Chapter Text
Part 1
"I won't leave you. Not this time."
The shock of seeing Anakin's eye through Vader's face mask riveted through her. She couldn't believe her eyes. This couldn't be her master. Her brother. Her Anakin.
"Then you will die," Vader sneered.
Stunned, she could not believe what she was hearing. She didn't even want to consider it. How could her master turn into this… monster? How could Anakin say this to her, to anyone?
But, the Force whispered to her otherwise. She could feel that it was Anakin, or used to be Anakin. Only, now- he was Vader. She stumbled backward as if recoiling from the thought that Anakin was truly gone… consumed by Vader.
He leapt at her, the Force swirling darkly around him as he ignited the bloodred lightsaber, leaving her with no choice but to ignite her own twin white blades in defense. Their lightsabers sparked as they continued their deadly dance.
Ahsoka pulled the Force close around her and shoved it at Vader with a push of her hand. He crashed into the temple wall, giving her a brief moment of respite. She scanned the Force for any trace of Ezra and Kanan and breathed a sigh of relief as she sensed their signatures in the Force ebbing away as the Phantom soared into the black. At least her sacrifice would not be vain, she thought as Vader pulled her to him, the Force constricting tightly around her throat. She gasped for air, unable to breathe, as Vader lifted her higher before flinging her to the stone floor.
The ancient temple walls shook from the intensity of their battle. She struggled to rise as fear and grief threatened to wash over her. She inhaled one last calming breath and flung her lightsaber, striking Vader dangerously close to the panel on his chest, causing him to howl in rage. The Force was accumulating around him, dark and sinister. Ahsoka braced for his next strike as Vader unleashed a force push that sent her flying into the wall behind her. Pain flared hotly within her as she fell, lying in a crumpled heap on the floor of the ancient temple. Ahsoka opened her eyes briefly to see Vader slowly hobbling away. He stopped. Through his broken black helm, he glared at her. The iris of his eye was no longer blue. Instead, it was an eerie yellow glow. An eclipse: the shadow overtaking the light.
At that moment, she knew Anakin Skywalker was truly gone.
#
Pain.
Ahsoka woke and breathed in a ragged breath, her lungs stinging as if on fire. She lay very still, trying her best to ignore the feeling of the searing hot pain that was threatening to overtake her.
Heartache. Ahsoka blinked slowly, her tears heavy on her lashes. He was gone. She was alone. Alone in a dark temple that was seeping with dark force energy. A temple that felt like a tomb. She struggled to rise because she knew that this place would be a tomb if she didn't. Her tomb.
"Ahsoka…" A faint voice whispered her name in the darkness.
"Who's there?" She called out as she searched for the owner of the disembodied voice. Yet, there was no one else here with her. She was alone.
Off in the distance, she could make out a triangular-shaped door. Could it be another way out of the temple? Reaching out with the Force, she felt for her lightsabers and pulled them to her, and made her way toward the door.
"Ahsoka…"
The ghostly voice stopped in her tracks. She shook her head and muttered to herself, "oh, great, now, I'm hearing things too."
Ahsoka ignited one of her sabers and held it aloft to light her way down the foreboding dark tunnel. An apparition appeared at the end of the pathway, then seemed to vanish before her eyes. Could this be a force ghost? She remembered a lesson from Master Yoda about force ghosts, beings who became one with the Force yet could retain their own identity.
She trudged onward.
The passageway opened up into a large circular room. A sizeable triangular structure emitted a soft red glow at its center. Beside it, the shadowy figure stood motionless.
"Who are you?" she asked. The figure pointed silently toward a small glowing red triangle laying on the floor as if someone had dropped it hastily. It appeared to be a Sith holocron, similar to what Ezra found earlier. Slowly, she approached, clipping her lightsabers onto her utility belt as she knelt down. The force ghost vanished as her fingertips touched the surface of the holocron.
Slowly, she rotated the holocron between her hands. Her fingers deftly searched the etching on the outside for some familiarity. The triangular object emitted a soft red glow. Sitting down before the pyramidal structure in the room, she studied it. It felt alien to her. Dark. Tainted. She wanted to fling it across the room, but the apparition had wanted her to find it. Why? Did the ghostly spirit want her to try to use it? Clearly, it was a Sith holocron. Only one well versed in the dark ways of the Force would be able to open it. Why would the force ghost lead her to it?
"One thing's for certain. I have to get out of this temple." Talking to herself had always been a bad habit of hers. A hold over from the War, when there had always been a droid at her side. Artoo or one of the other astomech's that toiled along with them. Or one of the Clones. Pushing herself up to standing, pain lanced through her side. Her breath caught in her throat. Inhaling deeply, she pushed the pain aside. "Too bad that ghost couldn't come back and show me the way out of this place."
Slowly, she plodded back the way she came. Back towards the place where she last saw Vader. Anakin. Grief threatened to overtake her as sobs escaped her lips. "Master... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She had to believe it if she wanted to or not. Her master was gone, wholly consumed by Vader.
Leaning into the temple walls, she held her head in one hand while the other clutched the holocron tightly in its grip. Tears came unbidden. Fear. Grief. Suffering. Dreadful emotions, they seek to hold her in its grasp and smother her in its wake.
"Ahsoka…"
The voice!
Her head snapped up at hearing her name whispered through the veil again. She followed the sound of the voice, leading her away from the spot where she had faced down Vader.
"Ahsoka…"
There! There it was again! She darted toward where she heard the incorporeal voice. Running past the petrified remains from a battle thousands of years ago, she sprinted toward the ghostly sound. Rounding a corner, she stopped fast. The specter stood beside one of the Sith inquisitor's abandoned TIE fighter. He stood with his back to her, outlined in an aura of blue. He lowered his hood to reveal his long brown hair, the top held back in a loose ponytail. He turned to face her; his bearded face was calm and serene.
"There's good in him still, Ahsoka. All is not lost. Find Obi-Wan." With that, he smiled as he vanished before her stunned gaze.