Hey everyone!

Ready for another chapter?

I hate saying this, but this might be the last chapter until Monday or later. I'm going on a trail ride and I'll be quite busy.

"You need to stop," Lux advised, shaking his head from his position on the couch. Ahsoka acknowledged his request by pausing her pacing, looking down at the rug that she was wearing thin, then continued. "I love you Ahsoka, but I've already replaced that carpet three times. You're going to wear a hole through the whole entire floor."

    "I can't," Ahsoka groaned, holding her head between her hands and wincing. She suddenly grew angry and turned to Lux, then declared in a mocking tone, "these are Jedi Council matters! Only the Council can be involved. Let us just work through this by ourselves and literally get no where while the very person that brought him down has to sit on the sidelines!"

    "I know you're stressed about this 'Soka, but there isn't anything you can do about it. This really isn't worth your mental sanity."

    "My what now?" Ahsoka half-heartedly mumbled, slightly concerning Lux.

    "Your sanity."

    "Why would I worry about my 'sanity' when I have the whole entire fate of the galaxy resting on my shoulders, Lux? In any given moment, Sidious can order the clones to turn against us and we'll all be dead," she paused to hold her hand in front of her and snap, "like that."

    "You can't save everyone else if you aren't okay yourself," Lux pointed out.

    "I'll worry about relaxing after an extremely deadly threat is extinguished."

    "No," Lux firmly stated, "you will worry about Palpatine after you rest."   

    Ahsoka finally gave in to Lux's demands and plopped down in the spot next to him on the couch.

    Ahsoka looked at the senator and gave him a weary smile, only to go back into her frantic stupor. It was definitely an understatement to say that she was overthinking every single way that she could somehow manage to convince the Council to let her help.

    "Don't even think about it," Lux pressured, suddenly wrapping his arms around her thin waist and pulling her closer. At first she was shocked, but she soon melted into the embrace and enjoyed the comforting warmth that he gave off. He was so intoxicating and addicting that Ahsoka could easily mistake him for death sticks. That is, if he didn't have much better looks and personality.

    "What would I do without you?" Ahsoka giggled as she rested her head on his shoulder.

    "Be having panic attacks."

    "You'll never get me to admit that you're right," Ahsoka stubbornly declared, holding her chin high.

    "But you know I am," Lux argued, to which Ahsoka only grew quiet. "What are you planning on doing, Ahsoka?"

    The Togruta sat still for a moment. What was she going to do? Definitely not anything with the Council. They weren't going anywhere. Even Anakin was adamant about not letting her risk her life again. It was hard to blame him, given the fact that she had just returned from being absent for nearly four years, but it still wasn't fair of them. She had brought Palpatine down in the beginning, and she was going to be there for the end.

    "I really don't want to do this on my own again," Ahsoka sighed.

    "But you aren't alone. You have me."

    "It doesn't work like that, Lux," Ahsoka chuckled, "I don't think you can wield a lightsaber."

    "You never know," Lux argued, "I bet I'd be good at it."

    "Yeah, I bet you would be," Ahsoka sarcastically remarked, "it totally didn't take me my whole entire life to get where I am with my lightsaber skills."

    The two sat in quiet together, snuggling into the other's warmth. If only all of their life could be this peaceful. If only Ahsoka was just a senator's lover. The Togruta wouldn't trade her way of life for the world, though. The never ending excitement and feeling of always being on your toes was what she lived for. Without it... she just wouldn't be Ahsoka.

    "I mean like... why don't you just use the Force?"

    "That's not how it works..." Ahsoka wandered off as a lightbulb went off in her mind, "wait a minute. You're right." The Gray Jedi had just realized that during her worry, she had never once meditated. Of course, she was sure that the Council hadn't either, which was probably a good reason why the Sith was still on the run.

    "I'm always right!" Lux boasted, to which he got a playful slug in the arm for.

    "Well, if this is the case, then I've got a stupid Council to meet."    

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    "Hello Masters," Ahsoka bowed with a sickeningly sweet fake smile.

    "Padawan Tano," Yoda replied, "fortunate, come when you have. Talk to you, we need to."

    Ahsoka raised a white, eyebrow-like face marking. Had they changed their mind suddenly? Were they finally getting past their stubborn traits and asking her for much-needed help?

    "Come to a decision, the Council has, that you are to be stripped from your rank as a Jedi Padawan."

    What?! Her heart fell right to her feet. She suffered through all of that, coming out as a Jedi stronger, more talented, and wiser than any other, and to be expelled from the Order? What reasoning did they have? Were they just upset that there was finally someone much better than them?

