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Chapter Text

Blue flames licked at Ahsoka’s heals as she jumped through the black portal. Though she tried to use the force to cushion her fall, Ahsoka could still feel a few cuts and scrapes form across her arms as she skidded to a halt on the rough floor. Lifting her head, she quickly took in her surroundings to determine where the kriff the portal dumped her.

Malachor. She quickly realised. Back where she was not even five minutes before.

This time, however, she noticed it had lost the red atmosphere, no longer was the planet attempting to kill her. The force was also calmer. It was still filled with dark energy, whispering around her, but it stayed close to the ground, her aura enough to ward it off. For now.

Her mind re-played the events just passed in her head. 

Her fight with Vader.

Ezra saving her life.

The world between worlds.

Sidious.

She shivered as she thought of the sith lord.

“May the force be with you, Ezra Bridger”. Her voice echoed across the stone field. He would need all the luck he could get if the emperor knew of his existence and attempted to see personally to his death.

Ahsoka jumped slightly as a rock fell from the clearly unstable ceiling.

I need shelter , she thought. Another rock, this time larger, came crashing down, landing closer to her. Now .

She started to walk, as to approach the archway that led to the inside of the temple, only to be reminded of her shoulder injury as it flared up, sending a stab of pain through her. Gripping her shoulder in an attempt to support it, Ahsoka once-again set forward, limping along the rough path towards promised shelter, only pausing once to stare up through the small holes in the stone above to get a glimpse at the desolate night sky above.

Ahsoka was drained. Mentally and physically. Her injured shoulder was causing her more grief than she wanted to admit. The burns on her back from Sidious’ flames stung a little, and the ringing in her ear, while diminishing, was not leaving her. But most of all, she was tired. Tired of running, tired of fighting, and tired of thinking she knew the answer only to have everything ripped from under her.

Craving rest but dreading sleep, Ahsoka knelt down on the ground. It was smoother than outside, thankfully, and didn’t cause too much discomfort, however it still left a lot to desire.

Reaching behind her belt, the togruta pulled out the square object that meant the world to her, the one that got through the worst of the solo missions she undertook for the rebellion. Breathing in and out, Ahsoka focused her energy on the Holocron, using her connection to open it.

She couldn’t help but flinch as her master’s voice filled the silence that surrounded her, still reeling from the confirmation that it was him behind the mask. However, she forced herself to listen to his training as he continued to talk about form, the best angle to deflect a blaster bolt from, and how to turn defence into offence.

Breathing in and out, she sat there, attempting to steady her racing heart as the recording repeated once more, pushing herself through the tears that fell silently from her closed eyes, dripping onto her armour before falling to the floor.

Ahsoka stayed there for some time before her stomach roused her from her half-meditative state, reminding her that it too exists and would like sustinese.

Knowing she wouldn’t survive long if she didn’t find a source of food, the togruta stood up and reattached the Holocron to her belt before walking deeper into the sith temple to get to the other side.

Perhaps one of the inquisitor’s TIE fighters may be equipped with some ration bars . It could even be my ticket off this dust bucket.

As Ahsoka trailed through the temple hallways, her white saber as a guide, she couldn’t help but stare at the markings on the wall. The battle, whenever it had taken place, however long ago, had clearly made its way inside the temple. And left its mark , she mused. The scorch marks trailed up the walls, even on the ceiling. The adversaries who fought in these halls were clearly gifted, as saber burns littered the entirety of the passage.

Soon, the hallway widened into an opening, and Ahsoka was greeted with the sight of two inquisitor fighters.

Probably the seventh sister and fifth brother’s ships. They certainly won’t be needing them anymore.

She started her rocky descent down the cliff face of the temple, sliding down it with the aid of the force, only tripping once or twice. Landing, Ahsoka walked towards the fighters before igniting her saber in preparation to cut into the fighter to access anything that may be in it.

“I would be careful if I was you, Lady Tano.” She spun around, removing her other saber from its place on her belt, however leaving it dormant in her hand.

“Maul.” He grinned maliciously from above, standing on top of a large boulder that rested against the temple wall.

“One never knows what sort of traps those, what do they call themselves now? Ah yes, inquisitors ,” he spat their title as if it physically pained him to say. “Have set.”

He jumped down from his vantage point, landing meters away from her without drawing his lightsaber. Ahsoka took it as a sign of peace and in turn extinguished her own, while still holding them in her grasp, in case she needed them at a moment's notice.

“What do you want, Maul?” She was wary of him. Nothing good ever came of their encounters.

“What makes you think I need something, Lady Tano?” She simply raised her brow at him.

Sighing, he shrugged in defeat before reaching around behind him, taking something off his belt and bringing it around in his hand.

“I’m sure you are well aware of what this is.” He produced a Sith Holocron. “Just as I am sure you know its use.” He looked to her for confirmation. Once she nodded in understanding, he continued.

“However I am not sure you know of the ritual that is combining the two.” Ahsoka simply raised a brow, so far unimpressed.

“I understand you may be slightly sceptical of me, after… certain events -” She let out a harsh laugh at his gross understatement. “- but I believe this may be of interest to you.”

He moved forward slightly, not doing anything to ease her suspicions.

“By now, I am sure you have accepted the fate of your master has become,” she flinched at the reminder, “a fate I warned you of long ago.”

“If you are trying to persuade me to see your side of things you are failing miserably.” She snipped.

“I see. Let me come at this from a different angle. You no doubt, want to see the empire gone?” Ahsoka nodded slowly.

“A feat that is impossible while the Emperor and his apprentice are in power. What I offer, Lady Tano, is a mutual opportunity to gain the knowledge needed to take. Them. Down. ”

Now he piqued her interest.

“I’m listening.”

“Before I do, Lady Tano, might you put those-” he gestured loosely to the sabers still in her hands “-away. I mean you no harm.”

She would have scoffed at him, asked him if he thought her that naive. However, something in the force rang out for her to trust him. So she hooked her sabers on her belt, still on guard though.

“It is rarely done, as it requires the willingness of both light and dark side users. Together, the two can open their Holocron before merging them. Doing so allows each force wielder to ask and receive answers to any question they have.”

“Why are you bringing this up, Maul?” She shifted her feet as he started walking towards her, then had to mask her surprise as he sat down in front of her before looking up, a feral grin plastered on his face.

“Because I want to try.”

Regarding him with high levels of suspicion, Ahsoka too sat down, legs crossed as she retrieved her own Holocron from behind her.

Before she placed it on the ground she warned him,

“If you try anything funny I have no qualms about killing you.”

His only response was to widen his grin.

“I was about to say the same thing.”

With that laid out before them, both force users closed their eyes and reached out to their holocrons, unlocking them and lifting them into the air. Blue and red light gently pulsed between them. Ahsoka nudged her Holocron forward as she felt Maul do the same, only stopping when they were near touching.

Keep going, Ahsoka . She heard inside her head, so she did, still not sensing any ill-intent or warnings through the force, choosing to ignore his use of her first name.

Pushing the Holocron forward, the final gap was closed and Ahsoka’s mind lit up. She could feel everything. The walls she had carefully constructed since the events of Malachore took place came tumbling down, and her guilt, shame and sadness started to bubble out.

She could also feel Maul’s mental shields suddenly vanish. She jerked back from his mind to give both him and herself space.

To maintain the connection of the holocrons, we must accept each other’s mind into our own, Lady Tano. Not liking it, but not feeling any malicious intent through the force, Ahsoka allowed their minds to meld as they delved together into the information stored in the combined holocrons.

It could have been hours. It could have been minutes, but as she sat amongst her sadness, her thoughts started straying from her quest for knowledge. Memories of her darkest moments began running around her head, chasing away every inch of peace that was left. She could barely hear Maul’s warning to stay on task as the holocrons pulled her deeper into their dark light.

It wasn’t too long after that the what-ifs and could-have-beens swept into her head.

What if Anakin didn’t fall

The tiny remnants of rock around her rose off the ground

What if I fought harder

Larger, whole stones joined, circling above them

What if I helped him

She didn’t, couldn’t feel it, when she too rose from the floor

What if I was better

The stones moved faster, feeding off her distress, while the Holocron glowed brighter as if trying to break her negative thought cycle

What if I never left

The ground beneath her shook. The holocrons projected images of her walking away from the temple, of her vision in the Lothal temple, of her confrontation with Vader and her discovery of his identity

I can’t save my master

A crack ripped through the surface of the plane

I know that

The sound of her mind was deafening

But what if you can? Maul’s mental voice broke through her internal struggle.

Ahsoka tore her eyes open, only to be blinded by the light emanating from the holocrons. A pain like never before clawed through her, ripping her up from the inside out. But, as soon as it started, it stopped, and she felt at peace. The world around her twisted and warped, darkness and light seemed to battle violently around them. She could feel all her thoughts screaming around her, could feel Maul's thoughts howling with them.

Yet she still strangely felt at peace.

Balance

Something seemed to whisper around her, breaking through the wailing inside her mind.

You must find balance.

Another flash of light and Ahsoka’s vision was black, her connection to Maul severed.

Feeling gradually swept through her body, from the ache in her legs to the grass gently tickling the back of her neck.

Grass?  

Not wanting to put too much pressure on her already strained body, Ahsoka let herself come-to slowly, reaching out with the force only when she had gained full physical feeling. Not a moment after she reached her senses out did she recoil them as she brushed up against a force signature she hadn’t felt in years .

It couldn’t be, she thought to herself. Ahsoka reached out again, thinking she made a mistake in her newfound consciousness, only to leap back into herself after getting the same result.

No. No no no nononononono. They’re dead.

Fear rippled through Ahsoka as she hesitantly opened her eyes. She wasn’t sure what she was more afraid of. Opening her eyes and confirming that they were not there, and this was indeed a cruel trick, the sith temple was playing on her. 

Or that when she opened her eyes to see they were alive.

Her vision focused in the dim light, and she slowly took in her surroundings. Nothing but grey met her view.

I was right; it was a trick.  

She couldn’t sense Maul, however judging by her alive-ness and her strange, new-found, force-secreted trust in him, this was not his doing. That only meant one thing. Someone else was here. And that someone could be dangerous once they realised she was awake.

Ahsoka leapt to her feet, ignoring her body’s objection and scanned her eyes around the room, only to notice she was not in the same temple room as she had been mere seconds ago. Then she spotted the figure closest to her.

He was here.

Blades ignited instantly, Ahsoka lept forwards, pinning him against the wall. Before she could deal the killing blow, she looked down to see a green, not white saber. Her moment of hesitancy allowed him to speak.

“Ahsoka? It’s okay; he’s gone, it’s just us now”.

No no no no no nononononononononon

She froze.

“Snips? You’re not still under his control, are you? I thought you said she was…”

She didn’t hear anything else that came out of his mouth. Dropping her lightsabers, Ahsoka gripped her head.

Her montrals were smaller than she remembered. Much smaller.

She backed away, continuing to clutch her head, shaking it in an attempt to wake herself up from whatever nightmare this was.

Ahsoka

The voice was similar - too similar. It was the voice that haunted her dreams ever since Mandalore. There was no way it could be them. They were dead. At least the part that still cared for her was dead.

AHSOKA

The voice screamed around her, making her lose her balance, or so she would later come to realise, her sense of the physical world beyond her head had all but left her.

“AHSOKA” wakefulness slipped away from her again. Ahsoka tried to give into it. Anything to escape this nightmare. But it seemed the force had other plans for her.

She was on the ground again, a face close to her own. She opened her eyes once more, only to be met with brilliant gold - no - blue ones.

Her voice was shaky, weary, barely audible. 

It couldn’t be

“Anakin?”

No sooner had she spoken did the force finally allow her to collapse into blissful unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

Anakin was as confused as ever. The yellow in her eyes had gone, just had all the other strange vein markings on her, when the Daughter used him as a vessel to revive her. So why was she acting like this? It didn’t make sense . Was the Son still somehow a part of her? Did the dark still surround her? She didn’t feel dark. Then again, she didn’t feel wholly light either. Something had definitely changed.

Anakin made sure to voice these concerns to Obi-Wan once the Father walked away, though to where, who knew.

“I’m sure she’s just in shock, Anakin,” he placated in response. “She did just wake up from being dead after all.”

While that did make sense, something was still off.

“I understand Obi-Wan, but something feels different.” At his old master’s raised brow, Anakin elaborated.

“Her force signature. It’s different. It feels… older?” That can’t be right . “And muted, like she’s shielding a part of her presence, even while she’s unconscious.”

The older Jedi pondered this for a moment.

