In the End {1}

~ Fireworks ~

*The level of steamy in this chapter is open to your interpretation, so read into it as little or as much as you'd like ;)

~months prior, on Onderon~

It was late by the time Ahsoka and Lux left the royal palace. Ahsoka was tired, but she wasn't ready for the day to end. Dancing at the ball with Lux felt magical, and she didn't want it to be over so soon. She sensed that Lux was having similar thoughts.

Lux held the door for her as she stepped inside and started turning on the lights.

"You still have that to-do list, right?" she asked. If she remembered correctly, there were still a number of things on it that they hadn't gotten to do the first time before Ahsoka was called back to Coruscant.

"You bet," Lux said. A devilish grin crept across his face. "And I know just the thing."

"Do I get to know what it is?"

He shook his head. "Nope. You still have that swimsuit from last time, right?" She nodded. "Good, put that on."

Swimsuit? A visit to the lake isn't quite what she had in mind, but nevertheless, it meant spending time with him. She gave him a quick kiss before going upstairs and changing. She was glad she had left the swimsuit at the cottage when she left the first time. Her motivation for doing so was to avoid the inevitable questioning from her master when he saw that she had it, which wouldn't occur if he never saw it. She didn't think she'd actually use it again.

She threw on Lux's t-shirt and stared at her lightsabers sitting on the bed. Should she take them? The chance that she would need them was low, and they wouldn't be accessible to her when she was in the lake, anyway. She didn't sense anything amiss, so she decided to leave them behind. Besides, no Jedi was ever truly weaponless; she had the force and her training to rely on if there was a problem.

Ahsoka waltzed downstairs and met him outside. Instead of walking out to the lake like they usually did, Lux hopped on the back of a speeder.

She raised an eyebrow. "Can't we just walk?"

"I want to take you to a special spot this time."

It only took them a few minutes to reach their destination. Lux stopped in a small clearing next to a cliff overlooking the lake. It was dark, but Ahsoka could see the lights from their cottage across the lake.

"It's prettier during the day time," he said, helping her off the speeder.

She took a few steps toward the edge of the cliff. It wasn't that high up, but it was difficult to judge the depth of the water below. Based on how big the lake was and the way it met the land on this side, it was probably safe to jump. Why else would Lux have taken her there?

"Senator Bonteri cliff diving? How adventurous," she joked.

He laughed. "My friends tried to get me to do it for years. Not at this particular cliff, of course, but it's a tradition to go cliff diving during the fireworks show. I've always just sat and watched from home with my family."

Ahsoka understood. He'd always spent the holiday with his parents, and this was the first one he'd have to celebrate without them. She laced her fingers in his. "Well, far be it from me to stand in the way of tradition."

"It's a rite of passage of sorts," he said, squeezing her hand gently. "There's a catch, if you're up for it."

"What kind of catch?"

He chuckled. "Our clothes stay here for the duration of the fireworks show."

"Oh." She glanced around briefly. It was dark enough that no one would see them from a distance, but she was still wary. If she needed to jump back into her Jedi protector role, it was probably best that she have at least something covering her. "I think it's best if I don't observe that part, just in case."