In the End {1}

iv: Old Faces

Ahsoka stood in the middle of the familiar circle of Jedi Masters. Anakin stood behind her, providing a sense of comfort in a very, very uncomfortable situation.

"Padawan Tano, concerned, we are, by the events that brought you here."

"Please, Master, it's just Ahsoka now," she corrected. "And yes, so am I. Maggie Gistella was my friend, and if whoever did this knew about her, I'm betting they know about countless others." Including me.

Master Windu crossed his arms. "I understand your sentiment, Ahsoka. You can be sure that we're going to get to the bottom of this to prevent any more unnecessary fatalities."

Ahsoka shook her head. "A month ago, had I been standing here and you said that to me, I would've believed you. Now, after everything I've been through, I'm sorry. I just don't."

"We understand your concern, and we do want to help. Unfortunately, this issue just isn't the most pressing concern right now. This is something the authorities can handle until we can give it our full attention," Master Windu said, leaning back in his chair.

"Unacceptable," Anakin said, stepping in front of Ahsoka. "Ahsoka sought me out because she thought the Jedi would be willing to help, especially since this murderer threatened every single one of us. What have we become if we aren't willing to help the people we say we're supposed to protect? Isn't that why we're at war in the first place?"

There was a long silence before Yoda spoke. "Hear you, we do, Skywalker."

"If I may," Obi-Wan interjected, "this sounds like a great project for both of you to solve." A few of the other masters nodded. "Anakin, why don't you and Ahsoka look into this together?"

"Fine," Anakin snapped. Ahsoka could sense his growing contempt. "Come on, Snips." He turned around and stormed out, and Ahsoka followed closely after.

Ahsoka chased after him as he made his way to the hangar. "Master!" She called after him.

He stopped. "Sorry, Snips. I'm just a little frustrated with the Council lately. This isn't the first time they've turned someone in need away and blamed it on the war recently."

"Hey," she said, "it's going to be fine. We'll catch this guy and make sure nothing like this happens again, right?"

He nodded. "I should probably go cool off and revisit this in a little bit. And on a more unofficial note, I, uh, have lunch plans. We can meet up for dinner to figure out a plan?" He said, more as a question than a statement.

"Dinner sounds great," Ahsoka said, smiling.

In the meantime, she had some things to do, too.

Anakin and the local authorities had helped her clean up Maggie's shop earlier that day. Now that everything was back in order, there were still bikes that needed fixing. After hours of work finishing up repairs, customers began coming in to pick up their finished products.

At five minutes until close, a familiar face walked in.

"Nyx?" Ahsoka looked up from her datapad.

"Hey," he said with a polite wave. "Small galaxy, I guess. I brought a speeder in yesterday. Maggie checked it out for me. A few small engine repairs."

Ahsoka nodded, pulling it up on the datapad. "Prepaid as well. It's in the garage." She motioned for him to follow.

She took him down a small hallway to a large open hangar with several speeders and small ships parked in a line. "It's just over here," she said, pointing to it.

He took a quick look at it, and after having deemed her work satisfactory, Nyx smiled. "Thanks. You're closing soon, right?" He asked.

"You're my last customer. I'm going to close up after you leave."