Learning to Live (COMPLETE)

8.2.3

Ahsoka slipped out of the shop after an hour or so of mingling with the others. She had explored a little bit and had a pretty good grasp of the layout of the shop. She had organized her workspace a little bit and watched the others, but they had to work and she couldn't yet, so she decided that it was better to go home, or at least find something else to do.

She opened her pack and tucked the blaster back into her waistband as she walked back towards the elevators. A holster for this thing would definitely be nice, but she wanted to start making an income before she worried about those things. There were more pressing matters at the moment, like figuring out her birthday.

She started the long trek back, but once she got off the elevator (seriously, she needed to find a different way to get to work) she turned towards the social service building in the center of the sector. Fuller had recommended that she get a full identification report and now was as good a time as ever.

Thankfully, the lines were fairly short. It was about 3:30, and most of the working civilians were still at their jobs. After about ten minutes, she was at the front of the line. She walked up to the next open desk and waited to be helped.

These facilities were run by droids, not people. The droid in front of her, whom Ahsoka didn't recognize, asked, "How can I assist you today?"

Ahsoka pulled her ID tag out of her boot again. "I need a new tag, and I'd like a full identification report."

"That will be ten credits, and I will need your previous identification tag."

Good thing she put credits in her bag this morning. She hadn't anticipated that this would cost anything. She dug out the credits, of which she had none left in her bag. It would pay off, though, when she needed it.

The droid stashed her credits away and started scanning her old tag into the system. She didn't expect it to discard her Jedi tag into the trash.

For some reason, the sight of her old tag in the garbage weighed upon Ahsoka. That was her identity, her past identity as a Jedi, gone for good. She was really a civilian now.

There was a beep from one of the droids machines, and he opened a small compartment and pulled out a new tag, that looked much less prestigious than her previous one. A piece of paper also printed out, which the droid folded and stuck in a folder, along with her new ID. "Here you are, Miss Tano," it said, sliding the folder to her. "Have a nice day."

Ahsoka nodded and scurried out of the way, not wanting to hold up the line. She didn't look at the folder until she was back in her house, half an hour later.

After locking her door, she sank onto the couch and threw her bag beside her. It felt good to relax and lie down after walking for a while. Today was a big step up from resting all the time, but for the given circumstances Ahsoka had accomplished a lot. And she was hungry.

She walked into the kitchen and got to work. She had bought some steak a couple of days ago, and cut it up and sealed it the way it ought to be, according to the person who sold it to her. She took out one of the sealed packets and set to cooking it.

Thankfully, training had taught her enough to make her own meal. She knew how to cook an animal without proper supplies, but Ventress had set her up with utensils to do it 'normally'.  She washed a potato, which she hadn't tried yet and had no idea what it was, and peeled the skin off as the salesperson had said. She tried mashing it, adding a few things to it (she really had to start collecting recipes, maybe the people at work could help). The steak finished and she ate slowly, taking her time.

She knew she was delaying looking at the report, but she did it anyway. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to see it, even if she needed to. This would make it official. She would know things about herself that no one else knew, not even her. It was an overwhelming thought, knowing you have answers within your grasp.