PART II- Fall

Chapter Ten

"You wanted to see me, senator?"

"Yes." Padme said, turning in her chair to face her. "Come in, Ahsoka. Take a seat."

Ahsoka nodded and entered the room. She'd felt a little annoyed at first by the senator's summons, it had interrupted a message she'd been recording for Ghes, but she could always finish that later. Besides, Ahsoka found that she enjoyed talking to Padme, even if her view of the woman had been irrevocably changed by the revelation of her true relationship with Anakin.

She took a seat on the edge of the bunk, there being no other place to sit in the small cabin since Padme was occupying the only chair. This ship had seemed an odd choice for this mission, as it was older than most consular ships she'd seen and had far fewer amenities.

"Thank you for agreeing to come along." Padme said, smiling. "I know how much you hate being away from the front."

"It's no problem." Ahsoka said. "No Tycho on this one?"

She'd noted Padme's usual head of security's absence almost immediately after she'd joined with the Senate mission. It was a shame, Ahsoka thought, he seemed a good man to have around in a fight, and she'd had a bad experience with Senate Commandos.

"Senate mission, Senate security." Padme said wistfully. "That's part of the reason I wanted you to come along."

"Part?" Ahsoka said, eyes narrowed.

"Listen, Ahsoka." Padme started, suddenly seeming more awkward then she ever had. "Anakin wanted me to talk to you…"

"Of course he did." Ahsoka said harshly.

How had she not seen this coming? Anakin could never just let anything lie, he always had to try and control everything…

"He's concerned about you." Padme continued.

"I can make my own decisions you know." Ahsoka snapped. "I'm not a child."

"I know, I know." Padme said, clearly trying to be as non-confrontational as possible. "But, sometimes, when it comes to things like this, our emotions can prevent us from seeing all the consequences."

"Like with you and Anakin?" Ahsoka countered.

That threw Padme off a little, Ahsoka could tell. She had to know that Ahsoka knew about her and Anakin, though, so why did she seem so surprised by the question?

"Tell me about him." Padme said after a moment.

"What?" Ahsoka said, unsure where she was going with this.

"You obviously care about this man." Padme explained. "Why? Tell me about him."

"Ghes is… "Ahsoka began, thinking carefully about what she was going to say. "difficult to describe if you've never met him."

"Tall, dark hair, dark eyes, fairly young, used to work with the Coruscant Guard?" Padme asked.

"Yes." Ahsoka confirmed. That was Ghes, or at least a vague description of his physical characteristics.

"Then I have met him, briefly." Padme continued. "He's a handsome man, I see why you like him."

Ahsoka laughed. That was something that rarely entered her mind, at least not consciously, if only because it seemed so shallow. Not to say it wasn't true, she couldn't deny that she was physically attracted to Ghes, it just wasn't something she'd ever really dwelled on. Padme had to have guessed that, either that or she had a very low opinion of Ahsoka, so implying anything else had to be some kind of play. Well then, if Padme wanted to play games…

"That's not the only reason." Ahsoka said, rolling her eyes, toying with the end of one of her lekku, and otherwise doing her best to look smitten. "He's a talented officer, really passionate about his men. He's smart, he makes me laugh, and, best of all… he doesn't treat me like a child."

"Nobody treats you like a child." Padme insisted.

"Really?" Ahsoka said sharply. "Then why do you and Anakin feel the need to lecture me?"

"That's not what I'm doing…"

"Why can't you both just accept that I want to be with Ghes?!" Ahsoka shouted.

"Because Anakin doesn't think that you understand how hard it's going to be, for both of you." Padme said forcefully. "And, quite frankly, I'm beginning to agree with him."

Ahsoka was beginning to lose her patience with that argument. It had been just over two weeks since she'd seen Ghes, it might be another month before she saw him again. She understood how hard it was to be with someone who was half a galaxy away because she was already living with that difficulty. Why didn't Anakin or Padme seem to understand that?

"As much as you keep insisting that you're not a child," Padme continued. "you are acting like one."

"How?!" Ahsoka questioned. "How am I acting like a child?!"

"I've been trying to have an adult conversation with you," Padme answered. "but you've been nothing but defensive and hostile the whole time."

"Because neither of you has ever told me how what Ghes and I are doing is any different from what you and Anakin have been doing for years!" Ahsoka accused. "Why is that?!"

