"Hey, wait!" Barriss called, dashing after Ahsoka. She hadn't anticipated for Ahsoka to start running. She followed her, trying to catch up to her, but Ahsoka had a huge head start on her. Barriss used the Force to jump as far as she could forward, but she still had a few meters on her. 

She couldn't tell where Ahsoka was headed, she hadn't spent enough time on the surface to recognize where she was. Ahsoka ran in between the streets, trying to avoid being seen by pedestrians. Barriss appreciated it, it wasn't like she was all that popular these days. Speaking of, Barriss had to get the two of them below ground before someone noticed her. They could talk there. Why had Ahsoka even come up here?

Barriss started wheezing, and her legs began slowing. She hadn't run in a long time, it looked too suspicious. It was much more efficient to hide in the shadows and to meander to and fro every week or so. Her cardio was paying for it though, Ahsoka was outrunning her easily. She's gotten fast.

She jumped again, this time landing in front of Ahsoka. The Togruta skidded to a halt when Barriss' feet hit the roof. If I run now, I don't know how she'll react, she thought. I need to keep her focused on me. Ahsoka kept her distance, though, moving one arm in front to shield her from anything that might come her way. There were only a few meters between them now, and she preferred if that distance didn't decrease.

Now that they were both facing each other, Ahsoka finally got a chance to look at Barriss. She looked absolutely horrible. The clothes she was wearing covered it a bit, but she had lost most of her body fat, and the bottom of her ribs was visible. Her face was a pale, sickly green, and there were dark bags under her eyes. When's the last time she's slept? Or eaten? At least, Ahsoka hoped that was the problem. If she looked like this because she too had given in to the Dark Side, then Ahsoka was in trouble.

Holding her hands up, Barriss stared at her dead in the eye. "I just want to talk, but I can't stay up here. We have to go back to the Lower Levels, Ahsoka. Come on, this way." 

She started towards the nearest shaft, but Ahsoka held her ground. "I'm not going anywhere with you," she declared, periodically glancing up towards the Temple. She needed that backup to come before Barriss took off. 

"Ahsoka, don't be foolish," Barriss chided her, and Ahsoka's blood went cold. "I'm too visible up here, I need cover."

"Why do you think we're up here?" Ahsoka spat, and she walked between Barriss and her exit. There was no way she was going to chase her anymore, so now she was on the hunt and Barriss was going to run. The roles had switched.

The Mirialan laughed nervously. "Ahsoka, come on..." But then she saw the look in her eyes. Cold, hard, unforgiving. "Ahsoka?"

"Now's your chance to talk," Ahsoka growled. "I won't promise that I'll listen very closely, though."

"I didn't come here to hurt you!" Barriss insisted, approaching her. "I promise, I just wanted to speak with you!"

She tried to walk closer, but Ahsoka lifted a hand and threw her backward. "I can't trust a promise from you anymore! I can't trust you at all!"

Barriss rose to her knees, weak from the impact of the landing. "But that's why I came," she gasped. "It's been a year since I last saw you."

"Time doesn't heal wounds that deep, and an apology is long overdue," Ahsoka said, denying her. "Coming to me was a mistake."

"Ahsoka," Barriss begged, standing shakily. "If the Republic gets me, they will kill me."

She didn't respond. Ahsoka set her face and pressed her lips together, brow scrunched, but she didn't move an inch. 

"...you would let them kill me? After all we've been through?"

"After all I've been through???" Ahsoka corrected, shouting. "Because of you? I don't remember you stepping in when it was my life on the line! Why should I do the same?"

"I would never have let them kill you!"

"But you would kill other people, just to push your own agenda on people who didn't ask for it?"

Barriss scoffed. "The Jedi were definitely asking for it, don't even try to pretend they weren't."

"I didn't! I didn't ask for my status to be stripped, or to be arrested! I didn't ask to be blamed for murder!!!" Ahsoka looked up again, finally seeing gunships approaching in the distance. Anakin was in one of them, she felt.

Desperate, Barriss looked around, trying to find another argument. When she couldn't, she looked at Ahsoka again. "I'm not going back to the Republic. I don't want to fight through you, but I will."

Ahsoka looked again at her weak frame and her sinking face. Her strength had been zapped just from running, and despite her skill with lightsabers, the natural advantage was with Ahsoka. "You're going to have to if you want to run."