“I’m not sure. Perhaps we should wait until Ahsoka comes back to us, then we can ask her. Until then, we need to find a safe place.” He nodded in Ahsoka’s direction. “I’m sure you don’t mind carrying her. She is your student, after all.” He said, a small smirk gracing his face.

Anakin nodded with a slight smile before bending down and gently wrapping his arms under his padawan and lifting her up.

Halfway through their trek back to the ship and Ahsoka started twitching in his arms.

“Ahh… Obi-Wan?” Anakin called to the Jedi in front of him.

“What now?” He asked, still walking forwards.

“Something’s happening to Ahsoka.”

Concerned for his grandpadawn, Obi-Wan stopped walking and turned to the source of Anakin’s worries.

Strangely, Ahsoka’s twitching stopped as soon as his old master turned around, as if sensing this and wanting to make a fool out of Anakin.

At least something is coming back to normal

“Nothing. Nevermind.” Obi-Wan sighed in exasperation before turning back around and continuing on

“We still have a while to go. I’d like to get to the ship before the Son thinks to look for us.” A large stone rolled down from the hill beside them, blocking half the path in front of them. It would have crushed them if they were a few paces down. “Or -” He brushed off the dirt from his robes with a small scowl on his face. “- before this planet decides it’s had enough of us”

They continued the rest of the walk in silence.

When they arrived at the shuttle, Anakin’s arms were visibly shaking with the effort of carrying his padawan for so long.

Walking up the ramp and into the small sleeping quarters on the ship, he gently laid her down on one of the bunks, making sure she wouldn’t fall off when she eventually woke.

He ducked under a pipe on his way out, cursing when he hit his head on another, slightly higher up and hidden by the one before it.

“You know, Anakin, cursing isn’t going to help me fix the ship.” Obi-Wan teased.

He simply sighed and shook his head at his old master’s teasing.

Obi-Wan already had goggles on and was attempting to fix the primary converters, so Anakin got to work on the hyperdrive, wanting to get off this forsaken planet as soon as possible. Who knew what Ahsoka’s health condition was like after she came back from the dead.

“How’s Ahsoka.” Speak of the devil.

“She’s pretty out of it,” Anakin responded, both relief and sorrow filling his voice as he pried open the hatch to the hyperdrive. “Don’t think she’ll be waking up till we’re airborne.”

A long moment of silence passed over them before he spoke once more.

“Do you have any idea what the Son did to her?” He asked while tightening a bolt, spitting his name as if it hurt him to say it.

Obi-Wan sighed before answering, “Anakin, you must let this go. We’re going to be off this rock soon enough.” Anakin turned around just in time to watch a spark fly out and singe a small part of Obi-Wan’s beard off. “If we get the ship working, that is.” He grumbled.

“I’m only asking,” he grit out, “because something’s different about her.”

Finally, the older Jedi stopped working and turned his full attention to his former student.

“What do you mean?”

“Just feel. Her force signature isn’t what it was a few hours ago.”

“That could simply be darkness left from when the son controlled her,” Obi-Wan pointed out, waving a spanner to highlight his point.

Anakin felt exasperated. Why doesn’t he understand? There’s something… different about her.

“I don’t know how to explain it, master,” the title slipped out by accident, however it seemed to go unnoticed. “But she’s not the same Ahsoka . I don’t just mean in matters of light and dark. I could sense the difference ever since I brought her back. She feels older?” He trailed off into a question, unsure of how to word it.

“Anakin, I know you are concerned for Ahsoka -”

“And you’re not?” He asked incredulously

“Of course I am.” Obi-Wan replied strongly. “I simply mean, that sort of concern can manifest itself into a fear that creates things that do not exist.” He put a hand on Anakin’s shoulder in a show of understanding.

“I just want you to be careful. I still worry about you .”

Darkness moved around her, surrounded her as she floated along in the vast expanse of nothingness.

Now you see, child.

Ahsoka’s head whipped around as she tried to find the source of the voice.

“Hello?”

Now you see what he is

“What who is?” She questioned, confusion etched into her features.

What your Master truly is. What he will become.

Ahsoka twisted around again, suddenly being confronted by herself. Her old self. Or is it my future self?

The older version of herself stared, so she stared back. She remembered now, being visited in the cave by the same vision, with a similar message, a similar warning, of her master.

The other her looked the same as she had right before Malachor, the same headband, wrist guards and sabers. The only difference was the absence of Mori

“You know what you must do.” The other Ahsoka spoke in finality.

“What?”

“You have lived to see what your master will become, what you were warned  about all those years ago.”

Well that doesn’t clear anything up.

She looked around the place she was stuck in. Black stretched around her, just like in the world between worlds, only there were no stars and no paths to follow.

“What do you mean?”

“All the pain, anger, and hurt that has followed you for nearly twenty years. You can fix it.”

“But I can’t do anything about it.” She reasoned. “It’s all in the past.”

“Nothing is as it seems.” Great, a cryptic

“What the kriff do you mean by that?”

The older version of herself shook its head and looked at her with humor.

“Look at yourself, child.” She pointed behind Ahsoka.

As directed, Ahsoka turned around, only to come face-to-face with a mirror wall, in the reflection her fifteen year-old self stared back. She grabbed at her lekku in curiosity, expecting to feel it to be the length it was at her current age, only to find it was as short as the one in the mirror.

This caused her to look down at herself. She noticed her whole body matched that of her reflection. Turning back to the older version, or current version she supposed, she decided to get some answers.

“What is going on?”

“Can’t you see?” You’re karking kidding me.

“Well clearly - ” She threw her hands in the air in exasperation. “- I can’t. So just tell me what is going on.”

“Would you prevent this, if you could?”

“Prevent what ?” Ahsoka was getting really frustrated now.

“ Everything. The empire -”

She watched as village after village was raided, burned to the ground as the empire hunted for her. Watched as all the residents were put to death.

“- prevent the rise of the Sith -”

The inquisitor wouldn’t let them go. Instead she dragged her blade slowly through the twi’lek in an attempt to get Ahsoka to come out of hiding.

“- the fall of the republic, of the Jedi -”

The force was screaming as she felt life after life be taken, only for a black presence to rise in its place.

“- order 66 -”

They turned their blasters on her. She could only look on in shock as Rex tried to kill her, all while screaming at her to find him, then calling her a traitor .

“- everything .”

“That’s not possible.” She whispered, wide-eyed. “It can’t be.” This must be some sick joke.

“But it is, child,” the older her spoke softly. “There is only one thing you have to do to make it happen, once you leave this place.”

Ahsoka looked at her older self.

“You’re master, Anakin.”

“I can save him? Stop Sidious from taking him?” Hope filled her, leaching onto her saddest memories, begging her to change them so it never happens

“No. He must die. You must kill him.” 

Horror filled her face.

“No. I will not.”

“You must ” She insisted.

Ahsoka turned around, unable to face the older version of herself and the task it presented.

“I… I can’t” she whispered.

You MUST! The other yelled. She gripped her head as the voice started worming its way inside her, attempting to latch on to all her fear, her pain, her hate.

He cannot be allowed to live. You must kill him.

Ahsoka fell to the floor as the vision dissolved back into the nothingness that it came from.

He must DIE!

“No. No.” She spoke back, slowly finding it in herself to fight back against the presence.

You must KILL HIM child. Or else you will die.

“NO. There is good in him.”

The same good that tried to kill you?” The voice ridiculed. The same good that sought to deal the final blow moments after you vowed not to leave.

A single tear escaped her eye at the memory. But she shoved it down into the dark place that held all her sorrows, all her regrets, and stood up.

You must KILL HIM

“No. No. No ”

He is too powerful to be left alive

I am one with the force

You must strike now, before Sidious controls him

The force is with me.

KILL HIM. It is your DESTINY

I am one with the force

KILL HIM OR DIE

The force is with me

ANAKIN SKYWALKER MUST DIE

“ No.” Finding it within herself, Ahsoka pushed with everything she could muster against the oppressive presence and pushed .

The ground beneath her shook as the voice shrieked. Still she persisted, taking her fear and turning it from weakness into a weapon, driving it through the voice around her until it was no more.

The black ground beneath her split, light seeping through the crack, shifting her feet.

Finally, with one last shove, the voice was silenced.

In its place, light entered. Around her, Ahsoka watched as the void transformed, becoming bathed in white, an endless sea of light.

Feeling at peace, she made the mistake of relaxing.

From the fracture in the ground, a shadow-like mist rose. As it drew closer, Ahsoka could see the slight blue tint within.

Like flames. She realised. Like from the world between worlds . It drew closer still, close enough that she could see it was indeed the flames from the world between worlds. Realising her mistake, she prepared to run in the opposite direction, only to be met with more sith fire.

Ahsoka turned again, confronted by blue flames all around her. She was trapped. She thought for sure she was about to be enveloped in the burning heat, however, just before they touched her lekku, the flames stopped.

She realised she had shut her eyes at some point and opened them. Looking around, Ahsoka realised the fire had formed a small circle around her. She reached out a hand only to pull back as it hit the stinging wall of fire

Definitely real

Not sure how to escape the whirling storm of flame, Ahsoka was about to kneel down in an attempt to contact

Dread washed over her.

Sidious.

She must still be in the world between worlds then. She would not let it fall to him.

Removing her lightsabers from their hold, Ahsoka was about to ignite them when the fire roared to life, pouncing in on her.

Pain erupted all around her as she burned yet remained unharmed, being able to shield herself with the force was no longer an option. She tried to move, but that only made the pain more intense. So she did the only thing she could.

She screamed.

Then it all stopped.

And started again, only weaker.

Small aches stretched through her limbs, but as she opened her eyes she noticed she wasn’t in the void as she previously was. She was in a sleeping quarters, on a ship.

Must be an Imperial ship. She thought. Then why am I alive?

She moved a little to gain a sense of what sort of drugs they had her on, because there was no way they would leave her here without some form of restraint. However, in doing so, she knocked something off a stand, causing it to clang to the floor loudly.

Cursing herself silently, she listened to see if her captors had her and if they knew she was awake yet.

Ahsoka heard movement from outside the room coming closer so stood close to the bed, ready to attack but also hide, in case they came at her with stunners.

As her captors gently opened the door, Ahsoka couldn’t help the gasp of surprise that escaped her.

“Snips! You’re awake, that’s great.”

“Yes, it is good. Are you feeling better, young one?”

They looked exactly like Anakin and Obi-Wan. Which was impossible. She had no idea if Obi-Wan was even alive, and she knew what happened to Anakin. No, Vader. It’s Vader now.

Ahsoka snarled at the two.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing, Sith, but this won’t work. I will tell you nothing .”

Ahsoka crouched on the bunk as best she could, muscles coiled and ready to spring when the hallucination dropped

“I will not fall for your tricks.”

The one masquerading as Obi-Wan had the decency to look shocked by her accusation.

“Ahsoka I don’t understand. It’s me and Anakin. The Son isn’t here, he can’t hurt you.”

She laughed sadly at this. Don’t lie to me. I know what happened. You’re both dead . It was better to think of them as dead at least.

Not-Anakin’s face grew dark.

“The Son. He did this.” Not-Obi-Wan turned to face him.

“Anakin I know what you’re thinking and you can’t, it’s too -” Before her fake grandmaster could finish, her fake master was already out the ship, mind set on his goal.

Not-Obi-Wan turned back to her, sighing.

“I don’t know what to say to prove to you that I’m real, but surely you can feel. Reach out Ahsoka, we are here. You are safe.”

Safe. I haven’t been safe ever since I was fourteen and dragged into a war that shouldn’t have even happened. Still, she did what the not-Obi-Wan told and reached out with the force.

Her mind brushed up against his, and it was all she could do not to flinch away. It feels like him. So much like him. Ever so slowly, she pushed against his presence in the force a little more, moving past the shields that he lowered. Ahsoka delved a little further, finding a memory. His first memory of her.

The battle of Christophsis. 

She watched as time flashed by her in a single moment. Her walking off the transport, their introduction, the shock as she informed them it was Skywalker, not Kenobi who she would be apprenticed to.

More images flashed through his mind and into hers. Small moments, often deemed insignificant.

His rescue from the cave when they were tracking Dooku. The moment after they rescued her people from Zygerria. Other small moments, conversations around the temple, little portions of peace that she used to take for granted.

She knew not to now.

Ahsoka also knew when to accept what was happening.

She withdrew from Obi-Wan’s mind, opening her tear-filled eyes.

It’s real. I’m really here. She still half-expected it all to be ripped away from her as soon as she moved, so she stayed as still as she could.

“Ahsoka?” He ventured.

The gentleness of his voice broke her from her stupor.

