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It was quiet as Ahsoka stared up at the sky, stars flicked along a black canvas with an occasional wind whistling through the air. The moon was full, the silver white light shining above the trees she was amidst.
It was finally over. The force felt lighter, the stains of the overruling dark put back into balance. But it wouldn't be the same as before. It could never go back to the way it was. The force had evolved, adapted to the new age that it had spared Ahsoka to live in. Some miles away, she could see smoke rising into the dark, her montrals catching the faint joyful singing of the rebellion.
The togruta smiled slightly, her eyes watering up, either from happiness or the opposite, she didn't know. She had watched from the shadows as Luke Skywalker, her master's son (he resembled Skyguy so much with those crystal blue eyes and determined look) declared that Vader had turned good in the end. He had reverted back, going against what Master Yoda had told her about there being no way from coming back from the dark side.
But Anakin was always a special case and did things his own way. He would always do his best to prove someone wrong if their opinion contradicted theirs. He did it back then when Obi-Wan or Ahsoka's plans seemed too dull, and they would all laugh as they saw that they had survived yet another day.
A tear slipped down Ahsoka's cheek, the transparent trail gleaming under the moonlight.
It finally hit her then. He had come back. In the end, she felt her dormant bond spark to life as his supernova light flooded it and the force around her. She had reached out, hope igniting within herself, only to find...nothing. He was gone before she could even find him, showing himself in his last moments before death had whisked him away. His dramatics, whether intentional or not, had always amused her, but that just seemed like a cruel joke now, a mocking of the olden days.
She brought her hand up to her cheek, her finger gently cleaning the tear off of her matured wing markings.
Yes, she was somewhat happy, but she wished it never turned out this way. More than fifteen years surviving under the Empire on the run, always having to watch her back to make sure she wasn't spotted; that wasn't how she wanted to spend a quarter of her life doing, and yet, it came to that.
She was tired. Not tired as a desire to go to bed drained, but tired as wanting to sleep and never wake up, a weariness resting deep in her bones. A girl, thrown into a war at fourteen years old. A girl leading as a teenage commander in the army, a military figure. A girl framed for a bombing at sixteen years old shunned from the home she thought she could trust. A girl that lost everything, her soldiers, her friends, her vode at the age of seventeen. She wasn't even a fully-fledged adult when Order 66 had wiped out everything she once knew. She wasn't supposed to be burying bodies during her younger years the Clone Wars wasn't even supposed to happen. The Jedi were supposed to be peacekeepers like the morals had foretold.
She was bitter now, scowling as remnants of the past ran through her head. Her head cleared as a cooling presence entered her periphery, dragging her out of the pits of her hellish mind.
Now that she was back in reality, Ahsoka sensed a familiar presence behind her, softly gasping as she realized who it was, everything clicking together. She had gone to that person time and time again, for guidance, for teaching, for comfort, for love, for so many things. She didn't turn her back as the figure drew closer, their ghostly hand reaching up to touch her shoulder.
From that touch, it felt like electricity ran through her veins and her instincts kicked in. She whipped around, her lightsaber drawn as she slashed to twist towards the man. Her blade swiftly tore through the air, through the ghost.
"Snips! Is this how you greet me?"
Ahsoka's grip on her lightsaber tightened as she lowered it, her eyes widening and her blood running cold as she studied the man in front of her.
He had long dark brown hair, his slightly wavy curls pinned back behind his ears. A robe wrapped around his shoulders and a joyful smile was plastered on his face as he spread his arms wide as if gesturing for a hug. Shivers ran down her spine as she just gazed at him, wonder adamant in her eyes. She studied his face, soaking every familiar feature from his chiseled jaw to his icy azure eyes. She lifted his lightsaber to where his throat was and growled.
At that moment, there was only one thing running through her mind.
Anakin. Her master was right there. It could go back to the two of them, Skyguy and Snips. Brother and sister in all but blood. The best master padawan duo, some had whispered, maybe even more iconic than Anakin and Obi-Wan.
