I don't have anything to say. I'm too embarrassed to.  It only took me about a MONTH to update.

...

Yeah, let's just pretend this never happened, kay?

ALSO, TO MAKE UP FOR IT, I'VE GOT A SURPRISE FOR Y'ALL!!!!!

it's at the end of the chapter hehe

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Ahsoka smiled gently as a breeze danced across her lekku. Although it was difficult for her to notice, she could tell that her dusty navy and white striped headtails were growing in both height and length.

To be completely honest, the thought of her maturing into a full-grown adult was bittersweet. On one hand, it symbolized as a new page in her life, but on the other, she felt like she was losing all the memories she used to have of the good old days. The fun times, when she never had to worry about watching her back or stress about protecting an entire order of Jedi. It was times like this when she wished that she could just have her old life back. When life could be as simple as joking around with Anakin as a padawan.

Indistinctive murmuring amongst the Ewoks jerked Ahsoka back to attention. She had a job to get done. The sooner her mission was complete, the sooner she could go back to living a life that she truly enjoyed. With a grunt, she picked her legs up from their previously swinging position (she had been sitting on the edge of one of their bridges), and pulled them beneath her. Then, in one swift movement, she was back on her feet.

"Sku," she called out in greeting, making her way towards some of the more friendly Ewoks. It was time she solved this mystery once and for all.

–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–

"I can't get my mind off of it," Anakin sighed, ripping his gaze away from the hyperspace view turning to Obi-Wan. "I know she's out there. As crazy as it sounds, she has to be. I feel it."

"You've got to stop thinking about her Anakin," Obi-Wan shook his head. "We've got more pressing matters. If she is, then she'll turn up eventually. There's nothing we can do right now to find her."

"You don't understand. You don't care about her like I do," Anakin growled, immediately regretting his words.

"I don't care about her?!" Obi-Wan echoed incredulously, spinning on his heel. "She was like a daughter to me Anakin. You of all people should now. I can just cover my emotions 20 times better than you, Mr. Open-Book. A Sith could detect your haywire signature from parsecs away. Don't you think for one second that her death hasn't ripped me to pieces."

By now, Anakin could feel Obi-Wan's rapid, hot breath on his neck. Even though Anakin was an inch or two taller, it felt like the older Jedi Master was towering over him. He winced, turning away from the furious Jedi, and backed up a couple paces.

"Yes master," he said quietly, looking back to the view of hyperspace. "Mission first, then feelings. Like I haven't heard it a million times before."

"And for good reason," Obi-Wan argued, crossing his arms. "Emotions are a path to the Dark Side. Don't feel, just do. That's what we've been raised for, Anakin."

"Maybe it's not the right thing," Anakin mumbled, barely loud enough for Obi-Wan to hear. "Maybe it's not what we're really supposed to do. What I'm supposed to do."

"Stop with the nonsense," Obi-Wan snapped. "The Jedi might not be perfect, but this is your home. Where else would you go? It's not like you're going to go join the Sith."

"There has to be something else out there," Anakin sighed, brushing off his old master's hostility. He was used to it. Used to the Jedi shunning him. Used to being told what was right and what was wrong. Was it so bad if just once in his life he chose for himself? "Something not so black and white. Something in that gray area in between. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Never have, never will," he shook his head and dropped his arms to his sides. "I've got some business to attend to down in the lower levels of the ship. Don't do anything stupid until I'm back."

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you," Anakin grumbled back sarcastically, watching in annoyance at Obi-Wan walked off. It was true. Anakin was tired of the Jedi. Was there anything he could really do about it though? Was there any other options in life? Or was he confined to the limitations of being a Jedi Master?

"They got me into this mess," he snarled to himself as he tore his gaze away from the empty deck and back to the streaks of black, white, blue, and yellow. "They're the ones that made me into their little slave. Why should I trust them with myself? Why should I trust them with my potential? I could be so much more if they didn't hold me back."

Anakin grew silent as he felt a storm bubbling up inside him. It felt as though his insides were being torn in two different directions. One demanded of him that he complied with everyone's wishes and remained a Jedi, and the other whispered fantasies of being free from his chains. The Jedi Master wrung his hands and broke out in a nervous sweat. He couldn't hold it in much longer. Not without his Snips by his side.

"Admit it. You're lost without her," he mumbled to himself, shifting into a slow pace around the bridge. Some of the piloting clones spared a concerned and confused glance at him, but nobody dared asked. For all they knew, one word to the distraught Jedi would cause him to snap.

Snips, Anakin silently whispered, trying to search through his Force to see if he could find their old bond. Snips, I need you. I need your help. I'm lost, 'Soka. We need you back. I need you back.

He couldn't help but shake his head in defeat. There was no way she was going to hear him. Maybe she was dead, like Obi-Wan kept insisting. Or maybe, just maybe, they were too many worlds apart.

–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–Ω–

A Togruta carefully glided across a cold forest floor. It was dark as night, not a soul strong enough to be up as light as she. Her feet moved like those of a cat: silent, calculated, and deadly. Light as a feather, and as graceful as a dancer, it would be impossible to know she was even there.

After an eventful day of sharing stories and gaining information on any possible enemy bases, it was finally time for Ahsoka to strike. Sure, it was incredibly dangerous going in without the slightest fraction of backup, but she would manage. Although, it might mean that she comes out a little more cut up than she was before.

