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Riyo Chuchi wasn’t afraid of ghosts. That being said, she wasn’t prepared to see one face to face, either.

She had spent the entire day in a Senate hearing, first to condemn some innocent woman on baseless charges of treason, and then to “vote” on a new xenophobic bill banning all manor of species from holding office in the Empire. As if she or any of the other Senators had had any say in either of the matters. Before the fall of the Old Republic, performing the duties of a Senator had felt like crawling up a gravel hill, always sliding back two steps for every one taken up. These days it just felt like being an extra in a puppet show.

Riyo slid closed the doors to her chambers in the Senate building, then collapsed into a chair behind her desk. Her aching feet practically moaned in pleasure.

That bill they had ratified today troubled her. The Empire had always been a racist machine, heavily favoring humans in its offices. Riyo herself was the only Pantoran she knew of that held an office in this idiotic government, and she supposed that her presence here was only allowed because of her status as Senator. Even so, she wouldn’t be surprised if one day soon planets would be forbidden from sending their own people to represent them unless those people were human.

“What,” she asked her empty quarters, “are you doing here, Riyo?” She had wondered a thousand times if she could be of more use back on Pantora than here in the Senate that grew more like a circus every day. Five years since the Clone Wars had ended. Five years, and already the galaxy was unrecognizable. And Riyo had little power to change it.

She swiveled around to gaze out at the skyline of Coruscant. The words were like a mantra, a secret wonderful weakness she allowed herself to feel. “What are you doing here?”

That was when the ghost spoke.

“Well, since you asked: I came to talk to you.”

Riyo nearly fell out of her chair. What? That voice had come from inside her quarters.

“Who’s there?” She stood, reaching for the blaster hidden under her desk. “Show yourself!”

“Relax. I said I’m here to talk.”

Riyo swiveled around, bringing her blaster up--

--and froze. Emerging from the shadows in her quarters was a tall, hooded figure. The weathered fabric flowed around her frame, but still couldn’t hide the fact that it was a she, or that she was a Togruta, judging from the tall pair of what could only be lekku under the hood.

Riyo stepped back. Something about that voice was...she wracked her brains for any knowledge of a Togruta bounty hunter that might have money on her. But that was hard to do, both because of the sheer number of bounty hunters in the galaxy...and also the sheer number of people who wanted to kill her.

“Who...who are you?” It was a minor victory that her voice was steady. Great. Now at least she could sound calm when she died.

The hooded figure stepped fully into the light and drew back her hood. Riyo couldn’t help it; she gasped. She wasn’t afraid of ghosts--but she also wasn’t used to seeing them.

“An old friend,” Ahsoka Tano said.

**

Riyo turned over in her bed, hyper aware of the girl sleeping beside her. She had refused to let Ahsoka sleep on the floor of her quarters in the Senate building, and Ahsoka wouldn’t hear of the notion of kicking Riyo out of her own bed, so here they were. Though this was the third or fourth night of these arrangements, she still couldn’t get used to it.

The blanket tugged a little. Riyo sighed and let Ahsoka pull more of it towards her. The bed was more than big enough for two people, but that wasn’t really the problem. The problem was the pounding of Riyo’s heart, the sweat prickling at her forehead... stop. Think of something else.

Riyo went over the plan again in her head, mentally laying out the schematics like a blueprint. After Ahsoka had revealed herself a few days ago, they had talked for a long time, and about many things.

“Ahs--” Riyo had stopped herself short. She had the years of living in a spy’s nest to thank for that particular instinct. Taking a breath, she collected herself a little from the shock. “It--it’s good to see you again, old friend.”

“And you.” Ahsoka dipped her head, smiling. “We have much to discuss.”

Riyo felt more of her instincts kicking in, taking command of her paralyzed nerves. “We...we do. But I think we should retire to my apartment on the lower levels. The walls here are...quite thin. We wouldn’t want to disturb my neighbors.”

The light in Ahsoka’s eyes told Riyo that she understood perfectly. Though she had never actually found an Imperial bug in her office, Riyo had no doubt that it was there somewhere. Pantora was an Imperial planet, yes, but one known for dissension. The Empire liked to keep tabs on her. Keeping all their cards in a neat little row was a hobby of theirs.

Though the private elevators were only a short walk away, Riyo still went first to scope out the halls. It went without saying that Ahsoka could not be seen here.

As she walked, Riyo’s mind reeled. Ahsoka Tano. Here, on Coruscant. Alive. How was the possible? It had been five years since Order 66, since the bloody finale to the Clone Wars...and the death of many of her friends. Seeing Ahsoka again was--well, it was like the foundation of everything Riyo knew had been badly shaken. There were many feelings that hid behind the name Ahsoka . Riyo had worked for years to put those feelings and emotions to rest, and from time to time she still had nightmares, still felt the pangs in her heart. But now…

They reached the relative safety of the apartment without incident. Once Riyo was sure they were alone, she turned to Ahsoka and hugged her.

“I can’t believe it’s you,” Riyo said into Ahsoka’s shoulder. The other girl hugged her back just as tightly. “I can’t believe you’re alive.”

“Neither can I, sometimes.”

“But how?” Shaking, Riyo drew back. “I have so many questions, Ahsoka-”

Ahsoka held up a hand. “I know. But I have to ask you to trust me, and to wait. If you can help me, then there will be plenty of time for questions. If you can’t, I have to leave.”

Riyo drew a breath. Closed her eyes for just a moment. The wires in her head were refusing to compute this. Ten minutes ago, Ahsoka Tano had been dead. And now she was here, in Riyo’s apartment, and how was that even possible? How could that go without explanation?

“Alright.” Making her way to the couch, Riyo sank into the cushions. She put her head in her hands, staring at the floor, at her boots, making a decision. “Okay. I won’t ask everything. But please, tell me...this is real, isn’t it?”

A weight settled into the cushion beside her, and Ahsoka’s warm hand touched her shoulder. “I’m real. I promise.”

“You escaped the slau-...the...Order, somehow.” A faint memory flickered. Riyo frowned. “I heard rumors shortly before. That a Padawan had left the Jedi. A name was never released, but when I tried to get in contact with you...you were never there.”

For the first time, Riyo looked up. Ahsoka was staring out the window, eyes far, far away. The endless lanes of traffic in the sky cast moving shadows on her face. Riyo wondered what that face had seen in the last few years. What horrors it had witnessed.

“Not being listed as a Jedi helped me to survive, yes. But it hasn’t been easy.”

