A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone so much for the reviews! You have no idea how much it means to me! It helped me to get this chapter out soon! I hope you'll all enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. Think that might be a good thing.
Edit: Sorry about the abrupt change from Ahsoka's POV to Luke's. When I uploaded the chapter, there was a breaker, but I guess it was deleted somehow. Fixed it now.
Ahsoka ducked under the oncoming blaster shots, barely missing being shot in the chest. Falling to the ground, Ahsoka tucked in her legs and turned her fall into a roll. Standing up again, she shot off a few blasts to her attacker, and then ran towards a nearby speeder for cover. Once she had cover, Ahsoka paused her fighting to catch a breath.
"Come out, come out where ever you are!" a taunting voice said.
Ahsoka bit back a reply. She closed her eyes and focused on her calm center. She reached out with the force, and could sense the attacker walking towards the speeder. Ahsoka took in a few short breaths before she jumped up and whirled to face her attacked. She shot off two blaster shots, and then ignited her lightsaber. There was a moment of temporary panic on the attacker's face, but that soon turned to hardened anger and determination.
He let out a war cry and began to set a flurry of rapid fire upon Ahsoka, who deflected them all with ease. She leapt off the speeder and landed in front of the man, and in a quick stroke sliced through his blaster. He used the remaining handle to try to bludgeon her, but Ahsoka jumped backwards. She landed on her feet, and then quickly ran towards the man. Just before she reached him, she jumped up and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying. Using the force to cushion her fall, she landed on her back, but used her legs to push herself back into a standing position.
Placing her lightsaber back on her belt, Ahsoka walked over to the fallen man. She knelt next to him and placed the blaster under his chin.
"Obviously you know who I am, otherwise you wouldn't have come after me with such ferocity, but in case you didn't know the particulars, like a name, I'm Ahsoka."
The man struggled, trying to get away, but Ahsoka pressed the barrel of the blaster further into his throat. "Eh eh eh," she said. "You're supposed to tell me who you are."
Silence.
"Nothing then? Alright, tell me who you're working for. That's easy enough," she said.
Still nothing.
Ahsoka leaned in closer to the man until they were face to face. Ahsoka glared at the man, a feral look on her face. "Well you tell him he's gonna have to try harder to kill me," she said before leaping away from the man. He had just enough time to scramble to his feet before Ahsoka pushed him away with the force.
Turning away from the groaning man, Ahsoka walked back towards the busy streets of Coruscants underworld. She was late for her 'appointment' with the Trandoshan from the Cantina.
Ahsoka used the force to keep an eye on everything surrounding her. She wasn't sure if there would be any more attacks, or if that had been a solitary situation. Perhaps the man had been offered the same job she had, and tried killing her in order to make sure he was the one pulling the job off.
Or perhaps the job offer had been a cover up for the attack in the first place.
'I'll know in a moment,' she thought to herself as she neared the address on the datapad. It was another Cantina. Ahsoka looked at the outside and made a face. Everything about it screamed sleazy, but against every fiber in her being telling her to stay away, Ahsoka walked in the front doors.
Smoke heavily filled the air, causing Ahsoka to take a moment to clear her lungs. The lighting was dark, probably to keep the patrons from looking too close to their fellow cantina goers. Ahsoka went to the bar and ordered herself a drink. Even with the dim lighting, she knew it would be hard not to notice her.
When her drink arrived, she paid the bartender, shooting him a look when she saw his eyes rake over her body. She turned away from him and walked over to a table with two chairs. She sat down and took a sip of her drink. A few moments later, she was joined by the Trando from the earlier cantina.
"You made itttt," he hissed.
Ahsoka crossed her arms on the table and leaned slightly towards him. "Were you expecting me to get in some trouble?"
The Trando didn't seem fazed. "Are you in for the job?" he counter asked.
Ahsoka shrugged and leaned against the back of her chair. "You haven't told me what it was yet."
The Trando smiled, and seemed to look over her shoulder. Instantly on alert, Ahsoka probed the room with the force. Nothing seemed out of order, but one couldn't be too careful.
"I can't give you sssspecifics until you agree," the Trando said.
Ahsoka eyed him a moment, then placed her hands on the table and pushed the chair away. "Sorry then. I don't jump blindly into anything. Pleasure working with you though," she said. She started to walk away from the Trando grabbed her arm.
Ahsoka turned and gave him a dirty look. "Now what?"
