Ever since Ahsoka became more open with her Force abilities, the other mechanics at her shop became more reliant on her to do the heavy lifting. She felt so silly about using it for something so mundane, but she was happy to help her friends. Besides, it entertained them, and most of the time it took less than a minute.

She finished hauling a washing machine out into the garage and walked back to her bench to grab her stuff. The usual workday had finished over an hour ago, but she, Wheeler, and Thylla had stayed late to finish a few things due for pickup tomorrow. Thylla's boyfriend, Journey, had been sick, and the three of them had chipped in to make up for his absence. There had been a lot of drop-offs over the weekend, so everyone's schedule was a little crammed already. Ahsoka was the only one who didn't seem bothered by it since she had nothing else to do for the rest of the day.

Ahsoka's eyes swept over her workbench one more time, making sure she hadn't missed anything. She clocked out on the computer but stared at it for a long time afterward. She had been distracted all day, but there had been nothing out of ordinary as far as she knew. There was just....augh, it was probably nothing. What she really needed was to spend some time meditating. That would help clea-

"Hey, Tano."

She jumped a full foot in the air before realizing it was just Wheeler. "What did I say about sneaking up on me?" she reprimanded her, walking towards the exit.

Wheeler shrugged, while Thylla was stifling her laughter. "I thought that went away after you figured out your whole 'Force' issue. Is everything okay?"

"I guess I'm just out of it today," Ahsoka said dismissively, although it was a lie. "Are you guys headed out?"

"Yeah, we just figured we'd offer to walk out with you," Thylla explained, and Ahsoka joined them on their way to the staff room.

"Thanks," she told them. "I just have to grab my stuff."

They did too, so they all stopped by their lockers to grab their bags. Ahsoka strapped her blaster to her hip and opened her bag to check that her lightsabers were still there. They were, of course, but with how jumpy she was being today she didn't want to take chances.

Walking out the back door, Thylla stared at her. "You sure there's nothing wrong? I mean, you tend to have pretty good instincts."

Ahsoka sighed, deciding to explain just a little. "I don't even know what I'm having instincts about. It's like....like someone is telling me not to go south, but I don't know which way is south."

"That sounds unhelpful," Wheeler commented, and Ahsoka nodded in agreement.

"Exactly. There's nothing I can do to fix it and nothing I can do to make the feeling go away." She shrugged, adjusting her backpack. "It's fine, really. If something happens, I can deal with it."

The other two girls exchanged glances, fairly certain that the ex-Jedi was hiding something, but they relented, and Thylla changed the subject to take her mind off of it. "How's your friend's pregnancy coming along? Have you heard from her recently?"

That made Ahsoka smile. "I have, actually. The twins are healthy, as far as the tests have been reading, which is good news. The mother's getting really tired when she stands for too long, though."

"Well, if she's carrying two children around, all day, then I wouldn't expect anything different," Wheeler laughed. "No foreseeable complications on her end?"

"Nope, it should be a healthy delivery, all things considered," Ahsoka reported. "I sent your gifts to her last week, and I just got a call saying thank you. She absolutely loved it."

"Baby shopping is so fun!" Thylla squealed, jumping as she walked. "Not to mention little clothes are so cute. It's adorable, especially when you can get good pictures."

Wheeler elbowed her, grinning. "Careful, or you might have to start baby shopping for yourself."

Thylla made a face. "Ew, no, not while he's sick."

The Pantorian burst out laughing, but Ahsoka was frozen still. In fact, she had stopped walking a few seconds ago. The other two turned around and saw her doubled over on the ground behind them. "Tano!" They ran over, and Wheeler kneeled in front of her. "Hey, hey, you good?"

In truth, Ahsoka felt like she was going to throw up. She had to go, she had to go. "I..I just remembered...I need to stop by the...market."

"You need to go home," Thylla corrected her, wrapping an arm under her and pulling her up. "We can walk you there-"

"No," Ahsoka said suddenly, her face hardening as the strength returned to her legs. "You need to go. Without me."

Thylla didn't like the sound of that, but both she and Wheeler remembered what usually happened when she got like this. If the Jedi said you needed to leave, they were normally right.

"See you tomorrow," Wheeler said, trying to act casual, but when they turned to leave, they walked a little more quickly than was casual.

Ahsoka began walking towards the nearest elevators, which was about a kilometer and a half away. She forced herself to walk at a comfortable pace, but she was anything but comfortable. She knew which way was south now. It was behind her because someone was in that direction.

Somehow, Barriss had found her.

It made sense why she hadn't figured it out until now. Barriss had probably been hiding her Force signature until then, so Ahsoka wouldn't see her coming. When she had revealed herself, Ahsoka had felt it and the memory must have set off her stomach. She still felt queasy, but it was manageable now.

Barriss was following her, that much Ahsoka knew. She had no other reason to be here. She had also avoided contacting her while Wheeler and Thylla were around, so she wasn't keen on interacting with strangers. Hopefully, this meant that Ahsoka was safe as long as she was in public, but that could all change in a second. If Barriss decided to start attacking civilians, she was going to have to face her.