But it might just be another trick, a figment of her imagination. She didn't have hallucinations, but she never knew what could happen. And yet, as she reached out to him through the force, it was the exact same aura of her master.
"Is it really you?"
Her whisper echoed in the quiet forest as she lowered her weapon, the blade sheathing into its hilt. It was as if the flora around them was holding its breath watching the force's children interact after so many years. The wind had long stopped blowing, ever since Anakin's presence had appeared. His bluish transparent figure shimmered under the night sky, the light reflecting off of him to cast him in an ethereal glow.
The telltale smirk on the tip of his lips made her heart ached in its familiarity, reminding her of the Clone Wars, where her master would always shoot that at her as they shared rumors that her grandmaster didn't know of, the sight of them looking like two childish immature ruffians planning a heist.
Memories flooded into her head, but it seemed even the bad memories she had tried to lock away surfaced with the others until it tarnished the mood.
A red lightsaber sliced through the flickering dark as it met parry by parry against ebony white blades, easily blocking it despite the enemy's figure.
A sharp pained feeling of surprise hit Ahsoka as she pounced on Vader, slashing through a part of his helmet to see that the stunning blue that was fondly embedded into her memory was warped into a fiery yellow orange hurricane that held a whirlwind of emotions.
The absolute hate in her ex-master's voice when he threatened death, their bond officially closed as he made his decision, finality ringing in the air with his bloody red lightsaber ignited.
The tears had streamed down her face as her fighting spirit weakened against his unkempt fury, with her stubbornly keeping up her guard as she tried to leap away. She had known she wouldn't last; he was the very person that taught her all the tricks that she was throwing at him.
The acceptance Ahsoka felt as she walked in the World Between Worlds, finally understanding that Anakin was too far gone for her to bring back without a reason as to why he had gone this way.
She had blamed herself for so long, thinking that he had turned because she had let him. She had thought everything was her fault, but in the end, it didn't add up.
What happened to make him turn out this way?
Why did he do this?
Now, she felt like the padawan that had boarded off of Christophsis, unaware of so many things and what was to come. Just when she thought she knew all she had to know, the force would throw so many more mysteries at her.
"Ahsoka?"
Her focus snapped back to her surroundings as her focus turned onto the ghost of her former master. Her vision was blurred, and she wiped her eyes quickly, ridding them of their tears.
"How are you here? Why are you here?"
She didn't miss the hurt that flashed across his face. She didn't mean for it to come harshly, but she couldn't bring herself to correct it.
"Did...did you not want to see me?"
"Yes, no, I-"
She let out a frustrated sigh as she squeezed her eyes shut, taking deep breaths as she inhaled the cold air.
"You're not real. You're not here. You're just a dream, it can't be happening."
Anakin's expression dropped as he stepped forward, the dir not even moving beneath his feet as he floated closer.
"I am here, Ahsoka, I'm right here!"
"If it's not a dream, then I wish it was," Ahsoka sobbed bitterly, the phrase spilling out before she could haul them in.
He recoiled at her words and finally understood her interpretation of it after catching a glimpse behind her shields.
"Ahsoka, that wasn't m-"
"But it was, Anakin, it was," she interrupted, words pouring out of her mouth as she continued. Her eyes were now opened, their startling blue looking as clear as day.
"You can't say it wasn't you, because it's not true. My life has been hell for these past fifteen years, and all this time I thought that you were dead, that you at least had a better end than most, but then I see that you became the thing you weren't supposed to be. And now? Nothing's okay. It never was."
"I-"
"Where did it go wrong? You had me, you had Obi-Wan, you had the five-oh-first, you had us."
Ahsoka's voice was pleading now, but she didn't know what she was pleading for. Her master was speechless, and if this wasn't so serious, she would've laughed.
"Now I don't have anybody," she whispered, turning her back away. Rex was dead, his warm light blinking out as she felt the bolt rip through his chest as if it was her that was dying. The pain had sung in the promise of death, and in her mind's eye, she had seen him fall to the ground, a smoking hole in his chest. He has wheezed his final breath, closing his eyes in resigned acceptance.