Ahsoka lunged forward and gripped the man in a powerful hug, nearly surprising him off his feet. 

“You’re really here.” Shock gone, her grandmaster returned her hug somewhat hesitantly, offering what reassurance he could in his confused state.

Not wanting to upset the distressed togruta any further, he simply held on as she collected herself.

After a few slow, painful minutes, Ahsoka pulled away, wiping her eyes in a poor attempt to conceal her emotions, forgetting for a moment her mental shields are down and she’s broadcasting very loudly. She laughs sadly to herself, pretending to ignore the incredulous look the Jedi opposite her is giving, choosing instead to sit back down on the bunk and attempt to collect her thoughts.

Noticing it was clear she wanted to be alone, Obi-Wan stepped out of the room and exited the shuttle.

Mind racing, Ahsoka tried to organise these new ideas and situations into something that resembled a coherent train of thought.

So I am here. I am not a prisoner, there is no way a sith could keep up this amount of light energy for this long, all while emanating the force signature of someone who is most likely long dead.

She held her head in her lap.

But does that mean I get to change things? That presence seems hell-bent on me killing Anakin.

A shudder ripped through her as she recalled the events prior to her awakening.

I will not murder my master. He is still good. Even on Malachor, there was a shred of good in him. There has to be.

Ahsoka struggled to keep her breathing even.

It doesn’t matter what has happened. Or will happen? I can save him. I can save them all. First however, she reasoned, we have to get off this fucking monster of a planet.

A small part of her, in the back of her head, a remnant of the Jedi she used to be, was appalled at her poor use of words, however she couldn’t find it in herself to care. No amount of cursed, be that in basic, huttese or even binary could describe how much she hated this place. Though there were some, albeit a very small list, of places that were worse, this one certainly came close. It was here where she lost a part of herself as the Son claimed her mind as his and she had to watch from the back of her head as she tried to kill the two people closest to her.

Ahsoka cursed herself for letting her thoughts get away from her. She had to focus back on Mortis.

Mortis.

The events of Mortis would be forever etched in her brain.

The ship crashing.

The strange night and day cycle.

Anakin’s crazy trial, orchestrated by the father.

Her kidnapping and mind-altering.

The Daughter's death.

The son’s rise to power.

The Son’s attempt to corrupt Anakin.

Anakin.

He had gone to confront the Son, earlier than last time.

I have to find him. I have to stop the Son from showing him what he becomes.

Although she never actually witnessed what happened when the Son did whatever he did to Anakin, she did recall Obi-Wan being stranded and having to be rescued by her, lightly traumatised from whatever happened. She also remembered having to run away from the ship and hide from Anakin when he attempted to steal the shuttle to escape with the Son off-world.

She couldn’t let that happen this time. She would save him, before the Son got into his head.

Mind made up, Ahsoka stood up swiftly, ignoring the blood-rush and stalked down the ship, only to find Obi-Wan and the Father talking.

“Anakin has gone to confront your son, hasn’t he?”

She remembered this conversation.

“Deep within this planet, exists a place where all that is dark is channeled.” The Father replied solemnly.

“And how do I get there?” She could see Obi-Wan was losing his patience, was losing his famed negotiator edge.

“You cannot interfere.”

But she could. And she was going to.

Stepping in front of Obi-Wan, who had already jumped onto his speeder in preparation to go after Anakin, she stared the Father deep in the eyes, letting her shields down the smallest bit so he could sense the truth and the finality behind her next few words.

“I don’t care.”

Shock was evident on his face, she could also feel the surprise radiate of her grandmaster at her sudden, bold words. She should have chosen her next words more carefully.

“I don’t care about the sick plots you and your children have been concocting with Anakin at the center, with the fate of the galaxy at stake, attempting to shove him into the title of the chosen one ,” she mocked the title. “But I have had it with these mind-games and manipulations. I am going to save my master, and you will tell. Me. How.”

It took the Father a few seconds to break from his stupor, anger replacing his previous bewilderment.

“You know nothing of what you speak of, child. ” He hissed, leaning down so his face was close enough that she could feel his breath. Instead of flinching backwards and apologizing for her rash behaviour, like she would have if she were not from the future and had not seen far more threatening gestures, stayed still and held the Father’s piercing gaze.

She watched as his eyes flicked around her face, looking for a sign of weakness.

“You know nothing of my struggle. To have such love for your children, knowing they have the capabilities to destroy everything in the galaxy.”

Her hand clenched by her side.

“ Ahsoka .” Obi-Wan both warned and chastised her. She knew if she did not calm herself down someone would get hurt and Anakin would fall under the Son’s control once more. Ahsoka shut her eyes and took a deep breath in, not releasing her emotions into the force, but not latching onto them either.

She felt rather than saw the Father, clearly thinking he had won their short argument, pull away and stand up to his full  height. Releasing her breath, Ahsoka opened her eyes, never taking her gaze off the Father.

“I know. More than you think. I know .” She forced all of her conviction into her words. It somehow affected the god-like being in front of her as he flinched slightly. Ahsoka felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Obi-Wan, who had gotten off the speeder at some point, give her a confused look. She still was not used to seeing his face in so long, and turned back to the Father before her emotions got the best of her again.

“Help me or not, I am going to find and save him. I don’t give two sith-spitting shits -” 

“ Ahsoka! ”

“- about whether or not the force wants me to intervene. I’m going.”

And with that, she got on the speeder and started it up, before turning to Obi-Wan.

“You coming?”

Instead of answering, he gingerly got behind her and she took off, leaving the Father behind more confused than he had ever been in his life.

Anakin descended down the pit swiftly, anger simmering as he thought about the Son.

I don’t know what he did to my padawan, but he will pay for making her suffer the way he has.

On some level he knew his anger was not Jedi like, and he should be fighting against it, releasing his emotions into the force like he had been taught, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t let go of his protectiveness when it came to those he loved. He had kept it in somewhat when Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were kidnapped by the Daughter and the Son, but there was a limit to how much he could control his possessiveness. 

He would make the Son pay.

The floor approached him quickly. Setting the speeder down and shutting it off, Anakin stepped out onto the ground and looked around. There wasn’t much to see. Lots of lava in a large cave, with a few safe places to stand.

Turning back around to where his speeder was, Anakin found himself face-to-face with the one he was seeking out.

“ You. ” he growled, igniting his saber and pointing it at the Son.

The Son, still totally calm, simply waved his hand around.

“We need not be adversaries, Skywalker.”

Anakin couldn’t help but feel another bout of anger rise at that comment.

“You killed my padawan. It is only because of your sister that she is alive now.” It was clear that struck a chord in the Son. I don’t care .

“And I don’t know what you did, but Ahsoka isn’t acting herself and I know it is your fault.”

Something flickered over the Son’s face. Was that… confusion?

“I don’t know what has happened to your padawan -”

“Liar!” He spat. “As soon as she woke up she attacked me, then when she woke the next time she was convinced that I wasn’t real. And it’s your fault .”

Still, the Son remained his dark version of peaceful.

“I assure you, whatever is going on with your apprentice is not my doing, but -” a smirk emerged across his face. “- I do know how you can save her. Her and everyone else you love. Just let me show you…”

The Son stepped back after muttering those ominous words, smoke circling the spot where he used to be. Anakin felt the dark start to press into his mind.

“No.” He muttered as it tried to breach his mental defences.

The darkness pressed harder, forcing him onto his knees, showing him small glimpses of images. He knew it was a sith trick, that he couldn’t give in, but it was so strong.

An attack came from behind as the presence started grabbing at him from every side, the smoke closing in around him. Anakin shut his eyes in effort as he grabbed his head, desperately trying to field the darkness away and not let it show him these things.

He could feel the presence beg to be let in, whispering false promises of safety and answers to his most burning questions, all while it attacked him viciously, tearing away at the walls in his mind. A lone tear escaped from the corner of his eye.

The images slowly became clearer, producing small sounds as well. The echo of voices of those he loves, sounds of gunfire that were all too familiar mixed in with them.

Anakin knew it wouldn’t be far off that the darkness would break through.

What about Obi-Wan? What about Ahsoka?

Just as the darkness was about to slip through a crack it had created within his head, a light broke through the dark shadows around them. Green pierced through the smoke, dissipating it entirely, forcing the darkness out of his head.

Blinking rapidly, Anakin slowly got used to his surroundings once more.

“Anakin?” The origins of the voice confused him, he could have sworn that it was Ahsoka.

“Anakin!” Looking up, he could see it was in fact Ahsoka standing over him, calling out his name, concern etched across her face. He continued to stare at her as she crouched down to his level.

“Are you alright, master?” He flinched inwardly at the honorific. No matter how long it had been, he still hadn’t gotten used to being called master, it still made him uneasy.

He let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding before he responded

“Now why wouldn’t I be alright, snips,” he joked, not noticing Ahsoka’s slight recoil at the nickname. He did however notice her roll her eyes.

“You’re right, it’s not like you were attacked or anything.” She deadpanned, before stepping back and offering a hand up, which he accepted.

He was brushing off the dirt that made itself home on his robe when he noticed Obi-Wan’s absence. He voiced this to Ahsoka moments later.

“He’s up top, making sure we’re not ambushed from above. Speaking of -” she moved her arm up and pressed on the commlink. “- I’ve got him, Obi-Wan, we’re all good down here.”

“Well that’s good news,” his old master’s voice sounded over the comms. “Get him up here so we can finally leave this planet before something tries to kill us. Again.”

Ahsoka simply smiled before shutting it off. She turned back to him, about to say something when the Son emerged from the shadows of the cave.

“Well isn’t this a lovely sight. The apprentice saves the master this time.” In a blink, Anakin watched Ahsoka move from her laid back stance by the bikes to a crouch defensive position in front of him, lightsabers ignited.

How in the ever loving sith hells did she - is she trying to protect me?

“You won’t get him,” She hissed. “Not this time.” The words she uttered carried a deep emotional connection, one he’d never seen in his padawan before.

The Son laughed in her face before sending out a wave in the force, knocking him off his feet. Anakin barely got himself back up before the Son summoned red force lightning directed at his padawan.

Time slowed down in front of him as the lightning approached Ahsoka, who positioned her sabers into a defensive cross. When the lightning struck, it bypassed the shield she created and hit her straight on, forcing her to the ground as she convulsed in pain.

Anakin could only watch as her life slowly left her. He tried to run across to her, but the Son stretched his other hand out to stop him. Only one thought crossed his mind as he tried to fight against the Son, whose powers had only grown since the death of the Daughter changed the balance within the planet. She’s going to die. And it will be my fault .

He felt the hope drain out of his body as Ahsoka crumbled into herself, pure sith power surrounding her.

“Now you see, child, that you will never have the power to save your master.” The Son snarled at her. Ahsoka’s response was not one that he expected. Instead of further caving in on herself, she lifted her head and stared at the Son in defiance, uttering one word clear as day.

“No.”

He watched in frozen awe and fear as Ahsoka reached out with her hands, and, like the Father did, held the lightning off with the force. Shock flashed over the Son’s face as he doubled his efforts, dropping Anakin in the process. Still, he remained confined to the one spot of ground, watching as they battled in the force.

Ahsoka suddenly pushed back, so hard he felt it too, redirecting the lightning back to the Son.

“You insolent pest ” The Son sneered. “You must accept what is to come. It is his destiny.”

“I. Don’t. Care. ” She cried, shoving with what looked like everything she had back towards the Son, sending his stumbling meters back, ceasing the barrage of force lightning that was directed her way.

The Son glared hatefuly at Ahsoka. “If you will not accept his life, then he will die .”

Anakin barely registered the words spoken before an invisible hand wrapped itself around his throat, lifting him off the ground as he clawed nothing, unable to breath.

“Now do you see what your inability to welcome fate leads to?” The Son growled, focussing on Ahsoka once more.

Black began to take over his vision.

Before death could welcome him into its ranks, a piercing scream echoed throughout the lava-filled cave.

The ground met his body painfully he crashed to the floor, the pressure squeezing the air out of him thankfully gone. Pushing himself off the rock floor, Anakin attempted to understand what the ever-loving fuck just happened.

His eyes surveyed the cave. The was a large split running through the ground that was not there before. It ran across the whole floor, up the walls and past where he could see, leading into a large void of blackness. The force, he noticed, was in complete shambles. Both light and dark echoed throughout the place, seemingly connected and at peace with each other, rather than in constant battle. 

Anakin further looked on to notice that, at the epicenter of all the confusing force energy was Ahsoka.

She stood there, in the middle of the cut that ran through the ground, surrounded by rubble, panting for breath and clutching her side.

“Ahsoka?”

