At hearing who exactly had come to rescue Barriss, Mace Windu turned to the Sister (not that he knew it was her, all he thought was that this was a Dark version of Ahsoka). "We were watching the wrong person. It wasn't Dooku who came for her, it was Maul."

The Sister looked back outside and cursed under her breath. "He wants to challenge for the throne of the Sith. It makes sense. No one saw him coming."

In the back of the group, Depa had started towards the exit, planning to grab the first ship she came across. "We need to hurry before Maul does something to her. We can't let him get Barriss to Mandalore-"

"He doesn't want to hurt her," the Sister interrupted, walking away from the shattered glass. "He's trying to win her over. Maul wants her as an apprentice, not a captive."

"Mandalore is neutral to both the Separatists and the Republic," Obi-Wan remembered, still a little dazed and shocked at the return of his nemesis. "We can't demand that Maul return her to us, and we can't attack them either. Mandalore is too great of an asset to risk losing to the Separatists."

The Sister snorted, waving the idea off. "You don't need to worry about that, Maul hates Tyrannus, he'd never side with them as long as he's in charge."

Windu shot a look at Dark Ahsoka. "How do you know that?"

Anakin began to panic, but the Sister had an answer ready. "I did some traveling right after I walked away from the Order. I ended up in Separatist systems, and news tends to travel in bars."

"In any case, we need to start exploring options on how to get Miss Offee back," Depa insisted, walking towards the door. "I'm going to talk to the Grandmaster."

The Sister watched her go, and she had a feeling that wasn't the only reason she was leaving. They had only crossed paths once when the Sister had been the Inquisitor, but the interaction hadn't exactly been friendly. Depa probably felt the same unease as she had then.

When she left, Obi-Wan shook his head, ripping his focus from Maul to the present. "Which brings us to item number two: what is going on with you?" He pointed to Dark Ahsoka, who sighed and began to explain that too.

"Offee let off some Sith Lightning back in her cell. Instead of her using it and escaping quicker, I absorbed it and it turned me to the Dark Side. Don't worry," she assured him, holding up her hands in surrender. "I don't plan on killing anybody."

Obi-Wan didn't look very comforted by that statement. Master Windu raised an eyebrow. "I take it this is something else you did while you were 'traveling'?"

The Sister just shrugged. "It was a very educational trip."

Turning to his apprentice, Obi-Wan pointed at Dark Ahsoka. "And you're completely fine with this?"

"As she said, she doesn't plan on killing anybody," Anakin defended her, crossing his arms. "I think this is a little different than Mortis."

"This happened on Mortis?" Windu asked, rubbing his bald head. "I must have missed that part. It's been too long. Is this permanent?" He asked her, gesturing to her appearance.

The Sister smirked, playing a little bit. "Why, do you want it to be?"

He shook his head a little too quickly, making the Sister chuckle. "Not necessarily, no. It makes me quite uncomfortable, actually."

"No, it's not permanent," she answered. "The Ahsoka you're used to will be back...eventually. I don't know when yet."

"Wonderful," Obi-Wan said sarcastically. "Well, now that Barriss is gone, I don't see why you need to stay here. If you would like to leave, you are welcome to." He walked out with Master Windu, following Depa to find Master Yoda.

As soon as the door was shut, Anakin turned to the Sister. "Long time no see," he greeted her properly. "Didn't think I would be seeing you today."

Smirking, the Sister sat on a pile of rubble. "Likewise, Skywalker. Good to see you back to normal."

"I owe you one for that," he remembered, sitting next to her but not super close. "As well as an apology for what happened afterward. I didn't realize what was happening."

"You weren't supposed to," she comforted him, "and I don't blame you for what you did. It's not your fault Sideous was inside your head, and I wasn't exactly helping you. Not until the end, anyway."

He remembered the night the Sister had killed Sideous and found a smile small inside him. "I still can't believe you got away with that."

She looked incredulously at the Jedi Knight. "You can't believe it? I'm still trying to figure out how I pulled it off. I thought for sure someone was going to kill me before I got the chance, either you or Tyrannus."

"Why would Tyrannus be after you?"

"He was pissed off. He thought I was trying to replace him, never even considered that you were the one he had to worry about." She looked at the window again. "Just like we didn't think about Maul."

Anakin followed her golden gaze, thinking. "Is he really going to try to take over the Sith?"

The Sister shrugged and crossed her arms. "It's more about putting one up over Tyrannus. He hated Sideous for abandoning him, and he wasn't impressed that he was replaced either. Winning the Throne of the Sith would be a real slap in the face for them."

"What about you?"

"He doesn't even know who I am. Never met him while I was fighting."

Anakin nodded, drumming his fingers on the debris they were sitting on. It felt a little weird talking to the Sister again, especially since they weren't enemies anymore. It was like talking to Ahsoka, but just...off, somehow. It reminded him of their truce on Corellia.

"Hey, random question," he piped up suddenly. "Can you and Ahsoka, like, have conversations?"

"Oh yeah, all the time," the Sister answered, smiling. "During meditation, we try to unite and work together, but we debate about a lot of things, actually. We argued about coming here this morning."

He couldn't help but snicker. "That must get annoying."

She shrugged, not really bothered. "Eh, sometimes. It's a pretty good system, though. I can't come out into the open very often, because of this," she referred to her appearance, "but this way, I do have an input. It's a weird balance, but we make it work."

Laughing, Anakin shook his head. "Hey, whatever works for you," he surrendered, quite entertained. He would have kept talking, but his comlink went off.

