In the End {1}

i: In the Beginning

Ahsoka had been afraid before. As she sat alone at the bar of a small club a few levels down from Coruscant's surface, she understood more than ever why people were afraid of the unknown.

So much had changed since she took the first step down the stairs of the Temple into her new life. She kept telling herself that it was a good thing for her to move on, to forget everything the Order had taken from her and start over without rules designed to keep her inside an impossible mold.

She'd left the Order months ago, but it still felt like pouring salt on a wound every time she let go of something, mentally, emotionally, or physically, that used to mean so much to her. Her uniform had been the first thing to go, of course. Her new brown leggings and jacket gave her a sense of confidence in her ability to be self sufficient that she hadn't felt as a Jedi.

Any regret she harbored for what could have been had she stayed with the Jedi was next to go. She recognized that her emotions had been one the factors that pushed her to leave—very unlike herself and everything she'd ever been taught. But she wasn't a Jedi anymore, so why did she have to regret it?

There were other smaller things along the way, but the most important things were her relationships. Those were tougher to end. Anakin and Obi-Wan were her family, and leaving them for good was the hardest thing she'd ever done. That's why she didn't shed a tear when she said goodbye to Lux, who had been her rock since the battle of Onderon.

She swirled the liquid in her cup before downing her fourth shot. It had been a while since she'd drank like this; it was a nasty habit possessed by more than a few of the locals, and she was finding it harder and harder to resist succumbing to that lifestyle. Oh, if Master Skywalker could see her now.

Her chair vibrated from the loud music, and her head pounded with the beat. She rubbed her temples as the bartender glanced from her to the empty shot glasses lined up in front of her.

"Another?"

She shook her head. As a Togruta, her alcohol tolerance was higher than most other life forms around her size. She knew she could stomach a few more before losing it, but that sounded like more trouble than it was worth. And besides, she had to work tomorrow.

A man in a dark cloak sat down beside her. His eyes were bloodshot with dark circles hanging below them. "Wanna drink, princess?" He slurred.

She crinkled her nose. "Don't call me princess. No, I don't want a drink."

He pointed to the glasses in front of her. "Bad breakup? Come on, I can't be as bad as him if he's making you drink all that to forget about him."

She shifted her body to face away from him. "It's none of your business why I'm here or why I'm drinking. Leave me alone."

"But how can I leave such a beautiful creature like you alone?" He placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her to face him.

Not liking where this was going, Ahsoka pulled his hand off and slapped him in the face. "I asked you to leave me alone, now beat it!"

"Oh, so you wanna play that way, eh? Don't test me, or I'll—"

Another man, this time appearing closer to Ahsoka's age raised a fist and punched him in the nose. "She said leave her alone, sleemo. Don't make me call the cops on you, 'cause I'll do it."

He wiped the blood beginning to run from his nose and huffed, mumbling something about him being a buzzkill. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and staggered away.

Ahsoka's savior, however unnecessary, took his place beside her.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked before ordering a drink for himself.

"Yeah, fine. Trust me, it takes a lot more than a drunk lunatic to scare me." She turned back to the counter and hoped he would go away, but much to her chagrin, he kept talking.

"What's your name? I haven't seen you around."

Ahsoka sighed, sensing that this conversation was going to last much longer than she wanted. "Unimportant."

He raised an eyebrow. "Nice to meet you, unimportant. Name's Nyx." He paused a moment, waiting for her to say something. After a few uncomfortable seconds of silence, he must've realized that she wasn't in a talkative mood. "So, what brings you here? Like I said, I haven't seen you around."

"Well, I've lived on Coruscant for as long as I can remember, so I'm not exactly new."

He nodded. "What level you from?"

Ahsoka always felt like she was dodging an inevitable bullet with this question. Down here, surface dwellers were not held in the highest regard. But she didn't see the point in lying about it. "Topside."

"Oh, you must've had it nice. Why you down here now? The Jedi too much for you?"

She smiled in spite of herself. "You could say that."

"Interesting. Was the boy you're so clearly upset about from there, too?"

She rolled her eyes. "Who says I'm upset about a boy? Maybe I'm just upset in general."

"Nah, I saw the look on your face when I came over. You're here for a reason."

"Aren't we all?"

He gestured for another drink. "Look, you're really making it hard for me to be polite, here. I could always ask that other guy to come back over if you'd prefer."

"Not to worry," she smirked, "I could sock him just as easily as you did. Fine, it's just been a rough day. I ended things with someone. But it was for the better."

He took a sip of his drink. "Oh yeah? Tell me about him."

She paused a moment, not sure why she was about to tell some guy she just met about Lux, but the alcohol in her blood was making it easy to just start talking. "We met a while ago through a family friend." She had to be careful not to mention the Jedi, or she was as good as gone in the lower levels. That was no secret. "I saved his life a couple times after that, and we've been together ever since. Until today, at least."

"Why'd you drop him then?"

"Because I need to move on. He was there for me in a time where I needed someone to lean on, and now I'm past that. He's a painful reminder of some things I really want to forget." This was true, partially. She left out the parts she'd miss. His warm smiles, hugs goodbye, good morning kisses. . .

"Like what?"

"I said I wanted to forget them."

"Mhm. Whatever you say." He left enough credits on the counter to pay for both of their drinks and stood up.

There was some yelling in the back corner, and though it was loud in the bar with the music and drunk conversations going on, Ahsoka could hear the safety click of a blaster across the room like it was right next to her. There was an even louder bang followed by gasping and shrieks of bystanders near the body now slumped over the bar counter.

Nyx turned to her and shrugged. "I have no desire to be here when the cops get here to clean that up, and I'm guessing you don't either. Come back to my place. I'd love to hear more about this this mystery boy of yours."

He extended a hand, and she took it. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, but the idea of spending another night alone in her disgusting one room apartment sounded far less appealing than wherever this Nyx lived. "Just for a little while."

"Why? Got somewhere to be?"

She twisted his hand to lace her fingers in his. It felt strange to have someone's hand there that didn't belong to Lux, but she would have to move on eventually. "Yeah, actually. And so do you."

Realization dawned on him, and his eyes lit up. "Well I certainly don't need to be asked twice. C'mon, let's go."

And that's when everything changed.