just forget this ever happened, okay?" He looked at me incredulously.
"You're kidding, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"We just came in contact with possibly the most dangerous bounty hunter in the galaxy, who mysteriously and confusedly lets us go, and you say we should just forget it?"
"What do you want me to say?"
"I-I don't know. I'm just suprised you're just so calm about the whole thing. Way too calm."
"What? Do you want me to freak out?"
"No! I just...Damn it!" He pulled out of my arm and leaned against a wall. "This whole day has been so confusing."
I leaned on the wall next to him. "Cardek, I'm sorry about today. Truthfully, I haven't even been feeling like myself." He scoffed at me and spoke with his voice dripping in sarcasm.
"Gee, you think? I hadn't notice."
"Hey, don't get an attitude with me, okay. It's not my fault I don't feel well or that you had a weird day." He sighed.
"Sorry. This has just been so frustrating to me right now."
"Let's just go back to the temple. We've both had a long day."
"Fine." He stood up right. "But I am going to find out what Bane's up to, one way or the other."
"Just not tonight."
"Yeah." He headed to speeder. "Come on, Ahsoka."
I followed him to the speeder and got in. He jumped in and flew back to the temple. Man, Bane is going to kill me next time I see him. He already thinks Cardek's in love with me. He even called me his girlfriend. Cardek blushed when he said that. Why did he do that? Was he embarrassed? Is he actually in love with me? Is Bane right about this? Wait, I've known Cardek for years. I would've noticed if he liked me like that. Then again, there were some occasions where... Maybe I'm looking into this too much.
"Cardek?"
"Hmmm?" He turned eyes to me. "What is it?"
"Can I ask you a personal question?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Of course. We're best friends after all."
"Right. Well, back there, with Bane..."
"Hold on a second. I thought you didn't want to talk about it, at least right now."
"I know, but it's not about him, directly."
"Then what else could you be talking about if not about Bane?"
"I said it was a personal question, meaning it's about you... and me. You know, us."
"Hmph, my bad. So what is it?"
"Back there, he called me your girlfriend and I noticed you kinda... blushed. Part of me really wants to know what that's about. Were you embarrassed by me or..." I noticed his body froze momentairly. I saw him mouth something, but I didn't hear it.
"Of course, I wasn't embarassed by you!"
"Then why did you..."
"Oh that, well, um...I was just taken by surprise! I mean that sort of assumption is certain to bring the kind of reaction I had to it! You would have blushed too if somebody called me your boyfriend!" He chuckled a bit. "I guess it's just natural."
"I guess, but..." I sighed. It's time to ask the million credit question. "Cardek... I want you to be completely honest with me with what I'm about to ask you."
"...Alright." I took a deep breath.
"Cardek... do you... like me?"
Cardek's POV
I was taken back and was forced to think hard, about my feelings, how she feels about me, our time together, possible heartbreak, and what was best for both of us. After several seconds I answered. "...No..."
"You don't like me... at all?" I thought about my decision and answered with a concealed hurt.
"Not...in the way you're implying."
"And what I am implying, Cardek?" Her voice was still soft and calm.
"That...I feel for you...more than as a friend."
"And you don't? At all?" I replied with a burdened heart and conflicting thoughts and emotions.
"No...I don't."
"Okay. I was just wondering."
"Yeah..." I flew toward the temple with a sad, downcast, regretful look on my face. "...I guess so."
"Cardek, stop the speeder."
"Why?"
"Just stop the speeder." Can this day get any worse? I stopped the speeder. "Cardek, I'm going to ask you this again. Do you like me?"
"No, I don't."
"I know you're lying. You want to know how?" I looked at her with half-lidded eyes.
"How?" She grabbed my collar and kissed me. My eyes widened as I was completely shocked, unable to believe what was happening. A million thoughts ran through my head all at once, unsure at what to do at the situation. But eventually, my feelings overpowered me as I closed eyes and puts my hand on her cheek and kiss her back.
Ahsoka's POV
I was going to pull back, but I couldn't. My feelings took over. Feelings for Cardek I never knew I had. I eventually gave up trying to avoid them and gave into them. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer.
Cardek's POV
I sighed happily into the kiss, all my dreams and fantasies were being realized. I stroked my hand across her cheek as I wrapped my other arm around her waist to pull her closer, getting more passionate with the kiss.
Ahsoka's POV
I felt the deep passion within our kiss. I loved it. I loved Cardek. I never felt like this with Bane. Oh Force, Bane! I broke away from the kiss and looked at Cardek, unable to speak. He was breathing deeply and heavily.
"Ahsoka, I..."
"I'm sorry, Cardek. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." He was silent for a few moments.
"...You never made me uncomfortable..." I felt tears form in my eyes.
"I shouldn't have done that. I should've just believed you from the beginning."
"Ahsoka...Don't cry...I...I just couldn't tell you..."
"So, you lied to me? Cardek, I thought we could always be honest with each other."
"I kept my feelings from you because I always thought you never felt the same for me! I may have wanted more, but I was completely content with our friendship! If I told you, our friendship would have dissolved because you wouldn't have looked at me the same as before, and you know it! But now I don't know anything anymore. So now I ask you the question: Do YOU feel the same way for me?" I thought about how much I love Bane and how much I love Cardek. I loved Cardek more. Could I tell him?
"I...I don't know anymore." He stared at me with a hard look and sighed angrily.
"Just like me." He sat fully back down in his seat. "Let's just go back to the temple."
"Cardek, you're telling me this like it's easy. It's not. I'm too confused right now and I'm scared." His expression softened.
"Please don't cry...I'm confused too, but there's no need to be scared. I'm sorry."
"Cardek... I don't know what to do anymore. What's happening to me?"
"I wish I knew, Ahsoka...I wish I knew."
"Me too." I sat back and covered my face. "I need to talk to someone about this."
"Let'sgo back to the temple." He took the controls. "We need some time to ourselves to get our heads straight."
"I think you're right. Too much has gone on today."
"Got that right." We flew back to the temple.