"Because it's not!" Padme admitted. "Not really. But you need to understand…"

"I do." Ahsoka said, standing up. "Every day."

Ahsoka would have walked away then, would've left the cabin without another word. She was done listening to the same argument over and over about how she didn't understand what she was doing. But she couldn't leave, because Padme rose from her chair and stood in her way.

"No!" The older woman said, blocking the door. "You're not just going to storm out of here and avoid this!"

"Then explain!" Ahsoka demanded. "Explain to me what it is I apparently don't understand!"

"You're both soldiers!" Padme shouted. "That's what's different between you and Ghes and Anakin and me, you're both soldiers!"

"So?" Ahsoka said. What did that have to do with anything?

Padme sighed.

"Do you remember when I was captured by Malevolence?" She said. "How Anakin almost jeopardized the mission and nearly got him and Obi Wan killed trying to rescue me?"

"Yeah…"

"Do you know how many times he's done something like that?" Padme continued. "More importantly, do you know how much I worry about him fighting on the front lines every day?"

Ahsoka was beginning to see where Padme was going with this, and it gave her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"You're both on the front lines." Padme said. "What if something happens? What if you get captured, or he does? What if just worrying is enough of a distraction to get one of you killed?"

It was something she hadn't considered before, but that was just it, she should have considered it. Her and Ghes wouldn't have to deal with the same constant worry that other couples felt. Even now, when he was light years away, Ahsoka could feel him in the back of her mind through the Force, it was the bond they shared. Sure, she couldn't communicate much to him, not at this distance, and she couldn't tell exactly what he was doing, but she knew he was safe. But if anything happened to either of them, the other would feel it almost immediately, and if that was while they were in the middle of their own battle…

"I… didn't think about that." Ahsoka admitted somberly.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Padme said. "these things are always complicated."

They were, and it bothered Ahsoka more than she wanted it too.

"I think I need to be alone." She said, trying to go around Padme.

"Ahsoka…" Padme said, standing firm and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Please." Ahsoka pleaded. "I just want some time to think."

After a moment, Padme relented, stepping aside and allowing Ahsoka to leave. It took her less than a minute to get back to her cabin, and she planned on remaining there for the rest of the journey to Mandalore. Nobody would question her about it, Jedi where supposed to be reclusive and withdraw, or that's what most people thought anyway. She needed time, time to think about everything Padme had said, and maybe time to finish that message for Ghes.

The platform was, as always, crowded.

What else could you really expect, though? Since their completion a few months after Geonosis, the Coruscant Fleetyards had become one of the busiest facilities on the already overcrowded city world. Every day, at least a dozen capital ships arrived or departed. Bringing with them tens of thousands of personnel and millions of tons of equipment.

The crowds created when a Venator came to dock were always the worst, these vessels being among the largest in the fleet and carrying the most non-clone navy personnel. And while most would consider this rush off beings and equipment annoying and massively inconvenient, today Ahsoka was counting on the anonymity such an occasion provided.

So far everything had gone according to plan, with the most difficult part of her day so far having been slipping away from her master before he could strong-arm her into accompanying him… wherever he was going. Ahsoka strongly suspected that, although they were both supposed to report back to the Temple, Anakin would mostly likely be going to see Padme as soon as he'd relieved himself of command responsibility for the evening, and the last thing she wanted to do was go with him. Not only would an evening alone with the two come with the possibility of seeing them engage in activities she did not want to think about, it would leave her open to something almost as unpleasant; another "conversation" about her love life.

She'd thankfully been able to prevent the subject of her relationship with Ghes from coming up with anyone other than Rex after Padme had confronted her about it during their diplomatic mission to Sundari. In all fairness, though, the task had been made less difficult by the near constant crises that seemed to plague the Republic, and, more particularly, her life. Before Mandalore had been the Zygerrian adventure, then Lux's liaison with the Death Watch that she'd been dragged into trying to save his neck, and finally Obi Wan's "death" and the subsequent plot on the Chancellor's life. This had all been a double-edged sword though, even beyond the danger to life and limb that was as routine as daily meals by now. Ahsoka had had little time over the past month and change to devote to her and Ghes's new romance. She'd barely been able to communicate with him during all that time outside of recorded messages and a few brief holo-com calls.

