AN: I love this chapter and so begins the long rollercoaster ride. You'll love it. I loved going back over and reading it. It's long too and heads up, there's more interaction between our two favorite former Jedi.

And sorry this is late, however late it may be, but this damn site was stuck and wasn't and still isn't letting people update. The problem's been going all week and some people are getting lucky and getting through it, others aren't. That's why there have been so few updates in all the categories. But there is a way around it all you writers and if you want the way around it, go to my profile for it. But I'm still pissed about it.

Anywho, while I go bristle in anger at this site and try not to send another email about the problem, read, enjoy, and since you're so glad the chapter got up despite this site having technical difficulties, review!

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Chapter Four

Ahsoka started to grab dinner, something that she could eat on the go, before seeing who in the cafeteria and abruptly trying to leave before the person saw her. It was too late though. She held in a groan before putting on her best welcoming face and turning to greet Mon.

"Ahsoka," Mon said. "There you are. I've been looking for you. You seem to have disappeared in the last week or so. Where have you been?"

"Trying to make sure Shmi doesn't get frostbite or something. All she's been wanting to do is play in the snow and she doesn't understand that she can't do so when it's sub-zero temps outside," Ahsoka lied.

It wasn't a lie really though. She had been chasing after Shmi and keeping her inside the base because she had never seen snow and was fascinated by it. But the real reason she had made herself scarce was that she was avoiding Mon. The woman had never really trusted Ahsoka as Mon's intuition always told her there was more to Ahsoka's story than she let on. Mon was nice, but she was all about the safety of the rebellion first and individuals second. Bail had been the one to keep her off Ahsoka's back about her obvious withdrawal, reluctance to talk about Shmi's father, and what she'd been doing all those years with Leia. But since he died, there was only so much Winter could do, and so Mon had been an annoying and persistent thorn in Ahsoka's side. The Torgruta woman frowned to herself. That was something Vader would say.

Mon sighed. "I'm not going to beat around the bush about this anymore," she said. "We both know what this is about."

Ahsoka held back a series of obscenities she had learned from her master. What she would do to have him standing beside her and putting Mon in her place right then and there.

"I think I reserve the right to privacy in my personal life," Ahsoka snapped in irritation.

"Not when I think these secrets you're holding can be a danger to the rebellion. You know too much about the empire," said Mon.

Ahsoka stopped walking and turned to look at the rebel leader.

"I lived, breathed, ate, and slept war for three years when I was a Jedi. The imperial army isn't too different from the republic army especially since that's what the Imperial Fleet was built on. Of course I know," she said hoping that was a reasonable excuse.

"I wouldn't find that too hard to believe if it weren't for the fact that you've been off the radar with your former master's daughter and then come back fourteen years later with her and a child of your own," Mon replied plainly.

"I had to hide with Leia. The Sith would have been after her, and Shmi was an accident if you must know," Ahsoka said truthfully. Shmi had been a very unexpected surprise to both her and Vader.

"That my point," Mon said. "You're a Jedi and Jedi, especially a thirty year old one, aren't that irresponsible."

Ahsoka had to admit, Mon had her there. Jedi weren't that careless and were taught not to be from the cradle or in Ahsoka's case since she was three. It was logical to assume that there was more to this than some careless fling or one-night stand. Ahsoka admitted if that had been the case, she would have been more conscience and careful than she had been with Vader. She was too comfortable with him to be cautious.

"So what do you want to know Mon?" Ahsoka asked bluntly.

"Who's Shmi's father?"

"An old boyfriend," Ahsoka gave.

"You must have been really close for a long time if Leia called him dad," Mon said absently.

Ahsoka's heart nearly stopped.

"What are you talking about?"

"I overheard Leia talking to Lana and Abdul the other day. She mentioned her father a lot," Mon said.

Ahsoka fought the urge not to go scold Leia then and there. She had told her about how often she talked about her father in public even to just Lana and Abdul.

"What were you doing? Spying on her?" Ahsoka snapped. "Or did you plant a bug or something on her?"

"Ahsoka," Mon said crossing her arms.

"We had to put up the front of being normal. So of course she called my old boyfriend her father. I had to. Otherwise people were going to know," Ahsoka said sighing.

"If that's the case then why is it such a big deal?" Mon asked and Ahsoka sighed again.

"He was an imperial of you must know, a high ranking one, but only because he had no choice. He was hardly even on planet," Ahsoka said quickly, looking down at her feet briefly before looking back at Mon, a sure sign she was lying. One Vader would have caught by saying that she was a good liar but he knew her too well.

