"The costs of war can never be truly accounted for." — Innocents of Ryloth

Ahsoka Tano was being promoted to the status of Padawan Learner. Her new master? The legendary Anakin Skywalker, 'The Chosen One,' the former student of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the one all of the younglings would whisper about whenever he happened to pass by them in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. The one who would surely, one day, feature in the tales and legends told about the Clone Wars when the facts and figures had been forgotten amid the joy of the Republic's near-certain victory over the evil Separatist Alliance. Now, Ahsoka was being given an opportunity to become a part of those legends.

The fourteen-year-old flitted from place to place around the Temple, saying goodbyes to her friends and gathering her few belongings from her dormitory in the youngling quarters, including her emerald green lightsaber which still stubbornly held in a reverse grip, no matter how many times her teachers tried to alter it. One day, she promised herself, she would become a great Jedi Knight, or even a Master, helping and protecting people all over the Galaxy. It was her dream.

Her excitement and enthusiasm for the day ahead, the day she would actually become a Padawan, showed as she near-sprinted towards the hangar where a shuttle waited to take her to Christophsis, the planet on which she would meet her new master. She saw Master Yoda one final time before boarding the shuttle and taking her seat, her foot already tapping with impatience as she waited for the shuttle to be loaded and on its way.

The journey took a few hours and was Ahsoka's first time on a Jedi Cruiser, besides a few brief visits when she was still a youngling. The time seemed to drag on for the young girl but eventually she was called to the cruiser's hanger by Admiral Yularen where she re-entered her shuttle. She felt the shuttle lift off, leave the hanger and enter the vacuum of space, swerving as it made its way towards the planet below, presumably dodging the blaster fire of the ongoing space battle in Christophsis' orbit. After all, she was going into a war zone.

She looked down at herself. Her new outfit, the design of which she had chosen, was comfortable and allowed for great flexibility, therefore suiting her preferred style of fighting which required a lot of agility. From her belt hung her lightsaber, the weapon of the Jedi. She was proud that she was finally taking this step towards becoming a Jedi Knight, a part of a force who strived to do good and help others, all over the Galaxy. Fighting in the war was a part of that duty, despite the fact that the Jedi were peacekeepers; apparently, it was sometimes necessary to fight for peace and Ahsoka was willing to do her bit. After all, with the powerful, selfless Jedi backing the Republic, it was unlikely in her opinion that they would lose to the selfish Separatists.

She felt the shuttle's motion begin to slow indicating that they were about to land and stood up, ready to disembark immediately as she was unsure what the situation would be outside when the door opened. Finally, the shuttle came to rest on the ground. Hearing no immediate signs of ongoing combat, she relaxed slightly as the ramp began to unfold, giving her her first view of Chistophsis. She took in the sight of the towering crystal-blue skyscrapers before lowering her gaze to see two Jedi, who she knew to be Anakin Skywalker, her new master, and his former master, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Holding her head high so as to appear confident, mature and in control, Ahsoka walked towards them over the pavement which was cracked with the scars of fighting and heard Master Kenobi mutter something about "a youngling." This annoyed her a little but she wouldn't let it phase her. After all, she was a little younger than most Padawans.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, addressed her a little rudely.

"I'm Ahsoka," she responded, attempting to disguise her annoyance but not quite managing it. "Master Yoda sent me. I was told to tell both of you that you must get back to the Jedi Temple immediately. There's an emergency!" Anakin didn't seem particularly happy.

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed but we're in a bit of an emergency right here."

"Yes, our communications have been a bit unreliable but we've been calling for help." Master Kenobi added. Ahsoka sighed.

"Master Yoda hadn't heard from you so he sent me to deliver the message."

"Oh, great!" Anakin replied sarcastically. "They don't even know we're in trouble." Anakin turned away in frustration. So they were stranded without communications? That wasn't good. The new Padawan suddenly had an idea.

"Maybe you could relay a signal through the cruiser that just dropped me off?" Master Kenobi smiled and exchanged a glance with Anakin, who nodded.

With that, the three Jedi began to walk towards the temporary communications station the Republic had set up. For Ahsoka, it was her first mission and, as is the case for many beginnings, she was walking into the unknown, with little knowledge of the challenges which lay ahead. The same would be true for her experiences over the next few years as a whole; at that point, in the beginning, she had no idea just how much the Clone Wars would change and affect her, for better or for worse.

Hello and welcome! This is my first story so if you enjoyed this please follow/fave/review as it would mean a lot to me.

First of all, this is not exactly a romance as it is going to stick primarily to what is shown in Canon, providing a reflection on Ahsoka growing and developing as a young Jedi but also how her view of the war and the Jedi changes as the series progresses. However, it will also look at how she deals with the rule of attachment in conjunction with her feelings for Lux. A number of chapters will not be based on episodes of the show and will instead fill in some of the gaps between the times when we see Ahsoka in the show, for example how she reacts to events which do not directly concern her or expanding on something which did happen in episodes that concerns her.

Initially, progress may be a little slow as I am currently sitting exams. However, I have started the first chapter (this is a prologue providing background information on Ahsoka's initial views of the war) and in a few weeks time I will hopefully be able to establish a regular update schedule.

I've rated this as T to be safe but it's probably overdoing it. Any mature themes will likely be no worse than The Clone Wars itself though there may be implied mentions of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder later on.

Thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed this introduction :)

Disclaimer: The title of this story is taken from Icon for Hire's song 'The Grey' so credit for the lyrics goes to them. I do not own any of the characters appearing in this story (besides any OCs I may happen to create) or Star Wars in general. Those belong to Lucasfilm and Disney.