A voice behind her said, "Ahsoka Tano, you're under arrest."
A small smile played on Ahsoka's lips. She looked the Trando in the eye and said, "And you thought I played right into your claws."
"I never turnnn away from a bounty," he hissed at her.
Ahsoka looked over her shoulder and saw six Imperial issued blaster pointing at her.
"This should be fun," she mused.
Rhen Var had been a mistake. He figured it would have been in the first place, but really, how many Imps knew he was a rebel? Well, apparently, Rebel or not, the Imps on that station were very trigger happy.
As for now, Luke was on his way to Tatooine. He felt like there was an internal war going on about visiting his home world again. Part of him said the sooner he visited, the sooner he would be able to move on from the deaths of his aunt, uncle and mentor, but the other screamed out that it was too soon, to turn back.
Luke knew that he would have to come to terms with the deaths of those closest to him, and he might as well get it over with as soon as possible. His Astrodroid sent him a message via his computer.
Luke sighed. "Don't worry, I'll let them know I'm okay when I reach Ben's place."
There was another message.
"I'm sorry, Artoo, that you feel that way, but this is important to me. It's important to the Rebellion too, I'm sure. Besides, we won't be gone long," Luke told the droid. It sent him one last message before becoming silent.
Luke sighed to himself and shut his eyes. Ben had taught him some calming techniques, and Luke tried putting them into practice, but every time he shut his eyes, all he saw was the battle between the two Jedi on the fire planet.
Luke took in a deep breath and tried calming his mind. He thought of other things. He thought of rescuing the princess, their meeting, the instant fireworks between her and Han Solo….Luke felt himself smirk. The smirk gave way to a pained expression when he thought about all the people that Leia had lost; her father, friends…her entire planet in one cruel blow. They had bonded over the loss of everything that was dear to them, and Luke had sworn to himself that he'd make sure she never felt that loss again. He wasn't sure how he'd manage, but however he did it, he had to succeed.
Luke's thoughts turned to the Rebellion. He wondered if they were worried about him, or if they were just shaking their heads at his stupid decision to just….run off. They wouldn't have been able to understand if he had told them anyway.
Luke opened his eyes, feeling better. Not by a lot, but at least he could concentrate on what lay ahead of him. Looking through the cockpit glass, Luke stared at his old home, still looking much the same.
"Alright Artoo, let's get this done and over with," he said, not being able to help the dryness from entering his voice. The Artoo unit brought the X-wing fighter into the atmosphere, and then Luke took over.
"Nothing personal, buddy," Luke said when the droid protested. "I just want to do it, that's all."
The droid made a noise of annoyance and stayed silent. Luke flew over Anchorhead, trying to ignore the sob that threatened to overwhelm him. He took the long way to Ben's place, not being able to face any view of his old home.
After carefully setting the fighter down, Luke stayed sitting inside, gathering the courage to enter the old Jedi's home without him. After a moment of just sitting there, staring at the door to the inside, Luke slowly got out of the X-wing. He helped Artoo off, and then the boy and droid strode to the front door. Luke extended his hand to opened the door, and paused. His hand dropped to his side, and he shut his eyes and called onto the force to help him be strong. He took in a deep breath, and then walked in.
He didn't know what he was expecting, really. The room looked just the same as it had when he and Ben had left. Luke's gaze crossed to the old chest that had once held his father's lightsaber. Luke absently patted the weapon that was resting on his belt. Luke walked over to the chest and opened it up. No datachips of any kind, just some old scrap pieces. Luke frowned and turned towards the bedroom. Maybe there was something hidden in there.
He walked into the bedroom and moved towards the window. He looked out of it, and then turned back to the interior of the room. He looked around, wall to wall, trying to find something that looked like it could hold data cards.
There was one box sitting on what looked like a dresser. Luke walked over to the bed and sat down on it. He reached out and grabbed the box and opened it. He smiled. Inside the box were ten to twelve dataclips. Luke pulled one out. There was a name on it; Lightsabers. Luke frowned. He bet this contained some information on how to build them.
He pulled out another one. This had a date on it instead. Part of it was scratched out, and all it read was 19-28-. He would look at that later. He continued looking at all of the datachips, one by one. He picked of the last one and read it. It said, the lost. Luke frowned. Maybe this would have something on it. He called Artoo into the room. The droid rolled in and whirred at him.
"I think this might answer some questions," he said to the droid. He was about to put the disk into the droid when there was a knock at Obi-Wan's door.