The Republic has fallen.
In the final days of the Clone Wars, Chancellor Palpatine died under mysterious circumstances. With the Senate struggling to retain a sense of unity, it was the perfect time for the Separatists to strike. And strike they did...
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Ahsoka awoke the morning after the gala to a muffled curse, and something that looked like a half-folded shirt being thrown out of the walk-in closet in the general direction of a suitcase by the couch. Last-minute packing frenzy, she'd guess. Smiling, she called, "You missed – aim two feet to the left on the next throw!"
Lux stuck his head back into the bedroom, wincing when he realized she was still in bed. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry. I'm just–"
"In a rush because you spent too much time doing your makeup before the gala last night," Ahsoka listed, ticking it off on one finger as she sat up, "and you'd had too much to drink by the time you got back to finish packing afterward."
"Come on, I wasn't that drunk." Lux pouted at her, and she had to smile.
"And I wasn't awake, but thank you for confirming my theory."
Sensing he'd been outmaneuvered, Lux rolled his eyes playfully, but beneath it he was all smiles. "Good morning," he said, and disappeared back into the closet.
Ahsoka allowed herself a short laugh and pushed the sheets off her legs. Her lekku warmed a little when she realized her knee-length sleeping tunic had ridden nearly up to her waist. She and Lux slept on opposite sides of the room, true, but that still could've ended badly.
Or well, the part of Ahsoka's mind still tangled in Lux's arms on the veranda whispered. She scrubbed a hand over her face, groaning, but she couldn't banish the image entirely. Old military habits were hard to break, and she usually bunked down for the night in pants or leggings – clothes she could get up and fight in. She wasn't so wanton as to forgo underwear, but she also knew she rarely lay still as she slept. She'd known perfectly well what Lux risked seeing in changing her attire last night.
"When's breakfast?" she asked, clawing for a distraction.
"I was waiting for you to wake up," Lux's voice floated from the next room. "I'll ring for it in a minute."
"Right."
Lux's only reply was another swear and the sound of cabinets opening and being slammed shut. If Ahsoka had to guess, he couldn't find whatever it was he was looking for, and that gave her an opportunity for an early start on the day's work.
She made for the small, easy-to-access armoire against one wall Lux had emptied of his favorite clothes to make room for hers. Then, grabbing the first fresh tunic and pair of leggings in sight, she stole back across the room to retrieve her transmitter from its hiding place beneath the sculpture. A few silent steps later, and she was safely sequestered in the refresher – and away from any prying eyes.
Ahsoka booted the transmitter up as she dressed, and when she turned back to it, she found a message on the EF-4 band waiting for her. There were only really two people in the Rebellion Ahsoka spoke with regularly nowadays, and now that Rex had just left on a mission, that left only one real alternative. It was probably only a status report on the Rebellion's effort to probe Imperial defenses around Onderon in the Japrael sector – Bail Organa had promised to forward whatever information came his way – but after the last conversation she'd had with him...