Ahsoka was determined to correct this as she moved slowly along with the crowd of disembarking crewmen, all the while scanning the sea of grey uniforms for a hint of familiar camouflage plastoid. Not for the first time today, she considered how much easier it would be for her to loudly announce herself and use a combination of superior rank and the force to part the crowd in front of her. That, though, would've drawn far more attention than she wanted. Instead she'd made an effort to blend further with the men and women around her by donning a "borrowed" fleet-grey fatigue jacket over her normal attire. It wasn't a great disguise, she'd admit, especially since she couldn't wear the uniform cap and just hadn't bothered with the trousers. But it made her stand out slightly less, and no one appeared to be paying any more attention to her than anyone else on the platform, so this was all she needed.

A disadvantage not helped by this anonymity that Ahsoka hadn't fully considered, though in hindsight it was rather obvious, was that she wasn't very tall. When the platform leveled out from its downward slope away from the docked Venator, she found that she was unable to see much of anything through the crowd of taller beings around her.

But she didn't need to see to find Ghes.

Ahsoka was very careful to avoid drawing attention to herself as she crossed the platform against the flow of the crowd. It might've seen ridiculous, putting all of this effort into sneaking around when half the troopers in the 501st had to know at least about what was going on between her and Ghes. After all, news and rumors tended to travel equally fast in the closed community that was the GAR. But there weren't many troopers out here. Clones she could trust, if not to keep silent amongst themselves, then at least not to say anything to other Jedi, or worse, civilians. Navy crewers were different, they had friends and family outside of the military who they drank with and talked to, and that had the potential to cause more trouble than if her and Ghes decided to start making out in front of the assembled Council.

Even with all the extra measures she was taking, it wasn't long Ahsoka found Ghes, half hidden amongst stacks of crates grouped haphazardly off to one side of the platform. It wasn't hard to guess why he was hiding, Ghes's armor was pretty conspicuous against the duracrete landscape of Coruscant. He noticed her a few seconds after she spotted him, and without the nudge in the Force she assumed he would need.

He's getting the hang of our bond, then, Ahsoka thought with a degree of satisfaction. It had taken longer than she'd hoped for Ghes to adjust to the bond that had been inadvertently created between them. Lacking the telepathic and empathic abilities of a Force-user, the bond hadn't seemed to him the extension and amplification of a natural sense like it did to Ahsoka. Without this frame of reference, it had been difficult for Ghes to interpret much of what his new sense of her was telling him. Assisting him with over coming this shortcoming had been focus of more than a few of their limited communiques over the past month. That he'd been able to pick her out of a crowd so easily without prompting was the best sign she'd seen so far that he was improving.

Ahsoka crossed what little ground remained between them as quickly as possible, momentarily forgetting her prior caution as she practically leaped into Ghes's waiting arms. Their desire to avoid scrutiny was not ignored for long though, and the two quickly shuffled further behind a stack of crates.

"What are you wearing?" Ghes said, stifling a laugh as he took the chance to look her over.

"What? You don't like my disguise?" Ahsoka responded with mock offense.

"Well it looks at least a size too big…"

He wasn't wrong about that, the jacket did seem a bit baggy around the shoulders, and the sleeves were definitely to long for her arms. Ahsoka didn't consider this to really be her fault though, the ship's laundry hadn't had much of a selection for her to choose from, and she wasn't that familiar with ho fatigues were supposed to fit in the first place.

"It worked." She said with a shrug.

Ghes peaked carefully around the crates out at the still moving crowd.

"Can't argue with that." He said, satisfied that no one was paying them any mind.

"So," Ahsoka said, pulling him back towards her. "where were we?"

Ghes smiled.

"Missed me then, did you Tano?"

"Just kiss me, stupid."

...

They didn't hang around on the platform for too long. Even hidden off to the side like they were, there was always the chance that someone might stumble upon them, like a quartermaster, or a dockhand, or even another couple. So, much as the two would have liked to linger and enjoy their reunion, they decided it would be more prudent to continue elsewhere. Preferably somewhere more private.

Luckily, Ghes was a little ahead of the game on that one, and he led her to another platform nearby where he had an airspeeder waiting for them. He held open the pilot's side door for her, but she declined with a wave and climbed in on the passenger's side instead, balling up her jacket and throwing it in the back as she did. Much as Ahsoka normally enjoyed flying, she was feeling worn out enough from the journey and last few weeks' worth of missions that she was more than willing to let Ghes deal with the headache of Coruscant traffic.