Her head whipped around and caught his eye, taking in his bewildered face.

“What. The. Fuck. ”

Chapter Text

Shit.

Ahsoka knew she couldn’t just ignore what just happened or hope that Anakin would forget about it. She had royally fucked up. Big time.

Before she could attempt to explain away the giant crack in the ground, a wave of exhaustion swept through her. This body was not used to exerting itself this much in the force. The floor met her head-on as her feet failed her.

“- oka? Ahsoka? Can you hear me?” Anakin’s worried voice sounded above. Ahsoka let her eyes open - when did they close - and adjust to the dusty lava-filled cave around her. She groaned lightly as she sat up, pain radiating from the back of her montrals.

“What... what happened?” She looked to her old master sitting in front of her questioningly, watching as a relieved yet confused smile made its way across his face. Ahsoka tried her best not to flinch when he stood up, but old habits die hard. She was just thankful Anakin decided against commenting on it

“Well, I was hoping you would be able to tell me snips.” He said almost jokingly, before taking on a more serious tone. “Are you alright? I don’t know what just happened, but it did not look easy.”

You have no idea, Skyguy. Ahsoka herself was still trying to figure out how that happened. There was still a voice whispering in the back of her head that this was all fake, and as soon as she touched him, he would disappear. She gripped the hand offered to her tightly, grunting slightly in pain as Anakin yanked her up. Nothing changed. She was still on Mortis.

Ahsoka looked up the whole to the black sky, blinking the dampness out of her eyes. She then turned her gaze to Anakin, to the speeder bikes, then back to Anakin, smirking.

“Wanna race?”

Obi-Wan was more than nervous when the Son flew out of the cave, though it was short lived as Ahsoka picked up his comm straight away. He decided that no matter how confused he was, it was better to wait until they were both here in person.

Thankfully, that wasn’t too long, as not even five minutes after whatever natural phenomena cause the ground to shake and the slit to appear in the ground, both his padawan - ex-padawan - and grandpadawan raced over the edge of the hole, shit-eating grins evident on their face.

“I take it your confrontation with the Son went well, Anakin? I saw he fled very soon after we arrived.” Obi-Wan expected Anakin to overindulge in his recounting of what happened, taking triumph over what was a clear victory. Although perhaps Ahsoka would talk her master up. Or drag him back down to earth.

No, confused and slightly panicked faces were not what he was expecting. He also wasn’t expecting Ahsoka to look like she was forcing tears back. He didn’t know whether he should be happy she was moving away from her child-like facial expressions or concerned as to why she felt she needed to hide from them.

Before he could try to get something out of her, Anakin turned to her, brow raised.

“Well Snips, you wanna try explaining now?”

“Uh…” She didn’t get to finish her stuttering as another quake ripped through the planet's surface. As much as he wanted answers to the tension caused by that simple question, they needed to leave before the planet made that decision for them.

“Let’s hold off on that explanation, Anakin, and get back to the ship.”

Said Jedi’s eyes widened with sudden realisation.

“The ship. The Son wants our ship. We have to get back now -” Obi-Wan put a reassuring hand on Anakin’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry. He won’t be going anywhere.” He nodded to Ahsoka who revealed the spark plug hidden in one of her pockets, face void of all signs of tears once more, a smug smile in its place.

Now, he was definitely concerned.

Ahsoka watched as tension left her master’s shoulders, smiling as he relaxed under the knowledge that their ship was safe from commandeering.

She hooked her legs over the speeder bike, kicking the engines into gear while looking expectantly at her masters, trying her best to keep her carefully created mask intact. She still had to fight off the tears that threatened to spill every time she met Obi-Wan’s kind eyes or Anakin’s concerned but confused gaze. 

Obi-Wan chuckled lightly at her eagerness to leave, patting the edge of his bike, gesturing to Anakin.

“Guess you’re riding with me.”

Ahsoka couldn’t make out what Anakin grumbled under his breath as he hooked a leg over the speeder bike, but she knew, for all that he pretended to be annoyed, he didn’t mind the extra time spent with his old master.

“Hey, Ahsoka?” Anakin started once they were seated on their speeders, about to take off. “You wanna tell me what went on back there?”

Kriff. She hoped he had forgotten by now. Ahsoka needed more time to come up with a more believable excuse as to how she was able to overwhelm the Son without so much as a second thought. So, she did the mature thing to avoid the question and threw her goggles on, racing away from Anakin’s astounded face. She really needed to think of a good excuse. And soon.

As the wind whipped across her face, Ahsoka’s mind wandered through her memories, attempting herself to figure out exactly how she did manage to tear through large expanses of rock in a single moment. 

Restore the balance, child.

A voice whisper across the wind. Ahsoka strained to hear it.

Restore balance to the galaxy.

How? Ahsoka whispered to the force.

Restore the balance. The force spoke back

HOW. She begged.

Listen to the force. Listen to all of the force. There is more than one way to restore the balance.

What the fuck did that mean?

Ahsoka blinked back into her current reality as the ship came into view, slowing to a halt at the ramp before disembarking off the speeder. She turned around, dragging the goggles off her face with a quick yank, spotting her masters.

She managed to keep about ten seconds of peace - if she could really call standing alone, dripping in her own self-pity and loathing peace - before they arrived, lining their bikes with hers. Ahsoka smiled at them in greeting, earning a very unimpressed look from Anakin, who was clearly still miffed about her avoidance of his question.

Ahsoka really hoped he would hold off on interrogating her further until they completed their task of destroying the Son - kriff they were going to have to do that again - but luck was not on her side.

“So, Snips. You gonna answer me now?” 

Thankfully, Obi-Wan was. Sort of. She really needed to sort out her feelings about her grandmaster.

“Anakin I’m sure Ahsoka will explain whatever you believe she needs to explain in due time, but for now, we must go find the Father. It is clear he is not powerful enough to contain the Son without the Daughter here to help.” Keep it to Obi-Wan to live up to his namesake of negotiator.

Her grandmaster’s attempts at placating Anakin seemed to work for the time being, although Anakin made it very clear through a series of hand gestures and a sharp glare behind Obi-Wan’s back that they were by no means finished with this conversation.

Ahsoka tried her best to quell the nervousness running through her. She needed to come up with a cover story. And soon.

The Father was meditating when they arrived.

He was at the same place where the Son and the Daughter dualed the for the last time, though the room was void of any large furniture this time around.

Perched on a small mat, he still towered over them even as he kneeled on the ground. The roof of the room they walked through seemed to arched up further than it had before, as if it were trying to swallow the heartache and despair that echoed through the force. It did however, allow small slivers of light from the outside, just as it did last time. Although, there wasn’t much light to be let in.

As the three of them slowly approached the Father, Ahsoka couldn’t help but think of the differences and disturbances she has already caused to her new timeline within a couple of hours. She should think of it as a good thing, that the Son couldn’t turn Anakin this time. Ahsoka may not have experienced that Darkside-Anakin, but Obi-Wan, the other Obi-Wan, had told her what happened. At least, a watered-down version of it.

Even so, Ahsoka felt worry prickle underneath her skin.

Something wasn’t right.

She quickly realised she had fallen behind and rushed along to catch up to the others who were nearing the Father. Ahsoka simply watched, deciding it would be best if she removed herself from what was to come so she didn’t keep drawing attention to herself. Obi-Wan started to open his mouth to address the Father, only to be interrupted by Anakin, voice laced with venom.

“What the hell was that.”

The Father opened one eye almost amused, as Obi-Wan had his palm meet his face in frustration at Anakin’s brashness. 

When he received no answer, Anakin stalked up to the powerful force wielder. Ahsoka noted that his hand was itching towards his saber. Please don’t be stupid, master. She really didn’t want to have to intervene and place more suspicion on herself.

Thankfully, Obi-Wan decided to intervene before Anakin could cause too much of a scene.

“I believe what my colleague was trying to say,” Ahsoka’s mind instantly flashed back to all the other missions where Obi-Wan pulled that same negotiator voice to get what they needed. “Was, it would be very kind of you to help us understand the events that took place when confronting your Son.” While he was speaking, he managed to walk up to Anakin and place a hand on him, drawing the younger Jedi back.

The Father’s face contorted into different emotions, though Ahsoka could only pick up on a few as it flashed by nearly instantly. Pain, understanding, and… was that confusion?

Perhaps the Father was not as all-seeing as he led them to believe in both this timeline and the last.

“I’m afraid I do not know what caused the disruption to the planet’s core.”

Disruption to the plant’s core? What? Ahsoka then realised the implications that had for her. That’s going to set Anakin off.

“You mean to tell me my padawan -”

What was building to a rant was cut off as a screech ripped through the stillness, shattering any false sense of peace. As glass over-head rained down overhead, Ahsoka felt, more than saw, the Son enter in his gargoyle form, wings beating down powerfully on the group of Jedi like the wind on Kamino, forcing them to use the force to stand their ground. 

The dust settled, and the trio found themselves in between the Son and the Father. Ahsoka backed off to the side while Anakin and Obi-Wan drew their lightsabers. She still wasn’t ready to fight with her old sabers. They didn’t feel right. Not anymore.

Calmly, Ahsoka observed as the Son returned to his humanoid form and lowered himself into a crouch, dagger drawn behind his back, almost as if he was going to jump. 

Wait.

Too late. Before she could shout a warning, the Son leapt over her, Obi-Wan and Anakin, dark energy pulsating around him. She watched in horror as he twisted mid-air, using the force to manoeuvre the dagger to his front, slamming down on the Father, piercing his heart.

Ahsoka didn’t know what to think as the Son gripped his father’s face. She didn’t know what to think as the Father stared back at his son with melancholy love.

“Now, you die, father.” He twisted the knife in further. Ahsoka would have balked, would have turned away in disgust, if she were the same togruta that entered this Sith hell of a planet. But she was different now. She watched on in distorted fasciation as the Father gazed into his son’s eyes, pain battling with love.

“No, my Son,” 

She remembered now, how they killed the Son the first time. The Son and the Daughter draw their power from the Father. It appeared as the Son also figured this out, if his fear-widened eyes and sudden stiff posture were anything to go on. Even as he gave his son the death sentence, as he got vengeance for his daughter, there was no malice in the Father’s words. Only resignation.

“Now, you die.”

The Father turned his head towards Anakin in an attempt to get him to finish the deed. Ahsoka decided she needed to step in first. She didn’t know why, but something was screaming silently at her to be the one to end it. Drawing from the planet’s force energy, she pushed herself up above Anakin and Obi-Wan with a single leap to where the Son towered over the Father, methodically plunging her already lit saber into the Son's back.

Slowly, life bled from the Son’s body as he fell to the ground, eyes facing the absent stars. Ahsoka felt a grim sense of satisfaction as the red washed out of his irises like a river. The tightness in her muscles fled as she realised - not her actions, she had come to terms with killing her enemies when their backs were turned a few cycles after Raada, though she tried to refrain - but that her masters had just witnessed her kill in cold blood.

She supposed she could blame it on exhaustion, because Ahsoka was drained, just not from the reasons they would assume. She had a feeling time-travel was very low on their lists of possibilities for why she was acting strange.

Even still. She needed to get out of here before she really did something she would regret.

Ahsoka extinguished her blade before turning tail and sprinting down the hall, ignoring the words of protest, throwing out some excuse of needing a minute to collect her thoughts as she passed Anakin and Obi-Wan, thankful that even if Anakin wanted to chase after her Obi-Wan had the tact to let her go.

And Anakin let him let her go. 

Like he always did.

She tried her best to ignore the chill that crept through her at the thought.

Obi-Wan really needed to get to the bottom of what was wrong with his old padawan. The Son was dead, and the Father would soon follow. They could finally leave this uncivilised rock. So why won’t Anakin stop pacing?

It had been five minutes since Ahsoka struck the killing blow to the Son while his back was turned, an act that Obi-Wan had his qualms with, but had decided against saying anything because of their circumstances, and fled outside. And Anakin wouldn’t stop pacing.

He ignored him for now, choosing instead to focus on the Father as he slowly slipped away. He gently lowered the Father's head to the ground to allow him to drift into eternal sleep and become one with the force once again. Obi-Wan only allowed his attention to stray from the Father once his eyes shut and his breathing evened out, slowly becoming shallower and shallower.

“Anakin.” He tried to get his old pupil’s attention, but to no avail. “Anakin.” He tried again, louder this time, finally getting a response in the form of an almost wild stare.

“Anakin, what’s wrong?” The only answer he got was an icy chuckle. He tried again “Anakin, please, talk to me. What happened?”

He finally, finally got a response.