“The price the Empire is paying for information leading to the arrest of a Jedi…” Riyo sat up as if suddenly emerging from a deep pool. “Ahsoka, you can’t be here . On Coruscant. It’s much too dangerous! If the Empire--”

“I know, Riyo. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.”

“But a transmission…”

“A transmission coming from the Outer Rim to be received by the Senate would stand out. Believe it or not, it was safer to come in person.”

Riyo wasn’t fooled. She heard the true statement behind Ahsoka’s words: it had been safer for Riyo for Ahsoka to come in person. A transmission could easily lead an investigator back to Riyo’s office.

But Ahsoka being found here could lead to Ahsoka’s death.

“You should have sent the transmission,” Riyo said, shaking her head. “I can handle the Empire.”

Ahsoka looked at her, smiling sadly. The force of that expression knocked the breath out of Riyo. The way the setting sun caught on Ahsoka’s jawline, lit up her orange skin like flames, it was beautiful. Beyond that. All the hard muscles in her body stood stark beneath her bits and pieces of armor, curving away in elegant and dangerous lines. For an insane moment, Riyo thought she was going to reach out to trace those muscles. But she stopped herself. Was she a teenager again? Stop it.

“I appreciate the concern, but I had to come anyway. Like I said, there’s something I have to do, and I have to do it here.”

“And you need my help.”

Ahsoka sighed, stood up, and closed the blinds of the window. “I do. I…” She turned to Riyo. “Are you sure it’s okay? For me to be here? I’m putting you in danger just by...if you want me to leave, I’m gone.”

“No.” Riyo shook her head. “You’re not going anywhere. I told you, I don’t care. I’m not scared of the Empire.”

“You should be,” Ahsoka muttered, then caught herself. Passed a hand over her forehead and down one long lekku hanging over her shoulder.

“Look. I came because I found something. Well, not found, exactly, but more like remembered. I was meditating, and the Force showed me a memory I didn’t even know I still had. The Empire...they have something, and I need to steal it.”

“What is it?” Riyo watched Ahsoka pace around the room. It’s like a cage for her, she thought. Beings like Ahsoka were meant for speed and movement and power, not sitting in a room.

“A holocron. The memory I was shown; I was a little girl, and I was lost in the catacombs beneath the Jedi Temple where the holocrons were kept. A holocron is--”

“--a repository of Jedi knowledge. I know.” Riyo smiled wanly. She had made a point of gathering info about the Jedi lately. It felt like a small defiance to the Empire, to keep knowledge of the Order intact.

“Yes, exactly,” Ahsoka said, somewhat taken aback, but touched with a small smile. “Anyway, in the memory I was lost. Somehow I found my way through many doors into to a dark room, and I remember...I remember it glowing , with light from what looked like a million stars. More than that, they were all whispering. Talking in my ear. Their voices were half sound, half something else, and it was all around me.

“But one was louder than the rest. It was calling me. When I picked it up…” Ahsoka stopped, looked at Riyo. “I could see , Riyo. Everyone. All the Jedi on the planet, and beyond it too. I felt so connected to them, to all the Force users in the nearby systems. It was beautiful, and powerful, and for the first time I understood what the Force was. It really hit me then that I was a part of something bigger.

“Some older Jedi found me sleeping near the holocron room. I vaguely remember searching for it when I was a little older, but I could never find it again. And then when the Clone Wars began, I forgot about it all together.”

The gears in Riyo’s mind were whirring. She wasn’t entirerly sure how the Force worked, but she knew that it was rarely in random ways. Her dealings with the Jedi had taught her that.

“This holocron,” she said. “You want to steal it.”

Ahsoka looked up. “Yes. There were other Jedi who escaped Order 66, but the Empire has been hunting them down, sending that...that thing after them. And now I think I understand how they’re finding the Jedi so easily.”

“That holocron isn’t just knowledge...it’s a tool,” Riyo said. She stood and began to pace, thoughts flitting around like birds, calling to her, filling in the pieces of the puzzle. “It’s a tool, and someone in the Empire is using it to hunt down Jedi. Maybe even the Emperor itself. If you could steal it, you could save whoever’s left. Or at least level the playing field.”

Riyo looked up to see Ahsoka staring, a strange expression on her face.

“What?”

“Nothing. You’re just brilliant, that’s all.”

Heat rose to Riyo’s cheeks. “It’s nothing.”

“No, it isn’t. You’re exactly right. I want to steal that holocron, but I think it’s probably still kept in the Jedi Temple. Or the Imperial Palace, whatever they’re calling it these days.”

“And to get in there, you need me.”

“Yes.” A few long strides took Ahsoka across the room to Riyo. “Look, Riyo, I know...I know what I’m asking of you. And it isn’t fair. For me to ask you to risk your life and the lives of your family, even your whole planet, it isn’t fair, and I’ll understand if you want me to walk away. If you want me to leave, I will. I promise. I’ll disappear and make it like this never happened. I’ll--”

“I’ll help.”

“What?”

“I said, I’ll help you.” The warmth in Riyo’s cheeks had spread down to her gut. “Ahsoka, I’ve been sitting here for far too long watching the Empire tear down everything we worked to build. I’m sick of watching. I became a Senator to bring about change, real change.” She laughed bitterly. “And that’s not what I’m doing right now. If helping you means giving someone else a chance at a better life, then I’ll do it. Of course I will.”

There was quiet for several long moments. And then, without warning, Ahsoka was returning Riyo’s hug.

“Thank you. Thank you,” she said. And Riyo was aware of every part of their bodies touching, of Ahsoka’s hands on her back.

She pulled out of the hug, grinning. “Don’t thank me yet. I still have to figure out a way to be useful to you.”

“You’ll think of something.” Ahsoka stepped back, suddenly not able to meet Riyo’s eyes. It was amazing, really, how a Jedi could face an army of droids without blinking an eye and yet be so shy in conversation, sometimes. “Thank you. Again.”

Riyo smiled. “Of course. Now let me think.”

After a few minutes, she had it. Ahsoka had passed the time by cutting some fruit from the tiny kitchen, and they sat together eating the sweet yellow meat (Ahsoka with hers on a flat bread with sauce, Riyo without) and watching the holonet. It was an ad about an Imperial event that actually gave Riyo her idea.

“The gala! Of course!”

“The one at the Tem--Palace?” Ahsoka frowned at the holo. “You’re invited to that?”

“All Senators are. It’s a gala to celebrate the latest batch of systems joining the Empire. We’re invited to mingle with the new systems’ representatives to create some sort of illusion that the Empire is this big family of politicians.” Riyo took another bite of the fruit. She couldn’t remember the last time she had even eaten today. “So yes, I can get in. It’s you who’s the problem. The guestlist for events in the Palace is watertight. The only people who could get in this soon before the gala are…” She stopped. Chewed thoughtfully and very slowly.

