"I understand, more than you realize, I understand wanting to walk away from the Order," Anakin said.

"I know," replied Ahsoka, and then she walked away from the only life she had ever known. Tears welled up in her eyes as she knew that this could be the last time she saw her friends, the temple... and her master who had become like an older brother to her. She tried to hold back the tears, but it was no use. As soon as she got to the bottom of the Temple steps, she slumped to the ground and began to cry. She knew people were starting, but she didn't care. She didn't know where to go, or what to do. For the first time in her life, she was truly alone.

She didn't know how long she sat there, slumped agains the stairs of the Temple building crying, but eventually nothing would come out anymore. She sat there for a few more seconds, trying to take in her surroundings and gather herself. She heard her stomach growl, and decided to look for a place to eat. Looking in her credits pouch, she realized she had just enough for one meal, and that was it. Sighing, she got up and began to look for a place to eat.

After walking around for a few minutes, she found a place that looked good enough, and went inside. She ordered a sandwich and a water to drink, and waited. After about 10 minutes, her food was ready. She was much hungrier than she realized, as she mowed down the sandwich faster than she thought possible.

After finishing her dinner, she thought about her "plan". She didn't really have a concrete one, but she figured she would make it up as she went along. She couldn't afford an apartment because she had no money, and no job, and she couldn't live in the streets of Upper Coruscant because she would likely get arrested. Reluctantly, she decided her best bet was to head to Coruscant's underworld. She had spent time down there when running from trial, trying to figure out who was framing her.

As she made her way towards the underworld, she felt something tugging her in the opposite direction. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, but she assumed it was the force guiding her. It seemed to be wanting her to head towards the Senate building. She thought this was odd, she hated politics, she would rather be on the front lines fighting.

Finally Ahsoka gave in and made her way to the Senate building. It was about a 20 minute walk, but she enjoyed seeing parts of Coruscant that she'd never had the pleasure of seeing before. Normally when she was on Coruscant she either stayed in the Temple or the Senate building and traveled by speeder, never by foot. Taking in all the beautiful sights of Coruscant, she did not realize she had made it to the Senate building.

She stood in front of the door, and took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing," she muttered under her breath.

As soon as she walked in, it seemed as though they had just finished a session. Senators from all over the galaxy streamed out of the Senate Chamber. Suddenly she felt the force pulling her towards her right. She look, and saw nothing, but knew that the force definitely wanted her to go left, so she did. 

After walking for a few minutes, she saw someone familiar: Senator Amidala. Ahsoka saw her talking to a boy who looked to be around Ahsoka's age. Something felt familiar about him, but she couldn't place it. The force was guiding her towards the two, so she strode on over to them.

Padme immediately recognized Ahsoka, and her lips curved into a smile. 

"Ahsoka!" Padme exclaimed as she saw the young togruta, and ran towards her, bringing her into a hug. "It's been far too long, but what're you doing here? Not that I'm complaining of course."

"It has been a while, hasn't it? I'm here for... I don't really know. The force kinda led me here and I'm not sure why," Ahsoka said shrugging. "But it's so good to see you regardless." Ahsoka hadn't realized it, but the boy Padme had been talking about had walked up to them. She then heard a voice she never thought she would hear again:

"Hello Ahsoka."

Ahsoka was dumbfounded. In front of her stood Lux Bonteri. She didn't know what to say. After she had left Onderon, she came to terms with the fact that she would likely never see him again. He refused to have Onderon join the Republic, so there was no way she would ever have been able to go to Onderon on a mission.

"L-Lux... it's so great to see you," Ahsoka managed to stammer out, "What are you doing here? I thought you said you would never join the Republic?"

Lux smiled. "I thought about what you had said, about the Republic, and everything in general, and I decided it was dangerous for Onderon to stay neutral. It was almost inevitable that if they remained neutral, the Separatists would attack again, and I knew this time that the Republic would not be able to help at all. So, I decided to have Onderon join the Republic."

"T-that's great news!" Ahsoka mentally scolded herself that she kept stammering. Why was she like this? She had never had a problem talking to Lux before, why now all of a sudden?

"Yes, it looks like we might be seeing a lot more of each other," Lux winked, as Ahsoka blushed. Thankfully it went unnoticed to Padme and Lux due to the color of her skin.