“It’s Ahsoka.” Well that was helpful. Obi-Wan simply stared blankly at his response, prompting Anakin to elaborate.

“She’s… different.” Before he could tell Anakin through something other than words, again, that his vagueness was not appreciated, he continued. “You saw what she just did,” He gestured to where the Father lay, gradually passing away in his sleep, hiding the Son’s corpse.

“And you didn’t even see what she did, down in that cave. You saw that tear in the ground, right?”

Was he serious?

“No, Anakin, I did not see the massive rip in the ground that suddenly appeared only moments after Ahsoka followed your trail into the place where the Darkside is the strongest. Which, by the way, you never told me what went on down there.”

Anakin’s frustration leaked from his force signature.

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Ahsoka was the cause of the rip in the ground. Ahsoka.”

It was official, the stress of the war and having a padawan had finally gotten to him. Anakin had finally lost his damn mind. Apparently, Obi-Wan’s inner thoughts had made their way onto his face as Anakin rushed to defend himself.

“I'm serious, master. One minute, she was being forced onto the ground by his Sith lightning, the next she was standing in the centre of this ball of pure light and dark energy, and the crack in the ground had touched everywhere except for where she was standing.”

Obi-Wan pinched the tip of his nose in frustration. There was no way Ahsoka, of all people, could have done something like this in the force. While he knew Ahsoka was powerful, he doubted any single Jedi could cause that much destruction in such a small amount of time, save Anakin himself. Not to mention, she was only a padawan for crying out loud.

Still, he couldn't deny the truth flowing through Anakin’s words. He clearly believed that what he was saying was true. Before he could reply, something rippled through the force. The two Jedi’s attention was drawn back to the Father, and they watched as he gave his last breath and… disappeared?

He didn’t have long to ponder the strange turn of events, as no sooner had the Father vanished the ground beneath him began to shake. His eyes were then drawn to the top of the tower as he watched, enraptured, as the crystal that floated throughout their visit came violently crashing down. 

The stone from the tower dropped consecutively, sending shockwaves through the ground. His fascination quickly morphed to horror as the self destruction of the tower became explosive, enveloping him and Anakin in a blinding light.

Before he collapsed, Obi-Wan was able to make out Anakin’s frantic shouts for Ahsoka, attachment barely hidden.

He just wished he could be as open as his padawan about these things. 

The tree where the Daughter brought her back to life came into view. Ahsoka knelt below, removing her sabers from her belt and laying them down in front of her, shutting her eyes in the process, allowing her senses to stretch out across the ground.

Eventually, Ahsoka found herself tapping into the power from within the planet, as weak as it was now that the Father was close to death. She brought every emotion she could find on the surface of her subconscious to light, staying far away from those stuffed down inside a box she wasn’t going to open until she was alone in a room with nothing of value.

Ahsoka connected with her rage simmering on the surface of her skin, merged that with the protectiveness she felt over Anakin, and to a lesser extent, Obi-Wan. Brought her emotions she was always told to let go of and tried to find her peace with them. She has gone too long suppressing her force signature to simply give everything over to it.

Ahsoka knew the line she toed was dangerous, and could easily blow up in her face, but she needed to do this; needed to find balance within herself to find balance outside herself.

She brought her attention back to the route of her problem. The crystals.

Ever since she activated her sabers in this time period, Ahsoka felt disconnected to them. While it was nice to have her old lightsabers back - ignoring the heavy feelings it stirred up inside of her, of course - she couldn’t help but think they weren’t hers, not completely.

Dragging all her concentration, she connected to the centre of her crystals. If anyone was watching her, they would see her sabers floating slightly above ground in pieces, with the crystals circling each other in a continuous orbit, shining more than they normally would.

Her kyber crystals. Her original kyber crystals. The green one for her main saber and the lime yellow for her shoto. They just didn’t fit any more. Ahsoka had gotten so used to her other sabers, her purified white ones. She recalled how they sang out to her when she rescued them from the sixth brother after their fight on Raada. Still, she never truly felt a connection to them like her one with these crystals.

The purification process was… strange, to say the least. It was clear to her as soon as she touched them that the crystals would never be hers, not really, but when she purified them, they created a bond strong enough that Ahsoka trusted them to get the job done perfectly each time. 

Some part of her, deep down for all this time, had the idea that in getting her old sabers back, she would find peace, having a part of herself returned to her. But there was still something off about them. Something missing.

Ahsoka moves her concentration and thoughts away from the past, the future and the might-have-beens to the now. To the crystals in front of her. She listens to them as they show her brief flashes of a memory. The first time she found them, in the caves of Ilum.

They called out to her, each at different times. Once when she was a youngling, and once when she was a padawan.

Something else took over her vision. Her own memories this time, of getting her lightsabers back from Anakin. Igniting them to find they were blue, sharing one last moment. She managed a bittersweet smile at the thought. That was her last happy memory of her master. Their last moment until they met, nearly twenty years later.

Anger and sadness rose up in her. She tried her best to shove it down, but it kept coming up like magma trying to claw its way out of a volcano.

Her thoughts became mist, disappearing into the air around her, allowing her mind to be free for a blissful second.

Ahsoka reached out once again, past the energy emanating from her crystals, ignoring their changing signature, and expanded her senses.

She felt the push and pull of the planet’s core, felt it extend upward and inward. Felt the darkness dissipate slightly with the Son’s recent death, felt the light slowly rise back to become equal with the dark.

She felt her anger rise with her frustration of what was going on and, this time completely aware of it and its cause, tried her best to release it into the force. When that didn’t work, she squished it down back into the dark vortex where all things that should never be spoken of are hidden.

How the fuck was she meant to create balance throughout the galaxy when balance within continued to elude her?

“Ahsoka.” The voice echoed in her head.

“Ahsoka.” It sounded like a person, not a vision.

She didn’t know where it was coming from or who it was, but she could rule out any of the Ones. It sounded too real to be them.

Ahsoka tried to grasp onto the source of the voice, but much like the Daughter, it slipped through her fingers like river water on Shili.

Her eyes flicker open in frustration in her inability to hold onto anything, emotions included, only to see her crystals and sabers drop to the floor in pieces. When did they move?

Ahsoka shut her eyes once more, directing her attention to her disassembled sabers. It took her a few tries to re-center herself, but eventually she slipped back into the mindset she had when she first assembled her saber as a youngling. She let herself be aware of every nook and cranny, every bolt and screw, and pulled them into place, bit by bit, piece by piece.

Finally, they were done.

Blinking rapidly as her eyes adjusted once more, she took in her new creations slowly. Nothing had changed. Ahsoka’s eyes scrunched together as she flipped over both sabers. 

Surely something would have changed?

Letting her conscious drift towards the heart of each saber, Ahsoka absorbed what the crystals produced.

Igniting the sabers, Ahsoka looked on at the once-familiar green and yellow, only a long sadness echoing in her heart. They were hers, yet they were not. A loud explosion ripped through her ears. Quickly diminishing the blades, Ahsoka ripped her head around to see the crystal had fallen and the tower was coming down.

She realised that during her meditation, the Father must have passed away, and just like last time the planet must be slowly caving in on itself. Ahsoka does the best to calm herself as yellow light emerges from the place where the large light crystal once stood.

Pure energy effulges her vision, before blurring out to blackness. 

I really need to stop making falling unconscious a hobby. She managed to think humorlessly, before her ability to process the outside world left her.

“-neral Kenobi, can you hear me? General Skywalker, are you out there?”

Anakin groaned as he sat up, hand nursing his temple as vision came back to him.

“General Skywalker, this is Captain Rex. Can you hear us? Please respond sir.” A quick once over of the cockpit showed him that he was the only one awake, so he stiffly reached over to respond, rolling his arm to bring feeling back to it while he did so.

“Hey Rex. Boy, am I glad to hear your voice.” Anakin fought the urge to check on Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, instead he tried to focus on what Rex was saying. He knew they would be alright.

“You too, general,” Rex responded, though he sounded different to the last time they spoke. More weary and reserved. How long were they gone? “We lost you there for a second.”

What?

“It’s been more than a second Rex.” He tried not to sound too panicky. Was it all just some weird force-induced hallucination?

“I don’t understand sir?” There was still something in Rex’s voice that he couldn’t place. He decided to ignore it for now, just relieved to be out of whatever that place was, be it a strange planet never seen before or something his own mind decided to concoct.

“We’ve got a lot to catch you up on.”

She thought she was prepared to board the ship. How wrong she was. The moment Ahsoka saw all those familiar faces and painted armour, she nearly caved in on herself.

Muttering some excuse, Ahsoka sped off to her dorm, needing some time to… adjust.

Three times on her way to her room, she had to forcefully stop herself from slamming her troopers, because that’s what they were right now, her troopers, into the ground and knocking them out, simply out of habit.

Once she arrived at her room it was no different.

As tired as she was, Ahsoka could not sleep. No matter how relaxed she forced herself to be, blissful unconsciousness continued to evade her. She couldn’t take lying in her bunk anymore. Couldn’t take the thoughts that raced around her head as she stared at the metal above her.

Standing, Ahsoka stretched, cracking her neck, before leaving her quarters silently. Some part of her brain reminded her that when she arrived back at the temple, she would have to break that habit, the habit she had spent many years perfecting in order to survive. It would be too suspicious.

Ahsoka had many habits that would need breaking, or altering, in order to not put her under more suspicion than she already would be.

She already had her master breathing down her neck for her abrupt departure from the bridge. She just couldn’t do it, all those faces staring at her, nothing but kindness and respect, knowing that there were evil chips hidden in their head that could force them to murder her and any other Jedi around her with one command.

Except for Anakin. You know they wouldn’t dare kill him; a treacherous part of her brain supplied. She did her best to tune it out.

As Ahsoka roamed the halls of the venator-class star destroyer, she ran her hand absent-mindedly over the smooth walls, finding herself once again on the verge of collapse.

Knowing she would have to masquerade as a Jedi were she to prevent the rise of the empire, the rise of the Sith, Ahsoka tried to release her emotions, tried to draw back on one of her earliest lessons as a youngling, and just let it all flow out into the force, however she found herself unable to do so completely.

The shock of returning back gripped her in its iron claws, the grief she had shoved down was beginning to resurface. Worst of all though, was the guilt. The guilt she felt, knowing the fate of every single clone she passed, how they would betray those they trusted with their lives without a second thought.

It didn’t help that she could feel every one of them on the ship if she let her mental walls slip.

Ahsoka felt guilt strangle her as they called her Commander. Commander. She didn’t deserve the title. She left. A small part of her knew she was justified in her choice, knew that she could be a Jedi no longer after the council showed her no trust in a time where trust was imperative, but it didn’t stop the dark voice inside her dead from whispering that if she stayed, that if she remained a Jedi, none of it would have happened.

Ahsoka tried once more to grab this feeling and let it go, shutting her eyes and halting her steps as she did so, but to no avail.

The feeling buried itself deep inside her, moving through her blood, ever being a part of her.

She supposed she should have accepted this, should have known she would never escape.

Ahsoka shook herself out of her stupor when she heard footsteps from around the corner. As they came closer, Ahsoka mentally prepared herself to be called Commander once more. All mental preparation flew out the window when the figure rounded the corner.

Rex.

It took him longer to recognise her as he removed his helmet once he turned into the hallway she was occupying, however once he did, shock flew over his face, though it was gone just as fast. Had she been the same Ahsoka as when she last occupied this body, she wouldn’t have noticed it. 

Rex was one of her oldest friends in the rebellion, one of her oldest friends in the galaxy. She had no idea how she was going to get through this one.

The smile he gave her as she approached him wasn’t real, though it did pronounce the bags under his eyes. She supposed she probably looked the same. Ahsoka once again willed the tears out of her eyes. She was getting quite good at that.

“Ahsoka, glad to see you and the generals back in one piece.” She smiled at that. If there was one thing she missed, it was the casualness between her and Rex without the added burden of the past surrounding their every word. 

“You too, Commander.” Her eyes widened marginally.

Shit. Fuck. Kriff. Karking sithspit. She farckled it up. Big time.

Before she could chalk it up to stress or lack of sleep, Rex’s eyes widened as he dropped his helmet with a loud clang that echoed through the empty hallway of the cruiser.

“Fulcrum?”

Chapter Text

They had returned from the mission to Malachor over three rotations ago. It still felt like it had only been minutes since he got the news.

She didn’t make it.

He hadn’t left the rocky ledge, any pain from the jagged rocks long masked by the pain that radiates around Chopper Base. The sun rose for the third time, burnishing its light across the wilderness, illuminating the spiders that were far enough away they didn’t look like the terrifying monsters he knew they could be.

