A Path Less Taken

Chapter 2 - Back to the Temple

"So... do you have a plan?" Ahsoka asked.

"Since when do we ever have a plan?" Anakin questioned as his feet dangled over the edge. Both him and, well not his Padawan, but his best friend were both sitting on the edge of a building on Coruscant. Being, well now a rogue Jedi still had it's perks as far as getting speeders from people goes. A local one let him have this one was free. It wasn't the best, but it got them around.

"That's very true. So what do we have left to do? Just get a job and eventually get enough credits to find a place to live?" Ahsoka asked. Anakin frowned slightly. There was a steady feeling that peace was not an option while this war was going on. Because regardless whether they no longer answered to the Jedi, they were still enemies of the Separatists. And with no backup from anyone, they were going to have to be better than they were before.

"I'm not sure if that could really satisfy me. Not only satisfy me, but bring me peace of mind. As long as this war is still going, I don't think I could ever really feel right with myself," Anakin said.

"What do you have in mind?" Ahsoka asked. Then Anakin stood to his feet.

"I'm going back to the temple. Just to make certain preparations. There are a lot of things I'm going to have to steal if I want to get us a proper position on the war," he said, rubbing his wrist.

"You're going to steal from the temple? How do you expect to pull that off?" Ahsoka asked.

"The Jedi don't know that I've left. As far as they know, I walked with you to spend a little more time with my Padawan. They might judge a little, but it won't be like mutiny. First order of business is getting two more comms. I may see if Rex can feed us intel from the inside as far as high priority targets are concerned. And a manual on the seven forms. Getting a holocron on the subject is too risky," Anakin explained, his eyebrows furrowed in thought and his metal thumb and index on his chin. "Then I'm going to need to take a few days to reconstruct my lightsaber."

"Reconstruct it? What exactly is the point?" Ahsoka asked.

"The colors variate as you meditate over it. You did not create your own as the council gave you your lightsabers, but I had to meditate over my crystal for several days before putting it together. It was torturous, but I'm willing to do it again," Anakin said in remembrance of the time. "And if I get down the form that I cannot remember for the life of me, I'll make another lightsaber, but primarily use one. Maybe get some robes and hide it under my sleeve or something. The problem is finding a Kyber Crystal."

"You're changing your style? That doesn't sound like something you'd do," Ahsoka said.

"Not changing it. Just learning more of them. It's something that I never really thought I'd have to do while I was in this war, but it turns out that learning more styles is useful. You would do well to learn more styles yourself Ahsoka," Anakin said as he walked towards the speeder.

"So, to clarify, you plan on stealing comms so you can somehow get Rex to feed you intel, a manual on the seven forms, and the locations of Kyber Crystals across the galaxy," Ahsoka summed up.

"That sounds about right," Anakin confirmed with a nod.

"You're just a crazy as before Skyguy," Ahsoka said with a shake of her head, making Anakin grin.

"Hey, we share in the craziness. It's how we always work. Though I'm going to have to hope the sight of that damnable Temple sobers me enough to mask my intentions. Sometimes the Force is like a bloodhound for sensing wrongful intentions if one cannot mask themselves in the Force. I'm going to have to try to keep my head cool and not blow my top so I won't be an open book," Anakin said before shaking his head at how hard that was going to be for him.