“Who?” Ahsoka poked her arm. “You’re stalling. You have an idea and you’re stalling.”

Suddenly, Riyo was unable to meet Ahsoka’s eye. She looked at the fruit.

“Couples. Guest are allowed to bring one significant other to Imperial events. So if you’re going...”

For the first time, Ahsoka seemed...flustered? Riyo couldn’t quite pinpoint it. Flustered couldn’t be right. There was no way someone like Ahsoka Tano could be thrown off by an idea like this one.

“...if I’m going, I’m going as your date,” Ahsoka finished. “Lovely.”

Riyo turned over in the bed to face Ahsoka. The other girl was deeply asleep, her face the most relaxed Riyo had seen it. She still couldn’t believe they were here. That Ahsoka wasn’t bones and a head marker, or some “terminated” file in Imperial databases. The girl before her was warmth and life and beauty.

And Riyo was going to use all of her power to make sure she stayed that way.

The next few days saw the two of them endlessly creating plans and discarding them, trying to attack the problem from every angle. The issue was that the Empire was very good at anticipating angles, and also that there were no existing schematics of the Imperial Palace for them to use. Ahsoka was forced to draw a map from memory. That, however, took time, and that time was quickly running out. The gala was drawing closer, and every minute Ahsoka spent on Coruscant increased her odds of getting caught.

Riyo, of course, spared no thought for herself. Some part of her knew that she would be executed if found harboring a known Jedi, but she didn’t care. Ahsoka was a friend who needed help. Simple as that.

And so time passed. It surprised Riyo how easily the two of them fell back into their routine, trading banter that, if she hadn’t known better, could have been called flirting. Of course that was impossible. This was Ahsoka Tano, and she could never feel...that. Not for someone like Riyo. At least, that’s what Riyo told herself. She had a habit of not getting her hopes up; it made it easier to bear disappointment.

Still, though. Sometimes she swore...like when their knees touched on the couch, or when Riyo caught Ahsoka staring, or the both of them laughing and quieting down and looking at each other, really looking...Riyo swore there was something.

She wanted to think so. She really did. But hope, Riyo Chuchi had learned, was a dangerous thing in the Empire. Though she wanted to resist Imperial rule, she thought hope was the wrong weapon. Powerful, yes, but also fragile. There were other, more pragmatic solutions, like grit and resolve and work. No; hope was for fools.

Riyo Chuchi preferred action.

**

Ahsoka couldn’t remember the last time she had worn a gown.

Certainly not in the last five years, while she had been on the run from the Empire, doing the odd vigilante job or leading an uprising on some backwater planet. If Kaeden saw me now, Ahsoka thought , I’d never hear the end of it.

Thinking of Kaeden, of Raada and all the ghosts who lived there was a distraction, and Ahsoka had no time for that now: the speeder that Riyo had rented was pulling up to the Temple, and she had to get her thoughts in order.

If Ahsoka had thought she was ready to see the Temple again, she was wrong. There was no way she could have made it back to Coruscant safely after the Clone Wars. And coming here had been painful even before the massacre. Still, though, she had never actually seen the Temple burn. In her head it was still a shining pillar of sunlight and warmth and knowledge, and it made her feel safe, even if it was only memory.

But when the speeder pulled up to the main entrance, Ahsoka felt like she had been punched in the gut.

The burned parts of the structure had been replaced, but this time with hideous white marble instead of the cream-colored stone the Jedi had favored. Giant black and white flags bearing the Imperial symbol hung from each of the four tours, scowling down at her like wardens of a prison. The entire building was crawling with stormtroopers. They marched with a surgical precision, marched over the very spots where younglings had meditated and played and later died.

“Are you okay?” The speeder had stopped at the main platform, but Riyo had yet to get out. She was looking at Ahsoka with concern written all over her face. “Ahsoka, you look--”

Ahsoka brushed off the question. “I’m fine. It’s just...the dress. I’m not used to wearing a dress, that’s all.

It didn’t fool Riyo, but they also needed to get a move on. Ahsoka was glad when Riyo let it go, though she could tell she wasn’t happy about it. Riyo offered Ahsoka a hand up.

The Empire had really outdone itself that night. As Riyo and Ahsoka walked arm in arm down the main path towards the Temple, they were surrounded on every side by gallantry and wealth. Other guests streamed past wearing jewels that could have fed Ahsoka for entire rotations, laughing bubbly laughs and batting long eyelashes. Colored lights flashed, suave music floated in the air, and the grand charade flew on, borne on fake joy and hidden fear.

Ahsoka touched her lightsabers, strapped to her thighs where the gown poofed out somewhat. She squirmed uncomfortably; maybe the dress comment hadn’t been a total lie after all.

Breathe . It was surreal, being back here. Though Riyo walked with perfect poise beside her, Ahsoka couldn’t keep from trembling. She imagined the scene that had taken place here. The bloodshed, the screaming, the bodies being cut down by an unstoppable and faceless Sith Lord. The stone beneath her feet was white. She wondered if the original cream stone had had to be replaced when the blood stains wouldn’t come out.

And then, just when she thought she might be okay, they reached the top of the stairs. Ahsoka stumbled. This was it. The exact spot where she and Anakin had stood on the day she had left the Jedi Order. Even the position of the sun was the same, kissing the horizon, sending dazzling rays of orange shooting through the haze and reflecting off the statues. She remembered the pain of that moment, the feeling of her heart being torn from her chest. The look on Anakin’s face--

Anakin, where are you? Why can’t I sense you? It was too much, too much--

“Ahsoka? We have to sign in.”

Riyo squeezed her arm, and the world came rushing back. Ahsoka blinked. Looked at Riyo, then down at the datapad that an officer was holding out to them. Riyo had already signed her name with a stylus and was holding it out to Ahsoka.

She signed Ashla Chuchi , and the officer stepped aside, granting them access to the Temple. “Welcome, Senator Chuchi and...fiancee. Please enjoy the gala.”

Simple as that.

“Are you ready?” Riyo asked as they walked. “We can step into the restrooms, if you need a moment--”

Ahsoka was already shaking her head. “No. I have to do this now.” Before I lose my nerve.

“Right.”

They continued to follow the flow of the crowd, just like they had planned. When they had been scheming back in the apartments, Riyo had guessed that the event would be held in the main central chamber of the Temple.

