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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As eager as she'd been to get behind the yoke again, Ahsoka let Lux fly the airspeeder back to Kyzeron. It was late, and her senses were swimming pleasantly in a nip of Onderonian spiced wine. She was content to slouch down in her seat and dangle a hand over the door on the passenger side, letting the humid breeze whipped up in their wake catch between her fingers.
The perfect end to a perfect night, she thought, and didn't realize she'd said as much aloud until she felt Lux's hand on her lap, giving her upper thigh a reassuring squeeze before he turned his attention back to the skies.
The bright lights of the city grew more distinct the closer they flew. Before long, she could make out the shape of Noreino House in the distance, a monolithic shadow dispelling any illusion of welcome Kyzeron's glow could offer.
Ahsoka frowned, sitting up in her seat. She'd had enough to drink to mellow her out, but not enough for her to miss the fact that unless Lux made a course correction soon, they would overshoot Noreino House completely. "Lux, you know we're not making our approach along the same vector we left on. You have to adjust course to compensate."
"I know. I just have an errand to run." He flashed her a secretive smile, and Ahsoka had a sneaking suspicion he had one last surprise left in store this evening.
"All right," she said uncertainly, settling back in her seat. Again Lux's hand found her thigh, and she smiled, linking her fingers through his on her lap.
The rest of the ride passed in comfortable silence as Lux diverted more and more of his focus to his surroundings – wary of making a mistake in front of her now that he knew Ahsoka could fly a speeder, perhaps. Before long, they'd touched down in the alley beside a dingy stone building that looked to Ahsoka's untrained eye like some kind of administrative center. There was no sign or engraving above the door listing its exact purpose, but Lux radiated confidence into the Force.
They were definitely in the right place.
"There's always a clerk or two here, even this late at night," he said by way of explanation for why they were here as he disembarked. "I won't be long. I just need to get something notarized."
"Okay."
Lux's eyes sparkled as he grinned at her, and warmth burst from a low flicker in her chest to high flames. Jumping out of the speeder after him, Ahsoka threw her arms around him and hugged him close. With a laugh, Lux squeezed her just as tight, nearly lifting her clean off the ground.
"Thank you for this, Lux," she whispered against his shoulder, breathing in his sweet scent of citrus and herbs until she was nearly dizzy with it. "You know you didn't have to–"
"I wanted to. That was reason enough."
Emotions she couldn't name welling up inside her, Ahsoka threaded her fingers through his hair and yanked him down for a fierce kiss. Lux met her with a kiss that was deeper still, and Ahsoka was just beginning to contemplate dragging him back down into the speeder when he pulled away.