Ahsoka had planned to visit him after everything was over, but now, she couldn't. She never got to say goodbye. She was only thankful that it was a quick death because she couldn't bear to see him in any more pain.
Because of the Empire, she had lost everything. Her friends, her family, her brothers and sisters in arms.
But at the same time, the person who played a major part in it was probably the only person she had right now.
"I know this will never be enough to let you forgive me, and I'm so sorry," Anakin muttered, breaking through the silence. Trees rustled around them and he bowed his head, remorse evident in his stance.
"I have done so many things, and there would never be a time I could make up for it. I wouldn't be able to repay every single one of you, no matter how hard I try."
He gulped as he stared at her back, wishing he could see Ahsoka's face. He forged on, knowing that she was listening, and he told her everything; how he had felt when she left, how things had seemed to get darker how he was getting visions of Padmé dying. He had to reign his anger in as he explained how his duel on Mustafar went, his fury turning into desperation to be understood, pleading for her to see from his point of view. After a moment of stillness, he sighed as his back turned towards Ahsoka.
Anakin's shimmery blue form quivered and he internally panicked as he realized that he didn't have much time before he would have to go. The force had granted him this opportunity, and he would use it to the best of his ability, knowing that the time might never appear again.
But he could only stay here for a little while longer, and if it ended like this, then he would have to accept it, no matter how much he wanted her to say something, to acknowledge him.
"I-I...forgive you."
Her quiet admission made him stop and turn to her in hope, his eyes shining as she twisted towards him a solemn look on her face. She nodded again, repeating her phrase more strongly as if convincing herself.
"I forgive you Anakin."
A smile grew on his face, and Ahsoka tentatively replicated it before she stepped closer to him, longing for a sense of touch from her brother. He moved forward, wrapping his arms around her, and was surprised as he felt cloth, felt warmth radiating from her. Her surprised gasp confirmed his suspicions and he squeezed tightly his head nestled on her shoulder.
He only had a few minutes, and every second grew shorter as he concentrated on keeping his stable form. He could only hold it for a few minutes, then it would be back to transparent touches and whispers.
"You're taller than me now," Anakin's muffled voice mumbled. He pulled away, his hands resting on her shoulders as he gazed at his student in front of him, pride emitting off of him in waves. Ahsoka smiled, and it dropped as Anakin flickered under the moonlit sky, panic racing through her veins.
"What's going on?"
She attempted to grab at him, but her hands passed through Anakin as he faded further and further, almost turning invisible against the forest.
"I can't stay here forever, my padawan. The force could only do so much."
His tone was contrite, filled with guilt as he tried his best to reach out to her, only for her to look past him.
"B-but, you've only just arrived! I can't lose you now," she exclaimed to the emptiness around her. Was this another cruel joke played on her? Anakin appearing only for the force to take him away in a matter of minutes? She wanted it to end, wanted it to stop. She just wanted to be with her family again, and every turn she took, the force would set another pathway for her.
Anakin was concealed, and her head snapped around her, trying to find him. She sensed his presence, and yet, even that was already beginning to fade.
"You have to let me go, Snips. You have to go on with your life."
"I don't want to," Ahsoka lamented angrily, her bitterness at life filling her up to the rim.
"We're with you, will always be, you just have to reach out to find us," Anakin answered, understanding her resentment, and yet, trying to get her to just let go, like he should've done.
"I am sick and tired of everything, why can't it just stop?" she whispered acidly, her knuckles popping at her clenched fists. Her brow markings were pinched together, her mouth curled into a snarl.
"You have to live for us. To tell our tale. You're one of the remaining survivors of the Clone Wars, and you've already gone through so much, why stop now? The force has chosen you."
Ahsoka's knees hit the ground as tears ran down her cheeks, her gaze lifted to the sky. It was quiet as she sniffed, so many questions left unanswered. Several minutes passed by as Ahsoka reflected aloud.
"Why me? Why couldn't it be someone else?"
Her whisper echoed throughout the forest, and yet, no one answered her, Anakin's presence long disappeared without a trace.
The only response that she received was the gale drifting by.