The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter Thirty-One: Bad News After Bedtime

AHSOKA TANO

One of the big things about having four kids, as Ahsoka had learned, was that bedtimes were always the worst part of the day. After the struggle to get them all clean – while Aeja and Enarion loved the water, Aluxso and Anakin shrieked to high heaven whenever they were within two feet of the tub – she thought it would be reasonable to assume they would have run out of energy and would be ready to fall asleep right away and give their parents some time to themselves from the journey back from the supply run to Tatooine.

She had known for ten years now that it was far too much to hope for.

Ahsoka and Lux collapsed onto the old, beat-up couch in her room on the White Saber, breathing heavily.

"They asleep?" Lux asked, panting.

"Yeah. Anakin?"

"Yes, thank the Force," he gasped, falling down into her lap. "He made me read 'The Little Senator' over and over again until he finally fell asleep. But then again, you had the twins. I think I got the better end of the deal tonight."

Ahsoka stroked his hair, leaning down until she was almost close enough to kiss him. But then, a familiar whimper for attention cut through the air.

Lux groaned. "Or not."

He gazed into her eyes imploringly, but, having been the one to deal with the two much older and far more unruly twins that night, she could find no sympathy for him, and pointed at the door with a smile.

"We're even," Ahsoka called after him as he hurried as quickly as his leg would allow him out of the room and down the hallway. He knew as well as she did that he couldn't delay – the walls in the ship weren't soundproof, and as soon as one kid started crying, they had to be soothed before the noise could wake the others.

Laughing softly to herself despite her numbing fatigue, Ahsoka got comfortable on the couch and grabbed a datapad off a nearby table. Turning it on, she began working at the slow, painstaking process of hacking and decoding the records on 'Anomalous Persons', which detailed the names and whereabouts of those deemed so nonconforming to the Empire's standards that they are considered a threat. The majority of the beings on the list were Force-sensitive, and many of them probably children being monitored by Inquisitors, with the most powerful flagged as dangerous and in need of being done away with.

Ahsoka shook her head in disgust. As a mother – and even just as a person with a conscience – killing or kidnapping younglings to serve as nothing more than mindless weapons of the Emperor sickened her. Sometimes, she felt like she and others like her were the only ones standing between him and those poor innocent children.

Fuelled by a sudden swell of anger at how the Empire was exploiting them, Ahsoka immersing herself in the task so fully that she hardly noticed Lux come back into the room until he had sat back down next to her.

She spared him a glance and a smile, then went back to her work. But, not about to be ignored, Lux butted his nose against her jaw and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her onto his lap.

"Lux," she murmured in a vaguely patronizing tone, easing away, "I really need to finish this. We can cuddle later."

He planted a series of soft kisses down her lekku and onto her shoulder in response. But, even as she wanted to close her eyes and lean into his embrace, Ahsoka refused to allow herself so much as a smile. As much as she wanted to, she wasn't going to encourage him when she still had other things to do.

"Come on, Socks," Lux whispered against her skin, pulling her closer.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, and the corners of Ahsoka's mouth twitched upward when she suddenly felt a playful nip amidst all the kisses.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, turning back towards him. "Oh, fine," she acquiesced, and pulled him down by the collar to send her lips crashing into his.

It wasn't till quite a while later that they finally parted. Ahsoka lay down on the couch, her arms draped loosely around his shoulders, and Lux followed her, leaning down to press his lips to hers once more. She sighed against his mouth, her legs becoming intertwined with his – though she was careful to avoid the cast.

"I love you so much."

She kissed the tip of his nose, smiling up at him. "I love you m–"

Suddenly, her comlink rang. Stifling a groan, she pushed Lux away and sat up to answer it.

Can we never have any time to ourselves? Is that really too much to ask? I told them I was away on business, and while that might not have been the total truth, I did say I wouldn't be receiving any calls. What could be so important that it couldn't wait until we arrived back at Cialone?

"This is Ahsoka," she said, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

"It's Kaya. Ahsoka, something terrible has happened."

Ahsoka stiffened, all her earlier thoughts about the call intruding on a private moment fading away. She knew that, having been trained in etiquette by the Jedi Order back during the time of the Republic to address anyone with the rank of Jedi Knight or above as 'Master', Kaya Ti never called her by her first name unless it was something deadly serious, and didn't want to waste time with frivolities.

Fear turning her blood turning to ice in her veins, she cleared her throat and asked, "What is it?"

"It's... It's Janira. She's missing."

*And so the truth comes to light at last. But now that Lux and Ahsoka know the terrible fate that has befallen Janira, how will they react? Are there others who were close with her back with the fleet that are grieving as well? Was the fuel run even successful in the end, or was Janira's sacrifice for nothing? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

YAAAAAAARRGGHHHHH SNEAK ATTAAAACCCKKKK *jumps out of cupboard wearing a sheet and a Ghostface mask* IT'S A SURPRISE DOUBLE UPDATE!!!!

*runs back off into the shadows*

Yeah... it turns out the scene I had written up for this earlier ended up being the length of a chapter and three quarters, so I wrote the last bit and added some description here and there, AND THERE YOU GO, INSTANT DOUBLE UPDATE :D

Okay, I don't really have much else to say about this chapter that doesn't involve the next one, since it was initially written as one big long thing since story ideas have no concept of time or length on my phone, and I had to split it up.

So, without further ado, LET'S GET TO THE NEXT CHAPTER!!