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Ahsoka jumped back from Darth Maul, breathing heavy, desperately wishing she could catch her breath. Sweat coated her skin, but was quickly cooling in the night air. She made sure to hold her lightsabers up like Anakin had trained into her for hours upon hours. After all, it was easier to drop a lightsaber down than to raise it up.
Darth Maul twirled his own lightsaber, the red flashing through her vision. His teeth were bared as he eyed her. Despite his imposing height, Ahsoka stayed in her crouch, putting most of her weight on the balls of her feet. She wouldn’t be intimidated by him, or think to join him again. He didn’t want what was good for the Republic, just himself.
“It’s almost too late now, Ahsoka,” he told her, the natural purr to his voice almost coming out as a snarl in his frustration. “But you can still join me. We can defeat Darth Sidious.”
“You already heard my answer: no.”
“What about to save your master?”
Ahsoka curled her lip up at him. Not this again. Anakin was… Anakin was fine, wasn’t he? He had to be. He always was, and he would never join the dark side like Maul was claiming.
“You don’t know him!” Ahsoka spat.
Maul leaped at her, spinning his double-sided blade, and she lunged to intercept it. Their blows were fast, the power of them pushing her back.
He was trying to distract her. That’s all he was trying to do.
And Ahsoka found it was working. She couldn’t go into that void she so often did when she fought, couldn’t just listen to her body and the Force, and her training, silently counting out positions in her head as if on instinct.
Now she was angry, and despite all she’d learned, she wanted to know more about what he was saying.
It couldn’t be true.
It couldn’t!
But what does the Force tell you?
Their blades crossed, flashing and hissing, and Ahsoka held her ground, trying to push him back.
“On the contrary, I do. I was in a similar position to his once. An apprentice, groomed for the dark side.”
“You’re nothing like him. Anakin is caring, and brave, and noble. The dark will never take him.”
She kicked him, managing to get under his defenses, and hit his abdomen. He grunted, and had to balance himself. This gave Ahsoka time to twirl, and aim low. Master Obi-Wan had told her all about what he’d done to Maul long ago, but if she could still damage the mechno-legs he had, or the feet, that would give her an edge. As she swept her longer blade out, her shoto rising to thrust, he jumped, and a kick to the face sent her sprawling. Before she could hit the floor of the throne room, and get stabbed by the shards of glass, he pushed her back with the force.
Ahsoka went flying and slammed into the wall, lightsabers falling from her hands, and disigniting. She dropped to the floor. Blood ran down her face, her nose throbbing. Probably broken. Some glass impaled her arms, and one went into her lower abdomen. But the shards here were small, so the damage was minimum compared to what it could have been.
“Stop hiding. Feel the truth. I know you can. It will happen very soon. And without me, you won’t be able to do anything about it.”
A grunt left Ahsoka as she rose to her feet, and pulled her lightsabers into her hands. The hum of them igniting was soothing in the dark throne room. There wasn’t just the red blade here now. There was her, no longer a Jedi, but an agent of the light.
“I think you’re just a coward who doesn’t want to go to prison!”
She cried out as she ran towards him. She leapt over him, tucking her body in tight, rolling, and landed behind him. She had her lightsabers into position before she even landed, but Maul had anticipated this, and he had turned, and was now parrying her every blow.
“You’re the real coward if you don’t want to accept the truth the Force is telling you. Soon it will be too late. You will be out of time.”
“Why don’t you just shut up?” Ahsoka snarled.
He’s just trying to distract you, find a weak point and hit it hard. That’s how he thinks he’ll win.
But he’s not going to win.
He smiled, and their blades met once more.
Later, Ahsoka would realize he had been right. Anakin…
She’d heard it, seen it. Felt it. He’d helped kill Mace Windu, he’d joined the Chancellor, Darth Sidious, and he’d been renamed as Darth Vader.
Her despair told her that she should’ve been with him, not on Mandalore. But it was too late, and even as she had fought Maul she had been out of time. She’d been out of time to save him for months.
Anakin, her master, her brother, was gone. Ahsoka had failed him.