Chapter Text
It'd only been a couple moments since Vader left and Ahsoka quickly grew tired of the flowing reds and splashing oranges of Mustafar. The togruta turned her head towards the room, her room now it seemed, and she began to walk to look around it as she unfolded her arms.
She started at the shelves covering the wall of the entry door. One of the sides seemed to be filled with texts, mostly Sith texts, though Ahsoka couldn't imagine herself even touching any of them during her stay here. Other texts on it included: lightsaber techniques, the history of the Sith, the history of the Jedi surprisingly enough, the history of the Republic, the history of Naboo and so on.
Ahsoka frowned as her eyes travelled across the spines of the books and she crossed her arms. Did Anakin want her to become a historical fact file or something? That man really. Ahsoka found herself questioning almost every decision he'd made since their encounter on Malachor.
The blue eyes of Ahsoka stopped at a specific book though. It was titled, ‘The Life of Padmè Nabarrie Amidala.’ It had no publisher, it looked rather different from the rest of the books and if Ahsoka was being honest she was sure this book could be one of a kind.
‘Padmè.’ Ahsoka thought. The togruta remembered the woman she considered to be something like a sister. Even a mother. She remembered her first time meeting the senator, the first time she stumbled over her words and the first time she'd seen Anakin look at someone as if they were the most precious, most valuable person in the world.
She shook her head pulling herself away from her thoughts of Padmè as well as turning her head towards the rest of her room, she could look at that book later.
The young woman directed her attention to the ottoman, she walked over before folding her legs under her as she sat in front of it. It occurred to her how cold the floor seemed. It must have a cooling system or something like that in it to be this cold on Mustafar of all planets.
Her hands, wrapped in fingerless gloves, opened up the storage ottoman only for her breath to hit her as she saw what was in it. She brought her arms closer towards her, noticing her hands began to shake, and ever so slowly Ahsoka placed her hands in the box taking out what she'd lost all those years ago.
Her hands gripped the hilt, the overbearing comfort and feeling of being right hitting her as she lifted it to finally look at it again.
Ahsoka's saber she'd given up, left to fake her death, used to fight Maul, given to her by Anakin as his last gift to her before they never saw each other again.
It'd been here all along. Vader had it. He found and kept it for sixteen years letting it collect dust with…
Electric eyes that would match the blade once it was ignited, drifted to the inside of the box again. There she saw her padawan braid, the braid she'd given back to her master with tears brimming in her eyes, the braid she'd remembered getting with the most joyful smile on her face.
It was here too. Ahsoka felt the urge to grab it, place it back in its rightful place on her montrals but that'd be wrong. She hadn't been a padawan for seventeen years. She hadn't even got the right headpiece with the beads to attach the braid to.
Ahsoka placed her old saber back in the box, next to the braid, and closed it. She realised now her breath had joined her body in becoming shaky. The togruta found herself wrapping her arms around her body, hands clutching her upper arms so hard she wouldn't be surprised if her nails would dig into her skin.
She tasted salt in her mouth, her eyes burned and Ahsoka let out a sob as the tears fell. Her balance went forward and her forehead found its way onto the plush cushion of the ottoman.
He'd kept it all. He'd kept the memory of her when she was supposedly dead. As the tears kept coming, speeding up even, Ahsoka made another promise but to herself.
Ahsoka would bring Vader back to the light. Back to himself. Back into Anakin Skywalker.
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“I think she may still be alive.” He paused. “Out there.” Kanan admitted as Hera held her hand on his back and her other on the table over his. It'd been around one rotation since Ezra and Kanan had come back from Malachor with no Ahsoka.
Kanan had explained to everyone what happened while Ezra stayed in his and Zebs' shared room. None of them really liked the idea of leaving him alone and when Kanan had finished telling them all what had happened Sabine and Zeb had gone to find the youngest member of their crew.
It'd left Kanan, Hera and Rex alone but the clone shortly dismissed himself saying he was going out for fresh air and Kanan could've sworn he heard the old man release a sniffle on his way out. He couldn't blame him though.
Rex had known Ahsoka the longest out of any of them. The two, when asked about it, admitted they were something like siblings during back in the Clone Wars when Ahsoka was commander to the 501st. Whether she'd been a Jedi or civilian.
Once it was just the two of them, Hera and Kanan had sat down at the booth.
“What? H-how? You said-” Hera whisper-shouted to Kanan in response only to be interrupted by him.
“I know what I said but.” He paused letting out a deep sigh, his already solemn expression turning sadder. “I know what the kids are like. Zeb too. The moment they got even a bit of hope that Ahsoka wasn't gone I know what they'd do and I can't- I can't give them false hope only for nothing to come of it.”
