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It’s vast and empty in the World Between Worlds. Besides the never-ending echo of the Force and all that could be and all that ever was.
Ahsoka follows Ezra past portal after portal. His curiosity and eagerness is palpable in the Force. She can sense his urgency to explore, to learn, to seek something out.
Still rocked with the revelations that were brought on by her fight on Malachor with her former master, Ahsoka follows - so unsure of this new world and how he managed to uncover it.
They walk past a portal, but just as she passes by something catches at the peripheral of her vision. She hastily looks back, curiosity and her own weariness getting the better of her. Ahsoka looks at the portal and instantly sees a vision of herself. Herself when she was 17, incredibly disillusioned with the Jedi Order and running to Mandalore to finish the fight her Grandmaster started all those years ago.
Ahsoka blinks at this vision of her and suddenly feels herself hurled through time and space. Her brain is running at a million miles an hour and she shuts her eyes and tries to block it all out - try and get her bearings back. She opens them and she’s on a Republic battle cruiser, her lightsabers in her hands.
She looks up and Anakin is giving her a wry grin. “Maybe a little better,” he smirks, his Force signature pulsing with pride.
Out of instinct she swings the sabers around, as if her body is on autopilot playing out the scene as written.
“Capture Maul, I’ll take care of Grevious, and with any luck this will all be over soon.”
Ahsoka blinks once, blinks twice and is suddenly able to muster up the words to say, “Master Kenobi always said there was no such thing as luck,” the words following out of her mouth.
“Good thing I taught you otherwise,” he banters back effortlessly, as if nothing had changed.
He turns around, heading for the door - growing more distant as he slowly catapults to his destiny. Ahsoka can feel it all in the Force - the weight of this moment and how she desperately wishes this wasn’t the last time she saw him.
Say something. Say something. Say something!
“Anakin,” she calls out. Her mouth feels dry and her heart is pounding against her rib cage.
Anakin turns around, a curious expression on his features and in the Force. She feels the pride he has for her wash over her like a wave cresting on the shore. She wants to relish here forever. Stop time and bookmark this page for eternity.
Instead she takes a running leap forward and hugs him.
Ahsoka can feel his hesitation and surprise, but he acquiesces and wraps his arms around her tightly. She rests her head in his shoulder, trying to bury herself in his presence and sink into the moment. His head rests on the crown of her head, between her montrals, and she can feel a wave of peace crash over them in the Force.
She gives one final squeeze and pulls back to look at him. Ahsoka cradles his face in her hands and tries to memorize it. Commit it to memory so it can comfort her when reality comes back to bite.
She can see the weariness in his face and through the frayed edges of their bond can feel the facade deteriorating beneath the stress of the war.
“Anakin,” she whispers, tucking a stray piece of hair behind his ear, “Please talk to someone.”
His mouth presses into a thin line, his eyes seeming to understand her plea. He nods and she returns the gesture.
Her hands drop from his face and one of the them strays to grab his left hand. Ahsoka squeezes it, “Good luck.”
“You too.” He squeezes back and is off.
Ahsoka watches him leave, trying to keep her emotions at bay, when she feels a hand on her shoulder. She turns around and sees Ezra, concern lining his young face and suddenly she’s thrust back into the World Between Worlds.
She blinks once, twice, and then looks back over to the portal that is now devoid of any vision. Just a vast, dark, empty abyss of stars and whispers from the force.
“Are you okay, Ahsoka?” he asks.
Ahsoka schools her emotions and expression into something more neutral. “Yes, we should keep moving.”
She doesn’t look back.