Well, after several months, we've finally reached the end of Web of Lies. Shoutout time to all my reviewers!

Thanks to: livvixx, xander867, jedikim2424, Blackrose, Yksin, a fellow jedi, san davis 687, StarWarsRocksMySocks, Dryadeh, echo4evr, Mastrada101, skywalker02, Mastermind4892, Julia, Jedi knight Niamh Rowa, Avalonyx, StarWarsGirl112, Agent Megas, Ahsoka22, An Ahsoka Tano Fan/Yendor Typho and Pinksaber13, tarooso, Pillow Head D, lionfire42, WolvieGrrl, PenAndInkPrincess, OnixEyes, saneup, Bluesaber3, Marijke, Corporal 'Spider' Hawthorne, PeacefullyCrazy, HisDarkMaterialsrox, Darthraven123, Zorlite, Ahsokasister, Grace Rose Summers, Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay, elle baybee, Cat-501, Angie1018, Braveryx11, BOOM, Jedipadawan123, Ninja Named Steve, NeonColourFox, Cnwriter, swcwahsokachick, Strider1018, lumoscaitlin, Nami-chan, AhsokaLover, Ahsoka2, Alijoe13, shadow rose 2717, Sapphire Jade Eyes, chickenchick, son of wind, Ahsoka-Tano-Padawan, Aay'liah, 01WolfexxMistress10, Kibetha, xxXUnder-YourSkinXxx, storymonster0, vrf, Alexdewar20102010, Padawan-Tane, Too lazy to log in, Nightraze, firehottie and supergirlnatalie97.

Wow. That took a while. But thank you all for reviewing! (And thank you lurkers for reading. XD)

I've decided against the epilogue, so this will be the final chapter. I hope you enjoy reading!

Ahsoka was silent as they entered the Temple. Anakin couldn't tell what she was thinking, but every so often, she would glance his way and he would see that her eyes were full of worry.

"It's going to be okay," he said finally. "They won't expel you, Ahsoka, they can't."

"Right," Ahsoka said, and for a minute, Anakin expected a line like 'And I'm the queen of Mustafar' to follow that. "They can expel me Master, just as easily as they can assign us a mission."

"Don't jump to conclusions," Anakin told her, just as two other Jedi approached them.

"We will escort you to the Council Chambers," the first one said.

"That's won't be nes-" Anakin stopped as he realized why they were there. "She hasn't turned to the dark side She isn't going anywhere."

"Master, it's fine," Ahsoka said. She shot him a sharp look, and he caught on. Raising a fuss over that would put suspicion on both of them. It would be better to play along for now.

The two Jedi stood by the door as Anakin and Ahsoka walked to the centre of the Council Chambers. Jinx was already there, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Thank you for your assistance," Mace told the two other Jedi. "You are dismissed." When they had gone, the Council focused on the Master and Padawan.

"Hmm..." Yoda was staring intently at Ahsoka. "Sense I do, that things are not what they have appeared to be. No darkness, I sense in you, Padawan."

Anakin exchanged a glance with Ahsoka. They had agreed that they would keep nothing from the Council, aside from the Tuskens and Anakin's marriage.

"Ahsoka never turned to the dark side," Anakin said. "She pretended to turn so she could save Padawan Jinx and Master Oki."

"But Oki was killed," Ki-Adi-Mundi stated. Anakin began to explain what had happened, but Kit Fisto interrupted him.

"The boy now has no Master. If the rest of the Council agrees, I would like to take him as my Padawan."

Jinx looked startled, then, as the other Masters voiced their agreement, he smiled and bowed respectfully. Anakin wondered how he could be so calm about it when he had just recently lost his old Master, but realized he and Eekar Oki had only been paired for a few weeks. Jinx would have felt his Master's death much more keenly had they been Master and Padawan for years.

When Jinx had left the Council Chambers, Anakin continued. "Yes, Master Oki died. He was killed by the same Sith who lured us to Korriban. He went by the name Darth Sidious."

Shock rippled through the Force as the Council took in this information.

"Darth Sidious is the same name Count Dooku gave Obi-Wan on Geonosis," Mace Windu said, frowning. "We thought he was lying, but now..."

Had Dooku been telling the truth? Sidious- was that really his name?- and Dooku were obviously working together. Had they invented the shadowy person who controlled the Senate? Or had they actually come face to face with him?

I wish I could have seen his face.

But there was no point dwelling on what he could have done differently. He had to focus on trying to keep his Padawan in the Order.

"What did he want with your Padawan?" Shaak Ti asked.