Both women drew their sabers, and Barriss lowered into her stance. Way back when Barriss mentored Ahsoka, just like she had done with Caleb, Barriss initiated the duels, but Ahsoka didn't wait for her this time. She didn't even drop into stance, she just ran at Barriss, jumping on top of her with her sabers brandished. Barriss barely dodged out of the way in time.

With the training she had been conducting by herself, Ahsoka knew what her strategy was. She was much more in shape than her opponent, and by this point, stronger too. Barriss wouldn't have enough time to attack her if she was tired, so all she had to do was wear her out. She aimed low, forcing her to stay on her toes and moved quickly, staying ahead of her.

It was all Barriss could do to avoid being sliced in half. Ahsoka seemed so much faster, so much more talented than before! Her strokes had been perfected, and there were a few new ones in her style that she had never used as a Padawan.

Out of nowhere, though, she spun and kicked Barriss as hard as she could in the gut, knocking her several meters away and winding her. Ahsoka felt an instinct rise in her to just knock her out on the spot, but the Jedi and the troopers weren't far off, and she didn't want to get roped into any messes, so she let her recover. All she had to do was keep her down. 

When Barris could speak again, she looked up at Ahsoka. "I see you've had a change of heart."

"Haven't we all," snarled Ahsoka, and she rolled her backward another meter. Barriss was expecting it now and managed to land on her feet, if not a bit unstable. Ahsoka ran again to meet her, and they exchanged more strokes. Barriss kept taking steps back, with Ahsoka advancing on her every second. Both of them were aware that time was almost up.

Ahsoka jumped and brought her sabers crashing down on Barriss' head, pinning her down in one spot. The gunships began encircling them, cutting off Barriss' exit. She had nowhere to run now, so if she wanted to escape she was going to have to fight. Not an option, in her current condition. There were six Jedi there to bring her in and over a hundred troopers, plus Ahsoka. Barriss couldn't take them all.

She pressed down harder, and Barriss collapsed onto her knees. Her sabers were inching closer to her own head, and more clones were aiming their blasters at her by the second. From behind her, Mace Windu called out: "Barriss Offee, you are under arrest for evasion of your sentence. Lay your weapons down and surrender now!"

Aware that there was nothing Barriss could do now, Ahsoka deactivated her weapons and stepped back. For a second, she just sat there, lightsabers in hand, frozen, then she burst out in frustration and jumped up. For a few glorious seconds, she was sailing through the air, jumping to freedom, but it only lasted so long. Another Jedi caught her mid-jump and lowered her slowly down to the roof again with the Force. When she turned, she saw who it was that stopped her. 

Luminara.

Of course, she had come to capture her. Barriss felt like she was being mocked. Her ex-master looked at her with sad, almost pleading eyes, but she only returned it with a passive stare. She had come to talk to Ahsoka, but now she was getting a derogatory escort back to the Detention Center. This was not how she wanted today to go.

The troopers cuffed her and carted her off into a transfer shuttle, and Luminara came with to escort her away. Ahsoka just watched, thankful that no one was really paying attention to her. This felt a little too similar to her own arrest to be comfortable.

Master Windu started coordinating the guard to make sure Barriss didn't try to escape again. They had brought starfighters down from orbit just in case, and all guns were trained on the convict. Ahsoka was half surprised that the entire surface hadn't gone into lockdown.

Now that Barriss was back in custody, Ahsoka's panicky feelings were coming back. She tried to slip away without anyone noticing, but Anakin caught her on her way out. "Hey, are you all right? Did you get hurt?"

"No," she answered lowly, looking around at the chaos. "I'm fine."

Anakin glared at her, and Ahsoka sighed and yielded the truth. "I feel like I'm going to throw up. Happy?"

They both turned and watched as Barriss' ship disappeared into the distance. "You might want to get out of here while you still can," Anakin suggested. "I wouldn't be surprised if you get called  in tomorrow, or even sometime later today."

She nodded, crossing her arms and nodding. It took every ounce of willpower not to double over and puke right then and there. "Keep me posted," she said quickly, before darting down to the street level. 

Running as fast as she could muster, she found the nearest bathroom and locked herself in a stall. By the time she felt well enough to come out again, everyone had left.