“Fine with me,” Ahsoka had said. “The main holocron nest was directly below that anyway. That’ll be a good a place as any to start.”

The truth was, their plan didn’t extend much beyond “get inside the Temple.” As Ahsoka had said, she didn’t actually...know where her holocron was, exactly. For whatever reason, it had been hidden before the Clone Wars, and she suspected that it would be under heavy security now.

But the Force had given her the memory. It wanted her to be here, and she had to trust in it. So for now, she and Riyo would follow the crowds.

“Senator Chuchi!” A voice boomed out from across the crowds. “Senator Chuchi! How wonderful to see you again!”

Ahsoka was close enough to hear Riyo’s small groan, and then they were turning to meet their hailer. It was an elderly but straight-backed human woman, her skin wrinkled but eyes clear and piercing. Dressed in a simple grey gown, the woman had an avian, predatory look about her that set Ahsoka instantly on edge.

Riyo’s grip on Ahsoka’s arm tightened. “Oh, Madame Yeng’gi. What an...unexpected surprise.”

“Didn’t expect to see an old woman like me out this late, hm?” The Senator turned the full power of her flashing gaze towards Ahsoka. The crowd parted around the old woman, and thus Riyo and Ahsoka as well, like they were stones in water. “And who is this? I don’t recall any of...her kind being elected to Senate.”

“No,” Riyo said, voice growing a degree or two chillier. “This is Ashla, my fiancee.”

“Fiancee, you say? This is certainly news to me. It must be difficult, being involved with...” Yeng’gi trailed off, but her hand gesture perfectly conveyed her meaning. Her disapproving eyes swept up and down Ahsoka’s body. This was nothing new; Ahsoka was well aware of the Empire’s distaste for anyone that looked other than human, and this Senator was obviously deeply entrenched in Imperial thinking.

“I imagine there’s much you don’t know,” Riyo muttered, too quiet for Yeng’gi to hear. Then, louder: “Yes, well, work does make it difficult, but I manage.”

Riyo’s weak statement didn’t seem to impress Yeng’gi, who was narrowing her eyes at Ahsoka. She swallowed. It was possible that this woman would recognize Ahsoka from wanted posters. A Togruta was bound to stick out at an Imperial event, but there had been nothing she or Riyo could do about that. There was only one option: convince her of the deception.

Ahsoka smiled at Riyo and tilted her head. “I always say that my darling has two wives: me, and the Senate.” Cue fake, tinkling laugh, and then lean in for a kiss.

That last part had been more or less improvisation, but Riyo kissed Ahsoka with barely a hesitation. And Ahsoka really, really wasn’t ready.

Part of being a Jedi had meant, of course, that Ahsoka couldn’t allow herself to form attachments, including romantic love. That part had been difficult for her in her last years in the Order, because she had been...well, at an age where she was curious Though she held the Order’s ideals sacred, there were still parts of Ahsoka that wondered, “what if?”

That voice had been louder at some times than at others, and most of those times had been with Riyo. Over the course of the Clone Wars, Ahsoka and Riyo had gone on a fair number of missions together. And they had never been--of course they hadn’t, but all the same...Ahsoka felt an undeniable attraction towards the other girl. Something unseen, like the Force, but different. In a way? Even more powerful. She had yearned to touch Riyo’s hand, or trace the markings on her face, run her hands through her hair. Ahsoka had never learned what it was to date somebody, but she thought that it might have been nice to do that with Riyo, had she ever been allowed.

That thought had been forbidden, of course, and Ahsoka had locked it away. Discarded the key. Discarded, that was, until she had left the Order. And suddenly, there were no longer the eyes of the Council staring down at her, and Ahsoka was questioning everything about the Jedi. How could something like what she had felt sparking towards Riyo be wrong and forbidden? That feeling was so beautiful. How could the Jedi have forbade it?

But it didn’t matter. Because by the time Ahsoka had let those things enter her head again, the Jedi were gone, as was her chance of connecting with Riyo. It was simply too dangerous to get near the Senator again. Ahsoka had been loathe to come even now, but she knew Riyo was her only way into and out of the Temple.

She had expected that seeing Riyo again would be difficult. But she had never prepared for what she was feeling now.

Ahsoka pulled back from the kiss, trying to keep her reeling mind in check. She could feel Yeng’gi eyes on her, scraping over her skin, prying into her intentions. Finally, the old woman made a clucking noise in the back of her throat.

“Hm. I wish you happiness together, even if you may not find it.” With that, Yeng’gi strode away into the crowd.

Ahsoka turned to Riyo and hissed, “what did you say that woman does again?”

“I’m not sure” Riyo’s face was an interesting shade of purple. It must have been from the heat in the Temple, of course. “But I heard rumors that she was promoted to Head of Security.”

“For where?”

Riyo sighed, as if gathering herself. What she said next put out of Ahsoka’s head any lingering distraction from the kiss.

“Here.”

Ten minutes later found them in the main ballroom, just as Riyo had predicted. For an Imperial event, Ahsoka supposed that the decor was rather gaudy, and it also didn’t help that it was extremely jarring to see the usually modest Temple so done up. The Jedi would have abhorred this level of materialism. Though she may no longer be a Jedi, Ahsoka still shared many of their values, and an aversion to waste was one of them.

“Look at this,” she whispered to Riyo as they entered the hall. “This party must have cost a fortune.”

“I can’t even imagine what the Temple must been. Before.” Riyo said.

That struck something in Ahsoka. Something that found it incredibly sad that Riyo was standing in what had been Ahsoka’s favorite place in the galaxy and couldn’t even see the beauty in it.

“Follow me.”

The two of them slipped between some guests and down a hall. A short walk away from the crowds took them to an outdoor terrace clinging to the sloping outer walls of the Temple. This part of the building almost looked the same, with the skyline and the old bricks and plants growing over the railings in beautiful and unplanned patterns.  Ahsoka sighed.

“I used to come here after sparring lessons to stretch. My spot was right there, right in that corner. I would watch the speeders fly by. Think about...nothing.” Ahsoka trailed off, suddenly thinking of decidedly not nothing. She was stuck on that kiss, like a endlessly looping holo.

Ahsoka leaned her back against the stone railing, relishing the slight breeze on her face, the view of the Temple rising above her. To her it would always be the Temple. Even if she had left? The place still had good memories. It didn’t deserve this.

Riyo folded her arms on the railing. “I’m sorry, Ahs--Ashla.”

“Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Maybe I do not deserve the blame, but perhaps I deserve a part of it. I was a cog in the machine of the Old Republic. In some small way, I helped bring this about, even if it was only because I watched as the Republic decayed.”