Anakin sighed. That was a story he didn't want to repeat. Before he could say anything, Ahsoka spoke up.

"He wanted me as bait for Master Skywalker. I think at first, he may have thought he could turn me to the dark side, but he really just wanted me to set a trap. And that's where Master Oki came in."

Anakin took over. "Sidious knew I was going to Christophsis. He was there when I arrived. When I went to the mine to confront him, he killed Master Oki. Only he did in such a way that he made it look like Ahsoka had done it. I confronted her and we fought. The Sith provoked me and I took my anger out on Ahsoka. I... turned on her and... struck her down. She was killed by the blow."

Anakin had to hand it to the Jedi Masters, they were taking the news well. But then again, he supposed they were used to his unusual stories.

This isn't unusual- it sounds downright crazy!

"But here she stands, alive." Mace looked at Ahsoka, then Anakin, as if trying to determine whether or not they were lying.

Ahsoka picked up the story again. "Yes, but only because I was given the choice to come back to the living. The being who gave me my... unique power, the Daughter, enabled me to come back and help Master Skywalker fight the Sith."

"He still got away," Anakin added. It infuriated him- he had had the key to the war in his grasp, and he had slipped away. It suddenly occurred to him that he was standing in a room full of Jedi Masters who could easily sense his anger and pushed it down.

"Why did the Daughter appear to you then, Padawan Tano? Why never before? She could have shown you how to handle that power," Master Eeth Koth said.

Funny how quickly they've changed their stride, Anakin mused. They forbid me to train her, but now they seem to have changed their minds. He could understand their thinking, though. The Daughter knew what to do with the power, she wouldn't have been playing with fire as Anakin and Ahsoka had done.

Ahsoka shifted on her feet, appearing to have lost some of her confidence. "Actually... it wasn't the first time. She has been training me in my dreams for a while now."

Yoda blinked slowly at her. "Come to the Council with this information, you should have."

"Nobody knew, Master. She forbid me to tell anyone."

Mace Windu activated the holorecording stand to their left. "We would like you to explain something to us." The image flickered to life. "How did you come to learn to use Sith lightning?"

Anakin and Ahsoka exchanged looks of shock as their most recent training session played out in front of them. Anakin flinched as he remembered how hard he had been on Ahsoka then. Funny how that seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had happened since then.

"Where did you get this recording?" Anakin asked Windu. Who had been spying on their training?

"It was sent to the Council anonymously," the Jedi Master replied. "Please explain what you and your Padawan were doing fighting in an abandoned warehouse."

Anakin was getting a sinking feeling that things weren't looking too good for either of them. "I was training her. I felt she needed to protect herself against the Sith, so-"

"You deliberately disobeyed an order," Windu interrupted, "an order we gave you for a reason. One of the other Padawans has also reported that you were seen in the lower levels of the Temple. You were training her then as well, were you not?"

Anakin simply stood silently. He knew that arguing his case would only make things worse.

But, after more than two years as his Padawan, Ahsoka still hadn't learned to keep her mouth shut in front of the Council. "Masters, I've never used Sith lightning in my life. What you saw was a power that was shown to me by the Daughter. It's called Electric Judgement."

Anakin saw Plo Koon lean forward in interest and felt a flicker of hope. Maybe this would be salvageable after all.

"Hmm," Yoda said. "A very advanced Force power, Electric Judgement is. Handle it, you can, Padawan Tano?"

"Yes, Master," Ahsoka replied, but a few Masters looked doubtful.

"From what I know of Electric Judgement, a child of her age should not be able to handle that power," Master Tinn commented.

Anakin was tempted to roll his eyes. Had they forgotten that Ahsoka was not like the other Padawans? He hoped they wouldn't treat her like such, if they did, she would be expelled for sure.

Plo Koon spoke up. "I disagree. I have used Electric Judgement before, and while it is an advanced Force power, I think Ahsoka could handle it."

This caused the Council to break out in discussion. Ahsoka caught Anakin's eye, and he saw she looked uneasy. He wanted to reassure her, but he knew they would be empty words. Her fate was out of his hands.

"Perhaps a demonstration, Padawan Tano could give," Yoda said at last. "If proof you need that she can handle the power."

Ahsoka frowned. "Right now?"

"Go with you to the training rooms, Master Koon, Master Windu and Master Kenobi will," Yoda said.

Anakin didn't like that idea. Ahsoka was still injured. But he knew she wouldn't let that stop her.

Obi-Wan fell into step beside Anakin as they left the Council Chambers. "Is there anything else you've been keeping secret from me, my former Padawan?"

You have no idea, Anakin thought. Obi-Wan continued before he could say anything.