"Where'd you get this?" She asked once Ghes had climbed into the pilot's seat beside her and started punching in the security codes.

This definitely wasn't the same speeder they'd used last time they'd used last time they'd been together. For one, it was closed rather than open topped, and it was definitely bigger, but it was also too worn looking to be new.

"Grabbed it from the motor pool this morning." He said as he hit the ignition and the engines began to sin up. "I have an understanding with the troopers down there."

"I hope you're not doing anything to get those boys in trouble."

"Relax, a little missing paperwork never hurt anyone." Ghes joked. "Now where to?"

Ahsoka was a little hesitant to answer that question, if only because she knew Ghes wasn't going to like it, but, unfortunately, it had to be done.

"I'm really supposed to report back to the Temple…"

"Really?" Ghes groaned. "Do you have to?"

"I just have to check the duty roster." She said. "Then we can go out and do something, or go back to your place, whichever."

"And what if you're supposed to be on duty?"

"Then I guess you'll just have to hang around the Temple till I'm done." She said with a sigh. "Don't worry, there's troopers around all the time, I'm sure nobody will say anything."

"Fine." Ghes relented, lifting the speeder off the platform and into traffic.

The Fleetyards weren't especially well positioned in relation to the other two major government centers on Coruscant, the Senate and Temple districts, mostly because warship maintenance benefitted from easy access to the planets heavy industry in a way debate and spiritual contemplation did not. This made the commute between these areas a long one, especially since traffic in the crowded skylanes was, as with every other problem in Galactic City, some of the worst in the entire galaxy. But at least it gave them time alone to talk, something Ahsoka suspected would continue to be at a premium in their relationship for a long time coming.

"So," Ghes said after he'd guided them into one of the automated lanes. "how has everything been with you and, you know…"

"Anakin?" Ahsoka assumed. "We haven't really talked about it at all. I guess I've kinda been avoiding the topic."

"Silently, Ahsoka debated whether or not she should tell Ghes about her conversation with Padme. She still wasn't sure what had held her back from telling him right after it had happened, or why she hadn't in all the time since. Maybe it was that so much of what Padme had said kept coming back to eat at her and not wanting to saddle him with the same burden. In the end, she decided to keep quiet about it.

"Why," she continued. "has he said anything to you?"

"No." Ghes answered. "But I think he's been ignoring me."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well for one, all my orders seem to come in writing now." Ghes explained. "He never seems to be around when call in to give a report, and I'm pretty that I'm not welcome at strategy briefings anymore."

"Oh." Ahsoka said. "That's just how Anakin is. I'm sure he'll get over it eventually."

Ghes nodded acceptingly, but Ahsoka wasn't even sure she believed that would be the case. Anakin was very… passionate, and he could definitely hold a grudge.

"I did get an interesting message from Rex, though." Ghes continued.

"Really?" She said, interest piqued. "What was it about?"

"Not much." Ghes said casually. "Just a very long, very detailed list of everything he'd do to me if I do anything to hurt you."

"Oh." Ahsoka said, feeling her face flush.

She was surprised, to say the least. Rex hadn't seemed angry when she'd confided in him about her and Ghes. He hadn't even seemed that surprised by it, like he'd either already suspected or maybe even had already know. She'd never expected that he'd go out of his way to…

"Sorry." She said, though she was unsure why she felt compelled to.

"So, you are the one who told him, right?" Ghes asked.

"Yes." She answered. "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

"No, no. I just wanted to make sure." Ghes said, obviously a little embarrassed. "This might be a weird thing to ask, but were you to ever…"

It Ahsoka a moment to what it was he was asking, but when she did…

"What?!" She exclaimed, taken aback that he would even think to ask that. "Me and Rex? No. No, no, no. Just, no."

She had known Rex for years, she'd still basically been a kid when they'd met. He was her best friend, it was almost like he was her brother. She had never thought of Rex like that, she wasn't even sure if she was capable of thinking of Rex like that.

"Why would you even ask that?!"

"Sorry, sorry." Ghes said, taking one hand off the steering yoke and raising it in mock surrender. "It's just, sometimes I hear rumors about troopers and Jedi…"

"Well me and Rex are not like." Ahsoka insisted. "He's just a little protective of me sometimes."

