The engine rooms of the cruisers were always the loudest on board, but while the ship was in hyperspace, it was quiet enough that a small group could maintain a conversation without having to raise their voices. At the same time, they didn't have to worry about being overheard. Both Anakin and Ahsoka had discovered this long ago, and it made sense to them to catch up there rather than somewhere else where someone could walk in at any moment.

It was a little odd for Ahsoka to be here again after having worked three months as a mechanic. Everything looked a lot newer, even if there were a few marks here and there. Most of the ships she repaired were ten years old at least, but these were only as old as the Clone War itself. She found herself wondering what her colleagues would say if they were here.

Anakin was wincing as he walked, due to multiple injuries on his back. Even the Chosen One could not escape unscathed, even if he was in the best condition. Ahsoka made sure to walk slower than normal, so he could keep up without straining himself.

"I wasn't expecting to see you this soon," he confessed, once they were well covered by the background noise of the engines.

She glanced at him. "Neither did I. Twenty-four hours ago, I had no expectation of getting involved in surface life again, and it wasn't like the Changeling gave much of a warning."

Anakin smirked down at her. "How did that actually go?" He asked, well aware that she had omitted a few parts when she had told the Council.

"The Changeling just came down and said that the Order needed my help. Of course, that was just a load of rancor dung, obviously. Even if it were true, they wouldn't have sent him. There were other signs too, but the entire idea was just laughable. It probably scared my coworkers, though," she realized. "In retrospect, knocking out a Jedi doesn't look very good."

Snickering, he doubled over, then groaned at his own sudden movement. "Ow, bad idea."

Ahsoka looked over at the benches along the wall. "Maybe you should sit, just for now."

"Yeah, maybe," he agreed reluctantly, and they walked over so he could rest. Ahsoka knew he hated looking weak or vulnerable, but for some reason, he didn't seem too bothered by it right now. Then again, she thought, he was just in Scarlet Haven.

He stared at her, getting a good look at her for the first time in a month. "You've gotten stronger since the last time I saw you. Have you been training?"

Ahsoka shrugged, hiding a grin. "When I can, after work and whatnot. There's always some kind of trouble to get into in the Lower Levels."

"That wouldn't have to do anything with the lightsabers you have there, would it?" Anakin probed, glancing down at her belt. "I don't remember those either."

She pulled them out, both of them, and smiled at the hilts. "Funny story, now that you mention it." She turned to look at him. "You remember that I lost my lightsabers before the trial, right?"

He nodded, not wanting to interrupt her.

"Apparently, Tyrannus must have tracked them down, because he gave me my own crystals to use in the Inquisitor's lightsaber. I never realized it, and I don't even know if it was on purpose, but either way, I had decided to leave my lightsaber at the Inquisitor's death site."

"I remember that," he mused, thinking back to the day. "It looked like someone had taken the crystals from the handle, but I wasn't thinking about it. I was a little more worried about something else at the moment." He looked at her pointedly, and she bowed her head, resigning to the blame.

She turned them over in her hands. "The day my shop got attacked, I pulled these off of one of the thugs. A few weeks later, and I made these."

Her story processed in Anakin's mind. "So those are the same crystals you had as a Jedi?"

Ahsoka nodded, handing them both to him. He felt their weight and instantly recognized that these were a lot heavier than her first sabers. The design of the hilt had a few touches from her old hilts, but new touches had been added to make them much more decorative and personal than the Order would have approved of.

"I'm kind of surprised no one brought it up when I came in," she remarked, referring to the Council. "I thought for sure they'd say something."

"They were distracted," he said dismissively. "I think they were more shocked about you than your lightsabers." He turned them on, expecting them to be green or yellow, or maybe even red, like they used to be. He was not expecting to see white blades.

Anakin stared at them for a long time. "This...I've never seen this before. How did you do it?"

She smiled at his awe, just a little bit proud. "I purged the Darkness and the Light from my old crystals, to start over. Now the crystals are neutral, which makes the blades white, I guess."

"That's incredible," he told her, deactivating them and handing them back. "I wish I could have seen you use them. Unfortunately, I was..."

"Being tortured?" Ahsoka asked, but Anakin waved it off.

"It wasn't that bad-"

"Don't you dare, Anakin, I felt it."

"It was only fo-" he stopped mid-sentence when he realized what she had said. "You felt it? How?"

She tapped her temple, reminding him that, "Whatever this is decided that the closer I am to you, the more I know."

Anakin rested his head in his hands, leaning forward on the bench. When he did, Ahsoka saw the blood that stained his robes properly for the first time. No one had been given time to change yet, and even the dark cloth of Anakin's choice of attire couldn't hide everything. 