Hera stayed silent for a moment but nodded. “I say we do some searching of our own. We don't tell the kids like we didn't tell Ezra we were looking for his parents, and we look for Ahsoka. If she's still alive- somehow- then I think we should start by seeing if anyone spotted a togruta around any systems surrounding Malachor.”
“If that's a dead end…” Kanan added with a hint of hesitance in his words.
“Then we can either give up hope or keep looking. We can't think of her as dead just… MIA for now. Until we find confirmation she's dead or alive.”
Kanan nodded at Hera's words.
“You're right. We can't give up yet.”
Inside the storage closest Ezra frowned at the floor before making a choice. The young boy climbed into the vent, as he did before giving him deja vu to when he first came aboard the ship, and crawled until he reached the area in the hallway of the ship.
He dropped down deciding that tonight, when everyone was asleep, he'd sneak out on the phantom and return to Malachor to find Ahsoka if he was lucky or any trace of her at all.
Ezra wanted to trust Hera and Kanan but they'd take too long and what if she was on Malachor- what if she was dying and because of them not wanting to act quickly she died because of their ignorance? He couldn't let that happen.
Tonight.
Tonight he'd go off to find her.
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“Lady Tano?” The droid escorting her asked as she'd stopped suddenly, she felt a shift in the force. Ahsoka turned back to the droid, it was of a similar model to C3-PO but black with red eyes, almost like a creepio.
“Sorry. We can keep moving.” Ahsoka responded and the droid nodded before turning back to walk down the path it was leading her down. To the training room.
The togruta felt like she was sweating buckets, when she told Vader she was ready he'd responded by telling her to wait until he sent a droid to fetch her. He then added that she must wear the cloak he'd given her at all times with the hood up such as when she was moving around anywhere outside her room.
The only time she was permitted to not wear it was in her room or with Vader's permission.
The cloak was made of a thick material and Ahsoka realised it was none other than one of Anakin's old Jedi robes. It was astonishing to think they fit her now and that he'd still kept one around.
Once they came upon the room, the droid escorting her in before leaving her she was relieved, to say the least. Vader wasn't there yet but Ahsoka took the hood off her montrals once the door was closed breathing in a sigh of relief.
She looked around the room seeing that it appeared reminiscent of the training room back in the Jedi temple just darker. Like her room, black and red seemed to be the overarching theme and all Ahsoka could think about is how much she'd mock Anakin for having this many dark rooms in his house.
Finally, the familiar but changed force presence of Vader approached before he finally opened the door on the other end of the room and walked in. His mechanical breathing filled the area as he came to a stop only a few steps away from Ahsoka.
“You removed the hood without my permission. I told you not to.” Of course. Scolding her was the first thing he did.
Ahsoka was starting to think that Anakin's fatherly instincts started kicking in or something.
“Actually,” She started as she unclipped the cloak and let it fall to her feet, she crossed her arms. “You told me not to take off the cloak without you in the room. Not the hood.”
If he could've, Ahsoka was sure Anakin would've let a sigh of irritation slip out. “I thought that would have been clear but perhaps not. Clearly, you've not matured as much as I thought you had, my young apprentice.”
And Ahsoka, although she tried not to, scoffed at the Sith Lord. “I thought you wanted to train me in the dark side. Not make me fourteen again.”
“I am not the one making you feel as though you are fourteen.” He responded before adding, “Perhaps if you lost some of that attitude we would not be having to have this discussion and we could have already begun your training.”
Ahsoka rolled her eyes without a thought. “Alright, master.” She unfolded her arms placing her hands on her hips. “What's the lesson?”
He took a breath before raising his hand from his cloak to reveal it held a lightsaber. Ahsoka recognised the hilt and walked over to him, she didn't have to really lean up her head to look at the mask as she drew closer.
“I want to see where your skills are currently.” Ahsoka took the saber and looked at Vader before stepping a couple of steps away and lighting it.
The white glow illuminated the dark room, it was like a beacon in the shadows engulfing her and Vader as they stood and when Ahsoka turned to look at him again she could've sworn she saw a hint of blue and yellow within his mask.
“It is set to training mode and the setting can not be changed until I do so. I modified it.” Vader explained while turning away from her and walking to the far end of the training floor.
He turned back to face her, his cape flourishing behind him as he did so. “Now.” The hand he'd used to give her, her saber revealed itself again and now held his. He lit it.
The crimson glow overshadowed the light of Ahsoka's saber as his respiratory breathing became louder, causing Ahsoka to hear it over her breathing.
“Attack me.”