"Alright." Ghes said. "Forget I asked."

Now he was the one blushing, which was amusing to Ahsoka because he'd always tried to play the tough guy, even around her. But now he thought he'd really done something to piss her off and the façade was beginning to crack. What was probably worse for him, though, was that he really had pissed her off a little bit.

"You're not the jealous type, are you Ghes?" She said slyly.

"I said forget about it."

"Afraid someone's going to steal me away?"

"Ahsoka!" He yelled, a little shrilly, as if she'd struck a nerve. "Can we please just talk about something else."

"Fine." She said, rolling her eyes playfully. It probably wasn't fair to keep pushing at him, not when he clearly regretted what he said. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know." He responded, starting to regain his composure. "How about Zygerria?"

"I already told you everything about that one." She said with a shrug. "There were slavers, we got captured, we broke out and saved everyone, you were there for that last part. There's nothing you don't know."

"I don't know." Ghes shrugged a little sheepishly. "Did they let you keep that dress?"

Ahsoka realized pretty quickly that Ghes had never seen the Jedi Temple before, at least not up close. This struck her as odd in a way that probably showed how little she'd ever really known about the outside world before the war. After all, Ghes had grown up in Galactic City, and the Temple was, at least in her mind, the center of Galactic City, so there was no way he'd could have lived on Coruscant for twenty years without having been there at least once. She knew they didn't exactly give tours, but there were certain areas of the gardens that were frequently open to the public, so why wouldn't anyone come, if only to marvel at something so grand? But Ghes hadn't ever visited the Temple, and he confessed to only ever knowing one or two people who had. It was something else for Ahsoka to add to the ways her outlook had shifted ever since she'd left the cloistered existence of a Jedi youngling.

Another thing that quickly became apparent was that Ghes was not impressed by what he was seeing. "Extravagant" was a word he'd used quite often, "wasteful" was another. Ahsoka probably shouldn't have been surprised, Ghes had never had many good things to say about any Jedi other than her and Anakin, and traditional Mandalorians did have a reputation for preferring a fair amount of austerity when it came to dwellings. He quieted down a little when they reached the actual dormitories, which were far simpler than the grand halls they'd been walking through, and therefore more to his liking. She did, however, grumble something under his breath about wanting to see where the masters lived that she decided to ignore.

Luckily, there didn't seem to be anyone around when they reached Ahsoka's unit, so she wouldn't have to worry about sneaking Ghes in. A "trooper" in any other part of the Temple was easy enough to explain, but the dormitories where a different story, especially a female unit.

"Here we are." Ahsoka said as she led Ghes into her room. "Home sweet home."

"And I thought my place was simple." Ghes said, taking off his helmet as he looked around a room that was just big enough to contain the bed and dresser that occupied it while still allowing a little space to move around in.

Ahsoka shrugged as she picked up the datapad she'd left on the dresser last time she'd been here. She agreed the room wasn't much, but she'd never needed much, and it had been a welcome change after years of sharing a living space with at least one other girl. Besides, she spent most of her time living aboard warships now anyways, so she was hardly ever here anymore.

"Just let me check this…" She began, waiting a few moments for the datapad to update its information before pulling up the duty roster. "And I am not on duty tonight or tomorrow."

"Alright, then!" Ghes said like it was the first good news he'd heard all day. "Let's say we go out somewhere no one will recognize either of us and then you can sleep over?"

"Do you know a place like that?" Ahsoka asked skeptically.

"If I don't where my beskar?" Ghes joked. "Yeah, I might know a few, maybe even one where we won't get shot."

Ahsoka had to admit that sounded tempting, being able to go out and act like a couple somewhere that wasn't a warship or an active warzone, even if wherever they ended up being as seedy as she expected.

"Sure." She said finally. "Just let me grab some extra clothes."

"You know," Ghes began as she opened her dresser and started rummaging for what she needed. "if you wanted to you could start keeping a few things at my place. I have plenty of extra space, and then you wouldn't always have to come here…"

Before Ghes could finish, he was interrupted by a knock on the door that made them both freeze.

"Yes?" Ahsoka said wearily, standing up and closing the dresser as she turned towards the door.

