Chapter 1

She stood, stone-faced, in front of Anakin and the Jedi High Council.

"Ahsoka, I'm so sorry. About everything."

Ahsoka Tano looked toward her once-Master Anakin Skywalker, who wore a pained expression of sadness over his usually-smiling features.

"You have our most humble apologies," Plo Koon stated, sounding regretful like Anakin. "The Council was wrong to accuse you."

"You have shown such great strength, and resilience, in your struggle to prove your innocence," Master Saesee Tiin cut in from the side.

Ki-Al-Mundi continued for him. "This is the true sign of a Jedi Knight."

"This was actually your great trial," Master Windu elaborated. "Now we see that. We understand that the Force works in mysterious ways, and because of this trial, you have become a greater Jedi than you would have otherwise."

She crossed her arms. That wasn't really an apology, now was it? This was what she was destined to be? She had dedicated her lives to the Order, but the Council had so little trust in her they would not stand by her, and then they wouldn't apologize?

This all ran through her mind in a fraction of a second, but its echoes would resound through her life forever. So when Yoda announced, "Back into the Order, you may come," the words seemed wooden and hollow, more so than expected.

She really hadn't said anything, so Anakin stated the obvious. "We're asking you back, Ahsoka." He held out her Padawan braid in his hand, obviously a gesture of reconciliation. She wasn't sure which prevailed in her mind, a perceived patronizing edge to his words, or the obvious regret in his actions.

She looked down, trying to quickly organize her thoughts. Involuntarily, her eyes focused on her old braid. It made her start to think coherently again.

She had no life outside of the Order. It wouldn't be wise if she left, but why should she stay? She had almost nothing left here.

Suddenly her lifelong dream of being a Jedi Knight wasn't so important.

The other Jedi hadn't treated her with any respect or help her in any way, bar Anakin's efforts to expose the real culprit. Why should she even want to associate herself with them anymore?

She looked up at her Master. The sadness and regret in those bright blue eyes had turned to a mixture of expectancy and assurance, with an edge of pleading. She could see how much he wanted her back as his Padawan or a full-fledged Jedi Knight. But was it worth it?

She lowered her gaze again, her sad blue eyes unable to meet his pleading ones.

Even the humility shown to her by her one-time Master would not excuse the actions of Mace Windu, the High Council, or even the rest of the Order.

Making her decision, she gently grasped his wrist with one hand and closed his fist with the other. Shock and disbelief immediately etched themselves into his apologetic expression when he realized what was happening.

"I'm sorry, Master," she said, pulling her hands away from his, "but I'm not coming back."

The look on Anakin's face instantly jumped to the other High Council member's faces. Had they really expected her to come back with open arms, after what they had put her through? These people are not fit to be the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, she thought. I made the right decision.

Before her second thoughts could betray her, she turned and walked briskly out of the council chambers. She could hear the doors slide shut behind her.

She remembered the phrase, "When one door shuts, another one opens." The one behind her, the threshold of her hopes and dreams, was sealed. The next door, the one entering the open main hall of Jedi Temple, would open next. It was, both literally and metaphorically, the door to her freedom that would last the rest of her life.

That door, which was located towards the bottom of Tranquility Spire turbolift, opened on the floor of the Great Hall. Four stories of height and millennia of accumulated grandeur made her feel microscopic in comparison. Unless this incident initiated a watershed, that was the size of the memory she would leave, just an impossibly small footnote on a piece of paper. A note in the vast archives about the Chosen One's resigning Tortuga padawan.

All around her, giant stone pillars met above her head in giant arches. Ahsoka walked towards the bright light of the exit. Soon, the square vertical exit loomed above her head. She kept walking. And then, it wasn't above her anymore. The cold, relatively dark interior of the Jedi Temple Grand Hall was replaced by blinding beams of sunlight. Feeling the warmth upon her skin, she smiled.

Nonetheless, she still kept walking.

Then, she descended the short staircase just outside of the Eastern Wall.

She walked into the shadow of the rearmost monolithic rectangular pylon. The surrounding area was dark. She continued walking. Within thirty seconds, she was back in the light again.

The Jedi teachings had always mentioned the thin line between the Light Side of the Force and the Dark Side. They said that sometimes, an automatic action could push you back over the line over and over again. She tried to smile at the ironic parallels it drew with her current situation. This was the de jure capital of the Light Side of the Force, as well as most important destination for many force users. But traits of the Dark Side-most notably betrayal-polluted the leaders of the entire residency.