She didn’t make it.

Rex knew he had to move from his place viewing the rocky outcrop at some point, but every time someone came to offer him water, rations or drape a blanket over him to battle the cold once they realised he wasn't moving soon, it just came crashing back down on him. 

Chopper hadn't left Hera's side.

Ezra hadn't smiled or joked with the others his age.

Kanan was blinded. Permanently.

And she didn't make it.

It was always a possibility. They always knew that. You don't survive a galactic war and then years of running from the Empire without knowing each day could be your last. Could be the last you see you friends, family. 

But in his mind, Ahsoka would always come back, just like she always did. He may just be a clone, a copy within millions of other copies, but she was Ahsoka. 

Perhaps seeing her do all those near-impossible feats tricked him into thinking she was unkillable. His time in this post-republic galaxy should have taught him better. 

And yet…

She didn't come back. 

Rex just assumed it would be himself to go first. All clones thought the same, they were practically programmed to think that by the Kaminoins - that they would die before their jedi. It was a cruel irony how many of his brothers lived long after the jedi, how many were forced to make it happen.

What happens now?

He had no jedi. For the first time since he was deployed all those years ago, Rex had no jedi. Yes, there was Kanan and Ezra, but they just weren’t the same. They weren’t his jedi. Ahsoka may not have called herself one, but in Rex’s eyes, she is-was, he reminded himself, was always his jedi.

What happens to a clone without a jedi?

Rex pondered the question not many clones ever bothered with - it was never a possibility, not really, staring out at the expansive land before him, spiders coming close but never past the perimeter.

The question was still floating through his head when he heard it - the whisper. 

It was so quiet at first, Rex thought it was just the wind. But it became louder. Not loud enough to make out, not yet, but ever present. Rex strained his ears, momentarily distracted from his peril. It seemed to be coming from inside the base.

With nothing left to lose, not anymore, Rex stood to follow the voice - if that’s what it was.

Perhaps I’m finally going insane, he thought, following the whisper.

It became more distinct the closer he got, words about to form but slipping away just in time for its message to remain a mystery. The whisper swept through his left ear and out his right, not deigning to stay long enough to tell him anything.

It became his new mission to find out what the voice was trying to tell him. It almost sounded… familiar.

Consumed by the need to know, Rex didn’t notice he had made his way into the base, his mind focused on the whisper that became slightly clearer.

He didn’t see the glances of sympathy when he absent-mindedly tripped on loose wire. All he could do was focus on the familiar-yet-not whisper, whose words slowly took shape;

Closer

It said;

Follow

It said;

Find

It said.

Rex, too caught up in the voice perforating through his mind, failed to notice where he was, or the strange looks he was receiving as he near staggered through the fulling ships.

Closer

It said;

Follow

It said;

Find

It said.

It was loud now, so loud that Rex couldn’t comprehend anything else around him, even if he wanted to. The voice was all he knew.

It took up so much space in his mind he didn’t see the ramp of the Ghost descending. The voice, now just a cluster of miscellaneous sound vibrating back and forth, blocked the concerned questions of Hera, the confused mumblings of Ezra.

All Rex could see was the holocron. The twice damned holocron that was a catalyst in Ahsoka’s disappearance.

Because for all they said, Ahsoka could never die in Rex’s mind.

Another joined his vision, one more familiar. An image of Anakin played in his head, running through basic katas in his downtime to teach Ahsoka even when he couldn’t be there.

Voices of shock and cries of caution went unnoticed by Rex. All he could see was the red and blue prisms floating, getting closer, following an invisible path, finding each other despite being objects.

The yelling got louder and louder, yet still Rex took no note, reaching a hand to touch where the holocrons were just about to meet—

White-blue-red light flashed before his eyes, enveloping him before he had the chance to drop the damn Jedi artefact.

The world twisted and blurred until all he could see was blinding light around him, all he could feel was warmth that felt wrong, out-of-place and hungry, like it was trying to claw its way up and into him. 

Rex doubled over, immense pain shooting through him suddenly, but leaving just as fast. 

The light became too much for him to bear and soon all he saw was black.

…

Then…

…

"General Kenobi, can you hear me? General Skywalker, are you out there?” He heard someone say.

“General Skywalker, this is Captain Rex.” It was him speaking. “Can you hear us? Please respond sir.” 

His voice operated without thought.

“Hey Rex. Boy am I glad to hear your voice.” He knew this conversation, that voice. 

“You too, general,” he responded automatically, resigned to reliving this moment. “We lost you there for a second.”

He must have finally passed out on that cliff. That, or someone finally followed through with the threat of a hypo and a forced stay at medicine. Perhaps that was all this was, the consequences of allowing his guilt and grief to ignore the rebellion’s efforts. 

Reliving the past.

He still remembered this moment. Mortis. Or, as Ahsoka would affectionately call it, that force-fucked prison of a planet.

“It’s been more than a second Rex.” The voice of Anakin said over the comms. Rex knew the rest of this interaction. He let his dream take over, monotonously responding.

“I don’t understand sir?”

He remembered seeing, rather than watching now, the confusion that surrounded the room before Anakin broke the silence.

“We’ve got a lot to catch you up on.”

The comm disconnected as the Twilight began docking.

Rex thought he would wake up now; to the beeping of a monitor and the sound of a hovering medic, the peaceful chaos of Chopper base as he faced half-hearted scolding from a member of the Ghost crew.

He was wrong.

So very, very wrong.

He closed his eyes and willed himself to wake up, to not have to look at the faces of brothers he’d lost once more. He begged the force to spare him this.

It did not listen.

At the opening of his eyes, Rex turned to see them. The faces of ghosts, the faces of those long past whose time was too short, yet were dragged out in front of his very eyes.

Memories of a happier time came to him unbidden. Flashes of smiles, familiarity, and safety amidst a growing evil. He just hoped he woke up before he saw her. No matter how it would pull at his heartstrings later, maybe if he could say goodbye, a part of him would find some scrap of closure to say goodbye for good.

“Shall we prepare for the generals’ arrival, captain?” Rex didn’t notice who asked. All he could hear was the voice of a ghost, phantom words from phantom lips. He couldn’t hear anymore. It was just a dream anyway. He could just leave. There were no consequences to be held here, none that Rex wasn’t responsible for, at least.

Confused chatter swept through his ears as he walked out of the bridge without a word. He set his eyes forward, away from long-gone-familiar-faces and identical yet all-too-unique voices. Rex realised after the fifth hesitant nod his eyes had clouded over. In an effort to ease this dream he donned his helmet, his stomach simultaneously settling with the comforting weight and churning with the uncanny nostalgia.

Something was wrong.

No dream was this long, or this painstakingly real. 

And he could feel wetness seeping down the inside of his helmet.

And why couldn’t he wake up.

He turned the corner and removed his helmet, unable to deal with the humidity on his face. Stilling for a moment to wipe his eyes, Rex continued on his path.

This was fine. He could do this. He could do this. He could- 

Ahsoka.

It was like she appeared out of thin air. Rex thought she genuinely did some of the time

She looked so young. A part of him still couldn’t believe how they let a literal child be in charge of such a large force of men. That same voice would then pipe up to remind him he too was technically a child.

He still wouldn’t want anyone else leading him and his men into battle.

This was going to be hard.

Rex took in her tiny stature, impractical, armour-less clothing, her original sabres clipped to her belt.

She was alive here. For the first time, Rex didn’t want to wake up. This could be the last time he saw her, even if it was this version of her. It could be the only chance he had to say goodbye.

“Ahsoka, glad to see you and the generals back in one piece.” It was the only thing he could think to say.

“You too, Commander.” Her too-young voice sai-

Wait, commander? 

It was always somewhat of a joke between them. A reference to the last time they could sleep easy. But why would dream-Ahsoka say that?

Unless…

Rex took that stretch of silence to look. To really look.

The Ahsoka in front of him was different to that of his memory of the day. She looked older, not in physical form but in her stature. And there, in her eyes, that slight raised eyelid and faint flair of her nostrils - something that took him years to notice after they met again during the rebellion - that meant panic, that meant she said something wrong.

He didn’t register the clang of his helmet hitting the floor.

For the first time since his heart became an empty void, Rex felt a flicker of hope.

Perhaps he’d been spending too much time around the rebellion base, but Rex grabbed on to that string of hope and pulled.

“Fulcrum?”

Her heart leapt into her chest. 

There was no way…

Ahsoka’s eyes darted from the helmet swaying side-to-side as it tried to find a balance point, to eyes that seemed a stranger within their body. She couldn’t dare to think it was true only to have him ripped away from her. Still, with all her hesitancy, she reached out with her mind.

Slowly, Ahsoka brushed up against what she refused to hope to be her Rex’s mind, aware that he had yet to move. She also noticed the tears gathering in the corner of his eyes, what was probably a mirror image to her own face. She made contact with his mind. Doubts swiftly shredded themselves as deeper, warmer feelings clawed their way up her throat. He felt so… familiar.

Clearly, Ahsoka was taking too long to react. Rex stepped forward, and in two short yet determined strides, enveloped her in a hug, crushing the wind from her.

A wet patch became present on Rex’s shoulder, and it took her a moment to realise she was crying.

So was Rex.

She was shorter than him. 

Oh. 

That would take some getting used to.

Pulling away, they both did their best to wipe away any reminder of their tears. They stood there, surrounded by a deafening silence, each unsure of what to say.

What do you even say when you find out you're not the only one stuck in this nightmare of a reality.

Rex decided he was the one to break the silence.

“You’re ali-”

Of course, this would be the moment his comm decided to go off. The obnoxious beeping echoed through the corridor, ceasing only when Rex pressed the receive button.

“Captain Rex, General Skywalker requested I let you know we’ll be arriving at Coruscant in nine standard hours.” Without breaking eye contact, as if he was scared as soon as he did, she would melt away, Rex acknowledged the transmission.

Footsteps echoed down the hall and Ahsoka realised they were standing in a highly exposed hallway each with a composure that was at its wits end.

“We need to talk.” 

A pause. 

"We do." 

Wasn’t that the understatement of the galaxy. 

“My quarters are five minutes away.” The question was obvious. Can you prepare for the drastic conversation we are about to have in the small time we have?

A nod was all she needed.

Turning around, Ahsoka waited until Rex was by her side to start walking. She desperately hoped they wouldn’t pass any more clone troopers, but apparently luck decided Ahsoka Tano was not worth its time. Every time her and Rex passed an old friend, she could feel his resolve crumble.

Every time they passed a dead face, she felt her suppressed pain come to light.

Jesse.

Fives.

Tup.

Hawk.

Coric.

Hardcase.

Echo…

She tried desperately to block out the memory of Jesse demanding Rex to kill her. Of having to leave her closest thing to family to burn in a shipwreck minutes after they tried their best to murder her without being aware of their actions.

Ahsoka didn’t have the time to dwell on the past. Or the future past. 

She had to make it to her quarters so she could figure out what the kriff was going on.

Mercifully, her door came into view. Plugging in her access code, Ahsoka entered and sat on the bunk furthest away, waiting for Rex to do the same before starting what would probably be the most confusing discussion she would have.

Silence. 

“Rex.”

Silence. 

“Ahsoka.”

This was harder than she thought.

“What the fuck.”

His half-hearted laugh broke some of the tension that had crept its way into their vicinity.

“I was hoping you would know.”

Ahsoka paused, considering her words carefully.

“It was on Malachor-”

“Is this why you didn’t come back?” Rex’s interruption was laced with pain and something else Ahsoka couldn’t quite name. She didn’t know what he meant. Which, clearly her face communicated as he elaborated on that.

“When they returned from Malachor, you weren’t with them. Kanan said you died. I- I thought you were dead. They said you were dead.”

Oh Rex. 

“They told me -”

His body shook once. 

Twice.

“All they told me was you went into the temple to face Vader - and you didn’t come back out.” 

Tears pooled in her eyes as Rex poured out every painful emotion as he recounted the phantom’s arrival back onto Chopper base. 

“I didn’t leave that cliff for two days, watching the sky in hopes you would come back, like you always did. I hoped to near-death they were mistaken, that maybe you had gone dark to save yourself." 

Ahsoka didn't know how to respond to that. 

Oh, she knew of the pain Rex spoke of. It was something excruciatingly familiar to her. But there was nothing she could say to help at this moment.

“But the days went on and still, nothing. I nearly gave up and accepted it. That’s when I heard it.”

And so Ahsoka sat there in her too-small body listening to his tale, watching his too-young face with apt attention, the fear that this would all dissolve if she looked away for too long still there, sitting in the back of her mind like an itch that was just out of reach.