Next to her, Ghes started backing towards the far wall and rested his hand subconsciously on his sidearm. Ahsoka had no idea how she was going to explain his presence in her quarters to whoever was on the other side of that door, and there was definitely no place for him to hide in here. Maybe it was somebody she'd be able to get rid of without opening the door?

"It's Barriss." The voice of the young Mirialan Jedi responded. "I saw you were back and I was wondering if you wished to eat together."

Stang, of all the bad times.

"No, thank you." Ahsoka said. "I'm not really hungry."

"Are you feeling ill?" Barriss asked. "I can fetch a healer."

"No, Barriss." Ahsoka insisted. "I'm fine."

"I'd feel better if you opened the door."

Ahsoka sighed in exasperation. So Barriss wasn't going to leave until she was satisfied she was healthy, then. And that probably wasn't going to be until she actually saw Ahsoka, which would be a little difficult to manage without her also seeing Ghes. Ahsoka looked over to where he was still standing against the far wall. He'd drawn his sidearm and was holding it at the ready.

Open the door and I'll stun her, she could hear him say in the back of her mind.

No! She mouthed as animatedly as possible and glaring at him.

He put the weapon away reluctantly.

"Ahsoka?" Barriss said again, sounding more concerned.

Ahsoka bit her lip and considered her options. Barriss wasn't going away, that was obvious, but it was equally obvious that there was no way for her to open the door without her seeing Ghes. She had no idea how her friend would react to finding an armored stranger in her room with her…

In the end Ahsoka panicked, and, without any plan or idea what she was doing, just opened the door, grabbed Barriss and pulled her inside before she knew what was happening.

"That wasn't really what I meant," Barriss said after staring dumbly at Ahsoka for a moment. "But…"

Ahsoka saw Barriss's eyes drift away from hers, only for a second, but still long enough for her to notice Ghes leaning up against the far wall, trying and failing to look casual. To her credit, Barris didn't freak out, she just stopped midsentence and leaned her head to get a better look at him, as if she needed to confirm to herself that she was indeed seeing what she thought she was.

"Ahsoka," She began hesitantly. "who's this?"

"This is Col. Marczak." Ahsoka answered, reaching for an explanation of his presence she thought Barriss would accept. "He's with the 501st. We were just going over some reports, and… I, um, needed to grab something from in here."

It wasn't a great excuse, Ahsoka knew, in fact it was pretty awful. Ghes was acutely aware of this, she could tell, but he played along, walking over to the two women and offering a hand to Barriss. She shook it, albeit hesitantly, and continued to stare at him.

"You're not a clone." Barriss said, a little dumfounded.

"So I've been told." Ghes responded flatly.

Despite how stressful this all was, Ahsoka couldn't help but be a little amused by the exchange, if only because she had had the same reaction the first time she'd met Ghes. Barriss had even spent quite a bit of time with a mostly non-clone medical unit, but she was still thrown by the sight of a non-clone in armor.

"You're obviously busy, so I'll just excuse myself." Barriss said hastily, backing toward the door. "Unless you would like to eat with us, colonel?"

"Of course," Ghes said, smiling. "I'd love to."

It took a fairly significant amount of her self-control for Ahsoka to not let the shock she felt show on her face. What could possibly have compelled Ghes to agree to that?

"Okay then…" Barriss said, as if she hadn't expected him to agree either. "Shall we go now?"

…

It went better than Ahsoka expected, at least initially.

Ghes rather serendipitously had been carrying most of his mission reports from the last month with him on the datapad he kept clipped to his belt when he wasn't in the field, so he was able to back up her hastily concocted story rather well once they'd sat down in the canteen. He even managed, much to Ahsoka's surprise, to have an actual conversation with Barriss. Granted, it wasn't much more than swapping stories about working with her, but it was still more than she'd expected.

Bariss had always been very reserved, and, much as she cared for him, even Ahsoka had to admit that Ghes was more of an acquired taste, often very gruff and indelicate, especially when it came to "Jettisse osik", as he put it. He seemed to be measuring himself very well, though, and Ahsoka began to regret underestimating his ability to socialize.

Ahsoka didn't say much for most of the meal, instead focusing on Barriss, searching for any sign that she might suspect something about her and Ghes. And, as far as she could tell at least, there weren't any. No, it looked to Ahsoka like Barriss didn't suspect a thing, so she let her guard down a little and relaxed.