    Her panic grew even greater as the grandmaster lit his lightsaber, with the whole rest of the Council folloing in pursuit. What in the kriff was wrong? She nervously glanced between all of the ignited blades. She could easily best all of them, especially now that she was gaining more control over her powers, but she really didn't feel like killing all of the people she used to look up to.

    Yoda started hobbling towards Ahsoka. She frantically searched for any signs of them joking with her, but they did indeed look very serious. Were they being controlled by Sidious? Was this his way to get her to turn to the Dark?

    "Trust in us, you must," Yoda instructed as Ahsoka began to back into a wall, "Fear, you do. Let go. Kneel."

    Ahsoka was frightened even more than before. With trembling lips and legs, she got down on one of her knees, but she was terrified of what he was going to do. Was he going to kill her?

    He swiped his lightsaber at her head, and out of instinct she quickly called one of her white-bladed lightsabers to her hand. She ignited it and blocked his strike, a scowl on her face.

    However, to her surprise, she heard something clatter to the ground besides her. She took a quick side glance at it, shocked to see it was her strand of padawan beads.

    "Welcome, Knight Tano," Yoda said as they all powered off their lightsabers. Ahsoka breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was okay. She didn't have to kill them. Sure, one might say that she was overreacting to the situation, but her trust levels at the moment were literally next to none.

    Suddenly Yoda looked at her lightsabers in confusion. He called both the one that she was holding and the one that was on her belt. Ahsoka mentally slapped herself for not being more careful with making sure that she was carrying her green sabers when she was around the Jedi. She noticed that many other of the Council members were curious as well, save for Obi-Wan who had already fought her with them.

    The grandmaster traced the balance symbol that was on the base of the weapons, looked back up to the pure white blades, and grew ashen. He glanced between Ahsoka and her weapons, realization finally dawning on him. However, knowing that most of the other Jedi Masters didn't know what they meant, he gave them back to her and mumbled, "Unique Jedi color, these are. Seen in a long time, this hasn't been seen in the Temple."

    It slightly annoyed Ahsoka that he was going to pass it off as a normal Jedi thing, despite the fact that he very well knew that the Togruta had become a Gray Jedi, but she knew it was the only thing that he could do. If he would've mentioned anything else about it, an extremely long conversation would've followed in pursuit.

    So, as all of the missing puzzle pieces fit together in Yoda's mind, he stumbled back to his chair. It finally made sense. The first disturbance in the Force? That was the arise of the Gray Jedi. He knew that she hadn't been this way her whole life. Especially not when he had assigned her to Anakin as a padawan. The second Force wave? Probably her testing out her new powers that she had oddly gained. How she had single-handedly escaped what was supposed to be her death sentence? Probably her extra strength that helped her escape Grievous and blow the ship to the high heavens. Why Sidious had been after her? She is a great threat to him. Whichever side she was on had a huge advantage. And for how she had discovered the hidden Sith? Yeah, it was probably just because they were to naive to see it. The trip to Dantooine? The long-forgotten Gray Jedi Temple that he thought only him and a few of the older Jedi Masters knew of.

    However, there was something that still had the grandmaster stumped. Just because she was a Gray Jedi didn't explain why she was so strong. Sure, the balanced warriors were stronger than the most talented Jedi and Sith, but not by the large amount that Ahsoka had on them. There was something else that he didn't know. Whatever it was though, he had a pretty good feeling that it could explain why he had felt another presence in her signature that one time during meditation.

    Answered, my questions will be in time, Yoda assured himself as he sat down on his chair. He looked back to Ahsoka, who still seemed very shook and pale. What in the world had happened since the time that she had been the padawan on the frontlines? She had never been this paranoid before. In any other given time a few years ago, he would probably be able to attack her from behind with a lightsaber, and the second that she saw it was him, she wouldn't be scared one bit. This version of Ahsoka was definitely one who seemed like she had seen way too much.

    "Thank you Masters," she mumbled, picking up her silka beads from the floor and attaching them to her belt. She wasn't sure why she was holding on to them, they just felt like they held purpose in her life. They represented the Light Side in her, she guessed, "but I have come in the topic of Sidious."

    "You still aren't a part of the mission," Mace pointed out.

    Ahsoka gave him a long, hard glare, then put a fake smile on her face and sweetly turned to the other Jedi Masters. "I think it would be good to exercise the practice of meditation in a group. Assuming, that is, that you haven't already?" 

    The Council members shared glances amongst each other before Obi-Wan replied, "No, I don't believe we have."

    "Well, shall we get started?"