"Tell me more about this Sith Lord. How did you escape him?"

"We didn't escape him, he escaped us," Anakin said. "He had no power anymore, he couldn't have done anything to us, so he ran."

Obi-Wan frowned. "What do you mean, he had no power anymore? What happened?"

"Have you ever heard of the Wall of Light?"

"Yes, I remember reading about it. Why?" Obi-Wan suddenly looked shocked. "Are you saying-"

Anakin nodded. "Apparently together, we could create a wall strong enough to sever his Force connection. Whether or not he's managed to restore it is the question."

"Anakin, it normally takes a group of Jedi to create the Wall of Light. What you and Ahsoka did... it shouldn't have been possible."

Before Anakin could respond, the door to the training room slid open. Windu, Obi-Wan and Plo Koon stood off to the side as Ahsoka and Anakin walked to the centre of the room. Anakin took a deep breath. What would come next could determine Ahsoka's fate.

Ahsoka cast a sidelong glace at the three Masters watching them. Master Plo and Master Kenobi would most likely be on her side, but she wasn't sure about Master Windu.

"I'm pretty sure your lightsaber can deflect this lightning as well," she told her Master.

"You're 'pretty sure'? That's reassuring," Anakin said lightly, but he activated his lightsaber.

Ahsoka gathered the Force and stretched out a hand, trying not to think of the three pairs of eyes that were focused on her. The Electric Judgement flew out toward Anakin and he quickly blocked it. Ahsoka reached out her other hand and the lightning flow increased. She found the situation rather ironic. The last time she had used Electric Judgement on her Master, they had been fighting in secret so they wouldn't get in trouble. Now they were fighting in front of the Jedi so she wouldn't be expelled.

Ahsoka could see the effort it was taking Anakin to block the lightning. His blade was slowly being forced backward by the increased pressure of the lightning. She lowered her hands and sparks skittered briefly across the floor before the lightning disappeared. She then turned to face the three Masters.

Master Plo's face was covered by his mask, but she had gotten pretty good at guessing what he was thinking. Right now she suspected he was surprised, yet glad that she could control the lightning. Obi-Wan, she sensed, was not surprised, but interested in the fact that she had beaten Anakin. Mace Windu was completely unreadable.

"Thank you," Windu said. "You are both dismissed. We will send for you when we have reached a decision."

That did little to calm Ahsoka nerves, but she pushed them down and bowed respectfully.

"Come on," Anakin said as the three Masters left the room. "That went well..."

"Are you kidding?" Ahsoka shook her head as they left the training room.

"No. They all seemed pretty impressed." Anakin glanced down at her. "You can fight droids all day long without batting an eye, but you're scared of a Council meeting?"

"I'm not scared." It had been a long time since Ahsoka had been frightened of the Council. Nervous would be a better word to describe her.

A door on their left slid open and Ahsoka recognized one of the meditation rooms. "I thought you were going to let me off meditation."

"I never agreed to that," her Master reminded her. "But we won't be meditating. I want to try and get our bond back."

Ahsoka looked at him, surprised. "You can't seriously want to try that mind linking thing again. Remember what happened last time?"

Anakin shrugged and sat down. "Yeah, I remember. I remember that we managed to generate enough power to defeat a Sith lord."

"But you could have been the one facing expulsion from the Order. I learned about your marriage from going too deep in your mind."

Anakin sighed. "Do you want to do this or not?"

Ahsoka sat down as well and closed her eyes. She felt a light touch at her mental shields and lowered them. She felt her Master do the same. She hesitated before diving deeper into his mind.

Suddenly, memories that were not her own flooded her mind.

The ship's ramp lowered and a young girl walked out.

"A Youngling?" Obi-Wan wondered out loud.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Anakin asked.

"I'm Ahsoka," the girl replied. "Master Yoda sent me."

Ahsoka smiled at the memory. She felt a tingling sense in the back of her mind, and the scene switched.

Her younger self sat on the edge of her starfighter as Anakin approached.

Ahsoka remembered the tears she had struggled to hold back as she was reprimanded by her Master for not following orders and losing that squadron in the battle of Ryloth.

"I lost so many of my pilots," the younger Togruta whispered.

Anakin set his hands on her shoulders. "Take heart, little one. That's the reality of command."

The scene switched again. Anakin was was facing Bane while Ahsoka was trapped in an airlock. His face showed indecision as he glanced from the holocron Bane was holding to Ahsoka.

"No, Master! Don't do it!"

Anakin shook his head. "I can't let you die, Ahsoka."

