Learning to Live (COMPLETE)

8.9.1

The next day at work, Ahsoka watched Nox while he was there. He left early, as per usual, but she saw him looking her way more than once. She hoped that she had earned a little bit of trust, even if it was just about the gang in general. She had the feeling that no one else knew about his allegiance but secrets weren't foreign to Ahsoka. After all, she had her own secrets.

On his way out, he stopped by Ahsoka's workbench. "Hi," he greeted her, standing at the entrance to her space. "Did you like last night?"

Ahsoka paused her work momentarily. "I did. The people you live with are much more friendly than some of the others I have met recently."

Nox smiled. "They will like that. They like being friendly. Will you come back?"

"I think so, if only just for a visit," she told him. "Who knows, I might go back just to beat Obi in training again."

He laughed, and Ahsoka smiled. Laughter wasn't something that happened often with Nox, but it was light and carefree.

"Come back soon, Tano," he said, and he left without another word.

Picking up a pair of pliers, Ahsoka got to wondering what else she didn't know about him and the others she worked with. It seemed like every mystery about these people had some sort of legitimate explanation. Rya, Wheeler, Nox, all of them had stories behind the weird quirks or habits they harbored. Her own story, she knew quite well, but none of the others really knew about hers, except that she was a Jedi and that she no longer was.

Last night had been an example of that. Tawnya had wondered why she had let Obi get up to his feet during their sparring match. She had purposefully neglected to tell her that it was against the Jedi Code to attack a fallen opponent. Now, was it directly in the Code? No, but it was basic dueling etiquette. Many of the 'guidelines' were centered around having honor in battle and having mercy for the other dueler. They were based on ideas laid out in the Code, and if you did not fight to the guidelines you were reprimanded for breaking the Code.

Attacking a fallen opponent was more of an extension of the rule that you do not kill an unarmed opponent. There were also things like protecting innocents in the immediate vicinity, not using people as meat shields, and not killing if you could avoid it. There were other details that never actually made the list, but were taught to Jedi as Younglings. Hold your weapon in front of you to start, begin with at least two meters of space between you and your opponent, and no cheating. What cheating entailed was a little blurry, but a Jedi Knight or Master could always tell you if you were and if you did, it was not a fair fight.

She should have guessed normal people didn't follow any such code, but it hadn't really sunk in until last night. No one had lived by a rule that you didn't attack an unarmed opponent, and although she always had a blaster strapped to her thigh she was otherwise unarmed, especially compared to a few bounty hunters she knew. A large range of people had no problem attacking her or trying to mug her. They never succeeded, but A for effort.

Ahsoka didn't have to cling to the Code anymore, either. She could drop it right now and nobody could care less. By abandoning it, she could win a lot more fights a lot easier. Of course, she needed to abide by the law, but her life could get a whole lot easier from here on out.

Did she need to though? Not all of the rules were bad, necessarily. And since when had the Jedi Way been bad? Uncalled for, yes, at times, but never bad...

Or at least, she had thought so, a long time ago. Could she be sure that the Jedi were wholesome and righteous after...after Barriss? Her whole faith in them, in their ways, had been shaken, which was the exact reason Sideous had used her to get to Anakin. She was able to go over to the Dark Side because of her uncertainty, and she still could if she let herself.