Begin

"Ahsoka, wait! Ahsoka, I need to talk to you."

Footsteps sound behind her and she sighs as she stops having hoped to avoid this conversation. She already said her piece hadn't she? Taking a breath she turns to see her master, no, her former master catching up to her.

"Why are you doing this?" He asks looking at her, desperation clear in his eyes.

"The council didn't trust me, so how can I trust myself?"

He looks hurt, it flashes across his eyes. "What about me? I believed you. I stood by you."

" I know you believe in me, Anakin, and I'm grateful for that. But this isn't about you, I can't stay here any longer, not now."

"The Jedi Order is your life. You can't just throw it away like this. Ahsoka, you're making a mistake."

"Maybe, but I have to sort this out on my own, without the council and without you."

There's something in his eyes that tells her he's starting to realize that this is fruitless. But he was never one to give up and that emotion passes.

"I understand. More than you realize, I understand wanting to walk away from the Order."

She smiles gently yet sadly. "I know."

With that she turns, away from him, and away from the only real life she's ever known. She starts walking towards the Corasant sunset. She has no path but, the force will guide her.

Anakin bolted upright and looked around. He was in his quarters aboard the Resolute. Running a hand over his face he sighed.

'Why am I still having that dream?' He thought. Ahsoka had disappeared years ago. She had vanished during the battle of Mandalore, gone without a trace. It had been a devastating blow to everyone. He had blamed himself for her disappearing. He should have been with her, fighting beside her on Mandalore instead he had been on Corasuant. He had been preparing to go meet the chancellor when Obi Wan had contacted him with the development. He had gotten on the first ship and left to go help search for her. They had found nothing and neither he or Obi Wan had been able to sense her in the force. But a few weeks ago he had begun having dreams again, about her leaving the Order. They were always from her point of view, but he couldn't feel her emotions in the situation, only his. No matter, he knew it had to mean something, finally the Force was answering him.

His comm beeped and pulled him out of his thoughts.

"General Kenobi, just arrived sir. He's waiting for you on the bridge." Rex's voice came through the comm.

"Alright Rex tell him I'm on my way." With that he stood and left his quarters.

"Anakin... Anakin?"

Anakin blinked a couple times then looked at his former master, Obi Wan Kenobi. "Yes master?"

"Are you alright? I called your name several times."

"I'm fine, I just didn't sleep well last night."

By the inquisitive look shot at him and then at Rex, who was standing behind him, Anakin knew Obi Wan didn't buy his excuse at all, but, to his relief, he let it go.

"Well perhaps you should go get some rest the other masters are going to join us soon and I would hate for you to fall asleep on them."

"No, I'm fine, really."

Obi Wan sighed but didn't insist. Instead he continued briefing Anakin on their mission.

"As I was saying, this is the first time the majority of the Jedi council has all participated in a mission in a very long time. The last one was before the war. The Resolute, being the biggest of the Republic's cruisers, will be hosting them all. We will travel to our destination and once there we must hope that Master Yoda's visions are correct in predicting a non hostile welcome. We know little to nothing about the inhabitants of the planet we are traveling to, or if there even are inhabitants. We can assume that as far the possibility goes, the planet can support life and therefore inhabitants should be expected. If that is the case we treat them with respect and civility, this is their home we've just landed on afterall."

"What if they don't respond with civility? For all we know their crude and primitive beings, if they even exist at all." Anakin said.

Obi Wan shook his head. "We don't want to risk angering anyone, or anything on this planet. If they react hostilely we will go from there."

"Do we know anything about the planet at all?" Cody, who had arrived with Obi Wan walked up to them. He nodded in Anakin and Rex's direction but spoke to Obi Wan.

"Only that we don't know anything at all. The planet appeared out of no where several weeks ago. The Jedi archives have no information on it and none of the pilots we spoke to seemed to have an explanation for it. That being said assuming that we're going to an uninhabbited planet makes no sense considering Master Yoda's visions had signs of life in them."

Cody nodded but said nothing. They all watched him for a moment waiting for a response. Instead he said, "the other generals have arrived sir. Should I have them join us here?"

Obi Wan glanced at Anakin. "No Cody, we will go and greet them."

The clone commander nodded and moved aside to allow his general to pass him. Obi Wan nodded to Anakin and Rex then exited the bridge. Anakin let out a sigh of relief when he left.

"Sir?" He turned and looked at Rex.

"What is it Rex?"

"Are you certain you're alright?"

Anakin looked at Rex and saw slight concern on his uncovered face. "Yes, Rex, I'm positive."

The clone captain nodded and they dropped into uncomfortable silence. The noise of the bridge was in the background and Anakin wanted nothing more than to have something to do to busy his mind and keep the thoughts of his dream at bay. It was these very thoughts that left him totally unaware that the council members had made their way to the bridge until Obi Wan laid a hand on his shoulder causing him to jump.

"Go get some rest Anakin." Anakin opened his mouth to argue but Obi Wan put a hand up stopping him. "At least go meditate and try to clear your mind," he said.

Anakin looked around and saw the council watching him. He nodded sheepishly, bowed slightly to the council, then left the bridge as fast as he could.

Rex watched his general leave the bridge. He sighed and turned his attention back to the members of the Jedi council that were present, only to find that they were all looking at him. He felt unease fill his stomach as they all turned their attention to him. He wanted to find an excuse to go after General Skywalker but protocol kept him rooted to the spot until he was dismissed. He glanced at General Kenobi who gave him a reassuring smile.

"Captain," Rex looked at General Windu, "how often would you say you're with General Skywalker?"

"Quite often sir. He's my general and I'm his second in command."

"And have you noticed anything off about him?"

Rex tensed his mind flying to the incident with Fives and Tup. He didn't want his general to get in trouble.

"Relax Captain. General Windu is merely asking for Anakin's well being. He's not in any trouble." Kenobi assured him, as though having read his thoughts. If it was any other Jedi Rex would have feared that to be more than a statement.

Rex nodded. "He's been distracted lately sir. He keeps saying he's just not sleeping well and that he's fine but…"

"But?" Kenobi pressed.

"But I think it's something else too."

"And what would that be Captain?" Kit Fisto asked, having stayed quiet, listening to the conversation.

Rex hesitated, the last thing he wanted was to lose his general. Reckless as he may be his men trusted him, and Rex did not want to repeat the Umbara incident.

"It's alright Captain. We just want to make sure Skywalker is okay," Fisto reassured.

Rex took a breath then spoke. "He's been talking about Ahsoka Tano a lot recently. He keeps bringing her up. I thought maybe at first he was just reminiscing but he keeps talking about her. I believe his lack of sleep and the constant mention of her are tied together."

The Jedi said nothing for a moment, merely looked at him. Rex wanted to look at Cody, who was standing next to him, for reassurance but found he could not break his gaze away from the Jedi.

"Thank you Captain, you did the right thing in telling us. You are dismissed," Mace Windu said.

As Rex exited the bridge, Cody beside him, he found that he wasn't quite sure he agreed with the Jedi.