She had to take advantage while she still could. If Ahsoka led Barriss up to the surface, the Republic had a better chance of capturing her. She had no idea what Barriss wanted, but she wasn't willing to wait and find out what it was. As soon as Ahsoka was in the thick of the afternoon rush, she activated her comlink, hoping her stalker couldn't see her.

"Coruscant Detention Center, how may I help you?"

"I'm being followed by Barriss Offee."

Radio silence followed, not that Ahsoka blamed whoever had answered her call. "Are you sure it is her, miss?"

"Absolutely. I don't think she's trying to attack me yet, so I'm going to lead her up to the surface, in the Sector 7 elevator. Is there any way to get a team to come and detain her in about...she made an estimate based on the lines in front of her. "15-20 minutes?"

The person on the other end of the line checked something, then replied, "If you can, lead her in the direction of the Jedi Temple. A group of clones and Jedi will be waiting."

Ahsoka didn't bother to say goodbye but closed the call before Barriss could see her. After ten minutes of waiting, she finally squeezed onto an elevator and started going up. She felt Barriss leave, though. She's going to use the shaft, Ahsoka realized and willed the elevator to move faster.

Five minutes later, she walked out onto the platform and didn't see the Mirialan. Part of her was relieved, but the other part of her was afraid. If Ahsoka couldn't feel her, she didn't know what she was up to.

At least she had some time to breathe. She sat down on a bench and held her stomach, trying to keep her lunch down. I have to calm down, she thought. I'm not going to able to do this if I don't calm down.

She closed her eyes and focused on the Light Side of the Force, but after a few seconds, she still didn't feel calm. Ahsoka kept concentrating, but a moment later, she flashed back to her trial, when she had been expelled. Gasping, she forced herself to snap out of it.

Okay, so that's not going to work. She steadied her breathing and closed her eyes. Deep breaths.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise that the Jedi weren't calming right now, not when it was Barriss she was dealing with. Ahsoka's distrust of them had stemmed from her actions, and her doubt was rooted in her betrayal. She couldn't depend on the Jedi, not for this. She was going to have to use her own devices.

Her own devices included parts of the Light and the Dark Sides of the Force. For the past few months, she had focused on balance, especially when meditating. That was something that Barriss hadn't ruined (yet), and it was going to be her main tool if she wanted to stop her. She hadn't picked up on Darkness or Light in her Force signature, since she had been too busy panicking, but she had to hope that it was enough to give her an edge. It was her only shot.

She looked up, scouting out which direction the Jedi Temple was from here. It wasn't hard, especially since Anakin was in the Temple for the evening. At least his presence was soothing. Unlike someone who was chasing her right now.

Anakin must have picked up on her fear because he started reaching out to her. Ahsoka couldn't speak to him, not when Barriss was about to be nipping at her heels, but if Anakin realized she was scared and not hiding it, he would know something important was up.

So she let herself be scared. She remembered how her whole life had fallen apart because of her actions, and how her identity, her belief, had been shattered because Barriss had forced her to take the fall for a crime she didn't commit. She remembered how chaotic and helpless she had felt when she felt like she couldn't trust either side of the Force, when she couldn't even trust herself. This is what Barriss had done to Ahsoka, and that, more than the murders she committed or the lies she had said, hurt her more than anything.

Ahsoka didn't know how much of what she was feeling was transmitted to Anakin, maybe all he could feel were her emotions, but it got the message across. Anakin started feeling uneasy too, which meant he was going to do something about it.

Right on time too, because Barriss was getting close again. Ahsoka started walking on the sidewalks towards the Temple and prayed that whoever was coming would be ready. She certainly wasn't.

Barriss was most likely to follow her on foot and wait for her to turn down some alley or whatnot. She had to know there was a reason Ahsoka was leading her up here, but Ahsoka was banking on the hope that Barriss was foolish enough to think the reason was friendly. She would lead her on until she had to make a run for it. After that, it was a mad sprint to the Temple.

She was closing in quickly, much quicker than Ahsoka would have liked. She was fifty meters away now, but it was shrinking every second. Ahsoka kept her eyes forward, refusing to look behind her for Barriss. Forty meters.

What if she attacked the other civilians? Troopers were spaced out on the streets, but Barriss was more than capable of killing clones, and, unless she had changed in the past year, had no qualms about doing so. Thirty meters.

I have my lightsabers, right? She felt for them in her bag, breathing a tad bit easier when she felt them. Her blaster wasn't going to do any good, especially when she was alone, and if Barriss still had Ventress' lightsabers. Where's that bounty hunter when you need her? Twenty meters.

At least her coworkers were underground where Barriss couldn't hurt them. The percentage of people living on the surface was insignificant compared to those in the Lower Levels, but it was still a lot of people. Not to mention there were politicians and Jedi up here. Please don't send Caleb, do not get him wrapped up in this. Ten meters.

Ahsoka saw a street up ahead and knew that was her escape. Barriss was closing in on five meters when she turned left, down the street. As soon as she was out of public view, she jumped up to the roof. Now or never.

Barriss wasn't surprised when Ahsoka wasn't in the alley. She would want to have a private conversation, not where any random stranger could hear. She too leaped up to the roof, but Ahsoka wasn't waiting for her. She was running as fast as she could away from her.