The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Meadow

AHSOKA TANO

Ahsoka spent the next day thinking, researching, meditating, contemplating... doing everything she possibly could to see deeper into what she had learned from the Sith holocron.

At first, she had been suspicious of the holocron's willingness to help her. But she realized then that, as it was with any asset of the Dark Side, its ultimate goal was to unbalance her, an asset of the Light, as much as possible. And what better way to unbalance her than to tell her that her perception of who knows how much of her life was a lie?

What made it worse that, try as she did, Ahsoka just couldn't see how far the corruption of her memories had spread. She didn't know what she was missing. For all she knew, it went all the way back to the Clone Wars, to her last memories of times spent with Anakin – or even further. She simply knew too little about what had been taken from her to try to reverse it.

And, just as Kaylira had intended it to be, it was tearing her up like nothing ever had before.

It was Lux who had finally broken her out of her perpetual vicious cycle of worrying by kissing her and asking her to come to the meadow with him. Or at least, he allowed the cycle to change form into something more bearable.

Now, she was wondering less about herself and more if the corruption had spread to him, and those she was close to... possibly even everyone who could give her a glimpse at the truth. And so, as they lay down together in the soft turquoise grasses of their special hideaway streaked here and there with lianas, she resolved to probe him with careful questions to find out.

It was an unusually warm night for this time of year, and the sky was cloudless and clear. Despite her worries, Ahsoka felt as though they could see for miles, light years, parsecs... all the way to the most distant planets in the known galaxy. And there was something absolutely wonderful about that.

"The stars sure are beautiful tonight," Ahsoka murmured.

Lux nodded and pulled her a little closer to him. Their eyes met for a moment as his arms shifted around her, and Ahsoka smiled, leaning forward to press a soft, slow kiss to his lips.

They parted after a moment, turning to look up at the sky once more. For a few minutes more, they were silent, speaking only in simple, loving gestures and brief glimpses of shared thought. But then, Ahsoka realized the time was right to start finding out what he knew, and she rolled over to face him again.

Best start off with something simple, she thought, and asked, "Do you remember the day we got married?"

Lux smiled; Ahsoka felt it against her lekku. "Of course I do. It was one of the happiest days of my life."

"Tell me about it, Lux," she whispered, shifting closer to him.

Lux laughed gently, nuzzling her forehead. His breath was warm against her face, and slightly sugary from the jogun fruit they had shared for dessert. "You were there, aniika."

"I know how it was for me... But I want to hear it from you."

"All right." Lux was silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts. Then, he began, waving a hand across the air in wide, elaborate arcs to help tell the story.

"It was... perfect. It was the middle of summer here on Cialone, just south of here in the Utamar valley. The wind smelled like a thousand flowers, and the way it blew through the trees sounded almost like music." Lux chuckled to himself. "Well, everything sounded like music to me that day.

"And that was when I saw you. You were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in that dress – I could hardly believe you were about to be mine... forever."

"But I was always yours," Ahsoka interjected.

Lux grinned and kissed her cheek. Then, he went back to telling his tale. "Christo walked you down the aisle – I think he was crying a little bit, too – and Zaydn read the text from the Andesari that married us. Then, we said our vows, and I told you I loved you, and held you in my arms just like this, and..."

Lux trailed off as he leaned in to touch his mouth to hers. Ahsoka smiled and kissed him back, throwing one arm over him to pull him closer.

"So why do you ask?" he asked as they parted.

"Well... I've been having dreams about it. Or things like it."

Lux hummed thoughtfully, and it resonated throughout Ahsoka's lekku. "Good dreams?" he asked finally.

"Yes. Just different, I guess. The ceremony wasn't here on Cialone... well, it was and it wasn't. There were two images of almost the same thing like two holograms one on top of the other. Every now and then the one on top would fade out of focus, and I could see what was underneath. It was the same ceremony, but in the middle of a desert with two suns instead of here in the valley."

"Tatooine?"

"I think so. But what was strange about it was that... Obi-Wan married us. And Anakin walked me down the aisle. And Padme was there!" Ahsoka sighed, hiding her face in Lux's shoulder. "I know it's impossible, and probably nothing more than wishful thinking, but it felt so real..."

"Do you think it might mean something?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well," Lux said after a long moment, "I've been having dreams too, about memories with little changes – or sometimes even big ones, like people that aren't supposed to be there, or who are in the wrong places. Or even dreams where I'm in the wrong place."

So I was right; it's coming undone for him as well, she realized with a start. It started with me, the intended target. Now that I'm starting to realize what happened, he's starting to break free of it too.

"Like what?"

Lux shook his head, a smile breaking through the darkening expression on his face. "I'm sure it's nothing we need to worry about."

Ahsoka wasn't sure she believed him, but she didn't want to push him – there was always a chance it would start to get defensive. And besides, she already had the information she needed. "Okay," she murmured, and pulled him in for another kiss.

They were very much in love, and there was nothing more precious than that.

*Thanks to an enlightening conversation with Lux, Ahsoka is starting to realize the corruption of her memories goes far deeper than she originally suspected. But now that she knows it has spread to him, and possibly many more people she knows, how will she manage to break free of it? And what is Lux reluctant to tell Ahsoka about the dreams he's been having? What has he seen that's been changed? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano! 

Chapter two, coming through!! *honks horn and speeds by*

Okay that was bad, I'm going now...

Just kidding, I still have an author's note to host here! This was a nice fluff chapter, but it had some things that were important. For one, we get to see what I mentioned briefly in the second to last chapter of Book Nine taking effect: the fact that Lux and everyone else who could potentially help Ahsoka get back on the right track have lost their memories. But now that Ahsoka is starting to break through it, perhaps there's hope they can, too...

Okay, one last thing before I set you free to read the next chapter: the Andesari  is an Onderonian holy book I came up with that contains a few different variations on marriage sermons and vows. It replaces the book Obi-Wan read from in Book Seven for the real, un-Kaylira-tampered-with marriage.

Now, ONWARD!!