The scenes switched faster and the tingling sense got worse. The Blue Shadow Virus incident flashed through her mind, though it was quickly replaced by her return from Wasskah. Then came Mortis...

Ahsoka remembered the shock she had felt at seeing her Master control the Son and Daughter, along with the sky. It had not really sunk in until then that Anakin was different.

We both are, she reflected, then flinched, despite herself, as she saw her dark self snatch the Dagger of Mortis out of the air, then hand it to the Son. She watched herself die, then the Daughter fall. The tingling in her head increased as she watched the Daughter fade and herself glow brighter.

She grinned as she remembered her confusion as Anakin had hugged her. Again, the scene switched to her fighting Dooku on Serenno, then to Christophsis again as Anakin and her other self trapped Sidious in the Wall of Light...

They had been through a lot together. She suddenly realized that their bond wasn't just limited to extra power and the ability to talk to each other through the Force. It had been built on the foundation of trust, and that trust was not gone.

Ahsoka gasped as the tingling reached a maximum and there was a blinding, almost burning flash in her head. She blinked to clear the spots before her eyes and immediately noticed something was different.

Master?

She sent the thought at him almost tentatively, afraid that it hadn't worked.

Well, came his voice inside her head, that was... interesting.

Ahsoka smiled in relief. "I can't believe that actually worked," she said. But concern still nagged at her. What if they had got their bond back just for Ahsoka to be expelled from the Order?

Anakin stood up. "Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

Anakin shot her a look.

"I'll take that as a no, then," she said.

Obi-Wan returned to the Council Chambers more than a little torn. Yes, Ahsoka could control the Electric Judgement, but there was still the fact that she had kept secrets from the Council and took on a mission without informing them. Of course, it would have been a little hard to inform the Council with a Sith lord breathing down her neck, but she had put several people at risk by doing what she had done. A Jedi Master had died.

And then there was Anakin. Training his apprentice against the Council's wishes, then going to face a Sith lord and killing his apprentice. Anakin had never been good at controlling his anger, but this was taking it over the top.

He knew that most of the Council had been against Anakin taking an apprentice in the first place, and would use this opportunity to give her a new Master, one they deemed "safer". But Obi-Wan knew that the Force never did anything by accident. It was no accident that Ahsoka had been paired with Anakin, and it was no accident that she had received the Daughter's power. He felt it would be a grave mistake to give Ahsoka a new Master, let alone expel her.

"-she can control the Electric Judgement quite well, but she lets her emotions rule her," Mace Windu concluded.

"This is not her fault, she follows Skywalker's example," Plo Koon stated.

"She is still young," Obi-Wan interjected. "She will learn."

"Unique, this situation is," Yoda said. "Broken rules, Padawan Tano has, yes, but defeated a Sith, she has also. Weigh the good with the bad, we must."

"Nobody is questioning that, Master," Adi Gallia said. "But is Skywalker truly the right Master for Padawan Tano? Skywalker's methods are rather unorthodox, and the girl does not need to learn that."

"Yes," Shaak Ti said, "but his methods are effective. Ahsoka has proven that she can withstand the dark side, even under pressure from an unknown Sith. I think Skywalker has taught her well."

"Still, she has proven what a threat she would be if she had turned to the dark side," Mace Windu said.

"Which is why it is important that we keep her in the Order, away from such things," Koon said.

"What of Skywalker himself?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.

"Skywalker must stay in the Order," Windu said. "If he really is the Chosen One, we may need him later on."

Obi-Wan felt that was a poor reason, but he didn't say anything.

"We cannot afford to loose either of them, it appears," Stass Allie said. "So the question remains- should we assign Tano a new Master?"

"Jedi Ahsoka!"

Ahsoka grinned at the sound of the voice of the only battle droid in the Temple. She turned to face 448. Looking him over she raised an eye marking at Anakin when she saw the state the poor droid was in.

Don't say a word, he told her silently.

"It's good to see you," she told the battered droid.

I wish I could say the same, Anakin thought to her. Ahsoka resisted the urge to smack him. She was pretty sure that would also count as breaking the rules.

Be quiet, she thought back. "You look a little... worse for wear," she said to 448.

"No thanks to him," 448 complained. "Isn't there a law somewhere against assault?"

"Yes, but it doesn't include droids," Anakin informed him, somewhat gleefully. Ahsoka rolled her eyes. Then Anakin's comlink flashed and they both became serious.

"Skywalker here," her Master said in a low voice.

"Please report to the Council immediately," Mace Windu said.

"Yes, Master," Anakin replied, and shut off the comlink.