Ghes, who Ahsoka suspected was now just putting on a show, got up to take their plates away once they'd finished eating, leaving the two Jedi alone.

"So," Barriss began after Ghes had left. "are you going to tell what's going on with you and him?"

Ahsoka's heart jumped into her throat. Was Barriss serious? It looked like she was. How much did she suspect?

"I… don't know what you're talking about." Ahsoka said, deciding to play dumb.

"Don't so that." Barriss said flatly.

"Do what?" Ahsoka said innocently.

"I'm not stupid, Ahsoka." Barriss snapped, looking distinctly unamused with her. "I can tell there's something between you two. Even if I can't read him, which is something else you're going to explain to me, I know you well enough to recognize when you're behaving strangely."

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about." Ahsoka insisted. "Like I said, Ghes is with the 501st…"

Ahsoka let her sentence trail off as she realized to late the slip she'd made.

"Ghes?" Barriss said, raising an eyebrow.

"So we're on a first name basis, so what?" Ahsoka said defensively. "I don't call Rex "captain" all the time. Do you want to interrogate me about him to?"

"No," Barriss admitted. "but I know Rex, you've never even mentioned this man."

It was a fair point to make. Ahsoka may not talk to Barriss every day, but the two had always made a point of trying to keep up with what was happening in each other's lives. But she'd never said anything to her friend about Ghes, if only because she'd been so focused on managing the fallout from Anakin discovering her and Ghes's relationship. It hadn't seemed like that important an omission at the time, but now…

It was then that Ghes returned, still smiling, blissfully unaware of the turn Ahsoka and Barriss's conversation had taken.

"Commander Tano." He said, looking at his crono. "Remember we have to be at that briefing…"

"Drop it, Ghes." Ahsoka sighed. "She knows."

"So we're just telling everyone now?" Ghes said, sounding more than a little annoyed as he sat back down next to her. "Maybe we should just go find General Yoda while we're here."

"What?!" Ahsoka said. "I didn't tell her!"

"Well then how did she find out?"

"Gee, Ghes, I don't know." She said sarcastically. "Maybe it had something to do with your brilliant plan to have lunch with her!"

"I thought it would seem suspicious if I said no!"

"How?1" She asked. "How would that be suspicious?!"

Barriss, momentarily forgotten by the arguing couple, cleared her throat loudly.

"Ahsoka," She began once she'd regained their attention. "This is serious. The Jedi Code…"

"I know what the Code says." Ahsoka interjected. If she wasn't going to let Anakin lecture her right now, she definitely wasn't going to let Barriss. "It's just… it's complicated. Can you please just keep this to yourself?"

"I don't think I'm comfortable lying for you, Ahsoka." Barriss said. "Not about this."

"You don't have to lie." Ahsoka countered. "Just don't tell anybody. It's not like anyone's going to ask anyway."

"Ahsoka…"

Whatever Barriss had been about to say was interrupted by a loud beeping from Ghes's gauntlet accompanied by a blinking light. He glanced down at it briefly before tapping it and pulling his helmet on.

"Huh…" He said. "Did you tell Skywalker you were meeting me?"

"No." Ahsoka answered. "Why?"

"Because he wants us both at a briefing in fifteen minutes."

"Oh." Ahsoka said. Fifteen minutes? That was a little short notice. "Where?"

"The Temple ops center…" Ghes read off his HUD. "Weird. Do you know where that is?"

"Yes." Ahsoka said, standing up from the table. "We should probably get going if we're going to make it."

As Ghes stood to follow her, she turned back to Barriss.

"Please," She implored. "Just promise me you won't say anything until I've had time to explain."

"Fine." Barriss relented. "I won't say anything, not yet anyway."

"Thank you so much," Ahsoka called over her shoulder as she and Ghes began to leave. "I promise I'll be back soon."

Author's Notes:

So, yeah, for everyone who doesn't follow me as an author and therefore didn't see Pro Bono when I posted it as a standalone last night around the time I deleted the Part II preview, I'm finally back. Hooray!

