Back in the Game (COMPLETE)

9.7.4

Ahsoka would have loved to talk about the twins all day long, but Padmé hadn't seen Ahsoka in over year and she was much more concerned about how her life had gone. The few updates she had gotten from Anakin just weren't the same as hearing it from her. "Are you sure you're doing all right in the Lower Levels?"

Laughing, Ahsoka smiled, "I am, I promise. It's actually gotten really nice in the past month or so. Not 'senator-of-the-republic' nice, but it's good."

"I've just heard about so many stories of the types of people that are down there," Padmé recounted. "Then again, that's all I hear about the Lower Levels."

"No, I get it," Ahsoka assured her. "You only ever hear about the worst parts. I dealt with the same thing, at first. It's just that I've seen the best parts too."

"So it's not as bad as they say?"

Ahsoka's mind flashed back to the hundreds of times she had gotten jumped, or attacked, or ambushed. It happened pretty regularly, although some occasions were worse than others. "No, it's just as bad, but those people are the minority. There are ways to avoid them, I just don't."

Padmé was about to ask why, but she smiled when she answered her own question. "Someone with your history probably doesn't have to worry as much about danger, I suppose."

"Well, that's true, but sometimes it's even simpler than that," Ahsoka explained. "I've been around long enough that some people who would attack me don't because of my reputation."

The senator looked down, ashamed that she had forgotten. "I thought people would be over it by now, but I guess between the trial and the Inquisitor, it's still fresh in some people's minds. I'm sorry, Ahsoka."

"What?" Ahsoka stared at her quizzically, before realizing. "That's not the reputation I'm talking about. People have forgotten if they even knew in the first place. Not many people keep track of what happens on the surface anyhow."

"Then what do you mean?" she asked, thankful that she had been wrong.

Sitting back and hiding a grin, she explained. "I don't live in the safest part of the Lower Levels, but it's actually worked out in my favor. There have been multiple occasions where I've intercepted a bounty hunter or a nasty abuser on the streets before they get to their target. If I'm close by, I'll stop break-ins at restaurants or workshops. I've even done it for my own job site once. Between that, and my mini-med bay, my neighbors have come to respect me enough to leave me alone every once in a while."

Padmé's face lit up, ecstatic at the news. "What's your mini-med bay?"

Ahsoka grinned. "My coworkers have a habit of getting hurt, and I've become the go-to person for first aid. Apparently, they like to spread the word, too. Almost every week for the past month, there's been someone knocking at my door, asking for treatment because the hospital is too expensive. Most of the time, I have no idea who they are. People will usually leave behind a few credits, but I don't require anyone to pay for it."

"That's insane," Padmé murmured. "And so wrong. There should be no reason why anyone shouldn't be able to afford medical treatment."

"Tell that to the Department of Health," Ahsoka groaned. "I can't even afford medical treatment, which is why I started buying my own medical supplies. It's cheaper than going in."

Padmé rested her head in her hands. "You'd think the Coruscant senator would take notice of these things," she complained, but she refused to let it spoil her time with Ahsoka. "What are the good parts you see?"

Where do you want me to start? she thought. "Well, compared to the rations I ate for 13 years, the food is much better."

She threw up her hands. "You and Anakin, he's said that every time I've asked!"