"I still haven't figured that out, you know," he admitted, not looking up at her. "I tried looking a few times in the library, but I haven't found anything so far. Whatever this is, it hasn't happened recently enough for it to be remembered."

Ahsoka nodded, not very surprised. "We'll figure it out on our own, then," she told him. "We'll find a way like we usually do."

He smiled, eyeing her lightsabers again. "I don't know, you seemed to do pretty well on your own today."

"Believe me, I did not do this alone," she corrected him. "Otherwise I would have done it sooner."

"You figured out how to eliminate casualties," he insisted, standing up. "There are a few Council members who still haven't gotten that one yet."

She snickered. "Don't let them hear you say that," Ahsoka warned him, and they began walking back to the rest of the ship. As they did, Anakin thought of something.

"How did the troop respond when they saw you?" Anakin asked, remembering how loudly they had cheered when Rex told them she was alive.

Ahsoka didn't even try to fight off a smile. "They nearly tackled me, once they realized who I was. Not long after, Rex showed me the starfighter."

Anakin remembered her decorated fighter down in one of the hangars. He wished that he had been there for her to see it, but he had sort of been taken captive.

"I'm glad they showed you. They've been hiding it for a while now."

"I think you guys have issues," she teased, and he shoved her to the side as they exited the engine room. "I'm serious, though. I've thought about it, and I'm pretty sure the Jedi Order is the textbook definition of a psychopathic cult.

Anakin nearly lost it, and he raised a hand to stifle his laughter. Ahsoka clenched her stomach, doubling over from laughing too hard. It was one of the beautiful things about being a civilian now: she could joke about the Jedi Council, and no one could touch her. It was one of the best parts of speaking fluent sarcasm.

~

Obi-Wan was one of the first of the Council allowed to stand up and walk. His leg was still aching, but he wanted to find Anakin and to see what had truly become of the girl that used to be his Padawan.

He sensed Anakin to the left, along with a Force signature that seemed familiar, but so radically strange all at the same time. He turned a corner to find the two of them walking together again, side by side.

Now that he could see her properly Ahsoka looked much older now, in more ways than one. Her face had gotten slightly longer, as had her montrals and lekku. The patterns on her face and lekku had gotten more intricate, as well. Obi-Wan could have sworn that she had gotten taller (to his jealousy), and she looked a lot stronger than what the Jedi Master remembered. Her signature was more surprising, though.

Compared to Anakin, her Force signature was not very Light. There was a little bit, but there was also an equal Darkness that Obi-Wan didn't recognize. The opposing sides balanced each other out, and the rest of her was...well...balanced. Neutral.

After his initial shock, a small smile covered his face. "I had a feeling I would find the two of you together," he remarked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. "Out for a morning stroll?"

"It's more like a morning limp, at this point," Ahsoka admitted, pointing a thumb at the Jedi Knight. "Skyguy over here keeps pretending he wasn't just kidnapped."

"Hey, that's not fair! I remember you getting kidnapped more than once," Anakin protested, turning to face her instead of Obi-Wan. "Who swooped in and saved the day then?"

"'Saved the day' is stretching it, salvaging it is closer to the mark." Ahsoka smacked his arm lightly.

It's like they never separated, Obi-Wan thought.

"Clearly, you have lost none of your sarcasm," the Jedi Master remarked, even though he could tell that she had lost much since the last time they had seen each other (to his knowledge). Ahsoka understood anyways and grinned. He smiled and began to walk with them, despite his limp.

"How's your leg?" Anakin asked, eyeing the bulge of the bandages underneath his robes.

"They said I'll be fine in a few days, but I'm going to have to rest until then," Obi-Wan sighed. "Hopefully, we won't get kidnapped again before that happens."

"Good," Ahsoka declared, interlacing her fingers behind her head, "because I'd rather not skip a day of work or Fuller will have my hide. I was lucky it was a holiday"

"Who's Fuller?" Obi-Wan asked, confused. Remember, only Anakin had seen her since she had killed Sideous.

Anakin answered for Ahsoka. "Her boss at the mechanic shop she works at. You've never met him."

Obi-Wan stared at him for a few seconds, before shaking his head. "I'm not even going to ask how you know that." Ahsoka giggled, and he turned back to her. "So are you doing all right on your own?"

She nodded, stifling her smile. "I'm doing good. Most of my time during the day is spent at work, but there are good people there, and they've helped me settle down in the Lower Levels."

Frowning, Obi-Wan scrunched his brow. "Why in the Lower Levels?"

"It's cheaper. Fewer politics to worry about down there, too. Besides, everyone on and below the surface knows who I am. At least in the Lower Levels, no one looks at me weird anymore."