"Skywalker, we could use your input up here," Windu suggested, interrupting their conversation.

Anakin brought his wrist to his chin. "I'm on my way," he told them, before standing up. "You should probably head home before someone starts asking too many questions."

The Sister groaned. "I have to get past the press again, don't I?"

"Have fun with that," he teased, walking off. "See you around," he called over his shoulder before leaving.

She stood up to walk out herself, but Ahsoka piped up in her head. Ask him about the kids! It was too late though. If she asked now, she risked someone overhearing their conversation.

It's probably better this way, the Sister suggested, walking towards the elevator. You should be the one to do that, not me.

You're not wrong, Ahsoka agreed, a little dejected. I was just wondering if he knew about the twins yet.

The Sister smirked. You are such a sucker for children, you know that?

Hey, be quiet. It's adorable, all right?

Okay, okay! The Sister would have raised her hands, but she didn't want to look weird to passerby. I assume you want control back now?

Oddly enough, Ahsoka took a second to respond. You had a good point, you don't get to show your face very often. Do you want a night in charge?

The Sister grinned and went up to the check-in desk to collect her things. Thanks, Tano.

You're welcome, she responded. Just don't ruin my reputation.

I'll do my best, the Sister promised, and she stepped up in line. "Ahsoka Tano," she told the droid, who gave her the backpack and blaster back.

As she ran past the press before they could see her, she mentioned silently, It feels weird saying your name, still.

Well, it's not like you can go around calling yourself the Sister again, Ahsoka argued.

That's still what you call me.

Do you have something else in mind?

...no.

My point exactly.

Shut up.

~

"So you've just been running around for the rest of the day?" Ventress asked, taking another drink with the Sister.

The Togruta nodded, leaning back in her seat. "Ahsoka keeps reminding me to keep an eye out so people don't get confused, but yeah."

Ventress nodded approvingly. "I see you two have really started to work out that balance of yours. More than anyone else has, anyways."

"What can I say? We're professionals," the Sister teased, while in her head Ahsoka was groaning. 

The Sister had just finished giving Ventress the rundown of the past twenty-four hours or so, and while also chiming in on Ahsoka's behalf with any additional comments she thought were important. Having had time to comprehend everything, Ventress propped her chin on her arm. "Well, the only thing I can say is that it could have been worse."

"Ehh," the Sister considered, "I mean, absolutely, it could have been, but not by much. The whole situation with Offee just went from bad to worse, and not to mention all the drama it will stir up between Maul and Tyrannus. You know a challenge is on the way."

"If it gets Tyrannus killed, I'm not very sorry about it," Ventress confessed, muttering so only the Sister could hear. "Maul can take the Throne, for all I care." 

"It's more that if Offee can kill hundreds of people on her own, I don't really want to know what she'll do as a Sith," she explained, beckoning to the two of them. "You saw what we did under their influence."

The Nightsister looked over at the Sister. "Technically, we violated the Rule of Two, so we don't count."

She groaned but persisted. "You get what I'm trying to say, though, right? Offee could already cause some damage with the Dark Side with no official training. Once Maul trains her, even for a few weeks, she'll grow exponentially more dangerous."

"But she's not with Dooku," Ventress argued, finishing off the rest of her drink. "That would be the worst-case scenario."

"It's still possible," the Sister reminded her. "You said it yourself, nothing is set in stone until the Rule of Two is fulfilled, and even then, a challenge is still possible."

Not really concerned, Ventress shrugged it off and ordered another round. "Either way, we're civilians now...sort of. It's not our problem."

The Sister snorted, wishing that were true. "Not now, but what about in a few months if someone starts taking out innocents? What then?"

"Even in the Dark Side, you're still a goody-two-shoes," Ventress complained, pointing at the Sister. "Is this really you talking, or is that Ahsoka I hear?"

"I nearly got killed trying to bring down Sideous' regime," the Sister fired back, turning to face forward. "I spent a year in that hell hole barely able to survive, and I don't want that to go to waste. Just because I killed one evil person doesn't mean I want another one to take his place."

"So what are you going to do?" she asked, skeptical that she would even have an answer. "The Republic barely listens to either of you and if the Separatists find out you're alive, you're toast. You don't want to be a bounty hunter, so you can't jump on a ship and go kill anyone yourself either."

The Sister groaned, slamming her head against the bar table. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

She was right, though. Ahsoka and the Sister were at a dead end. Now that neither of them had any influence in the Clone War, their options were limited, if they had any. Sitting back and watching what happened felt immoral to Ahsoka, and the Sister was sure that all of her efforts to try and stop Sideous would go down the drain if left to others to carry on. 

Around them, though, no one else seemed to care, or even understand, what was at risk now. These were low-life civilians, and some of them were wanted criminals, trying to cruise under the radar like Ventress. The well being of Coruscant, the Republic, and other innocents were low on their priority list if it was even on it. When your world was me, myself, and I, it was pretty easy to protect your world. 

Unfortunately, neither Ahsoka nor the Sister had that selfish of a mindset. Ahsoka was raised to protect others no matter what the cost, and the Sister had been born of that mentality no matter how much she appeared to deviate from it. It was because Ahsoka wanted to save the galaxy from Sideous that the Sister had been invented, and she wasn't about to let someone else be the person she had been made to destroy. They both agreed that trouble was on the way, in one fashion or another.

The question now was if anything could be done to stop it.