"And where is he now?" Mon asked.

Ahsoka shrugged trying to act indifferent as the real story began to sadden her.

"We had to leave. The empire found us… He doesn't know where we are and he never met Shmi. I was pregnant with her before we left."

Mon looked at her and Ahsoka was starting to think that Mon was going to urge her to tell the truth, but she didn't say anything else.

"I'm sorry in that case. We've all lost so much in this war," she said putting a hand on Ahsoka's shoulder. "But I am glad you finally told me."

With that, Mon left to go tend to her many duties, and Ahsoka let out a sigh of relief as well as a cringe at herself. If she had been Mon, there was no way she would have believed that bantha poodoo of a story she had thrown together. But Ahsoka wasn't complaining as it had gotten Mon off her back. She turned on her heal to go find Leia and tell her that it was too dangerous to talk about her father in the base like this when Mon didn't fully trust them, because that's what it all boiled down to. Ahsoka didn't blame Mon though. She would have been the same way.

Her com going off stopped her in her tracks though and so Ahsoka paused to take it expecting Han or Luke to be asking her something about Shmi. Ahsoka knew Leia had been a handful, but more so than overly active, Leia had been intuitive, cunning, and witty at five years old. Shmi was more advanced than the average five year old, but not like Leia. However, she was very active and it was impossible to keep her sitting down for long. At least with Leia she would sit and play with an engine for hours with Artoo's help. Shmi hadn't inherited the need to fly or the liking for mechanics. Instead she was a daredevil even more so than Luke and Leia who had inherited their mother's rationale to temper their recklessness. Shmi however had inherited recklessness from both parents. Only the day before was she climbing to the top of the Falcon and scaring the hell out of Han by jumping from the top and landing neatly on her feet thanks to the force. Now that she thought about it, scaring Han might have been Shmi's intention.

"What now?" she said as she answered the call and then cursed in surprise when she saw who it was.

"Sith," she muttered as she ran to her room and abruptly closed the door before sighing in relief. "You really have to warn me when you're going to call me. I could have been around people."

"As if they would have recognized me," Vader said with a hint of a smile on his lips.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes and set the com down on her desk.

"It would only make Mon more suspicious of me than I already am," she said obviously frustrated.

"She's suspicious of you?" Vader ask quirking an eyebrow. "Have you given her a reason to feel that way?"

"If you were running a rebellion and the former student of one of the greatest Jedi in history showed up with said Jedi's teenage daughter and a child of her own in addition to being reluctant to talk about her past, you wouldn't be suspicious?" Ahsoka asked pointedly.

"I supposed I would be," Vader said after a moment. "But Mon has no reason to. I would feel your discrepancy through the force."

"No wonder you haven't found the rebellion yet," Ahsoka said shaking her head. "You don't give Mon enough credit."

"I'll act like you didn't say that," Vader said and Ahsoka felt his temper in the force flare briefly. "Still. What did Mon expect you to do? Live like a Jedi while in hiding? That would have been suspicious if she thought about it."

"Don't worry. I think she'll leave me alone for a while. I gave her a story that seemed to satisfy her," Ahsoka replied.

"I wasn't worried if you must know," Vader said curtly. "I just called to check on Leia. Tamara reported something interesting to me… Something about a Captain Solo?"

"How does Tamara know about him?" Ahsoka asked him. She hadn't seen that woman (not to mention her husband and Abdul's parents) in ages, not since she had been forced to flee the rebellion less the High Council find out who it was that was the leak in their communications.

"Lana told her when they spoke," Vader said to her.

"Wait a minutes? You're using Lana contacting her mother to spy on us?" Ahsoka asked him raising one of her facial markings.

"Anyway, about Captain Solo," Vader continued but Ahsoka cut him off.

"Han?" Ahsoka asked. "He's some smuggler who does jobs for the rebellion sometimes. No big deal."

"That's not what Tamara says," Vader snapped. "She says that Lana seems to think there's chemistry between Leia and this… ruffian."

"He's not a ruffian," Ahsoka said rolling her eyes.

"That's not what the report says," Vader said looking down at what looked like a datapad. "He was a Corellian orphan and used to steal for some less than honorable man."

"He was an orphan. What was he supposed to do?" Ahsoka asked.

Vader ignored her and continued. "He rose to the rank of lieutenant in the empire and then was discharged for insubordination. He refused to follow a direct order and when he was arrested for treason instead of facing the consequences, he ran away like a coward."