“You didn’t watch.” Ahsoka turned so that she was facing Riyo. She had on a gown of brilliant shining gold, her hair held up by golden branches with golden leaves. Still, though, some strands had escaped and were blowing in the wind. Ahsoka longed to tuck them back behind Riyo’s ear, then to trail her hand…

“You didn’t watch,” Ahsoka repeated. “You did what you thought was right. There was no way you could have known. And besides, if you’re taking blame, so should I. The Jedi were blind during the Clone Wars, and that includes m-”

The presence of a shadow wilted the words in Ahsoka’s mouth.

The strength of the darkness pressed against her senses, so much so that her vision dimmed momentarily. Ahsoka uttered an involuntary gasp. This was no fluctuation in the Force. No, she had felt presences like this before.

“Ahsoka?” Riyo’s eyebrows lowered in concern. “Are you okay?”

She tried to answer and couldn’t. Stumbling a little, Ahsoka reached out to grab Riyo’s arm for support. Where was this coming from? She turned to scan the main chamber they had come from, panting with exertion at the sudden imbalance in the Force.

There. Striding through an entrance on a mezzanine at their eye level: an Inquisitor. Ahsoka didn’t need the Force to recognize the creature; the black armor and circular lightsaber hilt would give the hunter away to anyone who was looking and many who weren’t.

Ahsoka took a breath, and felt some strength flow back into her limbs. It was okay. The Inquisitor didn’t know she was here, or who she was.

Did he? Inquisitors were made for the purpose of hunting Jedi. Why else would one be here if not to capture her?

It must have been the Yeng’gi woman, the Head of Security. She had recognized Ahsoka and summoned an Inquisitor like some slinking Darthomirian witch. This wasn’t good.

“Riyo,” Ahsoka managed. “Up there.”

She waited while Riyo looked. Focused on keeping herself standing. Many rotations had been spent on Ahsoka’s part learning to cloak her presence in the Force for this very reason. Whereas the Inquisitors exuded hatred and spite in the Force like a poisonous cloud, Ahsoka was fairly confident that she was hidden for the time being. She was still safe. As long as the Inquisitor didn’t know which of the guests Ahsoka was, she had the upper hand.

Riyo stiffened beside her. “Is that-”

“An Inquisitor. One of the Emperor’s dogs.”

“Is he here for you?”

“Probably. Yes. It doesn’t matter. If he finds me, he’s going to try and kill me.” This was too much. Although she never wanted to put Riyo at risk in the first place, Ahsoka was sure she could protect the Senator from a few stormtroopers. But an Inquisitor...if he found her, Ahsoka wouldn’t be able to protect Riyo.

“You have to go. Now.”

“What? I’m not going anywhere!”

Ahsoka grabbed Riyo’s arm and pulled her back inside a table filled with food. She pretended to load up a plate as she reached out with the Force. What is he?

“I’m not asking,” she hissed. “It’s too dangerous for you to be here. You got me in; I can find a way out on my own.”

Riyo was already shaking her head. “We knew it would be dangerous. Nothing has changed. I’m not leaving you, Ahsoka.”

There was a steeliness in Riyo’s eyes that reminded Ahsoka of the many times her master had stood before the Council and defied their orders. Whenever Anakin got an idea in his head, he wouldn’t let it go, and Riyo was the same way. Convincing her to leave would take time that Ahsoka didn’t have.

Still, though; every instinct in Ahsoka’s body told her to ditch Riyo, that she had to do this on her own. That was just the way she was used to doing things now. And even before that, the Jedi had always taught her to keep people at a distance. Ahsoka hated it when people risked their lives for her. Too many clones had died under her command, under her orders, because of her. Asking Riyo to come here had already been an unbearably hard decision that would take time to forgive herself for.

But some small part of Ahsoka was secretly happy that Riyo wanted to stay. Like a tiny flower of warmth blooming in the snow. Someone cared about her. Enough to want to stay.

I didn’t ask for her to care. Isn’t it easier if she doesn’t?

Maybe I don’t get to decide.

Ahsoka closed her eyes for a moment, then made up her mind. “Fine. But we have to get out of here and into the lower levels to find that holocron before that Inquisitor finds me. Stay close.”

Riyo nodded, and then they were off.

Traveling through the halls of the Temple was like walking back in time. It hadn’t been difficult for Ahsoka to get the two of them past the stormtrooper guards, and passcode had been easy enough to bypass on the doors. Espionage? Ahsoka Tano was prepared for that.

But not for a graveyard.

“Down here,” she whispered. Her voice carried in the dimly lit halls. The further they went into the belly of the Temple, the chillier the air became, and the thicker the dust got. It was as if every level was a layer of sediment sitting undisturbed. Ahsoka doubted anyone had walked in these halls for a long time. Not since…

There. Right there: a blackened gash in the wall. Ahsoka had seen too many lightsaber cuts to be fooled. She glanced around: over there were blaster bolt holes, scrubbed clean but not repaired.

Her soldier’s mind was too well oiled to be stopped from constructing the scene. The Padawan had stood here, right here , and held off the hall against the advancing stormtroopers. He or she had deflected the blaster bolts, possibly even cut down a trooper or two. When she saw the bolt in the floor, Ahsoka’s stomach heaved. Bolts deflected from a lightsaber rarely went straight down. No, this was a killing shot.

“Ahsoka?” Riyo reached out from the gloom and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m fine.”

“Ahsoka.” The hand tightened, and Ahsoka let herself be spun around to face Riyo. She was standing there with her eyes filled with sympathy, but also with something more. Something Ahsoka knew intimately but couldn’t name.

And suddenly...suddenly it was too much. The darkness pressing in on her mind from the Inquisitor, from this place. Ahsoka felt tears building in her eyes, and then she fell forward into Riyo.

“They’re gone!” She sobbed into Riyo’s shoulder. Gave Riyo all of her weight. And then they were both sinking onto the floor, onto their knees, and Ahsoka had no strength left in her body. All she wanted was Riyo’s warmth. “They’re gone,” Ahsoka said again. “And they aren’t coming back.”

It was a maelstrom of grief, of desperate longing. Ahsoka had been alone all her life in one way or another. She thought she could handle it. She had thought she could be strong and bear the weight of the crushing despair. But she was wrong. It was too much, too much and she needed--

“I’m here,” Riyo said. And she kept saying it. “Ahsoka, I’m here. I’m here.”

After a few minutes, there were no more tears left to give. Ahsoka squeezed her eyes and looked up.