The faintest chirps of nighttime insects echoed through the air, giving Ahsoka a slight sense of normalcy. She had never really noticed it before, but she was definitely not the definition of a city girl. Her time on Dantooine had really drawn that out of her.

There was reason behind her stance, though. Places like Coruscant just made her feel numb and small. All the noise, all the commotion- it drowned out any possibilities of truly connecting with one's self. However, in places like here, Dantooine, and unsettled areas of Naboo, you could practically hear your blood pumping through your veins.

Snap out of it, Ahsoka scolded herself. She was almost there. Almost to tranquility.

Vibrations began pinging through her montral, causing her to abruptly halt. Something, or somebody, was near. The corners of her lips twitched upwards in a relieved smile. The Ewoks had been right. There was something here.

A snap of a twig about 20 meters to her left alerted her that she wasn't alone. Ahsoka quickly tensed up and ducked behind a tree, peeking around just enough to keep watch on her surroundings. Ahsoka focused on controlling her breathing, which was going haywire at the moment from how nervous she was. She was just about to write it off as a wild animal when a light, most likely a flashlight of some sort, swung across the trees around her. To avoid being caught, she quickly jerked her head back around a pressed her body against the bark of a redwood tree.

After a couple seconds, the beam of light had pulled away from the area Ahsoka was hiding in and moved on to a new section. As slowly and quietly as she could, the Togruta pivoted her foot around and peeked from behind the tree. Sure enough, there was a patrol officer walking in the opposite direction. However, what struck her as odd, is that it was not in the form of a droid. It was a humanoid covered in clothes similar to that of a Jedi, just much darker.

"I'm heading in. Area's clear," Ahsoka could hear the patrol officer speak into his comms. With that, he hastened his pace in the direction that she assumed was their base.

"This is it," she whispered to herself, carefully picking up her feet and following behind him. Knowing that walking on the ground wouldn't give her much cover, she took a quick glance at her surroundings and spotted some strong tree limbs above them. With a nod to herself, she Force-jumped up and landed gently. A couple leaves fluttered to the ground at her impact, but it wasn't enough to alert the officer of anything.

It went like that for a good five minutes: the patrol man would walk about 20 paces before Ahsoka would leap to the next limb. However, around 10 jumps later, she accidentally overestimated the strength of a limb. She felt it the second her toes touched the wood. With a loud crack, it broke away from the rest of the tree and came tumbling down. In a state of panic, Ahsoka pushed off of as best as she could and landed on another limb. She pressed herself up against the trunk of tree, but she knew it was too small for her. Sure enough, the officer spun around at the commotion and began searching the trees with his light.

Crap, Ahsoka thought. She had no clue what to do. If she tried moving, he would instantly catch sight of her and alert the base of her presence. If she stayed there and he saw her, he would do the exact same thing. It was a lose-lose situation.

Maybe if I... sure, she had never done it before, but trying to cloak herself was the only option she had left. With a shaky breath, she closed her eyes and started trying. She focused and focused on herself and her surroundings, attempting to feel the Force flow around her and warp it just right. She started to panic as she realized that the officer's beam of light was getting closer and closer to her position.

You can do this... you can do this... Ahsoka still hadn't turned invisible yet. The light was only a couple meters away from her now. Finally, with one last push, she realized that it wasn't happening. She just couldn't do it. The Togruta winced as she counted the final centimeters left.

20.

15.

10.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

Ahsoka grimaced as the bright white light danced across her skin. She knew that her hood was on and her face couldn't be seen very well (in addition to the fact that she had tucked her lekku inside of her robes), but it still didn't change the fact that she had just been busted.

At least, by one person....

"Hey! Who are you?!" The officer demanded, grabbing something off of his belt. However, knowing that her time before the entire base was alerted was limited, Ahsoka sighed and lifted up her hand. With the swipe of her fingers, the man's eyes closed and he crumbled to the ground, dropping whatever was in his hand right beside him.

"Sweet dreams, mister," Ahsoka muttered as she leaped down from the tree. He would be waking up in about six hours, so, with a sigh, the Togruta picked up her pace and shuffled over to him.

"What the he..." she cut off as her eyes widened. He hadn't been holding just anything in his hand. He had been holding a lightsaber. With a wary eye towards the man, Ahsoka tentatively picked up the lightsaber and powered it on. It was a dark orange.

"Strange," Ahsoka muttered, pocketing the saber. One less enemy with a dangerous weapon was always a good thing for her. With a determined grunt, she straightened back out and turned to the direction they had been traveling in. Sure enough, she could she faint lights in the distance. Then, without a second more of hesitation, the Gray Jedi vanished into the night.

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Well, ya made it. Congrats! I don't understand how you can suffer through this awful excuse of a story.

ANYWAYS, I know what y'all are thinking. What's the surprise?

Well, if you've been paying attention to my announcements, you've noticed that I've redone the cover for Gray Jedi's Legacy (and a good thing that was, too. Gosh the old one was hideous.)

I think y'all see where I'm going with this. Yep, you guessed it, I made a new cover for this story, too.

Well, I made two versions, actually.

So, since I kinda can't decide, I'm going to have y'all vote. Leave a comment on the one that y'all like the best!

1)

OR

2)