She found no solace in the thought.

Instead, the memories flowed back to her like a Mon Calamari wave.

She paled in comparison to the ancient stone "dominoes" standing around her. But unlike the dominoes they resembled, she wouldn't fall over at the slightest push. In hindsight, she grumbled silently, it was fitting how such things stood at the entrance of a temple dedicated to a fractured galactic order that betrayed its members of the future.

Someday the dominoes will really fall.

Ahsoka could remember almost every single time she had walked in the exact same spot as a Jedi. But now, she would never come back here again. She closed her eyes in misery, not needing them as she exited the temple. The causeway she stood on, and walking it, were permanently engrained into her mind. Like many of the other teachings, she would spend the rest of her life trying to cleanse her mind of the memories.

She began to vaguely sense that she was being followed. But she didn't care. Nobody could convince her to come back…

"Ahsoka, wait!" begged a voice, the words intermixed with heavy breathing. Oh, dear Force. Anakin. she grumbled silently.

Barely opening her eyes, she walked past the front of the first monolith.

"I need to talk to you!" Anakin insisted. Ahsoka stopped, waiting for him to catch up. She turned around to see him speed out of the last shadow, panting, slowly bringing himself to a halt.

"Why are you doing this? He demanded, still out of breath from running. His hands were in front of him, in a gesture of concern.

She leaned forward to look at him more closely. "The council didn't trust me, so how am I supposed to trust myself?" She turned away from him, trying to avoid those prying eyes.

"What about me?" he asked, becoming angry. "I believed you. I stood by you!"

Of course he had to say that, she thought. "I know you believe in me, Anakin-"

She looked up, momentarily locking gazes with those bright blue eyes. His brow was furrowed, and his scrutinizing eyes were nearly slits. She steeled herself, and continued.

"But this isn't about you."

Anakin's mind was racing. She called me ANAKIN! He thought. Not "Master." She's really going through with this!

"I can't stay here any longer," she added. "Not now!" Yet again, she glanced away from those questioning blue eyes. His arms uncrossed, falling to his sides again.

"The Jedi order is your life!" he reminded her, gesturing emphatically with his hands. "You can't just throw it away like this! Ahsoka, you are making a mistake!" He looked away, focusing on the ground. This can't be happening, he told himself. No, this can't be happening. Please, no. It can't.

"Maybe," she responded coolly. Anakin looked back up towards her. "But I have to sort this out on my own. Without the council-" she turned away, unable to say it to his face- "and without you."

He turned around too. Providing she turned back to face him, he didn't want her to see how heartbroken he was. Holding back as many tears as possible, he weakly said, "I understand-more than you realize. I understand wanting to walk away from the order." He found himself staring at the finely polished marble that was supporting him.

"Like hell you don't!" Ahsoka spat, turning on Anakin. Despite her smaller stature, she grabbed his tunic above the shoulders and shook him forcefully. "You are the Chosen One! The golden boy! The perfect child! You are the one who was prophesied to bring balance of the force!"

She pushed him, hard, and he stumbled backward. He fell roughly on his behind. Anakin was even more shocked than he was before, and he didn't think that was possible. He had never seen her get this angry before. This was the one time-excluding Mortis-that he would ever be afraid of her.

"They don't care about me!" Ahsoka ranted, unfazed by the last ten seconds. "I'm just a lowly ex-Padawan, and now I'm gone forever! You'll still get your rank of Master, but it'll be like I never even existed!" As she said this, her words crescendoed from an angry accusation to full out screaming.

"I do too understand!" Anakin yelled back, with equal volume. He stood up, and looked at Ahsoka in the eye. "As far as I'm concerned, the Order is NOT the most important thing in my life!"

Ahsoka scoffed. "Like you'll ever be dedicated to anything outside of this wretched Temple."

He began gesturing with his hands again. "Clearly, you will never value a marriage as much as I do!"

"What did you say?" Obi-Wan asked incredulously, appearing from behind one of the monoliths.

In a mere millisecond, all of Anakin's anger, sadness, disbelief, and other emotions had disappeared. Only one thought remained:

Oh. Shit.

REVIEW PLEASE!

-ClaptonJr.