And was struck by how close Riyo’s face was. Her searching eyes. That glimmer of something else swimming within them. Riyo’s hands were intertwined around Ahsoka’s back. It would take the barest of movements, the littlest of pushes, for Ahsoka to just lean forward…

A chill swept over her body, like someone had dumped a bucket of water down her back. Ahsoka gasped. And she knew, with unerring certainty:

“He’s here.”

The widening of Riyo’s eyes told her that she understood. Without speaking, the two of them stood and turned to run-

But there he was. Standing at the end of their corridor, the Inquisitor. He was tall, lithe, all sharp edges and sinister designs. The mask on his face made it impossible to tell what species he was, but that didn’t matter. The only thing that did was the lightsaber in his hands and the space between them.

“Go,” Ahsoka told Riyo, all traces of her moment of weakness evaporated. She didn’t look away from the Inquisitor.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“I’m not asking.”

The Inquisitor took a step forward. “Please stay, I insist. I do get lonely down here; all guests are appreciated.”

His voice was formal but strangely synthetic, like it was coming from a computer. It sent more chills down Ahsoka’s lekku and back. But all she could think about was Riyo: she had to leave, she had to , or she might die.

This was Ahsoka’s worst nightmare coming to life. Her, asking Riyo to risk her life for her, and Riyo giving it. Riyo paying the ultimate price because of her.

I won’t let that happen.

“Tell me, Ahsoka Tano; how would you like your friend to die? Decapitation? Stabbed? Choked? There are so many ways. If you don’t put up a fight, I’ll let you choose the manner of her death.”

“You’re not going to touch her,” Ahsoka spat. “Not as long as I live.”

“In that case, I do believe I’ll be getting my hands on her quite soon.”

The Inquisitor ignited his blade. It emerged from the circular handle, humming with a high-pitched malevolence.

“Riyo,” Ahsoka said again, voice low with warning. She drawing her own lightsabers from beneath her gown, not looking behind her to see if Riyo was doing as she asked. “Run. Please.”

“I won’t let you disappear on me, Ahsoka. I won’t make that mistake twice.”

“Your friend is valient,” the Inquisitor said. “A trait that will cost her her life.”

And then he began walking down the hall, igniting the other blade of his saber. They spun on their round track, cutting glowing orange stripes in the floor, walls, and ceiling, and still he marched grimly forward. Ahsoka lit her own lightsabers and was bathed in the brilliant white light.

There was no more time for words.

Without warning, the Inquisitor darted forward out of his walk, leaping into the air and spinning. Though he was a blur, Ahsoka knew exactly where he would come down, how his blade would land. She deflected the blow easily enough, though the weight of it forced her back a step.

Her only thoughts were of Riyo. Never once did she consider the danger she was in. No, only Riyo’s life mattered now.

Ahsoka pressed the attack. Her speed, Anakin had told her many times, was her greatest advantage in combat. Combined with the spacial awareness her lekku granted her, Ahsoka’s body was a lethal storm.

And today she intended to be a hurricane.

Their sabers clashed and hissed and spat, Ahsoka all the while advancing forward down the hall, pressing the Inquisitor back, away from Riyo. She had remembered something about the layout of this level of the Temple. She had a plan.

Rolling forward under a swipe that had gone wide, Ahsoka nearly had him. But he was quick as well. His sabers appeared in front of hers just in time to save his legs. Ahsoka gritted her teeth. This Inquisitor was less sloppy in his bladework than most of his kind. It didn’t matter though, as long as she could keep him backpedaling.

“You can’t protect her,” the Inquisitor laughed, even as he backed up step after step. Now he seemed to be toying with her. Batting away her strikes, skipping backwards. “As soon as I kill you, I shall dispose of your friend. But no …” He cocked his masked face. “I sense…”friend” isn’t the right word, is it?”

“Quiet, creature,” Ahsoka said, but she could feel the dark tendrils of the Inquisitor probing at her mind. Digging up memories and thoughts of Riyo as if they were overturning heavy stones. She tried desperately to cut off those tendrils, but as soon as she focused on those, her concentration slipped off her lightsabers. How could he be doing both?

“No,” the Inquisitor purred. “Not a friend at all. Something... more . How delicious.”

“Be quiet!”

“Tell me: do you love her? I was under the impression Jedi were not allowed to love.” He ducked under a blow. Lashed out, nearly landed a blow. Ahsoka knew what he was doing but couldn’t stop herself from taking the bait. She had to protect Riyo. She had to.

“I am no Jedi.”

“No,” he said. “You’re certainly not.”

He must have discovered her plan while in her head. Because without warning, the Inquisitor sidestepped Ahsoka’s thrust, grabbed her arm, and was lifting her off the ground, using her momentum against her, hurling her forward--

--and through a glass pane. Beyond it was the massive atrium, the nexus of the lower half of the Temple. It was a massive space where many halls on every floor opened into, extending down for many dozens of levels.

And Ahsoka was about to fall right into it.

**

It took all of Riyo’s willpower not to cry out when the Inquisitor hurled Ahsoka through the window, and then even more to let him hop down after her. Her fingers itched to shoot him in the back with her tiny blaster while he watched Ahsoka fall. But she knew better. There were many stories of the redblades deflecting blaster fire from nearly a dozen assailants and coming out unscathed.

No. Riyo must be patient.

But that didn’t mean she would just sit here, either. She waited a moment after the Inquisitor leapt into the atrium, then hurried from her hiding spot in an alcove. Gingerly, Riyo leaned out over the yawning expanse.

There were two glowing orange wounds slashed down the wall; Ahsoka’s lightsabers, their marks dimming even as Riyo watched. And there was the redblade. His spinning sabers had formed a copter of sorts, which set him down gently at the bottom. Riyo could see almost nothing through the gloom, but she could make out the light of the four blades, balanced evenly, white and red.

She could see the moment they began to clash.

It wasn’t a question of if she had to get down there; it was how. Riyo scanned her surroundings, looking for a lift platform, a stairwell, anything. But she remembered from Ahsoka’s sketchy layout plans that the stairs in the Temple were mazes, connecting randomly and never leading all the way down or up; navigating them would take too much time. And Riyo guessed that the lifts wouldn’t have any power.

The lights below her began to speed up, growing in power and ferocity. A jolt of fear pierced Riyo’s stomach. She had to get to Ahsoka. Her friend at been alone for too long in the galaxy, facing unimaginable horrors with nobody but herself to rely on. Riyo would be damned if she would condemn Ahsoka to this trial without her.

