Okay, okay, this was a lot longer than what I would've preferred between updates. No promises, since I'm obviously not very good at keeping them, but I am going to try and get them up more frequently.

The end of the beginning.

Ahsoka let out a breath of relief as she touched down on a secluded planet. Sure, she was far from comfort, but adventuring in the wild was much better than constantly having to withhold a little pocket of breathable air around her body. While it wasn't the most taxing task she had performed, it chipped away at her strength after hours and hours passed of practicing this.

Of course, this wasn't the only thing she had been doing, either. Since Exogol was by no means in close proximity to any habitable regions, she had been moving her body and break-neck spears across the galaxy for well over a day as well. This was, with no doubt, something that she was only able to achieve by her enhanced powers granted to her from the Ones, and she was grateful for that, but some days she wished that she had her old life back. Those times seemed so peaceful, so simple, despite the raging war that had been taking place.

Speaking of which...

Had both sides taken the measures to end the war yet? Ahsoka truly hoped they had, since she would have been rolling in her 'grave' if the stubborn politicians hadn't put aside their selfishness and tried to come up with a solution. The Togruta had made her sacrifice for a reason, so it would only be a pure insult if they hadn't acted upon the revolution Ahsoka had set into motion and formed bonds with each other.

Of course, that was probably too much to ask...

Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of politicians that were involved in the war for the right reasons, like Senator Amidala, Senator Bonteri, Senator Chuchi, and the list goes on. However, even though Ahsoka had tried fo many years to look past it and force herself to pretend it wasn't true, there were people who didn't care about the growing deaths of soldiers. All they cared about was business, which was soaring for those such as weapon dealers as long as the war was going on.

Just the pure thought of that made Ahsoka sick to her stomach. How was it possible for someone to be so self-centered? So oblivious to the fact that the universe didn't revolve around them? Things like that were almost more disheartening than the actual war itself.

Now that Palpatine was out of action in all of this though, wouldn't the war be forced to gear down and eventually simmer out? The main source had been eradicated, so was all that was left was to make amends between different societies?

The end of the beginning.

Ahsoka darted her gaze around to see if she could spot anything potentially useful. Perhaps a sight of civilization? Some food or water to quench the painful pangs that were echoing throughout her stomach?

When her eyes came across nothing but barren, gray rock similar to that of a moon, she frowned and resorted to slipping a ration bar out of one of the many compartments on her belt. Ahsoka slumped up against one of the many rocks that protruded from the surface, then peeled back the wrapper and bit into the food. It was practically flavorless, dry, and hard to chew, but she honestly couldn't complain at the moment. It fulfilled her nutritional needs, and there didn't seem to be anything else remotely close to being digestible to eat.

"Guess I'll have to move on, then," Ahsoka dryly chuckled, leaning back and stretching her aching muscles. Everything seared with pain, but the only thing she could do was ignore it. Right now, she didn't have time to baby herself. Her system was running on fumes, let alone the fact that she was severely dehydrated. If she didn't find some soon, she could be in serious trouble.

With a groan and incoherent cussing that she would usually never dream of saying, Ahsoka pushed herself back up and onto her feet. The longer she sat, the more inclined she would be to not go any further at the moment. The more inclined she was to not go any further at the moment, the less likely it would be that she would ever get off of the cursed planet. The less likely it would be that she would ever get off of the cursed planet, the higher probability that she would die alone and slowly.

And, quite frankly, that didn't seem like a very lovely fate to have.

With a scowl, she reminded herself that it would be a pointless death after fighting her way to where she was. You could say that she wasn't really the type to revel in dying in such a manner.

"Yep, we're definitely going," Ahsoka laughed, with a much more light-hearted tone this time. Was she talking to herself? Yes. Was that a sign of her potentially going crazy? Yes. Did she really care at the moment? Heck no.

Ahsoka smiled as she thought about what Anakin would think if she realized what all she was going through. Shoot, he would probably flip at the pure idea of her being able to pull off such a feat. It wasn't every day that someone could just safely travel across the galaxy without a special suit or a spacecraft.

It was truly incredible that the Togruta could find something to be positive about through all of the tragedy that she was suffering through. Any other person in her position surely would've cracked by now from all of the constant pressure, but it also seemed like she thrived under the strain. Now that she had found out who she really was, both physically and spiritually, it was obvious that she would soon be on the rise to the top. She was made for this!
Or, at least, that's what she told herself...

Enough of just standing around. I'm not going to save myself by waiting for something to come save me. It's already been established that I'm going to have to work my own self out of this hole, Ahsoka told herself, straightening out and closing her eyes. Within moments, she had all of the surrounding air under her complete control. She used that to form a protective circle around herself, then eventually lifted up off the ground and shot off towards space.

And to think they still have no clue about how I survived Cato Neimoidia...