Taking care of buisness first: Unfortunately, due to circumstances that where well within my control but it is nevertheless far too late for me to do anything about, I will be unable to maintain the weekly release schedule that I had for Part I for Part II. I'm sorry, but my progress just hasn't been where it would need to be for me to do that. Right now, I have chapter eleven ready to go, chapter twelve around half done, and then a two chapter gap that's completely empty until we get to the two chapters devoted to the Wrong Jedi-arc (yeah, I know it's sad, but it still has to happen), then another half finished chapter, a two chapter gap, and the last two chapters of Part II (which are finished) that I'm not going to spoil but you can probably guess the content of. Because of this weird sort of half finished state where the finished parts are separated how they are, I'm going to be pulling back to monthly release schedule, so you're getting chapter ten now, you'll be getting chapter eleven on 26 June, and by then I should have twelve ready to go for 26 July and so on. This should hopefully give me the time to finish those missing chapters without having to constantly miss updates and to make up for the longer wait in between the chapters in this part are going to be, on average, longer than those in Part I. I also promise that if I somehow manage to catch up to the point where everthing's done by the late August-early September range I'll reevaluate the current plan and consider moving to a bi-weekly or weekly schedule.

There, now that that's out of the way, I can just ramble like I normally do. A lot has happened while I've been away, hasn't it? Episode IX finally has a title (still not confident that God himself could save the ST at this point, but I'm just cynical that way). They released another trailer for those new TCW episodes they promised us in the wake of the TLJ disaster, which I'd honestly thought were coming out sometime this Spring so I'm glad I get the chance to beat them to the punch when it comes to depicting the Siege of Mandalore. And finally, or at least the last thing I can think of right now, The Mandalorian got a trailer, a show I was allowing myself to grow cautiously optomistic about until I saw Dave Filoni, the great destroyer of all things Mando, was involved. So, yeah, I missed quite a bit just when it comes to Star Wars, right? I'd apologize for that too, but military obligation and serving my country and all that, so I think I had a pretty good reason to go dark.

As far as this chapter goes, it's another one of those where a lot happens; resolution to that promise Padme made Anakin at the end of Part I to have a talk with Ahsoka about her newly found love life, Ghes kind of making an ass of himself by asking questions he shouldn't, and now Barriss knows about the two lovers because why not! Seriously though, maybe it's just because I write from outside the usual fan pairings for Ahsoka (Rex, Ani, Lux), but I do feel at least some obligation to provide a sort of rebuke when it comes to them(at least for the two that aren't weird. I mean come on, Anakin's the closest thing she has to a father figure and he's married!). When it comes to Rex, I don't know, it's just kind of hard for me to accept the idea that someone like Rex who was in a sort of supplementary mentor position for the kid straight out of the Temple the early season Ahsoka was would get romantically involved with that kid he'd been watching grow up and helping to raise. The point I'm trying to make is; they're friends, close friends, probably brother-sister close, and I personally can't recall ever having the desire to sleep with my sister, so it doesn't seem likely to me that they would hook up. As for Lux though... oh boy, are we going to have a lot to talk about with that guy over the next few months during the new and improved Onderan arc I've been writing.

But back to a topic that hopefully won't involve me antagonizing shippers anymore than I already have, Barriss!

I, much like the writers for this show, don't really know what to do with Bariss. I mean, she'd here so that she and Ghes will know who each other are during the Wrong Jedi stuff, but other than that there really isn't much reason to use her any where else. She really is one of the character's that was screwed over most in the transition from the old Clone Wars multimedia project stuff and TCW, not that she did a ton there except feature as a main character in the Star Wars version of M*A*S*H and then get crushed by an AT-TE on Felucia during Order 66, but at least that was something beyond a completely unexplained heel turn done simply because they didn't have any other character they could use to pull that twist. Pretty good episodes otherwise, though. Not my favorites obviously because of how much of a downer they are, but still. Anyway, if I end up trying to do anything deeper with Barriss, maybe try to better explain why she did what she did, it'll most likely be in Part III. Until then, I don't know, I guess you can just assume that knowing that her best friend was shacking up with some schmuck in blatant violation of the Jedi Code helped move along the whole "Jedi have become corrupted" train of thought that eventually led to her engaging in a convoluted terrorism plot. Or maybe it was all Palpatine's fault somehow. Hell if I know.

That's going to be it from me for this month (except I'm finally going to get around to updating my author bio, so be on the lookout for that tomorrow), as always; follow and favorite if you haven't already, and feel free to leave a review or PM me to tell me how you feel!