He nodded, but he couldn't quite keep the shock all the way off his face. He hadn't thought of those particular details before. "We haven't heard from you in a while," Obi-Wan went on, even though that much was obvious.

Ahsoka shrugged. "I wasn't on Coruscant for about a year. Ended up traveling, trying to see the other side of the war. I came back just after the whole deal with the Chancellor, and found a place to live about three months ago." Technically not wrong, as per usual in her stories nowadays.

All three of them remembered the chaos that had gone down in the Sith Lord's office. "I'm glad you weren't here for that," Obi-Wan said, unaware that he was incorrect. "Some of us are still pretty shaken from what happened that day."

You think? Ahsoka thought but didn't say. "I heard a few rumors that I was a Separatist warrior for a while."

Anakin stepped in, not wanting for Ahsoka to know that the rumors had started in the Order. "We all heard 'em, Snips. Maybe it was a good thing you weren't on Coruscant for a while."

Ahsoka groaned and leaned her head back on the chair. "No kidding. It was bad enough as it was after I got back."

Obi-Wan leaned forward. "Did people give you a hard time for what had happened?"

"It was more that I already had a reputation before I even met people. Even at work, everyone already knew my name and who I was. Only recently have I been able to shake it off for the most part."

Nodding, Obi-Wan eyed the blaster at her hip. "Have you gotten a little bored of no fighting?"

To his surprise, Ahsoka shook her head. "Have I gotten bored of not watching people die? Not one bit. I've had my fair share of the Clone War."

Obi-Wan thought that was surprising, but he was even more shocked when Anakin agreed with her. "I've gotta say, I'm a little jealous. I wouldn't mind spending the day fixing ships and whatnot. Although, maybe not for three months."

Ahsoka laughed, but Obi-Wan remained silent. Instead, he turned their words over in his head.

No one had seemed to enjoy the adrenaline rush of a fight as much as Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, at least, not in Obi-Wan's experience. Now, though, even they were tired of fighting. If they were done with the Clone War, then maybe it really had been going on for too long.

"I will say, though," Ahsoka said suddenly, startling Obi-Wan out of his train of thought, "that I've been jumped and attacked enough times to keep me busy. The Lower Levels do live up to their violent reputation."

Anakin chuckled. "Not a problem for you, though. You could beat anyone of those guys blindfolded if you had to. Although, blind and weaponless might be pushing it."

"I've had to deal with Cad Bane on more than one occasion. If I can survive that, I think I'm going to be okay."

"He nearly shoved you out an airlock."

"I was fourteen!"

Anakin and Ahsoka continued to banter for a few minutes, but Obi-Wan just trailed behind them and watched with a smile on his face. If he didn't look directly at them, he could imagine that it was a year ago and that Ahsoka had never left. Their quips and jabs were still as amusing as always and could feel the weight of the past few months lift off his shoulders. Oh, young one, he thought, why did you ever leave?

Obi-Wan missed it. He missed the lighthearted arguments that used to annoy him to no end. He missed watching the reckless duo wiping through ranks of battle droids with ease. He missed the days when his biggest problem was that they wouldn't shut up about whatever they were bantering about that day. He missed the cocky Knight that he had trained from childhood, accompanied by the snippy Padawan that he had chosen for him. He missed their innocence, their passion, their Light. Even if it was tainted with a history that could not be rewritten, he missed the time they spent together, away from the Council and away from the Republic. One bomb had ruined all of that, for Ahsoka, for Anakin, and for himself. One bomb.

His Padawan and his grand-Padawan had both grown up. They were independent individuals now, and they weren't who they had been all those years ago. Anakin was more serious and more responsible for his actions. His mind was weighted with years of fighting a war he no longer wanted to fight in, and his memory was stained with the loss of some of the most important people in his life. Ahsoka had all but abandoned the Light in favor of neutrality, and was no longer learning from the Jedi. She was teaching herself how to live, and her beliefs no longer stemmed from the Jedi Code. She didn't need them anymore, because she could live, and work, and fight all on her own.

And yet, when they came together, they could set all that aside. Even if it was only for a few minutes, they could laugh and talk like nothing had ever happened. It was this more than anything that perplexed Obi-Wan. He knew that Ahsoka no longer had ties to the Jedi, and yet, she had come to get them out of captivity. Anakin was loyal to the Jedi, but he had no reserves about Ahsoka's new morals or way of life. More importantly, Ahsoka's decision to give up the Jedi Order still stood, but it did not seem to interfere with their relationship at all. It was these things that Obi-Wan just simply couldn't understand.