"They wanted him to skin a wookiee alive and when he refused they made him and Chewie work like slaves. Of course they had to escape," Ahsoka said sighing.

Vader paused briefly before saying, "That's one point for him then."

Ahsoka couldn't believe this. "Vader really."

"After he left, he involved himself in smuggling before using the last of his earnings to participate in a Sabacc tournament on Cloud City to win a ship, the Millennium Falcon. So he's a con man," Vader added.

"Just because he won the tournament?"

"It takes a lot more than luck to win that kind of tournament. Sabacc is all about conning and tricking the other players," Vader said simply.

"And you know this how?" Ahsoka asked pointedly.

Vader ignored her. "After that he supposedly ran the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs-I find that hard to believe-and since then he's had some dealings with Jabba the Hutt. According to this, he owes that worm a substantial payment for losing a shipment of glitterstem. Transportation of illegal drugs. That's another strike against him."

"He needed money and the empire wanted him. What did you expect?" Ahsoka asked in exasperation.

"It only tells me that this man is willing to go to any means necessary. Legal or illegal… Mostly illegal so far," Vader pointed out.

"I can't believe you. You went and did a complete background check of the man?" Ahsoka asked in disbelief.

"When there's a possibility he may become involved with my daughter yes," Vader said with no hint of guilt. "And I'm glad I did. You approve of this?"

"Han's a good man Vader, just a little rough around the edges," Ahsoka gave.

"Very rough," Vader said shaking his head at the report. "And even worse. He's older than her."

"Oh please," Ahsoka muttered. "Padmé was nearly five years older than you. You're six and a half years older than me!"

"Not ten," Vader pointed out. "He's no doubt had much more experience in life than she has. Leia's far too innocent to be getting involved with this man even if he's only a little rough around the edges as you say…"

"She's twenty years old. Be reasonable," Ahsoka said crossing her arms.

"I am being reasonable for once. It's all here in the data. I'm just running off some of the major stuff. Would you like to see a copy of the full report?" Vader said.

"I'm pretty sure if I ran a background check on you before the end of the Clone Wars, I'd be less than impressed," Ahsoka pointed out.

"This man is thirty years old," Vader shot immediately. "I'm letting you know I don't approve and you should tell this to Leia."

"I'm not telling her anything," Ahsoka said in fury. "Han's a good man and if you ask me he's exactly what Leia needs."

"I'm beginning to wonder if I should question your maternal instinct if that's what you think," Vader said glaring at her. "Should I be concerned about Shmi too?"

Ahsoka's temper flared and she bared her teeth at him wishing she could reach through the com and choke Vader. How dare he? That incorrigible, egotistical, hot-tempered, unreasonable, and irrational-.

Ahsoka paused as the said maternal instinct, induced by the force, went off.

"What's wrong?" Vader said noticing the difference her demeanor.

Ahsoka wasn't quite sure herself until she felt the fluctuation in Shmi's force presence. She should have known.

"Reckless child…" Ahsoka muttered. "Leia wasn't nearly this bad. I have to go. Shmi's pulled some reckless stunt again."

"Again?" Vader asked really considering whether or not he should be concerned.

"Yoda says that's what happens when a child is born from two reckless and somewhat irrational parents," Ahsoka said dryly with a bit of irritation in her tone. Vader caught it of course.

"We will discuss this later," Vader said dismissively and cut the connection.

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"Why would you do that to General Rieekan, Shmi?" Ahsoka moaned in embarrassment over the entire situation.

Shmi pouted with her arms crossed. "Because he was being a-." Shmi stopped when Ahsoka glared at her and then sighed. "You know what I want to say. That's what he was being. All I wanted to do was watch him while he worked on the controls. I wasn't even talking or touching anything and he sent me away."

"And who programmed his R4 unit to follow him around and sing that song and shock him every time you greeted him," Ahsoka asked.

"Artoo did it for me," Shmi said giggling at the memory.

"Shmi. That's not funny and you need to apologize to him for that," Ahsoka scolded.

"Alright," she said simply and a little too cheerfully for Ahsoka's taste.

"What else did you do?" Ahsoka said.

"He's about to find out," Shmi said with a smile on her face before she got up and went to find the general to apologize.

Ahsoka looked after Shmi in disbelief but couldn't help but smile. It had been funny.

"It seems she's inherited your playful nature," Obi-wan pointed out.