And yet other thoughts bubbled up; memories of the last few golden days spent Riyo’s apartment.

Bringing a drink to Ahsoka. Their hands brushing, not pulling away, fingers lingering.

Ahsoka laughing at a joke and studying Riyo’s face after.

Their whispered conversations before they fell asleep.

Riyo joining in Ahsoka’s morning workout and not being able to keep up. Getting caught staring while she took a breather.

Ahsoka, Ahsoka, Ahsoka. Something in her mind clicked.

And Riyo Chuchi made a decision.

There was no way down to the bottom level. But then, there was no way Riyo was ever going to let Ahsoka Tano go. Not again. And that included into this battle.

Riyo stepped gingerly over the broken glass. Grabbing hold of the railing, she lowered her body into the void and began to climb.

**

“Your fear,” the Inquisitor mocked, “makes you sloppy.”

Ahsoka slashed, her sabers hitting air. “I am not afraid.”

“Oh but you are. Not for yourself, perhaps, but for your friends. You fear liability.” Her opponent stepped off a wall and flung himself down at her with the force of gravity behind him. “Responsibility.” Their blades met for one sparking moment, then separated. “ Mortality. ”

“But I do not fear you.”

“You have let your ghosts consume you. You’ve separate yourself from the galaxy so that none may suffer again because of you.”

“ Get out of my head! ”

“But it hasn’t worked. She will still die, just like all the others. And you will be alone. Again.”

Ahsoka screamed and threw herself into the Force, through it, pushing it out in a sphere from her body. The Inquisitor flew back like a sack of rocks and slammed into a pillar. Dropped to the ground.

“I know what you’re doing, creature. Ahsoka rolled under his weak strike and kneed him in the gut. Elbow connected with face.

A low, synthesized laugh emanated from that mask, lolling on his neck. “But you’re still tempted nonetheless.”

And she was. All the time Ahsoka Tano felt the grips of the Dark Side, nudging her like eddies in a stream. It was keenest when she was alone or idle, which was why she buried herself in the work of being Fulcrum to the Rebellion.

But being Fulcrum was not the same as being a person. The truth was that she had nobody. She could not allow herself to. Reaching out to Riyo, Ahsoka thought, had been a mistake. A decision made in weakness. And now her urge to protect her was only making the shadows stronger, giving power to the Inquisitor.

She had felt this kind of darkness before. This fear. In her old master.

The Inquisitor kicked her feet out, sent her sprawling. And then it was him who was the hurricane, attacking from all sides, turning her world into a solid, glowing red light.

Behind it. Ahsoka made out a shape, creeping down the wall. No. Riyo. She shouldn’t be here. She would die!

Now Ahsoka was truly giving ground. The Inquisitor knocked one of her sabers out of her hands, sending it spinning away into the darkness. Ahsoka couldn’t do this. Couldn’t fight this creature and the pull of the Dark Side at the same time. As long as she feared losing the one she loved, she would be at a disadvantage.

“You’re the last of your kind,” the Inquisitor laughed. “How does it feel to be alone?”

“I’m not alone,” Ahsoka said. And she had to stop fighting like she was. Calling attention to Riyo would put her life at risk. But Ahsoka dug, and found within herself a tranquility in that knowledge that hadn’t been there previously. They would fight together, and trust in the Force.

“ Riyo! Now! ”

Without warning, Ahsoka reached out into the Force and grabbed her missing saber. It careened through the air, igniting as it flew. The Inquisitor was just turning to see Riyo, to raise his blade to kill her, when her own returning saber caught him in the ribs.

He screamed, and dropped to one knee.

“Your friend has revealed herself. Now she shall die for it.” The words sent a lightning strike of fear into Ahsoka’s gut, wrenching open a chasm into which the Dark Side could pour easily. This was what she had feared. This was--

“She will die! You will never have that holocron, and she will die!”

“Yes,” Riyo Chuchi said, emerging from the shadows, her dress billowing around her like a warrior goddess. She raised her blaster. “But not today.”

And then she shot him.

The bolt sank into the Inquisitor’s shoulded. His scream echoed in the atrium like a wounded animal’s, raw and full of pain. He dropped to the floor, chest fluttering.

Ahsoka knew what she had to do next and despised it. Reaching out to catch her saber, she limped the three steps to the fallen Inquisitor. Knelt beside him.

“You,” he choked, “do not know fear. Not yet.”

“I do,” Ahsoka said, unable to keep the sadness from her voice. Though this creature was no more than an agent of darkness, he had been a living thing once. Somebody who had come from a family. And though she could not pity what he was now, Ahsoka pitied what he could have been.

Gently, she removed his mask, and felt something else move within her. He was scarcely older than she, and he was a Pantoran.

The same species as Riyo.

Riyo must have seen, because she too knelt by the dying Inquisitor. A look between her and Ahsoka conveyed what Ahsoka must do.

“Go, brother, and return to the sacred moons,” Riyo said, laying a hand on his uninjured shoulder. “Go into the Goddess’ embrace.”

Ahsoka ignited her lightsaber. “And may the Force be with you.”

She sank the blade into the Pantoran’s heart, and he did not look away.

**

Though the storm had passed, their task was still not finished.

Riyo followed Ahsoka as she led the way through the maze of twisting halls and cavernous chambers. There was no method to the madness of architecture, containing wings from every era and blended without discrimination. They were both quiet as they walked. Each were processing what had happened in their own way.

Some part of Riyo wanted to be disgusted at the violence of her actions, but her skill with a blaster had not come without practice. She had taken lives before, lives much more deserving of preservation than this one. It wasn’t even the fact that he was a Pantoran that got to her, though it helped him stick in her mind.

No, it was more the shell-shocked-ness that came with coming face to face with the Dark Side that had rattled her. To be reminded that such twisted evil existed in the galaxy...it was no small thing.

But Riyo had come face to face with ghosts that were much harder to bear.

In the end, it was the song of the holocron that led them to it. Ahsoka had sworn that she heard faint music, ethereal and illuminating, but it nonexistent to Riyo’s ears.

“This way,” Ahsoka said, one of her blades ignited for light. It was while Ahsoka led her on that final leg of the journey that Riyo realized how close a brush they had both had with death.

“Ahsoka,” Riyo murmured as they walked. “I just...I wanted to say--” She struggled to find the words. “I’m glad that you weren’t...you know. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Me to,” Ahsoka said, voice wry, but then she turned and swept off the joke. They had come into a small circular chamber that served no purpose as far as Riyo could tell. “Thank you. For coming to help me. I know I said I didn’t need you, but I was wrong.”