    About ten minutes later, Ahsoka and the Council members were located in a room specially allocated to meditation. The Togruta had wanted to be a part of the circle that they had formed, but they insisted that she stay in the center as the leader of the activity. Ahsoka knew that this was supposed to make her feel important, but she had a sense that they had other underlying reasons.

    Now they had fallen into a silence as they got into meditation positions, mostly with their legs criss-crossed or in a butterfly formation. Most had also closed their eyes at this point, trying to block out everything else so they could purely focus on the Force.

    A small, victorious smile spread across her face. It was finally working. She was finally inching her way towards the leadership position that the Ones from Mortis had told her that she needed to obtain. Of course, she was still way far off from being something similar to a grandmaster, but every step of progress counts.

    Ahsoka settled into a peaceful state as she went to join the others in the group meditation. However, when she tried to enter, she seemed to be... cut off?

    No they wouldn't... Ahsoka thought as she pressed harder. Much to her dismay though, she was indeed very blocked. They weren't letting her join. No way would they let a lowly knight join in on their session, even though she had been the very one to start this all.

    She could probably break through if she tried hard enough, especially if she went for the weaker links such as Plo and Obi-Wan who really didn't want to leave her out, but she wasn't going to try. She was done. She was fed up with their bantha dung. If they didn't want her help, fine, they wouldn't get it. She wouldn't listen when they came crying to her later, hands empty and attempts futile.

How am I supposed to be a leader when the people I'm trying to guide won't accept me?

Sometimes what it takes to be a good leader is being independent. If they don't see at first, you have to help them out by doing things by yourself and showing them how.

I guess that makes sense. So... do you want me to meditate on my own?

Not here, no. You won't find anything in the Jedi Temple.

If not here, then where?

That, you will have to figure out yourself.

I still don't understand why you can't just tell me where Palpatine is.

We aren't allowed to disclose anything in fear of the future playing out in a much, much worse reality. The Force will show you what it wants you to know, given the right circumstances.

This is all turning about to be so much work. If only I just arrested him the second I caught wind of who he was.

You have to remember that what you have done is right. If you didn't wait, he might have not had enough evidence stacked against him to prove that he was associating with the Separatists. Now you are walking proof of who and what he is.

I suppose I should go ahead and go. I have the feeling that I'm being... watched...

    Ahsoka opened her eyes, and, not to her surprise, she realized that every single Council member was staring at her.

    "How did you stay so deep in meditation? We've been conversing loudly for the last five minutes."

    Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "Oh I don't know. Maybe the same way that you guys decided to be stubborn arses and not accept my help"

    Several of the masters gasped at her obscenity. Mace stormed up and jabbed a finger into her shoulder, glaring the whole time while saying, "You respect your uppers, Tano."

    Ahsoka only brushed him off, walking out the door. She turned to spit out a remark. "You won't be so arrogant when you realize that you've ruined your last chance at winning the war. But if you don't want my help, then so be it. All you are doing is dragging me down with your weak connections to the Force and naive minds."

    The Togruta stormed out of the room, loudly slamming the door behind her. Everyone was shocked at this outburst. Sure, they had it coming, but they still didn't expect her to lash out at them. The only exception to this was Obi-Wan, who had been advising against the other members of the Council the whole way. He had seen how strong Ahsoka was. He knew that she was much wiser than all of Masters combined, despite her still fairly young age.

    "What is she talking about?" Mace stammered as he turned to Yoda, who had been paying little attention. Despite how utterly useless their meditation session had been, the grandmaster had his own, personal vision, which had left him in shock as he still was trying to comprehend what he had seen.

    "Chance... chance she is talking about is her," Yoda finally managed to mumble, "Seen it, I have. Successful, the side who has her is. Key to winning the war, she is."

    "I thought that's what the Chosen One is for?" Mace deadpanned.

    "Failed, the Chosen One has in the future," Yoda replied, still looking extremely shaken. He had several visions of the future, and the only one that they came out successful in was the one where she had been their leader. As wildly foreign it had seemed, he could tell that it was true. The Force wouldn't lie to him.

    "That's not possible," Mace argued, "he's the Chosen One! It's in the prophecy!"
     "A prophecy doesn't matter if the person is being swayed by the Dark Side," Obi-Wan pointed out, "and that is possible if Sidious is still on the run."

    "Mend bridges we must," Yoda said, "and soon, if our lives we matter about."

ABOUT GOD DANG TIME THEY KRIFFING REALIZE THAT SHE'S IMPORTANT!

Maybe now Mace won't act like he has a stick up his butt when he's around Ahsoka 😤🙄