Ahsoka smiled before covering her mouth to hide the giggles escaping. It had been funny, but she couldn't let Shmi know she thought that.

"A prank worthy of Anakin," Obi-wan said smiling.

"It certainly is," Ahsoka said remembering to her times in the temple where Anakin's latest prank or scheme would be the talk amongst the younglings and initiates. "Vader's going to love to hear about this one," Ahsoka added under her breath.

"Mon was looking for you today?" Obi-wan pointed out.

"I know," Ahsoka groaned. "She found me,"

"I don't know what you did to get her to leave you alone but she's going to find out eventually. Maybe it's about time you told her."

Ahsoka shook her head. "She's not going to go for it. I'm not going to betray this location or anything, but she's going to want my loyalty for good measure and I can't promise her that. Bail was a different case. He understood that."

Leia came into the room at that moment.

"Someone said you were looking for me," she said smiling, no doubt at what she found out her younger sister had done to General Rieekan.

Ahsoka sighed knowing this wasn't going to be pretty.

"Leia, when we first got here did you happen to talk about your father with Lana and Abdul?"

"Yes," Leia said slowly apparently trying to figure out where this was going. "How did you-?"

"Mon overheard you," Ahsoka said bluntly and then sighed. "Leia. I know you miss him and I know it helps to talk about him but it's too dangerous. One person overhears you and-."

"You rather me forget," Leia said coldly and Ahsoka couldn't help but be reminded of Vader.

"That's not what I'm saying and you know it Leia," Ahsoka said trying to diffuse the girl's temper.

"Then what are you saying?" Leia shouted.

"Calm down," Obi-wan said to Leia who only glared in Obi-wan's direction.

"I'm saying that we can't risk talking about it so that someone can overhear and begin to wonder," Ahsoka tried to explain. "I barely was able to throw Mon off today and I still think she doesn't trust us."

Leia rolled her eyes. "I hate this," she muttered crossing her arms.

"You're not the only one Leia," Ahsoka assured.

"You don't act like it," Leia snapped. "How can you just sit and listen to the jokes some of these rebels make about him? How they talk about him like he's some heartless machine? I hate it Ahsoka and I'm tired of having to pretend I don't care."

Ahsoka didn't say anything. If Leia was anything like her father, it was best to let her talk her anger out. Otherwise, she'd take it out on the person who tried to stop her.

"I never wanted to come here because I knew what people would say and what I would be forced to let them say and I hate it. I want to kill them all because they don't know the other side. I'm not blind. I know what he does and I know it's evil and because he lusts for power but that's not all there is to him. I know he wants to do good... I've lived with the talking and I can't really blame them. But now you're telling me that I can't defend him in the private company of my friends?" Leia asked.

"And how do you think it makes me feel?" Ahsoka asked.

Leia shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes I get the feeling that you're more ashamed than anything. What would people think when they find out one of the greatest Jedi slept with big bad Darth Vader?" Leia asked acerbically.

Ahsoka gave Leia a piercing look, more angry at the girl than hurt by her words.

"That was a low blow."

"But it's true and you know it. Part of you is ashamed that you fell for a Sith Lord and that's why you're so confused and don't want to talk about it," Leia snapped. "The rebellion just gives you an excuse not to."

Ahsoka very nearly considered letting her anger take control along with the natural predator in her, but she resisted. If she hurt a hair on Leia's head and Vader found out, she was a dead woman, mother of one of his children or not. And to be honest, she didn't want to hurt Leia. It wasn't the girl's fault. She had a temper problem since hiding with the rebellion but because of her Jedi training she was able to keep it under control for significantly longer than she used to be able to. But when she lost it, whoever was in the room got the brunt of it.

Leia then sighed angrily. "Whatever… Fine. I won't say a word. Just know that I don't like this and the only reason I'm still here is because my dad wants to protect me."

Leia left the room and Ahsoka replayed her last words. She had the feeling that Leia would betray the rebellion in a hot minute if it meant seeing her dad again. All the more reason not to let her know what Vader was trying to get Ahsoka to do.

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AN: I enjoyed writing this one. This is one of those chapters that wrote itself. I decided to use the valuing principle more than people thing to put at conflict between Mon and Ahsoka. Not that they don't like each other, but if it came down to it, I think Mon would save the rebellion first.

Gotta go do some school work. I've been out of town every weekend since the beginning of February and I'm behind in school. Have to work my butt off this semester.

Anyway, Hope you enjoyed. Review Please!