Riyo smiled. “You never said that. Only told me to go away and leave you.” She meant it to be lighthearted, but the force of it hit her. Hard.

Tears welled in Riyo’s eyes as she imagined what might have happened. The two of them stood, bathed in the white light and surrounded by darkness. Ahsoka’s eyes were shining. From tears or the lightsaber, Riyo didn’t know.

“Ahsoka, I...I’m glad you came to me. No matter what happened here.”

Her voice was soft, her face close. “Me too.”

“And I’m not letting you go. Not ever again.”

And suddenly, she couldn’t bear it any longer. Five years she had been strong. And now? That strength was spent. Under the glow of the energy coursing through kyber crystal, Riyo leaned forward, as did Ahsoka.

Their lips met in a single, world-ending kiss. And tasting her, being exposed to everything she had been missing like one was exposed to the brilliance of sun, Riyo found herself crying. She cried as Ahsoka twined fingers in her hair, as Riyo cupped Ahsoka’s jaw to kiss her deeper. Tears spilled down her face as the room slowly lit with one, then two, then ten twinkling lights.

By the time Riyo noticed, they were surrounded by a galaxy of stars. Ahsoka pulled away to gaze in awe, and for a moment Riyo was disappointed until she looked down and saw their hands folded around one another.

Any other time, her Senator’s mind would have analyzed the meaning of these moments to death. But right now? This seemed to exist outside of reality, and at the same time was so much more real than anything Riyo had ever known.

“Show me,” Ahsoka told the chamber, face ablaze with wonder. Then she turned that gaze back to Riyo and it almost broke her heart how much she found she loved this girl. Maybe not that love, not yet, but love in a thousand other ways.

Ahsoka kissed her again. Long, and long and long, slinging her arms around Riyo’s neck, laughing into each others’ lips at the same time they cried. Then Ahsoka buried her head in Riyo’s shoulder and hugged her.

“I missed you,” Ahsoka told Riyo’s neck. “More than I let myself know.”

Riyo felt transcendent, filled with bubbles and light and joy. As if she could drift up and away. There was a profound sorrow there as well, a sadness at the time they had lost and the lives they might have led should they have been born in a different era.

But this was now, this girl in front of her was right now , and Riyo couldn’t find it within herself to wish it different.

Riyo looked over Ahsoka’s shoulder, a glimmer of movement catching her eye. And there, floating through the air, was a little glass and metal cube, containing within its refracting and reflecting depths a dancing blue light.

Stretching out her hand, Riyo let the cube land in it. It was heavier than she expected. As she had been taught all knowledge was.

“Ahsoka, look.” Riyo said, pulling away from hug even though she was loathe to do so. When she showed the holocron to Ahsoka, she gasped.

“That’s the one. I can feel it.” Ahsoka looked at Riyo. “It came to you.”

“It came to us .”

Riyo considered the holocron in her hand. It had been made to connect the people of the galaxy. And, she mused, as she and Ahsoka kissed again and again in that star-filled cavern, it had done its job.

**

“So, have you figured out where it is we’re headed?” Riyo trailed a hand around the back of Ahsoka’s chair, then sat in her lap, Ahsoka giggled.

“Get off!”

“Not until you tell me where we’re heading.”

In truth, Ahsoka still wasn’t sure of their exact destination. It had been three days since their little heist, and it had taken all of her meager leverage as Fulcrum to get into contact with Bail Organa so quickly.

“A holocron?” He had asked, tired eyes lighting up. “You managed to find one?”

Ahsoka allowed herself a smile. “More like ‘borrowed without permission’.” After she had told him what it was capable of doing, of locating other Jedi, Bail had arranged for them to meet almost immediately. A holocron like this could be a massive asset to the fledgling Rebellion.

However, Organa was a hard man to find. His location was constantly shifting so as to avoid detection by the Empire on his more...treasonous affairs. Though he had an office in the very same building as Riyo, there was no way Ahsoka would ever go there herself. And then Riyo had offered to go of course, but Bail had turned her down.

“Safer to meet where there are less prying eyes and ears,” he had said.

And so here they were. Firing up Riyo’s Royal Pantoran Cruiser Class IV, trying to hit a moving target while also dodging an Empire who would execute both of them if it ever caught so much as a whiff their trail.

Ahsoka had never been happier.

In her lap, Riyo twisted around to face her, grinning. “But what if I wanted this seat? Technically, this is my ship.”

“Of course Senator.” Ahsoka smiled back into Riyo’s lips, because they were kissing again. She would never tire of kissing. Ahsoka was pretty bad at it, having never really kissed anyone before (she had a feeling the Jedi would have frowned upon that practice), but they were both learning quickly. Only occasionally did they clack front teeth, and barely ever accidentally bit a stray tongue.

A monitor began to flash on the console: Bail’s coordinates. Ahsoka reached out, still kissing Riyo, and tapped a button. A string of numbers appeared on a holo.

“It looks like we have our destination,” Riyo said, studying the numbers. She shifted over to the seat beside Ahsoka’s and began to tap on a keyboard. “This should only take us one jump.”

“Shame.” Ahsoka smiled as she watched Riyo work. The last few days had been a string of infinite discoveries: Ahsoka found how much she liked Riyo’s hands, how elegant they were. She found that Riyo was a morning person, that she wrote in a journal before bed, that she liked to curl into Ahsoka’s side when they slept.

She found that she was a fool for ever leaving this girl behind.

That didn’t stop Ahsoka from worrying, though. Even now as they were taking off, some part of her said that she should drop Riyo off. Bail Organa, as the organizer of the Rebellion, lived on a knife’s edge. A stray word away from execution by the Empire. Ahsoka was loathe to let Riyo into that world, into that kind of danger, double by the fact that she was in the company of an ex-Jedi. There had been more than one bad dream about the Inquisitor she had killed. About him taking Riyo and there being nothing Ahsoka could do about it.

But then again, what Riyo did wasn’t Ahsoka’s choice. Riyo was involved whether or not Ahsoka liked it. All that was left was to decide if she would be there beside her.

“Hyperspace calculations are ready to go,” Riyo said. “We can jump when you’re ready.”

Ahsoka looked at her. Really looked. And what she saw was a shining nimbus of the Force, the eddies of energy swirling in and around Riyo like they were her own personal angels.

She covered Riyo’s hand, already on the hyperspace lever, with her own.

“Punch it.”

Coruscant’s atmosphere disappeared and elongated around them into strips of bent light and air. Ahsoka felt a slight pressure pushing her back into the seat.

And a moment later, their vision was filled with stars.