In the End {1}

vii: Gut Instinct

Ahsoka looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a dress Lux had bought for her back when they first started dating. She smiled wistfully, thinking about how happy they had been. But that was over now, and she was with Nyx. He made her happy now.

The dress was dark green with a low-cut v-neck and open back. It accentuated her curves in a way that drove Lux crazy every time she wore it, but to her, she just looked like herself. The torso and upper thighs were fitted, ruffling out at her knees. She wore matching heels, which felt foreign to her. The last time she had worn heels was her anniversary dinner with Lux.

Nyx had gone to pick up his dry cleaning while she changed so she would have plenty of time to get ready. It was sweet of him, really. Ahsoka wasn't sure what she was getting herself into with Nyx but she was starting to feel something. It was nothing in comparison to how much she had loved Lux, but it was still something. She had to start somewhere if she was going to move on.

Just as she put the finishing touches on her outfit, she heard the door buzz and felt Nyx's presence.

"You ready?" he yelled from the other room.

"Yeah!" she yelled back, grabbing her purse from the nightstand.

"I just have to change and then we can go. Hold on one sec!"

Ahsoka walked out of the extra bedroom and into the living area of his apartment. She sat down on the couch and played with the emerald on her necklace, her thoughts dwelling on Anakin.

She could sense conflict in him, more than she'd ever felt before. He was letting his emotions bottle up inside him again, and she didn't them to explode on him. That tended to happen from time to time when he was under a lot of stress. If there was something she could do to help, she would do it in a heartbeat, but she wasn't much help to anyone inside the Order anymore. Maybe it was better that he go to Obi-Wan to vent instead of Ahsoka.

"Okay, I'm ready," Nyx said, drawing her attention back to the present.

She stood up and brushed the wrinkles out of her dress. "Then me too." She gave him a quick kiss and slid her arm in his. "Let's go."

The restaurant Nyx has chosen was someplace Ahsoka had never been. It was a nicer place, but it was cheaper than a lot of the places she and Lux had been on dates. Nyx wasn't as rich as a Republic Senator, of course, but that didn't matter to Ahsoka.

Toward the end of their meal, a flash of light on the television behind the bar drew Ahsoka's eye. It was a terribly recorded video of a hooded figure shooting down a father and his children on the train. Based on the captions, Ahsoka could tell that the victims had been force-users.

"That's awful," Ahsoka said, picking at her food.

"What? The news?" Nyx asked.

She nodded. "What savage would go after an innocent family like that? It's just wrong."

"I agree," Nyx said, "but I feel like there's a motive they're not explaining. A political motive, perhaps."

"Meaning?"

Nyx sighed. "I know a lot of people are upset with the way the war is going. Some blame Dooku, and others blame the Jedi for neglecting the public at the cost of victory. If you ask me, I'd bet this has something to do with that."

"I guess," Ahsoka replied. "That doesn't mean I agree with it."

"What? Dooku? Or the Jedi?"

"Just the war in general. Yeah, I agree that it spreads the Jedi too thin and doesn't leave enough support for the people we're trying to protect."