“So, how did you get dragged into this, commander?” He teased. Ahsoka could see the hidden glee that her current station brought him and pretended like it wasn’t masking his pain.

“Maul and I… we merged the holocrons together. One not-quite-Jedi, one not-quite-Sith. It was supposed to give us answers.” She laughed bitterly at the irony. “Instead, it only gave us questions. So, so many questions” 

She gauged Rex’s face for his reaction. Unable to find any trace of doubt or questioning, she proceeded to ask him how he managed to get dragged into this.

Ten minutes later, Ahsoka was only slightly more confused than when they started this conversation.

“This is weird, even by Jedi-osik standards.” Rex finished his story with. Ahsoka could only nod, her brain a mess of relief to see Rex, fear for what was to come, grief from the faces of ghosts, and confusion about what to do next.

There was only one thing she knew that could give her some semblance of a clear mind.

“Wanna spar?” 

“It’s kind of unfair, don’t you think? With you being a kriffing jetti and all.”

An idea struck her.

“What about those choreographed fights we used to train the newbies when the fleet was looking for a base?”

Rex stared at her.

“Ahsoka, you’re a genius.”

“I know”

If this debriefing went on any longer, Anakin was going to slice the holo table into a thousand tiny pieces, burn them, then throw the ashes out the airlock. And then blow them up, just to be safe.

Ahsoka was lucky she escaped in time.

“And how did Padawan Tano cope with this whole ordeal, Knight Skywalker?” Anakin quickly snapped back to attention, thankful he heard that last bit and didn’t have to ask Windu to repeat himself. There did not need to be any more tension between the two of them.

“Ahsoka is doing fine, she’s in her quarters now. I think she just needs some time to catch up on sleep. There wasn’t much in the way of resting opportunities for her. Or any of us for that matter.”

He ignored Obi-Wan’s raised brow. Yes, Anakin knew that technically withholding information from the council was as good as lying, but really, did his master have to be so obvious about it?

“Very well then,” the blue figure of Mace Windu seemed more or less satisfied with Anakin’s answer, choosing to move on to their next discussion.

“While we would normally grant you some time-off after a mission, I am afraid that more pressing matters have come up. This mission is highly classified, so we shall wait for your arrival to discuss it any further.”

Understanding the dismissal, Anakin thanked the Jedi with a nod of his head before the transmission was cut-off. Now, however, he had to deal with Obi-Wan.

“So.”

“So?” Anakin questioned back.

“You didn’t tell Master Windu what happened with Ahsoka and the Son.”

Because Ahsoka is still a kid, and she doesn’t need that kind of attention, especially from the council. He thought inwardly, maintaining his mental shields so that Obi-Wan didn’t detect his slight misgivings towards the council. He knew that if his master knew Anakin didn’t place his full trust in the council that he would be on the receiving end of a very long lecture about trust in the Jedi and the force, Anakin. Obi-Wan would chalk it up to his unhealthy ability of forming attachments.

“I just don’t see the big deal,” As far as excuses go, that was a pretty shit one. He was going to have to do better than that. And by the look on Obi-Wan’s face, his mentor agreed.

“What I mean, is I don’t see why the council needs to know about something that happened in the past that has no effect on the future.” Lie. He knew something happened down there that changed Ahsoka.

“And Ahsoka is fine, she’s just tired.” Another lie. Anakin knew his padawan was not fine, although she was doing a better job than normal of hiding it, which was worrying. The only reason Anakin noticed it initially was because of her strange force signature.

Stroking his beard, it seemed as though Obi-Wan bought what Anakin said. For now, at least.

“Alright then. Perhaps we should go check on Ahsoka though, just to make sure.”

Kriff, he thought as they exited the bridge, their men acknowledging them as they walked past. He had wanted to speak to Ahsoka alone, to ask her what in the sith hells happened in that cave. She had skilfully avoided all his questioning, even as they boarded onto the ship.

He also knew that Obi-Wan was extremely fatigued, if the dark circles under his eyes were anything to go on. May as well kill two birds with one stone.

“Don’t worry Master, I can talk to Ahsoka. You, however, need to get some rest.”

“Now Anakin -”

“General Kenobi. General Skywalker.” 

Cody, he thought, perfect.

“Commander Cody, good to see you. Obi-Wan was just about to return to his quarters and get some rest.” Obi-Wan might not care about his health, particularly his sleep, but there was next to nothing that would get Cody to not care.

“I’d be happy to accompany you, General.” Anakin knew, while it was phrased like a friendly offer, it was all but a command. Judging by the side-eye Obi-Wan sent his way, the High General knew it too. And he blamed Anakin for it.

Oh well, Obi-Wan getting even an hour of sleep was well worth the annoyance he felt making its way through the force. Once they departed, Cody not-so-subtly herding his General through the door, Anakin bee-lined to the barracks. He had an apprentice to integrate. 

Affectionately, of course.

Ignoring the signs of the past was a frighteningly easy habit to fall into, Rex noticed.

He looked down at Ahsoka, because she was shorter that him, lit up by the single light emanating from the door behind him, the crates creating enough of a barrier could they spar in semi-private. It did have the downside of there being only once source of light, meaning were this something that either one was trying to win, whoever stood in front of the door would have the situational advantage.

It was natural to fall into the fluid motions of the not-quite-spar, not-quite-dance. The hard part, for both of them, was adapting to Ahsoka’s new-old frame.

Rex flung two high kicks, higher than they needed. Ahsoka’s duck was a lot deeper than needed.

They had originally choreographed this as a way of moving meditation for Ahsoka and as fitness training for Rex.

Ahsoka threw one slow blow to the right. Rex responded with the practiced leg sweep through to a position change. Now it was Ahsoka backlit by the light above the door.

One day, when they were adding a more complex series of steps, Hera walked in through their make-shift training area of crates and sprayed lines with a group of new recruits. From then on it was standard practice that every new recruit was to learn the exercise, albeit a simpler version.

They traded blow for blow with their forearms, the subtle wince of Ahsoka’s young face reminding Rex that she had no armour. Something he would rectify before the next rotation. He still couldn’t believe how the Jedi sent a child into the heart of battle, let alone without the proper protective equipment.

A fist nearly landing on his brow-bone let Rex know Ahsoka was onto him and his feelings about the Jedi. It never was something he was secretive of, after the purge.

He let his boot graze her knee to acknowledge that yes, a lightsabre was a good tool for offensive and defensive moves, but it was still no excuse to not have adequate protection. After one of Ahsoka’s elbow got far too close to Rex’s nose for it to be on-par with the routine, he knew now was as good as a time of any.

“Ahsoka.” He ground out.

“Rex.” She answered, breath coming in shorter puffs than were normal when they did this routine abort the fleet.

“What are we going to do?” It took three planned hits to his shoulder and two known kicks to her head before Ahsoka answered, sweat on her brow more obvious now that Rex was looking, really looking, at her.

“I don’t know.” That was concerning. If there was one thing Ahsoka always had, it was a plan. Even if that plan was shoot their way out of it, she still had a plan, a mission, something that was the end goal.

“We’re here, whatever here is and however long we’re here for, we need to do something, keep General Kenobi and Skywalker alive an-”

“I said I don’t know, Rex”. She spat, speeding up her movements and forcing him to do the same, lest he get lost and fall behind. He noticed her look around the training room. A few clones, here and there, none paying attention to the Commander and Captain tucked away in the corner stall. There was no-one to overhear.

Still, Rex gave her the respite of silence she was after, allowing them to move through stage four and five of the seven stage choreography before questioning her again.

“What happened, Ahsoka, on that planet?”

“I was just about to ask the same question, Rex.”

Rex whipped his head around to Anakin Skywalker, who was alive.

Alive and his commanding officer. Technically. Rex jumped into a salute a few seconds after what was appropriate, hoping that Skywalker was still as lax as he remembered.

“At ease, Rex, I just wanted to have a little chat with Ahsoka. You’re free to return to your brothers.”

Just as Rex was about to consign himself to his fate of being confronted with more ghosts, he turned around to Ahsoka, planning to say his farewells, when he saw Ahsoka’s hand twitch.

It was nothing to the outside viewer, just a simple tick of the body, but Rex had been working with Ahsoka just shy of two decades. She was nervous, close to terrified, at the mention of being alone with General Skywalker. Rex may have trusted the General once upon a time, but it was Ahsoka who he trusted most in the galaxy, and it was a long time ago that he worked with the General.

“All due respect sir, I think I’ll stay.”

She wasn’t in her room.

That by itself was not enough for Anakin to be concerned.

But when he discovered that her lightsabers were still in her room, and she wasn’t picking up her comm, had him very concerned.

Anakin ran through his head where she might go. It’s not like there were many places for her to go, especially with Coruscant still a while away. Still, after than mission, Anakin thinks he earnt the right to worry.

Giving her room one final sweep, not that there was much in the military-issued sleeping quarters anyway, Anakin turned to find his apprentice.

Maybe a trooper will know. Anakin thought.

He flagged down the next to cross his path.

“Fives, Echo, you two have a minute?”

“Of course, General, what do you need?”

“I seem to be having trouble locating my padawan. I don’t suppose you two know anything that could help?”

The two exchanged a look that Anakin couldn’t figure out, helmets obscuring any facial expressions that would give away what they were thinking.

“I heard something about the Captain and Commander in the training stalls? Not sure how long ago though, sir.”

At least that was something to go off.

“It’ll have to do fives, thanks.”

Anakin left before the troopers could so much as acknowledge the thanks.

He was on a mission now, the training halls weren’t too far away, but they weren’t close either. It took him just shy of ten minutes to make it to the observation deck of the halls.

Figuring it couldn’t hurt to check his padawan was actually here before he barged through the grounds, Anakin made his way around the rectangular deck, making note of the other trooper’s performances as he went. There were a few troopers from the 501^st going against the 212^th. Anakin was happy to note that it appeared the 501^st were winning, regardless of the calls about ‘unfair moves’. Everything in a fight is fair game if you want to live.

Swift movement from the corner of the training grounds caught his eye.

There.

Anakin walked around the observation deck to get a better look, nodding back at the soldiers he passed as he did so. Even as he made it to the corner, the storage crates stacked atop each other made it hard to see anything other than the blur of blue and white that was Ahsoka’s montrals and the blonde of Rex’s hair.

Instead of trying to get a better view once more, Anakin made the decision to head down and hopefully speak with his padawan.

The door was locked.

Not to keep anyone out, as all it took was a confirmation that yes, he did want to enter, for the door to open, rather to tell those that wished to enter this way that the stall being used was not to be disturbed.

While this was not out of the ordinary for most on board the ship, it certainly was for his padawan, who usually excelled under supervision, who loved the energy of training around the brothers, the cajoling, complements and absolute mayhem that followed her successfully taking down on of the clones. She was his padawan, after all.

The fast-paced attacks in front of him yanked Anakin from that line of questioning.

Further gazing at the almost-blurs before him, Anakin thought dance might be the better word. None of their hits looked like they were going for the take-down. Sure, contact was made, but most of their blows went without, like each knew what was coming next and had already planned how to respond, expecting the other to anticipate the blow.

Anakin was, well, he didn’t know what he was. Impressed that his padawan – and captain, for that matter – had the skills to pull something like this off, confused, certainly, at where in the Corellian Hells they learnt to do that, because it’s certainly not something Anakin taught Ahsoka. It also didn’t look like standard clone training either.

He was also concerned. Ahsoka appeared to be fighting like she wasn’t used to her body’s size. It’s not something most would pick up, but Anakin had done his fair share around people adjusting to new limbs, be those replacements for already existing cybernetics, replacing natural limbs. More often than not, it was the latter.

The thought pushed Anakin to pay closer attention.

It looked like they were talking.

“What happened, Ahsoka, on that planet?”

Well, now was as good a time as any.

“I was just about to ask the same question, Rex.” Anakin chimed.

The silence was strange. The pause before Rex saluted him was also strange. But they had been through a stressful time period, Rex, Ahsoka, all of them, so Anakin cared less then he usually did.

What he did care about though, was getting answers from his padawan. And that was something he needed to do with just her.

“At ease, Rex, I just wanted to have a little chat with Ahsoka. You’re free to return to your brothers.”

Rex didn’t move. Anakin was so used to the captain moving without – no not without question, not all the time, that it took a minute for his next words to registered.

“All due respect sir, I think I’ll stay.”

“Rex?” Ahsoka questioned. Well, at least it wasn’t just Anakin who found his behaviour unusual. Not that it mattered at the moment, Anakin could only handle one mystery at a time.