All Ahsoka could do was shake her head about their lack of knowledge. There was so much more to the potential of the Force that they could never understand... so much that it made the Togruta cringe just thinking about it. All that Ahsoka had learned during her stay at the Gray Jedi Temple made the supposedly impressive maneuvers performed by the Jedi look like child's play.

That's why the responsibility of making them see is mine. I will succeed. I have no other choice.

±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-±-

"Excuse me," Ahsoka grunted out as she had to push past another crowd of civilians who seemed to be in absolutely no hurry whatsoever. She had finally managed to make it to Jedha, one of the closest planets to Exegol. Of course, she was quite glad that Jedha had been the planet she had traveled to, since it was in relatively near proximity to other important planets of the inner rim, such as Coruscant. The faster she got there, the bet...

Ahsoka stopped herself abruptly. Was that really the best idea?

What are you saying? Ahsoka incredulously asked herself, adding to her looming suspicion of her going insane due to the fact that she was casually just talking to herself.

I am going to go back. I can't even imagine how Lux is feeling right now! He knew that this was going to happen...

Ahsoka had to pry herself away from thinking about Lux. That was too much of a touchy subject for her at the moment. He had been right, but there was nothing that could be done to stop the Togruta from running headfirst into battle. Of course, there really wasn't much else she could've done.

A smile cracked across her formerly grim expression as she noticed a nearby cantina. She wasn't really feeling like dealing with a bunch of idiotic drunks, but water and food were a much-needed necessity. So, unfortunately for her, she would just have to deal with that.

"What can I get for you, sweetheart? Perhaps an ale or port? Or are you more of a whiskey-over-the-rocks kinda gal?" The bartender asked with a smile as Ahsoka slid into a bar stool. The Togruta gave him a tired glance before shortly replying.

"Just water."

He rose an eyebrow at her simple request, but shrugged and poured her a glass of water.

"Whatever your food special is, I'll take it," Ahsoka sighed, resting her head against the cool surface of the counter. She had enough credits to last her a few days, but not much more than that. If she wanted to get to Coruscant, she would have to once more move quickly.

"Ah, somebody seems tired," the bartender chuckled after calling out her order to the kitchen.

"You don't even know the half of it," Ahsoka grumbled, fighting off the urge to close her eyes. Every single ounce of her screamed in exhaustion, but a bar was definitely not the place she wanted to pass out in. No, it would be much safer to save her sleeping until she made it to an inn of some sort.

"Lost?" He asked, mixing together another customer's drink.

"No," Ahsoka replied with a weary smile, "I believe I'm right where I need to be."

After a couple more minutes, Ahsoka's food was delivered to her. She didn't even bother to look to see what it was, insisting to herself that it was surely something fine and it was best to just shove it into her mouth as quickly as possible. Sure enough, it was amazingly delicious. Of course, that might've slightly been because she hadn't eaten anything that actually had flavor for the past several days, but that was beside the point. All that mattered now was that she finally had substantial food and was eating it, despite the disgusted glares she was getting because of the way she was consuming it.

Ahsoka eventually used a napkin to wipe her face clean of any residue from the food, then gave the bartender a gracious smile. She set the necessary credits onto the counter, then painfully stood up and made her way towards the exit.

Just as she was leaving the building, a series of blood-curdling screams erupted from the crowds of people as they frantically raced around to find cover. After several tense minutes of Ahsoka hiding behind a barrel, there seemed to be no other commotion. She let out a sigh as she emerged from her hiding, then tried to figure out what had been such a big deal.

Everything was a blur after that. She couldn't distinguish the difference between the point where she had seen the fallen body and when her heart stopped, or even when she had somehow managed to be at its side within moments.

Ahsoka, in a flurry, checked for a pulse and breathing. When both searches came back empty-handed, she hung her head in sorrow for the dead citizen. She had no clue what had happened, but she had an awful feeling telling her that this person was not deserving of the death it had just received.

The Togruta cast a quick glance at the body and identified it as an adult, male human. However, while she was searching for the wound, she came across something that was enough to make her freeze in sheer terror.

Right there, on a shoulder pad, was the symbol of the Jedi.

Making probably the first logical choice during the whole ordeal, Ahsoka stood up and frantically looked around for any other clues to what had happened. Her stomach practically fell right out of her as she stumbled across multiple more bodies all strewn the ground, all littered with lightsaber wounds that were still fresh. Whoever had done this had done a tidy job, given that each mark was precise and deadly.

With a shaking hand, Ahsoka looked back down to the fallen Jedi and traced her hand along the warrior's symbol. At that moment, she realized she had been terribly wrong about something. The Battle of Exegol did not solve all the conflict between the Jedi and their enemies, not even in the slightest. That had merely been a small step.

That was just the end of the beginning.