In the End {1}

x: The Street Corner

It had taken a fair amount of convincing to get Anakin to even see Ventress. As Anakin parked their speeder at the ray-shielded entrance to level 1313, Ahsoka let her mind dwell on Lux. Yes, they had been in love. And she wasn't entirely sure she had fallen out of love, either. Had she made a mistake?

"Snips, come on! I don't want us to be here any longer than we have to be," her Master called out as he deactivated the ray shield. It would only be down long enough for them to pass through, so Ahsoka hopped up and ran after him.

As they were walking to their rendezvous point with Ventress, Ahsoka had a feeling Anakin was going to bring up Lux. He knew they dated, but he didn't know any of the details. He was protective over her and had questions.

"So, you and Bonteri, huh. When did that start?"

She turned her face away from his. "We officially got together about a week after you and I got back from the assignment on Onderon."

"What do you mean officially? Was stuff happening on Onderon."

"No, no, we didn't do anything on Onderon," she reassured. "Okay, not entirely true. We may have kissed once, but it wasn't a big deal."

"So you mean to tell me this was going on when you were still a Jedi?"

"Well... yes. I'm sorry, Master. It wasn't supposed to last as long as it did."

Anakin stopped and crossed his arms. "I should be very disappointed in you, Snips. But I'm not in a position to get upset. I just want to make sure that you're making good decisions and that you're safe."

"Hey, I'm fine. Lux was good to me, I promise. He'd never hurt me."

"What about this new guy?" Anakin asked, continuing to walk.

Ahsoka wasn't really sure how to answer that one. She wasn't sure what she was to Nyx, anyway. "He's nice," she said. "It's still early, so we'll see where it goes."

"If he so much as looks at you the wrong way, I'll kill him," he joked. At least she thought he was joking.

"He won't. We'll be fine."

"You'd tell me if there was a problem?"

Honestly, if there were a problem, she was more than capable of sticking up for herself. She had been a Jedi after all.

"Of course," she lied. She loved him, but if there were an actual problem, Anakin would just make it worse.

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

While they walked the streets of Coruscant, Ahsoka thought of Jaryn, Lux's older brother. She hadn't heard from him since he left Onderon. He said he was going to start working at the Jedi Temple and couldn't help but wonder if he was living in a place like some or the buildings they passed by. She hoped not. He deserved better than that after everything he had suffered.

It wasn't long before they reached the abandoned street corner where they were supposed to meet Ventress. It was dark and smelled like garbage, sewage, and alcohol. Ahsoka covered her nose.

"Gross," she muttered.

"This was your idea," Anakin reminded her.

After the events that had transpired following Ventress's visit to the shop, Ahsoka thought it best to reschedule their meeting. Ventress had no idea Anakin was going to be there, too, and Ahsoka was really hoping they wouldn't blow up at each other.

"She should be here by now," Anakin said. "We were late."

That was odd. "Maybe she got caught up with something."

"No, that doesn't feel right." Anakin walked over to one of the building walls and looked behind some crates. He turned around, and a piece of paper caught Ahsoka's eye.

"Master, look!" She gestured to it.

Anakin picked up the paper and opened it. There was a note, handwritten in Aurebesh, similar to the one Ahsoka had found right after Maggie was killed.

I'm not going to stop until you're all dead. Come find me, Jedi. Happy hunting.

"That's not good," Anakin said. "How did Barriss even know we would be here?"

"No idea," Ahsoka replied quietly. "The only people who knew about this meeting were Padme, Ventress, you, and me. Unless..."

Ahsoka had a very bad feeling as she took another glance at the crate where the letter had been. She lifted the crate's lid and peered inside at Ventress's body, curled up in a ball. There was a little bit of blood on the crate lid that Ahsoka hadn't noticed before.

She dropped the lid and took a step back. "We have a problem."

Ahsoka turned her back to Anakin as he inspected the crate. "I'm going to have to talk to the Council about this. I'm assuming you want to sit this one out?"

She nodded. "There's no way I'm going back there."

"I'll file a report with the authorities and have them do an autopsy. I want to know exactly what happened here. In the meantime, do you want me to call an escort to take you back home?"

"No, Master, I'll be fine. I can take the speeder we used to get here."

Anakin dialed something on his comm, and Ahsoka rolled her eyes. Why bother asking her if he was going to call in an escort anyway?"

"Captain Rex, this is General Skywalker. Could you and a few of the guys come pick me up? I'm transmitting my coordinates now."

Ahsoka's face lit up. Rex! It felt like a lifetime since she'd seen him, and she really missed him.

"What happened to the one you took down there?" Rex asked.

"Let me worry about that one. I have a little surprise for you when you get here." Anakin winked at Ahsoka.

"A surprise, General? It better be a good one this time."

Anakin chuckled. "Just get down here, Rex. Skywalker out."

Shortly after, Rex and Jesse pulled up next to the street corner in a small Republic speeder bike. Rex hopped off the speeder and came jogging over while Jesse kept the speeder running.

Rex took his helmet off and held it under his arm. He smiled. "Hey, kid. It's good to see you again."

"Likewise, Captain," Ahsoka responded, beaming. After an awkward pause, she gave him a hug. She'd missed her friend, and it made her happy to see him. "Been keeping Master Skywalker in line for me?"

Rex chuckled. "I try my best."

"Hey!" Anakin said.

"Relax, Skyguy," she said back to him. "I'll see you later, right?"

"Yeah, Snips." He turned to Rex. "You call me as soon as she's back safely, okay?"

"Yes, General!"

Ahsoka smiled. No matter how much time passed or how the war impacted the three of them, she was grateful that some things would never change.