“Ahsoka, please, I just want to know what happened on Mortis. I need to know that you’re okay.” He tried to reason, to make sure that Ahsoka knew he didn’t want to hurt her, that he would never hurt her, and that the cautious look she was giving him now didn’t make him feel any better.

Anakin didn’t know what to do.

‘Ahsoka, you died.” The sharp intake of breath from Rex indicated she had not told him about that.

 I’m worried, Obi-Wan is worried,” he hoped, “and you keep running away each time I try to talk to you about it. You’re my padawan, it’s my duty to make sure you’re okay, that you’re safe.”

“I-uh-”

The blinking from his wrist stopped whatever thought she was piecing together.

“General Skywalker.” His comm echoed throughout the corner of the training grounds.

Not now, not when I’m just about to get through to her.

But war waits for no one.

“This had better be important.” Very, very important.

“You and General Kenobi have been summoned by the council.”

Again? And weren’t they close to Coruscant? 

He voiced as much to the clone over the comm.

“That’s all I was told General. Apologies.”

“Not necessary trooper, it’s not your fault.” He looked between Ahsoka and Rex, both eyeing him with not-so-hidden suspicion.

Where did that come from? And why?

“I’ll be right up. Skywalker out.”

One last glance between his padawan and captain, Anakin turned back the way he came, worrying more that when he first arrived.

Not that there was time to dwell, he apparently had another council meeting to attend. Great.

Well, that could have gone better. A whole lot better.

Ahsoka turned to Rex, face pinched, brow raised.

“What the kriff was that Rex.” He returned the stare.

“We can’t be doing things like that, things that could tip them off that we’re not from here.”

“I thought we could trust the General.” Ahsoka fought back a flinch.

“But if that,” he gestured to her tense frame, “and you’re reaction before,” damn, he would see that, “is anything to go on, we can’t, and I have no idea why.”

The thought to tell him, tell him everything ran through Ahsoka’s mind. But she couldn’t do that, couldn’t tell Rex that the general him and his brothers fought for, died for, turned into the very thing they fought tirelessly against, and dragged his brothers down with him.

No, she couldn’t do that.

“Look, it’s clear you’re not telling me everything, which might have been fine if we were back with the rebellion, but that can’t happen here, Ahsoka.”

She let her eyes drag over Rex. He looked ragged. Not in his uniform, which was top condition as always, but in his face. Ahsoka could see the bone deep exhaustion that his behind his eyes. It was the same look she knew she’d see if she looked in a mirror.

It made her feel like shit, with what she was hiding from him.

“It’s just us, and this won’t work if you’re withholding information like why you seemed two seconds away from bolting out that door just because the general ……

The worst part was that he was right. She couldn’t withhold this from him. Not with the stakes as high as they were and the risks that went above and beyond their own lives.

But it wasn’t something she could do. Not yet.

She stared at Rex imploringly.

“Please, I swear I’ll tell you. Just… just not now. Please.” Her voice broke at the end. It had been a long day.

Rex took a deep breath in, armour expanding and highlighting each of the designs painstakingly etched in with the blue of the 501^st. Designs that were once of a by-gone era, now staring them in the face.

He nodded, not fully convinced, if the slight scowl on his deceptively young face was anything to go by but satiated. It had been a long day for the both of them.

“On one condition.”

Ahsoka raised her brow.

“We get you some armour.”

Looks like there are some arguments she’ll never win.

The decent into Coruscant was a shock.

Even after the five hours of exhaustion-forced sleep she managed to acquire. She gazed at Rex, sitting at her poor excuse for a desk, head to the side as he also caught some shut-eye.

As soon as they broke the atmosphere, Ahsoka felt something she hadn’t felt in a while, something she didn’t think she’d get to feel again, not after the order.

It was light. So very, very light.

There were thousands of tiny specks, each brighter than the last, the Coruscant temple relieved of darkness and flourishing with warmth.

She could feel the younglings, their pure energy in the force running through her veins and enveloping her. The chaotic determination of young initiates and junior padawans zipping through her mind, a reminder of her own, unburdened days. The steady rhythm of knights performing their duties, the sage calm and wisdom that echoed off the masters.

The stark contrast to her last memory of Coruscant. She had only been there once during the Empire, a mission for Bail in the rebellion’s fledgling days. It was far too close to the Emperor to risk going their again. The temple then had been corrupted, littered with Empire banners and war trophies, smothered in darkness and pure hatred.

But not now. Ahsoka let herself bask in the light, let herself feel how truly perfect it wa-

Wait.

She knew they were close, and she would have to leave her quarters very soon, but something wasn’t quite right.

Ahsoka let herself sink further into Coruscant’s presence, moving past the too-perfect light emanating on the surface and dug.

There was something there, something behind the light of the Jedi, and not just the grey feeling that the war brought. Something darker, more sinister, but it blended in so well Ahsoka was beginning to believe she had just made it up. But if she could get a little deeper, then maybe…

There.

Underneath and between and on top of everything there was something.

It was slippery, like a dream, not quite tangible but definitely there. It mixed through everything else like oil, dispursing but not combining, just coating everything in its slippery black claws that all seemed to trail back to -

Oh.

Ahsoka’s new plastoid vambrace lit up. It was a far cry from perfect, protective armour, but it was the best compromise her and Rex could reach with the resources on the ship.

It was time to disembark.

If the descent was painful, then walking off the ramp was like Sidious’ fire all over again.

There was the Jedi temple in all its glory, staring down at her, spires lit up by the setting Coruscant sun, towering over all who entered below.

At least, that’s what she used to think.

But there was no time for reflection, and no, the irony was not lost on her.

Rex had stayed behind to catch up on the paperwork he missed during their spar, so it was just Ahsoka departing the shuttle behind Anakin and Obi-Wan, both who she had successfully managed to avoid. Sans training ground incident, at least. Both of the Jedi had to rush to their briefing anyway, so Ahsoka was safe for the time being.

She knew it wouldn’t last long, that she would have to come up with a reason behind her actions sooner or later, but for the time being avoidance was working, so she would keep up with that for however long she could.

Walking up the stone steps of the temple felt alien.

It wasn’t a homecoming like she had craved during the early days of the Empire, no, instead it felt foreign, like she was a mere observer, not a Jedi who called the temple home.

As she walked further into the grounds, past the barriers that kept separated the public space from the Jedi’s private space, Ahsoka found herself in the gardens.

Everything just felt so light. It would just be so easy to sink into that feeling of pure light, to unburden herself from the dark that hovered around her shoulders, but she knew she couldn’t. Ahsoka knew, despite that small, child-shaped part of her that screamed for the light, that she couldn’t ignore the darkness that swam beneath.

And so, coming to a halt in front of the great tree, Ahsoka let her senses reach.

She let the presence of each and every Jedi, be them younglings, be them masters older than her true age, wash over her.

Ahsoka let the smallest part of her brush back against each of those force signatures for the slightest of moments, knowing if she let it go for too long she would be found suspicious, something unknown.

One breath in.

One breath out.

And she reached again.

Past the cautious happiness that caged the temple and underneath the serenity that the Jedi couldn’t help but feel when they arrived home, and into the abyss that lurked beneath.

And nearly screamed when it reached back.

Her eyes flew open, shields slamming down.

Ahsoka looked around, hoping that no-one saw. She was in luck, for the first time that day.

But she wasn’t given a moment to think on it, as something tugged at her.

It didn’t take long until she found where her gut was taking her.

Ahsoka looked up at the twin doors, inscribed with runes of the ancient Jedi language and held back the onslaught of emotions that threatened to overcome her. She couldn’t let them in, not with what she knew was on the other side of those doors.

The citadel.

Her failed mission.

It wasn’t her first failure on the battlefield, nor would it be the last, but the memory of a Jedi master dying in her arms because she just wasn’t fast enough was not something her padawan self could shake easily.

This time, it would be different.

She just needed access to the briefing. Maybe, if she had more knowledge of what to expect of the mission itself, not just the layout of the ground, then maybe Ahsoka could do better this time.

Anakin would never let her stay in that briefing though. The moment she entered she would be told to leave. Her head drifted up a little higher.

Perfect.

One upside to being stuck in her still developing body, she could fit in the vents.

It took a while before the hall was empty, but soon Ahsoka climbed her way up the halls and jimmied the cover off the vent, pulling her whole body through before turning around to re-secure the cover over the vent.

The path to the briefing room was not a straight-forward as Ahsoka assumed it would be, but after a few minutes of silently crawling through the dust, she made it to a vent that overlooked enough of the room. They looked to be about half-way through the mission briefing, schematics for the citadel’s tower enlarged to see the break down of each floor and highlight where certain security measure were.

“So, we’re essentially going in blind.” Ahsoka heard her former master say. And was that the understatement of the century. The only information they had was cobbled together from the archives, and the separatists had certainly done their share of renovations after taking up residence in the prison.

Ahsoka supressed a shudder as she thought of what the Empire must have done, how many Jedi lost their lives in that cursed building.

Tuning back into the meeting, Ahsoka’s eyes drifted over to Plo Koon.

Oh, did she miss him.

Miss the calm that always radiated off him, missed his advice and his kind words, how he always took her seriously, despite her being only a Padawan.

And then he spoke, and it drove the knife in harder.

“These hyperspace lanes are of immense interest to both our sides and could tip the scales of the war to whomever is in possession of them. That is all.”

Just like that, the feeling was gone. She had a chance, a true chance, to change the outcome of this mission. As long as she didn’t get caught sneaking around in the vents, that is.

Crawling her way back was harder than she thought. Without enough room to properly turn around, Ahsoka had to go backwards for three quarters of the way, cutting her precious time to meet up with Anakin to convince him to let her come on the mission.

Luckily, she made it out of the vents unnoticed and with just enough time to catch up to the three Jedi.

“Anakin.”

They all turned around.

Sithspit, she thought.

Ahsoka dragged her memory back to the first time this event happened.

“I’m sorry I’m late, I just heard about the briefing, we’re going to rescue master Piel, right.”

She pretended not to notice the sly glace Obi-Wan and Plo sent Anakin’s way. Did they think they were being subtle? How did she not notice last time. That should have been her second clue that she wouldn’t be attending the mission, her first not being told about the briefing until after the fact.

“You two have much to discuss.” Ahsoka let Plo’s voice wash over her, blocking any of the panic she was feeling staring up at Va-Anakin.

“Ahsoka I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but you won’t be coming along on this one.”

Yes, I am. But that wasn’t something she could say, not here. So Ahsoka mustered up all of her frustration and let it poor out her mouth, just like it did years ago.

“Not coming? But you’re breaking into the citadel. No one’s ever done it before.” Technically. She was using that word a lot these past few days.

“The citadel wasn’t designed to hold common criminals. It was designed to hold Jedi if any of us lost our way.” The irony was not lost on Ahsoka, no matter how cold and twisted that statement felt now.

“It’s not a place for padawans.” Ahsoka couldn’t tell which reaction she had a harder time supressing, her laughter, or her anger.

If only he knew.

“Come on master, I would be a great asset on the mission, I can fit into small spaces, I already know the layout of the land from a project I did,” a lie, technically, “and-”

“No Ahsoka, you’re not coming.”

“How am I supposed to learn if you won’t let me share the risk?”

The words came to her so naturally that they just slipped past her lips unbidden. Ahsoka regretted them immediately. Not for what she said, but rather what she knew the reaction would be.

“This isn’t a mission for learning. You either do or die. That’s not a risk I’m willing to share.”

And oh, did that hurt. She knew exactly what he was going to say, but the pain struck her non the less.

Even as Anakin turned away from her, Ahsoka blinked back the mist in her eyes. It didn’t matter at the moment. Anakin would come later. Now though, now she had a job to do.

All she had to do was remember the way to the carbonite room.

A few half-lies, a quick swap of secret, highly secure comm codes with Rex, and some jimmied locks later and Ahsoka was watching everyone as they were frozen and rolled onto the ship.

Once she was sure everyone who knew she wasn’t supposed to be there was wrapped in the confines of carbonite-induced unconsciousness, Ahsoka made her presence known to the workers.

“Sorry guys, last minute add on.”

If their looks were anything to go on, they did not believe her. Before they could say anything, Ahsoka brandished her sabers.

They let her into the chamber without hesitation.

It was a strange feeling, that, being able to show lightsabers in public without fear, and having it be the reason to get her way.

That wasn’t exactly something that was possible under the empire, what with the Jedi being decreed traitors and murderers and all.

Something that would never happen, not if she got her way.

The Jedi would live, the republic would survive, and balance will be restored.

There was only one thing in Ahsoka’s mind as the cold embrace of carbonite swept away her consciousness.

Do. Not. Fail.