However, that happy feeling inside died down quickly, as she remebered why she was there. She looked down to the floor sighing, "Yea I wish that would be the case, but that's kind of why I'm here."

"What do you mean?" Padme questioned, curiously.

"I don't want to talk about it here. Is there anywhere more private we can go to talk?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yea we can go back to my apartment, it's right across the street," Lux replied.

"Alright lead the way," Ahsoka said.

The walk to Lux's apartment didn't take long, but there was an awkward silence between the three the whole way there. Upon entering, Lux motioned for them towards the living room. In the room, there was a fireplace, with two white couches perpendicular to the fireplace, facing each other, with a black, wooden table between them. The room itself had white walls, and was lit up only by the fire burning in the fireplace.

Lux sat down on one of the coaches, and Ahsoka took the spot right to his left, while Padme sat on the couch opposite them. 

They were silent for a few seconds, until Padme spoke. "So, Ahsoka... what's going on? I've never seen you this upset before." 

Ahsoka had been looking down, but looked up to see a look of worry on Padme's face. She looked to Lux, and saw that he looked equally as concerned, which, again, made her blush, and again, she mentally scolded herself. She had no idea what was going on with her. Did she... no she couldn't. She shook the thoughts from her mind.

"So," she hesitantly began, looking at Lux and then Padme, trying to work up the ability to say what she was about to say without balling her eyes out again. Finally, she swallowed hard and said it, "I left the Order." She closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears that she knew were inevitable.

"Wh-what... but-but why Ahsoka? The Jedi Order was your life, why would you leave that behind?" Lux questioned.

"They did offer you to come back, didn't they? Anakin told me they were going to after finding out that you were framed." Padme said worriedly.

"Yes, they offered me to come back," Ahsoka replied.

"Then why didn't you accept?!" Lux said almost angrily.

"Because the Council didn't trust me, so how can I trust myself?" Ahsoka said, fighting back tears.

"What about Anakin? He believed you, he trusted you," Padme said softly.

"I know he did, and I'm grateful for it, but I couldn't stay there after everything that had happened."

"But it was your life, you can't just throw it away like this! You are making a big mistake!" Lux was now yelling.

"Maybe I did, but I have to sort all this stuff out. Maybe one day I'll return, but for now, my destiny is leading me elsewhere." She looked a bit hurt that Lux was yelling at her.

Lux was shaking his head, he still didn't understand why she would do this. He felt he may be taking it a bit too far, by yelling at here, but she means so much to him, he only wanted what's best for her, and he knew leaving the Jedi Order was not in her best interest. He sighed, "Ahsoka, I'm sorry I'm shouting, but I just want what's best for you, and I think staying with the Order is what's best for you," Lux said comfortingly.

Ahsoka looked up at Lux, and winked at him, saying "Thanks for looking out for me."

Lux smiled, "Anytime."

Padme had been silent for the last couple minutes, "Ahsoka," she said calmly, "you know if you ever need anything, you can come to me, right?" 

"Yes Padme, thank you."

"I must be leaving now, but Ahsoka, just stay strong, I know you'll figure it all out," Padme smiled at Ahsoka before getting up and leaving.

Ahsoka and Lux stayed sitting on the couch in silent for the next couple minutes. Neither of them knowing what to say.

Finally Ahsoka broke the silence. "Lux, there's something else I need to tell you. You know how I said the force led me to the Senate building, but I didn't know why?"

"Yes, I do, that was the first thing I heard when you were talking to Padme."

"Well, I think I partially know why it led me to the Senate building." Ahsoka was trying to muster the courage to say what she was going to say next, "I think it-it led me to... you." Ahsoka looked away from Lux. Both of them stayed quiet for a few seconds, Ahsoka started panicking, "I-I don't know why, or–" she was cut off when Lux kissed her. Wait... Lux kissed her?!?!? Ahsoka was frozen in time, not really sure of what to do. Eventually she gave in and kissed back. Time stood still as Ahsoka and Lux continued the kiss.

Eventually the parted, and pressed their foreheads together, looking deep into each other's eyes. This had gone from one of the worst days of Ahsoka's life, to one of the best in a matter of hours. She was ready to start her new life, a life alongside Lux.

"I love you."