Anakin and Ahsoka stood in front of the Council a few minutes later. Anakin could feel anxiety through their bond, and know that the Council could most likely sense it as well.

Calm down, Snips, he told her silently.

Sorry, she replied. But what it they expel me? Then we would have gotten our bond back for nothing.

Worrying won't change anything.

Yoda began. "Anger, I sense in you, Skywalker. Anxiety, I sense in you, Padawan Tano. Emotions caused by keeping secrets, these are. Lead to the dark side, they can. Secrets, a good idea, they never are."

"Yes, Master," Anakin replied. "But I wanted to protect Ahsoka from a very large threat. Teaching her to use the Force to the highest level was the only way to do that."

"Protect her, did these teachings?" Yoda asked. Anakin didn't respond. He knew what the answer was. He hadn't protected her, he had put her in greater danger.

But Yoda didn't call us here for a lesson on the dark side.

"There is something we'd like to ask you, Padawan Tano," Adi Gallia said. "Would you agree to having a new Master?"

Ahsoka's expression was so comically shocked that Anakin nearly laughed.

How can they even ask that? Ahsoka hissed silently.

You'd better tell them something.

Ahsoka remained calm as she spoke. "No Master, I wouldn't. As far as I can remember, Padawans only receive new Masters if their Masters are killed. I don't need a new Master."

"Padawans also receive new Masters if their Masters cannot teach them properly," Ki-Adi-Mundi reminded her.

"Master Skywalker is a fine teacher," Ahsoka said in a way that Anakin knew meant she was trying to quell her anger. He had to admit, that was a blow to his pride. They had practically forced Anakin to take on Ahsoka as an apprentice, now they wanted to give her a new Master?

Windu nodded. "Alright. But consider this a warning. If anything like this happens again, you will receive punishment."

Anakin and Ahsoka exchanged a look. They were getting off completely free?

Obi-Wan quickly put an end to that hope. "Of course, each of you will spend two hours of meditation with Master Yoda every day when you are not in the field."

He's got to be kidding, Ahsoka thought to him.

Be glad that's all it is, Anakin thought back. "Masters, will Ahsoka be allowed to use her power?"

Yoda nodded. "Earned the right to use it, she has."

Anakin personally thought she had earned the right to use it a long time ago, but didn't say anything.

"You are dismissed," Windu announced. Anakin and Ahsoka bowed respectfully, then left the Council Chambers.

Sidious scowled as he read the report. According to his contact, Tano hadn't been punished, let alone expelled from the Order. He hadn't anticipated this. Quickly, he released his anger into the Force.

Still, this wasn't a total failure. He had learned a great deal about both Skywalker and his apprentice. Skywalker would turn in a heartbeat if it meant saving someone close to him and Tano was too overconfident for her own good.

Yes, this would possibly work toward his advantage when the time came to execute his master plan.

Ahsoka lay on her bed, thinking over the past few days. She had learned a lot. Her abilities were not as trustworthy as she had once thought, and she was a victim of overconfidence.

Her door slid open and Anakin entered. "Good, you're awake."

"There's this neat thing, it's called knocking," Ahsoka grumbled, sitting up.

Anakin had the decency to look shamefaced. "I've been thinking a lot about what Yoda said earlier about how nothing I taught you protected you."

Ahsoka held up her hand. "If you're going on a guilt trip, do it somewhere else. I'm tired of lies."

"What?"

"Do you know what kept me from falling to the dark side while I was on Korriban?"

Ahsoka was rewarded with a quizzical look.

"Hope. Hope that you would take me back as an apprentice. Hope that I could save you from falling to the dark side. So don't feel guilty for not protecting me, because in a way, you did."

Anakin looked surprised. "You sound like Obi-Wan."

"Thank you for the compliment," Ahsoka joked.

Anakin started for the door again. "You should get some rest. I know you aren't fully healed yet."

Ahsoka fixed him with a sharp look. "Has it ever occurred to you that I'm not a Youngling?"

"No," Anakin said cheerfully. Ahsoka tried to think of a witty comeback, but she was too tired.

"Goodnight, Master."

"Goodnight," he said. He paused at the door, then came back to her. "I think this belongs to you." He held out her Padawan braid.

"Thank you," Ahsoka said, fastening it to the back of her montrals. Anakin nodded and left her room.

For the first time in a long time, Ahsoka slept a dreamless sleep.

The End.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading Web of Lies! No, there will not be a sequel, but I have a new story in mind that will be up in a few weeks. Please review, even if you haven't done so yet! I'd love to know what you thought of my story!

Thanks for reading,

~Inksaber :)